25 hour train through the south of France to Sicily...and we are here!

Our last day in Germany we visited Marionplatz and saw the Glockenspiel ring at 5. We visited some traditional beer gardens at one of the most famous brewerys in the world and had big beautiful beers.

We also visited this beautiful old church by Marionplatz...Cari you know what it's called? At the entrance, there was a footprint made into the cement that no one knew how it got there. They call it the Devils Footprint. Creepy stuff...

From there we went to the English Gardens which was a huge park with beer gardens and um, I LOVED it. Look at how beautiful this is...how could you not?! We had dinner there and came back to catch the night train to...Pariee with our beautiful host Cari.

Our first day in Paris the weather was shite, but we spent most of the day in the Louvre, on a patio drinking ciders and then took a metro to the Eiffel Tower. When we first walked up we were not super impressed...i guess were expecting more? But as we sat drinking wine, watching the sun set and the tower light up, then the sparkles, we were pretty wowed. Love.

And of course, us in front of Jimmy's grave. Ms Betty Lowe says he's not in there...I think I believe her...

We went out both nights in Paris, had spectacular food at a little french restaurant the next night down the road from her place on Rue de Rosiers and then booted to Cannes the next day. The south of France amazing by train. In Cannes we spent most of our time on the beach. The 62nd Film Festival was just starting and we had dinner with some "directors" or so they say, haha. We didn't see any Brangelina and were sort of sad to go the day we left. I was very sad to leave France. And we miss you Cari!

We decided to get to our condo in Sicily asap because we are tiiired of being only 2 days everywhere. I have been away for almost 7 weeks now and was ready to settle into one place for awhile. And who wouldnt want to when it is Sicily. We are staying in a condo in Termini Imerese, which Ashleys Zio tells us is about 50,000 in population, with Palermo only about half an hour away. We plan on doing some vineyards, some day trips etc etc . But for the most part it is just nice to get up, go to the beach, the market, eat on our terrace and live the sweet life...the dolce vita. We've learned the important words...Salut! (cheers) Ciao! Bonjourno! Bueno Sera! Grazia! ...we can count to ten and are going to do a little lesson with Ash every day so we can leave here experts as barely anyone can speak English. We are here for 20+ days so should get pretty good....! *kiss *kiss Ciao!

View from our terraces, mountains to one side, palm trees to the other

As soon as we arrived, Senora Pina had cooked us a traditional Italian meal...red wine, espresso, spaghetti, buns, meatballs, potatoes...tres delicious!

Our condo has a cute little kitchen, two rooms, a sitting room and dining room and about 3 terraces...

and we are just about to have a dinner with Ash's zia, zio and gaspere...family, if you read this...call me tonight! love you all!

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Prost from Germany!

I'm sitting at my cousin Cari's in Munich and finally have the chance to let everyone know what's been going on in the past week or so!

Cape Town was ahhhmazing. I fell head over heels in love with the city, the mountains, the oceans, the vineyards, my backpackers (Long Street...best ever), the people there, the music, the energy. I can't say enough about it. It seemed that everyone you met had been travelling through and decided to stay, or they were born there and have never left!

These pictures won't do justice to my time spent there and I don't have a ton of time to explain, but here are a couple...

The view of the mountains as I got off the plane:



The first night there I grabbed sushi and wine and here's the view from our balcony. I grew to looove Zula Bar, the bar you can see across the street.



Met some people at the backpackers and went to a "footie" game at the Dubliner, an Irish pub down the street. Then we went on over to Zula Bar and danced the night away...these are just some of the awesome people from the hostel. We're being dorks...



Friday I walked down for breakfast to the waterfront with some others from the hostel, had fish & chips and cider on the water and went to an African market.

Later I had sushi with two new friends that are awesome, Kara & Brian.

We are really cheesey...

Saturday was my vineyard tour to Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Wellington and Paarl. Let me just say I was in heaven...needless to say:

We had Champagne for breakfast, and started the day with our guide opening the bottle with a sword:

Our delightful little group...

Played chess and danced on the street that night, and then the next day Brian and I decided to hike Lionshead. The hike was insane for me, you went up spiraling around the mountain which was fine, but then you started going straight up sheer rock. It was very technical, lots of using your hands to lift you up, there were ladders and even chains to pull yourself up the rock at some points. But, we did it!!! And um, yes, these pictures do describe why this is where I would like to live...

The people at Longstreet Backpackers are unreal. This is the hostel I was staying at, the bar was quaint and cute, it was built into a courtyard and had two balconies overlooking the street, right down on the area where you can eat any type of meal, experience all cultures and shop. I spent hours in a bookstore there one day (surprise), spent even more in a market, just talking to people on the street as everyone is so sweet.

My last night I went for dinner with Kara to an Ethiopian restaurant and then Giggles (super sweet girl from Russia) bought me a quick shot before leaving.

Needless to say, I am pretty heartbroken about leaving Africa. I know I've raved about it a million times, but no words can suffice for what I felt about that place. I felt more at home with the locals or walking down the street than I ever thought possible. I felt like I was drawn to this place because that's where I was meant to be, at least for a little while. Nothing can beat my friends and family at home, but forever, I've found the place I feel so connected to and will continue to go back and experience new parts as often as I can.

And then I arrived in Amsterdam. Seeing the girls faces waiting at the gate was amazing (and Dan's too!) But, it was freeeezing. 5 weeks in Africa and then we come in to maaaybe 12 degrees and drizzle, rain, drizzle...this fed my heartwrenching heartbreak from leaving Africa! But, being with the girls meant the world to me so we had a good couple of days.

We visited the Heinekein Brewery and "got brewed"...took a candlelit wine tour on the canals and found tons of cute little pubs. Our hostel was disgusting and overfilled, but the bar was cute and it was close to the nightlife/red light district. The architecture is unreal. Oh, and I took this picture of all the "coffeeshops" and "cafes" for those of you who will appreciate them very much...you know who you are:

Took the night train to Munich a couple nights ago where we met my cousin Cari and her boyfriend Christian who have been UNBELIEVEABLE to us...they are the sweetest couple and the greatest hosts.

Our first day we went to visit Olympia Park, and saw Munich from 185 metres up. Saw the swimming pool where the Olympics were held and it made me want to get back into swimming so bad! We went to the Rock Museum was...saw Bob Dylans harmonica...Freddie Mercury's pants...etc etc. Played Spirit in the Sky on the jukebox and had a little dance. Then we found a little pub by the water to have some wine and beers and took the metro back to Cari's where we had an amazing homecooked dinner and a singalong with our resident rock star Christian. It was just what we needed!..love.

Yesterday was a big, heavy day. We visited the Dachau Concentration Camps from the 2nd world war. I left there heavy, happy that we went and so appreciative of our life.

Last night we had a traditional "Bavarian special" German meal at the Beer Gardens. Absolutely delicious and yes, the best beer I've tasted.

Okay, way too long, have to go, visiting the English Gardens and MarienPlatz today and taking the night train to Paris with Cari.

Cheers! or as the Germans would say, Prost!

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My Last Night in Africa...

Well it's official. My time in Africa is almost "finished" and I'm heartbroken to leave. The last few days have shown me that no matter where you go, people never cease to amaze me. I did a full day wine tour the other day, hiked Lionshead today and walked to the waterfront on Friday. I've had sushi three nights in a row, danced in the streets, played chess on a folding table for two hours and met incredible, incredible people. I still hope to do Table Mountain tomorrow and possibly Robben Island before leaving tomorrow night. It seems that everyone I meet here in Cape Town came for a couple days, fell in love with the city and now live here. I don't blame them one bit. If I could, I would!

Anyways, I really can't believe it's over...and that Europe is just beginning! Next time I write will be from Amsterdam!

xoxo

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