10/24/08 Last Day in Rome we visit the Piazza Navona, La Boca della Verita, and St. Peters in Chains

Yo quiero convencer una persona reconocer yo no estupido o una bebe deficil. Yo una chica, yo una ella, yo tengo diez y sies anos, pero no bebe y no estupido. Yo sabo yo intelligente y no bebe. Mi madre sabe yo intelligente y reconoce mi.

Again, we made our way from the hotel to Rome via the bus and the train. Again, we got out near the Piazza del Populo. This time we decided we were going to walk down the Via del Corso again to check out the shops and look in the windows. We spent at the most an hour doing this, during that time I got to check out all of the clothes, shoes, and other items along with the people (there were two men playing accordions together, really quite wonderful players). I haven't mentioned this yet in my blogs, but long ago (in Paris) I realized that many of the big cities have a dress code: where pigeon clothes. The pigeons have mostly gray, black, and brown colors. Pigeons also have hints of green and purple in their neck feathers, and they all have feet that are either orange or are red. The people in the big cities have taken a cue from their "pests", many of them donning dark colors with a few things of color here and there (mostly dark colors).

In Rome they even follow the advice to wear colorful shoes. Italy is famous for it's leather, and I've seen quite a few people wearing their colored boots/heels proudly. I'm not a huge fan of the pigeon theme, all of the dark colors tend to be quite boring for me after a while, but I do realize that the dark colors are very functional. Big cities all have their filth, and darker colors don't show the filth as much (my jeans display this frighteningly well). Another function the dark colors serve is that of a "slimming" effect. People do look skinnier when they're wearing black.

Since I've seen the pigeon-like clothes multiple times over now, I was definitely ready to look at the colorful things, or at least look at the cuts of things a bit closer. Ahmee and I went into several shops were we "educated our tastes" and decided which things we'd be happy to try out, and which things we'd rather simply look at. After only seeing a large amount of color in shoes, I was ready to go into the store that had contrasting colors blaring at me in their window. This store had cute pieces and then also had some stranger ones. I liked looking in this store because the things were different. After this we needed to head to the Post Office and then catch a bus to the Piazza Navona. We had to catch the bus to get to the station first so that Poppy could send some post cards.

As we went to catch the bus Ahmee and I wondered what we'd wear if we were filthy rich. Normally it disgusts me to think of wearing something that would cost huge amounts, but then I know that there are things that I think are pretty that are expensive and that I know I would buy if I had the money (ex: Ahmee and Poppy got me a gorgeous pair of boots when we were in New Mexico, they were expensive, but I loved them-I didn't have the money). We caught the bus to the nearby bus station, and then ended up waiting for 45 minutes to be seen in the Central Post Office.

Basically to send mail from the main Post Office in Rome you have to take a number and then go to the window that has your number above it. Obviously it takes a while for your number to come up. During this waiting time I got to reflect on the outfits I'd seen. At the time I longed for my sketchpad because I was completely in the mood to draw.

After the post office we caught the bus that took us close to the Piazza del Populo. We had thought it would take us directly to it since that's what we'd asked when we asked the bus driver. Nope, it only got close. It was a good thing that we saw the sign that said the Piazza del Populo and that there was tons of traffic on that road, otherwise I'm not sure how far we would've gotten from the Piazza. We asked the bus driver to open the door, which he did with no problem because at the time the traffic was terrible and no one was moving, and then we headed towards the Piazza del Populo. Before we got there we stopped and had a bite to eat. Our original plan had been to eat in the Piazza, but by the time we'd gotten close by our stomachs were just about to combust. After we watched the people and the traffic we headed to the Piazza where we were greeted with a wonderful sight. Tons of artists were in the Piazza, painting, and selling art. I know that before I said I was collecting prints, I didn't get any prints there simply because so many of them looked the same. I like different takes on things rather than the same old front on picture or the same picture I have in my tourist book. I enjoyed browsing though, and I really enjoyed watching some of the performers. There were two tap dancers in the Piazza with their radio and their box for coins who I liked the most and who brought a smile to my face. They were really quite good, and they went from one dance to the next with very little break time. I made sure to put a few coins in their box.

From the Piazza Navona we decided we'd walk to our next destination: La Bocca della Verita to put our hands into the mouth of a medieval drain cover. The legend of this drain is that if the mouth ever closes on someones hand the end of Rome and the end of the World will occur.














The walk there was a long one, and we did not have too many shops to peer into on the way. The few furniture shops I saw were often on the other side of the street from me. I wasn't interested enough to walk across (except for a few times). Once there we discovered quite a line for the bocca. What took a bit were the photographs. The bocca was Italy's Blarney Stone. Luckily this one didn't have scary steps leading up to it. After we all three put our hands into the bocca we went into the church: Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the church that houses the bocca on the outside. This was a small, ancient church, I was glad that it had it's own icon to bring in income because this place of worship was much more intimate and real to me than St. Peters or other various cathedrals.



We left the Santa Maria in Comedin and hurried over to St. Peters in Chains, weaving our way through windy streets, past the Roman Forum, up the hill, up through a tight alleyway (with an english-speaking homeless person resting in there), and into the courtyard of the church. We made it in time to get in (we were afraid we'd get there and it'd be closed). Once inside we got to see the church, St. Peters chains, and Michelangelo's famous carving of Moses. This carving of Moses was said by the tour guide of the Vatican to be the true masterpiece of Michelangelo, the David wasn't even close. My opinion was that Moses had been well-loved when people were able to reach him. He was shiny from all of the oily hands who had rubbed him. The church made a lot of money from this sculpture. They put up lights that only shone for about a minute before they turned off. To keep the lights going you had to keep putting money into the box. Since many people wanted to take pictures of Michelangelo's sculpture the coin box was fed very often. I think the longest amount of time I saw of darkness was about 30 seconds (yes I counted).



I didn't go down to see the chains that supposedly bound St. Peter to his cell (story goes that an angel came and released him from his imprisonment). Perhaps I should've gone down to inspect them further. From a distance the chains looked completely whole, if a little rusty.




Before leaving to go catch the metro to head back to the hotel we looked at one particular sculpture that I'd seen already while in St. Peters and heard others comment on. This was a sculpture of a skeletal grim reaper holding a hour glass. The sculpture displays two things a person can never escape: death, and time. The meaning of the sculpture is: to appreciate the time you have because at some point your time will be up. Wonderful to have this statue in a church. I think it's better than sculptures of Heaven and Hell. This sculpture focus's the person on life on earth and promotes the practice of enjoying it while you can.

Once back at the hotel we dined in the dining room, typed on the computer, and then went to sleep. All of us were happy to be off our aching feet.

10/23/08 Rome, The Vatican, and the Colosseum

Muchas edificios de historica son en Roma! Quiero mostrar las personas en Hanover la ciudad y yo escribo para ellos. Las personas leo mi blog y miro la ciudad yo espero....

This morning we got up, went to breakfast (were rushed by the waiter who wanted to close up early), and then went to Rome (didn't have to get tickets because we got day tickets). Once in Rome we didn't even go to the Piazza del Populo, we went straight from one train station to another. We went next door to the underground station. In Rome there are only two lines, Line A, and Line B. Since the underground is one of the fastest ways to travel and since there's only two lines you can bet that these trains were full. This time when we road to the stop we needed for the Vatican though it wasn't packed like Sardines.

Once we got out of the underground we got to walk to the main entrance to the Vatican and the museum. The Vatican, for those who don't know, is the world's smallest country. It covers 44 acres and is run by the Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church. On the way to the main entrance to the museum we were hounded by tour guides saying "Tour of the Vatican! Tour in English! Sir you look English, would you be interested in our guided tour?" I felt sorry for the ones who said, "I work for a different company!" or who trailed off at the end of their sentences.

It was terrible. Quite like walking through a bunch of vendors down in Mexico. You like what they're selling, you're actually somewhat interested, but there's just so many of them offering that it's overwhelming and you know that if you stop and talk to one of them you immediately grab the attention of the rest of them so if you deny one the rest will hound you (10 times worse because then they're all lowering prices while you're sitting there wanting to get out and wondering whether you could bulldoze your way through the crowd of people). We didn't take any offers though (to some peoples disgust) and walked up and in to the Vatican.

After customs (the place is important so they do check you on entry) we went over to the guided tour sign and managed to fill in the spots of a few drop outs of a once filled up guided tour that was offered by the Vatican.

(not the true Sistine Chapel, but a funny image)We got headsets and got to join in with an assorted group of people to follow and listen to a wonderful older woman who told us loads about the Vatican, about the Sistine Chapel, about Michelangelo's time spent there, about the Pope (a guy asked the ludicrous question of who was in charge of the Vatican-I almost laughed at look our tour guide gave the man, it was obvious she was thinking, "Are you serious?"), about the Catholic faith, about the many art paintings we saw in there, about Raphael and his paintings, and about why the Vatican was made into a country. We walked through long hallways, courtyards, a garden, and multiple rooms filled with paintings. (an image of the Sistine Chapel --->

















All of the things we saw in the museum were things that the Pope loved and put up along the area where he went on his daily walk. Some Pope's liked sculpture and put his own collection in the courtyard, some liked geography and so commissioned a group of painters to complete multiple maps to line a hallway (all of the maps were from the viewpoint of Rome, if they were south it was painted as if the people of Rome were looking down on them), some had rooms painted with the stories from the bible (famous one of Raphaels is his painting of St. Peter being released from his prison by the angel), and some had a collection of modern paintings (glanced at these).


Our tour guide left us near the Sistine Chapel, informed us to not talk in there unless we wanted our heads bitten off, and then went on her way. We went in to the Sistine Chapel to take a look at Michelangelo's prison work, the panels of paintings along the walls that were painted by the teams of top artists, and the mass of people and the guards who were there to quiet them and "stop" them from taking pictures. People talked, and people took pictures. They completely ignored the big, buff man in uniform up at the front who shouted multiple times for people to be silent (he only succeeded in causing a few seconds of silence-just to give him some credit). Once we passed through the screen I saw a huge atrocity, a tour guide was pointing out things and chatting away quite loudly, seemingly oblivious to the silence rule. I decided then and there that that was how you could determine the certified guides with the uncertified/undignified.

After the Sistine Chapel we walked over to St. Peters Basilica, which is supposedly the model cathedral. Main impression upon entering: vast, and decorated but not all gild. Within this cathedral we saw many memorials dedicated to past Popes, Michelangelo's Mary and Jesus sculpture (the Pieta),



Bernini's canopy above St. Peters tomb (the Baldacchino), the Dome of St. Peters, and the cherubs of St. Peters. The last ones aren't really that famous, but I liked them and since I was in charge of the camera I took a few pictures of the angels holding the holy water.




















St. Peters Basilica didn't hold too much interest with me, maybe it was just too much. The art inside was wonderful, the carvings were all spectacular (if they have one of Michelangelo's they're pretty much set), and nothing seemed to be worn out, but the church didn't hold any real beauty for me. It seemed gawked at, but is it loved? The dome, the dove stained glass window, the cherubs, and the Baldacchino were my favorite things. Once we left the church we walked out on to the Piazza San Pietro, one of the most famous Piazza's in the world. This Piazza is famous because every time there's a Sunday, religious festival, and/or special occasion the Pope will bless the crowd that gathers in front of St. Peters, meaning, he'll throw holy water on them.


Vendors drag their goods into the Piazza and fight with hundreds of other people for space so that they (and everything on them) will be blessed. When we were there we didn't get blessed by the Pope (glad to avoid the crowds), but we did take advantage of something else the Vatican is known for thanks to the Pope: it's postage system. It took us maybe 10 minutes to prepare our 20 someodd postcards. After that we walked through the pillars that surrounded the Piazza and then we left the Vatican to cross the street, grab something to eat, and to feed the pigeons. We then checked out a few things to see if the stores close by had things that had been "blessed by the Pope", I will not say if we found anything or if we got anything for anyone.

After all of this we decided to hop back on the subway and make our way over to the Colosseum. This did not take us very long and soon enough we were inside the Colosseum, guideless and loving it. Ahmee told me about it's history, about what it looked like back when, about how the place had been built to house thousands (and to be able to clear the building in under 10 minutes), about where everyone and everything was held, etc.. I also read in her book what it had to say about it. I found it interesting that the elite sat towards the bottom.

In the theater the elite always have the box seats that are above everyone else, why would the Roman elite choose to sit on the bottom? Answer: they were watching their enemies get killed? They enjoyed being in the front row seat of the blood and guts? They didn't want to have to walk up the steps? I don't know what their reason was, but I do know that if I were an ancient Roman, I'd want to sit towards the back or not in the Colosseum at all (definitely wouldn't want to have to battle a beast in the arena either).

I wonder if in the future people look at our football, our rugby, our soccer, and go, "They did that!?! What!?" Actually, they might not be so surprised at that, they'd probably be more surprised over some of the shows that are on tv nowadays, probably wonder what we find entertaining about that. Boxing, wrestling, etc. those have been around for ages, and now the game isn't loser=death. The Colosseum had battles between lions and barehanded people. I've seen a painting of the arena of the Colosseum where it was filled with Elephants and people battling each other like crazy. It was mass chaos in there! Compared to the Elephants the people and their little spears looked miniscule and pretty hopelessly defeated, but then you'd look at the Elephants and how some of them were in a stage of terror and you realize that the Elephants felt just as threatened. I wouldn't want to sit close to that. Not only would I dislike the blood, guts, and gore, but I'd be worried about whether or not a body would go flying through the air and land in the crowd (elephants can throw.... right?). I also wouldn't want to go for a Gladiator.

As we left the Colosseum all three of us decided we were hungry. Ahmee checked in her book to find a recommended place to eat and we headed out, following her up the steps across the road from the Colosseum. At the top of the steps Ahmee looked around, puzzled about where her cafe was and then I pointed out a corner cafe and we forgot about the other recommended cafe for this cafe that had gelato in it. While inside we ate gelato (killer!!), used the toilet (had a seat!), and talked about the days events and what we were planning on doing.

(another famous Raphael)
With the sweet gelato taste still in our mouths we packed up and headed back to the hotel where I spent a fair amount of time working, where we ate in the restaurant, and where we all went to bed at some point (I no longer remember when).

10/22/08 We leave Pompei to go to Rome

Yo actuo feliz normalmente. Para mi es facil actuar feliz, pero es no realidad, nada persona es feliz todo la dia.

After eating breakfast we got on the A1 to head towards Rome. The road was a fairly straight one, but I ended up having to put aside my work anyway because my stomach started grumbling at me. I got to see the roads this time. I got to see all of the olive orchards, the sheep in the fields, the almost sand-like dirt, and the plants that grew along the roads and how they looked incredibly similar to the plants that can be found in the south west. I wasn't cursing too loudly at my unyielding stomach.

We got back to the Giocco, the hotel we'd stayed in the last time we were near Rome, and we put our things up in the same room. Almost immediately after we checked in and put our bags up we went back downstairs and asked the man at the desk where we needed to go to get a bus ticket and then a train ticket. He told us to go to the tobacco store, that the ticket would only last 45 minutes, and which buses we would have to watch for. We thanked him and went on our way. It did not take long for us to get the tickets, to catch the bus to the train station, and then to take the train in to Rome. It might've taken about 30-45 minutes total. The entire time I was watching the scenery, looking at the garbage that dotted the sidewalks and streets, admiring the trees and the countryside, watching the roads for crazy drivers, and (as always) enjoying the ride when we got on the bus and the train.

Our train stopped just outside the Piazza del Populo, where I got to use my navigation abilities to get us to the Spanish Steps. From the Piazza del Populo we had to take the farthest left fork. On this road we stopped in a local cafe to grab a quick bite and then we continued on our way, glancing in shop windows as we went.



When we reached the Spanish Steps I wasn't surprised to find that they were jam packed with people. I also wasn't surprised to see that the entire right hand side was filled up with people. It was easy to see why people were preferring this side: it was in the shade. It was quite hot out and we got fairly sweaty walking up the steps (I no longer remember just how many there are). At the top I reread what Ahmee's book had to say about the Spanish Steps and I was happy to see that the Spanish Steps had once been known as the English Ghetto area, and that just at the bottom of the steps there was an older tea shop. Of course there was much more to the book, it would take too long to write it all. We didn't go to the tea shop, opting instead to navigate our way over to the Trevi Fountain which was a matter of blocks away. Again, I got to navigate. We didn't go too fast because Ahmee and I enjoyed looking in designer shops and at the many people. Even though we were distracted by what was going on around us it didn't make us loose our way. We got to the Trevi Fountain without any problems.

In all of the movies the Trevi Fountain is the fountain that's famous for being the wishing well. You make a wish and you throw in a coin when you go to the Trevi Fountain. Something else that happens in the movies is that normally there aren't toooooo many people at the fountain when you throw your coin in. Yeah. Don't trust movies.




When we got to the Trevi Fountain we found in jam packed with people (even though they were doing a bit of work on it with a crane), and that in order to get to a position where you could throw in a coin you had to elbow your way through a mob of people. We elbowed and excused ourselves through to the railing and then I got to throw a coin in to the Trevi Fountain. As we shoved our way away from the Trevi Fountain and towards the Pantheon I asked Ahmee why she didn't throw a coin in. She told me she'd already done it, and that she'd had her wish come true, that she had come back to Rome.

As we walked through the streets towards the Pantheon I reflected on past movies where the heroin or hero had their wish come true from the one coin they threw into the Trevi Fountain.

I had never read anything about the Pantheon before in my life and I think that that's a shame. The Pantheon was a really interesting building. Before it had been a pagan temple, devoted to worshiping some odd amount of gods. Now it's one of the few round churches in Rome (perhaps there are more but I highly doubt that the round church is popular anywhere). Before we went in I read what Ahmee's book had to say about the Pantheon and then handed the book back over to Ahmee and Poppy so that they could read. I sat down and watched the scene that was going on outside the Pantheons front door. There were tourist groups, easily recognizable due to the clusters of people (some were even wearing the same color of hat or something), there were Roman soldiers (I suppose tour guides who're all dressed up), there were people riding through on their bicycles who were probably cursing at the blockade of people they had in front of them, there were a few pigeons resting just around the restaurants, there were people like me who were sitting and gawking, there were street entertainers (one of which I thought was very very good-he spun a ball on his nose just like a seal, and he juggled), and behind me there were a few drivers who were there one second and then gone the next (so not going to get a picture of the motorcyclists).

After about five minutes of viewing the circus we headed in to a more solemn place. As we passed through the main entrance we squinted in at the dark, and then stepped in to a quieter and cooler place. I say quieter, but I do not mean that it was dead silent in this massive, circular room. There were people talking and pointing at various things within the Pantheon, people taking pictures, people walking and having their feet tap on the marble floor, and then there were a few people who nudged others into silence. Directly in front of the main entryway there stood the cross, the alter, and the benches. As we looked around the room at the statues, the ceiling (with a few windows blocked up), and the floor I got the distinct feeling that this building was meant to worship some sort of heavenly god since the building was round, their was a hole in the very center of the roof, and there was plenty of space for people to dance in. An old school video of Greece and how they worshiped their gods by dancing is what gave me this vision of toga-clad Romans dancing round and around this room. The circle is a moving thing, I'm glad that the Pantheon is so famous, otherwise it's current role as a church would be far too still for my liking. The tourists are what keep the motion going within the Pantheon now.

We weren't in the Pantheon too long before we decided we needed to head out again towards the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum is situated on one of the largest streets in Rome and sits behind one of the biggest monuments I've ever seen in my life. Vittorio Emmanuel, the man who united Italy, has a building the size of St. Pauls Cathedral (in London) dedicated to him. Behind his massive structure is the Roman Forum, the ruin site the displays to the imaginative (or the well informed) the way life was lived in the days of Cesear and the Senators of the great Roman Empire. The idea when we walked in was to read what Ahmee's book said, walk around, soak it in, and then head over to the Colosseum (which was just behind the Roman Forum). After we got in to the Roman Forum we quickly flipped the book open to the correct page and started reading, some out loud, to each other. The book wasn't very descriptive and when we were done we were deliberating over which way to go and which way we should go if we wanted to head out towards the Colosseum.

As we were talking a skinny woman clad in black asked us if we were from the South. When we said yes she said that the Southern people were just magic. After a few more questions she asked us if we would like a tour of the Roman Forum. Poppy was against it and started to move off while Ahmee was about to ask the price and while I wondered why we shouldn't. When she said that that was how she made her living was through the tours Ahmee asked what the price was and she told us, "Dirt cheap, 10 euros per person per hour." This was very true. 10 euros per person per hour is a real bargain when in Europe. Before she began talking about the forum she made sure to inform Poppy that he looked just like a Senator, a Roman Senator, and he also acted quite like one, that he was interested in the specifics and not interested in having his time wasted. Spot on, that assumption was.

I won't go through everything Antionette (she told us her name afterwards) told us, it was too much to take in at once anyway. I'll simply say that it was a history of Italy, of Rome, of ideas (such as the Gregorian Calendar-previously we had the Julian Calendar; question: Has anyone wondered why our calendar starts in January, the month that is the number 11? It's because the names of the months were given in the Julian Calendar and the year started in March then), and about the purposes of some of the buildings (I liked hearing about the Vestal Virgins the most because I haven't heard much about this group of women). Antionette truly in love with the history and the city of Rome. Later when we all sat down to eat dinner we decided that she was hyper in her tour. She jumped from one thing to the next and kept us completely on our toes the whole time. Some things we learned about her include: that she is an Italian who's from Pennsylvania, she quit her job with the U.N., she loved the history of Italy and of Rome, she despised people who didn't bother to try to learn more, she despised the street vendors (called them creatures), she loved astrological signs (was excited to find out that Ahmee and Poppy were both Ares, and was astounded that I was a Pisces-she didn't think I was one), and she made money by picking up the tickets people threw down on the sidewalk to reuse the next day to get in to important buildings. She adored us, calling us the best sort of people (because we wanted to learn more-even if we hadn't gotten the tour with her we would've been looking up things in our book), saying that we were just magic, reiterating that Poppy was such a senator over and over again, talked mostly to Ahmee (we were following her every word and bringing in what we knew, me mostly from Shakespeare and a few other books), and at the end of the tour she flattered me quite a bit. Throughout most of the tour she was busy flipping through pages, pointing out things, and lost in her own words.


Ahmee and I were right beside each other the whole time and we both followed her the best we could and added in what we knew when we could. At the end of the tour we were walked out of the Roman Forum towards the Colosseum. At the end Antionette took a good long look at me and said that I was perfect, that I was statuesque, and that if I had lived back in ancient Rome I would've been a scribe virgin (if my parents were wealthy and if I had been 10 years old). Later as we walked out of the Roman Forum towards the Colosseum she asked me what my sign was and as I told her Pisces she exclaimed again that I was perfect, saying, "Wow.... You really are perfect! You're gorgeous! Sorry, sorry...." It was very flattering of her to say that I looked perfect. After Antionette showed us where to go, showed us where to get the tickets, and then saw us off on to the right bus, I began to wonder about her. Antionette was very different from other people. She had no qualms about letting her opinion come right out (called the street vendors creatures and skum and rushed away from them like they were insects), and she seemed so full of energy she didn't know which direction to put herself first (told you she jumped from one thing to the next). I decided that what she'd said about all of us was her true opinion, that it wasn't just her trying to advertise and make more money (which we all knew she could use).

She truly thought of Poppy as a Senator, she really thought the vendors were scum, and she really thought I looked perfect. As I ate my 8 lamb chops (don't judge, I was hungry from walking) I also decided that Antionette couldn't see the zits on my face, the bug bites, or the few flakes of dry skin because it was too dark. Nothing about me is perfect, but the dark managed to obscure things.

After eating dinner we walked back to the Piazza del Populo by way of the Via del Corso, a street that's known for it's shopping. We did what we do best: window shop, or in other words, educate our tastes. The few windows we got to look in we didn't gawk at for too long, we were all tired and wanted to get back to the hotel. Once at the train station we got to wait for a short period, road the train, got out, got to catch the bus, got to ride around on the bus for 30 minutes (missed our stop the first time and a nice lady helped us out), and then once we got to the hotel we got into the elevator (me exclaiming how fast the door shut, and Ahmee complaining about the loud speakers) and went to our room. Once there I did a bit of work, emailed people, and then went to bed.

10/21/08 The Almalfi Coast and Italian Drivers

Las carreteras de Italiana son moy (en Italiana) "mata". No me gusta las carreteras porque las carreteras son pequeno tambien y los coches va rapidamente.

The next morning we woke up, got dressed, went downstairs, and ate breakfast next to two other Americans. We ended up sharing vital pieces of information with each other. They told us that driving along the Almalfi Coast was beautiful, but it would raise the hairs on our necks. We were warned to stop when a tour bus comes through on those skinny roads because they wouldn't be afraid to knock off half of your car. We also informed them that the city of Pompei was within walking distance. We warned them about the hustlers, and we warned them about the entrance fee to get into Pompei. Very vital information was exchanged at this breakfast. I'm glad we met that couple.



When we got on the road Ahmee and Poppy commented about the crazy Italian motorcyclists (btw, I haven't mentioned this yet-the motorcyclists in Italy have no problem taking to the middle whenever they want to pass someone, even if there is traffic going both ways) and how tunnels were so dreary and how we couldn't see anything in them.

After several tunnels we arrived on the hillside overlooking the city and the Mediterranean. We drove on a road where on the right I could see that the sea was a mere 200 foot drop below us (add more to that as we went up the mountain). As we started getting closer and closer to Positano (the town where Marcelo lives in UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN!!!!) the road lost its yellow line and continuously got thinner and thinner (with the wall between us and the cliff face where 500 feet below us was the sea).


No one seemed to notice this as they went flying around the curves. Once we got to Positano the question was asked if we should stop and window shop like the guidebook recommended. I said I didn't want to. Why didn't I want to? The roads were tiny in Positano and I just wanted to get out, I didn't want to walk on the streets where I felt like hitting a pedestrian would score you 10 points, where tourist buses had no problem scraping away parts of cars (Ahmee and Poppy saw a mirror that had been torn off on the road), and where no one seemed to slow down enough for you to really get a chance to walk across the street. We continued on through Positano and found a marvelous ceramic shop that had (a choir of angels sings at these words) a parking lot.



We pulled in and got a lesson on how they make the ceramics, how their tables were different from other ceramics in that they could withstand heat (the paint wouldn't fade in the sun), and how they didn't break easily at all (were made of rock, not clay). I adored the tables. My favorite one was their biggest one that was upstairs. My tastes are far too expensive for the times ahead of me I think. The table I liked most was hundreds of thousands of dollars. I can't even remember how much it was. I think something like 150,000. Educating my tastes might be a bad thing if I'm only introduced to high-quality, expensive things. The things I picked out that I liked managed to convey something to Ahmee though: I like rich colors (not just blue).

Before we left we grabbed their business cards so that whenever I get older and have enough money to get a table I'll be able to get in contact with them (ha!). Then we headed on to the next town where we parked the car and walked through town to find an excellent restaurant where we got to enjoy the view of Positano (the famous city known for it's ceramics and it's antiques), gobble our food, and sip our drinks (I got tap coca cola with lemon and it was incredible! Even better than the coke that comes in a glass bottle). We savored everything, and I adored the time not spent in the car on the road or walking on the road. Before we got back in the car we checked out the local church. The outside was in need of work, but the inside was very very pretty. It had a ceramic floor, painted ceilings and walls (yellow, green, and gold look really good together),

After admiring the church we got back on the road to head back to the hotel. The roads got thinner, the curves got sharper (had mirrors up to give you a short warning if another car or tourist bus was coming), the minuscule tunnels became more numerous (people had no problem parking in these too-insane!), and the super-fast drivers never ended. I came to appreciate the "crazy" motorcyclists, and dred all other vehicles that took up a large percentage of the road. I tried looking out the windows at the beautiful scenery. We went from the cliffs above the sea to the forested mountains, and eventually to the big city. Throughout the drive I apparently wasn't focusing enough on the scenery, the whole time I was talking to myself (I didn't know this until we got back to the hotel room and Ahmee told me) and going, "Go on the other side of the road! Oh gosh no! Oh oh are we going to make it? Here comes a bus! Ah! Get over there! Oh oh are we going to make it?" (these are the things Ahmee said I said). I'm surprised that Poppy asked how I was doing one of the times we stopped. My answer was accurate. I told him that I was strung tighter than a piano string.

After navigating our way back to the hotel (we got into the town of Pompei but couldn't find the ruins for an hour), we ate and then Poppy and I took the computer down to the restaurant where I made sure to email people and send schoolwork (I told Sara that if we ever go on a trip and we go to Italy that I never wanted to drive).

Sleep came quickly for me that night. I wonder why....

10/20/08 We move away from the Sand Castles to explore Pompei

La ciudad de Pompei es moy vieja. Es facil para mi perder yo en las ruinas. Yo feliz la mapa es buena.

I moved very very slowly this morning. Yet again, I was dragging my feet because I did not want to leave a place. I've always loved the beach, the beach has never failed to bring a huge amount of joy to me and to aid me when I need physical and mental rejuvenation (when in Mexico I had a cold that I got rid of sitting next to the Pacific, drinking the Daquiri Del Dia Sin Alcohol), this time was no different. I didn't want to leave it.

When James came up to me during breakfast to ask what we were going to do that day I was sad to tell him that we were leaving. James (who's 5 by the way) looked at me, pouted for a short period, and said, "Who am I going to play with?" He quickly perked up before I had to say anything by shrugging and saying, "Oh well, I'll play with someone else! Would you like to eat with us Rachel?" I smiled, considerably cheered up from James, and said that I was going to go eat with my grandparents because we'd already nabbed ourselves a seat out on the patio. James didn't mind this too much and we said our goodbyes and went our ways to eat breakfast and then for him to go to church and for me to climb into the car and say goodbye (only temporarily) to the Mediterranean.

While on the road I worked. We stuck mostly to highways, so for most of the day my working went uninterrupted and my concentration didn't get rattled by my environment. After about 4 in the afternoon I stopped and watched the scenery. Shortly after I stopped we pulled off the highway, following the signs to the Pompei ruins. We eventually got directed into a parking lot where we ended up paying the the man who'd waved us in and where we ended up being taken to the Cameo Factory (Ahmee muttered about them trying to hustle us-I have to say that I agree) where we were told that nothing on the hill lasted and to only buy things out of the cameo factory. For those of you who don't know what cameo is, it's those engraved faces you see on various pieces of jewelry. We got to learn the process for making the cameo, how many layers are required, how long it takes to carve, what the best materials were (specific male shells were the most rare and thus only the masters carved on those and thus they were EXPENSIVE), how to tell plastic from real (the face shines through when you hold it up to the light), and how to tell the quality of the cameo. The salesman told us that those cameos that had the faces of his mother in law (ugly, terrible woman is what he said) were the cameos that were done by students. The ones that were slightly better were the teachers, the professionals were beautiful, but the masters were outstanding and were often very large. After admiring the different cameos for a few minutes we excused ourselves, saying it was too expensive, and went on our merry way to Pompei. Before we went in the gates to go up we nabbed ourselves a guide-book, ignoring what the hustler had told us earlier.

We got our tickets (a staggering 20 euro per person) and went into Pompei where we poked around the ancient city, read out loud the details of what happened in what building/area, and where we walked in the footsteps of thousands of people (some of which we know lived in the B.C. era.


Ahmee spoke of the different pillars, I spoke of the different time periods of the wall paintings (yes the wall paintings were still intact in some houses, incredibly enough), and we both shared back and forth stories we knew about Roman Gods, about the history of what happened there and how a civilization can be halted in its steps in one night (Mt. Vesuvius's ashes preserved the entire city and it's people, but halted all growth of the city because so many were killed and because so much was covered up).


Here we also got a warning of what we should expect from Roman roads. It's an ancient principal to be an aggressive driver here in Italy. The drivers of Pompei had make their own room amongst the street vendors, pedestrians, and other carts. Some streets were even blocked to carts (signs with a man carrying a pot displayed this). We didn't get to see all the parts of Pompei that we had wanted to see, but we ended up having to head towards the exits because we knew it was getting close to closing time. We made our way back to the car, avoiding the calling vendors as we went, and once at the car we got back on the road to start heading farther south. After about 5 minutes of driving Ahmee and Poppy decided to turn around and head back to the hotel I'd seen that was right by Pompei. Why did we do this? We did this because: 1) we knew where a 3 star hotel was, 2) it was close to the road we needed to get to the Almalfi coast, and 3) it was right next to the entrance to the A1-the highway we knew we'd need for Rome. This hotel had internet, had good food in its restaurant, and had comfortable beds.

We ended up taking advantage of the last two that night, sleeping soundly when we went to bed.

10/19/08 A Different Kind of Beach Therapy

En la mar es normal para personas calentamos muchas tambien. El sol es moy caliente para personas. Yo nado en la mar porque la agua de la mar es fresco, es no frio o caliente.

The next morning we went down to breakfast (still raggedy, but we figured that no one minded too much) where we spoke to all the people we'd met the previous day, and where we loaded up our plates with goodies. Of course, the breakfast ritual is almost always the same so I'll simply continue on to the rest of the day.

I did the exact same thing on the beginning of this day that I had done the day previous. I working on schoolwork during the hours where everyone else was in church (and when it wasn't as hot out). After about 2 I left the work to play. This time I didn't stay in the water long at all, even though the water was completely calm. I'd gotten a sunburn from the previous day (and knee abrasions from going around on my knees when playing in the sand) and the cooler water was made freezing whenever I went in past my hip. So, instead of taking the usual path, I decided I wasn't going to dive in. I went and played in the sand again. This time I decided I'd work on a sand sculpture instead of a castle. This is another thing my family used to do when we went to the beach. My Momma is a huge sand baby and enjoyed making at least one sculpture every time she came to the beach. We built dragons, sea turtles, mermaids, and dolphins.


Since my favorite thing to do was always the pods of dolphins I decided I'd make those. I built three different dolphins over the course of 2 hours. They weren't whole dolphins though. Never in the wild do you see a full-bodied dolphin above water unless they're jumping. Since I am not gifted enough to make a sand sculpture of a dolphin jumping out the water, I made three different sections of a dolphin.

One dolphin you could see the head coming out of the water and you could barely make out the fins. Another dolphin you saw the main body with the fin on top and the side fins being very predominant. The last dolphin was the hardest for me to make. This, was the tail that was sticking up out of the water as if the dolphin had just dived. It was difficult because the thinnest part of the dolphin is at the point where the fin and the tail are connected. Basically, the issue was of balance. After having the tail crumble on me multiple times I managed to finish it off.



As I was building these castles many people came up to check on what I was doing. James was the first to walk up and check on me, asking the same question he'd asked before: "Whatcha doin?" This time when I told him I was making dolphins he didn't ask if he could help, it was too advanced. He did ask if he could build a sand castle nearby, which he did and which he didn't spend much time on before heading off to play elsewhere. The next people who walked up were two women about my Momma's age who came by asking what it was I was making, and exclaiming to each other how life-like they looked (even though they both guessed wrong at first as to what they were-tis ok, I hadn't seen a dolphin for years) as I worked with the sand to make them more-so. The women got a photograph of me (my hair in my face tehehehe) and my dolphins (I hadn't gotten started on my tail dolphin yet so it wasn't the whole thing). They continued to stand there and watch me work for at least 45 minutes. Meanwhile another man with a very fancy camera came up and said (as he took pictures), "Those are definitely dolphins!

I lived by the beach for years and I can definitely tell that those are dolphins!" They ended up asking me if I'd lived by the beach, if I had an interest in Marine Biology (at one point yes I did-an interest that hasn't died yet I'm afraid, I've just not been so adamant about fueling my own interest in the field), if I was in sculpting contests, if I was in my schools art program (am not-instead I'm in choir), and what else I'd sculpted before. After answering their questions I turned back to my final project: the picky fin. As I was working on this another person walked up. This was a guy only a little bit older than I am (not sure how much), who praised my work and my artistic ability, and who enjoyed staying around. I didn't mind talking to him as I worked, but he followed me around long after I'd gotten done and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't slightly relieved when he had to go inside. I'm not sure exactly what it was about him that I didn't like. I think the most likely reason I didn't like him too much was the attitude he had towards the kids I'd had a good time with the day previously. One of the first things he'd asked was how I'd managed to untangle myself from the kids. I'm not sure what to say about that guy. There were moments where I wished he'd go away, where I'd get uncomfortable with him looking at me constantly, and following me around from job to job and even up to my grandparents. Then there were also times where I really enjoyed talking to him-like after we moved past art or religion to things like the dance or things like hobbies and studying habits. I enjoyed talking to him about some things, but then other times his staring unnerved me and made me want to be alone.

After we left the beach that night we went out to eat at the same restaurant we'd eaten at before. The people in this restaurant mistook us as German (which made Ahmee laugh), but treated us kindly enough and were very nice to us (even though we'd arrived incredibly early for dinner on the Italian clock). After dinner we went back to the hotel where I sat in the hotel lobby with the laptop for at least an hour trying to send an email to my teachers my work. As Poppy and I sat there I got to watch all the kids who were in the church group as they huddled around the computer in the lobby (I have to use the laptop to send and receive work-related email so that I can download it onto the computer I take with me, complete the work on the laptop, and then send completed work back from the laptop). I also got to watch as they all went down to the dance. The guy who'd talked to me earlier in the day saw me again as he passed through to the dance, stopped said hello and asked if I was going to the dance, told Poppy (again) about my artistic talent, noted I was doing homework, as if I could go to the dance later, and then went on his way when I said no. Some of you may be surprised that I turned down the opportunity to dance. I had several reasons to not go. The first was that I was exhausted and I only wanted to go cuddle up in bed. The second was that I had a strong suspicion that this dance was only for the church members. The third was that all of those people who were going down to the dance were extremely dressy. My dress-up clothes wouldn't do (girls my age had on dresses that looked between semi-formal to promish), AND I couldn't see how people could really dance in their outfits. Many of the women I saw had strapless dresses. The type of dancing I had in mind would have caused some indecency on the dance floor (those dresses slide all too easily). My final assumption was that those women were either not going to dance at all, were going to get drunk (don't know if the religion permits it or not) and then dance like crazy when they were intoxicated, or that the dance-type they had in mind was more formal and didn't require the movements that I enjoyed so much (for a second I pictured ballroom guys coupled up with girls-but that was a silly thought). I was happy to not go and to instead climb into bed, but I wasn't happy to leave the scene of action. After deciding I didn't want to go down (took all of two seconds) I went back to watching the scene in the lobby. One of the last things I got to watch was the smooth-talking of two younger boys. These guys were about 12-13 and had snuck out of the dance to sit and wait in the lobby. When one of the boys fathers asked why they weren't down there dancing the older one replied, "This has got all to do with man-points!" The dad went, "Oh really? How so?" The boy said, "Yeah! You get more man-points if you go in with a girl." The dad chuckled and said, "Ahhhh I see, you're waiting to snag a girl. Ok then, go for the man-points."

Once I reached my bed I enjoyed reviewing the day in my head as I slipped into a deep sleep.

10/18/08 Beach Therapy

En la playa yo construyo muchas cosas. Mi familia se gustan mucho la playa. Me rio y sonrio cuando yo visito la playa.

The next morning we found out exactly what the dress code was for the dining room. People dressed up for breakfast. Boys younger than 13 years of age were walking around in tuxes, girls were wearing what I would've considered a sunday dress if I'd been living in North Carolina, and adults were all dressed up rather than down. Many of the people in the dining hall were speaking English however and they didn't act like shicky mickey's, they spoke to everyone, including us, the slightly dissheveled-looking bunch. After having several people walk by us saying, "Good morning!", instead of, "Buonjiorno!", we asked a woman if they were a church group. She told us that yes they were a church group, called the United Church of Christ, and they were holding a gathering at the hotel for that week. She told us that they hold this gathering every year, and that the people who came were from all over. Later, I found this to be quite true whenever I got to talk to the children who were in this church group.

After breakfast I immediately conducted beach therapy. My beach therapy consisted of working for half the day on the beach, and then playing during the hottest hours in the water and in the sand. The first part of the day I worked in the lounge chair, looking quite the shicky mickey with the laptop out and my schoolbooks open next to me. I kept thinking this as I glanced around at the empty beach-side, and at how if I had been walking and had seen someone typing on their laptop on the beach instead of playing then I would've tisked at them (in my brain of course) and at their poor values. After I'd thought this thought I'd sigh and go back to working on a study guide, or I'd sigh and go back to working on a blog, or I'd sigh and continue on in my Spanish book. After lunch I was completely ready to put everything aside so I could properly enjoy the beach.



I ran for the water! This time when I ran for it it had people in there playing and swimming (church had gotten out and the beach became swarmed shortly after lunch). Unlike the previous day, I didn't want to stay in the water very long. This day the water was rough in comparison to the previous day where the water had had little wave to it at all. For a while I played in the water, body surfing and catching as many waves as I could. I started getting tired though and after getting knocked over by a wave I decided I needed to head in fairly soon. I caught a different wave in and got laughed at by a young girl who was playing in the shallows. She came up to me and asked, "How old are you?" As I adjusted my swimsuit I replied that I was 16, the girl giggled, started doggy paddling in the air, and said, "You were doing this!" She was referring to my ability to get up after catching a wave, in other words: every time I do it I'm crawling and I look quite funny. The little girl made me laugh and made me decide to stick close to the group of kids so I could hear them playing in the water and occasionally watch. I decided I'd make another drip sand castle.

As I was working on this castle a young boy with brown hair and bright shining eyes walked up to me and said in a squeaky but confident voice, "Whatcha doin?" I told him that I was building a sand castle. I was surprised when he asked if he could help. What surprised me more was how long he stayed with me. James, as I later found out from all the people who came by to see what we were doing, thoroughly enjoyed making a huge sand castle. He and I spent hours working on a sand castle that ended up looking like an anchor. The bottom part of the anchor was my wall that James asked me to add to protect the section he was building from the sea. As we working on building this structure we talked. I told him about how the closer you get to the sea the less you have to dig to get to water (I demonstrated shortly afterwards), and about how you have to pat gently to keep from crushing your own work, and how you can let wet sand drizzle through your fingers and create little mud towers (these are drip castles). I also asked him many questions like: why he didn't like to get in the water, if all the people who knew him were his family, if he went to the beach often, where his family was, etc.. He told me he didn't like getting into the water because "it's too dirty", that he had no idea how the people knew him "they just do", how his family did go to the beach often, and he showed me were his Momma was sitting-conveniently right next to my grandparents. Talking to James and working with him made me so happy. What made me even happier was showing him new things, like how to make his castle stronger, or how to dig a tunnel, or how to play in the water without going too far in (jump over the next coming wave before it touches your toes), or how to reach water without running back and forth between the ocean and the castle, etc.. The list could go on a while because James and I worked on that castle for at least 3 hours. Our final touch to the castle were a series of tunnels. By the time we'd completed our castle all of the other kids on the beach had started building one of their own. As we had worked a boy or a girl would run up, take a look at our castle and what we were doing, and then they'd run off to add on to there's. A group of boys down the beach had dug a huge hole and were building a castle that was just about up to my knee in height, and a group of girls was starting something new behind us. James and I, tired of working on our castle, decided to go help the girls.

We found out that the girls wanted to dig a series of tunnels. James was the only boy allowed into the group. As we got started digging (me showing the girls how it's best to rotate a clawed hand when digging an underground tunnel) a boy came up and asked if he could join. The brown haired girl spoke up and told him that none of the boys were invited because they'd refused to let them help. As the boy walked away she turned to the rest of the group and said, "Plus he's my brother." Two of the girls there were from England, while another younger one was from Minnesota. She told me that she and James were both from Minnesota, and that she was going to have to go sing in the choir. She eventually left, as did one of the English girls named Michele (completely different reasons- Michele had just taken a shower and shouldn't have been playing in the sand), leaving James, the brown-haired English girl, and me alone to talk and to dig connecting tunnels. As we worked James' mother came up behind me and asked if I didn't mind watching James for a minute while she went inside to take care of his brother. My answer was that I didn't mind in the slightest. I enjoyed having James around, and when his mom came back I was sad to see him go. After he left though I did get to have a wonderful conversation with the English girl.

She turned out to be 11 years old, and quite intelligent. We swapped stories of what life was like back home, about difficulties in our schools (she had issues with bullies for being smart, and her sister had issues with bullies for having red hair), about our religion (mine-nothing to tell, and hers quite interesting), about traveling, about our favorite things (pizza and talking were among her tops), and we in general had a good time talking to each other. She made me laugh more than once, and I made her laugh more than once. Later I told Ahmee about pieces of the conversation I'd had with her and I made sure to tell Ahmee about the time when she saw her dad coming towards us. She'd said, "Oh, my dad's the one with the big nose! See.... there! Oh he's coming this way!" (I'd told her that I couldn't see very well because I didn't have my glasses on and she'd told me this). After her father had said a few things to her about how they had a short bit before they had to head in she caught my eye. As he walked away she took her pointer finger, touched it to her nose, and started making pinochio-like gestures. As her father walked away I was cackling! After I stopped I said, still laughing slightly, "Your father must REALLY appreciate that!"

Such a wonderful time.

At about 6 I went inside with Ahmee and Poppy and enjoyed telling them all about my adventures on the beach as I got ready for dinner. After showering and putting on my dressy clothes (and mascara) we went to dinner in the dining hall where we ate, drank, and chatted till about 10. As we ate the three girls I'd met on the beach walked past us on their way downstairs to the talent show (they'd invited me but it was going to be far too late for me). On their way down we said hello to each other and waved. As the night went on I continuously thought about how I'd inherited a love for kids of all ages from my Momma, who'd inherited it from Ahmee and Poppy (both of whom coo and smile and play with babies every time they get the chance). I enjoyed thinking about this and about the day all throughout supper. Afterwards however, I went to the computer where I was preoccupied with something quite different.

After the computer I went down to bed, completely exhausted from the days events.

10/17/08 We Don't go into Rome Due to a Strike

Viajamos en la coche para mucha la dia. Cuando nosotros no viajamos nosotros comemos y bebemos en una restaurant y vamos en la hotel. La hotel es en la playa. Me gusta mucho el mar. Es tranquil para mi, y me no enojo todo la dia.

The news that there was a workers strike going on in Rome (traffic systems) wasn't surprising, we'd seen it in a newspaper. The news that my old email was no longer working was. When we got on the road to head farther south I cried in the car a bit. I was extremely grateful that Ahmee and Poppy didn't bring up the subject, and even more grateful that Poppy lent me his hanky.

I worked while on the road, but this work was very difficult to do because I was continuously thinking about other things. Let's just say, I didn't get very far in my work until after I'd had a really good cry.

I worked on my blogs, typing the good times and for the time being forgetting the bad ones. When I got pulled away from my work I was asked to help find a hotel. We'd made it to the beach, to the Mediterranean. We ended up following the signs to a great 4 star resort that was on a peninsula off the coast in Sabaudia ( Mussolini had the town build as part of his attempt to drain the marshland around Rome). The name of this hotel was Oasi di Kufra (Oasis of something neither Ahmee or I know). We got an apartment that opens right up onto the beach.

The instant I stepped on the beach I felt immensely better. I wasn't sad, I wasn't angry, and I wasn't thinking murderous thoughts. After we moved our things in and got lunch in town (got rained on and once we got back I worked some more in the room) I joined Ahmee and Poppy outside for the remainder of the evening. I put on my swimsuit, built a drip sand castle, played in the waves (got completely soaked as I body-surfed), and I searched for shells. Before we all settled into our lounge chairs to watch the sun go down we went for a walk along the beach, chuckled at the girls who screamed at the water (everyone was saying it was cold-I thought it was colder out of the water than in it, oh btw, once I got out in the water up to my belly button and higher I could see all the way to the bottom and the loose sponges and sea weeds rolling along on the floor there). I've always loved the ocean, the sea was no different. It was my litteral happy pill.

Once the sun had settled behind the horizon we went off to find the restaurants down the coast. There we ate delicious food and wondered if the dinner in the hotel would require us to dress up.

After a delicious dinner we headed back to the hotel where I got on the computer in the lobby (it's free, I'm going to use it) to check email and to respond to anything my Momma had sent. I told her that the simple action of pulling up Ahmee and Poppy's email infuriated me. It was true, even though I was in the one place that calmed me the most and made me most happy that action made me grumpy in less than a minute. I need to point out that my Momma feels she's doing this for my own good. The issue is between her and me, and I DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO SAY ANYTHING TO MY MOMMA ABOUT THE SUBJECT. I WRITE THESE THINGS I THIS BLOG SIMPLY BECAUSE WITHOUT IT THINGS WOULD BE VERY CONFUSING.

We left the lobby to go back to the room where I planned on working some more. I didn't realize how tired I was until I stretched out on the bed and started dozing off as I typed. Needless to say, I closed up the computer earlier than I had planned and went to bed with the noises from the neighbors in the background.

10/16/08 We Leave Florence to get closer to Rome, and I get news of a change in email

Yo permanezco me enojo para mucha la dia. Es deficil explicar la situacion. Me dico, yo no feliz, me enojo. Mi madre y yo padecemos porque la situacion es mala para nosotros.

The next morning we got up and got moving fairly fast. Our plan was to get on the road as fast as possible so we could get close to Rome. We stuck mostly to interstate this day so I was able to type loads and to do homework.

Other than that we didn't really do anything. We checked into a hotel (didn't have any stars but the internet connection was free so I immediately gave it 5) and took our things up to the room where I hooked up the computer to check my email and send a few things. As usual, I handed the computer over to Ahmee and Poppy to check their emails first. They then handed it over to me. I was stunned when my username and password didn't work. I immediately knew that my Momma had changed my email so that I could no longer talk to Iain. That night I didn't utter a word in my sleep.

(btw, I know this because every morning I get a report from Ahmee and Poppy about how I slept, it's normal for them to hear me talk a lot in my sleep-it's not normal for them to hear nothing at all)

10/15/08 Second Day in Florence, not so fun discoveries

Una segunda dia en Florence me dirijo problemas de mi madre en una email. Me no gusta escribir la email para mi madre. Deseo mi madre aprende en la email yo creo bueno de Iain y yo quiero Iain.

I got more spots from the mosquitos.

This was not the worst discovery I would have for that morning however. After the mosquito bite discovery I hopped on the computer to jokingly tell Sara that I was going to walk through Italy looking like I'd caught chicken pox.

We took the tram downtown again and went to the Galleria de Academia, where the largest collection of Michelangelo's work is housed (including the David).




It was here that we were given a tour by a very energetic and passionate woman who called herself Alex ("not Alexandria, that's only if I'm in trouble" she said). She informed us that the Galleria de Academia was given that name because the building was the school of the artists and that many of the works we saw in there (including a wonderful collection of plaster models) were the work of students in the Academy. She condensed her tour into about half an hour, focusing mainly on works by the great (and terrible-personality wise) Michelangelo. In the grand hall there were his slaves-men who appear to be trapped within the stone ever moving it (this was done much later in Michelangelo's life and the tools he used to carve were obvious-it looked like Van Goghs obvious show of the layering of paint to emphasize), and then at the end was the huge statue of David, a sculpture that took Michelangelo 4 years to complete (this was when he was 20 something). A stunning fact was that Michelangelo never used plaster models (like other sculptures). He picked out his own marble, and carved away at it "releasing the statue within". This David was incredible to look at. To see stone look so life-like (even showed the veins in the hand) was incredible.

After the tour we stayed around the Gallery looking closer at things we didn't get to see much of. Most of the art in the gallery was dedicated to biblical scenes (since this was often the subject of the masters of the old days this didn't surprise me-did get tired of looking at crucifixes though). After I got tired of looking at these I went into the plaster model room where tons of primi sculptures were on display. I walked around that room 4 times looking from one sculpture to the next and pondering what on earth I should tell my Momma. I enjoyed the would-be sculptures, but I didn't enjoy the thoughts too much. I was happy to leave the Galleria after that.

We then headed over to the Uffizi Gallery. This was the art collection of the Medici family that's now housed next to the old Medici family house. This house was next to a square known as la Piazza della Signoria. Within this piazza there were many sculptures (including a mimic of the David and a Hercules- Hercules symbolized the power of the Medici family over the people while David was used as a symbol of the peoples potential power over the Medici family). There was also a fantastic fountain in this square, which I enjoyed taking pictures of. Within this piazza many many tourists gathered and thus many venders and horse-drawn carriage rides.

We didn't take any of these though, we simply walked over to the river Arno so we could cross the famous Ponte Vecchio, the bridge that originally had leather makers and craftsmen on it (smell was bad) but later got changed by the Duke (Medici) into goldsmith shops. To this day this bridge is a jewelers district. We got to pear through all of the windows at the "shiny's" and enjoy gellato on the way back across the bridge. As I ate my gellato I slowly started noticing a few double-takes I was getting. This surprised me because I wasn't in the greatest of moods (was still pondering what on earth to say to my Momma because I had a feeling she wanted me to stop talking to Iain), I had bugbites all over my face, and it wasn't one of my more glamorous days. I saved my questions for later to ask Iain.

After we got off the Ponte Vecchio we ate out on the street and watched the people and the cars whiz by as we ate and drank our lunch. Once finished we headed over to our tour of the Uffizi Gallery. This time we got an older man who enjoyed giving us as much information about each piece of artwork he stopped us at as possible.

We got to see the "Duke and Duchess of Urbino",









"The Birth of Venus",













Michelangelo's painting: "The Holy Family" (done in a round frame),












"The Venus of Urbino", and the












"Ognissanti Madonna".
















None of that was in order, and I most certainly missed quite a few important paintings and their stories. There was just so much in that tour it'd be impossible to write it all. There was only one spot on the tour that was slightly damaged. It seemed that our tourguide went on a power trip when he got into a huge argument that just about went to blows whenever he told a man he needed to keep his kid quiet. Most of us in the tour backed up and watched, but one woman immersed herself in the argument (speaking in Italian). This woman however was repelled when she was insulted by the man when he said she was stupid. Haven't seen something like that happen in an art gallery before.

Afterwards we had a good time getting out, eating dinner, and then getting back to the hotel (had to take a bus and then I had to use my skills at recognizing where we were and which direction we needed to go-they got us back to the hotel because of one LARGE boulder). Once inside we went up to the room where I got on the computer to send Momma that email and to talk to Iain.

What relaxed me before I went to bed (at 11:30) was the email I sent to Iain asking why so many guys were turning their heads because I definitely didn't look my best or feel my best. He said: because you're just THAT beautiful. I'd been talking to him about all the stressful things that were going on.

I never knew that that email Iain sent me at the end of the night would be the last one I'd see for a long time.

10/14/08 First Day in Florence

La prima dia en Florence nosotros caminamos muchos. El pies de las nosotros estamos moy cansados. Nosotros necesitamos conseguir zapatos nuevos.


I woke up this morning with dots all over me. We'd slept with the windows open because there wasn't any AC (even though it was a 3 star hotel), and in doing so we'd let in a horde of mosquitoes. My face looked like it had broken out in zits, when in actuality it was (just like in MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING) tons of mosquito bites. The mosquitoes loved me and I was the one who was the farthest away from the window.

After getting dressed and eating breakfast we asked the man at the desk many questions such as: can we reserve this bus tour? can we get tickets here? how do we get down there? do you think we've got enough time to get to the meeting place? can we go ahead and get reservations for this? He was able to answer all of our questions, provide us with directions, provide us with tickets, and provide us with transportation-the hotel had their own "tram". We went out to the front to wait for this "tram". Just before it came another group of women came out. These women were from California, and we'd lent them our adapter the previous night so that they could charge their cameras (I didn't mention this). I'd decided after we gave the older woman our adapter that I liked her. Even though I didn't talk much when the van (not a tram) took us to the central station. I was too busy watching the things along the road (later would turn out to be a very good thing).

Once we reached the station we all unfolded out of the van and went our separate ways, then Ahmee, Poppy, and I went on a mad search for the tour bus. We had plenty of time to look, but after we followed the hotel man's directions we found figured out that the van had dropped us off in a different spot than what the man anticipated. This is normally only a small bump, but when we got to where all of the other tour buses were we still didn't see the big yellow bus and we started getting worried because the tour was due to start in less than 10 minutes (this didn't stop me from getting a present from one of the venders). We finally located the bus-as it passed us in the road we all took off following it (not running, we refuse to run). We had plenty of time-enough so that we could grab a bottle of water and use the restroom.

I don't know if I've mentioned this yet or not, but the public toilets in Italy are terrible. Often there is one bathroom for both sexes and in that one bathroom there is something that looks like a toilet-without the seat attached at all. It's quite obvious which sex is favored here. Forcing the ladies to squat, like we're out in the woods, is pretty low in my opinion. Luckily not all bathrooms are like this. Some public restrooms have lids that are spring loaded-once you sit up it bounces right up. I would not want to wear a dress out, I might get it caught on the toilet-or worse, it might touch some of the nasties that never get flushed. The toilet in the restaurant we stopped in was not bad, and so that restaurant automatically earned a few brownie points.


The tour we took was like the one we took in the last part of the Dublin double-decker tour: it was a recording. This recording was not that bad though. As we drove around Florence I got information on various sections and I was given the names of some of the important landmarks (most notable was the Duomo-has a huge dome). Basically I got a great overview of the city and I also got to see some truly beautiful sights (several views of the city from surrounding hillsides).

After the tour we made our way over to the Duomo to grab a bite to eat and then check this famous cathedral out. We made the mistake of sitting down in the restaurant. In Italy if you want your food fast go through the self-help line, do not sit down because then it means you plan on spending time there.


We ate and then headed over to the Duomo, one of the prettiest cathedrals I've seen so far. The outside had stones that were different colors there were: pink stones, green stones, white stones, and.... probably another color can't remember at the moment. This cathedral had a plaza out to the front of it and in this plaza there stood another important building: the baptismal building. This was building that was in the shape of an octagon, symbolizing the 8th day, or eternity. On this building we got to see the famous "gates of heaven" Michelangelo's words of the gates that face the east (or the churches entrance). Another important building that was near the church was the bell tower, which many people say is the most beautiful bell tower in the world.

After looking at the outside of the Duomo we were delighted to find that we could just pass right on in without paying a thing. We got to see the floors, which looked like quilt patterns; the huge, lofty ceilings; the clock that runs counter clockwise (kinda like my internal calendar); the stained glass windows; and the dome (the history of which is fascinating). The dome looked quite different compared to the rest of the church. The rest of the church wasn't all lace and frill, it was very sleek (but beautiful all the same). The ceiling of this dome had been painted and it looked quite off from the rest of the building. Towards the entrance of the Duomo I kept hearing a choir singing far off in the background, I never did find this choir.

We went and checked out the baptismal building after the Duomo. Inside it was completely covered in mosaics depicting the "history of the world"- events in the bible in chronological order. The small chapel (that was facing the wrong way-these are supposed to always run from west to east - this one had it's alter facing the wrong way) that was on the western wall had Jesus with both of his hands out. His right hand was raising people to heaven and his left (which was twisted to look kinda awkward) was condemning sinners to hell. Lovely mosaics of heaven and hell in this octagonal room (btw, the devil looks like the blue mask man off of Avatar).

We also visited two other churches. The San Lorenzo , and the Medici Family "chapel". There's not much for me to say about the first church other than the fact that the front part of it was completely taken off and it has never been redone even though many suggestions and drawing have been made for a new front to the church (one suggestion even by Michelangelo). The alter in this cathedral was what I liked most. It had many different colors of marble and had depictions of bible scenes on it (quite colorful and quite amazing to see these pictures of stone).

Later in the Medici Family "chapel" I got to see similar workings with marble. The floors were similar to those of the Duomo, the walls were all shiny marble, actually it seemed that everything was done with many different kinds of marble. I would say that with all the marble a person got the feeling they were in a fancy lobby, but that wouldn't be true, the essence of the church (or sacred ground-it was originally intended as a burial place for the Medici family-one of the richest families in the world-Catherine Medici got married to the king of France to create an alliance and to provide them with money she was 12) was definitely prominent in that building (which was just behind the alter of the San Lorenzo).

After looking around those two churches we headed back through the streets of Florence (through the street market-really awesome) to the place where the "tram" would pick us up. We road back to the hotel with our newly found Californian acquaintances, chatting about our day and about the crazy experiences in Amsterdam (they'd surprised the locals by having two accidents in the same day-that never happens in Amsterdam). We then parted ways with them and went to grab a bite to eat in the restaurant (after emailing and doing homework and blogging of course). We discovered that the restaurant was filled up (except for our table in the corner) with a tour group from Asia (not sure where exactly). The waiter, despite obvious orders to reserve that table for someone else, sat us down in our old table. When the odd looking waiter came by to take our order I could tell he wasn't happy with our sitting there, his lip twitched as he took our order. Luckily he wasn't too upset because he asked again if I wanted wine. This time he gave me what Ahmee and Poppy consider a full glass and he poured wine into their glasses almost up to the brim. I didn't swig this glass down at all. I sipped at it the whole way through the meal as we talked about what we'd seen that day, how I was becoming a connoisseur of drinks (wine, beer, coke-coke in the glass is ten times better than in the can, the can is too carbonated and makes me burp).

After dinner we went up to the room where I emailed Momma and Iain and then went to bed.

10/13/08 We move through "Tuscany" to Florence

Yo no conduzco el automovil. Mi padre, Poppy, conduce el automovil proteger mi abuelo y yo en la calle. Me gusto mucho mi Poppy conduce el automovil porque yo no me gusta conduzco el.

I'm going to skip the daily routine and simply say that while on the road I worked when we were on the highway, this was a very short period of time. After we got off the highway we were on windy roads that were on the hillsides. I would say that we could see for miles around the beauty of the countryside, but that wouldn't be entirely true. The air was hazy as if smoke/smog condensed it. We had no idea what it was that made the air so thick, but it most certainly wasn't rainy or cloudy. The sun was out full-blast and the temperature was the highest we'd seen in that car: 22 degrees Celsius (a little over 70 F).



What we could see of the surrounding countryside was wonderful though. I'm not sure if Poppy liked driving on these roads to much or not, he kept telling us to take everything in for him, but then he also enjoyed the windy curvy roads (he missed Ireland). From the mountainside we could see all of the farms and the houses that "dot the hills". What I knew Tuscany was famous for was grapes and olive trees. I didn't see very many of either of these crops. While we were on the road we saw mostly tilled fields (was astounding how these tilled fields were on such a steep slope-we wondered if there were mudslides). The clumps of dirt in these tilled fields were about the size of my head! These fields were not very finely tilled. I mostly enjoyed the moments where I got to look and see little cubbyholes in the trees that would occasionally line the road. I love little hide outs in the forest. I always have.




We stopped for lunch in one of the hill-towns and grabbed ourselves a bite to eat in a local restaurant/pizzeria. I had anchovies and pepperoni on my pizza (Poppy shared with me). It was killer. I loved it. Course, I also loved the pasta Ahmee got. I think that that restaurant was just good. Occasionally you'll run into places like that.




After we ate we got back on the road, where we continued to look for a hotel (we'd been doing this the entire time we were on this windy, snake-like road). We reached the edge of Florence and stopped in a small town to get out of the car and search for the hotel that belonged with the sign. We never found it. After aggravating ourselves we went down into Florence, chasing after hotel signs as we went (or at least what we thought were hotel signs). I thought that the bed sign meant "Hotels this way". After getting far away from our original road Ahmee informed me that that was a hospital sign and informed Poppy and me that she was tired of doing this, that she'd pointed out a hotel and that Poppy had just kept driving. Ahmee and Poppy had some words thrown between them. Ahmee was aggravated, Poppy was grumpy and ready to go home (he asked if there was an airport in Florence), and I simply kept silent. We went back to the hotel Ahmee'd seen, got ourselves a room, and then moved in.

I found it necessary to work and I decided I'd work while Ahmee and Poppy had some alone time. When I came out of the restroom though they'd already solved it. We hooked up the internet, where I got on email while Ahmee and Poppy went out for a walk. I know I said I needed to work, I did send work I completed and then I decided I hadn't written to other people in a long time and that I needed to contact them. The connection was very slow and took forever to load things. When Ahmee and Poppy got back I was still not done, and once I'd sent off an email to Sara we went downstairs to the restaurant to eat dinner.

Our waiter in the restaurant was kinda strange looking. He looked kinda like a tall, chubbier, bald umpa loompa (no idea how to spell that). He was tan, he was shorter, he had orangish blondish brownish hair that was kinda wild and long (except for the bald spot on top), and he had a long nose and dark, thick, brown eyebrows. This man asked if I wanted wine for dinner. Instead of saying no immediately I turned to Ahmee and asked if I could. She said I could have a little. I ended up with maybe an inch in the glass. The wine was very tasty. It didn't taste like Koolaid (like the one in Switzerland-never wrote about that), and it wasn't too young (these tend to have really terrible after tastes). Other than the wine, we enjoyed our meal and each others company. We then all went upstairs to type of the computer some more and to map out what our plan of action was going to be for the next day.

That night I fell asleep very, very fast. My bed was so comfortable and my pillow was just right.

10/11/08 +10/12/08 Venice

La ciudad de Venice es una ciudad moy interesante y bonita. Mucha personas reconocemos los calles de Venice porque la ciudad es en muchas photographios. Yo saco muchas photographios en la ciudad. El centro de la ciudad es turisticas.



Since I've neglected to write for a few days, I must now apologize for that and for the fact that I'm writing these things under intense emotional swings so those who are reading this please don't judge me too harshly.

After Ludwigs castle we had to head south out of Austria and out of the mountains into Italy. We were all surprised to discover when we reached Italy that the mountains didn't just end. Please don't laugh at us, we've seen areas where the mountains just end and go into flatness. In fact I used to live in a place where it did something quite close to that, North Carolina. We drove through the mountains, admiring the beauty of them and admiring how they kept the blazing sun from hitting us (when we went in the shade). We eventually stopped and grabbed a few apples and then we headed back on the road. As we ate the apples we left the mountains, and arrived in flat, dry lands. Unlike the Germans who adore keeping their houses pristine, the Italians didn't mind having a bit of dirt on the sides of their houses, didn't mind having graffiti on the sides of their houses, and they didn't mind having what Momma would call a "redneck" shed with lots of things hanging about outside.

As I viewed these things I wasn't just admiring and observing the Italian homes. I was looking for road signs, and for any indicators of a hotel (as we got closer to Venice it started getting very late). We eventually decided we were going to stay at another Ibis. So we called them, made reservations, checked our map to see how to get there, and headed off. We ended up in a trucking section of town where there was only one hotel. We were given directions from there to get back on the highway and keep going because we'd been driving around the wrong neighborhood. After some serious issues with the roads and the toll booths we managed to make it to the hotel where we took our belongings up to our rooms.

I had my own room in this hotel. It was a good thing and a bad thing. I missed Ahmee and Poppy talking, but I had silence that I could work in. I decided I'd visit them in their room and work later. I also decided that I was going to see then if I could get internet up. That night we ate down in the restaurant that was in the hotel (Em's spaghetti is ten times better), I wrote to people, sent things, did Spanish, watched the news with Ahmee and Poppy, and went to bed.

The next day we got up, went downstairs, waiting forever in line (there was a bus tour staying the night there) for breakfast, watched our fellow tourists as we ate, went back upstairs, got ready, and went back down to get a taxi to the train station.

At the train station we had a fun time finding our train (after we got out tickets of course). Luckily we ran into a very nice man who didn't speak a word of English but made sure we got on the right train. This train to Venice was packed with people before our crowd even got on. For a while Ahmee and I stood in the middle of the isle. Every time someone came down the isle I had to scoot between several guys and when I didn't scoot I felt like my butt was in their faces. Needless to say, I moved. I moved over to the door of the train, behind two other Italian guys (didn't do anything so it was no biggie) and leaned against the wall. Ahmee shortly followed me saying she was protecting me. I got to watch the countryside and the Adriatic Sea roll past the window as we moved into Venice.



The first thing we saw while in Venice was the crowd of people. Venice seemed to be a jumble of buildings on the water that were empty and were only there for tourists use. Obviously this isn't the case. There were people who lived in Venice, but I never saw anyone in the windows of their homes. Our first destination was to go to San Marco, or Saint Marco Cathedral.


After getting a drink (it was very hot and very sunny out) we went back over the bridge to catch what Ahmee thought was a tour boat. It wasn't a tour boat. It was a boat that is basically the subway of Venice. Only difference was was that it rocked a whole lot more, and went much slower than the subway. While on this boat we got to see the industrial side of Venice. We got to see the trainyard, a few factories (I think), and the docking area for all the huge vessels that came in. There were five cruise ships docked in Venice, and there was room for more. Hopefully that will give you an idea of how deep some of the waters are there (this is closer to the grand canal and the area between the island we came in on and Milan). We got off the boat and grabbed a bit to eat in a restaurant close by (to the subway boat and to the plaza that Venice is so famous for that's just in front of San Marco).





After we ate we went off through the crowds, through the vendors, and through the musicians (one which had on the same thing that Burt had on in Mary Poppins in the first scene) over to the plaza where we checked out the line for San Marco. The line was at least one block long. Ahmee decided she was going to stand in line while Poppy and I took a look around. We walked out, took a look at the vendors (I was checking to see if they had any paintings I wanted-I'd already seen a few but we needed to get move on), took pictures of the pigeons and the cathedral (and the horoscope clock that's right next to the church, and the palace that's right next to the church), and then we headed back to Ahmee. The line had moved considerably since we'd left her.

Ahmee was about 10 feet from the entrance when we found her again. While we stood in line I admired the vendors closest to us who had masks on sale. Venice is famous for it's huge carnival in February where everyone wears these. I didn't get to look long at these because soon we were ushered inside the cathedral. This cathedral was incredibly decorated.

Since Venice was quite a trade merchant city it was greatly influenced by many different cultures. The mosaics we saw on the ceiling seemed more middle-eastern than any others I'd seen, actually, everything was so ornate and decorated that I wondered where exactly it all came from. Part of the history of the cathedral made me laugh. After a certain time period the King of Venice declared that if the merchant ships wanted to come back into Venice they had to bring back a valuable treasure to dedicate to the cathedral. The cathedral had a separate room dedicated to these treasures (something tells me there are more). It was obvious that some of the merchants had to resort to piracy. I wonder just how many of them pirated what they gave to glorify the church.

I enjoyed looking around at the treasures (except for the bones of various Saints - the apostle Mark is one at St. Marco -I think that reliquaries are just wrong) and at the church.







When we left I didn't know what postcards I should get. Course we were ushered out by a man who refused to let us go up to see the horses of San Marco. It's because we didn't look at those before we went in, if we tried to we would've disrupted the flow and it would've been a security issue. Still, was annoying that we didn't get to see them. We left after the guard said no and instead went outside to take more pictures and to go check out the shops along the plaza. Ahmee and I really liked the glass shops. Milan glass, I think, is more beautiful than diamonds.

We headed towards the grand canal, through twisty curved roads where Ahmee and I window shopped. We ended up getting lost. We decided to figure out how to get to the canal we'd take a gondola. The gondola tours are EXPENSIVE. They cost anywhere between 80 euros to 150 euros.




While on this gondola tour we learned which direction to go, we got to see Marco Polos casa, we got to see Casanovas casa, and we got to see tranquil scenes such as: laundry drying between buildings, boats docked up next to the houses, bridges with sunlit people walking across, and other gondolas maneuvering around each other (while the tourists from different nations smiled and waved and nodded-since we're never sure the other can speak our language). After this tour we hopped out and made our way over to the grand canal where we ate and where I had a black dish of cuddlefish (the black was the ink from the fish). The waiter warned me it was black and said if I didn't like it then he could change it. He thought I was a culinary coward. I proved him wrong by eating the whole thing, and the thing is that I enjoyed it. It was different but it was delicious.

After dinner we decided we'd just walk along the canal back to the train station. We got some news: the boardwalk didn't go all the way down the canal, we had to go back into the winding streets and navigate our way over to the train station. At first this wasn't too much of a big deal, but after about thirty minutes of walking around we started to run into dead ends. It was then that I started wondering what time it was, because I knew that the last train left at 11:30 and I also knew from looking around that every hotel was pretty much full in Venice. For the first time I didn't want to be lost. As we walked through the dark streets and through the dark plazas (courtyards) I started imagining us being stuck on an island that was filled to the brim with tourists, with no way to get off the island, and no place to stay. I was more than relieved when we found the train station, I was ecstatic. Then of course we had to find which train we needed to be on. This took us about 15 minutes of walking around, asking people where to go, and wondering: "why does our train not have it's lights on?" We ran into a very nice lady who showed us which train we needed to get on. When we could get on the train we took out the camera and oohed and ahhed at all of our pictures we'd taken that day and we discussed various things we'd enjoyed. When it was time to get off the train another, different, nice woman let us know. We're lucky to have these nice people. They help us immensely.

Once back at our train station we nabbed ourselves a cab (the cabdriver drove incredibly fast while he hopped on and off his cell phone), and went back to the hotel. Once back in the hotel I sat and watched a bit of the news and then headed to bed. I didn't write anything, I was too tired (it was 11:45 at night).

10/10/08 Ludwigs Castle

Yo no cojo una connecion de internet. La connecion es tambien caro. Para uno inuto se coste 35 cents. Yo escojo no uso la internet de la connecion swisscom. mi abuelo y yo creimo la connecion es caro porque es connecion de Switzerland. Yo escribo otro vez: SWITZERLAND ES NO UNA GANGA!!!

After getting dressed and eating breakfast Poppy went to check on the car. While he was gone I was trying to get the internet to work. I got depressing news: the internet wouldn't work with our computer (not the first time so it's not really depressing just a pain). Poppy had significantly better news. The car was fixed! Ahmee and I breathed sighs of relief as we quickly packed all of our things up. We'd both had the idea that it would take several days to fix and that there was a possibility that it would be so expensive that they'd end up paying (practically) for a new car and then we'd have to cut the trip short and go home. The fact that it was ready before noon the next day made me so happy. I had my stupid grin stuck on my face there for a bit.

We checked out and got in the car and drove through to Austria. When we were on the interstate I wrote, sometimes I couldn't even do it then. We were back in the Alps where the roads were curvy, and where I had plenty to look at (much easier to tear myself away from open fields than it is mountains). Our objective for the day was to make it to a town called Reutte where Rick Steves suggested staying the night. Why did we want to stay there? Well, it's close to a ton of castles. Close to all three of Ludwigs actually. Ludwig II is famous for his castles because that's basically all he wanted to do (was build castles), he didn't spend much time doing anything else.

We found a hotel in outer Reutte and put our things up. This hotel had internet, but what it didn't have was an elevator. Later we'd all really miss this box.

After we put our things up we went out to a town closeby to find the tourist information center. There we got directions to Ludwig's castle. I know I said that he had three. This one was started up right near his childhood home. Turns out the entire castle is dedicated to Richard Wagner (famous composer of music and opera-Ahmee wonders if Ludwig was gay and had a crush on him).

Like all major tourist attractions, this castle drew TONS of tourists. However I think that we actually got lucky. The fog surrounded the castle so that no one could see it clearly until they were 60 feet from it. If we'd gone on a clear day there would've been an absolute mob.

Down below the castle we parked the car in the huge parking lot and navigated our way up through the small "town" where we bought our tickets. I use the quotation marks because it really didn't seem like a town at all. There were no places for people to live there. No buildings were dedicated solely to homes and the shops were so stuffed with items that I suspected that the owners had to use the above rooms as store rooms. However, the town wasn't just a place filled with souvneirs, it also had two hotels/resorts, and what I'll call a "shicky mickey" shopping center. When we'd navigated our way to this shopping center (dodging tourists, horses, horse poo, and buses) Ahmee and I took a look around. This place had several big names but often the big names. I didn't look at these long, I was too busy looking at lace, at cuckoo clocks, at cooking supplies, at little books on King Ludwig II, and the jewelry. These things probably would've made true die-hard shicky mickeys huff at the store and walk out. These things didn't have designer names and they weren't too expensive (unless you got a lot of them-then they'd add up). Ahmee and I didn't buy anything in there (to Poppy's delight) but we both talked about going back in when we came back down (not to Poppy's delight). Immediately after Ahmee and I got out of the shopping center we got to catch the blue bus to go up the hill. While standing in line I heard two Italian voices talking behind me, I turned around and there were two back-pack hauling men standing there talking to another man who was on the train. The outfit I was wearing made me stick out like a sore thumb. I'd decided to dress up that day. I wore a short knit red dress that had a turtle neck on it, underneath that I wore my black shirt (was my slip), my black stockings, and my new black shoes. Course at the time I had on the peachy raincoat as well. I adored the outfit, but I'd been warned that the men in Italy are much more straightforward about things. I hopped on and hurried back with Ahmee to grab seats at the very back. It was astounding how fast we went up that curvy road! While I was sitting there I did a Travis and went, "Whoa! You can see the cliff on this side!" Ahmee's response was, "Hush Rachel! I don't want to see that."

The bus didn't take us all the way up to the top. It stopped at a three-way forking road. We got out and just about followed everyone else but then realized that that went to a bridge, and so turned around. The walk had plenty of gorgeous sights: the leaves were in full blast, the fog made Ludwig's castle appear to be out of a dream, the view of the valley was obscured by the fog, and the people were very interested to watch as we passed by. Here I heard: Spanish, Italian, German, English (not as common as the Italian and German), Japanese/Chinese (are they the same or different? I have no clue), and... one more but I can't think of the proper name for it. As I watched these people and walked down and up the hills to Ludwig's castle I notice one similarity: all of the people I was seeing were wearing backpacks, had on multiple layers, and had on good hiking shoes. In my outfit (that I loved) I was getting a cold chill every now and then (mostly I was fine) and my shoes didn't have the same support as my "ugly" tennis shoes (Ahmee calls her tennis shoes the black uglies and refers to my tennis shoes as my uglies-I like them). My feet slid the tiniest bit in my shoe, not enough for my feet to get hurt, but enough for me to notice. Ahmee says I have a hikers foot and that when I walk up and down hills I know how to make it so my feet don't slide (toes get pushed down). While I walked farther ahead Ahmee and Poppy came at their own pace behind. As we headed up the hill I stopped and walked with them, knowing Ahmee'd want a rest stop every now and then and also knowing that I'd want to get a few pictures.



The castle was gorgeous. The closer we got to it the more I liked it (because I could see more of it). Course, I really shouldn't call it a castle. Ludwig's castle was solely for decoration, it never would have had to defend itself because it wasn't built in a time when neighboring dukes would battle each other for land (or whatever else they wanted to battle over). This castle was a palace, or a fancy home built just for the royal family, or in this case, for Ludwig II.

I say now that it was built for the sole purpose of Ludwig II, because I know now what I didn't know when I was waiting in the courtyard for our tour number to appear. While on the tour I heard that Ludwig II adored building castles, that his psychiatrist had declared him unfit to rule (brain issues), that Ludwig II and his psychiatrist were both found dead (I think I read that they found their bodies in... some sort of body of water). I say heard because I'd already learned this before out of a book. The tour guide didn't tell us much at all as she rushed us through the rooms. We found out that King Ludwig II died before the castle was completed and that the second floor had absolutely nothing (it's now turned into the castles giftshop/cafe). I came to really like King Ludwig II. If construction on this castle had been "completed" then I know it would've been equal in beauty to Buckingham Palace and Versailles.



Actually, I found it interesting what rooms Ludwig included in his castle. He adored opera, and had many rooms dedicated to his favorites. He also adored music and nature. He had one huge room dedicated solely to concerts. This room is incredible to be in, I would've loved to be there during a concert (they have concerts there at least once every year-play mozart and such). The tour guide told us that the great sound of the room was due to the pine ceilings (note to self: if ya want to build a killer theater use pine for your ceiling and make it vaulted). I mentioned that Ludwig II loved nature. One room that I only caught a glimpse of (tour didn't go into this room) was perhaps the one that I liked most. After we passed through a particular room that was dedicated to the theater we went into a hallway that had



been built to look like you were walking through a cave (really really cool!!!). A little door was on the right hand side within or just after this hallway (I no longer remember which) the doorway was somewhat blocked by vines. Through the arched vines you could just make out a table and a chair that were both made completely out of knarled branches. The floor had teeny tiny pebbles that had been raked into rows (Chinese zen looking), in the entryway the letter L was written in fancy cursive (obviously for Ludwig II). Another place where we got to see just how much Ludwig II adored nature was in the concert room-the wall behind the stage had a forest painted.


Even though the tour guide gave me tidbits of new information about Ludwig II (like the fact that he never got married) I didn't like her at all. She moved too fast through the rooms, and she didn't give us enough information. Mostly it was the rushing through the rooms that I hated. Ludwig II's castle reminded me of old drawings I'd done as a kid- fantasy houses where I could dedicate one room for one thing and one room for something else (and then create rooms that had absolutely no purpose but to simply display my love for the object). Personally, I think I learned more from reading than I did from that woman.



After the tour we reluctantly went downstairs where I got to look at some of the sketches of the castles that Ludwig II had wanted, and various plans he had had. As I looked at the plans for the second floor (was going to be a splendid bathroom for the king) and at the plans for the outdoor garden (was going to have a magnificent garden outside-never was completed) I began to think a lot of what ifs. What if Ludwig had lived and his castle had been completed. What if he wasn't insane at all... just a recluse who preferred to live in worlds of his own creation rather than this one. What if his castle had been completed and he'd been able to live there like the Queen does (occasionally) at Buckingham Palace. Would a huge town sprung up around his fantasy castle? Would his castle have become like Edinburghs Castle and had celebrations where the castle was lit up with fireworks-making the original Disney-Land Castle that would be even more wonderful than Disney's (come on-a castle that serves a practical purpose is ten times better than a theme park-this one was already practical because it informed tourists AND fed the imagination, if Ludwig's family had been able to live there then it would've served as an important political building to host all manner of things just like Buckingham Palace does). This vision of the fantasy castle being the center of a bustling city and an important political edifice was incredible for me.

The hill that the castle was on would remain untouched, as would Ludwig II's beloved waterfall next to it (he claimed that that was more beautiful than his castle and built a bridge over it) while the valley below would have a skyscrapers, plazas, opera houses, apartment buildings, old-fashioned building similar to the ones in Munich, and parks. My daydreams of this fantastic city were abruptly ended when I started envisioning garden parties and parties similar to the ones held in Buckingham Palace.

Ludwig II was quite a recluse. He built his castle for one person: himself. I didn't see any rooms that were large enough to house hundreds of political figures, and I know that the garden wouldn't have had room. The idea of Ludwig having a family there was also struck out because I didn't see any rooms dedicated to the potential royal family that might've come up.



Ludwig II was happy being single, was happy alone, and was happy away from the city and the bustle-lifestyle. His fantasy castle was simply too much of a fantasy for it to end up being the important figure I'd been daydreaming of. Buckingham Palace is incredibly fancy, but it's also got rooms large enough for banquets. It's situated in the middle of the city and is plays it's important diplomatic role (only reason it's still so well preserved is it still serves a function for government and politics). The palace of Versailles is more removed, (I suspect Buckingham palace wasn't quite as removed as Versailles), the Kings and Queens there lived in a dream, and were eventually removed (after the tax payers had had enough-beforehand the palace had been large enough to serve an important political role-had several treaties between countries signed there). If the government is too removed then they can't do a proper job.

Ludwig's castle was filled with fantasy, it didn't have large enough rooms for it to play a role similar to that of Buckingham Palace. Still, nice to imagine though. I adored daydreaming up the garden for that palace, and then I adored daydreaming the fantastically dressed elite who walked up those stairs to a dinner party/ concert. Lots of lights, lots of sparkle, lots of beauty, unfortunately not a lot of realism.



While in the first gift shop I didn't find a single thing I wanted (was still kinda disgusted with the tour guide). The second one though I found a lovely print of his castle. On the way back to the hotel I kept pulling this print out and looking at it. It was different from the others in that it was texturized (could feel the castle stick out from the mountain) and it had more color. I'll come back to that more later though.

We had to walk back to the bus area before we could get back to the car. While waiting for the bus we decided we'd go look at Ludwig II's favorite waterfall. The bridge scared me more than the swinging bridge we went on in Ireland. The floor was made out of wood that creaked and groaned when you walked on it and it moved down tons. I can deal with a bridge swinging and bouncing (that's what happens on a rope bridge), but I can't deal with wood that shifts when you step on it, especially when you're standing hundreds of feet above a waterfall. All I could see was down. The fog blocked out all other views.

I hopped from one beam to the next (the beams were underneath the wooden platform but the sides had metal). I clung to the sides as I rushed from beam to beam, disliking the bridge more and more as I went. I must've looked like a right sissy then, but to be perfectly honest I'd never been more scared of heights in my life. I don't like having things that are supposed to be solid and hold you up shift when you step on them. It's frightening. It made my knees shake and my grip get (what I hoped was) tight on the metal framework. I didn't shout, I didn't crumple and cling to the bars, but I most certainly never let go of them, and I most certainly didn't stay on that bridge very long.

Luckily I got much stronger when we went down the hill-I use my balance skills while on the bus. There were no seats and I got to stand up as the bus driver whizzed down the snake road. I didn't stumble, and I didn't bump into anyone. My knees worked with me on that.

When we got to the car I pulled out my gorgeous picture of the castle and admired that. Suddenly I got the idea to pull out my other two pictures that I'd picked up while on the road. Once we got back to the hotel I spread these out on my bed and showed my "collection of art" to Ahmee and Poppy. I had a black and white picture of the bridge with the drunken elite, a painting of Giverny by Monet, and my Ludwig Castle print. I started envisioning these in frames and on my bedroom wall or on my bookshelf. I realized my room was going to be filled with art paintings. I already have a poster of Van Gogh's Starry Night, a poster of Monet's (can't remember the name) that depicts a sillouette of a huge-domed building-in what I'll say is a sunset (even though there's tons of color-not just the oranges and peaches and yellows and reds characteristic of a sunset)-all of which is reflected in a body of water, a painting done by my baby sister (all color everywhere), a painting of a glass window with a pot (I painted), a drawn picture I had done of a coral reef (one of my favorite things to draw there for a while), and a picture of my wee Emma when she was a baby that's been altered to look quite painty and to obscure the lines (Emma had orange-red hair as a kid and in this picture she's got on a royal blue outfit-this isn't my favorite picture but it's my second favorite). Now I'll have these other three pictures to add to all of that. Ahmee said we'd look for prints in Venice and such. Personally, I think I'm probably going to end up creating a huge billboard of color that'll have tons of pictures we've taken from this trip. Oh, I forgot one poster: I've got Harry Potter up in my corner where the wand and the eyes follow you everywhere you go (love it and it's got tons of color too behind Harry).

After displaying these things and picturing my room again with all it's nicknacks, books, art, and furniture (basically loads of things that I think are pretty and that occasionally get over-crowded), I went down with Ahmee and Poppy and ate dinner where we ate, drank, and were merry (tis the typical dinner). Then we went upstairs (groaning from our hurting feet) and got ready for bed and hopped on the computer. I got booted off the internet (we'd bought 2 hours worth and Ahmee and Poppy typed before me). I'd managed to send work and an email to Mr. Owens, and important emails to Momma and to Sara, but I got kicked off just before I could send Iain an email. Very very frustrating. All the things I wanted to tell him were dancing around in my head when I reluctantly went to bed. It was a good thing my body was exhausted and that it forced me to fall asleep in less than ten minutes, if it hadn't been these thoughts would've kept me awake to awful hours and would've only frustrated me more.

Before I end this blog I wanted to type what my favorite picture of Emma is. My favorite picture of my wee sister is of her when she was 2. She was outside our apartment in Indiana (just before my parents split), she had on a jumper suit that clashed with her orange hair (was red with plaid a think), but her hair peaked out from under a popcorn bowl that she was clutching to her head. Instead of the characteristic Elvis smile my sister is famous for having back then (love pictures of her with that too-even tried to draw a portrait of her with it) her face is laughing and mischievous and her blue eyes are bright as she sticks her little pink tongue out at someone out of the frame. It's pictures like these that I love. Pictures that catch a person unawares but show emotions and color (often go hand and hand for people). Also like pics that show my wee sisters true nature: very cutely obstenant bugger (have to love her).

10/06/08, 10/07/08, 10/08/08, 10/09/08 Munich

Yo moy estoy contenta estar en Italia, porque me gusto mucho pasta! En Alemana me gusto mucho la bebida juego de manzana con agua con gas. En aleman se dice "apfel shorley". Pasta y apfel shorley no bueno juno.

I know that it might sound odd that we're heading north when we really should be heading south, but we absolutely HAD to see Munich. I'll explain more about that later.

After we checked out of the hotel we went to a local mall to look for an adaptor we could use in Austria so that I could recharge the computer the next time we came through. We never found one but we did end up finding a really cute red dress and some little black shoes for me. I felt guilty for both of these purchases. It wasn't that they were expensive (they weren't in fact the dress was on sale for 20 euros), it was just the fact that I needed new black shoes. We'd gotten black shoes in London and I have left those cute black shoes somewhere. Something tells me I left them in Paris after I wore my all-black outfit to go on the walking tour with Louise. Why do I think this? Well, that's the last time I remember wearing those shoes. While we were in the mall we sent off mail, and grabbed a few sandwiches.

Then we got on the road. Yet again I did as much work as I could. This time I was basically barred from using the computer. It's battery was just about gone.

As usual, when I'm working I don't truly notice what's passing by me in the window. It wasn't until I heard Ahmee say we were heading into Munich that I set aside my work to help look around for specific roads to get to the Ibis Hotel we were looking for. We ended up driving around downtown Munich for 40 minutes looking for the right street. When we did find the Ibis Hotel we went in, found out that it would cost us 300 dollars a night, and then walked out to go look for another hotel. Farther down the road we found out that yet another hotel was full and that we should check with tourist information in central station. After a short walk down the street and some navigating through traffic (on two wheels, on four, and on many more) we arrived at the information center. We discovered there that a convention was going on in Munich (tourist man didn't know what it was for either) and that every hotel was booked. When we heard this we asked him to look for a room that has four beds. This time he found one, called the A&O Hostel Hotel. This place was significantly cheaper than the outrageous Ibis Hotel and it was very easy to reach. So we booked it and headed over. When we checked in and went up the noisy elevator (creaked from what I suspected was over-use) we arrived at the top floor to go check out our room. Since the plan was only to stay long enough to get a look at Munich I didn't unpack much, actually, I only unpacked one thing: the computer. I immediately hooked it up so that the battery could recharge. I then started typing madly so that I could send more to my teachers. I ended up working for several hours there at my little desk. While I did this Ahmee and Poppy went out and explored and had a drink at a close-by beer garden. Don't worry, I had my own experiences. I was delighted to find (and this is not sarcasm) that our neighbors loved music and loved playing it loudly, that our room opened up onto a balcony that looked into the courtyard (so we could see our neighbors), and that many of the people staying in the hostel were around my age-normally slightly older or slightly younger and then every now and then getting an older than 25 person and a younger than 10 person. The loud music and the partying of my neighbors didn't rattle me (if stopping and going on the interstate doesn't then why would that?) and I got my work done while Ahmee and Poppy were gone (except for three questions which later turned out to be in a completely different chapter). Every now and then I'd hear a favorite song of mine that I hadn't heard in ages (through the fog and the haze) and I'd pause for a moment or two to sing to myself or dance. I never did this very long though and those songs didn't come on too often.

When Ahmee and Poppy got back from their beer-garden walk I was hungry and tired of working. They eventually ended up doing an about-face to go back to the beer-garden so we could head inside to eat dinner. We ate in the cellar, where all of the drunken sounds echoed off the rounded walls, and where the beer was sent down by a shaft tunnel and where those who poured it didn't do it properly (foam filled up half of the glass on one guys). I must say though that one large beer was a two handed job, the . Poppy got one of these and Ahmee got a smaller beer. I got myself some apfelschorley (apple juice with fizzy water- a delicious mixture of one thing I love and one thing I throughly dislike here). My apfelschorley disappeared faster than either beers (although I must say that during dinner I ate and when I did the beers had been downed). The beer cellar was a really fun place, and I didn't even have over a sip of alcohol (I did try some of the beer-twas pretty good).

After dinner in the cellar we went back to the Hostel where I got on the internet, wrote to people, sent off homework, and grabbed a few needed things. I was happy as all get out to discover that my Aunty Jen Jen Jenny had written to me. She told me that she'd been reading my blogs and that the mention of her name had made her blush. XD I LOVE YOU JEN JEN JENNY!!! (told ya I'd mention your name again tehehe).

I eventually got off the internet and headed back upstairs with Ahmee and Poppy (we had to type in the main entryway/lounge/front desk so believe me it was loud and interesting in there) where we all crawled/climbing into bed. I say climbed because there was a bunk bed and I called the top bunk.

10/07/08
The next day we decided we'd catch the free-tour of Munich that would start just outside the Glochenspeil on the Marienplatz (really great, fun shopping center) (sp?). We manuvered our way to the meeting place and were introduced to our guides. We got to tour Munich with a fun guy named Travis. Travis immediately caught everyone's eye because of the thing under his nose. He had a wiry, curled up mustache. He said he did it as a reference to his favorite artist: Salvador Dali. Travis didn't view his job as just an informer of the people. He called himself an infotainer. He showed us the Glochenshpeil, the "old" town hall where Hitler gave the word for the crystal night (sent his SS men out to destroy the homes, work places, and schools of the Jews), Our Lady Cathedral (the cathedral that was the starting place of the current Pope and which is famous for the devils footprint in the entryway), St. Peters cathedral (where Travis told of the time when he went up and the bells rang- he saw the towers shook and was excited while his friend was scared stiff), the Jewish center that was threatened with bombs from the miniscule Nazi party that still remains in Germany, the Haufbrau House (where they originally had a ditch as the toilet and where the canes of old fashioned days were used to direct their pee into the ditch and not splash the guy on the opposite side of the table-really disgusting), the maximillian plaza (streets around it were the expensive area where the "shicky mickey's" blow their money), the opera house that was built with an inversive dome as a rain collector so they could put out any fires-first time they used it it didn't work because the fire broke out in January (an effort was made to put out the fire with beer from the haufbrau house but the beer never made it down the chain of drunken men), the palace that King Ludwig I lived in with Theresea (these two were the ones who started the October fest by opening their wedding party to the whole of Munich, and opened the Haufbrau house to the public-was originally the Kings brewery), "dodgers alley" where people went to dodge the area where they had to salute Hitler, the street where Hitler and his rounded up followers went and tried to overthrow the government (their force was met by a blockade of policemen and a showdown went down where 15 Nazis were killed, 1 innocent bystander, and 4 policemen-Hitler escaped with a dislocated shoulder but was caught later and was put on a mock-trial where he basically got to address all of Germany and spout his views-basically it was a rally time where Hitler got more followers-he ended up with a jail sentence of five years but he was let out early (a matter of months) on good behavior), the square where bronze plaques were set up dedicated to the 16 Nazis that were killed (they told the people that the man who was killed was a Nazi supporter so that the Nazis didn't have any innocent blood on their hands) and the 4 policemen who had been shot down as they tried to change sides and join the Nazis, the last place we got to see was the place where Hitler addressed the people when he came into power-funnily enough he stood between two lions (one that was facing the church had a closed mouth meaning you can't speak out against the church and the one that was facing the palace where King Ludwig I had lived had it's mouth open meaning you can speak out against your government-Hitler had no idea). That has got to be the biggest run-on sentence I've ever created. Isn't it great? We were fed with tons and tons of facts and we were told loads of stories while on this tour. Travis did an excellent job.

After the tour and after we ate lunch with Travis we went off to find Words Worth, the bookstore that Uschi's friend had helped start. Even though we didn't know the exact address we didn't have any issues finding it. While we were in here I discovered just how much Ahmee and I adore reading. It had been ages since we'd been able to find a store that was so filled with English books. We were able to pick up any book we wanted and read it. We spent at least an hour in Words Worth just soaking in the English print. I went through many gardening books, cooking books, and fiction books before my eyes rested on a traveling book called: Americas best traveling Writers. Each chapter described one persons trip to a different country. The last chapter was the one that stuck with me the most though. It described this one womans search for a place where she truly belonged, her search for her home. She found it on Easter Island, but she ended up leaving. The last sentence of that book was something along the lines of: "It takes true courage to stay." On the way back to the hotel I continued to think about her story and I wondered if that's why I adore traveling so much, I'm looking for a home. I eventually decided during dinner that I, like my mother, am like a weed, I can grow anywhere. The thing is though: every plant has it's favorite soil. If we were to find our "place", would we grow wild and expand and thrive like the weeds we are? Where have I immediately felt a connection to a specific place? I still ponder this question.

10/08/008
The next day we went on the Dachau tour. Our tour guide reminded me of David Bare. His name was Kevin. Dachau was perhaps the most stark place I've ever been too. All of the books that I'd read over WWII immediately came to life as I looked around at this place that was considered to be the model concentration camp. I was a tense, person all throughout this trip and I definitely didn't stick around long when we were invited to go through the gas chambers (that don't have any documents showing just how many were killed there so the estimated count is 0). Even though the purpose of the tour was to encourage people to look more into the subject and to honor those who were persecuted, the small sections that told of what the prisoners went through made me tense up completely. Those who know me well know that I can become absorbed quite easily: when I watch tv or read a book it's like I'm in the film or in the story. While in Dachau this became quite a curse. The "punishments" that were described weren't just words for my ears. There were two that he talked about: the whipping block (where the prisoner was set down and given "25" lashes while the prisoner had to count out loud the number in German-imagine if you were from another country and didn't know German-imagine if you passed out and had to start all over-imagine if you had to deliver the beating to this person or else suffer a worse fate later), and the hanging pole where the prisoners arms were tied behind their back and then they were hung (chain from their hands to the pole) until the muscles tore and the bones snapped-this was eventually outlawed because it made the good workers useless. Can you imagine living in a place where if you made the slightest mistake (they had to have their rooms perfectly clean or else they could be subject to those two "punishments") you'd end up having one of those two things as the smaller punishment? An example: if you were out working and your button popped off your uniform, you bend down, pick it up, and put it into your pocket-you just broke three rules: you're out of uniform, you stopped working, and you put your hand in your pocket. Another thing they did was if you set foot on any of the grass then you were considered as trying to escape and they were required to shoot you down. They were anal about keeping track of the people, if one wasn't at role call then a search was conducted to see if that person had escaped. One time people were standing in role-call for 17 hours because two people were too sick to get out of bed and make it to role-call.

The thing is though was that these weren't the worst things. The prison within the prison was the area where far worse could happen to you. One example: they'd keep prisoners in a room that contained no light. That prisoner would be given food once every four days and they remained in the dark for years. Then the Germans would take you out and force you to look into the sun-force you to use your eyes again and put you through excruciating pain. This was were I heard an incredible story though. A man was tortured (no idea how long), once they were done they gave him a rope and a knife and left him in his room basically saying: you have the choice to kill yourself tonight and be gone or we'll continue till you're dead. This man used the knife and the rope, not to kill himself, but to escape. He used the knife to open his cell door, and he used the rope and his bed to get over the fence. When the Germans went into his room the next morning he was out of the country.

Another great story was one where a prisoner decided he'd had enough and he was going to make a break for freedom. During role call he ran across the strip of grass (dodging bullets the entire time), went down the ditch, and made it halfway up the ditch when he was shot in both legs by the Germans. He shouted, loud enough for the whole camp to hear, "My heart's right here! Aim right you fuckin pig!" The man died in defiance of the Germans.

Before we left we got a glance at the memorials that were on the site and the we dashed for the bus. While on the bus and the train it felt odd for me to talk. I was still thinking about Dachau. I did manage to say to Ahmee that that night would've been a great one to do the beer challenge tour on (I'm not old enough-have to be 18). I wasn't the slightest bit surprised when Kevin suggested this before he let everyone head on their merry way.

We went to the Haufbrau house for dinner, and after Ahmee and Poppy had their beers (which weren't nearly as good as the beer gardens or the Pope's beer-his favorite beer that Ahmee tried) we were all much better. We headed back to the hostel where I spent a large amount of time working and then emailing. Before we went to bed we arranged some of our things so we could get up and go-the next day we were just going to take the Third Reich Tour and head south.

10/09/08
The next day we finished packing our things up, checked out, put everything back into the car, and then headed out to take the Third Reich tour. What surprised me this time was the accent that I heard from our tour guide named Adam. He had a Scottish accent with a hint of something else. As the tour went on I found out that his hometown was an hour south of Glasgow (didn't catch the name). We listened to him and learned more about what happened there in Munich, such as how Hitler got started out, why he ended up rising to such a position of power, what Hitler had to say about the situation (wrote a book while in prison and when he became dictator he made it illegal for you to NOT own his book), what resistance forces there were and what happened to them (White Rose movement was a group of college students who were beheaded after they got caught putting out pamphlets-they along with the man who printed them), the many different groups of people who were persecuted, those who escaped persecution, and much more.

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I have to say now that it's the guide that makes the tour. Travis was wonderful at balancing the entertainment and the information so that a person could remember things. Kevin tended to stumble over the words, and he had a much shorter timeframe to complete everything in so it was a tad rushed in certain places. Adam was simply passionate about what he was talking about. It was easy enough for me to tell that even though he'd said these things and shown these places to people many times over the past year, he wasn't tired of it. He gave as much information as possible. The thing is though is the tone of voice and the way he presented it, how he showed just how ironic things were, just how hypocritical people were, just how amazing something was showed that he truly adored the subject.

We got a brief history of what Hitlers life was like before he came to Munich-he originally came from Austria (in fact there are now more Nazi's in Austria than in Germany). We also got a run-down of how Hitler slowly came to head the Nazi's. After failing at becoming an artist (couldn't paint the human form) Hitler became a spy for the military. He was told to spy on one particular party who held meetings in a particular building-that building today is an apple store (mac). Hitler told the army he liked what he was hearing (that Germany shouldn't have taken responsibility for WWI, and that Germany should refuse the Treaty of Versailles), and he continued going to these meetings. He quickly became their spokesperson and soon the party decided they needed to expand. They held a rally at the Haufbrau house saying it was a meeting for the German Workers Party (the pamphlets were all in red and black to invite the Communists in so the Nazi's could show everyone who will act rather than just talk-they had the Communists thrown out of the Haufbrau House). Hitler quickly became head of this newly enlarged party (all he had to do was say he was about to resign and the president decided he didn't want to lose the party's spokesperson so he stepped aside and let Hitler take over). There was another section of this party that decided they were going to stage a coup and overthrow the government, Hitler was not invited to this meeting, so he invited himself and several hundred of his followers (all armed) to the meeting where he pulled the two leading men out of the room and basically held them at gunpoint and said, "You're going to do what I tell you to do and your going to be with me or else you're both dead and myself included." Hitler also told the people in that meeting that he was backed by the old army General. This General showed up later at the meeting and Hitler told him that they'd reached an agreement and asked that the General watch over things there while he took off to round up more people. Hitler left this once-alcoholic man in charge of hundreds of drunken guys in a bar. Basically, the man got wasted and was a pushover for the other two men to slip by. When Hitler got back he found his political leverage gone. He considered suicide but his General friend told him they still had a chance so they went to try and take the government by force. They were blocked by police forces and at the showdown 15 Nazi's were killed, 1 waiter coming out of his cafe, and 4 policemen. Hitler, who had been at the front, was thrown down by his bodyguard who jumped on top of him. Hitlers arm was dislocated while his bodyguard received 11 shots in the back at close range. The bodyguard survived miraculously enough. The general who had been all for Hitler walked through the bullets and the blockade and turned himself in (he didn't get hit because he was a famous war veteran). Hitler shoved his bodyguard off of him and ran back through the crowd to an ambulance where he got his arm popped back in and where he highjacked the ambulance. They found him the next day hiding out in one of his friends houses. He was put on trial where the judge was pro-Nazi and where Hitler got to spew anything he wished and thus gained more followers. Hitler received the sentence of five years in prison, which he didn't complete because he was released after a few months for good behavior. Immediately after his release he started up again and quickly became the second most powerful man in Germany, just under the President. The President handed over the rest of the power to Hitler when a pyro-loving, mentally ill, Communist "set fire" to an important government building (in 6 different places all exactly at the same time). He handed emergency powers over to Hitler so that he could deal with the situation. Hitler used this new power immediately by setting up camps to place all Communists in. Once all of his political rivals were locked up, a vote was cast to give Hitler permanent power. Of course, the vote made him dictator of Germany.

That's only a small section of what I found out on the tour (I'm leaving out specifics because I always have issues remembering those).

When we stopped to get coffee Adam came up to me and asked me what I thought about the tour. I told him it was excellent. Course we started talking immediately after that. As we talked I was continuously getting "shots" of Iain. Adam would say something that would remind me of things that Iain had said before to me. An example would be, when Adam told us that he was going to show us what Munich has done to honor those many different people who were persecuted and who died I saw the flame within the sculpture and said, "It's an eternal flame." Adam said in response, "Good girl." Instantly a memory of Edinburgh flashed before my eyes. I was back with Iain, telling him why I thought the Castle of Edinburgh was a specific way (was going uphill-all giganjo castles are uphill) he replied, "Smart Girl."

After the tour had ended Adam and I walked at the front. He ended up talking about his love of medieval weaponry, about issues he's had with customs, about how he checked what truly happens in history (use different viewpoints and whatever matches up each time is what happened), about what books and movies he would recommend, about how I should watch out for Italian men, and about October fest.

Later when we were on the road heading to Austria I had plenty of thoughts running through my head. There were things that I'd caught Adam say at the beginning to a trainee (such as: "get used to them nodding their head and being all glazed eyed when you're talking"). I didn't do that. I don't normally do that. The subject of the tour was far too interesting to do that. Adam noticed I was interested. At the end of the tour he thanked everyone for their attention because that was what made him love his job most of all-was knowing that people were willing to learn, where willing to find out more rather than just go on the beer challenge. Since he'd mostly talked to me on the in-between times I felt he was saying this to me specifically. I enjoyed talking to him and I enjoyed the tour. My memories of Iain snapped back to the surface so many times. It made me miss him tons. While Adam was fun to talk to, he wasn't Iain.

My reflections of everything that had happened that day got disturbed. I had to use the restroom. We pulled off the windy, curvy road and into a gas station where Poppy filled up the tank while Ahmee and I used the toilet. This would not be the last time we saw that gas station. After we hopped back into the car we heard a slightly disturbing noise. As we got farther and farther away from the gas station the noise got worse and after we turned around and headed back we discovered smoke was coming out the back end. When we got the car to the mechanic (just across the street from the gas station) we (Ahmee and I) heard some pretty nasty news. The diesel car had been filled up with gas (Poppy hadn't read the label). The car needed to be left with the mechanic who would give us a call when it was fixed up. We grabbed a few things and headed to the closest hotel (that the mechanic recommended). While Poppy haggled for a room Ahmee pulled me outside to inform me that the worst that could happen from this was that they'd have to put a new engine in or they'd have to pay some huge price and we'd have to go home early. As I dragged my suitcase up the stairs I was picturing us heading back early and what it would be like to head back home the next day. I viewed it with dread. I love my family and my home, but I've been wanting this trip for years, I didn't/don't want to end it prematurely. I made sure to tell Poppy that we all make mistakes though and that it was alright what happened. Even if we did end up going home (I decided), I refused to get angry with Poppy.

Poppy apologized (this is when I said "what for? It's ok that you filled the tank up with the wrong fuel. We all make mistakes.") but didn't relax or act happy until after dinner (had a good bit of wine with Ahmee). We all ended up going to bed early that night.

10/05/08 We Cross Three Different Borders

Yo no duermo mala en Switzerland. Yo siento no escribir para la leccion de espanol. La dia yo trabajo mucho en mis lecciones. Confio mi libro de espanol ensenar mi espanol porque normalmente yo no tengo una professora. Mi abuela quia mi en mis lecciones. Mi abuela comprende tres idiomas: Latino, Espanol, y Frances. Junto nosotros conpunto la idioma aleman. Es interesante!

I woke up early this morning. This is not entirely unusual, in fact I've gotten used to waking up early no matter what time I go to bed. It's unusual when Ahmee truly wakes me up in the morning. That has only happened once so far, and that was in Giverny. Here I woke up not because I had to use the restroom or because I had been sleeping too thinly, I woke up because my bed was closer to the window and the light hit my face from the crack between the curtains. I know I mentioned that yesterday I'd had difficulties getting pictures of the Alps due to cloud coverage. Well, this day I knew from the beginning that that wasn't going to be the case. When we all got up and started moving we got to see blue skies, sunshine, and absolutely no clouds in sight. This was wonderful because I knew we'd be able to see all the way to the top of the Alps. After breakfast I made a point of peeking my head out the window to check out the view. The mountains that we'd tried to drive through and had been overcast with snowstorms were quite different. I could see all the way to the top of the mountains and see all of the snow that had fallen in that trying snowstorm. Those mountains were stunning to see and I became anxious to see more, so I hurried and packed my bags quickly.

Before we got on the road to get back to a less expensive area (we'd spent hundreds of dollars in Switzerland and we'd only stayed 2 nights) Ahmee wanted to make sure we "climbed an Alp". To translate this all I have to do is say: take a cable-car up to the top of one mountain and look around while up there. We did this in the cable-car that was right next to the hotel.

It was a 30 minute "climb" to the top where Ahmee, Poppy, and I got to sit with three other serious hikers who were discussing where they'd like to walk and were thoroughly enjoying themselves. I adored the view. What none of us adored was the piece of ice that hit our cable-car on the way up. The loud crack from above scared us all and made everyone jump. Course, the hikers knew what that sound meant and explained with one word what it was: "ICE". Our cable-car companions were German and only one of them understood a bit of English. We were English and the three of us together could maybe put together about 20 words of German. Needless to say, we didn't talk much to each other. That was perfectly fine though because while the German hikers were talking and chatting and distributing sunscreen and occasionally looking out to the back (my back was to the view of the valley), we were pointing out ladders that technicians had to climb, waterfalls that were ginormous, and the incredible views all around. I think we all agreed that the Rocky Mountains weren't as dangerously beautiful as the Alps.

Once we reached the top we got out of the cable car, said goodbye to our German cable-car-companions and headed up to the cafe. The top of the mountain, like so many others around it, was covered in snow. The snow covered all the rocks and thus made it dangerous to climb, but this didn't stop some ambitious climbers from walking (with backpacks 4 times the size of mine) out across the ridge to some kind of outpost. We stuck to the main building at the top where we ordered hot chocolate and continued to enjoy the scenery. It's not every day that we get to sit on top of an Alp. What surprised me was that I was not cold at all. In fact, I was boiling up. The German hikers had put on sunscreen for a good reason. The sunlight that shone down on you and from many different sides (due to the snow reflecting) made it feel like it was 80 degrees outside, even though the snow covering the ground informed people of something quite different. I'm sure that if I had crossed over into the shade I would've found myself incredibly cold. Also fairly certain that if I had started throwing snowballs off the sides of the terrace (like the elementary kids were doing-one I was certain was going to cause a giant snowball to roll up and knock over a cabin in the closest valley) then I would've cooled off significantly. Instead of getting up and moving I scooted my chair so that I was in the shade of the pillar. It was this slight cooling off that enabled me to enjoy my hot chocolate (not to mention my love for everything chocolate-except for that which is deep-fried). From that spot I was able to see the mountains behind me by looking at the reflection in the window, and I was also able to see through the windows within the cafe so that I was seeing literally through the building and viewing the mountains on the opposite side. While we sat there we kept hearing strange blasts of a horn coming from within the building. Ahmee guessed it was an Alpine Horn. She turned out to be right. Before we left we got to see kids blowing the horn (one of which was very very good at it and tended to hog it so I never got the chance).

On the way back down we continued to admire the Alps, of course we ended up doing this the entire day. At least, I know I did. After we got down from the Alp we went into a restaurant in town, ate. admired the killer cars that were parked in the parking lot outside, and then got on the road. Since it was sunny out and the sky was clear not only did we see the Alps, we also got to see tons of really cool cars. One of my favorites was an orange lotus that was driving in front of us. The curves in the road made it easy to admire these cars, since we were behind them we were also higher than them we were able to see them in their full glory: when they were in motion.

For the first part of the drive we were on these curvy roads, later we got on the interstate and I got to work on schoolwork. I had a deadline: I needed to study for a test, take the test, write spanish, read four different articles and write three summaries over them, and write a summary over a political cartoon. The main issue I had once we got on the interstate was that I often couldn't see. At the time I'd been rereading a chapter for AP US History so that I could do a good job on the test. When we went through tunnels I couldn't see a thing except for the lights that lit up the road. The interstate that goes through Switzerland has many, many tunnels and most of them are very long. I got things done after I pulled out the laptop and started typing.

I ended up stopping when we got into Lictenshtein so that I could help Ahmee and Poppy find a place to use the restroom. While I looked I got a glance at a country that is smaller than Luxembourg. Most of what I saw was office buildings, gas stations, and a few restaurants. I know that the town we were in had a whole lot more than that, but unfortunately I was busy scanning for a place where Ahmee could use the restroom. We didn't find a place in Lictenshtein so we got back on the road and drove a short period of time to a separate gas station that was alongside the interstate. We payed to use the restroom (this time I didn't grumble about how I could easily piss on the building because I saw how these toilets disinfected themselves-the seat rotated under the cleanser), tried to use the internet there, drank coffee and coke, and then got back on the road.

It wasn't too long after this that we arrived in Austria. We searched in the town for a hotel and were all astounded when we found one that had internet and rooms open. We were astounded because we checked in much later than what we normally do and the past couple days we'd had issues finding a place to stay. Once we got situated in the room(s) I pulled out the computer and sent off the work that I had completed. We then went out to eat in the Greek restaurant that was next door. While we were there we toasted the three countries we'd been in that day, and expressed our joy at being out of the expensive Switzerland. Of course, we also ended up expressing our joy in our food. My bowl I believe had the most in it, and I surprised myself and I think Ahmee and Poppy by eating every last bit of the stew that was put down in front of me. Afterwards I wondered if I was going to be able to stay awake long enough to finish reviewing and take my test (and send it off of course) because the food in my belly was warming me up and making me sleepy. Curiously enough I didn't wonder about this very long because shortly after we finished the meal our waiter brought us complementary ouzo (sp?). This is the shot that Ian's parents got drunk on in MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING. It did taste like licorice. Even though I dislike licorice this stuff didn't taste that bad. Course it was there and gone.

Once we got back to the room(s) I got to work. I read chapter 11 and completed the test AND sent it off before I went to sleep. I'm not sure if the shot I'd had really had any affect on me. I'd eaten tons and I hadn't taken any medicine beforehand. However I do KNOW that it was incredibly easy to focus on the chapter and take the test. I haven't gotten the grade for it back yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be a 100, I didn't have any second guesses on those questions.

Before I went to sleep I sent out quick emails to people, apologizing that I couldn't type long because while the internet connection there was great, we didn't have an adaptor for Austria (even though we though we'd gotten one). Basically, I was frantically typing and watching as the battery on the computer slowly died away.

Just before the computer's battery got into the dangerous red phaze I shut it down and climbed into bed, thinking about the emails I'd sent and received as I feel asleep.

10/04/08 Traveling in the Alps

Es no una ganga en Switzerland. Las personas de Switzerland se gustan mucho dinero y muchas places quiere mucho dinero por pequeno items. Necesitamos viajar en places con gangas.

The next morning I woke up completely refreshed. I wasn't tired in the slightest and I was extremely happy. Apparently the feeling was mutual between all of us because Poppy acted goofy and threw his pillow at me. It missed me and as Ahmee passed to go to the bathroom she picked it up and threw it back at him (and hitting him square in the face) saying, "Be a better example!" This made me laugh, and they'd only been awake for about 15 minutes. After Ahmee went into the bathroom Poppy threw it at me again, missing me again. I threw it back at him, but he caught it. When Ahmee came out again she bent over right in front of my face to pick our her clothes from her suitcase. Poppy made pinching motions at me, urging me to pinch Ahmee's butt. This only made me laugh loudly for ages. Ahmee thought I was laughing at her, but really I was laughing at Poppy.

Obviously the day got out to a very good start. The only thing that blighted the morning was that the internet server was the thing that was the problem. Meaning: we still didn't have internet. We made reservations at another Ibis Hotel, grabbed our things, and got on the road again. As we waited in the car for Poppy, Ahmee and I ended up having a conversation about which direction we were going to take (I ask her this to determine if I should work on schoolwork or set everything to the side to keep from getting ill).

At first Ahmee was talking about a whole lot of tunnels and highway and big cities. I quickly voiced my opinion that we should avoid as many large tunnels as possible, that the idea was to see the Alps, not to see concrete. Ahmee quickly found an alternative route that was more scenic and we were on our way. At first we were on the main road and we went through a whole lot of tunnels. Not that it mattered much, the clouds were blocking most of the Alps there anyway.

Shortly after we got off the main road though I fell in love again. The Alps are even more rugged than the Rockies and they seemed to be far taller. Giants compared to the Rockies is what my opinion was.

Most of the beginning was a haze of rain and clouds. We weren't completely able to see the tops of the Alps and at times we couldn't see the valleys that were below us. I did my best to photograph some of the gorgeous things I could. I did this because Ahmee and Poppy handed me the camera and said I should take the pictures because I have a good eye. I enjoy taking pictures, but I realize that I tend to take A LOT of them. I did my best to limit my picture taking in the beginning. Later I took whatever I wanted to.

We made our way up a mountain, down a mountain, around a mountain, through a mountain, through the forest, through the valley, through the town advertising Sherlock Holmes, and along the streams. Obviously, none of that was in order. I could never properly explain our route, ever. I was busy admiring the scenery and trying to capture the alps in pictures. This is not an easy thing to do when much of them are covered in a fog. I shall attempt to describe the Alps. From the bottom you're able to see spring, fall, and winter all at once. The very tops of the Alps were covered in snow and evergreens that seemed to have been frosted over, the middle of the Alps were covered in trees that were multi colored and very bright, and the valley (which collected all the rain) was as green as the hill of Ireland. Most of the time I was trying to capture the way the frosty trees looked, or how the transition from one season to the next never happened, or how this jagged mountain face looked compared to the smoothness of that meadow. The list could go on and on of the wonders and beauties the Alps represented.

The first road we tried to go up on ended up being closed due to snow. While on this road we pulled over (this we'd done several times before to take a picture, I'd gotten out of the car to freeze my butt off for a picture-Ahmee and Poppy put in charge of the picture-taking the person who freezes the easiest, and I didn't mind in the slightest) to go fulfill a fantasy of Ahmee's.


While we were in the Alps, Ahmee wanted a picture of us acting out the Billy Goats Gruff. She wanted to find a bridge, have someone be photographed as the troll, and then have everyone photographed crossing the bridge. The bridge we chose to do this on wasn't too far from the main road. We walked down (me stopping to take a pic or two) and then we did our parts.










Ahmee was a very good troll. She wanted to go down under the bridge but didn't when Poppy and I both protested (the water was gushing down there). Instead, she stuck her head between two bars on the bridge and made a very ugly face that made me laugh. I was surprised that the picture came out so well, I had thought that my hand had been shaking since I was laughing so much. We then each got to walk on the bridge. We probably would've scampered like the goats, if I hadn't discovered that the bridge was incredibly slick and slippery. Both feet remained firmly planted on the bridge that time.

We walked back up to the car and kept going. All of us had been happy to get back into the heated car when we first jumped in. We were even more grateful for this warmth later as we headed farther and farther up the mountain. As we increased in altitude, the temperature decreased. We slowly started heading into a snow storm. After about 5 minutes of driving/sliding we arrived at an area where many cars were parked. We discovered there that we couldn't go any further and that we needed to find a different way to the Ibis hotel.

We turned around, ate lunch at a nearby hotel, and then continued down the mountain to head back up into another mountain. This I loved because the peak we were ascending was being spotlighted with sunlight. The clouds had parted over a very large section of the road and the sun was streaming through very clear air. It was perfect for me to take pictures in. I got Swiss sheep, I got tons of gorgeous pictures (of the many phases of the mountains), and I got pictures of other various life (pigs and cows-pigs I'll tell more about later).


The pigs I found at the end of THIS road. We discovered faaaar up the mountain that the road had been blocked off due to more snow. It was there, in the bowl of white, that I saw three pink pigs walking in the snow. I saw these while walking around with Ahmee (looking for a restaurant or hotel) and I was surprised and delighted to find these buggers trudging around on the opposite hillside. I was also disgusted with myself for not having brought the camera with me. I quickly rushed through the snow and the ice to get to the car and grab the camera. Halfway across the parking lot Ahmee called to me and told me that Poppy had the keys. I turned around and ran to Poppy. I know it might sound scary running in a parking lot with snow and ice, but I did watch where I was going. The snow was soft and the ice formed only in the places where people had smashed it down. I watched where I stepped and I managed to make my way over to Poppy very quickly to ask for the keys. At first he didn't hear or understand me, then I got closer and asked for the keys. He told me the car was unlocked. As I turned and started jumping/running my way over to the car I heard Poppy tell the man in the car garage (he'd been talking to him) that I was his granddaughter, later Poppy told me that his reply was, "Cute." I grabbed the camera and joyously jumped/ran back over to Ahmee where I got two pictures of the pigs that had given me so much excitement. When we got back into the car to go down the hill I realized as I looked out the window at the clouds that were quickly descending with us that those pigs had also given me slightly wet shoes. They were quickly dried though and so it was no problem.

Once we'd gotten down the hill we headed towards the Sherlock Holmes town (I think it's famous for being the town that the character Sherlock Holmes "died" in by falling over a waterfall-which we saw from the road). While walking around this town (after we checked into a hotel-without wireless of course) I told Ahmee and Poppy about Sherlock Holmes as we window shopped and adored the local Evangelist church. After walking around town we went back to the hotel to eat, headed up to our room, worked on the computer (while Ahmee and Poppy snoozed in the background-I have to get this done because the grading period ends Monday), and then settled in to bed.

10/03/08 Traveling, Working, and waking up in the middle of Switzerland

Envio muchas cartas en la computadora y en el poste. Es facil para mi escribir mi madre y mi hermana Emma. Es deficil escribir me padre y mis hermanas Paige y Madison. Es mas deficil escribir mis otras hermanas Madison y Paige porque me no quedo en la casa de mi padre (mi padre y yo no feliz con la otra persona).

This is the day we left wireless internet behind to find another Ibis Hotel in Switzerland.



The only thing I can truly say about this day is that we drove for hours and hours and hours, and that the entire time I was working on schoolwork. My fingers were flying across the keyboard most of the time and then when the battery started to get dangerously low I read AP US History. I was almost completely absorbed in my work. The only things I noticed beyond the print in front of me were the rolling plains outside, the smaller hills, and the many many traffic jams. Course, I didn't spend my entire day studying. I ate lunch, used the restroom, and recognized that the reason for the terrible traffic was that the day was a German Holiday (reunification of Germany). When I heard that we had arrived in Switzerland and that we needed to start looking for the Ibis Hotel I put my work down and raised my eyes to an incredible sight.

Beyond the rolling hills and the maze of concrete there rose a wall of rock. This wall of rock was the Alps. As we got closer and closer we ran into more and more lakes. These lakes only made the mountains appear all the more unreal because they managed to truly make the mountains look like they'd just sprung up out of thin air. At the top of the mountains we could occasionally make out snow. Most of the time though these sections were shielded by a thick layer of clouds.

We managed to tear ourselves away from the view of the mountains to find the Ibis hotel. We went in and were disheartened to hear that they were fully booked, but if one person didn't make it in at 7 then we could have their room. We went to the restaurant down the street while we waited for 7 to roll around. There we ate incredible food, for astonishingly high prices. The dinner cost us almost 100 francs. While we ate we all remarked at the high prices and we all wondered just how much we were spending, none of us knew what the franc was compared to the dollar.

We quickly went around this roadblock in the conversation by talking about the Swiss banks, how they were a part of the European Union but the reason why they didn't change to the euro was it would mess up their intricate and secretive banking system. Apparently people who don't want their wealth to be known bring their money to Switzerland and put it in their banks where they keep it pretty much a secret. Another something Switzerland is known for is for it's tourism. The many lakes and the Alps located within Switzerland made it ideal for tourists and thus also made the high prices ideal for the Swiss people. They could put their prices high for the tourists who came in needing food. Later we found out exactly what the franc is compared to the dollar. They're basically equal. We spent over 80 dollars on ONE meal.

After dinner we went in and were able to get into the room. We took our things up, set up camp and then tried to get the internet to work. We were unsuccessful and Poppy was very unhappy that it didn't work. He apologized to me several times and each time he did I told him that it was alright, I'd just work more on the things I needed to do without the internet. Each time I did he said that it wasn't ok, that the internet should work and that he was sorry it didn't.

It didn't take me too long to get exhausted here. All of the studying had worn me out yet again and I fell asleep within 5 minutes.

The next morning Ahmee told me again that I had not had a fun night and that I had sounded distressed again.

10/02/08 Cruising the Rheine (it's spelled that way here, I don't want to hear it)

Yo continuo sonar con y hablo en el noche. Es ocasionalmente dificil para mis abuelos dormir. Pobre Ahmee y Poppy! Ustedes no duermen bueno porque yo hablo en la noche.

This morning I felt soo much better. I think it was because I'd worked and walked and basically had worn myself out the day before. Before we headed out to drive along the Rheine River and get ourselves a cruise I got on the computer and did a bit more work.

After breakfast and after receiving instructions as to how to get out of the city, we got on the road. The directions we'd gotten were very good. Only one turn was left out and we were able to spot the flaw before we went in completely the wrong direction.

As we drove to St. Goar we watched the hillsides for castles. We saw tons of castles along the Rheine and we believe that we even saw the Sleeping Beauty Castle. The castles, the vineyards, the multi-colored trees, and the River all were spectacular objects to view, especially since it was sunny out. As we got closer and closer to St. Goar however it started to get quite cloudy. When we arrived we looked around for the information center (my "eagle eyes" spotted the sign) where we received instructions as how to get up to the castle we wanted to see and where the restrooms were (Ahmee was desperate at that point).

After Ahmee and I used the restroom (and gawked at the cuckoo clock store) we started walking up the hill to Rheinfels Castle. Before we started heading up the hill I saw a sign that said 18% incline. I wondered aloud, possibly too quietly, whether or not we should walk up, it was at the top of a mighty mountain and it was raining at the time. Course, I didn't mind too much, there was a lovely view, and I didn't end up breathing heavily at all. Ahmee however started having some difficulties and asked Poppy to go back down and bring the car, which he did. While he drove down I had the wonderful opportunity to view St. Goar from above and to view the Rheine and the opposite mountainside from a cozy little bench that was partially sheltered from the rain by a tree. When Poppy did come up we hopped in the car and were surprised to find that the castle was only about 4 blocks away.

Ahmee apologized to Poppy profusely as we got out of the car to go into the "bull-dog castle" (according to Rick Steves this castle sat on top of the mountain like a bulldog). The Castle Rheinfels is now a magnificent ruin. We bought our tickets, grabbed an English pamphlet, and started exploring the ruins.

The lords who ran the castle were basically pirates, if you wanted to pass along the Rheine you had to pay a fee to them. Later another castle was built just across the Rheine which did the same thing. No one would dare say no to the lord of such a castle. Even though the castle Rheinfels was in a ruin when we visited, it was STILL a dominating and intimidating piece of architecture. Imagining that that castle had another three stories to it along with a tall tower on top isn't difficult. What's difficult is seeing the section of the castle that was built (by a drinker) as basically a fancy mansion. The castle once was incredibly colorful.

We walked around, soaking in history and envisioning the castle in its heyday, and (probably most often thought of this) thought of how on earth someone could possibly take a castle such as this one down by brute force.

We didn't get to complete the walk however, we had to get down to the river so we could catch our tour-boat. We headed down, found a place to park, and then discovered a different tour from the one we'd been recommended by the tourist information lady. This one left in 45 minutes and went in the direction Ahmee wanted it to. To pass time, we went into a shop close by that was dubbed originally by Ahmee as a tacky tourist trap. We walked in and were delighted to find a variety of items. There were: cuckoo clocks (were less expensive but still over 100 euros), music boxes (many played the famous song from Sound of Music-Adle Vice (sp?)), Christmas ornaments, medieval items such as: swords, magic wands, etc., glass goblets, and various purses.




We also saw yet again a picture of a statue of a woman who was sitting on a rock naked brushing her golden hair. We'd seen this picture before in the information center and we were curious as to the tale behind the statue. Ahmee asked the lovely cashier what and who she was. The lady told us (in flawless English) that that was the Lorelei lady. She was a legend in these parts, and the legend has it that she'd sit on the Lorelei rock and sing while she brushed her golden hair. Sailors would hear her song and would crash into the rocks. Sounds to me like the Lorelei lady is a siren. Before the cashier lady went back to her duties Ahmee chuckled and asked if the Lorelei lady was returning to her rock. The cashier lady (who was a gorgeous, blonde woman) laughed and said that she'd left that rock ages ago. Ahmee's comment made her quite happy I think because she was chuckling to herself the whole way back to the counter.

When it was time to head out we went and waited for the boat. The boat was right on time and they didn't wait long for passengers. If you weren't there waiting a couple minutes beforehand and you show up late, the boat will not be there. It is there and then it is gone.

We went up to the top of the boat even though it was slightly windy and it rained on us once. When it rained I refused to get under the canopy on top deck. The canopy restricted my view is what I said as I pulled out my umbrella and put it up so that I couldn't see a thing towards the front. Many of you might be thinking that that was a silly thing to do. I assure you, it wasn't. My front view was restricted to begin with by the captain's cabin. I could see everything on my sides and I could see all the way to the top of the mountains. This I thoroughly enjoyed because I got to view the trees, the beautifully rough mountains, the pin-stripped vineyards, the castles, the small towns, the Lorelei Rock, the boats, the bright-yellow trees in the middle of a sea of orange, the insane kayakers, the super-long trains, and my fellow passengers.

I never knew I people-watched so much until I realized that I'd gotten a fairly good idea of what my fellow passengers were like. The interactions that occurred on top deck made me smile. At one end of the boat (at a certain point) there was a family of 7 who were hanging out together. There was a grandma, a grandpa, a Momma, a Daddy, and two little girls. One of the little girls fussed and cried. She immediately was silenced when her Grandpa picked her up and held her as he cooed to her. Any time the little girl got put down by her Grandpa she'd fuss and cry. Ahmee wasn't sure if the little girl was a brat or if she was just tired. Her older sister didn't fuss too much at all, but then I didn't notice her too much at first. There was one peculiar group that I saw that I enjoyed pondering over and that was the group that had the high-profile mom who reminded me of Mrs. Callis (her style), the college-professor dad, the skater teen brother, and the straight-laced elementary brother. The dad and the younger boy hung out on top deck, pointing at various things and talking to each other, while the mother stayed below deck (the older brother came up later). Another group I enjoyed watching was the group of Asian women. These women reminded me of Emma and her friends and how they'd act if they all went on a trip together. Most of the women were just kicked back, having the greatest time just talking to each other. There was one woman within this group however who was thoroughly immersed in the scenery and who enjoyed walking all over the boat, taking pictures. This woman had graying hair (reminded me of Mrs. Graham) and was wearing a visor and a jacket that had multi-colored versions of the word Paris on it. I liked this woman and a young guy for their obvious love for travel. The guy sat down right next to me and got up at random intervals to take a picture. I noticed that his eyes, unlike some of the people I'd seen, were very shrewd and lively. A woman I'd met earlier in the day had slow, dimmed, almost bored-looking eyes (might just be tired-she'd flown in from Wisconsin the day previously). This guy had Emma's grey eyes and he definitely knew how to use them. I'd find something pretty and would long to take a picture and often a few seconds after I'd gotten done looking he'd take a picture.

As we waited to get off the boat (to only wait another 45 minutes and get on one heading back) I asked this young guy if he spoke English. I was surprised to hear an English accent, but went ahead (using hand gestures and all-I still hadn't gotten my mind around the fact that he was English-hadn't met anyone so far from England) and told him that he had a very good eye for pictures. He thanked me just as the ramp was set down. I walked off, the boat telling the shrewd-eyed guy, "You're welcome."

After this we went into town to grab a bite to eat and something to drink. The objective was to get something sweet to go with coffee. We found the perfect thing and we each got incredible slices of pie to go with our coffee.

We finished up our food and walked back to the loading dock, where I looked around at the other passengers-in-waiting. I found that the college-professor-Mrs. Callis family was in line, and so was the Grandpa and younger baby sister family. Everyone else that I'd seen while on deck wasn't there. There were some other people, but I didn't bother to look, I was having too much of a good time looking at the sun on the slopes (the sun had come back the last half of the trip there and was still there the duration of the trip back). We didn't have long to wait. Our boat, the Jeverland, soon arrived and we got on board and went up to the top deck. Unlike when we'd ridden the Lorelei, I quickly got incredibly cold (it was getting later in the afternoon) and needed to go below deck. My view of the river and the beautiful mountainsides might've been obstructed, but my view of the fellow passengers was not. I quickly looked around and was surprised to see a few faces that were bored and grumpy looking, who were staring off into space instead of staring out their windows or at fellow passengers.

Later I decided I didn't like those passengers even when they snapped out of their stupor to see their fellow passengers, they were having a good time laughing at the other people on the boat. Another group that was fun to watch was a group of businessmen. It was fun trying to figure out exactly what type of business they do, and why they were having such an informal meeting on a tourism boat (informal because one of the women enjoyed making a joke or two near the end of the meeting). What I could make out was that most of the businessmen and women consisted of Indian people. Other than that I couldn't hear or see much.

I had yet another enjoyable moment while people-watching. The young girl who had cried when her grandfather set her down was much happier. She and her family were sitting in the table right in front of us and she enjoyed walking around it. Once or twice she stopped and giggled at us as we smiled at her and giggled back. Of course, after a bit our smiles made her uneasy. When this happened I directed my attention elsewhere. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was being watched (get that prickling feeling in the back of your neck). I looked around and caught the eye of the older sister. She was peeking at me out of the corner of her eye. I smiled at her and she quickly looked away. Later, I got the feeling again. This time it was after the rest of the family had gotten up and moved. Poppy nudged me and I looked and saw that the older little girl was standing just in front of our table just staring openly at me. When I saw her I smiled and she smiled and covered her eyes with her little purple hat and then peeked out at me again. This made me giggle and smile even more, which sparked a few giggles from the little girl. Course, she was quickly snapped back to attention when her parents called for her from behind me, and she went off to stand with them and to wait for the boat to stop.

After we all departed the boat we went and had a short peek at a small fair that was going on close by. This truly was a short peek because it took us less than ten minutes to get in and out (course it was also a really small fair - had all French items). Poppy and I quickly got cold chills so we headed back to the car where Poppy kicked on the heater and started driving back to the Ibis hotel.

We came into the city from a different direction than what we'd been advised that morning. It was no problem though, because I recognized where we were and we were able to get back to the hotel. The reason I recognized where we were was because I noticed one particular light store that I'd seen when we were coming into the city. When I looked up I had a flash-back of Ahmee and Poppy wondering which direction to go, and one of them seeing the sign to the Ibis Hotel just in the nick of time (it was to the right).

We got back to the hotel, went out to eat, and then got back to the room where I did homework and went to bed early.

This night I did not sleep well at all. I ended up waking up and staying awake due to cramps. Not a nice announcement to have your period come in the middle of the night. I also had a very strange dream that involved Iain, a castle, some raiders, and a not-very-happy Queen Mum (not anyone in my family).

The next morning Ahmee asked me if I'd ever had someone touch me or do something to me that I didn't want them to. I told her that I hadn't and I asked why she asked. She told me that I had sounded extremely distressed when I talked in my sleep that night and that I kept saying, "No!" and, "Stop!!" To those who don't know yet: I talk in my sleep every night. It's unusual for Ahmee and Poppy to not hear something from me while I'm asleep. Ahmee says I speak quite clearly and loudly, while Poppy often says what I say is muffled. It could be both, or it could be just Ahmee's since Poppy doesn't have his ears in at night (he needs a hearing aid).

10/01/08 First Day of October we wash clothes, stop in one village, and head out to an Ibis Hotel

Quiero volver Europe otra vez. Una tiempa en Europe no trabaje para mi. Europe tiene muchas places de interesantes. Quiero mirar la todo Europe. Es imposible, pero muchas personas quieren la imposible.

The previous day we'd planned on getting back in time to do laundry, obviously, we didn't. We ended up getting back maybe five minutes before the laundry mat closed. So, our dirty clothes got to wait an extra night to get washed. This morning we woke up, ate, took showers (even though I tried to use as little hot water as possible I ended up using it all), and got our nasty dirty clothes together. I took out of my suitcase maybe 5 articles of clothing, everything else stayed in the suitcase and went to the laundry mat with Poppy. While Poppy was down the hill I typed up some more blogs. I must say now that there were some things in these blogs that I'm probably going to want to add in at some point. After writing these unfinished blogs I put the computer away and tidied up my room. A paper that the bungalow renters gave to us asked us to please clean out the fireplace and fold our sheets. Before Poppy went down to the laundry mat he dumped all of the ashes out of the fire pit, and just when he got back we started folding the sheets in our rooms. Taking my well-constructed snake pit apart wasn't very enjoyable for me. I liked that cozy room, even if I'd dumped my dirty clothes on the floor when I changed.

I made sure to take pictures of the bungalow before we started packing our things up. After Poppy came back (for the last time-he'd traveled up and down that hill several times throughout the process) with the semi-damp clothes we packed our suitcases, grabbed our things (didn't take long for me because I'd put my stuff into my backpack while waiting), and got into the car to head towards an Ibis Hotel.

We got on the road at about 11 so it did not take long for us to get hungry and want to stop to eat. We ended up stopping in Blankenheim to grab a bite to eat. I think that we were also attracted to Blankenheim for it's elusive burg. We'd searched for the burg while on the road before and hadn't found it. This time we saw it as we were searching for another road.

Funnily enough we found the road we were looking for and a place to eat AND a post office by passing through to the other side of town. We ate in the cafe (where I got an incredible apple pie thing and Poppy got two deserts and a salad) and then started heading down the street to find the entrance to the castle gate. As usual, Ahmee and I stopped to check out the cards. This time we were both looking for something special. Ahmee found one card for Uncle John and Aunt Cynde, while I found one for the Beckermans which had a smiling sunflower and the word Danke underneath (this is German for thank you). When we went inside the store to find out what some of the other cards meant we were thrilled to discover that we'd stumbled upon a post office. While we were there we grabbed envelopes, stamps, and assorted cards from outside. While we were there we asked the woman at the desk if anyone lived in the castle. She said that there were people living in the castle. Apparently you can rent a part of the castle to live in. I think it might be like apartments.

This made us want to check out the entrance more. Funnily enough we walked through the gate that Ahmee'd seen from main street, but we didn't want to walk further. We had loads of fun looking at the town and in the windows. It was yet another picturesque town that we all adored and wanted to spend more time in.

We made our way back over to the car where we noted the fountain that was shooting up at random intervals (we'd seen it go off from the cafe but when we looked again it was gone). Shortly after this we got back on the road. I think that the road that we took that day was the most curvy one we've been on so far. I'm glad that it was. If the road hadn't been curvy I would've been typing and I would've missed out on the beautifully covered mountains that we passed through (Ahmee and Poppy call these hills but I call them mountains because they remind me of the Appalachians). These mountains were covered in trees. While the bare mountains of Scotland were equally beautiful, these mountains reminded me of home and the colorful leaves only brightened my mood. I was very disappointed when we came out of the windy, tree-lined roads to move on to flat, straight, and barren roads. It was then that I pulled out the computer again to write.

We drove down to Koblenz where we discovered that the Ibis hotel we wanted to stay in was in the middle of a rather large city. This city was slightly smaller than Louisville and it was right next to the Rheine River. After we got to the hotel, ate, and got back to the room I jumped on the computer to send off my schoolwork and to receive any more schoolwork. I felt incredibly comfortable there. It was as if I was back in the Ohio River Valley.

I think I might be more of a city-girl than Ahmee and Poppy though. The noises that always accompany the city don't keep me awake all night. Actually, I fell asleep very fast there with the noises and in Paris with TONS of noises.

09/30/08 The Last Day of September (I was alseep when I posted) we get to tour Castles!

Ahora mis abuela aprende espanol. Ella y yo prometemos practicar espanol para una media en la dia. La media es la segunda media de la hora feliz. Es buena porque mis abuela hable mas espanol en la segunda media. Vino es un grande beber para mi abuela!

I woke up this morning thinking about the things that were going on concerning the computer. While I sat there in bed I wondered what Ahmee and Poppy's reaction would be if Momma pulled out her "ace". I sat there, hoping that Momma had not already sent an email to them that would cause Ahmee and Poppy to think that I hate this trip, or that I wasn't having a good time, or that I wanted them to be happy-go-lucky all the time, or something else but now I can't remember. I was nervous that Ahmee and Poppy thought all I was doing was complaining to everyone else but to them.

There are some things that would be difficult for me to share with them, mostly things that occurred in Scotland.

I sat there for at least an hour wondering if Momma hadn't sent them that email telling them she was worried that I was too stressed and she stressed that I am anal about my schoolwork. I wondered what would have happened if these emails hadn't come forth. I've said before in my blogs that what I write in my emails is for those particular people alone, and I expect those people to use the information contained in those emails sparingly, to share them with only certain people. Momma's worried about me based on these blogs, and based on a few emails. All I knew was that if the rest of Europe was just as devoid of wireless connection as this area of Germany had been, then I was going to need to change something. What worried me this morning was that Ahmee had said the night before that she had asked me before we went on this trip if I could miss school for that long, if I would be ok with it. I'd told her then yes. It's still yes. She said that she wanted to plan schoolwork around this trip, not plan this trip around schoolwork.

Before and during breakfast I thought about how that would drive me up the wall. If I couldn't find internet in too many places we were staying what would happen at the end of the grading period when my teachers would be required to send in some sort of grade for me? My grades would suck.

After a nice peaceful breakfast we got dressed, and got on the road. We left early this day because we wanted to check out Rick Steve's favorite castle: Burg Eltz and then get back in time to do laundry so we could get on the road the next day. The drive was a long one and for the second time since we'd been in Germany we saw lots and lots of clouds. None of us were surprised when it rained on us later. While Ahmee and Poppy were navigating and driving, I was in the back seat, thinking and looking out the window.

While on the road I managed to construct a new "game plan" that I knew I wanted to share with Ahmee the instant I got the chance.


We got to Cochem where we saw a HUGE castle on a hill that was right next to the river Mozel (connection to Germany and France). We thought that this castle was the one that Rick Steves had been talking about because it was quite a wonderful castle to look at. Later we found out that we were wrong.

At any rate, we thought that this was the Burg Eltz that we had read about, so we found a parking place (took a while), walked to the information center, found out which shuttle bus to catch, ate lunch, and then Poppy went to move the car while Ahmee and I talked in the restaurant. I mentioned in yesterdays post exactly what we talked about and the agreement we'd come to. This made me slightly less nervous, but let me tell you, the fact that I didn't know what was in Momma's email still nagged at the back of my brain. I didn't want Ahmee to think that she was giving them a talking to when they didn't need it.

Moving on. After Poppy met back up with us (took forever since both parties ended up walking in opposite directions looking for the other party) we waited for the shuttle bus and then when it came we went up to the castle. The winding roads were so skinny that the bus driver had to go slow to give people time to get out of the way by standing in shop doorways. I enjoyed looking out the window on this bus, I got a nice view of tons of shop windows that were just begging to be peered in. I also enjoyed watching the kids that were sitting up at the front. There was one loud, black-haired girl who reminded me distinctly of Ella Grace (my cousin). The shuttle bus dropped them off at the "primary school" where I got a peek at the kids playing on their playground. I also got to have a look at the two different schools that highschool level kids go into. One of these schools is more advanced and typically is the one where the kids specialize, the other is just average school. To determine which school you'll go in you get to take one test at the end of what we'd know as middle school. Another little something I know is that Mr. Beckermans kids started school at 8 in the morning and left school at 1 in the afternoon (without a lunch break). People might drop their jaws, but the workload the kids get to take home is scary. Mr. Beckermans kids had backpacks that were as pregnant as mine. All of the young kids have full backpacks when they go home, the older ones-not so often, although I did see several lugging two full backpacks on their way home (both of these were smaller than mine though).

Why do I keep going on about the schools? Because in the town I got to see all of the students on their way out of school, and I also got to see the schools themselves while I was on that shuttle bus. I got to look through the windows of the school buildings there. The blue building I saw had loads of equipment in it, in fact, it looked basically like a college. The other one I couldn't see in due to drawn curtains.

After seeing the schools we were ushered out of the bus where we had a good time walking the rest of the way up the hill to the castle. The view was incredible from that height! We could see for miles! Unfortunately we could only see one direction.

We got the tickets for the tour and when it started we were surprised to find out that the tour would be given in German. In Rick Steve's book he'd said that they had 45 minute tours that were given in English. Here we got to listen to the tour guide make her jokes and ask the kids questions in German. We were given a pamplet that went over all of the key points of each room, but we didn't get to understand many of her jokes. Luckily she didn't leave us out of the loop very long, she always gave us a small sidenote of what she'd just said in English.

The rooms were tiny, and often had many valuable pieces of furniture. We'd been asked not to touch anything in these rooms, but I know that many people found this difficult when they were trying to make room for the other 15 people we needed to squeeze in. It wasn't a deterent for the tour though! Not in the slightest! Whenever our tour guide would point out something the people would divide and make room so that other people could see the article in question.

Three of my favorite things in that castle were: the mermaid that was meant to protect the castle and who would grant a wish to those people who touched her (I touched her), the hidden door that lead from one room to the bedchambers (tour guide said that when the boss was gone the lover would go up and when the boss came home the lover would sneak out this way), and the suit of armor that was made for a knight that had defended this castle who had the astonishing height of over 7 feet (in that day and age it was unusual to have people over 4-5 ft tall). I'm positively certain that the knight would've terrified any man who came up against him. He would've been a giant compared to all those people!

Something that surprised me was that the castle had not only been captured before, but had also been completely demolished by none other than King Louis 14th (also known as: the Sun King). For those who enjoy saying the French are wimpy I have some news: only in WWII did they seem wimpy. Throughout history they've shown incredible feats of skill in the battlefield. It amazed me that the fortification I was walking in had been completely demolished. It had seemed insane to attack it, simply because I'd walked up the steep hill the castle rested on and I saw all of the vantage points the castle guards had from there. It just had to have been a stealth taking. That castle is too well positioned to be taken down by brute force! If it was by brute force then... wow, that had to be some army.

After this short tour Ahmee, Poppy, and I went back down to the information center via the shuttle bus. We weren't certain that that was the Burg Eltz. Sure enough the castle we'd just seen was the Reichsburg Castle that was owned by the town. The lady at the desk gave us directions to get to the Burg Eltz and told us when they closed. We had a little over an hour before tours stopped so we got in the car and hurried towards this Burg.

When we got there we parked and hopped into another shuttle bus which took us to the edge of the bridge across.



I now must tell you that this castle's story is quite unique (I'm using details I learned on the tour and things I'd learned from Rick Steves). It was built on a hill in the middle of several very close mountains. This is an unusual spot to build a castle because it would be quite easy to lay siege to a castle that's already surrounded in such a way. It was put there because there was a very important trade route that had went through.

For ages it was owned by one family. At one point though three different families came to call that rock their home. The interactions between these three families had to have been interesting. We got to see the section that the silver lion family lived in, and the ox horn family lived in (these aren't the names they're just the flags that they'd had-we never got the names). The golden lion family was the family that lived in the castle the longest and was also the one that remained. The countess who owns the castle doesn't live there but she does send in bunches of flowers.



After going through the treasury we caught the English tour where we and another family of four got to see this castle. It was really amazing. I loved the history in this castle and the view we got to see of the upper classed people who lived back then. The castle had 40 fireplaces (100 rooms total). Like the tour guide said, heat back then was a true luxury in these castles. Another luxury was that there were plenty of toilets in this castle (were flushed when it rained). There was one bathroom for every five people. Pretty astonishing isn't it?

I must tell you that I'm leaving out lots and lots of the tour (like the bow that could shoot 450 meters, and the ruins of the siege castle that stood on the hill opposite the Burg Eltz), sorry but at the moment I'm needing to stop typing soon.

After touring this castle we road back up to the car and got back on the road to head to the Bungalow. On our way back we stopped at the Postilo Restaurant (that's not the name but Ahmee and I can't remember it at all) that's in the town Junkerath. We'd eaten there before and had been in complete raptures with the delicious food we'd gotten there. The chef came out and helped us again by explaining what each thing on the menu was. He then made Poppy an extra potato dumpling and gave us enough broccoli for the three of us to eat along with our meals. The food was the same as it had been before and the word I'll use for it will be: positively scrumptious. After the meal the chef's wife cleared our plates and told us how he didn't cook at home. Later we got to hear how they met in Canada and how they decided to move over to Germany to be closer to family. They were yet another lovely couple that we got to meet, but that we never caught the names of. I remarked on this as we headed out to the car and Ahmee said that that was part of traveling, you get to know peoples deepest, darkest secrets, but you never get their name.

Once back in the room I stayed up typing and then hopped into my little nest. At first, I was frozen, but then the heat kicked on and my small room became a sauna. After the chill of the day, this felt incredible. I have to say that before breakfast today Poppy had said that I was like a snake when it comes to keeping warm. It's completely true. I am like a snake. Cloud coverage, rain, and wind make me freeze. I had on many layers, and when I stepped out of the car into the chill it was fine, because the car wasn't too hot to begin with, but when I stepped out of a hot restaurant into the chill I got major goosebumps. My feet being cold at night has nothing to do with my being stressed, I just get cold very easily (and the bottoms of my socks are actually starting to get thin from all the walking). In the past we haven't realized that we can turn up the heat so in the past I've been clever and taken a shower and then hopped into multiple layers and under many covers (the heat from the hot water warms me up and after I've dried off I jump into articles of clothing to capture the heat that's rapidly escaping-this way I can fall asleep). My room in the bungalow is wonderful. I've created quite a "snake nest" there. The room is small so that when the heat does come on it doesn't take long for it to reach me, and it also is contained within the room, my bed has two duvets on it (comforters), and I wear multiple layers (often I have to strip down to two layers because I get toasty in there). If Iain had been in that room, wearing all the layers I'd had on, and lying under all those covers, he would've been miserable. While I'm easily frozen, he's easily over-heated.

09/29/08 Fun trip to and around Luxembourg, bad feelings after the US Embassy

Espanol es dificil aprender con no professora. Ahora yo miro mi libro para muchas palabras. Yo preocupado, mi espanol es terrible. Quiero empezar la lecion de espanol. Ahora creo no aprendo muchas espanol.

(I'm writing this the next day and I'm totally exhausted so I'm glad that I can shorten this).



We did the usual: sleep in, eat delicious breakfast, get on the road. This time we were headed for another country, Luxembourg. Today however we wanted to go to the city Luxembourg and go to the US Embassy there. Ahmee and Poppy both wanted to vote.

While on the road I had the usual grand time looking out the windows and taking in the scenery. When I'm not busy in the car doing homework or preventing myself from getting sick (sit back with cool air blowing on your face-best if its fresh) then I'm busy looking out the window and imagining how I could incorporate such and such garden into an area of ours, or imagining how such and such a place would be an excellent date, or thinking "if so and so could see this!" I don't see how people can't sit for hours and hours and hours in the car. It's stimulating to just look out the windows! You end up dreaming for hours and adoring the views for hours. Nothing wrong with that.

As we headed down into Luxembourg we passed through several little towns. As we went through one such town Ahmee and I spotted a fair. Ahmee had Poppy turn around and go back so that we could look. We ended up spending about two hours there, maybe three. We looked in every tent (except one towards the front that we saw on our way out). While there I got two more gifts. Hahahahahahahaha! I'm not telling you Momma what I got you!

We grabbed wursts to eat out on the sidewalk. I know that's not their true names. Ahmee had a brautwurst, and Poppy and I had metwursts. It was delicious! I love sausages and hotdogs (just so long as the sausage isn't spicy) and my metwurst was soooo juicy! Wonderful, meaty, goodness! Mhm. Never had a thing like it.

After sausages we went into two restaurants. We were looking for a restroom. The first restaurant was stuffed with people. The second restaurant was tame, it seemed to be the place where the "gray-hairs" went (aka: older people). After ordering stuff to eat and drink we went and used the facilities. After having my wurst I just wanted a drink. I got coffee.

My coffee ended up being my desert. I put tons of sugar and creme in it, and then while I waited for it to cool off it melted my chocolate bar slightly along the side. That chocolate bar had an elephant on the top of it, I'm not sure what type it was, but that elephant brought me a lot of joy. Chocolate helps, it really does. Lupin couldn't have said truer words. That chocolate made me so happy with its goodness. It was the cherry on top of my meal. Metwurst, coffee, and chocolate. Doesn't it sound amazing!?! If it doesn't, hush, just take my word for it.

After the fair we headed out again to get on the road. Soon we were in Luxembourg where we got a very good look at more current buildings. Many many pieces of architecture were high-tech looking and were truely nice to look at. I think the oldest buildings we saw while there were the houses that were down in the valley. We saw these as we crossed over the red bridge into Luxembourg the city.

We went in looking for an information center. Course, my eyes were put to work to look for an American flag and for an I (information). I saw the I and told them we needed to head towards the central station. Off we went to the central station. I must say now that this was the first time we'd ever taken the car into a big city. In the past we've taken the bus or train from the outskirts and come in that way. This time we got to weasel our way through the streets in the car. I felt bad for Poppy, but I was most certainly glad I was not the one driving.

One of the hardest things to do when you've got a car in the big city is to find a place to park. After we found the central station it took us maybe 10 minutes to find a parking place. It then took us about the same amount of time to walk back to the station. From there we were shown where the US Embassy was and we were given directions as to how to get there.

We walked back, got in the car, drove, and drove, and drove, and drove. We got lost. Let me tell you, being lost on the interstate is not as much fun as being lost in a town when you're walking. One fun part was getting out and stopping at a Barnes and Noble-type store to get directions (both for the restroom and for the US Embassy). I didn't have much luck finding the bathroom when I asked for the restroom (this'd be in English), I got directed to the restaurant at the front of the store. I then asked a French woman in french how to get to that bathroom. After pointing diagonal from herself and talking in a babble of French I said, "OH! I see it now it's just there!" She switched over to English and told me it was hidden behind the wall.

In Luxembourg it's normal for people to switch from french, to english, to german. We found this out before we even got there. We saw this in action at the fair.

We got back on the road and managed to find the Embassy from their directions. Tada! Now Ahmee and Poppy could go vote. Or so we thought. I had never been to an Embassy before, and I was curious as to where'd they'd set visitors down inside it. I found it highly unlikely to be given a cozy living room to stretch out in in the Embassy. I never even thought about how airtight security is.



At first Ahmee and Poppy were denied entrance and were told to call a certain number. After they tried the number they were given and were told by a machine the the number wasn't valid, they told the guard and managed to talk their way in.

We went through airport-style security. Only difference was that we were not allowed any electronic devices into the building whatsoever. Poppy ended up leaving the cell phone, the camera, the cord for the camera, and I think his wallet (no clue why). We went up the ramp, got a short glimpse of the garden within the main gates, and then were ushered into a tiny waiting room where we had to leave our purses on the counter and walk through yet another scanner. There were two windows in this room. In one window we could see several men in uniform (I don't know how to tell them apart so I'll just say they're army men). In the other window there was nothing but a door behind it. We were told by the security officer who escorted us to this waiting room to wait in front of this window, while he stood behind the counter without passing through the scanner.


What happened next was haltingly interesting. It was haltingly interesting because the woman who came in and started talking to Ahmee and Poppy delivered not only halting news, but also delivered it in a very halting way, and seemed almost rude to Ahmee and Poppy. I sat back in the chair and watched and listened as Ahmee explained that they'd been told they could just come to an Embassy while they were abroad and just vote. The woman told them that that was wrong, that you have to register and get in contact with specific people and send several things back and forth (she did say specifics-I just don't remember atm). Ahmee eventually ended up asking for Kentucky's address. While the lady was gone getting that for her Ahmee checked out a not-so-small book that was on the coffee table that explained how to vote abroad. The lady got both the address that Ahmee wanted and the address for the US Embassy in Rome (so we could receive mail from Kentucky). After that we left. I know it sounds short, but there was a lot of confusion during this conversation, and a lot of informing about what you can and cannot do. We were there in the Embassy a long time to receive a short amount of information.

It wasn't a very lovely experience. Maybe if I'd had a book to read I would've been able to sit there for hours without having to worry, like I did for 3 hours in the customs office when we were going through to Canada.

We didn't stay in Luxembourg long after that. We were there long enough to get back on the road out, that's it. I'll have to go back to Luxembourg some day. I know that the visit we had to the US Embassy, was NOT seeing Luxembourg.

The drive back was the same as the drive out. When we got back to Stadkyll we ate at a local Chinese Restaurant (not entirely blind- I understood banana, and Ahmee understood anana which is pineapple). After that we went looking for a wireless internet.

During dinner Ahmee'd asked me a question that made me worried, even though the question was asked playfully. She'd asked, "What would you do Rachel if we told you tough shit, you aren't having any internet until Thursday." When my first reply didn't work I told her the idea gave me a small headache.

After that we looked for a place in town to hook up via wireless (we'd already done this before, good to always check again). No luck finding wireless, but I did spot three deer that were on the opposite hillside/

After this I told them I'd like to at least let my teachers know about the situation. Poppy and I went back to the Play Arena, where I typed to: Mr. Owens, Mr. Johnson, Daddy (he'd written), Momma, Iain, and Emma. I have to say that my emails to Momma and Iain were the ones where I let my stress for the situation show. Even though I hadn't gotten anything from my teachers, I was still nervous about not being able to send them the work I'd completed. I felt like Ahmee and Poppy still didn't understand how much time I needed on the computer, and I told Iain and Momma that. Iain told me in a reply email to not worry, that Momma was going to talk to Poppy and Ahmee and that if "worse came to worse" she had an ace up her sleeve. I cautioned him in my responding email.

Let me put it this way: I wanted to try and work this out before that.

Once we got back to the bungalow I shared my emails, and then Poppy shared one he'd gotten. It was from my Momma. He looked at Ahmee and said that I'd been telling my momma that we weren't getting along, and that my momma was still worried about me getting too stressed out about internet. I'm fairly certain that that's not what Momma said, because that's not what I said. I told both of them that I'd told her that we had our tense moments and our good ones, and that there were more good ones than tense ones, it was just being on the computer made me stress out, homework stressed me out. I didn't explain it properly before we all went to bed (slightly better).

The next day (I'll write how Ahmee and I worked this out) I talked to Ahmee about it. She asked me to talk to them before I talked to Momma first off and then I did my best to explain what was going on, why I was getting so stressed out. I explained how I wanted to do well. I explained that even though I hadn't missed anything yet I didn't like not having wireless because I knew that I needed to complete Unit 2 because they were on Unit 3, because I knew that I was going to get a ton to do in AP US History, and because I knew that I needed to get more articles (English newspapers are difficult to come by here). Ahmee said I was basically trying to serve two masters. She said that they were going to be staying in Ibis Hotels from now on, so that I wouldn't be stressed out over internet. I also told her about the one class that really scared me: Spanish. I told her my plans for teaching myself, because as of yet I haven't heard a word from Mrs. Stuart. I haven't moved along in my book because I don't know how far to go, and I know that there's no way I'll learn a thing going through a chapter a day whenever there's 20 words at the beginning of the chapter. I've basically been going over the things I know in my blogs. Ahmee told me she'd show me how to memorize the words. I also asked to start having half of the happy hour dedicated to speaking on Spanish. It was agreed that the second half of happy hour would be the designated Spanish time. This way we'll both get to practice speaking our Spanish.

Oh! Forgot to mention that we're leaving Stadkyll early so we get go on ahead to another Ibis.

In short, it's worked out now.

I just hope Momma hasn't pulled out her ace now because of my being stressed out of my mind the night before (when I got back I had a headache and I felt like I was going to throw up immediately after Poppy told Ahmee and me the email he'd gotten from Momma). Right now I just need to set into action the new game plan, we've reached an agreement now, we just need to get it going. We needed to work things out (sends hugs to her Momma), and now they are.

09/28/09 Looking for an Elusive Castle

La familia de castel es moy intellegente y trabajadora. Deseo aprendar la decision de la familia vivir en un castel. Es grande tambien. Me gusta casas pequenas. En casas grandes yo no feliz.

I woke up somewhat early, with the blue light shining under my curtains. I'd slept pretty well the night before, save that I roasted and ended up having to shed a layer of clothes. That morning I just sat there in bed looking at the window and watching the light turn from blue to yellow. I didn't want to get up at all. I was enjoyed the comfort of my bed far too much.

Eventually I got myself up and went out into the living room, thinking I'd just go ahead and write my reviews over a few articles. When I got out there I discovered Ahmee sitting on the couch. Shortly after I arrived in the living room Poppy woke up and came out. We sat there in the living room for a bit and talked about what our plans were for the day. I told Ahmee and Poppy that I wanted to write reviews over two articles I'd cut out and a cartoon. I also told them that I wanted to take a test. Ahmee said that after breakfast I could go ahead and write my reviews and take my test and then I wouldn't feel pressured that day to do anything in the car, I could just enjoy the scenery. The plan for the day was I'd work, we'd head out to look for a burg (similar to a castle) that we'd seen from the interstate.

We ate breakfast, I completed my article summaries, and then we got on the road. We got on the road a bit late, but it wasn't all me. We all woke up late, I got dressed immediately after breakfast so that when I was done with my work I could just go, and then I wrote my summaries. While I wrote Ahmee and Poppy hung out in the living room in their pj's looking at the map, knitting, and talking. At some point Poppy got dressed and then after I got done Ahmee got dressed. Then we left to go search , the time was just about noon.

I didn't take the computer with me on the road. I hadn't completed my test and I didn't want to be tempted by it while on the road, especially since so many of them were going to be curvy roads.

We got to have a good look at several really pretty towns. We didn't mind that we weren't finding the castle we'd seen, we were finding all sorts of other pretty places. We enjoyed looking at the just-about-to-turn leaves and the fun older houses that lined the streets. It's a shame we couldn't open the window. The air outside wasn't too hot or too cold, and we would've been able to have fresh air as we went around all of these towns. Ahmee and Poppy talked about what on earth they should do. They loved these little houses, and they disliked all of the large cities. Momma, if you're reading this, your hate for big cities runs in the family. For some reason it's skipped me.

While driving around these small towns looking for the burg we'd seen from the road, I realized that I was really beginning to miss home. I missed raking the leaves, I missed being at home with my Momma and sister, I missed being able to talk to Iain on the phone and on the computer often, I missed Emma's delicious food (by the way, I've had spinach pasta here, it's nothing compared to yours Em! It really is!), I missed bonfires and seeing the leaves change and the smell of hay. I realized that as the days get colder that I like doing those cozy things that I feel bring a family together. I love us all snuggling up on the couch or in bed talking together, I love going for long carrides with the windows rolled down, singing at the top of our lungs to a song on the radio, I love having naughty nights where we all eat nasty junkfood and pig out in front of the tv (doesn't happen often just so you all know), I love talking to Iain to god-awful hours of the morning. When we got out of these little towns I always ended up looking at the fields and thinking of all these things.

I realized while on this drive that I would love to take Iain to our family get together on the winter solstice. On this day my family does something quite pagan. We go out to the farm and set fire to a HUGE stack of logs, tree branches, and various other flamables. The idea is to make the shortest day of the year, longer. We always end up sitting on logs, petting the cats, roasting marshmellows, eating chili, playing with the fire, and looking at the stars. In past years neighbors would come and it would be a small party around the fire.

Iain's always lived in Glasgow and he hasn't traveled much at all. He's quite a city-boy. I love the city, and while out looking at the country I kept daydreaming about hay-bailing with Uncle Richard, about the winter-solstice party, about planting walnut trees with Uncle Richard (the squirrels got to them, they never got a chance to grow), about raking the leaves and adding those to the garden, etc.. It would be so much fun to show these things.

I must say that I wasn't stuck in my own daydreams about sharing these things with Iain though. I was looking at the cute towns, at the mountains, at the sky, and looking for the burg. Eventually we got back on the highway and went farther along it. We ended up seeing the castle and getting off and traversing through another few towns and under the highway to get to it. We got to get a close-up look at this castle.

What we were afraid of was that the castle was just another golfing resort. There was a golfing platz all around the castle (erm what do you call a golf field?), but we didn't see where we could go into the castle, we kept running into signs that said: Private. We ended up going into the golf gift shop and asking the woman there about the castle. She told us that the castle was the home to a family, that there were tours, but you had to call a specific number and various other things. She told us that the castle had several different sections from different ages, and that the castle had been passed down through the family for centuries. It was fascinating to see a castle that was still lived in.

Later we walked around a different castle that was inhabitated, these people raised money too. Instead of having a golf platz to raise money to keep the castle afloat these owners had several rows of shops and restaurants next to it that were entirely touristy. There was a shop that had medieval garb in it, there was a shop that had fancy soaps in it, but then there was a shop that was clearly just an average clothing store. It had two different stages where you could tell concerts and plays were performed. Ahmee thought that since so many people were still coming in that there must have been a show that was going to occur later that night. I think that part of the castle was also a really expensive hotel. I think this because not only did I see several rows of chandeliers in one of the windows, but I also saw this same set of chandeliers on a brochure we found while walking around. Course, I don't know much German at all. I could be wrong.

I do know that there are people living in that Castle. While we were in the central courtyard we decided to head in the direction of the mote because we knew that on the other side there was something that looked like a fair. Before we passed through the stone gate to check it out we all looked up at the castle and saw through the window a dog. This dog was barking kinda like Kitty would at people passing in front of our main window at the front of the house, with its nose pressed to the glass and its tail still wagging. After a few minutes of watching an older woman came to the window. I swear she looked right at us. I smiled, but she did not smile back. I don't think I'd like tourists walking all around my house either. I wouldn't want to live in a castle like that. I wonder how they sneak out to do their grocery shopping.... After having the cold encounter with the old lady in the window we went through the arch and found ourselves in a small courtyard that had swan poop on the ground and a few plants popping up here and there. The courtyard was a slightly dismal sight, but the lake view was definitely a good one. We saw that we couldn't reach what we thought was the medieval fair though and so we turned around and continued to look at the shops and cafes.

We headed out, delighted that after going through the effort to see one castle we got to see two. What was amazing to me was how close these two were together and how in both of them the families had found ways to keep people living within them (I don't know if the second one had passed down from generation to generation like the other one or not).

Once we got back to the park we went shopping again and grabbed some more groceries. Ahmee decided that she'd fix dinner and told us (Poppy and I) to go for a walk and pick up some sticks for the fire. The night before our fire had been a pretty short-lived one. This time we decided we'd have a proper fire and use up the rest of our logs by starting it with small sticks and paper. Since I'd wanted to go for a walk and enjoy the fall air I was more than happy to go ahead and head out.

Poppy and I didn't go for a long walk though. We grabbed a couple handfuls of sticks and then went back to the bungalow. Poppy started up the fire and I cleaned up the living room by moving all of the clutter to designated places. Ahmee and Poppy set up happy hour, but while they were slicing cheese and apples I had jumped on the computer to take my test. It took me a bit longer because a few of the questions I did not know at all Ex: name a present-day example of a Confederacy. Yeah. I took an educated guess with that one. My choices were: Yugoslavia, The Middle East, Central America, and the European Union. I picked the European Union.

At any rate I had several questions where I was having some issues. Ahmee and Poppy told me they were going for a walk and they left. It wasn't too long after they left that I got done. I took this as a chance to look at pictures again. We've downloaded pictures from Ireland, Scotland, and England. We haven't put these on here yet simply because we haven't been with very strong connections yet. I know how to send the file, it's just I'm uncertain wether or not the internet will hold on me (often times I have to try sending emails several times because it breaks down).

While Ahmee and Poppy were gone I realized how quiet it was. It's not that we all talk a lot, it's just that this silence seemed to grate on my ears. I got up and started talking to myself. I thought for a minute of turning on the radio, but then I decided I didn't want to, I wanted to sing. I started singing songs that have been getting stuck in my head so easily since we've started this trip. Songs like: "I kissed a girl!", "Here comes the sun", "Love was made for me and you!", "The 7 things I hate about you", "It take two to tango", this could go on a while so I'll stop now. I realized while I hummed and sang some of these songs (slightly shocked that my voice sounded iffy) that I haven't sung in a long time. At home I often break out into song whenever I feel like it. I don't do that here. I don't even sing in the shower. I sing at the table when I hear a song on the radio I know (heard Tainted Love the other night and got so excited-btw haven't mentioned yet that the Germans really like Shania Twain-or at least someone who sounds just like her), but I often don't sing loud.

You know, when Iain told me that he thought I couldn't play the bagpipe because he didn't think I could produce a strong enough flow of wind power, I kept quiet, but I have to say that I was laughing inside. He'd said that he didn't think women could be bagpipers because it requires long, strong breaths and womens lungs weren't as big as mens. I raised my eyebrows at him and he said, "Well maybe like an opera singer could do it." He might be surprised that while I don't like talking very loud and it can sometimes be hard to hear me when I'm talking, I do like singing loudly and I can project my voice very well. While alone in the house I was projecting my voice, thinking about show choir and how people in the front row always said that they could hear me (even on the days where I was tired). I think I might just take up bagpiping to prove Iain wrong, tehe.

Ahmee and Poppy got back and we all had happy hour where we ate cheese, bread, and apples, and then drank wine (Ahmee and Poppy) and apple juice (me-killer stuff too!). After eating happy hour supper was ready so we went in and ate up Ahmee's stew. Was sooooooooo delicious. Was also gone very very fast. Gee, I wonder why.....

After dinner I was filled with that warm and fuzzy happiness, so pretty much, I was ready to fall asleep at any moment. I took over the largest couch, pressing the right side of my face into the right side arm as I looked at the one flame that was flickering in the fireplace. When Ahmee got up and started moving around she asked if I was ever going to get up. I told her that I would put on my pj's when the one flame went out. She laughed and said I'd just say it was still going and I'd stay there till midnight. This wasn't true, when the one flame went out I got up and put on my pjs. Shortly after that I climbed under my two comforters and curled into a ball to go to sleep.

The first few minutes of being in bed are terrible for me. The sheets and the comforters are always cold from the air and it seems to take forever for your body heat to settle in to them. This time it took about five minutes for my body to be warm, and then it took 10 for my feet to catch up. After my feet caught up, I felt wonderful. It didn't take long at all for me to fall asleep after that (if conditions are right I can be asleep in under 5 minutes).

09/27/08 Lazy Saturday Morning leading up to a rather stressful middle leading up to a relaxed end (just the perfect story!)

La parke nosotros es en ahora tiene una piscina. La piscina es no frio porque es en la edificio. Quiero nadar en las piscina una dia. Me gusta mucho nadar in la piscina. Mi sujeta de bano es negro con un cinteron tiene muchas colores. Es mi favorite sujeta de bano.

Unlike most days, I slept in quite well. Another unusual thing to happen while I'm asleep is I was sweating. Since there have been times in the past where I've absolutely needed an extra cover and as many layers as I could. This time I did not need it, the furnace kicked on and made me very warm. Actually, a lot of things were different about my sleep: I didn't wake up in the middle of the night, my pillows were set just right (even at home it's rare for my pillows to be just right), I dreamt many things and remembered the dreams, and I woke up with my forehead against the wall (was dreaming about snuggling with Iain and I think the cool of the wall woke me up).

Something that was not unusual was how long it took for us to get moving and eat breakfast. After breakfast I started moving a lot. I went, got dressed, got ready (these are two different things-one you cover the body the other you cleanse and deodorize), and typed a blog for the day previous. I also looked at the three questions I didn't know the answers to on my study guide and ended up filling in two of the answers.

Now I really must be short. We went out to town to look in the information center. The information center was closed so we looked in two little shops that were down the street from it and Ahmee got a black and purple striped shirt and a purple sweater. We drove through that town three times without finding a thing. We then got in the car and went to the next town over to find the place that supposedly had internet: The Play Arena. Before we went back into town we grabbed a few more necessities from Aldies (salad, dishwashing detergent, orange juice, garlic, and lotion). We also decided to ask two people where the Play Arena was, or at least, where I could find an internet cafe. The first person I asked was a girl who was maybe a couple years older than me. Since most people we walk up to don't know English, I wasn't surprised to find that this girl was one of them. It was alright though, because we had an interesting conversation with the next guy we asked. We asked the cashier and he told us that he spoke English. We asked him where we could find a internet cafe. He got excited and said, "Oh!! C___!" I was confused and said, yeah an internet cafe. He started walking through the store. I quickly followed him and laughed when he picked up coffee. I said, "Oh no, not coffee. We'd like an internet cafe. Do you know where the Play Arena is or where we could get an internet connection?" While I said this every time I said internet I typed with my fingers. He laughed and understood what I meant, but he didn't know where the Play Arena was and he didn't know where I could find an internet connection. After this unsuccessful attempt we decided we'd drive through and go to the 4 star hotel to see if we could use their internet. As we were going through we saw a sign for the Play Arena. We went and checked it out, deciding that since there were two computers we should give it a try later. The Play Arena was a place to play on the computer, on the pool table, and with various machines (mostly gambling).

We went and ate out at the Postisimo. Ahmee and I ate the stereotypical German meal: sausages, sourkraut, and mashed potatoes. Poppy ate a ham that was as thick as a steak, a potato dumpling, and lima beans in a special sauce. All of them were delicious! We think that the place was even more famous for their deserts. Poppy and I grabbed a bit of the cake, Kuchen, and sat there eating the deliciousness away. Finally we were finished and we headed to the Play Arena.

After Ahmee was done with typing to people I got on to check my emails. This is the part of the day where I started getting severely stressed out. I took one look at my inbox and took in a breath of smoke (the inside of the arena was filled with smoke from various people walking around with pipes and cigarettes hanging out of their mouths). I had seen from Ahmee's email that my Momma was significantly worried. She'd seen how Mr. Owens and Mr. Johnson were the only two teachers who sent me emails and that Mr. Owens was the only one who kept in touch with me often. What really bothered her was that she was afraid I was getting sick from getting so stressed out (this is not an irrational fear, I've done that before). She told Ahmee and Poppy in her email all of the different directions that I get pulled in each day: I want to do well with school and so want to work on schoolwork, I want to see Europe with them and so I sight-see, I want to send emails to the people I care about, and the computer isn't always my friend and I really need it to be. She told them it might be a good idea that when we get to our reserved area that I take a night to just do schoolwork and they just go out to eat. Ahmee's reaction to this email was: you need to console your Momma and tell her to stop growing warts. Momma wrote to me multiple times. In her last email she said she was truly worried about me, whether I was getting overly stressed and was sick, how my grades were because she hadn't seen the progress reports my teachers had sent (they had sent me overall progress reports and Mr. Owens does send me reports of how I do on tests, and Mr. Johnson does tell me whether or not my work is good and if it isn't he tells me what to do differently), and if things were so tense we were about to argue on this side. So far in those two classes I'm fine. I have no clue about Spanish or Mr. Dattillo's class though since I haven't heard from them but once on this trip. Momma was worried that I was getting too far behind and I have to write this: I was behind on my blogs but I'm caught up now; I am behind in US Government but I'm just about caught up with that; and in two different classes I just need to write a review over a newspaper article and one political cartoon. It isn't that bad, I just expected for there to be wireless internet in a place we'd reserved to stay in for a week, and I became slightly worried/stressed when I discovered it wouldn't have it. As for it being so tense between us we're about to fight: we're fine. Everyone gets grumpy every now and then, if I type things about Ahmee and Poppy that aren't so good in here those are the things I got disgruntled about, and it's not like I don't end up addressing what bothers me (I either end up letting them know what's wrong, or I talk myself around being angry by saying there's no point in being grumpy, it'll do no good). If I do write bad things about Ahmee and Poppy in here I'm letting these things out, I'm organizing my thoughts, and I'm calming myself down. I hope that this blog isn't filled with all sorts of negatives. I've been trying my best to keep both the positives and the negatives in this. I thought that there were more positives than negatives, because believe me, I'm not angry or stressed out all the time and neither is Ahmee or Poppy. Our tense moments-those involving the computer and directions occasionally-get written down. Little sidenotes of my own from various instances get written down here, just things I noticed or ended up thinking.

Ex: thought it was funny that Ahmee didn't trust my directions to be right when we were looking for the shopping district of Paris. Course I often have done the same thing to her, asked twice, "Are you sure we go that way?" Never asked another person though, give it a try and if it's wrong backtrack and ask is normally what happens. I found it interesting that Ahmee would ask another person which direction to go whenever I'd just given the directions.

Our intensely enjoyable moments I also record though. I hope that my Momma realizes that there are far more enjoyable moments than stressful or irritating moments. We're going to end up having disagreements though, and we are going to have moments where we don't see eye to eye. We work around that. So far we haven't had any fights-my definition anyway (remembering London).

Something that really upset me in my Momma's email though was that I'd made several truly stupid mistakes on my blogs: spelling Versailles, Montmartre, and also saying that the U.S.'s president serves a 2 year term (it's 4 years). For the last one I can say I was typing when I was tired. For the other two, pure spelling errors that are unacceptable.

I just about cried when I saw I'd done that. Such stupid mistakes! I couldn't even access my blog from there and so I was stuck knowing the things I screwed up on, and I was unable to change them.

I emailed Iain first (Momma'd written so many I had to sort through them). Telling him that I missed him, and telling him of the internet situation. I then emailed Momma, don't even remember exactly what I said, I just know I didn't address all of her worries. It's not that I was being selfish, I just knew I was running out of time. After I emailed Momma I got off the computer and we headed out. At this point I was very stressed out, after having my situation with the computer pointed out and having my momma worry about all of those things I began to worry whether or not this blog was accurate-whether I had tons of bad in here when there was so much good. Let me say this: when I can't do anything about my situation I work hard to get past my stress to have a good time here. I am not sick anymore. I've been taking good care of myself and Ahmee and Poppy have been insuring that I do the best I can to stay healthy/become healthy and get what I need. We just don't always see eye to eye with computer issues.

We got back in the car, drove to the 4 star hotel, stole their internet (sat in the driveway and used it for a while-no one came out and we got away with it), drove back to the town we were staying close by, saw an internet cafe, sent postcards, went to the grocery store, went back to the cabin, talked, ate, watched the fire, cut out newspapers, worked on the blog, reread a study guide for the umptinth time, and got ready for bed.

Have to say that when Ahmee and I talked we were talking about much of the stuff I mentioned above. We basically made sure we were on the same page. I also had to talk to Ahmee to make sure she understood that Momma's email was not a reprimand (Ahmee thought this), she was just informing them of the different things I had to focus on and work with, and that she was just giving suggestions (the fact that she was worried was clear to Ahmee).

I now am writing this just before I go take a shower and the hop into bed. The bed is calling me and after this day of major downs and major ups I'm pretty well exhausted. I've spent much of this blog addressing the worries my Momma has and that I face. I never got to talk about the winding down process after the stress, how the dinner was incredible, how the fire didn't work because we didn't have kindling, and various other things.

Absolutely have to go now, before I curl up on this couch and cuddle with the computer. Yeah, Ahmee would be convinced then that I'm addicted to the computer (said that to me during our talk outside-she said that for a bit there she'd thought that), lol.