Ahoy!

Helllooooo

I am in Prague, and Prague is awesome. Okay again I must backtrack though....

I was in Catania, Sicily right? That went by pretty fast, the first 2 or 3 days there I didn't really meet many people and I just kind of wandered the streets etc. It was okay. On my second last night there I met an American guy who was really cool, but unfortunately he had to leave the next day.

So Friday was my last day in Sicily, my plan for the day was to go on a sunset tour of Mount Etna and then sleep in the airport as I was due to fly out the next morning.
For most of the day I went into the markets, and bought real Italian tomatoes from an Italian in Italian markets! Anddd they were 30 cents for half a kilo! I cooked my delicious lunch (pasta in Italy!) and was picked up at 3pm for my tour of Mount Etna!
It was great, so great. There was a group of maybe 20 or so people and most were Italian, I was the only one there who didn't speak Italian so the tour guide had to translate everything just for me! We didn't actually go on top of Mt Etna because that is a massive trip to do and expensive. We walked up some of the mountain to a point where we could see the sun fall behind the massive mountain, it was amazing. I mean this is the biggest active volcano in Europe, it has destroyed towns and the city surrounding it countless times. Pretty cool. On this tour I met a few Italians that were really nice (something I hadn't really experienced in most of Italy...), they were from Milan and around my age so it was really cool to meet Italians because from what I can see, it seems that they stick very closely together, you only see Italians with Italians, and when they travel they stick together in their group. Anyway now I have 3 friends from Milan! On this tour we also had some wine, some foccacia, and went into some caves formed by the lava flow from Etna. Good tour.

When I got back to the hostel I was getting ready to sleep in the airport when the hostel lady offered the couch to sleep on for free! I was pretty stoked, but this even got better because somehow I got talking to two girls from Prague (don't worry, they are like 27!!) and they had a spare bed in their room so I actually got a free bed! It was quite funny because the next morning at the airport, we saw each other again because we were on the same flight! Except the flight was delayed for 5 hours. Just my luck. But I got to know my new friends Lenka and Andrea, I learnt a bit of Czech in preparation ("ahoy" is hello!), and just chatted. They actually invited me to go to the pub with them when we got to Prague because they are having a get together for the return of their friend who had been in Australia and NZ for a year!
We arrived in Prague finally, I found my hostel and I was straight off to the pub. It was great, like, the best. When your travelling the best thing I've found is being lucky enough to meet the locals, and hang out with the locals. So at the pub, it was me, and 15 Czechs. So much fun. Their friend had little souvenirs for everyone from NZ and I ended up getting one! So now I have a Maori necklace from Prague (from NZ) haha. Then when I was saying goodbye Lenka offered to take me around Prague! So now Sunday, I walked around Prague a lot and met with them at a tower that is pretty much a smaller, much smaller version of the Eiffel Tower. From there Lenka, Gabby and Martin took me to a art cave thing, but weird but cool, and to a famous bridge and it was great! So now I have Czech friends!

That night I returned to the hostel to cook some dinner and somehow again I got talking to travellers, some French girls from Paris. We talked for a bit and then somehow two Turkish guys joined us and then somehow two Scottish guys joined us!! Crazy stuff! So we got a beer and had a good chat! Oh and some more Turkish people joined us too! Now I have Turkish and Scottish friends! They were all so cool and talkative it was just great.

So basically my last 4 days have been a blast, today is Monday and it is my second last day in Prague, Prague is amazing, I love it. Anyway I have to go because people are waiting for the computer!!

Bye bye friends and family! Hope you are all well!