Made it to Cape Town!

Hello friends,

I made it to Cape Town today....barely!
My luggage was left in Germany and the cab drivers tried to cheat me out of cab fare, which I whad no tolerance for...i'm sorry, R250 (over $40 for a 15 mile ride...yeah, no). Nevertheless, I made it into the city safely and cheered up minutes later as we drove through some of surrounding townships. Some of the homes in the townships were covered in used sheet metal, cardboard, and ripped tarps. It was at that very moment that I decided that I could be in a far worse situation and that lost luggage and irritating cab drivers are the least of my worries.

So I'm staying at the Penthouse on Long (Long St), one of the busiest areas in Cape Town and it has the BEST nightlife in the city...coincidence? Nope, I planned that beforehand :) When I checked in, I was sent to the ATM to do a currency exchange and buy a few clothing items and toiletries...then came back and passed out. I was drained from my 12 hour flight from Germany and spent most of the afternoon napping and charging my electronics.

Oh, and I'm not alone! I'm sharing a room with 19 other people..haha, 2 are from California and Boston and the others are from Germany and Norway...I think we're going out later? Why not...

Anyways, they charge me to use this internet, so I'm going to cut it here! I made it safe, my luggage arrives tomorrow, and i'll be touring the city tomorrow morning and i'm trying Seiko fish soup for dinner...yummm!

Until next time...

MUAH!

Cheers from Europe!

December 28, 2010

Hello all!

Aye, I've been out of the States for less than 24 hours and i'm already loving it. Yesterday, I boarded a flight to Toronto, Canada in the early evening...nothing too exciting about my airport view of the city, but I definitely enjoyed people watching like a true creep. Oh, and did you know that Toronto is the most diverse city in the world? Yupppp! Check it out sometime!

After my short layover in Toronto, I boarded an overnight flight to Frankfurt, Germany. The flight wasn't too awful since I got a free dinner and watched movies for most of the night! HOWEVER, we landed at what I thought was 5:00am, but turned out it was actually noon in Germany and there was no time to waste! I checked-in my luggage, grabbed my boarding pass and caught a train into the city right away!

Getting here, however, wasn't as easy as I thought. I found myself staring at the train schedule and ticket box, written completely in german, for ten minutes before someone helped me and then off I was. Definitely the first time I've EVER experienced culture shock in my life. Anyway, I got into the downtown district 15 minutes later and began my exploration for german beer and bratwursts! Unfortunately, I never found a decent mini-brewery :( Instead I wandered into this quaint courtyard and stumbled upon what appeared to be an outdoor cafe! HA, boy was I fooled. The gentlemen gave me a sample of a heated wine beverage combined with beer and other spices. Yeah, it sounds gross, but it was DELICIOUS!!! Afterwards, the friendly fellow gave me a brief snapshop of downtown Frankfurt and sent me on my way. Two blocks from the cafe was an upscale shopping district, filled with brands I wish I could afford (Girogio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry, and Versace). Window shopping got really old, so I wandered around until I found Coffee Fellows, a trendy cafe shop with free wi-fi and the BEST german chocolates around (apparently). After I eat my chocolates, I'm going to walk around a bit more, take everything in, snap a few photos, grab dinner and take the train back to the airport.

Alright folks, I think I've worn out my welcome at this coffee shop! Cheers until next time...