"...a rock, also sand and water... i just built a beach!"

location: vienna, austria
time: 21:56
number of mannerschnitten eaten: an embarrassing number...

well hello there!
apologies on my utter failure to keep this puppy updated! lots to report on so lets get to it!!

when last we were together i was in freiberg, germany. its a wonderful small town with an amazing mineral museum and beautiful church in the center of town. we left freiberg after two nigts and made our way to berlin by bus.

in berlin we were once again blessed with wonderful hosts! we spent quite a bit of time lost on the trains which never seemed to go the same way twice! we visited the brandenburg gate, read the time line billboard at checkpoint charlie, saw where the wall once stood, visited the jewish musuem (we spent most of our time in an extremely interesting and horrifying exhibit called 'deathly medicine') and went to the zoo, visited the huge dinosaur skeletons at the natural history musuem, and even went to the movies! at the zoo we were able to see knut,
the baby polar bear who was rescued and raised there. he's not such a baby anymore but very cute none the less! after a rather harrowing night in the berlin airport we boarded the plane and were on our way to italy!

we arrived in milan on the morning of the 28th. we took trains to lake como where we eventually met up with our amazing servas host, lilli. We spent our only full day in como riding the funicular up to brunate which gave us a spectacular view of como! we also went to a dress rehearsal for lilli's choir and then went out for pizzas. we met so many wonderful people and enjoyed the restful time in como immensely!

a train ride later and we were back in florence where gemma spent last semester studying. we were lucky enough to find a very cheap cute little apartment for the four nights we were there. we had a great time visiting all of gemma's favorite spots and also got to see arielle (another friend from dana hall who is studying in florence at the moment also) which was so wonderful! i got an amazing platypus key chain at the market in the center of florence :) it was very hot and there were some episodes of torrential rain but nothing too serious... we enjoyed our fair share of gelato to battle the heat, marveled at the domo, and wandered around florence before packing up our bags for the last time. on gemma's last night all tree of us went out to dinner at a little restaurant where gemma knew the waiter and had a great meal and fun spending time together.

gemma flew home yesterday and i left for vienna in the evening by train. these past two months have been fantastic. we saw and learned so much, met wonderful people and adventured with the best of 'em! i miss gemma already but am also excited to get the chance to catch up with friends and family here.

as for the blog... i am not really sure what i will do with it from here on in... i might update randomly on what i have been up to slash where i am. and other then that it will go into hibernation until the next time i strap on the backpack!!

much love to all,
peace.
a

gummy bear wars enter into peace negotiations

Location: Freiberg, Germany
Time: 23.02
Slug Count: to high too remember

Hello,
Since my last update Gemma and I have stayed with Servas hosts in Radebeul and now in Freiberg (a small town about 40 min outside of Dresden).

Yesterday we borrowed two bikes from our hosts in Radebeul and took a great bike ride to Meißen where we ate a lovely picnic and then took the train into the city. We spent a relaxing afternoon calling family and haning out in a bookstore as the nice weather we had enjoyed in the morning turned to rain. With the rain showing no sign of letting up we decided to start our trip back to Radebeul by bike as we had planned. Although we were soaking wet by the end of the ride we had fun on the way. We were biking on a lovely path called the Elbeweg which runs from Prague to Hamburg (which i would love to do some day!!) and ended up biking about 25km or so... a lot for two people who haven't been on bikes since last fall!

Today we changed hosts, a process which takes a while because it includes packing up, traveling, and then getting aquainted with the new hosts. We took a train here and while waiting at the station ate far too many gummy bears to be healthy... but in our defence, they now have current flavored gummy bears and they are, without a doubt, the best gummy bear flavor i have EVER eaten!!! The host family here in Freiberg is great! They have twin girls (eleven years old i think... its making me miss you Helly and Pilar!!) and are all very kind and working hard on their english so Gemma can be part of the conversation! We ate dinner all together and then went on a walk with Manuel through the town.

Time for me to brush my teeth and then get into bed!
I hope you're all doing well and many hugs!!
Peace,
Agnes

the fourth defenestration of Prague

Location: Dresden, Germany
Local time: 21.31
Alert level: Orange

Hello faithful blog readers,
Agnes here.
Gemma and i made it safely to Dresden this afternoon. We arrived at our Servas host, were fed delicious rubarb cake and tea and then were taken on a hike to a panorama. I don't think my heart has reached that rate since we realized we may never get out of Greece, but the view was amazing!

Prague was amazing and has stolen my heart. I would love nothing more than to study there! Our best Servas hosts to date were there and have learned that hosts really have an effect on how good the city is. We were able to see so much including: the Charles bridge, all of the Jewish quarter (old-new synagogue, spanish synagogue, cerimonial hall, pinkas synagogue, ect.) we also went the mucha musuem and the prague castle. i really wanted to go to the postage stamp musuem but sadly could not find it.

I realize that i have not written about Hungary yet, and so to placate my darling mother: Budapest was great. We had the chance to see the musuem of fine arts (which incidentally had a Mucha exhibition), heroes square, the yellow underground (oldest in Europe), st. stephens basillica, parliament, and many wonderful panoramas of the city. the national gallery was closed on the day we triend to go, but the funicular ride up the hill was very fun regardless!

Up next: six nights in Dresden and then the zoo in Berlin! just kidding... sort of... :D

Hope you are all well
Peace
Agnes

p.s. my last entries title was borrowed from a líne in 'The Office' (US edition) for those of you who are curious (mami).

why'd you do it? did she spurn your advances?

Location: Prague

It's been too long since my last update and for that i apologize! We are in Prague and i am loving the city. there is so much to see and do! today we visited the Pinkas Synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, and the Klaus Synagogue. We also walked the St. Charles Bridge and saw the John Lennon Memorial wall - a really neat wall covered in graffiti dedicated to John. It was a really busy day with tons of walking but well worth it!

Yesterday was much lazier as we arrived at 6:30am after an overnight bus ride from Budapest. We spent the day wandering and getting to know our new Servas hosts.

Hungary was a great place to visit and i promise a more extensive update in the next few days!

hoping everything is going well!
best,
a