Trevor and Amber

Nordegg Camping Trip

Trevor and Amber — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

With everyone already out at the campsite we headed out early and stopped at Tim Hortons on our way. We had a good drive and arrived just in time for the tail of end of breakfast. MMMM pancakes.

It was only 10 am but the weather was hot so we headed down to the lake with the air mattresses. We left the dogs tied up and Beth watched from the shore with a good book while we tried fearlessly headed out to the middle of the lake.

Danger(name Aaron) was lurking and threatening to throw us all off our mattresses, some were successful in fighting him off, others not so much.

There was some good times like when Carrie Sam, Mike, Trevor, JoyDawn, and Jen stood on the floating dock and made waves for those of us on the mattresses, when Aaron and Andrew stacked 4 mattresses on top of each other and climbed on top, and when Aaron got JoyDawn off her air mattress and she lost her shirt in the water (ok that wasn't good for JoyDawn)

After swimming we headed back and relaxed in the campsite Carrie Sam and JoyDawn decided we needed a camp flag and Trevor's European underwear he was so proud of was the perfect solution. It started to rain so the boys set up a tarp for us to relax under and eat dinner. JoyDawn and Chandler made Taco Salad in a bag mmmm. After we dinner we played an awesome game where you put a nylon with a tennis ball in the end over your head and swing them around until you get your opponents nylon off. The pictures say it best.

After our game we were getting tired of the rain so we headed inside for a game where we learned some interesting facts about our friends (things cannot be shared).

Then it was off to bed so we could start our day with some hiking and caving!

Day 1

Trevor and Amber — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

With everyone already out at the campsite we headed out early and stopped at Tim Hortons on our way. We had a good drive and arrived just in time for the tail of end of breakfast. MMMM pancakes.

It was only 10 am but the weather was hot so we headed down to the lake with the air mattresses. We left the dogs tied up and Bethany watched from the shore with a good book while we tried fearlessly headed out to the middle of the lake.

Danger(name Aaron) was lurking and threatening to throw us all off our mattresses, some were successful in fighting him off, others not so much.

After our game we were getting tired of the rain so we headed inside for a game where we learned some interesting facts about our friends (things cannot be shared).

Then it was off to bed so we could start our day with some hiking and caving!

Our Flight Back Home

Trevor and Amber — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We were up at about 6:30 ... I don't expect this day to be too eventful.

Blah blah blah, we're on a plane.
Blah blah blah, we get to London.

Waiting an hour in the customs line.

We go to have lunch and we see a fish and chip place on the corner. Amber sat outside with the bags and I went to find the entrance. I'm three steps away and this huge guy yells at me "welcome to London", I replied thanks, then he tells me to "f BOMB off", I tried to walk by him, and he puts the back of my hand to my throat, like a karate chop, but didn't hit me. And then he kept saying "is this yours?" I'd had enough and walked away. We found a door on he other side and a few minutes later the cops showed up. They talked to him for a good half hour, I'm not sure if they took him away or he calmed down, but when we left he was gone.

So we made our way to the airport and it took way longer than I thought it would, probably an hour on the metro. When we booked the flight we really wanted to get on a 12 (noon) flight, but if the price didn't go up like it did when we checked the next day, we probably would have been running for our flight. So it was a blessing in disguise that we had to take the 9 oclock.

We got to Heathrow and check in using the self check in, checked our bags, got a Starbucks, bought some duty-free alcohol (we decided on Pimm's No 1, because our friend Simon suggested it, so Simon better be right!).

We went to board the plane and they re-printed our boarding passes! We were like what the heck, what was the point of using the self check in to print them then? Then he told us that we were upgraded to First Class!

Wow, first class is amazing! We got champagne as we boarded, our seats fully reclined, we got awesome service, free alcohol (3 glasses of wine and 2 rum and coke for me), and amazing food. The meal that I had on the airplane was probably one of the best meals I've ever had in my entire life. We had lobster and duck and this amazing salad, the only thing that was just ok was the desert, everything else was amazing.

We landed in Calgary at 8 oclock (so that's 4 in the morning Amsterdam Time). Amber's mom came and picked us up and we drove back to Edmonton.

We got to bed around 11:30 or so (7:30 am Amsterdam Time). And that ended our 25+ hour long day and our 8 week trip.

Last City ... Amsterdam

Trevor and Amber — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We walked to the train station from Perry's place, because he already left for work. We got there and the ticket machine only took cards, but none of our worked, and the lady inside wouldn't sell us a ticket. I think she thought that we were trying to pay win credit card not cash, so she was confused. So we go another lady who was buying tickets at the automated machine to buy us tickets and we just gave her cash.

So we got into Amsterdam and we had to wait in line to get metro tickets. We eventually found our tram and took it to the stop that the directions to the hotel said. But once we got off, we were lost. We wanted in the wrong direction twice before finding a map. Finally I found the street on the map and we went there. They didn't have our reservation ... Great! But there other hotel did and it was only a few blocks away. So the address brought us to one place but the directions brought us to a different place, no wonder we got lost.

We left our bags and headed back to the main square to do a free walking tour. Our guide was on crack, quite literally, maybe not at that moment, but there were some signs for sure. I said to Amber, "this guy needs to smoke some pot to mellow himself down". We toured around and saw the city and tuned out our guide most of the time. It was a little strange walking through the red light district, even in he day. And even talking about drugs makes me a little uncomfortable, so that 50% of the tour right there. But we did learn some history and interesting non-drug related facts, so it wasn't all that bad.

After the tour checked into the hotel and bummed around for a bit. Then we decided to get some food, so we headed back to the main square and found this Thai place, and it was terrible! We ordered and my soup came half an hour later. Then 2 other tables got their food before us, even though they came in 20 minutes after. There was only 4 tables in he resturaunt and our food took an hour. And then my order wasn't correct and it was extremely bland.

We really wanted to go home, so didn't feel like doing anything else, so we headed to bed.

The next day we slept in for the first time this trip, I know hat sad. We didn't get going until 1. We decided to skip the Reiget museum and headed straight for the Anne frank house. It was pretty cool to see where they all lived and hear the story again. Amber bought he book.

We spent the rest of he day shopping. Amber wants me to tell you about her jeans that she got. They were for teenagers and they fit her, short legs and all. And they we on sale. We bought a few other things as well, some more cool underwear, because underwear in Canada is either boring or super expensive. A sweater for amber and some souvenirs for our nephews and friends.

We went back and packed our suitcase and calculated how much we spent, so we could tell customs on our way back into Canada.

It was late but we headed back out for dinner. The first place we wanted to go to was open but heir kitchen was closed, so we headed down a side street and found a Dutch cuisine, place where we could get crockets. We had a nice dinner there. We walked back in the dark and saw the lights at night.

We headed to bed, we needed to be up early he next morning to catch our flight.

A great end to an amazing trip.

with Uncle Perry

Trevor and Amber — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We arrived with uncle Perry on Friday morning and came by train from Aunty Theresa's house. Once we arrived we took the car and went to Utrecht for some lunch(we had Krotten or crouqhettes mmmm my favorite) and climbed the huge dome of the church. This church is the tallest church in the Netherlands and reached something like 112 meters 95 of which we climbed. It was really interesting to see the bell fry and see how the bells work. This church had two sets of bells the first set was a set of 14 bells that take a large number of people to work them, i believe these bells only ring for special occasions such as new years, christmas and special dutch holidays. The second set of bells are for the carillon and there are about 50 (according to wikipedia) these bells are hooked up to various pullys to play music and twice a week a 70 year old man climbs all the stairs to play songs. From the top of the tower we could pretty much see all of the Netherlands, we saw Amsterdam, Rotterdam, DenHaag and even some windturbines all the way near Spakenburg it was beautiful.

We walked around Utrecht for a while before heading to a little community near Amersfoot to see a type of experiment relating to house styles, it was nice to see many differnt styles of houses in one community instead of the cookie cutter styles you typically see at home and in Europe, especially in Europe houses are often under strict regulations to look a certain way in a certain country for example a house in Austria has to look Austrian.

After some driving we headed back to the house and had dinner which coincidently happened to be my favorite dutch meal (i didn't even ask for it) Potatoes mixed with endive and bacon and meatballs. I just realized that i have never talked so much about the food we have eaten until we got to Holland I guess it is so nice to eat some familiar things and home cooked meals.

On saturday we went to the market in Spakenburg where we also got to see some old oak wood ships and then went to a steam mill where we got to see how they get the water off the farmland and into the lake, it was really interesting. After lunch we did some more driving and went to Harderwyk to see the old town and did some leisurly shopping. My uncle took us to see his new house which he is renovating before he moves in in July, it was a really nice old house with a huge garden and lots of windows. Then we headed back for some coffee, relaxed until dinner and after dinner watched a movie. It is so nice to relax and do normal things and eat normal things that we would at home.

Sunday was a good day too we got up and went for a walk to see where an underground hideout once was for some people during the war, we then went for coffee and pie and then headed to an old concentration camp, it was interesting to see how the camp was different from the one we went to in Germany, they had some nice memorials there.

After lunch my Uncle John and Aunt Harma came to visit until dinner. It was so nice to see all my family and we got to hear about their trip they were just returning from in southern France. After dinner we relaxed and went for a walk before packing our bags to head for Amsterdam.

The Netherlands!

Trevor and Amber — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We caught metro to termini station to catch the shuttle to airport. the Line was huge so we were a little panicked that we wouldn't get on a bus in time to make our flight. We met three girls from the Netherlands who were on the same flight and talked with them while waiting for the bus and then while waiting for the airplane. It was so nice to meet some girls the same age, they taught me how to count to 20 (I make no promises about remembering though) once our plane arrived we caught a ride with the one girls dad to the train station as they had to drop two of the girls there anyway and then we headed to hoogeveen where my aunt was coming to pick us up. Our train did head for hoogeveen however we were on the wrong train and so it didn't stop at the station so we took it all the way to gronigen (about 45 min past) and had to get on another train to go back. I felt terrible because they had been waiting at the station for us when we went through the first time and hadn't had supper yet because they were waiting for us to arrive. We didn't finish supper until 10 but it was so good to have some home cooked Dutch food as Trevor said. We then headed for bed shortly after.

In the morning we lounged around and at about noon decided to go for a bike ride to Dedemsvaat where we also had some really good lunch. Trevor was very excited to find some stores with lens clothing and affordable prices and bought a pair of jeans and two shirts. We then headed back and relaxed until dinner.

After dinner my Aunt Theresa took us for a drive to the grocery store to pick up some traditional dutch treats that i wanted, i got all the things my opa and oma used to bring home. We then drove to see a windmill which is now a garden store where we tried on some wooden shoes (surprisingly comfortable and my aunt says many people wear them to work in the garden) we then drove around and looked at some houses and also drove by the house my mom lived in when she lived in holland many many many years ago (i am not trying to age her). It was a nice evening and a good relaxing day. Tomorrow we head for my uncle perry's house but more about that in the next post.

Berlin Day 2 (by Trevor)

Trevor and Amber — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Today we had a busy day planned. A were gong to get up early and line up to see the dome at Reitstagge (the german parliment). It is a huge dome in that overlooks the sessions, and it's free to the public. We wanted to beat the lines and get there early. We didn't and had to wait for about an hour and a half, they told us it would be only an hour. We got in finally, and headed up. It was cool when you first got in, there was a central columns covered in mirrors, all at different angles, put all pointing down towards parliment but not directly. I thought as we were traveling up the staircase along the outsides all the mirrors would point directly into parliment, but they didn't and it was dissapointing. We climbed to the top and checked out the view. It wasn't worth the hour and a half wait.

We then decided to go back to the Holocost memorial, that we saw on the tour the day before. There was an information center below. It was very enlightening and sombering. At some points you think to yourself how could people be so cruel? It was hard to read all the stories, but they had some interestig ones from survivors and the hardships that they suffered.

After that we headed to see a church that had been bombed in WW2, but instead of tearing it down they left it as a reminder. That was cool, but the church that they built to replace it was even cooler. It had blue stain glass windows, cut into squares, all the way around the church.

After this, we were all pretty exhausted so we headed back to our hostel for a nap. When we got in the room, there was a pair of blank panties hanging on the ladder to go up to my bed. And they weren't Ambers. They must have been by the lockers and the cleaning lady put them their, but there was another girl staying in the room, so we moved them to her side. Below her bed, there was an Irish guy, so for good measure we made sure he could see them, you never know they might be his.

We then headed for dinner and we ate outsite, even though it was 10 degrees, because they had heatlamps and blankets, quite ammusing. As we were leavong dinner We saw a bachelorette selling condoms, again quite ammusing.

After dinner we made our way back and called it a night. By this time the panties were placed on my moms bed, so obviously no ones and we just through them out.

Rome Days 2 and 3 by Amber

Trevor and Amber — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Our morning started with a hunt for a company to take us on a guided bike tour through Rome, sounds easy I know but it kind of felt like a wild goose hunt but we eventually found one and booked it for tomorrow morning.
We then headed for the colleseam, it is absolutly amazing to see a building standing that is almost 2000 years old. it was so hot that we didnt go to the other ruins in the area (which we kinda regretted the next day but what can you do) we walked around for what seemed like forever looking at other buildings including a huge white memorial building, and the government buildings, we then got some ice cream so we could use the washroom and found out they didn't have one. We decided to walk to the pantheon and we were astonished to see the number of police officers along the street as well as what looked like riot police in huge vehicles, we thought it must be normal but you'll see why in a couple paragraphs why it wasnt normal.

We got to the pantheon but there was a service going and so they wouldnt let us in, we waited about an hour before they told us to come back in an hour and a half at 6pm when the service was done, so naturally we did some shopping and had some drinks and went back at about 6:30 where we waited another half an hour before he told us it would now be closed for the day and to come back tomorrow. How annoying that mass can't end on time.

As we were walking back to the metro line we noticed there was a parade and thought we should go around, after going to another street we still hit the parade and Trevor for some reason thought we should walk along it, going the oppostie direction. It was a gay pride parade which was very interesting to see and also slightly disturbing, not because it was a gay pride parade but more how some of the people were dressed for example topless women with bathing suits painted on and men in very very little clothing, but the atmosphere was great and they were having so much fun i wanted to join them. At the end of the parade and along the streets was all the police officers and we finally understood why there was such a high police presence. (the next day on our bike tour our guide told us that is was predicted to be very tense because the week before two american tourists were beaten up so bad and ended up in the hospital because they were holding hands on the street)

Before we went back to our hostel we went to get some groceries to make dinner in the kitchen, it was the most intense shopping experience ever. After we had been in the store about 10 minutes they started yelling at us in Italian and we didn't understand so kept shopping as we didnt think were doing anything wrong finally he yelled at us in english (after we told him repeatedly we don't understand) that the store was closing and to go to the till RIGHT NOW, i was very scared and thought he might beat us up, but we still needed pasta noodels or what would be the point in cooking i quickly ran down an aisle and grabbed some while he chased us to the till. It was very intense!

On saturday night i woke up and thought by mistake we paid a 22€ cover charge to listen to the wildest party of the year When we thought we were paying for a bed in a hostel. The music and people were so loud at the bar right below our window from about midnight to 4am, I only heard them for about an hour and Trevor didn't wake up at all but it was so loud i thought i was in the bar.

In the morning we were up early to go on our bike tour already at 8am it was really hot but we got to see some nice ruins including the old Aquaducts which is how they used to get water into the city 2000 years ago, again it is amazing to see the genious of the artichecture and how well it has lasted even though they are no longer in use.

After going back to the hostel for some lunch we headed out to a Museam with many Bernini sculptures and a few paintings as well. Trevor and i decided our favorite type of art is sculptures so it was really amazing to see. After we relaxed on the grass in the shade and played with a little Jack Russell Terrier dog before deciding we better get somethingto eat and head to the Colleasum to see it all lit up at night.
We Ate a very late dinner at about 9 pm at the first place we found and it was worth it. Very good.

Went to the colleseam to see it at night with the lights on, and it was very disappointing as it was not even really lit up. A few spot light on the outisde and some yellow light on the first floor shining out and that was it. I ranted for a while and said i wanted to right the city and tell them how disappointed I was. I had expected the whole Colleasum to have lights shining out from the arches. We then headed back feeling very hot and tired, ready to go to bed.

Vatican City and final day in Rome (by Trevor)

Trevor and Amber — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Our last day in Rome was a full one. We got up early to head to the Vatican, it opened at 8:30 so we wanted to be there by 8, so our plan was to leave by 7:30. Well, we didnt end up leaving until 8 and we decided to take the bus, because our hostel employee guy, Justin, said that it was faster than the metro, and that it would only take 20 minutes. So we jumped on the bus, and then we hit rushhour traffic, maybe we should have considered that? So the bus took 45 minutes, but it was air conditioned, so it wasnt that bad, even when it was stuffed full of people.

We got to the vatican and there was a huge line outside, but it went really quick, because we got there right after it opened. We were amazed at the efficiency that they pumped tourists into the place. We were through the line in 10 minutes, then going through security, getting our tickets, getting our audioguides, and entering the museum, all that only took another 5.

The vatican museum was pretty cool, we saw a mummified mummy, that was pretty cool, and tonnes of cool statues, but architecture still takes the cake on being the most impressive. We were a little bit astounded at the amount of egyptian materials that the vatican posseses, especially those related to "idols and gods".

I was a little mad at myself, about 5 minutes into the vatican, our camera battery flashed "low", why in the world didnt i charge it? I realized after that i hadn't checked it at all in the last 5 days in Rome. So i couldnt take very many pictures.

The Sistine Chapel did live up to the hype, when we walked in, it just hits you like nothing else. I don't think Amber felt quite like that, but she did think it was cool. We loved how the paintings on the roof have so much dimension, and they just jump out at you, and how you can tell that the roof if curved, but cant determine its exact shape because of the paintings.

After the Vatican Museum, we went to check out St. Peter's Square and Basillica. Again the square was huge and alot to take in, very impressive. There was a long line to get into the Basillica, but they just pumped the people right through. The basillica was very impressive as well. Very orante, very beautiful. We loved the openness of it, especially around the alter, which is unusual.

There was 2 things that bothered me about the basillica.

1. Why was there not a single crucified Jesus anywhere on the alter? or anywhere in the church for that matter (that we could find)? Isn't that a requirement of all Catholic churches?
2. Why was there SO MANY statues of old dead Popes in the Basillica? It bothers me because it looks like the Popes are trying to "glorify themselves" by commisioning such extranvegant 20 foot tall statues.

After that we were so hot, it was 30+ in Rome again today. And we were hungry, we headed towards Castle St. Angelo and we stopped at one of the first places we saw. BAD idea! It was kinda overpriced, the pasta wasnt too bad, but i was kinda sick of that, so i got a hamburger. No big deal, except that it was 15 Euro and it was the biggest peice of crap of I've ever tasted. I was so grumpy after this, the waiter didnt help, he let our food sit on the counter, waiting for it to be brought to us, for 5 minutes, but what do i say? and its not like I cant tip him, tipping in Italy is automatically added to your bill, at a rate of 15%. So this jerk wad, got 5 euro from us, that he definalelty didnt deserve.

So i was uber grumpy when we left to go to Castle St. Angelo, we actually decided to check out this store that Amber wanted to go to first though. Amber was looking for a leather purse, but this place was way too overpriced, but right outside was just some guy selling guys shirts. And for the past 2 weeks, Ive been looking for a sleevless shirt, so that my arms and shoulders could actually get some sun. And this guy had some, and it was only 5 Euro, so i bought one! And then I went to rip the tag out because it was scratching me and I ripped the shirt! not too bad, we should be able to patch it up.

So finally we got to Castle St. Angelo and we toured around that. It was interesting, but dont do it on the same day as the Vatican, it will seem boring in comparison. But the one cool thing is that we got to go to the very top and look out over the city and see various things.

Next we headed to the Pantheon, because last time we were there, it was closed for a wedding (if Amber ever gets around to writing her blogs you would know that). It was pretty cool, the dome looked amazing, especially how the light traveled through it.

We were then in serious need of some Gellato. Amber looked up a place that was famous for it that was near by and we headed out. I got us lost, then Amber corrected our course, and then we ran into a protest. We think some people were on strike, but they we all kinda gathering and the police were there, but nothing was really happening. But we needed to go around a few blocks to get to this ice cream place.

We got there and I got an amazing 3 scoops, while amber settled for the double scoop. It was so delicious and messy (for me) because the ice cream was melting really fast and it got all over my hands, and i had to eat it quick, so i was sloppy and got it all over my face. Amber said i looked like a 5 year old and wanted to stand else where so she wouldnt been seen with me. I didnt care, my ice cream was delicious.

as we were getting ready to go, the protest started and we heard a lot of yelling, its a good thing we were going the other direction.

So we ended our day (our last day in Rome, and essentially traveling because we are staying with Ambers family in holland) with some shopping. we took an hour or so to go down this street which had a lot of stores. I got a pair of swin trunks (i couldnt try them on, and when i got the hostel and put them on, they are 1 size too big) and some bright blue underwear (i know you care) and Amber got a shirt and she bought a real Italian leather purse in a store, so she was really happy about that.

We headed back to the hostel, had our supper, packed our bags, showered. Then i wrote this blog, and I am going to bed.

Day Trip to Pompei (by Trevor)

Trevor and Amber — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We got up super early (6 am) to be at the train station by 7 to take the 3 hour train to Pompei. At 6 in the morning, it still felt like 25 C. Of course the window was shut again thanks to our favorite roommate.

We made it to Pompei and made our way to the 'old city' where the ruins were. the ruins were preserved bscause a volcano had erupted and burried the entire city. This bureied city was only discovered xx years ago. The city was over 2000 years old.

We didn't know at the time that we took the wrong train, we could have gotten on one that took us close to the entrance. So we walked about 20 minutes or so to the site. We got our tickets, no line great, and entered but we wanted audio guides. But the lady told us that hey are on at the other gate. We had a map, but it took us a good 10 minutes to find out where we were, and then we realized that we needed to walk across the entire site (20 mintues) to get to the main entrance to get an audio guide.

So we were annoyed, and it was hot, but when we finally got there, there was a huge line for tickets, so it was kinda good hat we had our and walked all he way across.

We spent about 3 hours exploring he cite. The coolest things we saw where:
1. Bodies that were in the act of drying, hands raised in surprise including facial experessions. These bodies were made from casts that were made when hey were discovered. The ash had burried and preserved them exactly how they were when the volcano erupted.
2. A old theater, this was pretty cool.
3. Cool roads made of big cobblestone and the giant stones used as crosswalks.
4. Paintings on the walls and mosaic tiles on the floors, that have been amazingly preserved, many with bright colours still.
5.. My favourite was the town brothel. Complete with; beds made of stone includig the pillow, erotic picuters on the walls dipicting various sexual positions, and engraving in the walls about complaints of vineral disieases.

It was so hot we barely made it 3 hours, although we could have spent another 3 because the town itself was huge. We took the right train back to Naples, so we didn't need to walk back to the station in 'new Pompei' and found a train back to Rome. We ate our leftover pasta that we had cooked the other night and went to bed early preparing for our day tomorrow at the Vatican.

We had one good surprise and that was the girl who kept closing he window has finally left! Yeah!

1st Day in Rome (by Trevor)

Trevor and Amber — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This has started as the worst day of our trip so far.

We woke up and packed no problem and headed for the station. But first we wanted to take out cash. So Amber went to the machine, but it only took credit cards and we didn't want to do a cash advance. Meanwhile I was lookin at the departure board and the only times to La Spezia were 5 minutes ago and an hour from then, even though the sheet that we got the day before said there would be 4 that hour. A train pulled up on the other side of the tracks (not the directio we wanted) but Amber heard someone say that that was actually the train, so we ran, underneath the tracks and back up and jumped on the train and found a seat. I asked the ticket checker right beforen we got on to make sure it was going to La Spezia. Because we were running we didn't get a chance to fill in the dates on our dates on our Eurorail pass, I wasn't even sure what he date was and my iPod was in the bag. So when the ticket lady came around, I asked her why the date was, and unlike of the 13 other times we rode the train before, instead of telling us the date she said "now I have to fine you" and took our passes. She tried to explain that we have to fill it out BEFORE we get on the train or it's a 50 euro fine. (our ride to LaSpezia was only 10 montes). I tried to explain that we never had to do that before and that we ran for the train (she was the agent I asked about the driection) and that we just didn't know the date, and that we were catching another train to Rome, so I obviously wasn't trying to get away with a free ride, I even showed the ticket, but she didn't care. A decent human being would have cut us some slack, we were just doing what we did the previous 13 times. She told us 50 euro or she has to call the police. We had no money of course because if the bank machine. She told us to go ask people who were getting off at that stop to borrow money, by this time it's 5 minutes away. I asked her twice the amount 50 of 15 because of the accent. I thought twice she said 15 EACH. So I went in one direction and amber went in the other trying to ask people, of course to them it sounds like a scam, people just shook their head at me, or didn't speak English. I went throguh everyone of the two cars ahead of me with no luck and amber had none either. By then the train was pulling into the station, so she said 10 Euro and we didn't even have that much. I was furious by then, stupid lady on a power trip, it's not like didn't have a ticket and were scamming the train. Finally a couple, that amber talked to asked if we got it all sorted out, we said no they were going to call the police and thenthe said they had cash. So we paid the lady and she wrote us a ticket and gave our passes back. Now that we had he passes back in our hands and we were off the train, I told the lady that she didn't have a soul and thanked her for being on the power trip that she felt she needed to be on, etc. etc. (I left out a few obsenaties). Finally Amber got me to shut up, but I had every right to yell at her, they weren't going to call the police now. She totally ruined my day! I don't actually care about the money, that just how much it costs to stay 1 night anywhere. It was the power that she was dangling over us and her refusal to even try to understand that the previous times we did it exactly like that, wrote he date in in front of the conducter. Amber went with the nice lady who bailed us out to get some money to pay her back ans i stayed with the luggage and the hsiband. He was trying to make small talk, but I hate that in the best of situations, but I tried since they bailed us out. Finally they came back and We still hadn't eaten, but I was too angry to eat, so we just waited for our next train.

On this train, we got to our cabin and it was full with 6 people inhere, but whatever if there is no seats then that's fine. after a few hours I asked the ticket agent if there was a resuraumt car, he said yup car 3, we were on 9, so I made my way down there. It took 10 minutes and along the way I passed at least 3 cars that there was no one in, stupid train company, let's cram eveyrone Together when there are open cars everywhere. I got to the end of the train and there was no resturaunt car, thanks for wasting my time buddy, and I walked all the way back. Then another ticket guy asked me for my ticket, of course amber had it, and it had already been checked twice, I am surprised he didn't escort me back to check judging by the compentense of these Italian ticket agents.

There was also an agent in Venice that wanted to check our ticket as the train was coming to a stop and we were standing (again it was already necked twice). More people were just getting back on, he would just have to check everyone again then. They seem to be lacking some basic logic and the abilty to reason.

Finally we got to Rome. No shortages of problems after that, but nothing that disasterous. So we went and took out money, the machine only gave us 50s but wewere getting our metro pass, so no problem. We ant down to purchase it and there was no people only machines and the machines only gave a maximum of 4 euro change, so we walked all the way back upstairs to buy ice cream to get change. Finally we get on the metro and get to our stop for our hostel. And wow we get off the metro and we are in the sketchiest of areas. Nothing looked dangerous, but very dirty, very bare, but we decided to only pay for 2 nights and see how it goes.

The place seemed decent enough, it was hot, no a/c, but it had a kitchen and it was 2/3 the price of other hostels.

So we got settled and then headed out to find hue tourist information. It was close to the train station. So we headed back there and followed the signs (and I had the address) and it was no where to be found. We walked around the block twice. So finally we were dying of thirst so we ant to this cafe. We asked about the tourist place, they said oh yeah they moved it, it's now down this other street. Great, stupid city, take down the signs then.

So we followed our new directions to the place and guess what? They weren't right either. So we ask another guy and he said "1 euro and I'll tell you where it is". NO. "20 cents". NO. And then he told us anyway, it was just a few more blocks.

The tourist info only had a bunch of useless info, well the museums hours where good, but we wanted brouchures for tour companies and they didn't have anything, which kind of sucked.

So we headed back towards the metro and somehow Went through this huge long tunnel and we ended up at the "Fontana di Trevi".

It was packed with people. I remember doing a puzzle of it when I was younger, I looked it up for our trip and I thought it was in Lyon, which we never got to see, so I am glad that it was in Rome. We took picuters from a few different angles and then made our way to the bottom for the money shot. I had given the camera to Amber and turned my back to the fountain. I had my knees pressed up aginst the edge and ... ooops, up came my feet, I had slipped in the water on the marble, and nearly fell into he fountain. Luckily my butt caught the edge and I only ended up with a wet bottom. But how cool would it have been if I, Trevor -> (shortened to Trev) -> (Italianized by adding an i) to Trevi fell in the "Fontana di Trevi", I kinda wish it did happen.

We were starving so we ate at this super classy place called McDonalds. It made us feel a little like home.

Next we actually made our way to a metro stop and made it to Plaza del popolo, which was the plan in he first place. The Plaza would have been very nice, great statues, but we couldnt see them because of this ginormius stage they were setting up. And there were rainbows all over it. It seems hat Pride week had followed us from Zurich to Rome. Here we were bombarded by street guys apparently giving away roses for free. We of course waved them off, but I did overhear girls and they didn't pay anything, so we were a little confused.

So we walked to the Spanish steps, and we were totally unimpressed. From the street and from the top you couldn't even see the whole thing, so we just walked up them, sat for a while and that was it. We did come to the conclusion that these rose guys (thy were everywhere here too) were litterally trying to woo the female tourists, they obviously didn't see me as a threat.

So we went back to ridicuously hot room, found out that there was a bar right outside our window, how awesome is that when you need to sleep with the window open. So the bar started playing music around midnight and ended around 3 or 4. Thank God for good ear plugs, I slept ok, but Amber had a rough night. We were also super ticked because after the bar had stopped playing music, these people had come back from the bar and it was still smokin hot in the room and this girl shuts off the fan and closes the window. Everyone else is sleeping without covers and you close the window, dont be so inconsiderate, so I opened it when I woke up.

That was the end of our "most adventerous" day in Europe.

Cinque Terra (by Trevor)

Trevor and Amber — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We were told by a few different people that we should come here. It wasn't on our original list, but we are really glad we came.

We left Venice, early Wednesday morning. I thought I had calculated enough time for us to get to the train station, but first our water bus was late (they were never on schedule) so even once it did come, I was constantly checking the time, becauce I didn't believe we were going to make it. But we made it to the train, only a few minutes before it left, but we made it.

So we rode to Florence and had to catch a regional train to La Spezia were we could transfer again to Riomoragarrie. At the train station Amber found a prarmacy and got some cream for her hives, they were driving her nuts and rapidly multiplying. We rode to La Spezia in a getto train, it was pretty run down and it was so hot so we had to ride with the windows open. The train to Riomorgeria was interesting too, we had to go through a few tunnels for mintues at a time, no big deal except for our train and the tunnel had no ligths, so we were in complete darkness, pitch black!

We got to our hostel and the guy led us to our room. We had a primo location, our building and our room is right on the water, so we had an absolutly amazing view of the ocean. The only good thing about the hostel was the view, other than that things were scetchy:
1. There was a washer, so that was cool, but Amber had to open it with a spoon and it electicuted (shocked) me the next day.
2. We stayed in a 6 bed room, 2 bunk beds and a double bed in a seperate room, seperated by a frnch door with no glass inthe middle, so we just stepped through the door without opening it.
3. There was a fridge in the room, great except for it wasn't and couldn't be plugged in because the plugs were not the same as the outlet.
4. There was dried seaweed hung on the wall as decoration.
5. There was a fan in our room that didn't work because he outlet that was supposed to be there, just had random wires sticking out of it.
6. The stairs up to our room (3rd floor) were super steep and dark and the "doorbells" to people's apartments were right beside the light switches with no indication of what was what.
7. The curtains are made of tulle.

Once we got there, we headed right for the beach (not sand, more like huge boulders). We went swimming in the ocean (very cold and salty but refreshing) and then laid on the rocks for a while. Once we had enough sun, we did some laundry and then headed into town. It only took like 3 minutes to walk from one end to the other, (very small, only 1 street). We picked up some Coke and then had a bite to eat. Then we ended the day by sitting of the rocks, drinking rum and coke, watching the sunset.

We went back to our hostel and we talked with our roommates for a couple of hours and it was the first time I actually enjoyed talking to people this entire trip (other than amber, I always enjoy talking to her) I usually leave the talking to Amber.

The next morning, we were hitting the trail! The biggest draw of CinqueTerra is the hiking paths that connect these 5 towns which all lie on the top of cliffs that sit high above the ocean. The hike is supposed to take 5 hours and cover 9 km of trails. The trails were built by farmers to get to their crops which were built on terraces.

So we headed out around 9 and headed for the train station. We were taking the train to the last town and doing the hike in reverse for 2 reasons:
1. So that we would end in the town we were staying in and could jump right in the ocean and not have to get on a train.
2. So that we could do the hardest part first, while we had the energy, otherwise we would be tired and dreading the end.

We got to the train station and realized the next train wasn't for a half hour or so, so we didn't get there until 10 and then there was a market in the town, so we didn't get on the train until 11.

We started with the hardest part, basically straight up steep stairs for 30 minutes. After that I was already drenched,Amber was glistening. So we hiked some more, most uphill but some downhill for the hour or so, until we got to the second town. We were relieved that half the hard part (2 km) was behind us, but we were starving. So we got some pizza on foccasia bread, with pesto.

The next 3 km only took us an hour and twenty mintues. But was almost as trencherious as the first, but the views were just as beautiful. We stopped for more food and most importantly gellato!

We found our way backto the trail and did the last 4 km. It was basically flat but not nearly as interesting, but we wernt complaining. There was a few places that we could have hiked down to a beach, but Amber didn't want to go because:
1. We would have to hike back up (20 minutes)
2. They were nude beaches

I was game but I couldn't convince Amber. So we made it home and headed straight for the rocks to go swimming. The water was a lot rougher than it was the day before, but I told amber that she needed to jump in anyway because I wanted to film it, it took three minutes to finally jump. (A side note to Mom, on the way back to put the camera on the rocks, before I jumped in the water too, I found a 5 cent Euro barely hanging onto a rock.) we didn't stay in the water very long so we climbed out. Apparently I cut my foot on the rock, because I was standing in blood, it was just a scrape (or 4) so it stopped right away. After Amber took a video of me doing a cannon ball, we made our way over to some other rocks that we could lay on. We found a good rock, but every so often it was get misted from the water crashing into the rocks. We were just about ready to go when Amber said "today would be a good day to get a picture of a big wave hitting the rocks", then 2 seconds later out of no where came a big wave and splashed us. Thanks Amber.

We headed in to shower, but had to wait, so we had really really short showers. Then headed out to dinner.

Dinner was interesting. We ordered pasta, amber's had shrimp in it, mine had some sort of fish. Both tasted very good but where a pain in the butt to eat. Amber said "if I find an eye in my food ..." and her concern was valid because her prawns where whole prawns, including bodies, claws, and their heads with their beady little eyes. My pasta had fish bones in it, so they were sharp and cut your mouth if you didn't see them.

Throughout dinner, people were stopping beside/below us to look at this cat who was lying in a boat. Probably 6 couples stopped and made cooing noises. Then Amber said "I am the cat, I am the devil" in a creepy voice and the guy behind Amber sneezed and Amber jumped so high, nearly screamed. I think she thought it was the cat who made the noise, either way it was hilarious.

We went back to the room and packed our bags and fiured out what time we were leaving and called it a night. as we were lying in bed, our new roommates tried to come in. Insay tried becuase they couldn't figure out the door, even though they had already had trouble with it and I showed them How to open it. They litteraly took 3 minutes to unlock it, because they kept locking it. Aaah some people.

Venice (by Amber)

Trevor and Amber — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Well we have arrived in Venice or Venezia and it truly is beautiful. It is such an odd concept to see so many buildings so close to the water and I can't help but to think what happens if the water level rises even slightly. I did read In The book that flooding is a common occurance. As we walked around we thought of tony(my step dad) and how much he would truly love it here as having a boat seems to be more beneficial than a car. Our hotel is located on one of the islands just outside of venice called lido and to get back and forth there is basically a boat bus which has about 30 stops within and surrounding Venice.

When we got here we Found our way to our hotel and then quickly walked across the island to the beach before it got to cool and then we got some dinner and opened our delicious bottle of wine from the wine tour in Vienna.

When I woke up this morning I had what I thought were a few mosquito bites on my face and wished we wouldn't have left the window open; but as the day progressed Trevor told me I had about 10 marks on my face now and they were spreading to my arms. I am not sure what these hives are caused from but they have quickly spread across my arms and back and are incredibly itchy. The worst part of it though is that I don't know what caused it and therefore can't help prevent it from getting worse. Oh what fun!

Anyway we had a beautiful day today just meandering through the city, which we nearly walked across. We inquired about a gondola ride but at 80€ for a "long ride" we decided to pass. I am a little disappointed to co e to Venice and not experience this but I will get over it.

Afternour long walk through the city I wanted a nap so we decided to head to this large park which like many "parks" in Europe was not really what we would consider a park. What we found was various pavilions from different countries with art displays which we decided might be interesting and coughed up some money. To highligh the Canadian pavillion was less than exciting and featured three large screens depicting different scenes. The first a couple skating in a busy city outdoor rink, the second a slow moving panning camera from a highrise building, and the third two pigeons sitting on a steaming sewer drain while a man folds sleeping bags on the street. The most interesting pavillion by far was Russia with a haunted house, a hundred or so hanging glass balls with tiny pictures in them,2 angel sculptures one with crude oil flowing through it the other with human blood, and more that are too difficult to explain.

After our art tour I was still in need of a nap so we headed for our hotel to drop our stuff and then back to the beach on our way back we grabbed a massive pizza and ate in our room.

All in all a beautiful day aside from my face which is swollen with hives and really itchy.

Munich Day 3 (Amber)

Trevor and Amber — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We got up early this morning to head up to one of the most visited tourist attractions in Munich although I wouldn't really say it is in Munich as it was a 2 hour train ride to get there. Our destination, the neuschwanstein palace which will from now on in this entry be referred to as the palace. We decided that becAuse the palace was so far away to take a tour so we didn't have to figure out how to get there. The tour was good although the guide could have been better, I was a little disappointed that he didn't provide the group with more information about the palace or the area he seemed to be more of a babysitter ensuring we got to the palace on time. The palace and sights were beautiful and it truly looked like a fairy tale castle from Cinderella or sleeping beauty. Ludwig II who built the castle was a bachelour and it showed in the décor which understandably made this trevors favorite palace. The rooms were decorated in dark wood paneling and the lack of floral prints or a womens touch which I must agree was refreshing.

After we got back to Munich we booked our hotel for Zurich and Venice and then headed to the movie cafe so I could get some popcorn which I crave almost daily. While we ate our popcorn and other north American appetizers (nachos and wings) this little yorkie wandered into the cafe and ate popcorn off the floor while his owner sat outside unaware of where his dog was. Just goes to show dogs in Europe are a) better trained and b) allowed to go wherever they want without anyone blinking an eye.

Zurich

Trevor and Amber — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Today was the final (half) day with my Mom.

We took a 6 hour train ride to Zurich and then another train to the Airport where my Mom could take the shuttle to her hotel. We got there and saw Mom off after one final good-bye. We hope she is going to enjoy her week long bus tour of Switzerland just as much as we have enjoyed the last 2 weeks.

Amber and I went back to he train station to book our tickets to Venice! Normally the reservation fee for a trip is about 9 euro each person which is about $15. For reasons that we still haven't figured out, the reservation to get out of here was about 3 times as much! It is was it is though, to leave we needed to pay about $90.

Amber and I had booked our hotel, the previous night, again the cheapest we could find was in the $120 range. so be warned, don't come to Switzerland unless you have lots of money.

On our way to he hotel, we saw a great number of rainbow flags. We checked out the city guide and sure enough, the final day of their pride month festival is today. We just hope that people aren't going to be too roudy later.

We got to our hotel and dropped our bags off and headed for dinner. The chespest thing around was a pizza for about $25, so a split that. Just as we finished eating it started to rain, but cleared up shortly. So we headed back out, even though we were feeling super lazy.

We toured around the 'old town' just having fun and taking random pictures. We really wanted ice cream but we got back to our hotel wihout finding any, so we decided to go 1 block further and low and behold, there was 1 right there. It was $10 well spent. We also saw a sign for a cinema, Amber said "I don't think that hey will be playing any movies in English", but I was curious so we checked out what was playing. We never made in because we very quickly realized that it was a "different type" of cinema, an X rated cinema. Needless to say, we didn't go see a movie that night.

We went back to our room and actualy got to watch some CNN in English. So were happy about that.

Munich Day 2 (Brenda)

Trevor and Amber — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We visited the Dachau memorial centre, not to be called a concentration camp, in order to remember the victims, not to glorify anything that happened there. We did a guided tour, with a young man who was very well read on the subject. We saw the original intake building, some buildings there are original, some reproductions. The torture areas had been removed, but there was still panels describing techniques etc. The bunkers were stark, scary almost, cannot even imagine the kind of things that go on there. We saw three different kinds of sleeping quarters, the bunks had shelves and lockers, just to remind the prisoners they had no possesions to put in them. Psychological terror, no hands allowed in pockets but they still sewed in pockets, faces down, peak on cap so a shadow will fall on the face. do not get the attention of the guards. how the uniforms were marked - no tattoos there.
After that exhausting experience, which everyone should visit at least once, we chilled in the park, reading our books upon returning to the city. Next, we decided to participate in the Pub Challenge, to meet new people and see 4 joints in town. I was the oldest on that gig too! We started out by drinking a free beer in the Train Station and then on the UBahn and then headed to the famous Hofbrahaus, after that was some beer in a market where we got some bratwurst and a giant pretzel. On our way to the next place Amber did a dance with some of the other girls around the maypole to impress the boys! The next place was another large park filled with benches all 30 of us played some kind of drinking game where you slap the table, the details of that game are a little fuzy but it was fun until it dwindled. Next was off the last stop for our last free beer (which none of us finished) and a gross shot of Jagermister, then off to bed with us.

Munich Day 1 (Trevor)

Trevor and Amber — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We left Salzburg for Munich on Thursday morning, we wanted to spend 3 full days in Munich because there is lots to do. So we got to the train around 930 and arrived in Munich around 1130. There was a free walking tour leaving at 1 so we wanted to get there for that. So we walked to our hostel (in stead of trying to figure out the metro right away) and then made our way to Marienplatz, the center of the old town for our tour. These walking tours have been a great way to see the city and actually learn about the building as opposed to just seeing them. You just tip at the end, so if they suck then so does their tip, so far they have been great.

So we toured around Munich learning various things, my favorites was the stories about the main beer hall in town, because I like beer ... a lot.

After the tour we went to a place that served all you can eat stew, and it was delicious, we of course, washed it down with a beer.

Then we were a bunch a bums and decided to take a 2 hour nap. Still full from our stew, we didn't want dinner, but wanted some pub food, so mom looked up a place in her travel book and we headed out.

We got there and had to go up to the second floor, we could hear the accordian from he street and it only got louder. This place only had about 6 or 7 tables and a bar and it was jammed with people, except for a little table, just big enough for the three of us. We were right next to the accordian player, the place was so small that everyone was really next to him. He was blaring away something in German and occasionlly snorting like a pig and yodeling , so we had no idea, but everyone was lauging and singing along, it was awesome. Mom ordered us some food, and the German waitress said soemthing to her friends and hey all lauged at us. We had sauseges and a large salad (we were thankful for vegtables, we hadn't seen them in a while). There was also a very drunk guy, accross from us, who kept feeling the need to talk to us, even though we were completly clueless. He was also pulling random ladies up to polka on the dance floor (not really a designated area, just a 2 by 3 foot gap in front of the accordian player), amber and I were secretly hoping he would drag mom up, we even tried to get his attention for him to try. We then had some amazing apple strudell and then called it a night. We can definatly say we experienced a Authentic German Pub.

Salzburg (Amber)

Trevor and Amber — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

What an absolutly beautiful country austria is! We got up early (5 am) and caught the train from Vienna to Salzburg we each slept a little but I took some time to look out the window of the train to admire this beautiful country God created. the rolling hills and farmland touched here and there with quaint farm houses as well as beautiful old style mansions. The fields are surrounded with large hills that slowly get bigger and turn into huge mountains as we near Salzburg. Along the tracks there are some of the tallest and greenest trees I have ever seen.

When we got to salzburg we quickly found our hostel, left our bags and went to tour the old town and shopping district and then headed back to shower and get ready for our incredibly exciting Sound of Music tour. As cheesy as it sounds is how cheesy the guide made it but it was still nice to see some of the places where my favorite movie growing up was filmed, as well it was a nice way to see the countryside as we did drive about 1/2 hour out of salzburg to see some of the places. At our hostel before we left for the tour we also met this lady who was traveling before returning home to he usa she was working with the peace core to educate women about human trafficking, it was so great to meet her and talk to her about it as I am very passionate about the a21 campaign.

After the tour we headed for the beer gardens to see how and where the locals drink. It was pretty neat, there was a big wood paneled room with large tables and dim lighting it was fairly full of people. Outside the large hall room they had cafeteria style food stalls each with a different kind of food, one with meat, one with bread, one with salad etc. There was a whole seperate room dedicated to where you get your huge 1L of beer. It was pretty good the 3 of us had all our food and beer for about 30€.

Salzburg is a beautiful city with so much to see it is still hard to believe sometimes that we are actually doing this trip and getting to see and eperience so many amazing things. On our way home from
the beer garden I said that I would have never fathomed as a kid while watching the sound of music that I would ever get to be here and have this amazing opportunity.

Vienna Wine Tour (by Brenda)

Trevor and Amber — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The day we arrived in Vienna, we had stopped at the information shack, and discovered that there was a wine tour the next day, so for something different, we decided to go. So we met up with the guide and 4 girls from USA, they had missed the tour the day before. The tour guide directed us to a train, the conductor came to check the tickets and we were on the wrong train!! So off at a platform, in the middle of nowhere about 15 minutes from Vienna, catch the train back to the original station and get the correct one. So now, we are about an hour late, but what can you do. We arrive at a small village northwest of Vienna, it is quaint and down-home. We stop at the first place, taste 3 different wines, as the guide Adam teaches us how to swish and smell and breathe, while we are drinking. THEN, we climb onto bikes (pedal variety at least, we could have been impaired) for a leisurely bike ride through the valley along the Danube River. The river was quite high, they have had lots of rain. The vines were growing high on the hills, up as far as the eye could see. The vines were protected by the old foundations from houses, that the Romans had put there in the early 1100s. The stones also help reflect the sunlight and retain the heat in the evenings. Between admiring the scenery, there was intermittent rain showers, so now we are riding bikes with bright yellow ponchos. We rode to another house, where the barbeque was set up, Adam added 2 kinds of sausages and some schnitzel, had carried salads up and we had a feast and tasted another 4 wines from that local winery. The sun shone while we ate, it was a great picnic. After some time to regain our balance, we rode to a small village on the way back, wandered around and tasted some apricot schnapps, and bought some to bring home. It was a glorious day, the silence of the countryside was wonderful, and I spent the last mile just looking around and couldnt believe where I was. Aside, the 8 of us drank another 6 litres of wine on the train ride home, Amber and I stopped early, so you can imagine the rest of them. We had a late supper at the Mozart, a local popular restaurant. A fine day!!!

Berlin-Prague (Brenda

Trevor and Amber — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We got up early, made it to the station in the nick of time, we had been told reservations were not necessary, so we didn't. But when we got on the train and settled, turns out most people did have reserved seats, so we stood for 1/2 hour in the hallway and at the end of the carriage, being jostled around. We finally found 3 separate seats, but in the meantime, I had made friends with 4 Korean boys in the carriage, they did not speak much English, but we managed. At the next station,we were able to sit together. When we arrived in Prague, they do not use Euros, so off to the bank machine, get a 2000 Krowne note, which no one will make change for, and we are trying to buy a bus ticket to the hostel. Bus tickets cost 100 Krowne each, so finally done. The exchange rate is 25 Krowne to 1 Euro, hard to keep track in your head what you were spending. We made it to the Chili Hostel, after bumping the suitcases over mostly cobblestone streets.
We headed for the castle there (whatever name it was) so we hurried, it was closing at 5pm. It was also raining. We get to the station stop, and turns out we still had another 2000 metres, yes 2km to walk to the actual castle, so we went to find beer. So we wandered around some more, had goulash with dumplings ( and beer) for supper, came back to the hostel, did laundry, went for a nightcap, came home to bed. I am the oldest person at this hostel, could be all of their mother!!