cinque terre.

our next stop was along the coast of italy, cinque terre. gettin' there was no piece of cake. i would have much rather have eaten cake then what we had to do. but we made funny memories, that's for dang sure.

first, we miss our train to la spezia from rome. the one we wanted was full, so that put us getting to la spezia around midnight. we get on the next available train, and it was the first time the five of us got split up...bec and jenn in one cabin on the train and me, meg, and kyle on another. some adventures on the train, being with italian speaking people who told us they did not speak english...come to find out they do. a gypsy woman we later named mama buying me, meg, and kyle a water, giving us snacks, and trying to tell us her life story while signing and speaking italian, and a sock salesman going from cabin to cabin named pepe who fell in love with my friend becca. he put socks on her feet and then sealed the whole thing with a big ole peck on the lips! funny.

we finally arrive to la spezia which is a train station 15 minutes from where we needed to be. italy likes to have train strikes so of course they had one that night, and we couldn't get to where we were going. so the kind police officer informed us the city shuts down by midnight, and we were allowed to sleep outside his office. how nice. we took shifts on the dirty, cold floor of the la spezia train station. not my best nights sleep, but probably my most memorable night!

we get there SUPER early the next morning and go straight to sleep. we wake up in time for a hike to the next city over. it was such a fun hike and our reward was gelato and the beach. we relaxed all day on the beach. later that night, we met this sweet couple who had been married a year. we swapped stories and just hung out all night in the square while watching/playing soccer with the locals. i think we would all agree it was our favorite night of the trip! i think i'll go back...who's with me??

greece.

santorini was a dream. if i could dream about it every night i would! i am counting down the days i get go back....and there is no telling if that will actually happen! {we got there extra early since our flight from athens landed at 7:00 in the morning. but that was okay because we had an awesome airline that charged us 100 euros to check 2 bags. (please notice my sarcasm) we did get to see the beautiful sunrise from the plane.} this is a city built on hill and every picture that you have ever seen of this place is identical to what it looks like, but you don't get the magical feeling or the lose your breath kinda feeling.

since we got there so early, we were able to explore the streets before anybody was up. it was wonderful! we got breakfast at a place that overlooked the water...we even saw a couple from knoxville! we acquired lots of little treasures through out the day. we went to the beach and swam in the water. i hitch hiked back up to our place because i didn't want to walk back up...big hike, y'all! *serbians are very nice! we also got to see the beautiful sunset, and we were told santorini is one of the best places to watch the sunset! all in all this place was a dream. i want to retire there in a house with a purple door that is surrounded by beautiful flowers.

roma.

rome was unreal. that is really the only word i know how to describe it! there is history everywhere you walk. ruins everywhere. and let me tell you...i didn't hate it! when we stepped off the train and walked to the train station we were a little worried how rome would be. we got lost a, lot, but our sweet apartment lady seriously fell from the sky at the perfect time! and that apartment was so great...we semi washed some clothes (meaning we washed clothes but i don't know how clean they got), we took a nap, we had lots of room! it was perfect!

rome has some of my favorite things: my favorite restaurant where i had a big ole bowl of spaghetti, really cheap wine, gelato at every corner, ruins, the coliseum, restaurants covered in ivy. i would go back in a heart beat. here's to coconut and pineapple gelato! holy yum yum!

austria.

vienna.

this was our second stop. when one thinks of austria one may picture rolling hills, julie andrews, fields that one can frolick in. well that is not what vienna is. it is a huge city! it reminded me of denver colorado. it was fun to explore, and i probably had one of the funniest lunches of my life there because some people ordered weiner schnitzel. we seriously walked the entire city looking for a palace that i'm pretty positive doesn't even exist! people would tell us where to go, and we would do it...nothin'! there was this pretty sweet market called the naschmarket, and it had fruit, restaurants, and cute little shops that had one of a kind scarves. by the end of the day we were exhausted and excited to get to the austria we had in our mind.

salzburg.

the hills are alive in salzburg! we all decided to do a 'hop on/hop off' sound of music tour. we saw all of the sights and sang along to do re mi and the hills are alive. we got to explore the quaint little city and had a mini photo shoot with ourselves. when we got hungry we happened upon this cute little bistro called cafe bistro...who would have thunk? it was so yummy, and since we were there they played american music...like 'we are the champions' for 10 minutes! one of my favorite parts of the day is when we sat in the mirabelle gardens towards the end of the day and just watched people and talked about our day. i want to go back to salzburg asap! i loved it so much!

prague.

prague was our first stop and it was perfect! it was dreary and absolutely beautiful. the streets are lined with cobblestone and each building is different. it was like a fairy tale! we loved exploring the castle, the square, and finding our way around the big city. we also had some of the nastiest beer i have ever tasted...it was very cheap too maybe that's why it wasn't so great! if the beer was the only thing i didn't like about prague, i would say that's a win. i'm ready to go back...who's with me?!?

back pack europe...czech!

well folks, i did it! i survived and no body was taken!! that's the one thing everybody asked us when we told them we were going to europe..."have you seen taken?" liam neeson did not have to use his special set of skills and come kick some tail and take some names.

we traveled through 12 cities, 8 countries in 3 weeks. i have never taken so many train rides, buses, or subways as i did in those 3 weeks. it really was an adventure of a lifetime! we had a lot of mishaps with travel and had even more laughs and funny stories! as sad as i am to be back and not still exploring, it is nice to be at home and kick up my feet and drink ice cold dr pepper and not pay money to use the restroom...freedom at it's finest!