Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin

So we havent written in a while. Salzburg was incredible! Picturesque. We stayed with an awesome family right outside of the city who made us all of our meals (breakfast, complete with homemade jam on the upstairs patio, looking out over the mountains, lunch in the garden, dinner by the grill), took us fossil hunting (where we actually found fossils!) and hiking up a mountain, lent us bikes to get around the city, and were always smiling and hospitable. We saw a marionette version of the Barber of Seville, which was stunning, and went to a few beer gardens. Austria is simply gorgeous. The landscape is just too perfect.
Ok, so we arrived in Vienna a few days ago. I started feeling an itch in my throat the last day in Salzburg, but claimed it was just the pollen from being in the wilderness so much. I wasnt about to give in to illness that easily, so I ignored the warning signs--the getting tired early in the evening, the nose starting to run...
We got to Vienna and met out host, Petra, and her flatmates, all of whom are pretty awesome people. My nose is starting to run more and more, and its pouring outside. We walked around a bit after the rain stopped and were shown about the town which is basically a lovechild between Brooklyn, Georgetown, and Boston just with more history. We went to the catacombs (creepy, but cool) and then Petra took us to this really great place that played older swing/jazz/fun music. Crazy legs made an appearance. All the while I am realizing that illness is going to hit hard, not to mention it is raining again for our walk home. So I live it up now and have a good time. The next morning, I was dead. My nose was a fountain, I was weak, and I had not (and still havent) seen a single tissue box the entire time I have been in Europe. But I still wouldnt let that deter my enjoyment (even though it really did....I just wasnt about to stay in bed all day). We went out on the town, me feeling like absolute shit. By the evening my nose is rubbed raw, I had been using toilet all day and by now looked like Rudolph. I went to the Apotheke, where I bought a few tiny packages of tissues (no boxes) to last me through the Opera we are about to see.
We ended up getting standing room tickets for Manon, a French opera, which was playing at the Opera house. Now, in case you didnt know, Vienna is the home of opera, the premier place to see it, and tickets were a mere 4 euro. So 3 hours later, I was very impressed, but felt like death. I went back to the flat while Josh went out with Petra and her friends to this concert that sounded AMAZING and I am horribly jealous that I had to miss it, however, I knew it was time to take care of myself and get better faster, rather than rallying and prolong it all. Josh got in at 9am.
Today I felt WAY better, except I could only taste about half the time due to my sinuses hating me. We saw a sign for a Beerfest and obviously had to go. I dont care how sick I am, I was not about to miss out on a beerfest in Vienna where there was live traditional Austrian music and 200 varieties of beer! I only had two beers before taking my current state of health into consideration. We then got standing room tickets again for another show at the opera house. This time a ballet. Not just any ballet, the music was by Phillip Glass and Chopin, choreography by Jerome Robbins!! IT WAS AMAZING!!! I have never seen anything like it before. It was just so creative and beautiful and funny and engaging. SO GOOD! So now I am back at the flat, feeling loads better, Josh is finally asleep (after having only slept for an hour and a half last night) hoping that tomorrow will bring even more good health. Goodnight to all, and thanks for reading!!
Oh, the title of this post has to do with our facial hair. I dont think we ever said on the blog, but we decided to go the entire trip without shaving or trimming our facial hair. It is getting kinda long now though.....
-Brandon

Salzburg part 1

So, I haven´t posted in a while, and even this will be brief, but I wanted to tell you all that we found fossils of Ancient Mussels with our host family. Tonight we are seeing The Barber of Ceville, fullz staged with Marrionettes and live orchestra and singing! And that you should be jealous.

Josh

SALZBURG!!

After a full day of travelling we finally met up with our host family. They are awesome! we had dinner on the upstairs porch and played music, and enjoyed the view of the epic mountains. They are really great people and i am so pumped to get to know them better over the next 3 days. for now it is time to sleep! Oh, also, i don´t think i talked much about florence, but it was also incredible. Jersey Shore was there. Josh and i couldnt find them, but other people from our hostel partied with them. We just wanted to be on tv. Goodnight!!

I LOVE ITALY!!!!!!!!!!

Sparknotes of today: The Uffizi Museum where I hung out with Rembrandt and all of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (except for Donatello). Then the Duomo. Then a nap. Then an awesome dinner where I ate the BEST pesto of my life. i have never been a huge fan of pesto, but this was incredible. Tomorrow we are going to see the statue David and the Picasso/Dali exhibit. photos from bulgaria and greece are on facebook. miss you all. but love it here.

Ciao!!!
Brandon

Cruising That Amusing Ponte Vecchio

We are in Florence (Firenze) and it is wonderful. I think I am going to move to Italy once i am done with NYC (if that ever happens). Basically this place is great, I think I like Rome a bit better though. Anyway, I just wanted to check in and say hi. photos are currently being uploaded to Facebook, so keep an eye out. I will put captions on them later though. I bought a leather jacket!!!!
-Brandon

Be Italian!!!

Ok, so it is safe to say that this is my first drunk post. It is 3:22am here and we just got back from a night of novelty drinking. Mind you, we did drink before we went out. We (We: Josh, two canadians at our hostel, and I) were recommended this place that is a bookshop in the front of the store and then you walk through and there is a bar. This bar serves shots of stuff in shot glasses made of chocolate. on top of the alcohol they put whipped cream. On tope of that they sprinkle either chocolate, coconut, or cinnamon flakes. then you put the entire thing in your mouth bottom first and bite down. wonderful!!!
After that we went to a place wher eyou can get a giant cylindrical tube full of up to 4.5L of beer. there is a spout where you can refill your own glass. So cool!!!
Oh, earlier today we visited the Vatican. It was absolutely incredible. St. Peters Basilica is simply amazing and the Sistine Chapel made me realize that there was good reason for the invention of the phrase "breath-taking." I would tell you more, but i am trying to sleep. so good night.
-Brandon

What he said.
-Josh

my first 10 days

So, It has come to my attention that people want events rather than thoughts. I'll recount the first week for you all and the last few days.

Day one- I sit next to HAM and GAL on the plane ride over, they are a married couple but they refuse to sit by eachother because they both hate the middle seat. I am sitting in between them. Gal tells me my parents must have done a great job raising me because I'm polite etc. I think that my mom would be proud to hear that.
Our first Host Stephanie completely flakes on us and we have to scramble to find a hostel, which ended up being the best hostel EVER. As we get off the plane the lady at the counter where we went for our taxi ticket tells us that "this place is not safe for us".... We shit ourselves. If there is anything more intimidating than arriving in a country that stills looks very much like communism it's witnessing two taxi drivers arguing over which driver should take us in a harsh slavic language. There was yelling, maybe these people just express themselves differently. We were both pretty scared, but Sofia was incredible. We made a bunch of friends and bought 3 10 oz steaks for the equivalent of 4 dollars.

Thessaloniki. We arrive in Thessaloniki at about 4 pm. Us and our 3 friends find a cabby and he says 15 Euro... We say no thanks because its only a mile or so away and we know how to get there basicalyl.We both love walking to explore new places anyway.... as we get to the first intersection we hear the not so familiar sound of chanting. Thessalo-niki! Thessalo-niki! A group of 300 give or take is Marching down the street perpendicular to us. Some are wearing Gas masks.. they seem upset... "What is going on" we think? We didn't have too much time to think though, before we know it this group of people has turned right and is now walking towards us.... Two americans on a suddenly empty street being followed by a slowly moving protest..... It's safe to say that neither of us have ever felt that way before. We promptly make back to the bus station and hop in a cab... a Different cabby who gives us a much better price of 9 Euro- DoubleLesson learned, sometimes it's better to take a cab even if the cab driver is trying to rip you off. AND. Sometimes it isn't because we did save money.

One thing about Greece and Bulgaria is the large number of friendly stray dogs and terrifying stray cats. The Dogs just chill and people pet them, they are never violent. The Cat's glare with the stare of medusa.

Brandon and I go to the Theatre and the Women at the Box office is HOT! and when she finds out that we both want to see a play in greek she gets really ...excited.... Well she was happy. Anyway, we come back the next day and buy tickets. She is still there and is flirting with me. cool. Then we see the show. and I ask her if she wants to hang out. "It's Saturday, I have arrangements." She says this with a smile that suggests she's happy I asked and that I am stupid for not realizing she would have a social life. I tell her it's my last day. She gets noticeably sad. She writes her phone number and email address on a piece of paper and whispers ," Call me later" in her cute Greek accent.

I called.

Athens Was our first Couchsurfing Experience. I give it an A plus

Now we are in Rome. An Irish man told a group of 20 college aged girls that they HAD to hear me sing... So I sang to them on the Roman forum ( across the stree from the Colloseum) I promptly realized I was dehydrated. I wish they had practice rooms in hostels.

Last night we walked to the trevy fountain. 40 minutes... ate the best gelato ever... literally-- ever. Also yesterday I had an incredible pie.

Now it is today. And somehow our booking got messed up at this hostel and we only have it reserved for 1 person tonight... They agreed to let brandon and I use the same single bed..... Should be a fun night ;)

-Josh

When in Rome

Lessons learned today-
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Nero Married 5 times, three were women.
Irish accents are easier to understand than Scottish Accents.
Generosity is plentiful.
I miss practicing and music.
Sometimes I do things for attention.
Sometimes I am loud.
Creme filled pie with raspberries and powdered sugar is the most delicious man made food.
Pizza is Roma is eatin with a Forka


-Josh

And the beauty is....

Rome is awesome. The architecture, the people, the street musicians (unlike in Greece, they dont just play Besame Mucho), the food! Went to see the Colliseum today which was incredible and with our ticket we got a tour of this other historical place right next door (sorry I dont remember the name....it's super famous though). Anyway, between the two tours, this Irish couple started talking to us. They were on vacation (have kids, married for 23 years, etc) and just started chatting. Partway through the tour the husband gave me his contact info and told us to contact him when we were in Ireland (totally out of the blue and super nice). Then, after the tour they took us out for drinks and pizza! We sat outside with the Colliseum in the background, the sounds of accordian music from the street performer, and two wonderful pizzas and people. It is simply amazing that people that are so kind and so honest still exist in the world. It was just perfect. I will definitely be calling them in Ireland. After all, I promised them a dinner at their favorite restaraunt.
-Brandon

From Greece

Today, The Akropolis. Tomorrow, The Vatican and the Colleseum. Either all monuments will blend together to become a sort of memory slushy in which no parts can be remembered and all meaning is lost. Or each flavor stands alone. Or perhaps, these are not mutually exclusive. Is a person made of thoughts or actions? That was the question I asked myself today. I decided that they cannot operate independently. I think that searching for meaning is a lost cause. Meaning must be created, not searched for. The creation of meaning, is the creation of life. Life, like art is created. Perhaps that is why I flock towards the arts.

The Akropolis was Breath taking. I don't really know what to say. This trip is proving to me that the world is full of wonderful people.

In short. I am having fun.

-Josh

Last Day in Greece

One week in on our journey through Europe and going strong! I am way more comfortable with being a stranger in a new place. We went to the Acropolis today (and sang Go the Distance from Hercules). It is stunning. I'll upload photos but there is no way that it will do it justice. The mammoth size of the Parthenon and the other buildings as you reach the top of the mountain and overlook the entirety of the city. Crazy. I little weird that they are doing restorations on it though. can't they just leave it?? Oh, also we sat in the Theatre of Dionysus. No big deal... Anyway, Greece has been incredible. Our host is great too. She has been taking us all around and showing us a good time.
I'll start elaborating more in theses posts. perhaps. It is just a bit of a time waster making you all jealous when we could be out doing more things to make you all the more jealous. :-)
Anyway, we have a flight to Rome tomorrow morning, and then we are going to Florence a few days after that. I'm excited to see what Italy has in store for us.
When in Rome!
-Brandon

In Greece

So we are at an internet cafe in Thessaloniki right now, so i only have 15 minutes to write. We will update you on the actual exciting stuff later (protests and the sktchy part of the city we are styaing in along with the hilarity that is our bathroom). For now, ju8st know that we are safe and the city is amazing! plenty of bars with young people (the girls are gorgeous (sorry, Carly)), and the Mediterranean is great. Tomorrow we are off to Athens! more to come! and sorry for all the typos. no time to correct it.
-Brandon

Gyro= amazing

- Josh

Last Day In Bulgaria

So last night we met up with Josh's former co-worker's best friend, who took us (Josh, Esteban the Mexican, Peter the Kiwi, Cameron the Scot, and I) to a bar that only played Bulgarian Heavy Metal music. We were the only ones there. Then we left around 2am to find the British girls from our Hostel. We then met some local a kids (about our age) who took us to a bar and then to a park to drink. Needless to say, we got home around 5am.
This morning we got up and went to the open air market (Lady Market) where Cameron, Josh and I decided that we would cook at the hostel tonight. For 12lv (about $8) we got a giant pack of chili powder, a crap ton of mushrooms, 10 onions, tomato sauce, a loaf of bread and three steaks that the man chopped right off the bone with an axe! SO MUCH FOOD FOR SO LITTLE MONEY!!
So tomorrow we are bussing to Thessaloniki (spelling?) in Greece, where we have a hostel for two nights before we go to Athens where we have a person to stay with.
Also, many thanks to the dialect coach from Arcadia. The brittish girls said that I had a great accent!
Also, at the market there was a Bulgarian remix version of Hernando's Hideaway.....
See you in Greece!
-Brandon

another good night

it's 5 am... we've now been awake for over 55 of the last 72 hours. I'm not tired at all

Local people are friendly and awesome.


Josh

Day 2

Incredible! After waking up still drunk, Josh and I went on a free 3 hour walking tour of the city. SO MUCH HISTORY! It took us down to the ancient and medeival level of the city. I got a lot of great pics (to come later). I am much more at ease now. We have been walking around with an American girl and a scottish guy. Just got back from a tea house where you had to take your shoes off and sit on the floor. We may go see a show tonight (just to see theatre in another language) One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is at the National Theatre tonight and tickets are buy two for one for 20lv (about $15). Also, the drivers here are the nicest drivers ever. They see you waiting to cross over a busy street and just stop.
Anyway, this city is gorgous. One more day here and then off to Greece (maybe Croatia next).
More tonight possibly!
-Brandon

DAY 1

So, After sitting on a plane next to a couple named Ham and Gal, and having our host go MIA and decide not to either pick us up at the airport or exchange ANY contact information. Today has been incredible!

Brandon and I, were daunted from the begining, and I think I got rid of that feeling slightly sooner than him, but he can possibly disagree with that statement later in this post. WE walked around town, At Lamb meet, Tripe soup and Milk salad. Purchased a 2 Liter bottle of beer for 2 leva.... which is like a buck fifty... And to be quite honest I have consumed most of that already playing a game of Grand Poulet ( Big/ Gigantic Chicken) with some English, aussies and French people. So far... This trip has completely blown my mind in its ability to NOT go according to plan. Yet. It is still awesome. I am so confident that This trip will be awesome. I'm hoping to spend approx 30 USD per day.... Today I spent 35... but I also paid for brandons beer and our cab ride... So I think its doable!! Although.. bulgaria is cheap... Anyway I'm rambling now... I love you all... We are safe, Please believe in us.


---- Josh


(sorry if i repeat anything. I am not reading Josh's post before I write this)
Ok,
Not going to lie. This was a terrifying start to our journey. In Bulgaria, not many people speak English in Bulgaria (only the younger people), and it is a city with an identity crisis. One street is run down and sketchy while the next is like the NYC Financial District. Really interesting though. I had meat from a lamb's head for dinner. Now we are playing drinking games at the hostel with a Franchman, 4 Brits and an Aussie. a 2 liter bottle of beer is about $1.50 and is sold for less than a small can of Coke. We are about to go out on the town with Josh's friend's best friend.
Way more details to come. I've been keeping a journal with way more, but there is no time for that now.
We will keep you updated!!
Love,
Brandon

Yesterday and Tomorrow

Brandon here,

Welcome to the blog of mine and Josh's shenanigans in Europe! Yesterday we graduated from college (that's us below, pants-less under our robes), and tomorrow we are on a plane. First stop: Sofia, Bulgaria.

We are traveling all over Europe with just the packs on our backs until the beginning of August (or until we run out of money).

We will try to keep this blog as up to date as possible, but we are not bringing computers, so internet cafes will be our friends.

This blog will (hopefully) be the best place to read about where we are, how we are surviving, where we are going next, view photos, and hear absurd stories of our travels.

Sometimes I will write, sometime Josh will, sometimes it'll be the both of us. It may be just a sentence, or a poem, or a photo, or one of our long narratives...basically just be prepared for anything!

If you have any suggestions of where to go please tell us! If you know anyone in any country in Europe who would be willing to house us, please let us know! If you will be in Europe this summer and want to meet up, let us know! If you need us to pick you up something special (within reason!!) let us know!

Wish us luck!

Love,

Brandon (and Josh...although he isn't with me right now.)