Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Right now I am sitting in a hostel in Slovenia. Now, I Know what you are thinking...¨Where the crack is Slovenia. Slovenia is a former Yugoslovian country just east of the top of Italy. We are in the capital called Ljubiana. It is suprisingly beautiful. We trained here this morning from Venice through the snowcaped Alps and it was quite the ride. The train stopped at the border and these police got on and came in our cab to check our passports, it was quite a queer experience. I felt like I was in a movie, but one of those war ones where Americans get thrown into Russian prisons. That didn´t happen though, so I am greatful.
Our journey so far has been amazing. We trained out of Amsterdam the morning of the 8th and into Brussels, Belgium. Belgium is a gorgeous city, very much modern. This place had some of the most beautiful architecture I have ever seen. We spent one night there and then woke up the morning of the 9th, we will just call this day, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong day. We had bought plane tickets to fly out of Brussles and into VEnice, Italy for the 9th. Our plane left at 10:30 and we had to take an hour train ride to the airport. WE missed the train we should have taken by about 30 seconds, we ran up the steps just in time to watch it pull off. The next one didn come for another 30 min. We got on the next train at 8:35 am and in the next 30 minutes had only moved 5 miles. Of course something was delayed, which never happens here. We didn´t get off that train until 10:00 and still had a 15 minute bus ride to the airport. We pulled into the parking lot far away from the gate and didnt think we were supposed to get off there until a bunch of foreingers turned around and yelled, go, go this is your stop. The next scene was 4 Americans waddling as fast as possible accross a parking lot in Belgium with 30lb packs on their backs. We made it to the counter at 10:20 just in time to check in. I have never been more stressed out in my life. IT was just like a bad Chevy Chase movie.
In spite of all of that we got to Venice and it was beautiful. An entire city with no roads and cars it invites guests to walk the streets or take a canal ride. It really was a magical city.
And now of course we are in Slovenia. Suprisingly enough this is a beautiful place with tons of snow on the ground. We will train in the morning from here to Zagreb, Croatia. 5 countries in 5 days. This is the most bizarre experience ever, but loads of fun. We are all perpetually tired, hungry and cold, but amazingly satisfied. This is ´life´ in a much different form than I am use to experiencing. We have no idea what will happen next or even where we will be. But at every corner we turn we found beauty we never dreamed existed.