Prague

July 22-23, 2009

After a very short stay in Berlin, Aubz and I were so excited to leave for Prague. The train to Prague was only 6 hours long, but it seemed like it was 15 hours. Somehow we managed to pick the one car on the train whose air conditioning didn’t work. Oh, and the windows also didn’t open on this train so it pretty much felt like a smelly boys locker room! We were more than relieved when we finally reached Prague. The walk to our hostel gave us our workout for the day, maybe even for the week. Apparently the station we got off at wasn’t the closest to our hostel. After about 20-30 minutes of huffing and puffing up streets resembling the steep streets in San Francisco, we were at our hostel at last!

Clown and Bard is probably the nicest hostel we have stayed at so far, with clean sheets and big bathrooms. Unfortunately, the first night we got stuck with some older women who were more than grumpy that we weren’t in bed at 9 with them. By the way, people don’t usually go to bed before at least, and that’s even considered an early night. I took a shower and found out that the bathroom didn’t lock- luckily I never got walked in on. Aubz and I walked down the street for an authentic Czech dinner that was soooo good and ridiculously cheap. After relaxing a bit, we were ready for bed. At the time we had no idea that this was not going to be easy. I think the older women planned it, but they decided to have a snoring orchestra. The one lady snored like a normal person, which was bearable because at least it was constant. On the other hand, the other lady sounded like a horn that went off just as we dozed off, EVERY SINGLE TIME! We couldn’t hold it in any longer and just bust out laughing at our situation. My earplugs finally came in handy for both of us.

First thing the next morning, we changed rooms and ended up with a nicer room, bathroom, and roommates. We didn’t do any sight seeing today because we had to do so much needed laundry. On our way back from laundry we stopped at a restaurant that was down a very long and spiraled staircase with animal skins or fur lining the walls. It was a very manly restaurant, but the food was good and cheap. There was so much food leftover that we were able to spend 7 dollars for both our lunch and dinner. Two of our roommates ended up being these nice guys from Michigan. The other two girls didn’t show up till at least after 5 in the morning so we never really met them. That night we went on a pub crawl with the hostel. One of the guys who worked at the hostel has a boxer named Tyson that he brought along for the party. He reminded me of Presley except that he licked twice as much…I know, very hard to believe but it’s true. There were so many dogs all over Prague; which made me really miss Pres and Aubz miss Martini (Rob‘s dog). The weirdest part of the night was when we came to the last club. I was sitting down and turned around to see a guy I had gone to Cal Poly with named Nick, who was accompanied by a guy I knew from Bellarmine. What are the odds of that happening?

Since we got home so late the night before, we slept in till almost noon. After realizing what time it was we scrambled to get ready as quick as possible. We then headed for Old Town Prague by foot. The architecture in old town was so pretty! We paid to go to the top of the cathedral that held the Astronomical Clock to see a gorgeous view of all of Prague. We could see the castle in the distance that we would later walk to. We stopped for lunch after the church to get a break from the heat. (It was so hot out that there were these big trucks that would come back and mist the people…everyone just stood behind the truck and cooled off). We ate a cute outdoor place called Staromestska Restaurace. The food was amazing, but wayyyy overpriced! We were given bread that we not only didn’t order, but were also charged for it! When we asked about the charge, the waiter said everyone is charged that…we were not so happy. Then the waiter had the audacity to tell us how much to tip him…multiple times!

We then headed in the direction of the castle. As we walked over the bridge to the castle, the weather quickly began to change. Luckily, we reached the castle just before it started to absolutely pour. Then we found out the bad news- the castle was already closed and we couldn’t buy tickets. It was disappointing to not be able to go inside, but we were still able to take pictures of the outside and thus save some money. We left the castle around 6:30, and took a tram that dropped us near the hostel. All in all, we walked for about 6.5 hours and were exhausted by the end of the night. We tried to save some money on dinner for the night by stopping at a grocery store to pick up food. We both got instant soup that had little flavor, but only cost about 40 cents. We both tried to get to bed early since we had to wake up early this morning to catch our train. Oh and I forgot to mention…sharing a room with all these people finally caught up with me ;(. I got a cold and have been sneezing and blowing my nose all day. Aubz is crossing her fingers that she doesn’t get sick. We left this morning at 9 am from Prague and will arrive in Zurich around 9 pm; which is in about an hour. We miss you all and can’t wait to share all our pictures and more funny stories when we get home!

Berlin: Boats, Bikes & Bar Crawls

July 19-21, 2009

After a long day of travel Ashley and I finally arrived in Berlin. I thought it would be a great idea to book our hostel on a boat. The “hostel boat” we stayed at during our time in Berlin was docked on the Spree river. Eastern comfort was very cozy! Definitely a lot quieter then Bob’s Youth Hostel in Amsterdam. Funny story; on our walk from the train station to our hostel there was a very long wall separating us from the river. The wall was covered with graffiti and amazing artwork and only about 10 feet high. Ashley and I were joking that it was the Berlin wall. When we got to our hostel we asked the receptionist what were her top picks for sightseeing were. She told us about many places but didn’t mention the wall. So we asked her where we could go to see the Berlin wall. She laughed and said “just take a look outside.” It just so happens that our hostel boat was docked 100 yards from the Berlin Wall… pretty cool J Later that night Ashley and I ventured into a small town across the river for some dinner. We found this yummy Italian restaurant with HUGE portions.

Since we only had one day in Berlin we wanted to make the best of it. Ashley’s boyfriend Kevin as well as our hostel roommate told us we should go on the Fat Tire Bike Tour. This was great advice!!! We biked around for about 6 hours and saw everything you should see when visiting the city. Francis, our tour guide, was super funny and very knowledgeable. We even stopped off at a beer garden halfway through the tour. It was nestled in the center of the Tiergarten where many people enjoyed walking, biking, running, and even laying around naked (nudist colonies go there). Ash and I got a stein of beer so big we practically had to use 2 hands to pick it up. During the tour we got to see The Pariser Platz, Humboldt University, Berlin Cathedral, Brandenburg Gate, Victory Column, and more.

That night we went on a pub crawl with a few friends we made on the bike tour. It was really fun! 10 Euro got us an open bar for the first hour and free admission plus a shot at every bar. We went to five different bars that night and even stopped at a Hookah lounge for a late night dinner.
Now we are on our way to Prague! Tune in soon to read more about our adventures there!

Amsterdam?!?!

July 15-18, 2009

The ferry ride to Amsterdam was probably the nicest accommodation we will have our entire time in Europe. The ferry was at least 100 euros cheaper than any other mode of transportation, and probably twice as nice. We boarded the ferry to find out that we had our own cabin with a toilet and shower. We were so excited to have a shower that continually ran without having to keep restarting the shower every 20 seconds! The ferry ride took about 7 hours and we arrived 2.5 hours before it departed, which meant lots of relaxation without anybody else slamming doors and snoring. We woke up refreshed and ready to finally be in Amsterdam. Before we got there we had to first take 2 separate trains to get to the central station. Since we had just come from London, we had only pounds and no euros. The ATM machine wouldn’t work, but thankfully the conductor felt bad for Aubz and I and came up to us so we wouldn’t miss the train, and then let us ride for free.



When we arrived in Amsterdam, we had to look for a hostel since our room was “somehow” only booked for 1 person (Aubrey ;) It actually worked out for the best in the end because our hostel that we stayed at was much cheaper than the flying pig. We arrived at Bob’s Youth Hostel around 11 am to a very noisy and excited group of people in the reception area. Our hostel had one rule posted everywhere: Cannabis Yes!, Tobacco No! This pretty much sums up Amsterdam in one phrase. Aubz and I then got settled in our room and set out to explore.

Thanks to the advice from our hostel, we found a bike store that rented bikes for only 5 euro for 24 hours. We def. got what we paid for because the bikes were 2nd hand and very very uncomfortable! Next we headed to our first “coffee shop” in Amsterdam called the Grey Area. The staff was really nice and the shop was the only American coffee shop in Amsterdam, so of course we loved it here! After coffee, we were famished and wanted to try some authentic Dutch food. We found a café nearby that had outdoor seating on this little bridge, with gorgeous views of the canal on both sides. The canals all over gave Amsterdam a unique charm, and it has been my favorite place so far. For lunch, I had croquets and Aubz had a cheese sandwich, since they are known for both of these dishes.



After lunch, we biked to Vondelpark which was an absolutely huge park. We passed by this large water fountain that all the locals lay out by and bring their children to splash through the very shallow water. Everyone in the park was just enjoying the sunny day and relaxing on the grass so we decided to join them. As we were about to lay down, Aubz spotted some guys playing soccer nearby and of course had to join in. They were beyond impressed with her juggling skills and said they had never seen a girl who could play, let alone that good. One of the guys had a really really cute dog that I played with while she played soccer. We stayed there for a few hours before finally heading back to our hostel.




Our second day in Amsterdam, we stopped by the Rasta coffee shop before heading to the Hemp Museum. The Museum was very informative and gave details of everything you needed to know about Hash, Cannabis, and even how to decide what sex a plant is. At the end of the tour, there was a large room of Cannabis on display to give everyone an idea of how it is all grown.



We grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the Anne Frank Museum. It was surreal to see the Franks’ house after learning so much about them growing up. The tour was self-guided, but had excerpts from her diary written throughout the rooms, along with documentaries from those who had known Anne. The end of the tour was the most difficult to listen to as they described the last days of her life and showed pictures of those who lost their lives at Auschwitz.
Later on, we had dinner at a traditional Dutch restaurant called Bistro Bij Ons where Aubz and I split a really good dinner. That night we headed to the Red Light District because we had heard of the area, but had to see it for ourselves. Probably the weirdest and most uncomfortable area I have been in in my life. Everywhere you looked there were half naked girls in red rooms trying to lure in the men. There were also some pretty interesting stores in that area that were entertaining to browse. We quickly had enough for the night and headed back home.



The last day we checked out the Van Gogh museum, which was pretty incredible. The museum was in chronological order of his life, so you were able to see how he progressed as an artist with each year and each person that came into his life. As we were leaving the museum it began pouring on us so we found the quickest shelter we could; which was a nearby restaurant. After drying from the rain we were on to our much anticipated tour for the day: the Heineken Factory! We got to see all the vintage ads and bottles they used to use back in the day. Along the way, we each got a free beer to taste. The most entertaining part of the tour was watching these Asian women send a video email to friends where they were dancing and singing (video to come later).

After relaxing for a bit, we headed to a popular part of town where we ate dinner and attempted to go to a snoody night club. The bouncer was a complete a-hole and wouldn’t let us in because we had “flip-flops” on. Obviously he knew nothing about shoes because we actually had nice sandals on. Anyways, since Aubz has pretty much always been let in to the nicest clubs in New York, she had a hard time accepting denied entrance. The dumbest part was that the guy said we could put tennis shoes on and he would still let us in. We then went to a bar that was playing live music and was much more relaxed. Just as we thought we were done for the night, we saw a street show of a guy with some serious soccer skills. One of the most impressive was when he climbed up a pole while juggling the ball on his head. Once again, Aubz showed everyone that girls can play soccer and put a few other girls to shame. A crowd of over 30 people were all cheering for her as she blew everyone away. Then came 2 girls from the Cal Poly soccer team. I didn’t know them, but they were trying to juggle with Aubz and pretty much just embarrassed themselves. Instead of admitting that Aubz was really good, they instead blamed it on the fact that they had had a lot to drink and Aubz had only had one…typical girls! The next morning we quickly packed up and shopped for some souvenirs before getting on the train to Prague.

London Bridges

July 11-14, 2009

Ashley and I arrived in London quite early in the morning. We bought 72 hour "tube" ticket for the time we were there. It was such a great deal. For 3 days of transportation in only cost about 17 pounds (about $25). I made reservations at a hostel called ASHLEE HOUSE. I thought it would be a fun idea because it shared the same name as Ashley. The Ashlee house turned out to be a really nice place to stay. The receptionist Lucy made us feel like we were at home. We ended up being in a 10 person room. It was fun because we had the chance to meet a bunch of different people from all over the world. That day Ash and I decided to make up our own walking tour. All we had was our map to guide us. It ended up being such a fun day because it wasn't planned and we ended up having the best timing! On our self guided tour we passed the London Museum, The Tottenham Pub (where we had our first European lager), The National Gallery, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament and the London Eye. Our timing was great along the walk because we stumbled upon a beautiful orchestra performance in St. James Park right outside of Buckingham Palace and then an our later we happened to walk right up to the "changing of the guards." This was really funny because the guards were trying their hardest not to laugh and be serious... but we saw most of them crack a smile and a few of them just lose it to laughter.

The next day was spent hanging out on Jubilee Walkway near the London Eye. Jubilee Walkway is very entertaining because of all the street performers. We saw some amazing acts and unbelievable costumes. Later we took a great boat tour down the Thames River, which at one time was the busiest river in the world! On the tour we got to see the famous "London Bridge," St. Paul's Cathedral, Shakespeare Globe, The Tower of London, and a really beautiful bridge called the "Tower Bridge." After the Cruise we went on the London Eye. It is the worlds second highest observation wheel. It is designed like a giant bicycle wheel made by 6 different countries in the Europe. That night Ashley and I went to the "Absolute Icebar London." This was a crazy experience! When we walked up to the bar they give you lined poncho and gloves. Once you walk in the temperature drops to below freezing! The bar is made completely of ice. Our shot glasses were made out of ice too! It was sooo super cold! They say you aren't allowed to be in there more then 30 minutes or you will freeze to death (I think they are exaggerating a little... but only a little).

On Tuesday we met up with my friend John from Seton Hall. He now plays futbol (soccer) in London. First we went to an authentic "full english breakfast" then he showed us around Trafalgar Square - a central square the is the destination of most marches and demonstrations. We also took an all day walk (shopping spree) up and down Regent St. THANKS JOHN!!! Ash and I definatly got our SHOP on! Later that night we met Sarah Foden (Erin's husband Mark's sister) in Soho. We had a great time talking and having a few cocktails. :)

Day 4 in London was kind of a huge mess! Ashley and I woke up went to the travel agent to buy our EURAIL ticket. We realized we needed to go across town to get on the day of travel. Then we had to plan how we were getting from London to Amsterdam. With a few hours of deliberation and time spent on the Internet and tubes we decided to take the FERRY from London to Amsterdam. This was the cheapest way by far and it turned out to be very very nice and fun!

Dubai: Desert Safaris, Bus Tours, Brunches, Waterparks, High Teas and More

July 7-11, 2009

We arrived in Dubai around 4:30 am, and were greeted by Mark and Erin. We rested a bit before going on the "Big Bus Tour" through Dubai. O, by the way, the heat there is ridiculous. You pretty much can't stand outside for more than a few minutes before you start sweating and your sunglasses fog up within seconds. Anyways, the bus tour basically became my nap time. It was fun because we got to see Dubai in a 3 hour nut shell! While I slept Aubrey paid attention the whole time and became our tour guide the rest of the trip as she pointed out all the sites and stated all the facts she had learned.

That night we went to a mexican buffet dinner with margaritas, wine, and beer included. Apparently, drinking is really expensive in Dubai if you don't do an event that is "all inclusive." The food was good, but didn't compare to authentic mexican food you find in Cali. However, they had a chocolate fountain which made my night. Anything you can think of to be dipped in chocolate, they had! Aubrey keeps making fun of me because of how big of a sweet tooth I have.

Wednesday morning we got up and went to a desert safari from HELL while Erin and Mark were at work. Erin and mark have gone on the tour twice because they liked it so much. Unfortunately for us, we had a really really bad driver. The drive out to the desert was about 2 hours. There were 5 of us total in the car, and we actually made friends with two of the people. They were a sister and brother from London about our age. We couldn't stop talking for 2 hours straight and then it happened... the driver went off the road into the dunes and started driving like a maniac. We were going so fast over the sand dunes, doing 180s, and driving at a practically upsidedown. Aubrey and I were in the very back of the car and were not doing so well. After about 2 minutes of pure screaming and joy, we all shut up real quick as we tried to keep everything in our stomachs. I thought maybe it was just me who didn't feel good but Raz was the first to puke and one by one people started puking everywhere! I somehow made it out okay, but 3/5 of us puked including Aubrey! The only enjoyable part of the day was getting to ride on Camels in the middle of the desert. That night we met Erin and Mark and Aubrey's friends from college, Salam and Sarah, at the BIGGEST MALL IN THE WORLD - DUBAI MALL. There we had dinner watched the fantasic fountain show. It is a million times better then the Belagiao in Vegas.

Thursday, Aubrey and I decided to make our own itinerary for the day and went to the Atlantis hotel for some fun in the sun (http://www.atlantisthepalm.com/aquaventure.aspx). We went on every single slide and had a blast. One of the slides is pretty much a pure vertical drop and then takes you through a tube that is surrounded by a ton of sharks and fish. It was so fun that we went on it 3 times. While we were there, we ran into Tamana and Raz from the safari and hung out with them for the rest of the day. After being in the sun all day, we couldn't wait to have some relaxing time. We went to the mall with Erin and picked up all different types of take-out including Mexican, Chinese, Persian, and Lebanese. We spent the rest of the night relaxing at the apartment and playing Apples to Apples. By the way, Aubrey is the most obnoxious person to play this with (just kidding) but somehow she managed to win 3 out of 3 games, I think it was a conspiracy.

Friday we slept in a little and prepared for a long but fun day at the famous Yalumba Brunch. The food was really good and the alcohol never stopped coming. Mark was pretty entertaining and managed to convince the male waitor to sit on his lap for a picture. 7 hours and lots of champaigne later, we took a cab back to erins. We were all so tired after dancing our hearts out all day that we were all in bed by 9!

The next day we took it easy until we went to the Burj al Arab for high tea. The hotel is the only 7 star hotel in the world, it was absolutely amazing. We enjoyed the food and tea, but were really sad to say goodbye to Erin and Mark. I guess we are all going to have to plan a trip for next year so we can meet up again. Dubai was so fun. Aubrey and I want to go back in 5 years to see all the change and hopefully less construction.

Great Wall of China and Bicycles

- July 3-5, 2009 -

Today Ashley and I found our first hostel of the trip. We were really lucky because it is super nice! It is called Sanlitun Youth Hostel (http://www.hostels.com/hostels/beijing/sanlitun-youth-hostel/24985) right in the center of Beijing. For dinner we went to "Wan Fu Jing" street. They basically sell anything you can think of on a stick (seahorses, hearts, silk worms, scorpions and more). It is a place where tourists come to have some authentic dinner. Even though it was tempting we decided to eat at a Peking Duck restaurant. We basically had a three course meal and plenty of drinks for only $7!



The next day we went to the GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Ashley and I decided to climb to the top unlike most of the other people in our group who took the Gondola. The Great Wall was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Do you know that to walk the entire Great Wall it would take a person 3 years?!?! On the way down from the Great Wall we took a toboggan. This was so much fun! It is a must do if you ever visit the wall. That night we went to Hooters for dinner. It was nice to have American food. Believe it or not the Hooters in China is exactly like the ones in the United States. The only difference is that about every 30 minutes the Hooters girls stand in the middle of the restaurant and dance and sing. It was super fun!





On July 5th we rented bikes and rode from our hostel all the way to Tianamen Square. This was definitely an humbling sight to see because of all the history behind it. General Mao's portrait was right in the center of the building... After navigating our way through Beijing on a couple of bikes and only a very confusing Chinese map in hand we got back to the hostel packed our bags and headed to the airport. DUBAI HERE WE COME! GET READY ERIN AND MARK!

BBQ's and Dancing

- July 3, 2009 -

After a 13 hour flight to Hong Kong and a 3 hour flight to Beijing I went to pick up my bag and it was lost! Just my luck right?!?! I quickly filed a claim and jumped into a cab to go see my NACK! The 45 minute cab ride only cost 100 yuan which is equivalent to $15!

Right when I got to the hotel we went straight to the "silk market." The silk market is a place where they sell designer handbags, watches, sunglasses, etc. for super cheap! We bought some awesome stuff. After the silk market we went with Ashley's class to a Mongolian dinner and live performance. The food was crazy (I tried snail and fish intestines) and the dancing was amazing.

After dinner we went to the "English Circle." This is an outer corridor at a University in Beijing where every Friday the locals come to practice English. Once they step into the circle no more Chinese! Needless to say we were like celebrities there. Once we stepped into the circle 5 or 6 people approached each of us and we talked for about an hour... not a dull moment. It was a very fun and exciting experience.

Houston We Have a Problem!

- July 1, 2009 -

So, last night I go and pick up Ashley's bag and documents from her mother and guess what I figured out at 9:00pm!?!?! I DO NOT HAVE A CHINESE VISA! After an hour of freaking out and a glass of red Camille and I came up with a plan. I'd wake up at 6am the morning of my flight and go to the Chinese Embassy in San Francisco, wait in line, and cross my fingers they would give me a visa in less then 24 hours! 4 hours after entering the Embassy I waked out with a VISA in hand! I defiantly dodged that bullet!

MORAL OF THE STORY: If you want to travel to CHINA you need a visa!

P.S. sorry it took so long to update the blog... China restricts the website "blogspot.com" along with youtube.com and pandora.com