Mario Kart, Raki, and Snot- Greece

Ten months ago my family went to my grandparent's beach house for a final weekend together before I went off on my adventure. My father and I were looking up places to visit, he suggested a few things, and finally said, "Talk to the people around you. They will have better ideas than what we can possibly come up with." I smiled but secretly made a list of my own... where is that list now? I have no idea. What was on that list? Doesn't matter.  I have been to places I would never dreamed of (or embarrassingly knew of) visiting because we have such a great group of eclectic travelers here on the Edelweiss Program. Greece was never on my list, but when a friend asks if you want to go, the beach is involved, and it just happens to be on your birthday the correct and only answer is yes yes yes!

In ten years or so from now I may have the money to wine taste luxuriously through Italy or where ever, but for now I am on the budget friendly tour of Europe. So flying from Munich to Crete, Greece via Ryanair is where its at. Good ol' Ryanair. Like I said a strict budget.  So to Crete we went!

If you go to Greece I recommend Santorini, Mykanos, Athens, all those places, but this was my first time going to a beach in 10 months so Crete was just fine in my eyes. Really, this blog is going to be real short. Why? Because we were on the beach ALL THE TIME.. and I was perfectly okay with that. The first day we decided to take a quick boat ride to Gramvousa and Balos- which really turned into an hour bus ride, 30 euros, and an all day adventure. Not complaining just unexpected. This was great to grab a beer (vacation, it doesn't matter if you start drinking before 10am), talk, and just look out at the b-e-a-utiful water. In Garmisch, I have never seen so many different shades of green. In California, its beautiful, but hot and dry heat aka not much green. So Garmisch there is green everywhere, but in Greece it is teal and blues for the water. Its a lot like Hawaii, there is a different shade of blue every 10 feet of water. I will attempt to show you a picture, obviously it wont do justice... free crappy picture or just buy a ticket to Greece.. this shouldn't be a question! Gramvousa is this small island that has castle ruins at the top, so of course when you send a bunch of tourists on this tiny island with a time limit it is like a pilgrimage to the top. Or its like Mariokart- people passing each other, all in a sprint to the finish line, I wouldnt be surprised if I saw some banana peels thrown to trip us up! Anyways, it gives you a great view of the blues, but we remember why I was in Greece right? Well I'm pretty sure I sprinted to the top, threw myself off the top to the bottom, just to get to the beach part five minutes earlier than the others.

Moving on, Balos is this beautiful island, lagoon if you will with some pink sand, small waves (a mavericks surf competition will be held there any day now I'm sure), and in our case cloudy sky. Laying out was not so much fun, but still the beach! Like I said in Morocco it is not until you live in the mountains that you realize you were born for the beach. I'd like that quoted on pinterest now please. 

For a little bit of history we went to the Venetian Old Port at City
Center in Chania, Crete. A 45 min walk from our hotel along the
beaches. Hard life. You walk to the lighthouse, tour the touristy
 shops, and now lets get down to business... on a beach vacation you are going to do two major things the entire time... no not that. Lay out in the sun and eat. Lets be honest my traveling revolved around food.. and food only. Let's just say if I ever get lost from my group they can find me at the nearest cafe, restaurant, whatever. To me its experiencing the culture to others its stuffing your face.  Your choice. The seafood is absolutely amazing in Greece. Again Garmisch is inland when a goldfish is about as much seafood as you will ever see, so it was time to stock up! I highly recommend sharing with a friend the seafood platter. All the restaurants have this option. Squid, octopus, little fish, calamari, and more all with a slice of lemon. You have to do this! If anything you take a picture with the octopus tentacle. Profile picture for life. And if your at all like me and you like to play with your food this is great fun. I'm pretty sure that lunch lasted 2 hours too long.

   At the end of the meal sometimes they will give you a free dessert or even "better" a bottle of their Raki. To those who are Greek or Turkish I would say its a great cultural experience to those who are not my own opinion is that the stuff is vile. However, when one must take shots at 12pm one must simply rise to the occasion. However, when two of your friends tap out after one shot, the cultural experience gets tougher! Hard vacation. Get the one with honey that is much much much much much much much much much much much much  better. Everyone I met in the restaurant business where nothing short of the sweetest people ever. I'm sure it helped that we tipped, but everyone was so nice I cannot recommend Greece enough because of the people.  

Now my FAVORITE part of the trip. If you are in Chania, Crete you must go on Captain Nick's Aphrodite Glass Bottom Boat tour (look on tripadvisor- over a hundred ratings and all five star!). Captain Nick was so nice, funny, personable, and sincere. And a great way to kick up your feet, grab a beer (one is free on the 2 hour tour- reason enough right there to go!), and look at the scenery aka all the blue.. and then you will casually snorkel. He will snorkel with you looking for starfish and other sea creatures. So he calls us all over to this one area and he is holding something that just looks like a huge thing of brown snot. But suddenly the big bowl of snot has tentacles and starts moving around. Why yes he was just casually holding an octopus... well what does clever Debra say? Can I hold it? When your mom brings you up telling you to think before you speak I must have been napping during this one.. suddenly he is swimming toward me with a big bunch of snot! I stick my arm out and he latches the octopus onto my arm. I don't think the best writer in the world can describe this feeling. The octopus was gooey and slowly moving its tentacles up my arm onto my shoulder.
This is the part when I start squirming and screaming. Its like a gooey spider wrapping it's legs around you and just moving up. My reaction is like Ron's in the second Harry Potter. Nope nope not okay! Anyways you would think he would just grab the octopus off right? Well let me just say those tentacles with suction cups work! I think the octopus had a crush on me cause he WOULD NOT let go, Captain Nick had to peel all the tentacles off one by one. I'm sure I didn't help because I was trying to swim away while screaming the entire time. Welcome to the world little guy sorry for the rough awakening. Like I said those suction cups work, I had lines of hickeys all over my arm. Trying explaining that to the waiter at dinner afterward.

A great way to bring in one more year of my life- eat, lay out, and have an octopus climb up my arm. Where do you go with life after that? You can tell you should diagnose yourself with a case of wanderlust if you are writing a blog on a past adventure while taking short breaks and looking up flights for the next adventure. I will never be done! I cannot recommend Greece enough- so beautiful, the people are great, the food is delightful... just beware of that Raki it will sneak up on you!

You can always make more money, but you can't buy more time

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The Lucky 13

Visiting my  lucky 13th country on my 13 month adventure... lets just take a stab at how my trip to Budapest, Hungary started shall we? Put together a 2 1/2 hour late bur which pushed us back from a 10pm journey to starting at 12:30am, a person in front of me who thought it was all right to put their seat all the way back to my lap, and the police questioning me why I was still in Europe after 10 months of travel...yikes. Anyways after a disgusting amount of traveling we were in Budapest!

Let's count down the "lucky" 13 things you should do (and really just what I did) while visiting Budapest. These can all be done on a 33 hour limit.. there is some hustlin involved, but all good for the sake of traveling on a time limit. The last five are my favorite, but all are necessary. Lets start the count down!

15. Central Market Hall- What girl doesn't like where all the souvenirs are in one spot and what guy doesn't like where lots of food can be had in one place? This is a fun place to go and to get out of the heat for a little while. A place for postcards, mystery meat, and fresh squeezed orange juice!

14. Funicular- I have to admit that this was not such a big deal for me, but it is for most people. It is a cable car (hence why its not such a big deal for the girl from San Francisco) that will take you up to the Castle District. However, it saves many steps and gives you a beautiful view of the city. A beatiful view without the sweat and you can use the excuse that you're experiencing Budapest's history. Done deal.

13. Chain Bridge- Now because you are using the cable car to get up the hill you have to get your exercise somewhere right? The Chain Bridge connects both parts of Budapest....Buda and Pest. Didn't see that coming did you? Anyways, it is an easy 10 minute walk that provides great views of both sides of the cities.. the Parliament Building, the Royal Palace, and more all along the Danube River.

12. Go inside the Opera House- We just happened to go inside so we didn't see a performance, but the inside and outside is beautiful. When I have money later on I'm coming back to this world famous opera house to see a performance! You can take a tour... I would recommend it if you have more time than 33 hours.

11. Nighttime in Budapest- I was told to take a river cruise at night when all the lights are lit up on all the buildings throughout Buda and Pest. Well, we couldn't find the boats, so we just walked around Castle District at nighttime. I highly recommend doing one or the other at night to see all the lights and a different view of Budapest. Pictures don't do it justice.

10. Hosptial in the Rock- Confession I didn't actually do this one, but everyone was telling me I should have. Woops. it was a secret hospital that was built underneath the Buda Castle. Thank you visitbudapest.travel! If you go, take pics and tell me how it is!







9. Fisherman's Bastion- This is a terrace right by the Royal Palace/Buda Castle. To me, it looks like Gaudi came over to Budapest and made it himself. Or part of Candyland was built. Either one its a toss up. We went at night so it wasn't nearly as crowded, there is a restaurant, but I just recommend simply walking along and seeing the Parliament building right across. Great view!

8. City Park- You can walk through the park after seeing Heroe's Square (#6). There is a very cute castle, Vajdahunyad Castle. You can walk through and it's honestly like you've stepped into Fantasyland at Disney World, which you can all suspect that I loved. The park is very fun-you can rent paddle boats, get a beer, or just walk around. Perfect.

7. Walk through the Jewish Quarter- This is an important part of Budapest. There is the Great Synagogue that is the second biggest next to the one in New York. We didn't actually go in, but there is a touching memorial that you can see from outside of a willow tree out of what looks like barbed wire.  It has the names of all the Hungarian Jews killed in the Holocaust (thank you again visitbudapest.travel). This is also where the ruin pubs are (more about that later), so it is a mix of different types of architecture, abandoned buildings, and lots of culture.

6. Walk along Andrassy Street to get to Heroe's Square- This is on the way to the Szechenyi Baths and is talked to be like walking in Paris. There is much history I am sure, but can you tell that the walking tour didn't go there cause I don't have any facts for you all? It is a very beautiful walk with many trees, different types of buildings, and the City Park at the end. A simple, yet a must thing to do while in Budapest.

5. Free Walking Tour- Who can say no to learning about the facts, history, famous people, and more while getting a workout for free? Lets be honest- no one. Being on a budget has pushed me to look for the things that have "free" written next to them, but these people work hard for their tips! Great information like did you know the person who made the Rubik's cube was from Hungary? Or to save a statue built in the Stalinist time period they simply put a white sheet, cut two holes for eyes, kept it there for a few days, and called it a symbol of freedom? Facts upon facts people! It's a history lesson mixed with some physical activity that leaves your precious money in your pocket. It doesn't get much better than that.

4. St. Stephen's Basilica- This is embarrassing, but I've become a bit of a church architecture snob. I know terrible terrible, but it's the truth. Well we stayed about 100 meters (said the hostel's brochure) from this basilica (Art Boutique Hostel- if you are ever in Budapest this is a great value for money, perfect location, and very nice staff). Anyways, this Basilica will not disappoint! Covered in marble and gold from top to bottom. It is actually not too old, 1900's, but it looks like the person who built St. Peter's in Rome just came right over to Budapest and built the St. Stephen's Basilica. Look at that cross country reference would ya? Actually sounds like I know what I'm talking about. Very worth looking at... and there is the dead hand of St. Stephen in the back. Dead hand and gold? Worth one euro if you ask me.

3. Ruin Pubs- These famous pubs can be found in the downtown part of Budapest and are pubs that were created out of abandoned buildings. So really the owners lucked out- they found a building that looked demolished, didn't have to decorate it, but simply put some chairs and alcohol in the space and called it done. I am told that this trend started about 10 years ago and have become extremely popular throughout that time. Usually when you see an abandoned building you stray away from it, but this time we were walking to them.

2. Szechenyi Baths- Oh the things that they would never allow in the United States. This is

 one of the most famous baths in Budapest and actually the biggest thermal bath in Europe. As said by wikipedia (our best friend) it was opened in 1913 and there are 3 outdoor and 15 indoor pools. I am sure tha
t we looked like 5 year olds running around trying out all the pools! There was a sauna that got to 99 degrees Celsius (thats right 230 degrees Fahrenheit- don't you cook at that temperature?) and then an ice bath right next to it. I felt quite classy relaxing in a pool with a wealthy looking building behind me. The one thing I warn everyone before doing this is that you will be so relaxed and useless the rest of the day! Take a night cruise or something after that doesn't require walking.. or really moving for that matter.

1. Shoes on the Danube- My last year of college I took a History of the Holocaust and Other Genocides class. Needless to say I had a LOT of ice cream after the depressing class, but definitely one of the best classes I've ever taken. A wake up call indeed. Anyways there is a relatively new work of art (2005) as a memorial for the Holocaust in Budapest. In front of the Parliament there are bronze shoes all over the edge of the Danube. In Budapest 600,000 Jews were killed. Some were taken to the edge of the river and shot. They were forced to take off their shoes because that was what was considered valuable. I've been to Anne Franks, the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., and many memorials, so I was relatively together with this one until I saw a pair of baby bronze shoes. I cannot imagine anything worse than being a parent and knowing there is nothing you can do to save not only yourself, but your own child. This memorial is so simple, yet one of the most powerful things I've ever seen. I cannot recommend it enough.

As always I say walk around! Who knows whom you will meet, what you will see, or stumble upon. So get lost cause who knows you may find this:

Okay quote time: If you want to do something stop thinking and dreaming about it, just do it already! Life only goes by faster the older you get. Even if it doesn't work or isn't what you thought it's always better to say "oh well" instead of wondering "what if." No regrets.

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A Little Big Dream

So half my life ago (oh dear) my parents took my brother and I out of school and into Western Europe for six months. Home schooling included museums for history, math was taught for one hour a day (to my despise), P.E. was just walking and hiking everywhere, and our journals (like this one but with a pen and paper, that old fashioned stuff) was English. Anyways, the world looks very different to a 11 year-old than to an adult and at the time despite my 11 mosquito bites, the hot hot hot weather, and at least a million (maybe two) tourists, Florence, Italy was my favorite city....not by an inch but by far.

Anyways, jumping ahead 11 years I was given five days (wowza!) off work with one place in mind.. Florence! I have to admit a part of me was extremely nervous to visit a place that I had such high hopes for... but then again I had high hopes so can't go against that. So let's dive right in shall we and compare the "then and now:" 

Physical Education Then:
It is alarming (and more than slightly embaressing) how hard walking is when you're an 11 year-old. I mean I would blame is on my short little legs, but I don't believe I've grown since then..Going away from that point, it is shameful to say how much I dragged my feet and how much of a chore walking to explore a new city felt to me.

Physical Education Now:
My absolute favorite thing to do in a city is get lost. Now, lets be clear not when it's dark, lonesome, and creepy shadows start to pop up, but when I am in a new (or visiting after 11 years) city I love to just walk. The answer to this is simple: Adidas or Nike. The best friends I could have on this 13 month adventure. To be fair and so everyone should know, Florence is not a big city. We walked all around it in about three hours. Don't waste your time on pricey taxis... unless the creepy shadows start to pop up. We discovered my favorite street musician (the man looked like Bruce Springsteen and played classical guitar- what more do you want?!), a leather market (goodbye savings hello obviously priceless leather jacket), and many many gelato places that needed tasting. 

History Then:
Again, it is embarrassing to say how much for granted I took my first trip to Europe. I appreciate it more than I can say now and fully plan to do the same idea with my children one day, but at the time I wish I had had a little more respect for the adventure. Now, when one goes to Florence one must

always visit the David at the Academia. There are many replicas around the city (shown here), but to see the "real" David is a box on everyone's bucket list that must be checked. Back then after the replicas the real thing wasn't as impressive, so I went to the "gold" room as I remember it to look at some paintings... not cool Debra not cool.

History Now:
You HAVE to see the David. Look at the replicas for a few seconds and move on, they don't do it justice! The real one- look at the muscles,  blood veins, and the curls in his hair. For someone who has never studied sculpture, art history, or really knows anything about Michelangelo, it still took my breath away! I would hear an English tour describing the sculpture and shamelessly tried to stand close enough to hear but look foreign enough (if possible) to not look like I was cheaply listening in. Now for a few short facts on the sculture for our history lesson of the day: it was built between 1501-1504, is 17 feet, and it symbolized defense of Florence against larger cities (the eyes of David were actually pointed towards Rome). Thank you Wikipedia! 

English Then and Now:

Just so you know everything in Florence has an entrance fee. Want to see a church? You have to pay. Want to see a famous tomb? You have to pay. Need to pay to breath the air? It's a scam. There's a lot of that in Florence too fyi. In the Santa Croce Church there are the tombs or remembrances of Galileo, Dante, Michelangelo, and many more. At the time it really didn't mean anything, but now I loved and respected the tombs for these famous artists, writers, and scientists. So after taking Astronomy 101, reading Dante's Inferno (one of my all time favorite high school required books), and seeing the David thr tombs meant much more than some carved out marble pieces. I mean they really are works of art on their own.

Art in the now:
Now for the secret..drum roll please.... okay, face the Santa Croce Church, now go to the left. Keep walking down that walkway and you will see a leather school sign. Go through that and you will see students and masters learning the techniques of leather making. I could watch them all day. Just cutting leather and pounding it together like it was paper. Astounding. Then you can go in the gift shop, maybe purchase a little something, and there will be someone who can brand your initials onto your purchase. Talk about an authentic souvenir! It is so fun to watch! And it's free so you can't complain. They will tell you a little bit about their school too if you ask: "It started with a little big dream." 

Let's go to a weird feeling: 

The weirdest feelings I've had during this 13 month adventure is going back to places, not knowing where I am, and then suddenly having a flash back of deja vu from when I was last there. To explain, I vaguely remember seeing an astounding view of Florence, but never really knowing where that was- maybe a random parking lot, next to a church, or so forth. Anyways, I never really put it together, but when my friend suggested we see Piazzal Michelangelo, we walked up and up and up, and then it hit me that this was the exact place I had thought of so many times before! To make it even better, this time we were there when the rose garden (with over 2500 different varieties of roses so you know).. needless to say we felt spoiled. We simply took our books the next day, beautiful weather, simply read and occasionally looked up to see that magnificent view of Florence. Spoiled, the word you are looking for is spoiled. 

Finally some similarity!
Bless my mother for writing down the gelato places that we oh so loved when we were in Italy. The day we left I sent an email asking for the name and she hurriedly responded with the name with the writing tone of "you have to go!" We went and it was just as delicious and still the BEST gelato I've ever had (with much competition I assure you). It is Vivoli Gelato at 7 Via Isole Della Stinche. So GO! I asked the lady serving us if she spoke english, she replied with "a little," and I told her my family's story. She looked at me, gave me a firm, hearty Italian hug, and said "Grazie!" A great moment, a full circle if you ask me.                                                                    
                                                         
                                                        Second similarity:

 I loved it! Loved loved loved it! Had the best time, the weather was stunning, the food delicious, the sights amazing, and the reassurance that my hopes were high for the right season. The city is wonderful through and through. And if you go- buy a leather jacket. Spend your last paycheck on a nice leather jacket... or a wallet the leather school will put your initials on. You will never regret it. 



So much to do and see and so little time! Don't waste your time, act accordingly.

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Romantic But Real

Romantic but real, these are the words used to describe Rothenburg ob der Tauber. No, but really it's all over their brochures, their city's phrase. My lovely friend from England was visiting for the week, so we decided to go to this romantic but real city. It is known for many things, but mostly for being like Christmas all year round. And well it was March, so it sounded nice. Christmas is nice and all, but really what caught our attention was that it was one of the cities used to film the last Harry Potter (right there I was sold!), if anyone remembers the town used in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (my personal childhood favorite but utterly strange when watched as an adult- the whole child kidnapping thing is more dark than I first realized at the age of seven), and the city Walt Disney based the town in the movie "Pinocchio" (and by our former Disney jobs you know this is a big deal to us). Oh ya and they are known for their world famous torture museum, but unfortunately we didn't dive into that one. But really it is a fairy tale town, just like a fantasyland. Harry Potter: the scene where Grindelwald steals the Elderwand, the main village for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Pinocchio in the movie and at Disneyworld.  Picture up top- Walt Disney World Pinocchio village- can't even tell the difference. Picture right below, tower in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (I climbed that tower!), 2nd the scene from Harry Potter (the scene were Grindelwald steals the elderwand), and the last is the main village used in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang- the main square in Rothenburg.

I can honestly say that I never would have thought I would write those three words together in my life let alone in a public blog. Those are the main things when visiting Rothenburg. It is an extremely easy place to go for a two day journey, but really you don't need any longer than that I promise. I'll even pink promise which is a big deal as you all know. Anyway lets start with the first one- schneeballs. They are the delicacy of Rothenburg. The only way I can think to describe it is pastry dough stretched out and then wrapped around each other to make a softball sized pastry. I never took creative writing, so I'm sure that didn't do it justice in the slightest, so heres a pic:  They are good, but very filling and really get the small ones because the big ones have enough sugar to feed an army for a week. Something to try of course for the culture of Rothenburg and oh darn its sugar.

Onto the next- the night watchman tour. It is about 5 euros and very worth it. I believe it to be one of the only tours in

Rothenburg and when you add a man in a costume, haunting voice, and a weapon it really is worth the money. We learned about how the town was saved in WWII (a general's mother was the hero in fact), how to dine at Hell, what happens when fire hits dynamite, and more. The interesting (I say interesting because it is both tragic and well, interesting)- there is the main church that has two steeples. One made by an architect and the other by his apprentice. Well the apprentice's steeple received a much more positive reaction from the town's people and the master was so depressed about his own work and being shown up that he threw himself off his own steeple to his death. That must be good lookin steeple.  Again, tragic yet interesting.

Kathe Wolfhart. Not many people know of that name until they come to Europe. Actually I don't totally know if thats true since I didn't know of the company until I came to Germany. Kathy is a Christmas location with stores all around Germany and Europe and has excellent crafted gifts all having to do with Christmas. Smokers, ornaments, etc- everything! Well her head store is based in Rothenburg (again, the all around Christmas city) and lets just say its as if Christmas hurled all over this three story building. And then every tourist store (and thats every other building) has her collection as well. I'm telling you there is nothing more disorienting than it being March and being surrounded by Christmas. Mind you I'm not saying it was bad in anyway, but wowza it was disorienting.  Oh my... to that picture.. oh my.

What the city is also known for is the wall surrounding the Old Town. Mind you this is no picket fence, but a very tall stone wall that did a great job protecting the city for many many years.... and then that mistake with the fire and dynamite happened. Anyways, nowadays you can climb the stone wall and walk around it. This is a very fun, pleasant walk and view of the city, really very relaxing.... unless you are afraid of heights... then climbing on hundreds of years old stone is more terrifying, seeing the tops of buildings is frightening, and nothing to hold onto is downright miserable. But other than that it was lovely.

Rothenburg was a great relaxing, beautiful town to explore. It truly was as if we stepped onto a movie set in a fantasyland. A place that you can't help but feel happy- a great two day trip!


I know there are big cities to cross off the list, but traveling is all about finding adventure even in the small towns. And well, I want to go everywhere. Wanderlust. 

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