My Adopted City

I have talked to several people who mentioned having adopted cities around the world - you know, home away from home cities that really grab you and hold on for dear life. I have always wanted to learn Portuguese but never had any reason to until now, so I am officially adoption Porto, Portugal (and Portugal as a country in general).

Nothing in particular was incredibly spectacular, but maybe that's why I liked it so much. It was a normal city, with locals and culture and fantastic food and silly traditions like all countries and cities (should) have. The hostel I stayed in (Yes! Porto Hostel) was incredible and I met several older (27-32) friends there who openly shared their adventures and languages with me. My room had an amazing view or the city center and gave free shots to the guests at 11pm!

The city itself was wonderful as well. I went on two free walking tours with the same guide and feel like I really saw the center in the two days I was there. I attended a Porto football game (soccer for all you Americans) and supported the locals, ate traditional food, went Port wine tasting, bought pastries at the best bakery in the city, and more. I loved it. I love the language, the people, the relaxed atmosphere - I am already planning my trip back!

Quick note: night life was good but not as good as Barcelona, but I had more friends in Spain which probably added to that. Currently in historical and fantastic Roma, Italia! Met a lovely French friend, Michael, and had drinks with my waiter from dinner last night who kept giving me free Lemoncello shots and drew a whipped cream heart on my tiramisu. Oh Italians... They are just as bad as I expected. More updates later!!

-A

Catch Up Time - Barcelona, Spain

Ahhh, beautiful Barcelona. So it is true - everything that I heard about Barcelona is true. It is absolutely fantastic and I now plan and staying for an extended period of time (maybe 6 months?) to learn Spanish and embrace their culture. I am disappointed that I did not get the chance to visit elsewhere in Spain, but maybe that is a good thing. I probably wouldn't ever leave...

I met a few really wonderful people durring my stay there including Ina, my fellow teanager (19), and Zach, a scary tattooed Canadian (secretly a big teady bear). My favorite part about Barcelona - besides the obvious architecture, culture, beaches, etc. - were the people I spent time with. My hostel is an infamous party place where the staff are just as involved with pub crawls and outings as the guests are. We ended up becoming very close - it was probably the booze, actually - and I plan on meeting up with them durring my travels!

Just to give you a visual, imagine walking down small pedestrian outdoor corridors to the beach, drinking cold beer and cider, hair being blown by the wind and kissed with the salty air. Picture getting lost in the local markets full to the brim with produce and eating gelato in the park. And then... The night life. Pub Crawling is a great way to see the local hang outs. It usually consists of  3 bars and a club, somtimes including free drinks or shots. Meet locals, and if your lucky you will get to watch a stripper dance in a giant martini glass full of water!

Quickly worth mentioning is the notorious shots bar around the corner. It offers 600 completely original shots ranging from the "Boy Scout" ( involves roasting a marshmello over flaming alcohol - my favorite) to "Exorcist" (involving a horribly mysterious mixture that I refused to try). Great atmosphere, although it gets pretty crazy and packed the closer you get to midnight.

I can't wait to visit again and see everything I didn't get a chance to see! Four days was definately not enough time to really experience the sites and absorbe the crowd.

Back for more soon,
-A

Communicating With the French Police

I apologize for being out of contact for the last few days (it seems like a blink of an eye to me, but it probably feels a lot longer for all my adoring fans back home). I will say that it was not my fault - the blame belongs to the French police and the jerks who stole my phone in the metro station. Let me debrief you:

So here I was, minding my own business, trying to get my shit together in the main metro station in Lyon, France. I was approached by four boys (and I do mean boys... the youngest was about 7) and was asked if I wanted to buy a metro ticket from them. I said no, because it was obviously a used ticket, and turned to buy my own, and then BAM - the youngest snatched my phone from my pocket and they were gone before I could turn around. Long story short, a woman called the cops and I was stuck in the police station trying to explain what happened (which I didn´t see) to French police men (who did not speak more than a word of English).

And now I know why French police men are so loved and respected by their people (sarcasm). Any who, I´ll give a quick update on what else has happened. I met a wonderful French/English man in Thonon-les-Bains, France - he was getting tattooed at the same time as me, and we bonded over our mutual pain. He is lovely and kind and proves that all French stereotypes have exceptions - so thank you Chris for making France worth every second of inconvenience that I did experience.

In other news, I stayed with a wonderful couple in Lyon. Mostly, I recovered from my sour first experience while in Lyon, but they walked me around and showed me a good time with their friends later on. I can´t wait to go back and truly experience Lyon! Old town is beautiful there, and I ate the best meal of my whole trip while there (including snail, which isn´t nearly as bad at you would think it is). 

Currently, I am in beautiful Barcelona, and there is a good chance I will never leave! That´s for a new post though. Ciao!

-A

Bucket List

Like many celebrated holidays, I don't see the point of Valentine's Day. No mater what, I end up being alone, whether I am currently single, dating, or in a relationship (frankly I'm not sure what I am right now) it doesn't matter. So, instead of celebrating this meaningless holiday that supports wasteful habits and consumerism, I am permanently reminding myself that life takes you where it wants to - whether you succeed or not depends on your ability to ride the waves so to speak. Today is the day that I will be tattooed by one of my favorite artists: Xoil (Loic) in Thonon-les-Bains, France at Needles Side Tattoo!

I am both nervous and excited - mostly nervous because I have no idea what my tattoo looks like, how long it will take, or how much it will cost. I'm being spontaneous,  I guess.

In other news, I see the mail truck outside, hopefully with my Eurorail Pass! And I have been thinking a lot these last few days about my life and what I want to accomplish, so I started a bucket list:

Amanda's Bucket List:

• Visit 30 countries by the time I'm 25
• Work with/train elephants in Sri Lanka or elsewhere in Asia
• Work with wildlife conservation through www.projects-abroad.co.uk
• Volunteer in an orphanage
• Get my Master Diving Certification
• Get my Paragliding Certification
• Do research in Antarctica
• Swim in the Red Sea
• Swim with great white sharks
• Touch a whale in the wild
• Hike to Base Camp (at least) on Mt. Everest
• Through-hike the PCT
• Learn 3 foreign languages

And so, with that I leave you. I will be sure to post pictures of my masterpiece when it is finished. Off to get tatted!

-A

P.S. Happy Valentine's Day to all those lucky couples who get to be with eachother today.

PICTURES!

Everyone, my lovely room mate Peter is letting me borrow his computer so that I can start to catch up on picture posting. Hang in there, and soon all the pictures will be up! yay!

A little piece of Heaven

On a personal note:

I stepped of the train into the small town of Interlaken, Switzerland a few days ago - having had a terrible day consisting of losing money, missing trains, and much more - and all my qualms and complaints were wiped clean away. The beauty of this quite city at 1 am astounded me and I much enjoyed my short walk through the light snow to my hostel.

I have been here now for 4 days or so with the intention of doing some awesome extreme sports like sky diving and bungee jumping, but have yet to do any of them. The weather here in Interlaken has been unceasingly snowy and cold, preventing any decent visibility. So I have opted to stay mostly inside of my hostel, relaxing and watching movies, going for short walks in the snow and cooking meals to save some extra money (still a good trip if you ask me...). Tomorrow, Saturday, is supposed to clear up and I might actually get a nice hike or crazy adventure in!

Meanwhile, I thought I would update all of you on where I am planning on going in my last month or so of traveling, so here is a very rough tentative schedule. If you or anyone you know has an available couch or floor, I would gladly trade a piece of art or pan of brownies for a roof! The more locals I can stay with, the better!

Amanda's Schedule:

• Interlaken, Switzerland
• Bern, Switzerland - Feb. 11th
• Geneva, Switzerland - Feb. 12th
• Thonon-les-Bains, France - Feb. 13th
• Lyon, France - Feb. 15th
• Barcelona, Spain - Feb. 17th
• Madrid, Spain/Porto, Portugal - Feb. 20th
• Lisbon, Portugal - Feb. 22nd
• Rome, Italy - Feb. 23rd
• Florence, Italy/ Verona, Italy - Feb. 27th
• Vienna, Italy - Mar. 1st
• Austria (not sure where yet...)
• Prague, Czech Republic - Mar. 4th
• Berlin, Germany - Mar. 6th
• London, England - Mar. 9th
• Frankfurt, Germany - Mar. 12th

Any questions? Going to be in the area? Want to meet me somewhere? Comment and let me know!

With a coffee in my hand - Cheers!
-A

Paris - Off the Beaten Path

Not only did I see all the obnoxious tourist sites in Paris, I tried my best to also check out some of the local hangouts and more culture-filled parts of the city. In doing so, I fell in love with Montmartre, a district (sort of recently adopted into the city of Paris) where famous painters, authors, and artists holed up in their studios working on some of the most famous works of art in history. It doesn't need to be said that this was right up my alley.

Montmartre Tour:

        The amazing people of Culturefish! Tours also had a free tour of the Montmartre district - just as full of history, fun facts, and cultural habits of the French as the last tour. Honestly,. I don't think my stay in Paris would have been as lovely as it was without the amazing Pierre. Despite us both (Pierre and I) being sick as dogs, coughing up a storm, we handled the cold just fine and spent three wonderful hours exploring the beautiful narrow cobblestone alleys and windmills that the artist found so inspiring. I felt like whipping out my canvas and paintbrush and joining the crowd! We also passed by the Montmartre Museum (didn't go inside, but it has a wonderful amount of history attached to it) and a few breathtaking cathedrals with views of the entire city. I could write pages about all I saw and loved in Montmartre - the street artists, the only vineyards left in Paris, Van Gogh's old apartment - but I would go on forever. One thing you may have heard of though is Moulin Rouge, the famous cabaret in Paris where some of the best dancers from all over the world came to dance at (Oh and there was that movie about it in 2001 with Nicole Kidman...) I did not attend a show unfortunately, it was rediculously over priced and I heard the food wasn't that great.

I also wanted to take a second to mention a few things I did not get a chance to explore in Paris. One being an awesome street art tour of the city (either by foot or on bike) recommended by Culturefish! Tours, and another being the Catacombs -  an underground tomb holding the remains of nearly 6 million people. I will most certainly be back in Paris to do these and  more - there is an old myth that says if you turn 360 degrees in a circle over the center of Paris, you will be back in the city within 7 years of doing so (which I did before I left.).

Ciao for now, more on Switzerland coming up next!

-A