today, as of 12 noon, i am officially on holidays! and man, does it feel good. these past few weeks have been somewhat intense, but i feel like i did the best that i could, and although my best decreased significantly the more i hung out with my friends instead of studying, i'm cool with that. friends are important.

so since it's my first afternoon as a free woman, i have decided to chill out and do nothing for a little bit.. what a feeling, to know that i actually can do just nothing and it's okay. but then i have to get to packing up my little home because when i get back from the farm, its move time! [i hate moving.] probably the worst thing ever. except that i'm moving into a house with a pretty sweet girl, brittany. and i think we are going to have lots of sweet times there. potlucks, tea, crib tournaments, really the possibilities are endless. and since it's an older couples house, i will feel right at home in my 80-year-old state. the doilies and kleenex box holders.. pure class. we will have to throw a little house warming and you can bring treats and we'll supply some type of surprise and it could even have a theme or something. brain storm, we'll really do this up.

time for me to relax.

it's been a while.

so this is extremely ridiculous.. 4:18am and i am wide awake. my sleeping arragements have been a little unpredictable these days. middle of the afternoon and i can't keep my eyes open.. and this is the unwelcome product..

however, i have realised with surprise that i have neglected this little space of mine for almost four months and i figured what better time to do something about that than the middle of the night when my thoughts are most assuredly misplaced and unorderly? the funny thing about it all is that i am sure i have lots to say. i mean, i know i do. and a lot of the time, i think it is very important. but usually, i think a little bit more and realise that it really isn't. there's a lot more stuff out there that is a lot bigger than my simple thoughts. but i have decided that i will share them with you anyways. whatever helps you sleep at night, right? ..maybe this will be just the thing for me.

in only two days, the fall semester will be over and final exams will be overtaking the minds of the young adults in university. stress levels will be through the roof and breakdowns are a sure thing. but this year, i'm feeling pretty at ease with it all. and its not because i think i will ace everything, because i am pretty confident that i wont.. but something that's really been on my mind these days is just sitting back, and taking an objective view of life, if you will. i will clarify that this is not a passive view, i remain active in decisions and all other aspects of my life, but i kind of feel like i am learning to understand a glimpse of a bigger picture. i have always been aware that it existed, but never fully grasped it myself. it's kind of a beautiful thing.

i am also very excited about the holidays. this year i have a whole week off to go home and visit with my family and friends, two of the most important aspects of my life by far. lots of sleeping in and visiting and nice smells and slippers and blankets--our farm house is cold in the winter. i will be back in regina on the 28th, working and hanging out. if you would like, i would like to hang out with you. coffee? crib? these are two things i very much enjoy. but there are other things as well. i would like to try skating again this year, so if you promise not to laugh at me, i would love to skate with you. i'll probably need to use a chair. or a hockey stick. that would look way cooler.

well, i should really try and sleep. night. xo

well. stacy and i survived the czech republic. (that says a lot more than you would think). prague was a lot of fun though, and we got to take in some cool sights, experiences, and unforgetful moments.. lots of old buildings, cool architecture, bridges.. we stayed in a total dive which made for the unforgetable moments, but we just made sure we were there before dark, and after an encounter with a homeless woman in our room at 3am, we made sure to never forget to lock the door again! (mom, i was going to leave this out so you wouldnt worry, but ive talked to you since, so you know that we are okay, and that i could totally take her anyways..)

we got into budapest 4 days ago now and i really cant believe how fast its gone by. were staying in a super cute hostel on the pest side. our first day we spent at a turkish bathhouse within walking distance from our place.. it was way too cool.. both indoor and outdoor pools of all different temperatures.. saunas, steamrooms.. the next day we went to octagon square and did some shopping, saw a castle, and ended up getting tickets to "vampirok" -- the sweetest hungarian musical ever.. man that was fun. the theme song was to the tune "total eclipse of the heart" which will give a little insight to just how sweet it was.. saturday we spent the morning at a chinese market, and from there just walked around the city.. today is day 59. its a sunday. all of the shops were closed, because pretty much everything is everywhere in europe on a sunday, so, we took the opportunity to go back to the bathhouse.. we soaked, steamed, and sauna'ed the day away.. im booked for a massage in about half an hour, then im going to have the best sleep of my life..

tomorrow, frankfurt. last stop.

since chilling with ingrid in brussels we headed into amsterdam. i can now say that ive been there, but after a day and night we decided to head out because it just wasnt our scene. lots of sketchy people as im sure you can imagine.. so we went to the train station, pulled out the map, and picked a spot on the northern coast. turns out it was this sweet harbor town called kiel that was hosting a world sailing competition when we happened to roll in.. we couldnt understand how an entire cities hostels and hotels and every other form of sleeping arrangement could be completely booked up, then we heard about the festival.. so this really nice lady dalinda was helping us out for booking something at the tourist office and after about an hour and a half we just figured we would crash in the train station, but when she heard us say that she told us she would not allow it, its her job to find us a place, and thats what she was going to do. long story short, she ended up calling her friends son and asked him if two strangers could stay at his house, and he said yes. it was fun. thousands of people, all these cool rides, it was like the brandon fair times a million. yeah, that good. we went on this ride called the 'power tower' that was 70m high and it just picks you up and drops really fast and my stomach was hanging over my head, it was awesome. i love that feeling. it reminds me of franks airplane that i realized i havent been on forever, so when i get home, i want to go for a ride frank! we can do 'rollercoasters', it will be a blast. anyways, ended up staying for a couple days before heading into hamburg.

we couch surfed there for three days, saw the sights, didnt see a famous tunnel because i swear it does not exist unless you have to pull some harry potter moves and walk through a wall.. but overall a super good time. we hung out with the people we were staying with more than we did the tourist scene, and really became friends.. it was a little sad to say goodbye, but thats life i guess. after hamburg we headed over to berlin, where i am sitting right now. we met up with the oc kid, jason. (from the train in barcelona) so hes been our personal tour guide the past couple days because he knows the city really well and he could tell us some fun facts that just made everything more interesting. saw some pieces of the berlin wall, what an intense time in history. i actually never realized that it only got torn down in 89.. it seems way too current.

overall berlin has been great. tomorrow its time to move on to prague. sorry this is so long. xo

so we saw lots of really cool things in paris.. the hunchback of notre dame.. the eiffel tower.. we got a sweet spot in a park on the hill to watch the little light show at 11 pm, then made our way over there and up it, and ended up being up there for the light show at midnight! it was pretty cool.. totony took us for a picnic in luxembourg park.. we had fresh baguettes, eight different kinds of cheese(!) three different meats, and a bottle of french red wine.. it was the classiest picnic ive ever experienced to date. i think unfortunately i must swear off picnics forever because they will never compare.. i saw these two police officers on rollerblades and for fun asked them if i could take a picture with them, then the one guy asked me if i could email it to him and gave me his email address! haha.. quite the professional.. we went on a boat which was pretty cool, spent an afternoon on the river.. went up on sacre de coeur and got a really nice panoramic view of the city.. got caught in the rain while we were up there so we ducked into a little cafe for some crepes.. not that we really needed an excuse.. we had them every day we were there.. it was tough to leave that place! but now were in brussels, got here a few days ago.. staying with this woman ingrid, shes 42 and the coolest person ever. shes taking very good care of us! now were going to go check out a photography exhibition so im going to dash. alicia, the marathon is on. cant wait. xoxo

after spending the past five days in la rochelle, we arrived in paris. i love it already. we stopped at a little restaurant and had crepes, seemed like the thing to do.. la rochelle was great, we met a bunch of germans, italians, dutch, of course french, and not only a fellow canadian, but a winnipeger.. pretty weird to meet someone who actually knows where we live! (although when we were in athens i ended up meeting a girl from saskatoon! that was crazy..) on saturday it was rainy so we went to the cinema with another girl and watched pirates 3! it was in french.. i didnt understand a word.. but nothing beats johnny depp and it just makes me that much more excited to come home and watch it in english. i need someone to marathon it with me, all three in a night.. i miss marathons. we went to nantes yesterday on a day trip with a bunch of people and did some sight seeing etc. i cant think of anything super exciting.. except that im in paris! so thats it for now.

so we headed into barcelona on sunday night.. got onto our sleeper train- we decided this time that instead of splurging for beds we would just get seats and hope for a good nights rest, or just nap when we got in.. its 1.50 instead of like 30.. started out really well, comfy enough seats.. until midnight rolled around and these guys got on the train claiming we were in their seats.. checked out tickets; same seats, but wrong cab. so, we got up and moved to the right one, half asleep, only to find that the entire cab was full, minus our seats, and they were right behind this big guy completely sprawled across his two seats which were tipped back as far as they could go, which equals too far for my long legs.. not so much fun. sometimes it feels like my life is a comedy.. i had to laugh at our little predicament because looking around, absolutely everybody elses seats were upright.. but its okay because we were going to barcelona.

it was really beautiful there, lots of shopping and things to see although it was only a quick trip.. we found this market and picked up a big hunk of watermelon, sat on a curb to eat it, and this old man came and sat beside me. he didnt speak a word of english but seemed really nice so i tried to pretend i understood what he was talking about.. finished my watermelon, and to my surprise he pulled out the sketchiest, rustiest knife ever and started cutting down the last of the pink, apparently thinking i hadnt eaten it down enough.. i offered it to him thinking maybe this guy was homeless and wanted it but he shook his head, it was for me.. i took a bite out of politeness, but i could taste the rust and it was just so sketchy that i couldnt make myself finish it.. decided that id rather risk being rude than getting some disease or something..

now were in la rochelle, on the upper west coast of france.. so many fun times on the train with these guys from california.. (nic, they are from the oc.. and they go to berkeley!!) how cool is that. i pretty much know a real life cowen.. anyways that it for now, cant even fit all the hilarious little happenings in here but ill try and keeping posting more often.. xo

so its been a long time once again.. weve been a zillion places since greece.. back to munich for a night where i met a guy wearing a comeback kid tshirt.. then down to lake constance to chill with danis family who were wonderful and stuffed us with the best food ever.. then on a sketchy overnight train to rome where we by accident saw the pope.. then to florence, home of michelangelo; got to see one of his pietàs, breathtaking.. then to venice to chill in the canals on a gondola, the guy even sang when we asked but then said his throat was sore.. i think it was just an excuse but im not sure.. now were in nice, france, and heading into cannes tonight where we have another free place to crash for a few days.. looking forward to some more sweet beaches. anyways theres the last little bit in a nutshell. were almost half done.. a month feels like days still, crazy. anyways, miss you guys.

so i'm in patras, greece. largest city here next to athens. we spent all day yesterday and today on the most glorious beaches, possibly ever..
so what else to say?? i've been so busy enjoying life and being absolutely overwhelmed with everything that i have had no time to post on the blog i was absolutely fanatical about before i left! sorry for that. :) anyways, i'll try and do a quick run through of the past couple days.. on friday afternoon we went to cindy's parents place for a tradition german feast.. schnitzel and schpezal! it was awesome. and her family is wonderful. we spent the night there and headed down to lake constance to pick up dani, then into munich to meet up with carina! we spent saturday and sunday night with her, then caught our flight to athens monday morning.. we found this thing called "couch surfing" so we've been staying here for free in this guys apartment (i promise, its not sketchy..) he has been an awesome host and hooked us up with directions to these beaches (the one yesterday was pretty secluded..) i can't get enough of it. theres guardian angels looking over us for sure, even if i believed in luck i don't think it could be this good.. i have so many stories to share, but not enough time! so i'll talk your ears off when i get home. love you all. xoxo.

so after spending sunday sleeping off the time difference and checking the sights around trier we just chilled with agneta and then headed into luxembourg on monday. we didnt do a lot but it was just an amusing day.. stacy got us kicked out of a restaurant.. haha kind of long story but definitely funny because we didnt actually know what she was saying at first.. we spent the night again with agneta then kept on to heidelburg for the day on tuesday, then met up with my friend cindy in ludwigburg! i missed her. its been a sweet past couple days with her and her boyfriend.. today we were in ulm with another girl, christine. we went for sushi. yes i know its europe.. but regardless.. that will be the last time i do that. fish and seaweed really are just not for me. i always thought i was so tough (because well, i am..) but apparently not my stomach.. otherwise things are absolutely fantastic.

so were here in trier germany. after spending the night in montreal where we saw lots of cool stuff and met some cool people, we landed in frankfurt, germany. being the expert travellers we are, we had no trouble with the trains (and im actually being serious.. even though if you knew me, youd know how awesome i am with directions..) we made our way down to trier and met my friend agneta here. i was super jet lagged and had probably the best nap ever after being up for almost 30 hours.. then went to a birthday party in mayen (taking the "autobahn" highway = no speed limit!) lets just say it was an experience. [and we should have them in canada.] so today we did some sightseeing and are heading into luxembourg tomorrow. life is good.

shout out to all the moms today. they deserve a lot more recognition than we give them the majority of the time..

europe 2007

well in just a few days i'm heading off to europe for some sweet adventures with my dear friend stacy. its been two years since my time in the states and i'll be reuniting with some german aupairs which is going to be awesome. we're going to be touring around with some backpacks and pretty much doing whatever sounds fun. so, here is the blog that will trace my adventures. read it.