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Ok...where to begin, it feels like I haven´t written in soo long!! Since Stockholm so much has happened and we have seen so much so I will start with Berlin.
Berlin is a really cool city with tons of really sweet international restaurants with themed decor. WE went to the erotic sex museum, which didn´t compare to the one in Amsterdam and was a waste of time. WE also went to the Berlin zoo where Lana went crazy over the hippos as usual. The zoo was huge and is also the home to Knut, this young polar bear that was all over the news. Our hostel was really nice with a kitchen and common room so we could cook dinner. The second day there we met up with Leanne and Neil (Adam was in Munich with his Dad), which was awesome to see them again. We did a club crawl but ended up at only half the bars b/c we lost everyone else including Lana. All in all a cool city to visit.
Next we headed to Bamberg, a small town home to only 20 000 people, in order to kill time before Oktoberfest in Munich. It raiend the whole time but the only place to stay there was at this young moms home that slept only 4 people. It was liek hoem away from home with free toast and cereal anytime plus coffee and tea. Lana and I had our own room and it was so cozy and a nice change. We went for a real German meal of schnitzel, which was amazing even though we got it from an Irish pub!!
After just 1 night in Bamberg, we went to another small town called Nurnberg. We had sunshine both days and the city was cute with market staölls everywhere and pedestrian streets throughout. There were tons of nice shops and the hostel was really nice with each room having a different theme. Lana and I had to sleep in separate rooms since it was so full. People even paid 10 euros to sleep on cots in the basement so they could visit Oktoberfest during the day since Munich accommodation was impossible.
Oktoberfest in Munich was a great time and such a fun experience. The tents all filled to the max with people dressed in traditional German outfits drinking huge steins of beer. There are wooden long tables everwhere lined in rows and if you didn´t get there early, you didn´t get a spot or served a beer. We were there with some guys we met from 11am-10pm, drinking all day and singing loudly while clinging our steins together and many breaking too!! The next day Lana and I got in an argument and spent the day apart wandering the city. The squares and plazas were filled with tourists and cafes. The day after when lana and I reconciled our differences we went to the Deutches Museum, which is full of science and technology of all sorts..kind of hard and long to expain but cool to see and so massive!! We also went back to Oktoberfest to have one last stein before leaving Munich.
We caught a train to Fussen in the south of Germany just for one night in the tiny town of 13 000 in the mountains. We took a bus to the Neuchwanstein castle, which was a 40 minute hike uphill to see. It was built by King Ludwig II but was never finished. Located in the mountains with views of the town and lakes, it is the most incredible thing to look at, like out of a movie. Also, it is the castle the Disneyland castle was based on. Lana and I took a horsedrawn carriage down the hill before ctaching a bus back into town to catch a train to Switzerland.
After a long train ride and 6 transfers, we arrived in Bern, Switzerland at 12am. WE had no accomodation booked and couldn´´t get a hold of people we knew living there so we slept in the train station by the ATMs. It was horrible, cold and bright. The security woke us up at 4am b/C the train station businesses opened at 5am. We waited on chairs for Mcdonalds to open at 6 but it didn´t end up opening until 8 and then we paid 5 SF or 4 euros for a egg and bacon mcmuffin!! WE finally made it to the hostel which was lame and looked more like an institution but we met Vanessa and Erin, two 18 yr old girls from Kelowna staying in our room. They even had summer jobs as housekeepers at Lake Okanagan Resort!! We spent the day walking the city with them and seeing this pit in the city with bears that live in it...so random!!
The next day the four of us took a train to Interlaken, a cute outdoorsy town nestled in the mountains between two lakes. WE spent 3 nights here but did a lot and met tons of people in our awesome hostel. THe first day we went to Luzern (very pretty). The second day I went canyoning, which involves repelling down rock walls, jumping off waterfalls into small rock pools and sliding down headfirst down rapids. We also walked under waterfalls and over rocks and thru caves to make our way back down the mountain. The 4 hr long excursion, costing me 90 CDN was well worth it but super scary and crazy, an amazing experience. Lana went paragliding which looked fun but too easy and the Kelowna girls did a ropes course and zipline. Later on we watched the World cup rugby match, where we saw many saddened people as NZ lost to France and were out. The next day was when the girls all did their activities while I had nothing planned so I decided to go hiking with Brian from Wisconsin and Zac from Oz. I had somehow lost my voice completely and couldn´t really talk, it was funny but annoying. WE took a train into the mountains before catching a cable car to 3000metres. From there we hiked a good 2 hrs where we had the most amazing view of the Swiss alps and glaciers and well as glacier lakes. I couldn´t believe i was there, it was incredible and cold!! After, we had to hike down the 3000 metres on this narrow muddy cliffside path which was scary and took 2.5 hrs. Our legs were serious jelly after going downhill that long.
The next afternoon the Kelowna girls and Lana and I got a train for 6 hrs to Innsbruck, Austria. We arrived at night and got a taxi to our hostel. The next morning we awoke bright and early to get up to Stuboi Glacier. The bus took 1.5 hrs then am hr cable ride in order to get to the lodge at the top. I couldn´t believe I was going to snowboard the Swiss Alps!!! Vanessa, Erin and I got a package deal for 56 euros including bus, cable car, equipment, clothing and lift pass. Lana had a sore ankle and just stayed in the lodge. On my first run I bailed breakign my sunglasses and ruining my elbow. I carried on though on the icy slopes but having no success on the T-bars. I couldn´t make it up without falling off it!! I actually ended up hiking up an entire run in the beaming sunshine. It was the worst thing ever and it took me an hr and a half in pure agony b/C of my elbow before I made it to a point where I could snowboard down to the lodge. By the tiem I met up with Lana, I was sweaty and hurting. The elbow had a green bruise the size of a softball and was swollen, i couldn´t even tajke off my sweater without her assistance.
After making it back down the mountain and into Innsbruck we separated ways from the girls we had got to know so well. Lana and I were off to Salzburg, them to Belgium. It was being back to the euros, where everything was cheaper than Switzerland so we filled up on sandwiches before getting our train, arriving at 930pm in Salzburg.
Today was spent wandering the old city, trying not to spend much money after expensive Switzerland. Tonight we will watch the Sound of Music since Lana has never seen it!! We bought train tickets to Ljubiana, Slovenia leaving tomorrow afternoon and we can´t wait for Eastern Europe..cheaper we hope!!
Anyways the weather has been pretty good with sunshine most days and no rain lately at all. It was nice to get this email out since internet is only 1 euro/hr!!
I´d love to hear more from home even if it´s not very exciting news!! Hope everyone is doign well and not gimps like Lana and I right now. I can´t wait to see everyone, only 19 more days!!
Take care xoxox
Leanne
p.s I have 4X as much money left than Lana so let me know if anyone wants anything specific from anywhere!!
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