At First You Dont Succed.....Trial, Trial Again.

So, as we soon discovered...a trial run is when you go to a place and do an entire shift for free. Instead of an interview, they just throw you in there and see how you do. Then from there, decide if they want to hire you. Terrifying.

Christies up first. Black Lion. Nice pub, close to our place....lots of different kinds of beer. Nervous, we walked her to work and wished her luck. After work, she explained how different the drinks are in the UK then Canada. Even pouring them is different, with different measurement for the head and mixes to go in them. As well, all the beers are different....expect for the odd Bud or Corona.

On top of that, British people mumble. You can hardle understand them, even though their speaking english. Its going to take awhile to get used to that. Also, there is no such thing as table service. Everyone comes up to the bar for their drinks and to order food. So you are expected to make drinks, run food, clear tables, clean....everything. Everyone is everywhere. Very different.

After, they told Christie that they could give her part time till she was fully trained enough to do full time. Obviously, Christie didnt throughly enjoy the job even though the people were friendly. Then, as luck would have it....she got a call for an interview and the place she was hoping would call. The Little Bay. After sitting down with the owner, she knew she would love it. Easy going, resturant (table service!!!), and a really kind man.....she got the job. She would start training right away....no silly trial.

Christie didnt have the same luck with the Body shop. After a quick introduction, they handed her a product and sent her into the lions den. While Christie did an amazing job, faking it till you make it, (especially with no training at all) they called her into the office, sat her down....and said " If we call you, great. If we dont, thanks for coming in" Curt and Rude. She was to good for that place anyways.

Stef was next for her trial at PHO. A vietnamesse resturant. Stef rocked it. She was busing tables, expoing food, running drinks, taking orders. Even with the tricky words, she faked it and sold those sauces like no ones business. After her trial, she was nervous....but it was silly. Next morning they offer her a job, with a shift that night.

Two girls with jobs, one to go.

My turn. Font, a bar in the lanes of Brighton. Huge, cheap drinks and a popular place to go. Now, I didnt have much bar experience to begin with and after Christies experience I was nervous. However, after a quick introduction they gave me a card and said go help customers. Well, I did the best I could. I was slow but holding my own. When I wasnt helping customers I was busy clearing tables, doing dishes and helping run food. I kept busy. After, they said they would call me the next day.

They never called till Saturday. And on saturday, the manager says he wants to do ANOTHER trial (remeber no pay) on Friday, depending how that goes then maybe he will give me a job. I cant wait another 6 days without a job, and a maybe employment. Looks like Im back at square one.

Over the Sunday and Monday I handed out all together over 50 resumes. Im exhausted. And the harrassing from the girls about me being an unemployed bum are getting old. I need a job!!

I had an interview today for a resturant, and an interview tomm for a pub. And if all else fails....FONT. However, I really hope I dont have to resort to working there. So, for all that take pity on me....keep your fingers crossed I get a job. Canadian funds are suffering.

However, while we havent had much time to see Brighton. We are really enjoying our apartment. Were nesting. Staying in, drinking tea...enjoying a TV we bought for 20 pounds. Second hand. After so much go go go the last 70 days...I like doing nothing. That and we cant afford to do anything, so it works. Settling is the hardest. But were doing alright.

So Much to Do.....Where do we Begin?

Lets face it. We have done no research into Brighton, how to find jobs in the UK or even how you go about getting a flat. To be honest, the entire backpacking trip it was the furthest thing from our minds. We will figure it out... later.

So, important things first. Find Job. Find Flat. Well....it cant be that hard. Has to be similar to Canada......right?

Nah, of course not. That makes life to easy.

The first day, we asked the receptionist where the city centre is. Queens way, perfect...we know where that is. Were half way there. 21 resumes later and aching feet...we waited for a call. We all mostly went to coffee shops, pubs and resturants, and a few retail. That night all three of us got calls for trial runs. Chrisitie at the Black Loin and Body Shop, Stef at Pho and me at Font.

What does a trial run mean? We would soon find out.

With trial runs set for later in the week. (And jobs we assumed...so naive.) We decided to focus on flats.

Gumtree. The craigs list of the UK. Perfect....we found some places and made a few calls. We got one call to view a flat. 980 a month, two bedrooms, and 2 min walk from the English Channel. Brillant.

We go to meet Sarah who was doing this sale privatly. The place is just off of Kings way, so we didnt have any problem finding it. Once inside, we knew we HAD to get this place. It is beautiful and spacious. Comes with two couches, coffee table, tv stand, night stand, dishwasher, laundry, drawers and two closets. It far surpasses what we thought we would live in.

Sarah, who is a sweetheart....sits us down to have a chat.

Sarah: So do you girls have work?

Us: Not excatly, but we have trial runs....we just got here a couple of days ago

Sarah: O...do you have a contract with them? How do you plan to make an income?

This is the point we knew we would really have to sell ourselves to her to get the place. We explained that we have worked really hard to get her, we have reserve funds from Canada, we love the place and would treat it with the upmost respect. She tells us, if we would be willing to pay the deposit and 6 months upfront....it might work. We agree.....although to be honest we didnt know if we had the funds. She told us there was more people looking at the place and she would let us know.

Off to HSBC to figure out how to get the funds together. I wont even get into the HSBC drama. I hate HSBC. I cant wait to move banks....remeber our HSBC experience in London? It was similar to that.

With the knowledge we could get the funds together......and when I say get the funds together....I mean BARELY. We waited for the call. Sarah calls just after three and announces shes going to give us the place! We asked her about the other people and she remarked " They were ok, but you girls were so much nicer!" Go Canada!

The next day we signed the contracts, did a walk threw of the apartment, handed over 7105 pounds and got the keys. We now have a home. And no money. So this is what broke and unemployed feels like.

Moving was pretty easy. We unpacked our backpacks. Took up one drawer and 5 hangers. Dont have alot of stuff to fill just yet. But we found a poundland, (dollar store...holla!) so we have the basics.

Spending that first night together, huddled on the couches, (we dont have mattresses yet) and not having to stay in a hostel....was the best feeling. This is ours.

Volume Two of our European Adventures

November 5, 2011. After 70 days of backpacking we have finally made it to Brighton. This is to become our new home, our life for the next year. As well, today is our last travel day....which is about as exciting as moving to Brighton. Of course, it would not be an easy travel day. Why would it be easy....better to make life interesting.

Three different trains, couple crappy directions and an exhausted crew....we made it. The directions to our Hostel were pretty easy to follow. Head down Queens way, turn right on Kings way and your there. Little did we know it would be an hour walk.

Though, it was for the best. Our first impression of Brighton. Walking down Queens way on a saturday night....it was pumping with young people our age. Turning onto Kings way, the smell of the sea invirates you, you realize your walking along the famous English Channel. Gorgous boardwalk leading into colorful pebble beach which streams into wide open seas as far as the eye can see. I could get used to this. Walking along, nervous we might be heading the wrong way...we stopped to discuss where we are. Along come a friendly gentleman, then another who see were lost and helps us out. He goes into a hotel to get directions, loooks on the GPS on his phone, and walks us half way to make sure we get there ok. If the people are all like him, we are most certainly in the right place.

Checking into our hostel, which is in Hove...not Brighton. We already knew it wouldnt be great. Running low on funds, with no jobs...we booked the cheapest place we could find. In a 20 person dorm. Not great. It was ok, till the next day. Me and stef went for coffee, came back to find an 58 year old man sitting on one of the dorm beds with his pant half off in his boxers.

I already know this isnt going to go well. Turn the cornor and there Christie with the classic terrified look. Without a word I turn around and book us a private room for a couple extra pounds. After 70 days of backpacking, sometimes no words are needed.

It was for the best. Our gut feelings have never lead us astray. This man is at the top for creepest people we've met. He had it all: asking if he could stay with us, asking me to be his girlfriend, offering to teach us astrology, playing techno music far to loud, hes Slovac, and telling Christie she must be sick because she eats cheese. Classy guy.

Equipped with a private room, resumes (CV's as they call them here) and a new life ahead....we started the week of endless errands.

Lessons Learned After 70 Days of Living Out of a Backpack

• Never put soap on your hands unless your guarneted running water
• You can do more then you think you can
• Dont judge a book by its cover, we have met amazing people we wouldnt normally talk to.
• Apperciate any bed that looks relaitively clean  
• Dont buy a Hostel international card, europe on a shoe string, or hostel books. Everything is done online. As well, bring a netbook. Mcdonalds and Starbucks are your friend when you need wifi.
• God is watching over us, he will never give you more then you can handle
•  Dont pack so much, you wear the same thing every day anyways
•  Stay Fed
•  You will always make mistakes
• Check your online reservations closely  
• Dont take Prague cabs
• Your passport and Eurorail are your life
• Anyone can steal from you including children
• You will apperciate a laundry mat
• Try it once cause you dont know if you'll get another chance
• Starbucks for big coffee
• Be mentally prepared for the wrost.....You will figure it the rest
• You can overcome every obstacle
• Its amazing how beautiful you are, even when you dont have a straightner, nice clothes and make up on.
• German men are Gorgous
• Alway party over sleep, you can sleep on the train.  
• Recoup days are a must  
• Stay loyal to New Europe free walking tours and Pub crawls, they treat you well.
•   Laugh at the shitty situations....although may need a day before its funny
• Read books, play cards, enjoy the company of others....learn to live without tv and mobile phones. Its wonderful.
•  It amazing you can spend over 800 hours with two girls, and still remain great friends.  
• Skype will keep you from being to homesick
•  Be in pictures even if you dont feel like it....you will be grateful to Karinas overbearing camara skills later
• Try not to let the little things bother you
• Even though its impossible....try to stay hydrated
• What seems like a mountain at the beginning, is an ant hill by the end.
• Check you skin reguraly....there always a new bug bite, rash, inflamtion that needs to be treated.
• People over 40 staying at the hostel, never turns out well. AVOID
• Make the most of every day, always do the tourist thing. You'll regret it if you dont.
• Learn to trust your gut instinct, its never wrong. 
•  Even if you dont need to shower, shower if a clean shower is available. If its not a clean shower....use perfume and a hat till there is.
• The first two weeks are the hardest. After that, you will not want to stop.
• Stock up on advil. Its a cure all.
• No matter how bad this hostel seems, there an even worse one you will stay in later

Apperciate and Thank God for every moment your in Europe. It really is the adventure of a lifetime.

Last Destination

So, we made a slight miscalculation when it came to getting from Prague to Amsterdam. We HAD to take an overnight train. Sucks for Rob, we were all excited to show him why train rides are so great....the day time trains that is. Night trains arent the best. And our night train left at 6:00 pm and arrives in amsterdam at 10am. Long ride.

To pass the time before our night ride, we decided to go to a Medival Toture muesem. It was Halloween, felt like being in the mood. YUK, i regret it now. People are messed....I dont even know how you could think up half those things to do. Like tieing a peron upside down from their legs and sawing them in half. I wont go into all the other details....just know that its gross, it happened, and it took far to long to get those images out of our heads.

After we packed up, we finally sat down to check something we should have checked along time ago.
Now, if you all remeber we are sharing a bank account with a 300 dollar a day limit. Now, we've been kinda keeping track what were taking out in our journals, for it does not say on the bank statement how much is in there. But we have not actually sat down to look at the bank account online since London.
Mostly out of fear of what is actually in there. We had a realtive idea of what should be in there. So, we held our breath, crossed our fingers and expected the worse. Turns out we had double what we thought! The joy that comes from that leads to dangerous ideas like.....maybe we should backpack for another week. But we decided against that.

After that wonderful surprise we headed to the train station. Armed with snacks and wine we headed on the train. Luckly the train was not very full, so we were able to sit in a seating cart till we were tired enough to sleep. We were all excited about Amsterdam. We were heading back to a place we had already been in Europe. A place we knew our way around. Our plan for amsterdam was to chill, blow the budget and relax. After Amsterdam was real life, jobs, apartments...so we had to live it up.

We got to Amsterdam pretty early in the morning. The train ride wasnt as bad as the first time. Thank the Lord for sleeping pills. After checking into our hostel, we walked around showing Rob the sights. Amsterdam is beautiful, especially now that the leaves have started falling.

We revisted Leinsplien Platz, the canals, the red light district and Dam square. It was so nice knowing excatly where we were going. For the next three days, we vacationed. We ate when and what we wanted, including a sushi train. That was fun! Ive never done that before.

We rented bikes and me and stef finally figured how to do the European bike. That when the other person sits on the back of the bike. It takes practice and balance...but we finally got it.

We drank wine, beer, baileys whatever we felt like. We spent quite a bit of time in the park. The park there is amazing. Even has a resturant in the middle. Alot of music as well.
Our last night we went on a pub crawl....just like we did the last time we were in Amsterdam.

It was an incredable end to our backpacking adventure. We were relaxed and ready for the next chapter of our lives. The only thing that keeps us going, is knowing that we are going to be living in Europe. Close to all these amazing places we have just been too. Close enough to visit again. We are incrediable blessed to have this experience, and we apperciate every moment we had backpacking.

End of an Era

Today we did our last New Europe walking tour on our backpacking adventure. Its starting to hit that were almost done, and none of us like that feeling.

Now, Halloween was that night. And being the girls we are, we had to think of a costume would could all wear. Including Rob. Rob came up with the great idea (of course....he is full of grand ideas) to be ninjas. He even found cheap toy ninja swords! So before the walking tour we picked them up. We looked kinda ridiculous walking around with ninjas swords in the walking tour...but we didnt care. Were Ninjas.

Our tour guide was lovely, an energetic woman from the states that moved to Prague with her husband.
Although, theres not much to say about the Prague walking tour. Especially in comparison to Berlin, the history here while rich...doesnt interest me much. To be honest I cant remeber much to tell about it.
The Jewish Quarter was an area that was seperated to keep the Jews in. They were only allowed to live work and live in this one area. Including the cemetary. So there are up to 12 coffins burried on top of each other. It looks like a jumbled mess of tombstones.

Other then that, they talked alot about how Czechs like to punish and kill people by throwing them out the window. They have quite a few monuments dedicated to Fran Kakfra, a mentally ill man who wrote many famous books. Thats about it. And believe me...we were listening and interested this time.....just kinda wasnt our thing.

Then it was time to get our Ninja on. We had our swords, we all had black clothes, we got a scarfs to tear up for headbands, and got Rob some woman tights. We were all set. We go upstairs to our room and SURPRISE!

Inside are 5 teenage boys from Germany and all our stuff is gone. Turns out, we were supposed to move rooms that day and reception failed to relay that information to us. So, the cleaning ladies took our stuff and moved it for us. They were incredable appoligetic and gave us free breakfast. Plus, once we knew all our stuff was there...we basked in the glory we didnt have to move our backpacks. Bonus.

While getting ready, our new roomate came in. Chris from Florida. Nice guy, he was new in Prague so we invited him to come to the halloween pub crawl. He agrees...says he thinks he has a costume. Goes in the washroom and comes out in full Ninja gear! We couldnt believe it, its like he knew we were going to be Ninjas and packed it just in case. Having Chris along was great, really sweet guy....plus now Rob had a playmate.

The pub crawl was great. Our costumes were a hit....even though no one else was dressed up cause apparently everyone celebrated halloween the night before. Our swords were all broken by the end of the night...however we got quite a bit of fun in before that. Even a Ninja dance! Considering we didnt have much to work with, are costumes were great! Everyone loved them. Plus, the next morning we were leaving Prague for our last destination so we went hard. Especially Chris, he decided that he needed to go home to say good bye to his dieing cat, so it was his last night as well....

Hockey Night in Prague

HOCKEY. Thats right, were going to a hockey game in Prague. Appartently, us girls have become quite the sports fanatics. Rob wanted to go....I tell ya, this guy is full of great ideas. The stadium was real easy to find, not incredible large but decent size. As well, the tickets to go were cheap, 8 euros. Today we were seeing the Slovacs play. This is Pragues national league, so we were curious how they were in comparison to Canadian teams.

Going in they had pretty tight security. Christie's Good Earth water bottle fell victum to scuritiny and she had to throw it out. If any takes pity in Christie's heart breaking story you can send a Good Earth water bottle overseas to her. However, after we got her a hot dog she was in better spirits.

The start of the game had lights and action with some flags. However, no one stood up and sang the national anthem....curious what it is. Maybe I'll google it. Now, more interesting then the game was the fans. They have fan clubs for the home team and the visiting team. They have their sections behind the goalies post, facing each other against the rink. These guys dont mess around.

Drums, scarfs, face paint, fog horns, micropones, and 10 - 15 different chants for their team. The whole game they competed with each other who had the better chant. To be honest, I dont think they were actually even watching the game. However, its a good thing they were there....cause these guys suck. It was a pretty uneventful game. I myself am not a huge hockey buff.....but when their playing is worse then watching a Hurricanes game....you know Prague aint got much to offer. Although, the stadium beer is just as good as any....so it was a REAL good time.

That night, we spent walking around Prague. Prague at night seems magical. The lights play off the river canal and make the buildings look larger then life. I prefer Prague at night. The smell is so crisp and fresh. Even though your walking down the cobble stone road it smells as if your in a forest. On the bridges are lines and lines of seagulls. Its like nothing Ive ever seen. Just hundreds of seagulls all in line on the bridge.

I understand why people recomend Prague for its beautiful. No matter how much I boast I undersell it. Something you will just have to see for yourself.