Easter Vacation beginnings...

So, I find myself sitting here in Budapest at an internet cafe and it is sooo surreal. It is remarkable that it hasn't really hit me that I am here and actually doing it. I have dreamed so long, that it seems that my trip, even the whole European experience is a dream. Perhaps Lewis Carroll had it right when he wrote: "Perhaps life is all but a dream" (or something like that :P, I have the quote back home in Perpignan).

I will backtrack a bit and give you the scoop on the interesting tidbits of each city I have visited so far:

PRAGUE
1) It truly is an architectural paradise. All of the different styles combine together in a rather ecclectic way creating a dynamic atmosphere that you can only be swept away by. Getting lost among the cobbled roads and checking out all of the artisan soaps of traditional Czech specialities are fantastic. The bonus is the fact that you can haggle a bit and prices aren't as expensive as in Western Europe. But don't believe it when other people say that it is way way less cheap, cause it really isn't. It is reasonable.

2) Eating ham the Old Fashioned Czech way was delicious (I have missed ham) and extremely filling. They gave me a huge piece. And what they do, is roast a big pig (not the head or legs or anything like that) on a pole over a grill. It is yummy yummy!

3) The funny lady in the synagogue who I swear appeared out of nowhere and swept us on a tour. It was very difficult to understand...lets say the word robot was inclueded and the name Gollum. Who knew LOTR was a part of the Jewish tradition?

4) Meeting up with a Quebecois guy, Keaven, who we hung out with one night. It was neat to see someone who had just been in Canada. We asked him lots of questions about Quebecois French in comparison to the French we were learning in French. Neither of the two are similar. It is quite interesting and funny in fact. I also learned that the playoffs had started and my Sens are playing Tampa Bay. But I think the biggest thrill was that he brought home to us even if only for a few hours!!!

BUDAPEST
1) Arriving to a hostel and seeing that it is decent (the Prague hostel was nasty). However, the train to Budapest was really really sketchy and gross and I have to say my appreciation for clean toilets keeps growing the more and more I travel in Europe.

2) We toured around Pest yesterday. It is the newer part of Budapest and in truth, it reminds me a lot of Toronto. In my opinion, it is only the language factor that really reminds me that I am not back home. We saw a beautiful park, architecture, Heroes' Square and Andassy ut (the grand boulevard) among other things. We did a lot of walking!!!

3) The weather here is EXCELLENT. It is really really warm and sunny and I actually am naturally tanning just by walking around outside. I wonder if I will have raccoon eyes by the time this vacation is over. :P

4) We visited Buda today and it was super cool. The palace was gorgeous from the outside (inside is just museums so we didn't go inside) and we wandered around the castle district. We saw Mattias (or Our Lady of the Peace) Church and it was spectacular. After seeing so many churches it was neat to walk into one where it was sculptures palstered with gold that made it stunning but rather paint only on the walls. It was just as awe-inspiring as say St. Pauls or St. Peters or Notre Dame, but in its own right. I think for that reason, it stands among one of the most memorable churches and perhaps a favourite. We also did this labyrinth thingy under the castle grounds and it was both freaky and cool at the same time. I throughly enjoyed it.

5) Goulash soup and Hungarian styled chicken is YUMMY!!!

And that is it for now. Tonight we are taking a boat cruise along the Danube and then touring around the island in the middle for an hour before coming back to land. It should prove to be a beautiful night...from the postcards, Budapest looks very pretty when all alight. Tomorrow we are visiting the second largest synagogue in Europe before heading to the airport to take a plane to Venice.
We will visit Venice, Rome, Pompeii, Capri (the Blue Grotto), and Positano (where we will do a 4 km hike from Bomerano to Positano, called the Path of Gods). I am looking forward to the Italian portion of the trip as well, especially for the gelato ;)

A petit coucou...

HAPPY EASTER!!! Just a little note to let you all know that I am thinking of you all on this special holiday as you down a traditional Canadian Easter dinner while I experience the French way. There is both the good and the bad. Pie was good, and so was the chocolate. Bad was choking on the wine during the communion at the Church service because they actually serve wine and not grape juice.

So to those who celebrate enjoy your holiday, to my other friends who do not, have a wonderful long weekend. But to all of you...EAT TONS OF CHOCOLATE!!!!! :)

A petit coucou...

HAPPY EASTER!!! Just a little note to let you all know that I am thinking of you all on this special holiday as you down a traditional Canadian Easter dinner while I experience the French way. There is both the good and the bad. Pie was good, and so was the chocolate. Bad was choking on the wine during the communion at the Church service because they actually serve wine and not grape juice.

So to those who celebrate enjoy your holiday, to my other friends who do not, have a wonderful long weekend. But to all of you...EAT TONS OF CHOCOLATE!!!!! :)

Super-stopper (albeit unintentionally) show girls!

Guiness would be proud.

Katelyn and I have seen a record breaking high in the admirers of our beauty and our participation in that accepted, standard French greeting called “les bises”. Lets just say its been a barrel of laughs and if I didn’t have a sense of humour, this weekend would have left me permanently scarred.

It seems that standing and simply breathing makes you a poster image to be honked at, and if you add a little walk to the recipe, whistling is the form of acknowledgement. And if you pull out the big guns, the catching of eyes (or in truth, our standard look of confusion, or where-is-that-coming-from face) lands the poor lads with their faces plastered against their car windows waving ridiculously at us. Bewitched, and yet no words have passed between us. I must say, we are powerful – just need to find a pair of shoes (for a reasonable price) to contain this ability.

Have I suddenly changed in looks? Have I gained weight and what I thought were looser fitting jeans suddenly more clingy in all the “right/wrong” (whatever perspective you would like to take, insert either word please) places? Or are the boys over here just weirder and way more erotically charged? Or possibly, is it that spring has arrived in full bloom and with it, the birds and the bees too take root?

Whatever the reason I am a babe and so is Katelyn.

Perhaps this is why all sorts of French people flock to us in order to greet us cheek to cheek…or quite often, their lips to my cheek, and my cheek to their cheek. At least I find myself bending in awkward ways just to make sure that I only touch their cheek (because heaven forbid that I – well I can’t even think about that) and that I don’t toople over into their lap or arms. They may kiss strangers but I certainly don’t! And whatever happened to the air kisses of yesteryear?
Personal Anecdote: Entering church yesterday, we walk into a group of youth. David (a.k.a. freaky, scary boy that is awkward to talk to) is approaching me and the only escape would be to put on a magic cape and pull a disappearing act. RRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN I think to myself! Too late, he comes up and bisous, bisous’ me, because after all we are “brother and sister in Christ” (I fail to mention I don’t even kiss my biological brother).
The worst part is, that bises moment, set the tone for the rest of the day. Two minutes later again by the Pastor. At the end of service, by the friendly lady’s husband whom I have never talked to. At my apartment by a man wearing too much cologne. By a man that wants to take me to a nudist beach for my birthday (I am not kidding about this last one). And look at the pattern…all men!

And despite this constant flow personal space invasion and attention from these admirateurs, the neighbours still think that we need to find a French guy. Apparently it would be a travesty for us to leave Perpignan without having had a ‘real’ gentleman caller because of our (and I quote) “intelligence and beauty”. My question is, however, are there even gentlemen in France? Perhaps I will meet this aforementioned guy at the birthday party they are throwing for Katelyn and me with the boy-toys invited not only as our honoured guests, but presents.

Megs, I think you’re right about that ring…

Castles, City of Light, Completely pooped...

So, as you all know, this past weekend I went to the Loire Valley and Paris with Vai and her Strasbourg friends, Tina and Brett. It was a wonderful weekend, albeit exhausting. They are insane!!! They just go from early morning to late at night, and poor ol'granny me was able to keep up but after three days found herself rather knackered (that's an expression from Wales for exhausted ;P).

The Loire...breathtaking. We saw seven castles in all, each unique in their own right. I was very much striken with the special personality of each castle, which made me warm up to some more than others. But what I always appreciate most about trips is the things that happen that you didn't anticipate, the surprises that each destination seems to hold for one. Like magic. In Ambroise, I found a chocolatier that used pure cacao butter in chocolate so I went in and did an impromtu interview with the lady and she gave me pamphlets and I bought some specialities of the region for my dossier. Who said pleasure couldn't be mixed with business? ;) Another was at Chambord, I ACTUALLY pet a horse and fed him too!!! They were beautiful, all brown and big. And, LOL, I even gave directions to Brett as he drove us to each castles..."onstar" became my title for the day. Too bad it didn't come with a cape!

Paris, or the city of lights: it turned out to be much better the second time around. Paris still does not inspire the same awe within me as Rome or London does, nevertheless I feel that this city reveals its beauty at night when the city is alight. Hence its name. Yet it is true. Walking up the Champs-Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower are spectacular sights and views. Here I visited the Latin Quarter, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Catacombs (creepy and cool simultaneously) as well.

But after getting back early Monday morning I was whipped. And I have been all week. The results: Monday I did laundry and stayed in, Tuesday I watched movies, sent out mail, watched Gilmore Girls, Wednesday slept way in, watched Gilmore Girls, did homework out on the terrace in the sun, went for a walk in the sun, came back and watched more Gilmore Girls and did more homework.

HAHAHA, and finally today I am being productive...HIP HIP HOORAY!!!