kthnx bye 2013

2013 was a weird one for me. It began with a European adventure, and then fizzled into an enduring amorphous blob of uncertainty and generally scattered existence. Not wholly bad though.

Lowlights

To be fair to 2013, I now realize I had unreal expectations. "I'm going to travel to Europe and when I come back my dream job will fall in my lap and my grown-up life I've been programmed to strive for will begin!" Visions of corporate gym memberships danced in my head. That did not happen, which I have to say was quite a blow to the ole ego. 

I've actually seen a similar funk happen to a few friends. I understand nothing about the economy, but I've heard it's bad, so I'm tempted to blame that. I don't really think it's the economy, but I do think it sucks. I'm not terribly interested in dwelling on the why though, mostly because I haven't figured out the why. The continuous job-search is definitely the big Debbie Downer of 2013.

Highlights

But 2013 wasn't always such a soul-suck! Nay, sometimes it was great! I think I definitely figured some personal stuff out. I'm not perfect, I'll never be perfect, and that's okay. I finally learned to try to be the person I want to be, and not the person I think I'm supposed to be. If something makes you unhappy, change it or get over it. I wanted to go to Europe so I went. I like Pokémon so I like Pokémon. I don't need to apologize for it. I still have to figure out the details of who I want to be, but I'm getting there. By the way, yes, Pokémon X was definitely a highlight of 2013.

I also figured out when I'm happiest: traveling, planning parties, and making stuff. Blog posts are included in "stuff." I would like to apply for a traveling party-planning designer job please. I also really like summer and anytime I can wear jean shorts. If you spot me wearing jorts, I'm at least sorta happy.

Now let's look forward to 2014. That sparkling Oz-like wonder of possibility and self improvement.* I hate New Year's Eve, but love resolutions. 1- I'd like to write more, here specifically. 2- Start working out (ughhhh so boring same resolution as everyone else get out of here). 3- I've also gotten REAL lazy when it comes to new music/movies/etc. Lately I've just been alternating between Miley and Beyoncé. I used to be up on new music thanks to The OC, which is also around the time I stopped buying music. My iTunes is a beautiful time-capsule of 2008 indie rock. Hello those are my resolutions.

See ya 2013, wouldn't want to be ya. Onward to 2014! I'm already planning another post here on hangovers. I can drink to that. 

*obviously I mean like Wizard of Oz; I hope 2014 is nothing like the HBO series

On Degrassi

I wrote a thing about Degrassi (because of course I did). It's over at Bygone Bureau!

Chicken Fried Model

This summer was weird and aimless. Kind of appropriate for summer though, I suppose. Eh, at least more acceptable for summer. I started working at a fried chicken restaurant, which is pretty fun as far as jobs go. I eat a lot of food I shouldn't eat, but I walk around all the time so it's been balancing out. I may have a heart attack at the age of 31 though.

I've also been doing a wee bit of modeling here and there. Sometimes for free sometimes for money. That sounds so unbelievably vague and sketchy. Just online catalogue stuff, honest! AS IF I need a reason to post flattering pictures of myself on my blog:

Looking bored

Vintage! 

My Corona! *sung to the tune of My Sharona*

The coolest thing I did was a music video. See what I mean by this summer being weird? Whatever, watch me eat a taco.

Oh OF COURSE I set a custom video placeholder featuring me. My like three "modeling" jobs have also turned me into a clinical narcissistic psychopath. JUST KIDDING! (no I'm not)

Mean Vegan

I've been back in New York for a month and trudging along with my job search. Frequent questions I've been asked: "So what did you do today?" "Did you leave the apartment at all?" "Did you just wake up?" Oh unemployment life.But I keep myself busy! Between applying for jobs, doing some freelance for my old job, and working on personal design projects to add to my portfolio, I've been cooking! Vegan, specifically.

I'm not a vegan. And I'm definitely not calling myself a vegan while I still have those Mini Babybel cheeses in my fridge. However, I watched a bunch of food documentaries that made me want to eat less processed foods and get more fruits and vegetables. I watched Forks Over Knives (on Netflix Instant) and I've been trying out Engine 2 recipes. Whole food, plant-based diet. First, can we look at the Engine 2 guy?

His name is RIP and he's a FIREFIGHTER. Of course I'm going to try all his recipes.

whole wheat means a lot of brown food

Blueberry Dumpster Cobbler Rip, you know I love you, but don't call any edible thing "dumpster." Even if it's so easy like putting out a dumpster fire (actual reason it's called this). For goodness sakes, dumpster fires. Why didn't an editor say something? Anyway, the thing was good and pretty easy. Not sweet enough though and I threw in an extra packet of Truvia. Let's not call it a dessert. It's a breakfast.

Breakfast-Worthy Banana Bread I only used 3 bananas and it was kinda dry. Definitely going to try this one again though, but use 4 bananas and replace some of the oil with unsweetened applesauce. I also may throw some dark chocolate chips in there because yum yum yum.

Macaroni Not Cheese Bland.com/boring. TO BE FAIR, I used almonds instead of cashews so maybe that would have helped? Today I ate leftovers and cooked up some more onions in vegetable broth to add to it, added beaucoup salt n pepper, and a little cayenne pepper. That helped. Oh and I didn't have peppers. I hate when people don't follow the recipe and then complain, so I'm sorry Rip. I'll do better next time. It's me, not you.

Looks like monster snot

Hummuacamole A mutant hybrid of Engine 2 Hummus and Steaktooth Hummus.

Ingredients:

1 Avocado 

1 Cucumber (I couldn't find zucchini!!!)

1 tbs. Crushed Garlic

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

2 tsp. Bragg's Liquid Aminos

2 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Sea Salt

1 big handful of kale

1 cup of mushrooms

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Throw it all in a food processor. Blamo. It's good, but kinda watery. Probably should've looked harder for that zucchini. I threw in mushrooms and they disappeared. This is a good one to sneak in a buttload of raw vegetables.

Dark Chocolate Tofu Mousse

Dark Chocolate Mousse A Liz original based on like 5 different recipes. It's delicious and very rich, but not too sugary.

Ingredients:

14oz package of silken tofu

1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla coconut milk

3 tbs of agave nectar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix it up. Scoop into little cupcake holders. Top with fresh berries. Refrigerate for a while. Makes 8, 100 calories each.

Back!

I'm BACK! First order of business: watch too much TV.

HELLO New York. You're looking fine.

I'm hanging out and birthday celebrating in New York this weekend. Then I'm off to Ohio to save money and work on my portfolio from March 4-April 2. Then I'll be back in Brooklyn for good. And that's the plan, Jan!

Treat Yo Self

Today was great and lovely! The weather was sunny and 45 F. I didn't even wear a coat! I'm in Iceland if you've lost track.

somewhere in Iceland idk

on the set of Prometheus

After finding my long lost love (cottage cheese) at breakfast, I was off to Blue Lagoon. Blue Lagoon is a geothermal mineral pool and spa thing. A wee bit pricey but I was really looking forward to this.

beautiful Blue Lagoon! Little man, I want to Photoshop you out so baaaaaad

Gorgeous darling.

It was so beautiful and relaxing. I was just swim-swamming around in February in Iceland. The whole place smells faintly of farts due to the sulphur, but I didn't mind. I need to shower because I still kinda smell faintly of farts (moreso than usual).

The water is mineral-rich and very good for your skin. They have the boxes of silica mud you rub on your face like a mask. It's totally unattended and free. Naturally I took giant handfuls and covered my entire body with it. Sorry, but that's what you get when you leave me around free beauty/skincare/anything unsupervised. I also went to the steam bath and sauna. Then I got an ice cream bar at the swim-up bar and everything was perfect.

Tomorrow I will undertake a quest for some shark. It's their national food and I would like to try shark. Then I'm BACK!! My flight leaves at 5pm tomorrow and I'm supposed to land at 6pm in NYC because we're flying against TIME. It's a 6 hour flight. I have plans for a couple trip-end posts over the next day or so. Reflections, art dump, stuff I made, etc. We ain't done here yet son.

Hungöveretten

Hi guys, it's time for my favorite kind of post: hungover. Currently self-medicating said hangover with a giant cup of coffee and chocolate cake because I like to reward bad decisions with delicious cake. There's something a little beautiful about hangovers. I'm so enveloped in feeling sorry for myself that I forget I'm a tourist in a strange Deutsche-land. I'm just a human lookin' for that cake. Cake cake cake cake. I was quoting poet-laureate Rihanna at the end there.

I'm still in Berlin! I've seen a lot of museums. So. Many. Museums. I'm tapping out. I've gotten so spoiled and sometimes I buy a ticket and speed walk through the joint. It's happened a couple times. I'm not terribly proud of this fact. But it is what it is.

Museum Island

I went to a 19th centuryish art museum, a 20th centuryish art museum, a DDR museum (East Berlin), an "alternative Berlin" tour, Bauhaus archive, and the abandoned airport Tempelhof.

Bauhaus was cool. I finally learned its pronounced "bow-house" so I can stop embarrassing myself. Unrelated: Lime in the Coconut just started playing in this cafe. I bought a poster! I buy nothing ever, so that it significant.

Bauhaus Chairs

I miss art school!

The DDR museum was really well done. It was largely about daily life in East Berlin. Here's a photo, idk man..

Who is this Party informant snooping around my East berlin flat?!

Tiny naked people! East Berlin didn't have enough swimsuits so everybody went naked. And then 25 years later someone felt compelled to make a diorama about it. 

Tempelhof was so cold. I imagine it would be wonderful in the summer. They had BBQ spots. In the winter though, woof. The wind just impaling you from those flat empty runways. Like trekking Siberia. I took a photo of myself so I could remember what I looked like before my nose fell off from hypothermia. Isn't it nice to know I'm still so dramatic even when it's just me?

Tempelhof aka Siberia 

in remembrance of my nose

I also have successfully undertaken the bahns, as I affectionately refer to them. U-Bahn and S-Bahn. Berlin public transit. Apparently ticket inspectors check sometimes, but I have yet to see one of these fellows. I keep buying tickets though because I'm terrified of getting yelled at in German.

I've also been pretending to be German as much as possible. To accomplish this, I just say "Hallo" and then nod when people talk at me. I also maintain a bored face and hide my panicked confusion. It's been working out for me. It got me a fork at Starbucks, interestingly.

Other things with me. I've been watching a lot of vice videos. I think I will send them a letter re: giving me a job. These guys went to North Korea! Makes me feel like a lame little baby for not jumping head first into some weird underground Berlin club with like those pierced people hanging from a ceiling and an animal sacrifice. That's probably happening somewhere in Berlin, right? Who knows. But I like wifi and chocolate cake and art museums.

Now I will take a train to Frankfurtty and get a hotel by the airport and hang around. So close to being home! Are you coming to my birthday? Come to my birthday!

TV Tower

Berlinagain

Hey-o! I'm back in Berlin. I think I may have left Munich a bit prematurely because after I got to Berlin, I realized I actually know THREE people in Munich! Whoops, I screwed up! I'm happy to be back in Berlin though.I totally did have another super weird night train dream again. I dreamt that I was watching a Beyoncé WWE pay-per-view fight. And I kept asking who she was fighting and everyone would just say "haha um Not Beyoncé."

Yesterday I was planning to go the Bauhaus Archives and that was a 32-Double D BUST. Short version so as not to dwell: spent an hour getting there, museum closed on Tuesdays. Bad job, Liz.

Last night was great though! I went to a "Living History" talk that my hostel out on with a man from West Berlin that occasionally did work in East Berlin. When I was last in Berlin, I met with a man from East Berlin. It was really interesting to hear stories and perspectives from both sides of the wall. It really blows my mind how recent that history is. When I was a wee babe, the wall was still up! I was pooping my pants in Texas and Berlin was divided! Bananas.

Did you know there were two subway lines that ran from West Berlin, underneath East Berlin, and back to West? The train would just slow down in the East stations, but never stop. The East Stations were guarded with machine guns. Once a train lost power IN East Berlin, and they refused to let anyone off or even have contact with the West Berlin passengers. I can't imagine, but I'm really fascinated by the whole thing.

Okay, here are my Berlin goals: Bauhaus Archives, Topography of Terror, Museum Island museums, now-closed Tempelhof Airport. If I do not do these things, you should yell at me.

Gold Beers Cold Beers

After wandering around Munich and spending a half hour smelling all the celebrity perfumes in Sephora, I went to Haufbräuhaus! I had a beer and pretzel for lunch, which I felt was nice and Bavarian. An oompa band was playing!

Hoflighthaus

Bier!

Haus

Then I went to the Residenz, the home to the electors/dukes/kings of Bavaria (they kept getting upgraded). I recommend it! I was in a "eh, this will kill some time" mind frame, but it was very interesting! Really expansive and they give you a free audio guide. Very opulent and fancy-schmancy.

Seashell Lady

Hermes and MORE SHELLS

They also had a chapel for all their relics. Relics, dude, relics. They say they have the head of John the Baptist, but the Catholic Church says that's in Italy, so I'm not really clear how that counts.

Love the Lana del Rey headpiece, John the B

So intricate!

Why isn't science all over relics? Shouldn't Bones be out here telling us what's what? Is that happening and I just don't subscribe to the right periodicals?

And on that note of old saint body parts, I gotta go find some dinner! Icky.

This is not the Hofbraubaus

Guten Tag!

Yo Munich! Yesterday I went on a walking tour that was quite nice. Munich's name comes from monks! There used to be a bunch of monasteries here and people would just say "Oh I'm from that place with the monks." I also saw my first ever real monk in Zagreb! Brown robes, rope belt, whole thing.

Munich

Munich

After the tour I did a wee bit of shopping (got a birthday dress oh yeaaaahh), grocery shopping, and laundry.

Today is Sunday, as you may know. So everything was closed. Everything except museums! I did FOUR museums today. On Sunday admission is only one euro and all the museums I wanted to go to are in a little block. Good day good day. Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek, Museum Brandhorst, and Pinakothek der Moderne.

Side story to tell you about this German woman. I was just checking my map and she offered to help me. She was probably like 70 and had so many lady whiskers! Basically a full beard, but all white. And big fat tears were just coming out of her eyes whenever she blinked and she didn't seem to notice or care. I think I'm going to make up some German folklore about her. She was nice though.

Ok, so that German lady told me "Pinakothek" is basically Greek for "place to keep important things." Take that as you will. It was four different art museums for various time periods. I really enjoyed myself.

Art

I'm drawing!

No.

Seriously, mom?

Monkeying Around

DESIGN

Warhol

Tomorrow I'll do some more Munich stuff then I'm heading BACK TO BERLIN. Crazy, right? I really liked Berlin and my hostel there though. I think there's still a lot for me to see there and it's slightly cheaper than Munich. Another night train by the way, so lets see if I have another vision quest.

Munchin' in München

Greetings from Munich! Home to Oktoberfest, Hitler, Hofbräuhaus, Olympic tragedies and who knows! I'll have to find out!More importantly though, I took my first night train. I can only speak of my one experience, but whoa, night train dreams are like some vision quest stuff. A bunch of my friends were all having an elaborate tea party on the train station platform and we kept arguing about which train to get on. Poetic?

It wasn't bad except this German guy slept like a log the first 2 hours (when we still had to go through border patrol every couple of minutes) and then kept getting up every hour during sleepy times! Duuuuuuuude. He and his wife were okay though. I, however, was a sloppy mess. Shirt kept riding up, blankets twisted all over the place, belly hanging out. Not cute.

I suspect it's related to traveling alone, but a lot of my thoughts are occupied with "what if." For example, last night it was "what if I just took my pants off in this sleeping car?" Would anyone say anything? Would they ask me to put some pants on? Would no one care? Would the conductor/ticket man say something? Too gauche? Their English wasn't great, so I wonder how it would translate. I did keep my pants on, for the record.

Now it is 7am and I will go eat some hostel breakfast, explore Munich, and come back to check into my room. That's how my day's shaping up.

Oh I did have a very Bridget Jones moment in Zagreb. I'd been walking in the snow all day and my little head was saying "wine wine wine wine." I went to open my Hungarian wine, but the cork kept breaking so I started stabbing it furiously with a knife. I think I'm the only one who didn't see this next bit coming. I pushed the cork in too forcefully and wine went all over my face and shirt and hair. I legitimately had to go wash my face. Anyway, I smelled like an alcoholic for the day but that didn't stop me from enjoying my wine with the accompaniment of deli slices and popcorn. C'est magnifique.

Update: I've hit a wall. Big wall. It's now 9:19 am and I'm killing time till the free walking tour at 10:30. Dying. So sleepy. I wish I could be cute and say I've hit a BERLIN wall, but I'm in Munich so screw it.

Srce

"Srce" means "heart" in Croatian. Pretty sure that word is missing some vowels, but that's Croatian for you! I'm in Zagreb. I can't quite get a handle on Croatia. What's your deal? I don't know!Everyone is very nice though. I think tourism is still novel enough that they don't hate me immediately. The staff at my hostel is wonderful! And there's a DOG named COOKIE. Dogs are so great. My wifi sitch is meh though, hence the lack of activity on the blog.

Cookie Cookie Cooke

Things are nice and cheap as well. Not as cheap as Budapest, but pretty good. Everything is weirdly 30 kuna ($5 USD). Lame nachos, pasta primavera, movie tickets, vegetarian risotto, museum admission. All 30 kuna!

First day I went to the new Museum of Contemporary Art and then went to see Warm Bodies at a movie theater. I actually have a ton of photos from all the art museums I go to, but I've been hoarding them. Maybe I'll do a big international art post at the end of trip. Anyway, the weather was gross so I wanted to keep it indoors. My plan to go south for more warmth has really backfired.

Next day I walked around Upper Town. Zagreb used to be two towns (Kaptol and ummm something starting with a G) and they would fight for ages. In the 1800s they finally joined forces and now the symbol of Zagreb is a heart. Because the two towns coming together. Get it? It's appropriate for VALENTINES DAY wheeee!

Zagreb

Me in Zagreb

Zagreb

lil thingy

Today I woke up and made delicious Paleo Pancakes! This paragraph is not travel related. I'm not doing Paleo, but I'm lazy and like easy things. You mush up one banana, add two eggs, whip it up, and cook it like a pancake. It's a very tasty banana crepe kinda of thing. Would be amazing with Nutella. Two ingredients! So nice. So healthy.

In the spirit of being festive, I went to the Museum of Broken Relationships! People donate objects from their relationships and a little story about it. Very interesting. It's very much like spying on strangers most vulnerable moments. Donations are from all over the world, but the stories are all pretty universal.

I bought my ticket for Munich tomorrow! I'm taking my first NIGHT TRAIN. I don't know what to expect from that. Going to attempt Zagreb Zoo tomorrow during the day.

Staying: funk lounge

Croatia!

cold, wet, sad

Uh oh guys, you know I'm nearing the end of trip when I don't have a punny title for my blog post. I'm in Zagreb though!The hostel I'm staying at is very fun and all the Croatians (Croats? Is one of those racist? I should look into that) I've met have been really friendly and nice! Except that guy at the zoo parking lot, but let's not talk about him. Also, my hostel has a lil Pekingese dog named Cookie! I tote her around when I can. She doesn't like me very much.

I have my own room here which is such a wonderful treat. I planned it this way, but still. Yesterday I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art and then saw the movie Warm Bodies. I was in a Croatian mall and it felt so American I was comforted. Mmmmm sweet sweet capitalism.

Today I walked around Upper Town! Saw some lovely Croatian sights. I tried to go to the zoo but missed the entrance and just walked around the entire perimeter of the zoo in the snow. So at that point I was pretty over my enthusiasm for the zoo and just came back to the hostel and ate deli meat and drank wine.

Budapest Snow

Yesterday I went to the thermal baths and swam around in outdoor heated pools while snow fell on my head. And then I watched Magic Mike in my hostel. To Zagreb!

Ooooo snow!

Buda Buda Buda

Rockin' everywhere. Budapest is a cool cool city. Second favorite after Amsterdam. I read a quote somewhere that "Hungary is viewed as the East by the West and as the West by the East." I like that and it seems very spot on.

First day I went to art museums and had a nice day. Unfortunately, that isn't much a very interesting story. I did realize how cheap Budapest is though! I got a "smoked cheese" (?) sandwich and sparkling water at the museum cafe (always notorious for being over priced) for 950 Fl!! That's less than $5. Oh yeah. And I got two cute skirts and a lil coin purse for under $20. Budapest is great!

City Park

Saturday was a really lovely day. I went on a WONDERFUL walking tour. Our guide Anita was super. They showed us the sights, but also have us a lot of helpful tips about Budapest. She explained tipping practices, public transport, Hungarian food and beer,and even taught us some Hungarian phrases. I gotta TripAdvisor them.

St Stephens

Spooky!

Cafe Alexander!

Castle Gate

I love all the old run down buildings. Looks like beautiful haunted houses

ME

The tour ended right next to the Faust Wine Cellar, which I remembered the lovely Em Batt recommending. So nice! For $22 I got to sample 6 wines with an attentive guide. It's this little husband and wife team. He explained all the "notes" or whatever and I loved it. Am I at the age where I should stop buying Three Buck Chuck and maybe go for the $10 bottles?? Only time will tell.

wine tasting!

I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the white wines! All the white wine I've had is either gross and sugary or smells faintly of pee, but not these! I even bought a bottle! So unlike me. It might be nice to send it home buuuuuut I'll probably just drink it. Hungarian wine y'all, get into it. But you can't because apparently they don't have much of an export.

THEN I was supposed to go on a pub crawl from my hostel but it got cancelled for the third night in a row! Not enough people. Trés disappointment. I ended up going to Szimpla Kert (once again a stellar Em Batt suggestion). I wish we had something like that in Brooklyn! It's an abandoned building and so so neat. They had this weird stationary bike race thing in one corner? Lots of guys in those silly little cycle hats. And there was a stag party with everyone dressed up with a nautical theme. The groom was a merman. All stag parties should be nautical themed. I have decreed.

I didn't stay long though because I was by myself and awkwardly wandering around. Traveling alone is hard. It takes a lot out of you. You try to talk to someone and it falls a bit flat or they don't speak English. Solo travel has perks, but on the whole, I wouldn't recommend it. Lizbob Lonelypants.

ANYWAY, I retired back to the hostel after a kebab and ended up going out with a couple American boys from my room. We met these Chinese kids that were so plastered celebrating Chinese New Year. They kept giving us champagne and asking about their favorite American TV shows. It's year of the Snake! I'm year of the Snake!! It's my YEAR.

ok bye bye I love you

A Brat in Bratislava

I went to Bratislava! Being able to say that was a large part of my reasoning for going, so mission accomplished?Bratislava (in Slovakia) is just an hour from Vienna and en route to Budapest. So why the heck not! Also, Rick Steves recommended it and he is my mentor.

I ate some Slovakian food: an onion & sirloin soup and some cheese dumplings. Those cheese dumplings could kill a man. It's like macaroni and cheese on steroids with cheese fondue on top. It was an intensely cheesy experience. But "death by cheese" may be a good way to go.

Then we walked around and saw the Reader's Digest highlights. Check out those photos. Bratislava, bb. Next we hiked all the way up to the castle, with Vanessa and I stopping like every 15 minutes because UGH. Anyway, check it off the list.

Just a general note: Europeans love Django Unchained. It's weird. I've heard the Django soundtrack in 3 different countries. My Berlin hostel played it every morning during breakfast. My new "line" to start up a conversation with any young European? "So Django." Literally all I have to say. I'm tempted to try to analyze this, but I'll resist.

Now I am in Budapest! I'm happy to be here. I also just bought a new shampoo that I am SO EXCITED ABOUT. And my hostel here will do my laundry with a DRYER for $10. I'm giddy about this. Clean and non-stretched out clothes will be mine tonight!! I'm always pretty chill about big things and weirdly enthusiastic about little things. What's up with that?

Wien Wieners

So Vienna is another one of those cities that we made up a new name for? I didn't know this. It's actually "Wien" here. Which also explains "wiener schnitzel" finally. A lifelong mystery: solved!

Firstly, I went on a walking tour with an adorable octogenarian guide named Ingrid. She was lovely. I got some quick Vienna history, saw some sights, and quickly realized what I was interested in doing. Vienna is apparently known for opera, schnitzel, and coffee shops.

I first went to a coffee shop and sampled some famous Sacher cake. It was kinda of dry and I was unimpressed. HOWEVER I did really enjoy the coffee shop culture. You've claimed your spot and no one will bother you. Fantastic. I love not being bothered.

I would like to do this for 100 hours

I then traveled to the Leopold Museum. They had a giant exhibit called "Nude Men" which I find hilarious because I am 11. Lots of penii. That's the plural of "penis" I may have just made up. Whatever, I don't have Internet right now to look it up. Also, lol that iPhones capitalize Internet.

heehee

Oh! And a very nice but alcoholic man was singing at the hot dog stand and I forced him to dance with me. It was charming in a Vienna way. Just trust me on this one, it was cute.

Finally I went to my hostel bar and became so friendly and forced the bartenders to teach me their craft. I can now fully put "bartender at hostel bar in Vienna" on my résumé. I also stole an abandoned box of toffee at the bar. Well it's eaten now.

And now I am off to Bratislava! I convinced this fun Australian girl I met yesterday to come with me on the day trip. I am so bossy! (cue Kelis)

Vienna

Vienna is pretty! Doesn't it look a little Diagon Alley-esque with that Gringotts at the end?

me being bossy

Segway Segue

I finally took the Segway tour! It was two hours and quite fun. Freezing cold though. Shockingly, I wasn't as terrible as I expected to be. There were definitely a few moments of pure terror, but nothing catastrophically dramatic happened. It was just me and the guide as well, and she was very patient. I also think she could read the terror in my face occasionally because she would say things like "You hanging in there?" But later she took the speed governor off and I was zooming along and I felt like Tron.

The funniest moment was at the end when I was trying to get off. I took one foot off and the things just started spinning, going around in a little circle. I was standing there with one foot dangling off, doing that kind of panicked "ahhhhhhhh" groan. This guy from the front desk ran and had to help me. Luckily, it was pretty minor mishap, in the grand scheme of my life. How fucking cute do I look on this Segway though?

Segway!!!

I went to Prague Castle and a toy museum that morning. Prague Castle was nice, but I'm getting a bit spoiled with cathedrals and old things. They did have some very cool Muchas stained glass.

St. Vitus Cathedral

The toy museum was great though! They had old toys from the WWI and such. Really interesting to see. I already tweeted it, but let me say it again: Thank you Northeastern for not putting a date on my student ID. I've gotten so many student discounts.

Nightmare Fuel

Umm

Just a fun alcoholic sailor toy

Very Fantastic Mr. Fox I thought! For Eric Allen

Lil Devil Doll

Trains planes and automobiles

The toy museum had a big collection for 50 Years of Barbie. I was nostalgic looking at all the sweet 90s Barbies I had. Thanks for all the Barbies, Mom & Dad.

girls girls all types of girls, girls I do adore

If you ever want to feel stumpy, take a photo next to Barbie

I'm currently killing an hour and a half in the Prague train station, waiting for my train to Vienna. In other news, I got my first European nosebleed! It wouldn't be a Liz Kelley Adventure without a nosebleed.

I'm now thinking the rest of my trip will be: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Zagreb, Venice, Munich, Frankfurt, Iceland, NYC.