Costa Rica Day 7

We were supposed to take a boat to a nearby white sand beach. Unfortunately, it was too windy and the trip was cancelled. We ended up staying at the resort all day.

Since we had nothing to do, we sat at the swim-up bar and waited for them to open. I had like 3 halves of a drink (every time I'd start a drink, a bee would fall inside it and I'd have to get another one) and then I felt drunk. It wasn't even lunch yet! 

I ate a small lunch and then fell asleep by the pool (for four hours!).

By the time I woke up, I was super brown and it was almost time for dinner. At dinner, we said good by to our favorite server, Jimmy. 

After dinner, we relaxed in the hot tub for a couple hours. Then we went back to the room to pack up our stuff. We had to be strategic in our packing because we were very close to the 50lb limit. We went to be sometime after midnight. We had an amazing trip, but I was actually looking forward to coming home and sleeping in my own bed. 

Home

Point Sal State Beach

Flagstaff 2011- Day Three- Part Two

Ok, time for me to sit down and finally finish writing about my trip.

So we met the guys for lunch at Galaxy Diner, a cute little 50s themed diner with yummy fries.



And after lunch, we had about an hour to kill before I had to be at the airport. Someone suggested that we go to a lookout point so off we went! What an amazing view!




Some man offered to take a group shot of us :)





After we took a few pictures, it was time for me to go :(

Rob drove us all to the airport. I thought it was really nice of them to not only drop me off (that would have been nice enough!) but they actually parked and walked in and waited with me. We sat at the bar for a few minutes, but then it was time for me to go through security. :(



I flew on that tiny little plane from Flagstaff to Phoenix. It was 80 degrees in Phoenix which was such a big difference from the Flagstaff weather. I waited in Phoenix for a couple hours. While I waited, I uploaded pics on Facebook. Thank goodness for Facebook! It can entertain me for hours!

Then I flew from Phoenix to SLO. The guy sitting next to me took up more than his fair share of space. Also, he could have benefited from taking a shower. I finished my book just as we started to land. (Hilarious book and a fast read! Perfect for my needs this weekend!)

Flying at night always reminds me of my first nighttime flying experience when I was in the 8th grade and we flew into Washington D.C. It's so cool to look down and see all those orange and white clusters of light.



To be honest, arriving at SLO was kind of depressing. I think arriving at an airport with no one to pick you up is one of the saddest experiences. I lugged my own luggage through the thick fog into the dark and dusty parking lot and drove myself home. I felt a heaviness in my stomach, and I just felt sort of bummed to be back.

But I don't want to end my story on a depressing note! When I got home, my brother was still awake. We immediately started playing our newest Wii game, Just Dance 3. I mean, I had that Wii controller in my hand before I even set down my purse! At first I sucked, but that's because Myles had all day to practice. Ahahaha. :)

Labor Day Weekend Road Trip- Day Three

Day three consisted of MORE EATING!

Our first stop was Pho Y! This place was packed (always a good sign!). When it comes to pho, I can't help but take a "30-minute break from being a vegetarian"! I did order mine without meat though :)





Then after pho, even though we were super stuffed, we went to Tapioca Express. I tried honey milk tea which was super sweet.





After that, we went to Gilroy to shop and then headed home.

Day 8

I shot up out of my bed at 3:00 a.m. after only 3 hours of sleep. I had been tossing and turning all night worried that I would sleep through my alarm clock. I tried to go back to sleep, but my heart was racing. I wanted to get started with my long journey home. I decided to go ahead and get going with my day.

I had arranged to have a taxi pick me up at 4:00 am to take me to the airport for my 7:00 am flight. But I was ready to go by 3:30 am. So I sat and waited in the dark lobby.


At 10 minutes til 4:00 am, the taxi driver dressed in a dark suit came into the lobby and loaded my things into the sleek Skoda car.

When we started driving away from the hotel, I told the driver "I'm so sad that I have to leave, I love it here." I don't think he understood what I said because he didn't respond at all.

I arrived at the airport a little early so I bought freshly squeezed orange juice and read my magazine. My first flight of the day was from Prague to Amsterdam. Our flight was 15 minutes delayed which sucked because I only had an hour between arriving in Amsterdam and departing to LA. I had a great seat next to the exit with lots of leg room. Unfortunately, this was only for my short flight.



When I landed in Amsterdam, I had to run from one end of the airport to the other. Luckily, I had printed out a map of the Amsterdam airport which I was able to study on the flight. I arrived at my departure gate just in time to board! Phew!

My flight was loooong. Ugh.

I was so happy to arrive in LA. It seemed like I couldn't get off the plane fast enough. JR picked me up. I was happy to have someone carry my luggage! We stopped in Ventura and Santa Barbara on our way home. I ended up at home around 5 p.m. and was happy to take a shower and relax for the evening.

Day 7

"How do you feel about going home tomorrow?" my roommate asked as we were layering on clothing and preparing for a morning bike ride.

After a lonely day six, I woke up feeling ready to go home. "I had a good time in Europe, I'm dreading the travel back home, but I'm anxious to be home," I replied.

But throughout the day, my desire to go home turned into dread! I didn't want to leave! I loved Prague too much.

After breakfast, we went on a bike tour through the narrow, bumpy streets of Prague. It was difficult because there was about 15 of us wandering through the crowded roads. Plus, the cobblestones made the ride extremely bumpy! But this was an excellent way to see much of the beautiful city at just the right pace.


One of my favorite thing to see on the bike tour was sculptures by the controversial artist, David Cerney. We saw three of his sculptures on our tour.

The first one we saw was this man, probably Sigmund Freud hanging outside of a building.



The second one we saw were these giant babies. These ones were in Kampa Park. From Kampa Park, you can see Prague's TV tower in the distance. These babies crawl on that tower (I was unable to see this) possibly suggesting that babies these days are raised by the TV.





The third one we saw were these guys proudly peeing in a pool shaped like the Czech Republic. The sculpture was broken at the time, but you are able to text a message to a certain number and they will move their hips to pee that message.


We also rode by the Lennon Wall again.

Next to the Lennon Wall, there is a little gate with a bunch of padlocks locked to it. People in love come to this gate, lock a padlock on the gate, and then throw the key into the river below.



The bike tour ended around 1pm. By then, we were starving. I went with a small group of people to eat at a nice restaurant in the Palladium Mall. I ordered the same thing I had for dinner the first night I arrived in Prague. It was so salty and delicious! Yummmmmmmmmmmm!



Then, we were going to all go to a museum together. But first, me and another person wanted to stop by our hotel to use the restroom. We were supposed to all meet in the lobby in like 10 minutes. I was down there, waiting... for like 20 minutes. Apparently the two girls misunderstood me and just went on to the museum we were supposed to go to. And the guy who also had to use the bathroom ended up falling asleep in his room. I got tired of waiting plus I was anxious to get the most out of my last day in Prague, so I ventured out on my own.

I first stopped by a Salvador Dali exhibit in Old Town Square. I wasn't able to take pictures though.

Then I walked across the Charles Bridge where locals sell artwork and jewelry. I bought some photos of the Lennon Wall (as it used to be) for my brother.

By then, it was already almost dinner time. Our group met in the hotel lobby so that we could walk over to a restaurant and have a traditional Czech dinner. This time, the food was just okay. There was a lot of meat, which isn't my favorite thing to eat.

There was live traditional Czech entertainment. At the end of our meal, the dancers picked people from the table to join them in their dancing. One creepy-ish guy came over to our table to pick a partner. Immediately, all the girls pulled out their cell phones and pretended to be busy texting. I was too slow. He picked me to join him! Ahhh! But it was fun!



I meandered through the streets taking in everything! I especially love the way Prague looks in the evening, after the sun sets but before it gets completely dark. I just wanted to memorize everything.

When I got back to the hotel, I reluctantly began packing. That was it. My trip was over. :(

My roommate fell asleep while I was packing, so I didn't even get to say good bye.

I went to bed around midnight and tossed and turned all night dreading the next day.

Day 6 part 2

(Writing from HOME SWEET HOME)

After our walking tour, we had a lunch cruise where we were able to try traditional Czech food. We started our meal off with a shot of something (I think it's called Becherovka?). It's supposed to help you digest your food. Our tour guide said that her grandmother takes a shot of this every morning for good health. She says her grandma is often smiling because it contains almost 40% alcohol.





We also got 4 free drinks on this cruise, so I decided to take this opportunity to try a Czech beer. They say that in Czech, beer is cheaper than water. I'm not a fan of beer or any carbonated drinks so I didn't drink much of it. Oh well, it was free!



From there, we were free to do our own thing. I first went to the Palladium Mall (right next to our hotel) where I HAD to buy warmer clothing. It was rainy and windy. It was about 34 degrees, but felt like 31 degrees according to weather.com. So I bought a long sleeve t-shirt from H&M and a thick black scarf.

I walked over to the hotel to empty out my purse a bit (I inadvertently collect sooo much stuff throughout the day... receipts, fliers, maps, brochures, change etc) and change into my new warmer clothes.

I then walked over to find the John Lennon Wall. I wanted to be sure to get pics of the wall so that I could show my brother. It was really hard to find and I almost turned back to the hotel a couple times because it was soooooo windy and cold! My umbrella kept flipping inside out. I eventually found the wall and took a ton of pictures!





After viewing the wall, I began the walk back to my hotel. It was cold, but I took the long way back. I wandered around the old part of the town and then the new part of the town. I wanted to remember everything about this beautiful city. I wanted to remember the way the cobblestone paths felt underneath my worn out flats. I wanted to remember how windy and cold it was (I've only been this cold like two other times in my life). I wanted to remember the delicious smells coming from the spring market in Old Town Square.

I decided to go through a little museum. I think it was called the Torture Museum. They had a bunch of information on ways people were tortured in medieval times. The museum was dimly lit and they had a soundtrack of spooky sounds playing throughout the room. It was totally spooky. I'm not sure why I came here by myself! Luckily, there was a couple going through the museum at the same pace as I was. I just stuck close to them, being careful not to enter a new room until they did first!




We were on our own for dinner. I just grabbed a orange-apple juice to tie me over until I could decide on a real dinner. I went to my hotel to get a break from the cold. I ended up getting too cozy and ended my day there, without dinner.

Other people on the tour. including my roomie,went on a Pub Crawl where they went to like 3 bars and 1 night club. The pub crawl included lots of free drinks and entry into the club, but I felt like it would be a waste for me. Many of my tour mates came home early in the morning... around 4 or 5!

It was kind of a lonely afternoon for me, so I updated my blog, skyped with JR, and spent some time on facebook.

Back in the real world...

I felt like Cinderella at midnight when I had to go back to work yesterday.

For the past two weeks, I had been doing all these fabulous things... graduating college, having a party, traveling the country, wearing clothes other than pajamas, waking up with nothing to do, playing tennis, shopping and eating all day... and it all ended yesterday.

Back to mopping floors, angry customers, and standing next to a hot oven for six hours.

I should get back to eating healthier. I need to catch up on paying my bills, I know two are already late. Oops! I need to get cracking on my thank-you cards. I need to prep for an interview. Oh yeah, and I still have my online classes to deal with. Ugh.

So long vacation.