Travel Update

For those of you who have been following my blog, you’ve probably noticed I haven’t posted in a while. My bad. I’ve been fairly busy in my travels and didn’t feel like making blogging a priority. I’ve had a blast the last 10 days or so, so keep your eyes open for my next posts as they should be fairly fun to read. I’m currently on a night train from Vienna to Venice rocking out to Steely Dan, “Reelin In The Years.” Haha It’s 9:15pm at the moment, and my train is set to arrive in Venice, Italy at 8:40am on Tuesday November 22, 2011.

I’d rather be reading my book (Stephen King – The Waste Lands) or planning my trip in Venice right now, but I’ll get to those in a bit. I had hoped to find a couchsurfing host in Venice, but at the moment I’ve been stood up. People either haven’t replied back yet, or have said no for various reasons. Fear not, I have a backup plan and booked a hostel for the next 2 nights, but if someone responds on Tuesday I’ll likely stay with them instead. Hostel traveling is too expensive. 20 euro (~$25 USD) doesn’t seem bad, and really isn’t, but on a 3 month trip, it can add up. Either way, I’m super excited to go to Venice!

In a way, I’ve actually already been to Venice tho . Quick Thought: Isn’t it weird that the only word I ever shorten in my blog is “though?” The extra three letters really aren’t that hard to type. Anyway, haha, I’ve been to Vegas a few times and I’m pretty sure the actual Venice is gonna look the exact same. Ok, probably not. But everything is still gonna be hella expensive, dirty, and magnificent everywhere I go.

I’m looking forward to a lack of tourists that are going to be in Venice this time of the year. Although it’s going to be cold-ish (high of ~55F, low of 38F), the mobs of people (and hopefully pigeons) won’t be everywhere which will be nice. And apparently Venice smells bad in the summer when it’s hot, so that will be nice to avoid too. Tho I have to admit I wouldn’t mind lying out on the beach right now and enjoying some warmth, even if I had to put up with the smell. Northern Europe was getting too cold.

To get everyone caught up to where I am now, I was in Vienna the last 4 nights staying with my good friend Miriam, who I knew from Couchsurfing before. It was great to see her again and we got to see all sorts of things in the city. It was freezing cold outside most of the time, so honestly, I wasn’t as ambitious in seeing everything I wanted to see. Numb fingers, a bright red nose, and burning ears are a good deterrent to doing anything outside for too long. Haha You’ll hear more about Vienna in the upcoming blogs, but I think it might be my 2^nd favorite city so far on the trip (Ghent, Belgium still takes the cake). Oh, and before Vienna, I was actually in Budapest, Hungary for 6 nights with my friend David. I’ll get to Budapest soon as well.

Where I’ve Traveled Recently:

• Prague: 5 nights w/ Adam (found through couchsurfing)
• Budapest: 6 nights w/ David (foreign exchange student friend)
• Vienna: 4 nights w/ Miriam (couchsurfing friend from CA)

Upcoming Travel Plans

• Italy: Venice, Trieste, Verona, Sirmione/Lake Garda, Florence, Pisa/Ludda, Greve in Chianti (renting a scooter to explore wine country), Rome, Vatican City, Naples, The Almafi Coast
• Portugal: Porto, Lisbon, Lagos (I'm staying at a hostel called, wait for it!... "The Rising Cock" haha It's pretty famous I guess. Understandable.)
• Spain: Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona (Planning is still in the works)
• And Then… Geneva, Munich, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Spokane!