Happy New Year!

CHRISTMAS ACCOMPLISHED! BOOM!

On to 2010!

Below is a video from JibJab (the same people who did the "elfyourself" videos). Enjoy and have a good New Year!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Back in the U S S A!

I am BACK IN THE STATES! Despite the pilot choosing to circle Chicago about 24 times-- he did eventually land the plane.

It is four kinds of awesome to back. We were greeted at the gate by Mandy's parents (who are amazing) and then gorged on pizza.

Its so good to be home :)

Also-- its Christmas EVERYWHERE here. In Europe we went to about a thousand Christmas markets (rough estimate) but it wasn't really like Christmas in the States. Mandy's house is exploding with Christmas cheer, though--so its okay.


(sounds a bit ironic--but watch with the sound on)

I just elfed myself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Photo of the Day: Train Station in Cordoba

In the early mornin' rain with a dollar in my hand/
And an aching in my heart, and my pockets full of sand/
I'm a long way from home, and I miss my loved one so/
In the early mornin' rain/

"Waldo" apparently doesn't translate well...

A lot of things get lost in translation and other things are just changed so that they are more relevant to the culture. This change doesn't make much sense, though....



"Where's Charlie?" I think not, France. His name is Waldo.

We found another book-- "Where is Shen-Shan." I flipped through it-- he's a lot harder to find than Waldo.

Meet me in TROLL VILLAGE!

We finished up Spain-- our last city being Barcelona and we are back in France. We have the edge this time, though, because CATHERINE met up with us in Toulouse.



At first, we were wading through the sea of humanity at the Christmas market. It was cute-- but when Catherine told us there was a troll village, we abandoned the Christmas market immedietly.



Do not be decieved by the perfectly manicured gardens or the confident nature of the french people. France is insane and troll village is a perfect example of that insanity. It is a hastily constructed village on the side of the square-- decorated with many of the same things you would find in a kindergarten's arts and crafts supply bin.

Each house had spoofs of famous paintings and movie posters-- which was kind of hysterical:







More French strangeness to come....

This is intolerable

The search for the Grail is the search for the divine in all of us.
Marcus Brody

Well, no problem, Marcus. We found the grail.

I was reading my guidebook and it described Valencia thusly:"The birthplace of paella, the home of the Holy Grail, and the host of the 2007 American Cup, Valencia is a friendly, if a slightly chaotic-----"

HOLD THE PHONE!

Home of the Holy Grail? Who cares what else is in Valencia? Pretty sure that once you have the holy grail, you don't really need to brag about anything else in your city.

The grail is apparently the only one that the Vatican recognizes as "authentic." People felt they needed to bedazzle the grail over the years, though, so now it is covered in jewels and whatnot (which is how Jesus would have wanted it, I'm sure).

But I still cannot BELIEVE that we are actually going to get to see (what the Vatican considers to be) the HOLY GRAIL.

And I'm not going to lie, our visit will involve a lot of quoting\ re-enacting scenes from Indiana Jones and te Last Crusade.

Let's hope our visit doesn't end like this



I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne. Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky...
Professor Henry Jones

Photo Post: Pompeii

The first picture is from the "Villa of Mysteries"... which is a fantastic name for anything. The second picture is the foum at sunset and the third is another picture from the Villa. I have about 90 pictures in all-- but these were some of the highlights.

I took 2 siestas in the name of cultural understanding!

We are in Salamanca Spain-- which is BEAUTIFUL. Mandy studied abroad here so we had to make a pilgrimage.

It is nicknamed the "Golden City" because all of the crazy gorgeous buildings are made with the same golden colored sandstone. The New Cathedral and the University are probably the most dominant buildings in Salamanca (and they are beautiful) but there are a bunch of monasteries that are spread out throughout the city as well. Plus-- Salamanca probably only has the cathedral in the world with an astronaut worked into the facade.

Pictures to follow!

Spain also has AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmazing food.

This was my BREAKFAST


Churros with chocolate. So delicious... but now I know why the Spanish have siestas...

Post-Thanksgiving Post

I have been neglecting this blog...as a couple of you have gently pointed out to me. So, I am going to try and redouble my efforts to post more often.

We were in Paris for Thanksgiving. "We" refering to Mandy, Mandy's sister (Bridget), and me. Thanksgiving plans were in the works the moment we set foot in Paris. The first plan was sushi... but that was scrapped when we gave in to our craving a day before Thanksgiving.

It was a great decision on our part.

From our previous dining experiences, we pretty much knew that getting a typical Thanksgiving meal was going to be impossible. The French have not yet embraced any of the typical thanksgiving foodstuffs... which makes me doubt thier international culinary claims.

We ate at Ambassade d'Auvergne and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to eat food in Paris. It was DELICIOUS. Despite a slight language barrier, our waiter was so helpful and polite and generally AMAZING.

I got jugged venison. You might ask, "Jenny, what is jugged venison?" Answer: I am still not quite sure. I only know that it was delicious. It came to the table in a small pot and it tastes as if it was cooked in crock pot with mushrooms and onions and other vairous deliciousness. At one point I am pretty sure I ate marbled fat. It was heaven. I ate the WHOLE THING. Upon seeing this, our waiter just gave an approving nod.

I got the chocolate mousse for dessert. Apparently our waiter loved us... because he brought the whole mixing bowl to our table and just let us have at it.

After a few experiences with less than satisfactory proportions-- this was like a Christmas miricle.

In Conclusion: When you can't have a "proper" Thanksgiving feast, stuffing yourself to the gills is enough to simulate that post-Thanksgiving feel.

I felt like I was going to explode at my chest.

It was awesome.

Let me blow your MIND

I told my mom that we were going to rent motorbikes and putter about on Santorini and I got this in response:

Jennifer Ruth Chalikian,
BE SURE YOU RENT BIKE HELMETS FOR YOUR EXCURSION TOMORROW NO MATTER HOW EXPENSIVE THEY MAY BE!!!!!!!
Love,
Your Mother

I haven't been addressed by my full name in a while :) No worries, though, because we both wore helmets the entire time. We didn't actually get motorbikes because you need a motorcycle licence even for vespas/scooters. We did, however, get some sweet ATVs... which might have been better. They re tough/sturdy little things.



Anyway-- if you can, rent a bike or an ATV if you go to Santorini. They have buses but a) they run every two hours and b) they aren't a bike or an ATV. It really was the best way to travel the island. Around the island- there seem to be two different roads: one along the coast and one up further along the cliffs. Both are gorgeous and we got to meander through the island. There are a thousand different things to see and EVERYTHING is gorgeous on Santorini. We got to see the sunset by the bay and it was amazing.

It cost 10 Euro to rent one for the whole day and probably about 4 Euro to fill up the tank. After Mandy stopped driving like a grandma-- it was great! :)

We took a ferry from Athens to Santorini. After boarding the ferry, we were directed to what looked like an auditorium. We slept on the floor. We looked like homeless vagrants-- but no regrets!

Right now we are in Santorini during the low season (right now-- all of Europe is in their "low season"). The plus side is that hostels and villas basically cut their prices in half. We are staying in a villa for 15 Euro each. A lot more of the restaurants are closed-- but there is enough open that you can still have your choice of where to eat. I highly recommend traveling during low season.

The weather is PERFECT. We have to put on a sweater after the sun sets-- but otherwise, it is IDEAL. The weather report occasionally flashes in the background when we are getting ready and the weather in mainland Europe looks abysmal. After leaving Greece we are basically going to cry bitter tears upon being thrust back into the cold.

TOMORROW WE ARE RENTING MOTORBIKES! THere are black and red sand beaches at the south of the island and Oia is at the north. Santorini has buses but the bus scheduel seems too erratic for our ambitious scheduel.

Also-- I think it would be awesome to ride a scooter for a day.

Dracula: Master Decorator

As I said earlier, Brasov was our base so we could take day trips to Bran and other surrounding cities in order to see all things Dracula-related.

It was about a forty minute bus ride to Bran where Bran Castle (also known as Dracula's castle) is located.



This is probably the spookiest part of Bran Castle (and I'm pretty sure it's only because of the creepy branches in the shot). The inside is pretty austere with white walls and a plain, though wildly creeky, wood panel floor. For being Dracula's Castle-- its almost dissapointingly adorable.



In reality-- most guidebooks (and most Romanians) freely admit that Bran Castle has very little historical ties to Vlad Dracul (the real life guy who was the inspiration for the fictional character). Some even question whether Vlad was even ever at the castle. Nonetheless-- its called Dracula's Castle... even though it is not really his castle. In short: Romanians are marketing geniuses.

Photo of the Day: St. Stephens Basillica in Budapest

Climb every mountain? CHECK. Next up: fording every sea

Right now we are in Sofia, Bulgaria. Didn't quite think we would ever travel to Bulgaria but here we are. The way the train system is set up, you have to pass through Sofia in order to get to Greece and we both felt it would be easier to break up the trip. 10 hours sitting on a train is much more palatable than 17 hours on a train.

We just came from Bucharest which has earned the dubious title of worst city I've ever been in. When you aren't trying to avoid roaming packs of wild dogs-- you can probably watch someone around you have a mental breakdown. Bucharest is in rich supply of crazy. Plus I got food poisoning there. Urgh.

Romania itself wasn't a total loss. The first city we stayed in was Brasov. It was to be our base in our hunt for Dracula. Before we went to Bran (which is where Bran/ Dracula's castle is) we walked around Brasov-- which is adorable.



We ate at "Casa Romanesca" which would come to be a daily haunt due to my ADDICTION to thier schnitzel. Plus the waiters would teach us Romanian words and offer me shots that tasted like poison (but apparently aid with digestion).

The HIGHLIGHT of Brasov, however, was the tiny fact that Mandy and I CLIMBED A FRIGGIN MOUNTAIN. BAM! In Brasov, they have a "Hollywood"-type sign that overlooks the city.



We took the "Serpentine Trail" and it was really nice. When we got to the top we could see all around Brasov-- which is beautiful. Romania has some beautiful countryside and plus all the leaves are changing. PLUS we can now brag that we climbed a mountain. I'm putting that on my resume.



The ONLY downside was that apparently in Romania-- the sun doesn't set so much as it just suddenly ceases to exist. Romania has the fastest sunsets ever. Neadless to say, we descended the mountain in virtual darkness. Luckily I brought a flashlight (and luckily Mandy has freakish cat eyes that can see in the dark...cos she was about 500 feet in front of me). Anyway-- did I mention we climbed a mountain?

Simmer DOWN!

Give Jenny her morning coffee. Its not a rule...just a good idea.

Don't fight the law 'cos you'll never win

What is the number one problem when traveling?

Language barriers?

Thieves?

Bears?

No.

The number one problem travelers have is accidentally murdering their travel buddy.

Despite the awesome fun-times you have on trips-- the stress you experience is frightening in its magnitude. We had to figure out laws in an effort to preserve harmony on the trip. After being around someone for three months you have to take measures to make sure you don't kill them (even if that person happens to be your alpha friend).

The following are the laws that Mandy and I have adhered to on our trip and they have worked out pretty well so far.

1) Each traveler is obligated to have snacks on their person at all times

Hunger has torn many friendship asunder. The easiest way to cure crankiness is to stop and have a snack.

2) No weapons of any kind-- found or handmade.

Tensions can get high when traveling. Best not to have weapons handy. I think this rule can apply to most situations, though.

3) At no point in time is it to be implied that Mandy is anything but a redhead.

For some reason...people have been doubting the authenticity of Mandy's hair color. Its gotta stop. Mandy is a redhead, people.
4) No unkind word against Kelly Clarkson.

Kelly Clarkson unites us all. Only people who are mentally unhinged slander Kelly Clarkson-- and those people aren't allowed on our awesome adventure.

Photo of the Day - Vienna State Opera House

You win some, you lose some-- Tosca mostly lost

Traveling Europe for three months requires one to be thrifty. Despite being surrounded by some amazing things-- sometimes you have to skip them in order to maintain a healthy budget.

That being said-- I just saw an opera in Vienna. BAM!

The whole day we were being accosted by gentlemen dressed up like Mozart. At first I thought it was an effort to get us to go on tours-- but it turned out to be people trying to sell tickets to the opera. Usually we could deflect their advances with our standard, "We have no money." One man, however, was determined to get us to the opera.

He told us there was a standing gallery in the opera house. So, for just 3 Euros, we could see "Tosca" in the Vienna State Opera House. It was kind of awesome.

There were subtitles on tiny screens above us- so I was able to understand everything.

Best line of the night was the priests': "Women in the church smell of the devil."

Despite the priest's statements-- the men in the opera are really the scoundrels. The magistrate fellow (the bad guy) tries to persuade Tosca to trade her lover's life for... sexual favors. She agrees and gets him to sign papers that would guarantee her (and her lover!) safe passage-- then stabs him. As he dies-- she declares "Feel the kiss of Tosca!"

Tosca was quite the firecracker.

Photo of the Day

Fetch me the blacksmith!

We are presently in Krakow, Poland. I can't say much about Poland yet because we had kind of a chill day and just stayed in the dorm to recharge. It probably would have been a terrible report anyway as it is cold and rainy. We are going to take a free walking tour tomorrow so we are hoping for better conditions.

Otherwise-- we had our first authentic Polish meal today. As far as we can tell-- we ate at a place called "The Hut." We learned that polish food is not healthy in any respect. Anything that could be considered healthy is boiled or fried to eliminate any nutritional qualities. It is still pretty good-- if you skip the sour milk (and whatever "Thug's Sausage" is). We got some delicious breaded chicken with rosemary potatoes. We are going back tomorrow for "Hunter's Cakes." We have no idea what it is-- but it sounds delicious.

Poland is a pretty religious place (as the liquor menu was just titled "Other Devils"). I think as far as they are concerned-- Pope John Paul II was the last legitimate pope.

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

I thought I was going crazy in Salzburg. We were trying to find our hostel and we kept comeing back to the same point. When we arrived at the fountain for the third time (with no hostel in sight) I was at my wits end. I can read maps and it was supposed to be right there.

The next day-- we realized we were right. It was right there-- just 180m above our heads.

Of course.

On the upside we got to our hostel eventually and the view was beautiful. The hostel is situated on the side of a cliff behind fortress walls (so no need to worry about the security in the hostels, mom).

Pictures to follow.

Video Post/ This is why I need to go to Belgium

We went to Salzburg, Austria and Mandy let it slip that she hadn't seen "Sound of Music." I found this while looking for "Sound of Music" clips. How awesome is this. People are literally flushed with joy upon just witnessing such an event.

Photo of the Day

Yeah...I bought lederhosen.

The last entry about Prague was slightly deceptive. Prague is actually the fourth place we have been so far. In addition to Berlin and Prague, we have been to Nuremburg and Leipzig. Photos and stories will probably filter in later. In the meantime-- look at how awesome I look!

Czech Yourself! (I couldn't resist....)

Two statues on the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic

We are currently in the Czech Republic in Prague. We have been here for five days just because there is so much to do (and the hostel we are staying in is really nice).

We had our first introduction to Czech food yesterday. Czech food is nothing if not hearty and filling. They served it to us in a basin if that indication as to the portions in the Czech Republic. We had our minds set on roast duck and bread (BREAD!) dumplings but had to settle for an entire shank of pork in lieu of duck. It was delicious.

The Czech Republic is gorgeous. During World War II it managed to escape the war without being bombed so all the architechture was preserved. It is really pretty-- but every pretty building seems to have some sort of morbid/ traumatic tale attatched to it. St. James Church of Prague is probably the best example. It is a gorgeous baroque church that couldn't be more beautiful-- you wouldn't notice the GIANT PETRIFIED HUMAN HAND HANGING FROM THE CEILING if you didn't already know about it.

The Czech language is pretty foreign to me. We have managed to pick up the most random words, though (strawberry=jahoda, cigarette=cigarettey, and we can say Prague Castle in Czech due to our inability to navigate the Czech tram system). We did, however, order a crepe today using mostly Czech. We greeted the lady in Czech, ordered the crepe (in Czech...ish), and said goodbye to the lady in Czech...so.......TAKE THAT LANGUAGE BARRIER! Booya!

Pergamon Museum/ Why we won't be invited back to the Pergamon Museum

The reason we won't be invited back...

Mandy peering around a column at the Pergamon Altar

Me at the Ishtar Gate

BERLIN! (Swamp City)

Brandenburg Tor

Berlin was amazing. It is almost as if that city wanted us to suceed and have amazing fun times. The only thing that thwarted us (me) was the train system.

I am using my Germany pretty sucessfully to my utter delight. I am sure what I consider to be a great sucess on my part is probably viewed as an adorable infirmity by the Germans. Nonetheless-- we are getting where we need to be.

We went on the free tour that ended up lasting five hours... so we got our money's worth. Plus our tour guide was a delight. He eagerly led us around Berlin showing us everything from the Brandenburg Tor to Museum Island. Below is a picture of the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) with a mighty Mandy in the foreground.

We are like Odysseus with lip gloss

"All we thought was: hey, let's be Odysseus. Let's be Byron. Let's be Don Quixote, Huck Finn, and Jack Kerouac all rolled into one-- except with lip gloss."
and exerpt from Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven
by Susan Jane Gilman


We arrived safely in Berlin and managed to make it safely to our hostel-- which was a bit further from the airport than expected.

I only have pictures of the inside of the hostel because the outside was... a little depressing. Lets just say it was in the eastern part of east Berlin.

The inside, however, was delightful. We were housed in the Sesame Street wing. Both of us were dead tired when we got to the hostel but we had to smile a bit when Cookie Monster is right outside your door.

Our room was not as innocently decorated. On the wall was a giant painting of a demon-possessed cowboy, a skeleton, and a disembodied eye driving some sort of hell-car towards a haunted house. I think it was Berlin's way of saying "Welcome to Berlin-- sweet dreams!" We embraced the cheerful hellscape, however, and promptly slept for 14hrs.




NEXT DAY: Berlin!

Video Post

found on the "Drawn" blog (http://drawn.ca/)

Entertainment Weekly-- you are on notice!

Things have been tense with me and 'Entertainment Weekly' for a while now. First-- the obsession with Twilight/vampires. Stop giving covers to them! Why doesn't 'Glee' have a cover? Second-- they spoiled the end of 'Battlestar Galactica.' That is a wound that can never be healed. My love for all things pop culture brought me back, though.

But EW has finally crossed the line. The current issue features a spread on The Beatles (what with Rock Band coming out and all of the old albums being re-released) which is great. The treachery, however, came when they compiled a list of the top 5 worst Beatles songs.

Now, I am not so blinded by my love for the Beatles that I don't acknowledge there are a few songs that... probably... weren't so great. There are some bad ones. I admit that! I wasn't prepared, however, for EW to assign the number one worst Beatles song to..."ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!"

Seriously?!?

The reason being is that it has been played ad nauseam to the point of parody... um-- except NO! Your criteria for "worst song" is how beloved it is?

Nice try, jaded people at EW.

I'm going to go now and have an orchestra play along while I sing about how awesome love is.

Jerks.

Helado!

My sister (the industrious one) is taking Spanish classes at a nearby college. She is still in the early stages of learning the language but is super eager to inject it into everyday conversation. Our conversations go like this now:

Me: Hi, Catherine.

Catherine: Rojo!

None of it makes any sense and usually when I have her translate it for me-- it still doesn't make any sense (see above). My favorite, however, came today when she suddenly appeared in my room and announced the following:

Catherine: No, tu no eres baja y fea.

Me: ...

Catherine: No, you are not short and ugly.

[exit Catherine]

Thank you, Catherine.

In the beginning...

I am about to go to Europe for three months-- from September 22 to December 22. My travel-buddy (and alpha-friend) Mandy and I plan on flying into Berlin and moving on from there and by 'move on' I mean have kickass adventures.

This blog will be where I post everything so family, friends, and complete strangers can see what I am doing. Ideally there will be pictures and stories and it will be interesting. My goal is to make it interesting-- otherwise, why bother?