espana!

hola...
i´m feeling a lot better, just my ears are still plugged up and wisdom teeth in the back that are growing in, are at times painful when i eat, but overall feelin good!thanks for your prayers...

after a long day of train rides yesterday, jodi and i made it to barcelona...jodi and i were for some reason soooo out of it(maybe its because we had to wake up at 445 in the morning-jodi didn´t hear her alarm that went off due to her promising ear plugs that she´s grown so attached to, so it kept going off and felt really bad for our other 5 roomates,luckily it shut off after a few minutes and when my alarm went off 20min later, i decided to wake sleeping jodi up since she still needed to shower)and we slept for probably a total of 4 hrs out of the 8hr train ride (3 different trains)..finally before our final leg of the ride, we got coffee and felt a little more purkier(sp?)...

i really like it so far here and am glad that we are here a few days before marci arrives (tomorrow morning) so that we have down time to make sure we know where the airport is and scout out what we would like to see so that we make the most of our time.the people here are super nice and i´ve really enjoyed using my four years of spanish that i took in high school and ATTEMPT to put it to use...although i´ve forgotten a lot, i have started to remember as i hear it..."its all coming back to me now..."hehe..anyways, we had a nice dinner last night, don´t remember the spanish names for our dinner, we had a traditional red looking soup that tasted oniony and then had a fried chicken, french fries, and some lettuce...hehe..but the waitor gave me a full bottle of white wine..i had just ordered a glass and told me the rest was mine...bad news bears..hehe.

ANYWAYS...the meal was a nice change up from our peanut butter sandwhiches and banana..and this morning, our breakfast (free from our hostel) was a refreshing change...cappucino, oj(tangy..didn´t like),cereal, and a croissant with jam.ohhhhhhHH..last night, as jodi and i were walking around trying to scout out a dinner place to go to, we were walking and all of a sudden, we saw a great white light :) we saw a STARBUCKS!! angelic music to our ears....we plan on going there today...just a reminder of our great american heritage land!i mean, the cafe in all the places we´ve been so far has been great, don´t get me wrong, but we can´t order something like a "grande, skim vanilla latte with whip cream"hehe...so spoiled.well, marci arrives tomorrow morning!!so excited...will continue to catch you up later...miss you all so much!

love,
sar

p.s. jill-to answer your question about finding jodis pics, on a previous blog, i listed her blogsite(jodikjackson@blogspot.com i think) and on her site, she posted the website, snapfish.com, and her login and password to get in and see her pictures, they are just a few of the beginning of our trip in paris, she didn´t have time to upload the rest...

under the weather in the french riviera:::

it has been a fez days since i last wrote::this will be a chqllenge becquse this keyboard is messed up:::well jodi qnd i took the train from florence to nice:::on our way we had to switch trains and we ended up getting off at the wrong stop and had to taxi it 15 min to the right train station to make our next train by 10min:::i had had a horrible sleep the night before because i felt a sore throat coming on and the neighbors tv was blasting:::so got zero sleep:anyways::we got in and i was exhausted and feeling sick.jodi played mom and helped me..we made peanut butter and banana sandwhiches and yogurt while we stayed in and watched the movie For Richer or Poorer in German..we went to the beach all day yesterdqy..soooo hot and the stony beach was rough on our feet; but the water was gorgeous::i was very congested; but i believe the beach was a bit of medicine ;]...jodi tripped on the stairs and fell into some guys butt which saved her from chippin a tooth on the cement::hehe:we are staying here in nice another night, then will train it to barcelona:::we will meet a friend there on the 30th..but well be there a few days before..i feel better today; i think all the doping up on nyquill and dayquill has helped.oh..jodi and i bought books to read on our long train rides..i got the scarlet letter and she got pride and prejudice::we will switch when we finish..ok...bye:

firenze

ciao from florence :)
i finally have enough time to check some email and blog more because jodi and i each got an hour of time so iàm pretty happy about it.anyways, when i last wrote we had just finished a day of bike riding through the hills of tuscany and were about to spend the night in the 8 bed mixed room with some "fresh out of high school" peeps.well, letàs just say that it was the WORST night thus far of sleep! the three boys and few girls from cali stayed up late, while jodi and i (oldies) went to bed at 10ish...i knew it might be a dreadful night knowing the circumstances so i was prepared with my ipod phones in bed, with some cotton to stick in my ears also, in addition to tying a shirt around my eyes so that every time our roomates opened the door, i wouldnt be blinded-woken up...jodi had her earplugs she bought in venice so she was set...well, we thought we were set.they were quite noisy coming in and out, the walls were paper thin, and once they FINALLY went to bed, one of the guys snored SOOO LOUD..it was soo ridiculous..i canàt describe to you how loud it was, but i pitty the woman that ever ends up with him.so we hardly got sleep. we were ready to leave the next morning, although it was a clean and accomodating hostel.we got to the city of florence yesterday morningish, checked into our super nice hostel, and went to see the david at the galleria dell accademia...it was amazing.it is so much larger in person and i could stare at it all day probably.basically, michelangelo was a stud.we were disappointed when we could not take pictures, cameras everywhere plus security...but i finally snapped one when i was in the corner off to the side..i just had to!it was def worth the 10euros...well, after that we walked around ALL day, jodiàs feet were killing her and blistering by the end of the day...but we saw a lot of the main monuments to see-the duomo, pittis palace, in addition to the ponte vecchio bridge that was the only place standing after a bomb hit the city during WWII.when we finally got back to our hostel, we met our roomates that were super nice..way better than the last, liam and bridget from melbourne australia and a two others from argentina. liam and bridget invited us to go watch the sunset at this high point(where we walked for 30min, then climbed up a few hills to get to the top) and so we decided too...we tooks some pics up there in addition to just chatting with them and talking about our travels.they both are in europe for 4 months backpacking, and had already been here for 7wks.they def gave us some tips for where we are headed, that theyve been too already.it was so interesting to talk about the different slang words that americans have vs. australians..so i def took mental notes in my head to put in my "back pocket" to use in the u.s. :)well, had a good sleep last night and jodi i are going to try and do some laundry today at an actual laundry mat, instead of the sink.tomorrow we leave for nice, france.ok, well, more later...miss you guys!

mediterranean north beach diet...

before i go into the title, last night i just want to note that i almost won the contest... i donàt know if i mentioned it before, but jodi and i are having a contest to see who can make each other pee their pants first.those of you who know jodi...know that she tends to easily pee her pants ç)anyways, she almost did that like 4 or 5 times yesterday in venice after dinner...we were taking the boat to different islands to walk around and the people on the boat probably thought she had been drinkin a bit too much because she was laughing a ton over certain comments i would make..we tend to have that sarcastic joking going on with each other..anyways, i still havenàt won yet..

well, this morning we woke up, packed up our other body attachment, the backpack, and took the 40min boat ride back to the main land where the train station is located and only took a 2 hr ride from venice to florence...so much better than a 6hr ride!anyways, i feel like i totally have had my carb-bread intake for the rest of my life...itàs just so good here and fresh!croissants, paninis, pasta, etc...but iàm sure we are hiking enough to walk some of it off..anyways, had to take a 30 min bus ride to our hostel and luckily we met a few guys from cali and one of them spoke italian in additiont o english..so he helped us communicate to the bus driver.we arrived to the hills of tuscany and shortly after checking in, decided to rent bikes and visit a local winery, prob a 20min bike ride.man...can i just say that i am sooo out of shape and donàt know how the tour de france people do it.the hills are crazy and were burning my thighs, in addition to the hot sun blazing on you.but it was soooo worth it...we walked up this huge hill to this amazing winery...dates back to the 17th century! we walked in and had a nice relaxing time as they served us a few glasses of their red wine that they produce...along with some toasted bread with cheese and tomatoes (again, more bread!)...soo nice to take in the culture and lifestyle of everything and i had never been to a winery before.of course, jodi and i were smelly and sweaty from the bike ride, but it was sooo worth it anyways. on the way back, i wwas hesitant to ride my bike after a few glasses of wine, especially since the road was a two laner, with zero sidewalks, but we made it! we took showers and had some dinner and are now going to read\journal, and go to bed probably..btw, we are staying in a mixed dorm tonight with some guys and girls fresh out of high school..canàt wait..hopefully jodi and i will get some sleep.well at least she will, she bought earplugs.we will leave here tomorrow morning and stay two nights in the city of florence..excited to see the david by michelangelo!btw, if you havenàt already, visit jodis blog also, its jodikjackson.blogspot.com...iàm sure it would be interesting to hear our stories from two different sides.chow.

beautiful day...

well, last night was a much better sleep than the previous night...my neck is still stiff, and when i lay down it hurts to move it certain ways...but no more shaking ..ANYWAYS, this morning jodi and i woke up, had yogurt and some bread from a local grocery store and boarded the boat to another island...where st. marcoàs cathedral is located...in st. marcos square..we are staying on an island of venezia called lido.anyways, we walked around for a few hours seeing the sights.everything is gorgeous here with the gondolas and old buildings.the weather today was amazing..blue, sunny skies..but breezy.after we were done with st. marco (after marco polo) square, we took our boat back to lido and grabbed a slice of pizza and some coca cola lights for lunch.we then went back to the hostel and washed some of our much needed to be washed clothes, in our lovely sink ç)quickly after, we put our suits on and walked to the beach.we laid out for a good 4hrs on the beautiful venice beach...many topless women...and many tight shorts/bikinis on the very hairy or waxed (depending on how metro the guy is and probably where he is actually from) men.mannnny good looking men here..haha.one of them said hi to jodi as we were diving into the waves of the mediterranean..and asked where she was from..i knew she was blushing, even tho i couldnàt tell becxause of the sun burn on her face..hehe.anyways, the beach was super fun and we took showers after and are about to grab dinner.we are both wearing our little black dresses tonight...it def feels good to dress up a bit and feel a bit girly in the midst of this backpacking business..we booked our hostel in florence..we leave tomorrow morning from venice..spending a night in tuscany and 2 in florence..about 40 min frmo each other.excited to see the david in florence!ok...itàs jodiàs turn now...goodbye..

a scare...but venezia is here

hello...
well, last night was a bit scary for me..i woke up about 230 in the morning realizing that i could not move my neck..i felt pain if i tried to move it one way or the other...i eventually moved my body over, but definitely could not move my neck..all of a sudden, my body started shaking all over, uncontrollably..it was not a good sign.i have never felt this out of control of my body and it scared me..i was thinking all these thoughts of ..oh no, we might not make it to venice...i could have something seriously wrong with me...should i wake up jodi..i waited for 20 min or so to see if i would stop shaking and it didnàt happen, so i called jodiàs name for about 5 or 6 times and she woke up and i told her what had happened and what had been going on for the past half an hour.she was asking me my symptoms, what time i was feeling allt his, etc, and asked what she could do.i just asked her to pray for me...she did, and after about 30 sec into it, my shaking stopped all of a sudden and if felt a release that i was back to normal..and i began to cry.it was definitely a crazy experience, but i felt like god was right there and was listening.however, after a few minutes i began to shake again and jodi continued to pray.after she was done, we both laid back down and i laid on a different side and felt a bit more relaxed, i finally stopped shaking a few min after i had laid down...i have no idea what the heck happened, i donàt know if itàs because i hadnt drinkin a lot of water yeterday, or reactions that my muscles were having to carrying a backpack for so long..it could have been a pinched nerve.but i woke up this morning with a stiff neck...difficult to turn either way or up and down, but as the day went on today, slowly startng to improve and no more shaking.ANYWAYS, jodi and i got on the train to venice this morning at 745 to 4pm...TOO LONG, but it was worth it because we arrived in venezia to beautiful sights that iàve seen only in magazines and the italian job...gondolas and all kinds of boats surrounding old buildings and islands all over...our hostil is by the beach and down the street from gilatto stands, restaurants, and cute shops.we ate at an italian cafe outside, however, our waitor was grumpy and ended up that him and the other waitress in his section were arguing the whole time, even in front of the other tables...anyways, we also had the time to get some gilato..umm..yummy..well, iàm excited for wht tomorrow brings...thanks for your prayers!

a good daz

ok, so i know that mz most recent post was a bit sad because of our rough night from zesterdaz...todaz jodi and i woke up a bit later than we wanted to, but we def needed our sleep.we spent the daz outside bz lake geneva ...so beautiful next to the swiss mountains and everzone was outside todaz..it was hilarious because there was a countrz band plazing near the lake singing achz breakz heart in english, along with other english, american countrz songs...we walked closer and saw a bunch of people line dancing..thez love it..(mom, i thought of zou since zou said that in france, the new craye is countrz line dancing)..jodi and i had a good lunch..a tomato and moyyarella panini and banana...we sat down a few hours later and drank a good cup of cafe...espresso with cream and sugar and planned out the rest of our trip for the next few weeks until marci arrives in barcelona...we leave for venice tomorrow and are stazing tonight in a clean, new hostile near lake geneva in lausserne...excited for venice é)until later...by the way, everyone in switzerland has been amazingly accomodating and super nice.itàs been very pleasant and relaxing..very down to earth.the train ride was extremely beautiful...ok..good bye for now.

rough start in swiss land...

well, after jodi and i took the metro to charles de gaule airport, thinking that is where we leave on the eurail, we realiyed after standing in line to check in, that we needed to take the metro back into paris, wait for 4 hours for the 555 train to leave for lausserne, swityerland. we later learned that what we thought was luzerne, was reallz lausserne...sometimes the same cities are spelled differentlz on european maps..anzwazs, we took the train which was a beautiful ride through the alps and arrived around 10pm, however, we did not have a hostile booked zet..no phone and internet access at the time...luckilz, we found a few other backpackers, emma and nicholas, who i approached as we were getting off the train, to see if thez knew english and thez did...i asked if thez knew of anz hostiles to staz, and it ended up that thez were in the exact situation as us..no place to staz for night...we walked around forever trzing to find a place but everzthing was full...about 30 min later, we ran into a group of koreans that were on our train also who were looking for a place to staz also...although it was a situation that zou dont reallz want to find zourself in, it was great to see how being in a group and teamwork can be verz encouraging and more of a positive experience. When being alone or even with one other person, it is easier to be discouraged. well, emma and nicholas had camping gear and so we were not able to go to the camping place that thez found and ended up going to because we did not have a tent with us. the three koreans (didnt get their names), jodi, and i finallz just got a room in a hotel because it was late and we were exhausted, in addition to no other options. we went to take a shower, and the drain was not working well so we took a shower with our feet in a few inches of dirtz water...zesss..jodi and i were verz frusterated from the entire daz and tired..we had taken two baguettes from the free breakfast our hostile offered from the morning, and had taken them with us to have for lunch and dinner so that we could spread the peanut butter we bought from a store on the bread for a meal. so one peanut butter baguette for lunch and one for dinner is what we had eaten..in addition to some trail mix throughout the daz because we trzing to save monez, especiallz since the hostile we booked in austria was out. finallz it was lights out and i was readz for a new daz.

bonjour de paris!!

well hello all! jodi and i made it early yesterday morning after our flight was delayed by two hrs while sitting on a stationary plane, and then continuing to travel for 7 hrs and getting to paris at 9am...we were super jet lagged and had to figure out the train/metro systems..but we made it to our hostel, but couldn't check in until 3pm..we had a fantastic lunch at this little cafe and had ham and brie cheese sandwhiches on a croissant with butter...we returned and took a four hour nap because we were so exhausted..we woke up and decided to shower finally and then take the metro to see the eiffel.it was amazing and breathtaking...especially at night! anyways, it's been so great to experience being the minority in not knowing the language..and makes it even more greta to find others that actually know english..it is such a small world..today on the metro, i actually met a girl that knew a mutual friend from taylor university (lisa's friend-amber's husband, lance)..CRAZY! anyways, jodi and i walked EVERYWHERE TODAY to see the louvre, the pantheon, the arc de triumphe, the notre dame, the eiffel again..and the moulin rouge (not in the best neighborhood, but we survived) anyways, jodi and i absolutely can't get enough of the crepes-we've had 3 in the past day and a half-i recommend the chocolate banana one :) we are headed somewhere in switzerland tomorrow...paris was amazing and the city is absolutely beautiful with it's tiny, narrow streets full of cafe's and markets...until next time!time for bed...

Pinch my cheeks!

REALITY CHECK!
This morning I was sitting down to go over some Europe itinerary. Jodi and I kind of thought of a few more places we would like to see, therefore, we need to figure out how to lesson our days in other places, in order to add one or two more destinations :)That is the best part about backpacking, you have the freedom to change plans around at the last minute. I was trying to look at the eurorail map today and I can't believe how much land the rail covers! I also viewed a different map of Paris in ALL FRENCH...I am actually looking forward to being the minority when it comes language barriers/lifestyles/cultures, etc because it doesn't happen often and I definitely think it grows/stretches you to new limits. Although, I know that as we accustom ourselves the first week or so to how the train works, new sleep hours, living on limited supplies, etc, it will become a breeze ;)riiight...

Our first hostel in Paris is finally booked, we are staying in Clichy-a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 4 miles from the center of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. Everything is starting to feel like a reality...6 days and counting. YAY!

preparing for the big trip

I am writing this entry as I should be in bed and catch up on sleep. I have had a very busy few weeks as I have packed, moved out of my city apartment, driven home, and just got back from a best friend's wedding that was over the weekend! I have had little time to think about the huge, adventurous journey that is about to begin in just 8 short days! So many things to do in a week, but I can't wait to step on that plane with the next 6 weeks of my life packed up into one bag. Simplicity is key. Knowing that I am traveling with a close college friend, it's exciting to know we will be making these life-long memories together, while experiencing various cultures and meeting new people. I admit, in the beginning, it was a very hard decision for me to make regarding whether or not to go to backpacking, but when I took a step away from my little world of everyday work and the 8-5 schedule, I asked myself "Would I ever have this opportunity again?" While I am young and single, I BETTER take this chance and run with it :) I have the rest of my life to work, right? Basically, if I did not go, I would regret the decision looking back. I am happy to say I feel confident in my decision and can't wait to see what God has in store for Jodi and I's journey through Europe!