Prague...oh Prague, what a beautiful city! I left Germany this morning by way of Cologne and the giant gothic DOM, hopped on a flight by German Wings and headed to Prague. I was a bit nervous, leaving a familiar face (Thanks for putting up with me Dave!) but as the North wind blows, we must move on. So, got into the airport and followed the directions to the hostel I'm staying at quite literally. It took a while, some miscommunication with busdrivers and getting on the bus on the wrong side of the street but here I am. I met this girl Roxanne right away and we headed into the city. The hostel I'm staying at kind of reminds me of a summer camp type of feeling, it's a little bit out of the city, on the river and very quaint and clean. I think I will book somewhere a little more central though in Vienna, which I will probably head to on Wednesday. Anyway, the city is so pretty, it really has been untouched by time in many places. Roxanne and I walked up to the palace and looked down on the city, it was quite breathtaking. We then walked all the way down in this scorching heat and ended up in having a nice vegetarian meal in the old city square, very pretty indeed. Everyone at the hostel is very nice so far, although I think they are all a lot younger. Roxanne is cool but she is leaving tomorrow :(

People come and people go, I guess that's just a part of life anyway. How profound, eh? Hehehehe....

Was thinking about heading out with some people, but felt tired so I might just go shower and chill out, plan my day tomorrow.

I will post soon...still can't get pictures to work. Sorry.

Love,

Anne

Hallo! I've been in Germany for a couple of days now. There was a little bit of a detour in coming here, my train got cancelled a few times but I met this really sweet couple from this town Heerlen where I had to transfer stations so they basically adopted me me through the various train transfers in order to get to the town. I felt very fortunate. Aachen is a small University type town, it's pretty with cobblestone streets and old buildings. I'm beginning to notice a trend in that, every town I go to, large or small have these beautiful cathedrals. Dave and I went to Cologne last night and they have this huge one, really unexplainable by words or even pictures. I have never seen a church so large! The thing to eat in Aachen is this bread/cake type of thing called Printin. It is alright, kind of gingery. Other than that, I can't say the food is anything to write home about. Although I hear the beer is amazing, I guess I'll never really know. Today we are heading to Brussels to check out the waffles and chocolate. Then I leave tomorrow for Prague. I am very excited to see Prague. I admit I have been a little bit lax here, taking a little breather from running around like crazy, but I intend to start full force again once I get to Prague. I booked at this hostel The Boathouse, which was recommended by Ellen's sister. From the reviews, it seems like a great place. And I can finally start my Euro hostelling, backpacking experience.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Not too many crazy adventures to speak of.

Have a good weekend, wish you were all here!

Anne

Birthplace of Rembrant, Esher, Van Gohg...and H&M? Yes, I am in the Netherlands, leaving tomorrow morning. It is such a wonderful, beautiful city. I didn't partake in any of the sinful affairs of Amsterdam but did take in a lot of culture. I even rented a bike and rode around the city, successfully navigating from Richard's house to the City Centre all by myself without getting lost. Although I did have two run ins of crashing my bike into the locals at various intersections. The first time, the person laughed it off, today the woman gave me the dirtiest look ever. Besides that, I waited in line for the Anne Frank house and was moved to tears, did a canal tour, visited the Van Gogh museum, had many cafe experiences by the water and Richard took us to this little fishing town nearby with his friend Jamal (Brooke or Shannon, he's a doctor, single and cute....let me know if you want an email buddy from Amsterdam). It was wonderful sitting by the water, eating and feeling the breeze. Richard is a kind person with a great gentle spirit, thanks Colleen for the hook up, I really appreciated his hospitality. The only downfall is my deformed eye right now, where the first night I was here, I slept with my hair wet and mosquitos attacked...I look like I've been punched in one eye, it's all swollen and red. Also my butt is aching from riding bikes, I am returning it tomorrow before I head into Germany. It will be interesting to see how I manage with my backpack and the bike....I will keep you guys informed, should be quite the adventure. I feel bad for any dutch people who happen to be out riding tomorrow...might have some more run ins.

So, another action packed day, soaking in the sights. Some people have been requesting photos, I haven't had the chance to upload them yet but should be able to do it when I get to Germany. I am probably going to skip Berlin now and head straight to Prague, just for the sake of time. I am meeting my friend Georgia in Rome on August 10th, and so I don't want to be too rushed doing it. I can't even believe that I have been gone for a week now! Crazy, time is flying by...still have to do the hostel thing.

Anyway, I am starting to miss everyone a lot but I know that I will be home soon to see everyone. In the meantime, keep out of trouble!

Anne

Cheerio!! Thanks for the posts, I love it! I miss you guys sooo very much. There's so much to see and do, I really wish I had people to share it with (Brooke? Shannon? Wanna come meet me?). I am in Amsterdam now, just arrived about a half an hour ago and am staying at a friend of Colleen's place. London was lots of fun, I did the whole double decker bus tour of the city, National gallery and (kind of embarassed to say), a "DaVinci Code Walking Tour" which was included in the tour package. I wanted to walk, it sounded kind of cool...Darryl and Allana were amazing hosts, so generous and kind. Thanks guys for letting me stay at your flat (apartment)! They took me to this little market where were shopped around, got some food. Lily and Robyn, I took pictures of the bread and cupcakes for you. The food was alright, I can't say that it's particularly appealing when you come from Toronto. And typically English food is heavy and greasy so I didn't really venture too far in that department. Hopefully it will be better as I get into different countries. I also got to meet up with Macy and meet her boyfriend which was really cool because I hadn't seen Macy in 3.5 years (we calculated that out).

Got up early this morning and took a train, ferry, train to Amsterdam. Wanted to fly, but by the time I went to book, flights had gone up astronomically ($250 Canadian) so I googled "cheapest way to get from London to Amsterdam"and lo and behold this option appeared. Cost about $70, which is pretty damn good. London is sooo expensive, biggest rip off was 3 quid (that's pounds, about $7 Canadian) for a bottle of water. As you can see, I'm picking up a bit of the slang in London.

Anyway, I will be here for a few days and then heading in to Germany. I am staying with Colleen's friend Richard who was kind enough to pick me up from the train station. It's a very cute place. He has graciously taken the day off tomorrow and we'll be biking around the city, which is a very typical thing to do in Amsterdam (you should see all the bikes). I haven't had time to upload photos yet, so I will as soon as I can. Unfortunately, I did not see Sienna or Jude, Gwyenth or Chris, Madonna or Guy....although I did see a site where they are filming the next Keira Knightly movie. I will keep my eyes peeled for JT, maybe he's still in the continent...

Ta-ta!

Anne

Hello, I am in London now, arrived last night via bus and "tube" (I was looked at funny when I asked my busdriver how to get to the subway). Bath was really beautiful, Jen and I had a great time, just walking around, eating icecream and catching up. It's so interesting to see how her life is there. I am staying with Darryl and Allana today, going to do a tour on the double decker and head over to the aquarium. If anyone has seen the movie Closer, it's where Julia Roberts meets Clive Owen. I've also been directed to visit Top Shop, where there's apparently great sales, but I must go early so that I don't get overwhelmed by the crowd, which I've noticed is mostly Spanish high school students right now in "language school". Some people have requested "dirt". There isn't too much "dirt" to speak of yet. Everyone's been so hospitable and nice. Staying with friends is great, but you don't really meet too many people. I'm sure Ray's glad about that but I promise you, when I get some dirt, I will dish it out....if that day may come (Sorry Liz, I hear you have some of your own "dirt"....Please keep me informed :)

I gotta jet now, I'm at my friend's office Oglivy, I see all this product around, reminds me of APEX.

Peace,

Anne

So, here I am in lovely Oxford, sitting in my friend Jen's dorm room sweating my little panties off. I thought Toronto was bad last week, it seems I brought the high temperatures and humidity with me. The flight today was rough, the captain had to get everyone to go back to their seats and buckle in due to turbulence 4 times....But I made it through, only to be hit with this intense heat. Got to Gatwick, got a phone card, and am hooked up. Then I bought a ticket to Oxford and arrived to be greeted by Jen. I can't tell you how nice it is to see her and to start off the trip with comforts of home. We had lunch on campus and then took a stroll around, looking at the architecture and getting explanations about the city. Basically, Oxford is an old University town that is divided into colleges similar to U of T. After that, we chilled out in her room, just chatted and caught up. Then we met up with her friend Maria, her boyfriend Hannes and friend Mike and went punting on the river. It was really nice, basically like the gondolas in Venice but you do it yourself and you drink prims, although I just had lemonade. Tomorrow we are going to hit up Bath for a day trip before I head into London to meet up with Darryl and Allana. Sooooo tired, Hannes is making us dinner and then I will shower and go to bed....

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone and anyone who is reading this. I changed the comment section so anyone can comment without having to sign up. Please do so at your leisure.

Love ya,

Anne

It's Sunday night, I just spent the weekend running around like a chicken with my head cut off and being unbelievably irritable (Sorry Lily and Ray!). Lily is packing to leave for Taiwan tomorrow morning and I still haven't even started packing...how very typical. I guess I don't really have anything that exciting to post yet, but I figured I would try to set a standard, and make sure I'm using this site having given it to everyone already. I am feeling anxiety over all these changes. I know I should be so excited, but it hasn't really hit me yet. As I was saying to people on Friday, I have been in planning and waiting mode for the past year, but nothing officially changed until I walked out of work. Tomorrow will be filled with sad goodbyes, packing and going to the dentist (5th time in 2 weeks...SO ANNOYING).

The next time I post will probably be when I get to London...man oh man, what have I gotten myself into??? But we all gotta do something that makes us nervous at least a few times in our lives, right?

On a seperate note, I am saddened to hear about all the fighting happening in the Middle East. I pray that somehow things will diffuse and one side will take that first step towards peace. We are so blessed beyond our understanding.

See you soon!

Hello, this is my first post and a short one at that. This blog is for people who are interested in seeing what I am doing and a way for me to keep in touch without having to email everyone and their brother. Obviously I would love to be in close personal contact with everyone while I am away, but that can't happen so this will have to do. But there may be personal shout outs every so check often, if not daily! (okay, maybe not daily...)

So, it's a one week countdown until I depart, headed for London as my first stop. I feel very fortunate to be able to see friends right when I get there. Visiting Jen in Oxford will be my first stop, which should prove to be exciting followed by a stay in London with Darryl and Allana and a visit from little Miss Macy herself whom I haven't seen in YEARS! Very exciting. My only hope is that I can sleep on the plane....

Alright, until my next post, peace and love.