cheese, wine, gelato.... and fun times with Italian Customs Officials

so it's been a fun first couple of days...

the food in Rome is absolutely incredible.... not that I'm surprised, but I haven't had a bad meal yet, even the "bad meals" are amazing. we are all settled into the apartment now i still need a different blanket and a mirror and we can't dial out on our phone and we need another power strip to plug into the wall and the air conditioning isn't hooked up exactly but besides THAT we're good to go.

yesterday was the first official day of orientation so everyone showed up. There are 30 kids from Penn on the program so that's nice. We all went out to a bar last night to celebrate Sam Lasry's belated bday. good times.

There has also been some stress though... what would a move to a foriegn country be without some stress? First of all, I spent 2 hours in a Vodaphone store because apparently you cant buy an italian sim card for a spanish phone.... long long story short i bought a new phone. it's a nokia. it works. thank goodness... even though it costs like 2 dollars a minute to call america, but thank god for skype (if you don't know what that... refer to a earlier posts)

Also, since I was traveling my parents sent me four boxes with my clothing in it. One of the boxes was delivered on the third attempt. Apparently Italians don't know how to roughly estimate a delivery time. ok cool. the other three boxes got stuck in Italian customs at the Malpensa Airport, which is apparently in Milan. It seems that my three boxes were a big security threat. After many conversations with Carlo, Deborah and other members of the Italian subset of FedEx called SDA Courier Express (not so much express really....) I finally sent an email directly to the customs offcials in Milan.

To whom it may concern at the Italian Customs Inport Office:

8535 9772 8622, 8535 9772 8633, 8535 9772 8644, 8535 9772 8655 are four boxes that my parents sent from California, USA to me here in Rome.I am studying in Rome for the semester. The packages were divded for the convience of packing and to even out the weight. They contain my clothing, shoes, books and laptop... everything I will need to live and study in Rome. # 8535 9772 8633 was sent through customs and is now in Rome. The other three boxes, as you know, are still in Malpensa. My mother faxed a copy of my passport to the import office, number: +39 0331 723656. I hope it went through. A more detailed description of three packages that are still being held is as follows: 8535 9772 8622 and 8535 9772 8655: the description on both of these boxes was "clothing - used" with an insured value of 1000 dollars. The reason the insurance is so high is because most of the clothing are from high quality brands and rather expensive. All the clothing is used and have been part of my wardrobe for a long time. Specifically, there are many pairs of pants, a few jackets (a black one, a marroon corduroy one, a white jeans jacket, a light green corduroy jacket.) One of the boxes has a belt. There are also some sweaters and nicer shirts for going out as well as tshirts and pants to sleep in. Also there are a number of undergarments. 8535 9772 8644: This box contains my lap top computer and the waybill says: "computer - laptop." This is my personal computer that I use at home and also when I attend University. All of these items belong to me, they are my personall effects and have all been used before. I am student who will be living in Rome until December and studying at Temple University in Rome. I have a student Visa. I arrived in Rome on the 27th and would like to please receive my boxes as soon as possible, for it is hard to get settled into the city without them. Thank you for understanding. Once the packages are shipped is there anyway to get an approximate time of delivery in Rome? Since I am a student, I have orientation and classes, and it is difficult to be home all day. Please let me know what can be done.

Thank you so much.Sincerely, Lindsey Rosin

the packages were released a few hours later. they were delivered this morning. now I have clothing. now I am happy. We're going out to dinner in a moment in Piazza Navona.

la vita e bella.... Lindsey

ps, to everyone going back to Penn tomorrow... enjoy the semester!! miss you.....

so when i said i was living near the pantheon...

... i meant half a block away. literally. here is a nice visual of the pantheon which is situated in the piazza della rotunda. If you haven't already, click on the picture. right next to the left hand side of a picture is a yellow building with white detail... that building sits on the corner of my street. so you turn down the narrow street right there... and you walk a good 30 seconds and you are standing at my front door. rough right?

I had a request for some information about what the Pantheon actually is... so here you go:

The Pantheon

by Tessa Batacharia (i don't know who this is, i found it online)
If you're in Rome, it would be a crime not to visit The Pantheon, which has to be one of the most breath taking attractions that Rome has to offer, the incredible thing about The Pantheon is that it has stood through centuries of change, but hasn't lost any of it brilliance. Being such a popular tourist attraction, it's important to remember that The Pantheon is absolutely packed with tourists, but somehow no matter which side of the doorway you are, you are filled with an incredible sense of peace and calm.The Pantheon has stood in the same spot for over 2000 years, and it looks as though nothing has changed, despite the battles that have been fought and lost, around it. Once you step you inside, all hecticity drains out of you, and the busy streets that you've escaped from the outside are soon forgotten about. The word 'Pantheon' signifies all the deities, and the building originated as a temple to twelve of the most important Roman gods. The Pantheon was built in about 125AD during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. However, nowadays the Pantheon is still a consecrated church and used for occasional services, concerts and poetry readings. It's free to enter, and is usually open during daylight hours. Once you step outside back into the real world, into Piazza della Rotunda, you'll have the pleasure of seeing the fountain sporting one of Rome's trophy obelisks. If you've had enough culture then don't worry as nearby there are several restaurants and bars, and like the restaurants near any tourist hotspot the prices are extortionate, well unless you fancy a trusty Macdonalds.

ohh thank god there's a McDonalds. but really the food in Rome is amazing. at least i can be sure i'll be eating well this semester... gelato, pizza, pasta, prosecco.... it's going to be rough...

Cami and I are both moved into the apartment. Josh Segiel (not to be confused with another Joshua Stephen) and Jake are staying at our place tonight before they move into their apartment near by tomorrow.

Objective number one tomorrow is to finally get my cell phone to work... so a number will be on its way shortly. Also, I have a mailing address i just need to figure out what it is... never fear.

i'm off... life is beautiful... more soon, lindsey

full circle...

Last night was not only our last night in Budapest, but also the last night of our three week european adventure... I cant believe how quickly it flew by... I could not have asked for a better trip or two better friends to take it with. serously. I don't think I wouldve survived that long with anyone else.

We went to amazing cities, saw gorgeous sites, met the oddest cast of characters ever, stayed in hostels, braved sketchy chezch bus stations where no one spoke english, climbed a 300 stair high tower, got stuck in a torrential down pour in Vienna, saw Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, saw a gypsy band play in Cesky Krumlov, encountered a full military orcheastra playing the score of West Side Story in St. Stephens Green in Dublin and then, last night, we had dinner at Gundel, the nicest restaurant in Budapest and what did the elegantly dressed musicians play... you guessed it, the score of West Side Story.

Full Cirlce.

Amazing.

Ciao Roma!

at this moment I am still in Budapest. My flight leaves for Rome at 13 05 or 1 05 depending on how you look at it. for some reason there is no colon on this computer because it is hungarian and i guess they dont use colons so that is why my times look funny. Either way, I am not exciting about flying... because... am I ever excited about flying? No.

Tonight, this afternoon even, I will be in Rome. amazing. Cami is already there. apparently our appartment is nice and right near the pantheon. can't wait to get there and finally unpack. my swiss army suitcase is pretty cool, not gonna lie, but it is hard to live out of for too long in a row. And sooner than later I will have a cell phone number and a mailing address... so get excited for that.

ALSO go to www.skype.com Now. seriously, it is very important. Skype is similar to aim in that you get a user name, use your screen name to make it easier, and then it makes it possible to talk to people through your computer. All you need is a headset. It is awesome quality, no worries, not like when people used to talk through aim or whatever. not like that. way cooler. sounds like a phone call. and the best part. If you call someone through skype who is using skype it is absolutely free. FREE. so like, if i'm in lets say, Rome, and you're in oh i dunno, Los Angeles or Philly or even Sydney, it's completely free to talk. If you want to call someone who is not using skype, calls cost 2 cents a minute. TWO CENTS. To any land line or cell phone anywhere in the world. Ok, be skeptical, but at least go check out the website...

ill write next time from rome.... amazing.

love.... lindsey

Hungary... why wait?

get it? cause it's like the snickers commercial, but it's hungAry. as in Budapest. as in where i am now. amazing.

yesterday, we took a train from Vienna to Budapest and arrived here in the early afternoon. really unfortunately it was raining. boo. but we found our hostel and the woman who runs it, Sylvia, is so nice and sweet. She sent us to a very good Hungarian food place for lunch. Then we went to St. Peter's basilica, but there was a mass going on so we just took the elevator to the top of the look out point and took some pictures (cause it's not like we haven't done that before).

For dinner, we went to this very sort of cafe style place. i had onion soup and some cheese for dinner. no i'm not kidding. our waiter, Mishi - which is Hungarian for Michael, was very nice and attentive... but then too nice and attentive and tried to get us to go out with him for drinks after he got off work. He even slipped sasha his phone number when she went to go to the bathroom. Then, on our way out the door, he did a little call me signal with his hand, just to reinforce his invitation.

Instead of meeting up with Mishi, we took a cab up to the citadel, which overlooks the whole city. Budapest is very well lit up at night, and the view was gorgeous. We look the most pictures. It was lovely. But then we tried to get a cab to leave. Apparently cabs dont come up there to pick people up at 12 oclock at night. We tried to talk to all these Hungarian people and ask how to call a cab, but they weren't so helpful. A group of Hungarian Police officers told us to just walk down the mountain. I had no faith in that situation, but we started walking down - cause really what other choice did we have? After only a little while we found a cab and made our way home.

Today was a very nice day, hot and sunny. We went out for breakfast and then went to see the largest Hungarian synagogue, which is the second largest in the world (after temple Emanuel - i think - in NYC). It was very pretty inside and there was a gorgeous holocaust memorial in the back garden area.

This afternoon we decided to go to one of Budapest's thermal bathes. It was very intimidating and not a lot of english was spoken there. After figuring out how to change into swimsuits and get lockers, Sasha and I went to get massages. Apparently, european women have far less issues about being naked... and we didnt realize we were getting entirely naked massages. would be ok if there was a like a blanket. but no. just naked. on a table. with lots of other people getting massages. haha. good times. we also hung out in the steam room and hot water pools. outside there was also a wave pool, which was rather excited. Then we were tired and hungry (haha) and so we came back to the hostel to eat and check email... ohh the priorities.

Tonight, I'm assuming there will be some sort of dinner adventure happening. Tomorrow.... is our last day in Budapest and the last day of our trip. wow.... how did it fly by so quickly? We are going out to dinner tomorrow night at the nicest restaurant in Budapest. It's called Gundel. We are very excited.

48 hours from now... I will be in Rome. amazing.

love, lindsey

hello vienna

today is our last day in vienna. it has been fun. far more rainy than neccessary, but still fun.

our travel day was pretty smooth. we took a bus from cesky krumlov into austria. there were nine people in our van, three guys from Norway, a cute couple from Toronto, us and our czech driver. When we crossed the boarder Sasha started to sing the hills are alive with the sound of music. One of the boys said we could do the whole von trapp family song. we couldve. but we refrained.

we are staying at the wombats hostel which is huge and not the most centrally located. but we have a big room. with six beds and we didnt have roommates for one night. not bad at all.

once we got to the hostel we decided to go exploring. but then it poured. we were not so happy. we went to a cafe, attmpted to go to a museum, but it was closed, went to an internet cafe where the power went out... it was just one of those days. then we had dinner outside, despite the rain, under big umbrellas. our waiter was a very happy man, despite the rain, and called us lovelys and called tap water holy water.

the next day we did lots of sightseeing. the hapsburg complex. st. vitus church. i went to see a synagouge while sasha and mel had lunch. it was really cool though. it is the only temple in Vienna to survive World War II. The tour was me and a bunch of old jewish people. In order to get in there were metal detectors and more questioning then we have had at any of the airports. apparently there were some attempted terrorist attacks there so they take everything very seriously.

that night we went to dinner at this italian place where i got to practice a little speaking. conclusion - i can understand better than i can speak. i get nervous when i speak. but i got things across. it will only get better in rome (four days ahhhh). then we went to a bar for a little. kind of awkward. sort of amusing.

today we went to see a palace outside the city which i wont even pretend i can spell. it was very cool. kind of like versailles (ya i cant spell). After the castle we went to this carnival type thing to ride on a ferris wheel that is kind of like the London Eye. It was funish, but not as cool as the roller coaster we went on after or the swinging chair ride we went on. You know those things at fairs where the swings go around and you kind of fly and its exciting. well imagine that, but it goes up 200 feet in the air first. ya. we did that. no biggie. so scary. so cool. mel wins for quote of the day though (re: being up on the swings in a skirt) "i kept thinking, im young, im free and all of vienna knows that im wearing a pink lace thong right now."

and scene. budapest in the morning....

love... lindsey

14th Century Story Book town

or Cesky Krumlov. either way. that's where we are now. We're staying at this cute little hostel that is in this cool wooden house. The couple who owns it is the couple from garden state who lived in the ark. seriously that's exactly what they look like. Our room is by far the biggest one we've had. It's kind of in the attic (not attack) of the house. It's private again... very nice.

The town is very small and quaint. There is a castle that is painted like it should be in Disneyland. For sure. The castle has painted stones on the side. Like they didn't build it out of stone they just painted stone on top of it. Also there is a bear that gaurds the castle.
how cool is that?

Last night we went to dinner at this little restaurant overlooking the river. It was wonderful and our entire dinner - drinks included - cost about 6 bucks. (If i wasn't spending so much on calling cards, this town would be a real bargin :) ) After dinner, we went to bar where a Gypsy band was playing. They were absolutely wonderful. We sat a table with this very cute bohemian couple who was traveling around in a rented boat and this older man who liked to blow kisses at us. It was fabulous. Today has been a lazy day, after I finsh typing I am going to go rent an intertube and float around on the little river. And i'm getting a massage this afternoon. so key. Tomorrow we are heading off to Vienna.

A week from today I wil be in Roma. Wow.

xo, linds

297 steps to the top of Prague

you think I'm kidding.

trust me, i'm not. we went to the prague castle, which was very exciting and decided to go into one of the cathedrals. because we bought an all access pass we got to climb up one of the towers. ok, cool we thought, how high can a tower really be? apparently mel saw the 297 steps to the top sign before we started walking, but sasha and i miss this crucial piece of information. about half-way up the winding, cramped, stone staircase i almost had a panic attack. but it's cool we made it to the top... and we have the pictures to prove it.

overall, prague was fabulous. when we landed in prague after our massive travel day through brussels, we got in a van to take us to our hostel and drove down into the city just as the sun was setting. we couldn't have planned it better. our hostel was slightly sketch, but it was in a good location and we had a private room. that was clutch. it was also next to a night club. when we first got dropped off at the hostel there were 200 punkish czech teenagers standing on the street waiting to go inside. good times.

the next day, we had the first really warm weather of our trip - i got a bit of color, which means i turned slightly red, since i'm the whitest ever and don't tan. haha. We spent some time exploring old town square. I bought the most souvenirs, including a babushka doll. the doll is hand painted and pink. there are five little babushkas in all. I named them, (from biggest to littlest) Masha, Natasha, Sabrina, Yvette - who was our tour guide in the Jewish quarter and was little and cute like the babushka - and then Chloe.

Like I mentioned, we took a tour of the Jewish Quarter which has the most gorgeous synagogue I've ever seen. It was a good call getting a tour guide though cause there was a lot going on in the quarter and it was a little intense. Yvette was great though and knew exactly where to go. She gave us a whole history of the Jewish people in prague. It was really sad again to think about how many people died in the holocaust who lived in Prague. Yvette told us that 10,000 children were recorded as being taken to camps and only 350 survived. outrageous. hard to even comprehend entirely.

That night, we went to this restaurant and order a traditional Czech meal. We couldn't read the menu, but we just sort of went with it. We ended up with a full plate of chicken, spare ribs potatoes and other unidentifiable food.

The next day was the castle excursion culminating in the tower climb. That night we went to dinner at th is italian place and then decided it would be fun to go to Czech Casino. Sasha bought in to a hold 'em game. I have never felt so out of place in my life. The casino was small and obviously sketchy. There were a whole host of characters sitting at the table, very amusing. Sasha had to buy in twice, but she ended up coming up about 30 bucks on top of both buy ins... nicely done. We were there til about 2 in the morning good times.

The next day we left for Cesky Krumlov... we had the worst travel day thus far. We encountered really step, speeding escalators, bitchy Czech bus station employees who didn't speak english - i got in a screaming match with one of them - a cab driver who didn't want to talk to me even though i obviously tried to make conversation, but got really happy when we applauded him for finally getting us to the right bus station - and finally more sketchy czech bus employees and finally ending up on a bus to Cesky Krumlov that made stops in the most random little places ever. The country side of the Cezch Republic looks kind of like Maine - haha who wouldve thought?? Now we are in Cesky Krumlov. Couldn't be happier. Good times....

much love, more later - lindsey

Highlights from Amsterdam

There is much to say about this city, but i have been pressed for time, you know with all the traveling and everything.

never fear i will write more soon.

sneak preview: one night in our hostel we were playing texas hold`em at 1 in the morning and this little spanish man who was staying in our room decided it would be a good idea to break into the Love Medley from Moulin Rouge. He said he knew all the words. (http://moulin-rouge.lyrics-songs.com/lyrics/34393) Since I do too, I felt it was appropriate to sing along at the top of my lungs. wonderful.

who likes pictures?

for sure my mother.

http://community.webshots.com/user/lstar85

but you probably do too.


xo, linds



also these are mels: http://www.imageevent.com/melineurope

and these are sashas: http://community.webshots.com/user/crunkycali2

breakfast in amsterdam...

...lunch in Brussels, dinner in Prague.

So what are you doing tomorrow??

Yeah, that's my day. I have much to say about Amsterdam (in theory anyways) and I'm sure the travel day tomorrow will be a whole bunch of fun to write about...

so much love, email me -- linds

"wait, what happened in Scotland?"

I'm so glad you asked. I didn't forget I've just been all over the place... aka Amsterdam.

Going back to Edinburgh was a lot of fun. It's something we talked about so much I can't believe we actually made it back to the festival. Our hostel was literally right on the Royal Mile, so that was perfect. The first couple days we saw a bunch of comedians, which was fun, but also hard because so many of the jokes were culturally geared towards a European or mostly English audience. But it was funny nonetheless, just no Dane Cook or anything....

We spent some time shopping on Princes Street, had lunch in the park, ate at our old favorites like Est Est Est and TGIFridays - which we swore used to put way more alcohol in their drinks... or maybe we were just really cool back then... haha.

On Wed, the 9th I believe, we saw a play called The Exonerated. It was absolutely, jaw-droppingly incredible. It was one of the best pieces of theater I have ever seen. It was originally an off-Broadway show that was a huge success in New York. It is sort of Laramie Project Style. All the dialouge is taken from interviews with six people who were wrongly convicted of crimes, placed on death row and then found to be innocent and realised free and clear. All six stories were so rice and full and captivating. The monologues were so real and touching that I lost count how many times I got the chills. The best thing about the performance was the tone, which is something that is so hard to achieve. It was the perfect combination of serious story telling, humor and hope. Hope being the most important. One of the monolouges at the end talked about how when your car is broken no one talks about what's right with the car, only what's wrong with it... and that's kind of like America right now, it's broken, but people forget to talk about what's right with it. All of the actors were phenominal, but there was one who stood out from the rest. Sunny Jacobs, I think her name is. She was the first woman to ever be placed on death row. And the woman playing her seemed slightly different than all the other actors... it wasn't that she was bad she just didn't seem like an actress...but as the play went on she got very emotional and she was very moving... it turns out the woman was the real Sunny Jacobs. Sitting there on stage. Reading her interviews. Talking about the 16 years she spent in jail, convicted for a murder - along with her husband - for a crime that neither one of them committed. Her husband was actually executed before she was released from prison and in one of her last monolouges she talked about how her life is now a memorial to him and all he will never get to do. So intense. So important. So moving. I don't think I can fully explain it... but not only was the entire audience in tears, but also most of the cast. Full standing ovation at the end. It's moments like those when you have like a "wow, this just all makes sense." And by this maybe i mean life, maybe I mean hope, maybe i mean love... whatever it is, it made sense at that moment in time. priceless.

After the show, we had really good stir fry for dinner - yay for details, right mom? Then we went to see Harvard-Westlake's show called Mac Daddy and Lady Beth which is basically the story of Macbeth, mixed with rock and roll music. Adam Cochran was the lead and he was wonderful - as always. We really enjoyed the show and afterwards we got to talk to Schrode for a while. It was so nice to see him. He seemed a tad on the stressed side, but you would be two if you brought 102 people to Scotland for 3 weeks, don't ya think?

We went out that night to Frankenstein's, a bar we used to sneak into when we were 16... funny how things change. Then we (mel, sasha, adam, reznick and celeste) went to another bar where met up with Bryce Goodman and were later joined by Fishbach and Adam Howard as well as other members of the HW faculty. Being graduates we finally got to drink with them... fun times. Mel has some priceless video of Mr. Dan Fishbach being, well, a drunk Dan Fishbach.

We didn't get back to the hostel until close to 3 and then I was up by 6:30 to get to the airport and get to Amsterdam.

So to answer your question, that is what happened in Scotland. PICTURES!!

"slime and filth in a classy environment"

that is a quote from a sketchy man in the Red Light District with a British accent trying to sell tickets to a live sex show. two cheers for amsterdam!

no. we did not go to a sex show. but we are going to see Boom Chicago tonight. For those of you who don't know, we saw Boom Chicago at the Festival in Edinburgh two years ago. They are a hysterical improv/sketch comedy group and i am very excited to see them.

to begin at the beginning - i arrived in amsterdam on the 11th. I had the world's sketchiest cab driver (who literally took a taxi sign out of his back seat and stuck it to the roof of the car with suction cups). I got to Josh's hotel at 1 pm. Amazing. I headed off with his family to the Heineken Experience at at former Heineken factory. Don't go there. Unless you want to go on a ride simulating what it's like to be a Heineken Beer (aka stand on a step that girates while you watch an awkward video which includes getting "slapped" by the beer label haha). We had Indian Food for dinner and then Josh, Jordan and I headed off to explore the night life. We walked through the Red Light district... good times. After sketchy run in number 2 with a cab driver who had no clue where he was going we ended up at a coffeeshop called Amnesia that had a mezzuzeh in the doorway - points for them. Then we went back to the hotel. End of night one. Except there was a bench near a canal. and there were two ducks. but you kind of had to be there to understand the ducks so I'm moving on...

Josh and Jordan left for Ireland in the morning - fun times, except not. I slept in the hotel until check out time and then took a taxi to the hostel where i met up with mel and sasha. But the weather was gross. How much less fun is life in the rain??

ok apparently my time is running out in the internet cafe so i'm off to enjoy amsterdam.

stay tuned... linds

added bonus: http://www.imageevent.com/melineurope - these are mel's pics..

lochness monster

... no not really. but we are in scotland. taking it easy, enjoying the festival, exploring the city some more. Sasha and I have been here twice before and this is Mel's second time. It's nice to feel so comfortable in a city.

the original plan was to take off for Amsterdam on friday, but I'm taking off tomorrow to meet up with Josh and his family who are there on vacation. Mel and Sasha are still going to arrive on friday and I will be happily waiting for them at our hostel when they arrive. http://www.bulldog.nl/

more to come... lindsey.

more DUBLIN!

Dublin was fabulous. The best part about the city was the atmosphere really. the people are awesome and ridiculously nice and everyone sounds like a leprechaun... seriously though.

here's a little run down of what actually happened - you may want to skip this if you're in to the whole breivity thing...

August 5th we got in to the city sooo early and checked in to our hostel at about 8:30 in the morning, but we couldn't get in our room until 3. So we went exploring. We found Lydia's hotel (who was in Ireland with her dad). She was actually sitting in the lobby of the hotel - perfect timing. We all went walking on Grafton street which is the big shopping street in the city (haha of course...) and we found St. Stephen's Green which is a lovely park and we sat there for a while. A band started to play - an Irish Military band with like full orcheastra, but they were playing such hits as Grath Brooks' I've Got Friend's in low places and the music from West Side Story. Then we went to Trinity College and saw the Books of Kells which is some old manuscript that is apparently a big deal, but I didn't think was as cool as everyone else did. We went back to the hotel to nap - much needed. We are staying in a four person room and our roommate is a 20 year old french boy named Maurice who speaks limited english and is working in Dublin for a month to improve his language skills. He is very nice and clean and quiet. Then we met Lydia and her dad for dinner at Wagamama!! yay. After dinner, Tom, Lyd's dad, went off on his own to see a play. We all walked around and went to a pub near the temple bar district which is where we are staying and has crazy nightlife. Drunk people everywhere... we couldn't stay out too late though cause we were still jet lagged we were in bed by 11:30. go us.
On the 6th we went shopping - i bought a cute jacket, which I needed cause I'm awesome and didn't bring one. Then we had lunch and took a tour of Dublin castle which was one of the better tours I've ever been on. Our tour guide had the best accent ever and looked like Kate Winslet. score one for the tour guide. Then we went to this museum which won the "Best Museum in Europe Award" in 2002. Very cool. It specialized in old artifacts. That night we went on a pub crawl and took Maurice (our roommate) with us bc he doesn't seem to know anyone in the city. The crawl was lots of fun, our tour guide, Crew, has traveled all over the world and had some of the most ridiculous travel stories I've ever heard. We were elegantly wasted by the end of the night and Sasha led us to this club that was one of the "most posh" in Dublin. It was actually really cool inside and they were playing trendy 80s music, but someone spilled red wine on sasha and so we promptly went home.
We slept in til 1:30 on the 7th... yeah for hang overs and jet lag. We got up and I ventured to the writers museum, cause i'm super cool and Mel and Sasha went to St. Patrick's Cathedral - as in the day. We met up at the National Gallery which was plesant and free. the operative word of course being free. Then we toured the Guinness factory which was for sure a high light of the trip. (Did you know that Guinness is the same as the Guinness book of world records....yeah, it is.) On top of the factory is a rooftop lounge with an amazing view of the city. That night we had a nice dinner, packed, slept, woke up and headed off to edinburgh....

here are the corresponding pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/lstar85 enjoy!!

stay tuned for scotland.

much love, lindsey

DUBLIN!!

We're here!!!

Even though I hate flying the flights were mildly enjoyable.
yay for xanax. i slept most of the time.

We checked into our hostel http://www.barnacles.ie/

We had breakfast and now we're off to find a park to lounge in. life is rough.

more to come -- linds

here we go....

with less than ten hours until my flight takes off you'd think i might be sleeping.

but no.

that'd be too easy.

instead i've been worrying about forgetting something and all the things that could go wrong, basically utilizing my neurotic jew gene... but at the end of the day, i'm leaving tomorrow. with two of my favorite people in the world. and we have no obligations except to ourselves. (and to call our parents every day... haha it certainly is genetic)

i can't wait.

here is a little more detailed itinerary...

August 4th - Fly to Dublin
5th - 8th - Stay in Dublin
8th - Fly to Edinburgh
8th - 12th - Stay in Edinburgh
12th - Fly to Amsterdam
12th - 16th - Stay in Amsterdam
16th - Train to Brussels
16th - Fly from Brussels to Prague
16th - 18th - Stay in Prague
18th - Bus to Cesky Krumluv in the Czech Republic
18th - 20th - Stay in Cesky Krumluv
20th - Bus to Vienna
20th - 23rd - Stay in Vienna
23rd - HYDROFOIL to Budapest
23rd - 27th - Stay in Budapest
27th - Fly to Rome
Excursions Gallore
December 11th - Return flight from Rome to LAX with a short lay over in Philadelphia (of all places).

so that's what I've got going on. I'll post pictures and hopefully amusing anecdotes. Email me whenever. Stay in touch.

much love... lindsey

"it is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning." (so cheesy. but i like it. obviously haha)