The Sound of Salzburg.

(November 7th)
Good morning from Salzburg! How is everybody? It's 10:30am and we've already been up for three hours, hiking around and then showering and getting checked out. We've eaten too much breakfast and packed stolen sandwiches for lunch. We've explored every inch of the city we could get to with our wandering feet and curious noses.We've met amazing people and had a ton of laughs. What else is new? Life is goooood.

(continued, November 8th)
Salzburg was my favourite city so far. Pub crawls in Ireland were a blast, Germany was homey and calming, Halloween in Prague was unforgettable. It's all been unreal, we are so lucky to be here. But Salzburg has a certain charm that stole our hearts as soon as we arrived. It's outrageously beautiful. The city itself has a small-town feel, loads of bakeries and little restaurants and people who know every backstreet and shortcut. The souvenir shop people are local and friendly, instead of foreign and sneaky. The Austrians here are so proud to be Austrian, without being mad that we're not Austrian. My experience with the people here was nothing but positive.
The bigger buildings are the visual highlights of the town. Beautiful old churches and cathedrals ring their bells daily, as they have been for centuries. The residence and museum buildings are even majestic; there wasn't one eyesore in the whole city. In one of the main squares horse and carriages are lined up waiting to complete the authentic oldtown experience.
Of course there's a river that runs through the town, complete with quaint foot bridges and speckled with local fisherman to complete Salzburg's aesthetic perfection.
And if this wasn't breathtaking enough already, the city is surrounded by hills and mountains. I'm not sure if I can do it descriptive justice, but I can try: on one side of the city, rolling green grass with little houses nestled into the hills, and trees that are turning for fall making colourful splashes amongst the green. On the other side, tall, rocky mountains that cast a sort of blueish light over the city come dusk. I went running to the top of the fortress on one of our days there and felt like the luckiest person alive looking down over that view. And it stays there of course, day after day, never becoming unnoticed or taken for granted. It was just beautiful.

(Continued, yet again, November 12th)
As you've all probably noticed, I'm having a hard time keeping up with the times...please refer to Ashley's blog at kashleylewis.tumblr.com for a full and different account of our expeditions. She's got much more Prague and Salzburg in there. Since it's November 12th and I'm sitting in our hostel in Nice and we've already done Barcelona, I'll have to just take you through the highlights of Salzburg.

1. It was beautiful. Gorgeous. Stunning. Breathtaking. Did I say we loved it there? We loved it there.

2. Sound of Music tour. For anyone who knows me well enough, who saw the show I did with the SOM medley, who knows that every waking moment that I'm not eating or talking I'm SINGING, I don't have to go into detail. It was unreal. There was singing. And a little dancing. And tons of cheesy photo taking. And all other embarrassing touristy moves you can think of...a dream day overseas you could say. We laughed a lot.

3. Our hostel mates. From Canada, the US, Australia, England, we loved them all. We went out for dinner to a local Austrian bar with Elizabeth from Pittsburgh and ate the most delicious schnitzel, sauerkraut, sausage and strudel ever. EVER. It was sooo soo good. One of the nights we just sat around drinking beer and playing cards with everybody and laughing until our sides hurt. Always a good way to end the day.

4. The self tour of the fortress. Quite a climb, quite a view, ancient and historically alluring and altogether wonderful.

5. The panorama museum featuring the true story of the Von Trapp family and a massive panoramic painting of the city of Salzburg as seen from the top of the fortress.

Salzburg was easy living. We finally took some time to breathe and really take in the city and its sights. Ashley went hiking and I went for jogs. It was wonderful on many levels.

The day that we left Salzburg we knew we had a long day of travel ahead of us. We had, however, booked a sleeper car on a train from Bern to Barcelona so the long rides through Austria and Switzerland weren't so bad, with the sweet thought in mind of our cozy little beds on the overnight train.

We get to Bern and eat dinner and laze around the train station, waiting for our beauuutiful sleeper car. Excited to stretch out, have a little room all to ourselves, be rocked to sleep by the gentle chug of the train. Looking forward to waking up fresh and bright-eyed, fully prepared for a cheerful day in Barcelona. ... HA.

A strike in France +  AUSFAIL + a swiss translator = no sleeper car for Ashley and Sam.

No need to go into details here. I was grumpy. That is all.

Barcelona awaited us though, and it was hard to be grumpy in the hot, bright sunshine on the coast of Spain, or as we later learned to call it, Catalonia. We spent the whole day lazing about the pier, soaking up the sun and laughing unbelievably at the previous night.

A good sense of humour for the win. More to come!

xsk.

Vienna.

Ok, I lied about Vienna.
The day after Halloween ending up being a public holiday...everything was closed. No groceries, no Naschmarkt, no perfectly organized day. We ended up subwaying around for groceries and having a much later start than planned. The touristy stuff a few stations from our hostel was open though. We saw Schonnbrunn Palace and took goofy photos on the stairs. We walked the palace grounds and gardens and discovered at the back of the grounds-- Vienna Zoo, the oldest zoo in the world. ...
Forget the castle tours, Ash and I went to the zoo.
It was huge. And freezing. And all in German. We had fun anyways.
We saw sealions that were so playful when we visited, they were swimming and splashing and attracting a huge crowd of people. We saw penguins that made us laugh out loud, hopping and waddling around...I have a video that explains this better...so cute! We saw a massive giraffe that stood four feet from us and chewed enthusiastically at his grass. AND, we saw a red lemur that curiously and fearlessly played with us through his little window. Red pandas, regular pandas, otters, koalas, rhinos, flamingos, pelicans, bears, fish, bugs, tigers, cheetahs and deer of all sorts...we saw it all. Except elephants! The zoo closed before we could make it all the way around its huge grounds.
At night we visted the Haus der Musik which was not what we expected and actually just hilariously weird. It was all about how sound is created and travels through our bodies, and they had exhibits dedicated to the great composers of Austria, Beethoven and Mozart (and others that I can't remember off the top of my head). But you had to stick your head in these set-ups in the walls, and make recordings of noises in the "sound trees", and there was one wonky room that was supposed to represent what it sounded like to be a baby in a womb. The whole place was like something Hunter S. Thompson would create. ...Take that for judgement as you will.
The next day in Vienna we did the things closer to our hostel. The Naschmarkt was really cool, everyone selling homemade goodies from stuffed peppers and olives to candied dried fruit to teas and hats and gloves...loads of stuff worth looking at. Didn't buy anything...should've bought a really warm hat though, because we froze in Vienna. We visited the shopstreet and ate Happy Noodles (for you Mireille!) a warm and welcome saucy stirfry to fight the cold.
In the afternoon we visited MuseumsQuartier which is literally a block of museums. Everything was pretty to look at, but we didn't throw ourselves into life in Vienna the way we did in Prague. Exhausted from our weekend in Prague, we slept early most nights in Vienna. At the end of our experience, I can't say that this city stole our hearts like some of the others (sorry Mireille). Maybe we just need to spend more time there and really immerse ourselves. ...Then again, maybe not.

Too quick to count. (Happy Halloweeny)

Time flies. FLIES. Not to sound too cliche, but it does.
Okay everybody, I'm on a timed computer. Let's see if I can get through three cities in one go.
You already know Berlin was amazing. After Sarah's we stayed with my cousin Kai (in Berlin) who was hilarious and hospitable. Thursday we left for Prague.

Prague gave Berlin a run for its money. We were back in a hostel which was wicked, it was so clean and organized, our roommates were unreal, and the staff was always on our side. They worked reception during the day and partied with us at night.
Thursday in Prague we met up with my friend from Ottawa, Mireille, who is here studying her masters for the next two years. She filled us in on the Czech ways and a lot of little known facts, and history. For instance, did you know that Budweiser beer was actually a CZECH recipe without a patent and the Americans STOLE it? Yeah. News to me too.
Beer in Czech was just as great as beer in Germany. If I had to choose though, I'd choose German beer...(staying true to the roots!) Except for maaayybe this delicious and cheap beer they sold at Johnny Drama's, our Prague hostel's bar...Entourage fans at that! We loved it! The staff at Hostel One was so great, Ben from the States, Rod "like God with an R" from Montreal. Rod played hiphop for us any chance he could. (But no Drake. pfffffff. don't even get me started.)
Friday night in Prague led to an unplanned night out--always interesting to say the least. We partied with our English roommates and the entire hostel at an underground bar. Hallowe'en costumes were encouraged. Beers were cheeeaaap.
Saturday was our real Hallowe'en bash. We didn't have costumes, but luckily our FABULOUS roommates went as dead cheerleaders and had fake blood to spare. THIS PARTY WAS TO DIE FOR. EXCUSE MY BAD HALLOWEEN PUN. But seriously it was so much fun. We danced the night away with a trillion other people, since I'm pretty sure one trillion was the capacity of this venue. My notes for this night are: Hallowe'en. Bloody Sexy. Dead. Hilarious.
Sorry for those who are itching for details. I'm on a time limit. I'm leavin' it at that.
Aaaand Sunday is the day of rest (for good reason you know.) At 5pm we did an underground tour of the old city of Prague; eerie, beautiful, historically fascinating.

Today is Monday. We cringed saying goodbye to Prague, we fell in love there....with the city moms and dads, not with the Czech men!
Now we're in Vienna though and we've been here for like 5 hours and I already love it more. How? I don't know. Europe is so great.

I'm sitting in our Vienna hostel's lounge. It's called Wombats, it's so central to everything great going on, it has an excellent bar attached to the lobby that's currently hosting a screaming Hallowe'en party. No puns this time, everyone in there is literally screaming.
WOOOOO HALLOWE'EN IN VIENNA!
It is something to scream about.

Our room is big and wonderfully clean, with a lovely bathroom and cute old wooden bunk beds with fluffy pillows and crisp white sheets. Mm. The kitchen is big and organized and functional. We have two roommates so far, an English girl called Hannah and a nice man we don't quite know yet. Our hostel luck is astounding.

Tomorrow we venture into Vienna to see the sights-- really see them this time, early mornings and routes planned: Museums, palaces, marketplaces, and the oldest zoo in the world. Ash and I have become professionals at navigating new cities...pros I tell you! She's the best travel buddy by the way...the other day I was in bed and sleepy and freezing and she dug through my big bag, found my warm wool socks and put them on my feet for me. I didn't even have to move. Best gf ever.

Heading to bed if I can, but it's hard to tear myself away from the wayback-playback happening in the bar beside me. 90s pop and Hallowe'en zombies anyone?

Marking the halfway point of our trip with incredible memories, a million laughs and nothing but more excitement to come.

Love from Austria!

Berlin unsafe making.

Ahh, Berlin. You beautiful city, you. You've snapped us out of our food-comas and the lazy lifestyle we embraced in Plön and brought us back to the wonderful world of travelling Europe. This weekend in Berlin has been brilliant.

We arrived to the main train station in Berlin with much better luck than our expeditions in Charles de Gaulle (please refer to Ashley's blog if you don't already know this story). We found Sarah and Maui and headed to their cozy apartment in southern Berlin to make dinner and catch up.

Saturday we headed back into the heart of the city. We saw Pariser Platz and the monumental arch that is there (don't ask me to pronounce it, I always forget), parliament buildings, beautiful parks and streets, and holocaust and Berlin Wall monuments and memorials. The city is big and beautiful and the history here is haunting.

The biggest holocaust memorial was a square of grey brick stones; like a street square of brick maze. The day was sunny and bright and people were using the stones as benches, soaking up the sun, laughing and relaxing. But as people climbed the bricks and posed for pictures, I couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable...here was a place to remember the Holocaust, the monstrosity of Hitler and the millions who were killed. It seemed weird to me to hang around in such a place so casually. But it's true; the bricks get so high at some points that it's like Harry Potter's Goblet of Fire maze, and it's easy (and not uncommon) to play hide and seek or tag within the monument. While I feel as though you history nuts are cringing, without knowing the story of the memorial it just looks like a fun place to play.
Once a person is filled in, however, the site looms with undeniable significance, and a new light is shed on the gradually growing stones.
The monument starts with shorter, smaller bricks, identifying the first thoughts that Hitler's movements would pass quietly, that it was only a rough patch in Germany, that everything was perfectly under control. As you move toward the centre of the monument the stones surround you, towering and ominous, indicating that at the breach of WWII people were in over their heads. With high stones all around you it's easy to lose your sense of direction, just like the people got lost within Hitler's reign.


Aside from being historically fascinating, Berlin is also a bustling, beautiful capital. Streets and shops are full, different languages ring out everywhere, and fashion hits the streets with a little more oomph than Toronto. It's a student city. It's a business city. It's a music-on-the-sidewalk-pretzel-in-the-park city. It's fantastic.

Saturday came and went in a flash, we bummed around all the touristy areas and soaked in as many free attractions as we could. We were going to go up Berlin's TV Tower but the wait was long and we had plans in the evening and a cookie and a coffee sounded just as nice.

At 9pm we went to the university's med student party...and it was already packed. We waited in line for 45 minutes to get in the door, and then another half an hour for coat check...and this was at 9pm! At home, we wouldn't even head out the door until 11.
Beers were 1€ and shots were 0.50€. The dance floor was huge and sweaty and full of people from all over the world. The music was 1-30 years old. It was brilliant.

Sarah, Maui, Ash and I danced until 2am, a normal time to finish clubbing at home. When we left people were still streaming in from outside, checking their coats and just beginning their nights, as ours was ending. Sarah said the party would continue until 8 or 9 in the morning and it would be just as sweaty and just as crowded the entire time.

Sunday was a perfect end to the weekend. We slept in and had a relaxed breakfast and then headed to the artsy side of the city. We flea-marketed all afternoon and ended in a cafe that served chili hot chocolate and hot apple juice. We met Sarah's closest friends, all of them brilliant, and I caught up with another girlfriend from New York, sweet + saucy Tony. It was a gooooood afternoon.

Dinner tonight was hilarious. Don't ask me why--it was for no particular reason. We burnt the potatoes. And Sarah dropped the mustard...AND ate garlic dip by itself out of the bowl. We made delicious salad. We did dishes and danced for the people at the bus stop across the street. We laughed in gales--collapse-on-the-floor-teatowel-in-hand kindof gales... we seem to do that a lot.

I don't think we could ask for a better pair to stay with this weekend; Sarah and Maui have been hospitable to the max, everyone's comfortable and happy and glad to be with each other. Tomorrow they go back to class and we go back to the heart of Berlin to see what other kind of trouble we can find.

There happens to be a German expression for gallivanting around a place...since we're in Berlin, it goes like this: "Berlin unsicher machen!"

Directly translated, it means
Berlin unsafe making.

we are old ladies.

Wanna know what we've done in Germany so far?
Eat.
And sleep.
And eat and sleep.
Annnnd eat and sleep. Just saying, it's a tough life.

No but seriously, all we've done since we got here is nothing. We get up around 8:30am and eat breakfast, and then we lay around and drink coffee or tea, maybe we'll read a book or mess around on the computer or catch up on our writing. Around 1:30pm it's lunch, but lunch is really dinner here, meaning the biggest meal of the day. So we eat again. Potatoes and fish and beet salad and carrots and meatballs and sausage and flöte and dill sauce and green salad and...everything. At 3pm is coffee, always accompanied by cake, cookies, marzipan, chocolate, or candies, and sometimes on special days (and it's always a special day when we're here) all of the above. Afterwards the mums send us downstairs to rest, because oh, such a difficult day we've had. So then we'll nap on the couch or listen to some tuuunes, and if we're feeling really ambitious we might even get out for a stroll before dinner. Yes, dinner. Dinner comes between 7&9pm and consists of the best homemade bread you've ever tasted, cheese of all sorts, cold meats, and salad. Or giant sandwiches. Or deep-dish-melt-in-your-mouth pizza. Considering we ate dry baguettes for dinner in Paris, I'd say we're nothing short of spoiled rotten.

Now this week we happen to be sick, the both of us coughing and sneezing and needing extra rest. Laziness is a luxury. I'd like to tell you it'd be much different if we were healthy, nobody would be waiting on us hand and foot, cooking all our snacks and meals or letting us get away with doing absolutely nothing. I'd like to say it'd be different. I just don't like to lie.

Plön has been a blessing and a pleasure after two weeks of hilarious independence. We conquered Galway, Cork, Cobh, Dublin and Paris all on our own, hardly resting, always laughing, and watching eachothers' backs. Ashley and I make a great travel team. We've met amazing people from all over the world along the way and there is so much more to come. Tomorrow we leave Plön for Berlin, where we'll stay with my friend Sarah for the weekend and Tuesday or Wednesday we'll catch up with my cousin Kai, who also lives in Berlin. Then on to Prague!

Here's to being at home away from home.
stay posted!
sammy k.

a note to the newbies...

Hello friends and fam! It's good to be back. Ironically I already had this site titled "postcards" to keep everyone updated from New York. While those days have come and gone and those stories have circulated as massive emails, a postcard blog still fits for our adventures across Europe!


So as we sit at the 19th of October, Ashley and I are a quarter of the way through our trip. It's never too late to start keeping track, right? Pass on the url and stay posted.
xsk.

Uncovering the Old

Turn it down.
Start it, over. Alone
is such an ugly game.


Pay it back. Pay it forward.
Nothin' means nothing to me.




                 - Dr. Dog