how the hell did we do this before the internet?!

Wow. I'm so glad I've spent my last few days in Prague in front of a computer. I spent two FULL days researching and booking hotels/hostels for our 24-day extravaganza (which could actually be considered a 26-dayer, since we'll be shacking up in hotels on the nights before and after our friends' wedding). Two full days.

All said and done, we decided to spend an extra ~$10/per person per night to have a double room. $250 total to not wake up to drunkies, loud snoring or nekkid dorm dwellers? Count me in.

Now that I've wrapped up the bookings, I'll be blitzing Prague to do all the last-minute touristy things that I've put off for so long: paddle-boating on the Vltava, feeding ducks/geese, a beer garden, and a museum or two. Oh yeah, and one last trip to Pizzeria Kmotra. Because that's Czech cuisine.

Next project = packing. Ugh. Although it'll be much easier here, since all of my worldly possessions won't be at my fingertips, I do have a LOT to part with. Luckily, my Mom and the Stepdad will coincidentally be in Munich at the same time we are, and they're graciously taking a suitcase containing stuff labled I-can't-live-without-this-but-don't-want-to-schlep-it-through-nine-countries. Still, how does one accumulate so much crap!?!?!

only 3 more sleeps in Prague...

...and I'm sad. Sad all day. I always told Rob that I'd never want to live in a big city, like San Francisco. Before we got here, someone compared Prague to SF, saying that they were both big cities. I disagree. Prague, to me, feels smaller and is waaaaay more awesome than San Francisco. However, my trip here has created a new sense of city-dom, and I'm planning a few touristy trips to the City by the Bay when we get home. You know, to see if it's all it's cracked up to be...

I thought about ending this post with a list of the things I'm most excited to see, eat, drink, and do when I get home, but then I remembered that I've got 26 days of backpacking before any of those'll come true, so I may as well enjoy my time now. Home (God willing) will be there. Opportunities to galavant around the world don't pop up so often...

Oh, what the hell. Here's a smattering of things I'm looking forward to at home: seeing KaliLou, an iced coffee from Great Bear immediately followed by a Voodoo from BareFoot, sushi, an np3, annnnnnnd Target. (there are plenty more, but I don't want to go overboard...)

Since posts are more post-o-rific with a pic, here's a darling little shot for you:

I'm so growed up.

Austria...not Australia

hehe...I just liked this sign

April 22 - Wednesday
My Mom, the Stepdad and I hopped a Pendolino train to Vienna. I've been informed that a Pendolino train goes much faster than a regular ol' train and leans as it turns. Cool. My favorite part was the airline-esque service we got: sandwiches, drinks, and a Ho-Ho...whahoo!

After accidentally riding the tram without paying (whoops) and finding our teeny tiny hotel, we ventured out to check out a nearby cathedral. We also happened upon two of my favorite things: H&M and street beer. Sweet. I limited my time at H&M to save the co-travelers from misery, and we grabbed beers and a giant (albeit lackluster) pretzel from an outdoor stand to enjoy at a nearby picnic table. Let me tell you something about Viennese beer, my friends. The stuff'll hit you. Hard. Like, stand-up-and-think-you-might-fall-into-the-center-of-the-earth hard. After ONE beer. Thanks to my time in Prague, I'm well-practiced in beer drinking, and I swore that someone had roofied my drink.



I got to have my first ever weiner schnitzel shortly thereafter. While tasty, I'm not sure its something I'll end up craving (yeah, right...its fried meat, of COURSE I'll crave it). I learned a lot on this trip, like that weiner = Viennese in German. Yay!

April 23 - Thursday
My Mom and the Stepdad like to give me crap for avoiding the indoors of castles, museums, and the like. So, naturally, we spent most of Thursday indoors. I swear, I was getting hives. First up was the Lipizzaner Stallions, these awesome horses that are highly trained. In the olden days, I learned (see, full of learning!) that they were used in wars, since they were more agile than typical horses. Now, they perform for royalty/dignitaries/the public, and we caught one of their practices. Being the people-watcher that I am, I spent much of the time analyzing the strange Italian man that kept running back and forth in the stands, as well as the silly little Asian boy that stared at us as we walked by (so what did I do? Made a blowfish face back at him...hah!) Photos were 'strictly forbidden', but the Stepdad managed to take a few covert shots, you know, to prove we were there:

(note: previous 2 photos hijacked from the Stepdad...nice work, sir)

My time indoors was not up, however. We hit up the Treasury next, where they house the Austrian crown jewels. I like shiny stuff, so I was in. We had an audio guide thingy, so some of the stuff made sense. While I must give credit that we didn't spend all day in the place, I must also admit that I was ready to go after about 20 minutes.

yaaaay, I'm inside

ooooh...it sparkles
(note: glimmery pic pilfered from the Stepdad..gotta give credit where credit is due)

A mediocre lunch followed our tourings, capped off by an AMAZING dessert from Demel, a world-renowned pastry restaurant. They specialize in the sachertortchen, a chocolate dream on a fudge pillow. A rich chocolate cake cuddled in a thick, slightly carmelized fudge frosting. Heaven. And of course, I brought two back to Prague...duh.

(note: hunger inducing pic courtesy of the Stepdad)

We were pretty whooped at this point, so after a nap we headed out for some lazy-man's touring of the city: by tram. The tram took us near all of the cool touristy stuff, the Parliament building, the winter castle, a beautiful garden area, and a gas station! I haven't seen a gas station since we arrived in Prague! It was odd, because it looked nothing at all like the stations at home. It looked like a tabak (tobacco) stand with pumps...

notice the random ass HOUSE on the roof of Parliament?!? yeah, we couldn't figure it out either...

April 24 - Friday
Since Vienna's not all that big, and we accomplished much in our first two days, we set aside Friday for a leisurely tour of the Schonbrunn Palace, which has been called a 'mini-Versailles'. Again with the indoors. : ] Our tour was much more interesting (read: less traumatic and robot-filled) than our tour in Cesky Krumlov, but forty rooms was a bit more detail than I cared to see. The castle was pretty, with 24karat gold leaf adorning the walls and frescos galore, but the outdoor parts were much lovelier to me (read: much more outside).


We rode around the grounds in a little shuttle/train, and checked out a Gloriette (where the fancy people sometimes ate breakfast, I think) and the gardens. They had a labrinth cut into the shrubbery and a rad playground and a zoo (the world's oldest in fact)! We spent no less than three hours playing in the garden maze and wandering the animal exhibits.


April 25 - Saturday
My train was set to depart at 1pm, so we skipped the hotel's breakfast that day and headed toward an Aussie pub that served breakfast. Paired with a knock-you-on-your-face espresso, I was ready for some last-minute exploring...of H&M. We successfully tracked down a dress for me to wear to a wedding the day after we return to the States, and alllllllmost found a second one. On the train home, I was treated to a view of golden fields of mustard weed, green pastures, and nudists. Lucky for you, I only got pics of the fields:


Being the sweet boy that he is, Rob surprised me by meeting me at the train station, and I was happy to be back in Prague...even if it is only for the next three days. Time here has certainly flown by, and I'm currently trying to prep myself for 26 days on the road...!

what is it about a zoo that'll turn me into an eight year old...?

Among other things, we checked out the world's oldest zoo today...complete with running, skipping, Mom-I-wanna's, ice-cream, penguins, koalas, monkeys, pandas, and a few frisky giraffes.

I got a Discovery Channel experience firsthand today...feel lucky that I only posted this one. Apparently it's mating season for giraffes...ack!

I might be boring...but I'm damn lucky.

Although I'm currently in Vienna, I can't possibly begin to document all of the running around we've done. I just can't.

I'm exhausted, and my wit has flown out the window. I even tried to find some inspiration by checking in on some of my fave bloggers, but no dice. Typically when I stumble across new blog, I fall for it because it's fun and happy and hilarious. Today, I found a new blog to follow, although its not a sunshine and posies type of blog. I found the link on one of my photog's sites (actually the one that'll be shooting Lis & Lee's wedding!), and I started reading about a premature baby and the chronicles of her struggles. I checked it out because it reminded me of Sum's nephew Ryder, and the writing is amazing. I love the voice that my new blogstalking victim uses. Here's the link...and I do feel responsible for warning you that the little one recently passed away. It's odd to have zero connection to someone and to become enraptured by their story, but that's precisely what happened to me today...

Made me think: I am beyond lucky. I'm healthy, I'm happy, I'm traveling the world with my best friend, and although I enjoy sassing and bitching, I've really got nothing to complain about...nothing. Nada. Zilch.

My apologies for the downer of a post, but maybe it'll help us all focus on how rad our lives actually are, rather than what they could/would/should be. I know that sometimes I need a kick in the pants like that. I'll be back to my jolly ol' self in no time. I return to Prague on Saturday, so check back for a post on Sunday!

photos galore!

In the past two days of touristy goodness, I've taken approximately 450 pics. Whoa. We've blitzed Prague big time...we hit the castle, a church or two, Old Town Square, took a ride in a 1929 Ford, and have eaten and drank to our hearts' content...

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Vienna with my Mom and the Stepdad, and am looking forward to adding country number 10 to my list!

Here are a few of my fave pics from the last few days (I do have a whole mess to upload from today's adventure inside a church, but I'm exhausted...so there):

the sky was definitely cooperative this evening!

loved the clouds

on one of the little bridges on the castle side of town, there were lots of little locks hooked on the railing and barbed wire

spring came out of NOWHERE this last week...when we left for Budapest and Bratislava, there were lots of little buds on trees and plants and flowers, and we returned to lush green leaves on trees and gorgeous blooming flowers

I can't take credit for these, but they're effing AWESOME:

Mom's work...the Spanish Synagouge reflected in a glass o' Czech chardonnay - rad eye!

Stepdad's work...it was like 8:30pm. His camera = sick.

more of Stepdad's work...damn, I heart that camera

we have visitors!

My mom and stepdad are in Prague, and we had a very busy Sunday of doing touristy things. Since we plan to hit the ground running tomorrow, I may be out of commission for posting, but will be back in the game soon!

Here's proof that they're here:

planning our adventures from homebase, our apartment

my Mom, enjoying a trdlo (a.k.a. a bread-bracelet or a 'trdlneck')

By-ron's in the reflection...duh

Yay! They'll be in Prague until Wednesday, when I'll head to Vienna, Austria with them....lots of pics to ensue, I'm sure.

it's official - we're nuts!

We've nailed down our route for our 24-day extravaganza! Flights are booked, trains are ready to be boarded, and I'm saying adios to all of my money.
Here she is:

04.30 - Prague to Munich
05.01 - Munich
05.02 - Munich to Istanbul
05.03 - Istanbul
05.04 - Istanbul to Santorini
05.05 - Santorini
05.06 - Santorini
05.07 - Santorini to Athens
05.08 - Athens to Naples
05.09 - Pompeii & Mount Vesuvius
05.10 - Capri
05.11 - Capri/Naples to Rome
05.12 - Rome
05.13 - Rome to Siena
05.14 - Siena
05.15 - Siena to Venice
05.16 - Venice to Barcelona
05.17 - Barcelona
05.18 - Barcelona to Lisbon
05.19 - Lisbon
05.20 - Lisbon
05.21 - Lisbon to London
05.22 - London
05.23 - London to USA

Nine countries in 24 days...

The fun doesn't stop once we get home, either. We step off the plane at 2:30pm and head to a rehearsal dinner at 5:30pm ... Rob's in the wedding the next day! I think we're gonna be tired......

For visual folks like myself, check this out:


View 24-day extravaganza route in a larger map

bringin' it back to the old school...

...'cuz I'm an old fool, who's so cool.

I was poking around my photo folders on my laptop, and came across something I'd kinda forgotten about, a best-of folder of sorts. Its chock full o' some of my recent faves (recent equals pre-2008...I told you it was old school...):

Grama & Grampa

crush crush crush

Kellie's 21st birthday/pirate party - 2006

Guatemala - 2006

Lis & Lee...hah!

KaliLou! KaliLou! I love you, KaliLou!

Summer's birthday in SF - 2008

Neil Bonnet

Mom & Brian's wedding - 2006

PS: Summa, there are SO many pics missing from this post, like the kickball shitshow, or you falling out of a tree...those'll have to wait for a post that I'll dedicate to you. Like an ode. That word's weird.

happy Friday...here's what we did last weekend.

After a speedy, exhausting weekend, I've added two more countries to my growing list (even if there are no stamps in my passport to prove it...thanks, EU).

Friday - April 10th
Feeling like pro-travelers, we headed to the hlavni nadrazi train station to catch our train to Budapest. Feeling like pro-travelers, we sauntered up to the arrival/departure board. An icky feeling crept up when we didn't find our train on it, which was scheduled to depart in fifteen short minutes. After looking at our tickets once more, we felt like idiot-travelers once we realized we were at the WRONG station! We hauled ass down to the Metro and prayed that it could get us to the holesovice station with time to make a dash for our (unknown) platform. I may have leveled an old lady (accidentally!!!) and Rob definitely smashed some toes, but we sprinted up just in time...phew.

We arrived in Budapest around 11pm, and found our hostel without incident. Aside from the sketchiest rusty ol' subways imaginable (I really felt like I was starring in a horror film - green spooky light, shaky cars, screeching brakes, the whole nine), Budapest welcomed us warmly. This was my first experience in a dorm-style hostel, and overall it went quite well.

why is the subway station better lit during the day than at night?!?

Saturday - April 11th
I didn't know squat about Budapest before arriving, except that they had thermal baths. Um, yes please! After meandering around the city and a park or two, dipping my fingers in the Danube River, checking out the mile-long line at Parliament (head inside? nah, I'll pass, again...thanks), and eating delicious hummus and falafels, we made our way to the baths. Being Easter weekend, the city was deserted. We did find lots of scantily clad people at the thermal baths....people watching abounded.

the ATM literally spit out a 20,000HUF note (~$100USD), which naturally, no one would accept as payment...nice.

for 2800HUF ($10USD) admission, you can spend as long as you'd like in the warm pools and thermal baths. Rob LOVED the lazy river, and I loved that the water was warm and there weren't little kids around to pee in it!

walking through a park, I spotted this kid and decided to go paparazzi on him...

...so Rob decided to go all paparazzi on ME, and here's what he got.

The weird thing about where we stayed was that during the day, it was bright and clean and legit. As soon as the sun went down, though, the less savory side of society made its debut. I'm certain I witnessed both a drug deal and a hooker at work. It was really weird.

that's Parliament on the left and the castle on the right

Sunday - April 12th
We hit the Buda side of the city, the side with a castle and the citadel. If Pest was empty, its because everyone and their mother was at the Buda castle. Everyone. The castle was gorgeous, and the views were amazing. We walked along the Danube River and enjoyed the day before hopping on a train bound for Bratislava.

no trip is complete without a jumping pic. a jumping pic ON a bridge = win.

Bratislava is a big little city. It was super quiet since Easter was upon us, so we had a mellow afternoon. Dinner, my compliments to the Slovak Pub, was chicken and spinach pirogies and this gnocchi covered in smoked melty cheese and bacon. Heavy? Yup. It knocked us both right out...

Monday - April 13th
Sunshine = the urge to shop for me. Don't ask me why. Don't ask me why we spent 2 hours in one stupid store and I walked away with one shirt. Don't ask. Seriously. Just don't. : ]

Since the day was bright and sunny, it put us in the mood for some iced coffee. We found a cafe, and ordered iced coffee. We got an oddly thick concoction that tasted and felt like ground up coffee beans. The cups were only half full, but they did the trick. Coffee's different in Europe, though. I miss BF.

this guy rocked!

We'd heard about Devin Castle, some ancient castle ruins, and decided to check them out. They sat along the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers, and were pretty gorgeous.

if you click on this to blow it up, you can see a little doorway carved into the side of the cliff. this led the entire length of the castle underground, and was built for safe passage for the royal family if they were under attack. no ladder though...hmmmm. the towers to the left are called 'the nun' and 'the virgin'. now you know.

We met up with Rasto, an old friend of Rob's, and his girlfriend Silvia, for a drink that night, which was really fun. We'd all planned to go somewhere off the beaten path, but being Easter Monday (apparently also a big deal in Europe), lots of bars and cafes were closed.

Tuesday - April 14th
After breakfast and a bit of wandering about the big little city, we hopped on a train to head back to Prague. Luckily, there's only one station in Bratislava, so we couldn't possibly go to the wrong one! Our trip back was uneventful, and we were glad to be back in Prague...