STM: How long have you three been on the road?
Ernie: We've spent the past month or so performing in an acting troupe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

STM: When did you get to Venice?
Pedro: An hour ago. Got off the train and came straight to Piazza San Marco.

STM: What's the cheapest place you've stayed so far?
Ernie: Budapest, definitely. 11 Euros per night. Pedro: Before I met them and we started traveling together, I stayed at the Clown and Bard hostel (www.clownandbard.com) in Prague for only $12.

STM: Since you've been trekking about several countries in Europe for a while now, have you got a favorite spot?
Ernie and Barbara: Budapest, definitely! Pedro: Budapest or Prague, I'd say.

STM: Does that have anything to do with them being the cheapest places?
Pedro: Prague is just so cheap and beautiful, but I admit, the people were a bit intolerant.

STM: How long have you been on this trip?
Amish: Just about nine days now...

STM: What's the cheapest place you've stayed here?
Amish: I think it was about $1.25 per night, breakfast pancake included.

STM: Got a favorite spot in Bali?
Amish: Padangbai, here, is the best spot. Real-laid back feel with one of the few spots overlooking the clear aqua-blue water of the Blue Lagoon.

STM: Anything unexpected in Bali?
Amish: Well, I was near Lovina (north shore) and I came back just stoked! It was after my first dive in Bali and I saw black-tipped reef sharks, eels, coral fish, etc...It was a bit warm and muggy that day, so I was dreaming of a cold Bintang (Bali's finest beer) and a shower. I walked towards my cottage and noticed the innkeepers had a curious expression on their faces. They told me they wanted to "check" my room to see if everything was okay. I didn't understand. Their English wasn't so good, so I figured I'd just go along with the charade. I opened the door and stepped in with them. They seemed to be looking for something. I asked repeatedly what was going on but could never get a straight answer. Then, suddenly, one of them starts backing away from my inside window. I take one look and now we're all on red alert. There is a pencil-thin, four-foot-long snake! The innkeepers split, but not before handing me a broom, saying, "Bali snake no good, you good."

STM: Made any local friends?
Amish: All the Bali beach masseuses.

STM: What's the post-bombing vibe?
Amish: The lack of tourists has really soured the economy of the villages. They literally have nothing to do. Kuta still was crazy packed with tourists and cars on the main drag as if nothing happened.

STM: How long have you been in Florence?
Carrie: I've been studying here for two months and I have one more month left.

STM: Have you taken advantage this opportunity to travel?
Carrie: Oh yeah, just in these last couple of months I have already been to Siena, Arezzo, Cinque Terre, Austria, Germany, Rome, Venice, and I plan to go to Milan in a couple of weeks.

STM: What are some of your best memories thus far?
Carrie: Doing the five-city hike in Cinque Terre at 2:30 in the morning because my friend and I didn't have a place to stay, going to Munich for Oktoberfest, seeing the Pope speak at Vatican City, playing soccer with some local Florentines at 2 a.m. in front of the church that holds Michelangelo and Machiavelli's tombs.

STM: So what's this about playing soccer on the tombs of some of Italy's finest?
Carrie: Not quite "on the tombs," but it was kind of an odd location for a calcio (soccer) match. Four of my girlfriends and I had just won a calcetto (soccer on tennis-court-size fields) tournament that the study-abroad program put on for us, so we went to a nearby pub for a little celebration drink. At around 2 a.m. we left the pub and on our walk back home we started kicking around the game ball in the Santa Croce plaza, where the tombs are. After only about five minutes of playing, five Italian guys, about our age, came over and showed interest in playing with us.

STM: Was the language barrier a problem?
Carrie: Well, I had been taking Italian for more than a month so I was fluent enough to understand "Gioca?" which means "Play?" But to be honest, there is no such language barrier when it comes to soccer.