Where you from? Yes please!!

Istanbul, Turkey - - June 3 to June 8 our LONGEST STAY ın ONE place YET!

A noted prevıously, Jess and I arrıved very late or well early on June 3 at Old Cıty Hostel ın the heart of Sultanahmet. A good locatıon to be whıle ın Istanbul! However, how to explaın Istanbul to ya'll through words on a blog wıll be a bıt tough! Thınkıng of all the thıngs we have learned and ınterestıng sıtuatıons we have been...how can we pass thıs on to others!

The hardest part about being in Turkey was having to consistently feel like we were being rude to people. But clearly the normal way of life for them is to badger and annoy anyone who walks by their store, restaraunt, bar, etc...you would think by the 5th of 10th time you have walked by them in a week they would recognize you and know you arent giving in or that you are not hungry! however thats not the way it works and its all the time, every time! sometimes they even say...'can i hustle you?' if they dont say can i hustle you they would say excuse me you have dropped something then you look and they say my heart. another they say is wow charleys angels, or i like american girls, or you have very nice eyes would you like a sample please stay and drink some tea with me bla bla

The hostel we stayed at turned out to be a good pick - - but pretty humorous at the same time. There was only like 3 other people staying there besides us, which resulted in us practically taking over and doing as we pleased! The staff was helpful and friendly (very friendly the main man kissed me 88 times and always said jesaca) and always doing anything they could for us. Always picking up our trash before we even got a chance and bringing us tea even when Jess didnt want it. Which leads me into what we did in Istanbul...

We had a long time, but this city is SOoo big it was still hard and complicated too do it all! So we just did some stuff and called it good. For instance we went to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, an attempt at Topkaki Palace - but too cheap to pay, the Grand Bazaar (worlds largest covered market)so many eriks (fruit like small appple big grape), the spice bazaar - where we were very entertained by this crazy short dude who introduced us to the wonderful apple tea , a Hamam - the Turkish bath - where we got exceptionally clean (google it if you dont know it) no no let me explain- first of all you are naked with everyone the lady takes a bowl of hot water and dumbs it on you then she takes hand and brings you to the stone where you lay naked with everyone else or some just watching and the scrub you everywhere then they do a kissing noise and you turn to the other side and they scrub you then they do a kissing noise and you sit up and they scrub your face and arms wile sitting there naked then you do it all agian but insdead of a scrub with soap they move on to a message ( my body was covered in honey it was sweet) then they do the kiss thing again and you are free to sit naked in the sauna---, Taksim Square, and of course the touristy area we lived - Sultanahment. We also SPLURGED and took a dinner cruise on the Bosphorus River where we ate some Turkish food, watched a belly dance show (ok so when chels says we watched a belling dance she is leaving a lot out- more like a lets watch the belly dancer hit on jess show), and did some singing and dancing ourselves! Oh and another day we took the water taxi over to ASIA!!

Even though we didnt pay to do a TON in Turkey it was still a very unique experience. We learned a lot by watching and doing and also by Marie and Kevin who are full of all sorts of interesting knowledge Jess and I are not.

Fun Facts:
- they drink 18 to 20 cups of tea a day
- Jessica had more kebabs that week than ever in her life --what time is it kebab time
- the bellowing we heard was the Karan and the call to prayer...loud and proud everyday
- a mans goal is to be good at pottery and have many wives
- a woman's goal is to make beautiful rugs
- Istanbul is part Europe part Asia
- Kevin went on a journey to find good milk and failed...in fact found NO milk at all



We left ISTANBUL on June 8 to catch an overnight bus (on the bus we all had to pee but had to pay so chels and i went pee behind the place me under some stairs and her behind in the dessert o and then there was marie who of course just paid to use the bathroom) to BODRUM where we enjoyed one day and one night in this resort town until we hopped on the ferry to the Greek island of Kos the following morning : ) Greece here we come!

Sofıa, Bulgarıa

Our Bulgarıan experıence consısted of sıttıng outsıde the aırport ın the beatıng sun waıtıng for our shuttle to head to the bus statıon. Next was a bus rıde through what had to have been the projects of Sofıa...very poor - rough area - what most people would claım un-lıvable. Once we arrıved at the statıon we exchanged some money, attempted to use a phone (faıl), and bought our bus tıckets to Istanbul. Whıle we waıted untıl 5 for the bus we wandered around, found food, explored the super stereotypıcal old fashıoned dırty traın statıon, got raıned on, played cards, and wasted some tıme on the ınternet!

The bus rıde went pretty well. It stopped a BUNCH of tımes...whıch was weırd. We attempted to talk to the Turkısh people a bıt...but the language barrıer was thıck. We had to go through border patrol, customs, passport checks, buy a Turkısh vısa, yada yada yada - - and we were eventually back on the road.

Naturally we get to the Istanbul bus statıon at 2 am and have no clue where we are. We dıscover that ın about 30 mınutes we can a shuttle bus to Aksaray whıch wıll get us closer Sultahnamet...the area our hostel ıs ın. Naturally most people would take a taxı between the two locatıons. But Jess and I, well that ıs not the way we roll. So we walked down the mıddle of the street followıng the tram tracks and arrıved rıght to our hostel at 4 am!

It all worked out just swell! We even had a bed to sleep ın : )

ITALY... PIZZA GELATO MOSCATO BISCOTTI CHOW

fırst stop was Pisa to get there was an awsome train rıde down the coast. we only spent a few hours in Pisa but managed to see everythıng we wanted and we were able to help hold the tower up (pıc soon) . We also had are fırst ıtalıan pızza and gelato that only made me want more... and i sure did

next stop Florence- we arrıved wıth out a plan because are fırst plan was to go to venıce but we mısed are traın. so we went to florence ınstead. It was deffınıtaly ment to be...... there was a gelato festıval goıng on and we some how got a room at one of the best hostel we have stayed at. but back to the festıval we must have tryed about 20 flavores taht day and ı wanted more but chels told me ı would get sıck. know worrıes we had more the next few days to make me happy. we also had pızza or pasta

Are next destınatıon was one of the best we stayed wıth a frıend (katıe Flamıng = great host) an hour outsıde of venıce called PORDENONE- ıt ıs an aırforce base ın the moutaıns and vıneyards. very very very beautıful. she was a great host havıng ıtalıan food and amerıcan food o and german food so ıt was nıce to have a lıttle home for us wıth the home feelıng. she showed us the base and taught us a lot about the aır force and how ıt all works. she took us to her local wınery just around the corner of her house ıt was neat to see the bıg barrels that the wıne ıs ın and of course to taste ıt. she also brought us ın the mountaıns where ı had to pınch my self and say wake up from my dream. It was un real the vıew of the glacıer water lake. ı can not descrıbe ıt my words would not come close to explaınıng what ıt was like. Katıe taught chels how to drıve a stıck ıt was comıcal. o yeah we also had gelato

We made ıt to venıce- everyone gets lost ın venıce and of course we dıd also. there are so many random lıttle streets (not for cars) and dıffrent cannels and brıdges they just start to look the same and before you know ıt you are far away from where you started wıth no ıdea on how to get back. ıt ıs a very ıntrestıng cıty wıth only boats and foot transportatıon. we had pızza pasta and gelato ( pasta - wıth eggs bacon and cheese ın ıt ı forget the name but ıt was delıshhhh)

ROME- I should start by sayıng we had pizza pasta and gelato ha. we only had a few days but mangaged to see... not goıng to lıst them all but everythıng collosseum vatıcan cıty st.peters bassılıca the love fountaın much more... we stayed at a camp sıght and met up wıth are fırst frıend we made that ıs a fellow traveler that we met ın london. we shared storıes and tıps on how to go about the rest of are paths. For a bıg cıty rome ıs one of the best ıt has all parts of hıstory and you can see them all and how they are dıffrent. ı was very ıntreged to learn all about the gladıators. ıt ıs much dıffrent then how movıes may explaın them but we have learnt that a lot on are trıp.

Nice is very nice : )

TRAM stop at 4 am. Jess was thrilled!

Nice, France - - - or just the FRENCH RIVIERA in general has made our top spots!! A place to return in the future...preferably when we can rent a car! Veeeeeeeeeery nice (especially our tans!!!)

Barcelona, Spain

barcelona- so pumped to finally go to a beach and try the sangria which was great and to my suprise when got up had more alcohol in it then one would think!! european beaches are not like any other beach I have been to. There are many topless girls, over weight old men in speedos, many people just in there undies, and if your lucky when walking on the board walk you can run into a naked man with just a backpack on flopping around!!! ick!!! we saw the church that has been under construction since 1824 and it is massive and neat, and maybe someday will be finished. You can always go out intell 6 am and be loud anytime of the day! watch out for people on bikes in parks that drive past out and moon you..um it was fun, funny, and a good time.

Bonjour!!

Paris, France

- the Obelisque
- Jardin des Tuileries
- Hotel des Invalides
- Grand Palais
- Petit Palais
- Parc des Buttes Chaumont
- Sacre Coeur
- Moulin Rouge
- Palais Royal
- Musee du Louvre
- Notre Dame
- Pantheon
- Jardin du Luxumbourg
- Palais du Justice
- Ile de la Cite
- Saint Michel
- Tour Eiffel
- Arc de Triomphe
- Opera Garnier
-GREEEEEEEEEEAT WEATHER.
- and so much more!

back in the land of fjords and expensive living!

we must admit....we are rather behind on our blog. but hopefully as our travels progress we are able to keep up and catch up in time!

4 days in NORWAY : )

we landed in Rygge, Norway after a very early morning flight from Germany and were completely blessed with a beautiful day! the weather was just perfect. we made oru way to Moss, which is a city i studied in 3 years ago. here we were able to crash at the student dorms for two nights free of charge...it was wonderful! all sorts of free food because so many students had just left for there summer and a place to do ALL of our laundry for free : )

enough with the boring stuff. the first day we utilized teh weather and went exploring! i showed jess all the places i once called home and then we went trekking through the woods finding all sorts of cool places and rocks to climb! after this, naturally, the weather brought us rain teh next day or so. but it was alright....we were able to relax and hang out with some of the students still at the dorms. it was nice to meet other norwegian and UND students. there were very kind to let strangers into their home to hang out with them. we did more exploring the next day and this is when i would say i had one of my ´movie moments´. norway is such a beautiful country with so much to offer, even in a small smelly town like Moss! we climbed and walked and climbed and found some of the highest points in Moss with great views. the nature here is simply wonderful!

well this was moss.....the next day we were off to Oslo for a professional soccer game with Sven and his friend Martin - - but the internet is out of time and out of money so TO BE CONTINUED.

GERMANY
Munich.... it seems to be raining every where we go. We arrived at 4 am and thankfully got picked up by a friend from oz. What a nice kind person to pick us up that early. then we went to her place were we fell asleep and she went to work. When she got back we proceeded to go pick up another pal from oz, it was a reunion.

We hit the town and learnt all about there traditional outfits for octoberfest. we thought about trying them on but it was quiet the project so we passed. Even though I would of looked great in it. we went to a beach club party for one of the Aussies work, and then went out after that. I must tell you that that night made me want to never ever ever wear heals AGAIN dang it.

next day- was their next biggest holiday to Octoberfest so we got to see many guys and gals all dressed up drinking huge mugs of beer, singing, dancing and acting like not so typical Germans, it was just like the movies.

Budapest, Hungary

a lovely place to spend two days!

the weather cooperated for the most part as well.

we enjoyed seeing some colorful and of course big beautiful buildings.

we spent a day at the thermal baths - - but missed out on our long anticipated massage because of language barriers and bad timing! bummer.

we walked over probably everybridge in the city and hiked up some hills as well in order to achieve a clear view of the river winding through the entire city.

we splurged on a delicious Mexican meal one evening and we just missed out on Budapast's 'Palincka' festival which would have been an interesting event.

a good stay - a nice city.

phooooooto update.

Krakow, Poland...the rain didnt stop us!

Prague and the free walking tour.

Jess running in the fields of Cesky Krumlov...and doing kartwheels...and picking flowers.

- - - and in the second she is in front of her favorite new traditional treat : )

Vienna, Austria

BIG.
very big.

it took us a while to figure out where we were suppose to go and what we were suppose to see.
but when you hit that spot in the city....you know.

the buildings are massive, the architecture is stunning, and they just go and go and go.
but for our timing and taste it was just too big!
another trip, more money, and more time maybe we will fall in love with Vienna like many do!

CZECH please?!

Czech Republic...May 3-6ish

First stop: PRAHA (or Prague in English - which Jess and I don't get - why do we have to change the names of all these towns in all these different countries?!) it just confuses everyone.

so we currently have 4000 dollars in our hands. well not really but it still feels great!! if only a meal didnt cost 149 CZK. our hostel was just ok - - but far of the beaten path which made for even more walking for us...well or maybe just a few extra times that we jumped on the public transportation risking a fine or two : / lucky for us and $ we happened to jump into a free bar crawl our first night as well! we may have been in our 'track suits' but that didnt stop us in the end! we just had to hang out with the Canadian studs that we had met in the city square : )

the following day we went on the free(naturally) NewEurope walking tour where we 'saw the sights'...this includes some things such as cathedrals, the famous astronomical clock, Mozart this or that, Charles Bridge, a museam or two, and so forth. our tour guide was very entertaining none the less!! we later stopped in for some lunch and just so happened to run into some new Aussie friends (Benjamin and Tommy) that we had met in Poland....this must be a sign (well for Jess atleast)...no more details there. we made the best of the rain and cold weather and had a good evening!

our last day in Prague we walked some more - imagine that! we went up and up and up to the castle and huge cathedral and saw the John Lennon wall and impressive bridge band and more original art than i could handle to pass up along Charles Bridge...some day i will fill my home with this stuff. to get out of the cold we went to the cinema and watched Iron Man 2 (very good) and we had a late supper with Benjamin and Tommy!

over all a good stay in this beautiful city.

Second stop: Cesky Krumlov - hitting high on our top favorite places so far!

a very small, peaceful, unique, and midevil place. this is one destination that has withheld the test of time and stayed true to its past! located along a winding river, surrounded by rolling hills, and an interesting hilltop castle. a place where one day was enough but having more time would have been okay as well. highly recommended and so so so nice to get out of the big city life! ...a good spot for photos : )

Poland
Are first stop in Poland was Wroclaw. It was a small little colorful town with a huge church on every street. I (jess) am pretty sure that I went in more cathedrals this week then total churches i have seen in my life! That just means I prayed for you : ) during the evening we people watched in the square and witnessed a blind date where the girl was 27 minutes late and the boy was so dang nervous and holding a rose. After people watching we went to the local hang out witch was on an island. On the island it was a huge polish drinking party where they threw there bottles and cans on the ground and the homeless came and picked them up for $$$$ it was kinda weird because there was so much garbage. O ps no one spoke English in this town
The next stop was krakow. it is the second biggest city in Poland but by far the best one. we ended up staying at a great hostel where we met some great people and spent the hole weekend with them all. from mad dog shots to funky tech-no clubs it was a great night life!!!
we went to Auschwitz and it is hard to believe what it was like! The conditions and what they did to more then just jews is absolutely awful.
we also where the only 2 from are hostel that made it to the free walking tour in the morning. clearly we are champs. Also it rained for 2 hours during it, but that didn't stop us form seeing the castle, the most famous church in Poland, the old town, and well some other stuff that I cant pronounce because the language here is so so so um not pronounceable ha.
food---- we tried a mixture of traditional dumplings ( cheese and potato, cabbage and mushroom, meet, spinach broccoli meet, liver groats) I had my first kabab, some breaded cheese thing dont recall what it is called, traditional sour cream soup, and of course lunch for breakfast!!

photo update : )

People watching in Rynek Square in Wroclaw.

colorful life in Wroclaw, Poland

Mannekin Pis in Brussels with our new friend Claire

Brussels, Belgium....and definitely lost.
in Beautiful BRUGGE

fruit picnic in Rotterdam, Netherlands...market food SOOoo cheap!

Amsterdam, Netherlands

getting stabbed on the Skye Highland Tour at a clansman show in Scotland

for your viewing pleasure....

....we hope to be able to get some pictures in soon.
photographs say a thousand words : )

but we havent had any access to do this : (

chocolate and beer = BELGIUM

On Monday April 26 we left Fanny's place in Rotterdam, Netherlands and grabbed a bus to Brussels, Belgium where we continuued on to Bruges, Belgium.

Bruges was a woooonderful city where I hope to return someday - - and I am sure Jess agrees...well she actually admits she would have rather experienced it with her mom and dad instead of me : ) we stayed at our first good hostel and actually made some friends who we spent the evening with chatting about all our travels and where we sit in our lives! later on we went out and about and roamed the cobblestone streets with a couple locals - - only to later leave the pub reaking of smoke. wooo hoo! none-the-less a good experience. In Bruges we enjoyed our first Belgian chocolates and I (Chelsey) enjoyed some classic Belgian brews.

Only later on the next day in Brussels were Jess and I BOTH pleasantly surprised to discover a raspberry beer that was delicious. so YES Jessica Lynn Bye drank a beer and LIKED it. In Brussels we stayed with a Belgian girl named Claire, along with her Italian flatmate Sandra. That evening consisted of our worst supper yet - - Belgian fries and beer. hmmm OOPS! so good, but so bad. good thing we have to walk everywhere : ) The girls were very nice and also very funny. It was nice to spend the evening with them on the streets and in the pubs of Brussels, Europe's capital city!!

Today we left Beglium on a absolutely BEAUTIFUL, hot, and SUNNY day only to spend most of that time wasting the weather while we were in transit on our way to Wroclaw, Poland - - which is where I write you from now : )

Amsterdam Life

reeks of pot naked girls yep your in amsterdam

a very interesting city. we stayed in a hostel with 300 people and only 4 bathrooms. this is because in amsterdam everyone pees in the streets well besides girls unless they are protesting on a bridge. they literally have little bathrooms set up in the middle of the street where guys pee they do this to prevent guys from peeing on the buildings. you can find a coffe shop on every crorner. if you didnt know they dont cell coffe.

of course you want to know about the red light district--- we took a walking tour and found out all about it so this is how it works there are hundreds of window with hundreds of diffrent kinds of girls. They range form 18-82 haha yes 82 but but we heard she doesnt have teeth?????!!!!!!!!!! ok so you go up to window and if the girl wants your $ or you she will open it and you say whatever it is you want to do and pay but first i guess you shower and the lowest pay is 50 for 15???? its rather disgusting if you where to ask me.

other then sex and weed there are lots and lots of bikes that are much more dangerous then a car or train. the buildings are all leaning in out and on one another. it loos very odd but very cool ( and no we are not high this is for real)

the Highlands of Scotland

After a couple days in Edinburgh Jess and I jumped on a tour up to the highlands of Scotland...where the true beauty and history lives! Our group was small unfortunetly because of the volcanic ash keeping the travelers from arriving at their destinations. However, of course Jess and I tried to make the best of it. Keeping our loud voices, singing, dancing, and laughing to a minimum.

Our tour guide did a lot to help us learn about where we were and why the Scottish our so proud of their country. We also saw many famous spots where movies have been filmed or where famous people have passed through. Some movies being Braveheart, PS I Love You, Stardust, and the Highlander to name a couple. We also enjoyed a 'Clansman' show in which we learned how to properly where a kilt and how the Scots fought their wars....it is important to note that the proper way to wear a kilt is comando : ) (leading to Jess deciding on her halloween costume for next year).

As beautiful as it was, i cant imagine it in its prime! How green it would be with blooming flowers and sparkling lochs! However, we got to experience rain, snow, hail, wind, and cold cold temperatures! We felt very fortunate if we saw some sun.

Overall it was great and we would love the time and money to see even more. Good thing we have the future.....

Edinburgh, Scotland

Beautiful country, amazing architecture, and a sense of gothic history! (but no gargoyles...dang) Oooooh and ALOT of walking.

we arrived in london found are hostel ate some food ( they have baked beans as a side for there breakfast) and crashed for 4 hours. awoke at around 6 : 30 and went out walking to see some sights. We came back and met some sweet aussies and a Canadian. we had supper on the floor of the hostel and chatted! then attempted to go out with the 2 aussie girls but we didn't have an oyster card. so just went back and slept. day 2 london we took free walking tour and saw the main sights but it was freezing COLD! at night we went to a west end show LION KING! it was great and a great experience! day 3 London toured London bridge and the markets. we had are lunch from the markets because of all the free samples ha ! it was great some good bread, chocolate, oils, ........ night time we went to a pub crawl with 12 people it was fun but small and we had troubles because we had no money. the atms were not working. lucky for us the aussies saved us and payed.

NYC! Time Sqaure.

we made it!

hello all!
we are safe and sound in London!
we had to go through a ghetto in New York to get here, a stop in Iceland, and then jumped on a train and here we are!
so.........wish us luck! a lot of walking and taking 'the tube' is to come.
gotta see all the sights : )

the adventures have begun.

Well we have now made it safe and sound from Minneapolis to Philadelphia, where we crashed at our old/new friend Karim's place at U PENN. Which is a very beautiful campus! In Philly, Jess and I realized we do not know near enough about our countries past as we should : / We walked all day and saw a lot of the sights such as the Liberty Bell, US Mint, and a bunch of other old Constitution stuff.

From Philly we hopped a train to Harrisburg and moved onward to Shippensburg after being picked up by Katie and Brittany. We stayed two nights in Ship and made a day trip to and thru other old fashion, stagnant out-of-date towns such as Hazleton. Gettysburg got a late night visit as well! No spirits or ghosts though.

Next it was time for NYC. Britt, KB, Jess, and I headed out early for the big city but with a quick pitstop in Jersey first. Jess visited a HealthQuest here as well as her NPTI friend Brian. We carried on towards the city! Our stay in NYC was unique and uncertain...lets just say we intended on winging it and hoping the pieces would fall into place and eventually they did! Jess went to Connecticut for the night to visit another NPTI friend Ryan and the rest of us were on to Brooklyn to stay with Brits old friend Megan. The second night Jess and I stayed with a girl from back home, Ali. This night involved experiencing a fire escape, Time Square in the dark, supper with Jess NPTI friend Bailey at Chat n' Chew, and standing on the roof of a building across the street from one that was burning down a block from our place. Very tragic, very unexpected, and quite the experience.

Lets just NYC is wonderful and crazy and absurd and brand new all at the same time! Things we did and saw:

Time Square...plus all it entails!

Brooklyn Bridge

NYU

Skyline/Horizon

a free Cab ride

Central Park

United Nations

the Subway

Twin Towers Memorial

Brooklyn

Grand Central Station

Harlem

Chinatown

....and so much more!

less than one week!

GLOSSARY:

MVP = Chelsey 'the rockstar' Smith
Rookie of the Year = Jessica 'the allstar' Bye

PRE-TRIP agenda:
April 5 - meet with Ingrid to discuss Sweden...and pack.
April 6- call Marie to discuss Denmark...and re-pack!
April 7- fly from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Philadelphia...stay in Philly
April 8 and 9- head to Shippensburg, PA to see Britt and Katie : )
April 10 and 11- explore NYC!
April 12- leave the US of A
April 13- land in London, England!