TravelStream™ news feed for member dancera on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dancera en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:23:26 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancera/4/1246644916/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancera/4/1246644916/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancera/4/1246644916/tpod.html Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:23:26 -0400 The Travel Bug Bites On

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Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland

day two at the pharmacy was really good as well. i must say i really like the system here.

afterwards tessa and i went on a boat that went all over lake zurich. it was so beautiful!!!! it lasted an hour and a half. then we met with the girls to just hang out a little and get some Sprungli...the famous chocolate shop in Zurich. AMAZING. We also got brats at some other famous place.

Tessa and i went to our home earlier and spent the night hanging out with our couchsurfing mom. it was really fun!

Day three at the pharmacy was a lot slower. The highlight was a lady coming in with a Fuge...where she forgot who she was, where she was from, etc. it was scary.

Afterwards Tessa and i took a river boat around and then went to the oldest part of Zurich up on a hill. We had some great photo ops there.

then we met up with the girls, went to the coop to get dinner, and then took that to a paddleboat rental. we took a paddle boat up to the middle of the lake and ate our dinner there. it was soooo relaxing. people were just swimming all around us and huge ships also. we ended our night at a bar called rimini. it is known by the locals. by day that area is a mens club. by night it turns into a sweet hangout by the water in the forest with lights. super cool. we met a guy from st. louis who has been living there for a while.

thursday the day was spent seeing beautiful things. we went with andrea to the coop and bought groceries. then we went with our couchsurfing mom to the train station to mee the girls. we then went to the top of zurich. it was AMAZINg. such great views and it was very high up. afterwards we went to rheinfall, the largest waterfall in switzerland. that was so gorgeous as well. we got to go all around to see it from all angles. there was also a huge rock in the middle of it that a boat took people to. it looked scary but pretty amazing.

our last swiss night ended with our family making roesti and raklette...its hash browns with cheese. the cheese you melt on this cool set...kind of like a fondue set but you have things for the cheese...like little plates. soooo cool. it was AMAZING. tessa ate so much she almost burst.

switzerland was amazing.

off to poland.

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Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland

The flight to zurich was prettz good. we got some chocolate at the end of it which was nice. i automatically found andrea, my couchsurfing host, who was with her friend Furmi. Then stacey ran up to me and there we all were. we dropped off stacey and aly for their train. then tessa and i left for andreas. their house is adorable and very swiss. the whole family was there for a barbeque. the granparents were adorable and the grandma made cake. we all had a great time at the table and the mom and dad made brats, potatoes, macaroni salad, etc.

small world. we got on the topic of dance in chicago. turns out they know a guy i used to dance with in chicago. and this is only a small town of 7000! he is from here.

yesterday i was at the pharmacy. everyone is super nice. i felt like i had seen a lot there. they have 100 people employed. it is a great experience to shadow this pharmacy.

last night we met with stacey and aly and we all wandered and saw a few gorgeous churches, one of which has the remains of charlegmagne. we at dinner at migros...bread ham cheese banana salad. and then we saw a concert held by the police.

so far so great
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Warszawa, Warszawa, Poland

I got lost in Warsaw yesterday...and i had new shoes on which meant blisters for me. The blisters got so bad i was bleeding everywhere. So there I was aimlessly wandering with bleeding feet. My first goal was to find a pharmacy to find some antiseptic and bandaids. The whole time here i have been seeing pharmacies left and right until when i needed to find one. ugh. after more wandering i found one.

then i wanted a cab to take me to my destination. when is a cab when you need one too?! and each one i tried to hail either had people or somehow did not see me...definitely not chicago cabs. polish cabs need to learn from the experts.

so every cab here has a number on them to call so i saw one and called it. i gave them where i was and was told 12 to 14 minutes. and so i waited in the boiling sun till it came. overall got to my destination.

then by night time came crazy storms and rain and cold. the weather here is crazy.

staying at my other cousin's place tomorrow. seeing that sandra bullock movie. then sunday off to zurich to couchsurf with some family and shadow some pharmacies out there. excited!



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Warszawa, Warszawa, Poland

Alek and I made potatoe pancakes today. But they were too oily so I only ate a few little ones. Afterwards Agata and Wojtek picked me up. It was so great to see them!!! We went to go see their new condo they are buying and then to the place they live at now. We also ate at the mall (nalesniki or blitzes) and I bought shoes (cuz I realized I brought like no pairs to match a few pants). Good deal: $30 for leather nice shoes.

We ended up at Fort Bema. It's a park with a river. We walked along the river for an hour or so and took pictures of ducks. There were so many tiny ones around. So pleasant. :)

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Warszawa, Warszawa, Poland

Today was the after wedding picture day. Here they take pics a few days after the wedding. We arrived at Lazienki (royal gardens) and the whle thing took us two hours. It was very hot and humid though. And after we were done came the rain. yuck. Poland weather reminds me of chicago. it's so all over the place.

I also ate chicken today...crazy! i haven't eaten chicken in 5 years!!

on our rainy way home we picked up some polish beers i never had. we decided to do a taste test kind of a thing. The beer Kozlak definitely won! But they were all good. Poland has got some delicious ones.

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Warszawa, Warszawa, Poland

Today Alek and I did a lot. We went to the Galeria Mokotowska (mall) to check it out. Then we went to Nowy Swiat to visit Poland's first Starbucks...so of course we had some. yum. It was exciting.

Then off to the museum of the Warsaw Uprising. It really was a very interesting museum. Very sad but at the same time uplifting.

After that we visited Agata's work and then went for kebabs. P.S the weather was super sucky.

The night ended with us watching a polish movie called "testosterone." it was really funny and witty.

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Warszawa, Warszawa, Poland

It's been great since I got here. Thursday we just caught up. Friday we went to church for Agata and Ronald to get their marriage confessions done.

Saturday was wedding day! What a day what a day. I was the maid of honor and Alek was the best man. We looked spiffy. And the bride and groom!!! They looked soooo good! There were so many people at the church. It was great. She got so many flowers....I would say maybe 30 bouqets. So nice. The weather worked out great too. The party afterwards lasted till 3 and was crazy fun. We did so much dancing. Then I caught the bride's flower and Alek caught the groom's tie. So we then had to waltz, tango, and rock and roll dance together. It was so funny.

So the four of us got to ride in the wedding car....honking away.

Today we slept in a little, then went to visit Agata's grandparents. They are so sweet and genuine. The grandpa gave me home made doileys he made.

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Warszawa, Warszawa, Poland

So I am hanging out at the munich airport. i have about two hours till my next flight. my flight here was good. i managed to switch my middle seat for an aisle seat. good thing i didnt have to squish myself in there. i sat next to a 17 year old exchange student from germany. we chatted for a bit and i learned some german. haha funny thing: he thought i was 18 years old.

but then i slept the rest of the way. and the bathroom on this plane is in a "basement"....literally on a different floor beneath ours. never seen that before.

after wandering the munich airport with my german friend, we eventually split. now i am just enjoying my free lufthansa tea at the terminal. oh earlier i also chatted up with an elderly woman who was travelling to athens by herself. pretyt cool.

......many hours later.....so we boarded our little bus to take us to our little plane. nap time. arrival: Warsaw.

I got out of baggage claim and my cousin Ronald was there waiting for me! So good to see him! We got to his fiance's (Agata) place and I met her brother Alek and then we all just hung out. :)

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancera/3/1240418173/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancera/3/1240418173/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancera/3/1240418173/tpod.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:42:50 -0400 Random travel in the US

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

I came to Philly to visit a friend I met at study abroad in Poland. She came to visit me last year so this year I was heading over to her.

I got there towards the evening so we just did dinner and just caught up and reminisced. Penn State university is a gorgeous campus...however, walking about two blocks outside of it does a 180 and is just very run down and not safe. It's sad.

The next day she had class so I just hung out on campus. Afterwards we hung out and at night went to The Continental restaurant. It's by the same designer as the Buddakan restaurant in NYC. Very good! Philly by night is...interesting to say the least.

The next day was filled with Philly stuff. The weather was just bad, but it's ok. We went to the Art museum to see the Rocky steps and the statue of Rocky. We then found a Rodin museum. It welcomed us with a replica of The Thinker. The museum was great!

The of course we saw the LOVE statue for the city of Brotherly love. Had some popcorn which was famous. Delicious. Then we went to the center of the start of our nation. We saw the liberty bell and the area where the declaration of independece was signed.

It was then time for Philly Cheese Steaks! We went to Gino's and Pat's, the two famous rivals of Philly Cheese Steaks. Conclusion: Pat's is better and has nicer people working there. But both were yum. The night resulted with a good night out.




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New York City, New York, United States

I have been to NYC twice. My first experience was somewhat disappointing. I was only there for barely two days to perform but what i got out of the city was that it was dirty, congested, and filled with mean people.

My second time opinion did a 180. I was there for four days and I loved it!

day 1: my friend i was visiting lives on wall street, literally. So my journey began there soon leading to the site of the Twin Towers. It was all under construction already, but still quite a sorrowful spot for our nation. Right by there is an old church from I think the early 1800s, with a little cemetery by it. It's very eerie to know all that survived 9/11 and has been there through centuries. We then continued on to Union Square, where I got a true sense of what NYC was all about. The square was filled with a market (very European). People expressing themselves were everywhere. A man with a sign giving free advice. A little girl giving away free hugs. And two couples on a pedestal making out with a sign "Make out, not war." I then had a slice of NYC pizza....sorry NY, Chicago pizza is better!

Our evening led us to Times Square, a surreal area of lights, people, and action. We bought last minute tickets to Phantom of the Opera and then saw the Naked Cowboy. The show was AMAZING! I have seen many many shows in my lifetime but this was unbelievable. And we were in 7th row! I like broadway shows here because the theaters are so intimate and yet the scenes and all are so elaborate. So wonderful!

day 2: Sex and the City bus tour. So fun! We saw about 30 spots where the show was shot and stopped by a few places too. We stopped by Two Boots Pizza, Buddakan, Pleasure Chest, and Magnolia Bakery. The cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery were amazing! Overally the tour was much worth the $40. We later went to the NYC library, where Carrie was to be married. Gorgeous inside. Then I had to see Home Alone II sites (one of my favorite movies)...so we went to the Plaza Hotel and of course the pond at Central Park. I cannot believe I found it!

day 3: My friend had work so I went around by myself. I saw the bull of the market, the statue of liberty, the old fishmarket, and then made my way to Brooklyn Bridge. Walking on it was really fun and got a great view! I then met up with two more friends at China Town...and saw those "purse stores" that turn into walls basically on site of a cop. Later on I met with a friend I met in Poland two years ago. It was great to see her!

day 4: went to greenwich village and saw the Friends building. That whole area is just super cute! My two friends and I went to the shake shack, which is famous and delicious. The day ended with us walking me to the train station under Madision Square Garden.

NYC is great!



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