Austria

Austria has been quite a shock to the system. The first 2 days were rainy and freezing. Considering I’ve spent most of the last 5 months on beaches, 7 degrees Celsius is extremely cold. But I’m getting used to it and Vienna was gorgeous. I absolutely loved Vienna. Because I loved it so much, I spent 4 nights there. My hostel was amazing. It felt like a ski lodge but was brand new. There were guitars and a piano for the guests to play as well as a guest kitchen stocked full of spices and tea and oils, a cute courtyard and a bar. I met some great people here including Lois from England, Andrew from Australia, Andrew from New Zealand, Tom from New York and Bruno from Chile. One rainy night Lois and the two Andrews and I took the subway across town to a bar: B52s. Most of the people in the bar were dressed like 50s greasers and the music was all 50s music. Very fun to dance to. I had lunch with Bruno at a café where we had salad and a traditional Austrian dish. The dish was very good; it consisted of bread made into dumplings and scrambled eggs.

New friends ready for a night out

I went to the Leopold museum which had a great variety of art work including paintings by Klimt. I spent a lot of time in Vienna just wandering around admiring the old buildings and the parks with beautiful autumn colored leaves. I really like Austrians. They are extremely logical and efficient. They enjoy the outdoors a lot and are always put together and respectful of each other.

Beautiful autumn leaves

Kiwi Andrew and I spent a wonderful sunny day exploring the gardens of Vienna. We walked around the gardens at the old Hofburg Palace (the summer residence of a rich family back in the day). We also enjoyed the Belvedere Gardens (quite similar to the Palace) and we took a tram ride around the city centre. One night both Andrews and another friend, Adelaide from Melbourne and I went to the Opera. The opera playing was Cardillac and I must be honest- I had no idea what the plot was while watching it. It was all in German. It was extremely exciting to see an opera and especially in Vienna which is renowned for music.

At the Hofburg Palace

Later, at the traveler’s shack (bar made for young tourists)I kicked the boys butts at foosball, pool and a game involving a hammer and nail. Before heading off to Salzburg, I visited the Fine Arts Museum where I admired paintings from a few centuries ago by artists including Rembrandt, Raphael, Velazquez, etc.

Sound of Music? when you know the note to sing, you can sing most anything.

In Salzburg I saw many beautiful gardens and churches and some very special places that were featured in the Sound of Music! I also spent some time learning about Motzart since he was born in Salzburg.

Salzburg

Wwoofing in Israel

Enthusiastically planting never-ending rows of garlic

For the past 3 weeks I have been wwoofing on a farm near Netanya (20km north of Tel Aviv). Every morning I woke up at 5am and started work at 5:30am. We took a break around 9 or 10am for breakfast, then worked till 1:30pm. It was a big change from my normal traveling routine. The farmer is Amir and he and his wife, Orit, have three kids: Gilad (14), Idan (11) and Imbal (11). Every day after work Orit made us a delicious lunch and she always made sure to make something vegetarian for me. My roommate was Gaby from South Africa. We got along fabulously. For the first week on the farm there were two other wwoofers, David from Germany and Patrick from New York. The last week on the farm two girls, Laura and Jas, from London volunteered on the farm.

The farm is located only 5km from the Mediterranean so some days after work Gaby and I would bike down to the beach. We also spent our evenings going on runs- something I hadn’t done in 6 months! The farm work consisted of mostly mundane tasks. We planted a lot of garlic. A LOT of Garlic. We planted garlic for at least 4 hours a day for 2 weeks. Some days we planted for 8 hours. We also washed and bagged lettuce, sheared and bagged corn, planted onions, and weeded strawberries. Exciting, I know.

Beach at Netanya

Amir’s policy on the farm was that if you don’t leave on the weekend you work. Quite a stupid policy for volunteers, but alas I had to comply. My first weekend away I went to Tiberias on the Sea of Galillee. It was a beautiful area. My second weekend away Gaby and I went even farther north to Qiryat Shmona near the Golan Heights. We spent most of our time at the Jordan River. The river was incredibly cold, but it was lovely to lie in the grass soaking up the sun then float down the river for awhile.

My overall experience on the farm was good. I enjoyed staying in one place for three weeks, the work was not demanding, and I loved having the beach so close. The downsides were the weekend policy, the tedium of the tasks and the stinginess of the owners. We were only give certain foods and had to beg for fruit. There were two permanent workers from Thailand on the farm- Goon and Lompoon. They were incredibly nice and funny and made the work more enjoyable.

Gaby and the Thai's having dinner (pad thai)

During my stay on the farm I celebrated my 24^th birthday. The day was much like the others- worked 8 hours. For lunch Orit made me a carrot chocolate chip birthday cake and they gave me some Dead Sea lotions which were extremely nice. Gaby and I watched a movie and drank a glass of wine- too tired to do much else and knowing we had to get up at 5am the next day. The best part of my birthday was all of the messages I received wishing me a happy birthday. They made me feel special.

Jas and Laura packing lettuce (Gaby in the background is washing)

It was hard leaving Israel and therefore leaving summer. It was also hard because at the airport they are ridiculously strict (especially when you are leaving). As a female solo traveler I was asked many questions and every item in my bag was checked and swabbed. So much for my nice packing job. Alas I am out and in Vienna, Austria. It’s freezing here. But, I’m excited to continue my journey. Only 6 weeks left!

p.s. this was a double update since I'm so behind. see Ein Kerem and En Gedi below.

Ein Kerem and En Gedi

Ein Kerem

After Yom Kippur I traveled back to Jerusalem to a little town 20min from the city centre called Ein Kerem. There I stayed with my friend Aya whom I met working on the vineyard in Italy. Aya was house sitting for a painter (originally from New Jersey). The house was gorgeous and full of the woman’s paintings. I stayed in a room that was previously a watering hole. It resembled a cave and it was the coolest place in the house. I spent many days just hanging around the house reading, watching movies and making sushi. One night we did some Israeli folk dancing. Aya was under the impression that there would be a 30min demonstration before the dancing commenced. That didn’t exactly happen. When the dancing began it started slowly and we were able to follow along a little bit. As the night progressed the dancing got harder and harder and we were unable to keep up. It was incredible to watch around 50 people doing dance after dance- all different- and everyone knew all the steps! I don’t know how they managed to remember all that.

Aya (girl far left) and her friends at a cafe for coffee

Ein Kerem has a lovely church- the Church of the Visitation. Also nearby are lovely natural springs that Aya and I hiked to. We went to the market and to her friend’s houses and had an overall wonderful time. One day I took the bus to Bethlehem. There I saw where Jesus was born- at the Church of Nativity. Apparently Jesus was not born in a manger; he was born in a cave (or as Wikipedia says, a manger in a cave). The church was built in 535 and is therefore incredibly old and not so glorious anymore. I also saw the Milk Grotto Chapel- a cave like church where Mary, when breastfeeding Jesus spilled a drop of milk which turned the cave white. And last but not least I saw the Shepherd’s Field, where the Angels told the shepherds keeping watch over their sheep that Jesus was born. Getting into and out of Bethlehem required passing through security and border control (because Bethlehem is in Palestinian territory), but it was easy and I had no problems.

The very spot where Jesus was born (in a manger in a cave)

En Gedi

After En Kerem I made my way south to En Gedi on the Dead Sea! The water in the sea is so salty that nothing can live in the water and you can float on top of the water. The mud has lots of nutrients that are good for your skin, so I rubbed it all over my skin. Afterwards my skin was silky smooth. I also did some hiking near the Dead Sea. I hiked to a few waterfalls and pools. It was incredibly hot and so the water was very refreshing.

Next I headed down south to Eilat on the Red Sea. I was right on the border of Egypt. I didn’t go to Egypt because it’s not really safe for a girl to go alone. Eilat has lots of resorts and wasn’t really my cup of tea. The sea was nice and I always enjoy lying on the beach, but Eilat didn’t have much else to offer that I was interested in.

Covered in mud at the Dead Sea

Jerusalem & Tel Aviv

View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

I left my hostel in Greece at 1pm. I took a 20min ride to the port. From Santorini I took an 8 hour ferry to Athens. From the port I took a 1 hour bus ride to the airport. At the airport I waited around for a few hours before my flight took off at 2am. When I landed in Israel it was 4:15am and I was in Tel Aviv. I made it through customs and baggage claim within 20min. After waiting for the sherut (shared taxi) to fill up we set off for Jerusalem- a 1 hour trip. I arrived at my hostel in Jerusalem at 6am. That was 17 hours of traveling. As it turns out the hostel did not have 24hour reception or 24hour check in as they state on their website. I banged on the door and waited outside for 30min. Finally let in, I slept on the couch in the lobby for 4 hours until I could check into my room at 11am (though I woke up every hour to see if I could check in). And that is how I arrived in Jerusalem.

Western Wall

In Jerusalem I reunited with Katie and Lauren (who had gone to Rome for a few days while I stayed in Greece), and we did a bunch of touristy stuff. We took a tour of the ancient city where we saw synagogues, churches and mosques. We also saw ancient Roman streets and marketplaces and the Western (wailing) Wall- the holiest place for Judaism. At the wall we wrote prayers on little pieces of paper that we stuck in the wall. In the church of Christ of the Sepulchure, we saw the tomb of Jesus Christ. Mount of Olives is a very sacred hill near the old city in Jerusalem. It is where Jesus first saw Jerusalem from. It is also the place that Jesus ascended to heaven after his resurrection. The Mount of Olives provides gorgeous view of the old city. There, we also saw Mary’s tomb.

Jesus' tomb

After some shopping involving much hassling and bargaining we ventured on to Tel Aviv. The beaches in Tel Aviv remind me a lot of Santa Monica- they are long, have sand colored sand, good body surfing waves and occasional volleyball nets. The differences: the water is clearer and there is less trash in it. Also the sand is thinner so it is sticky. Katie and Lauren left after a couple days in Tel Aviv, and I stayed to enjoy more sun and sand. While I was there, it was Yom Kippur- the biggest Jewish holiday. During Yom Kippur, everything shuts down. No cars are allowed to drive, no restaurants or supermarkets are open- nothing. It was crazy to see streets that are normally crowded with honking cars full of children riding their bicycles and parents pushing strollers.

beach in Tel Aviv

Israel pics so far: http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3034364017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Greece

I'm so behind! I've been in Israel for two weeks now and it has been amazing. Before I get started on that though, let me tell you about Greece!

Greece began with a very long 9 hours in the Athens airport waiting for my friends to arrive from LA. I met up with Katie and Lauren in Athens where we spent two nights. We stayed at an amazing hotel with a roof top pool, from which we could see the Acropolis. We visited the National Gardens, the Temple of Zeus and the Acropolis of course. We also spent many hours enjoying the splendors of the roof top pool and bar.

(Acropolis)
Athens is a pretty dirty city and wasn't that pleasant to be in. Luckily we only stayed a short time before heading out to the island of Santorini.
On Santorini we stayed in Thira (also spelled Fira). Upon arrival we immediately hopped on a bus and headed to the black sand beach in Perissa- on the other side of the small island (a 20 min bus ride). The water was warm and the beach was lovely. Back at our hotel we jumped in the pool before getting ready for a nice dinner and night out on the town.

Katie, Lauren and I
Day 2 on Santorini was very similar to Day 1- we went to Perissa and soaked up the sun. We got plenty of exercise by swimming around and playing paddle ball. It was a lovely, relaxing day.
On the third day in Santorini we took a day trip to a volcanic island, a fishing village on the island of Therasia and ended the trip in Oia on Santorini to watch the sunset. The volcanic island was very barren (as you can probably imagine). There are a few spots where our guide skillfully dug into the earth and produced hot lava rocks.
We spent another couple of days enjoying Perissa and another black sand beach, Kamari, before Katie and Lauren left to spend a few days in Rome. When they left I headed to the cheap side of the island to stay at a youth hostel. I had a 5 bed dorm all to myself! I also pretty much had the swimming pool to myself too!
After Santorini I journeyed to Israel to reunite with Katie and Lauren.

pictures of Greece: http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3030813017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

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/