The journey begins...

Hello dear reader, and welcome to the NATELIA blog!

Who are we? We are two 26-year-old ladies from California who also kind of happen to be best friends, due to various stumbling blocks and interventions of fate that threw our lives together two years ago. Early last fall, we decided to embark on a trip together, that trip being one to Europe (because of course, living together in 2008 and 2009 wasn't enough). This has been months and months in the planning and now it's just a few weeks away (more specifically, 12 days remain).

I (Natalye) have been to Europe before; the first time was in July/August 1994 when I traveled to Sweden and Norway (and the airport in Denmark) with my family and the second time was in May 2009 when I traveled alone to Germany (and the Netherlands for a day) to visit a friend. I had already been planning on visiting this summer with some of my German classmates, and when Elia learned of the trip, she wanted in, as she has never before been to Europe. So here we are, going together, for a three-week journey across five countries. We'll begin our journey in the Netherlands, traveling on to Belgium, France and Germany before meeting up with our group, after which we'll continue on through the country collectively and visit the Czech Republic as well.

(Side note: when the two of us lived together, we spent most of our free time together, and as a result, it became easier to refer to us as a collective than as individuals. Hence Natelia. One name, two people. There you have it.)

Those of you who read my blog while I was in Germany last year know that I didn't do the best job of updating, something which can be attributed to a few different factors... but suffice to say, it was mostly because I was having too much fun. Spending hours uploading pictures and compiling blog entries isn't always the most appealing activity when you can be out and about seeing new exciting places. This time though, I promise I'll be diligent about it.

Why the change of heart? Well, for one, I'll be bringing my computer with me, which will allow me to update at any time and from anywhere. Of course, I imagine it'll be a slight inconvenience, what with having to lug it around with all my other junk, but the pros outweigh the cons. Plus, I'm doing this for you, dear readers. And by that I mean my dad mostly (who will post concerned messages to my Facebook wall if he doesn't see at least one blog post a day). And maybe Rich too, cause I'm pretty certain he'll want to keep tabs on Elia so that she isn't swept off her feet by some French guy named Jean-Paul Françoise, or whatever.

And then there is the issue of photos! Just a few months ago, I became the new owner of a Canon Rebel digital SLR, and I'm kind of in love with it. Like, I take unnecessary pictures of everything, just because I can. So I am not only going to need to have my computer to empty my card off onto every day (because I am estimating there will be 1000s of pictures after the trip ends) but that also means you'll get lots of pictures to check out on here so you can live vicariously through our amazing adventures. Also, both of us have Blackberry Tours, (which is annoying because they are the same colour and have the same cases and make the same message alerts and both have Phoenix songs as ringtones) and the best thing about these phones is the global access, so expect some mobile picture and text updates as well!

That about does it for now, but stay tuned for frequent updates leading up to our departure on June 13, covering everything, ranging from the important (flight information) to the ultra mundane (what I'm packing in my bag). No really, I'm serious.

Natalye