England (is always cold)

Rosie and Emelie and I on Rosie's birthday

After Italy I went back to England to see a few friends. I spent a week in Manchester to celebrate my friend Rosie’s birthday. Our friend Emelie from Sweeden also came to Manchester and the three of us had a jolly old time. We spent our days lying around in the backyard, going into the city centre and shopping at Primark- a very very cheap and fashionable department store. I also took a trip to the town of Kearsley, 20 minutes away from Manchester. The town was established by my ancestors long ago before they came over to America on the Mayflower. Kearsley is a suburb and mostly residential, but it was cool to see some family history.

After Manchester I went farther north to Newcastle and stayed with my friend Ryan from Santa Cruz. Ryan is a med student and therefore living a completely different lifestyle than I am (which was a good reminder that someday I will have to go back to work). We had a good time hanging out and watching weird British television. He lives in the city centre right near the river so when the odd chance arose that it wasn't raining or freezing, I took walks and went shopping.

Eventually I left Ryan to his important studies and went south to Nottingham. I wanted to go to a National Park but my timing was poor and I couldn’t find any available accommodation (it was a bank holiday weekend- everyone gets Monday off). So I ended up in Nottingham at Midtown Hostel. BIG MISTAKE .

The following account is not for the feint at heart, so do not read on if you have a weak stomach. When I first arrived at the hostel I was shown to a bed in what was more or less a hallway. I immediately asked to change beds. The guy at reception was incredibly rude and it took him 10 minutes to explain that I had booked the cheapest bed and that was that specific bed. I ended up staying in the bed but cancelled my 3^rd night at the hostel because I was so put off by the rude staff. In the middle of the night I woke up itching like crazy. I did not know what could be the problem and eventually fell back to sleep. In the morning I awoke with bites all over my face, neck, hands and feet. Bed bug bites. As with every other insect bite, I began to swell. And swell and swell. I ran straight to the tourist agency and booked a room at a bed and breakfast. I was extremely distraught and embarrassed of my swollen face so all I wanted to do was get out of the hostel and the city centre, fast. On my way out I complained to the hostel reception (same rude guy)- but through my tears I don’t think the message was quite clear.

For the next 24 hours I did not leave my room at the bed and breakfast. I had purchased some bread rolls, tomatoes and Clementines which I sustained myself on for the next 2 days. After one full day in bed the swelling was so bad that my eye was swollen shut and I could not move my fingers (yes I was taking benadryl religously). I began to panic but did not want to go to the hospital and just hoped that things would get better. It was scary. Eventually I was able to open my eye. It took 8 days for my face to look more or less normal. I still had red bites all over, but at least my eyes were the same size.

This experience was awful. By far the worst thing I've experienced so far this trip. There’s nothing worse than being alone, sick, hungry and scared for your life. I was very glad to get out of Nottingham and cold, rainy, infested England.

I spent two days with my friend Masha in London (we met a month earlier in Italy). It was such a relief to be in a clean place with a friend. We went for nice walks on the Heath (huge park in London). We had lots of tea and wonderful veggie fabulous meals. It was a very nice change from my previous few days and I am so thankful that I had a safe haven after such a disaster.

Now I’m in Greece and having a splendid time with my friends from Santa Monica- Katie and Lauren. I’m warm, tan, healthy, and have two eyes the same size. Life is good.

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2969202017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Amalfi & Cinque Terre

After Ischia I took a very dangerous bus ride to Atrani on the Amalfi coast where I met up with Maya and Hillary (friends from Santa Cruz)!

We spent two days in Atrani and Amalfi enjoying the beautiful sights and wonderful eats of southern Italy.

Maya and Hil at dinner on our first night.

After two nights in Amalfi we headed up to Cinque Terre in Nothern Italy. Unfortunately our train was an hour late arriving in Rome so we missed our connection to La Spezia. This meant we were stranded in Rome for the night. Luckily one of the hostels I stayed at previously was right near the train station and had beds available. Stopping in Rome turned out to be a blessing in disguise because neither Maya nor Hillary had been there before. As I had spent a week there, I was able to give them a mini night tour of the city. The next day we hopped on a very early train and made it to Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre.

Manorola- the second town.

Cinque Terre (pronounced Cheen-kwa tair-uh) literally means 'Five Lands'. In Cinque Terre National Park there are 5 towns along the coastline connected by a coast trail. You can take trains between the towns, but the more beautiful, more rewarding way to see them is to hike along the 9km trail through them. So that's what we did! We were extremely lucky to hike on an overcast day because it was hot! The hike took us 5 hours including a 1 hour break in the 4th town where we enjoyed some pesto pizza.






The hike was very hilly but worth the incredible views of the coastline. At the end of the hike we rewarded ourselves with a beer and some appetizers at our favorite restaurant (with our favorite blue-eyed waiter) in the nothern-most town of Monterosso.



After 5 amazing days together I had to say goodbye to Maya and Hillary. They made their way to Switzerland and I to England. It was an incredible week together and I am so thankful we were able to meet up. Being with the girls made my last 4 months feel like a dream. Now that they're gone, I feel like being with them was a dream! Traveling life is so different from everyday life and being with friends from home, living normal lives (aka working) reminded me just how crazy a journey I am on, and how lucky and glad I am to have the opportunity to see so many amazing sights and meet so many amazing people.
But I miss you all sooooo much! I can't wait to see you in December. Muah!

pictures! http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2885088017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Rome & Ischia

After almost a month in Croatia I deflated my raft and flew back to Italy. I went to Rome where I met up with Alli! (friend from Santa Monica for those of you who don't know who I'm referring to). Alli and her friend Kylie had been traveling throughout Europe for a few weeks and our paths met in Rome... as we learned on our tour of the Vatican.. all roads lead to Rome! Alli and I toured the Vatican City including St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel! It was beautiful! Sadly we only had one day and two nights together before Alli and Kylie flew back to the states... to real life.

Alli and I in the Vatican City

I spent a week in Rome seeing all the sights. It amazed me to see buildings sooo old. I can't believe they were able to build such amazing structures so long ago with none of the resources we have today.

One night in Rome I was caught in a torrential down pour. It began right as I got to Trevi Fountain- a 30 minute walk from my hostel. I hopped into a pizza joint to grab some dinner and hopefully wait out the worst of it. When it became clear that the storm was not going to let up anytime soon I asked for a trash bag. The owners of the pizzeria were extremely rude when serving all their rain drenched customers (including me), but when they watched me poke holes in the trash bag they were delighted. It seems that nobody in Italy has ever thought of using a trash bag as a poncho. Everyone in the pizzeria applaued when I put the bag on and everyone I passed on the streets stared, pointed and exclaimed about my ingenious idea. Eventually I made it home... drenched and cold.
After Rome I spent a few days on the island of Ischia. After 4 months of travelling, I experienced my first illness (I blame the rainstorm in Rome). Wasn't so bad, just a cold.
Sunset on Ischia

The island of Ischia is off the coast of Naples and it is where the Italians go for vacation. It is covered in natural thermal hot springs. The first night I went out to dinner with 3 girls from Paris and a girl from London. We had a lovely dinner and became good friends.
The next day the 5 of us went to a beach with natural hot springs. It was amazing to swim in the ocean, lie on the rocks, and sit in the thermal pools. We rubbed the volcanic rock soil on our faces for a free facial. The rest of my time on Ischia was more or less just going to different beaches with Masha from London and soaking up the sun with the crazy Italian tourists.
Looking down on the thermal pools

Croatia

Exile is heaven.

Pula, Croatia

I have been in Croatia for almost 20 days now and I am thoroughly enjoying myself. I have spent most of my time here on the beach. Actually I purchased a raft and I have spent most of my time floating in the Adriatic Sea. I started in Pula and traveled around with Kelli for a week. We went to these cute towns: Porec and Rovinj and then spent a few days on Island Rab. Kelli went on to Slovenia and I went to check out Island Krk before heading back to Pula.

Kelli and I with some silly Austrians we met on Island Rab.

In Pula I met up with my friends Rosie and Quentin whom I met in Venice. We have been traveling together for the past two weeks. After another few days in Pula where we met lots of new friends, Rosie, Quentin and I made our way to Novalja on Island Pag. It was kind of a last minute decision to go to Island Pag so by the time we arrived it was 9:40pm and we didn't have a place to stay. Luckily in Croatia renting apartments is simple because there are always locals around trying to rent them out. So we found an amazing apartment with two rooms, a kitchen, living room, tv and balcony overlooking the sea.
On our second night in Novalja we ran into two of our friends that we met in Pula- Christian and Matias from Argentina. Since our apartment was big enough for 5 people, they moved in with us. Novalja in known as the 'party beach' because a bus ride away from where we were staying is a beach lined with several clubs. We checked it out one night, but ended up having more fun just hanging at the apartment.

Quentin, me and Rosie on our balcony.

View from our balcony in Novalija.

After almost a week in Novalja the 5 of us headed to Split where we split ways. The Argentinian boys went on to Montenegro and Rosie, Quentin and I spent a few days in Split. Two nights ago we did a pub crawl which was run by a girl from Downey (in LA) and a guy from Wyoming. Our biggest incentive for doing the pub crawl was the 20% off discount at a Mexican restaurant the next day! The Mexican food was alright and I am traveling with a bottle of Tabasco but I really really just want a Nopales Burrito from La Cabana and some Tapatio. Today Rosie and Quentin went to England and I am going to the lavender scented Hvar Island.
Ciao for now!

pictures of Italia: http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2699771017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

pictures of Croatia: http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2724193017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Italy

I spent a lovely 5 days in Venice where I met some fabulous people.
After Venice I wwoofed on a vineyard outside of Florence for a week and a half. Ah vineyard life in Tuscany... soo difficult. On the vineyard there were 7 other wwoofers all working together. Our main task was tying up the vines so that when the grapes swell they would not be on the ground. This also involved thinning the plants and organizing the vines. Everyday Valentina, the owner would cook massive amazing meals. I have never eaten so well in my life. Huge huge fabulous home cooked Italian meals- it was a dream come true...especially after working so hard on the vineyard. And of course being on a vineyard we had all the Chianti we could drink!

Most nights the wwoofers would all cook together.. mostly influenced by Dara a woman from LA that is a fabulous cook. So I basically ate massive Italian meals constantly and had to be rolled away from the vineyard.
On my day off I went to Lucca and Pisa with two of my fellow wwoofers- Susanne from Alberta Canada and Aya from Israel.


The vineyard life was tiring and I felt the urge to get out of Schengen.
I went back to my favorite hostel in Venice for one night so I could arrange travel plans to Croatia with my friend Rosie. I met a girl, Kelly, from Austin, Texas and together we took the ferry over to Croatia. So now I have officially began my exile in Croatia and I'm going to the beach!
Will upload pics as soon as I can!

Governmental drama

Since my last blog I have been to Luzern, Zurich, Milan and Venice.
Luzern was gorgeous despite it being extremely windy. I spent a lovely day by the lake in Zurich with a friend Carlee from Canada. Milan was my first stop in Italy and I was thankful to have lots of good, cheap food at my disposal after expensive Switzerland.
Venice was awesome in every way. I met a bunch of amazing people and enjoyed several days of wandering the canals (aka getting lost) and constantly being impressed by the scenery.

In Venice I also discovered that my entire trip is going to have to change dramatically due to stupid governmental travel restrictions that I was unaware of until two days ago.

Here goes:
Schengen = most of the European Union not including UK, Ireland, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus

Apparently I am only allowed to be in the Shengan region of Europe for a maximum of 90 days within 180 days. That means once I have been in Shengan turf for 3 months I have to leave for 3 months before I can come back again.

On July 27th I will reach 90 days. Which would mean I am not allowed back until October 27th.

As this would completely screw up all of my plans for meeting up with Alli, Maya, Katie and Lauren... I am going to leave the Schengen region soon. Therefore I will have 25 days to spend in the Schengen region before October 27th.

I am hoping that I can leave long enough to be able to come back and meet up with each of my friends without breaking the law.

If anyone knows anything about this law or anything I can do to get around it... please let me know!

Since I will be exiled from Europe for awhile I will now be traveling to Croatia, Turkey, Israel and who knows where else. Kind of a blessing in disguise because I would love to visit all these places and they were not on my original itinerary... but it also means I will have to cancel several flights and will get to spend less time in Italy, Spain, Germany and several other countries.

Other than the stress of all this ridiculous crap I had no idea about until 2 days ago... things are going well. I'm working on a vineyard in Florence and it's lovely.

Just trying to stay optimistic and make the most out of the time I have despite the obvious downsides.
More to come soon!
Ciao!

Switzerland

(the mountains from left are the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau-the top of Europe-4158m)

I LOVE SWITZERLAND!
It is incredibly gorgeous here.
I had to skip Geneva and Luasanne because of no vacancies but that was alright with me because I wanted out of cities. I spent my first two nights in Iterlaken. There I was surrounded by people going skydiving, hang gliding, canyoning and every other extreme sport you can think of. I opted out doing anything extreme because it was incredibly expensive. I did enjoy walking around the town and the lakes. I met some awesome girls from Canada- Jenene and Melissa and we had an excellent time together.
After some fun and sun in Interlaken I went up the mountain to Lauterbrunnen (population= 2,480) where I spent three nights. With Lauterbrunnen as my base I spent 4 days exploring the the Jungfrau region. On my first day I walked to Trummelbach falls. It's these series of waterfalls inside a mountain, so it was like being in a cave with water flowing everywhere (reminded me of cave stream in NZ). Along the walk to the falls there were wildflowers everywhere and cows with bells that sounded like windchimes. The next day I hiked to two tiny towns: Murren (pop 440) and Gimmevald (pop 120!). The views were incredible along the hike! I was also very lucky to have such good weather.
On my last two days in the region I explored the other side of the mountain including the town Grindelvald (pop 3,840). I walked to the Balchapsee Lake which provided more amazing views. So basically I did was hiking hiking hiking.

Now I'm in Zermatt (Matterhorn area) enjoying.. more hiking! It's not quite as beautiful here as the Jungfrau region, but still very impressive.

Today I'm off to Luzern then Zurich, then Italy!

Here are some new pics!
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2610708017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Interlaken