I think too often, I haven't been writing enough and it certainly doesn't feel like I've been home for two months already. Why does time always pass me by so quickly? I think I hate it.

Itch, itch, itch.

Will it be put on hold? There are so many options afoot.

We are always packing and unpacking

Europe-sick

See you soon!

In case you havent heard yet, Barcelona took me for all I had! Ive got nothing left but clothing and my shower supplies. Makes my bag a bit lighter though, right?

Anyway! On Sunday afternoon my backpack was taken whilst I ate lunch. It contained pretty much everything pertaining to my trip, most importantly my journal and photos. Jenna has been kindly supporting me the past few days, luckily also buying me a very tacky journal. So I have been spending my time trying to recap everything that went missing from my old one. A bit of luck, but a lot of work!

They are unable to get me a passport with my work visa and everything, plus the expense of replacing the things I need to travel with (Railpass, etc), the solution is to come home, pay everything off, sort everything out and begin again! Guess I get to see Eastern Europe next time ... that part isnt so bad!

I will be in debt probably for the next month or so, but I already have a shift at the ice cream shop Sunday night at 6! Best job!

So, I will be back in Regina Friday night at 1030, lets hangout? I will be on the beach until then, just making sure my sunburn is in full effect. Hahaha. Shit. I will take the time to update about our roadtrip and the past week when I am home, or we can just talk about it in person!

Pretty excited for my longboard and Arts Fest though. Not going to lie!
Love, Ashley

I wrote half a blog and am now being kicked off the computer. Shit! I put a few photos of our roadtrip and Spain up. All of the photos will be out of wack from now on seeing as how I havent even put up any of Venice.

Ah well!
Ash

DEAR FAM AND FRIENDS!

I have so much exciting news but no time to write all of it right now! Let me just sum it up into a few explanations.

The train to Barcelona was full, a woman and her son we have stayed in a couple hostels with rented a car, we took a roadtrip through the South of France, stayed in a Bed and Breakfast (a cute countryside home with shutters and a pool!), saw some sweet French towns, caught the train in Avignon this afternoon with only a half hour wait!

Had trouble finding accomodation tonight, so its a bit overpriced but we will deal. I will fill in details about the roadtrip soon!

Love Ash

Nice

It has been a couple of days! We arrived in Nice four days ago (I think) and have enjoyed our hostel thoroughly. One of our favourites so far! We are staying in Villa Saint Exupery just on the outside of Nice. The hostel runs a nine passenger van back and forth from the tram stop every fifteen minutes in the morning and at night, which makes it really accessible and easy to get transport into the city!

When we arrived they had just become fully booked but luckily they are prepared for that situation and have eight bunks set up in the basement of the hostel. So we slept in the 'dungeon' our first night which wasn't all bad, but we're now sleeping in a dorm with other ladies. The Villa Saint is rated the top hostel in France, and its certainly making that impression on us so far! The front desk has information about the city and tours, and they have day trips that you can take. There are options of sailing, scuba diving, canyoning, rock climbing and french lessons, among other things. We were really hoping to go canyoning but since its still a bit of a low season and the water is still freezing, not many people had signed up so we didnt get the chance. Bummer! We did however spend and afternoon up in Eze and in Monaco, and this afternoon we took the bus to Cannes and just sat on the beach for while. Where unfortunately Jenna got sand in my camera lense. We are going camera shopping tomorrow. BAH. But its our only large misfortune so far which I am thankful for!

We have spent every evening in our hostel being up until two or four am, just mingling with other travellers and we have met some really great people! We love it here but unfortunately its our last night tonight and then we are going to be leaving for Barcelona tomorrow.

We have read up/heard about the Swine Flu and are all caught up now (not having been paying attention to news in the world right now really). Its made its way into Austria, Germany and England too - so our travels to Spain aren't going to be delayed. We are just going to follow through with our plan and hope that we dont catch it!

Hope all is well at home, my apologies for the short post and lack of posts lately! I guess we have just been making too many friends! WEIRD.

Hope the snow melts soon!
Love, Ash

Football!

A quick post here as we await to check into our new hostel!

Our day yesterday became action-packed at a pretty quick rate so I figure I may as well fill you guys in!

We ended up not being able to find where we had seen the directions to the Chocolate and Cheese Factory, and having already left the hostel, we wandered to the Botanical Gardens instead! It was a sure site to see and we spent about an hour or so just wandering. It was so peaceful. From there we made a stop at the post office and sat to decided what to do - we were planning on leaving for our hike after dinner to catch the sunset so we had a few hours to kill. We ended up grabbing McFlurries (ha) and sitting at the fountain across from the Tram Stop for some assured interesting people-watching. We spent almost two hours there!

We dropped back into the hostel to eat some leftovers for dinner and look for a place to stay in Lausanne (where we are currently). While browsing the internet, a German guy came to make some polite drunken chat with us, asking about our travelling and why we were here. Then six more of them emerged and next thing we new we were drinking free beer in the hostel visiting with some serious characters. They were quite a hoot, one bigger guy pumping some serious techno from his phone and dancing throughout the commons area. They explained to us how they were huge hockey fans and how they take trips all across Europe to watch hockey and football (soccer), a few of them having even gone to Halifax just for hockey and drinking!

They explained to us that there was a minor league game that night and they invited us along. We were a bit skepitcal until it became clear that it was already seven and there was no chance we were going to make it to the hill for sunset. We joined them as did an American guy, Kevin who was also staying in the hostel. They assured us there would be tickets and scoped out scalpers for us (how nice of them! hahaha). While we waited with one of them, he explained to us that this stadium was nothing compared to German or English football games, for it only sat 10 000 and typically they go to games where it seats 90 000. There were thousands of people still packed outside of the stadium chanting and drinking beer like crazy. Some guys had just bags of it between their feet, chugging it before they entered.

Two of the German guys were cops who get to control riots and fights at football games in Germany and he explained that of the 90 000 seats and the people that wait outside of the stadium, usually more than half are waiting outside just to start a brawl. And that if Eastern Germany were playing Western Germany they have a lot of problems with Nazis too. Still, he said that England is worse but if we arent the kind of people to call on the other team that we would be alright. Hahaha.

For having it been a smaller stadium and not sold out, there was still a handful of people there, some with huge flags and lucky us we were with the kind of guys who chanted throughout the entire game. Which allowed for serious laughter and good photos. I should have you all know that we had no idea what most of the chants were (They were in German), but we took pride in good ole SK and did a few rider and defense chants during the game.

Afterward we caught the tram back to the hostel and went dancing at the bar underneath. Jenna and I wore our Ladies Night shirts and danced like there was no tomorrow. Which allowed for most of the people in the bar to assume we were hammered but we had only had two or three beer. The Germans on the other hand had been drinking since the afternoon and were completely wasted, doing the twist and letting us spin them while one person was designated to take photos. When we get the photos I will make sure that they get posted!

We made an agreement with the big guy, Gustoph, that if he woke up early and bought groceries that we would make breakfast. So we went to bed around three, not expecting Gustoph or any of the Germans in fact to make it for breakfast. With a little knock on our door this morning Gustoph was awake and gleaming as we made breakfast for two of them while the others were already pre drinking for the Junior Hockey Championships this afternoon.

All in all, the Germans were great - dance ringtones and all. And we are sure that the Swiss people and the Germans too, believe that all Canadians love to dress ridiculously and are dancing machines.

Miss you all!

Switzerland

Dear Family and friends,

We had decided to change up our plans just a bit, with our number of rides left on our rail pass and the places we were looking to see, we came to the conclusion that it would make more sense to do Eastern Europe on its own another trip. SO, we skipped Hungary and the Czech Republic as planned and moved up North into Switzerland. I personally didnt know what we were getting ourselves into, since Ive never really taken much of an interest in Switzerland before.

The seven hour train ride from Venice to Milan, Milan to Brig, Brig to Bern - dumbfounded me entirely. I still cannot believe that in the span of a couple of hours how much can change! Once we crossed the boarded between Italy and Switzerland, it was like being in an entirely new world. The shutters on the windows still apparent, but the mountains, lakes, greenery, log homes and gingerbread-house-feel became apparent very quickly!

We have been in Bern now since Tuesday and the Swiss have shown us nothing but hospitality and a sense of home! The streets are so nicely paved, the trams wizz by with not a sound (which is nice, but no so nice if you arent paying attention to where you are walking!), the sidewalks are clean and they drive like decent people here! The people are laid-back and friendly, and each street you walk down has a vintage feel. The houses are gorgeous and the yards so well maintained! Grandma, you wouldnt believe the gardens and antique stores here. We have done our fair share of browsing and if I could afford/transport half of these things to you I would do it in a minute!

We spent our first evening just looking around, wandering into the more Modern area of the city and paying more than necessary for a hot chocolate from Starbucks (it was necessary, we hadnt had a good hot chocolate the entire trip!). We woke up early yesterday to get a head start. We bought groceries (there is a kitchen in our hostel!), made breakfast and set out to RopeTech. Costing 30 Swiss Francs, RopeTech is a ropes course just on the edge of town. Looking hot in our harnesses and helmets, we started at the third level (each level divided by difficulty). SO, we climbed ladders, crossed the tight rope and zip lined (that was the best part) through the trees of Switzerland at a pretty quick pace, loving every minute! NOW. Jenna and I both loved the zip line an equal amount, and when we were on the sixth level I think it was, there was a huge one and I got a bit carried away. Jumped for some serious speed (break-shin speed we call it now), a bit too fast and managed to bash my shins, currently flaunting about 2 or 3 foot bruises on each one. OUCH! A bit sore, we made our way to the seventh level. Lets just cut it short and say that I hate climbing across the rope nets and shimmying upside down from one end of the rope to the other. The swinging logs got the best of me and I quit just before the great ziplines that came afterward AND a freefall! Bummed!

We sat and ate our picnic lunch, then set out to window shop (one of our favourite past times). We also paid 6 Francs and took a tour of Einsteins former home, where he lived for three years. It was in those three years that he was acknowledged for his theories, so the Swiss take pretty great pride in that! It was really interesting. We got back to the hostel around seven, made some spaghetti (still delicious!), and bummed around for the rest of the evening.

Today we slept in big time, and are planning on heading to the Chocolate Factory and the Cheese Factory, and then hiking up on of the paths to get the best view of Bern at sunset. Romantic, I know.

I should also mention that our people-watching past time has gotten fairly out of hand, and Dad you wouldnt have believed our fate on our train ride here! We had about an hour wait in the train station in Milan - where we witnessed such people as Bullfrog, an old woman with six suitcases who sat upright, falling asleep on a regular basis but eyes springing open at almost any sign of movement. Snarl-woman, who managed to raise her lip like Elvis each time she glared at anybody. Wedgie-man, who stood in his suit trying to casually rid himself of his wedgie without anybody noticing. We noticed. Hilarious! I cant even begin with the people who were seated in our car with us.

All in all, Switzerland rules, I wish I had my longboard (the streets are so smooth and biking is a huge thing here - bike rentals for free beginning on the 26th!), I will be back someday WITH my longboard, we leave tomorrow for Geneve, then France and I hope we get free samples at the chocolate factory today.

I wish I could have packed all of you in my backpack with me, and miss all of you terribly!

Love, Ash

Just so you all know, I added a couple of new photos and cant put up anymore until May! We leave for Bern, Switzerland on Tuesday!

Love Ash

Venezia

Dear family and friends,

We arrived in Venice yesterday evening after a days worth of train-hopping and Mcdonalds-eating. Thank god our hostel was pretty easy to find, just caught a boat straight from the train station! We threw our things into our lockers and set out to wander around Venice - find out where the necessary things were (grocery store, laundry service, etc) and to find dinner. To our dismay the small island we are on (across from the main island) contains nothing of interest and no places to eat within our price range. We settled for a place just down the block, where we ate ear-shaped pasta, rock hard bread and bite size pieces of bruschetta for the low low price of 15€..AWESOME! Naht. Good thing Jenna threw out her back half way through the dinner service which made for a quick exit. She could barely rise from her chair so I helped her with her backpack and watched her try to walk out casually. While Jenna was disfigured and could barely walk, I took the liberty of signing the guest book with the comment of overpriced. Hahaha. Stiff-armed and moving only from the waist down, watching Jenna waddle up the steps of the hostel was HILARIOUS. She "chuck norrised" her back back into place once we were out of view of the public and all was back to normal. We showered and hit the sack.

We spent this afternoon wandering in the rain (yes, more rain) - Mainly wandering throughout the sidestreets and wishing that Venice were our home..(Though Cinque Terre will still remain my favourite!).

I havent had the chance to mention the rest of our Cinque Terre extravaganza! Our first day in Cinque Terre was a bit of a downer due to the rain, but around dinner the sky cleared up and we decided to head down to the water with a couple of beer to watch the sunset. We ended up meeting up with a couple of girls whom we had seen around town. We sat down at the "bar centrale"
(the only place that was open), and the girl who was travelling with her mother offered to buy some wine. We ended up drinking with the two of them, and a group of American guys also joined us. We all had a really great time and ended up staying out later than we had anticipated!

This gave us a bit of a late start the next morning, but we caught the train to Monterosso by 130 in the afternoon and began our hike. I should have you all know that from now on you can refer to me as the new Rocky, because the number of stairs we climbed was outrageous. Its been two days and I still feel the burn! The stairs up that hill were twice the heigth of an average Canadian stair and we climbed stairs (upward almost always) for the first three hours of our hike. The view was BEAUTIFUL and I would do it again, but I would probably walk the stairmaster on a regular basis before I return to Italy! Through the last two towns (Manorola and to Riomaggiore) the hike was more of a saunter, no stairs, just a short stroll. We ate dinner in Manorola - Jenna had Spaghetti and meat sauce and I had Spinach and Ricotta stuffed Ravioli with Pesto and Walnuts! MMMMMM. Cheap and delicious!

We miss Cinque Terre terribly already, but Venice is a sure treat. We are hoping the weather clears up sometime soon!

Hope all is well at home!
Love, Ash

Goodbye Florence, Ciao Bella Cinque Terre!

Dear Everybody,

How are you! We are doing pretty great over here! We left Florence yesterday with the faulty directions of the Italians and had to switch a few trains to get here, but we made it and found a place to stay no problem! We are currently in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre - a really great place right on the coast of the Meditteranean. It was quite a treat when we rolled in yesterday, it was igh twenties and the train station is right on the edge of a big ole cliff, so we got off to look right onto the sea. It was so great.

We are staying in a ten person dorm, but have managed to swindle into a room on our own - which is also pretty great. The beds and pillows arent quite as comfortable, and the kitchen not nearly as equiped as the last, but the scenery sure kicks Florence in the butt. Dont get me wrong I love Florence all in its own, but holy crap. Cinque Terre is already a new favourite!

Riomaggiore is just one of the five villages within Cinque Terre, there are various hiking routes that run through each of the villages - each with its own difficulty level. We were planning on catching the train to Monterosso this morning and hiking back on the main path, which is estimated to take 5 or 6 hours - except that we awoke to a rainy day, and most of the paths are closed due to the fact that they will be too slippery/dangerous to hike through. Bah humbug! So our fingers are crossed that tomorrow will warm up, if not then the next day, and if not then I dont know how long we can wait around in a small town - even if it is beautiful!

For now, we have our beds booked until Saturday when we are schedualed to check out, but the woman promised that we could stay up until November first. I tried to swindle that I would clean the dorms if she let me live for free, but she only laughed..I was serious!


I guess I havent updated much about Florence really - thing is we wandered about a lot, suntanned a fair amount and just lounged around and rested up from Rome. We a slice of pizza three days in a row at this great place called Pizzeria ToTo and a fair amount of gelato. It was HOT while we were in Florence - we are both so tanned. I also had the chance to meet up with the Sheldon Europe 09 group, Mr Sveinson treated Jenna and I to some gelato and a few brews, he also delivered mail from Danielle! Yahoo! We got to visit with him and he strongly urged us to hit up Cinque Terre on our way to Venice - Thank You, Mr S! Tuesday evening we ate out ( how weird!) at a small ristorante called Dell Angollo, where I ate the largest calzone known to man! Then we met with Mr Sveinson and teachers, drank a beer and made our way to Space Electric, a rockin (hahaha) disco near our hostel, where we got in for free because he explained that we were chaperones! Which also entitled us to three or four free drinks! Right on!

I should also mention that we took a five hour saunter up to Piazzale Michaelangelo to catch a view of Florence, hoping to wander through some really great gardens, only to discover that they cost 10€, so we just took the long way instead. We did manage to see some really great houses along the way, and devised plans to marry sleazy Italian men and then divorce them and take the villa in our name. Just kiddig. I think.

Anyway, fingers crossed that tomorrow the sun will come out and we can do the hike. So bummed about this afternoon!

I miss you all at home and wish you were seeing these great sites with us.

Love, Ash

I put a couple of more photos up!

Much love.

Flickr!

Dear friends and fam,

I have spent just over an hour uploading photos one-by-one onto my flicker account. None the less, there are a couple on there, only the gems though! More to come sometime soon.

Much love,
Tre

www.flickr.com/ashleypclark

Florence!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Our day hasnt been very busy thus far, actually we have spent a fair amount of our day and a half in Florence taking advantage of our really great hostel and relaxing, lazing around. Not anymore though! We are all relaxed and raring to see the city.

We are staying in Ciao Hostel, a few minute walk from the train station, right in the center of town so everything is accessible, which is great. The hostel only opened a week or so ago so everything is brand new - new showers (hot and with pressure!), great beds, great pillows, and a really great kitchen. Which allows us for homemade meals. We made spaghetti the other night and felt ike we were on top of the world! We ate it for two nights and tonight we are making baked potatoes, corn and chicken with lemon/oregano. We are really great cooks, you know! Anyway this is a short update wishing you all a happy easter, we love Florence, I am going to get to visit with Mr Sveinson tomorrow, and we had rooftop hangouts ontop of our hostel last night.

Its really great up there!
Much love,
Ash

Roma

Ciao Bella!

It has been a few days since I posted but I have been hoping to toss all of Romes adventures into one post. And since we have to wait for our laundry to be done it seems like an okay time to do it!

We spent our first day touring Rome on a walking extravaganza. We are too cheap to pay for the Metro (which is only 1€ hahaha), but we also wanted to see the city. Nearly everything was within sauntering distance so we made pretty good time. We made our way to the Spanish Steps first, then the Trevi fountain - which you all should know was oversized and so gorgeous. We made a wish and tossed in our coin - which I learned afterward that if you only toss one coin it means for a quick return to Rome. More travelling! From there we made our way to the Pantheon which was also a sure site to see. The dome was absolutely perfect and lucky us the sun was shining for decent photos! From there climbed up the steps of the Vittorio Emanuele II monument, which gave us a great view of Rome and the Colesseum! We also obtained a sunburn and horrendus tan lines. Great!

Exhausted we hit up the grocery store and stocked up on things (wishing they were as cheap as in Greece) and made our way back to the hostel. M&J Hostel is by far the best hostel that we have stayed in so far on the trip, allowing us for decent sleeps in pretty great beds. Our roomates have been pretty great so far, only 6 of us altogether this time. We met a couple who have been travelling in Africa for three months and are travelling Europe for a month until they head back to England, and a few others but we havent taken much time to get to know them really. The people change so often that it is hard to keep track or maintain some sort of friendship.

We spent Tuesday at the Coloseum - not wanting to wait in the huge lineup, we paid a few dollars extra and took a guided tour throughout it and the Palatine Hill. The ruins there still give a pretty good idea of the castle that used to lie there, and let me tell you, a six foot throne doesnt sound like such a bad idea! Haha. So unnecessary! Tuesday also happened to be Ladies Night! Lucky us! We decided that we may as well attend a pub crawl while we are here, seeing as we get free drinks and dinner AND a nice pink tshirt, so stylish, it seemed worth the deal we got. We went to four different pubs and met quite a few people. We met a couple of girls from Canada who are teaching just outside of London, and gave me some contact info so that I might be able to get a job as a TA (if I cant find any other) with their reccomendation. We hung around with them and some hilarious kids from DC who we are hanging out with later tonight as we attend the Queen Tribute band at an Irish Pub! All in all, the pubcrawl was much a success, myself taking more advantage of the free beer than Jenna (she is a tank, and I am not) so it ended it plenty of singing and dancing. PLENTY of singing.

We were a bit of a sore and tired mess yesterday after the pub crawl, Jenna not as much as I was but we still managed to get out none the less. We had been planning to go to the Vatican because it had been suggested to go later in the afternoon to avoid the lineups, but by the time we got there and saw Saint Peters we decided to tour it for free ourselves and we would go to the Vatican this afternoon. St Peters was quite the site, 3/4 of it being done by Michaelangelo and the other 1/4 by a man whose name I cant quite put my finger on. From there we went back to the hostel where we complained about sore bodies and being tired and went to bed around 8.

This morning we woke up early and made our way to the Vatican! Again, not wanting to stay in line we paid a bit extra for the guided tour which was really fantastic. The tour guide was a woman from Edmonton who majors in Art History and gave us our moneys worth for sure. The highlight of the tour was the Sistine Chapel, where I stood around with my jaw open for twenty minutes. It is simply fantastic and in such good condition. You arent allowed to speak or take photos but I did manage to snap one without them taking my camera away! We also saw the rooms by Raphael which were also a jaw dropper. These men had some serious talent. Michaelangelo spent four years working in the Sistine Chapel all on his own! The tour guide also let us know that he didnt shower and would wear the same pair of shoes without taking them off until they simply fell off of his feet. A homely but genius man for sure.

OH, I should also mention that we got another number this afternoon from the man signing us up for the tour of the Vatican, and that Jenna who swindled a knife from a restaurant accidently left it in her backpack and got into the Vatican with it because the guards were hitting on her. The officials here are worse for hitting on us than the actual people. Its almost scary.

Anyway, before this times out and I lose the entire blog, I would like you all to know that I miss you a lot! I will try and update this a bit more often but its so hard when it costs us money! I also tried uploading photos the other evening but the computer kept freezing when I tried to use my flicker. Therefore, there are TWO photos on my facebook - one of the trevi fountain and the other of me atop the Acropolis!

Much love!
Tre

Oh, Medusa

Ciao Bella!

We arrived in Italy two days ago, after spending our time in Patras with our friend and his underwear. The ferry ride was long and probably the worst sleep yet on our trip, our seats consisted mainly of airplane like seats in a dark room. No. Good.

We spent two days in a small town on the coast named Brindisi in a hostel named Carpe Diem! It was the only hostel in the small place, but welcoming and homey none the less. Our roomate, on the other hand, was a bit off. Upon arrival we were introduced to her by her stuff scattered throughout an entire corner of the room. Around five suitcases, her own computer (not laptop, computer), and an array of things about the desk. She came in around dinner and made quite the impression upon us. She was probably around fourty or fifty years old with purple hair and large fur coats with high boots. She only spoke Spanish mostly, but managed to make a bit of conversation with us before she took out her tattoo gun. Yes, tattoo gun! She chatted away on her cellphone as she put the gun together. Once she was off of her phone she began tattooing herself. She was shocking. I named her Medusa due to her outline on her lower back. Gross!

Brindisi was not much but on our last afternoon the man who owned the hostel and a few girls that work there were heading out to the beach to watch some boat races and invited us along. We raced through Brindisi out to one of its two castles, where we broke in past the military confinement (haa) and sat to eat strawberries. It was pretty great.

We caught the train at six this morning to Rome, where it is hot and overwhelming. We had been planning to saunter into a hostel and assume for open beds (because that has been our plan thus far) only to discover that nearly every hostel in Rome was full for tonight. AH! We are currently checked in to M&J Hostel, a short walk from the Termini Train Station, and we have booked it up until Thursday evening. Rome is expensive, so we had sought out to find a grocery store and were unsuccessful due to it being Sunday evening. We ate at a small Pizzeria where we spent too much on mediocre Italian food. I ate the canneloni with spinach and ricotta cheese. Though, the waiter did give us complimentary shots and his phone number.

The second one we have gotten so far!

Anyway, we are going to do our best to tour Rome on our own due to the fact that this hostel costs reasonably more than the others we have been in.

DK, the settings say the date is set to be in the blog so I am confused as to why it is not there. Today is Sunday April 5!

Much love,
Ash

The Coast

Well, we had been planning to catch the ferry to Italy yesterday, until my Eurrail Timetable is completely off and our timing was hours off. We packed up and left Hostel Aphrodite - without getting lost this time, and made our way to the train station to catch a train to Patras, Greece. Upon arrival we had to wait two hours for the next train, so we spent our time in the cafeteria where I ate the most fantastic grilled sandwich for only 2 euro! We left ten minutes early to wait for the train, and as we made our way up the stairs a train with only 2 cars was leaving. We missed it by thirty seconds. The security figure told us we would have to wait until 530 and that we might be able to change our tickets, we went back to the box the man who sold us our tickets rushed us out giving us directions on which Metro trains to take and we might be able to catch it in the next city. Rushing around up and down flights of stairs, asking for directions, hopping on about 4 or 5 Metros we eventually caught our train in Kiatos with five minutes to spare, which finally gave Jenna some time to use the washroom.

Our train ride was around 2 or 3 hours, straight down the coast of Greece. It was picturesque - the way you would figure Greece to be. We arrived in Patras around six thirty. It's a beautiful place - and hot! We were instructed to ask at the Eurrail office for our tickets to Brindisi, turns out it closes around 5 like a regular business, so our next option was to find a hostel. About 1km down the main road they said there was a youth hostel so we made our way in that direction. Patras is fantastic, we have been regretting our time in Athens wishing we'd have been here instead. The hostel was an easy find and was in an old building - vespas out front, shutters on the windows, huge trees and a welcoming entrance. For 12 euro we stayed in the hostel, and even managed to swindle the room with the balcony! The door to our room was 7 or 8 feet high with tinted windows and the shutters open onto the balcony. We were dumbfounded. Set up our bed (Grandma, I used my sleepsack for the first time last night, it worked so well!) and went out to wander the city.

The sun was setting so we sat on the waters edge and took a few photos, a few islands are in eyes view though we aren't sure if anything is really over there or not. We sat for awhile and since Jenna eats like a monster, food was the next option. Most small places were closed so we went to a pizza place next to our hostel and ate, sorry, scarfed spaghetti. Then we hit the sack.

This morning we woke up early to the most hilarious site we've witnessed on our trip so far. We prepared ourselves for the great showers that the hostel offered (or they looked great anyway), so I stumbled out the door and saw a VERY old man in his tshirt and underwear. Speedo pretty much. I turned around and slammed the door laughing histerically. So I figured he just didn't think anyone would be up and was going to wander to the washroom. I figured wrong. We stood in the shower area and he came around the corner AGAIN in his speedo and Jenna and I are just killing ourselves laughing, then the man is stretching in the hallway. HA HA HA. Anyway, that was the last we saw of him. Our showers were FREEZING and not great at all. We made our way to the Eurrail office and got our tickets for the ferry which doesn't leave until midnight tonight. Since we are homeless, and hosteless, we spent a few hours down by the Ionian Sea - getting sunburnt and napping, then swung by the grocery store for snacks for our 14 hour ferry ride, now in the internet cafe and will probably head back to the sea-side for the rest of the evening.

Can't wait for Italy!

Love, Ash

Ouzo

Well, we arrived in Athens yesterday after another long day and a half of travelling. Let me just throw it out there that unless you're standing atop the Acropolis, Athens is probably one of the slummiest places Ive ever been. We got here in the late afternoon and decided to overthrow our jetlag by going for a wander in our area. Bad idea.

In Athens, each street looks similar to the last, so map-less and clueless, we wandered and were lost for about three hours. It also isn't too helpful when the locals are all giving you seperate directions to where they think the hostel is. We conversed with roommates (only 8 this time) and then headed down to the bar for our free shot of Ouzo - a Greek liquor made from distilled grapes. It tastes like Sambuka but with a bit more of a burn I suppose! The bar doesn't make dinner on Mondays so a group of us headed around the corner for some Kebabs..3.50 for two very filling Grecian delights! We headed back to the bar and sipped on Sex on the Beach, Strawberry Martinis, Beers and more Ouzo until calling it quits - we had to be up early this morning for a 6 hour walking tour of Athens.

Jenna didn't make it. Hahaha.

So this morning I took a stroll to the grocery store to grab some fruit and water before the ten of us embarked on six hours of treking throughout Athens. It was long but fantastic. We got out of the slums and saw the Parliament (including a large protest as the people attempt to overthrow their Government), the Presidents house, the Olympic Stadium, and then up to the Acropolis. Treking up the Acropolis while its 25 plus was a bit to get used to, but fantastic none the less.

Now for lounging, laundry, showering and more kebabs tonight Im sure. This is our last night in Hostel Aphrodite until we hop a train tomorrow to Patras. The plan from here is to spend our night there and then get on the ferry to Corfu where we are hoping to get a room at the Pink Palace.

Pictures sometime soon! Jenna took the entire afternoon to load hers and I dont think I've got the patience. Hope you're all well at home!

Love, Ash

Mind the Gap!

We have finally settled in - only to be leaving tonight! You know, I was fairly overwhelmed with this city at first, and even considered that this year might take much longer than expected. Except that after today I love it already.

We spent the entirety of the afternoon yesterday napping..uhh, haha. And found a nice grocery store where we have been buying excessive amounts of fresh produce and good food - for so cheap! We woke up early this morning and ate breakfast in the hostel, amongst our 19 roomates - yes, nineteen! Even the washrooms are unisex, the showers are not, don't worry! We hopped on the tube to the Wellington Arch and took a two hour tour of the royal part of London - including watching changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, seeing the parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye and Westminister Abbey.

Tonight we catch the tube around ten or so to the train station, where we catch a train to the airport and then wait around until 4am when we can check our baggage for our flight to Greece.
We will probably be napping tomorrow afternoon, as well.

Hope all is well!

London, England

We arrived in England this morning, completely exhausted due to almost an entire day of travelling - but we are here safe and have found our hostel no problem! It's raining a bit but tomorrow should be sunny and warm. We ate an english breakfast this morning at a small joint called Giraffe and drank a bit of tea. Now, we don't know what to make of ourselves.

Wandering it is!

Danielle, there is a postcard in the mail for you already.
Talk soon!

Ashley

ARRIVEDERCI

The followthrough.

" You must believe totally in the lives of the people and the places where you find yourself, even if it causes you to lose faith in the life you left behind."

Round and round and round it goes

where it stops, nobody knows.