Ahoj!!

So I made it toPrague...I flew Ryanair which has weight requirements...so I am wearing 2 pants and 5 shirts and have an umbrella shoved in my sock among other things shoved in my socks...and a sweater and my sleeper hoody which had close to 10 pounds crammed into the pockets...I made weight--thank goodness for a short flight!  I get to Prague and go into the bathroom to repack my luggage so I can walk and proceed to not be able to find my wallet with money I needed to exchange--you know when you look through something a bazzilion times and cant find it but it should be there...that was me for about 2hours...almost freaking out.  But I got into the city center of Old Prague absolutely beautiful and old with castlesk features and really cool buildings everywhere.  I spent 1hour and a 1/2 SIGHTSEEING with luggage before I wondered down the right tiny street that my hostel was located on.  And of course I found my wallet in that one pocket I did not check a thousand times!   I then got cleaned up, actually put on a dress and went out to buy a bus ticket for the next day and then relaxed awhile before I met Michal-a PHD student that stayed with my Aunt back in California.  I met him at 8:30pm and we went to dinner--boy do they drink their beer and eat their pork!!  I had a flatened pork chop stuffed with a cube of bacon and dried plums very tasty washed down by mugs of Pilzen.  Michal was fantastic to meet me --he had just flown in from Istanbul earlier that evening.  Great time practicing my Czech and learing a bit about the cultureand history of Prague--like where the Czech bank was located;).
The next day I got the bus to Ta'bor and attempted to get the connecting one to Vlceves...second time was the charm.  I kept asking if it was the right bus and the driver kept saying no! no! then the town name...I was so sure it was the correct bus but he was yelling NO NO that I did not get on.  So I was stuck for another 2 hours at the terminal...apparently ANO! means yes yes!! I finally went somewhere where No does mean yes!!! So went to a restaurant and had a snack and of course a Pilzen because that is what you do and caught the next bus and found my first workaway hosts!
The first evening I got there we went mushrooming with George the cat-a lovely small rusty tabby that walked with us the entire way!
more later...

Valkommen to Sweden!

Ahh Stockholm one of my favorite cities.  I wandered out of the airport without finding customs and bumped into my friend Ulrika who I was staying with and was told there is no customs.  I stayed with Ulrika and Ralf, friends I had met in Santa Rosa through Leigh a friend of mine.  They had a great apartment on the 6th floor with views of the city and lots of clock towers and churchs.  The first night I got in they walked me around Stockholm so I could get a feel for the city and where to go.  The next day I slept in which I had not been able to do since I started my travels, and had a nice coffee and read my book outside. I then spent the rest of the day walking all around Stockholm, they have such beautiful parks and buildings.  That evening Ralf got a ticket for me to watch his futbol team play at the Stockholm Olympic staduim a few blocks from their place!  Lots of songs, chants with a predominitely male chorus (not a lot of women at the game).  There was even a stopage of play due to fans on the field and retaliation for a player from the other side flipping off our teams fans!! Fantastic game--I got to be decked out in Djardin blue with a jersey and a scarf with great seats...but we stood the whole time --very intense match which in the end we did lose...next time! The team mascot is a rabbit with an iron pot on its head!

The next day I went to the Vaser museum--all about a extraordinary ship that was commissioned by a king which promptly sunk on its first voyage due to too many cannons.  It was salvaged and put into a museum. Then I went to the Swedish culture museum and looked at folk art, wedding dresses, furniture and Sami (Lapland) culture.  All this was followed with a wonderful classic Swedish meal of veal meatballs the size of your fist with fresh ligonberrys and mashed potatoes-- so yummy! After dinner we went to the south end of Stockholm to a bar on the 25th floor with all glass windows and looked out into all the lights of Stockholm with a tasty cosmo martini in hand-absolutely wonderful night. We ended the night at a bar that looked exactly like the Cheers bar and talked politics and culture differences into the night!!!
The next morning early Ralf guided me to my bus terminal for my airport tranport onto Prague---thank you so much Ralf and Ulrika!!
See you in my next city!

Velkomen to Norway!

So the land of my ancestors, well some of them anyways:) Bergen was wonderful beautiful town, colorful houses and a great layout.  Oslo I liked less but then I was only there for a tiny bit and not too keen on wandering around the streets at night when I arrived.

So my flight from London to Bergen was good-seeing London at night all lit up was amazing especially all the glowing soccer fields everywhere.  When I arrived to Bergen airport I called the number for my couchsurfing.com contact but no answer so left a message to say I was on my way.  I was to meet him at the tourist center in the center of Bergen.  So I got there mind you it is 12:30am on a Thursday, but I was not alone as all of Bergens' bar scene had emptied out and were stumbling home while I made 2 more phone calls and waited to see if anyone showed.  Sitting in front of a dark tourist center waiting to see if my contact arrives I look to my right and see a Louisiana cajun restaurant which deffinitely reassured me that everything was going to work out. A nice cab driver showed me how to get to his address so walked a few blocks but when I got to his building of course his name was not listed...needless to say I found a "budget" hotel around 2am...ahhh good times but it was not raining and Bergen at night was beautiful.
Next morning I found a YMCA Hostel which was fantastic and met a nice old French man who shared his crab,lobster, salmon and smoked whale with me as a late lunch. And as I could not speak French and he could not speak English he drug me out in search of a "libreria" which of course turned out to be a bookstore not a Bibliotec...so we walked and walked in the rain all over Bergen to buy a French English dictionary;).  We finally found it which by that time I was cold and soggy. On our way back to the hostel we passed by an outdoor bar with a guy playing the guitar and singing--Neil Young's Harvest Moon in Norwegian!!
That night I went out to explore the nightlife with an Australian, an Israli and a German--we went to the Garage a bar where Nirvana played once and then to another bar with a great D.J. and danced the rest of the night.

In the morning ( way too early) I caught the train to Oslo...7hrs later I found my Oslo Hostel.  The Norwegian country is wonderful, Aspen, birch, pine trees everywhere with tons of lakes and inlets and of course my favorite the wood planked cabins painted dark with a light color trim everywhere.  I am coming back for sure.

In the morning before my early afternoon flight I went to see the Kon Tiki museum and the Viking Ship Muesum!!! They were great! It was sooo cool to be right in front of the original Kon Tiki when I had bulit a smaller version in High School!!!

Love you all

London--"Mind the Gap"

Ahh the Underground-what a fantastic transportation device! I have used it to get to most every destination even when walking might take the same time...why walk when you have a daypass? I have only been in London for 3 days and 2 nights but I feel like I have used my time well.

The Recap...
British customs guy bent on putting the American in her place...wanted my itinerary printed out for the following 6months!? but still letting me into the country-just wanted me to feel what the US does to their citizens...yikes! I finnaly arrived at my hostel at the St. Paul's old Boys Choir 3hrs after I landed, so with a tiger's milk bar for dinner I went to bed.
Day 1
Walked through and enjoyed a lawn chair in the beautiful St. James Garden! This place is by far my favorite place in all of London.  It was the hottest and sunniest day and everyone was out enjoying the sun!
I saw...

Piccadilly Circle, Tower of London, Tower of London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral....so many things I can't even remember the names...statues, churches.
The people here dress so well, suit and ties and the women are in dresses and skirts, well the ones with jobs are;)
I finished my day up with a great dinner at the 'Old London' Pub.  Fish and Chips with a London's Pride ale.

Picture a plate of chips topped with a fried fish fillet with a side of tartar sauce and minted mushy peas. mmm!  All for under £10! When I got back to the hostel I went into the T.V. room and watched the second half of Predator vs Allien all the while a Swedish girl helped explain the nuances and what was going on and why she loves these movies-;)  Her favorite one is the Predator with Arnold-crazy!

Day 2

Walked over Millenium bridge and went to the Globe theater!! Wow!! I love Shakespeare!! 'As you like it was playing but they were sold out already for the night show...next time I will have to book online.  I then took the train to Salisbury to catch a bus to see Stonehenge.

Salisbury was beautiful! They have a huge cathedral in town and the downtown has tiny streets with lots of shops to wander through.  On the way to Stonehenge I stopped to check out Old Sarum which was the original city way back in the day -it is a round city, 2 circles of moats then a castle in the middle with defense walls around the moats.  The city was moved to Salisbury due to lack of water and not much use by the King.

Stonehenge was amazing.  I have seen so many pictures to be there in person was surreal.  I thought the stones were bigger then they were from all the pictures but otherwise it is much better in person to wander around it and to see the country that surrounds it.  All around it are burial mounds and open plains, which used to be a forrested area when the stones where errected.

Today Day 3

My last day in London!  I went and took a ride on the London Eye-the huge ferris wheel! I pre-bought my ticket at the hostel and wandered down- it took maybe 5 minutes to get on-it was beautiful! The view from the pod I was in was wonderful-I could see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey just to name a few and the River Thames!

I fly to Bergen, Norway tonight!

Cheers for now!

P.S.-Just imagine hearing "mind the gap" in a British voice about a zillion times while riding the underground-refering to the space between the platform and the subway door.

NYC

So I am in Brooklyn at Maggie's place snacking on olives before we go to dinner at the WILD GINGER-best vegan food in NYC!!! I have 1 more day in the city before I fly to London...
Recap of the past two days...
Dinner at Tartine (great French restaurant in the west village)
Walk through the Highline (old subway line converted to a park)
I tripped and fell crossing the street and smashed my finger into a lamp pole on the way to a bar-East of 8th where I stuffed my finger in a rocks glass while sipping a vodka and soda.
Then went to the ER at St Vincents.  Spent 5hours chatting with a chatty transsexual about make-up, hair and guys while waiting for an x-ray.  I broke it which was good because at 3am on a work night Sara would have been really mad if it was just a bruise;)
Made dinner with my sister, sister's boyfriend and cousin and played Trivial Pursuit which Maggie and I won!!
Today we all hung out in Sheep's Meadow enjoying the sun and heat.


I'll see you in my next city.
Love to all