So... It has been Seven Days!

Woa! Time sure flew!!! Let me catch you up to all the fun things i have been up to :)

A glipse of the destroyed city!

         Naples was a .... bleep hole hahaha to be honest. Our accomodation was great and Tom and I were able to make several friends which made it even better. I do however recommend that if travelling to Naples, you should only go for the Pizza, and if staying in Naples.... Do not go out past 6pm. IT IS HECTIC. the amount of times I or Tom have nearly met out end because of crazy drivers is much to high to count... In Naples we together... Watched Zoolander.... and.... ate Pizza.... mostly because that was the only thing we really could do... (Also we both only went there for the Pizza). On the brightside we did use it as a base point for going to Pompeii. The city of ruines is pretty stunning. The history that shrouds it is intruiging and I cannot stress how sad I am to not know more about it. It is also stunningly more complex then I could have imagined and the only restored/intact peices of architecture was the Brothel and the aphitheater. We went with a group of Great Aussies! I might be meeting up with them in Warszawa this upcoming two weeks!

         After Tom and I bid the most amazing Pisa farewell we headed straight off to Pisa our final destination together. The hostel we stayed in was by far the best. It was literally a reforemed house owned by a man named Carlos. This man literally went out of his way to make us feel at home, safe, wanted, and gave us enough free drinks at the bar he worked at to cover a few days stay! (But that is another story ahaha). Upon arrival guess who we met? TWO CANADIANS! it was great! They were even west side, so the little tension that could have existed didnt! The very first night we all decided to go see the tower. It took us a bit to get there and yes we did the most tourist thing ever, however I was kicking it down and Ashlynn (The Vacouver Girl) was holding it up. It was freaking hilarious! The pain I woke up with in my leg from all the balance was outragous. It took us several pictures and twenty mins of attempts to get it right.Or semi-decent. We returned the next day (after a wonderful night of free... non...alchoholic beverages) to see the tower in Better light. Did MORE tourist photos, then realized that there really isnt anything else to do in Pisa.

           We all layed on the grass for several hours until I convinced our group to go to the fire department. Everyone was a little shy and nervous at first but after the amazing hospitality, free beverages, tour and chance to wear the equipment/go in the trucks everyone was great! Not only did it kill an hour, it was also great to share my passion with a few others. The next day we said good bye to our Vancouver friends (as they went to Naples) and we headed to a beautiful location called Cinque Terre. This was a 5 hour hike located on the coast and GOD it was beautiful. The hike took Tom and I through 4 towns (5 however the middle town trail was closed so we had to take a train). It was stunning, the coast is so beautiful. I love it! The hike itself was easy, a little long... but the pictures and memories it created were absolutely worth it! I am so happy Tom convinced me to go there :) Good on you Tom!

             After the Hike Tom and I went back to the Hostel, grabbed a beer and basically in a manly way said we would miss each other. Cause all that emotional stuff is for wusses ;) hahaha. He was going to head west and travel through France and Spain, then slowely make his way up the the Netherlands. He might also pop by in Warsaw to see me seing as I may have my own flat :) Now that would be awesome! Packing the next day was nothing fun. Throughout my travels I am happy to say I have not bought any useless merchandise (exempting Kaeds gift) or fallen through on tourist traps. Yet my bag has grown at a huge and consistent rate of Firefighting gifts from various halls. Italy was no Exception.... the amount of shirts I have gotten is INSANE, to the point I started "accidently" forgetting them at the hostel or firedepartment. It has given me a few gift ideas though :)

A little Spartan Love in Italy

relatively smooth until I decided to get off at Zug and retrieve the package my mom had sent 2 months ago (that just arrived haha). As great as it is to have some fancy clothes, my bags did not need it- and it messed my train schedual up. I hopped onto the next available train and made my way to Zurich. Were a kind swiss girl told me there were two stations and that this was not the one I wanted (She apologized ALOT after she realised her mistake haha). Luckily another man helped me find my destination afterwards, in total this put me about 1.5 hours behind schedual. When I made it to Basel I was told their were no more trains running to Mathis's house because it was too late! ARRGHHH. Guess who spent a night at the YMCA? This guy. (Totally was not bad though, but the building was dead. I had a room of 8 and only shared it with an awesome Korean guy).

Tom Loves this Trip!!!

         The next day, after another 4 hour train ride I was in Rhienbach waiting for Mathis! Now the fact I was in such a familiar place was awesome. I love Mathis and his family as they are so good to me. It is the second day and i already have had a blast! BBQ is amazing. Tonight we are going for seconds at his Girlfriends house. Fortune is smilling on me! I am also in the midst of getting ready for Poland! Poland take 2 is going to be awesome! I will have my own flat dead center Warsaw in an amazing location (the old town). I will also be taking polish language courses and going to the gym. I am super excited and happy to be going back to Poland! I need to get my crap together with the language however so I can make new friends! Many of mine are in exam mode so bothering them will have to wait until the weekends!

Exhausted After a huge days Travel!

 Until the next post! I hope everyone is great! I am missing home!

Classical Rome, and a Night out in Naples.

NEVER thought I would take this :)

                I have to say I have done everything typical in Rome (Except for the Sisteen Chapel  because it was over 10 euros entry!). Iggy, Tom and I made our way over to the Roman Forum and Coloseum  the first day. Upon arrival to the Coloseum all our jaws literally dropped. You hear about it, you read about it, you talk about it, frick- you even play video games in it or see it on TV, but nothing could have actually prepared me for it. It's beautifully designed and the layout is extrememly complicated. We went inside without a tour guide as they cost a pretty penny and there was TONS of information on the inside if you kept your eyes open. The Roman Forum (The ruins to the side of the Coloseum ) was a beautiful Walk. This place had a lack of information and that was the only problem for me! It was gorgous!!! I highly recommend you guys check it out! If you do though make sure you buy your tickets at the Roman Forum! The line is about 30 times shorter and faster (You get a joint ticket for the Coloseum too so you can skip the line pretty much!)

A small glipse of the Vatican!

            The Hostel we stayed at was great! It is called the Yellow and I highly recomend it. It was about 80% Canadians so the pub at night was great! I had a blast hanging out with them! There was a little resturant across the street that ser ved the most amazing pasta I have had in my life. We ate there everynight and the waiter literally gave us and did a free shot with us the last night because we were so fun. The other spectacular thing we saw on our trip was the Vatican. It is the most impressive building I think I will ever see. It just shows how much power, wealth and control the church had in the middle ages. We climIt was over 551 steps and some of the passages were so narrow that a larger person would have no way of getting through (I had difficulty at some points!) Some staircases had ropes to aid you in climbing them hahaha. I highly recommend it, but it is a work out. (For an extra cost there was a elevator to take you have way up).

One of the smaller passages

                 My Visa debit card was denied at every bank in Rome the other day. I ran to the Canadian Embassy just outside of the Vatican were they let me use the phone to call CIBC. (They were also closed, it was sooo nice of them to help me I had no money. It looked like they were going to lend me some too!) CIBC said that my pin had been changed and that my account was attempted at a large withdrawl. So they locked it. I feel REALLY lucky I have that maximum withdrawl of 100 dollars (Roughly 70 euros). Everything sorted itself out and its all fixed.  I know what happened, outside of the Roma fire station I tried to use an ATM and they keys were sticky. (With a clear fluid). I tried to wipe everything around and fix it but since then I had a weird feeling. Im happy it is fixed and CIBC assured me it cannot happen again (we changed a bunch of info). So! hahaha A new story to tell about my Eurotrip :) MAFIA mhuahaha.


I am currently in Naples Italy! All I have to report is this, THE PIZZZA IS AMAZING!!!! THE BEST! BE JEALOUS!

MMMMM!

I hope all is good :) Ciao

A quick, pictureless Update!

            Rome is Fantastic! Absolutely gorgous and amazing. I left Venice on the 30th To Aunty Anne's and Uncle Gus's house. Now visiting Family was great. The villiage that they live in is rather small but is really quiet and peaceful. I think it was the perfect transition place between Venice and Roma. First off, everyone knows how amazing my Mom and her sisters are at cooking. That skill obviously runs off from Grandma. Now Aunty has the same ability. the best part about it is all of them deny it. Eating the food, and being with family did make me home sick. To top it all off they live with a wonderful view of the rockies. Aunty took me on a marvelous tour of the area and all I can say is she lives in such a BEAUTIFUL place!!! It is really sad to see all the destruction and broken buildings the earthquake in 2009 caused though. Many of the houses are in poor shape or uninhabitable. The government has not done much to fix anything yet due to poor co-ordination, planning, and generally not caring (From the impression I have gotten).

        Anyways, other then that there are a few really cool facts and stories I have about my 2 day visit with them. When I got there Aunty told me to look for a man carrying a sign with my name on it. I missed him but I heard a name call out ZAK and Uncle Gus was there. He later told Me and my aunt that he only recognized me because I walk differently and hold myself differently then Italians. He also said he knew for sure that it was me as he saw the Flag I proudly sew to the back of my backpack. Aunty Anne also brought me to a Villiage that George Clooney stayed in and shot the movie the American! Really cool!!! I was sad to leave the place so early put with the way everything looks I will be spending my last week in Europe at her place :) Seems like a good idea... the calm before the storm of getting back to work --- UGH. haha.

          Now, back to Roma. I met up with Tom, and Iggy! Turned out to be available as well so it was all great. I got into Roma at about 1;30 pm and had to wait about 3 hours for the others. First thing I did was find a fire hall and hang out there. Har har har. I know im a geek. But they were great to me. Even gave me a light jacket. I took the photo and bid my farewell as I had to meet up with the guys. As horrible as this sounds my first day in Roma was UNEVENTFUL! We walked around a bit and saw some of the sites but I cannot give you too much info as of the moment! Expect a Roman Update for tomorrow or the day after!!!

I miss you guys! I hope everything is great! I heard about the elections!! WOW.

Sorry for the pictureless post! The connection is not strong enough to upload anything. Aka. I am hungary, bored, and restless!

Love you all!!!! Except you. You know who you are.