Hello to all of you internet people

So I have decide I will continue blogging... but I have created a new blog because this one is full!

the new one is:

trifilettitravels2.blogspot.com

So yes all I did was add a 2... clever huh?

Happy reading! <3

Monday = School… but not in the US!

I slept very well and woke up refreshed, ready to start the day. I read in bed for a while and then got up to shower. I was out the door by nine which was a little later than I had hope but it was ok. I had to drop off my computer to the IT people before class and I needed to see the bursary to pay off my bill. The IT went fine but at the bursary they told me either I had to do an international bank transfer, pay with a credit card, or bring in cash. Since, I have to be at the bank to sign for a international transfer I can’t do that and since, every time I take money out I have fees, I think I will pay it off with my card in installments (plus I get cash rewards for using my card). At this point, I had to go to class so I walk another ten minutes there and found my class room. The teacher was in with another student which myself and this guy, Hank, waiting outside. We started a bit late and there are only three of us in the class (Hank, myself, and another guy named Kevin—both of them are from Seattle, Washington and go to USD). The teacher is Italian, pretty funny and easygoing. She had a relative who was the mayor of New York in the 1930s, La Guardia… yeah like airport. I have back to back classes with her and the same two boys which will be interesting. After class I went back to get my computer, which was fixed, and stop off at the library. Unfortunately, one of the books I wanted was available but couldn’t be found so the librarian is ordering a new one. Then I went back to the school to pay my bill in the main office and ask a few more questions. They couldn’t get the machine working so my bill isn’t resolve yet but it shall be soon. Then I was off to the city center to get some toiletries, school supplies, and food for lunches (I had asked where to go when I was in the office, resourceful I know : ). There is a fair going on in the city center and so I picked up something to eat. My first attempt was fish and chips which was terrible. The fries were hard and the fish was gross and so I got a sausage which was fine. Then it was off to shopping. First, I got my toiletries. Here their pharmacy and beauty stuff is all together, kind of like an amped up drugmart but no food or other stuff really. Then, I went to get school supplies which was really stressful because I am very particular about my school supplies. I found the small stuff like markers and tape ok but when it can to notebooks… first of all they have wide and narrow ruled but their wide rule is our college rule. So I had no idea what little kids write on but anyway that was confusing and I asked a store employee and she had no idea what I was talking about. Also, they don’t, well at least at the place I went, have simple 2 pocket folders but I had to search the store to that one out. Finally, I went to get some food and this wasn’t too overwhelming because I have been to the grocery a few times in Europe and knew how it worked but I was so out of it from school shopping. I got some fruit and basic things and left. I walked home a different route, not back through the city center because it was ridiculously crowded. It took me about an hour to get home but I was walking very slow and enjoying it. When I got back, Vincent and I got the bike business sorted out. He is actually giving me a pretty fair rate (I had looked some up online) and he will be making some repairs to the bike including adding a basket which will be great. Then we had dinner: an omelet with cheese, couscous, and steam vegetables 9the carrots were great). Then Vincent and I picked all the apples and pears in the yard so Guadalupe could make something with them. After my long day, I retired to my room, did some homework, skyped my fam, and went to bed. Tomorrow: bike riding, International Economics,… and who knows what.

First Full day in OXFORD!

This morning I woke up around 7:30, laid in bed a while, showered and got my computer to sit in the kitchen and drink some tea. I had a nice conversation with Guadalupe just about how things worked in the house and her expectations. She will provide breakfast foods and dinner every day (unless I tell her I will be out).She will wash my bedding every two weeks and clean my room once and week (which I told her was not necessary expect maybe vacuuming). We also talked about mine and Vincent conversations last night because she mentioned cycling. I had asked about renting a bike and luckily Vincent works at a bike shop and actually owns a bike which he rents out. This is perfect because I prefer not to take the bus constantly. Almost everyone cycles here and there are bike lanes and everything. So, I am really excited about this! The rest of the morning I sat, drank tea, ate some toast and just relaxed. Round 11:30 I left the house for I had to be at the school building by 12:30 for lunch and our academic orientation. I left so early because I walked and I didn’t want to get lost and be late. It was wonderful to walk and Guadalupe’s daughter, Nora, had drawn me a map with a short cut on this nice path in the woods! I walked by some fields with horses, down by the canal, in the woods, past a school where a bunch of boys were playing rugby, and to the school. I arrived early so I investigated around way that google maps had plotted. Once I got back to the school most people were already eating so I grabbed a plate and sat with a girl that was in my Italian classes. The meeting got started and they just went over all the things in our packet because almost no one (except me) read it. They did that even though their opening line was “I’m not going to go over the packet because you are all adults and should be responsible for reading it” or something like that. Then we received our schedule. I have Terrorism and Comparative World Political Systems back to back Monday (10 to 12) and Wednesday (2-4) with the same professor. I have International Economics Tuesdays (10-11) and Thursday morning (9-10). I should be meeting Wednesday morning with the Blackfriars guy to set up my tutorial class with him. After a short talk about the academic side of things, we split up into four groups and took a walking tour around Oxford with one of the college staff. Our guide point out a lot of helpful things as well as some of the different Oxford colleges sprinkling the town. Oxford University is actually made up of forty something, I think 46, independent college spread throughout Oxford; each with its own buildings and professors… and crest. After our walking tour, I stumbled around town a bit, visiting this huge book shop that had a giant floor underground. I decided to take a different way home and walked up a nice road with some park to the side. When I got back to the house, Vincent (the son) was on his way out and Guadalupe wasn’t there. Vincent told me that the other host student, a Chinese boy, had arrived and Guadalupe had taken him to show him his school. So, I went up and lounged on my bed, just relaxing after about four hours of walking. When they got back, I was introduced to David and his parents as well. His parents left and I talked with Guadalupe as she made dinner. It was very good. She made seasoned chicken mixed with rice along with steamed vegetables on the side. Even though I don’t like steamed vegetables, I ate them anyway not to be rude. Truthfully, they weren’t bad. : ) After dinner, I went to my room to organize more and do some reading, eventually falling asleep. A nice first day!

Gotta Love Getting to London

I woke up at 3. Left at 3:30. Got on the bus at 4. Got to the airport at  4:45. Did not get on the plane at 6. It was canceled. It had no crew. I was angry. Truthfully it was a bit ridiculous because there was only one counter with two people who could change ticket status and a giant line of customer who were supposed to leave on my flight. After asking just about everyone around if they could help and them saying no, I reverted to standing in line for 45 minutes. However, once the people behind and in front of me work some magic at a side counter I decided to give it a try (I didn’t have much to lose I had already stood in line for about an hour and a half). I asked and the guy told me that flights to America and Asia were priority but he asked for my passport. He also told me that usually he could change flight, only the agents could. Well, he did change my flight to a 7:15 to Munich with a connection on to London. I would be there 1.5 hours late but that was the best he could do. So, finally, I was on my way. I had a small scare though going through security. I forgot to take my pocket knife out of my purse… I know but I carry in around just in case. I don’t know how this happened but it got through security… but my lap top had to go back through. This is kind of scary actually in retrospect but it is what it is.  The rest of my travels were uneventful, I swear I just have back luck with European planes! There is some conspiracy against me! I had book first class so I could check two bags for free (and I was using reward points anyhow so the actual dollar amount was the same). I really didn’t notice a difference between coach and first class except that I got a magazine for free J. The Economist which I really liked and had wanted to check out for a while now. (Just a little hint… I know Christmas is very far away and all but if everyone wanted to chip in and get me a subscription for The Economist for when I am back it the states it might just be the bestest Christmas present like ever!! ; ) Anyway, my flight were a little delayed but only by 10-154 minutes and I was able to catch the next bus to Oxford with only ten minutes to spare… see the buses don’t conspire against me!

So the bus ride I spent reading stuff for Blackfriars (my actual Oxford University course) and once we got into town I start speaking with the driver and the guy in the seat over. They were very nice and started pointing things out like the main shopping area, main streets, where Harry Potter was filmed, where Tolken and Lewis Carol were inspired and so on. It was very interesting and when I got offer bus the guy, a professor in medicine from New Zealand, I was talking with offer to show me the way to the school since he was going that way. Another guy, a professor of bio-physics from Slovenia, also asked directions and he was going the same way so we formed a small caravan. Eventually I got tired and said I could make it on my own (this was already after the professor from Slovenia had split from us). So I sat outside a nice little church for a while, feeling the nice cool breeze. Then set off on my way (which felt like forever). I think from getting up super early and only eating on the plane (and some crackers I had), I wasn’t able to walk too far without taking a break. Finally, I reached the school, a nice little building on a quaint road. I got all of my stuff and was told I would be staying with a host family… I didn’t know this! I had put it as my second or third choice because it was a cheap option but as I think about it I think I will enjoy a host family more than staying in a dorm. I will get to know the city better and the culture. Also, my theory from the start has been to not to hang out with the 70 or so kids from San Diego… I can meet them in San Diego! I want to get to know England. After I got all checked in I was told that my host family was at a wedding and that they couldn’t pick me up until later that night and so I have about 3 hours until the dinner at the school. This was perfect though because my friend, Selena that I met in Slovakia, was having a flat (or apartment) warming party. I freshened up a bit, got a map and some direction from the nice people in the office and was off. It was about half an hour to her flat and I got to walk through downtown Oxford and right past the Blackfriars building! I made it there and after figuring out the system, I rang her apartment, asking for Selena… she wasn’t there. How peculiar. I started walking away… turn around and rang the apartment again, asking “Isn’t the flat warming party today?” “Next week. See you then!” Well now what to do I had about two hours but I started walking back anyway. On the way there, I had seen a nice little canal path and decided to take it on the way back to the school. It was lovely. Truly a little canal, littered with house boats, bridges, and ducks! I walked this for a good amount of time and decided to get back on the main road so I wouldn’t over shoot and get lost. It worked out perfectly and I ended up on the main road just a few streets away from Bardwell, where the school is. I went back to the school and still having about an hour, I asked to use the school computers. I spent this time uploading pictures and similar such things. I was then told that for the dinner that building would be locked so I should more my bags over to the other building where we would eat. I decided to do one bag at a time and luckily I ran into this guy who offered to help. His name is Stew (I don’t know about the spelling) and I had seen him doing the carpools earlier that day from the school to the dorms. He helped me and we got to talking so I sat with him for dinner. He actually works at the school teaching English which was surprising because he is really young, around mid-20s probably. After dinner, I still had some time before my host family was to pick me up so I sat in this lounge area and worked on my computer. Finally, the woman came (Guadalupe, a short little Mexican women all dressed up saying let’s go) and so I grabbed my luggage. Thankfully she called to her son, Vincent who is 22, and he came to help with the bags. We drove to their house which is a little ways out of the center but easily reached by bike with a bit of a longer walk (say 30-40 minutes depending on speed.) Their house is a cute little two story on a nice lane. They have an apple tree in the front and a pear tree in the back. The house itself is really nice and I have my own room with a bed, dresser, desk, and closet. Guadalupe showed me around the house but was going back to the wedding and Vincent was to drive her. I asked to go for the ride so I could see some more of the town and chat with them some more. She seems pretty protective but nice and Vincent and I got along very well. He has just graduated from university and majored in international relations but focusing on HIV and aids, really interesting stuff (I hope to talk with him about this more). We got back, chatting for a while and then I unpacked, getting settled in, did some laundry, and talked with Vincent more (about things in the house and Oxford as well as about the demographics of the US verses the UK… I think we will learn a lot from each other). I found out that they have been hosting students for about 15 to 20 years and that they can host 3 students at a time but prefer only two. Also, apparently most students live with a host family to improve their English. This is funny to me because Guadalupe definitely speaks with a Mexican accent but Vincent speaks like a brit, what a contrast. After all this conversation, it was off to bed for me at 11:30. It was a long day.

No Problem Prague

After staying up way later than I normally do, I unintentionally slept in until about 10:30. Some much need rest I think though. I got up took a lovely bath (this is the first hostel that had a bath tub and it was fairly clean). Then I wanted to actually catch up on my blog and so I spent most of the early afternoon around the hostel. I ate the fruit and bread I bought in Krakow and my last bag of popcorn, which was delicious. I talked with the receptionists and found out that one of them is actually from Modra in Slovakia. I talked to her about my time there and realized that it was one of my favorite places and I do miss it. I have also been able to use a bit of my Slovak here because Czech is extremely close to Slovak and that has been awesome (a big difference from Hungary and Poland where I understood nothing).


After writing and just lounging around, I got motivated to go out into the city (mainly because I had to buy a bus ticket for the next morning). So I wandered down the main square until I found a metro station where I could buy a ticket. Did that and walked around a bit more until I decided I was hungry. So I had an Old Prague Sausage from a stand. What I was thinking about though was that it is weird because in the states Kolbasa is a type of sausage but it is actually the literal translation of sausage. Interesting, no? Well then I decide to walk to the Charles Bridge which is an extremely old bridge and a big tourist attraction. By the way it was drizzling the whole time… I am glad I had enough sense to bring an umbrella. I walked across the bridge, turned around, and headed back to the hostel. I decided to take a different way and then decided I should find the bus stop I had to be at around 4 in the morning. I didn’t want to be stumbling around then. I took me a while to find it because the stop was at an intersection where there are two tram stops, a metro, and a taxi lane. It was a bit hard to spot let’s just say. After I found it, I was ready to go back now having thoroughly soaked shoes and so I did. I got back between eight and nine, back up, and went to bed early. My plane leaves at 6 am so I have to catch the bus at four so I have to leave around 3:30 just to be safe so I have to get up at 3. (Yes, I do realize that is a terrible run on sentence.) Tomorrow Oxford!

P.S. I have been posting a few days at a time so you probably haven't seen the few previous post either... Happy Reading!!!!!!

Pursuing Prague

Well I arrived in Prague from the night train at about 7:45 in the morning!!! Got off and started toward my hostel. Now in Budapest and Prague I had a pretty good city map in my guide book that I bought before I came but this wasn’t the same for Prague. My hostel was just a little bit off the map and so I did a rough sketch in my notebook so that I good get there. I failed to include enough street names on my drawn map.  I got to the cross street and walked right… well the correct direction was left… woops. So I walked about three blocks and thought I should have come across it so I asked two people smoking on the corner (a lot of people smoke here, it unreal).. They said it was 3 or 4 blocks back the other way. It was just one street over from where I originally started! It wasn’t so bad though because my arms weren’t complete jello since the night before the Irish guys carried my bags ?. (They said they are true Irish gentlemen.) I got to the hostel and checked-in but they couldn’t give me my bed yet because it was like 9 in the morning. However, since there were just shared bathrooms I got to shower and they locked my bag up. The receptionists was absolutely fantastic, she offered me a sandwich, gave me a map telling me all the places I should see, and told me about all the free tours (which I had already looked up but still). This was by far the best receptionist I had seen in my travels. She was very welcoming and truly hospitable. I was just in time to make it to the free walking tour in the morning so I went to the main square, watched the clock show (The main clock tower has figurines that do an automatic show each hour), and then started the tour. Our guide was very nice and funny and I got to see a good majority of the city with some background information. Then I decided to walk back and take a little break but I got side track on the way. There was just this little market selling food and other goods. I have come to really like this kind of thing and almost everywhere I have been they have one. I didn’t find one in Bratislava or in Budapest but Florence’s was great, Krakow, and now here in Prague. You the freshest food and get to see a lot of local made things; it just very interesting and fun to look around. I spent an hour or more there and then bought some awesome fruit for the way home. Ironically, I tried to get one without a lot of strawberries because they aren’t my favorite and there were a lot of other berries that look better but in the end these were some of the best, the best strawberries I have ever had. The blue berries were amazing too and there were raspberries and something that looked similar but a peach color, red currants I believe and one or two blackberries. When I got back I thought I would lie in bed and do some reading for oxford/ catch up on my blog…. I dozed off. I have been pretty tired; I don’t know if it is all the traveling, disturbances in the night  or what (yes grandma I will take some vitamins <3!.. I stopped and did right now). I woke up to some people come in the door to our room. A boy and girl,  brother and sister, named Barbara and Lodewijk from Belgium. We talked for a while first about our schooling which lead to conversations about our school systems and of course I got the typical questions about America and if I agree with this or that. Eventually, this Australian, Tom, joined us and we talked about global warming, nutrition and our travels. We decided to go to the grocery and cook something here at the hostel together which was fantastic. We bought some tomatoes, onions, a pepper and cheese and Tom mad this nice tomato sauce we put over pasta. It was very good and nice to just cook together. We ate and then the boys had talked with the receptionists about a good local pub so we set off to find it, joined by another Australian, Tim. The walk was… interesting. The pub wasn’t in the city center, we traversed a long bridge, it rained, we ran, Barbara and I took of our flip flops because we were slipping all around, we got a little lost (I think), and finally found the place. It was an adventure, a great memory. The place was pretty full and had no empty tables so our brave leader Lodewijk asked two gentlemen to join another table so we could all sit together and it worked! (The rest of us were all very skeptical of this idea.) We sat down looked at the menu and had no idea… Autumn (my roommate from Bratislava) who had spent a lot of time in Prague told me to order dark beer, tmave pivo, so I did. I also found out that the Czech Republic had the second best beer in the world only behind Belgium… Lodewijk and Barbara made this very clear. I didn’t really like it or any other the other many beers the other had. I think I just don’t really like beer at all and so I (and Barbara as well) ended up giving almost all of mine to the guys. After we ordered our first round, the guy from the hostel, Andre, showed up and sat with us (which we were all a little relieve since he could now speak with the waitress!). We ended up also getting this common type of soft cheese that was soaked in oil with some pepper in the middle and onions on top. With the bread, it was delicious. The room we were in closed at 11 pm and so we had to move into the front room. It was nice just to sit around and chat about different cultural customs and whatnot. It was really nice but it started getting pretty late a Lodewijk had stopped drinking so Barbara, him, and I took a taxi back to the hostel which Andre (the guy from the hostel) was so kind to arrange for us. We got change, went to bed…. but there was someone snoring loudly and so we started making up silly plans to get them to stop. Barbara had fallen asleep so Lodewijk and I talked a bit more about our families until someone else in the room kindly asked us to stop… and so we went to bed. I have decided that I really do like the hostel atmosphere and environment. It is a great place to meet people and make connections and as I have gotten more comfortable with them, I have come to appreciate certain things. I have stayed in all relatively small hostels which I have decided I like a lot because you are really am to get to know and hangout with the same people. I have made some decent friends and now have connections in a few more countries, on top of the ones from Bratislava. I haven’t really had any negative experiences which I know are possible so I will keep that in mind but as of right now, I am very happy with this experience and the chance to meet others who are traveling. Also, I like destroying people’s perceptions of Americans!!!! Muhahaha! It has been great but I am ready to go to England and get settled in somewhere. Lots of love.

Time in Krakow Coming to a Close

I  woke up around 7 and showered as usual but the bus for the salt mines wasn’t leaving until 9:15 so I had so time. I mostly used this time to write and download some documents to read for Oxford that night on the train. I left a little early to stop at the grocery so I could buy a little something for the trip (since breakfast at the hostel was provided). I got a fresh made pastry/Danish thing which was delicious and I only paid around $.50! The bus ride to the salt mines was much shorter than to Auschwitz and I had booked with the same company so the minibus was very similar. We met the guide when we got off the bus but to tell you the truth  I feel that paying the tour company I did is a bit of a rip off because once on site both at Auschwitz and the salt mine you have to enter with a guide anyway. The site provides that for individuals so in reality what I was paying for was the transport which was nice and picked me up only two minutes away from the hostel but I think just figuring it out myself would have been a bit more complicated but much more cost efficient. I know this now and if I ever return or in future similar situations I can apply this bit of realization I gained. The salt mines themselves were pretty amazing. We walked down about 200 feet to the first level of the mine and were able to go down two more levels. Apparently, there are nine levels in total but the ninth level is flooded. They no longer mine salt there but they pump up the salt water and evaporate the water to get salt. The basic structure was tunnels and caverns, some big, some small. A lot of them had statues built out of salt and dedicated to important people in the mine’s history. One of the first and most memorable was one of Nicholas Copernicus who had visited the mine as a boy and so they know that the mine was visited even in the 1500s which is amazing to think about. There were multiple chapels and one pretty big one that is actually open on Sunday for mass to the public. I had reliefs carved into the salt walls and chandeliers made out of salt. It was beautiful and I will put up the pictures I have as soon as it can. The mine itself was very extensive and even had a room for reception and concerts, a restaurant, and much more. The tour lasted around three hours and we only saw about one percent of the mine our guide told us. There is also a more extreme tour where you actually put on mining gear and a head lamp and get to crawl through the mines. If I ever get back there at a young enough age I truly want to do that but I think the basic tour was great for my first visit. We went back to the city and I stopped off at the hostel to wash up and check the time of the Jewish tour. I had some time so I went up and wandered around the castle grounds and just looked over the city and the river. It was very relaxing and I wander down to the main square and just people watched until the tour. In Krakow, and I’ve seen them in other places in Europe as well, they had water spikets which either have a constant flow of water or you have to pump it. This water is clean and drinkable but is also used to wash hands and things like that. So, I was sitting by the fountain and just watching people’s interaction with this. The cutest little boy ran over and pumped forever and his dad pumped a few time but he was so determined to get it working and he finally did, thinking it was fantastic. The tour finally started at three and was about three hours. The tour guide took us to the Jewish sector and showed us many important places, all the time explain the history of the Jewish people there in Krakow. The Jews originally had their own city with their own laws and ruling and this is the area of Krakow called Kremnica. The tour was pretty good, I was just really tired. I didn’t know this but almost all of the movie Schindler’s List was filled there and it was about the Jews of that area. The guide told us that the film of course wasn’t accurate and that the Jews originally lived in Kremnica. They were expelled to the other side of the river but since the actually Kreminca still was filled with structures from the WWII period they decided to film the movie there, not actually where the Jewish ghetto was. This was all very interesting and I am glad that I went but I was really tired so I headed back to the hostel with the intention of showering. I stopped off at the grocery to buy some fruit and something sweet for the ride and I also bought some bread from the street vendor. I figured I could eat that with peanut butter and some fruit and that would be perfect. When I got back I had to get the keys to unlock my luggage because I had to check out that morning and the hostel was storing my bags. In the process of getting some things out of my bag I ran into the Irish guys from the other night and we started talking about I don’t even remember but by the time we were done I had the desk keys for about an hour so I figured I shouldn’t keep them and shower. I went to get on the computer and talked with the Irish guys some more because they were having a coffee in the kitchen. I have decided I really liked them and so we took pictures and added each other on facebook. They both actually live in London and said they would show me around. I also found out that they were leaving on a night train as well around the same time so we decided to go to the station together. They were a true blessing because they insisted on carrying my bags, which I felt horrible about but they would hear nothing about it. All I carried was my backpacking pack and the carried my small backpack, my black bag as well as their own backpacks. They got me on the train after some confusion about my seating, loaded my bags onto the luggage racks and said goodbye. At this point, I decided I really like them and plan to keep in contact. The only other person in my cabin was a Slovak guy and so we spoke for a while. I told him what I knew in Slovak and then read some stuff on my computer, falling asleep in the process. The train ride was long and fuzzy since I was sleeping on and off and was pretty groggy. I didn’t pay for a sleeping car because it was a bit extra so I just had a regular seat but after the Slovak gut got off I laid across three seats until some business people got on around six in the morning. This is about the some of my trip and it starts running into the next day and so I will leave it here.