Early days in croatia

Split: Night train yuck
Desperate for place to sleep
Obsessed with water
Met some local girls, amazing
Got dinner at fife, amazing
Met another local that was fond of Tomas
I got ice cream
Walked around
Went to bed
Woke up and caught jadrolinja to hvar




Hvar
No place to stay
Made Tomas.book the only room.
Decided to sleep on the beach.
Went to the beach and met pam and Kristen from Canada
Swam all day and got really colored
Set by stuff in the perfect spot to sleep
Started raining non stop.
Ran to pam and kristens, they weren't there, stood in a cafe outdoor area to escape the rain
Tomas ran by to get me.from the beach and found me on the way back at the cafe
Sneaking into the hostel Tomas is at and spending the night
More nervous to be sneaking in a hostel than sleeping outside
Im exhausted


Leaving hvar today
Snick out of hostel and watched the sun rise
Spend the morning at a cafe and then reading in a park by the water and listening to music
Bought a necklace at a store cause I felt bad
Went to Dubrovnik:
Traveled from hvar to split from split to Dubrovnik.
Had to take a later bus
Bus ride was fine, pretty along the coast
Arrived at the station, met some Aussie girls and took the wrong bus but just stayed on because it eventually went to where we needed.
Got to hostel and checked in
Guy drove us to the other hostel where we would stay.
Got here and we didn't have rooms for an hour and a half. They gave the other people in the room all the keys and didn't keep one for themselves.
Old grandpa got mad at me for signing the situation to my new deaf friends from Belgium
They finally just broke the door so we could go in.




New friends
I notices this couple.signing at the bus station and watched then for a while. Finally I asked them in sign where they were from. The girl was surprised and I had a whole conversation with then. They ended up staying at the same hostel as us so I acted like an interpreter which was really awesome. They went through the room garbage with us so I had to interpret what was going on. I was really rusty but they were patient and helped me out. Esther and Johnathan I believe. Very nice! It was fun to sign again. Esthers parents actually live in Seattle and I got her whole story which was cool.




Finally in Dubrovnik, have to buck it out in this stupid hostel and then I can see rebs and Ana!!!!



Hostel review.
Clean and looks very nice. The presentation of the beds were lovely
However
No toilet paper in any of the stalls. It took an hour and a half to get our too.s because they didn't keep a spare key to our room and gave all the keys to the others who were out partying. They were rude when I tried to explain in sign language to the deaf couple what was going on. They tried for a few minutes.to get the door open and then just stopped and we had to try to open the door with hair pins and check the window to see if it would budge open. Now we have a broken door, so no leaving anything of any sort of value I. This hostel what so ever
And my phone wont connect to the wifi so thats useless

First full day in Dubrovnik:
Took the wrong bus but got a nice drive and cheap breakfast out side of town.
Got to town and walked around a bit
Met a family from Renton, Debbie Kemper and they let me finish off their muscles they had for lunch! Free lunch yesssssss
Walked around a bit bit and then went swimming outside the wall
Laying out and now they have a big water polo match going with announcers, music and everything. I think ill stay longer than expected

Such a BUDAful place, had the PEST time!

Arrived in Budapest to gorgeous beautiful sunny weather. Got on the metro and headed towards my hostel. I met a lovely kiwi couple (couple from new Zealand) who will also be going to Croatia the same day as me, so we exchanged info and hopefully will get together once were all there.
1..

I got to my hostel finally and just from the 10 minutes I walked from metro to hostel it was awesome. Im in love with the Pest!
When I got to my hostel, I saw three gentlemen struggling with the door code to get in so, like a moth to a flame, I walked a little faster to stand with the Dutch boys to get in. Introduced myself and we all eventually got up the stairs.
2..

When we got up the stairs we were greeted by wonderful Monica who worked at the front desk and we set our bags down and mingled a bit.
And then Monica brought us out some shots....
Once we were all acquainted and checked in there was the faint whispers of people wanting to go out... I have not gone to a party party my whole trip so far, especially not after I just arrived that day. BUT I though, I need to hang out with these nice looking fellas and I should probably go out out at least once. So for some reason I chose this pool party event that everyone was going too...

Realizing I was going to a swim party.... I ran to shave my legs, as it had been a couple weeks and I was looking very European... Gonna fully try to rock the ice cream gut I accumulated the past month and a half as well....

So lets see if I can remember all the guys names I was now hanging out with at this point:
Laurence
Dan
Ivan
Andre
Nick
Tomas (American)
Steven
 and then later came Fiachra and his sister D

First stop was food.
After that, I was trying to decide if I was really excited, or super grossed out that I was about to be in a kind of giant hot tub full of way too many people. Soaking like a stew, a mixture of people, mostly men anyway, drunk and I'm sure peeing in the pool, drinks spilled and limes floating around....

was fun.. However. It made me realize how much of a big party person I am NOT!
I don't like to drink to get smashed cause I like to be productive the next day, so rest assured family that I did not drink a lot, my mind was sound and the group of men knew I was a strong feisty spit fire who would throw a punch if i needed too. I made sure they knew this. But it also made me realize how being with a group of people who are so fun and amazing will make a situations a billion times better.

All in all, it was a fantastic night, fun and safe, but now I'm excited to have some days to see the city and enjoy Budapest even more!!

THE NEXT DAY!
Spent touring myself around and having a great time. Met back up with my fellas and lady to do it all again!
that night we all went to the club Instint and had a fantastic time. I told everyone I was going running the next morning, and they didn't believe me. Till I did!

Next day!
Went on a fabulous run around Budapest, saw all sorts of stuff and felt so great afterwards. To make the day even better we all went to the hot baths for the rest of the day! Just relaxin all cool, shootin some bball outside of the school.. Just kidding, got carried away. Laid around all day so we were ready to go out again that night!!

I'm just going to give some bullet points now because I want this blog post to be done and my thumbs hurt from typing!

Last night in the pest.
Whole day at the baths
Saw Layla from Vienna randomly
Saw couple from Brussels randomly
Walked for hours trying to find a bar
Found a different bar and went to club
Suppose to be home by 230.. Home by 6:45...

Leaving the Bud
I've never felt so upset leaving a group of people. I wanted to cry, but tough girl said hold your shit together Katie! Today was the day that Tomas and I took our night train excursion to Slit and had to leave our amazing friends behind. Not only did I absolutely adore Budapest, but the fact that I made a group of friends that really made me cry when I had to say goodbye made it that much harder to move on. Every person was at the hostel to say good bye to me.. Partially because I told them they HAD to be back so I could see them and I'm hoping also because they will equally miss me as well. Even sitting on the train when I'm thinking about D, Figs, Layla, Nnick, Laurence, Ivan, Andre, and Daan, I keep tearing up!

I'm ridiculous.

I could not have had a more amazing time in Budapest and would never trade it for the world.
Inside jokes, constant laughing, drinking games, walking around for hours, being the best wing woman ever (they will back me up on this), making breakfast together after staying out till the sun came up, family dinners, selfies galore,ogling over attractive people, dancing, and so many more experiences that make this trip worth while.

These people became my family in a matter of hours and for the next 4 days we just became as close as ever, blows my mind.
I could make this post longer than anyone would care to even begin to read, filling it with how I first got to the hostel seeing these three attractive men struggle at opening the door and me scurrying to get there to make conversation and then inviting myself out with them, to my last day when I laid on top of Ivan to wake him up from his nap so we could say our good byes and scaring him half to death to the point where he screamed and did this weird flailing motion with his hands. I miss them, and I will continue to  miss them all until I see each and every one of them again!
I truly believe that the people you come in contact with have something to share with you to enrich your life beyond your realization sometimes. Telling you things about yourself that raises your confidence in every way that you never thought people would think about you. Being able to be yourself around strangers with out a care and having them adore you just the way you are as you adore them in the same way. I've learned so much from these people and without them my trip would not have been the same. There are people who you are just meant to meet in your life, and I was meant to meet these amazing, funny, spectacular people.

I now have friends that I WILL visit in Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, and the states. I can hardly wait to plane my trip to see them all. Life long friends.

As for Budapest itself, its amazing, gorgeous and had everything I needed. Relaxed or exciting nightlife, amazing people, out door activities, great food, amazing architecture, charming shops, and lovely weather!

The hot baths were so nice to just go relax with everyone. Taking a whole day just being in the water and laying in the sun. Taking pictures in the water, thanks to my lovely purchase of a waterproof phone case. Then hiking up to get a gorgeous panoramic view of Budapest. Nothing better!

(I'm still having a hard time keeping it together while I write this post reminiscing on everything that I was blessed to have happen, the people I met and the memories ill have forever, along with friends on this 14 hour train ride.)

The Pest first impression

Arrived in Budapest to gorgeous beautiful sunny weather. Got on the metro and headed towards my hostel. I met a lovely kiwi couple (couple from new Zealand) who will also be going to Croatia the same day as me, so we exchanged info and hopefully will get together once were all there.


I got to my hostel finally and just from the 10 minutes I walked from metro to hostel it was awesome. I'm in love with the Pest!
When I got to my hostel, I saw three gentlemen struggling with the door code to get in so, like a moth to a flame, I walked a little faster to stand with the Dutch boys to get in. Introduced myself and we all eventually got up the stairs.


When we got up the stairs we were greeted by wonderful Monica who worked at the front desk and we set our bags down and mingled a bit.

And then Monica brought us out some shots....
Once we were all acquainted and checked in there was the faint whispers of people wanting to go out... I have not gone to a party party my whole trip so far, especially not after I just arrived that day. BUT I thought, I need to hang out with these nice looking fellas and I should probably go out out at least once. So for some reason I chose this pool party event that everyone was going too...


Realizing I was going to a swim party.... I ran to shave my legs, as it had been a couple weeks and i was looking very European... Gonna fully try to rock the ice cream gut I accumulated the past month and a half as well....


So lets see if I can remember all the guys names I was now hanging out with at this point:
Laurence
Dan
Ivan
Andre
Nick
Tomas (American)
Steven
 and then later came Fiachra and his sister D (because I forgot her full name so we all called her D)


First stop was food.

After that, I was trying to decide if I was really excited, or super grossed out that I was about to be in a kind of giant hot tub full of way too many people. Soaking like a stew, a mixture of people, mostly men anyway, drunk and I'm sure peeing in the pool, drinks spilled and limes floating around....


It was fun.. However. It made me realize how much of a big party person I am NOT!
I don't like to drink to get smashed cause I like to be productive the next day, so rest assured family that I did not drink a lot, my mind was sound and the group of men knew I was a strong feisty spit fire who would throw a punch if i needed too. I made sure they knew this.
All in all, it was a fantastic night, fun and safe, but now I'm excited to have some days to see the city and enjoy Budapest even more!!

To Laugh or Gag

For those who don't know our dog jack. He's a scrappy grey little mutt who always gets mats... Everywhere... Literally, if he isn't shaved he's a giant mat.




Mats remind me of dreadlocks...




Jack has a particular dread lock (the infamous dreadcock) that hangs from his dog penis...




One time, I even very, tediously cut the dreadcock off, and it was about an inch off...




Dreadlocks are very popular in Europe (along with half shaved heads... Weirdos)




Lets bring this string of thoughts full circle, shall we:

Every time I see a person with dreadlocks it reminds me, very vividly of Jacks dreadcock...the girl in front of me on the bus is really grossing me out. She's a dirty blonde noggin full of mats that reminds me of a golden retriever. I would love nothing more than to take some clippers and clean er up a bit, nice and fresh. I imagine it would feel nice for the summer. At least that's how the dogs feel when they have their mats shaved.




Enjoy the visuals of my scaring thoughts about dreadlocks (thumbs ups *wink*)

A Couple Nights in Austria

Well, Austria has come and gone for me. I only had one full day in Vienna, which for me at the moment was just fine. My hostel was good. I stayed at the Wombats hostile lounge. It was very easy to get to (I'm becoming a champ at the underground and public transportation!)

On a first impression basis: The elevator was super slow, and hiking up several flights of stairs to get to my room was exhausting, the bathroom was dingy but the room in general was pretty nice and comfortable and safe feeling. Each person has a locker, but mine was broken. Luckily I keep my super important things with me, so by all means thief's, take my dirty clothes! The wifi was very shotty, and worked well maybe half the time, luckily there was a cafe a few doors down with fantastic wifi. There was a fan in the room so with the windows open and fan going at night it was extremely nice to sleep. The street is also a little dingy feeling, but if you walk down a few ways it gets nicer and better with shopping and such. All around, pretty good hostile, will probably recommend.

Other than that my time in Vienna was nice. Beautiful buildings. I did a walking tour with a couple girls from my hostile to see the city, and then we walked around ourselves. I think I'm just ready to be by the water, so its hard for me to embrace what these cities have to offer me.

I got to see a lot of Vienna in a short amount of time, thanks to the walking tours. I HIGHLY recommend any walking tour if your traveling because its a great way to know what your looking at, and find your way around a city and get yourself familiar with where your staying.

These are the great things I saw, that I can remember:
Opera house
Spanish riding school/michaelerplatz
St. Stephens cathedral
Schronbrunn palace
Zanoni Eissalon Garda (best ice cream, conveniently placed across the street from my hostel)
And of course I had some schnitzel!

Fun fact: You will see on some of the crossing signs, there will be a man and a man or two girls with a heart. They did this to show that they support gay marriage. Cutest thing ever!

All in all Vienna was nice, I may come back to spend a few days on another trip, to go to the markets and some other cool things, which there are some great things to do here, but I'm now off to Budapest!
Budapest is only a 2 hour bus from Vienna! Score! Shortest bus to a different country I've taken so far!!

Sbohem Praha

Coming to the ending hours of my time in Prague and its been so nice!

Ashley and I have been sick, almost the whole time we've been here, and although we've been sluggish and groggy, we have made the best of our time here.

The first day was just me walking around and getting a bit familiar with the city a bit, and relaxing., while the second day was meant to be very productive, but due to not feeling well, we ended up just walking around quite a bit, coming back to the hostile and relaxing, and then inviting two other girls out to dinner.

After dinner we walked across the Charles bridge and got some great views at night with the lights and the music people were playing along the sides. It was magical.

Today Ash and I thought we would have a very productive day, and we definitely did. We started out walking to the John Lennon graffiti wall to take pictures, and then went and got hot chocolate at the Choco cafe. Now, when I said hot chocolate, it literally was chocolate melted into a cup.. And then of course I made sure I got mine with a scoop of ice cream in it. So thick you need to eat it with a spoon!

After a small heart attack, followed by high blood sugar, and maybe some diabetes, we walked around to run some errands before heading to the monastery up on the hill that over looks the city, so we could have some lunch. We both got these really yummy pizzas that were definitely able to feed two people per one pizza, but now we have our dinner as well ;) (THUMBS UP!)

We then... Get ready for this!.... Went to a Thai massage place and had fish eat the dead skin off our feet!! It was so ticklish and weird, and then when you finally got use to the feeling, it just felt like bubbles were on your feet. Weirdest thing ever, but such a cool experience.

Tonight, to say good bye to each other, Ashley and I are going for drinks and dessert. Its very sad to say bye to Ash seeing as she's become such a dear friend of mine. However, she's planning on coming to the U.S. In December and staying with me for a bit, so I have something to look forward too. And who knows we may decide to meet up in another country in the future.. It will happen!

In total, it will have been a collective of 8days Ashley and I have spent together, and they have all been a blast!


Miss ya already Ash!   

happy happy joy joy

I always get these little thoughts, side notes, or pauses that just kind of pass through my head. Sometime in one ear and out the other and sometimes I keep thinking about them. So why not share them, because I can..


I've already jotted down the down falls, negative, upsetting, and Debbie downer side of things, so lets perk things up a bit with all the happy, positive, upbeat, fun thoughts I've had!


-I LOVE all the people I've met! Some good some bad, all sorts of personalities. Some that leave a bitter taste and some that I tear up when I have to leave! Every single one of them, however, makes me feel so lucky to have experience so many crazy, fun, strange, opinionated, know I all, funny, spiritual people! From all over the world!


-I can't wait for these people to visit me in the states! I always tell the people I like that if they are ever in Seattle to come stay with me!


- I may have an Australian room mate at one point! Ashley wants to come.to the states and maybe stay a while, and ill have an extra room when I move out sooooooo, ROOMIES!!


- The longer I travel, the more I love it. I know I said before that I felt like maybe this wasn't my passion, and maybe its not. BUT after I got over the hump of the negative, I really do love it! I can't wait to explore more places in the future. I think because it was so new and I've never been away from friends and family for so long that it was a bit of a news flash and shock.. SHOCK GONE! Yes I miss my family and friends, but I've pretty much talked to them everyday, Ana is always saying 'hiiiiiii teta!' When I'm on Skype with her (which, might I add, I'm so thankful.for Clare Dowd to be watching my favorite person! Ana is in such great hands and I couldn't be more happy that such a wonderful person is making sure that Ana is having fun and gets to see her teta on Skype. THANK YOU CLARE FOR BEING SO AMAZING!)


-When you hit a city that you fall in love with, it makes traveling that much better! If you don't like a city.. Guess what, SEE YA! I mean I always try to give every city a chance, but its nice to not have to stay there if I don't want to :D


-thank you to all the friends and family who have given me advice on where to stay, where to go and things to do. I may not have done them while I was in those countries, but I'm so thankful you guys are helping me out and giving me some tricks of the trade! (zuzu!)


-it will be interesting when I get home from this adventure. The world is my oyster!! (I never got that expression, sooo I'm gon a change it now) THE WORLD IS MY PLAYGROUND!


-I love talking to people, whether I become friends with them or its just a short little chat. I can always find out cool things to do, things I've never thought of doing.


happy Monday everyone!