Artists

In the past three weeks, Eva and I have gone to three art exhibits. These included Frieda Kahlo, Michael Angelo, and Picasso. If you ever have the chance to see Michael ANgelo, do it. His sketches are amazing. He is by far one of my favorit artists that I have ever seen! Frieda Kahlo was not nearly as good, but her strang paintings were interesting-FASCINATING to see. Their was one that was half the face of a ghostly like woman and half the face of a real woman behind a sinset with vibrant colors. It was my favorit. Picasso I wasnt to impresses with. His paintings are the equivelant of what an eight year old would produce. The only one I found somewhat interesting was one with peoples heads looking up in the air and their hands sticking up also. Cant really describe it but they have an immitation on MTV that they alsways play. (people running by and then a hand). Anyway, other then that, Joy has been practically house trained except for the fact that she always sneaks into my room and pisses on the whole floor. She doesnt go anywhere else but their. Yestaerday for thanksgivings day, Eva and I went up the DOnau Turm and ate dinner in the revolving resteraunt. Its really pretty at night looking over the city with all the lights shinning. It reminded me of the view from the Eiffel Tower. Were going to Prague today So I'll update when we get back.

We were at the dog training center a few weeks ago and I accidentally spilled water on myself in the car. We didnt want to drive home since we were already their. Eva told me to just ask in the restaraunt which is located their for a hair drier to dry my ass with. What a brilliant idea, why didnt I think of that. Every restaraunt has a hair drier at their disposal. I mean what normal peorson wouldnt want to dry their ass in a resteraunt. Winds up that I went outside tot he training center and froze instead.

Joy

We were riding in the car the other day, just around town, when we noticed Joy chewing on somethinbg. I thought it was jut the bone we has given her, however this asumption was incorrect. Eva later found out that she had chewed a cable in the car. A visit to the mechanic was in order. SHe told them that she feared the dog had chewed on the radio cordes. Wrong assumption again...it was the air bag cords. This will cost a total of about 400 Euros. Not Good!!!

I was walking her one day. It was raining and the weather was kinda dreary and dressing outside. I noticed that my toe felt strang when walking. A mixture of wetness, coldness, and a sort of roughness while stepping down. Turns out Joy had chewed a whole in my snearkes to the point that my tow was sticking out the bottom. I had to buy new shoes.

What else has Joy done? LOTS I CAN TELL YOU: Shes a bad little puppy.

oH YEAH, on Holloween, Leon went trick or treating. I am a candy thief, Ill admit it. I steal my siblings candy, but hey, who doesnt. Unfortunatly, I was not satisfied with the batch of candy he brought home. Im America they give out loads of scrumptious candy. In Austria they view it as an oppertunity to get ride of the old unwanted candy that has gathered on their sheves throughout the year. You all know what I mean, that candy bar that you hate but cant bring yourself to throw away due to the guilty fealing of waste. I mean little children in Africa would die for this candy. Well, now that Holloween has started gathering followered in Vienna, their is a solution to austrians problems. Just give the old candy to the children, they wont be able to tell the differance. My favorits in Leons stash of candy would by fat be the old cough drop, and the melted valentines marshmallow in the shap of a smiley face heart. One word to describe them, REPULSIVE!!!

One more thing, Evas English is so bad that she thought a breed of dogs were called HUSH PUPPIES.

thanlks Libra for the cous cous recipe!

Oma's Birthday Cake

So the other night, On Omas Birthday (October 3 1933) we were celebrating and having a good time. We bought a cake for her, she blew out the candals, and we ate. Boy did it tast good. We all had a slice, and then Eva and the caregiver went to the kitchen to clean up. Leon and Romana sat at the dinning room table and talked whiöe Oma and I sat on the couch in the living room right next to the cake watching TV. At once I noticed that she had grabbed a slice from the table and was munching on it, enjoying it ery much. Eva mentioned that shes not allowed to eat too much sugar, so I called over Eva and she took it away. Oma looked at me and said ''You tattle tailed on me'. She looked angriley away. I started watching TV aain when I notice4d she had crept over and snatched another piece of cake again. I called over EVa and she took it away. Oma loked at me in a pissed off maner and said ''Du hast much Verraten'' (you told on me again!) I felt bad but knew it was the best for her. I continued watching Gallileo. She had once again stollend a sliver of birthday cake and this time was eating it very fast. I called Eva over and Oma wouldnt let go of the cake. She wanted it so badley. They took it away and Oma just looked at me. I sais sorry to her and she responded ''I dont want to talk to you right now, go away. DU HAST MUCH VERRATEN''. I walked out and came back 10 minutes later and she just looked really pissed off when I entered. I felt kinda bad about the whole thing, but she got to eat the cake anyway int he days to come. Well, Im apply now to Austrian Airlines as a passanger service person, not a flight attendant. Im scared of flying. Well see what they have to offer, if I like it I might take and accept it. I got new shoes today because Joy chewed a whole in my addidas and my toes were sticking out. Joy had also stopped responding to her orders to sit and lay down, etcetera. Were gonna take her to an obediance class. Well, hope all ore doing well, and Hope your roommate Libra isnt annoying yu too much, cause I know mine is :) !!!

Crazy People and Joy

So havent written in a while. Joy is getting bigger! Her ears havent stood up fully yet, one still hangs to the side. It looks like she has an overcomb. Its fall break week and everyone has left. Originally I wanted to go to Rome, but decided to put if off till November because the prices are cheaper. So Webster doesnt offer alot of courses like teaching, which I think I wanna do, So im debating whether or not to take year or so off college and work for Austrian Airlines. Why have I come up with this idea you may wonder, well, its becasue as long as Im in EUrope, I want to travel ans see the world. Thats why I came over int he first place. Also, the primary language for Airlinbes is ENglish, so it may be easier for me to get the job cause my Englsih is perfect. I'll be able to fly to Paris for the weekend. JK JK. How cool is that!!! Joy has enter into a new phase which I refer to as the ''Biting people is so awsome'' phase. She loves to bite my leg while on a walk and refuses to stop until I make her lay down. Then she knows whos boss; that would be me (BOSSY SASSI). Kearn and Freya recieves the get well package for kearns broken leg. I want you freya to send pictures ASAP of your new bikini!! Eva is exhibiting an elevated level of fear from Joy. When giving her a treat, she throws that food at her and in the flash of a second pulls her hand away from Joy. So yeah, cant think of anything elso to whrite about now. oh yeah, I set up skype, yesterday, so if you wanna contact me, make an account and add me. Ive written down a few things that have happened in teh past weeks, but its on my old Iphone, so ill have to get id andupdate the blog. Eva got Leon and I the IPHone 4, which is awsome, but Leon doesnt even use his, its kinda a waste of money I think. But whatever. The weather is cold, I bought a jacket yesterday from Hofer for 40 Euros, and Eva bought me one from Tommy Hilfigur a couple weeks ago. I got a new leash for joy yesterday at hofer aswell. Oh yeah, now I remember. That Girl (roommate of mine) Cari, she is really nice and everything, but she is kinda extreme. She got mad because I told her that a family friend was going to be staying in my room for the week. Kati Mirich's husbands niece came and they asked id we had a place for her to stay for a few days. Eva said yes, and offed the Wohlmutstraße aa accomadations for he student. I wrote Carina an SMS and she she started intarrogating me and asking ''...and who is she...why is she here''. She went as far as to having her mother call Eva and complain that she didnt want a girl staying in the appartment that she didnt know. Now that would be a valid argument if the week befor she hadnt had her friend that I didnt know spend the night. Then she went on to to ay that she doesnt like that I made noise so late at night, cause I ordered Pizza and the delivery came really late at like 12 at night, which upset her. I could also understand that, but the other night on thursday when I have school, she came home at 3 AM with her unknown friend and the noixe woke me up. She is a strange girl, way too controling. She suggested that CArina look for a second roommate to live in my room. Now she says we have to whipe to whole appartment floor down with disinfectant wipes every 14 days. This family is over the top rediculous.

JOY : My Little Einstein

Joy is my little einstein! She learned how to sit in just 15 minutes. The next day I taught her how to lay down in 15 minutes as well. The third day, i Taught her ``Paw``. She took a little longer to learn this, but she kinda gets it now! She loves biting people, she thinks it`s the most productive thing to do with her time and doesnt fully understand that when she bites us, it hurts!! She likes observig Leons Guinea Pigs, they are very fascinating to her. Her left ear has stood up and im kinda missing the floppy ears, but its ok, I still love her just the way she is!! Chewinf the cables to the computer and TV are also one of her hobbies. 5 cords ``Mysteriously`` dont work anymore, I just cant figure out what happened to them. Oh yes, I think Joy want to work at the airport when she gets older; She occasionally ``Checks`` my bag to make sure i dont have anything that isnt allowed. After the search, she resorts to stealing my wallet...the little thief! Well, gotta go, she pissed on the floor again...

Libra, hows that bird of yours? You guys are keeping it as a pet inside or does it just visit your yard occasionaly?

My school in vienna is good, its very small, but its ok. I dont really like my Journalism teacher...she pisses me off. I have to write a an article, contact 6 people from enviornmental places such as hydropower facilities, or the enviornmental minestry, all withing 7 days. Does she honestly think this is possibale? I mean really,?!?!?! To write a halfway decent article with that many interviews one needs at least 2-3 weeks to get responses! I like writing a blog, but this journalism shit is to much, seriously, why cant I just write what i want. Something interesting! My Philosophy teacher also pisses me off a little.She had us break into groups of 4 and write 2 papers, on on the chinese governments perspective on the occurance at Tienaman Square, the other from the US perspective. We wrote 2 pretty damn good papers, but unfortunatly they werent to her taste, so we had to rewrite them 2 more times! Other then that school is going well.

Hypnosis

So I was in Psychology class the other day and the Professor happened to tell us that in todays session we would be discussing hypnosis! Anotherwords, that ment hypnotizing the whole class! SO I was convinced that this qould not work. He first told us to hold our hands in our lap and look down at them in one particular spot. After a minute, I felt as though I was starting to fall asleep. That when I realized this shit really worked! From then on, which was a half hour, i stopped my self from falling under his spell and didnt do what was told to the class. I observe others though and what I saw was really quite interesting. People lifted their arms when told to do so and proceeded to do as they were instructed throughout the entire 30 minutes. Towards the end of the class, I noticed a girl sitting opposite of me not responding anymore to the instructions given forth by the professor. It seemed as though she had fallen asleep in her chair, while sitting. Then it hit me, ``Holy SHIT, hes hypnotized her`` OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! Let me tell you, its a strange sight indeed seeing a girl sleeping during a university class. The teached then went on for a while and then finally said ``Im going to count from ten to one, and when i reach one, you will wake up``. This worked for everyone in the class but her! She continued to sleep. He had succeeded and hypnotized one of his poor students. I never believed hypnosis was really possibal, but my mind has changed! You should try it some time. NOT!

My new Pet Joy

If you have looked on facebook latley, you may have noticed the pictures of a very adorable little puppy on my profille! Her name is Joy and I got her on September 3, 2010 at 7 and a half weeks old from a breeder in Austria. I like everything about her asider form her biting. Oh yeah, her shitting and pissing all over the house has gotten old fast, but hey, thats part of the package! So this girl adisa, whom I met at student oriantaion is partially retarted I think. We were in the elevator in the metro, and she asked me what this one red button does. I told her ``dont press it, its for emergencies!`` Three guesses as to what she did next! Yup, she waited till i has left the elevator, pressed the damn button and ran out. She is without a doubt a total R-Tard! School is going well, but I have decided that my true dream is to become a photographer, travel the world, and take magnificent pictures.
So a couple of weeks ago, Eva gave Joshi the keys to Bernardstahl to fix up some tings. Apparently they had thrown a little party, including the presence of Philip, and it got a little to noisey! The old Mr. >Buresh came out and yelled at them treatening to call the police! He called Eva to tell her that ``Joshi hat Dr.Schemm`s hause ist uberfallen`` (Joshi broke into the much respected Dr.Schemms house!) We couldnt help but laugh at this. Joy is crying, I gotta get back to her!

Much Love, SCS

My new Pet!

I adopted a cow today! A real one! It has such beautiful markings; clean white and pitch black! Its fur is so smooth and glossy. It even has a brand on its behind! Her name is P98S! Her personality is like no other. She is so relaxed and mellow, she just lays at my feet all day! She sleeps in my room with me, under the couch table! Oh, did i mention that she´s missing her tail, and legs...and head! I actually only bought her fur...at IKEA! Shes not from Sweden though, but from Argentina! Shes my new rug!

I Dont Have A Key

Today I woke up. i went to the living room, ate some breakfast, check my emails and facebook, and enjoyed a nice day off (I LOVE summer vacation!!!) It was a rather nice day outside, cool and sunny. I worked a little more on the computer and decided to take a walk down the Prater Alle! I couldnt find my purse anywhere, I mean I looked everywhere, but couldnt find the damn thing! Then it hit me, Eva had unintentially locked it in the closet with all our valubals (so that Nicole cant steal any more). Sooo, what was I suposed to do now? My keys were locked in a closet that I didnt have a key to! My money was in a closet I didnt have a key too. Everything was in the closet that I didnt have a key too!!! To my liuck, Eva left a metro ticket on my bed for me. How kind of her. Now I can leave the appartment, with no keys, no money, no nothing but myself andf my metro ticket. Their was only one problem; what happend if I leave the appartment? Then I cant get back in. I dont have any money to do anything with. This should be a fun day! I called Eva and guess what she told me. 'come take the metro and visit me at work!' Wonderful. Now I can use the metro ticket, the only thing in my possession! I left the house with myy little ticket in my right hand and in the other my phone. I didnt realize how dehydrated I was until i was sitting in the metro and started feeling unwell. I was ready to buy some water at stop (where I switch lines), but then it occured to me...'oh yeah, NO MONEY!' I resumed, in a state of mild dehydration, to my destination where Eva was kind enought to buy me some H2O. I waited 2 hours for her to finish working. We then went to Billa ( a European grociery store.) As our items were being rung up, I proceeded by loading out bellongings into out bags. I must not have ben alert, because I started loading items that hadnt been rung up yet instead of taking those that had already been rung up! The women didnt noticed...I think we got a free Mango! Now we are at home again, and my purse had once again been locked in the closet, This time though, I have key! :)

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Venice, Italy

Venice is a place that I have been wanting to see for a very long time, so I grasped the oppertunity to go see it! Its an absolutley fabulous little town. Filled with canals and little alley ways as streets, it a place like no other! Our Hotel,named Tiepolo, was located just one block in from San Marco, which is a very good location; Very central to all the tourist destinations. Our room was right on the canal which made for a wonderful view. The first day, we took the water shuttle to our hotel, and shortley after went and ate at a neighboring resteraunt because it was pouring down rain. Lucky for us, it stopped about the same time we were done eating and the rest of the day was pleasant weather. Not too hot, but also not too cold. We walked around town and visited a couple of Mask shops. These shops are soo cool, you walk in and see thousands of masks on every serface of the shop. Their hung on the wall, rested on show stands, placed on shelves, and ever hang from the cealing. Their isnt much free space to walk around. If your into photography like I am, its a a wonderfull place to visit and snap some shot...that is, if the owner allows it! We proceeded to walk around town and explore.
The next day, it was nice weather. We got up at around 9 and went outside. It was sunny, just perfect for taking Photographs. We went to San Marco, and wanted to go inside, but the line was so long, we changed our minds and went up the tower which overlooks the Cathedral. We wanted to call Kearn from atop, but it was 4 Am in America, so we decided against that idea. Later on, we took a daytrip to Murano, the island on which they blow glass! We watched a demonstration. I expected to see him make a glass to drink out of, but no, he made something much much interesting! I was astonished when I saw him making a sculpture of a glass horse. It was spectacular. I had never seen anything like it! He took a tool, pulled the melted sand from different directions and produced a mastepiece. We ate at little italian resterant for Lunch and I ordered Tiramisu for dessert. It was the best Tiramisu I have ever eaten. Freshly made just for me!!! When we got back to Venice, it started raining again, and the wind was so strong, that Eva´s umbrella turned inside out! It was hilarious to see her running down the street with an upturned umbrella. Later that evening, the weather took a change again, so we took a Gondale ride at night! It was beautiful and so very peaceful. Our Gondale rider told us, as we passed cirtain housed, that famouse people had lived their. Most I did not know, asside from Cassanova and one other (which I forgot). The next moring, I got woken up by a Gondale rider who was yelling "OOI OOI" because he was turning the corner (they are required to do this every time the turn). We went over to the Rialto Bridge and baught some souveniers! Then we took the water bus, back to the airport where we had parked our car, and started our journey back home! It was a short Vacation, but a much loved one!!!

A couple of day befor Venice, when we were driving to Italy, we stopped at a hotel and Eva ran in to see if they had vacancies. It was dark out and while she was inside, a drunken man came over to the car in which Leon and I were in, and tried to open the doors. He started circling the car tring to figure out a way in. I knew that he was drunk and could not get in, but Leon started freaking out, locked the doors and started jumping over the seats to be as far away as him as possibale. I tried to tellhim it was find, but that didnt help. Eva came out and Leon started banging on the window screaming her name to get her attention. She ran over, and the guy told her that he just wated a ride home, after all, we knew where he lived! She got some people to chase him away and afterwards, Leon told Eva that he had been scared for his Life. When we got to out room, we didnt have tree mattresses, so we went up to the single room that we had rented on the seventh floor, took the mattress from that bed, and dragged it down three stories to our double room! Why you may ask did we do this! Well lets just say it was once again one of Eva´s more brilliant Ideas! The next day in the moring, we went to Turner lake, the warmest lake in Austria, and it was freezing cold. That was our mini VACA. I have more things to write over the previouse days befor the Venice trip, but I will do that later!

A Game of Clue in the Alps

Greeting from the Austrian Alps! I just got back from a miniature vacation in the Alps, and let me tell you, the view was amazing! The mountain peaks touch the clouds, it’s very beautiful. We went with Leon’s friend Junis and his mother to a little bad and breakfast for 4 days. I honestly have to say that it was by far the most boring vacation I have ever been on, and will most likely not be going on one similar to this ever again in my lifetime. I think if you want to visit the Alps, you should take a day trip. That’s really more than enough time to climb a mountain, capture some breathtaking pictures, and enjoy a stunning view. The thing is, I probably would have enjoyed the vacation more, had we had our own car, but unfortunately we didn’t. Junis’ mother borrowed a car from the ÖAMTC that Eva wasn’t allowed to drive. The day we arrived, Leon, Eva, Junis, and I went up the street to the area where they had activities for children. Junis and Leon played on the go carts while I jumped on the trampoline followed by a short lounging in the hammock. Eva and I then had a ping pong match, which didn’t turn out that well since the table was on a slope. The ball always bounced in the wrong direction. On the way back to the bed and breakfast, we saw some adorable kittens. They were so cute a fluffy, I could have stuck one in my suit case and taken it with me! The second day, we went mushroom picking up in the mountains. Climbing up the mountain through the woods was not that easy! Junis, Leon and I were a team and Eva, Caro (Junis’ mom), and Henning (a man from Berlin) were a team. When we finally got to the top of the mountain, we ate at a resteraunt with e view so beautiful I can’t even begin to describe! Afterwards, we made our way all the way back down the mountain back to the house on the slope where we stayed. Later on we went down to Radstadt in the valley and shopped a little for clothes for Junis because his mom forgot to pack shirts for him! On the way back up, we stopped at some farmers house and his wife let the two boys ride on their horses. The next day, it rained so much…it was a perfect storm. As I said before, we were not allowed to use the car, and It was so freaking boring their (theres absolutely nothing to do) that Eva and I went on a walk. Eva had a plan of how to get to the little town in the valley. Take three guesses as to what that brilliant plan was. We walked in the pouring rain for twenty minutes (it was so very cold because we were on top of a mountain and soaking wet). After I was about ready to turn around, we arrived at the farmers house. She knocked on the door and invited herself in. She asked if they would be so kind as to give us a snack and some water. You could tell the people weren’t exstatic about the idea, but they did let us in and give us something to munch on. Eva then proceeds with pulling her pants down, taking them off, and hanging them on the chair to dry (this may be normal in Europe, I don’t know). How its Eva, the farmers wife, the grandmother, and I in the dining room together. The whole time im thinking to myself, WHAT THE F**K is she doing! Then she goes on to ask if they would be so kind as to drive us down to the town in the valley. I think the only reason they said yes was to get rid of us! So this was Eva’s brilliant plan of getting us down to Radstadt! Quite a unique plan , isn’t it! When we got there, to our suprise, all the shops were closed. That’s how it is on Sunday in Europe, every store is closed. So that was our cherry on top of the pie! What a wonderful day that was. Thanks goodness that we left the next day!
Today was rather eventful aswell! We spent the night in Gerasdorf( Eva’s house in the Suburbs of Vienna). We woke up, ate breakfast, and Eva and I went over to the Junkyard to dispose of some garbage. On the way back, we stopped at a gravestone store, and asked about prices for Opas gravestone, which is three years overdue. I learned that that white stones are not advised becase they turn yellowish after a while and that all the black stones come from Africa…I bet you didn’t know that! We got back and Eva prepared a salad for lunch. She mixed some vinegar with water and salt in the attempt of making a dressing. She tasted a spoonful of it, and claimed it tasted funny. She looked at the Vinegar bottle, only to find “Putz Essig” written on it. In English this translated into “cleaning vinegar”. Now none of us knew what this was. Apparently Mr. Lazo, one of my Grandmas caregivers from Slovakia had made up a cleaning concoction composed of vinegar and cleaning fluid. We rushed to the Hospital so that Eva could be checked out. I am now sure that the criminal is Mr. Lazo, in the kitchen, with the Poison!!

Hakoah

Appologies for the long wait, I was very buisy finding my way around town. Eva, Leon and I joined a Jewish Spors Club (for swimming) a couple of weeks ago. Its a rather unique institution. When you pull up in your car, their is a 2 foot thick metal gate with steel poles that stand infornt of the gate. You must firt scan your membership card, then the 3 steel poles lower and the gate slowley opens. The whole time, we are observed by about 50 cameras. After driving through tht e gate. the gate shuts behing us, ultimatly locking us inside Hakoah. After parking, we proceed inside and once again scan out membership bands to inable us to enter the sports facility from the parking lot. The front desk staff friendly greet us as we proceed down to the chaning rooms. Our wrist bands must be scaned in order to gain access to the locker rooms. When we are changer and ready to enter the pool, we walk through a corridor, scan our bands, then the door swings open and frees us into the open area that is fences in what resembles a barbed whire fence. If the door is opened without scanning your band, a siren goes off!!! Then its time to have fun! We sit down in our lawn chairs, make ourselves comfy, and try to relax as we are stared at by 20 more video cameras. Literally, from the pool area alone I spotted 10 cameras, and im sure thair are hidden ones aswell! The accomadation could be describes as a four star insane assylum! Its got a very welcoming aura about it!

Circus Time!!!

As you all know, the weather in Austria has not been the most desirable in the last couple or weeks, but I am happy to announce that the weather has changed! Today was a rather hot afternoon, of course nothing compaired to Virginia. The appartment has to air conditioning unit, so it feels like a sauna...NOT very pleasant. I confronted Eva and convinced her to go out and buy a fan. So, leter on, Stadion Bad was calling my name, so I decided to walk up to the pool and take a dip. I tanned for a while and swam just a little befor returning home at about 3 PM. Eva got back from work a couple of hours later, so we went shopping...for the fan. On the way home, at about 8 O´Clock, we saw an advertisment for a Circus that is in town. We stopped by, looked at the cammles out from, and went to the gate to ask about tickets. The show had already started, but the owner told us that we could pay 5 euro per person and seat ourselves after the intermition. So we saw an hour worth of animals jumping around and people performing stunts all for a total of just 15 Euros, quite a bargain, right? The show ended, and we went home and proceded to assemble out newley bought fan. As we were screwing it together, Eva exclaimed "Aufpassen, das ist ein schweres Werkzeug"...translated - "be careful, thats a very dangerous tool". She was reffering to the screw driver. I couldnt help but laugh. With a comment like that youd imagin she was reffering to a chain saw!

THE NEWS

So a couple of days ago, Eva, Leon, and I got up early in the morning to get ready for a daytrip. We were all ready to leave, with Romana waiting downstairs, except Leon wasnt quite ready yet. He told us he had to watch "Die Nachrichten" (the News). You know what that means for him?...Soccar. So now whenever Leon says he want to watch the world cup games, we say to him "you mean the news". He doesnt take the joke very well. SO, we watched all of the latest matches untill Leon left on his 3 day school trip. I have been deprived of the news...what am i going to do! I dont even know the outcomes of who won. Spain, Portugal, GErmany, etc..I just dont know. This evening Leon will be homme again, and guess what!!! I´ll get to watch Soccar Again, yeeHaw!!!

The other day we went to a muesum about the 60´s, and afterwords we went into a little resteraunt and ate some schnitzel. The NEWS came on and it was about a conflict between Germany and England (AKA the World Cup). Our table was situated right next to the TV, as a result, Leon had no trouble watching the match. Right when it started, a Man came over, pulled up a chair, and sat right next to us to inable himself to see the game. A few minutes later, two more people came over and sat next to us. Our table had been taked over by soccar fans. So we all watch this very exiting game! GErmany scored, then England, then Germany again, then England again, so on and so forth. All of the bistanders were very absorbed in the game, unlike myself, who was not really 100 percent intersted. No I must admit, usually sports games are borring had hell, but this one had one moment of spiked interst; This was when England scored shot the ball, and it hit to top of the goal, then went down into the gaol, and then back up, and back down, and they ultimatly got cheated out of a goal, because it didnt count. That was about the extent of my fasination with that days match. Turns out Germany won, and will advance to the next round.
We went on a walk with Oma in the park the other day, and saw a bunch of young bys playing soccar, so Eva went up to them and asked who was playing again who. They replied, Turkey against Serbia. I found that funny, because all the kids on the turkish team, were turkish, and all the others were Serbians (with some croations, and other nationalities mixed in since their werent enough serbs alone). So now you all know what my life in

Garden Knomes

Today I walked Leon to the metro and on my way went to the Danube. Early in the morning its quite still and peaceful. I saw two swans swimming up stream and enjoyed the nice weather. It has been the warmest day so far...and still for half the day I sweater had to be worn. Anyway, I picked Leon from school and went up to Omas appartment and visited her and the caregiver from slovakia (i think). We played memory, but modified it so that oma could play aswell. She like play by flipping all the cards right side up and then searching for the pairs. Later on, she got up and looked out the wondow at the courtyard bellow. The caregiver asked her if anything was new...of course this was ment sarcastically because nothing ever changes in that courtyard. She looks at him in a seriouse manor and says "Their are two men down their". He got up quickly and replied " where, I dont see them". She once again pointed them out and he started laughing. It turns out that the two short gentleman standing in the courtyard were in reality garden knomes.

Stories of a Traveler

Posts have not been updated for a while, my apologies. Let me start today’s post with one very simple song. Feel free to sing along!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR KEARN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!! I WISH YOU A WONDERFUL DAY AND I wish I were their! Love your youngest daughter!

Let me continue my post with some things that I left our about my previous trip across the Atlantic and through London. Firstly, when I went on the ship, their was a caravan of migrating Amish people making a journey across to Europe for vacation. One day, when I was laying on th3e back promenade tanning and enjoying the sunlight, an Amish man sat down in the close proximity of me. He started conversing with the man next to him about the man’s electronic device. He had the “kindle”, an electronic book that holds many stories all in this one little device. He was so fascinated by it. As I was eavesdropping, his wife walked by and he called her over. Look that this strange device, he told her with an awed expression. They looked like two scientists who had just discovered a new species. It was like a foreign object not known to man. The owner was very kind and explained how it worked to them, and you could tell their fascination grew even more.
The second incident involved a woman at the Brussels Midi train station. As I was waiting for the train, I approached a Swiss women and asked her if this was the right platform, and it was. I sat down next to her and by came a women who caught my attention. She was a heavy set black women who was dressed in a what looked like a polyvinyl tablecloth, one of those disposable ones you use at birthday parties. it appeared as if she had just wrapped it around her. This outfit must have cost at most 2 Euros. Maybe she came from a wet climated area of the world, after all, her clothes were waterproof! Sometimes you come across the strangest things while traveling.
As we passed into Passau, a man can onto the train with a bike that a clapped together. It was awesome. Apparently it’s a growing trend in Europe. I guess they are good for traveling. Thought you all might find that interesting.
I forget to mention in my London posts that the Brits seem to really like clocks. When I was on the tour bus going around London, ever 2 minutes I saw a clock on the side of a building. If your late to work or school and say you lost track of time, it is such an obvious lye because in London, it is damn near impossible to lose track of time. They have such an abundance of clocks, I actually found it quite handy, after all, my cell phone wasn’t working, so when I needed to know the time, I just looked up and saw it hovering over me.
Last night we went to the Sonnwendfeur. It was a nice fire, but the temperature is so bazaar. Its late June and Austria should be hot by now, but that’s not the case. This past weekend it actually snowed up the higher parts of Austria. Yesterday night I froze my ass off, it was like I was in f***king Alaska. I had long sleeves on, and a wool jacket…IN JUNE! I think its time to turn the temperature up!
So yesterday, Eva, Oma and I went over to the museum. Of course Eva didn’t want to pay full price for all of us, so she said to go over to Oma and sit on the bench with her. I did so. Eva then went to the cashier to buy tickets and told her that I was Oma’s caregiver, so Oma and myself both got in for free! HAHAHA, now we have to start taking Oma to exhibits with us!!!

Today Leon played hooky from school and showed me around Wien. We sat by the Danube for a while and just relaxed, it was really nice. Wish Kearn would have been their. It was a perfect place to spend your birthday. LOVE YA and take care, Sas <3

Special Post to Libra

Dear Libra,

Yes, I do believe Hogwarts exists. As I was walking down the street the other night, I saw a Night bus and was very tempted to hope on, unfortunatly the fair was to expensive for me, after all, I didnt have many Galleons on me! I did however have enough money to take a walking tour of Gringotts...Yes, it really does exist, I will upload pictures to facebook soon enough. The building looks as though it sould have fallen down 50 years ago, but I guess Dumbldors magic really has worked wonders on it! Anyway, as I left to catch my train to Brussles, I walked passed Platform nine and three quarters and actually saw a wizard walk through the wall. I couldnt believe my eyes. The next time I go to England, my first destination is Hogwarts. I hear their giving exclusive tours to muggles starting in Spring 2011! I cant wait!!!

Yours ( not) truley,
Sas

Bye Bye London :(

My apologies for not updating last nights post. As a result, this post is extra long, and I hope equally amusing, but I do have to admit, it is kinda hard to top the Olive Bread! My internet session ran out of time and I didn’t feel like paying one Pound for another 30 minutes. So I was thinking about my post from yesterday and how I mentioned the Elephants taking over the city, well I also mentioned the pandas in Washington DC and the Apples in New York City. For some reason i feel like their are apple statues in New York, but I cant remember actually seeing any. Someone, please tell me if in hallucinating or not, because its bugging me. ;) Libra, help me out here! :) Well, anyway, I got up this morning and Marianna and I took the Underground Piccadilly Line to Hyde Park. It really is a lovely park. their were loads of dogs and people just relaxing and taking bike rides into work. We got to Speakers Corner, although sadly it was closed. According to the Bus Tour commentary, Speakers Corner is only open on the weekend. I so wanted to hear the Crazies speak, but didn’t get to...at least not this early in the day! Do then we walked on through Hyde Park until we crossed the Serpentine and entered into Kensington Gardens. This is truly beautiful. They have ponds and fountains, even some really rich people live in the few houses in Kensington Gardens. We passed Kensington Palace, but didn’t go inside, then went on over to shopping district where Marianna and I split up. She wanted to go shopping, but my London Tour Bus ticket was still valid until 2:45 PM. I took the Underground to Piccadilly Circus, jumped on the bus, and went on not just one, but two round tours of the city! I was tired, and I figured, why not get my moneys worth, right?!?! I could have gone on the river cruise, but it was cold when we crossed over the water on the bridge, so I figured it would be twice as cold on the water in a boat. I kind of regret my decision now, cause it was free and I think I would have enjoyed it, but oh well. I then got off, walked around Piccadilly and as I was making my way to an eatery, I saw two men ( I presumed from Italy or the Vatican) preaching about Jesus our savior and how 3 generations of our family would not do well if we weren’t faithful…or something along those lines. Hahaha. Their English wasn’t the best English I have ever heard. This made up for Speakers Corner being closed. Overall, I very much enjoyed my trip to London and I strongly recommend everyone to visit it al least once. I plan on returning, hopefully in the near future to see more of the city and of England as well (Stonehenge and Bath are on my list!)

Today June 18th , I got up at 6:00 AM , went to the fourth floor, returned my key card, and had the front desk call a cab. As I waited outside (the taxi was running late), one of the employees taking a smoke, told me to take the underground, because its much cheaper. Since I had already called the Cab, I decided to go with it, plus, I had a shit load of luggage with me that I must admit I had no desire to drag around the Underground. Yes, I arrived at St. Pancras Train Station very early, but I took advantage of the extra time and got some breakfast as well as a sandwich wrap for the road. I got trough customs as right and boarded the train. We went through the Chunnel and as we entered Belgium, the train took a short stop to release a few of its passengers. I was in quite a rush a Midi that the thought of missing the train crossed my mind, luckily, I found the validation office for my ticket, found a seat (the train was empty) and put my luggage in the seat next to me (the window seat). I am currently writing from my seat now and the man in front of me stinks…like smoke. Its absolutely vile smelling. I could move of course, but I have chosen not to because, as the speakers in the underground and the train station love to say “unattended luggage is the cause of many security threats, so please Attend to your luggage”. I’m being a good foreigner, obeying the “Laws of the Luggage” ;) On the way to Frankfurt as we speak.

The trip went smoothly up until we almost arrived in Frankfurt. I stopped at a little town that was about 30 minutes away from Frankfurt to let passengers out. I was starting to get annoyed that we weren’t leaving, and then after 15 minutes, I started to really worry. What if I miss my connecting train, then what? Will I have to spend the night in Frankfurt? Where would I go, how would I get their, after all, the train to Vienna was the last one for the day. All of these thoughts crossed my mind suddenly and I started to transition into a phase of anxiety! “Shit, F**k, WHAT IF I MISS MY TRAIN?” I thought to myself. An announcement came over the loud speaker system that notified all of the Frankfurt bound passengers that out train was delayed this long due to Children playing on the tracks! Who lets their children play on the tracks? Goodness, this is absolutely ridiculous! Well, time passed…slowly of course, and when we finally got going, we were running behind schedule by 45 minutes. Now for those of you who don’t know, I only had about 40 minutes to change trains in Frankfurt, that means that I had negative five minutes to get to my new train bound for Vienna. Well, As we were going, the conductor kept informing us of the timing, and we finally arrived in Frankfurt. A women, whom I met in the train station in Brussels (also on her way from London to Vienna) and the man sitting next to her, all hurried to our connecting train, which had kindly waited 10 minutes for us. We rush off the train, and what do I see in from of me on the Platform? Stairways. I had a shit load of luggage, as you may have known, which I myself could not have carried down a large flight of stairs all by myself. The man, who was also going to Vienna, so kindly helped me and carried it down the stairs. All three of us ran through a long corridor, and then got to another flight of stairs leading up top the train platform. Without this kind man, I may very well have been stuck in Frankfurt for the night, luckily, he helped me again, and then a third time taking my luggage into the train. I seriously thought that I was going to miss that train. So anyway, we get on the Vienna train, take our seats at one of those 4 person table seat areas, and start riding. We all talked about several things. The women was from Switzerland and worked at a center for abused children, and then man was from Ethiopia and told us that when he was a kid, he only had one pair of shoes for school., so he went barefoot when not in school. A few stops later, a German guy came on the train and sat in the 4th seat. He was wearing a Germany soccer shirt and smelled like alcohol. He had just come from watching the Germany vs. Serbia game. He was very happy, I assume that was partially due to the fact that he was tipsy from the alcohol. They started talking about soccer, which I have absolutely no knowledge of, so I just sat their while they conversed. They mentioned those horns that all the south Africans blow at the games and how obnoxious they are. The Ethiopian laughed and responded “Yes, Africans can be that way”. Then the subject changed a few time before we started talking about our destinations and where we had come from. I told them about the Queen Mary 2, and they were obviously impressed. We were conversing primarily in English, because the Ethiopians German wasn’t to great. The German didn’t know a word in English, so he called out to the entire train car of they knew it. Everyone in the car chuckled at this and someone responded with the answer. It was very funny, then he proceeded in pulling out another bear from is bag. He was obviously enjoying himself. We all talked for several hours and he told us that once his friend and him were in the train station waiting for their train, the police man talked to them to get off the platform because they were causing trouble, and as their conversation was in session, their train came and passed. So they couldn’t leave the platform on the train, but had to spend the night in the city. It must have sucked. As we passed into Passau, we were all checked by the border controllers. We had to show our passports, and then they got to the Ethiopian, they look at him, them look at his passport picture, then look back at him in a very serious manner. The German guy bette befor hand that they would check him (since they do it randomly) but the Eithiopian guy said its very understandable since he is clearly physically different. In his country, he said they would do the exact same. We all started laughing because honestly, this guy was the only black man in our train car. It was humorous. At Passau, the German guy got out and the three of us continued our journey onwards. Finally, after a grueling 15 hours of train riding, we arrived at h=our destination, Vienna!!! I got my shit out of the overhead compartments, and the black man helped me off the train again. I walked a few feet before being greeted by Leon! I waved goodbye to the Swiss woman and the Ethiopian. Eva later told me that she thought she saw me, but them saw a girl with a big black guy and though,…”OK, this isn’t Sassi” and started walking off! Hahaha, I had to laugh at that. But all three of those people that I met were very nice and made the trip much more enjoyable…and I honestly think that I may not have mad it off the platform without their help. Overall, this was a grueling journey, very stressful, but in the end, it all worked out good and I actually enjoyed myself. Some of the stories my companions shared were very interesting and humorous. One of my favorite quotes (which I saw on the Moralas’ refrigerator while babysitting) says something along these words. I think it fits great with this trip I have just taken!!! “A touch, a kiss, a smile, or the smallest act of kindness, all have the potential to change ones life around.” I agree with this quote, and while most would go about their busy day and worry only about themselves, every once in a while we must look to the strangers next to us and help them out, even its just granting them with the smallest act of kindness, such as carrying ones luggage for them or guiding them to the right train. I truly appreciate the kindness that I received. (this is not to be interpreted as giving the homeless money or illegal’s citizenships for crossing the border illegally…or something stupid along those lines)

Greeting from Vienna to my friends in the USA!!! Have a nice night!

Today in Vienna was nice. I looked for 3 jobs and we walked around the city a little bit. I ate sacher Torte and now I’m very tired, so I’m done writing for today. Love Sas <3 (3 pages of info should be good to satisfy you eagerness of my trip! ;)

London: Day 4

So I was thinking about my post from yesterday and how I mentioned the Elephants taking over the city, well I also mentioned the pandas in Washington DC and the Apples in New York City. For some reason i feel like their are appl statues in New York, but I cant remember actually seeing any. Someone, please tell me if in hilucinating or not, because its bugging me. ;) Libra, help me out here! :) Well, anyway, I got up this morning and marianna and I took the Underground Piccadilly Line to Hyde Park. It really is a lovley park. thweir were loads of dogs and people just relaxing and taking bike rides into work. We got to Speakers Corner, anthough sadley it was closed. Occording to the Bus Tour commentary, Speakers Corner is only open on the weekend. I so wanted to hear the Crazies speak, but didnt get to...at least not this early in the day!

London June 16, 2010

London is growing on me! This day was another spectacular one! I got up at 8:30 in the morning, and Marianna (the Bulgarian) and I went over to the British Museum. Iit’s a grand building with large pillars in front. They have a grassy area out front that had been made into a whole outdoor exhibit of South Africa's terrain. My guess is it's in honor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, after all, England is a soccer obsessed nation. They had cactuses, palm trees, shrubs, sand, and rocks right in front of this museum. It was really neat, patrially because it looked so out of place in a European country with a cold climate. We didn’t look at any exhibits, so we walked back over to Buckingham Palace. The walk was long, so as we approached the Underground, we decided to take the tube to Green Park Station ( I believe that’s what it was called) in the near vicinity of the Palace. We got their right about at 11 O’clock and saw the Changing of the Guards. It was quite a site seeing grown men dressed in goofy looking outfits. Swordsmen with fluffy black hats, prancing down the road on horseback does make for an amusing sight. After that, we made our way over to the Queens Gallery. Looking at all the royal families belonging really does make one jealous! They get anything they want; Statues carved of them, pictures painted, jewelry imported for them, etc, etc, etc. their was a crib made for one of the royal babies that was carved just for him. I cant even begin to grasp how they produce such pieces of art out of a slab of wood. It baffles me. Anyway, then we went and saw the Royal Mews. The horses and their stables looked very nice, but what looked even nicer was their carriages. My GOODNESS they must have cost a fortune! One carriage had cupids on it plated in a golden color along with the family crest and many other statues. These words do not do it justice. I cannot describe just how ornate it was. Pictures will come soon enough! While passing the green grass in front of the royal heinesses palace, we sat down on the lawn and took a rest. The sun was shining, people were lounging, and their wasn’t a cloud in the sky! If you have never been to London, I suggest sitting infront of Buckingham palace on a nice day and having a picnick. Watching the sunlight shimmer off the golden fences, the flags flowing with the wind, not having a care in the world…this is what life is all about. We do not get enough of these moments, so when you encounter one, relax and take it in. After a few moments of joy and peacefulness, the Bulgarian opened her bag and pulled out something. Take three guesses as to what it was…let me give you hint. It’s a Bulgarian specialty! Yupe, you guessed it, "Dried Bulgarian Olive Bread!" It wasn’t any ordinary piece of bread though, it was the same one she had offered me yesterday that I had only taken a piece from. She had saved it for me, now how nice of her was that. It was very thoughtful of her. So now my moment of joy and bliss had been interrupted once again by this shitty bread. I kindly rejected it, and she asked me, “ You don’t like it?” I once again said I wasn’t hungry. Then she admitted that it wasn’t the best bread since it was 3 days old, but it was all she had with her to eat. I think she though it was just as gross as I did, but didn’t want to throw it away, so offered much of it to me. Anyway, after eating 5 nibbles of it (a disguise to make it look as though I was eating it), I got a stomach ach. Seriously, I felt sick, so at that point, I thought to myself, “the hell with you, Bulgarian girl. I don’t care if I’m rude, but I’m not gonna eat another bit of your foul tasting bread, for if I do, I just might hurl!” Enough is enough. I’ve had the end of it, no more olive bread for me!!! We made our way back to Piccadilly Circus, ate lunch at Subway, and then we both went our separate ways. I went on the "Original Tour Bus of London" and saw all the major sites that I had not already seen, plus some repeats of the ones I had seen. That lasted about two and a half hours. It was the perfect day to explore a new city! I got many pictures and took quite a few video’s. I also saw a Night BUS headed towards Hogwarts!!! I will try to figure out how to upload them to “Knock on Wood” when I get to Austria. On the bus, the conductor gives out earphones that plugged into the side of your seat and tell about the tour sites as each attraction is passed. I really enjoyed it. Tomorrow, I’m gonna go on the free river cruise that they offer if I can find out where exactly it is, cause it sounds like a nice activity. When the bus landed at Piccadilly Circus, I got off, went into a souvenir shop named “Cool Brittania”, and bought a few souvenirs. Then I walked around, the Piccadilly area for a while, got some dinner, and ice cream afterwards, and then came back to the hostel. On the way, I passed a homeless man whom I haven’t mentioned in any of the previous logs, but he has been their ever since I arrived on Monday. He has now apparently adopted a dog, because he was laying on the sidewalk with a dog curled up next to him, it was kind of cute actually. I guess he thinks with the cute dog by his side he will rack in some money, who knows. New girl from the north of Britain has taken the place in our room, cause one girl left. And, a note to everyone: I am being very critical of Marianna the Bulgarian, but she is very nice, so I just thought I should mention that aswell. The good comes along with the bad sametimes.

London: Day 2

My day in London was very eventful! It started out with getting up very early (at 6 O’Clock AM) because I couldn’t sleep. The Bulgarian women came with me again and we decided to start our day of exploration together! First, we walked back to Westminster Abby and looke around that part off town. That was follwed by a long walk to Buckingham Place. Onour way their, we encountered a large group, or should I say colonization, of birds, which included various speciecs of ducks, geese, and pigeons. We stopped at a bench that was positioned in the sunlight ddue to the fact that mid June mornings in London can be quite brisk, and ate a little breakfast which consited of very dry olive bread from Bulgaria tht the girl had brought with her. She offered me some yesterday aswell and ,not know then that it tasted like shit, I took a slice. This morning was different though. She offed me some, and not wanting to be rude, took it, after all, I hadn’t had breakfast yet and I was hungry. Well, let me just say that eating Bulgarian bread as dry as a dessert, which is a day old, with no water to drink, is not a good idea! Because it tasted like stale shit, I thought, “hmmm, people sitting in a park surrounded by birds…this is the ideal moment to dicreetly dispose of this bread that I so much despised!” I started out by tearing off small crumb sized pieces of bread and trowing them to the ducks. I had to start off small, otherwise she might have though I didn’t ;like the bread, and I certainly didn’t want to hurt her feelsing. Naaturally, I kept munching on the olive flavored sand and finally she she started throwing little bread bits to the birds. Then I started acting like I thought they were the cutest little animals I had ever seen, and gradually continued increasing the sizes of the break chunks. A few minutes went by, and befor I knew it, the sandy bread was gone. Now, you tell me, is that not cleaver, or is that not cleaver??? I know, I’m a genius!…at least I thought so until she asked, “did you even eat a bite of that bread?” At that remark, all I could do was smile say, “yeah”. Oh yes, befor I forget, I saw a duck that had a blond Afro! What an oddity! I took a picture too!
I digress. Shortly after the park, we arrived at the Palace, which I honestly was not completely impressed with. It didn’t look as grand as I had expected it to look, after all, the Queen does live their! (at least I think so). The gates Leading to it we absolutely stunning though. It must have been the family crest plated with a golden coat. My mouth was extreamy dry at that point in time, so as we passed a backery, we stopped and got some water. When I got to the register, the man behind the counter asked me if that was all. I relied with a “yes, just the water”. Then he went on to mimick me and say “just the WADER”. Then heasked where I was from and I told him, and he forgve me. Apparently the Brits think american accents sound like retards! I guess I should have said “WOTA”! We continued our “Journey Of London Discovery” by going in the underground and ridinf to London Brisge. It was plain, but we slowly made our way to Tower Bridge (believe that’s what its called). Now that bridge is an Architural masterpiece. It has such asthetic beauty, even though it is just a bridge. London had so many randomly placed statues of elephants. Its like apples in NYC and Pandas in Washington D.C. But they have way, way, way, way more then any of those cities. Each has a different design, and I take pictures pf almost all I see. After that, b]we walked passed the Tower of London. The Bulgarian wanted to look inside, but it was cold, so I convinced her to go somewhere else. She really wanted to go to the Royal Observatory, so we hopped on the underground, and went their. By this time, my legs wer quite sore, and as we approached the destination, I Wave of fatigue ran through my body. On top of a hugmungus hill, their sat the little observatory! We took a break, sat on a brench, and guess what Ms. Bulgaria pulled out of her backpack?!?!?! Two more olive Bread Slices. GAAAG! Do you want some? She asked in a pleasant voice. “umm, im not really hungry, but thanks”, I repied. “But we didn’t have any breakfast, not did we have lunch. You must be hungry.” Yes, I was hungry, but not that that stuff, get it aw2ay from me, please!!! “No, im not really hungry” I told her. “Come on, you must have some, you must be hungry, here, take one.” “OK”, I gave in, “But im not very hungly, so ill only take a little. “no,no, you must take more”. I REFUSED. We got to the observatory and the view was splendid. You could see much of the city in the far distance ahead. When we gpt back to the Underground, I had a bit of a problem with my Oyster card, but after several minutes, I figured out how to add more money. We came back, got lost, found a place to eat, and then Went back to the hostel. I did not mention that we got lost about 10 times, and walked about 5 miles, literally, just because we were lost or misguided. One time a Older British man came up to us and helped us find our way to Victoria Underground. Back at the hostel, I showered, and went our alone and explored the Piccadilly circus area and came back. I just took about 30-45 minutes writing this, so I hope you enjoy it! Hope all are doing well! (im aware there are many errors in this entry, but I’ll fix them later, I don’t feel like doing it right now, but I imagine you guys wont want to wait for me tp proofread and spellcheck). XOXO, Sas <3

London: Day 1

Yesterday was the last day aboard the Queen Mary 2 and the Canadian was crazy as ever! He said he wants to go on the Micky mouse cruise. He thinks it looks fun...i imagine it would be, but he would probobly one of the oldest people on board ;) Yee-Haw!

Today I got up at 5:00 AM to eat breakfast and disembark the ship at 7:00AM. I waited for a while outside the Royal Court Theatre for the number to be called (BROWN 3), then after much waiting, I got out and made it to the Bus headed for St. Pancras. When I arrived at the train station, I gave my luggage to the station to be held, then got a taxi, and road to Piccadilly Hostel. On the way their, the taxi driver was yelling and swearing at people, its really funny the british people sound when angry with those silly accents. He reminded me of a less extreme version of the british guy from "Eurotrip", im sure you can imagine it well! The hostel made me pay an additional 90 pounds for the room, ever though it was already prepaid with the credit card. Supposedly they will give a refund. Anyway, I took a nap, and at around 7 PM, i met a girl, who is in my room from Bulgaria. We explored the city a little befor retiring for the night. We passed by Westminster Abby, caught a glimps of the London Eye, and saw many other interesting buildings. In the room is a girl from Chili, Argentine, Bulgaria, and myself from the USA. I baught an oister Underground metro pass and a bus tour pass. I kinda want to take one of those day trips to Stonehenge, but they are like 70 pounds, so theat may not be doable. I hope you all are enjoying your selves back in the US. Love, Sas ;)

Queen Mary 2: Days 5-6

Yesterday was a very busy day at sea indeed. I started out by getting Breakfast in bed, proceed by several hours of relaxing in the Sun . The Royal Court Theater was putting on a play (The Taming of the Shrew) which I decided to attend. The actors were very talented in my opinion, I really enjoyed myself! Next on ,y list was the spa! I went in, got a rejuvenating Swedish massage! The blissful aroma of sweet flower blossoms permeated through the air, ensuring one to experience a peaceful time. After that I went into the Spa hot tub which had water streaming in from the ceiling! It was wonderful! To be honest though, the price was a bit to much for my taste. In the states, I got a massage that was twice as good for less then a quarter the price. So if you ever come on the Queen Mary 2, I would say go for the cheaper massage that’s only 50 minutes instead of the 80 minute one that I got. It was still worth it though!!! Afterwards I relaxed some more, and later on in the evening I went to dinner. The old man from NYC came and so did the Canadian. When Mr. Crazy came, he gave me some advice on how to make money. Buy houses cheap and keep them for a long time. There value will increase a very large amount over the years. He also appears to like making up0 nicknames for people. As you may have read earlier, he calls me Princess. When the other old man showed, the Canadian shouted out, “How ya doin Captain?”
“Im doing well he replied.” That was followed by a quick “Yee-haw” and a short titer giggle afterwards! After dinner I went and heard Anthony Loyed sing . He is a Welsh singer who in sailing back to the UK. He sang “Edelweiss” which was really well done!

The following day June 12, 2010, I was not as busy as the day before. I started by going to Kings Court for my morning breakfast which was shortly followed by going out on the promenade and laying in the sun on the Promenade. Not long before noon, the watch officer on duty came over the loud speakers and announced that a school of dolphins was passing along the Port side of the ship! Everyone rushed up to catch a glimpse of the lovely little ocean dwellers jump from the waters of the deep blue sea! Their must have been 50 dolphins, it could have easily been more. It was a very neat experience, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a picture because my good Canon Camera was all the way down in my stateroom. Had I gone to get it, the dolphin colony would have been long gone. They were really sweet though, small little pitet animals frolicking and swimming thought the waters. Later on I saw an bird! I have no idea how they survive all the way out here in the Atlantic Ocean. When the captain came over the loud speakers, the Commodore gave up a daily report from the bridge. Apparently the waters are so calm right now that he is surprised he is actually in the Atlantic. The water today looked like a lake it was so still. Well, later on, I went to Illuminations and saw watched the England vs. United States of America world cup soccer game. As you all well know, I do not follow sport, nor particularly care about them, but it was starting to cool down significantly on deck by the water, and their were no shows or movie going on, that I decided to go watch the sports game anyway. A majority of the population of this ship are either English or American. That made the came quit funny, because every time the English scores (or for that matter tried to score and missed) all the English cheered. The same was true for them the Americans scored. It was quite humorous to watch. Eventually I got bored of it an went to dinner! Mr. Crazy greeted us asked us a quiz question. “What’s the worst part about dying?” neither I nor the man from Ney York understood the question. To us, dying in itself is horrible. He continued to tell us that all three of his previous wives had died…“All of lead poisoning! Now aint that a coincidence Princess? Yee-Haw (giggle giggle)!” He sure is a strange character…there are no other ways to describe him. Tonight, as both waiters walked by, they gave out a loud “Yee-Haw” when walking past him. He sometimes asks the waiters random questions, so they just smile, laugh, and walk away! I find that to be very funny because they obviously don’t know what he’s talking about. Every night he told us about his house is Majorca Spain, and asked where we were headed off too. I think he may be a little senile. He told us that he now wants to go hang gliding. I don’t know if that’s the same as paragliding, but from the sound of it, I think it’s a bit more dangerous! After that I went and saw the Cunard dancers perform. Its really impressive as to how talented they are.

Queen Mary 2 :Days 3-4

Yesterday I got a breakfast in bed, the basterd woke me up 4 minutes early, god damn it! I asked for my breakfast at 9:45 and he came at 9:41. Who do these people think they are…I mean seriously! ;-) Other then that, I enjoyed my breakfast thoroughly. A nice batch of hash browns, sausage, ham, fruit, etc. Later on I went out on the rear of the promenade and tanned in one of the lawn chairs! Read some more of “Dear John”, and only did I notice, after John mentioned having a sunburn, that I had one as well. Red as a tomatoes! I proceeded the day with getting a quick lunch, sitting out in the sun some more, and then saw “17 Again” in the “Illuminations “ theatre. Dinner was quite entertaining. Mr. Crazy Canadian was their again and asked, “How was your day Princess?” Then he proceeded to eat and excuse himself halfway through the meal to go to the casino! Mr. Mark Australia was a No-Show today, but the other old man from New York City came. He was annoyed at the fact that they make the food look so fancy and pretty. Their were some onions with a bit of cheese at the top, when he tasted it he exclaimed, “Oh, these people keep tricking me, I thought these were Portobello mushrooms!”. We also went past the sunken Titanic, which was neat. And apparently, no icebergs have come down this far this year!

Not much went on today, I just went and saw the movie “Sunshine Cleaning” in the movie theater. I Went to dinner, Mr. Australia didn’t show, but the others did. Crazy Canadian asked the waiter for dark bread. By now, our water knows very well that he is crazy, he brought the bread, and then Mr. Crazy Canadian said he needed 2 because he was expecting his grandmother for dinner. The waiter just went along with his request. Minutes later Crazy asked why they took the candles away, and the waiter replied, don’t worry, they needed a rest, they’ll be back tomorrow! Towards the end of the meal, Crazy once called the waiter over and requested some applesauce (which was not on the menu today), but his request was granted when the waiter came out with a mini bowl the size of a shot glass filled of applesauce. After giving him the applesauce, the waiter turned and yelled out “Yee-Haw”, obviously playfully mocking Mr. Crazy! Later on, Crazy was saying the worst thing in the world is Women! “They steal your money and take your house!” he exclaimed, “Isn’t that right Princess?” Then he went on to ask me weather or not I agreed; not quite knowing how to respond, I simply said, “I guess so”. I could tell he was pleased with my answer! And, once again, he went to his second home at sea…THE CASINO!!! Mr. NYC was amazed that one of the women siting at the table next to us was so tall; He said “She probably needs her clothes specially made, hand sewn!” I nearly forgot, As a was waiting for my dessert, an old women, hunched over, walked next to my table. I think she may have worked for the circus in her earlier years, because her outfit was absolutely horrendous! She had a blouse with 5 inch puffy sleeves, and a colorful belt with a black skirt that looked as though it should have belonged to a Mummy! I looked at a women near by, and we both laughed at this poor old lady! She just looked ridiculous!

Queen Mary 2: Day 1-2

June 8, 2010

Yesterday I sailed away from Brooklyn’s port in the Queen Mary 2. It was the perfect day to sail off, nice warm weather and bright blue skies. I sat in one of the lawn chairs on deck 7 (the promenade) and watched as we passed the statue of liberty (yes, I did take many pictures). People on the ferries and other boats waved as they passed by, even the NYPD helicopter flying by waved, which I thought was quite funny! The couple sitting next to me were strange characters. The man wanted to go to deck 12 and see the ship go under a bridge, and the kept calling to his wife Martha, Martha, are you sure you don’t want to see this, it’s a few in a lifetime event, Martha, come on Martha! It was really humorous. She did eventually go up. Their was this really nice sailboat passing the Statue of Liberty, it looked as if it had come out of “The Pirates of the Caribbean”. It was a very pleasant departure.
Dinner in the Britannia restaurant was a bit interesting. When I got their, I met a man in his 40’s who was already at my table from Australia (named Mark). A few minutes later an older man arrived, I would guess he was in his late 70’s early 80’s. He asked me my name and I had tp repeat it several times, finally I spelled ou S-A-S-S-I, then he got it. We ordered out food (which was absolutely exquisite, and then the last man who showed up came. He’s from Florida and strikes me to be as crazy as the risk taker in the movie “When I met Polly” (or whatever its called) He kept yelling out Yee-haw after random sentences when he spoke. A very strand character indeed. He said he wants to go paragliding in the Alps(he’s like 70-80 also). I think he may be a crazy old man. Anyway, I ordered Chicken consommé soup and port loin, both of which were excellent.
My Stateroom is small, but nice. My stewards name is Edwin and he makes my room up every day! When I first got in, their was a bottle of what I thought was Sparkling Cider, but to my disappointment, I reread the label and it was actually wine. The Canapés were interesting tasting. I didn’t eat the raw salmon ones, they looked gross. there is a slight swaying of the boat, which a really dislike, but other then that, the trip has been so far good!

Today I just went on the promenade, sat and started reading “Dear John”. I also saw a show entitled “Crazy in Love” (dancing musical), which was quite good I thought. Dinner was tasty. One of the guys at my table wondered why they don have baskets of bread out on the tables, and the crazy man answered him; “Its because people like me take the baskets!” I found that to be quite a funny joke (or who knows, he might actually do it, he is strange enough I wouldn’t put it past him.)

Brooklyn, New York

Im leaving to go to Brooklyn, New York today in a few hours. Queen mary 2 is leaving this afternoon. I hope everything goes well! Wish me LUCK!!!!!

Farewell Virginia

Its the last night im spending in the Old Dominion for who knows how long. I leave for new jersey in the morning and then New York the following day!!! Wish me luck and a GREAT trip! :)

Booked a Ticket

A few days ago I got a ticket...so im officially going to England in June! Yay ;)

Let's Go - Europe 2010!!!

I just bought a travel guide yesterday (well, technically my dad bought it). Ive looked through it...I think I want to go to Italy first! Rome seems like a great place to start.

To Fly or Not to Fly?

I just heard, on the news, about the Afriqiyah plane crash in Lybia. This is exactly why i dont wanto to fly!!! Plane crashed usually lead to the death of all the passangers and crew (although their was a little Dutch boy who had luck on his side and survived!) After I hear news of this sort, I wonder why anyone would ever want to fly!

Freshman Year is Over!

Today is officially the first day of summer! I took my last final for Biology 213 and packed up all my belongings and moved out of my dorm (Commonwealth 2431). I tried selling my text books back to the bookstore, but, as luck would have it, they didnt accept any of mine, one of which includes my $125 Biology text book! Well, college is finally over. I LOVE SUMMER!

I can't help but wonder where I will be in one year? Only time can tell.....Hopefully someplace great!!!

Knock on Wood

I've decided to take a cruise to europe instead of flying, after all, the Volcanic Ash could get in the way!!!