Green!

My euro rail map has 25 selected scenic routes thought Europe. One of them just happened to start in Prague. It ended just over the Germany border in Schona. I met a girl who lives in northern Germany who was nice enough to host me for a few days starting on the 25 so I had a couple of days to kill so I got on the train. Even more exciting was geting off the train. Their was no train station no infromation bouth no city center their was nothing. I noticed more... Houses? On the other side of the river so I jumped on a ferry and I as quickly as I made it to Germany I had left again. I saw a billboard for a climbing shop so I had my first stop figured out. The climbing shop was nice and their was one employe that spoke a little English. They didn't have any guides or guides in the area but gave me a number for a climber who lived in the next valley over and had put up a lot of the routes. But he didn't have a car and he lived in the next valley over. I found a nice hotel across the river from the climbing shop and got a nice room for cheap. I was the only guest. After drooping my bag I went out to wander around. I fallowed the river up the canyon and soon I was on a little path next to the river in one of the greenest forest I have ever seen. This was river runs through it kind of green. This was green was on sale so the checks bought some and got a lot more free kind of green. This was the kind of green that Ireland would be jelous of. If a painter painted this green you would think he was painting an abstract. The kind of green you can see but also feel, smell, and even taste. Leafed where green but so where the trunks of the trees the rocks the path. Their where ferns growing from the moss that hung from the trees. This green made me amazed that it wasn't raining all the time to keep things that green. Even the boats that the guides used to push tourist up the canyon to see more green where..green! It was beautiful! I really enjoyed my afternoon wander and I enjoyed being out of a capitol city for a while. I will write about the climbing later but is great to see green!

Prague

Fourth country Capitol with four diffrent currency in less than 14 days. I did really enjoy prage though. It is diffrent it's beautiful. People told me that when I was looking for city's to go to but you really have to see it. It's known as the city of towers. Their are towers everywhere. Most of them have long spiral stairs that you can climb to a place to look out over the city and se even more towers. The city is so beautiful that Hitlers generals wouldn't carry out his orders to bomb the city. They did hit some factory's and other things around the outside but the city was not damaged during the war. Their is tones of history. The Prague castle complex is the largest in the world.
The first thing I always do when I get to a new city is go to the tourist information bouth that is usuely in the train station. I ask how to get to my hotel/hostel or where one is they can recommend. I get a map of the city and most city's have a city card that covers public transportation and reduces entry fees to most of the tourist atrations.
In Prague I didn't hardly even use the public transportation because their was always something cool to see as I walk around, and climbed the tower stairs. Pow pow Prague

Vienna

Within hours if araving in Vienna I started ti write a post for the blog the title was I need something to do. That's how I felt when I first got here I needed a concert, festival, sporting event, ir some kind of activity. I was very wrong their is so much to do here. I think if you where to bring your family to Europe this would be a good place. The people are very nice and helpful most of them sleek some English. The food is good. Their are lots of museums and churches and fun stuff to see. Their is even a amusement park with a cool old ferris wheel and even a water park. Public transportation is really good and they keep the city pretty clean. I went on two bike tours one kind of around the city center and the other kind if through it. I also visited three very diffrent museums, lots of cool churches and a film festival( that was really boring)
Traveling is feeling a little tuff. In just over a week I have been in three countries with three diffrent languages three diffrent currencies and three very diffrent cultures. I'm tired and not trying very hard to be social and meet new people. I am LOVING the experiences that I'm having but I miss friends, family, and familiarity. I'm sure as soon as I'm home I'll miss traveling! Don't we always want what we don't have.
Viva Vienna! Chaoo

Budapest

Budapest might be the city with the most touristy stuff to see out if any that I have been too. Their is so much history, so many churches, museums,festivals, people and architecture. Their where tourist everywhere and the locals apparently get sick of them like they do in Vegas because their rude. I know we don't have patients for people who come to the states and don't sleek our language but help them out the best you can it really sucks being in a forign country where you don't understand anything and having people be rude on top of it. I went on a bus tour if the city that hit some high lights then I just wandered around a bunch and got lost (because no one would help me) I did find my way to a bathhouse and spent most of the day moving from diferent tempereture pool to pool to sauna to a very relaxing massage back outside to another pool that was cool. It was in a beet building with cool decorations. The weekend was one of the city's biggest because of of week long music festival called sziget. I went the last day of the show the "
quietest" night of all. It was amazing I have never seen a stage as big as the main stage. They had tones of other stages, restaurants, grocery stores( for all the campers) showers, bunggie jumping zip lines lots of restaurants and bars that kept the party going way after the last musical act left the stage. Their where people and bands from all over the world! It really felt like a multi cultural experience. I meet some Australians to hang ou with and that was cool concerets by your self are never very fun. Now that I wouldn't have to relie on the crochet old hugarian lady's as much I would definitely go back to Budapest. Bye bye from Budapest!

Time flys when your having fun

It has been just over a week scence my last post. I can't believe it has already been that long. I am keeping a journal and writing postcards home to my family I also do Facebook updates so I'm always writing somewhere I just forget where. Croatia was nice I meet a Canadian on the train that I hung out with the whole time I was their it made it seem less foreign. The beaches if yo can call them beaches where tiny and rocky no sand anywhere but the water is warm and clear and their a lot of people around with no ocean so the little "beaches" are crowded. The have cement piers and big steps so theirs places to sit. I took a bus to an island named krk and a boat to the main land for a day trip to a even rockier beach. Their where tourist booths everywhere and the people for the most part where very nice. I ate fish on the boat that wasn't great but the food for the most part was really good. I have found pizza and gyros in almost every country. We also ate figs and grapes from the trees their. I liked Croatia it was diffrent that other places I have been. It was beautiful because it wasn't beautiful. The building where really cool and had so much character because they where deteriating, rusting, fading, vandalized, un maintained and poorly constructed. The beaches almost didn't exsist. The terrain had no mountains but wasn't flat. Their where lots of trees that where green but not really interesting but all that gave it chacter and made it beautiful! Catch ya later from Croatia

Moving on from Slovania

I'm just geting ready to sleep my last night in Slovenia. My host have been unbelievable. They are so nice. Not only have they not charged me for staying in one of their very nice appartment rooms but they have also feed me three meals a day. The meals have been so good with soup, salad, meat, and vegetables usuely from their garden. Talk about fresh and healthy. They also did my laundry which really needed to be done and showed me all around in their car or on their bike. It will be hard to move on because I know I won't be treated this good anywhere else. Today we didn't ride and didn't end up doing much of anything but that was so nice. I need a decompression day every once in a while. Yesterday we rode a great ride up out of town through some small farming comunitys on to a dirt road to the top of a mountain. Their where two churches at the top one in Slovania and the other in Croatia. It was humid down low but really nice up top. The day wasn't clear so views whernt purfect but it was very cool. I'm really glad to have met joze and his wife they have really made my short stay in Slovania very memorable.

$ saving tip

I figured out a way to save money last night. Instead of getting a hotel ya just stay up all night. After going the wrong way on the train I missed my stop on the way back the right way so I missed my connection so I got stuck in villach for Austrias version of October fest. It was a lot of fun. I sat down on a table with the best looking food next to a guy with a shaved head and gote. He didn't speak any English but all the people with him did and they where nice enoph to let me hang out with them all night. We just ate and danced and hung out. Most people where dressed in tradition Austrian/ German clothing. Leaderhosen and long dresses. They where playing traditional music. I had a great time and really enjoyed visiting with local people. Listing to their music, eating their food, seeing their dress. I was in Austria for the shortest time of any country so far but I really enjoyed it as much any so far. After hanging out all night I caught a train at 4 am to Slovania. I just got in at about 9:30 but this is also already been great. I'll be here for two more nights so I'll have lots more to tell but today was very diffrent than yesterday. I went mountin bikeing through small little farming villages around a small town here in Slovania. Where last night it was hard to dance because their where so many people. Today I didn't hardly see anyone. The countryside was beautiful. I can't wait to see more. The guy (jose) who I'm staying with I meet at the tour de France. He and his wife are so generous. They are so hospitabl. I can't belive how nice they are. They aren't charging me to stay in their hotel room and their feeding me all meals also for free. Time to catch up on some of that sleep I missed last night. So buy

Slide show

I haven't seen it yet but here's a link to a slide show of my tour de France that was put together by the guide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDu7mHynIwE&feature=related

Venice

Venice is really nice! The train tracks are the only thing connecting it to the main land. Its an island with water cutting it into countless pieces. I saw no cars and more surprisingly no bikes. Just lots of people. I found a "cheap" one star hotel not to far from saint marks square. I bought a map from the infrimation both. It did no good! It's really confusing to try and get around but if you have nowhere to be it's a fun city to be lost in. I finally found the hotel and droped my stuff off and went for a wander. I found saint marks square and went up in the bell tower for a sunset view of the city. Then walked along the coast line to a park at the point of one of many islands then back for some pizza next to the water this time with no Mosquitos! It was fun to see all the things that inspired the diffrent elements of the venichian hotel in Vegas. The gondolas, the winged lions, the bell tower, saint marks square etc. After that I went to the hotel to sleep. I waited a long time to get into the saint marks cathedral but it was worht the wait. It was amazing. The ceilings are totally covered in very detailed mosaics. I paid a little extra to gointo the treasury. They had lots of interesting thing some dating back to 425bc! That's amazing to me. I wondered around a bit before going on a tour of the grand opera house with all it's gold leafing then to the Peggy Guiginhime art gallery. She had some really cool modern art. I really like modern art. One of her favorites was a piaco that's right in the entry. I like Picaso even if it looks like a kid drew it. I also got to see a
Movie and play about the history of the city. It was interesting. I realy wanted to go on a gondola ride but I didn't want to go my self so I talked to girls from Germany and Austria to go with me. It was meet to see the city from one of it's many canales now I'm on a bus to Austria to catch a train to Slovania. So see ya from Slovania

Italy

Three days isn't enogh for one city letalone a whole country. I stayed just one night in Milan. I got in in the afternoon and walked around a bit. I found a nice cafe on the side of a canael to eat dinner. It's was good food, beautiful surondings and people and terrible Mosquitos! I stayed the night in another hostel with probably 15 bunkbeads in a room. I thought about staying another night but I was ready for my own space. After checking out the next day I went to the two "must see" places. The cathedral which was cool. They always amaze me with the detail and the size. I also went to the castle a very cool location for a huge art gallery. With sculptures, tapistrys, paintings, ceramic, glass, furniture, even musical instruments. Way to much to see in a full day let alone a couple of hours. I caught a train to Venice.

Quick update

I was in Zermatt for just two nights and three days. The weather the second two days was awesome. I really hurt my feet badly walking from chamonix. My mountaineering boots gave me some bad blisters so I switched to my chaos (sandals). They have no cushion so they bruesed my heals. I really screed up and I hate being hurt. I hurt myself on a neat trail but I coundnt see anything so it was kind of a waste. Then I was hurt for the good weather where I really wanted to be. I couldnt walk so I flew! I took the famous glacier express train up above Zermatt and flew tandom on a paraglider. I really liked it. I think that's so much better than skydiving. It last longer. You can see more. It's a real skill, you could get better at it. The Matterhorn was always in the back round. It's was really cool. I also did a little via feret ( climbing diffrent things that are permanently attached to the rock with a permenet safety line) it was cool to get some exposer eventhough it wasn't really climbing. It hurt and I was only out for about two and a half hours. So I scratch my plans to ski on the glacier at the base of the Matterhorn or to try and climb. I'm still upset. I feel like I really missed out on a great opportunity! Oh well this whole trip is a great opportunity and to miss ( or have to come back for) one thing isn't going to kill me.
Now get out your maps because I'm moving. I spent the day in Milan Italy and I'm headed to Venenve this afternoon. Hope your all doing good. Arebaderchi from Italy