Rose's Journal

Rose’s Journal

June 1998

We made it through the first day or so, but man it wasn’t easy. They do stuff crazy over here and we don’t understand anything. We met two girls, Dani and Amanda, when we changed planes in Boston, they are backpacking, too. The four of us are sticking together. The more the merrier, right. My brother Anthony certainly doesn’t mind traveling with two cute girls who aren’t his sister.

After landing in Paris, we all got our Eurail passes and, on the train to Amsterdam, wrote out an itinerary in the front of this little black book I’m keeping as a journal. Between what Mom wants us to see – she is paying for this after all – what we want to do and what Dani and Amanda have on their list, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover in three weeks.

Amsterdam baby! How did I not know Amsterdam was a city of canals? I really should read the guidebook we brought. There are so many cute little bridges across the canals. We walked miles and miles and must have crossed a dozen. We thought about renting bikes. Everyone here rides them, it’s crazy!

The weather is nice. It’s sunny, but cool. I’m glad I brought my warm yellow hoodie.

We’re getting to know Dani and Amanda. They’re nice enough. Though Amanda can be a bit much. She praises everyone all the time. Today she said, “Thank you so, much, Rose. You are just so awesome,” when all I had done was pass her some napkins. It gets old and feels phony.

We are getting some culture like Mom wants, but the Van Gogh museum was closed. So, we walked a couple of blocks to the Rijks museum. It was boring. So we consoled ourselves at the Heineken brewery, which was nearby. We took the tour and then they served beer. Even though it only cost 2guilders, I saw Dani slip in without paying. Then she drank so much Anthony had to practically carry her to the hostel.

Hostels in Amsterdam are more expensive than we expected. The guidebook is new, but the info must be old. I hope other cities aren’t as expensive or we’ll run out of money.

Today was our last day in Amsterdam. We wanted to tour the Ann Frank house – well, Anthony and I did - but the line was long so we went to the sex museum LOL. We wouldn’t have spent the money, but it cost less than a coke. We’re trying not to spend too much. Mom really sacrificed to send us here. But we didn’t come all this way just to look at scenery.

Taking the train south to Bern tomorrow.

Having a blast and meeting tons of awesome people. The four of us go out and always end up in a group of 6 to 10. I think Anthony likes Dani. At karaoke last night he sang Brown-eyed Girl like he was singing to her. But Dani seems to like whoever is buying her drinks. My brother is a big boy, he’ll eventually see she’s just a flirt.

Switzerland! Bought an authentic red Swiss army knife for little bro back home. He’ll love it. Sent some postcards this morning. I hope I used enough postage. Money exchange is complicated. Just our luck to come before they convert to the euro next year. Mom thought it would be a better cultural experience dealing with the various currency. I don’t know about better but converting is a pain and they charge for each transaction so we have to make a pretty good guess just how much we’ll need in each country. Some places take dollars, but not everywhere.

OMG Anthony and I went bungee jumping FROM A GONDOLA IN THE ALPS. It was awesome!! I was so terrified. Anthony leapt right out, but I just sort of fell forward with a whimper. Can’t believe I actually did it! There were trees on both sides of the canyon so it was just an insane green blur.

While we did that, Dani and Amanda went shopping. They got the cutest leather jackets and super nice scarves. So jealous. They shared a box of expensive Swiss chocolates with us. I can’t tell if they have money or not. They said the jackets were a really good deal, but wouldn’t take me to check it out.

Interlaken is so beautiful. The mountains are like postcards and there are two huge lakes with the bluest water ever! This morning the sun was on the lake and it looked like a blanket of diamonds. The buildings are all so different from back home. On some streets even the small buildings have those pointy dome things like you see on top of castles. It’s like visiting a fairytale. When you grow up on the West Coast in the states the oldest things you see are the missions and those are just beige and boxy.

Kenny who ran the hostel in Bern gave us a backpack someone left behind. We’re using it for dirty laundry and the souvenirs. We found several coins in an inside pocket. They don’t look like any currency we’ve seen yet, but maybe we can use them in Italy for a nice dinner. We’ve been eating mostly McDonalds and other fast food, restaurants are all too expensive. Even eating cheap, the only way we can make our money last this whole trip is staying in cheap hostels. So far that means long walks from the train and sketchy neighborhoods. I’m glad Dani and Amanda don’t mind cheap hostels.

Caught the Eurail to Italy. Amanda suggested we take an overnight train so we don’t have to spend money on lodging, and we have more time for sightseeing. We’re going through money like crazy. Even going to the bathroom costs money in half the places.

The only place in Milan that had room is on the outskirts on a dingy gray alley.

Some hostels have coed dorms. I prefer those so Anthony is nearby. At least we don’t have anything worth stealing, just some tacky souvenirs, those weird coins, and this book with my journal entries, which I’d hate to lose. Anthony keeps the credit cards on him all the time.

I wanted to see the leaning tower, but we didn’t even leave the station at Piza, Dani and Amanda were arguing. When people got off, Dani wanted to move to a better spot on the train and sleep to the next stop. It just turned into a whole thing, so we just stayed on the train until Florence. They can act really selfish sometimes. Anthony calls the two of them Damanda. LOL.

Arrived in Florence on a beautiful day. The sky was blue with puffy white clouds. We walked all over. I bought some cute tops in a bazaar. They were 15,000 lira each. Sounds crazy, but that’s only like 7 American dollars. I love it!!

Last night, we were really tired from all the walking, but Amanda wanted to go to a club near the hostel. I sat alone sipping on a beer while Anthony danced with Dani, and Amanda with some brute of a guy. Suddenly, Amanda grabbed Dani and said it was time to go. By the time Anthony and I got all the backpacks and followed them outside the brute was yelling at Amanda and shoving her around calling her a thief. My foolish brother stepped in between them and nearly took a fist to the face. Anthony can be brave, but he’s also quick on his feet. He dodged the fist while Dani pulled Amanda away.

I’m pretty proud of my brother.

We’re getting really low on money and have to make it stretch three more days. I hope the hostels in Rome aren’t too expensive. We have a backup credit card in case the balance on the secured card runs out, but I really don’t want to use it. Mom said we could if we have to, but I know she can’t afford it and we need every spare nickel for our tuition for the next four years.

Fell asleep on the train to Rome and woke up with a weird pink rash on my arms and chest. Anthony thinks it’s hives.

Amanda paid for all of us to rent scooters. It was a nice gesture especially since Anthony has been carrying their backpacks all over Europe. We all had a fantastic time riding across bridges over the Tiber river, down narrow alleys, and from St. James Basilica to the Castle Sant’Angelo.

We toured the Colosseo (as they call it) and it was spectacular!! Then we walked around the ruins. Everything is so old. For awhile I even forgot about our money situation. Damanda wanted to go shopping so we picked a hostel from the guidebook and rendezvoused there later. Nobody brought phones, the international plans are way too much moolah.

Cinqua Terre is our last stop before returning to Paris for the flight home.

Finally, some beach time. The Italian coast is beautiful. I’m enjoying it from under an umbrella because this stupid rash flares up in the sun.

I tried to use the coins to buy a mojito from a bar shack up the beach, but they wouldn’t take them. They must not be lira.

Dani and Amanda went for a walk on the beach and have been gone for a couple hours. I guess we’ll meet up at the hostel because we have to go now before they close the for the night.

Damanda stole our money! I had $97. The last of the secured card. It was in my backpack and Amanda must have taken it when she asked to borrow my lip balm. What the hell! Anthony is running to an ATM a few blocks away to get money with the credit card. Otherwise, we’re out on the street.

Damn. The ATM displayed a message about suspicious use and kept our credit card. I don’t know how things could get worse. We’re broke, thousands of miles from home and, apparently, I have hives. All we have left are those coins and the hostel attendant wouldn’t take them. He said to try the coin dealer a couple of streets over. So here I sit trying to enjoy this shady courtyard in a picturesque Italian city while Anthony runs three blocks hoping to get $30 so we don’t have to sleep on a bench.

OMG. The reason the coins didn’t look real is they are a rare double-stamp print worth lots of money. Anthony sold them for $20,000!!

This is the best journal entry ever! We splurged and are sleeping in a hotel room with a balcony overlooking the Champs Elysees for our last night. Anthony is watching French television and I need to soak in a tub, my hives are almost gone. Our flight is in a few hours. We can’t wait to get home and tell Mom!

If Dani and Amanda hadn’t stolen from us, we might never have known the coins were valuable. They would have just gone in with the spare change from all the countries. Funny how things work out.