Interrailing across Europe

In '08 I travelled across Europe with a friend for three weeks.

Having been privileged enough to have travelled a lot through out my childhood and my teens, I hadn't actually spent that much time in Europe. For some reason, I always ended up really far away or on some sunny island, but never really in Europe....which is rather strange as I actually live in Europe...I just didn't visit my neighbors. So bloody rude I am :) ... I convinced my friend Anni to come with me across Europe and off we were...! Even as students, its possible to inter rail across Europe to relatively cheap money....so we did! :)

I kissed my then boyfriend goodbye and jumped on the train to Copenhagen where we began our trip. From there, we actually flew to Athens and spent a week there. Both of us love history, so Athens was a perfect fit for us to walk around a city of pure history. We met some wonderful people at our hostel, so our days were spent experiencing greek culture and history and our nights spent on hanging out with the other guests in the Hostel bar. It was a very good week :)

My nickname in elementary school was Zeus due to my temper and my curls, so naturally when we discovered a hostel named Zeus we had to book it! It was very close to Acropolis, in fact-we could see from our window! :)

A Greek salad....surprisingly yummy! We discovered pita bread in Greece had fries in them which were rather strange, but still quite yummy. But after this rustic greek salad I have to admit I've developed a fondness of greek cuisine. :)

Greece is a lovely place and the old ruins continued to fascinate through out the entire week there. The people were usually pretty nice, but Anni had a bit of a problems with the Greek men. But then, she was a hot blond....Curvy brunettes don't get nearly as much attention which suited me quite well :)

After our week in Athens, we took the train from down to Patras where we sailed to Bari in Italy. It took 24 hour to sail and we slept on the deck, but it was nice to try something new.... 

Pitstop in Patras while waiting for the Ferry....

Anni sleeping on the Deck

Sunset from the Ferry....

Arriving to the sunny Bari was sadly only the first step on the journey to Napoli, Italy which was our next stop on our trip. Bari is on the East coast of Italy and Napoli is across the country on the West coast.

We had to take three local trains across country that drove when they pleased, but after 52 hours of journey time from Athens we finally arrived in Napoli....

After such a long journey, we decided that we wanted to spend the next day on the beach where we could relax and enjoy the sun....so we did.....but we relaxed a bit too much....as we both ended up being Crab red from falling asleep on the beach on a day where the temperature in the shade alone was 42 Celsius degree! Both burned and extremely sore, we went back to the hotel and spent the night taking ice cold showers and rubbing cooling lotion all over repeatedly..... Nothing worked! :(

The next day we decided to go the Rome...Napoli held nothing but bad memories for us now so why not get the hell out of Dodge. We jumped on a train to Rome and a few hours later we arrived. We checked into our hostel and began our adventure in Rome with sunburns and a serious lack of sleep. 

Now as history lover I had high expectations for Rome. I had only been to Italy once before that was in the Northern part of the country. After that trip my expectations for Rome were through the roof! But sadly, they were not realized :( ....Sure, many of the water fountains were beautiful to look at,  the food was good, the people nice and the hostel also held high standards with decent beds and a cheap hostel bar....including one night with Wine/beer pong that I for the life of me, cannot remember how it ended other than I woke up the next morning with severe bruises on my body :-S....never mix tequila, beer and wine....The Vatican was a severe disappointment....WAY too touristy.... The Colosseum was sooo small....and the Traffic in Rome actually rivals New York Rush hour traffic! 

Maybe we just came at the wrong time of the year....

But it wasn't all bad. The Italians are generally nice, but pushy as Anni suffered once again for being blond...

We didn't take a lot of pics in Rome as we were both Crab Red and skin peeling off us non-stop and that was pretty obvious on the pics....

I think the thing I loved the most about Rome was the family restaurants we ate quite a bit at....Restaurants that were restaurants as well as homes for the owner....you could be sitting in the owners living room and eating your dinner....best part though was the fact that you could actually see your food being made from scratch  in the kitchen....Best lasagna and pasta dishes ever!

After four days in Rome, it was time time to move on and we caught the sleeper train to Marseilles where we could catch some sleep while we travelled to France. We arrived at 6.30 AM and nearly didn't wake early enough to get off the train in time! 

Marseilles was suppose to be a quick stop and just because traveling from Rome to Paris sounded exhausting without a break in between...Instead, I saw the Chateau d'If ....you know the Chateau that Alexandre Dumas' the count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned in?....Well , it actually exists! We talked around the ruins! Big moment for me! :) .... Geez....I really am a nerd! :)

Furthermore, I'd never really eaten seafood before I arrived to this city, but in Marseilles I learned to eat squid, delicious mussels and other interesting fish dishes...

Marseilles is the second largest city in France and has one of Europe most busy fishing industries, so naturally the restaurants there go local and know their fish! I think thats why I finally learned to eat seafood....they know how to make it delicious! Oh how I enjoyed it! 

I had a serious problem in Marseilles though. My sandals finally gave up and broke...and it was too darn hot to break out the sneakers! So I had to invest in a new pair of flip-flops if I wanted to survive my feet to survive the heat....Anni convinced me to buy these ugly flip flop as they were only 1€....although I hated the color and the fact that they were made from cheap material....God, I remember hating having to wear them, but not really having any other choice...

Ironically, I still have those flops today and they're my absolute favorite pair of footwear....! :D After our pitstop in Marseilles we jumped on the express train to Paris....oh how I fell in love with Paris...the beautiful Montmartre area, the history of the city, the art! I wanna move into Louvre!   

Street art in Montmartre; The words 'I love you' in every language known to mankind....beautiful!

Louvre! 

Street art!

Guess what that is....only the most famous icon in all of Europe!

Although that damn light show it has going on at night is just plain tacky and quite frankly....its a freaking disgrace of such a beautiful icon....Its History...not a Rave party!

So much history here....

View of Paris...

Me trying to fix the damn camera so I can catch every single inch of Montmartre! :)

Moulin Rouge in Mont Martre!

The hostel we stayed at (called Peace and love hostel-cheesy I know, but cheap!), offered a tour around Montmartre with a guide....Our guide seriously knew everything there was to ever tell about Montmartre! She was truly impressive with her knowledge about not only that area but also knowledge of Paris in general-and she was not even local! She was american! I think we saw every inch of that area, and after that tour I was convinced that I would move the Paris one day and live in Montmartre. If only I actually spoke the language....somehow I think that would be a big help for a life in France :P....France has always fascinated me and my fascination with the country rose to amazing highs after I got hooked on Regine Deforges books...That woman can write and make you dream....

Paris...One day, I'll be back!

But after Paris, the plan was to go to Brussels in Belgian, but quite frankly, we were tired as hell and just wanted to go home to our own beds....so we caught the quickest train to Denmark. Sadly we'd misunderstood the German train schedules and we somehow got diverted to Zea/Sealand instead of driving directly up through Germany and into Jutland....so it was a bit of a detour, but luckily Denmark is so small that such a detour is only a matter of a few extra hours. I got off the train in Odense where my then boyfriend picked me up at the station and Anni continued with the train all the way over to Jutland where she lived. 

It was an amazing experience where I met so many amazing people and I experienced a lot of Europe...and it is def. not the last time I'll go inter railing! 

If you have the opportunity, go see Europe! Its a beautiful place with so much diversity and cultural changes and history! You're gonna love it! :)

Europe- its where history comes from! ;)

The Avengers!

The movie I've been waiting several years for! Ever since the first Iron Man movie was made!

Today I actually saw it and it totally lived up to my expectations!  

That many hunks together in one movie....I was drooling!

And of course my favorite Robert Downey Jr was there as well....Best actor ever....love him!

Although with this movie I realized that the guy playing Thor (Chris H....something) is seriously hot and 

brilliant as well....I went straight now and saw the Iron man and Thor movies! 

Lusty drawings

For The past month Ive been drawing a specific picture as a stress release outlet...this night I finished it. :)

Admittedly most of it is copied from a painting I love, but I was rather inspired by a couple of new influences in my life...

I discovered that the paper I had used to draw on, couldn't really handle paint without damaging the paper, so I had to change a few things.

I used crayons, coal, chalk, color pencils and drawing dust colors and a bit of water paint as it isn't that heavy instead in order to save the drawing the best I could. 

The color nuance I've copied from the painting but I've Made the couple more muscular and fit and changed a few features incl. hair color....

I like the final result...though that paint strip couldn't be helped... Luckily it's the same nuance! 

Big Brother's 30th B-day at Fusion

A Night at Fusions...

One of my best friends and my big brother for all purposes but blood turned 30 yesterday.

I finally figured out what to give him....

He's impossible to shop for...His mother died of Cancer in 08 and left him quite the inherence so if he wants

or needs something, he just goes out and buy it....

So I finally settled on giving him an experience....I bought him an hour in a wind-tunnel where he could try 

and feel what it feels like to fly....Although the place where he can actually try this is in the other end of the 

country, he still seemed happy with it. :)

He invited me out to dinner at a 5 star restaurant called "Fusion". Its a very very very fancy restaurant and 

naturally they required a dress code, so I had to break out the one fancy cocktail dress I actually own. Coming from

working class family and being a student doesn't exactly allow room for a lot of shopping...

The restaurant was very beautiful and our table was with an Ocean view. The restaurant specializes in 

combining European food with Asian Food....hence the name....Fusion.

As an appetizer we had Fried Scallops with lobster serranovinaigrette & misofoam....I'd forgotten how
Good scallops and lobster can be! So darn good ! 

The foam was an interesting twist but it still worked well with the dish.

The main dish consisted of Canadian Angus Sirloin "XO" with thymus, carrot kimchee and , mashed potatoes and glazed carrots and pearl onions.... 

The Meat was so unbelivably tender! I couldn't get enough ! So yummy!

The dessert....was interesting. 

It was actually a huge dish which surprised me quite a bit...
It was a Passion Fruit Sorbet with light and dark chocolate ganache, lemon and thyme granite' & maltsoil. The sorbet was delicious! The rest was just weird....

My brother ordered a nice bottle of Italian barolo riserva vignolo from 2003 that went great with the main dish....

I'll probably never eat as fancy food as I did yesterday...I glanced at The Bill and it was more than 400 $ :-O ....bloody expensive but it was worth every dime!

It was a brilliant way of celebrating the birthdayboy ....

Although he claimed he was merely turning 29 for the second time!

Cause he was "nowhere near done with my 20s!!!!" 

The Wonders of Honduras

I travelled to Honduras in 2010 where I was suppose to do an internship with an environmental organization in the jungle of Honduras and the regional office located in La Ceiba.

It was my first meeting with Central America and I had no idea what to expect. I literally entered that world with a clean slate....

I remember having to promise my grandmother in the airport that I would come home again in one piece. But the worst part was that I had to promise my dad that I would call as soon as I got to London and again when I arrived in Miami on Skype...and then he started crying....

My Dad never cries :-/ ....I'd travelled many times before, but never this far away again I guess...so I had an emotionally tough beginning to my journey...

I travelled from DK to Heathrow, London, Heathrow-Miami, Miami-San Pedro Sula in Hoduras...and when I got there I had to spend the night at a hotel and then take the bus to La Ceiba. On the bus I met an american missionary, a young girl Nicole, who worked as a teacher for other Missionaries in the Jungle....She'd been home in the states for a visit and was returning to La Ceiba where she would be picked up by the father of the family she was working for and travel with him the rest of the way.

To this day Im so thankful that she chose to sit down next to me and began talking to me, because when we arrived to La Ceiba there was nobody to pick me up!
I was standing in foreign country where almost nobody spoke English and nobody understood my spanish....Apparently there are to kinds of Spanish...there is Spain Spanish....and there is latin America Spanish...Two very different languages with very few similarities.

I'd been promised there would be someone to pick me up when I would arrive at the bus station in La Ceiba, but there were no one there! 30 minutes went by.....60 minutes....90 minutes....

Frantically I borrowed Nicole's phone and called my contact person/ boss in the environmental  organization to ask where the heck the person was....turned out they'd mixed up my arrival date and they still hadn't found any place for me to live in....A bloody nightmare!

Finally I got picked up by someone from the office who spoke english, Jorge, and it was decided I could rent the small apartment under the office. It had a bed, air-condition, a table and chair and thats about it.... But hey, jet lagged and slightly pissed, the basics were more than enough...I just wanted to sleep...

I spent the the next two days in bed where I just slept. On the third day, my boss arrived and showed me around La Ceiba....Honduras is such a beautiful country. I never expected it to be so....green! If you're a nature fan like me, you'd love it...!

This is a Ceiba tree....these huge trees used to surround the city and the city was therefore named after the city.  I was lucky enough a class mate of mine had lived in Honduras before and was doing her internship about 30 km from La Ceiba, so I knew at least one person there! :D The nature really is so darn green there and the houses are all painted in neon bright colors or with a huge advertisement on them. Of course there's a lot of poverty, but the people I met were in general in high spirit. They celebrate and live life every day. Something we in the West tend to forget sometimes.

The food was delicious as well! I tended to go out with my friend from back home as she had a large amount of knowledge about this beautiful country.

The one thing I wasn't all that crazy about was the fact that cockroaches were EVERYWHERE! I didn't even want to cook in office kitchen because of all them...and they were HUGE! Im not joke....I say some of them that were at the size of my fist! The fuckers had wings! :-/

I had a bodyguard in form of this little guy

Although he wasn't that helpful when I discovered a scorpion while showering....But he quite often would his way into the bathroom and hallway so I sort of Adopted him and named him Frederick. :) The Scorpion....died a horrible death as I screamed so loud that the building's guard broke down the doors, thinking I was being attacked, saw the scorpion and killed it with a huge knife. I was fine....the only thing hurt was my dignity and pride from the guard seeing me butt naked.... :-/

The violence and the 'everyone carries a gun everywhere'  was another thing I wasn't to thrilled about. Sadly Honduras is a very corrupt and drug filled country so there's a lot of violence in the country...I saw people get shut :(.....shoot up and people taking bribes in broad day light...but the good things far out way the sad things. I met some wonderful people where as well. People are generally nice and even though they didn't always understand the little Danish gringa, we communicated through sign language of sorts and laughs. You can get far with a smile :)

Sadly I got Tropical fewer and had to leave Honduras after a couple of months, but Im def. going back one day. I did not see or experience all that I wanted to so one day I'll be back...I might even stop by and say hi to Frederick ;)

I would love to to travel through all of the countries in Central America simply for the history and the nature....but ultimately, I want to return to the wonders of Honduras