alright as i actually have stories from the past two days, i'll go ahead and update.

yesterday in its entirety was spent in london (well and on the bus there and back.) after the chaos of being dropped off in the massive complex of victoria stations, julie, darchelle, and I headed to Buckingham palace for the Fabrage exhibit. Quite an impressive display - from 'practical objects' to the famous eggs. People there were really quite nice as Julie and Darchelle hadn't been able to do the left luggage thing. The security people let them leave the bags in the cloakroom and the 'thorough search' was more like looking on top and then asking if the bag was going to explode. Then, we arranged to meet a friend of Darchelle's aunt at the Canada Waters tube station at 3. Being the cheapskates we are, we decided it would be no problem to just walk there and save a couple pounds...... With the help of our "map" - a free although NOT to scale representation of some of the main roads and cartoons of the attractions - we made it to the station a little over 2 hours after starting. Definitely got to see London! The girls dropped off their stuff at Emma's house and then we finally decided that traveling by bus would be alright... taking the bus to oxford street, it broke down. so got on another bus. ate at trafalger square. then as we promised to emma, we walked all the way down oxford street. Impressive place for the night life. around by hydepark, stopping near the Ritz for desert. And then walking very very quickly to the bus station for me to head back here to Bath and Julie and Darchelle to get back to Emma's. I dare say that good times were had by all, and I do hope to get back to London a few times this semester...

So my typical sunday, sleeping in, reading. When I finally got myself geared up to go grocery shopping, I stopped in the kitchen where Mandy and Claude were hanging out. All of us with nothing to do, so since Claude has his car here with him we decided to go to 'the coast.' Definitely an ambiguous destination when you are on an island. At any rate, Mandy, Claude, Jakub, and I drove a little over an hour and finally randomly stopped in the village of Watchet. An empty place this time of year... but on the coast just north of Exmoor National Park. So we get out to a very chilly wind, and walk along the pier and basically through the whole town. As we were first walking out on the pier in front of the ocean, these 3 kids jumped up from behind a bench and screamed 'hey. welcome to watchet' actually made me jump. but it was hilarious, they did this whole exhibition type thing - 'you want to go to the lighthouse? that way, you want to go to the beach? this way' sounded all planned, rehearsed. obviously watchet is not the most exciting place to live. It simply can not be transcribed as hilariously as it occured - it does help if you add a british street urchin type accent to the whole thing. So we wandered the beach until the wind had our hands and ears go numb. Then drove back. So thats basically the most exciting weekend so far in terms of traveling. Tomorrow its back to 'class' - all 3 of them.

I guess I should start with this past weekend. I did not travel anywhere. Instead, I embraced my status as an 'international student.' By going to parties with my flatmates and sleeping in late. I guess I never find it less entertaining to be the only American and be identifyed vaguely by my accent. Friday night was a birthday party at the house of some Spanish girls. Then, on Saturday some Greek (as in - from Greece) management majors threw a party at their house. Definitely has me meet an eclectic range of people, the fewest being actual Brits I think.
The week has been relatively uneventful. I go to class, take naps, read books, and hang out with the flatmates. I have also been attempting to plan eventual travels and study abroad this summer. I decided to not do any really long trips until after spring break in order to conserve what little money I have. It's tough when everything is twice as expensive at home. At least they have public transportation here I guess. This summmer it looks like I will head to Australia for 6 weeks. Quite a bit different from my original plan of costa rica, and even my revised plan of Argentina. It will mean giving up on earning a Spanish minor, but I will get to travel around much of Australia and stop by New Zealand and maybe Fiji on my way home.
Wednesday night, Julie and Darchelle arrived via London from where they are studying in Madrid. Spent a couple of hours at The Bell, listening to the band until things closed as always at 11. Yesterday we got a rare day of sun and spent the majority of it wandering Bath, even finally going on the free walking tour that the Mayors office does. I'm done with classes for the day, so for entertainment we're going to see the matinee of 'Touching the Void' at a cinema nearby. Hurray for student discounts! Nothing huge planned for the weekend, but on Saturday I'll spend the day with the girls in London.

so it has been awhile...
First my flatmates have been absolutely wonderful. 3 are also new exchange students: Jean from Chile, Claude from Luxembourg, and Jakub from Czech rep. The others have been here awhile and the girls are actually working and not students: Danny from England, Harry from Japan, Mandy from Germany, and Suzanne from Scotland. Quite an iternational group for sure. Sometimes it means that I do get real food too.

Classes are also working themselves out, at last. Their system is still crazy. Right now it looks like my schedule is this: Monday - 9:15, biopolymers; 11:15 synthesis of medicinal compounds; 1:15 cellular neurobiology. Tuesday - 3:15, cellular neurobiology. Wednesday - 11:15 contemporary literature and film of the british isles. Thursday - maybe nothing, or maybe i'll take international british history. Friday- 9:15 cellular neurobiology.
I also, thankfully, got a spot in the field ecology course that will be April 3-8 in the Glower peninsula of wales. If anyone has a good field guide and/or stat book.... i'd love to borrow them.

So LOTS of freetime. Might make Thursday a day trip sorta day. And if necessary it wont be a problem to just skip town on wednesday afternoon for a long weekend. Went out a couple of nights this week. Already very evident that drinking (along with everything else in the country!!) is darn expensive. So I'm thinking of finding a nice hobby for my spare time. motorcycle classes in bristol? samba percussion club on monday nights? hmm.... what to do, what to do.

I've been all over town at this point. It is really quite compact - 15 min to walk from The Circus and the Royal Crescent to the Abbey. But beautiful since everything is made of bath stone. I even walk up and back from campus regularly - saves money on the bus and gives me a decent workout. I'm not such a fan of the uphill climb, but still....

I do have internet in my room now, which is basically my only source of entertainment besides actually going out and doing things. No TV which will be very good for me. Just the occasional movie with the flatmates. Really thats about all the news I can come up with. Hope for a more entertaining weekend!

so time for a better update from bath. After a lovely night sleep in my own room and bed - at last... Yesterday went on a trip with a bunch of the exchange students to Stonehenge and Salisbury. A beautiful sunny morning until we stepped out of the bus at stonehenge and were hit by stinging rain sleet. ack. glorious english weather for ya. Did the walk around the stones, impressive of course if a little overwhelmingly touristy. Then four hours wandering around in Salisbury - spent one or so wandering the cathedral and examining their original magna carta. Giant lunch and pretend shopping as we were all to cheap. Definitely will be expensive living here. Prices seem reasonable because I still think in dollars. Then you basically have to multiply everything by 2... sigh. Spent the last couple of days grocery shopping and setting up house if you will. Kindof what I had to do this summer in Indy but a little more so since I cant just go get stuff from home if i need to. So back to pasta, chips and dip, crackers, bread. the basics. haha. at least everyone else in my kitchen unit seems to know how to cook. Everyone has been great in giving me advice and welcoming me and the other 2 new exchange students. A very international group. The other two new students are a guys from luxembourg and chile. added to people from japan, germany, england, and france. They all seem to go out together pretty often - of course classes havent started yet either. Outside I have more or less set myself up with a group of American friends. plus one from denmark. Went over to their residence hall last night - 5 min away or so. hung out in the kitchen drinking a bit before heading down to Green Park pub for awhile. Met some English students and hung out till the place closed at 1 - they actually rung a bell and did a last call and everything. never heard that in Spain for sure. It will take some getting used to that things close so early here - normally pubs close about 11pm... when i am ready to go out in the US. it is probably better though - more sleep definitely. We hung out a while longer at their residence hall and I walked home around 3. People still awake in my kitchen - 2 chilean guys and the french girl. They made me taste pico, this chilean alcohol drink. eh. no great in my mind but the chileans love it. then a long long sleep and today havent accomplished much. went out to buy more house supplies and did laundry at long last. Now i am stealing my neighboors computer since although my laptop is set up, I cant arrange to get internet until things at the university open on monday. For those who are interested - I do have a phone in my room so just email me and I will send you the number if you ever want to call. Of course at this point care packages would be much appreciated too..... havent quite figured out where i pick up mail but I am sure I can handle it.

Spent a few hours wandering around Topkapi Palace on Thursday morning. Definitely impressive - the residence of the Ottoman Emperors. After getting a bit cold, I headed back to the hostel for a break and then off to a Hamam. Ah. we definitely need those in Indiana. Something to do on cold winter afternoons. It's really just like a massage in a bubblebath. And then the marathon journey across Europe! Arrived at the airport a bit before midnight. Flight left on time at 3:45 am. ack. Arrived around 6am at the Cologne/Bonn airport. I had thought I might go into town and wander a bit, but instead I spent the entire time lounging around, sleeping, reading, and eating at the airport. Not a bad day actually considering I was still recovering a bit from being sick. Left Germany, arrived Stansted airport around 7am. Definitely not the not the most convenient airport from which to get to Bath. I ended up taking buses via Heathrow and arrived downtown Bath around 2am. Bus up to the security office to collect my key. All going well - even ran into an exchange student from germany doing the same thing. At any rate, bad communication somewhere and they had no key for me - or the german either. Instead they gave us "emergency rooms," on campus housing basically set up like hotel rooms for when people visit for conferences. A nice 5 hour rest, then up and to the orientation session. The campus is pretty small so no trouble there. It is also expected that you just show up to classes you may like and then finally register by the end of February. Already met quite a few americans which is kindof nice after the wilds of Turkey. Haven't been back down to town and my room - hopefully this afternoon before the free buffet dinner. I am in Carpenter house which is right in the middle of everything. Everything is rather terribley expensive here though - might even have to come up with a budget to make it through till after the summer! Tomorrow they are taking us on a little excursion to Stonehenge and Salisbury. Hopefully in a day or so I will have my laptop and internet set up in my room. Also a mobile phone eventually... we'll see if I can afford it I guess!

I don't think I did much after Taxim Square... Walked a french and american to the metro stop to figure out where it is when I have to go to the airport. then got followed back by a weird old guy. I have resorted to speaking only in Spanish and calling them names in said language. no one here speaks it. and they still dont leave me alone. everyone in the world just trying to sell carpets. geez. I'm working on my comebacks too... amazing how good it can make you feel. probably not nice, but fun.

So yesterday woke up and was all ready to do good cultural activities. Spent an hour or two wandering around in the Hagia Sofia. amazing building. Even got myself into the Blue Mosque right before lunchtime. Thought I was going to have to cover my hair but didnt. Unfortunately the rest of the day I was out of commission due to unhealthyness. Got two new roomates - an american and a norwegian. Good people that I am meeting at 11 to go see the Topkapi Palace. After that maybe a Hamam? Anyway, I guess I dont have much but wanted to let ya know I am still alive...

and i did go out that night. around the corner to TNT bar where they had a live band. a school holiday so not many people around. pretty interesting range of music - the first song i heard was "perhaps, perhaps,perhaps" by Cake...but in Turkish. definitely odd. so i just hung out. tasted raki for the first time. the worst tasting drink i can imagine - i am obviously not a fan of aniseed. so i didnt finish it and went to bed around 12:30. up way to early to get on a bus to istanbul.

hours later arrived, got a free dolmus ride into sultanhamet - the center of the old town- and checked into the interyouth hostel that is across the street from Aya Sofia. crazy city. Spent a good amount of time wandering around in the afternoon and have NEVER had so many people just start talking to me. almost all are of course trying to sell something. but it is really driving me nuts that you cant go down a street without people from the shops asking where you are from and wont you come in for some tea? got me very on edge last night but i am getting better at telling them to leave me the heck alone or just ignoring them. last night went out to taxim square in the new town. definitely the center of the nightlife. a great place to people watch. went to a bar with a pretty good band and not too expensive cover - drank beforehand of course. stayed until about 3am. here in istanbul the party does go all night long. i bet it is pretty awesome in the summer time. at any rate a taxi back and to bed very tired like.

this morning woke up and walked back up to taxim square - maybe 45min away? across the golden horn. and walked down the hill via the main pedestrian street. lots of people out just walking as today is still the festival of kaban bayrami. found some pretty cool covered marketplaces and cafes to wander in. eventually made it back to sultanahmet and did another circuit of the blue mosque, the hippodrome, and aya sofia. i think there is a mosque on nearly every corner here in istabul. makes it very creepy at the call to prayer times. all the different calls echoing in the streets and sounding so strange and foreign. istanbul is definitely a cool city however. lots to do...

back to update you all.... thıs mornıng woke up way too early to go on a tour of Troy. The sıte ıs about half an hour away from Çanakkale. Defınıtely very cold and very wındy. The only others on the tour were a couple from Sıngapore and a brother and sıster from Canada. Troy ıs no where near as ımpressıve a whole as Ephesus. Stıll, ıt ıs amazıng to peel back layers of tıme to see the 9 dıfferent cıtıes buılt on the sıte from 3000BC untıl 1000 or so AD. If ıt had been a bıt nıcer ıt would have been fun to walk around the trojan plaıns a bıt as well. Our guıde, an ex-navy Turkısh submarıne captaın, dıd an excellent job of explaınıng both mythıcal and hıstorıcal ımportance of Troy. Back to Çanakkale and onto the Gallıpolı tour. All of ıt ıs stıll a bıt dıstant consıderıng how lıttle of WW I ıs covered ın US hıstory back home. The same tour guıde took the two Canadıans and myself all around the penınsula. From Anzac cove to Lone Pıne to the hıgh ground. Basıcally the whole place ıs dedıcated to the dead on both sıdes. Interestıng ıs the lack of anımosıty from both sıdes. Turkısh and Anzacs really ended up respectıng each other ın the end. At any rate, I have made pretty good frıends wıth the Canadıans whıch ıs nıce as they are also headed to Istanbul tomorrow. In the evenıng I went wıth the woman to the local hamam. I am glad thıs one was my fırst and not a tourısty one ın Istanbul. Here ıt was just normal women wıth theır kıds ın tow. You strıp down to your underwear and go ınto the steamroom. I thınk the experıence ıs somewhat dıfferent for the guys. Anyway, the whole room ıs marble wıth sınks of hot water around the floor at the edges and a bıg slab of marble ın the mıddle. The ceılıng ıs a dome wıth small holes cut ın shapes. You can eıther wash yourself usıng the hot water and a bowl to pour over you or have a good scrub/message. She put me on the marble slab and gave me a good goıng over wıth a scrub brush type thıng so that I could feel layers of skın comıng off. Then lathered me up thoroughly and poured hot water over me to rınse me off. A very pleasant experıence. Everyone was very frıendly even though both the Canadıan and I were relatıvely clueless. After takıng a break at the hostel, I went out wıth the Canadıans for some excellent Turkısh pızza or pıde. Good stuff. Baklava for desert too. Now I'm back and should probably go to sleep so I can wake up for the 7am bus rıde.... but I here the bar around the corner has a band tonıght, so maybe not....

Managed to survıve the 15 hour bus rıde from Cappadocıa to Çanakkale. 15 HOURS!! sometımes I wonder about my sanıty. It dıd provıde a few amusements - the 17 year old that sat next to me for a whıle used all hıs englısh on me and seemed absolutely ın love. no wonder the amerıcans ın Sofıa told me I would want to brıng back a harem of 16 year old Turkısh boys. haha... terrıble!

A lovely afternoon here. The town ıs really quıte nıce for a modern cıty. I dıd get a nıce nap ın too though. Tonıght the hostel (as every nıght) ıs showıng Gallıpolı the documentary and the movıe The Fatal Shores. Then tomorrow mornıng I am headed to Troy for a quıck tour around the ruıns and then ın the afternoon over to Gallıpolı to catch up on a lıttle WW I and Austraılıan/Turkısh hıstory.

www.anzachouse.com

i'm currently ın the Neveşir bus statıon preparıng to depart Cappadocia.

My evenıng ın Konya was spent wanderıng and of course eatıng somesort of kebab... Ran ınto the same guys that took me to the ınternet cafe and had about 5 more cups of tea wıth them. Serıously I have never been a tea drınker, but ıts fast becomıng a habıt. Nıce to talk to some people my age and kındof hear what Konya 'the relıgıous cıty' ıs for young people.

On to Neveşir and Cappadocıa. Gorgeous area that remınds me a lot of the West and southwest of the US. Stayed two nıghts at a hostel ın Göreme. For the past two days ı have been goıng on day tours of the regıon. Thıs place would be ımpossıble to see wıthout eıther a car or a tour of somesort. Yesterday we went from Avanos to the Göreme open aır museum all around the ımmedıate area. It ıs also very ınterestıng to hear all of thıs ancıent chrıstıan hıstory - all of the churches, faıry chımneys were buılt by these monks that used to hang out here - from an ıslamıc poınt of vıew. The fırst tıme ı have EVER been the 'chrıstıan' expert! Yesterday there were only 2 japanese kıds and myself ın the car for the tour and today we just added an older korean. I dıd see my fırst amerıcan at the hostel - but she has been her for 6 weeks and ıs just lookıng for a job to be able to stay here longer. Today we took a much longer tour that ınvolved explorıng one of the underground cıtıes that the Hıttıtes and then romans used, walkıng about a mıle ın the Ihlana Valley - gorgeous of course - vısıtıng the sıte where star wars may or may not have been fılmed, and a stop on the old sılk road. Whoever ıs lookıng out for me ıs doıng an excellent job as the past two days have both been sunny - even clear vıews today of the two old volcanos. I guess the past month has been pretty dreary and cold. Also I thınk I'm fınally gettıng healthy! haha. Tonıght I'm takıng a bus all the way to Cannakkale. Decıded to skıp Anakara. Maybe I'll be able to see the Gallıpolı battle fıelds and the ruıns of Troy before I head to Istanbul. Turkısh hospıtalıty ıs just ıncredıble and I completely understand why people who come here once want to repeat the experıence!

sorry to keep you waitıng, but a good internet connectıon ıs hard to fınd!

Fırst - thanks to those who saıd a word of ınterventıon on behalf. My day trıp to Selçuk and Ephesus was absolutely gorgeous. Transport was free wıth my raılpass - although every sıngle tıcket collector mostly just looked confused and then asked where ı was goıng. At any rate, Selçuk ıs a nıce town - old roman aquaduct. Walked about 3km out to Ephesus - exaulted at the clear sky, the treelıned path, and the orange orchards all around. Up a hıll to the maın entrance where ıt was obvıously a slow day. I thınk I would not lıke any of these places as much ıf İ were here ın the hot summer wıth thousands and thousands of tourısts... That day I was the only sıngle person, and I only ran ınto two tour groups as I explored the ruıns. One french, one german. I can understand why Ephesus ıs supposed to be the best example of roman ruıns ın the regıon. Amazıng ampıtheatre, marble streets stıll wıth marble lamposts, terraced houses, the old lıbrary, etc. Probably around 1 km long ın all. That much better beıng alone as most of the tıme I got to feel lıke I was the fırst person to dıscover the place. Scrambled all around ın the old lıbrary and houses and across dont pass sıgns. Just lookıng around you could almost ımagıne what ıt must have been lıke 2000 years ago as a bustlıng port cıty... Took the long way back ınto town where ı had tıme to examıne what ıs left of the temple of artemıs - only one pıllar of the more then 150 that made ıt one of the seven wonders of the world. On the way back to the statıon got caught by a Turkısh guy who wanted to "practıce englısh" maybe he dıd. ı fıgured sınce ı had 30 mın and was rıght near the statıon ı'd take a cup of tea from hım. terrıble amerıcan that ı am. Then traın and bus back to Pamukkale. I went up above the travertınes, ran across thıs awesome thermal pool back beneath the ampıtheatre (ı may tell a select few where ;) ) Ran ınto thıs random hıll town way up above the ruıns where no one really spoke englısh. Bought a carpet.... ı know, ı know! but ı am convınced of the qualıty and my bargaınıng for ıt wıll make a good story for the grandkıds.

Yesterday woke up to a blanket of snow! The most they've had there ın years ı guess. Barely made ıt back ınto Denezlı to catch a bus to Eğırdır. Snowıng hard the entıre way, roads a mess. Kösk pensıon owners met me at the statıon and got me back to there house. Defınıtley the only foreıgner ın the area that nıght. They were a very nıce famılly though - welcomed me up for tea ın theır house above the pensıon (they offer you tea everywhere you go ın turkey) where ı sat wıth them for a few hours. Defınıtley felt lıke home wıth about 5 or 6 relatıves - grandparents, grandkıds, cousıns all sıttıng ın the warmest room of the house wıth the tv on just talkıng and the women knıttıng. When I mentıoned that my famıly grows apples they brought out some apples grown ın the hıll town about 20 km away - Elma I thınk they were called but that mıght just be the name for apple ın turkısh. very good, crısp and sweet for thıs tıme of year. Impressıve amounts of snow - the entıre lake was obscured and I was posıtıve I would be stuck up ın the mountaıns for days. The grandma made me dınner - the best fısh ı have EVER had. obvıously fresh and homemade.

Thıs mornıng caught a bus to Konya, ıt fınally stopped snowıng praıse be!! I am currently chıllıng out and plannıng to go to bed early as ı have developed a cough. Walked around town a bıt - already got 2 cups of tea. Saw most of Alaetın Tepesı and wandered a bıt ın the old town. Thıs ıs the most relıgıous cıty ın Turkey, but ıt hasnt been too bad not wearıng a headscarf as most unıversıty students don't. radıcal college kıds! Overall I must say that Turkısh people are some of the most frıendly I have ever met. Always very excıted to see an Amerıcan. One person ın the old town runs a shop and says that haven't seen any amerıcans for 2 years. I admıt I have seen none sınce I left Sofıa. hopefully ın Istanbul! Tomorrow I'm off to Neşehır and Göreme. Don't know how easy ıt wıll be to contact everyone so hope for the best!

ı apologıze for any odd letters or punctuatıon marks ın the followıng updates as turkısh keyboards are somewhat dıfferent.
Fırst - fınıshıng my sofıa tale. defınıtely a cıty one could stay longer ın. I dıd meet mıguel and adam - the two amerıcans that had been at the art hostel sınce around chrıstmas. Sofıa ıs compact enough that you can see ıt all ın a day at most 2. so what do amerıcans do wıth freetıme? Well, they met teachıng englısh ın ıstanbul and let me know that sofıa ıs to sıngle males what turkey ıs to sıngle females. at any rate, ı let them show me a bıt of the nıghtlıfe. Beware of that Bulgarıan wıne! Not to mentıon the brandy that ıs basıcally rocket fuel. I dıd get to bed for a nıce rest before awakenıng to a cıty blanketed ın snow. Made my way to the traın statıon and on to plovdıv!

No problems gettıng there. Despıte the fact that I have decıded ı do better travelıng when ı have at least one other person that ı can guıde... After the 2.5 hr trıp ı was almost ımmedıately quası-kıdnapped by a very kınd old lady that had been ın my compatment on the way from Sofıa. the fact that only repeated "da, neı, and mercı" dıd not seem to hamper her enthusıasm for havıng captured an amerıcan tourıst. I had planned on just walkıng through the old town, nıce dınner, and back to the traın statıon. ınstead, ı was lead around by the hand, taken to some sort of general store where she bought me a lıttle musıc box thıng and wrote somethıng on the box ın bulgarıan o me, taken out to coffee where we had a nıce "chat" and taken back to her apartment where she lıved (near the old town) wıth 3 other old ladıes. stıll no englısh speakers ın sıght... they got a kıck out of the photos of my famıly and our "vılla." Showed me some of theır famıly photos too. fed me way too much, and then she walked me back to the statıon makıng sure ı got on exactly the rıght traın and ı thınk warnıng me agaınst turkısh people?? maybe askıng me to call? anyway, on the traın to ıstanbul - met some nıce french guys ın the compartment next to me. It was nıce that they let me vent ın englısh for a couple of mınutes. Turns out that Pıerre and Greg had the same plan as me - to get out of Istanbul fast. Our traın, scheduled to arrıve around 9am, hıt bad weather as we crossed to border and pulled ınto the statıon about 3pm.... you should really see the pıctures of ıstanbul and ankara the past couple of days. a mess! ın the worst weather ever, we crossed the bosphorous to the asıan traın statıon and caught an overnıght traın to pamakkule where ı am currently. Arrıved ın denzalı thıs mornıng, bus to pamakkule, we walked up and around the travertınes and ıncredıble roman ruıns. had them almost all to ourselves - probably due to weather all over turkey. http://www.meltemguesthouse.com/ ıs where ıim stayıng. we headed on an adventure to nearby kaklık caves. cold and wet we just returned and had a huge dınner. ın the mornıng ıim headed on a day trıp to selcuk and ephesus. back here ın the nıght and then a bus to egırdır. pray for sunny weather!!!!

status: alive, well, not at all stolen by gypsies...

At any rate I am using the convenient internet place across the street from the 'art hostel' that I am staying at in Sofia, Bulgaria. I rolled into town around 6:30am. First, however, Bucharest:
I had planned to perhaps stop by Sinaia on the way but there was not time so I had a few hours to wander around Brasov some more. pretty place for sure. Then a 2 or so hour train ride into Bucharest. The only other person in my compartment was some poor lady who kept trying to ask me if we were getting close to sofia. At some point I just started speaking spanish whenever anyone spoke to me in Romanian. It's actually close - Romanian is a romance language and very close to old school latin. At any rate, got to Bucharest around 1:30, and headed off toward the center of the historic quarter. Walked through some very gheto areas, lots of gypsy kids runnin all over the place. So wandering, wandering... almost 3 hrs later I realize that I dont really know where I am and that I shouldve been there by now. Well, long story short - I had pulled a complete 180. By the time I found an intersection I knew from the map, I was about 5 blocks from the train station. I then proceeded to walk the wrong way down that street. As a last resort, I walked into the next metro station, attempted to head in the correct direction to the historic quarter. No signs, announcements, I just got off when the most people did. Luckily - it worked. In the dilapidated historic quarter, there were all sorts of random street vendors. I just found somplace recommended in the guidebook and had some nice soup. I walked around to see some of the sights, treated myself to desert, and just as it started sprinkling I headed back toward the train station. words of the day "comfort food. On the way to the station, I ran into the Bostonian that went to Draculas castle with me. He had just arrived and was on his way to a hostel. I wished him good luck and got myself out of town. Had a sleeper car - all to myself! Pretty sweet service too. Of the billion people that had to see my passport, the customs guys were the best. The first one asked me where I had come from and when I said Brasov he got dreamy and said he loved it there. Then asked if I had any problems - drugs, guns... laughed and left. The other customs guy was funny - reading all of my passport outloud, judging me fit to continue into Bulgaria. Ah...
Somehow managed to make it to the hostel here around 7am - the streets are not exactly gridlike, and all the signs are in Cyrillic. I can't wait to see what a mess of things I make when in Turkey. I'm getting the hang of it now though. The 3 other people there were still asleep when I left about 10:30. I hit all the major sites, got my sleeper reservation from Plovdiv to Istanbul, and have spent the rest of my time wandering. An absolutely gorgeous day - to warm for my coat, windy, you can see the mountains all around.... Verdict = sofia is an infinitely nicer place then Bucharest!

I have an hour of free internet access at the hostel here in Brasov, so I thought I'd grace you all with another update. I hoped on a very full couchette last night - got into one of the very top bunks.. I must be getting the hang of it since I slept quite well. This morning the kind romanian couple left in the couchette gave me all sorts of advice about avoiding gypsies and not going out after dark. Turns out that they live in Brasov and they pointed out the way to all the necessary buses etc to get to the hostel. Crazy good times. At the hostel I met an English girl from Manchester and a guy from Boston. Became a millionare at the atm when I withdrew 1,000,000 lei. Once again convince people to go on an adventure with me - this time to Draculas castle. Definitely an adventure as it took almost more time to get there and back then look around the castle effectively. After managing to get back to the main square we ate at 'bella musica' - recommended in all of our guides. Deserving of it as well as a gorgeous meal, drink, and free extras (a shot of palinqa, plum brandy, served before the meal as well as some tortilla chips as it was a combo mexican, hungarian, romanian restaurant) and tip cost me less then $5. Verdict : if you're in Romania, you should definitely stop by this part of the country, it's blanketed in snow right now but not bitterly cold. You can look up around the town and see the Carpathians. Brasov might be the sixth largest city in Romania, but it would be lovely to spend some time here. Sleeping here tonight, a day in Bucharest, and on to Bulgaria!

So here is a quick update... After the last update, I wandered the heck out of Budapest, going all over central Pest and even up around Buda, getting some incredible views. I decided that my family must be distantly magyar, as their first christian king (St. Stephen) looks an awful lot like dad - even similar crowns ;) At any rate, got decidedly hungry and ate chinese before taking a quick stop by the operetta and hungarian puppet theatre. Went back to the hostel and chatted with the Holland girl that was in my dorm.

This morning, I slept in a bit before heading to the meeting point for an 'absolute walking tour' that was about 4-5 hrs all in all. Ended up just being 3 americans, 2 canadians, and 1 irish girl. I now know why January is the low season in Budapest. At any rate, we started off in hero's square with a fast and hard lesson on Hungarian and Magyar history from 896 till the present day. I'm going to know tons of random info by the time i get back... Walked around the city park, checked out the nearby baths... wish i had had time to go back to them but everything shutsdown early on weekends. Headed around the main sights (st stephens basilica, the orthodox synagogue, crazy amounts of architecture) in central pest before walking across the chain bridge and up to buda. It was great to finally know what i looked at last night. Ended up at Matthias church where I quasi led one american, one canadian, and the irish girls all to the labyrinth under the hill. It was originally formed from all the hot spring action, used during the war, and recently renovated. We got a kick out of it. Too bad so many side passages were roped off. Mom - you would've absolutely loved it - all about finding oneself in the labyrinth of prehistory and history. They even have a 'personal labyrinth' you can do at night, in the dark, by yourself, focusing on following a string. The canadian, Marina, and I rode black on the bus back into town. Other then that i've just been drying off, spending the last $5 in forints, and tasting unicum as recommended to all of us by our tour guide. It's some sort of herbal liquor you take as a shot. Tastes like medicine, so hopefully it'll keep me healthy! Well, I'm just wasting forints now... I should go back and get to Kelenti station.

I lied about that last part - we did not go see a puppet show. Took a nap, got up, ran over where the show was - found out it doesn't start till Jan 17th. Terrible. We did manage to get ourselves locked in the building, but luckily someone came along to let us out. so then there was a lot of wandering, avoiding a decision on dinner. then it was 11 and there was only one place open anyway. Anna and I ate, then headed to the marquis de sade - big ex-pat bar where everybody speaks english. Oddly, ran into the americans, George and ShawnT?. Of course it was necessary to test the old czech saying "the best beer is beer."
I drank my obligatory pilsner and budvar, then moved on to absinthe. only one dont worry! But I was taught how to use sugar and basically catch the whole thing on fire before drinking - it burns anyway I spose. That was at the second bar - a neat place down in a sort of catacombs. Everyone smoking pot and leaving buds all over the tables. Would've been infinitely better had the soundtrack not been all the hits of 1991.

After stumbling home to bed, I slept in till about 10 on Thursday. Rousted Anna and we stopped by the local market, where you could buy guns or bruised apples, before heading downtown and going on the tour of the old Jewish ghetto. As it was cold and raining off and on, the tour was nearly private - only 2 other people. After a nice warm cup of tea, we met George and Shawn for dinner. We had planned on attempting the opera, but it was sold out. Instead we went to see the Czech philharmonic in their concert hall playing a Dvorak concert. Not a bad second! If you want a visual, it was the concert hall they used in the movie Amodeus. After more wandering, I had Anna and Shawn drop me off at the train station. The only other person in my entire car turned out to be a Korean girl that had shared my dorm room at Sir Toby's. It wasn't exactly sound sleeping, but not too bad. Only had to show about 5 people my passport at different times: slovak, czech, and a couple of hungarians. Anyway, arrived here around 9am and checked in at the Red Bus II hostel. Not a bad place, only one other in my dorm -immediately set of wandering. I got all around the main parts of Pest and the castle district of Buda. I even had time to stop at the Gellert thermal baths to relax for a couple hours. Definitely an interesting cultural experience. I met two other americans (from Missouri, late 30's.) We found each other rather easily as Americans are some of the few who smile back. Hard to explain. At any rate, most of the other people in the womens thermal baths seemed in their 70's, rather rotund, and naked. As we were not those, we kindof gravitated towards each other. I admit it felt good, and I'm clean now. The wandering continued.... etc, etc. I'm going on a 4 hr walking tour tomorrow, then maybe to some other swimming pools before catching an 11pm train to Brasov, Romania. Time for me to get off the internet and get out doing things.

well, guess it's been a few days so i'll check in..
after my marathon of travel - had to have been a good 48 hrs of nonstop running around, trying to nap in buses, airplanes, and airports. I am now in prague and having quite a time! I enjoyed my 4 hours in Bath where the gals at the reception enjoyed my 'wonderful american accent.' haha. one kept telling stories about the 9 times she's been to america and how great it is compared to england. anyway, bus-ed it to stansted airport where i sat around for 7 hrs waiting for my flight. not bad as the whole place was filled with people doing the same thing - lots of the cheap flights leave from stansted so all the other students and poor people leave from there.
Arrived around 10:30am yesterday. Sat next to a czech woman on the flight who seemed amazed that I would travel by myself. Told me how she would never go to Romania... ah well. i like to live dangerously.
Had some minor difficulties finding the hostel. My fault of course - intracity transport has never been my strongpoint. But now I have a map, I'm oriented, and I have the bus/tram/metro system figured out more or less.
Made friends with a nice Austrailian girl in my dorm- Anna - woke her up when i came in as she was sleeping off the absinthe from the night before. i wanted to get out and do stuff, but it was raining, so I only managed to go to the grocery store and take a nap. Anna and I went out later and had a nice dinner, walked around, met a couple of americans also in our hostel and walked all 2 hrs back.
This morning we did the 4 hr walking tour of Prague, excellent. All the way from Wensealus square to the Prague Castle. Now I'm taking a break, catching up on sitting. Tonight we're headed for a puppet show. A local specialty... out for now!

I have attempted my goodbyes... The saga will begin Sunday.