So I got home like a month ago. I can’t say I’m super disappointed. Its good sometimes to sleep in your own bed. But of course there’s always tomorrow. I am beginning university in the fall and trying to line up a study abroad for the spring semester. If I can accomplish this - only 6 months till. Not bad! Tomorrow I will call the study abroad program I am looking at for some more info and make the appt w/ my study abroad advisor. If I can pull this off it will be a great accomplishment. As is the case with many people, I do not have the financial means to pull this off alone but there are many resources. So Moscow look out!

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Last night I took a very nice bus from Bratislava to Budapest. For only four dollars I got a comfortable atmosphere, free tea, multilingual staff, and a Tom Cruise flick in Czech (w/ English subtitles). Although the bus departed late, it arrived on time to Budapest.

You can check out pics and other destinations here.

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OK this is a bit long but I wrote it for myself…and I share it w/ you =] A bit of background: I had been thumbing, or at least trying, from Berlin to Prague, and I got stuck in Dresden. So for the past few days I had been sore with Germans and Dresdeners in particular. So how fitting this kind woman who gave me a lift and invited me into her home was from Dresden!

I had to get out of Prague that very day. Even if it was 5 PM. Fortunately daylight savings time had begun so it was still light out. I took the metro and the bus to the hitching spot and within five minutes of thumbing an older guy picked me up. Though his broken English he told me the journey would be “koniec” (finished) some 20 km before Brno. So he dropped me at some gas station. After thumbing for about 20 minutes and four cars later things looked bleak. But just then a woman of about 40 years old stopped and rolled down the window. A small and jittery dog greeted me. “I don’t speak Czech,” I said. But neither did she I learned. I told her I wanted to go to this gas station near the turnoff to Bratislava. She said she did not know this gas station but she was going all the way to Bratislava. Sweet!

I hopped in the car and the dog hopped in my lap. She told me it was a girl, and her name was Gina. This woman, I learned, was making a long journey and the night before she had not slept well. So I would help her pass the time and keep her awake. Also she told me when she was young she hitchhiked through Europe, and even in the States! The music was good (Ameripop and Eurotrash…I like it okay =P) and so was the conversation. She told me about her tango lessons, and her Argentinian dance partner. Tango, I found out, is dance where there is no distance between the partners, and “feelings were arising.” I smiled and said “So you have a crush on him?” We both giggled. Also this man was something of a casanova. He had suggested he should accompany her to Dresden the next time she returned. However, he had another dance partner who was green with envy. She had put down this woman’s skillz and consequently she had trouble sleeping even though her instructor told her it was complete BS! We talked about Ukraine. She had been on some sort of academic visit to Dnipropetrovsk and I told her about my time in Lviv. I told her I have no intention of having a “serious life” and right now all I wanted to do is run around the world. She said she felt the exact same way when the wall fell. By now Gina had crossed over to her lap and we had crossed the border in Slovakia. I lamented about how I would not get a new stamp in my passport. =[ Finally, I would arrive in Bratislava! She told me though she was going to central Slovakia and she would leave me at a gas station. I could tell she wanted to invite me into her home so in a roundabout way I invited myself. She told me Banska Bystrica was in the mountains and I mentioned how much I loved them. So it was settled!

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OK so I am here in England Spain Germany Italy North America France Praha. I woke up to some new roomates and the Spanish school group that had invaded the hostel finally checked out. Adios! So at long last I headed up to Prague Castle. What can I say? You’ve all seen the pictures, of course its beautiful. I’m going to muse about all the tourists, because they are as much a part of Prague as the castle, Wencelas Square, or the Old Town. First off…the group leaders. They all have some sort of symbol on a long stick that their group is supposed to follow. I wonder if those things have magnetic powers. Like if I got one, would people become attracted to me and follow me around? Haha. So first off I checked out St. Vitus Cathedral from the outside. I think you need a separate billet to get in, so I’m going back tomorrow.  Everything else was kinda lame. The highlight of my day was going into St. George’s cathedral at the same time as a Spanish tour group, I got an unenthusiastic (can’t blame him though) “gracias.” I am Spanish for a moment! Haha! From the top of the castle apartments I could see Karlov Most and all the tourists crowded on it. Not a bad view. My day has concluded with me doing some laundry. My night…who knows?

And about the blog title: I live in the South where the beverage of choice is sweet tea, when I am travelling…no more sweet tea. =[

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