These statues were everywhere...all different!

After an intense border crossing, and a night in Liberia, we were happy to arrive at our couchsurfer, Justine’s cozy abode. She actually lived in a quaint little town called Belen, just outside of Heredia and about 20

minutes from the city center. Justine herself was a spark of life and ended up taking us in 3 days earlier than we planned…and for 3 days longer!

Justine...you're the best!

Brad had come down with a cough, so after a couple days full of rest and vitamins, we finally made it out into the city. Guess who decided to join us too..yet again..our long-lost couchsurfer Alex! The 4 of us headed for La Sabana park with a soccer ball in one hand and a camera in the other. The park in San Jose is full of life! Everywhere you look, there are kids playing soccer, couples enjoying a picnic, baseball games and artwork all around. We kicked around the ball for a while, watched Alex ride around on a unicycle that he saw someone have in the park, and then enjoyed some fresh coconut juice while watching the baseball game!

Fun in the park!

Whale Skeleton?

Fresh coconut juice!

Yay that Justine was with us, because she casually asked if her and Brad could join in the game, and they accepted! Brad joyously waited in the hot sun for a chance to feel the ball touch his glove (didn’t happen…these guys weren’t the best baseball players around!) before getting a chance at bat! Justine actually DID get a chance to catch a couple balls

in the outfield…but also didn’t happen haha! (LOVE YA!)

Brad up at bat!

After enjoying the outdoors, Justine went to work, and Alex, Brad and I checked out a museum close by, then went to check out the markets. The pedestrian street is quite nice, with lots of shopping, although not as many cafe’s as I would have liked! The markets were bustling with anything you could possible want. On the top of our list… deliciously unhealthy cheese tortillas!

Cheese tortilla wrapped in a banana leaf!

Before we knew it, it was time to leave Costa Rica. Although we didn’t do a whole lot in San Jose, it was the company we were surrounded with that made it such a pleasure! Alex…always great to see you,

and Justine, you were such a fun gracious host! Until next time Central America. Now for the long journey to Peru!

Bye bye Central America!

Olympic emblem

Sydney, once the site of Britain’s first Australian settlement is today the southern hemispheres stylish and lively hub of multiculturalism. Approximately five million people from all around the world have made Sydney their home yet, it maintains the Aussie essence. It is a bustling metropolis full of opportunity and wonderment with no shortage of happenings. Whether you’re after the spectacular landmarks near Sydney and darling harbor, surfing beaches, endless shopping, a stroll through the botanical gardens, or letting hours melt away in a café – Sydney has something for everyone. Â

Sydney Harbor

One first day in Sydney, we took it easy while we were overcoming the jet lag (which was affecting me unusually severely ) and took a stroll to the beach. Coogee Beach is one of the major beaches in Sydney that Sam happens to live 10 minutes walk from. It has a lot of character, with a street lined with locals cafes and smoothie shops, a park overlooking the water, and a promenade type area to sit and admire the view. The beach was already “packed” in the eyes of us WA beach bums, and it was only Tuesday!! Since it still wasn’t too hott yet, we decided to keep walking on to Bondi.

Bench for giants!

Little did we know, Bondi was really over 6 kms away, and walking around the jutted coastline took much longer than we expected. However, we were pleasantly surprised because not only was the view,of course, spectacular, but we happened to be there for

“Sculptures by the Sea”!! We actually had seen this at Cottesloe in WA, and I got probably overly excited when I saw the same awkward red man in a different position!

Weird red man!

We finally made it to Bondi and were overwhelmed by how busy it actually was!! We plopped down on the sand, ate our peanut butter sandwiches, and people watched…hoping to see a famous Bondi rescue! … AND WE DID!!! It totally made the 2+ hour walk there worth it

Bondi!!

Sam and Ariel arrived that night and it was so so great to see a familiar face…..and a gorgeous happy as ever little Sam look-alike! We took a girls day with a stroll to some markets that sold all things i love most about markets. One purchase of this amazing broccoli/silverbeet/kale veggie juice, a gobble down of a chunk of buffalo mozzarella, and a few tastes of some local olive oils, and we were on our way to get our nails done, compliments of my love Brad

Nail Day!

That same night we all went to Kristy and Colins for dinner! After eating way too much cheese and crackers, we enjoyed some delicious pizza for a really nice night in playing with the girls and chatting over wine!

My little buddies :)

Brad and I took to the city the next day and fell in love with Sydney Harbour! The water with the bridge and opera house make it so picturesque…. even in the rain, we enjoyed the view. After roaming around all the little towns, we walked across the bridge for the best view of all!Â

LOVED this view!

On the other side, the famous Luna Park awaited our arrival. It was actually closed…. but the gates were open and we wandered around this abandoned clown park  in foggy rainy weather. It was eerie!! I loved it!

We were lucky to get another nice day in Sydney, and took the ferry across to Manly! Although the beach was nice, it was similar to Bondi, and I actually found I enjoyed the bay more. Our favorite by far though was the 4 pines microbrewery. I recommend anyone to go…it’s got a really laid back atmosphere, a tasting plate of good sized beer for only $15 and everything else you could hope for in a microbrew!Â

4 Pines!

We waited until dark to catch the ferry back, so we could see the city lit up at night! It was so beautiful, and I feel like we were SO lucky, because we saw fireworks at the Sydney Opera House and it was such a cool atmosphere!

Fireworks!!

The weekend arrived, and that meant only one thing…. STAMPEDE!! The valley stampede in Glenworth Valley to be exact. My family friend, Michelle picked us up for the road trip up there to what turned out to be one of the most unique and crazy things any of us have ever experienced. Dressed in Christmas gear, a group of 8 of us set of on a 5k obstacle course through the mud. After some log rolling, tire skipping, ice trenching, rope climbing and hay jumping….we were all wondering why everyone was finishing this thing SO dirty.

Straight Grossness!

WELL… bring on the mud. Next was running through deep wet mud, crawling through muddy tunnels, slip and sliding down into mud and straight up jumping into a sloppy mud pool! It was MAYHEM!!! The funniest obstacle of all was probably running through an electric maze…which really did electrocute you!! How they got away with that…I’ll never know!

The gang!

Anyway it was an absolute blast, and even better being able to catch up and spend time with Michelle and her friends! We finished the day off perfectly with a BBQ and drinks at a nearby hotel. Thanks Shelly for organizing everything!

Our last day in Sydney was spent exploring Darling Harbour. It’s got lots to offer, and the Chinese Garden looked very cool….BUT we mostly just walked around and took in all the crazy Santas floating around

It was really great to get back into the thick of it again and the busy streets of Sydney was a great launching pad. Â Thanks so much to Sam, Valerio and Ariel for hosting us as we remembered how to be budget travelers again. Â Much love to Kristy, Colin and the girls as well. Â

We’re excited for phase two of our travels and hope we have as many amazing stories to share as the first half. Â Thanks for reading!

As a powerful drifting trio, we cruised into Kuala Lumpur at about 4:30am. It was still dark and the taxi totes were on us as we made our way off the bus, which seemed to have dropped us off at a city bus stop, as opposed to a depot. Still sleepy and not knowing exactly where we were, it would have been easy to get disoriented and opt for the taxi; it also would have cost us about 120 ringgit ($40). But since Chels and I were becoming pro’s at this 4am, pitch black, sleepy drop off thing, we collected ourselves, crossed the street and boarded the 2 ringgit city bus which was to drop us off right in Chinatown (if we knew where that was). When we all were feeling like we were in the area we wanted to be we hopped off (usually the bus drivers are really friendly and tell us but not this early), plus there was a McDonald’s. I don’t know about other travelers but the sight of a McDonald’s when sort of lost in a foreign country gives me an easy feeling.Â

Nice view!

We needed to sort out accommodation and since it was the only place with internet that was open And serving breakfast, we indulged. We scarfed down food, cleaned up in the bathroom and semi-sorted where we would get accommodation. As we were leaving the ladies had a creepy crazy guy following us which had to be told to bug off. Guess they don’t see too many blondes or something.Â

Knowing that we

didn’t have long in the city we figured a hostel could be sorted later. We stashed our bags at the nearest place that would have them and headed for the most famous landmark in Kuala Lumpur, Petronas Towers.Â

Famous Petronas Towers!

We rushed to get there because they stop selling tickets for the viewing floor at the top around 10am. Unfortunately they close the top on Monday’s and we just happened to be there on one. They were still a sight to see and hard to even fit properly into a photo. There was a mega mall inside that was nicer than Lenox or Fipps Plaza…all high end fashion shops. The bathrooms were the cleanest we had seen all trip! I wanted to hang around just so

i could go in there again I felt cleaner after I had been in there! Poor Ashley was probably loving the shopping, but Brad and I were heavily avoiding shopping….sorry Ash Bash! We walked around a bit before taking off to figure out our next move.

The rest of the day was spent cruising through the shops of China town and finding accommodation. We had read about a few places in Lonely Planet in the China town area and the spot we ended up choosing looked abandoned and rundown from the outside, but was truly a hidden gem. Wheelers It was a smaller hostel but had just what we were looking for, cheap rates, a private room for the 3 of us…breakfast… and Ashley shelled out the extra money for AIR CONDITIONING!!! Wooo we hadn’t had that in ages! SCORE!

KL was a bit of a different destination that what Brad and I were now set of visiting. After exploring Europe for 6 months, we were OVER the cities, and ready for jungles and beaches…so although I am sure there is TONS of amazing things to do, and of course, AMAZING shopping, we didn’t actually do or buy much!~ We did check out the Batu Caves, which were easy to get to…just outside of the city. The train ran straight there, and after walking up decently steep stairs, and heavily avoiding the monkeys!!!!… we were given a nice view of the city in the distance, but were able to enjoy some natural beauties at the same time!

The view from the caves!

Ashley held a snake!! Very cool, i was tempted, but just jumped in the photo instead! The actual cave was nothing special, but still easy to appreciate. The middle opened up, with clear sky above us, and a small temple covered with monkeys shined in the light!

Snakes!!

We visited a few botanical gardens, considered checking out a huge bird sanctuary, and of course browsed through heaps of markets. Actually we stumbled upon an orchid garden and both bought our Mum’s some Orchids in a jar….which i think turned out to be total FAILS! I know my Mums did…!Â

Orchid Garden

I think one of the highlights for Ash and myself was getting ancient Indian body art…Mehndi, or Henna as most know it, or I think it’s called Inai in

Malaysia… on our hands! It was so incredible watching how quickly and easily this woman did it, but when she was finished, it looked like such a work of art! I had wanted to get one on the streets in India, but never found any, so i was super thrilled! I think she only charged 10-15 ringgit! (5 bucks max!) We were starving, and poor Brad waited so patiently for us girls, so we ducked into a food hall right next to us, and very appropriately grabbed…. Indian food.

Mehndi!

The next morning, we all left with excitement running through us, because Bali was our next stop and the place all 3 of us had been waiting for!

Thai Airways!

We arrived very early in the morning and as in some places we’ve visited before, Bangkok had energy. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t. We caught the taxi to our CS host, Mai’s apartment in Sukhumvit. She answered the door, still in pajamas looking sleepy, with evidence of a party in the background. As it turned out, her celebratory birthday dinner got a little crazy the night before and had plans to go into work a little late. SO, she went back to bed and Chelsea and I passed out on the amazingly comfortable futon leaving the intro phase till later that night.

Finally – delicious Thai food!

That night we got to know Mai a little bit over some delicious Thai street food in a area set up for vendors with little plastic table and chairs set up besides their portable kitchen. We were really excited since we’d been looking forward to that since the inception of our trip. The service was quick and personal, and the mixed meat and noodle dish did not disappoint, especially the mango and sticky rice for dessert!

Mango and Sticky Rice!

On our way home, we all decided to get Thai Massages!! Yay we had been waiting 6 months to get a massage (it was especially difficult turning down 5 a day on the beach in Santorini!), and the moment had finally come! Mai knew this CHEAP place, only 100 baht, which is just over $3!!! We may have been sketched out if Mai had not been with us. This place was dark with little cubicles to lay in, BUT it ended up being amazing! A Thai massage is more like being stretched out after a work out. The outfits they give you to put on are the coolest too

The next day on our way to the train station to buy tickets to the Cambodian border, we were lured in by a travel agency. A bit skeptical but intrigued enough to listen we sat in there for over 2 hours figuring out plans for what would turn out to be, the next two weeks.

Bootleg Thai massage!

First stop on our tour was Kanchanaburi and this involved an early next morning “bus” to experience the River Kwai and surrounding areas. These new travel plans had us booked for two return trips to Bangkok. Since we had to be up-around 5:00am we opted for a visit to China Town knowing at some point in our returns, we would explore the cities famous attractions. We got lucky picking China town on this particular night, where the vegetarian festival was underway. We took advantage of the street vendors and even caught a glimpse of some ancient Chinese dancing. The night concluded with the long walk back to the sky train.

Tacky Chinese dance!

Walking out of the train station, shooing off the taxi totes offering rock bottom bait and switch deals, and to the hectic bus stand that would turn into our latest adventure. Although it appeared unorganized at first, the bus we were looking for showed up after only a few minutes. This was a reoccurring theme of India transport, appearance of no structure but somehow, it gets you where you need to be (but never on time).

Kolkata – courtesy if google!

Before we had to jump on, and I mean quite literally ‘jump’ on the moving bus we decided we’d better get a water. It was blistering hot, we were carrying backpacks and had been traveling for 18 hours. I reached into my pouch, grabbed 100 rupees and as I pulled it out realized there was a tiny tear in the top left corner of the bill. Our experience with ripped rupees was that NO ONE accepts them (at least from a foreigner). We had no extra money and no ATMs in sight. On the walk back to the station, we stumbled upon a man who tried gluing it back together, BUT we watched it fall apart within seconds. Luckily we found a kind old lady at the medical tent who went out of her way to get it switched out for us.

Now, back to the bus stand, we grabbed a water and very kindly were told about the air-conditioned bus, only a few rupees more. We were hot , and spotted it right away so we made a run for it. Chels had fallen behind a little bit and had to stand in front of the bus to make sure he stopped for her lol (of course I was telling him to as well but they don’t always listen). It was a good thing that we opted for the air con bus because it took us 2 and a half hours at high noon, sitting in dead stop traffic to get to our CS, Roy and Arnav’s apartment.

Roy and Arnav!

We spent the rest of the day getting to know each other, chowing down food (at this point we had not eaten for 24 hours) and exchanging music. At night we hit up this great hotel bar that had a live band playing some grunge and classic rock tunes. Roy and Arnav were absolutely rocking out dancing and singing and we happily joined in. After the close of the bar we went to the local late night food spot. They did all the ordering and it was delicious and fiery hot!

Compost-able cup!

Rocking out!

The next day we hung out all day together. Roy graced us with his chilled-out guitar skills, and we completely fell in love with one song, “Bana Bana Bana Bana, Bana Bana Bana” hahaha sounds silly when we write it out like that. It basically means “Keep Moving”. Keep moving along in life! He has a really deep southern sounding voice… Johnny Cash style in a lot of songs he wrote!

Bana Bana!

When we decided to grab some food, Roy took us to a local spot to get a Chicken Roll and it was the best thing ever!!! We broke our vegetarian-only habits on our last day in India but ohh it was sooo worth it!

Chicken Roll YUM!

A bit later on, we picked up one of their good friend at the airport. Roy was surprised at the amount of traffic for that time of day and as it turned out, a Haj pilgrimage, which is a Muslim pilgrimage to mecca was underway (wanna freak out an American, visit the airport during a Haj) and again bonded over our love for music. Roy picked up a bunch of beer and Indian snacks. Brad and I taught them some American drinking games (our specialty) before we all headed to the rooftop to light off fireworks! Probably NOT the best idea with a buzz on! The boys had a massive firecracker war…runing all over the roof, brad seriously burnt his hand on a sparkler, and we had another “Bana Bana” singalong sesh! It was like we had been friends forever!

On our way out the door to catch our super late flight, Arnav gave me a surprise going away pressie! A great big handbag! They both manufacture luxury handbags and wallets, specializing in leather, and made me one <3 ! So thoughtful, and it ended up being so handy throughout the rest of the travels! We were so sad to leave Roy and Arnav, and almost considered changing our flight to spend more time with them! We didn’t leave before promising a return visit to India sometime in the near future Thanks boys!

Fireworks Fun!

Looking back on India… well actually I hated it at first. India has extreme polarization of rich and poor and it is painfully obvious, there population is massive making things cluttered and it has some of the dirtiest places I’ve ever seen. Corruption is rampant and you will be ripped off in some way shape or form. Mostly everyone knows the bad stuff from either a travel show or having known someone who has been. BUT India is magical. By the end of our trip and soon after I realized how mother India’s fascinating people, places and culture transcend all the negatives. It breaks you down then builds you up, a constant roller coaster of sights, sounds, smells and emotion; I’m sorry we only had two weeks. Even though it started off tough,in the end India was exactly what we needed and had been searching for. It’s top on the list of places to revisit, and next time, I’ll be ready.

Rickstraw!

Brad and I wandered to the nearby markets to pick up some necessities. Crossing the street was interesting It took us a little bit to get the conversion down while we were shopping too, 45 rupees to 1 dollar. We didn’t end up going into the center because we were going to stay a couple days. However when Kaushik got home from work, he told us that tomorrow was the verdict after 16 years of waiting to decide a fight between the Muslims and the Hindus, for a mosque or a temple. Apparently there was super increased security because they were expecting some outrage and crime… so unfortunately we decided we had to leave Delhi tomorrow.

Kaushik!

We DID however make our last night there count, and Kaushik took us to a cool Tibetan joint with cheap cheap food..but a lot of it! Deliciousness! Loads of dumplings accompanied by a super hot chili sauce that Brad had to eat a heap of after losing to a rock paper scissors contest He took it like a champ though! We finished off a great night with Kaushik showing us his incredible magic tricks! Still am amazed and have no idea how he did what he did!!!

Spicy Tibetan food!

The next morning, we woke up super early to catch a train out of Delhi, but it didn’t quite turn out as we hoped. When we arrived, the train station was packed with Indians, all apparently trying to leave Delhi during the Commonwealth Games. We found out the usual tourist ticket office was closed, and we had to go into the city center to get them. And so we did. THEN we found out ALL the trains were waitlisted at over 100 people, and we had to change our WHOLE India trip.

New plans…. Delhi->Udaipur->Jaipur->Agra->Varanasi->Kolkata. It cost more than we hoped, but now ALL of our trains AND accomodation were booked, so i guess it took some stress off, especially since the Indian trains can be a nightmare sometimes! Since our train wasn’t leaving until late that night, we were lucky to actually be able to see Delhi for the day, with a free driver too!

They thought i was famous!

We went to a couple temples and forts, took our first Rickshaw ride, saw our first snake charmer (which i unfortunately didn’t get a picture of), and ate our first official Indian dishes! Girls kept asking me for pictures, and i don’t know if they think I’m famous with my big sunnies, or if it’s just because I’m white! haha! But most of all, we spent the day just watching everything going on around us. Craziness. Traffic. Poverty. Wealth. Kids running in Sprinklers with not a care in the world. Praying. Colors everywhere. Great aromas of street food. Disgusting wiffs of dog piss and sewerage. It was overwhelming.

Relaxation!

When it was time for the train, Brad and I had no idea what to expect….. an unorganized crowd of people? Chickens running through the train cabins? People hanging out windows? Yes…it was like that in the unreserved second class cabins, but luckily we got Third Tier AC reserved seats. So basically there are 3 bunks stacked and another set across from it….pretty crowded but still enough breathing space. Not the most lovely, but definitely good enough. And so we left Delhi, sad to leave Kaushik, but excited for what was to come…especially since we had never even heard of Udaipur before.

Cheapy Cheap!

I think Chelsea and I both agree that our time in Budapest was less about wandering around the city, discovering cool, exciting things to snap photos of and marvel over but about chilling out and preparing ourselves for our two weeks in India!

We thought we had a CouchSurfer lined up for the entire length of our stay but when we failed to connect the first day we were no longer sure. Lucky for us he lived in the same building as a cheap hostel, where we would bed down for the next two nights.

The first morning we woke up with a purpose, attain our Indian visas. Now, we had been putting this task off for the entire six months in Europe, praying that our research was right and we could apply for the visa at our port of exit to India. The processing takes three days and the embassy only excepts applications between the hours of 10am-12pm, Monday – Thursday. It was Wednesday and if we didn’t get there this day, we were screwed! Needless to say we woke up stressed to find the embassy and get it done.

Chain Bridge

Three quarters of the way through our cups of coffee and halfway out the door, our CouchSurfer, Gyuri comes wobbling in to our hostel. He is a good looking guy and well spoken so I guess I would say he has charisma! You could talk to him about anything from US monetary system to Scientology, and we did. BUT, not on this morning.

Once we had the Indian Visa situation taken care of (and realized there was no way for a Russian transit one) we felt like we could relax and take in Budapest. Our host Gyuri was a really interesting guy, probably one of the most unique individuals we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. He had heaps of advice about traveling in India and Southeast Asia and we swapped stories about touring Europe and America. Like I mentioned earlier, he is a guy that could talk about anything so conversation flowed super easy laying the groundwork for a quickly formed friendship.

Playmate party!

He taught us about the national sport of Hungary… sneaking in to places (or getting in for free). Of course Chels and I were all about the price of free but when it came to hopping fences to get into a mineral bath we took a pass. Riding the tram and bus without tickets, dodging the conductors was enough of a thrill for us and as much risk as we were willing to take. A highlight of our “sneaking in” experiences with Gyuri was when we somehow scored VIP to the Playboy Playmate of the Year Party at this uber cool night club. The place was packed with people, especially for the strip-tease show at the end.

Strip tease!

This girl apparently was a famous Hungarian porn star (The OTHER National sport of Hungary), and an amazing stripper, opening her own place, and teaching girls ha! She’s pretty old now in the face, but rocked a great bod….and put on a fabulous show!

The next day we finally caught up with Courtney, ready for this…Brad’s mom’s co-workers daughter! haha! It was cool to have a mutual soon-to-be-friend to meet up with in another country! We met at St.Stephens Basilica, which is MASSIVE and beautifully placed in a big square with lots to do and see around it….it’s the center of attention!

Gorgeous!

Underground!

After eating at a yummy Italian restaurant where it was soooo nice to have a delicious Caesar Salad…. Courtney and her friend took us to this “underground pub” called Szimpla. This place reminded us of the festival put on by the squatting community in Amsterdam… lots of Art and what might be considered junk…turned into something funky and fun. Apparently there are a few places like this in Budapest; they are called ROMKOCSMA or “ruin pubs” because the buildings had no use any longer. Anyway, we loved it..super cool AND they brewed their own beer!

The next few days Brad and I spent relaxing, wandering the city, picking up our visa (yay!), having a picnic in the park which Brad completely organized Gyuri also took us to the flea markets one morning which turned out to be great timing, because there was a massive marathon happening in the same area. I’ve never been to one, so it was cool to see the hundreds and hundreds of people preparing, and all the commotion and excitement going on!

Before we knew it, it was almost time to leave Budapest. But not before meeting Courtney’s Dad! It just so happened he was coming into town while we were there, so it was great to meet Jeanne’s coworker and get some juicy stories on her It all turned out to be good of course! He treated us to a meal and the conversation flowed. Thanks again Richard

Next stop: India!!

Pretty Prague

We woke up bright and early to get a good days start seeing the sights! We didn’t get very far before the aroma of delicious food leered us in! Chicken on a stick and sausages, complete with sugary pretzels for dessert! YUM! So now with full bellies, we made our way across the famous Charles bridge before exploring a pretty park which gave us a beautiful view of the whole city! And after some trials and tribulations in the woods, we finally made it to the castle!

YUM!

After walking up a moderately sized hill and proud of our accomplishment, we decided to reward ourselves with a few beers. We ended up stopping at this medieval times type place which was absolutely pitch black inside, aside from a few flickering candles. The tables and chairs were made of heavy wood and the place was decorated like a dungeon.

Medieval bar

We were lucky to arrive at the castle just in time for the change of the guards….so serious! Checked out the cathedral and castle…always a magnificent site, and snapped some fun pics from the outside.

Castle!

As soon as the sun went down, we got ourselves ready for Prague’s nightlife! There are tons of clubs, bars, and restaurants open late, and we first got lured into an empty one with go go dancers on crack before managed to find “Eastern Europes biggest club” ha who knows if that is true! Nevertheless, it was a blast. The dance floor was lit up in all different colors and constantly changing, and the 4 of us danced the night away! Brad and I called it a night, but Chris and Joe stayed out til all hours of the night Not really…they left shortly after us but got horribly lost and made a 3-hour walk home! Sorry boys! Makes for a good story though

Dancing the night away!

We left Prague with an appreciation for the cities beautiful mixture of architecture, its green parks overlooking the river, and of course its nightlife!

We arrived in Berlin to rainy weather. Chris and Joe’s train was suppose to arrive at 1pm, leaving just enough time to find the location of the RV lot. Apparently missing your ride out of Amsterdam is contagious or common or something, because when they didn’t show up by 2pm, we assumed they had done the same as us… which they did, only in the form of oversleeping. Saw that one coming!

Legoland!

By the time we got to the RV, it was pretty late but we were exccittteeeed! We whipped up a yummy dinner and just parked it in a grocery parking lot to stew up plans for the rest of the week. The next day, the journey began to find parking for this beast. Keeping an eye out for other Rv’s to buddy up with, we found a parking lot near the Sony Center and decided to check our the massive infrastructure. It was pretty impressive, with tons of restaurants, a movie theater, and shops….none of which heavily appealed to our needs (The Lego Land was cool though!)

We did end up finding a special RV lot where the boys collaboratively emptied out the WC and filled up the water. HAhahaha it was hilarious! I was inside happily doing the dishes and cleaning when suddenly i heard them all just howling and laughing and eww-ing! It was then we decided ONLY pee IF it’s an emergency…we’ll stop at rest stops from now on!

…poo…

When everyone felt fresh again after a few showers, we headed out to the nearest absinthe bar! Being a Tuesday night, it was dead but we didn’t let is stop us. We found ourselves a comfy couch and ordered the strong flaming shots. I actually didn’t know Absinthe was supposed to be lit on fire, but the process is pretty cool! You dip the sugar cube into the stronngg liquor, then pull it out on your spoon to light it on fire for a few seconds before dropping it back in! It’s pretty rough.

Absinthe

Berlin wall!

The funniest thing though was that we all thought it was going to be a crazy night and we were going to hallucinate or something…like the movies say haha! We ended up having this intellectual conversation about gravity and physics and who knows what?! And we all felt really relaxed! Maybe we didn’t drink enough…i don’t know! But it ended up being an early night for everyone!

On our way out, we caught the Berlin Wall! It’s crazy to think that it came down only 20 years ago!!! And yet Germany seems like such a put-together country…impressive! Of course on the day we had to leave, the weather finally cleared up…but we were determined to get to Oktoberfest for opening weekend, so on we went! Next stop…Prague!