Pigs fly in Amsterdam; Netherlands

Auf wiedersehen Berlin....and hallo  to the cozy, unexpected, and beautiful city that everyone wants to smoke in visit "AMSTERDAM".. This is a city of canals and bridges, LOTS of bikes (it's known as bicycle town) and trams, parks and people, public street bathrooms... And of course, as we all know this city is extremely liberal, which allows for the Red Lights and the Coffee Shops (wink wink...weed shops). As you walk the streets, you can't help but feel scared and excited.. It is a whole different world... and I think I'm liking this strange world awfully too much!

Well on the way to Amsterdam I met a friend at the bus station... I decided to take a night-bus that left Berlin at 11pm and arrived in DAM at 5am, because it was way cheaper than a train ride. Plus I guess I would save money on a hostel because I'll sleep on the bus.  Well my new friends name is Joel...Joel Berlin.. which is funny because we are in Berlin, and his last name is Berlin.. which kinda had me confused for a second. He is from Australia, only 19 years old (4 years younger than me, is a lot at our age) black hair, tall, fair skin.  He seemed quiet, he was wearing a black leather jacket and carried with him a bag which I called it his man-purse. He sat behind me on the bus, and decided to introduce himself to me after overhearing a conversation I was having with the bus driver, and clearly was happy I spoke his language.  He asked me questions about traveling (No, he was not hitting on me).  He seemed young, and an amateur at this traveling alone thing, for he has never traveled outside his country before. He was making a stop in Amsterdam before heading to London next week to meet with a tour group. 

He confided in me that he had no hostel booked in Amsterdam, and figured he would just find one along the way downtown (Oh thats a big no no, especially in Amsterdam; prices will be way up high if you are lucky enough to even find vacancy) So I suggested that he came with me to my hostel which was called "The Flying Pig in Uptown".. where I read reviews online that it was THE place to be.... (def WASN'T THOUGH)

We arrived at the train station early morning in Amsterdam, and took a tram making our way, downtown, then uptown... which took us about 25 minutes, counting all the little stops we made. We finally found our hostel moments later , nicely located on Leidse Plein (square), a very vivid surrounding with an excellent night life.. Right in front of Vondel Park, and just 200 metres away from the three famous Dutch museums; The Van Gogh Museum, Museum of Modern Art , The Rijks Museum (Really worth a visit is Heineken Brewery because you get free beer).... The Flying Pig Hostel did have place for Joel to stay, and prices ranged there from € 14.00 -€ 32.00 per night.  I paid € 14.00 and he as a "walk-in" paid € 32.  But he seemed to be very happy about this hostel, while I was terrified, and felt guilty for bringing him to such a hole in the wall. 

I noticed the stairs in Amsterdam are all so narrow, and going up the stairs with a suitcase like mine seemed nearly impossible... I even began to question if large people has to turn sideways to go up stairs because it extremely narrow walls. But the width of the stairs was the least of my worries..... This hostel seemed scary... I'm scared, there is a mixture of Marilyn Mansons and Bob Marleys here... and every body is either smoking pot, sleeping around the place, or eating with the munchies.... It's so quiet, everyone is just spaced out while a LOUD hard metal rock music plays in the background! I'm frighten about my next few days here... and I think Im high from second-hand smoking, maybe its where my paranoia is coming from! I can't help but wonder: "How am I gonna sleep tonight with these craziness around?" You don't even want to know what the room looks like.... even worst.. you don't want to know what the room SMELLS like..... Gross.. So to calm my nerves, I asked Joel to take the top bunk, used all of our covers and made a tent for me on the bottom bunk, to keep me isolated. At this point in time, I miss Brasil so much, the more I travel the more I realize how Brazil is perfectly imperfect and great! We might not have all the technology and money as the other countries but it really is the best one out of all of them!

World Famous Coffee Shop

Anyways my new hostel pet Joel is so sweet! I went to take a nap, and he followed me watched me sleep because he knew I wasn't comfortable being in the room where 8 other people are staying in! He fell asleep too tho, we were exhausted from that bus ride, and it was still 11 am...I woke up hungry and went to wake him up, he apologized for sleeping for so long, he was all tired and didn't want to get up and than I said " it's okay,I'll go alone to get food"... Awww he jumped out of his bunk so fast, he didn't even use the bed-stairs! Lol! He didn't even eat while we were cruising the streets of Amsterdam, he watched me eat, and I ate alot!(Don't get me wrong, I have NO feelings what's so ever for him, we both just felt really lucky and glad to have each other there.)

So wake up Friday morning, and there is this humongous, way more than 500 lbs guy sleeping next to me, he barely fits in the bed, he looks so uncomfortable! I didn't see him enter the room last night, maybe it is because my tent walls made out of bed-sheet blocks my view of our small crowded room! Anyways, I was walking back from the bathroom and that is when I first noticed the free willy guy looked stuck to his bed! He is sloppy big, like one of those guys you would see on Oprah Show fighting for his life! His sleeping faced down and his butt is almost touching thetop bunk mattress! In a way it's good to have a big guy staying in your room, on the bed next to the window, that was he can block all the sunlight that comes from outside in the morning. I can't help but wonder how he got up stairs.. If I rememeber correctly, I was pretty amazed on how narrow the stairs here are.. So I'm not trying to sound mean, just curious, I'll have to stalk him on his way to breakfast downstairs! And oh shame on me for speaking about fatness! I now have rolls in places I shouldn't have rolls in! It's sad! I thank god hostels don't have full length mirrors! I avoid touching my fat or seeing it! And I keep eating!

Sandeman's NEW EUROPE TOURS

Anyways the weather here is pretty crappy,,, very cloudy with chances of rain. I will have to buy an umbrella before Joel and I head out for our city tour group.... Yes! I got him to go on the NEW EUROPE TOUR with me. I told him to be prepared because we will do 4 full hours of walking tour, which will be very tiring but yet educational and fun.... He isn't jumping for joy, but he is going because I am going, and the crazies at the hostel all assume at this point that he is my boyfriend, and I plan on keeping it that way, so there is less red-blood shot eyes on me. Well, okay, gotta go now my fingers are freeezing.... I will write once I get to Belgium! 'Doei' my friends!

Guten Tag from Berlin, Germany

I am in the immense, important, beautiful capital of Germany... B.E.R.L.I.N.... I have always dreamed of visiting here, for this city is filled with history...From the WWII bullet holes that still pepper the facades of everyday buildings and the remains of the Berlin Wall, to the luminous Brandenburg Gate (near the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled baby Blanket off the balcony), history is everywhere in Berlin. There is so much to see and do, so my time is valuable. I have to spend it wisely the next 4 days I am here. I for sure will take advantage of the informative walking tours to ensure I know all about the power of Germany's capital city. I can't wait to visit the Berlin wall...The city just recently celebrated the Fall of the Berlin Wall 40 years ago...a wall of 155 kilometres with metal fences, watch towers and bunkers that divided Berlin and Germany into two parts. A lot of people lost their lives along the wall, most of them citizens of East Berlin who wanted to start a new and better life in West Berlin without Stasi control and the influence of political authority by the Soviet Union.

Well but before I start exploring.. troubles occurs...because in life, every good, comes with a bad, and since I have reservations in hell I might as well embrace my karma!  So here is my bad arrival experience... I had originally booked my stay at this huge, hostel chain company called "The Generator" but it was literally on the other side of Berlin, extremely far away from any civilization, no kidding, if you look at a tourist map, the area of this hostel isn't even on it... and a metro ride to the city takes about 35 minutes. Oh No I didn't... I'm exhausted and its late already, so while checking-in I decided to shorten my stay there for just one night.  I mean, the hostel is excellent, clean, big, my room has 4 bunks, with room for 8 girls. They designed the room all girly, for girls only, included a big mirror, blow dryer two sinks and etc, but the down fall is the location and the fact its 10euros for 30 minutes of wifi..... But I am determined to get up early in the morning and look for a new hostel downtown....

Now here is the good... I found one, its called CityStay Mitte Hostel.... Awesome location right on Rosenstraße street, next to everything, no need for trams, buses or metro-rail to get anywhere. Its walking distance to the main attractions except the Holocaust memorial. But here I had to settle with staying in a room with 8 beds but so far there is only 2 boys booked in, plus me! And than walks in this kid from Holland with half of a face! No literally I mean his so sweet and harmless just in need of a friend, he speaks great English.. Earlier today he walked in, he sat down n I said hi, I noticed right away he has some deformities to his face, but than he set on the bunk bed next to me n I talked to him to make him feel a little welcomed.  Anyways while he was talking one of the bed poles was hiding the deformed side of his face, so he looked like a normal guy with the pole hiding half of his face, then we talked a little bit more before me exiting the room... but later, when I came back to the room I was able to see his face! It's so sad, I wonder what happened, one eye is like on his cheek n is all red and his mouth is crocked and his teeth all misplaced, and his nose is not even in the center of his face! He reminds me of the hunchback of Notre Dame in a way! I wonder if he was born like that or if he suffered a tragic accident cuz the right side seems to be perfectly normal, it's only the left side that has the deformities! Anyways it also affects his speech so when he talks for too long I have no idea what he is saying, I think he wanted to borrow my shampoo at one point... or maybe he was just asking if that was my shampoo? I'm not sure!! His reading a book while I am writing this email while also listening to music on my iPod and I keep hearing him talk over the music,,, so I remove my headphones to hear if he was talking to me but he doesn't look at me he just keeps reading so I can't tell if his reading out loud or talking to me...but I hope not, because I'm reading this Europe guide book, planning my day to tomorrow...

Well the same tour group that they had in Prague, had here.... It called SANDEMANs NEW Europe Tours; they are pretty much committed to providing everyone, no matter of budget, with the best tour available. It is their goal to help travelers fully discover the beauty and rich history of as many European cities as possible, so they have this in several different cities, which I will take fully advantage of... The expert guides share with us their personal stories and insights during their intriguing tours. Since they work for tips, every tour is consistently one of the best in Europe....Although it is freezing in Berlin right now, and temperatures are low that walking outside is enough to give you a brain freeze, I look forward for the city tour... Especially since there is so much interesting history here.. I almost forgot to mention that Sandeman's New Europe Tour also offers a wide variety of other tours amongst this one, touching more deeply on a particular topic.  Well, they aren't all about educational tours, they have fun and drinking tours too, while getting to experience the nightlife of each town.  NEW EUROPE offers a night Pub Crawl, for 21 Euros, a guide leader takes you to 7 different bars, along with other interested travelers, and than ends the night at a popular nightclub, with free shots at each stop.  So it was only right that I went on a  Pub Crawl, and I am glad I did, because on this particular outing I met a few Dutches that were also visiting Berlin from the neighbouring country of Holland, and these are people I now refer to as my friends, and til this day we keep in touch, while being rivals during the FIFA World Cup for a day. (shout out to Ruud and Linda ;)...)

Fun fact I learned while on the tour.. Did u know Berlin kinda "stinks"... and it's because the city was built on a swamp! It's why they called it Swamp City! AHHH i love it here.. tomorrow I going to visit the Holocaust and walk around Tiergarten aka Tiger's Garden which I hear is enormous and if I get tired or maybe lost around this two-mile square area, there is an easy and convenient way out by U-Bahn and S-Bahn commuter trains.

Auf Wiedersehen (bye)

Sent from my iPhone

Prague, Czech Republic

Dear Reader,

 I quickly searched online my options looking for the best deals on different methods of transportation around Europe. And realized my best option to get to Prague from Wien was getting on bus. Luckily, I came across a website for this yellow coach lines bus company called Student Agency Bus; which were luxury buses that left daily, multiple times a day to nearby destinations around Europe, and not only did they offer hot/cold drinks on board, but had a movie projector, and nice hostess on board, and the most important thing of all to me was they offered free-wifi. It only was cost me about €35.00 for a one-way trip from Vienna (Wien) to Prague; with one quick stop in the city of Brno, in Czech Republic.  Unlike rail tickets and other bus companies; I must warn you this Yellow Bus Coach Line ought to be reserved and paid for via Internet; and the receipt tells you a random side street to the bus will depart from, it won't be from any nearby stations, there won't have big yellow signs telling you anything, whatsoever.. Even though I highly recommend this company, make sure you are attentive and on-time at the cross-streets given to you on the receipt, and just wait for a big yellow bus to come by. Well when I arrived at Prague's main bus-station, I took a metro-rail that was close by to a main street where my hostel was located near by. It was late afternoon and I easily located my hostel and checked-in to it... dropping off my bags quickly so I could still do some exploring. 

ROSEMARY HOSTEL- co-ed bedroom

The hostel I am staying is called Rosemary, and it's location is awesome, the beds are great, bathroom is big and spacious, and most important: the bathrooms are clean and private, so yay for finally choosing a winning hostel.. but wait, it wasn't all that great when I found out I would be sharing a room with 4 guys, in a co-ed hallway which was pretty much all men plus me (making me the co-ed) well I can't let this upset me, because at least the room is big and the bathroom is clean, right? That's all it matters to me... Plus, one of the guys is gay so it makes me feel better! And I am way too excited to take a nice, long, hot shower, and actually have time to wash my hair. I can't complain, this is as perfect as it will get.

After a great night of sleep, and an amazingly long hot shower on this chilly day, I was up extra early, feeling refreshed and ready to go explore the wonders of this city that is best known as The Golden City, or the City of a Thousand Spires.... For many years, Prague has been sweeping visitors off their feet with its romantic streets, soaring towers and great beer! From the heart of medieval Bohemia to the capital of the Holy Roman Empire the glory days of Prague's rich culture are shadowed by oppression both under the Nazis and the Communists. Beside (and sometimes under!) the flowing Vltava River, the Czech capital is known to captivate, inspire and move you like no other city. I was so in love with this place, and tired of following a map all day, wondering if there was stories and attractions I was missing on that I searched for Europe's best tours, which happened to be right on my budget... It was called Sandeman's New Europe Tours, and they have tour guide experts throughout many big cities in Europe, taking people on walking tours.  I was so excited to meet up with this Tour group, that I got to Starbucks (the place where the tour meets) extra early.  And the best thing about joining a tour that brought me some relief was that I wouldn't have to waste 10 minutes of my time matching the street name on my map, to the street name of the road sign (I swear, every word here is extra long and extra complicated). The tour met all my expectations, I learned so much, and the tour-guide of my group did an excellent job bringing to life the legends and taking us in the footsteps of Kafka, Good King Wenceslas and the Golem. He was pure comedy, and even used me as a character in the legend while reenacting a scene.

Charles Bridge at night

 After the tour I went to Starbucks for a drink and to use their free-wifi, I actually made a new friend in there! She's Canadian from Toronto, recently moved here for acting school about three months ago. So we clicked immediately, she offered to take me out to the real Czech places! It was so much fun, we went to a bar where people kept slamming beer at my table without me even ordering them, and everyone would yell something I didn't understand and cheer. It was a "local's bar", which was the best part of all.  The tables throughout this restaurant/bar were just huge, long wooden picnic-like tables, and you just found a hole and squeezed in between people, it literally looked like we all were one big family on a Thanksgiving night. The food was yummy but different, the beer was amazing; a total of 648$Kc for food and beer, which is not so bad when you convert it, I think.

 Czech currency is called Koruna (Kc or CZK). Bank notes are in denominations of 20, 50,100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000 CZK. Coins are of 10, 20 and 50 CZK. Koruna is then divided into 100 halers (h). Coins are of 10, 20 and 50h. The Czech crown has been fully convertible since 1991. Prague expects to use the Euro currency in 5 to 7 years.. So yay to not having to trade in for korunas, than being stuck with korunas coins.

Anyways tomorrow night I am promised to meet up with this couple of siblings from Argentina that I met in Vienna. We planned to meet at this local bar between distance of our hostels, so we could explore the city together. I met them in Vienna, they were staying at the same hostel as I was, when the girl came into the office reporting her laptop was stolen from the locker in her room (ouch), I became friends with them after approaching her offering my iphone's internet for her to use and plan her next trip,which happened to also be Prague, so I showed them the website of the bus company, which they both ended up taking it to Prague with me. I was happy to help them, they were kind people, they even compensated me by buying me beer and giving me great hostel recommendations for Berlin :)

Well Czech Republic has been fun, totally different from Austria where I just came from, so I can't really compare and pick favorites, yet! Plus, Czech still a new found country who just got their independence 14 yrs ago!! Did u know it's the ONLY country consider CENTRAL EUROPE? Everywhere else is Western or Eastern! Those were fun facts I learned on the tour!! Lmao.. Anyways tomorrow I am going to wake up really early and shower (notice how much I love showering, well that's only because my last hostel in Vienna was infested with rats, and absolutely dirty, so I didn't spend any time in bathrooms, or rooms there) and make it to the top of the castle for pictures before I head to the train station to get on a train to Deutchesland....

Prague is beautiful, I never knew a place like this existed, when you think of Europe, nobody ever thinks of Czech Republic, at least I didn't.  I am so glad I came here, without a plan, a schedule or any information of this place except that it was a nice city between Wien and Berlin. The Medieval architecture here is breathtaking, no other place can compare to this. I feel like my trip is getting better and better. And it has all been so hassle-free for me. Cheap hostels, good food, educational tours, and amazing scenery pictures! Well talk to you when I make to BERLIN :)