Well it’s March. . .

Today is a beautiful spring day in Ljubljana. As the weather warms and the snow melts, I am reminded that my time in Slovenia is drawing to an end. In a moment of sentimental weakness (and a bout Tonsillitis) I’ve decided to blog. My friend Sybil and I have planned weekend trips to Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Sardinia and a week- long getaway through Bulgaria, Greece and Romania. I intend to post pictures and blogs about my adventures. . but I should probably fill you in on what I’ve been up to since January.

I have 3 new roommates: Quentin and Alexis from France and Carlos from Portugal. I chose to have boy roommates again because I really like the drama free atmosphere.

Carnival is the European equivalent of Mardi Gras. In Slovenia, the best parade is held in Ptuj. Sybil and I decided to use the internet hitch-hiking system and hitch a ride to Ptuj for the weekend. As neither of us had slept the night before (because we’re mutually not smart) we decided to go straight to the hostel. Mid-afternoon we were awoken by two Slovene boys busting into our room. “Which one of you is American?”

We glanced at one another and replied “Both of us.”

“Are you sure?” they asked.

“Yes” we replied in a confused unison.

“Which one of you speaks really good Slovene?” They asked.

“Her” I replied.

“You must come have a drink with us.”

We agreed.

That’s how we came to know Aleš, Damir and Simon. Three really nice guys from a small city called Murska Sobota. We ended up spending the entire weekend with them; eating, drinking and enjoying the parade.

Simon, Damir and Aleš.

Simon, Damir, Sybil and I having a drink before going out for the night.

Kurenti are traditional Slovene costumes designed to "scare away" the winter.

More Kurenti dancing.

These guys were my favorite. Soo colorful!! I'm thinking about being one for next Halloween!

Before the parade we hiked up to the castle. This is a picture overlooking the city of Ptuj.

My next blog will probably be in 2 weeks, when Sybil and I are going to visit Maribor.

Thanks to Patrick!

After a long and frustrating process, I was able to post my pictures. Dara's friend Patrick gave me a tip that fixed my problems.

My stay in London was err... good and bad. We arrived an hour later than expected (11:30pm) because London-Heathrow (the airport) was closed. The airport had been closed for most of the afternoon and as a result, all of the flights arrived at once. This caused a huge crowd of people coming through customs. I waited 2 hours to get through. The fact that they didn't have more than 2 employees on duty checking passports didn't help either.

By the time I got through customs and claimed my baggage it was nearly 2:30am. The express train from the airport closed at 2am. All of the subways were also closed. I had to take a 45 minute cab ride from Heathrow to my hotel in central London. You can imagine the price!

I checked in around 3:30am. I went straight to my room and fell asleep. Around 10am, a HUGELY ANNOYING burglar sounding alarm started to go off in my room. I called the front desk, and they informed me that they were testing the alarms and would be finished within 15 minutes. I already have weird sleeping problems, and this alarm caused some serious terror and panic. Due to jet lag and the stupid alarm scaring me out of sleep, I didn't get up until the afternoon.

The Marriott County Hall was next to the London Eye, and only across the bridge from Big Ben and the houses of Parliament.

On my first night out, I walked up and down the Thames river. This is the London Eye, and to the right is the London Aquarium and the Marriott Hotel.

The concierge recommended this restaurant as having traditional British food.

I had half a roast chicken with potatoes, carrots, green beans, stuffing and sage sauce.

My hotel was just across the Westminster Bridge from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

I love Bus tours. I like them because you hear commentary on different sites that you might not have known about. Of course I had planned on getting a few pictures of the London (Tower) bridge, but I recommend them to anyone traveling.

Cleopatra's needle was under construction. The two sphinx statues are supposed to face away as guards, but they were improperly placed and have never been corrected.

This is not my photo. I took a picture of the Tower of London, but it wasn't very good. If I had had more time in London, I would've really loved to spend some time in here. The tour guide recommended dedicating a whole half day to this site alone.

Fountain outside Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace.

The fountain was still running even though most of the water was frozen over.

Inside Harrods, one of the largest department stores in the world.

Also inside Harrods. They had all kinds of food inside including Sushi, Chinese, Indian, French etc.

Something I didn't expect, Krispy Creme is all over London. Every grocery store had a little spot for Krispy Creme doughnuts. This shop is inside Harrods.

Big Ben by day.

Big Ben and the houses of Parliament.

I couldn't leave London without taking photos of the telephone booths and a double decker bus!

Almost there. . .

Okay, for those of you who haven't forgotten about my blog (I obviously had) I am sorry for not posting in so long!! I went back to the states for two weeks for Christmas, my brother's wedding and New Years. After leaving the states, I took a 3 day detour to London.

To my family and friends, I apologize for not calling once I got to London. Internet usage (which I use to make phone calls) was 15 British pounds for 24 hours. Fifteen pounds = 30 dollars. I hope this helps you understand my silence!

I will post a London blog soon (hopefully). I am working on some bugs in my computer's picture viewer program. It's not letting me rotate pics. . and I'm sure seeing all my pics sideways would not be pleasant.

Blog coming soon. . .

Most of my German Dreams Came True in Munich

Last weekend I went to Munich with 3 goals in mind. First, to see the Christmas markets. Second, to try currywurst and leberkase. Third, to drink a German beer.

There is still no snow in Ljubljana, but Austria has plenty. This is a terrible picture because it does not show how beautiful the scenery was. We went to Munich by car. Basically, we went online to a website where you can hitch-hike. Someone with a car is going on a trip, and you offer to split the gas money for a ride. We rode with a German man who works in Croatia and must drive from Zagreb to Munich twice a week. By car the trip was 4.5 hours.

We rode in a fairly new Audi, and thus were stopped by the police. If the police see a nice car with a foreign license plate coming out of former Yugoslavia, they will pull over the driver. Sybil, Ivan and I were waiting to get back in the car.

Sybil studied in Munich last semester, so we were able to stay in the dorms with her friend. The dorm had community mattresses that students can use when friends visit. The three of us (Sybil, Ivan and I) slept on two mattresses on the floor. We were actually quite comfortable. Our first night in Munich we visited the University. This picture is in the main hall, where all the students are protesting. Most of the other Universities in Germany do not charge tuition. Munich recently started charging 500EUR per year. The students refuse to allow classes to take place in the main auditorium until tuition charges are abolished.

The University of Munich takes protesting very seriously. This is a monument to the students of the 'White Rose' underground organization. They were a group of several students and teachers who anonymously printed flyers protesting the Nazi regime. Eventually, they were discovered and later beheaded. Their flyers have been written in stone on the pavement.

Ivanna (with whom we stayed), Ivan and I enjoying cook wine, a German christmas tradition.

New Town square at night.

Entrance to the Christmas markets.

After a night of wandering the christmas markets in the cold, we stopped at the most famous beer house in Munich. This is suckling pig with dumplings. Good hearty German food.

The inside of the beer house.

The next morning we went in search of more christmas markets.

I found currywurst!! (Not all it's cracked up to be!!)

One of the largest parks in Munich is the English Garden. It was designed in the 1800's to model after English gardens. A man made stream flows throughout the garden. The area where the water is pumped into the stream has become a popular SURFING hangout. It was really amazing to see.

Another monument to the students of the 'White Rose' outside German Parliment. They are pretty much the heroes of Munich.

German Parliment.

Old Town Square

More of the Christmas markets.

As the sun went down, we headed to BMW headquarters. Apparently, Santa drives a BMW.

Inside the BMW museum.

Near to the BMW headquarters, we visited the site of the 1972 Olympics. The Olympic games most remembered for the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes. Most of the grounds were closed for renovation, as they are turning the park into a fitness training facility.

After all this, we returned home to meet with Ivanna. She works at the Munich airport and wasn't able to sight-see with us. She had a hard day at work and we decided to make some more cook wine.

Before our mad dash to the train station, we stopped at Subway. There are no Subways in Slovenia. . and I was really excited.

After eating Subway and sipping Starbucks, we headed back to Ljbuljana via train. We passed through Austria again. . only to find more snow.

Sybil and Ivan checking out the dining car.

German trains are really nice. This is a first class car.

So, while in Munich I achieved most of my goals. I saw many Christmas markets, I ate currywurst and I drank a German beer. I didn't ever get around to trying leberkase, but I'm going to visit Jan in Hamburg in February. I sent out a few post cards, so if you receive one it will probably be a re-run of all the info just discussed. I'm really excited for Christmas now though!! Christmas markets, Christmas music, sugar coated toasted almonds. . etc. Only 12 days until I'm back in the US!