Volcanic ash and trailer trash

Most importantly – can anyone update me on the Jolie-Pitts? What about Taylor Swift? Miley Cyrus? I don’t even know the names of any other celebrities I’m that far out of the loop. I’d even settle for Billy Mays but he died…. Too soon?

I haven’t read a tabloid since the last Bush was in office and it’s just been too long! All of this grown up news is getting to me. Sure the War in Iraq is worth mentioning but what about Britney? Somebody’s got to look out for her.

Something that I do know about is volcanoes. The Eyjafjallajokull (yes that’s a word and don’t even bother trying to pronounce it) volcano to be exact. Except I don’t really know anything about it. Just that it erupted stuff called lava and lava is really hot and you can’t touch it even though it looks soft. Ash also came out of this volcano and don’t you dare think you can fly a plane through the ash because I already asked and they said no.

The most traumatizing part of this whole volcano situation isn’t that our flight was canceled or that we had to pay hundreds of dollars in unwanted train tickets and hostel stays or that we missed a few days of our spring break trip. It’s the part about my Icelandic friend, Raven, that really breaks my heart.

We can’t be friends. It’s as simple as that. As soon as I saw that our flight was canceled and that we had already taken a four hour bus ride into Slovakia to catch our plane I didn’t think about anything else except for “It’s over for Raven and I.”

Sure we weren’t that close. In fact, I don’t even think she knows my name and I sure as hell can’t pronounce her real name. She just told us her name was Raven because our tiny American minds couldn’t even understand she was saying a word when she told us her name. It actually might have been Eyjafjallajokull now that I think about it…. I’m just upset that I lost a friend.

Maybe I’m a little bitter but I’m a boy on a budget and all of these set backs in Slovakia and Austria weren’t cheap!

Let me just tell you that Bratislava, Slovakia is pretty… But not pretty enough for me to want to spend any extended amount of time there. Austria is gorgeous but I had already been to Vienna and that’s where we ended up staying for two nights.

I’m at the point in my trip where if my friends make me take another walking tour I’ll scream. I might even have a mental breakdown but that might be pushing it. I’m just over it. Three and a half hours of history lessons is what it comes down to and don’t get me wrong I LOVE hearing about history and statues and all that cra—stuff, but not all at once… I’m not a voice recorder! I can’t remember all of this information!

Moving on.

Bratislava and Vienna were nice. Chad and Michelle were frantically trying to figure out how and when we would get to our final destination of Italy for most of the time while I just sat there uselessly (Michelle’s words) and pretended to be interested in train times and hostel options.

We finally got to Florence after a 12.5 hour train/bus trip. It was beautiful. I just love Italy I think. Florence is smaller than Rome and there was more country surrounding it so that was gorgeous as well.

After Florence we went to Cinque Terre which is an area on the coast of Italy consisting of five small towns on these cliffs which are SO cool! If you’re ever in Italy you should definitely make your way there. It’s worth the cheap and short train ride. Pictures didn’t do it much justice but I’ll see if I can do it with words. It’s pretty…. Did that help?

We stayed in the first town called Riomaggiore. Since these towns are all on cliffs you can imagine the hiking we had to do. Side note: sweaty flip flops are not helpful while climbing up hills. Just a warning.

There are hiking trails you can go on that scale the sides of the cliffs and go through each city which we went on. The first trail is really easy but they get more difficult as you go on. I was prepared with my hiking shoes, jacket and umbrella because it was raining. My friends were not so lucky.

I had a great time though. Even with the rain and the clouds, the towns and the hills were breathtaking. I’d definitely go back.

On our way to Pisa we stopped in this small town called Lucca. It’s surrounded by a wall so that’s what makes it a tourist destination. That’s all there is to Lucca.

On to Pisa!

I let Chad and Michelle borrow one of the rolly suitcases I brought with on this trip so they could check it on our flight. Well as you know we didn’t have a flight but we still had the rolly suitcase. Fun fact: rolly suitcases don’t roll so well when their wheels break. Oh yeah, rolly suitcase don’t roll no mo. This became a problem immediately. Chad and I took turns carrying that *#&#* #%$%@ suitcase all around Pisa and 30 pounds isn’t light. It’s actually kind of heavy.

We made it to our hostel which was actually a TRAILER PARK! Yayyyyy! Trailers kill me! Especially when they’re in parks. This was just a stepping stone on my quest to becoming actual trailer trash. The trailer was nice though. As nice as a trailer can get I suppose.

There wasn’t much to Pisa either except for that leaning tower. Apparently it leans an extra 1 meter each year because of tourists. I wonder if they’ll ever fix it or just let it topple over. I guess we’ll see? In an attempt to correct this problem, I took a picture of me holding UP the tower instead of pushing it over. You’re welcome, Pisa.

Why are mountains snowy on top if they’re closer to the sun?

The Secret

So today in my marketing class we watched a movie called "The Secret." I don't know if you've ever heard of it but it's a movie about how you control your happiness and everything that happens to you by your attitude and outlook on life because the universe can sense it and blah, blah, blah. Well it's a load of bull because I was all set for happiness while watching that movie. I was telling myself "Yeah, you know what they're right! I can control this!"

The movie ended and so did class which made me even happier. And then.... I lost in solitare. Not ideal but I wasn't going to let it ruin my day. After losing 123 times in solitare, I decided to stop/quit. A little quitting here and there never hurt anybody, right?

My next class had began and it bored me to tears but it was over before I could say, "Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän." (that's the longest word in German, ps). Michelle and I went back to the dorms and tried to print off our itineraries but they treat the computer labs like FBI headquarters and you can't get in without passing a background check and a physical fitness test. I didn't have time for either of those so we didn't get anything printed off.

I started to walk back to my room when I realized I didn't have my key. My teacher said that the movie we watched could change my life if I let it. I thought he meant for the better! Damn... That's the last time I ever pay attention in class!

I thought it would just be easier to kick my door down instead of playing translator downstairs at the front desk but I LUCKILY got the only man who speaks English to help me! My luck doesn't make sense since I was being negative the entire time... Clue number 436 that the movie I watched is a hoax. We opened my door and I was all set. I only had to promise to give him my first born (sucks for him).

I had to do laundry today so once I got back into my room I packed all of my nasty clothes into my suitcase and since ALL of the washers at my dorm are broken and since there are no dryers there at all, I decided to go to the laundromat with Michelle. I had a lot of laundry. I figured I'd use 2 washers and 2 dryers because people had told me how the dryers don't always get their clothes dry at this place. What I didn't realize was that there are 2 different sizes of washers and dryers. I, of course, asked for 2 large washers and 2 large dryers. I guess I thought I had a family of 15 that had just spent the day outside in the mud... $26.00 later, here I am. Broke and ashamed that I paid that much for clean laundry. I don't even like half of my clothes! I could have bought a whole new wardrobe for $26.00. Ah, the perks of being a foreigner (cizinec).

I'll keep you posted on how the rest of my day goes. At least this laundromat has wireless and I haven't been mugged even a little bit so that's nice. I should have asked for a medium washer and dryer. Do you think they have those? It doesn't make sense that they go from small to large like that. Why's the universe so secretive?