beautiful slovenia!

IMG_3568
Originally uploaded by Phantomai.

Well, slovenia has been wonderful...but first I have to go back to Venice...so hold your breath!

Venice was a madhouse but something you have to see! It is truly amazing and beautiful, but the crowds and the heat made it hard to realize in the moment...luckily I have a horrible memory and it now seems like a wonderful place! Although there were a million people and pigeons (why do people feed them...disgusting) in the main areas and so many tour groups with the leaders holding up flags and umbrellas and such to herd their sheep, it was still a magnificent place.


what did I do? I went to the Doge;s Palace which was ok, St. Marks Basilica (sorry, i cant find the apostrophe) which despite having quite a line was really beautiful...the mosaics were beautiful and I love that the venetians gave the Vatican the finger and built it in the Orthodox style because of their connection with the east! I also went to some other random place where I stared at some paintings by some guy and finally left because despite my stubbornness at having paid 4 euro, i realized i was just dreaming of gelato which I had 4 of in my few days there! yum. I did the peggy guggeinhem, which I liked especially the magritte stuff (the emperor of light was cool, if you can find it online), and I took the waterbus down the grande canal and out to Murano, the island for the famous glass which I was really excited about but the boat ride was really the highlight...as with most travels, the sights were not the highlight, rather the wandering and seeing the place! I had a great dinner out with a Korean girl and had no more weird hostel incidents...overall, venice is a must do and nicely burned in my memory...never to be visited in the summer again!

On to Slovenia! Ive been working out really hard how to describe this place in my head, and having trouble. It feels both like a blend of its slavic, italian, central european, and alpine roots, but also have the feeling you get from and isolated island -- this is the hard part for me to describe, but I think the intensity of its culture despite its small size is what is the striking island-esque thing. Can you imagine if New Hampshire (which it is the about the same size as) had its own language, beers, food, ice cream, etc. I think I just expected to come to a place that was more of a mix and less on its own. Granted, I have never been to austria, switzerland, or croatia, but the fact that they have their own ice cream brand -- quite good! and dont just bring stuff in says enough!

The hostel that I am staying at is the one with the link on the side -- it has been really good, met lots of people to spend the days with(although I seem to be losing the urge to really meet people, nice to have company, but actually making a connection is too much work for a one day encounter), and enjoyed the free internet and bar inside! the bar isnt free, though, sadly...

The HIGHLIGHT of slovenia and perhaps my trip was a sight seeing tour I took up through the alps...I was hesitant to do one of these packaged things, but it was great. Me and an australian couple were driven around by a really fun slovene who answered all our silly question about this bizarre place to some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen and definitely the most idyllic settings (quait villages with cows and goat roaming in the meadows full of wildflowers with alpine backdrops). Throughout the day we jumped off a 10m bridge into a river (yeah, I have bruises on my thighs and my neck hurts a little...hmmm, probably not the smartest idea), went rafting down this river in the picture (the color of the carribean), went over the alpine pass, sat in a traffic jam cuz of the german and italian holidays, and went through these crazy tunnels that were hand dug in WWI -- this was the sight of one of the worst battle fronts in history.


Otherwise I have just been spending time in Ljubljana (ha, pronounce that!) which only has 300,000 people but a great cafe culture and distinct architecture by this famous guy Plecnik. oh, and eating more ice cream...dont worry, ive walked it all off!

And now the internet is being waited on by others...I hope I expressed this the way I wanted, I feel an attachment to having found this gem (which is of course not that hidden) and want to get it out right, but not sure if you can ever get it out just right...

and in exciting news, I should have some pics up from portugal soon (man, that seems like ages ago!) ...Im off to florence tomorrow...I was seriously debating going around central europe, but without eurrail it is just too much...so now I need to find a place to stay tomorrow night -- I guess once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator! love to you all!

Slovenia

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Originally uploaded by solo backpacker.

Woohoo! I am in slovenia...now you can all go look up where slovenia is!

Do you see what I see?

Eyeing
Originally uploaded by Tampen.

I got to say, one big downside of travelling alone is not being able to share the things you see and not having people see neat things and point them out too you...it also helps to have a second set of eyes to make sure you are not going crazy!

So I got into my hostel yesterday, it is a dorm that is run like a hostel by students I think just during the summer...I was reading on my bed when a new roommate walks in...wearing a skirt and COWBOY boots! i thought, that is odd, I wonder where she is from that this heat doesnt bother her and that cowboy boots are comfortable...anyhoo, didnt really matter, cuz after leaving the room once and coming back, she picked up all her stuff and left...hmmmm!

Next up, I returned to my room around 11:30 after roaming the city and had a little trouble with the lock (i think european lockmakers need some help!) and I guess woke up my new roommate, an older woman, who then opened the door for me..in just her skivvies...odd, I dont normally open the door in just my underwear topless, but whatever, it is an all girl hall...

But then, as I was getting ready, she packed up all her stuff(including the sheets from her bed and the empty bed next to her) and left! What is going on??? At 6:30 this morning she returned, made her bed and went to bed...by 8, when I woke up, she was gone but her bed with 2 sets of sheets and pillows is still there?

So what do you think -- 1. I smell really bad 2. My hostel is a secret drug smuggling den 3. Ive become infamous on my travels for talking in my sleep?? Vote now!

italia! ciao!

Gondola
Originally uploaded by blue moment.

After a last stop in Spain that was great, San Sebastian, I headed to Italy! San Sebastian was a fun semi french, semi, spanish, basque beach mecca with fun people to hang out with...met some fun germans, a guy from madrid, and an American (Hi Molly) to hang out at the jazz festival there with and hit the pinxtos bars (basque tapas...basically prelaid out tapas that you just grab at and hope dont cost too much when you go to pay!).

I still had too much of a sun hangover from Nazare (yep, I blistered on my legs...stupid, stupid, stupd)to enjoy the beach, but I had a nice time walking around it and reading my book while staring out at the 1000 surfers all trying to get the same 2 foot wave!

Then I began my journey to italy...I had the brilliant idea to fly from zaragoza to milan because it was a 20 euro ticket...it might not have been worth the trouble! I took a night train to Zaragoza from San Sebastion (Molly, I made it, drenched from the rain, but in plenty of time), then waiting outside the Zaragoza airport for 2 hours until it opened, then flew to some airport that they lied and said was in Milan, but it really wasnt and took a bus to Milan!

Milan was ok...went and saw the duomo which was covered, had a McToast (I was being McCheap, and I was McTired, I know I broke the cardinal rule of all good travelers, but it was just there), and STAYED IN A REAL HOTEL! which was just heavan..that was the highlight of Milan.

Now I have made it to Venice which seems simply lovely, totally crowded with tourist, but just such a unique place...I head out today for a couple of days of sightseeing and wandering. Ive already had 2 gelatos and some pizza...yummmmm Italy!

I feel like I have books to write to try and relate it all, but then again, Im not sure if anyone is reading this, and certainly I dont think there is much interest in my book, so I will stop the rambling and wish you all the best, I miss you!

Onward...and upward...and acrossward

Jealous?
Originally uploaded by Kapooka Baby!.

Hi All, sorry for those staying tuned that I have been a little negligent, I spent like 2 hour just trying to figure out some trains one day on the itnernet and now I am done. My pcitures seem to be stuck not in cyberspace for the time being, so you´ll just have to imagine my journeys.

Not much in the mood for trying to describe all the places I´ve been since Porto, too much to say, but I´ll give a brief run down. Took a train from Porto to Santiago de Compastela up in Galicia in Spain...the city was pretty touristy but still nice, and the train ride was beautiful. Also a beautiful cathedral, and fun to see all the haggard pilgrims roaming their destination city. Then I was going to try and head north to some small beach towns across the northern coast, but between my oversleeping and Spanish trains running at about 20 miles per hour, I just ended up in La Coruna for a day in a half which was a kinda nice port city in Galicia...no tourist, nice to juts see a regular city.

Then I took the night train to Bilboa (whoever invented the night train set up is a moron, why would I want to sit in a tiny room with 6 other people, why not just have regular train seats so that there is a little circulation) and saw the guggenheim which was pretty neat...didn´t expect to like it so much, but it was stunning and there was one exhibit (Robert Serra for my arty friends) that was phenomenal. Can you believe it took about 13 hours to go about 350 miles...if I wasn´t so chicken, I would have just rented a car.

Then I hopped over to stay in San Sebastian for two nights ...this place feels like I imagine the french riveria to be, very classy and nice, teeming with people, but not touristy just a fun beach city. It is teeming wtih Aussies (went out with a few last night and did the tapas thing) which we all know I love aussies...except I always feel like they are the cool kids in class...haha! I´m staying in a fun hostel at www.enjoyss.com. The pic above is from San Sebastian...

Sorry that was the worst written blog entry in the history of the world...it´s about 100 degrees in the internet cafe and I´ve got loads of work to do trying to find places to stay in Italy! Love to you all, I miss ya and thanks for coming to visit me!

Porto and Coimbra

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Originally uploaded by joseborregana.

Spent a night and a day in Coimbra -- it is Portugal´s answer to Salamanca -- a univeristy town, but it just didnt have the same vibe and was so-so. The university was neat to look at and my hostel was only 5euro...otherwise, just an ok town to wander around and then be off to...

Porto! for 2 nights and a day..This is portugal´s second largest city and maybe some comparisons could be drawn to chicago(which I guess isn´t the second city any more)...it is a bit more reserved and seems harder working, not as funky as lisbon, but still a good city vibe. It has more of a look of prague or paris(not sure what kind of architecture that is, but not the typical portugal image) and it´s pretty dirty (not like Chicago!) and the buildings have all turned grey...oh, and there´s lots of port. That´s basically what I did was go to port lodges and try port...which I quite enjoy...just wish i had brought some chocolate with me to the tastings!

I still have no pictures for you, and today I didn´t have a battery to take pictures, but that´s ok, other than this view you see above (why do they build these cities right on top of big hills...i think my dumpy hotel is at the top of all of this!) there wasn´t much more to take pictures of...except for the vats and casks of port!

Tomorrow, I think I am heading back to Spain -- Portugal has been lovely, very nice places, very nice people, I haven´t found that much fabulous food, but been staying pretty budget. There are also a gazillion dogs which makes me happy! There are beautiful tiles everywhere, cute men(they all seem to have very young faces, like you want to pinch their cheeks, until you realize that they aren´t 12 but 20), and the dress is more relaxed than Spain -- no high heels for the ladies...they would fall into all the mosaic sidewalks!! I´m sad to leave without find my stereotypical fishing village, I´ll have to come back with a car -- I´d also love to explore the interior more and, well, doesn´t every trip just add 1000 more places to visit to your list!

Route as of July 16

Route July 16
Originally uploaded by laurenh.

A la Praia!

After a wasted day in Lisbon (got to the bus station only to find out there wasnºt a bus for 5 hours and I was just too lazy and tired to try and go back into the city and figure out something to do!), I headed to Nazare for a beach day. It was definitely a beach resort town, but a Portuguese one. A little overdeveloped for my taste, but a pretty beach, fun beach town, and some interesting Portuguese things.

Once we got to the bus, the little ladies in their traditional dress descended, "Chambre, rooooom, cuarto?" I wish I had a picture of the outfits they all wear, it has something to do with an old traditional of wearing 7 petticoats, but now itºs just ladies in bright short skirts with a bunch of layers underneath. Or in all black -- if my husband died, I would be cursing him every summer day! Apparently the ladies own ALL the real estate in this town and spend their days trying to rent their rooms! Luckily, I had met a couple on the bus who already had a place picked out so headed off with them...somehow the lady that we were renting from recognized us on the street and led us off to a very nice room - with TV!, well portuguese TV -- for 20€ a day, not bad. The city also has FABULOUS seafood -- all the restauraunts have the live or nearly live fish out front (and buckets of clams squirting you as you walk by). And there seem to be women with buckets of fish selling them everywhere and fish drying or dried fish for sale all over the place...maybe one day in my life I will try one...hmmm, next time!

Yesterday I hit the beach and got a horrible burn on my legs...am hurting today...I was smart enough to put sunscreen elsewhere, but didnºt remember that my legs havenºt seen the sun in a long while!

Sorry for the lack of pictures! I havenºt found as good of internet access in portugal and havenºt been able to get the pictures off the camera! I will post a new map of my journey though!

Today I am in Coimbra - portugal´s university town. Iºm really tired and loving spending some time on the internet, but hope to hit the sites here and then go to Porto tonight for some Port sampling...we´ll see, I might end up here!

I think that is all for now, thanks for continuing to tune in!

Palácio da Pena

Palácio da Pena
Originally uploaded by celopes.

another pic of it...I like being able to find other peoples pictures...andy, am I going to get in trouble for this?

Palácio da Pena

Palácio da Pena
Originally uploaded by celopes.

Here is my new house! This is the palace in Sintra I was talking about!

Lisboa and Sintra

Well, it has been 4 nights in Lisbon and this has, by far been the best place yet. I think Portugal is the california of Iberia and Lisbon is the San Francisco. (They even have a golden gate bridge...same design, same color. same architect I think) It is hilly, has an arty vibe, beautiful views, and lots of good restaurants and fish! Unfortunately, Ive been having some trouble getting up photos so it might be a while! Like until the end of the trip! So I suppose my words will have to suffice...

On my first night in I headed out to dinner with some people from the hostel at a Brazilian place and had AMAZING fish along with some vinho verde (young, fizzy wine) and then out to the bars...we ended up meeting some portuguese people to lead us around and help us find places that were open since it was sunday! We ended up at a gay club having their weekly foam party...after 4 years of spring breaks I managed to avoid them, and here, in lisbon, I was drenched and up to my neck (and above my neck at one very scary point) in foam. Twas a great time helped out by the fun irish and british folks around.

The next day we went to the tower of belem (someday I will have the pics up), walked to some church, and walked and walked...I guess a theme for travelling. Along the way I learned all sorts of things about the British...did you know they donºt have summer camp...well, at least these brits didnt?:)

The next day I was on my own to go to the Castle of Saint George and wander the Alfama (the old moorish district) as well as the rest of the city. I love that the streets here are covered in mosaics (all of them!) and so many of the buildings are covered in beautiful tiles. Oh, I also went to the art museum(?Gulbekian?)...forgot about that. Was a pretty small collection (I guess one guy donated it all) but well laid out and gorgeous Ottoman stuff.

Today I headed out to "bucolic" Sintra. This beautiful city was sort of the resort of kings and others...there was a fabulous Disneyesque castle and a great moorish castle...Ill see if I can find a picture of that castle, itºs pretty cool! I hiked ALL the way up which seemed like a good idea until about 20 minutes into it...1.5 hours later, I was hurting...and on the way down. Tomorrow is going to be a RELAX day.

What else? Some italian guy at the hostel just handed me some Porto, pretty good! Have really liked the hostel here, very social atmosphere, and itºs interesting to hear all about peopleºs adventures. One guy here just finished the Camino de Santiago...most people are doing whirlwind tours of europe hopping all over. It seems like a much better way to meet other backpackers and I guess a good idea if you want to see it all at once, but I prefer my slow crawl across these few places...I think I would go crazy if I was hopping around all the time, but I guess I would have more company...

well, i need to figure out where I am going tomorrow...I guess north, just havenºt picked where yet.

Ok, would love to hear from you all!

Lisboa

In Lisbon now after an 10 hour bus ride from Salamanca...thank goodness for the brazilian girl who was kind enough to point out that I needed to change busses! No english on these rides

Lisbon is a fabulous city with so many comparisons to the lovely San Francisco. I am exhausted and hope to spend some quality relaxation time in a internet cafe tomorrow...maybe even get my pics up from here as well. Right now I am staying in the Lisbon Poet´s Hostel ... http://lisbonpoetshostel.com.sapo.pt/ it´s a fun place and I´ve met tons of people here. Many Brits and Irish folks that I have had a lovely time with...as you will see in future fotos...

I´ve also discovered on this trip many people from all over the world ready to tell me all about how america runs, why it runs that way, and correct my incorrect descriptions of our american ways:) ...while I do appreciate the corrections and knowledge, am I the only one that wonders why I am not an authority on the U.S.? I wonder if I am the only one that comes across this (me, sensitive, what??) or if others have experienced the same.

I can´t believe I have only been away for 7 days...it seems so much longer. I will admit that I am a little homesick...travelling alone is an interesting experience whose pro´s and con´s I will document in a future edition. Meeting fellow travelers in Lisbon has made it better and I´m learning the backpacker´s ways!

Lots of Pictures up

Salamanca Catedral at night
Originally uploaded by laurenh.

Ok, I got a BUNCH of pictures up! I think you can just click on this picture and get to all of them, let me know if there are any problems...I´m off to lisbon tomorrow...hmmm, too bad I don´t speak portuguese!!!

My planned route through europe

My planned route through europe
Originally uploaded by laurenh.

My Route So Far

My Route So Far
Originally uploaded by laurenh.

I thought a little map might be fun. I am in Salamanca now...which looked amazing from the bus ride in. Um, yeah, so after finding my hostel, I´m exhausted and am hanging out at the internet place...just needed a good break. Thank goodness I brought a suitcase with wheel...too bad I filled it up...no room for all the things I am seeing that I want to buy (which is good cuz I don´t have enough dinero). Instead I´ve just been taking pictures of the things to buy...heehee. Ok, so I know I have more to write...tomorrow I will figure out how to get my pictures up and then can write away!

please excuse

the horrible typing and not so great formatting...apparently my html is not sophisticated enough to handle people with different resolutions...I just tried to make the page width smaller so all can read, sorry if it feo (ugly ) Please let me know any other fixes I need...oh, and leave me comments!

Madrid then Toledo...

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Originally uploaded by mbuchetics.

Day 2 of my trip...I spent the firsr day in Madrid, wandering around looking at the sites, then made way to Toledo..with all its medevil glory andcathdral. Beautiful cathedral but even better town...like one big fortress. Istole this picture, of the cathedral. hopefully i will be able to upload my fotos and give more of a run down of my trip...too tired now...feet hurt and i need to sleep!!

notes to myself

Trip adivsor has good info organized easily, so does virtual tourist.

book that hostel in slovenia

la scala opera tickets

train from san sebastian to zaragoza

Here I am!

my new hair copy
Originally uploaded by laurenh.

Flickr is pretty neat, glad I found it tonight!

Manana, me voy!

It the night before I leave for my trip...how exciting! I'm feeling a little nervous and anxious and am on the edge of freaking out because of how little I have planned...but am just not worrying about it. It's a skill that I have learned lately...just don't worry about the things that will make you freak out. Seems simple and I know there are people out in the world that do this naturally, but for me it's a step!

Anyhoo, I leave tomorrow afternoon for Madrid where I will spend a day, then I am going to Toledo and Salamanca. From there I am heading to Portugal then back across the northern coast of Spain. I hope to then take a flight to Italy where I'll be hitting the sights north of Rome and head out from Rome on August 10th. I've got 5 weeks, but it definitely doesn't seem like it will be enough time to see half of what I want...but I definitely think I will see a million things I never thought I would get to see....

I'll be trying to have a good mix of big cities and major tourist sites mixed in with some smaller and more quaint sites. I've got a rolling backpack, that I know is WAY to heavy and big, but I just can't help it. It's so weird to think I will be part of the backpacking crowd...is that me??? I just don't feel worldly or adventurous enough to be that girl, like I'll be discovered as a big imposter...:)

I hope to use this site to post my pics and give updates, leave me a message here or e-mail me!!! Here's me before I leave....will you recognize me when I get back?