TravelStream™ news feed for member devonandsarah on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/devonandsarah en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 17 Oct 2005 11:33:48 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1121261580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1121261580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1121261580/tpod.html Mon, 17 Oct 2005 11:33:48 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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Olympos, Turkey

Hey all,Ýts Sarah...we are in Turkey at the moment (this will have to be short and sweet cause Turkish keyboards are hard...there are 2 'i's..whats that about??)So yes...we've been in Turkey for 2 weeks now..and we,re loving it so much so far. Because we were coming from N. Ýreland..it was cheaper to get a package holiday deal then just a flight so we spent our first week ýn Turkey at a resort in a town called Side. Ýt was pretty sweet...quite the change from backpacking!!...we had a great week relaxing by the pool, exploring town and goin to the beach.. From the resort we came to a town called Olympos where we lived ýn a treehouse for 3 nights! So fun..kind of like camp. We met some great people, hit up the beach some more, explored the ruins nearby...great time. Next we decided to take a 4 day boat cruise along the south coast of Turkey. Wow, that was definetly one of the highlights of our entire trip. We were on a boat with 10 other people..great group. We sailed to some amazing beachs and coves..went swimmimg off the boat all day..ate some amazing meals...it was by far the most relaxing time we've had since we left Canada. Ýncredible...we were quite sad to step off the boat and return to land. After the boat trip we,ve actually come back to Olympos for a couple days (we love it here so much!) and we are continuing east tonight to a place called the Cappadocia which is kind of like a national park..but the landscape apparently looks like the moon. Should be cool! We leave for there tonight..then we go to Ýstanbul.Hope all is well where you are. Miss you all! Sarah
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1124920440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1124920440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1124920440/tpod.html Wed, 24 Aug 2005 18:15:15 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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London, United Kingdom

Hello!So, I marked this entry as 'London' because that is where our trip finished..but in fact I am writting this from my computer in Toronto.So yes, our journey has ended. After seeing 79 cities in 19 countries over 2 continents, Devon and I have landed back in Good old Canada. Our trip home was quite long. After spending a fun few days on the island of Corfu, we hopped on a 25 hour ferry ride to Venice. (sleeping on the metal deck of a ferry is not all that it's cracked up to be) We then spent 12 hours in Venice before catching a plane to London. We spent 2 nights in London (one on the floor of Stansted Airport) before catching a flight back to Toronto. We were both exhausted but thrilled to see our families finally.So, I just wanted to thank any of you who bothered to read this little website. When I set it up I kind of assumed my Mom would be the only one to read it. But, unless she's checked it 2294 times (which is possible...) it looks like other people have taken an interest. Cheers for that. It should make answering that great question: "So..how was your trip?" a little easier.It still hasn't sunk in that 7 and half months have gone by...This trip was such an amazing experience. And despite hearing: "You two are going to HATE each other by the end" from so many people along the way, Dev and I not only still get along, but came home even better friends then when we left. So...thanks again and I hope to see many of you really soon.love, Sarah and Devon
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1124127960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1124127960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1124127960/tpod.html Mon, 15 Aug 2005 06:18:45 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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Athens, Greece

Alright, Alright, Alright...So...we have now left Turkey and sailed our way into our 19th and final country: Greece. (well last 'new' country - we hit both Italy and England on our trek back to TO) Out of Turkey we landed first on the island of Rhodes. I was super excited to get to Rhodes because there we were meeting up with 2 of my friends from Lancaster. Ant and Pazza (or Anthony and Ian as their passports would read) had planned a vacation to meet up with us. So fun! We spent an amazing week hanging out and trying to get these Brits a tan. (and sadly by the end of the week they were tanner then I was..how depressing) We got loads of sun, did a bit too much partying and got killed by the mosquitoes. (at one point I counted 81 bites on my body) After 7 crazy days Ant and Paz headed back to England and Dev nad I headed off to detox..errr...I mean Santorini. Now, being the prepared and experienced travellers that we are, Dev and I didn't even think about the trip to Santorini until the day we left...and it was then we found out the ferry ride was 18hrs and it left at 4am.Perfect.The trip actually wasn't all that bad. I got 7 quality hrs of sleep on the floor between 2 rows of seats. They showed some decent movies and 2 straight hours of Track and Field (loved it!) We rolled into Santorini at 10 pm that night and found a decent hostel. Ahh Santorini....So, so beautiful. We spent our one day there exploring Fira (the capital) and Oia (which is the town you see in all the pictures with the white houses and amazing blue water.) I ve been to Santorini beafore but it still blew me away. The next day we headed off to Ios. We'd been warned time and time again that Ios was 'the' party island but no one could prepare us for how crazy it was. ..I use the word 'wild' to describe a lot of things - but never has it been more appropriate then in describing Ios..this place is WILD. We were staying at a place called Far Out Camping which is apparently THE place to stay... Now, since D and I didn't have a tent, we were staying in a 'Wooden Tent'..which is basically a garden shed with 2 beds in it. It was a bit rustic but we loved it!Far Out was a cool place..they had 2 pools, waterslides, bars and restaurants..and it was right next to the beach. The people in Far Out are what makes it crazy...for example, every night around 6pm (still prime tanning time) a huge dance party would erupt by the pool with hundred of people dancing, drinking and throwing peeps in the pool..it constantly looked like a scene from some MTV Spring Break show. One night Dev and I where having dinner and as some song came on, an entire table stood up, cheered, then conga-lined out of the restaurant..and they never came back.We never really understaood what was going on in Ios, but we loved it all the same. From Ios we caught a 8 hr ferry to Athens where we are now. This town is HOT and pretty deserted (except for tourists) since its the long weekend so apparently all Greeks get out of town. (and that plane crash was 25 miles north of here so we are safe and sound. Very scary though.)We head to Corfu tonight on a fun overnight bus. (my nemesis)Hope summer is great and you're not dying in the heat like we are.Home in 7 days!Love Sarah
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1122731880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1122731880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1122731880/tpod.html Sat, 30 Jul 2005 10:19:14 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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Marmaris, Turkey

Alrighty...its been AGES since we've updated this bad boy...Ill credit that to a combination of laziness and annoying Turkish keyboards.So..the last few weeks have been incredible...we've done a whirlwind tour of Turkey and we've loved almost every minute (I'm not gonna use the word 'love' to describe any of the 5 overnight buses trip we took in the last 15 days)After we left the treehouses, we headed up north to a place called the Cappadocia..This is a national park-type area...it was really amazing. I wouldnt call many places indescribable..but this is one of them. It looked like the Grand Canyon, the moon and a scene from Star Wars all rolled into one. We spent 3 days exploring that area before hopping on an overnight bus to Istanbul.Istanbul was overwhelming. Its SO huge (spread across 2 continents!) and so crowded. We saw some great sights: the amazing Blue Mosque, The Egyptian Spice Market..and we haggled away an afternoon at the Grand Bazaar. In the end though we were happy to leave the hordes of tourists behind and hop on another overnight bus to Selçuk.In Selçuk we stayed at a great 'backpackers resort'..and spent a few lovely days lyin by the pool and eating some great food. We also managed to drag ourselves off our towels and go visit Ephesus, one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. Saw some amazing ruins of this ancient city..well worth the trip.From Selçuk we headed farther south to Bodrum. Bodrum turned out to be a VERY touristy, tacky resort town..but since its known for its nightlife..we decided to check it out. Amazing..had one of the best nights ever! We found ourselves at The Halikarnas, one of the biggest open air clubs in the world. Certainly the coolest club Ive ever been to (and apparently where all the Turkish celebs go!)...and they were having a foam party that night...it was a pretty cool scene dancing with foam up to your waist with 5000 other people...great night.We now find ourselves in Marmaris..an even tackier, more touristy town..but we have to be here because we catch the ferry to Rhodes from here tomorrow.We are actually quite sad to be leaving Turkey..our month here has been one of the best of the whole trip. The people have been amazing, we've met some awesome other backpackers, and been to some great places. We've also become obsessed with these black olive Turkish Doritoes...Im not really sure how we're going to survive without them.But, who am kidding... life isnt that tough since Greece awaits..Hope you are all doing well and enjoying summer.Sarah
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1119887820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1119887820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1119887820/tpod.html Mon, 27 Jun 2005 12:27:36 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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Cork, Ireland

Hello..Hello,it's Sarah..I know its been ages since we last updated, but frankly there hasn't been much to tell. We've spent the last few weeks in Derry. We had a free place to stay so we took advantage and just relaxed. We got addicted to UK Big Brother, took advantage of having a kitchen and cooked up a storm, and basically hung out. It was very relaxing, very chilled out...we had a great time. We took day trips to both Belfast and Giant's Causeway (an amazing volcanic rock formation about 2hrs from Derry, it looked like thousands of perfect steps carved into rock) Finally on friday,we said goodbye to our great new housemates, and headed out down to Dublin. Dublin was a blast. It was a wild weekend to be there because U2 were performing 2 concerts (oh I wish we could have gotten tickets!) and it was Dubblin's Gay Pride. It was a packed town. We took the Guinness tour and drank a pint in the amazing 7th bar which had a great view of the city. Then we walked over to Trinity University and looked around there. Finally we wandered onto Grafton street to check out the shopping. Oh my, was it crowded! I swear it was worse then the Eaton Centre on Christmas Eve.. just packed! On Saturday night Dev and I decided to do a pub crawl. Ended up at some great places, including the Gay Pride headquarters (totally by accident!! and let me tell you.. some of those boys can dance!!..haha) Fun times. On Sunday we came to Cork. Great town actually. The downtown is really nice..Today we took a trip to Blarney to kiss the stone. It's a BEAUTIFUL day: hot and sunny...what luck! Blarney is a very quaint place - the castle and grounds are beautiful and the town is really cute.So..this end our time in Ireland. We've now decided to leave the Western-most country in Europe and head East. I hear they make good kebabs in Turkey...might try that out.Miss you all!!!Sarah
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1112742840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1112742840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1112742840/tpod.html Tue, 07 Jun 2005 11:47:01 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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Copenhagen, Denmark

Hi it's Devon again.If I had to sum up our time in Copenhagen in one word, it would be Slots. The word slot means castle for most Danes, but for Randi and Peter, the Danes we were staying with, I think it will now always make them think of a German beer called Slots. I know it will for Sarah and I. But I'm getting ahead of myself.We arrived in Copenhagen on Friday afternoon, met up with Randi at the station, and braved the afternoon bus crowds back to the apartment she shares with her boyfriend Peter. Wanting to take full advantage of another gorgeous Scandinavian day, we headed back into the centre of town to take a canal cruise. On the way, Randi told us that we had arrived just in time to celebrate Hans Christian Andersen's 200th birthday the following day. And Copenhagen was going all out, let me tell you. That night there was a gala performance at the National Theatre, and the following night a huge concert at the stadium with a line-up of performers including Tina Turner. Craziest of all is the 8km walk through the city, marked by white footsteps, leading you to places of importance in H.C's life. There's a lot of love for this man.Anyways, back to the cruise. It took off from Nynhavn Canal, which was lined with people drinking and soaking up the sun. The cruise was about an hour and took us all over the place. We saw the Royal Palace, the National Gallery, and the Little Mermaid Statue,which is apparently crawling with people in the summertime. According to Randi, there are literally people crawling onto the statue to get their picture taken. Poor Mermaid. After the cruise, we joined the people on the canal, and cracked open our first Slots.Back at the apartment that night we had a gourmet dinner while watching the never-ending gala performance for H.C. Andersen. Then it was off to a pre-party, where we had everyone saying "Slots" instead of Skåll (cheers) by the end of the night, and from there to a party at the University. There wasn't a lot of people at the party, but that just meant more room for us on the dance floor! And we needed the extra room, to avoid any and all interaction with a guy who felt the need to rock out shirtless all night long, The next day was the big day. The big H.C. birthday blowout. We first joined the crowds at his grave, and then made our way over to the main square, Radhaus Pladsen, to see the huge statue of him. Feeling like we had properly payed our respects, we then headed over to Christshavn and climbed the 400 odd steps of the Von Freisers Kirke tower. The view from the top was amazing.... as was the shortness of the railing, and the way the floor slanted downwards off the edge! Afterwards we took a quick walk through Christania, a community established in the 70's based on communal living. We had dinner in Dragor, the cute little fishing village where Peter's family lives. And then it was on to the Copenhagen Jazz House. Super fun night with Randi, Peter, and their friends Anne and Morten. I don't think we spent more than half an hour sitting the whole night. How could we, when they were blasting such great Michael Jackson tunes! Sunday was a perfect day, weatherwise and activitywise. We got off to a bit of a late-start and arrived in the town of Helsingor, just in time to tour Kronberg castle before it closed for the day. Kronberg is also known as Elsinore, the castle that was the setting for Hamlet. And yes Hamlet is a fictional character so don't ask me how that works........From Helsingor we drove to Klampenborg and walked through Dyrehavn park to Bakken amusement park. A quick trip to the ticket office to buy a coupon booklet, and we were all screaming away on a rickety roller coaster. Starving, we headed back to Copenhagen for one of the funniest/most painful eating experiences I've had in a long time. It was an all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet. Let me paint the scene for you: there was Randi, who had to unbutton her pants, but still eating; then Peter, head down on the table, who had to throw in the towel; Sarah who had planned her buffet eating the most strategically and was still doing ok; and then me, forcing down my 3rd plate, determined to be the champion of the night. Needless to say, a walk around town was in order afterwards.So we are currently working on our "Scandinavians--Please come to Canada and let us house and feed you" banner. We could not have had a better time. Taks all around and hopefully we'll see you soon in our neck of the woods.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1112399280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1112399280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1112399280/tpod.html Tue, 07 Jun 2005 11:42:59 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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Oslo, Norway

hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Sarah and I spent the holiday in Oslo with my friend Elisabet at her grandmother's apartment. After our whirlwind trip through Eastern Europe we were pretty exhausted and wanted nothing more than to veg out. So when Elisabet presented us with a huge egg full of candy, made pizza and brownies for dinner, and suggested watching some movies, we thought we had died and gone to heaven. Easter Sunday we toured Vigeland park, and took a tram about a half hour out of town to see the ski jump that was built for the 1952 Olympics in Oslo--slightly more impressive than centennial hill in etobicoke.Monday we walked through the centre of town, saw the fortress Akershus Festning (and some great views of the fjord!), the royal palace and the changing of the guard (where Elisabet filled us in on all the royal scandals), and joined what seemed like the rest of the city down by the port. The weather was gorgeous, and everyone was walking around, ice cream in hand. I spent a lot of time crashing into people, too busy admiring the ice cream to watch where I was going.Elisabet's grandma had been gone for most of the weekend, but returned home on our last night. She didn't speak very much english but we communicated through a mutual love for ABBA. She blasted the tunes, and we bobbed our heads in enjoyment.All in all the perfect Easter weekend--r & r, and a truckload of candy. Thank you so much for the good times Elisabet (and Bebe). From Oslo we bussed our way back into Sweden's second largest city, Goteborg. We had made plans to stay with David, a friend of a friend, who I had met at birthday party this past summer. Did you get that? He had mentioned that he was studying in Sweden, and I said I might be there in the next year..... I don't know if he ever really expected me to email, but 7 months later there we were on his doorstep, staying with him and his hilarious Bulgarian housemates.David is really into the arts scene in Goteborg and gave us a different kind of tour of the city. We spent our first night hanging in a cafe meeting some of his friends, and then went and checked out these movies that were being played on the outside walls of his friend's gallery. Pretty neat to just plop down on the curb of a random neighbourhood street and watch these films. The manager of the gallery, Big Love, just happened to be there, and gave us a little tour as well. Very cool.The next day Sarah and I took a ferry out to one of the islands surrounding Goteborg. The island was really pretty and very peaceful, with kind of a Cape Cod feel to it. We strolled around the island, admiring the houses, and hoping someone might invite us in for lunch =) There were very few cars on the island--most people had motorbikes to scoot around on with huge boxes on the front for transport. It was yet again another beautiful day. David had been telling us about the dismal depressing winter months of Goteborg but somehow we had just missed them. Finally the weather gods were on our side. From Goteborg we made one more Swedish stop in Malmo en route to Denmark. It was kind of a last minute decision to go there so we ended up spending most of our day walking to and from the train station trying to sort out accomodation. Amidst trying to get ahold of someone from the hostel on the phone, we managed to see the castle, which I'm not going to lie, wasn't all that impressive, and check out some of the cute little squares lined with cafes. The greatest find in Malmo however, was this Latin American restaurant called La Empanada. Such great food, at pretty reasonable prices (by Expensinavian standards). And we weren't the only ones singing its praises......at 11:30 am the line-up was already out the door! Our hostel in Malmo kind of had a camp feel to it, with chores included. Upon checking in we were handed a list of clean-up duties we had to do before we checked out in the morning: mop/vacuum the floor, clean the sink, take out the trash, and my personal favorite, dust the windowsill. Yeah right.The next day was April 1st, which in the bus world means changing the schedules. Unfortunately we were not aware of this, and showed up at the station to board a bus that no longer existed. Whoops. But eventually, a little behind schedule, we were finally headed over the bridge to Copenhagen.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1111784880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1111784880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1111784880/tpod.html Tue, 07 Jun 2005 11:38:50 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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Stockholm, Sweden

Hello! (its Sarah)So, as our time in Eastern Europe drew to a close, we hit up one final Baltic country - Latvia. When we arrived in Riga (the capital city) I think both Dev and I were surprised at how 'metropolitan' it was...very busy and modern looking. We only had one full day in Riga, so with my trusty illustrated map in hand and route all planned out, we set out to see all the sites in Riga in only a few hours. And with me navigating, I managed to get us lost about 8 times ..not bad. The old town in Riga is really nice. Some beautiful churchs, amazing parks, great shopping streets, an outdoor skating rink that's open til 4am - what more can you need? Devon's guidebook had warned us about the 'March Thaw'...and for once, it was bang on. The streets were so wet, the roofs were all dripping, so despite the fact that it was a beautiful sunny day, we were both quite wet by the end. We also spent a few hours visiting Riga's 'Museum of Occupation' which outlined Latvia's history of Soviet and German occupation from the 1920s til they gained independence in 1991. It was an incredible museum, very detailed and interesting..the highlight of my day, I think. That evening, after a quick game of Twister with a crazy Finnish guy and funny American..we headed out to try Latvia's official drink 'Black Balsam'...despite warnings that it was horribly disgusting, Dev and I both liked it (in fact, we had 2!) It was a funny night, a great way to end our Eastern Europe experience. So, yesterday we took a 50 min flight from Riga to Stockholm, Sweden. So we are now beginning our Scandavian adventure!...We spent the whole day today looking around. We took ourselves on an exhausting 6 hour walking tour of Stockholm. I must say, this city is georgous. Stockholm is made up of many islands so there's water everywhere, the buildings are incredible, the people are all beautiful (I'm not kidding..it was like walking through a model parade today..with Dev and I showing everyone how NOT to look) And the weather was amazing - about 12 degrees today: heat wave for us!My only complaint would be the prices, especially after the low down deals in Eastern Europe, these high, high prices are killing us.(we made good use tonight of the 'free pasta' this hostel gives out!)Tomorrow we're off to visit Devon's friend Elizabeth in Oslo. Very excited!Hope everyone has a great Easter!Ha det så bra! ('Take care' in Swedish)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1111094040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1111094040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1111094040/tpod.html Tue, 07 Jun 2005 11:34:39 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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Krakow, Poland

(Sarah again)Ok, so..off to Poland. It was a 9 hour trip by bus to Krakow. We were pretty excited when we got on the bus because they were showing movies!..but sadly all the movies were dubbed in Lithuanian - and in Lithuania, apparently they don't dub movies like everyone else, instead they just have a really loud voice translating over top of the normal movie. So, you can fully hear the english, but there's a guy yelling Lituanian over top of it...if that doesn't give you a headache..I don't know what will.On our first full day in Krakow, we visited the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Berkinau. (this was the main reason we came to Poland) Early that morning, Dev, myself, and an American Matt we met at our hostel that day, caught a bus and took a 90min ride to Oswiecim, the town where Auschwitz is located.We started our visit by watching a 20 min film about the camp. After that, we took a 3 and a half hour tour of both Auschwitz and Berkinau.Auschwitz was a labour concentration camp. The camp itself was mostly made up of barricks to house the prisoners. In a lot of these barricks is now exhibitions about the history of Auschwitz. One of the hardest exhibitions was a building that displayed some of the thousands of artifacts the Nazis stole from the prisoners. So there were rooms containing thousands of pairs of shoes, or eyeglasses, or suitcases. The most horrifying was a room in which there was an enourmous glass case, the lengths of a really large room, filled with human hair (used by Nazis to make clothes)...I still can't get that out of my mind. After Auschwitz, we took a bus to Berkinau, which is where the main gas chambers where. None of them remain (the Nazis destroyed them before liberation) but there is still the railway that brought in all the prisoners, some barracks, the ruins of the gas chambers and a huge memorial to the victimes.It was an extremely hard day. It was very strange being there, and felt stranger still walking out past all the barb wire...especially thinking that 1.5 million people never got a chance to do that.(deep breath)...I'm really glad we went, especially having learned a lot about it in my last year at Western. It was definetly an amazing, but still horrifying experience.So, (chance of mood) we also celebreated St. Patricks Day in Poland...we did it the best we could -by drinking polish beer. wW met some amazing people in our hostel and had a really fun night out.Our last day in Krakow, Dev and I attempted to see the city in about 3 hours. I think we did pretty well. The old town in Krakow is very cool. The town square- the largest medieval town square in Europe (haha..thanks Matt!) is beautiful and the main church, St. Marys was extremely ornate, but really nice. A very neat place.We left Krakow at about 4pm that afternoon and headed to Warsaw...Hope you're all well! Sarah
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1110634920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1110634920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/devonandsarah/eurotrip_2005/1110634920/tpod.html Tue, 07 Jun 2005 11:28:49 -0400 Our trip across Europe...bring it on.

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Budapest, Hungary

Hi everyone (it's Devon),So there's been a slight change of plans as you can see from the map.....we said ciao ciao to Italy, and decided to head north to Eastern Europe. Seems like an odd decision p seeing as we were already cold in Venice, but we found out some of our Scandinavian friends wouldn't be around when we were planning on being there so....bring on the snow and cold. woo!Budapest has been a great place to start off the Eastern European leg of our trip. We've had an amazing time at our hostel, met some cool people, and spent some quality time on their couches, enjoying their free DVDs.We did get out and see the sights though first, I swear =) Thursday we headed into Pest and saw St. Stephen's Basilica, Heroes Square, and the Opera House. There, we decided to check out the box office to see if we could score some of the cheap tickets we had heard about. 10 mins later we left with 2 tickets for the ballet, all for the bargain price of about 10 euros.We were a little worried about our casual dress as we saw nothing but women in fur coats entering the Opera house. No need to worry though, as there was a side entrance for people like us. The ballet was called Mayerling, and was internse to say the least. Apparently the Hungarians really enjoy the use of "dramatic" props, like revolvers and skulls. There was no falling asleep with the constant gun fire, that's for sure.And who would have thought that Hungary would be the first country where we'd have the opportunity to slap on our swimsuits. Yesterday we took a trip to one of Budapest baths' called Gellert, and spent 2 hrs frolicking with the (often nude) Hungarian ladies, in 38 degree Celsius water. We've done our best to sample the Hungarian cuisine. We found a market that had a bunch of stalls so we were able to pick and choose the ones we wanted, rather than attempt to make sense of words like rantott sajt (fried cheese) langos (deep fried dough). The langos did not let us down(as if something deep fried could be anything but delish).Today we've checked out the Buda side of the city, and saw the Buda royal palace and St. Matthias church. Tonight we head to Prague via bus so we'll talk to you from there!Bye!
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