It's been a while.

Well I don't really know where to start. I have been severely slacking with the updates. One big bummer is my camera. It seems that no one can fix it and I am beyond upset about it so I don't have any pictures from Prague to now. But here are some things and places I have visited...

Berlin. This is probably one of the most livable cities that I have been to thus far. The Germans just know how to do it and do it well. I really liked a lot about this city, from the people to the public transportation (I miss this in the US cities I have lived in). I met some really great natives in the city and got to taste some of the native life. Unfortunately the last days there I started to feel under the weather. The weather there probably contributed to my illnesses, rainy and cold. My last day there I went on a bike tour, surprise surprise! By far this is my favorite way to see a city and recommend it to anyone. However this may have been my worst experience on a tour because I started to feel crappy with cold sweats, a fever and extreme aching. So my 4 hour tour felt more like a 6 hour bike ride from hell. The guide could tell I was ill, but I stubbornly continued with the whole tour. Immediately after the tour I found my way to a drug store. This experience was kinda annoying. All I wanted to do was to go and grab a bottle of Tylenol and call it a day. Unfortunately you have to talk to a pharmacist about your symptoms before they give you something. I told him I needed some acetaminophen, but he continued to ask me multiple questions about my condition and then gave me exactly what I had asked for. Annoying. The next day I had broken my fever and was feeling better; good thing because I had a long 6 hour train ride to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam. This is probably the most disappointing city I have visited. This city was supposed to be a beautiful city with beautiful people complete with weed and prostitutes on the side. Unfortunately the city was kinda dirty, extremely small, and completely touristic. Every store is run by your typical middle eastern shop owner with mediocre food and cheap souvenirs. I did manage to meet a really nice girl studying abroad in Paris who I might go visit. We rented some bikes to get out of the touristic spot and hit the parks. This was a much better view of the city. The parks were beautiful and surrounded by beautiful residential areas where you can see the real Dutch people. I can only imagine how they feel about the tourist spots. The next day I did a ........that's right! A bike tour! This one I was looking forward to because it is the only other Mike's Bike Tours other than the one that got me addicted to bike tours in Munich. While it was a nice tour, it just wasn't the same but I was happy to get the nice discount from the last one. Amsterdam was also the site of the worst hostel I have stayed in, old and gross with 11 other people in one room. All of this caused me to get a hotel in my next location, Brussels.

Brussels has been my resting and relaxing city. I am so happy to be in a hotel. While it is lonely, I am able to have my own space with a nice bed and a clean shower. The first 2 days I went site seeing around the nice city. This is definitely more of a residential city rather than a tourist site but that is just what I needed. Unfortunately I didn't brush up on my French so I am improvising, and the locals seem to appreciate it. Sunday I am set to catch a flight to Alicante, Spain to go see my wonderful cousin Ashley in Murcia, Spain where she teaches English at the university. I cannot express how excited I am to see a familiar face, and a family face is even better. I'll try to be better about this blog stuff. Love.

P.s. I am just as upset about the lack of pictures as you are, maybe more.


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Location:Rue Duquesnoy,City of Brussels,Belgium

Prague

So Prague is a beautiful and almost quaint city. I need up staying walking distance from the old town so there was lots to see. Here is the bummer, my camera is broken somehow and I am pissed so I only have so many pictures from the first hours of walking around. I am not too concerned because I immediately did some research and the problem I have seems to be fixable, but I am going to wait to take it to get fixed till I get to Berlin tomorrow. I met some guys, Luke and Bruce, who are traveling together and we ended up spending my time here in Prague together. Yesterday we did a lot of wondering around in the old town looking at sites such as the old town hall, the powder tower, charles bridge and eating some good bohemian food. Today was pretty freaking cold and rainy but we still ventured around making our way to the Prague castle where a beautiful church sits overlooking the city of red roofs. I cursed my camera all day.
Tomorrow I am off the Berlin and I am pretty excited to be back in western Europe, and surprisingly back in Germany. Stay tuned.


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Location:Odborů,Prague 4,Czech Republic

Budapest

So today is my last day in Budapest, yesterday I went on a bike tour of the city and it was exhausting. For those of you who don't know this city is made of two areas, Buda and Pest separated by the Danube river. I am staying on the Pest side where things like the parliament house, the opera house, and the city park (with famous bath houses). On the other side of the river is the hilly buda area with the palace and a beautiful cathedral sit on the citadel. Unlike my last bike tour this one was a very small group and it was laborious. My guide kept a fairly fast pace through the winding streets and once over to the citadel the hill was a little demanding. I must say I am a little sore.
Today I took it easy walking the streets of the city. I walked my way to the city park where I was told the most beautiful of the Turkish baths that occupy the area can be located, Szechenyi. I couldn't take pictures inside but google image this place and you can have an inkling of how beautiful this place is. The bath is supplied with thermal waters commonly used for medicinal purposes.

Tonight I am heading to bed early to start my long journey to Prague.


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It's a taking it easy kinda day today. I am so emotionally, physically, and mentally wiped. Just need a night to my self. I checked into this nice cozy hostel here in Budapest, Hungary called the Big Fish Hostel. So I am here in a cozy couch watching the movie Big Fish, how appropriate right?  Tomorrow I am going to take a bike tour of the city so expect pictures to come. 

Vienna

Today my new ausse friend Simon and I walked around a good bit of Vienna. Our stops were the Sigmund Freud museum and the Belvedere Palace. The Freud museum was once his apartment here in Vienna. The whole time I was thinking my friend Marissa who studied psychology. Then we found our way to the Palace where we expected to find just another Tour around a palace but turns out it is a fantastic museum filled with great art from some famous artist like Monet and Van Gogh. Tomorrow I am off to Budapest for a couple days so look out for more to come.


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Ok. I just got to Vienna but let me tell you about Munich! I loved every moment of it. I ended up having the best guys in my hostel room. Matt, Conrad and Evan, and we all hung out with an awesome couple from Raleigh, NC Allie and Neal. We had so much fun on our bike tour around the city. The next day was a Oktoberfest day complete with plenty of beer and lederhosen!(there are pictures). The next day we took a day trip to Neuschwanstein castle where we hiked up to the Castle in the Bavarian Alps. Our last day together, we went to Dashau concentration camp outside of the city. This was the first and longest running concentration camp for the third reich. Needless to say it was an experience.  So now I just walked into my hostel in Vienna and these people have a lot to love up to but I have confidence in them. Well that is all for now, check out the flickr account because the pics are kinda cool.  - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Had so much fun today minus the head pounding hangover i had this morning. My bunkmates are 3 chill guys. Two of them are from guess where...Atlanta; also met a girl today from st.Pete. What a small world it is. Today we all went on a bike tour around the city and through the English gardens.. You can see the pics on my flickr account. I don't think I have been on a bike in more than a couple years so it was a lot of fun. Don't ask me what the names of the buildings or much else because German just docent stick with me for some reason.
Tomorrow the plan is to spend the day at Oktoberfest again. And Thursday we are heading to the famous Neuschwanstein Castle so be on the look out for those pics, should be amazing.


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