My sweet vacation...

So, tonight is my last night of vacation and I'm trying to savor it. Watched my final episode of the Gilmore Girls and might move on the Sex and the City if it doesn't get to late.

Anyway, this is not what my vacation has consisted of, thank goodness! It started with a lovely visit from my lovely friend Margo from MN! I met her and her sister who's living in Ireland in Paris the last weekend of February. I had made hotel reservations, and we planned on meeting at the hotel. When I got there, I told the owner that i had a reservation and that I thought the 2 others for the room were already there. He became completely flustered and kept saying, "How many are there in your room? 3? I don't have a reservation for that! They aren't here!" I started plotting in my brain how they could've gotten lost, and how maybe I was at the wrong hotel, but then no, they were there and all was fine.

The next two days we did Paris--the Sacre Coeur, Eiffel Tower, shopping, Opera, and the fabulous Latin Quarter. We ate at a Greek restaurant where they break plates when they're happy! It was fantastic, and a great time, except at the Sacre Coeur there are so many men preying on tourists who don't speak French, and then became pissed at me when I spoke French to them, at least that's all I can figure. So I don't know if I'll go back there, definitely not by myself.

Then Margo and I got on a train to Rouen where we spent the next couple days. I showed her the area, and we also took an afternoon trip out to the ruins of an abbaye, Jumieges, which was absolutely amazing. We were also filmed while we were there, so we'll probably be on on French travel channel or something, who knows. I went down to Paris with her because we both had flights leaving the same day. Hers was in the morning and mine was in the evening, so I roamed Paris and found an English used bookstore, which I do believe I will go back to. And then I got on a plane to Bratislava, Slovakia to visit my camp friend Juraj who lives there!

We spent the first day in Bratislava, first going to the ruins of an ancient castle that was destroyed 200 years ago by Napolean, and then walking around the downtown. The castle was huge and amazing, but not as amazing as the words I heard coming out of another American tourist's mouth! At the castle I heard him say to the two people he was with, "It's easy to know someone is Slovakian because they are very slender in the thighs. Just like French people all look alike too [motions with his hand to his face], and Americans look English because most people who settled there were English." At this point he saw me staring at him slack-jawed. Most people who live in the U.S. are from England? Um...has he heard of the term, melting-pot? So, that was very amusing. I also liked the reference to slim-thighed Slovakians.

That night we took a bus to Juraj's hometown to stay with his family. He has the cutest neice and nephew (age 4 and 5)!! We also used Juraj as translator for a couple days. We went to another castle, this time one in which the rooms still have furniture from the time period. That evening Juraj and I went out and met up with some of his friends in a local bar. We teamed up for some games of Fooseball and kicked butt, and then didn't kick so much butt. I had a great time, though! Slovakian people, at least the ones I met, are very kind and outgoing. It was refreshing because although on the whole I do really like French people, they can be more difficult to get to know as they tend to not be very open, at least not right away.

The next day we took a walk through the fields and hills outside the town and even saw some bear tracks in the snow! (the only snow I saw all winter) Then we headed back to Bratislava to repose before our day trip to Vienna!!! Bratislava is only 50 km and a cheap train ticket away from Vienna, so we made the most of it. The weather was fantastic, and Vienna is the most beautiful city in the world, just possibly. We spent the day walking around and going into building churches, opera houses, government buildings, and whatever was open. There were horse-drawn carriages everywhere, and statues on every corner. Such a beautiful city. When we finally decided on a place for lunch (because we couldn't read the menus and really wanted a bratwurst), we chose a tiny cafe that didn't have choices, just one meal, which luckily had bratwurst that day. We also wanted beer, obviously. The bottles were quite large and the server asked us if we wanted to split one. We decided to each have one instead, to which she replied, "You must be very strong!" Oh, great lunch. The food and the beer was very good.

On my final day, we had lunch with a couple of Juraj's friends, and then walked around the city a little, and of course, had to go to one final castle. Slovakia is beautiful, and the food is very good and cheap. I even tried a shot of liquor that had bacon in it. Can't say it was my favorite, but I can say I had a shot of bacon.

Then, from Bratislava I flew all by my lonesome to Milan. I arrived at night, and had to walk to my hostel. In the 2 city blocks between the metro stop and the hostel, I walked past 4 prostitutes. But it was a nice area, even, with houses and a school. So I think prostitutes just might be everywhere in Milan. Oh well. The next day I took a metro to the Duomo and walked around the old part of the city all day. It was rather depressing, as it rained all day and I couldn't see Da Vinci, but Milan was still fabulous. And there were hundreds of Scots there for the soccer game that night, so I heard cheers all day. There you have it.

After my 24 hours in Milan, I took a plane back to Paris where Sid picked me up. When I got my bags and went to the pick-up area, I couldn't find him. I knew he was there because I'd just talked to him on the phone, but I couldn't see him anywhere. Then, I saw a police officer talking to someone in a car parked in a non-parking area, and I knew exactly where to find my boyfriend.

Enjoy the pictures!