A wedding in the near future…

While I was away in Poland, it seems a little bit of important news was created at home. My little brother, Timothy, proposed to his girlfriend, Lacy, and she accepted. That’s right…there will now be two of us…two Lacey/Lacy Nunnallys! It is something I always made fun of BP about because her name is Elizabeth and her brother married an Elizabeth making them both have the same name….I guess it is now her turn to make fun of me! The funniest bit of all this is that we were in the same graduating class from high school so our reunions are going to be really confusing!!

They are pondering over potential dates and April has surfaced as a month they are potentially interested in…However, I just learned that the date will be June 14^th so I will be home again quite soon! I’ll keep you updated….in any case, I will be home for it so I’ll see you all again soon!!

Ciaoness,

LuLu

A Visit to Warszawa- the Polish Capital

Warsaw Poland is not exactly a luxurious and exclusive tourist destination. Megan and I decided to visit there mostly because the cost of the flight was cheap. Money basically rules every trip we take from here because of our travel budgets. Warsaw was surprising for me. Everyone said, why Warsaw?...why aren’t you going to Krakow??...Krakow is the best city in Poland. And while that may be true, I really enjoyed Warsaw as well!

We arrived after dark, which always throws me off. I need at least a few hours to get my bearings in a city and it’s nearly impossible for me to do after dark. We got on the bus into the city and right away we had problems. The Polish use a currency called Zloty. We are used to traveling within countries using the Euro so conversion is easy to do in our heads but conversion from the zloty to the franc was new for us. We were unable to communicate with the bus driver and I’m mostly positive that we paid 3-4 times too much for our tickets because we didn’t know how much to give or what he was saying…oooppps! Then after that ride was a short trip on the metro. We got there and didn’t have the change to buy a ticket and couldn’t find a change machine. I harassed people in the underground until finally I found someone who understood what I needed and was able to give me some change for the ride-how embarrassing!!

We made our way to our hostel, finding it by locating our favorite landmark- McDonald’s!!! When we arrived and went inside we climbed the seemingly endless flights of stairs to one of the best places I’ve ever stayed. It was called the Oki Doki Hostel. We had so much fun there and made a lot of new friends. When we arrived we found out straight away that there was a group of Irish men staying there having a stag weekend (what we’d call a bachelor weekend) before one of their buddies got married. Usually this means trouble, lots of it, and this was no exception to that theory. Right away we were warned about the types of people around and later that evening we even saw one guy get mad enough to throw a trashcan over another man’s head (his head was in the can!)

We tried our best to steer clear of these yahoos and I think we succeeded, for the most part. We met several Australians (of course!) and a few other randoms that we spent most of our time with. We didn’t see much in the way of sights; though, I did go into the best museum I’ve been in to date. It was the Warsaw Uprising Museum which is dedicated entirely to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, an attempt to liberate Poland from German Nazi occupation.

We also visited the palace, which was interesting and beautiful- as most palaces are! We went shopping A LOT, as is the case when Megan and I go anywhere. Another goal was to search for a place to get our hair cut. It is quite expensive in Switzerland to get your hair cut so we’d decided to do it on a trip…and that’s just what I did. On our last night in Warsaw we decided on a place that looked nice and I met a girl who spoke very little English and I then entrusted her to take care in making my long locks into a beautiful short style, she did a lovely job!

Other than that, the sights in Warsaw were not that spectacular. It is apparent this city is doing everything it can to modernize and make itself a key player in Polish tourism but it just isn’t there yet. A lot of construction makes the city difficult to maneuver and unfriendly for getting around. However, I would say give them 3-5 years and this city will be better equipped for mass tourism.

Overall though, my first experience in Poland was a very pleasant one. The people were very kind and it wasn’t very expensive there, which I really liked a lot! It was a really relaxing holiday! I hope to return to Poland soon.

Until next time…

LuLu

The Wait is Over…Carnivale 2008-Venice, Italy

Not even a week after arriving back in Switzerland, just enough time to shake off any jet lag, Megan and I set out for Venice and the one thing I vowed to see when I moved here…CARNIVALE! We’d missed our opportunity to see it in 2007 because we waited too late to buy the airline tickets. Tickets to Venice for this event can become quite costly, but we were able to secure them early for this year. Even more amazing, we were able to fly there from Zurich for a reasonable cost, which is rare for us as extreme budget travelers. We usually need to fly from another airport because of the cost of tickets flying in and out of Zurich!

In the week before we left we were watching the weather very closely. I’m sad to say it rained the entire time we were there…and it was really cold! Not complete downpour weather; rather, the light/moderate rain that is annoying and over time soaks you entirely. We were wet non-stop for 3 days; it took another 2 after I got home for my shoes to dry out! But, that was the ONLY bad thing during our time in Venice.

Venice is such a lovely city which conjures up thoughts of Renaissance balls and galas in my mind. I have now been twice to this city and, as of yet, it never ceases to capture my heart and imagination. It is safe to say that it is still my favorite city in Europe, even after all my travels of the past 18 months, and I think I’d rather be in Venice than anywhere else in the world!

But, back to the issue at hand…CARNIVALE!!! It was spectacular. People everywhere…though not as many dressed in costume as I’d imagined. When we first arrived we went immediately to our hostel to drop off our things. We chose a really good place to stay, I think. It was quite close to the train station and yet located such that getting to and from the main area, St. Mark’s Square, wasn’t hard either. After dropping our things off and getting our bearings we decided immediately to get our faces painted. It seems each year that college students are allowed to paint faces on the street to earn extra money during Carnivale. I was so pleased with my facial art and Megan’s as well. We walked around the city all day and people pointed and stared (though maybe they just thought we were funny looking…) but a few even asked us where we got our faces painted.

We walked A LOT during the few days we spent in Venice. Public transportation, the water buses, is quite expensive so it’s nice not to use them whenever possible! We were able to explore the alleyways of Venice and it’s surrounding islands and experience the city in a whole new way.

As far as Carnivale festivities, we saw a fashion show involving people in traditional costume. We also were able to see a concert of sorts, though it looked like to us a version of Italian Idol! There were people dressed up in various parts of the city, but wherever they were there was also a huge crowd of people taking photos of them so I mostly avoided those people traps.

Between the times I booked my flight and Megan booked her’s (only a few minutes apart), the price went up on return flight to Zurich. Because of this, Megan left to return to Zurich in the morning and I came back in the evening. So I had 8 hours more or less to spend on my own in Venice. Luckily we’d meet a really nice American girl in our hostel and I spent most of my time with her…walking around the city and I even got to go into the famed St. Mark’s Basilica, which I’d missed seeing on my previous visit to the city. The art and architecture in that basilica are just as beautiful as I’d imagined they would be. But, if you want to visit yourself make sure to get there early, the line grows really quickly!

Overall Carnivale was more subdued than I thought it would be…add in the weather and it wasn’t the spectacular trip I imagined. Though, we did see some new things (we even saw a glass blowing demonstration!) and we did lots of shopping (though it was more like window browsing!) and we spent hours walking and chatting…I would definitely want to go back again to see if the event is more lively in better weather and just enjoy this city again.

I’ve added some pics to complete this post. Hope you enjoy them!

Ciao for now…

LuLu

Home again, home again, jiggidy jog…

January and the New Year brought longings for home. It’s a good thing two of my best friends were tying the knot so I had an easy excuse for the trip. Jase and BP were married on January 20^th in a small ceremony in Athens, GA. I arrived home a few days before the wedding and stayed nearly a week after. I was able to see many, many people during that time, even some I hadn’t seen in years, but felt like I missed out on seeing that many more.

The wedding was a modest sized one and very elegant. It was exactly what I expected from BP. We’ve been friends, best friends, since the day we moved in together our freshman year in college, though we’d barely met before that day! She and I have shared our hopes and dreams about the world around us since that time and those dreams definitely included weddings. I’m so happy she met Jase and they are happy together. They are such a great couple and will enjoy together so many great things in life. Though I wasn’t there to help with the planning I stayed abreast of the plans for the event over the phone and via emails. It was one of those things I wouldn’t ever want to miss!

In the days before the wedding, BP and I spent a lot of time together. Shopping for last minute things needed for events, chatting about life, and just enjoying the familiarities of being together…after a day or so we were joined by the rest of the bridesmaids and the festivities began. We all ended up staying in one, not so big, hotel room (aaahhh, 5 girls with one bathroom!!) and it was just perfect. We went out for a girl’s night, made wedding favors together (you really don’t want to know the details of all that, I promise!!), bridal luncheon, etc. The Big Day was upon us before we realized it and the chaos ensued…j/k, not really chaos but the rush of the day began. Getting our hair done, running out of gas on the interstate, making sure the last touches were done in setting up the chapel and reception hall, etc. The wedding was lovely and the reception also. Dancing and fun, my only regret was not saying goodbye as I thought I’d be able to before they left. I flew back to Zürich before they arrived home from their honeymoon…so I was a bit bummed about that!

I was also able to attend a great dinner with nearly all my best friends from high school. It’s funny to see where everyone is in life now. Some married, some married with a child on the way, and some married and have had children for a while now. We are all in different places in our lives and yet we make time for each other…I love that! I’ve missed these girls immensely since I moved here, even though we didn’t see each other very often even before I moved. We’d always have our yearly Christmas parties though and I guess that’s what I’ve been missing…it has been three years since I attended one, thanks to my two Christmases spent in Europe. It didn’t take long and we were all caught up on everyone’s goings and doings and we found ourselves back where we were all those years ago when we were mostly inseparable.

A lot of my old co-workers from the bank came together for a dinner at the local Applebee’s which made me happy. Again catching up on all the new gossip and happenings was a priority of the evening’s discussion. These are the people who accepted me as the little brat-faced punk I was just out of college and thinking I could own the world. They were my first real adult friends and they gave me advice as I entered the real world, and it really makes me happy to say we are still good friends even now.

I was also able to spend time with my other best friend, Candy Cane…though it seemed that we wouldn’t be able to do anything we found fun, thanks to Mr. Pig putting his big foot down and squashing our plans. You see…my girl Candy is from the city and it’s a widely known fact that city folk, at least Atlanta city folk, don’t know how to handle motor vehicles in the snow and ice. And so we found ourselves with all these grand plans and then a snow and ice storm had to go and ruin them by precipitating on our parade! Luckily the sun was cooperative and cleared up most everything by mid morning and we were on our merry way to shop, catch up on gossip, and annoy all those people we now call our former coworkers…all things Candy and I join forces to do regularly when we spend time together

Family…family was a HUGE part of my trip home. It was great to see them all, especially James and my little Whitney. They’d both changed so much since I was last in Georgia. Whitney has long hair and a very large personality and now looks just like her mother did at that age…and James is growing into the independent teenager I’ve been warning Mom and Dad about for years! I was hoping to spend more time with him but somehow I forgot he now has his own social agenda to maintain as well.

So many groups of people that make home special to me…they are the reason I will one day return there. I’m not sure when that time will be but I am ready for it even now (though I never thought I’d be the one to admit that!). I hope they know how much I value their roles in my life and miss them every day. Nevertheless, at the end of the time in Georgia, my homesickness was for Zürich and my home here. I was ready to come back and see my friends and live my life here. I have to live it to the fullest because this time next year it will all be over…and that makes me sad!

Until the next post…I love you all!!

LuLu

New Year’s Resolutions: Made to be Broken??

Hello everyone! I’m sure you were all convinced I’d finally fallen off the face of the earth, but I haven’t. In fact, I’ve been in my own little bubble, hiding out and procrastinating anything which makes my last few months here seem final. So, I have a lot of catching up to do on keeping you up to speed with the things I’ve done/seen…I haven’t written anything yet in 2008, and the end of this week marks the beginning of spring! The funniest bit about my nearly 3 month absence from you all is the fact it was actually my New Year’s Resolution to blog more regularly, and I haven’t even attempted to try once in the last few months…which leads me to the ever-popular conclusion that most NY’s resolutions are made to be broken: diets, exercising more, gossiping less…these are all good ideas but the reality of doing them just because one has decided to “start the New Year right” is mostly absurd!

So I guess the best place to start is to just jump in at the beginning...of the year that is…For the New Year’s holidays this year I took at trip to Zermatt, Switzerland with my friend Danielle (Australian-I’m surrounded by ‘em) and one of her friends from home, Debbie. The girls went down a day before me so I trained it up there alone to meet them. It was such a nice ride through central Switzerland and then the mountainous Valais region near Zermatt. This is a part of Switzerland I’ve wanted to visit since day one and I was finally there! Of course there is the very famous Matterhorn…you know, the one on the side of the Toblerone chocolate bars…but the whole village was just completely charming. Most of the main areas are car-free so it should have made walking around easy, but the whole place was covered in ice and snow… the streets/foot paths mostly ice…and as I’m still nursing my ankle quite a bit it made getting around more difficult that it should have been!

The day I arrived we quickly went to the hostel (we were so lucky to find something in the village for this holiday weekend) to drop my stuff and then head up the Gornergrat, a ridge overlooking Zermatt…it gives a great view of the Matterhorn. It just so happened that December 31^st was a beautifully clear day and the visibility was so great that our pictures look near perfect! The railway station at the top is at 3,089 meters above sea level, which is over 10,000 feet…that’s pretty high! I’m attaching some of the pictures we took at the top, including some fun ones with the Matterhorn.

That evening we made our way back to the hostel and cooked our own dinner, as we did for nearly every meal in Zermatt…it’s just so much more affordable that way! We were sitting in the community area eating our food when we met up with a group of dentists who go there on ski holiday every year. They asked us to join them and they let us know all the good info for New Year’s Eve celebrations. We were told that the only parties were pay-to-enter and filling up fast, but still we’d opted to wait until that night and then just hope we could get in somewhere…as it turns out we were quite lucky to have not paid in advance because we were sorely misinformed and there was a spectacular party in the center of town. The guys asked us to come along and we were so glad to go…and so it was…us and 2000 of our not-so-close friends in this town center that wasn’t very big. We got shoved around and of course things spilled on us but it was just great. We got to ring in the New Year with new friends, which consequently we haven’t spoken to since that weekend, and see some great fireworks. Then we proceeded to somewhere indoors, as it was really, REALLY cold that night and we celebrated long into the night.

The next day was a lazy one. We slept in and just took our time getting ready. We planned to see a bit of the village and then go up the Klein Matterhorn (Little Matterhorn) to an area called Glacier Paradise. We fooled around all day until we’d just missed the last lift up the mountain. We thought we’d have plenty of time but the next day showed us just how long it takes to get up to that altitude. We went back to the hostel and our friends were there so we made our dinner and then went out again with them for another fun night.

January 2^nd-leave day…we were DETERMINED to go up to the Glacier Paradise so we woke early and left before any human person should be up to get to the lifts. The ride up took over an hour, if I recall correctly more like 1 ½ hours. This is the highest lift in Europe; we had to take 3 different cable cars to reach the top. At each station, we’d get out and it would be oh so much colder than the last one because of the increasing altitude. The temperature when we reached the top was -19 Celsius, which is just below -2 Fahrenheit. I don’t think I’ve ever been colder in my entire life. I had on 3 or 4 layers, I can’t remember exactly how much now but I remember layering up on the way to the top. The height is 3,883 meters or 12,740 feet above sea level up there. When you arrive you come in at a base station and then climb up a few flights of stairs to the peak. I didn’t think my legs would make it to the top because I was shivering so much and out of breath due to the high altitude. I had to stop and rest several times.

But…from the top…it was a sight I’ll never forget! You can see into 3 countries from there: Switzerland, Italy, and France and there is actually an entrance into Italy from there but you have to ski over, a very popular thing with skiers coming to that area. The fog was most thick; it looked like a lot of little peaks coming up out of pea soup, when in fact the mountains you can see from there are giants compared to any you see in Georgia. We couldn’t stay long at the top because of wind and cold exposure and we had to hurry back down to catch our train back to Zürich.

The trip to Zermatt was the best of all the places I’ve been in Switzerland. I love many parts of this country but I think the people there and the scenery is the best this country has to offer…oh, I don’t know, in the warmer weather periods Ticino is the best…well, just come find out for yourself why don’t you?! Isn’t Switzerland calling your name by now?!?!

Miss you all…more posts to follow in the next few days!

LuLu

The Truth about Good King Wenceslas…

Oh the things you learn on tours of cities…the useless pieces of knowledge that most people in this world care nothing about. I have a mind that remembers the most useless points and locks it way to be pulled out later (and usually really awkward) moments in my life. BP is always telling me that I know the oddest and most pointless information of anyone she knows…

Please allow me to share some of this knowledge now…did you know that the famed King Wenceslas from the Christmas carol wasn’t a real king, he was a duke in the region of Bohemia-which is in modern day Czech Republic. And…they don’t know if he was in fact good or not, he only ruled for about 5 years and was killed in his early 20s. He is called today Saint Wenceslas and is the patron saint of the Czech people. I’m told that most people in Prague have never even heard the famous carol about their beloved saint.

This Christmas was definitely an interesting one! I was in Prague from the 23^rd to the 26^th with two of my au pair friends from Zürich. None of us could make it home for the holidays so we decided to go away together. This year it really hit me hard not being with my family for Christmas. I didn’t expect it to be that way because last year wasn’t so bad. Though, last year I was with two of my best friends and they are like family to me so I guess I just didn’t think about missing everyone so much as I did this time. It was a really nice trip…though it just felt like Christmas didn’t happen at all this year.

When we arrived we tried to map out what we wanted to see of Prague and I’m happy to say in the end we accomplished it all! We knew that a lot of things would be closed or closing early because of Christmas so we tried to plan around it. It did surprise me to find that the real holiday for the Czech people is the 24^th. There are still a lot of places closed on the 25^th but nearly every place was closed up or closed early on Christmas Eve. On the 23^rd we arrived quite late into the city so we decided to go for a late meal and then just walk around and enjoy the city at night with all the Christmas lights and decorations. The markets were all set up, though deserted at that time of night, and beautifully decorated!

We slept in for a bit on Christmas Eve and finally got going around 11AM that morning when we set out in search of food. We found a very traditional Czech restaurant and I ordered the goulash, which was AMAZING! We were attempting to make a walking tour around 1:30 but got lost on the way and ended up in the Jewish district, the former ghetto from pre WWII times. Needless to say, we were so caught up in looking around there that by the time we made it to the tour meeting point we were too late…so we stopped to reassess our plans for the day. It was decided that we’d just walk and shop and take pictures instead of trying to plan any other appointments, as everything was closing up early that day anyway. We made our way over to the river and crossed a bridge to the other side. Along the way we popped into little shops or stopped to look at the work of a street vendor and bought basically all our souvenirs that afternoon. We took a lovely stroll along the river and then headed back to the other side via another bridge, and this time a quite famous one, the Charles Bridge. Construction of this bridge was finished in the early 15^th century and around the year 1700 thirty statues, fifteen on each side, were placed on it, making the bridge quite lovely to look at. During most of the day it is packed with people crossing to and from the Old Town and the Prague Castle, but early in the morning or late at night it is very peaceful and beautiful sight! We walked through the Old Town Square and had a look at the famous Astronomical Clock, which dates back to the year 1410, as it chimed the hour. We were very tired, hungry, and cold so we headed back to the hostel for some rest. Later that evening we went into the Old Town Square for a Christmas concert. It was about an hour of classical style music and the words were all in Czech, it was a wonderful performance!

On Christmas Day we started out a little earlier and left the hostel about 9AM. We made our way to the Castle and bought the standard two day ticket. We walked around there for a few hours seeing the sights and freezing to death (I’m told the high day was around -3C which is 26F). I will say we were fairly miserable because we couldn’t feel our toes and fingers! Then we headed over for our second attempt at the walking tour of the city and this time we were successful. We had a great guide who told us all the pointless facts of the city and why things are named the way they are. In the two hours, he took us into several areas of the city and we saw things we wouldn’t have seen without the tour. (Check out the pic of Wenceslas riding the upside down horse…). After the tour we took a few minutes to call our families from a call center, which was nice. I managed to catch most everyone together around lunch time at my grandmother’s house. We then enjoyed an awkward meal at, what turned out to be, a REALLY nice restaurant. I think we were all out of our elements and felt a bit out of place so we couldn’t even enjoy the meal properly. Later that evening we thought it’d be fun to go on a ghost tour, as Prague is supposedly the most haunted city in Europe! The thing was a complete joke…hehe…not scary at all but we had the best time laughing at some of the dumb questions people would ask our guide.

We decided to top off the evening in the best way we knew how and we went in search of a wine cellar that is recommended in my travel book. By then we were old pros and navigating the city so it didn’t take us long at all to locate the street and building we were looking for. When we entered the place we thought it seemed pretty dead…not many people and only about 4 stools by the tiny little bar. But over in the corner there was a small staircase leading underground and what we found there really amazed me! It was a labyrinth of caves and probably 200 people. It was quite loud and I’m not sure how you can’t hear it upstairs. We sat for a while having our own private conversation and after about an hour a local guy came up and asked if we could play foosball with him and his friends because they didn’t have enough people. We stayed for quite a while playing and socializing. It was the perfect end to the day and when we finally arrived back at the hostel at 1:30ish we fell into bed from the sheer exhaustion of the day!

Now on to the 26^th-the day we went home! We still wanted to see more of the castle and buy a few last minute souvs so we knew we needed to be on time that day, for everything! We left the hostel around 8:30 and made our way straight over to the castle. After seeing a few more sights and exhibits there we finally got to enter the building I’d been waiting on the whole trip-St. Vitus Cathedral! This church is built inside the castle, I guess you could say it’s in the courtyard area, and it’s enormous! Its beautiful Gothic architecture is the first thing you see when you are looking at the Prague castle. We also were able to witness the changing of the guards at the castle gates, twice…once from the outside and once from inside the castle. It’s an interesting experience from both directions. On the view from the inside we got to see quite an interesting series of events. Picture this: guards marching very ceremonially and according to tradition, not a thing out of place on their uniforms. A very attractive guard has just finished his hour long duty and is now marching back into the headquarters within the castle when he spots some young girls, whom I believed to be Americans, standing over to one side…so what does he do?? He winks at them, which I’m sure is not allowed and the girls let out the loudest giggles which echo around the square and the guard’s face goes bright red! I tell you…it made my day. I didn’t actually see the winking but my friends did, I just found the whole series of events to be quite comical! (and NO…we weren’t the girls…but he was cute and I wouldn’t have minded…hehe…). We had one last stop to make on our way back to the hostel to collect out bags. We were recommended by the hostel staff and also my guide book to visit a place called Bohemia Bagel. We’d gone by every day we’d been there and they were closed, all except the last day. We decided to make it our lunch stop and am I ever glad we did! They served American style breakfast and they served it all day! I had gravy and biscuits, eggs, AND bacon!!! It made the happiest girl in Prague for the hour I was sitting in the café. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is going to be visiting Prague!

Overall my trip was excellent, not a proper Christmas, but still a great trip! I want to go back to Prague and see more of it and the bohemian countryside around it. Perhaps I’ll make that a goal for my big trip at the end of my stay, or as Sara would call it…my Grand Tour!

I’m headed out on the 31^st to Zermatt, Switzerland to ring in the New Year. I plan to spend the first day of 2008 sledding down a mountain near the Matterhorn. I can’t wait to get up there and take some great pics to share with all of you! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and I will write again in 2008…

Love you all!

LuLu