down the home stretch...

Ok, so the catching you up on Berlin and Prague is going to have to wait, because all i can even think about telling you guys about is how freaking awesome Finland has been. Started out in the town that Hanna goes to University, called Kajaani. I met her roommates and she made a delicious home cooked meal for us-steak and potatoes with a red wine sauce and marscopone and raspberry dessert....mmm its making my mouth water just thinking about it!! The next day we went to meet her fiance, Matti, at his cabin for my first Finnish sauna experience. The sauna is really popular here in finland, actually everyone has a suana or sometimes even two at their home! It was so relaxing and even cooler than i imagined. Hanna even made me do it the "extreme" way, which is running into the snow and throwing it all over your body and then running back into the sauna. I can't even explain how cool it was, and i decided that i am bringing the Finnish sauna tradition to the states when i have my own house...and the money of course. That night we cooked mini gourmet pizzas and tried Finnish beer and liquor. Day 2 we drove around the area where Hanna's family is from and went on a killer walk to this "secret cabin" in the woods. It was hanna's uncle's, which he built himself, and we checked it out, had some hot coco and soaked in the experience. I just kept telling Hanna that it looks like a winter wonderland....haha so cheesy, i know:) That night we went to Hanna's hometown and met her family-mom, dad, brother, nieces and nephew. All of them were so great, welcoming and warm. I practiced english with her nephew, who was quite adorable, and they tried to let me in on a bit of Finnish as well. Hanna's mom made a traditional finnish meal of rainder and mashed potatoes...although a bit skeptical of eating the cute raindeer, it was quite delicious!! We sang karaoke, drank some cherry beer, tried the sauna again and laughed loads.
I could go on and on and on and on with more stories, but to sum it all up...Hanna and Matti have been the most incredible hosts/finnish tour guides and i am falling in love with Finland with all that i have done, seen AND eaten!!
i'm thinking about you guys....love you all so much!
Thanks so much for checking in...jess

a quick hello!!

Hey guys, i just landed in Finland after quite a long day/night of travel...BUT i know its going to be so worth it when i get to see Hanna and spend time in her hometown. I want to catch you up on Berlin and Prague, but i'm short on time right now, gotta catch a train that takes me to where Hanna lives. Stay posted though because i'll be posting pictures and another blog soon...so much to tell:) Hope you are all well at home!
with love, jess

From Salzberg to Berlin

The rest of my time in Salzberg was so great! I feel so lame whenever i´m writing on my blog because i feel like i say the same things about each place that i´m in..."this place is so great...", "its so beautiful...", "its so amazing..." BUT honestly, i am at a loss for words beacause each place that i have been to has been AWESOME!! The cool thing is that i have a favorite characteristic and/or experience from each city i´ve been to, which is making it hard to pick a favorite......the "which has been your favorite place?" question has got to be the most frequently asked question among travelers.

Ok, one day in Salzberg consisted of spending a whole day on a bike i rented, which allowed me to see so much in a short time. The weather was perfect, i went on a fortress tour, checked out some shops, ate some yuuuuuummy apple desert and watched the Sound Of Music...lame i know, but they play it at our hostel everyday and i'd never seen it! It was waaay long, but cool to see it in the city where it was filmed:) I took the night train last night to Berlin, which was quite the experience!! I felt totally safe, but i almost missed my connecting train because my first train was LATE! I was sweating bullets running to the train, but i ended up making it in plenty of time. Got to Berlin at 8 am, so i had the whole day to feel out this new city. I went on a killer free walking tour and learned so much about the history of the city-the holocaust, berlin wall, cold war-and i think i'll definitely go on another tour tomorrow of a concentration camp near by. This Jewish Memorial i went to today was heart wrenching, but i definitely want to delve deeper into the history of the holocaust while i'm here.
Adios for now, but thanks for checking in on me:) I love you all!
so much love, jess

p.s. TRACE, so good to hear from you...can't wait to catch up when i'm back in SLO town!

on traveling in the fall...

FINALLY a few pics from skydiving!!

From the very start of planning for this trip for October-November i knew it was going to be the slow season-not as many people traveling, some lower fares, less trouble finding accommodation...BUT what i didn´t think about was that Europe would be changing colors right in front of my eyes! I have a newfound appreciation for fall since i have seen 5 different countries (and numerous landscapes, towns and cites throughout) painted with the colors of fall. Switzerland was absolutlely gorgeous...there had to have been 176 different colored trees! The same holds true for salsburg, Austria...i just got to Salsburg today and this city is so aesthetically pleasing-the perfect mix of old/modern buildings in a countryside type setting. pretty rad.

enough with my "i love the fall" tangent...everything is going well! I left Interloken on Friday and met back up with candice in Innsbrook. We were there for two nights but only one full day, which was actually enough. I was a bit unimpressed with the city actually. However, the beer was great. WE went to this really small bar/pub and the older guy who was working there kept giving us free drinks. It turned out he was the owner and he was really jazzed on german beer! It seems that our backpacker´s luck hasn´t run out just yet...knock on wood! We also continue to meet great travelers everywhere we go too. Each conversation with fellow travelers AND/OR locals just adds a little something special to this experience as a whole.

As for my step count goes, I walked 9.2 km yesterday and a total of 27 while in switzerland...woop woop! I´m gonna rent a bike tomorrow and see as much of Salsburg as i can. I´m quite excited to be back on a bike...i was just saying the other day how i miss rolling around slo on my Haro:) I´ll hopefully update you guys again in Berlin...until then, take care and THANK YOU so much for writing me and checking in...it means so much more than you know!!
So much love!
jess

To grammy...I hope you are getting better each day! You better not be trying to do too much!! I´m thinking about you and i can´t wait to see you and decorate for christmas! I love you so much!

Interloken, Switzerland!

Hello all!! I've been here in Interloken for the past 5 days...i was supposed to leave on tuesday, but two days here was just not going to be enough!! This place is an backpacker/outdoor person's paradise! As you may have heard through the grapevine, i jumped out of a plane over the swiss alps the other day and it was the thrill of my life! I also paid extra to have them do a video and pictures, so i can relive that feeling over and over...and i have alreday watched it twice! I can't wait to show the fam:) The hostel that I'm staying at (the oldest in Switzerland) was also a major reason i didn't want to leave, it is by far the best one I've stayed in yet! Movie room, pool table, kitchen, free breakfast, the "relaxation/hangover" hammock room, Bar with 2 for 1 happy hour...this place is soooo much fun and i feel most at home here because the people are so accomodating. I've also met some really great friends that i've been hiking and exploring with. We rented these little cars yesterday and drove up into this valley then to some pretty glorious lakes...saw a full rainbow, skipped rocks and had to pinch myself because it felt too perfect to be true. Even though i am in love with Interloken, there is still too much to see in the rest of Europe so i'm off to Austria tomorrow to meet back up with candice and discover Innsbrook and Salsburg. Even though i've been over here for almost 4 weeks, everyday is still as exciting as the first and i'm excited for what the remaining three weeks hold:)
I love you all and hope all is well at home...you're in my thoughts!
so much love, jess
p.s. i spent 15 minutes on this crappy internet cafe computer trying to download some skydiving pics, but the comp stinks!! sorry:/ i'll try again later!

cori you have three weeks...

hey, no worries cor about the camera being dead and all! i'm here another three weeks and i think you can arrange to have the farting airplane do another fy over. oh, and it would be even cooler if you had the plane do a fly over while i'm here in switzerland...and if you do i'll know that you really do miss me the most.

but to quickly catch you guys up...we did do cinque terre yesterday and it was gorgeous! we lucked out with a beautiful blue-sky day...it had been pouring the day before! i'm in Interloken, Switz right now and its so beautiful and a bit chilly. Balmers hostel is where we are staying and it is pretty rad...i'm excited to meet lots of outdoorsy folk:)

i posted some pics on my facebook if you guys get a chance to check them out...sorry i couldn't post on my blog, they just take so long to load! i'll touch base with you guys again soon.
so much love,
jess

i think i found the love of my life!!!

ahhhhhhhhhh, don't get your hopes up guys, its no hot italian man!! BUT, i have fallen in love with SIENA, the most adorable midevil italian town ever. We've only been here for a short day and a half, but its been fantastic and i've had a permenent smile on my face. I can't even describe how cute it is, but i'll just say in the tuscan area of italy, it has so much character and i think everyone should experience it themselves.....i might just have to say its my favorite place so far!! we met these italian guys the other night when we went to a pub to watch a big soccer game that was on...it was such an experience, the italians sure looooove FUTBOL:) josh, you would have fit right in!! A little later, they invited us to go to another pub to get a drink and we couldn't resist.....it ended up being pretty hysterical and borderline annoying because they started laying on the charm. candice and i wanted to puke. haha but, it was an EXPERIENCE that we'll never forget (oh, and i must mention that they ordered a bottle of rose sparkling wine and bought each of us a long stem rose.......gag me!!) Besides being annoying the were harmless....i didn't have to bust out the mace, brooke!

sorry i didn't get more pictures up...it was taking a long time, but i'll try to get more up soon!! If you are up on your italian geography, you've probably picked up on our odd travel decisions-from rome (way south), to milan (north), to siena (back south)...but our itenerary is pretty open so we back tracked a bit! we're now off to genova and cinqua terre which we are way excited for!

love you guys! thanks for checking in on me:)
p.s. candice posted pics on her blog from ireland, so check them out if you want:)
candicenosworthy.blogspot.com