The Amazing Race - Day 25

"Dream Come True"

On my first day of French Culture and Civilization, the professor gave a lecture about events happening around France. She covered the entire year, but I stopped paying attention around April because I wasn't supposed to be here after that. However, when she mentioned the Cannes Film Festival in May I found myself paying attention. And taking notes. The Cannes Film Festival is a big deal. Important people go there and do stuff with film. I took notes about how to get into the festival even when you don't have tickets, where the best place was to go star gazing (celebrity stars, not night stars as I originally thought) and why the festival is important. And then I tuned her out again.

Over the next four months, I forgot about the Cannes Film Festival.

One evening my host mom and I started talking about everywhere I was planning on traveling. When I mentioned Nice, she asked if I would be going to the Cannes Film Festival. Suddenly I remembered Cannes and how much I wanted to go there. We finished dinner and then I ran upstairs to check the dates of the Festival against when I would be in Nice. I was going to arrive two days late.

But when you're that close, changing your plans is worth it. Actually, I probably would have changed my plans no matter what.

My first morning in Nice I woke up nice and early for my hostel's free breakfast before heading to Cannes. As luck would have it, I got to sit next to one of the Festival's short film directors from LA. He even had a badge.

I figured if I was running into directors at my hostel in Nice, it would be a piece of cake to run into stars in Cannes. It wasn't.

Everyone I saw in Cannes was walking around with the same "I'm allowed to go into the Festival" badge I had seen earlier that morning. How was I supposed to know who was actually cool enough to get excited about seeing? Just kidding, I was excited to see (and very jealous of) everyone with a badge.

At one point when I was walking back from the beach, I'm pretty sure I walked behind someone famous. I have no idea who they could have been, but they were carrying two iPhones in one hand.

Just when I was about to give up hope and head back to Nice, I saw a large group of people gathering near some barriers. I wandered over and managed to make my way up to the front right next to the red carpet. An hour later, the stars arrived. Now, I'm not one to drop names, so I'll stick with pictures.

 

Two days later I was back in Cannes for the final night of the festival. Unfortunately, my train was 45 minutes late, and I got stuck on the wrong side of the red carpet where all I could see were the sides of people's faces. Once everyone was seated inside, they used the screen outside to let us commoners watch the closing ceremony of the festival. It was a remarkable experience to not only be there, but also listen to them translate everything into French and understand it.

In 5 years I plan on going back to Cannes. Only next time I'll be one of the privileged many walking around with my own badge.

A Big Thank You / Mes Rêves #9

#9: SCUBA dive at a WWII wreck site ✓

I would like to give a big thank you to the country of Malta for building up my dreams to unrealistic heights and then quite literally smashing those dreams into the rocks.

I am referring, of course, to the WWII wreck site of the HMS Maori, just off the coast of Valletta, where I am now. Unfortunately, the wind is coming from a northeast direction, smashing the waves -- and my dreams -- into the rocks. I might be willing to risk my life anyway, but so far I haven't found a dive shop that will take me out.

The other WWII wrecks are either above my skill level or above my experience.

Lucky for me, my goal does not read "dive a WWII wreck site" as I originally thought, but says dive at a WWII wreck site.

During WWII, Malta was center-stage in the Mediterranean theater of war - literally and figuratively. It's location was ideal for getting supplies to the Allies in North Africa as well as launching an attack on Italy. Consequently, they dealt with some of the heaviest bombing during the war. In fact, Malta holds the record for the heaviest sustained bombing attack - 6700 tons of bombs over 154 days and nights*.

You know what that makes Malta? A WWII wreck site.

Ergo, diving at Malta = diving at a WWII wreck site.

And if that isn't enough, my dive buddy was a marine for 32 years. Which means that I, a WORLD traveler, dove with my buddy, a WAR veteran, TWO times.

Diving in the Mediterranean Sea was really cool - I saw an octopus and jellyfish and even got to go in some caves (don't worry Mom, I made it out alive), but I'm still sad I didn't actually dive a real WWII wreck site.

Current score - Kenna: 0. Malta: 9.

So while Malta may have won the battle, I plan on winning the war. My new life plan involves getting wreck and technical deep certified, going on about 50 more dives, then coming back to Malta and diving not only the HMS Maori, but the Bristol Beaufighter, the Barge X-131, the MV Odile, and the Blenheim Bomber as well.

Next time I come to Malta I will be prepared. And Malta won't know what hit it.

*http://www.visitmalta.com/en/world-war-2

The Amazing Race - Day 13

"Production Issues"

I was bored a couple of days ago and decided to take the time to read the entire Wikipedia post on The Amazing Race. I learned a lot of random stuff about the show. One such thing was production issues - if the producers have problems with the start of a new leg, they'll extend the current pit stop by 24 hours. This gives them time to sort out the problems, but for the viewer, it looks like the race continued as planned.

Today I took a production issue break. Venice is cool, but I pretty much saw the city yesterday, so today I hung out at my hostel's pool all day. I fixed a few problems with my itinerary, relaxed, and got a whole lot of sun.

Continuing with the random, useless facts, your fingers get wrinkly in water because it gives you a better grip on slippery objects underwater. (Courtesy of GoogleFacts)

Finally, did you know Phil Keoghan, the host of The Amazing Race, is from New Zealand? Now you do.

The Amazing Race - Day 12

"How to Pack for 2 Months in Europe - for girls"

There are about a million websites that tell you how to pack for Europe. I know, because I've read most of them. And of the ones I've read, almost none are actually helpful. They usually tell you things like: lay out everything you think you need, then take half as many clothes and twice as much money, or: take clothes you don't mind throwing away. Hello, if I don't mind throwing them away, I've already thrown them away and no longer own them.

As the million and one-th list, I probably don't have any new information to share, but everything on this list I gained from personal experience, so maybe it will be helpful anyway. At the very least, feel free to laugh at what I thought was a good idea to pack for two months of travel.

1. Bring clothes you look good in. You're going to be taking a lot of pictures as you travel around Europe. Don't bring the clothes you're thinking of throwing away, just throw them away and pack cute clothes.

2. Don't pack a lot of clothes. No matter how well you pack, there will come a point when you will consider throwing away every single item in your backpack. The less clothes you have, the less likely you are to throw any of them away. Considering you've packed all the clothes you look best in, this is a good thing.

What exactly is packing light? Personally, I packed a pair of black jeans, a skirt, a dress, two pairs of shorts, five t-shirts, pajamas, and a swim suit. Every couple of days I find myself wearing the exact same outfit I did the day before out of necessity, which I take as a good sign of having packed light.

3. You get two scarves maximum. Maybe you're not a scarf person, but I am. Either way, you do not need more than two scarves. Wear one and pack the other.

4. If you ignored the above advice because scarves are light and you really need that third one, at least have the sense to pack scarves you don't like. Unlike clothes, you can pack scarves you don't like because they won't ruin a picture. Then when you need more room you can start throwing scarves away. (They take up a lot more room than you might think.) Whatever you do, don't pack your three favorite scarves or you'll be stuck with them the whole trip.

5. Check the weather forecast and then pack for the weather you're going to get, not the weather you want. If you choose to ignore the weather forecast because you're an optimist you'll be stuck with exactly one outfit you can wear comfortably in cold weather. This means you'll either going to wear one outfit for two weeks or you'll have to suffer through the cold.

6. If the weather says rain for the entire time you're traveling, pack an umbrella.

7. If you choose to leave the umbrella at home, at least be smart enough to pack a rain jacket.

8. If you don't bring a rain jacket, you're going to need a fleece. (This is the only one I got right.)

9. Even in the summer Europe can be cold, especially in the north, which is why I recommend a fleece. It keeps you warm even when it's wet. Kind of.

However, if you are spending a lot of time in Southern Europe, it is worth it to be cold for a while and avoid having to pack a huge jacket all around Italy. So bring a jacket, but not a huge one. You'll be cold for a while, but you'll survive.

10. Don't pack the new towel you bought while you were studying abroad that you love because

a) it is very hard to find a place to dry a towel in a hostel

b) towels do not smell that great when they don't have the chance to dry before you pack them back into your suitcase

c) it is not fun to dry yourself after you just got clean with a towel that smells weird.

Just sayin'.

11. Yes, you can pack that curling iron. Some people may think this is a waste of valuable space, but some days you'll just want to curl your hair, and that's okay. You're going to Europe, not the wilds of Africa. It's okay to want to look cute.

12. Be careful with shoes. It's easy to go overboard with shoes, especially for a girl. So keep it simple - a pair of closed toes, a pair of flats, and a pair of flip flops that can get wet (for the beach, shower, etc.) No boots and no heavy shoes. At some point you'll try and pack them and wonder why your suitcase is suddenly twice as heavy. I get frustrated enough when I try to pack my converse-like shoes in my backpack and they are about the same size as my flats.

13. Toiletries take up a lot of room. Accept that and move on. No, you can't throw away your shampoo, toothpaste, and brush. Unfortunately those are things you have to carry with you the whole time.

In other news I spent the day in Venice where I finally got to wear a warm weather outfit without being cold. It was a good day.

The Amazing Race - Day 9

"I Still Don't Like Germany"

Of all the countries in Western Europe, Germany was the one I cared the least about. All I've heard about Germany is they drink a lot of beer, so I was pretty much indifferent to the entire country. However, you can't do an amazing race around Europe and not visit Germany.

This morning I did a Free Walking Tour. I've heard so many amazing things about FWTs because you first go on the tour and at the end pay your guide what you think the tour was worth. I have no idea how much a tour is worth, just tell me how much you want me to pay and I'll decide if I think it's worth it.

But I went anyway, expecting to pay between 5 and 10 euros. And then my tour guide made a huge deal about how the tour isn't free, we just pay at the end instead of the beginning. He also made a big deal about how we needed to adjust for cost of living and how long the tour was - how much do you want to get paid for working four hours?

That's a valid question, and it got me thinking. For four hours, I want to be making somewhere around $40. That's more than I want to pay for a walking tour. However, since he's taking 12 of us on the tour, if we each only paid €4, he would still make more than me, even after taxes, and that's not even accounting for the euro-usd exchange rate. (Life is pretty much always like this as a math major.)

So does that mean I can pay €4 for this tour? Of course not, he already told me he expects more than €5.

I ended up paying way more than I wanted to, because the entire tour I was guilted into making sure I tipped well. If I had been on a paid tour, I would have paid the same amount and avoided all the guilt.

Strike one against "free" walking tours.

However, then I went on my paid bike tour of the city. In the rain. In a poncho. Just for future reference, it's a good idea to check the weather before booking a bike tour.

It was a fine tour, minus the soaking wet and cold part. Then we got to the end of the tour and all I wanted to do was go home and take a warm shower, but we had to have an end-of-the-tour goodbye meeting. I probably should have seen it coming -- but didn't -- when suddenly I was told I was expected to tip my guide. And I had to go through the whole process again - what is an appropriate tip for a bike tour? Luckily I only had one small bill in my wallet, so that was the tip. But really, I would have rather had the tip included in the original price so I could know from the beginning what I'm expected to pay. Why is tipping even a thing? Can I start a petition to get rid of tipping?

Strike one against paid tours.

In conclusion, I still don't like Germany. Anything Germany can do, Austria can do better, because Austria is amazing.

The Amazing Race - Day 7 / Mes Rêves #17

 #17: Visit a significant movie site of a movie filmed in Europe (I'm not really sure what this means, but I think I'll know it when I see it) ✓

I originally made this goal with The Sound of Music in mind, but I didn't imagine I would have the chance to make it over to Salzburg. And now here I am.

First of all, some sad news about The Sound of Music - the hill and lake scenes were not filmed in Salzburg, they were filmed 28 km away. So get rid of any ideas you had about singing The Hills Are Alive as you run around the hills. Other than that, it is very easy to get to the sites around Salzburg.

1. Mirabell Gardens: these are found in the city center near Mirabellplatz. This is where parts of Do-Re-Mi were filmed. Highlights include the tunnel they run through and the Pegasus fountain.

2. Catch Bus 25 from Mirabellplatz to Schloss Hellbrunn. (Cost: €2.30)

Schloss Hellbrunn is the current home of the pavilion where Sixteen Going On Seventeen happened, as well as Something Good. Unfortunately they locked it a couple of years ago because someone got hurt trying to recreate The Sound of Music, so now all you can do is see the gazebo in a place that wasn't even in the movie. But it's still pretty cool.

3. Walk to Schloss Frohnburg (about 50 minutes)

Schloss Frohnburg was used as the front of the Von Trapp house because the front of the other house is completely obstructed by trees. The path leading up the the house is also the one where Maria sings part of I Have Confidence.

4. Walk to Schloss Leopoldskron (about one hour)

This was used as the back of the Von Trapp house - this is where the kids fell off the boat and where Uncle Max ate schnitzel, among other things.

5. Walk back to the city center and up to Nonnberg Abbey (50 minutes if you don't get lost, 1 hour 15 if you do)

This was the basis for the abbey in the movie, but in reality they filmed most of these scenes in a studio. One of the only things this site was used for is when the kids come to the gate to try and visit Maria.

6. Walk to Residenzplatz (15 minutes)

This is where Maria sings the other part of I Have Confidence, most importantly when she splashes the horse fountain thing.

And there you have it - my own Sound of Music tour around Salzburg. I have headphones in most of the pictures because I was listening to The Sound of Music soundtrack on repeat the whole day. I finished the day by watching The Sound of Music... again.

The Amazing Race - Day 6

"The Hangover"

I don't know how drunk people do it. After my night at the bar and three hours of sleep, I felt like death, and all I had been drinking was apple juice. I can't even imagine what a real hangover feels like.

Lucky for me, today was another travel day. I made my way from Vienna to Salzburg via Grunau.

You've never heard of Grunau? Me neither, which is why I completely ignored it as a potential stopping point on my trip. My guide was determined to try and convince the three of us on the bus (yep, same three from my first trip) to change our plans and stay in Grunau. At first I thought she was crazy. But then we started driving through Grunau. And then we stopped at the hostel for lunch. And then I found out you can rent horses from the hostel. They hand you a horse and send you on your way to explore the area.

Why am I not staying in Grunau? Especially when this is backyard of the hostel:

                          

Yet another place I have to add to my "Need to Visit" list. It seems that the more places I go, the longer that list gets.

Anyway, I eventually made it to Salzburg. I wandered through the countryside, ate a dinner of chocolate, and then watched The Sound of Music - the hostel plays it every night at 7:00.

Nothing prepares you for a day in Salzburg like watching three hours of people singing around the city.

The Amazing Race - Day 5

"Schnitzel & Strudel"

I spent most of Sunday doing nothing. I justified it by telling myself I was just trying to be a good person by resting on Sunday, but in fact I was just being lazy. Consequently, I had a lot to get done today.

At breakfast I met some fellow travelers and joined one for a walking tour. There were so many people that I didn't get to hear much about the sites, but I did get to see them, so that was cool. We also tried Sacher Torte, which is a Viennese speciality. It's essentially chocolate cake, except it's better than chocolate cake. We then wandered over to the Hapsburg's summer palace. It's about a five minute walk from their winter palace - must be nice to be royalty.

This evening I finally got to go on the walking tour I had missed on my first night in Vienna. This walking tour was much smaller than the morning one, so I could actually hear the stories behind all the buildings. The city is also much more quiet in the early evening - probably because everyone is at the opera.

At the end of the tour, I got to try schnitzel and apple strudel. I still don't know what schnitzel is, but I do know that it is huge. One piece took up almost an entire plate and came with a side of fries. After all of this, I still had to try apple strudel. After dinner we sat at the restaurant sharing travel stories as a group. I think that is one of my favorite things about traveling Europe - getting to meet people from all over the world and hear their stories.

I ended the night with some friends at the hostel bar drinking apple juice, laughing at drunk people, and singing Don't Stop Believing until 3 o'clock in the morning. I'm going to miss Vienna.

The Amazing Race - Day 3

"All's Well That Ends Well"

For the next month I will be traveling around Europe with Busabout. Busabout has a bunch of different trips you can do from sailing around the Greek islands to touring around Eastern Europe, but the one I'm doing is their hop-on, hop-off pass. Starting wherever I want I can travel all over their North, South and West loops.

Today I hopped on my first Busabout bus leaving from Prague to Vienna, with a quick stop in Česky Krumlov. Vienna is one of the mandatory overnight stops, otherwise I probably would have skipped over it.

Because it was the first bus of the season leaving Prague (Busabout only runs during the summer months) our bus was pretty empty. There were a total of three passengers and four crew members. At first I was worried that it would be weird to be in such a small group, but it ended up being a great day of travel.

The guide and driver are so helpful. Before coming into a new city they give you a quick history lesson and tell you what there is to do around the city - this is perfect for a girl who knows nothing.

The more I learned about Vienna, the more excited I was to spend some time here. I booked a walking tour for my first night so that I could get familiar with the city before having two days to explore.

At 5:40 I started walking to the meeting spot, without a map. Not my best idea. But my guide had said that it was about 400 meters down the street on my right. How hard could it be?

It turns out it can be very hard. I can't even estimate standard measurement and here I was trying to guess how far 400 meters is.

I turned right at what I thought had been 400 meters at a place that looked like it could be the opera house and just started wandering. The meeting time came and went, and still I couldn't find the opera house. Eventually I found a map at the bus station, but after staring at it for 5 minutes, I couldn't even find where I was, let alone the opera house. Finally, some guys on bikes helped me find my location, and from there I found the opera house. It was about 100 meters north of me. (Probably. Like I said, I don't do estimates, especially metric ones.)

I finally made it to the meeting point 15 minutes late, but of course the group had already left. I walked around the opera house hoping to run into them, but I didn't even know who or what I was looking for, so it was a wasted effort.

I sat down on a fountain outside the opera house and tried to keep myself from crying. This probably seems really embarrassing, but you need to know two things. 1) I had already paid for this walking tour and 2) The price included dinner. Dinner of schnitzel and apple strudel. Now, I don't know what schnitzel is, but I know it's one of Maria's favorite things, so it must be good. And I'm fairly certain apple strudel is just apple pie - which I do not like - but I wanted it anyway. I felt like a five year old who didn't get a pony for Christmas. I wanted to sit on the side of the road and throw a temper tantrum until someone bought me schnitzel and apple strudel.

But I didn't. Instead I started making my way back to the hostel so I could spend my night in misery. On the way I was stopped by a man dressed in a costume who was selling something. My first instinct was to ignore him and walk away, but something stopped me and I decided to hear him out. He was selling tickets to the opera. Now, I like the opera about as much as I like apple pie, but I was in Vienna, and going to the opera is mandatory.

I bought a ticket and then wandered for an hour before the show started. As I started making my way to the opera - still without a map - I got lost, again. Luckily, I ran into the guy who had sold me the ticket. I told him I was lost, he laughed at me, and pointed me in the right direction. I started walking that way, but somehow managed to miss it. As I started turning in circles, trying to figure out where to go, I heard a whistle and looked over to see the guy laughing at me and once again pointing me in the right direction. He ended up walking me all the way to the door to make sure I didn't get lost, and finally I was at the opera.

The opera was amazing. I didn't go to the real Opera House, just a little side palace, and the orchestra was only made of six people, but they were all so talented. I even got to hear Mozart's Marriage of Figaro in the room where he had first performed it. Vienna turned me into a fan of the opera. It was even worth missing schnitzel and strudel.

The Amazing Race - Day 2

My Adventures in Prague Continue.

On my second, and only full, day in Prague it rained. And I got lost - a few times, so I had to make a decision between going to the park and going to the castle.

Obviously, I chose the castle.

The gardens/parks surrounding Prague Castle are not only beautiful, they are huge. This meant there were a lot of muddy hills to climb. I did a lot of sliding around the hills, but luckily no falling.

There was also a ghost tunnel in the gardens, which was really cool. (I don't think it was really a ghost tunnel, but if I were a ghost, that's where I would hang out.)

I even got to explore the Lobkowicz's Palace, which was the setting of the weird book I read. Even though it was weird (I know that that is the third time I've used that word to describe this book, but if you had read it, you would feel that it was justified) it was still really cool to be transported into the setting of the book. Plus, one of the Lobkowicz Princes had been a patron of Beethoven, so not only did they have original compositions by him, he had actually played and been in the rooms I was walking through. It was such a cool experience, and I wasn't even on any drugs. (That was the whole premise of the book - taking drugs to feel Beethoven's presence.)

In conclusion, Prague is awesome.

The Amazing Race - Day 1

I've been debating about when my amazing race actually started. Was it when I sent my luggage home and was living out of a backpack? When I left Lyon? Or when I left France?

I've decided it all started when I left for Prague because a) this is my first time taking a flight since getting to Lyon and b) this is my first time in a country where I literally know none of the language.

This is what I knew about Prague before I got there:

• There is a clock that does something cool every hour.
  
• There is an important bridge or something.
  
• There is a castle

I only knew about the castle because I read a fictional book that occasionally had true facts, such as there is a castle in Prague. The rest of the book was about taking a drug to travel through time. It was a weird book.

Anyway, since going to Prague I've learned:

• The clock show is not that cool. The only really cool thing is a skeleton that raises his glass up and down.

• The important bridge is kind of lame. It is essentially a very crowded tourist trap with silly souvenirs.
 

• The language they speak in Prague is Czech.
 

• Ahoj means hello (informal) in Czech. This is the only word I could remember because it looks like ahoy. I never got to use it, though, because I didn't know if it was rude to use an informal hello to people I didn't know, so instead I was much more polite and played charades with everyone.
 

• The Lennon Wall is in Prague.
 

• There are also some dancing houses that do not look like they're dancing.
 

• And finally: the Prague castle is stunning.

Let's Talk Bread: Mes Rêves #6

#6: Try 5 different types of bread at 5 different boulangeries in one day ✓

I love bread. In fact, that was one of my main reasons for coming to France. When I told people at church how much bread I planned on eating, they warned me that I would get fat.

But I don't care, because I love bread.

It's surprising, then, that it took me so long to make it to five different boulangeries. I didn't even make my first attempt until last Saturday, but only ended up making it to four on account of rain and Iron Man 3.

So Tuesday when I had a full day in Paris, it was essential that I finish this goal. Being the genius that I am, I started off with a 250g Fougasse à la Fleur d'Oranger. For those of you who don't speak metric food measurement, 250g is the same as 2 1/2 baguettes. Plus, the bread wasn't even that good. It was dry and there was not even a hint of orange to it. But I ate the whole thing anyway. All 2 1/2 baguettes of it.

I then had to eat four more types of bread, and I wasn't even hungry. Consequently, my next four choices were all about getting the smallest thing the boulangerie sold.

My second choice was pain au chocolat. It wasn't very good. Pain au chocolat from the bakery is always dry and flaky and not very chocolate-y. If you want some really good pain au chocolat, you should pick it up from a grocery store. It's much better.

Next I got a mini beignet framboise and a mini viennoiserie. The beignet was really good. The viennoiserie, on the other hand, was not. I thought it was going to be a mini viennois with glaze on the top, but it ended up just being a gross croissant.

I then took a break, because quite honestly I was full and didn't know if I could eat any more bread. In fact, I was so full that I only got a petit gelato. I never get petit, it's always a debate between medium and large, so this is a big deal.

Finally at the end of the night I made it to a fifth boulangerie, where I finally tried a Madeleine. It was pretty good, even though I was full, and tasted strangely familiar. I still haven't figured out what it tasted like.

It was a lot of fun to see Paris through its bakeries, and I got to try a lot of new breads/pastries.