May 2007

So before Italy at all I was in Copenhagen and Stockholm.

I liked Copenhagne but the weather was not great, raining pretty much the entire time. But for the couple of hours it was not I enjoyed walking around the city. I wish I had a change to go to Tivoli, the amusement park int he middle of the city, but the weather did not permit it. I did walk to see the parlement and mermaid statue.

On my way back to hostel I saw a stage set up in the bid square on H.C Andersen Street. It was a proformance for Danmarks African Beauty Queen. There was a band and a few women dancing. It was very interesting to see. I loved how enthusiastic they were. It reminded me of the dance breaks we would take in the kitchen at PIC. I miss it, I have been craving it.

After Copenhagen I headed to Stockholm. One thing I love about Scandinevia is the colorful houses. They are gorgeous, bright yellow and golden houses. I am going to paint my house golden yellow and my door bright blue. Mom, Dad dont be surprised, I warned you.

In stockholm I stayed with Jonatan Dehnisch and his family which consisted of his mother, Marie, Sister Julia and Brother Jakob. It was really nice to have a place I could just hang out for awhile. the first full day Jonatan and I went into the city and walked around. It was cold and rainy, which sucked, bnut I did get to see old town and some of the castle and other old buildings.

The next day we headed to Drottingholm Palace. It was a prestine day out. There were perfect clouds in the bright blue sky. When you think of the perfect royal palace that is what this was, the gardens were perfecting trimmed and cared for. It was the total opposite of the past couple of days. No rain what so ever, such a releif.

So I was trying to decide whether to take 3 days to travel to Itlay by train or fly and take 3 hours, easy choice right? not really, because the flight was 120 dollers compared to reservations for trains would be about 70 dollers, but I ultimately decided to fly. Although I was spending more I think it would have been such a hassle to take the train.

I am sorry about the bad spelling there is a line behind me for the computer and I feel bad, so I am not taking my time.

Overall It was great, I hope to go back someday to Denmark with my family and I think I will enjoy that more.

Yay....

I am not the best at keep you all informed on my happenings and I am sorry about that. I am in Venice Italy right now, I just got in from Florence today. and was in Rome before that.

I will start with Rome, I arrived quite late by plane from Stockholm Sweden and had to find my hostel. I finally got there after a confusing walk and was about to check in when the man at the desk looked at me and said "Packard?", it was a bit unsettling but he then explained that my reservation did not come through until they were already booked up, so i had to walk to another hostel called Guillivers house. And boy amd i gald I was moved I met some of the coolest people; Saran, not Sarah but Saran, from Melbourn Australia; Ben from Long Island, NY; Dan from Washington State; Carlos from Panama; Sam and Danielle from Arizona and although he did not stay in the hostel, Simon from Melbourn as well. For the two days, which by the way NOT ENOUGH!, I was in Rome I hung out with all of them at some point.

Saran and I were almost always hanging out. For the past 5 years she had been going under cemotherapy for lymphoma. The doctors told her she was clean so she bougth a ticket for vietnam and has been on the road for two months with no set plan. Pretty cool girl, she is 34 but I would have never guessed that.

I was in Rome for the football game between Milan and Liverpool. We all went to a small irish pub near our hostel, that is were we met Simon.
People were really intense about the game. I knew that was how it was, because i went to a game in Germany while I was there. I like that atmosphere. Some people see it was silly,. but i think it is great.

Simon is a sargent in the Australian Army and is on leave from Afganistan for two weeks and decided to come to Italy and Germany.It was really interesting to talk to him about things and his view on the middle east. The first time I had spoken about it with anyone who has actually seen what happens over there.

The next day Saran, Dan and I went to the Vatican. Some pretty crazy things have happened there, like Pope Joan! I women pope! I think that is pretty amazing that a women could hind her idenity for so long and then be appointed pope and the only way people found out was that she gave birth in the middle of a parade, where she and the newborn were stoned to death right there and then. think about if that kid had lived " hey, yeah my mom? she was pope." I) doubt it would be something to brag about then, but still pretty crazy.

that night we all went out again, and Ben and I walked to the coloseum at about 2 in the morning, some creepy guys hang out there at night. it was beautiful though nonetheless. then the next day i headed to florence with Simon and Saran. I will write more later, but people are in line for the computers.

love and adventures.

Hey guys!

So My trip seems to be moving forward now, for awhile I seemed to be stuck...cough..spain...cough. I am now in Amsterdam, waiting for my cloths to be clean, then I will head out to the Anne Frank House and Van Gogh Museum.

While in Geneva I met acouple girls from Malaysia, Jessie and Grace. They were pretty cool. They are currently on a work holiday visa in the UK. It means they work for a year and they are allowed to travel for a year. I think it a cool idea for a way to travel. I might do it, I do not know how difficult it is to get it as a US citizen.

The first night I was there, we walked around the downtown area and took some night photos for the TALLEST FOUNTAIN IN EUROPE! yeah not as exciting as the hostel and guide books make it out to be. It was nice but not amazing.

At one point there was a man following us, but we quickly walked into a busy part of town it was fine, he turned around. The other girls were more nervous than me, I knew that e would stop once we got into a public area.

They next day was the Geneva Marathon, which I had no idea about until we walked into the downtown area and could not walk across the street because of huge groups of runners. We wanted to sit and watch but it was really chilly. We tried, but ended up walking around. When then visited THE LARGEST FLOWER CLOCK IN EUROPE. I think it is funny that they make such a big deal about that stuff, it was not breathtaking or anything.

I did not have a chance to visit the UN, too bad. but th time just got eaten up. I will visit it someday.

After Geneva I headed to Adele Truebloods house in Colmar, but I had not spoken to her in any form for awhile. but she had said anytime is fine, so I gambled it. I called her and never got an answer, I emailed her and nada. The thing is I had a phone number, email and city, but no address, so I could not just show up. Then finally I had to make a reservation somewhere. I headed to the hostel in Colmar, France. It was dead....I ended up getting a room to myself for 13 euros, which is awesome.

That night I went to a internet cafe and saw I got an email from Adele telling me to call anytime tonight, she would have her phone on. I called and got the answering machine. I left a message that I would call tomorrow and that I was staying at the hostel.

What I did not take into consideration was that the next day was a national holiday, so everything was closed including the transit system. I walked across Colmar with all my belongings to find a Tabac shop to buy a phone card, because the phone booths do not take coins, to call Adele. I left the hostel around 10 and called adele at about 1 or 1 30. I got her! and I found out that she had left her phone in the car for three minutes and that is whne I had called. but since she did not have a number to contact me at, she could not call me back. It was crazy. She then met me at the train station and picked me up.

Ok, Thomas and Adeles house is on a hill, in the woods in Munster France. They have no shower or fridge. They only have a small sorce of solar power and a small sorce of water for two sinks, one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen and for the toliet. they also have a gas run stove and oven. I really liked hanging out with them. It is crazy Adele used to babysit me, we went to the same school and we were both in the St. Lukes Choir. Crazy.

So As I said I am now in Amsterdam, I have heard great and not so great things about it, we shall see. I am heading to Copenhagen next to take in some of my families heritage.

Much love and many adventures you guys!

Alice