it's almost time for our adventures!

Today - day three - is the last full day in Konstanz before Michelle and I start our adventure. Tomorrow morning we head out to Lausanne (Switzerland) and then Saturday we make our way up to Belgium. Next week we'll be in France and then next weekend we'll head to Spain! Woo!!!

Pictures are on their way to my flickr page. They are uploading as I write this!! Michelle is currently packing for our trek ... I haven't taken on that daunting task with my own stuff yet ...

Konstanz is fantastic and so beautiful! It's a typical quaint little European town with beautiful architecture, tons of little shops, and delicious bakeries and coffee shops.

The transit system here is far superior to anything we have in Canada. The buses are always on time and extremely efficient, the trains are cheap, quick, and reliable.

And the CHEESE!!! We bought Brie at the grocery store for just .65 euro cents yesterday!!! You can buy booze in the grocery store -- lots and lots of booze -- see my facebook album 1 and facebook album 2 for pics :)

Yesterday we went to Meersburg, as I talked about in my last post. The pics of the castle that are going up on flickr over the next little while are from there!!! Check them out :D

Well I should go be productive and get ready for our adventure tomorrow!!! I'll be in touch, perhaps from the Louvre ;)

xox
Candz

Ahh Europe!!

Here I am in Konstanz (germany)! :) The flight over was really good – very smooth and barely any turbulence at all. I had an hour stopover in Frankfurt and the five minutes outside was BEAUTIFUL --- 15 degrees! I met another girl on the short (1/2 hr) flight to Zurich – she is going to be an au pair in Switzerland. That was cool. My first “new friend” :).

Michelle met me in Zurich and we took the train here to Konstanz. It’s BEAUTIFUL. So quaint, lots of little houses and shops. It’s so nice and mild here – about 10 degrees – and the flowers are coming up!

Today we hopped on a ferry and crossed Lake Konstanz to go to Meersburg (Maresburg), which is a picturesque little town on the other side of the lake. There’s a REAL medieval castle and we paid eu 5.5 to wander around it for about an hour. It was incredible! I took lots and lots of pictures (coming ASAP) and the view from the castle was surreal!

After the castle we walked around the town a bit longer and hopped on the ferry back. The muffins are delicious :) … more like little mini cakes than the muffins we have at home. We wandered around Konstanz a bit after that – in the Altstadt “old city”. We picked up a few groceries and just finished dinner. Mmmm food :).

Tonight we’re meeting Michelle’s irish friend Sorcha (pronounced Circa, which is Irish for Sarah) and having cocktails. I will be in touch soon!

Xoxo
Candz

it's fly day!!

it's officially fly day!!!

i'm super nervous and scared and also very excited. though i don't think the REALITY has sunk in. and a few well-versed travellers have informed me that it won't really sink in until i'm on the plane and up up and away ... at which point i will have a mild freakout consisting mostly of the following thoughts: "holy shit!" and "what the hell am i doing?!?!?!" and "am i crazy!?!?!"

i'll be sure to report on the accuracy of these predictions as they pertain to me ... though knowing myself i'd say they will probably be quite close to what actually happens ...

so a quick recap (for my own benefit) of exactly WHY i am doing this ...
- i've dreamed of travelling in europe for years
- a once-in-a-lifetime experience
- i'll learn so much: about the world and ESPECIALLY about myself
- i'll become more independent and self-sufficient
- spanish and italian!!!
- see and experience things i will never otherwise get to see and experience
- i'll regret it for the rest of my life if i don't do it
and mostly because it's just going to be amazing.

*deep breath* okay ... let's do it!

i leave the country in four days. february twenty fifth.

i come home in one hundred and ninety one days. august twenty ninth.

i hope that when i come back, the good parts of me have become even better, the not so good parts of me have become more acceptable to myself, and i've learned, felt, seen, and experienced more than i can imagine right in this moment.

thank you for your encouragement. i wouldn't be able to take this risk if i didn't have the most important people in my life behind me, supporting me every inch of the way.

you mean the world to me. i love you. maybe more than you can ever know ... but i hope i am able to tell you enough that this isn't the case.

xoxoxoxoxox

simple man

i am a simple man
so i sing a simple song
never been so much in love
and never hurt so bad
at the same time
i am a simple man
and i play a simple tune
wish that i could see you once again across the room
like the first time
i just want to hold you
don't want to hold you down
i hear what you're saying
and you're spinning my head around
and i can't make it alone
the ending of the tale is the singing of the song
make me proud to be your man
only you can make me strong
like the last time
i just want to hold you
don't want to hold you down
i hear what you're saying
and you're spinning my head around
and i can't make it alone

the artist who sings this beautiful song is graham nash.