switzerland/canyoning/milan

hello all!

trip is going well so far. all of our flights were on time and the jet lag wasnt as bad as i thought it was going to be.

our first stop was zurich, switzerland 27th. i dont think it hit me that we had gone over seas until we took our first steps out of the airport. we soon realized that no one at the airport spoke english and 10 p.m and nothing was in english. thanks to a nice bus driver who let us on for free because we didnt know how to buy tickets we found out hostel...finally. we took a boat tour of the lake the next morning (and i didnt even get sea sick :) ) and then a little later in the day we did a walking tour of the town. overall the town was very pretty, a little pricy though. the best part of the day was dinner. we were in the mood for a truely swiss meal. this consisted of veal and hashbowns - it was pretty good. but when we got our bill not so much. 130 swissfranks. ha, we all decided that was our big meal of the trip.

our next stop was interlaken, switerland - canyoning 28th. it was awesome! probably the most extreme thing i have ever done, and will be the last until i get into better shape. i was honestly holding on to ropes for my dear life and thught i wasnst going to make it. i woke up the next day and couldnt even sit up in bed i was soooooooooo sooooooo sore!! ha ha i think u used about 1000 muscles i didnt even know i had.

today the 29th we are in milan. i bet we walked around for 40 mins looking for a atm. we kept seeing the world atm but every time after following the sign there wasnt one. it took us 40 mins to realize that atm stood for area trasit malin. duh! they are called banks over here! we went to the duomo this morning, pretty cool and huge! we also did alot of walking around the town today. it is so interesting to look at all the different people - iowa is so sheltering when it comes to other cultures.

hopefully i will be able to post pictures when i get to london! sorry blog is so blah, very limited time on computer.

miss you all!

p.s. julie

i found the man of my dreams - italin. so hot! he was in a pizza joint we ate at today he was totally checking me out. i probably would have married him on spot if he would have asked me and never came back....you could be right :).....just kidding...kind of!

Hello Europe...Here I come ! ! !

Leaving for Europe TOMORROW! (May 25th)...So....

I decided it would probably be a good idea to start packing. I began packing my backpack and suit case at 11:00 a.m. . After packing/unpacking/repacking 4 times, 20 shirts, 8 pairs of pants, many many more things(that I will probably never need), and 8 hours later I am officialy finished packing. - Whew!

Oh and by the way...this picture to the right is all I will have for two weeks...no biggie right?...WRONG. I will definitly be taking a trip back in history to the ancient times of handwashing. But, on a more positive note I am hoping that carrying this 24 pound pack around will make me buff. - Ha, wishful thinking! And this pack is supposed to fit into an overhead compartment...I will let you know how that goes :)

My two friends and I have 12 days to backpack around before our classes start in London. First stop - Switzerland. After a layover in Dublin and droping our suitcases off at a storage area in the London aiport we will arrive in Zurich, switzerland May 26th at about 10:00 pm (6 p.m in the states). All and all over 24 hours of traveling!

Wish me luck ~

Lauren- xoxo