Quick Update

Today we are in Rome and I did not want to leave this city without giving you an update on our whereabouts as I think it will now be a little bit more difficult to get access to the internet for the next couple of days.

The Amalfi coast was spectacular. I could´ve never imagine how beautiful it is. We visited Amalfi, Positano (my favorite so far), Sorrento, Capri and Anacapri. The weather was great: sunny and clear blue skies. We even got a tan from just walking around the towns all day long. Because of the time of the year the days here are longer and it does not get dark until around 9:15 - 9:30 PM.

We have been in Rome for 3 days now visiting as many places as we can:

-The Coliseum and the Roman Forum

-Vatican City: St. Peters Basilica (where we attended mass on Sunday and received the blessing from the Pope that he always gives on Sundays at noon), the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel

-The Pantenon (an old pagan temple converted to a Christian Church by Constantine). The famous painter Raphael is buried here. This is one of the things that I find amusing in this city, that whichever church you walk into (even if it is by chance) you will find that someone whom you read about in a history class is buried there.

- and a lot of different "piazzas" which would probably put you to sleep if I started naming them

Tomorrow we are off to Tuscany and Cinque Terre. We will be driving for the next couple of days. And just by observing how people here drive I can only say that it should be very interesting!!

Parenthesis ()

I have to make a parenthesis and share with you the good news that my car has been sold!! After having to hear everyone joke about my car, its condition and the feasibility to sell it or get rid off it I am proud to say that it sold as if it were the last Coca-Cola in the dessert. The add was placed on the Flyer on Monday of last week, and by Wednesday my brother had sold it for $3,200. Yes, I know that some of you may find this shocking because you thought that I was probably going to get only $500 or less for it...right Jose?? But I was right my car was no "transportation".

So how did we get to Italy?

I finally get to an internet connection so I can pick-up the story where we left off: trying to get from Berlin to Sorrento.

After we arranged our flight for the following day we ended up booking a hotel 5 minutes away from the airport to avoid the 45 minute commute at 4:30 in the morning. The hotel was nice and it offered us a good rate. The room was clean and spacious: beds for 4 people (including a bunker bed), a TV area inside the room with a sofa, 2 chairs and a coffee table. And on top of it all, it also offered a shuttle service that took us to the airport in 5 minutes the following morning. There is however one minor detail: the room did not have AC. Mind you that the temperature in Berlin was in the 80 degree range. So we did what anyone of you would do in a situation like this: we slept with the windows of the room opened. Well, to say that we slept is an over statement. The room faced a busy street where during the 5 hours in which we tried to sleep we heard cars, trucks, motorcycles, people walking and talking and even a helicopter which flew by.

Thank God the Italians stayed true to their promise of striking for only 24 hours and we were able to catch the flight to Rome on Wednesday morning, the train from Rome to Naples and another train (once agian with no AC) from Naples to Sorrento.

But luckily enough we arrived to beautiful Sorrento to a room that was waiting for us with the coldest AC we could have ever wished for.

The 2nd longest day of my life

Today started as to what was supposed to be the second longest day of my life. After a 4 day visit to Berlin - the capital city of reunified Germany since 1991- the plan was to travel to Sorrento, Italy. I say the second longest day of my life because of the times and events involved in getting from point A to point B.

• Went to bed at 1:30 AM


• Wake up at 3:15 AM (It is not a typo. It truly is three o'clock in the morning).


• Leave from the hotel at 4:00 AM and walk 20 minutes to the nearest metro station (with one suitcase and one backpack)


• Take a 40 minute train to the Schönefeld airport in Berlin for a flight departing at 7:00AM to Naples (Italy)


• 2 hour flight to Naples


• Arrive in Naples at 9:10 AM and spend the day in the city


• Continue to Sorrento on the last train leaving from Naples at 10:00 PM (1 hour train)

As flawless as this plan seems we forgot one minor detail...even tough is not really that we forgot , it is just that how were we supposed to know that the italian air traffic controllers and flight attendants were going on a "24-hour" strike on May 22nd?

So the question is, where in the world are Karina and Adriana and how are they going to get to Sorrento???

Well, we are still in Berlin and we have a plan for tomorrow. Now instead of flying to Naples we are flying to Rome so that we can add one more train segment to our original itinerary. If this revised master plan works we expect to be in Sorrento around 2pm tomorrow- May 23rd- and continue to Positano/Amalfi coast in the late afternoon.

Looking at the bright side this will allow us to have another cold German brew (to help us get by the 30 C degrees weather with no AC hotel room). Maybe we'll have more than one.

Just in case you are wondering, the first longest day of my life is a similar story

Stay tuned!!

Dear Weather Man,

We are seriously considering writing a letter to all the meteorologists who forecasted an average temperature of 70-something degrees for Munich this week. Something along the lines of:

Dear weather man, please accept this letter as our suggestion to consider exploring another career path...etc.etc.etc

Yesterday the temperature averaged 48 degrees and it never stopped raining. And even tough we had an umbrella we did not escape from getting our tennis shoes, socks and jeans wet. And of course, all of our clothing attempted to dry on us over a 48 degree temperature. It was pretty cold....Oh!! and let's not even talk about the hair; it was an awful hair day. The good thing is that today the sun was out and the temperature is somewhat higher.

Nevertheless, the visit to the Neuschwanstein castle was amazing and if I had to do it over a 10 degree temperature I would happily do it. Everything about it is fairy-tale like: the setting, the facade, the interior, the views. We left Munich at 850A.M in the morning and took a 2 hour train to the nearby town of Füssen. From Füssen a bus takes you to the bottom of the castle from where you have 3 options: get a carriage to take you up to the castle, take a bus up to a point near the castle and then walk downhill for about 5-10 minutes or just walk all the way up to the castle for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I can't download the pictures from the camera to the computers on the Internet cafe. So I do not foresee being able to post any of my pictures until I get back "home" in 2 weeks :-( In the meantime, here are some pictures of the castle from the castle's official website

http://www.neuschwanstein.de/

Very early this morning we left from Munich (our train departed at 7:22AM) to Berlin where we are staying until Tuesday morning. Today has been a day of relaxation!!! We are using it to re-charge our batteries for this weekend as we will be doing a lot of walking and sightseeing in Berlin...I also love this city. It brings me a lot of good memories as this was the very first city in Europe I ever visited...back in 1990. I came here with a group of about 20 friends and classmates from my school in Colombia. We came to Germany for a 3-month long student exchange and spend the first week of it in Berlin before going to live with our German families. We spend the week visiting all the historical places and landmarks we had heard our German professors talk about time after time: Das Reichstag (The Parliament), The Berlin Wall (it had just falled down 6 months prior to our visit), Checkpoint Charlie and the former East Berlin.

More to come on Berlin....stay tuned.

We have arrived

I finally have arrived in Munich. The city which will be my hometown for the next 6 months. I say we because as you know I travelled together with my relocatin coordinator a.k.a Ms. Karina Perez. We arrived safely in Munich. The flight was pretty uneventful excep for th one piece of luggage that did not make the 2 hour connection in Paris. However, the bag was delivered this morning so now I do not need to worry about anything. My friend Carlos picked us up at the airport and took us home. Yesterday we were too tired to go out in the town excep for a 1-2 hour escapade to the local bar/restaurant for the first beer (white beer) and Schnitzel of the trip.
Today I went to school to take a placement test and I'm happy to say that after 16 years of not studying or practicing the language I did not do thaaat bad. I start clasess on June 4th.
Tomorrow the plan is to go the nearby town of Füssen which is very close to the Neuschwanstein castle. This is the castle built by King Ludwig II (the son of Ludwig I) in the second half of the 19th century. Yes...Ludwig I is the same King who held the first Oktoberfest to celebrate together with his commoners his wedding to Princes Therese. This castle is the one that Walt Disney used as his inspiration for his Cinderella castle in his theme parks.

Pictures to come soon!!!

Bis Bald...

Well, the day has finally arrived. Today is when I leave on my adventure and I wanted to at least get this blog started. Between work, good-bye events, trip planning and some last minute shopping I haven’t had the chance to sit down and write. I leave to Munich (via Paris) today at 540PM and should be arriving at 12PM tomorrow (6AM Miami time). I’m happy to say that everything that I wanted to take with me fit inside the 3 bags. I just hope that it will be enough for a year. I'm not sure how long it will be before I can start updating the blog but as soon as I have an internet connection I’ll do it.

I cannot leave without saying I feel very blessed and privileged to have so many good things going for me. Not only am I getting this lifetime opportunity but I also feel very fortunate to have so many people who love me, care about me and are sooooo happy and excited that I'm getting to do this.

Bis bald!!!
I'll leave with some german (so that you start getting used to it)
(See You Soon.....Hasta pronto)