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! :)