Croatia, Venice, Florence and now in Rome. Whoa that's a lot

On my way to Florence.  Already postponed leaving Venice from last night to tonight, extending my stay in grandma death's attic.  Think that the hostel, or in my case the reception office attic is ruined by nuns.  She turned down like ten customers yesterday because she would not put boys with us two girls.  I met two girls traveling the same route as me for a while.  They paid for the night train between Slovenia and Venice on my way from Croatia when I didn't have a small enough bill.  Glad to be back to euros, the currency was getting complicated in eastern Europe.  The two girls names are Sara and sarayha.  Funny right?  We already got the, you've got to be kidding me, when we introduced ourselves in a row to the girl heather who joined us Friday afternoon in the attic.  I still very much prefer traveling alone, so I let them go ahead to Pisa and Florence yeaterday, because I thought Venice needed more time, and there really is not much in Pisa, besides of course the leaning tower.  I can google a picture of that:).  I also like being able to couch surf, and I have a place to stay in Naples.  The friends I had made in Galway and met again in Dublin, from Naples, found me a boat to stay on.  They can come stay with me, but I realized a lot of people walk a lot slower than me haha, and I like to cover a lot of ground, so I'll be leaving them in the dust.  I also ate more in one day with these two girls then I usually in a week.  We sat in a cafe in the morning and dinner at night.  Not really my style right now. 
    My last day in Krk was grand.  I took a ferry out to the island of Rab.  It is a gorges little Adriatic island with an old roman town on it.  There are four belle towers that you can see from the sea still coming into the tiny port.  You can cover the whole island in an hour.  It was gorgeous though.  There were grape vines hanging from the walls and old roman ruins, and a church connected to each of the belle towers.  I escaped the crowd by going to the end of town for the last hour to soak up the last of e warm weather for a while. The escape was easy, because I am certain there was not a single person under the age of sixty on my ferry or the other one that came in.  They couldn't walk that far.  It was nice getting treated on the boat ride back.  The kids that worked on the boat gave me an extra fish for dinner, and they kept sneaking me beer, when the old people weren't in line purchasing it.  I got into town with an hour to spare until the last bus back to Rijeka.  I grabbed my bag from the hostel, which was like my own little island get away thT weekend, and set of.  When I got to Rijecka I had a half an hour until the train to Slovenia where I had to wait from eleven until two thirty to catch the next train to Venice.  Even though I have only briefly stopped through Slovenia on two trip, I feel as though I have visited Ljubljana, that place is definitely not without it's stories. I did have a nice kid that worked in the 24hr pizza place give me a diet cook and let me sit at a table until my train came though.  
         I arrived in Venice Friday morning at 7:30 am.  Everything here is by boat, which is incredible to me.  It never got old.  I found the hostel that was ins my book, these girls would have been so lost without me haha, and they were booked.  There was a nice young venetian girl, however that told us about hotel marte, and a local place for dinner, which is usually 21 for the three course tourist menu, but with her card and name 17. I didn't go the first night with these two girls. They aren't much for really wandering around and traveling, although I do think I dragged them out a bit.  We just went to a typical tourist spot near the one star hotel that night.  This hotel was absurd, and probably my favorite place so far.  The attic is divided by sheet on the sides where it slopes down and some beds are thron behind there.  There are sheets and towels hanging everywhere.  This is definitely the storage and cleaning room.  The tiny old Italian lady just took our money said to come back at one then told us to just throw our bags in the corner of the lobby.  We went out to a cafe for breakfast, took a break,  after like two hours, you've got to be kidding me.  Then when it started to rain decided to do the normally really crowded tourist stuff by San Marco square.  It is really gorgeous.  The neatest city, with tons of dead end and random mazes of bridges.  I don't find it that hard at all to get around with a map, but you also never mind getting lost because there is so much cool stuff to see.  Just people driving there personal boats drinking coffee with there baby in a stroller next to them,  gondola s cruising tourists around and boat cabs and boat buses and bus stops of the sidewalks.  The sidewalks are labeled like streets.  The line for San Marco basil, where under the golden alter the remains of saint Marc are, is usually hours I guess but it was hardlyanything at all with the rain driving everyone into there hotels.  The hostels here are hidden a d you can only find out where to go by asking locals, so most people who visit pay a lot for a hotel room.  This is the most expernsive city in Italy.  The basilica was astonishing.  It had originally burnt down in the 900sbut had been rebuilt I the early 9 th century immediately after.  For the 1000s the elaborate detail of this ginormeous domed basilica is incredible.  Inside there are gold mosaics and everything twinkles with gold leaf.  The alter is a giant gold cross with golden figures of the disciples on both side.  The lateens that hang are this deep red and everything seems to be fastened and carved out of some precious metal or gold.  Definitely the coolest churches I have been to in europe, and there are a lot, more like a trillion.after this we wander through the streets, where after turning a corner twice you would some how miraculously find yourself in a circle.  Went back to check in where we were finally introduced to the attic.  The first option was the room at the nearest end with an actual door but crawl space high ceilings and one twin bed.  I think she honestly expected us all to share until I finally last piled in the room, and she realized that not everyone is four ten like herself.  She knew English but would repeatedly gabble off in Italian and laugh to herself, then finally just wave us on, "come on come on".  She was absolutely hilarious.  We moved to the far end where there were five beds,three in a row then two behind a changing wall thing that was about to collapse where she kid tons of creepy old baby toys.  There were photographs of random people everywhere and nothing but curtains for doors, Also everywhere, and lines with random things drying all the way back to the end room.  Even she knew that this was absurd, when I walked by her alone and she saw my face of astonishment she said, "comical".  Yes, comical it was. We set up cleaned up and went to ha e dinner. It was good but touristy.  Our server was a very forward funny and gitty  Italian man.  We might as well of gone to the restaurant that the girl T the hostel had suggested because after wine we ended up spending more.  
       After getting some candy, that all tasted like grandma candy, so I pawned it off on my eccentric waiter on the way past where we ate, we went back to the hotel.  I got a big sloppy kiss from that because I think he though I was being sweet.  I had to walk by him everyday to follow.  At the hotel we met heather.  I had the idea to go to the island villages of murano and burano the following day, so being that they had no plans and hadn't ever heard of these places all three joined me.  Murano is the closer of the two.  You have to get a water bus day ticket to get to them.  Venice is kind of like living in water world for a few days.  It is known for it's glass blowing.  There are incredible works and I even say a free demonstration.   I saw so much I wanted to get for people but knew ere would be no way it would make it back safely so I got a few bead, some pendants for everyone and myself a really cool pair of twirling hand blown earrings that I saw a last making right at her cash register.  I also got a mask.  I couldn't help myself.  It was the same handmade ones I had seen in the tourist shops for double the price.  There were such cool glass galleries and little shops.  After a few hours we got the connection to burano, where it is known for there lace and hand woven lace clothes.  Although impressive and meticulously done, not something I would collect myself.  The houses are so cool here!  They are all along the canal and each in a different pastel colors and bright painted shutters of different colors.  I loved it.  
    I was dead set on going to the Peggy Guggenheim museum so I broke off the two girls, who hadn't ever heard of it, and decided to stay longer or go to Florence later.  Me and heather started to rush there before it closed but realized we wouldn't have enough time so we saved it for today.  We dropped off our stuff and relaxed in the attic then set out for the place the girl had suggested.  It was in a local and remote part of town, and then that night we wanted to see  the part of town that is suppose to be the only night life.  
     I'm going to freak out because right now there is a brain dead jersey girl ranting about her fucking love for the jersey shore and how wonderful it is.  I'm about to rip my hair out of my head because her overly obnoxious loud voice, sharing useless stories to someone hardly listening is making me cringe along with everyone else around me, and the right ear of my headphone just stopped working.  Please don't let this be happening for the next hour.
    Anyways,  I will try my best.  The way to the restaurant was a bit confusing,but in wandering  through the little alleys and back streets in the light from the near full moon, we came across some really neat little hidden places.  One we walked in we told the jovial large bald waiter that Leila sent us and he immediately escorted us to a table for two and brought us, shoot I can't remember,  but it's famous, like a mix between white wine and champagne.maybe starts with a p.  If I didn't have this twat in the background I would remember.  Excuse me for my foul disposition towards this right now.  Even the Italian guy across from me finally slammed down his book.  The way dinner works here usually is. First course of pasta then a second course meal which was a choice between meat and pelentia or fried fish and zucchini.  the pasta was this really good seafood pasta with clams and calamari and shrimp.  Everything is fresh that day.  The fish surprised me.  They are little sardines, heads and all.  Apparently Venice is known for it's sardines.  They were good, just like fish, and it had calamari a d shrimp mixed in with a bunch of zucchini strings.  We got a jug of the house wine, which came out of a barrel and was served in a. Pitcher.  I don't usually even like red but this was fantastic.  As if we weren't stuffed yet here came free desert, and as our waiter got drinker and drinker at the bar he brought us over more and more.  We got some free liquore with cookies, which unless you dipped the cookie, as we were told, you would not have realized how deadly strong this sweet glass of liquor was.  When we finally got out, with under a forty five dollar bill and the best meal either of us had had since Europe, we clumsily managed to find our way to other side of the city where the night life it.  
   It is in. Huge square which is typically a shop spot by day.  By night the bakery, gilato shop, pizza parlor and fruit stands pack away there food and line some liqour bottle on the counter, bust out some bottles of wine and fill the soda fridges with beer.  Everyone just walks around the square, sits on the ground, or statues or the few benches.  It was neat to see.  We were a bit foggy though and heard grandma death say something about locking up shop at 2.  When we had first asked about keys when checking in she just laughed.  I think we would have gotten more of a response if we asked for some string or a twist tie to close our doors. I fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed, no blanket no changing, nothing.  At eleven this morning we got a late start to the museum.  I snuck on the water bus.  I have snuck onto far to much public transportation so far.  I'm down to eating bread and cheese and some fruit only again after eating out twice now.  I am glad we didn't rush the Guggenheim because we ended up spending near two hours.  There were a lot of Salvador Dali's paintings and Picasa and many other famous relatively modern  artists' works.  On the way I saw the Santa Maria as well, which was also very impressive.  There was this little triply Japanese modern futuristic are gallery set up on the way too.  Crazy, and some what disturbing, but entrancing sculptures and paintings.  We wandered through the remote part of town, which seemed to be a lot more residential, on our way back.  We stumbled out to, wait for it, cars.  It sucked.  We were on the edge of the city.  I wasn't prepared to leave water world yet.  It was easy to find the train station from there though and from that the hotel.  I went back.  Got a snap shot with grandma death, who never even checked if we checked out at all from day one,  and headed to the train station, where to my dismay everything was booked.  I finagled my way on with the conductor.  Apparently only two times a day you don't have to pay a ten euro fee to reserve, which are the two worst times to travel because they are in the middle of the day, in Italy.  I am suppose to technically pay eighteen euro I think but no one has come yet....fingers crossed.  Definitely shooting for couch surfing in Rome.  Then I can go out again and have a local to show me around.  There is so much to see and do there I definitely don't want the hassle of dealing with two other people, especially since they aren't little history nerds like me.
     Well I plan on doing Florence at least allay tomorrow, but if the last free of charge train for me is at four may stay until the twelve o clock one on Tuesday.  Stay in Rome until the cheap afternoon train Friday probably to go meet Simone.  Stay until Sunday or Monday morning the 17th, catch a night ferry, which I need you to call and reserve for me mom!  And can you call and see why the train isn't running between patras and Athens.  I need to get a bus if that's the case.  Can you see if the eurrail still runs to the islands still as well? Come on dog I asked you this already:).  If not I think I will skip out on Greece.  I need to know soon though!  I have to buy a plane ticket to London by this week.  If they don't I will do Sicily and Malta because that is included on the eurorail, and save Greece for another time. I do have a place to stay in Athens though so I'd like to know to let them know.  Ok cool.  So up to Naples I'm set, then who knows where.  Perhaps even a night train up to Switzerland if I don't do Greece, night train to Amsterdam, then take the underground from north France.  Have more time then after too to maybe take the ferry out to the island off Barcelona.  Really want to take advantage of my pass, but Greece is blowing it right now.   Maybe Tuscany for a day.  I'm in Bologna right now I think.   hmmm....don't have much more I can think of.  Kk.  Cool.  A little over stimulated.  Glad to not be stuck in Bulgaria right now.  It think eastern Europe if for a time not alone.  The girl heather I stayed with hitch hiked all of south America.  Don't worry mom, but it does seem fascinating.  I think you could hitch hike here pretty easily.  Couch surfing is kind of like train hitch hiking.  You just literally can't have a plan.  The guy in Budapest to me about someone who was hitchhiking around the world.  Finding boats to crew on across oceans, and hitching rides cross country.  I find this incredible really.  What a free feeling.  Find a job when you need it, don't think of anything else but sustaining yourself and living in the moment. My almonds smell like tomato from my tomatoes squishing the bag with them.  I'm pretty scurvy guys.  They even have a hint of tomato.  Sundries tomato almonds.  I think I'm on to something.  Ok I'm rambling, going a little delusional on my own and tired.  Jersey girl stopped running her trap so maybe an hour of shut eye before wandering around anew unfamiliar city.  Love you all, hope October is treating you right.
    Oh wait there is something else I wanted to share.  The gondola guys wear the crazy hats and striped shirts.  Apparently it is like a family passed down occupation or something.  Anyways,  I saw one of the guys peel of his striped shirt and just as stereotypically expected, he was wearing what else, but a wife beater white tank with a gold chain dangling over it. Too good,  So Italian.  kk bye bye now.


Alright so I never found, Internet.  Florence was neat haha.  Sunday night was a bit absurd, finding what to do with myself for a night.  I'm just going going to go into that.  I met Sarah and sarayha, finally found them, at the Santa Maria cathedral.  This this was massivecand dominated the entire square.  On the ceiling was the mosaic of the cupola of the baptistry.    This is the picture of Jesus with with the crucifixion wounds in his hands and feet sitting almost cross legged,  I remember it from the cover of,  sorry to say it,  the creepy song book at pats church:) from when I would go.  We checked out the ponte vecchio bridge, which was one of the only to have survived world war II and the oldest in Naples.  We checked out the gardens, which had various roman statues and fountains.  I got a picture of my favorite, which I will proudly show you all upon my return.  Then set off for Rome after some last minute reservations and a bottle of wine to bring on the road.  I'm so excited for Rome!    So much to see and do,  I don't know how I will do it all, but I'll try my best.  Also excited for Naples, staying on my friends boat and having a couple locals to show us around,  not to mention Pompeii, where I have wanted to go since I was like ten.  The train is classic.  No light in the bathroom besides the hole in the toilet that goes straight to the outside, shining in a little light. I'm sure I will fill you in on Rome by the time I get to Naples, or both together after.  I am really excited now to be traveling with some people.  The first time I havnt had to wander through a strange place alone.  We are way more on the same game plan than I had expected.

From Island to island

An Adriatic adventure from the island of Krk to Rab until Thursday night in Croatia to the floating city and islands of Venice by Friday morning. Incredible. I walked out of the train station at 7 a.m. To road ways of water, a maze of bridges and docks off the sidewalk for taxis instead of curb sides. Too much to tell about the last three days. I will attempt to relay the series of events tomorrow on my train to Pisa after taking the boat bus to the outlaying fishing villages of burano and murano. For now there is far too much to tell, and I am running on far too little sleep. Love you, take care, and goodnight.

Croatia, escaping to the island Krk

So after kicking through Bosho's door when the handle fell off in the bathroom,  I threw some money on the table, packed up, and headed of to Krk.  Probably the best decision I could of spontaneously made.  It is the coolest little town right on the ocean.  Decided to stay most of my time here.  I think I'm the only person in this romantic old roman town however.  There is no where to eat that is not sitting down, hence the reason I  sit  here by myself ordering off a menu I can't read in the cheapest little restaurant.  
Krk still has all the rock walled streets from the time of roman occupation, and the original bell tower.  the streets seem more like sidewalks than streets at all.  My hostel sits on top of old town.  I have my own room and my balcony can overlook the ocean and faces the sunset.  It's incredible really.  Yesterday I just spent the remainder of the the day after the bus trip roaming the town.  I signed up for an island excursion to Pag and some of the other islands for tomorrow.  All along the Adriatic coast from the town are little bays.  I just went to the first little swimming spot at the edge of town yesterday.  They grind out some flat spots in the stone to lay here and there and some ladders so you can get in and out.  The sea is so clear with teal and emerald green tints.  You can see straight through it even looking out fifty yards.  The sun sets behind the town and you can watch from and of the shores.  I must say this is probably my favorite town so far.  
   Today I walked all along the shore.  It was little bay after bay.  There is a neat little path all along the way.  Observations I've made were a lot of spedo s and naked topless old ladies.  After covering the whole coastline, I found myself my own little nook to sunbathe in the buff myself.  So relaxing haha.  Even if people walk by there is no second glance.  Hey everybody s doing it.  Nudity is not a concern here.  I have also made an observation that there are a lot of stray cats.  I have a few buddies I pass by regularly.  They always run up to me like I'm the creepy cat lady.  There is a big grey tiger cat that is always posted up on the path going to the first bay.  I've passed by him a good ten times now.  He walks with me.  There is another mangy yellow tiger that looks like something has been eating at it's face near the shop I always walk by from my hostel.  He just wants love but he kind of feels like straw.  Then there's a little frisky black one near the beach.  I really need to get out of the habit of playing with stray cats.  The little black one reminds me of Luna my little stray boat kitty.  There are neat little lizards with green stripes that scurry all around while i walk along the paths in the woods near the beach.  This place is tiny and the routes to take through the winding streets are limited so I walk by the same ten shop owners everyday.  They probably have started to think I'm just walking in circles.  I also ran into the german family from night one.  They are at the same hostel.  I see the same Swedish couple on all of my walks as well.  A lovely quant town. I really dig it.
   I am checking out in the morning, leaving my bag with the hostel and heading back to Rijeka for a night train to Zagreb tomorrow.  Not after first going through Slovenia again...oh boy.  I get into Zagreb at around4:30 so I'm going to nap with my bag for an hour or two then catch the first bus to the national park to hike the lakes and waterfalls.  After that is my long journey by night trains two days in a row to Greece.  Try to get ahold of you guys before embarking on that journey.
In case none of you realized, there is a map of where I am in the corner or bottom of these. Peace out

Vienna to Rijeka, Croatia

Great experience. I stayed with a host the weekend before school started.  Her name was Anna and she was definitely one of the strongest, physically and mentally, girls I've ever met.  Especially considering she was only nineteen.  A very admirable and remarkable young woman really.  She was national champion once in judo,  an amazing rock climber,  a great friend, and on the whole has the most open minded personality of anyone I've met on this trip so far.  She had just got back from three weeks in Israel where she had couch surfed the whole way through, and felt it was time for her to reciprocate.  That is why her first weekend back she took on two couch surfers from two different places.  Ezmond stayed with us as well.  He was a very courteous, respectful, and curious kid from Singapore, studying in Australia on an exchange in debark, traveling on his weekend.  It was like my own little buddy the whole weekend when Anna had work one day, and when she took us out with her friend.
      The first night I got a little lost looking for her apartment.  She was genuinely worried, and was up at one when I finally found my way there.  We stayed up and talked, she had work the next afternoon.  Ezmond and I did the quick tourist bit, of wandering around to ambunch of pretty buildings snapping pictures of random shit we didn't know the significance of, and so on.  This is why I have begun couch surfing if you get thendrift.  Pretty city after pretty city just start to look the same and blend together without some real experiences to stand out.  I much more prefer getting to know people from somewhere and understanding a deeper layer of it, or else you never truly do experience and see a place.  One really neat place, however, that I had read about and dragged Ezmond across town to find, was this architectural little village and gallery by the artist hunderwasserhaus.  Asians are good with maps too,  it was awesome not having to think for myself for once.  I had a little Getty guide that was on top of everything.  I contributed my knowledge of the underground when needed however.  Huderwasserhous, is an architect who design these colorful funky apartment building and little town centers.  He only has a few around Europe.  They are so neat, with curvy ceilings, brick and tile floors that are all uneven and humped up with mound, and crooked pillars.  He also has some paintings and retro artwork that are on display in his galleries.  It was much neater than even expected.  We made it back by seven to meet Anna to get directions by underground to her friends party.  She would ride her bike everywhere.  Surprise, another European town where everyone rides a bike.  
    The party was a lot of fun.  Most people in Vienna speak English, or at least a little.  They are also, very sweet.  Even the old lady on the subways when I arrived was hugging up on me and pat me on the back when I left.  We did not speak a word of the same language haha, I am assuming she thought I was cute and was wishing me good luck.  Everyone at the party would interchange German with English, and even when an in-depth conversation was going on at least one person, even if I hadn't met them officially yet, would let me know what was being said, or just start a conversation with me themselves.  I found myself genuinely laughing at Anna s one, particular animated, friend Jan (yan), then realizing he wasn't even speaking English.  It was quite neat seeing how people can still interact even when you aren't vocally communicating.  It is something kind of taken for granted when you never have to pay much attention to people's composure, body language and facial expression to develop an opinion on them, or get a feel for their personality.  Things can be sensed, much more than they can be understood through words I think.  Anyways,  Jan was very good at speaking English.  They say if you can get to a point with a foriegn language where you can understand humor and make someone laugh you can consider yourself fluent.  Well, Jan in is regard was very fluent.  In Vienna there is nothing but cheesy Viennese soup operas, so as explained to me, most all of them download sitcoms and American television shows illegally, and that is how they make the transition from school taught English, to slang and conversational English. Jan was even saying that when he wants to use smart ass remarks he finds that he thinks of what they are in English then has to translate them to German.  They too he says are brainwashed by the box, and attributes it to the downfall of his mother tongue.  He also wears baggy jeans past his boxers and listens to rap.  So to sum it up a white blond with a German accent, talking hood slang, and thinking that he is a character straight out of "how I met your mother".  We clicked right away.  Anna s ex was also very sweet and a lot of the other people.  A lot of girls shave their heads for the, and. A lot of the guys have dreads or long hair.  I got the sense they were like the hippie crowd.  If only I had realized.  The next night would have made much more sense.
    The following day we went rock climbing, or bould at her gym.  Anna is a very strong rock climber.  The gym didn't have ropes just challenging courses to train you form and two floors covered with different rocks and techniques.  The furthest you could far was about ten feet on to soft mats.  I loved it, I hadn't been climbing in a while, Ezmond had a bit of a challenge.  They never put us in the system so it was free when we left three hours later.  Went to anna s favorite restaurant right around the corner on the otherwise of her building.  Eat all you want pay as you wish.  You just leave like three or four euro when you leave. It was all sorts of curry s, rice and dessert.  Anna s a vegetarian too.  We had made plans to go to a trance party with her and some of her friends that night.  I didn't really know what I was in for.  I knew it was a bit like electronic.  Anna goes to a lot of the festivals for this all throughout the summer.  She had freshly shaved one third of her head the night before, geared up in her genie pants, bracket anklets and slipper shows.  I had jeans and a t-shirt.  A bit out of place.  It was held in a huge brewery with one stage for house, one for electron and another for trance.  Anna loves trance music.  It is called trance for a reason, and I will explain further on. 
     We got in a little early with the cheaper admission.  You wander through this gigantic complex, kind of like a factory, and past all the different stages Nd rooms.  What I gathered is house is for weird jacked up electro dancers and they get very aggressive.  Techno and electronic wS more people just clubbing and grooving.  Trance wS a whole different scene.  Let me begin by explaining my first impression.  It is like the hippies of techno music.  If you take the sixty year old burnouts from a grateful dead tribute, combine them with the thirty year old hippies from a phishing concert, and throw in an electronic dance club you get trance.  It was like a combo of LSD and ecstasy.  The music would mellow out then intensify and the projectors would go nuts and the screen in front would have crazy scenes flashing and dancing.  Honestly, I think a lot of them were taken from the discovery channel special Life.  Everyone was for sure on edibles,  I suppose we weren't the only ones who had a good baker in our group.  Every time is started to dance with some rhythm I'd have to catch myself and start kicking out a leg or something to fit in with whatever grooving nature techno dance was going on in this fucking place.  I couldn't focus on anything for two long or else I would have broke out in hysterics.  Just play along.  For as much as every single person in the room was dancing no one touched.  Getting through the crowd was so peaceful.  You just had to touch someone on the shoulder and they would casually. slide to the side without breaking there groove.  it was like I was Moses splitting the Red sea.  Poor analogy I know, but it did cross my mind.  Everyone was literally in a trance.  When the music would climax, I shit you not,  everyone would do the same exact thing and all look up like they were orgasming at the same time.  Unreal man.  When people from the different electronic scenes mixed it was extremely peculiar.  For never being to one of these, you could still see right away that someone did t belong.  When people would come down and start there crazy intense house break dancing thing, all the trance people, would calmly bob to the otherwise and keep on going.  With all that said,  I loved it.  Strange yes,  peaceful fun atmosphere, absolutely.  Managed to find our way home by five.  Ezmond was even grooving, but I don't think he had ever experienced or tried  anything like that.  I grew very fond of this west littl guy by the en of our trip. 
     The next day when we woke up,  Anna had us paint something on her apartment walls to remind her of us.  The apartments a very old Vienna style, with high ceiling and huge doors, and massive bedrooms, with no common area but hallways to get from room to room.  Very nice.  Ezmond painted something in Chinese.  I painted a sailboat, and she asked me to put a surf board on it, so I painted on a yellow one like the one I used to have.         It made me homesick for a minute, but not in a bad way.   We then headed out to get ice cream at her favorite shop.  Ezmond had to catch a train, and Jan and Lucas, Anna s ex came to meet us to go to the park for the rest of the afternoon. I was going to go see the palace, but like said, enough tourist stuff for me.  Jan used his city bike card to get one of the city bikes for me and we all biked through Vienna, at about a million miles per hour it felt like to me on a cruiser, and headed to the park.  It was massive.  Literally one of those tight rope walking things between every two trees.  We just hung out and enjoyed the afternoon, while Lucas and I played frisbee for about two hours straight.  He is kind of like a sweet little kid.  Made plans go come visit me in Hawaii,  that will probably never happen like all the other, but still is fun to imagine.  I left to go pack and shower.  Anna showed up before I left and made me a grilled cheese for dinner.  Then off to the train station, where no I did not leave, but was told the train does not leave until eight the following morning.  Almost eleven thirty, so I just kept my fingers crossed that Anna was still awake. Hot back, and thankfully the apartment building door was still open.  None of her roommates were home and her room is furthest from the door and has thick walls.  I knocked a few times, then used her Internet again to try to see if she had a number she gave me.   By this point a girl that had must moved in across the hall walked up and say me with my bags knocking and offered her phone.  No number.  She without hesitation invited me into her apartment, showed me the couch, said farewell after a little chat, and good luck on your travels.  I left at seven this morning and at four thirty in the afternoon I am still on the train.  I slept all the way to Ljubljana Slovenia where it took a break to be cleaned before the last three hours of the trip.   
  Everyone in Slovenia seemed really sweet, and was very helpful when I was trying to figure out what was going on.  The screens that would usually tell you what platform to go to were half blown out, and the cleaning ladies couldn't tell me why I had to inboard the train that I had been under the impression went straight through to Rijeka Croatia without a transfer.  I had initially planned on a night and afternoon in Ljubljana, and thought if there wasn't really a train this won't be half bad.  That was of course until the teenage boy coming out of the girls bathroom spun right back around as I walked by,  with a drooling face and half opened eyes, grabbed his junk and started making a humping motion.  I flipped obviously and he walked away.  I wasn't really scared just disturbed haha.  There were people all around.  Although i had a sense he was still around so when I came out I was holding the heaviest object I could and took a good swing at him just to really get my point across.  Then casually walked up to my train where a sweet old Scottish man and I waited for our train to Croatia, unmarked, to be finished getting clean.  I am excited to head straight for the ocean. I train leaves tomorrow at 5 in the afternoon, with a three hour layover at midnight half way, then continues down to split on the peninsula, where I hope to hear back from the twenty nine American couple I am in contact with.  My hosts have written me really good recommendations so far, because I usually clean and cook breakfast, so I think they will at least see that and take me in.
    I am excited for some outdoor activity. The weather is beautiful,  the ocean is warm still, and even the capital which I will head inland for a day to see, and catch a train out, has a beautiful national park right outside with waterfalls and hiking trails.  
   Take Care.  I will keep in touch as much as possible.  Love you.  
-Sierra 
P.s. This is the second time a Croatian police officer has come into our cabin to check our passports.  Maybe they want to be sure that the other blond girl and I are not smuggling anything or being smuggled ourselves.  Somewhat intimidating and comforting at the same time.
  Ok wow.  So I'm to Rijeka.  Had to do some bargaining with the apartment owner at the train station to get a room.  I am in eastern Europe now,  hostel are sparse if any.  Between me and another backpacking family from Berlin, we are splitting a tiny studio apartment, I'm on the love seat in the living room, for 45 a night.  I pay fifteen.  The guy Bosho  is hilarious.  He gave us a grand tour of the town, along the harbor, on our walk.  He is an old sailor.  When we got to the apartment the water is off the washing machine is getting installed, but it's a place to put my bag and sleep.  The family is so cute, even the little girl has her own rucksac.  I want to be like that someday haha.  They are sweet, and have no problem letting me crash in the hallway slash kitchen.  Doesn't hurt looking innocent.  The town is small and quant, but I'm a street away from the ocean and an hour bus from the island Kurt.  Head over there tomorrow, or just a beach near town and make my way to split.
   Bosho is ridiculous, finding both me and the German family, all over town.  This city is far too small.  I think he's getting. Kick out of it. 

Budapest

Bohemia at it's finest. It was nice seeing people interacting and livingmin a place I was visiting. Prague still gibes off a Disney vibe to me. I stayed on my first couch with mark. It wasn't a couch actually, it was a whole spare room. I made ommelettes each morning and he made pumpkin soup with his friend Julia the second night. Lest overs formlast night. I may need that recipe. He was very sweet, and had some good traveling stories. The first day I was in Budapest, I circumnavigated and walked throughout the entire city. It was the most I walked yet I think haha.
The sychony bathes were in order after. The second day I convoked mark to wake up for sunrise to walk up to the top of the hill where this huge monument stood, that I don't know the name of, to over look the city. It was glorious. He was so glad he did it too, as henusually doesn't wake up until eleven. He was so curious as how I thought to do that. I find a lot of good spots in my wanders. He said he may make it a requirement for every surfer from this point on. I went to lunch with him then he wen off to work, and I wandered. Bit more, as much as my legs could handle. He has an Internet company so he's kind of on his own schedule. I met him for a second night at the bathes. It was warming and relaxing there. A lot of neat stuff and some well needed quite space. He headed of tomorrow to see bout angirl in Poland. Very sweet. I left this morning and here I sit in the McDonalds in Vienna. Usingnthe Internet and hanging out because my host won't be there unil 1130. I could go ,wet her flatmates but I'm just going to read and clear my head. Miss you guys right now.
Sierra

From Prague to Budapest

Prague
      Im not up and moving as quickly as I usually am.  Got to cover a lot of ground. Going to start doing over night trains with just day trips in between, for a few days at a time.  That's the point of backpacking right?  See as much as you can, so you can be more selective later. I should have left last night to go to poland, because there is only an overnight train to Krakow.  Think I may do it from budapest still.  I'd like to see aid wits, or I guess I should say I feel like i should go.  I also heard Krakow is a really neat city.  I have a kid I had already lined up to stay with in Budapest though, who is leaving on Friday so I needed todo that first. Kind of backtracks a little,but sleeping on the train, will save me time and money anyways.  Then back down to the capital of Slovakia just so I can see it,  and from there an hour into Vienna where I have a place lined up with a young girl.  She's only nineteen, but hosts travelers at her place all the time, because that is how she travels.  Vienna to Slovakia fora night and day, shoot to Croatia from there.  Two days in the capital, Zagreb and two on the coast, probably Dubrovnik   May do the coast first, because the scenic train is renown from Slovakia along Croatia's coast.  Down the line until I eventually reach Greece.  Do the northern scenic route and stay a night in each city.   Hopefully, fly to Istanbul for an early day, a night and leave the next afternoon.  Fly back into Athens, because I have to get a flight anyways, so this way I don't back track on the train.  Athens for at least two days, with some island trips in between.  The eurorail includes free ferries to the two main islands.  I'd like to see the smaller more remote ones, but again, I'm backpacking.  I can devote that to another trip and time down the road.  Greece to Italy, but I don't have anything planned from there.  The ferry is included to Italy as well. Leaving Greece will take me up to probably the 18th of October.  Im assuming in Italy, two days in Rome, two days, or at least one and a night in Naples, two in Florence and at least two completely full days morning until night in Venice. May try to find a couch out in tuscany for a night and day as well. So about a week at least  altogether.  I was offered a place to stay in a small northern italian town, which is very unique.  It is in the alps, and they speak German, but the culture is still very similar to Italian.  From there I have a place in Switzerland outside Zurich, and I will probably go to Geneva for a day.  Get a night train out of there perhaps to northern France, or an over nighter to get to the coast to take the tunnel to London by Halloween.  If I don't make it by Halloween, however,  I will shoot for the fifth of November.  Lianne's friends family throw a huge formal party for it, and set off fireworks.  If that is the case I'll probably do the Netherlands after Switzerland for a couple days, or Paris.   Hopefully both, because that'll put me at the 8th.  Time is dwindling on my eurorail, so I have to find a way to do all of France, Amsterdam, visit Aleks in Cambridge, celebrate the fifth, see stone henge, Barcelona, and Portugal by the sixteenth. Probably cut out Geneva, random northern Italy town,  only stay for a day in Bosnia, skip over Albania, and one day in Montenegro to not cut it to close.  Two months seems like a long time, but it's really not.  May decide against Poland too. Save that for an eastern European, Russia trip, someday.  It's like an extra twelve hours on a train for only a day to visit. Well mom, you wanted my itinerary.  That is about as good as it'll get.  It has changed so much from week to week.  I'm not connected to the Internet when I write this, but if you look at the time and place I submit it, that is where I have gotten to.  I'll try to stay in touch, but the Internet is not at my disposal.  Like I said.  I have a lot of ground to cover.
          So as for Prague.  It is gorgeous.  Very old architecture, because the fortunately hitler had committed suicide, with troops just a day outside the city, leaving it untouched by the war.  It is overwhelming crowded though.  I couldn't even imagine visiting here in the summer.  Charles bridge is like try to get through Disney world on spring break.  There is something about the swarms of Rukeyser that makes it feel a bit superficial like Disney world as well.  In some ways it is comforting being surrounded by tourist, because you don't have to deal with local resentment as often, but in other ways it makes it feel very unauthentic.  I was satisfied seeing the castle, which is quite extraordinary actually, if you can fight you way to it, and the main sights like the astronomical clock, churches like saint Nicolas'  and so on.  Then I escaped up into the hills and to a park to admire from a distance.  A massive river cuts through the city, which lends itself to architectural brilliance such as the Charles bridge and other stunning bridges, making Prague just that much more picturesque.  Two days was plenty for me still.   The first day I did the castle and walked around.  Met up with a couple of people, who initially I was just going to have a drink with, but ended up going to the city square to try some different Czech food from the vendors that fill it.  There are open fires and slickers just out in the streets.   A beer also costs less here than a bottle of water.  Escaped the crowd to find some of the more underground local spot.  When I say underground, I laterally mean underground.  Would could be a fruit cellar by day, turns into a cave bar by night.  A bit strange, and a little unhealthy probably being that you are underground in a cave with no ventilation, but unlike any place I had been I to before.  Went to another night club, which I'm pretty sure was majority gay, but I'm beginning to notice that there is a very open gay community in a lot o places ive been in Europe. This made me feel very comfortable of course, so I ended up staying put way past my own set curfew, and got to ditch the people I went with without the awkward well don't really want to hang out with you even though you were considerate enough to insist on treating me for everything i got all evening, which is next to impossible to put lightly.  Got to bed by five.  Dragged myself out in the morning, went on a walking tour.  Czechoslovakia's history is pretty unique, but the guide was pretty terrible and did not do it any justice. 
     It wasn't it's own kingdom until almost the 1300 s if I can remember correctly.  The way in which it looks today is contributed to king Charles the fourth.  He had visited Paris a great deal.  He used it as a model for renovation of Prague.  This is why Prague is considered, along with Paris, to be the most beautiful cities in Europe.  Prague castle had existed since 880 c.e. , but the town squares were newly renovated and the stunning our lady cathedral was built in 1353 and the Charles bridge in 1356.  One of the most remarkable features of the city I thought, was the old synagogue.  That is it's name, people were not that creative with names from the ninth to sixteenth century I havdetermined.  It has existed since 1270 and is the oldest operating synagogue in all of Europe.  Miraculously it survived the nazi occupation.  Prague, had before the war, the largest Jewish settlement in Europe.  This settlement however, was a fenced in ghetto in ghetto of the worst flood lands of all of prague.until 1890.  The Jewish population managed to thrive here.  At one point a quarter of the cities population was Jewish and they were all crammed into this tiny plot.
       I visited the museum.  The museum had a lot of unique artifacts. They had to be hidden and many were destroyed and liquidated when the museum shut down under nazi occupation.  The graveyard is also very peculiar.  There are probably more bodies legally buried on this one plot of land than anywhere else in the world.  Judaism does not permit cremation, so they dug the graves extremely deep.  Sometimes up to twenty bodies stacked in the same grave-sight.  As you circumnavigate  it the earth is raised quite a bit in some places where they had to stack graves up higher.  The tomb stones have collections of names.  You also couldn't possibly wok between them.  They are only a few inches from eachother and some leaning on one another, jutting out in all different directions.  People leave stones from places they have been and from home.  I did not feel like it was appropriate to do so, but I did have a stone I picked up and had in my pocket for some reason in Dachau.  This did seem like an appropriates place to leave that.  They had added a holocaust exhibit and memorial.the memorial is a large open white room, with a balcony and some winding halls. There is nothing in it but names and dates of brith to death in black and red in small font.  The entire surface area of the room was covered from ceiling to floor with names.  They also had an extremely unique exhibit. I feel awful that I cannot remember her name, but a Jewish artist that had got restricted to the ghetto under nazi occupation felt moved to do something for the children that had been leftNd separated from the parents.  The Jews in Prague had always lived in the ghetto, but it was not until the beginning of the second world war that they began to be imprisoned, taken away in high number to Tarazine concentration camp and not allowed to carry out there day to day lives.  Those left in the ghetto were left there In upheaval and awaiting deportation.  When this woman heard these children crying all night and day, she decided that she would assist them with the only type of therapy that she knew.  Art.  She smuggled paper, crayons, pen and markers from friends outside the ghetto.  She would then go to the children's dorm, and give them lessons, and let them express there creativity.  So e of the pictures are ordinary characters, or children playing.  Many are quite disturbing though, if you consider that they are drawn by small children.  There is a drawing of an execution by hanging, and the man hanging is in a striped suit with the star of David across his chest.  There is another one where three people are on there hands and knees with there heads down and tears falling from there eyes, with a German soldier standing above them with a whip.  Some are just dark and eerie, while others are drawings of palestine, and the paradise of the holy land that they had been told about since since childhood.  You could see that for the children it was the escape in there own mind, and not just a place.  It was unsettling.  Before this woman was shipped to Aushawitz, from where she of course never returned, she managed to hide and save close to 4000 pictures which she buried just outside the ghetto in two suitcases.  She told a friend outside the ghetto where she had buried them, and that is where they were found.  The two suitcases sit inside along with the displays of pictures.
      On a lighter note the fall of communism with Czech was accomplished at the cost of no lives.  The twenty one year shadow was lifted, in large part do to relentless student demonstration.  Czechoslovakia became completely communist in 1948. In the 1960 s there was a sort of hippie revolution, influenced the the political activism going on in the U.S. It was  the first demands for political and social change that began to circulate.  This resulted in soviet occupation of czechoslovakia.  They restricted political freedoms and liberal thought, as well as monitored phone lines and had secret police swarming everywhere.  In 1989 thousands of students marched into the square to demand that they soviets withdraw there security and restrictions.  All the citizens of the city rattled there keys out there windows symbolizing that they wanted to be let out, and wanted an end to the repression.  The police severely beat a large number of the students, but where eventually ran out.  This was officially the end of communism in Czechoslovakia.  It is known as the "velvet revolution", because despite the violence, no one lost there life. I suppose I say a lot of the city.  It is very small, especially considering it is a capital city.  There a gran opera halls,ornate architecture,  saw the house Einstein lived in when he had developed his theory of relativity.  A lot of stuff.  Hot stuffy crowded.  Erase all the people and it is a gorgeous place.  The high number of tourists does make for a very lively city at night, however, as opposed to a lot of places I've been, where it is silent, other than the club or bar districts.
         I suppose I could mention a little about the train. In Germany they were pretty nice.  Set up like a table and both.  You usually share with one other person on the other side.  Leaving Berlin and going I to eastern Europe, they aren't so nice.  They are like the six chair rooms in Harry potter, except you don't meet any Ron wisely s.  All foreign strangers.  Sometimes they're nice, some times they just stare.  There are a few stops in between major cities so at times it clears out, or you get a new batch.  The toilets don't flush, or at least they don't work, and no water comes out of the sink.  It's pretty hot where I am now, so a bit stuffy.  All good though.  Gets you point A to point B.  All that matters. And it's awesome to just flash a pass whenever the ticket checker comes around and just show up to the train station and find the platform.  Not have to wait for tickets or anything.  I'm pretty sure I was walking on a curb in the highway to get to the train station in Prague.  Beautiful, but outside the center,  there isn't the best urban planning.  Public transport is spectacular though.  There is tram and underground in nearly every major city.  There is no way that you can't get somewhere pretty easily.
     Alright of to Budapest.  I've heard good things.  Cheaper, far less people,  friendlier residents, most of whom speak English,  and still very pretty.I'm disappointed that I hadn't planned ahead for Poland, but I had to get out of Prague,and  there's still a chance.  Like I said, I'm going to be on the move, but I will at least email.  Probably no time to chat this week, if I even get the internet in the places I'm staying.  Im excited to be staying with some young locals places, to get out of the crowd and have some more beyond tourist experiences.  I think thats important, and the whole point of traveling alone. Couch surfing is like being part of the wider global community haha. Alright.  Love you and talk to you soon.  Farewell.
     In Budapest.  Pretty excited for a little city and some more out door adventure.  I can't handle the crowds.  I managed to get through Slovakia with my Eurorail pass, the lady never came back to charge me for that part.  Think I'll take the around the border route to go back to Vienna though.  I honestly don't know how I managed.  
Sierra Rae

From Prague to Budapest

Prague
      Im not up and moving as quickly as I usually am.  Got to cover a lot of ground. Going to start doing over night trains with just day trips in between, for a few days at a time.  That's the point of backpacking right?  See as much as you can, so you can be more selective later. I should have left last night to go to poland, because there is only an overnight train to Krakow.  Think I may do it from budapest still.  I'd like to see aid wits, or I guess I should say I feel like i should go.  I also heard Krakow is a really neat city.  I have a kid I had already lined up to stay with in Budapest though, who is leaving on Friday so I needed todo that first. Kind of backtracks a little,but sleeping on the train, will save me time and money anyways.  Then back down to the capital of Slovakia just so I can see it,  and from there an hour into Vienna where I have a place lined up with a young girl.  She's only nineteen, but hosts travelers at her place all the time, because that is how she travels.  Vienna to Slovakia fora night and day, shoot to Croatia from there.  Two days in the capital, Zagreb and two on the coast, probably Dubrovnik   May do the coast first, because the scenic train is renown from Slovakia along Croatia's coast.  Down the line until I eventually reach Greece.  Do the northern scenic route and stay a night in each city.   Hopefully, fly to Istanbul for an early day, a night and leave the next afternoon.  Fly back into Athens, because I have to get a flight anyways, so this way I don't back track on the train.  Athens for at least two days, with some island trips in between.  The eurorail includes free ferries to the two main islands.  I'd like to see the smaller more remote ones, but again, I'm backpacking.  I can devote that to another trip and time down the road.  Greece to Italy, but I don't have anything planned from there.  The ferry is included to Italy as well. Leaving Greece will take me up to probably the 18th of October.  Im assuming in Italy, two days in Rome, two days, or at least one and a night in Naples, two in Florence and at least two completely full days morning until night in Venice. May try to find a couch out in tuscany for a night and day as well. So about a week at least  altogether.  I was offered a place to stay in a small northern italian town, which is very unique.  It is in the alps, and they speak German, but the culture is still very similar to Italian.  From there I have a place in Switzerland outside Zurich, and I will probably go to Geneva for a day.  Get a night train out of there perhaps to northern France, or an over nighter to get to the coast to take the tunnel to London by Halloween.  If I don't make it by Halloween, however,  I will shoot for the fifth of November.  Lianne's friends family throw a huge formal party for it, and set off fireworks.  If that is the case I'll probably do the Netherlands after Switzerland for a couple days, or Paris.   Hopefully both, because that'll put me at the 8th.  Time is dwindling on my eurorail, so I have to find a way to do all of France, Amsterdam, visit Aleks in Cambridge, celebrate the fifth, see stone henge, Barcelona, and Portugal by the sixteenth. Probably cut out Geneva, random northern Italy town,  only stay for a day in Bosnia, skip over Albania, and one day in Montenegro to not cut it to close.  Two months seems like a long time, but it's really not.  May decide against Poland too. Save that for an eastern European, Russia trip, someday.  It's like an extra twelve hours on a train for only a day to visit. Well mom, you wanted my itinerary.  That is about as good as it'll get.  It has changed so much from week to week.  I'm not connected to the Internet when I write this, but if you look at the time and place I submit it, that is where I have gotten to.  I'll try to stay in touch, but the Internet is not at my disposal.  Like I said.  I have a lot of ground to cover.
          So as for Prague.  It is gorgeous.  Very old architecture, because the fortunately hitler had committed suicide, with troops just a day outside the city, leaving it untouched by the war.  It is overwhelming crowded though.  I couldn't even imagine visiting here in the summer.  Charles bridge is like try to get through Disney world on spring break.  There is something about the swarms of Rukeyser that makes it feel a bit superficial like Disney world as well.  In some ways it is comforting being surrounded by tourist, because you don't have to deal with local resentment as often, but in other ways it makes it feel very unauthentic.  I was satisfied seeing the castle, which is quite extraordinary actually, if you can fight you way to it, and the main sights like the astronomical clock, churches like saint Nicolas'  and so on.  Then I escaped up into the hills and to a park to admire from a distance.  A massive river cuts through the city, which lends itself to architectural brilliance such as the Charles bridge and other stunning bridges, making Prague just that much more picturesque.  Two days was plenty for me still.   The first day I did the castle and walked around.  Met up with a couple of people, who initially I was just going to have a drink with, but ended up going to the city square to try some different Czech food from the vendors that fill it.  There are open fires and slickers just out in the streets.   A beer also costs less here than a bottle of water.  Escaped the crowd to find some of the more underground local spot.  When I say underground, I laterally mean underground.  Would could be a fruit cellar by day, turns into a cave bar by night.  A bit strange, and a little unhealthy probably being that you are underground in a cave with no ventilation, but unlike any place I had been I to before.  Went to another night club, which I'm pretty sure was majority gay, but I'm beginning to notice that there is a very open gay community in a lot o places ive been in Europe. This made me feel very comfortable of course, so I ended up staying put way past my own set curfew, and got to ditch the people I went with without the awkward well don't really want to hang out with you even though you were considerate enough to insist on treating me for everything i got all evening, which is next to impossible to put lightly.  Got to bed by five.  Dragged myself out in the morning, went on a walking tour.  Czechoslovakia's history is pretty unique, but the guide was pretty terrible and did not do it any justice. 
     It wasn't it's own kingdom until almost the 1300 s if I can remember correctly.  The way in which it looks today is contributed to king Charles the fourth.  He had visited Paris a great deal.  He used it as a model for renovation of Prague.  This is why Prague is considered, along with Paris, to be the most beautiful cities in Europe.  Prague castle had existed since 880 c.e. , but the town squares were newly renovated and the stunning our lady cathedral was built in 1353 and the Charles bridge in 1356.  One of the most remarkable features of the city I thought, was the old synagogue.  That is it's name, people were not that creative with names from the ninth to sixteenth century I havdetermined.  It has existed since 1270 and is the oldest operating synagogue in all of Europe.  Miraculously it survived the nazi occupation.  Prague, had before the war, the largest Jewish settlement in Europe.  This settlement however, was a fenced in ghetto in ghetto of the worst flood lands of all of prague.until 1890.  The Jewish population managed to thrive here.  At one point a quarter of the cities population was Jewish and they were all crammed into this tiny plot.
       I visited the museum.  The museum had a lot of unique artifacts. They had to be hidden and many were destroyed and liquidated when the museum shut down under nazi occupation.  The graveyard is also very peculiar.  There are probably more bodies legally buried on this one plot of land than anywhere else in the world.  Judaism does not permit cremation, so they dug the graves extremely deep.  Sometimes up to twenty bodies stacked in the same grave-sight.  As you circumnavigate  it the earth is raised quite a bit in some places where they had to stack graves up higher.  The tomb stones have collections of names.  You also couldn't possibly wok between them.  They are only a few inches from eachother and some leaning on one another, jutting out in all different directions.  People leave stones from places they have been and from home.  I did not feel like it was appropriate to do so, but I did have a stone I picked up and had in my pocket for some reason in Dachau.  This did seem like an appropriates place to leave that.  They had added a holocaust exhibit and memorial.the memorial is a large open white room, with a balcony and some winding halls. There is nothing in it but names and dates of brith to death in black and red in small font.  The entire surface area of the room was covered from ceiling to floor with names.  They also had an extremely unique exhibit. I feel awful that I cannot remember her name, but a Jewish artist that had got restricted to the ghetto under nazi occupation felt moved to do something for the children that had been leftNd separated from the parents.  The Jews in Prague had always lived in the ghetto, but it was not until the beginning of the second world war that they began to be imprisoned, taken away in high number to Tarazine concentration camp and not allowed to carry out there day to day lives.  Those left in the ghetto were left there In upheaval and awaiting deportation.  When this woman heard these children crying all night and day, she decided that she would assist them with the only type of therapy that she knew.  Art.  She smuggled paper, crayons, pen and markers from friends outside the ghetto.  She would then go to the children's dorm, and give them lessons, and let them express there creativity.  So e of the pictures are ordinary characters, or children playing.  Many are quite disturbing though, if you consider that they are drawn by small children.  There is a drawing of an execution by hanging, and the man hanging is in a striped suit with the star of David across his chest.  There is another one where three people are on there hands and knees with there heads down and tears falling from there eyes, with a German soldier standing above them with a whip.  Some are just dark and eerie, while others are drawings of palestine, and the paradise of the holy land that they had been told about since since childhood.  You could see that for the children it was the escape in there own mind, and not just a place.  It was unsettling.  Before this woman was shipped to Aushawitz, from where she of course never returned, she managed to hide and save close to 4000 pictures which she buried just outside the ghetto in two suitcases.  She told a friend outside the ghetto where she had buried them, and that is where they were found.  The two suitcases sit inside along with the displays of pictures.
      On a lighter note the fall of communism with Czech was accomplished at the cost of no lives.  The twenty one year shadow was lifted, in large part do to relentless student demonstration.  Czechoslovakia became completely communist in 1948. In the 1960 s there was a sort of hippie revolution, influenced the the political activism going on in the U.S. It was  the first demands for political and social change that began to circulate.  This resulted in soviet occupation of czechoslovakia.  They restricted political freedoms and liberal thought, as well as monitored phone lines and had secret police swarming everywhere.  In 1989 thousands of students marched into the square to demand that they soviets withdraw there security and restrictions.  All the citizens of the city rattled there keys out there windows symbolizing that they wanted to be let out, and wanted an end to the repression.  The police severely beat a large number of the students, but where eventually ran out.  This was officially the end of communism in Czechoslovakia.  It is known as the "velvet revolution", because despite the violence, no one lost there life. I suppose I say a lot of the city.  It is very small, especially considering it is a capital city.  There a gran opera halls,ornate architecture,  saw the house Einstein lived in when he had developed his theory of relativity.  A lot of stuff.  Hot stuffy crowded.  Erase all the people and it is a gorgeous place.  The high number of tourists does make for a very lively city at night, however, as opposed to a lot of places I've been, where it is silent, other than the club or bar districts.
         I suppose I could mention a little about the train. In Germany they were pretty nice.  Set up like a table and both.  You usually share with one other person on the other side.  Leaving Berlin and going I to eastern Europe, they aren't so nice.  They are like the six chair rooms in Harry potter, except you don't meet any Ron wisely s.  All foreign strangers.  Sometimes they're nice, some times they just stare.  There are a few stops in between major cities so at times it clears out, or you get a new batch.  The toilets don't flush, or at least they don't work, and no water comes out of the sink.  It's pretty hot where I am now, so a bit stuffy.  All good though.  Gets you point A to point B.  All that matters. And it's awesome to just flash a pass whenever the ticket checker comes around and just show up to the train station and find the platform.  Not have to wait for tickets or anything.  I'm pretty sure I was walking on a curb in the highway to get to the train station in Prague.  Beautiful, but outside the center,  there isn't the best urban planning.  Public transport is spectacular though.  There is tram and underground in nearly every major city.  There is no way that you can't get somewhere pretty easily.
     Alright of to Budapest.  I've heard good things.  Cheaper, far less people,  friendlier residents, most of whom speak English,  and still very pretty.I'm disappointed that I hadn't planned ahead for Poland, but I had to get out of Prague,and  there's still a chance.  Like I said, I'm going to be on the move, but I will at least email.  Probably no time to chat this week, if I even get the internet in the places I'm staying.  Im excited to be staying with some young locals places, to get out of the crowd and have some more beyond tourist experiences.  I think thats important, and the whole point of traveling alone. Couch surfing is like being part of the wider global community haha. Alright.  Love you and talk to you soon.  Farewell.
     In Budapest.  Pretty excited for a little city and some more out door adventure.  I can't handle the crowds.  I managed to get through Slovakia with my Eurorail pass, the lady never came back to charge me for that part.  Think I'll take the around the border route to go back to Vienna though.  I honestly don't know how I managed.  
Sierra Rae