A couple months in....

I have been home for about a month and a half now, and I feel like my Europe blog needs to be wrapped up. So here are my thoughts...

I can't believe how lucky I am to have had this opportunity. I had moments, especially in Paris, as I was wandering around by myself, where I was just completely overtaken with emotion about where life has led me and the ridiculous opportunities I have been handed. I know the way I live and the choices I make leave room for, and probably invite adventures. I go back and forth all the time about wanting to get a "real" job and get settled in for a while....buy an actual bed- it would be nice to have a little normalcy sometimes (not to mention a bit of money in the bank)...but then I worry about what I could be missing out on by doing that. I worry...back and forth, back and forth...and have recently decided there isn't any point in worrying. It is all about faith...God has certainly closed and opened many different doors throughout the past few years...and I just need to keep myself open to anything. And that is exciting. So I'm excited. What could possibly be next?

Here are some things I miss about being in Europe:
-good food. more accurately, good bread and pastries. I sooo miss a yummy croissant in the morning (or any time of day, let's be honest).
-simplicity of life. We are so lazy here...there is a new gadget or some new form of technology every five seconds that is made to make our lives easier, and make us lazier and lazier. While it took some time to get used to, especially in Barcelona, I miss having to put a little effort out to get something accomplished. Have you seen Wall-E? Sometimes that is how I feel being back here.
-language. The language difference was harder than I expected it to be when I first left. But after getting used to it...I miss my brain having to constantly try to figure out what is being communicated...having to figure out body language and anticipate what questions they might be asking. The risk of ordering something new off a menu because I have no idea what it says. My brain misses being challenged in that way.
-beauty for the sake of being beautiful. Luckily, I live in Seattle, which I have to say, is probably one of the most naturally beautiful places any where. If I didn't, I don't know what I would do. Everything about Europe is beautiful. Just for the sake of it. Art is everywhere. I miss walking around a corner to find another amazing building or church, that people just expect to see, because it is everywhere.
-my time. I have beenn trying really hard not to overextend myself since I have been home, like I used to do. I am trying to keep my schedule as minimal as possible. but I still always find a need to be seeing someone, or getting something accomplished. I had a lot of me time in Europe. Due to the language difference, and the lack of knowing people. I know a lot of people have a hard time spending that much time by themselves, but I really liked it. I loved sitting and reading in a park, not having any kind of schedule to return to.
-no tv option. all the channels were in other languages, so I never watched tv...I read so much over there. I have actually done a prretty good job of avoiding the tv since I have been home. I haven't started up watching my old regular shows...although I did get into watching Friday Night Lights on DVD...great show, by the way. I am still keeping up with the reading, and finally got a Seattle Public Library card...brilliant, how have I never had one of these before?!
-And of course...the kids. I hear songs all the time that remind me of them. Which I love...it was so great how musical they were/are...and how I was able to influence them into loving Disney..haha. I miss their little performances. And the loud yells of "Eryn!!!" followed by knock-me-over hugs when I picked them up from school.

But don't worry...I am o-so happy to be home. It has been a bit of a transition...and I am working hard on staying positive about the normal. It's all about PMA, right? So here is what I am happy about, now that I am home:
-my family. Truly, the best. I love seeing them often. It was great to come home right around the holidays when everything is about family.
-my friends. It is so comforting to know that I can leave for 7 months and come back to jump right in to my friendships. My friends have gone through a lot in the past year, and while there was always email, it was hard not being around to hang out and chat- but I am so grateful that I was able to come home and get back into all of their lives.
-convenience. both a love and hate thing. I have to admit, everything is sooo much easier here.
-chatting. I love chatting. with strangers in a coffee shop, the retail clerk at the store, etc. I def got used to not being able to have conversations with people because of the language thing, but I love being back and being able to chat. I have to say though, I was a little nosy when I first returned. I just wasn't used to being able to understand the conversations going on around me...so I found myself eavesdropping all the time.
-Twilight. yeah, as in, the vampire books. Hehe. I missed the whole craze while I was gone, and in an attempt to re-bond with my little sister after returning, I decided to give the first book a read. And I definitely joined the millions of 'tween girls who are obsessed with dreamy vampires. Which is funny, seeing as I had an irrational fear of vampires when I was a kid. I read the books, much too quickly...and have seen the movie...and have the soundtrack- mostly for the Robert Pattinson songs (the dreamy vampire is a musician...c'mon, so not fair.) And I am embarrasingly obsessed. Oh well.

There are more, but I'm getting tired of writing. Which brings me to my next subject...while I am waiting it out through our lovely economic time right now, I am working at Starbucks (3rd and Madison-the Wells Fargo building...come say hi, I usually work in the mornings), and have decided to make an attempt at writing a book. I jsut feel like it is important for me to get some creative energy out, and I really enjoyed writing this blog...so why not? I am making myself sit for 2 hours everyday to work on it, and while I am totally overwhelmed with the whole thing...I am really enjoying it.

On that note, I am going to say goodbye to my erynineurope blog, but will be starting a new blog. I am going to write every friday. A five point Friday. I'll just have five thoughts from my week, or about whatever, each Friday. I got the idea from Sarah Dessen's blog. She is a young adult author that I have been reading lately- both because I like her books and more for book research purposes. So my new blog is at erynonfriday.blogspot.com. The Europe blog was for all of you to be able to follow me on my travels...this one is more for me. I never liked the blogging concept before, but I am a big fan now. So feel free to read about my friday five...or not.

Hope you are well.

The rest of Italy..and I made some new friends...

It has been awhile folks, I was away from the internet for a few days. I have had quite the adventure since I last left you.

After I left Roma…so sad, by the way…I took the train to Florence. My card was taken by the machine in Istanbul, so I haven’t been able to make reservations at hostels lately…I just look them up ahead of time and show up- hope they have room for me. Which is what I did in Florence, and it worked out just fine. I ended up in this huge hostel, which is run very well…pretty much everyone I have talked to that has been to Florence has stayed at this hostel. It was definitely more professional than the other two I had stayed at…but that kind of gave it an impersonal feel. I was referred to by my bed number when I went to breakfast. But, it was clean and safe.
Florence was….nice. I wasn’t overly thrilled with it. It was pretty and everything…but just not much going on. I discovered that I am, in fact, a big city girl. I arrived in the afternoon so I went out exploring a bit…went and found the famous gelati place…you know, the place that CREATED ice cream. Seriously…what would life be like if this place never existed…it would be a sad, sad world. As I was walking to the gelati place, I was stopped by an attractive Italian fellow in the street who invited me in to his wine shop for a tasting. They sold wine, olive oils and vinegars…so I tasted everything. I REALLY liked the aged balsamic vinegar and the olive oil with truffles…really good. And I tried two white wines and three red wines, then tried three different kinds of limoncello and then he had me try some grappa…which was grosso. Very fun…he spoke pretty good English and we joked around a bit…as I was leaving he gave me his card and wrote down the bar where he works at night and told me to stop by. I figured I would stop by the NEXT night, so as not to seem overly eager. Hehe. I had dinner at the hostel that night, to save some money and went to bed.

Woke up bright and early… the hostel has free city tours every morning at 10am, so I met up for that. It was a three hour tour that took us to all the major sites…definitely a nice perk of staying at that hostel. After the tour, I went back for some more gelato, of course. I went to a great local trattoria for dinner…one of those places where everyone in there was a regular, but the waiters were totally nice to this American. They sat me at a table with a few of the regulars, who didn’t speak English, but were so friendly and told me the best way to eat each of my courses. Apparently you put a little olive oil in your soup and it is delicious…which was totally true.

After dinner, I was on my way to stop in at the cute wine sellers bar, when I got harassed by some guy on the street. (not really harassed, but wouldn’t leave me alone) He kept asking me if I wanted to go to the disco, and I said no, I was planning on having a low key night…and that my parents were waiting for me, so I had to go. Finally, I got away, but then on my way out of the square, was stopped by another guy…argh, so frustrating. So, long story short, I never made it to the bar. Oh well.

So I was searching through my guide book, trying to decide which part of Italy I should go to next…since I didn’t want to stay in Florence for another day…everywhere I looked that was nearby didn’t really have affordable lodging…until I remembered one of my original ideas…and I headed out to the Cinque Terre. I figured I would give myself two days there and cut out one of my Venice days, since Venice is ridiculously expensive anyway.

So I hopped the train, and made it in to one of the villages. I followed a group of six guys to the hostel I found online and the hostel man showed us to our room. It was actually a separate apartment building down the street. I had my own room, but was sharing this apartment with these guys. I put my stuff away and headed out in search of the walking path. It is supposed to take five hours to walk the entire path from village one to village five. Since it was already 2, I figured I would just hike to the 3rd village and take the train back, and then do the others on my next day. Well, I started walking, and met up with my new roomies…they were starting the walk too. So we went together. Turns out five of them go to college together and are all studying in Germany for a few months, and they picked up the sixth guy in Pisa the night before and he just tagged along…so I joined the group.

We did the whole walk…all the way to the last town. They were hilarious. I mean, a group of six college guys, all traveling through Europe together…they started telling me their stories from the different cities they have been too. Oh, did I mention they each had a bottle of wine they were carrying with them, drinking straight from the bottle, on this crazy hike? Only a couple of them were actually drinking…but oh, they were a tad bit trashed. And this was not an easy hike. From village three to four and four to five…it was pretty much straight up and down, up and down…it was exhausting! And there were areas where the path was maybe a foot wide, with no guard rail and a straight drop off…and here are these wine-drinking fools hiking along…I don’t know how nobody got hurt…but we made it. The hike was so beautiful…I mean, really…probably one of the prettiest places I have ever been. They are these five little villages built into the side of the hills/mountains…right on the blue-blue water. So great. And I was sooo glad I had a group to do this hike with because I don’t think it would have been a smart or safe thing to do on my own. God was a-watching out for me.

When we got to the last village, which was the biggest, we stopped in a wine shop and did a tasting…a limoncello tasting…the guys hadn’t ever heard of it before and were very excited. They had a version that was strawberry flavored that the store called “Viagra“…and you can imagine the fun the guys had with that. They thought it was hilarious…and the owner of the shop gave me a shot of it and said…”I think you are going to need this…one girl with six guys!” We went to dinner after that at a cute little trattoria and I had some awesome pesto and wine. I figured we were going to have a late party night…so I might as well start catching up with them on the wine. It was, of course, dark at this point, so we took the train back to our first village. One of the guys and I went together on a bottle of wine and we all went back to their room and turned a movie on and drank away…right out of the bottle…so classy. We all ended up asleep before the movie ended.

The next day, I woke up bright and early, as usual, and showered, got dressed and ready and headed out for some breakfast while they snoozed away (six guys and not-a-one was a snorer). I had some caffé and croissant, the usual…grabbed a banana and some water (perhaps a slight bit of dehydration from the night before) and walked out to the marina. We were really lucky with the weather the day before…it was gorgeous…that was actually the reason I decided to take Cinque Terre out of my plan in the first place- I figured the weather would be bad. But the second day it was grey and started raining a bit. The guys were planning on leaving that day for Venice, and convinced me to go with, since that was my next stop anyway and the weather was gross. Plus, a few of the guys were leaving at that point- the tagalong was staying another night, and two of the other guys headed back to school a few days early (they have midterms on Tuesday…awww, midterms, how cute). On top of that…I have heard that Venice is such a magical and romantic city, that if you go by yourself, you’ll end up making out with your suitcase…so I was glad to have a bit of company for that leg of my journey.

It was me and three of the guys…we figured it would be easier to find a hostel with four of us anyway, since usually there are private rooms for four at the hostels, and you have to pay for all four spots, even if you don’t have four people. It was a long day of travel…we had to transfer three times, and all of the trains were pretty crowded, so we were all separated along the way. I have to say, they were a great crew to travel with. They were really good about keeping an eye on me, but not overdoing it so that I felt like I was a pain at all. We finally made it in to Venice…and once again, I think God sent this group to me because there is absolutely NO WAY I would have found my way around Venice…I never would have made it to a hostel, or anywhere else. Venice is a group of 180 little islands and over 400 bridges…there aren’t any cars- the taxis are boats, and most of the streets don’t have names, they zig zag in and out of each other…it is a terribly ridiculous place to attempt to navigate. And you all know how directionally challenged I am in the first place…so I was overjoyed to just follow along. And yes, totally a magical city…we all kept joking around about the magic in the air…the lights and the water and the gondolas…they were good sports and humored me.

We made it to the hostel…after a loooong bit of searching…seriously, it is ridiculous. Then we went out to dinner…we were all starving at this point (we hadn’t been able to eat during the travel because all of our train switches were really close together and we had to hustle to make the next train). So we stopped at a tourist trap and did one of the fixed menus…it wasn’t stellar, and was definitely overpriced….oh well. Then we went out for some gelato and then searched for some bars. Venice is a very early city…just about everything closes before 8pm. So on top of going in circles, hitting dead ends, and getting completely lost…there were only two choices for places to go out. We found one, sat at a table and had a few drinks…and then began another looong search for our hostel…we had to take a few potty breaks (aka, the guys peeing in corners), were close to tumbling into the water a couple times when the road just ended into the canal, narrowly escaped some vampires (magical city…dark characters…had to be vampires)…but we made it back and went to bed.

I was up early again, luckily breakfast was only served until 9, so the guys made themselves get up in time for breakfast. They decided they were going to catch the night train back to Germany, so checked out of the hostel…I was told there wasn’t any vacancy for that evening, so I needed to find another hostel to stay in. We left our luggage for the day locked up in the luggage room at the hostel. We did a lot of wandering around…both because that is what Venice is all about, and also because if you don’t have an actual destination, then you can’t be lost. We decided we needed to go for a gondola ride…they are pretty pricey, but if we split it between the four of us, it wasn’t so bad…and really, you have to do one in Venice. Def something I wouldn’t have been able to do if I was on my own. The guys had certain requirements for our gondola driver…he had to have the hat, and they really wanted him to sing…which, of course, none of them did…so one of the guys sang “when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore…“ so funny. The ride was definitely magical and o-so romantic…hehe. After that the guys spent some time searching for souvenirs…and they found a wine store that makes their own wine right there…and they just fill up huge 1.5 liter water bottles with the wine…for like 2.50. Yeah, so they each bought one and drank them down during dinner (again, so classy!) and then went for refills before the store closed. They figured they had an eight hour train ride ahead of them , and they might as well pass out and get some sleep.

After dinner, gelato, more wine…we sat in a little square and chatted for a bit, and then went back to the hostel for their luggage. And well, I hadn’t found another place to stay…we found a couple of other hostels during the day, but they were all full…and realistically, there was no way I would ever find my way back to any of them on my own anyway…I seriously still have no clue how to get around this city. It is ridiculous. Sooo, I waited for someone to come out of the hostel we were staying in, and just decided I would spend the night out in the common room. Everything is locked up, so it is perfectly safe…and it is in a church…I am sure they wouldn’t want to throw a poor girl out on the street with no where to stay, right?

So the guys took off and I was on my own for another day and a half. It was sad to have lost my company. I really enjoyed them…and am so so grateful they adopted me in their group for a couple of days…I love traveling on my own and being independent…but after a couple weeks of it, it was awesome to have some good people to hang out with. And I couldn’t have found a better group of guys to spend my time in a magical city with.

To add to the magic that is Venice, I woke up this morning...got all packed up to be ready to head to the airport, went out for a croissant and coffee...it was snowing!!! So exciting and pretty and def magical.

Now I am back in Paris...going to have some dinner and then get to bed so I am all ready for my flight back home tomorrow...how crazy!!

Sorry Paris...I'm having an affair with Roma

It is true…I just might have to break up with Paris- I’m totally in love with Rome.

My flight from Istanbul to Rome was delayed (what a surprise…avoid flying Alitalia), so I didn’t get in to my hostel until about 9pm. I got settled in and went to bed so I would be fully rested for my first day out. I decided not to create an actual game plan for my first day, but just wandered around. Rome is similar to Paris in that it is spread out, but still totally walkable…my favorite kind of city.

On my way out, I stopped in for a cappuccino at a little place…it cost .90. As in, less than one euro. I think that was the moment I forgot Paris (and its 4 euro cappuccinos). I continued walking toward the center of the city…and whoa- what is that huge thing in front of me? Oh, you know…just the coliseum…no big deal. It is incredible. I wandered around there for a bit- undecided about paying to go inside…I walked through the Roman forum and all the unbelievably old and beautiful ruins. I decided to buy the Roma Pass, which gives you free access into 2 major sites, plus 3 days of free transportation. Def worth the 20 euros.

A couple hours into my day, it started raining. And I don’t mean sprinkling…I mean downpour, crazy- heavens-have-opened-up kind of raining. Luckily, I am from Seattle and I was prepared with my lovely raincoat. Which soaked through in a short period of time- that is how hard it was raining. My jeans started collecting water from the bottom up-since the streets turned into a big river. It was a situation where you just had to find some humor and laugh about it, otherwise you would be miserable. I stopped and grabbed a coffee to get out of the rain for a bit. Then stopped for a pizza lunch. About that time, my soaking wet clothes got cold…I was freezing. So I headed back to the hostel for a hot shower and some down time. The hostel I am staying at has free pasta every night. I decided that would be a good way to save some money. I was expecting some normal spaghetti with some ragu poured over the top…oh no…these guys are sautéing veggies, have different kinds of pasta, pesto one night…it is good stuff.

So then Friday I got up early to get to Vatican City just as it was opening, to avoid lines. First I stopped at my same little café (and yes, it is mine now) and the barista started my drink when I walked in the door and greeted me with a giant smile and “buon giorno”. I love it. I jumped on the train and headed to St Peter’s Basilica. Everyone at the hostel had been talking about how long they had to wait in line…not me, that’s why it pays to get up early! I almost had the whole place to myself. And oh my, it was beautiful. And HUGE. Massive. I was planning on just taking a quick look inside so I could make it to the Vatican museums right when they opened…but I couldn’t get myself to leave the church. Finally, I pulled myself away and headed to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Wow, so much art. It just kept going. And the Sistine Chapel- while it was different than I was picturing, was pretty spectacular.

After the museums, I stopped to have some lunch at a small trattoria that was listed in my Rome book as being an unknown gem. And it was…it was so cute…the red checked table cloths…the guy came to take my order and I told him I just wanted whatever pasta he recommends. And he brought me some ravioli with almonds and broccoli inside with a black truffle sauce…that was sooo flippin good. I had some dessert-crema catalona- pretty close to crème brulee. After lunch I did the inside of the coliseum. Again, so impressive. Then I went to the Pantheon…with the giant hole in the roof. And then I went to have the “best espresso in Roma”… chatted with the barista…the place was totally packed, but he sat and talked to me while he poured espresso after espresso. He wanted to know where the best coffee is where I come from. Ha.

Saturday I got up…headed out to my café. Then I went to the main train station and hopped a train to Napoli (that’s Naples to you Americans). I decided I needed to have some pizza where pizza comes from. Naples was a dirty, noisy, crazy city. I’m not quite sure how I managed to survive crossing the streets all day…the traffic was complete chaos. I read that you shouldn’t even wait for cars to stop, or you will never get across the street- you just have to make the decision to go and go for it…the cars will swerve around you. So, I observed a few locals doing it…and then went for it myself. It worked. I wandered around for a bit…and stumbled across one of the famous pizza places. There was a huge group of people waiting outside the door to get in…I went in to put my name in and get a number…and since I was only one person, the guy brought me right in and sat me down at a table with a group of other people. Right smack in front of the pizza oven…I got to watch all the action. You don’t order a kind- all they make is margherita pizza…and in one size. Which is size huge. Size falling off your plate. Size even though it is giant, you must eat every single bite. Yeah, that size. I have gotten in the habit of smiling at everyone…it has gone over quite well in Rome. So I smiled at one of the pizza maker fellows…who reminded me of a pirate…and from then on, every time I looked over, he was staring. It got to be a little awkward…but he was kind of pirate-y in a Johnny Depp sort of way, so it wasn’t so bad. This giant pizza and a coke (I was pressured into getting a pop) all totaled 5.50. Amazing. I did some more wandering…stumbled upon tacky-Christmas-street. This street was lined with booths selling the tackiest, cheesiest and worst Christmas decorations…lights, inflatable santas, parachuting santas, more sparkles than you could imagine…it was really funny. And then my Naples adventure was over and I was on the train back to Rome.

Sunday I woke up bright and early again…I wanted to go to Mass at St Peter’s and wasn’t sure what crowds would be like. Well, it wasn’t crowded…so I got there much earlier than necessary, which just gave me another chance to admire the place. Then I sat through mass in Italian…oh, by the way, I decided I am going to learn Italian. It is a goal of mine to be fluent in another language…and Italian is similar to Spanish and French, so I have a bit of a base…and I ran out of books to read, so I bought a “learn Italian” work book to do on my train rides around Italy. I’m about halfway through my first lesson…please hold me accountable when I get home. Back to Sunday…after mass, I went to the Villa Borghese…a crazy collection of art collected by the Borghese family (there is an entire section in the Louvre dedicated to the Borghese collection). There were several pretty famous Bernini sculptures that were really cool. After that, I went in search of a place for lunch…I had a spot in mind, but when I got there, it was closed. Boo. So I ended up in a bit of a touristy area…and the food was so-so. But the company was great..I made friends with a couple from London, two ladies from Sweden, and a lady from Ireland….it was a whole mess of English in different accents. They were a really funny group. Then I was off to check out the Trevi Fountain…which was so cool. Really impressive. I went up to the Tritone Fountain…cool, but nothing after seeing the Trevi. Then I went into a random church that had a famous Bernini sculpture…I re-read Angels and Demons before coming to Rome…so I picture the story as I am seeing all these things.

Then, most importantly, I went to a couple (yes, more than one) of the famous gelati places in the city. The first place I tried chocolate meringue, honey, and hazelnut. Then at the second place I tried blueberry and coconut. All flavors were delicious and I decided I may be doing the food thing all wrong. I should be living off of gelati. That is the plan from here on out.

Monday (today)is laundry day. I have run out of clean clothes…so I am sitting in the laundromat in my sweats, finishing up the blog for you lovely folks. I leave tomorrow morning for Florence and am planning on spending my last day in Rome (besides doing laundry) wandering around and eating gelati.

Istanbul- the city of petite cats

I am waiting in my hostel lobby for the airport shuttle to pick me up and whisk me away, and figured I should write my Istanbul stories now, before I get to Italy.

I have a love/hate relationship with Istanbul...my feelings about the city change from day to day...or perhaps hour to hour. I'll start from the first day...

As you know (assuming you are a regular reader, and cauht my last post), my flight to Istanbul was a bit of a pain- cancelled flights, re-routing, arrival at 2am...blah, blah. I FINALLY arrived at my hostel around 6:30am. SInce I had a room reserved for the night before, they let me go in and sleep. I slept for a couple of hours, got up for some free breakfast...which includes bread, tomatoes, cucumber, crumbly cheese, and hard boiled eggs. I took a shower and decided to head out and face my fear of this unknown city.

I just started wandering and found myself at Topkapi Palace. Decided to go in. First thing I noticed on my walk through the grounds was the cats and kittens that were everywhere! Everytime I turned around there was another group of 4 small cats. Which I think made me feel better about the city...they were very cute. :) And, I discovered-all over the city!

After the palace, I had myself a sesame bagel- which they sell at stands all over...little did I know, these would be my main source of fuel for the next few days. I found a coffee shop and had the prettiest coffee you have ever seen. I took a picture and the waiters laughed at me. In a nice way. They were very nice. They also encouraged me to have some baklava and ice cream...mmmm. The waiter told me I couldn't leave because I was bringing customers in. At this point I am thinking, awww...how nice.

Then I went back to my hostel and went for a run and stopped at a cash machine to get some money out...and the machine ate my card. Luckily it did give me my money first- just wouldn't give me my card back. And it is, of course, Saturday- so the banks aren't open and I have to wait until Monday to find out about getting it back.

Assuming I would be able to get it back, I continued spending the bit of cash I got out- I went to dinner and had some yummm lamb kebabs...the spices were so good. And the waiter brought me an extra glass of wine, on the house. So nice.

Sunday I spent a fair amount of the day in the hostel. I didn't want to spend any more money, so I wandered around for a while...but was exhausted from the non-stop attention my darn blonde hair brought. I seriously couldn't walk more than a few feet before someone else was approaching me trying to engage in conversation. This is the love/hate part...they were all very nice...but for the love- leave me alone.

I took the ferry over to the Asia side of the city...how crazy is that- a 15 minute ferry and I'm in an entirely different continent...love it. But I got over there and was attacked (not literally attacked) by the tourism people wanting to get my business...it was ridiculous. I started walking and realized I didn't see any other women out anywhere...and started getting a bit uncomfortable...so I went back to the ferry and the Europe side.

Monday I went to the bank and was told they could not give me my card but they would mail it to my bank at home...not helpful. I called my bank to see what my options were, and they told me the could re-issue me a new card in 5-7 days and my parents could mail it to me...also not helpful at all. I had a moment of thinking about cancelling the rest of my trip and heading home early...all signs were pointing that way. But I talked to mom and she wired me some money...and while I'm not a big fan of carrying a wad of cash around on me, I'm going to finish the trip. It helped being at the hostel and getting help from tons of people- seems everyone has had something like this happen to them. Everyone was very nice.

I visited the Grand Bizarre...I was planning on buying all my souvenirs for people here, because they have cool stuff, and totally cheap...but alas, I could only take pictures of the things I would get people, as I had no money. The bizarre was a bit overwhelming and I def got lost. I avoided making eye contact with anyone and pretended I didn't hear the people trying to talk to me. It worked fairly well. I also visited the Spice Market, which smelled delicious. And was much easier to handle than the Grand Bizarre.

I am sad that I wasn't able to fully enjoy the city...I didn't go inside the main tourist sites, I didn't eat much of the food (I had some, don't worry), I didn't do a Turkish Bath (which is actually a bit of a relief, to be honest)....but despite all that, it is an amzing city full of culture and unbelievably nice people...I was invited to lunch and tea several times- which I would have done had I been with someone else. The hostel I stayed in couldn't have been better...very helpful and as clean as could be. Kebabs every night.

I'm off to Rome in a couple of hours...I can't wait...hopefully all will go well!!

Goodbye France...

I am currently writing from the Milan airport during my layover, on my way to Istanbul. I woke up so flippin early this morning to take the train to the airport for my 7:40am flight…thank goodness for all my early morning Starbucks days…I’m actually feeling okay right now.

I have had quite the French adventure since last writing. Jessica and Jodi came in for ten days to explore the country with me. The plan was to take a few days in Paris, then rent a car and head out to see France. Unfortunately, after Jessica and I went to Disneyland for the day (so fun…the Halloween decorations were adorable and all over the park.) she came down with something and stayed in bed for the next couple of days. This pushed back our car trip, but Jodi and I took a couple of day trips on the train to the Champagne region and to Fontainebleau.

We got in to the Champagne area a bit late in the afternoon- and pretty much ran to a winery to catch the last English tour…we got there a few minutes late, but were able to take a French tour of the Champagne caves. While we didn’t understand much of it, we nodded along like we did. The caves were cool, and the tasting was yum. There was also a huuuge Gothic church in the small town- I’m going to go ahead and say the outside was probably more impressive than Notre Dame. The detail was just incredible. Then we stopped in a restaurant and had dinner…it was Halloween-ish and the poor waiters were wearing head to toe sparkly black…even their shoes had sparkles.

The next day we took the train out to Fontainebleau to check out the palace there. I had already been to Versailles and the France book said the palace here nearly rivals Versailles. And yes, it was pretty similar- the palace was a little less grand, but not much. They also had modern art displayed throughout…which wasn’t QUITE as out there as the Versailles exhibit…but very close. Check out the cat attached to the helium tank, floating on the ceiling. Yeah.

The next day Jessica was finally feeling better and we woke up early to head out to pick up our rental car. Well, in typical rental car ridiculousness- the price we were quoted just about tripled by the time we were done. It took awhile, but we managed to get the price down a bit (thanks to some handy computer work by Jessica’s dad back at home…who happened to be up at 4am). Finally, we were on our way. First stop was the Beaujolais wine country. This is right outside Lyon-southeast of Paris. We were in VilleFranche- which was a perfect location to drive through the vineyards to the various wineries. We did a few tastings and bought a couple bottles…Jodi and I went out for dinner that night- Jessica was still recovering. And we ended up in a bar sitting with a couple of locals, who somehow managed to make their seats at our table…it was a little strange. Very fun having “conversation” though- tested Jodi’s French skills (while she likes to say she doesn’t know any- we would not have survived without her…I was super impressed!!), tested my newfound ability to figure out the topic of conversation through voice inflection and body language (and I picked up a bit of the language too, I think…more than I realized). One of our days in the wine area, we stopped for lunch at a tiny little restaurant (the only one we could find in the area) and experienced our first four (or five?) course French meal. Oh, it was good! I didn’t ever do that while I was in Paris- both because of the crazy prices and also because it is fun to share the experience with someone else. But man, they sure know how to do sauces….it was fantastic.

Then we drove out to the Loire Valley region…west and kind of in the center. We found a really cool little ivy-covered auberge to stay in. It was so cute…and was located right on the only street in town (this was what we pictured the little towns in France to be). The drive to the Loire Valley was absolutely breathtaking…we went through some big hills (not quite mountains) and the leaves were in full-Fall colors…bright yellows and deep reds…so pretty. We kept trying to take pictures, but it was definitely a 3x5 kind of drive- you had to be there and see it yourself. The Loire Valley is home to many-a-castle…yep, my fairytale France was coming true. The town we stayed in- Chenanceau had its own castle…a very short walk from where we were staying (since there was only one street in the town) The castle had a moat and everything! The audio guide for the castle was on an ipod…which was both cool and impressive. After the first castle visit, Jessica decided to stick around town and Jodi and I drove a short little way to another castle. It looked impressive in the pictures and did not disappoint. This castle had huge grounds to wander around on- a separate chapel, a little vineyard. As we were wandering around the grounds, we discovered Leonardo daVinci’s grave. Yep, he spent a lot of his time at this castle and decided he wanted to be buried there…we had no idea. AND, this information brought us to the conclusion that this castle/area was where the movie Ever After was based. Some of you might be thinking- “Ever After- you watch that crap?”…and some of you are thinking “how cool that you were at the castle where Ever After was based-that was a fantastic movie”…either way, there we were. The castles and the town and houses were so…exactly what you would picture…I felt like we had stepped into a big Disney World…I kept saying that it had to be fake…there is just no way it could ACTUALLY look like this. It was fairly magical…I loved being there.

We woke up muy early the next day to begin our drive up to Normandy. We had two sights to visit and not many daylight hours (Normandy is grey and rainy!) Our first stop was at Mont St Michel- this gigantic Abbey built in the middle of the beach- if you don’t leave by the time the tide comes in, you are stuck there for the night! This abbey was unbelievable- we kept stopping on our drive to it to take pictures, because it just kept getting more and more impressive. A funny little side note…I bought a kids French History book in the gift store and the lady that checked us out asked if we were American and when we said yes, she said “congratulations”…Jodi and I must have shown the confusion we had on our face, and she said- “the election-Obama is your new President- congratulations!“ It was very cute and made me smile. Anyway…we easily could have spent a day going through the abbey and the surrounding town- it was cool…but we had to hit the road to make it out to Omaha Beach and the site of D-Day.

They had a museum there with a video and then some memorials out near the beach. The video was great…answered a lot of the questions we had been discussing in the car. The whole experience made you really proud to be from the US-I’m glad we made that a must do in our France itinerary.

After the beaches…we went and checked in at our next place of stay…oh yes, we were staying in a castle. We had a room up in the attic of this cool castle in a tiny little town. Jodi said it reminded her of a ski lodge- but I put a quick stop to that comment…there was no ruining our castle experience! Jessica decided to stay in for the evening, but Jodi and I were starving and decided to hit the town. Ummm, there was nothing there. There was one bar that was open that had 3 seats in it, no food, and one guy sitting in there that looked like he might actually live on that stool. But, I had a great time frolicking through the town and singing songs from Beauty and the Beast (it was my first night in an enchanted castle, after all…I know, I know…feel free to make fun of me). We ended up jumping in the car and driving to the next town over- which had one restaurant. It was another of the 4 course meals and was fantastic. Again, amazing food and just such a fun experience!

The next morning we were on our way back to Paris, to return our car, collapse from exhaustion in our hotel and prepare for the following day’s airplane adventures (Jessica and Jodi back home, and me to Istanbul)

I know this blog entry is very long…thanks for getting through it- I tried to include more pictures to help you out. I have to tell you my airport story. So I had to catch a cab to Gare de Nord this morning at 4:15am, to catch the train to the airport to be there in time for my early flight (like I said at the beginning, thank goodness for Starbucks). I caught my flight to Milan and then had a couple of hours layover. In which I had 2 pieces of pizza. Yeah, the airport pizza was delicious…I can’t wait to have real restaurant pizza in Italy!! The flight to Istanbul was delayed, first by an hour, then two…then cancelled. They actually had us all loaded on the bus to go out to the airplane, when they announced that it was cancelled. Sooo, the options they gave us was 1. Refund or 2. Fly to Rome at 5:50 and then to Istanbul from there, getting in to Istanbul at 1:30am. Sigh…I had to go with option number two, of course. The flight to Rome was easy, and then our flight to Istanbul was delayed a little, but finally we got going. We didn’t end up getting in until about 2am…and I don’t really feel especially comfortable cabbing it through an unknown city to my hostel- that I’m not actually sure will be open at this time.

I am sitting in the airport Starbucks…figure I’ll wait it out a bit, and then head out at a normal early morning time. I just ate a delicious pastry…definitely made especially for this area..it was a twisty, flaky pastry crust filled with rice and some veggies…kind of rice-a-roni tasting…mmmm.

That is all from me for now…I will update on my Istanbul trip soon…very excited. (also very excited to get in a bed and sleep….I am really tired).

Six months come and gone...

I am currently sitting on our living room couch- it is 9:35am...I didn't set an alarm to wake up to- the apartment is silent except for my fingers on the keyboard. It's very strange. But before I go into the goodbyes...let me tell you about our last week in Paris.

We tried to keep our usual schedule as much as possible for the last week- the kids and I play in the morning, lunch and nap, off to school and then to the playground after school, and back home. Cory was still completely obsessed with his airplane and airport...an activity that he can play on his own for a very long time. I have to steal a story from the dad's blog...so the kids REALLY like to play "traveling"...every single day we play some form of it. Cory starts out "mom, we have an airplane to catch at 8o'clock...let's go" (he calls Addy mom) and off they go. I am their taxi driver to the airport, check them in at the airport, am their flight attendant on the airplane, and then check them in at the hotel they are staying in when they arrive wherever they are going (the destination changes...recently it has been back to Barcelona). Literally, we play this game EVERY DAY. Since maybe 2 weeks in to Barcelona...obviously because travel has become such a big part of their lives. Well, they have recently gotten really into Peter Pan. They watched the movie a while ago and were afraid of Captain Hook, but after much convincing that Captain Hook isn't actually mean, he is only pretending..and seeing lots of billboards in the subway with him, they are finally over it and LOVE the movie. And the songs, and love that I can pretty much quote the whole movie to them. So their airplane game has turned into a mix of airport and Peter Pan...apparently Peter Pan and Captain Hook need to get to Barcelona at 8o'clock. Swords and all. It might be a "you have to be there" kind of story. :)

Moving on...the kids had their Halloween party at school on Friday- they don't do much for Halloween in Paris...in fact, the grocery store is full of Christmas stuff already...no Halloween and no Thanksgiving...we thought the stores at home bring Christmas in too early! I hauled their Halloween costumes with us on the train and got them dressed up at school with all their little friends...super cute! It was their last day of school so we had to do the goodbyes...which was harder than I anticipated. I have really gotten to know and like a few of the moms...so we all exchanged information and promised to keep in touch.

Over the weekend I did a lot of wandering and admiring of the city...we had some nice weather- cold but clear...and I did a lot of walking. I went to a meetup "nightlife" group on Saturday. We went to a restaurant that is supposed to have the best crepes in Paris...I don't know if they were the best...but they were pretty darn delicious. And we drank mucho cider- which is traditionally what you drink with crepes, I guess. After the dinner we all (about ten people) went out to a pub and hung out, and then to a little jazz piano bar to listen to some tunes. It was really fun...met some great new people that I would totally be friends with if I was staying here. Oh well...depending on the election, I may move back. hehe.

Monday was a little bit tough...the kids didn't have school, most of their toys were packed away AND it was raining...so we were stuck inside with not a lot to do. There was a break in the rain for a little while, so we rushed out to the park to get a little bit of running in...and then got caught in a huge downpour. Some nice fellow let us into the entryway of an apartment building where we stood and played "Simon Says" until the rain stopped and then ran back home.

The cab came to pick us up for the airport at 5:45am. I offered to help with the whole airport checking in process...up until security when I couldn't go with them. There were some long lines, but luckily, due to the airport game...the kids are old pros and things went pretty much as smoothly as could be...considering the seven 50+lb bags of luggage, car seats, stroller, snacks, plane activities, etc we were lugging around. I warned the guys ahead of time that I'm not big on the dramatic goodbyes...that I'll visit sometime soon and we can skype...it really isn't any big deal. So we all hugged, said our big thanks...Addy was very sweet and nearly made me cry when she started crying and hugged me and said "I want you to come on the airplane to South Orange"...we waved, blew kisses, and then they were through the security gate.

Conveniently, my friends that were flying in, came in about half an hour after that...so I had a coffee and waited. It was nice to have an instant distraction and not have to think about going home to the empty apartment. So we came back, dropped luggage off and headed out to walk a little bit (before a nap was in order for all). I took them over to Notre Dame, over my favorite bridge as the sun was starting to go down...sigh, I am going to miss that. And we got caught in a little rain, so we ran into a brasserie and had a bowl of soup and some wine. Then headed back home for some yummy baguette, a few different delicious cheeses, apples, wine...sooo good. Again- sigh...I am going to miss that!!

So here I am...sitting on the couch in silence typing up my blog. I am very much looking forward to my travel time and then to returning home...and figuring out what to do with my life next- any ideas?!

Hope you are well...I'll be blogging (and emailing) along my travels (the rest of France, Istanbul, and Italy) so don't worry, just because I am now unemployed (ish) you will still get my stories.

Later...

The pressure is on...

With just over a week left in our 6-month adventure, the pressure to spend it the best possible way is overwhelming. I’m glad I have a couple of extra days in Paris after the family leaves so Ican wind it down on my own.

I finally got back on track, literally, for some running…it had been several weeks of being sick/busy/lazy…and finally, after harassing Matt about not blogging- he told me he would write a new blog as soon as I went running…ouch. So, I went. And I’m sore, but glad to be working out again.

The kids and I had a typical week- play in the morning at the house or playground (depending on the rain). Then lunch, books, nap and off to the metro for our long commute to school. Then to the park after school with their little friends and back home. Cory had his 4th birthday on Monday…Rob and Matt found balloons and decorations and baked a cake. He got an amazingly detailed, huge airplane and airport for a present…and LOVES it…he has been taking such good care of it- I thought we would lose half the pieces by now for sure. On Wednesday(no school) Matt took Cory to a science museum and Addy and I had some time to ourselves. We did some painting and decorated a “pumpkin” (it was actually a squash) and then went out to a café for a croissant and a quick carousel ride.

I went on a meet up adventure on Saturday to learn about urban street art in Paris. It was really cool. The two organizers really know a lot about the street art scene- have met with some of the artists and done interviews and such. Mostly we saw stenciling. Most of the artists are in their 50’s and have day jobs (interestingly, many are teachers) and aren’t doing it to rebel or deface property- they actually usually get permission or else find a wall that is already in pretty bad shape. One of the guys started doing it because he used to walk his son to school everyday and the area they lived was really rundown and depressing, so he wanted to add some color to his son’s day. Very cute. Anyway, I learned quite a bit, and can now appreciate the art (that I usually don’t even notice) that is all around me here, in Paris. I feel a little bit more connected to Paris- like I know something that other people don't...

And in typical “living here for 3 months” fashion, I met some cool people, that I would, of course, like to stay in touch with and would probably hang out with and become friends with if I was here longer…boo. Three months…such an annoying length of time. We had lunch after the art tour- visited a new area of the city which was really cool…had a fantastic morning/afternoon.

Today (Sunday) I got up and strolled over to the Jardin du Luxembourg for a run...it was really nice- too bad I didn't think of doing that before. The path around the outside is just about a mile, so a couple of times around the park is a good workout...and it is pretty...flowers, fountains...you know, typical Paris park. I strolled back home and am working on a couple of projects here and am heading out to mass at Notre Dame and then to a Pub for some live music this evening. Again, figuring it all out, just before leaving.

Other than that, I am still just trying to figure out my schedule for the time I have to travel…constantly.

Hope you are well and I will be seeing you soon.