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

FINALLY SOME PHOTOS!!

the most delicious cafes here in milan!

the 3rd biggest church in the world...called the Duomo. freaking BIG!!

view from the terrace in rome. collusseun and forum in background

strike a pose!! candice and i on this tree lined street in rome

the three of us conquering roma!

no comment. i hate taking pictures alone, i look like such a dork.

at the top of riggi mountain in switzerland!!

our fondu feast. the picture doesn't even do it justice

hanna and i in switzerland.........i can't wait to see her again ion FINLAND!!!

LINDZ AND JOSH.......you guys are so darn creative and thoughtful!! i loooooove my pumpkin messgae, i was on the verge of tears when i saw them!! you also inspired me to FINALLY get some pics posted since i have access to candice's friends computer for a few more hours. Since i'm not too good at working this blog deal, the pics are completely out of order and i dont have time to mess with them!! but i hope you guys like them:)

to wrap up milan...i haven't been too impressed with the city, but the people we are staying with and the friends that we have made are wonderful!! the girls we're staying with made us homemade pesto pasta one night that was soooooo yummy!! pesto has always been my favorite and now i'm inspired to make my own when i get home! The conversations between us girls have been hysterical considering we don't speek italian and they're all learning english!

i gotta run, but love to you all!!!! hope you guys are doing well:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN JESS! You're in our hearts, on our minds, and on our pumpkins :) We love you so much!!!

back to reality

ok, so i felt like royalty the past few days while we were in rome-we ate amazing food, stayed in the most amazing place and Hanna was the greatest host and tour guide for us. The first day we did the vatican (the museum, sistine chapel, st. peter's basilica), the pantheon, PLENTY more gelatto and pasta...it was all so great. Day 2=colesseum, the forum/paletine hill, some window shopping (since i have no room in my pack to really shop), trevi fountain, spanish steps and plenty of walking. walking everywhere really gave us a great feel for the city AND it was great because we didn't feel so guilty about eating 4 deserts in one day..........yeah, not kidding we ate desert four times in one day!! We ate at the oldest pizzaria in rome that night and i thought i had died and gone to heaven!! On the last day we shopped around some more, saw a few more churches, one of which was this "bone church" as hanna called it, and i'm not gonna lie it was a bit creepy but i'm glad we saw it...just another experience! That night hanna cooked pasta carbonara for us which was delicious!! i have learned so much from hanna and her amazing cooking/hosting skills:)

Well, living the high life had to end sometime so we packed up our backpacks and headed to the train station the next morning...off to MILAN. Candice has friends in milan, so we decided to spend a day or two there. Train trip=almost 6 hours, and we were pretty haggered from an early morning and a day of travel on the dirty train. Her friend, Julia, picked us up and she was such a sweetheart. She said she was goign to take us to "the 5th avenue of Milan"...and she wasn't kidding! It was cool and all, but i stuck out like a sore thumb-messy bun, yoga pants, tennis shoes and a sweatshirt. Pretty much, i looked like a dirtball!! it was pretty hysterical though, walking around with all these fancy stores and people. good times. That night we made homemade pizza with Julia's boyfriend and some other cute Italian boys.....i tried to freshen up by this time:) it was so cute though, so cliche, making pizza in italy! and then of course we had to top it off with some gelatto!!

so, we're goign to lake como tomorrow, then cinque terre, genova and then back up through switzerland!! i'll keep you guys up to date as often as i can!! i am so glad that you guys have been checking in on me and writing...it seriously makes my day when i see your comments!!
thank you, thank you, thank you!! love you all!!ù

CIOA!!

when in ROME....

ok, its been toooooo long since i have posted...i am now feeling overwhelmed by allll that i want to fill you guys in on!! Let me briefly run down the last day in paris...Versaille was phenominal, i was in awe the entire time!! the art, the archetecture, the gardens were all beautiful...the only part that was a bit of a letdown was Marie Antoinette's estate...but candice and i got a few laughs out of her bathroom:) last night in paris was a bit chaotic...trying to find a phone card, getting a hold of hanna and then we topped it all off with one more delectable crepe! yum

onto switzerland at 6 am on monday...............CHAOS!! candice and i thought we had given ourselves plenty of time, but we ended up running full speed (with backpacks on) to catch the train. the condustor was blowing his whistle, the people in front of us were running too, and we were frantic. it reminded me of home alone...hysterical!! turns out we made it, wew! everyone on the train was staring at us. good times.

when we made it to zurich i was sooooo excited to see hanna AND her blond hair was the first thing i saw when i was stepping off the train. we went strait to this gourmet market that her sister sent her too and we got the goods to make fondue. you guys...we had a FEAST!!! i'm talkin four kinds of meat, cheese, tons of veggies and amazing wine and champaign. Oh, and did i mention that her sister's house had the most amazing view of the alps. geez, candice says we're the luckiets backpacker and i would have to agree. hanna truly outdid herself and we had a grand ol' time:) after sleeping in the next day, we made another gourmet meal for breakfast and went for a drive to see switzerland. i pretty much fell in love!! it was so gorgeous and clean!! we took this train up one of these mountains which was great...breathtaking views. our last night in the switzerland house consitsted of more great fondue, wine, champaigne, convos....

ok, i know i'm bombarding you with a ton and it just keeps getting better!!!! we got to rome last night and i thought i was going to die when we got to hanna's sisters apartment. WE COULD SEE OVER LIKE ALL OF ROME YOU GUYS!!! candice and i were like little kids screaming and jumping up and down!! the collesseum was so beautiful all lit up at night and we had it in clear view. homemade raviolis, wine, gelatto was delicious then back to the "penthouse" for homemade lemonchello (made by hanna's sister and her boyfriend). AHHHH, i think i'm dreaming!!
thank you guys for checking in....i wish i could talk to you all and share every little detail with you!! but, i love and miss you guys...hope all is well back home!

BROOKE!! what up!! heck yeah i've been counting steps...writing them down ion my journal too:) 4.2 km at blarney's castle, and 8.9 km so far today!! oh and i actually counted the steps up to the top of st. peter's basillica (sp?)......549 stairs!! give sammy a kiss for me!!

overwhelmed by paris...but i love it!!

holy macrol, we did soooooo much in about 8 hours here in Paris!! With the help of Candice, we mastered the metro and conqured paris in just about one day!! Ok not really, but we saw so much!! The food is amazing-crapes, wine, paninis and more!! we saw Notre Dame, the D'Orsay museum, some great gardens, moulin rouge, eiffel tower, arc de triomphe and more...we are tired but still ready top roll onto more crepes:)
we will be here until monday around 6 am and then its off to Switzerland to meet Hanna, which i am soooooo excited about! We're going to Versaille tomorrow and probably Ste Chapelle Cathedral.
Love you guys!

p.s. mom, your french is fabulous:) so much better than mine!! Paris is everything and more than i thought it would be...you would love it! And the french fashion would blow your mind!! I've been thinking about yoiu all day because of all the cute coats that the women here wear...you'd fit right in! Love you

Farewell Ireland......hellooooo PARIS

There is never enough time to catch you all up on whats been happening.....i would be here for hours and i only have like 10 minutes!! BUT, in summary- Ireland was absolutely amazing and i already know i will be back there someday. We did a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher which was breathtaking, but what made the tour so great was our sweet tour guide!! We laughed the entire time and all decided that the Irish have got to be the most hospitable people we've ever met.
Candice and i said goodbye to our 2 aussie friends and we were off to Paris!! Our hostel is perfect...central and adorable. We have high hopes for tomorrow of seeing a ton-eiffel tower, notre dame, museums that i can't remember the names of, and on and on!! Uncle Jeff HOOKED IT UP with a list of places to see and eat here, so we're gonna try and check those off the list...i'm most excited about the blood orange ice cream he reccomended:)

sorry this is short, scatter brained and probably gramatically incorrect, but i'm short on time and correcting my mistakes is not worth wasting the time!!
love you all...thinking about you in the city of lights:)

castles and cliffs today!!

hey guys...we're off to see one of the castles in ireland today and then to Galway! we hear galway is the best so i'm so excited...its hard to think that ireland could be any greater than what its already been!! hopefully i'll we'll have free internet again soon so i can update you all again soon....until then, take care and i looooove you all!
just wanted to say thanks for leaving me comments shan, lindz and mom...made my day:)

i just can't get enough!!

honestly, i can't get enough of the people i'm meeting, the irish accents and the histerical moments i've been sharing with my new found friends!! Things are going great...no complaints or slip-ups, just maiking lots of memories and having the time of my life!! WE're planning for paris because we'll be there on friday, but i can't believe that we're nearly done with ireland...its been so good to us thus far!!!
just wanted to give you all a quick update because i had a second, but i have to run!! so many pubs to make it to tonight:)
love you all, thanks for checking in on me!

p.s. jooooooooosh, my gear is so great...i stayed so dry today with my jacket and its so super cute too! thanks again, you're the best

I'm ok mom!!!!

Alright, i've been journaling in my travel journal like CRAZY (during the short amount of free time that i've had) because i just don't want to forget about everything that has been happening. BUT, i don't have enough time to tell you about everything because i have a limited time on the internet and i suck at typing fast!! Ok, to try and catch you up...yesterday was all dublin- Guiness factory was fantastic, i just kept thinking about how much Grampa and Uncle James would dig it!! We did a ton of exploring around the city and picked up some frsh fruit at a market, strolled around some more. Trinity college, located right in the middle of the city, was gorgeous...i can't imagine going to school there! We made dinner at our hostel last night...supurb cooking by my new friend Tom...and then we headed out to the pubs. Honestly you guys, it was the greatest night in ireland i could have imagined-met some irish men, drank great irish beer and danced an irish jig:)
WE just arrived in cork...its pouring here but so much fun traveling with candice, lucy and tom!! I love you guys, gotta run!!

Back to my Irish Roots!

I'm HERE!!!! The flight was not bad at ALL...only 10 hours, so shorter than i thought and it was quite entertaining. There was an irish family that sat across from me and the 3 little girls were so adorable, they kept me smiling throughout the flight. I slept a bit, played solitair (but it wasn't as fun as when you win on the computer:), ate two surprisingly tasty meals and watched The Hills (and thought about mom and her guilty obsession), Grey's Anatomy and Baby Mama (Oooo Ooooo...shout out to bon).
When we finally saw land about 30 mins before landing, i was elated!! The beautiful patchwork land made me think of my Grams and my Irish roots...as cheesy as that sounds:) Its great to be here, even though the fun, exploring, and adventures have yet to begin! I'm really excited to meet up with Candice and i think its going to be sooooo much fun traveling with her! AND she's bringing a friend she met along the way. I guess she's from Australia which is exciting because Teale says that Aussies know how to have a good time!
bye for now...thinking about you ALL.
xoxoxoxoxox much love
jess

I'm out!!

So packing was one of the hardest things i ever had to do...if you don't already know, i suffer from severe over-packing syndrom most of the time, so packing a single pack for 6 weeks was frustrating at times! BUT i made it work and i'm so ready to conquer Europe with my 2 pairs of jeans, 2 sweatshirts, 4 long sleeve shirts, and HOPEFULLY enough socks and underwears:)
My last day in exeter with the fam and friends was great, but i do miss everyone aready (i am currently on an airport computer that costs .50 cents a minute:\) Anyways, i hope i will be on and updating you all soon! my time is running out, buti love you all and the next time i write i'll be in Ireland!! yay