We flew from Charles DeGalle into London Luton airport and took a train into town. Our hostel right next to russel square wasn't all that great but it worked. The first night we got stuck in an "under construction" room but the rest of the nights we had decent sleeping rooms. We found this restaurant that we really liked called Giraffe, and ate there 2 of the nights we were in London. After dinner we went to see the London Eye and walked along the river over to where Parliament and Westminster Abbey are. It was so fun to see these things that we had heard about, but to see them in person was so much more fun. Everything was lit up and reflected off the water, which was cool and we determined that even after being there just a couple of hours we already loved this city.
The day after we got there I got really excited, because unbeknownst to Emily or any of our friends, Michael was planning to fly out to London and surprise emily. So I had us get all dressed up in our cute dresses and we planned to have afternoon tea in the park. It was the perfect plan. We left the hotel and went to see the London Tower, the Tower Bridge, and Buckingham Palace. We sat in Green Park for a while and enjoyed everyone louging in the grass on lunch breaks from work. We then went to Harods which was such a cool store, with everything you could ever want. Big designer clothes, interesting furniture, and yummy pastries kept us entertained for a long time as we explored the 5 levels of the giant store. We got some pastries for our tea time, then went over to starbucks and got our favorite kinds of tea. I was supposed to have Emily in the park at the Joy of life fountain at 5:30 where Michael would meet us so we headed over to the park. I asked if we could find the fountain because "i really wanted to see it." We asked and asked people but no one knew where it was, we also found a map and couldn't find it on the map. I was getting really worried that we wouldn't find it! We finally found where it was and had to walk all the way across the park to get there. Emily was so sweet to fulfill my desire to sit by the fountain, even though it seemed a little silly. So we set up our stuff when we got there and enjoyed a wonderful tea party in the park. When 5:30 came around I kept glancing around hoping to see Michael at any minute but he never showed up. By 6 and 6:15 it was hard to justify staying in that spot because our food was all gone and we were getting cold. I was worried his plane may have been delayed or thought he might have gotten lost on his way to the park. So we went back to the hostel to get jackets and chill for a while. I checked at the front desk and they said he hadn't checked in yet so i sent him an email asking where he was. About a 1/2 an hour later he emailed me back and said "Oh no! i thought you knew i was coming tomorrow!!" Oh, I felt so stupid! I got the days mixed up. It was a good thing i didn't say anything to Emily about the mishap, and spoil the surprise. The rest of the night we found some fun places to look at down the street and got some pizza for dinner. Tomorrow would be the day Michael comes.
Since we had gotten all dressed up yesterday, we just wore normal clothes to sightsee around today. We went to see Shakespear's Globe theater, and St. Paul's Cathedral, then took the tube over to Piccadilly Circus which was a crazy part of town! Then we relaxed in Kensington Gardens for a while because it was such a beautiful sunny day. We searched for a while to find the Peter Pan statue, and finally did, then after that I suggested we go sit by the london eye and "watch it go round." The Jubilee Gardens next to the london eye was the new meeting place michael suggested because I had blown the first one. So we arrived and walked a round a little bit then settled down in the middle of the grass. I was looking around hoping so much to see Michael. After a couple of minutes he appeared behind us and surprised Emily as she was taking pictures of the clouds rolling by. He talked for a little while and pulled out a ring and proposed. It was so sweet, and Emily was entirely shocked. She couldn't believe he was there, in london, half way across the world. I was relieved that everything went so well. Having Michael there with us the rest of the time was so much fun. We went to dinner at Giraffe to celebrate that night, and Emily called her family to tell them the big news. It was a fun day.
Our last couple of days in London we saw the rest of the sights, got to watch the London marathon, and got a tour of the city from Michael's cousin. After the tour we went over to his cousin's friend's house and had desert and champagne to celebrate their engagement. Our last day got a little overcast and rainy but that didn't stop us from having fun. We went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards, but they weren't having the ceremony that day, so we headed toward Harods because Emily wanted to take Michael to see it. I let them have the rest of the day to themsleves and went to cafe Nero, a little coffee shop, to catch up on some journalling. After that I shopped at H&M for a while, then stopped in at the National Gallery. I didn't even pay attention to most of the rooms, i just found the 3 impressionist rooms and settled there, enjoying the artwork. There were some really fun paintings by Monet and Pissarro that I admired for a long while. After the Gallery I met Emily and Michael back at the hostel and we got ready for dinner and WICKED. Dinner at this little italian place was good, and Wicked was soooo fun. It was the perfect ending to our trip.
Flying home, the three of us left around the same time, Michael going straight back to LAX and Emily and I flying to Chicago. When we got to Chicago we had a couple of hours before the two of us split and she went to San Antonio and I went to Orange County. It was a great time to process and journal and really reflect on our trip. Being at the airport, it felt like we had just gotten to Europe, but then looking back on all we had done, i realized how much we really got to experience. Travelling is tiring and we were excited to return home to our eager families and friends. Seeing so much of Europe was exciting, but sharing stories and pictures with everyone made us anxious to return as well. This was the most wonderful trip and I am so thankful we got to do it together. We were amazingly blessed with good weather, good health, safe travel and so much more.
If you made it this far, I'm so glad, because I had a great time writing these blogs. I hope you were able to experience Europe with me, and I can't wait to share more with everyone. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Ahhh Paris
I know it has been sooooo long since i've written, but i thought it would be best to finish out the trip! After Brussels Em and I made our way to Paris! When we got to the train station we needed to make a reservation for the 11:09 train into Gare de Nord. The ticket man told us it was going to be 26 euro each!! We were like....oooooh no no no. After some searching around he found us a train leaving an hour later that would take us into Charles DeGalle Airport for 5 euro each. That sounded much better. We found our way from the airport into town and got to the right stop where we had directions to where we were staying--with our friends Stephanie and Adrien. Their apartment was so comfy and they were so hospitable. They welcomed us in (we were 3hours later than i had predicted) and we chatted and settled in. That night the two of them had a birthday party to attend so Emily and I took full advantage of having a nice kitchen and made a mexican fiesta! We had so much fun cooking up our white rice, kidney beans, corn, and tortilla chips, which made a pretty good mexican meal for what we could find at the grocery store. We also took long hot showers which were such a luxory after all of the hostel showers.
Our first day of sight seeing we went to the Eiffel Tower first, and got crepes while we took in the awesome sight, then we found our way to the Museum d'Orsay. It was a wonderful gallery with stuff by Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Degas and others. Alot of impressionist work, which we really enjoyed. After that we walked around the Tulleries, caught a glimpse of the Louvre, and walked for a little while up the Champs-Elysees. Stephanie and Adrien took us to a creperie for dinner which was so fun! We had dinner crepes and dessert crepes...a great experience.
Our second day we found the flea market, the Moulin Rouge, the Notre Dame, and the Arc de Triumph. The architecture of the Notre Dame was so cool, especially when viewed from the side and back. So many flying buttresses and a cute little garden behind. The traffic at the Arc de Triumph was CRAZY. No lanes, just circling traffic from all different spokes. At one point the traffic was stopped so a marching band could march across the street to the center--we never really figured out why the band was there. That night we were entertained in the French fashion. Stephanie prepared a meal served in this order: appetizers and wine, more appetizers, main course, salad, cheese plate, dessert plate. We had a great red wine Cote de Rhone, salami, pickles, foie gras, duck, potatos, salad, goat cheese, mountain cheese, and a chocolate cream dessert. It was so fun to experience the culture of France.
Day 3 like everyday started slowly because our room had black out blinds that kept us sleeping through the morning. But we finally got up and took the metro out to Versailles. The palace is outrageously ornate and HUGE. But the grounds are even bigger. it seems like they go on for miles and miles. We got to see Marie Antoinette's estate as well and explored the gardens. We had a beautiful day (as we have had the whole trip it seems) and took the metro back. The ride back was the most crowded train we have ever been on. People smashed wall to wall with strollers, children, and all sorts of people. It was not a fun hour and 20 min ride home! We made dinner together again--pasta with chicken and veggies and a pink sauce while we listened to Adrien and some friends play guitar. They had us join in to sing the English songs which was fun to be a part of.
Last day in Paris, and we visited the Opera House. It was the most gorgeous place. Candles everywhere, gold accents, ballrooms, and a beautiful theater. It was so much fun to explore. I felt like the Phantom of the Opera would appear any moment! We also found a starbucks nearby that was decorated almost like the Opera house. it was so cool. We went back to the apartment to rest for a while and watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame. it's so much more fun to watch when you're actually in Paris! Stephanie made us dinner AGAIN and this time it was quiche--so good. We played European Ticket to Ride after dinner then went to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour after dark. It really was beautiful to see, and of course we got nutella crepes again while we watched it. Au Revoir Paris!
Our first day of sight seeing we went to the Eiffel Tower first, and got crepes while we took in the awesome sight, then we found our way to the Museum d'Orsay. It was a wonderful gallery with stuff by Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Degas and others. Alot of impressionist work, which we really enjoyed. After that we walked around the Tulleries, caught a glimpse of the Louvre, and walked for a little while up the Champs-Elysees. Stephanie and Adrien took us to a creperie for dinner which was so fun! We had dinner crepes and dessert crepes...a great experience.
Our second day we found the flea market, the Moulin Rouge, the Notre Dame, and the Arc de Triumph. The architecture of the Notre Dame was so cool, especially when viewed from the side and back. So many flying buttresses and a cute little garden behind. The traffic at the Arc de Triumph was CRAZY. No lanes, just circling traffic from all different spokes. At one point the traffic was stopped so a marching band could march across the street to the center--we never really figured out why the band was there. That night we were entertained in the French fashion. Stephanie prepared a meal served in this order: appetizers and wine, more appetizers, main course, salad, cheese plate, dessert plate. We had a great red wine Cote de Rhone, salami, pickles, foie gras, duck, potatos, salad, goat cheese, mountain cheese, and a chocolate cream dessert. It was so fun to experience the culture of France.
Day 3 like everyday started slowly because our room had black out blinds that kept us sleeping through the morning. But we finally got up and took the metro out to Versailles. The palace is outrageously ornate and HUGE. But the grounds are even bigger. it seems like they go on for miles and miles. We got to see Marie Antoinette's estate as well and explored the gardens. We had a beautiful day (as we have had the whole trip it seems) and took the metro back. The ride back was the most crowded train we have ever been on. People smashed wall to wall with strollers, children, and all sorts of people. It was not a fun hour and 20 min ride home! We made dinner together again--pasta with chicken and veggies and a pink sauce while we listened to Adrien and some friends play guitar. They had us join in to sing the English songs which was fun to be a part of.
Last day in Paris, and we visited the Opera House. It was the most gorgeous place. Candles everywhere, gold accents, ballrooms, and a beautiful theater. It was so much fun to explore. I felt like the Phantom of the Opera would appear any moment! We also found a starbucks nearby that was decorated almost like the Opera house. it was so cool. We went back to the apartment to rest for a while and watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame. it's so much more fun to watch when you're actually in Paris! Stephanie made us dinner AGAIN and this time it was quiche--so good. We played European Ticket to Ride after dinner then went to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour after dark. It really was beautiful to see, and of course we got nutella crepes again while we watched it. Au Revoir Paris!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
B & B in B
Brugge and Brusselles in Belgium. After Amsterdam we made our way into Belgium to have real belgium waffles, fries and chocolate, and we certainly did. Our first night in Brugge we wandered into the market square and found a street vendor selling hot french fries which he then smothered in ketchup. they were very good, and accompanied our "Q" burger very well. The city was a little bit of a sleepy town so we spent the evening taking showers and relaxing. (the showers, by the way, looked like they had been stolen from a prison: simple square stalls with pull CHAINS that released water out of the large shower head above. and you just got whatever temperature water it wanted to give you because there were no controls.) Interesting.
The Brugge buildings are beautifully built--very colorful and with fun shaped rooftops. Cobblestone streets next to the little flowing rivers and chocolate shop after chocolate shop of delicate sweets. We saw the church of Holy Blood that supposedly has christ's blood as a relic, then saw the other church with Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child. The sculpture was beautiful and set in such an unassuming church. We weaved through the streets for a little while out to the grassy paths that follow along the surrounding river. Not too far down we came up to two windmills up on the little grassy knolls and got to climb up inside one. It was so fun to see windmills in Holland--the whole town is so picturesque. We shopped in the city for a while then stopped into a grocery store and got stuff to make an awesome salad back at the hostel: rocket lettuce, parmasean cheese, sundried tomatoes, croutons, pinenuts, mixed nuts, tomatoes, cucumber and chicken nuggets. it was a wonderful meal.
It started to sprinkle throughout the day so we made a night of emailing, planning our stay in london, and playing scrabble on the top bunk bed. the game was so cool...we used every letter in turn, filled up the board, and tied with a score of 201 each. And we enjoyed it with a healthy dose of gummy candy too. Brugge, although a little gloomy and rainy, was a sweet little town that we enjoyed spending time in. (oh and we had the best belgian waffles with haagen daze icecream and caramel sauce!)
Brussells was a short one night stop before Paris. We took the short train ride in the morning and were able to see parts of the city before checking into the hotel. Still raining, we meandered through the city buildings in our raincoats searching for a good cafe to snuggle up in. Well, we ended up eating at Subway (not a snuggley cafe) but then got a brownie and some coffee at a place called the coffee company. It was a cute little cafe with modern furniture and terrible music. We both had to turn our ipods on to drown out the jr. high talent show sounding singers.
Rainy days are always great days for a movie so we went to the cinema and saw Monsters vs. Aliens. we went into the 16:00 showing and realized that everything was French and wasn't going to stop being French anytime soon. So we left and were told to come back to the 18:00 showing that would be in English. Much better. It was fun to see a movie together and be able to understand it all too! The city wasn't anything terribly special, but it was cool to see anyway. Later that night we went and got dinner at a cafe by the botanical gardens and didn't realize that it was so late until our waiter brought our check over and said they were closing. it was already 11 and we felt like it was 8:30. It stays light until around 9pm so the days seem sooo long. The gardens were really pretty to walk through, and it was nice to see some green amist the towering skyscrapers. I was disappointed we didn't get to eat brussell sprouts in Brussells, but oh well!
The Brugge buildings are beautifully built--very colorful and with fun shaped rooftops. Cobblestone streets next to the little flowing rivers and chocolate shop after chocolate shop of delicate sweets. We saw the church of Holy Blood that supposedly has christ's blood as a relic, then saw the other church with Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child. The sculpture was beautiful and set in such an unassuming church. We weaved through the streets for a little while out to the grassy paths that follow along the surrounding river. Not too far down we came up to two windmills up on the little grassy knolls and got to climb up inside one. It was so fun to see windmills in Holland--the whole town is so picturesque. We shopped in the city for a while then stopped into a grocery store and got stuff to make an awesome salad back at the hostel: rocket lettuce, parmasean cheese, sundried tomatoes, croutons, pinenuts, mixed nuts, tomatoes, cucumber and chicken nuggets. it was a wonderful meal.
It started to sprinkle throughout the day so we made a night of emailing, planning our stay in london, and playing scrabble on the top bunk bed. the game was so cool...we used every letter in turn, filled up the board, and tied with a score of 201 each. And we enjoyed it with a healthy dose of gummy candy too. Brugge, although a little gloomy and rainy, was a sweet little town that we enjoyed spending time in. (oh and we had the best belgian waffles with haagen daze icecream and caramel sauce!)
Brussells was a short one night stop before Paris. We took the short train ride in the morning and were able to see parts of the city before checking into the hotel. Still raining, we meandered through the city buildings in our raincoats searching for a good cafe to snuggle up in. Well, we ended up eating at Subway (not a snuggley cafe) but then got a brownie and some coffee at a place called the coffee company. It was a cute little cafe with modern furniture and terrible music. We both had to turn our ipods on to drown out the jr. high talent show sounding singers.
Rainy days are always great days for a movie so we went to the cinema and saw Monsters vs. Aliens. we went into the 16:00 showing and realized that everything was French and wasn't going to stop being French anytime soon. So we left and were told to come back to the 18:00 showing that would be in English. Much better. It was fun to see a movie together and be able to understand it all too! The city wasn't anything terribly special, but it was cool to see anyway. Later that night we went and got dinner at a cafe by the botanical gardens and didn't realize that it was so late until our waiter brought our check over and said they were closing. it was already 11 and we felt like it was 8:30. It stays light until around 9pm so the days seem sooo long. The gardens were really pretty to walk through, and it was nice to see some green amist the towering skyscrapers. I was disappointed we didn't get to eat brussell sprouts in Brussells, but oh well!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Don't get coffee in Amsterdam
Amsterdam was one of the prettiest places we have visited. The canals that run through the city have a very Venetian quality, but hold a whole different character as well. The houses are so cute lined in a row along the canals, and they're all different colors and designs.
Funny story: our first night in Amsterdam we wandered around the city for a while to familiarize ourself with it. We came across a waffle store and both decided that we HAD to get a waffle! how could we not get a belgium waffle in belgium! it wasn't until about 5 minutes into our delicious dessert that we realized we were actually not in belgium...we were in the Netherlands! we felt very very silly. (i still dont get the whole, Netherlands, Holland, Dutch distinctions!)
Our hostel was a basic bed and bathroom--nothing fancy but it worked just fine. We took a tour of the city our first day there as to get some background and history on the city. our guide was great--British and very entertaining. He took us through the red light district (briefly), and told us about Holland's history of tolerance and "plausible deniability"policy. They hold that if something is 1) discreet, 2) not hurting anyone, and 3) makes money, than it's acceptable. An example of this is the number of "coffee shops" around the city that dont really sell coffee at all--just marajuana. But it's discreet, not "hurting" anyone, andmakes alot of money. Also on the tour we got to see the Jewish quarter, Anne Franks house, the palace, and a bunch in between.
Amsterdam is a bicycle city. Everyone rides bikes, and they're everywhere. So emily and i rented bikes for a day and navigated our way through the insane bike lanes around town and rally had a stressful time. We then took a ferry over to the other side of the river and rode into the coutnryside of holland. It was so cool. We came across a little field of sheep just chillin in the grass so we stopped and took pictures and talked with them. the babies were so cute! Then we rode through fields of green grass and tall wheat to a little town called durgerdam where we sat and had a drink on a dock overlooking the water. It was so quaint and peaceful...like an oldfashioned painting. I was so happy to get to experience both the city and the countryside of Holland.
Our next morning we rode out east of the city in search of a park but never found it. We got a little lost, ended up riding through a different park, and spent some time admiring the flowergarden in town. So many colors and kinds of flowers...especially tulips. We had planned to go to the Van Gogh museum by our hostel but it had a very pricy entrance fee so we just admired the adversement pictures on the outside. Instead of art-viewing we decided to get sandwiches at a little place called bagels and beans and it was a perfect end to our time in Amsterdam.
Funny story: our first night in Amsterdam we wandered around the city for a while to familiarize ourself with it. We came across a waffle store and both decided that we HAD to get a waffle! how could we not get a belgium waffle in belgium! it wasn't until about 5 minutes into our delicious dessert that we realized we were actually not in belgium...we were in the Netherlands! we felt very very silly. (i still dont get the whole, Netherlands, Holland, Dutch distinctions!)
Our hostel was a basic bed and bathroom--nothing fancy but it worked just fine. We took a tour of the city our first day there as to get some background and history on the city. our guide was great--British and very entertaining. He took us through the red light district (briefly), and told us about Holland's history of tolerance and "plausible deniability"policy. They hold that if something is 1) discreet, 2) not hurting anyone, and 3) makes money, than it's acceptable. An example of this is the number of "coffee shops" around the city that dont really sell coffee at all--just marajuana. But it's discreet, not "hurting" anyone, andmakes alot of money. Also on the tour we got to see the Jewish quarter, Anne Franks house, the palace, and a bunch in between.
Amsterdam is a bicycle city. Everyone rides bikes, and they're everywhere. So emily and i rented bikes for a day and navigated our way through the insane bike lanes around town and rally had a stressful time. We then took a ferry over to the other side of the river and rode into the coutnryside of holland. It was so cool. We came across a little field of sheep just chillin in the grass so we stopped and took pictures and talked with them. the babies were so cute! Then we rode through fields of green grass and tall wheat to a little town called durgerdam where we sat and had a drink on a dock overlooking the water. It was so quaint and peaceful...like an oldfashioned painting. I was so happy to get to experience both the city and the countryside of Holland.
Our next morning we rode out east of the city in search of a park but never found it. We got a little lost, ended up riding through a different park, and spent some time admiring the flowergarden in town. So many colors and kinds of flowers...especially tulips. We had planned to go to the Van Gogh museum by our hostel but it had a very pricy entrance fee so we just admired the adversement pictures on the outside. Instead of art-viewing we decided to get sandwiches at a little place called bagels and beans and it was a perfect end to our time in Amsterdam.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
God speaks German
Our time in Berlin was SOOO good. We had the privilege of staying with a friend Stephanie, in Berlin who welcomed us into her home with open arms. After 4 weeks of traveling, we didn't realize how much it would mean to us to have a place to call home. It was a wonderful place to celebrate Easter and to experience what life is like living there.
Stephanie met us at the train station and escorted us back to her flat where we were able to get cleaned up and comfy and settled in. That night she cooked dinner for us (a 3 course dinner) and invited two of her friends over to join us. We had a cheese platter for an appetizer, then this grilled veggie/yogurt/pinenut thing too, and then all sat and ate salad and pasta with veggies. It was so fun just to relax and talk with her and her friends David and Steph, and enjoy each other's company. Even though it was getting late, we took the tram over to another one of Stephanies friends' houses so Emily and I could do some laundry. While the laundry was in we took a stroll to get a drink at a place that Stephanie goes to all the time. She's friends with the bartender, Andres, who was so funny. He's tall and skinny with long straggley hair and a cramer from seinfeld-type demeanor. We chatted with him and with each other then were invited to join this group of British people who were celebrating some guys birthday. The birthday boy talked with Emily and I for a while and gave us a lecture on Italian History. (He was very offended when he found out we had traveled through italy and NOT visited his mother's home town!) he had already had about a bottle of champagne, and we didn't feel the need to argue. So we had an interesting conversation, then went back to pick up our laundry and get a good night's sleep.
Sunday morning was Easter and we woke up to the smell of pancakes and tomato torte. Stephanie was so sweet--she made us breakfast and gave us chocolate kinder eggs because that's what all the kids get for Easter in Germany. It was so thoughtful and made us feel special. So we ate breakfast and got all dressed up in our Easter dresses for church. The church had a guest gospel choir come sing for the holiday, and they were from New York so we got to sing in English. It was so much fun! The church's worship band also did some german worship songs that we knew so we sang along in English while they all sang in German. It was weird to hear "Lord, I lift your name on high," "In christ alone,"and "How Great is our God" in German. It was cool to praise together even in different languages. The pastor gave his sermon, and Stephanie gave us little translated blurbs every couple of minutes so we could follow along. Then we took communion and the pastor blessed us. It was so great to be in church and surrounded by believers--we've been missing it while we've been gone.
After church we went to brunch at Andres' place, and we talked with some more of Stephanie's friends there. (she has a lot of friends). :) David said he would give us a tour of the city, so we got to see Berlin by Mercedes. He drove us around pointing out important things, giving the history behind each one. It was so fun and we enjoyed their company too. The art graffiti on the remains of the Berlin wall are so interesting so we took some pictures and walked around the area for a little bit. For dinner we had what I call German Chipotle--and it was sooo good. David had us all over to his house to watch the kite runner, which we had rented, then we went back to stephanie's to spend our last night there. Before we left the next afternoon on the train, Stephanie made sure we tried Kababs and curryworst so would have had real german food. they were interesting, but fun to try.
Our time in Berlin was so fun because of the chance to feel at home and cared for. We got to see what life was like living in the city, and had a wonderful tour guide to show us all around. Thanks Steph!
Stephanie met us at the train station and escorted us back to her flat where we were able to get cleaned up and comfy and settled in. That night she cooked dinner for us (a 3 course dinner) and invited two of her friends over to join us. We had a cheese platter for an appetizer, then this grilled veggie/yogurt/pinenut thing too, and then all sat and ate salad and pasta with veggies. It was so fun just to relax and talk with her and her friends David and Steph, and enjoy each other's company. Even though it was getting late, we took the tram over to another one of Stephanies friends' houses so Emily and I could do some laundry. While the laundry was in we took a stroll to get a drink at a place that Stephanie goes to all the time. She's friends with the bartender, Andres, who was so funny. He's tall and skinny with long straggley hair and a cramer from seinfeld-type demeanor. We chatted with him and with each other then were invited to join this group of British people who were celebrating some guys birthday. The birthday boy talked with Emily and I for a while and gave us a lecture on Italian History. (He was very offended when he found out we had traveled through italy and NOT visited his mother's home town!) he had already had about a bottle of champagne, and we didn't feel the need to argue. So we had an interesting conversation, then went back to pick up our laundry and get a good night's sleep.
Sunday morning was Easter and we woke up to the smell of pancakes and tomato torte. Stephanie was so sweet--she made us breakfast and gave us chocolate kinder eggs because that's what all the kids get for Easter in Germany. It was so thoughtful and made us feel special. So we ate breakfast and got all dressed up in our Easter dresses for church. The church had a guest gospel choir come sing for the holiday, and they were from New York so we got to sing in English. It was so much fun! The church's worship band also did some german worship songs that we knew so we sang along in English while they all sang in German. It was weird to hear "Lord, I lift your name on high," "In christ alone,"and "How Great is our God" in German. It was cool to praise together even in different languages. The pastor gave his sermon, and Stephanie gave us little translated blurbs every couple of minutes so we could follow along. Then we took communion and the pastor blessed us. It was so great to be in church and surrounded by believers--we've been missing it while we've been gone.
After church we went to brunch at Andres' place, and we talked with some more of Stephanie's friends there. (she has a lot of friends). :) David said he would give us a tour of the city, so we got to see Berlin by Mercedes. He drove us around pointing out important things, giving the history behind each one. It was so fun and we enjoyed their company too. The art graffiti on the remains of the Berlin wall are so interesting so we took some pictures and walked around the area for a little bit. For dinner we had what I call German Chipotle--and it was sooo good. David had us all over to his house to watch the kite runner, which we had rented, then we went back to stephanie's to spend our last night there. Before we left the next afternoon on the train, Stephanie made sure we tried Kababs and curryworst so would have had real german food. they were interesting, but fun to try.
Our time in Berlin was so fun because of the chance to feel at home and cared for. We got to see what life was like living in the city, and had a wonderful tour guide to show us all around. Thanks Steph!
A day in Prague...
Literally...we only spent one day there. That's all the time we had before we had to be in Berlin, but it ended up being sufficient. When we arrived in Prague we checked into our hostel, dropped our bags and took the tram into town. Both of us were a little annoyed by the time we had reached the city, because getting there was for some reason a difficult task. We were tired and hungry and decided to eat something and hoped it would put us in a better mood. We got pizza and gelato then wandered around looking for points of interest. After not finding any because of our terrible map and lack of directions, we finally decided just to make for the river and hope it would be cool. Once we got to the river, our attitudes were much improved, because who could be frustrated with such a beautiful view!? We walked along the water and across the bridge to old town where we walked up a million steps to get to the palace. The climb was definitely worth it, however, because the view from the top was amazing! we saw the changing of the guard at the palace, and peeked around the little town, then made our way to the famous astronomical clock. Definitely overrated. Crowds gathered all around blocking the streets to see the amazing clock chime 8pm. If i hadn't been paying attention, i probably wouldn't have even noticed when the "show" happened. We had fun anyway though, because there was another easter festival going on, and we tried these churro things dipped in melted chocolate that were so good!! After that, we walked back to the river to see it at night with all the lights refected in the water and ate dinner at a restaurant right on the water. It was a great evening and we loved the beautiful river view.
Polish Sausage
Hello!! We are alive and well for any of you who have been worried...i know i haven't posted in a long while. My appologies--and a new post!
After Vienna, we headed to Krakow, Poland where we stayed 3 nights in Mama's hostel. The hostel was wonderful and had everything we wanted. even surprises like polish cake thursday and spiced wine wednesday. we had breakfast, and nice beds, and even got to watch movies on the dvd player! The morning we had in vienna trying to catch our train, then missing it and having to wait 4 hours for the next one was a bummer, so coming home to a nice hostel was just what we needed.
(side note: i also got news that night of my acceptance into Western State University of Law--and they're offering me an awesome academic scholarship and an invitation into the "dean's circle." it was very exciting!)
Our first day in Krakow, we took a bike tour around the city and learned much of the history of the area. We saw the main square, the church, the jewish quarter, the jewish ghetto, the park that used to be a mote around the city, the river, the castle, and schindler's factory. For lunch we had mexican food! good mexican food at a place in the middle of the square. it was so fun to have tortilla soup and fajitas while people watching in poland. the city is a fun place to walk around because of the pretty architecture and entertainment. Horse and buggies clomp by, accordion players serenade, and the church trumpeter plays every hour on the hour.
Our second day we took a train out to Auschwitz, located about 1hr 40min away. it was a very interesting trip. we've learned so much about WWII and Auschwitz in particular as an extermination camp, but to be there was something very different. The setting was strange: green grass, brick school-looking buildings and a very organized layout. If I had not known the nature of the camp, i would have guessed it was simply a quaint village. It was a shocking contrast to Dacau, the concentration camp we visited when we were in Munich. The bunkers at Auschwitz had living quarters very similar to Dacau, but some of the exhibitions of the museum were quiet jarring. A whole room filled with hair, human hair, uncovered in the Nazi collections of things to be sold, was on display. Mountains and mountains of shoes, half burned clothing, glasses, hairbrushes, and other personal items of the victims. We saw the execution sites, gallows, gas chambers and other parts of the camp. A sign across the entrance reading "work brings freedom"- the appaling deception used to keep victims calm. It's important to learn the realities of such atrocities like Auschwitz, and i'm glad we were able to go.
When we got back to Krakow, there was an easter festival going on in the square, so we got a traditional polish dinner from the booths: big brautworst sausage, potatoes, dumplings and "vegetables." The food was so heavy, and after about half we were done! we walked around windowshopping for a while and decided to try what looked like a polish waffle desert with jam on top. So having 4 zlottys left (polish currency) we got one to share between the two of us. So Emily takes a bite and chews a couple of times, then makes the worst face possible. "Oh, oh, gross, gross!" I was like, come on, it can't be that bad. so i took a bite. it was terrible. utterly terrible. What we thought was a waffley thing was instead a salted cheese mass that tasted like it had been fried in dirty sock juice and slathered with cranberry sauce. it was Naasty! worst thing we've tried yet! we threw the rest away and had to get the taste out of our mouthes with some candied almonds.
Back in the hostel we had 2 new additions to our room (which we had previously had to ourselves). Two Australian boys, Anthony and Roghan. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with them, chatting about our cultures, and enjoying the hostel. They were really fun to hang out with and made our last night really fun. In the morning we had to get up before 6 to catch our train so we tried to get as much sleep as we could.
After Vienna, we headed to Krakow, Poland where we stayed 3 nights in Mama's hostel. The hostel was wonderful and had everything we wanted. even surprises like polish cake thursday and spiced wine wednesday. we had breakfast, and nice beds, and even got to watch movies on the dvd player! The morning we had in vienna trying to catch our train, then missing it and having to wait 4 hours for the next one was a bummer, so coming home to a nice hostel was just what we needed.
(side note: i also got news that night of my acceptance into Western State University of Law--and they're offering me an awesome academic scholarship and an invitation into the "dean's circle." it was very exciting!)
Our first day in Krakow, we took a bike tour around the city and learned much of the history of the area. We saw the main square, the church, the jewish quarter, the jewish ghetto, the park that used to be a mote around the city, the river, the castle, and schindler's factory. For lunch we had mexican food! good mexican food at a place in the middle of the square. it was so fun to have tortilla soup and fajitas while people watching in poland. the city is a fun place to walk around because of the pretty architecture and entertainment. Horse and buggies clomp by, accordion players serenade, and the church trumpeter plays every hour on the hour.
Our second day we took a train out to Auschwitz, located about 1hr 40min away. it was a very interesting trip. we've learned so much about WWII and Auschwitz in particular as an extermination camp, but to be there was something very different. The setting was strange: green grass, brick school-looking buildings and a very organized layout. If I had not known the nature of the camp, i would have guessed it was simply a quaint village. It was a shocking contrast to Dacau, the concentration camp we visited when we were in Munich. The bunkers at Auschwitz had living quarters very similar to Dacau, but some of the exhibitions of the museum were quiet jarring. A whole room filled with hair, human hair, uncovered in the Nazi collections of things to be sold, was on display. Mountains and mountains of shoes, half burned clothing, glasses, hairbrushes, and other personal items of the victims. We saw the execution sites, gallows, gas chambers and other parts of the camp. A sign across the entrance reading "work brings freedom"- the appaling deception used to keep victims calm. It's important to learn the realities of such atrocities like Auschwitz, and i'm glad we were able to go.
When we got back to Krakow, there was an easter festival going on in the square, so we got a traditional polish dinner from the booths: big brautworst sausage, potatoes, dumplings and "vegetables." The food was so heavy, and after about half we were done! we walked around windowshopping for a while and decided to try what looked like a polish waffle desert with jam on top. So having 4 zlottys left (polish currency) we got one to share between the two of us. So Emily takes a bite and chews a couple of times, then makes the worst face possible. "Oh, oh, gross, gross!" I was like, come on, it can't be that bad. so i took a bite. it was terrible. utterly terrible. What we thought was a waffley thing was instead a salted cheese mass that tasted like it had been fried in dirty sock juice and slathered with cranberry sauce. it was Naasty! worst thing we've tried yet! we threw the rest away and had to get the taste out of our mouthes with some candied almonds.
Back in the hostel we had 2 new additions to our room (which we had previously had to ourselves). Two Australian boys, Anthony and Roghan. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with them, chatting about our cultures, and enjoying the hostel. They were really fun to hang out with and made our last night really fun. In the morning we had to get up before 6 to catch our train so we tried to get as much sleep as we could.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Operetic gardens
Vienna was different than i expected it to be. very city-like. there's so much musical history, not to mention other history too, and i think i imagined it more--exciting. we did enjoy ourselves though, exploring the Stephenplatz center and doing some fun side trips.
Our train ride in was packed with people...we barely found two seats in the same compartment. i sat with my luggage pushed up against my knees while the australian girl in our compartment asked about american politics--whether we liked obama and whether emily in particular liked bush because shes from texas. our hotel room was a double bed private with its own shower and bathroom and privacy which was a nice change from the dorm atmosphere. the Ubahn was just down the street so we rode that everywhere we needed to go. that first night we went into stephenplatz square at the center of town, looked around a bit, then decided to have dinner at an Australian Pub. it was good food, and reminded me a little of TGIFridays, but with australian stuff like kangaroo and alligator meat. we also tried a drink called a snake bite (which was really just raspberry flavored beer).
The next day we spent much of our time at shonebrunne castle (i'm sure i didnt spell that right) which is famous for its extravagent gardens. the palace itself is huge and the gardens stretch as far as you can see. we had a picnic on one of the benches by a fountain and ate our peanutbutter bread, fruit and yogurt. there was a structure up on top of the hill that looked back on the gardens so we hiked up the mountain and had a beautiful view of the palace and the city of vienna. the gardens weren't fully planted yet, so there were a lot of places that were still dirt, but the patterns looked like they would have been really cool if there had been flowers there. aside from the gardens we also saw the wildly overrated ferris wheel in town that looked like a bunch of train cars strung up around a circle. needless to say, we didnt ride it. what was fun, however, was going to the opera that night. After looking at the list of theater and concert performances happening that day, we decided to attend La Boheme playing at the Volksoper. we got dressed up in our "best" attire and rushed off to the show, sneaking in right after the curtain opened. it was an interesting opera--we didnt understand a word of it (which was in German, by the way), but enjoyed it nonetheless.
We also visited the main church in the center of the square that was beautiful inside. it had one of the largest pipe organs ive ever seen and was decorated very meticulously. the outside was very gothic with pointed spires and spiky sides, yet it had a mosaic-colored roof tile pattern. the church wasnt too far from a great gelato place that was swarming with people so we figured we should probably get some! :)
The next morning we got up, packed our stuff (much of it is now strapped to the outside making us look like traveling street performers), and hurried to the train station. the hotels wifi hadnt been working so we were unable to look up train times until right before we left, so when we discovered the train left in 45 min from the station half way across town, we hightailed it out of there. we walked to the metro station, took the metro to the west trainstation, took a tram across town to the south station, only to get there 3 minutes late! the next train didnt leave until 4 hrs later and we had all of our stuff with us. so we went across the street and got lunch at a little italian place and used their wifi for a couple of hours. it really turned out to be a good thing we missed the train because the next one went all the way to krakow without any stops and got in only an hour and a half later. it was nice to relax on the 6 1/2 hour train ride, read, listen to music, watch some greys anatomy and eat dinner.
Our train ride in was packed with people...we barely found two seats in the same compartment. i sat with my luggage pushed up against my knees while the australian girl in our compartment asked about american politics--whether we liked obama and whether emily in particular liked bush because shes from texas. our hotel room was a double bed private with its own shower and bathroom and privacy which was a nice change from the dorm atmosphere. the Ubahn was just down the street so we rode that everywhere we needed to go. that first night we went into stephenplatz square at the center of town, looked around a bit, then decided to have dinner at an Australian Pub. it was good food, and reminded me a little of TGIFridays, but with australian stuff like kangaroo and alligator meat. we also tried a drink called a snake bite (which was really just raspberry flavored beer).
The next day we spent much of our time at shonebrunne castle (i'm sure i didnt spell that right) which is famous for its extravagent gardens. the palace itself is huge and the gardens stretch as far as you can see. we had a picnic on one of the benches by a fountain and ate our peanutbutter bread, fruit and yogurt. there was a structure up on top of the hill that looked back on the gardens so we hiked up the mountain and had a beautiful view of the palace and the city of vienna. the gardens weren't fully planted yet, so there were a lot of places that were still dirt, but the patterns looked like they would have been really cool if there had been flowers there. aside from the gardens we also saw the wildly overrated ferris wheel in town that looked like a bunch of train cars strung up around a circle. needless to say, we didnt ride it. what was fun, however, was going to the opera that night. After looking at the list of theater and concert performances happening that day, we decided to attend La Boheme playing at the Volksoper. we got dressed up in our "best" attire and rushed off to the show, sneaking in right after the curtain opened. it was an interesting opera--we didnt understand a word of it (which was in German, by the way), but enjoyed it nonetheless.
We also visited the main church in the center of the square that was beautiful inside. it had one of the largest pipe organs ive ever seen and was decorated very meticulously. the outside was very gothic with pointed spires and spiky sides, yet it had a mosaic-colored roof tile pattern. the church wasnt too far from a great gelato place that was swarming with people so we figured we should probably get some! :)
The next morning we got up, packed our stuff (much of it is now strapped to the outside making us look like traveling street performers), and hurried to the train station. the hotels wifi hadnt been working so we were unable to look up train times until right before we left, so when we discovered the train left in 45 min from the station half way across town, we hightailed it out of there. we walked to the metro station, took the metro to the west trainstation, took a tram across town to the south station, only to get there 3 minutes late! the next train didnt leave until 4 hrs later and we had all of our stuff with us. so we went across the street and got lunch at a little italian place and used their wifi for a couple of hours. it really turned out to be a good thing we missed the train because the next one went all the way to krakow without any stops and got in only an hour and a half later. it was nice to relax on the 6 1/2 hour train ride, read, listen to music, watch some greys anatomy and eat dinner.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Mozartland
Salzburg was a fun city. We stayed in a nice hostel in an 8 bed room with some other girls. The sheets were silky and the room clean with big lockers to use. The breakfast provided was really good with all kinds of bread, cereal, cheese, cold cuts, eggs, yogurt and this funny chocolate pear rice pudding. We spent our first night exploring and eating goulash and schnitzel then watched a little bit of the sound of music played nightly at the hostel.
The next morning we got a Salzburg card which gave us 24 he access to all of the sites around town and free bus transportation. We first took a gondola up the mountain for a beautiful view. The weather was wonderfully warm even on the snowtopped mountains. We hiked around in the snow for a while and took in the beauty then sloshed back to the gondola. Not too far away was the hellsbeunner palace with some supposed world famous trick fountains. We expected a cool watershow nut were terribly disappointed when they turned out to be silly fountains used to squirt visitors with water. We felt like we were at a kiddie show and weren't in the mood to get wet. So as soon as that was over, which was not soon enough, we headed back into town.
Salzburg houses mozarts birthplace and residence, and his face is everywhere in the city. We found his residence from when he was little and took an audioguide tour through the house. My favorite part was seeing his original piano and hearing some of the compositions from his youth composed on it. There were also pages of scores he had written and letters he had written to his family about premiers of his music. It was a very interesting visit. The mirabell werent too far so we headed over there and enjoyed the view. Salzburg is where the sound of music was set and we didnt get to see many of the places from the movie bit we did see the "do re mi steps" and the fountain.
Our last day we took a funicular up to the fortress that sits up high in the city you can see it from all around and it's one of the oldest structures there. THere wasn't much to see inside nut the grounds were interesting and we got a great view of the city. We then stopped in and saw where mozart was born then got a snack before catching our train to Vienna.
Our stay in Salzburg was packed with little sightseeing things but we also got to stroll through the shops and streets around town and even got to see a bunch of people in traditional Austrian clothing coming out of church on palm sunday which was so fun! All the families were riding bikes and playing games all dressed up in liederhosen and dresses. I'm glad we got to be a part of the Sunday celebration.
The next morning we got a Salzburg card which gave us 24 he access to all of the sites around town and free bus transportation. We first took a gondola up the mountain for a beautiful view. The weather was wonderfully warm even on the snowtopped mountains. We hiked around in the snow for a while and took in the beauty then sloshed back to the gondola. Not too far away was the hellsbeunner palace with some supposed world famous trick fountains. We expected a cool watershow nut were terribly disappointed when they turned out to be silly fountains used to squirt visitors with water. We felt like we were at a kiddie show and weren't in the mood to get wet. So as soon as that was over, which was not soon enough, we headed back into town.
Salzburg houses mozarts birthplace and residence, and his face is everywhere in the city. We found his residence from when he was little and took an audioguide tour through the house. My favorite part was seeing his original piano and hearing some of the compositions from his youth composed on it. There were also pages of scores he had written and letters he had written to his family about premiers of his music. It was a very interesting visit. The mirabell werent too far so we headed over there and enjoyed the view. Salzburg is where the sound of music was set and we didnt get to see many of the places from the movie bit we did see the "do re mi steps" and the fountain.
Our last day we took a funicular up to the fortress that sits up high in the city you can see it from all around and it's one of the oldest structures there. THere wasn't much to see inside nut the grounds were interesting and we got a great view of the city. We then stopped in and saw where mozart was born then got a snack before catching our train to Vienna.
Our stay in Salzburg was packed with little sightseeing things but we also got to stroll through the shops and streets around town and even got to see a bunch of people in traditional Austrian clothing coming out of church on palm sunday which was so fun! All the families were riding bikes and playing games all dressed up in liederhosen and dresses. I'm glad we got to be a part of the Sunday celebration.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Schnitzel, Castles, and Nazis
Our last 3 nights we spent in munich, Germany, and we had a great time. Our first night there we went to a highly recommended restaurant known for having the biggest plate of schnitzel. So we each got a beer and split the turkey schnitzel which was huge and sooo good. When I say beer I should probably mention that emily got some beer mixed with sprite and I got an apple cider...but german beer nonetheless. Our hostel had a pretty nice lounge area but pretty gross rooms--I guess that's what you get for 10 euro a night. It's a 40 bed room on the -1 floor (the basement). It smells like mildew and b.o. And we were pretty much the only girls.
Our first day we took a free walking tour around the city to learn about the history and importance of Munich. It really gave me a deeper appreciation for the city and was fun too. I didn't realize Munich played such a big part in the rise of the Nazi party and hitlers popularity. It was crazy to learn about kristalnacht and other horrible events while we were standing at the site where they took place. We also saw the supposedly most famous beerhall in the world and heard stories about it's historic days. After the tour we had goulash and took a nap in the largest gardens in Europe, the English gardens. For dimmer we really wanted crepes but the stand was closed so we got pizza by the slice instead. Food has been an adventure on this trip...sometimes were pleasantly surprised and other time we wonder what possesed someone to make such horrible combinations. This night was one of the latter described. I ordered the pizza with arugala, tomato, and mozzerella on top- sort of a caprese pizza. Emily got tunafish. What looked like a nice sausage slice turned out to be tuna and onion pizza. Who puts tuna on pizza! We were both revolted by it (emily moreso because she put it in her mouth), so we ran to the trainstation store afterward for some peach gummies.
Back In the room we got ready for bed and I asked myself, "would you rather sleep with your head by the awkward cuddling couple on the bed to the left or by the creepy guy in his 30s to the right. But this seemed so trivial when at 4am I woke up to something very strange indeed. "wake up. Come on man wake up. Do you know what you just did?" I look up, or rather down from the top bunk to see one of the hostel workers shining a light in a sleeping guys face in the bunk to diginal from us. "you just pissed on the floor." sure enough I look at the wood floor and there sits a giant puddle--disgusting. Apparently this guy had had too much to drink, undressed, peed all over the floor and passed out on his bed. Questioning whether this was really happening I climbed down and picked up my backpack and shoes up off the floor away from the danger zone and watched the hostel staff deal with the situation. They mopped the floor and got him to wake up and move out of the soaked bed that wasn't even his then told him to take a shower. We found out in the morning he was fined 60 euro for the mess. Poor emily was freaked out the whole night and barely slept. If we thought the room smelled bad before it was terrible now! Let's just say this beats out our Rome hostel for worst accompdation experience so far! We were scared to use the showers too, especially since the dirty shower curtains sported pictures of "Biff" and "Brad" in speedos at the beach. So weird.
Despite the weird hostel we really enjoyed Munich. We took a day trip to the Neuwenschuine castle which was built in the beautiful alps and was the inspiration for cinderellas castle at Disneyland. It was really fun to see and all around us were snow covered mountains and scenic views. Our last day we also got to visit Dachau, the first concentration camp and model for the others built during the war. It was a very moving experience and it was especially powerful learning about what went on there as we were standing in the specific locations.
Bavaria has beautiful sights and rich culture--we had bratworst and pretzels that were great and savory crepes that weren't so savory. I got the chili and cheese crepe which turned out to be chili POWDER and cheese with tons of crushed black pepper. It almost made me sick. I think I'll stick to the nutella ones! Oh and we both got spinach and tomato quiche for lunch after Dachau and it happened to have salmon inside! We were ready to leave when our three nights in Munich were up and enjoyed the scenery on the train on the way to Salzburg where the hills are alive with the sound of music.
Our first day we took a free walking tour around the city to learn about the history and importance of Munich. It really gave me a deeper appreciation for the city and was fun too. I didn't realize Munich played such a big part in the rise of the Nazi party and hitlers popularity. It was crazy to learn about kristalnacht and other horrible events while we were standing at the site where they took place. We also saw the supposedly most famous beerhall in the world and heard stories about it's historic days. After the tour we had goulash and took a nap in the largest gardens in Europe, the English gardens. For dimmer we really wanted crepes but the stand was closed so we got pizza by the slice instead. Food has been an adventure on this trip...sometimes were pleasantly surprised and other time we wonder what possesed someone to make such horrible combinations. This night was one of the latter described. I ordered the pizza with arugala, tomato, and mozzerella on top- sort of a caprese pizza. Emily got tunafish. What looked like a nice sausage slice turned out to be tuna and onion pizza. Who puts tuna on pizza! We were both revolted by it (emily moreso because she put it in her mouth), so we ran to the trainstation store afterward for some peach gummies.
Back In the room we got ready for bed and I asked myself, "would you rather sleep with your head by the awkward cuddling couple on the bed to the left or by the creepy guy in his 30s to the right. But this seemed so trivial when at 4am I woke up to something very strange indeed. "wake up. Come on man wake up. Do you know what you just did?" I look up, or rather down from the top bunk to see one of the hostel workers shining a light in a sleeping guys face in the bunk to diginal from us. "you just pissed on the floor." sure enough I look at the wood floor and there sits a giant puddle--disgusting. Apparently this guy had had too much to drink, undressed, peed all over the floor and passed out on his bed. Questioning whether this was really happening I climbed down and picked up my backpack and shoes up off the floor away from the danger zone and watched the hostel staff deal with the situation. They mopped the floor and got him to wake up and move out of the soaked bed that wasn't even his then told him to take a shower. We found out in the morning he was fined 60 euro for the mess. Poor emily was freaked out the whole night and barely slept. If we thought the room smelled bad before it was terrible now! Let's just say this beats out our Rome hostel for worst accompdation experience so far! We were scared to use the showers too, especially since the dirty shower curtains sported pictures of "Biff" and "Brad" in speedos at the beach. So weird.
Despite the weird hostel we really enjoyed Munich. We took a day trip to the Neuwenschuine castle which was built in the beautiful alps and was the inspiration for cinderellas castle at Disneyland. It was really fun to see and all around us were snow covered mountains and scenic views. Our last day we also got to visit Dachau, the first concentration camp and model for the others built during the war. It was a very moving experience and it was especially powerful learning about what went on there as we were standing in the specific locations.
Bavaria has beautiful sights and rich culture--we had bratworst and pretzels that were great and savory crepes that weren't so savory. I got the chili and cheese crepe which turned out to be chili POWDER and cheese with tons of crushed black pepper. It almost made me sick. I think I'll stick to the nutella ones! Oh and we both got spinach and tomato quiche for lunch after Dachau and it happened to have salmon inside! We were ready to leave when our three nights in Munich were up and enjoyed the scenery on the train on the way to Salzburg where the hills are alive with the sound of music.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Dairyland Not to be confused with Disneyland
Our last night in interlaken was busied with Swiss chocolate and late night selecta (their vending machine brand) run. We had to have something to dip in our nutella and sour gummy fries were just that. In the morning we packed up,ate breakfast and hopped on the train to Bern. About 25 min later we hopped back off the train and waited for the next one back to interlaken because emily left her blanket and sheet in the room. When we got back I took a nice refreshing jog in the cold sprinkley air and retrieved the sleep stuff. Fortunately the scenery between interlaken is beautiful so we didn't mind seeing it 3 times. Except our seat the last time happened to be next to the only seats on the train without a window view!
Our time in Bern, the capitol of Switzerland, was short and tiring. Because we
weren't staying the night we had to carry our luggage with us along the tour of the city. As soon as we walked out of the station there stood before us the American embassy to brighten our day...well it was actually starbucks, and it made us feel like we were at home. After warming up inside away from the bitter cold we walked to the parliament building (did you know the Swiss have 7 presidents), the big funny clock tower, and the bear pits. Yes, bear pits. Bern is german for bear so I hear and the city is named after them so they have a pit with live bears in the city. The bear was really cute and smaller than I expected. We felt like our 2 hours. there were sufficient and caught the next train to lucerne.
Lucerne was a beautiful city with a huge lake, picturesque mountains and a castle. wall. Our hostel/hotel was very nice and clean and we ended up having a 4 bed room to ourselves. We made a wonderful dinner with stuff we bought at the grocery store and chatted in our room. The next day we visited the pride of the city--a lion sxulpturecarved into a mountain. We took a picture and walked away...not too exciting. We did get find a path that led up to a spot where you can see the whole city and lake which was really pretty. There's not all that much to do in lucerne we found out, especially at night. So we went for a run through the town in 40 degree weather, ran past the lion again just in case the first time wasn't exciting enough, and crossed all 5 bridges back and forth that go over the river. It was a great night and and we got to see a castle wall that goes around a part of the city.
Our time there was relaxing and slow paced--we fed bread to the French swans, ate more Swiss truffles, made sure to eat dairy products even though we couldn't find any lucerne brand and indulged in 2 American treats: starbucks and mcdonalds. Oh and I paid with American dollars at mcdonalds which was so weird. Switzerland was beutiful and expensive, and was everything I hoped for. Except I didn't see any men in liederhosen yodelling and playing the digerydoo. I have no clue how that's spelled but it seems like it belongs in Switzerland.
Our time in Bern, the capitol of Switzerland, was short and tiring. Because we
weren't staying the night we had to carry our luggage with us along the tour of the city. As soon as we walked out of the station there stood before us the American embassy to brighten our day...well it was actually starbucks, and it made us feel like we were at home. After warming up inside away from the bitter cold we walked to the parliament building (did you know the Swiss have 7 presidents), the big funny clock tower, and the bear pits. Yes, bear pits. Bern is german for bear so I hear and the city is named after them so they have a pit with live bears in the city. The bear was really cute and smaller than I expected. We felt like our 2 hours. there were sufficient and caught the next train to lucerne.
Lucerne was a beautiful city with a huge lake, picturesque mountains and a castle. wall. Our hostel/hotel was very nice and clean and we ended up having a 4 bed room to ourselves. We made a wonderful dinner with stuff we bought at the grocery store and chatted in our room. The next day we visited the pride of the city--a lion sxulpturecarved into a mountain. We took a picture and walked away...not too exciting. We did get find a path that led up to a spot where you can see the whole city and lake which was really pretty. There's not all that much to do in lucerne we found out, especially at night. So we went for a run through the town in 40 degree weather, ran past the lion again just in case the first time wasn't exciting enough, and crossed all 5 bridges back and forth that go over the river. It was a great night and and we got to see a castle wall that goes around a part of the city.
Our time there was relaxing and slow paced--we fed bread to the French swans, ate more Swiss truffles, made sure to eat dairy products even though we couldn't find any lucerne brand and indulged in 2 American treats: starbucks and mcdonalds. Oh and I paid with American dollars at mcdonalds which was so weird. Switzerland was beutiful and expensive, and was everything I hoped for. Except I didn't see any men in liederhosen yodelling and playing the digerydoo. I have no clue how that's spelled but it seems like it belongs in Switzerland.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
-AwA-AvwvA-
the title of this post is not so much a name...but rather a picture of the swiss alps. :) As i look out the window of our hostel room in Interlaken the snow-covered mountain peaks poke in and out of the clouds and surround us on all sides. its absolutely gorgeous here! we got in around midnight two days ago and followed the directions we had to the hostel. we got a little lost along the way, as it was very dark and foreign to us. we flagged down a taxi to ask if he could point us in the right direction and he said he would take us for 14 fr. we asked if he could just point us in the right direction and he said no...then drove off. we knew it was less than a mile away, we just werent sure which way to walk. a nice man on a bicycle rode past and we flagged him down for directions. he was very kind and gave us directions. Balmers has been a great place to stay with lots of people coming to ski and snowboard in the best snow this part of switzerland has had in 10 years.
the first day after we got here we walked around the town and visited shops along the streets. we got bread, cheese and yogurt from the grocery store and ate lunch next to a pretty river that runs through the city. it was crazy to, after only seeing the town in the dark, wake up to the glorious alps surrounding us. after getting off the train in the dark emily pointed in some direction and said- is that a mountain, or just some clouds. i said-no, i dont think thats a mountain, it must just be dark over there. we felt so stupid to find out that the "cloud" was a giant mountain towering over the city.
theres a list of activities they offer at the hostel including: ski/snowboarding, paragliding over the alps, skydiving, canyon jumping, bungie jumping, night sledding, bowling, ice skating and other extreme sports. we decided to try nightsledding and went last night. it was soooo much fun. we got all geared up with special boots and ski pants then they took us up the mountain at about 630pm where we collected sleds and rode a gondola even farther up. after a quick tutorial the 15 of us started down the mountain on our plastic sleighs. the course was a summer driving road that had been snowed over this winter and it wound all the way down and around the mountain. the views of the mountains and little villages were breathtaking, and the sledding was a blast. we crashed a couple of times and had to walk our sleds through the flat parts. our guide showed us a frozen waterfall on one of the cliff faces, and led our group as we flew down the mountain. sledding in the dark is something ive never done before, and it was a little scary at first, but we loved it. we all wore glow sticks on our backs so we would know where everyone was.
when we got to the bottom of the course there was a yummy swiss dinner awaiting us. we started with salad then shared a swiss cheese fondue with bread dippers and ended with a fried egg-hashbrown plate (a little strange but i guess its a traditional dish). we finished our food and beer and headed back to the hostel.
today we took a bus and conglomeration of trains up one of the mountains to a town called wengen. there emily, victoria (an australian girl we became friends with on the sled ride) and i walked around admiring the views from high up in the snow. it was beautiful, all blanketed with white. we ate lunch at a cute restaurant and talked a bunch.
Interlaken has been a fun little town. and it is a very little town. tonight were going to a chocolate shop to see how they make the chocolate and taste a few. tomorrow we will see a little bit of bern, the capitol, and make our way to lucerne.
the first day after we got here we walked around the town and visited shops along the streets. we got bread, cheese and yogurt from the grocery store and ate lunch next to a pretty river that runs through the city. it was crazy to, after only seeing the town in the dark, wake up to the glorious alps surrounding us. after getting off the train in the dark emily pointed in some direction and said- is that a mountain, or just some clouds. i said-no, i dont think thats a mountain, it must just be dark over there. we felt so stupid to find out that the "cloud" was a giant mountain towering over the city.
theres a list of activities they offer at the hostel including: ski/snowboarding, paragliding over the alps, skydiving, canyon jumping, bungie jumping, night sledding, bowling, ice skating and other extreme sports. we decided to try nightsledding and went last night. it was soooo much fun. we got all geared up with special boots and ski pants then they took us up the mountain at about 630pm where we collected sleds and rode a gondola even farther up. after a quick tutorial the 15 of us started down the mountain on our plastic sleighs. the course was a summer driving road that had been snowed over this winter and it wound all the way down and around the mountain. the views of the mountains and little villages were breathtaking, and the sledding was a blast. we crashed a couple of times and had to walk our sleds through the flat parts. our guide showed us a frozen waterfall on one of the cliff faces, and led our group as we flew down the mountain. sledding in the dark is something ive never done before, and it was a little scary at first, but we loved it. we all wore glow sticks on our backs so we would know where everyone was.
when we got to the bottom of the course there was a yummy swiss dinner awaiting us. we started with salad then shared a swiss cheese fondue with bread dippers and ended with a fried egg-hashbrown plate (a little strange but i guess its a traditional dish). we finished our food and beer and headed back to the hostel.
today we took a bus and conglomeration of trains up one of the mountains to a town called wengen. there emily, victoria (an australian girl we became friends with on the sled ride) and i walked around admiring the views from high up in the snow. it was beautiful, all blanketed with white. we ate lunch at a cute restaurant and talked a bunch.
Interlaken has been a fun little town. and it is a very little town. tonight were going to a chocolate shop to see how they make the chocolate and taste a few. tomorrow we will see a little bit of bern, the capitol, and make our way to lucerne.
A Venice Fish
Venice was a beautiful city. i loved everything about it! our hostel was a wonderful experience and different than the other ones weve stayed in so far. it was very centrally located with a private bridge and big green door entrance. the balcony looked out over one of the little canals where the gondolas float by and the common room made for a wonderful place to meet new people. each night everyone gathered around the table for dinner at 815 where we talked, shared pasta and wine and chatted. we met lots of australian people as well as some fun americans from all over. it was a very communal atmosphere and felt more like we were sharing a big house than a hostel. Mimo, the hostel owner/manager, was one of the funniest people...hes persian and has a great sense of humor. he entertained us much of the time and was great to talk to.
we spent much of our time walking around the city admiring the hundreds of bridges and canals that run through it. we got nutella crepes (which are the most amazing delight!) and ate more pizza. st marks square is a fun place because theres a hustle and bustle of people eating, talking, shopping and we even got to enjoy a quintet playing classical music outside one of the restaurants. we ate gelato and listened to the nutcracker suite. one of our days there we took a boat ride over to the island of murano where we got to see a glass blowing demonstration and fun glass shops covering the island.
one of the nights we also decided to go to an opera concert in a theater there where the musicians and singers all wore traditional baroque costumes. it was so much fun. the concert was called Baroque and Opera and featured a 9 piece orchestra and 3 singers. it was a compilation of songs from operas such as the barber of seville, don giovonni, the marriage of figuero and others. we got dressed up in our skirts and jackets and enjoyed the show. the singers were wonderful and the music beautiful!
venice was just such a unique city: no cars, busses, motorbikes, trucks or any other sort of transportation. just people walking to and fro with little carts that they pulled up and down the bridge stairs. all the little shops sold masquerade masks, glass-blown trinkets, leather gloves, scarves and other clothes. i was so excited because i have a poster in my room of a scene in venice with a couple in the middle under a red umbrella and we found where the picture was taken! i didnt even think of it until we were at the site and i thought to myself...this looks familiar!
our time there was relaxing and slower paced than some of the other cities we had been in. we took time to read and journal and chat with new friends from around the world. the weather was also pretty...cold in the evenings and nice in the sun during the day. were just glad we have scarves and other warm clothes.
Our time in italy is now over and were moving on to some much colder climates. weve been brushing up on our german phrases in preparation for the change...ich heise brittney. danke.
we spent much of our time walking around the city admiring the hundreds of bridges and canals that run through it. we got nutella crepes (which are the most amazing delight!) and ate more pizza. st marks square is a fun place because theres a hustle and bustle of people eating, talking, shopping and we even got to enjoy a quintet playing classical music outside one of the restaurants. we ate gelato and listened to the nutcracker suite. one of our days there we took a boat ride over to the island of murano where we got to see a glass blowing demonstration and fun glass shops covering the island.
one of the nights we also decided to go to an opera concert in a theater there where the musicians and singers all wore traditional baroque costumes. it was so much fun. the concert was called Baroque and Opera and featured a 9 piece orchestra and 3 singers. it was a compilation of songs from operas such as the barber of seville, don giovonni, the marriage of figuero and others. we got dressed up in our skirts and jackets and enjoyed the show. the singers were wonderful and the music beautiful!
venice was just such a unique city: no cars, busses, motorbikes, trucks or any other sort of transportation. just people walking to and fro with little carts that they pulled up and down the bridge stairs. all the little shops sold masquerade masks, glass-blown trinkets, leather gloves, scarves and other clothes. i was so excited because i have a poster in my room of a scene in venice with a couple in the middle under a red umbrella and we found where the picture was taken! i didnt even think of it until we were at the site and i thought to myself...this looks familiar!
our time there was relaxing and slower paced than some of the other cities we had been in. we took time to read and journal and chat with new friends from around the world. the weather was also pretty...cold in the evenings and nice in the sun during the day. were just glad we have scarves and other warm clothes.
Our time in italy is now over and were moving on to some much colder climates. weve been brushing up on our german phrases in preparation for the change...ich heise brittney. danke.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
When in Rome...
Italy has been a whirlwind of activity. Florence, Pisa, and the Cinque Terra were so fun, but we coudnt wait to get to Rome. that all changed once we stepped out of the train station. Our hostel was located about 100 feet from the train station. we ended up taking the "scenic route" all around the grungy town searching for it. after making a giant loop, and getting directions from a reception guy at a very nice hotel, we found our hostel right back accross the street from where we started from. we explored the area a little bit, thought we were being followed by two creepy guys, got a slice of pizza and returned to our hostel to get bundled up. that night we took the metro to the trevi fountain which was really cool. we tossed our coins in over our shoulders, hopeful to return some day. while at the fountain the vendors there overwhelmed us with their pushy advances. selling camera tripods and noise makers, or asking to take our picture we said no over and over again. one guy got so mad at us he started calling us names and following us around saying "stupid, stupid, you understand me, you stupid." it made our fun visit of the fountain somewhat tainted. weve been really surprised by how pushy some of these sellers and restaurant workers are. they try to get you to buy things and want to get you to come in their restaurant, and then when you say no they get so upset.
after the trevi fountain we walked to where we thought the spanish steps were and came upon a large building that looked over the city. it was really pretty, and we decided to walk down the different levels to see if we could find the spanish steps. once at the bottom we saw a fountain and a courtyard and a plaque that read "spanish steps." i guess we had found them after all...they were just different than we expected. we ate dinner at a little cafe and headed back to our hostel.
in the morning we checked out of mosaic hostel because they were full the next night and moved to eden hostel called a "B&B." the hostel worker buzzed us in the door after we had made our way around the corner through groups of gang-member looking men and homeless people. i told him we had a reservation and had made it online and he smile and nodded and asked if we wanted a room. i said yes, we had made a reservation on the internet. he said, oh yes, we have internet. we quickly learned this would be an interesting night. he led us up a flight of stairs to an elevator that was about 4ft long and 2ft wide. if any of you have seen our backpacks youll know how well that went over. squeezing in, emily and i twisted and turned to get ourselves lodged into the corner while the owner squished in too and shut the door. the elevator stopped with a jolt and we backed out of the small space, unable to fully turn around. our room was behind 2 more locked doors and had a bathroom and kitchen area not too far from it. it was the creepiest place ever! it was not enough that the inside was like a dungeon but we were afraid to walk out the door--it was like being in downtown LA at night.
While in rome we got to see St. Peters basilica which was huge and ornate. the inside was adorned with golden lining, beautiful mosaics and countless pieces of artwork. we went to the top of the cupola which consisted of climbing 520 stairs some no bigger than a foot long in an enclosed spiral staircase. we saw michaelangelos pieta and later went into the museum to see the sistine chapel. the museum was by far the largest museum ive ever seen, and it took forever to get to the sistine chapel. after vatican city we found a cute little cafe/pub that had free wifi, and we ordered some blood orange juice which was delicious. we spent 3 hours there looking up new places to stay for fear we might not make it through the night at our other place, and also looking at some hostels in venice.
we got to see the forum and colosseum that night, and then returned in the morning to see it in the daylight. we thought the ruins were so cool, and were facinated by their building skills from so long ago. all in all we disliked rome when we got there, but liked it more and more as we got to see more of the sites and history. we left yesterday to get to venice a day early and love our hostel here. were staying at a place called "a venice fish" and its in a great location with a fun host. everyone is welcome to free dinner at night and free breakfast in the morning, and weve met some fun travelers from all over. ive fallen in love with venice after only being here a day...its hands down my favorite place weve been so far. we explored the streets today and are going to the opera tonight!
our hostel here has a camera hook up, finally, so we were able to load some pictures on to facebook. if youd like to see them they are in an album titled "europe so far" and have captions telling you where theyre from. enjoy!
after the trevi fountain we walked to where we thought the spanish steps were and came upon a large building that looked over the city. it was really pretty, and we decided to walk down the different levels to see if we could find the spanish steps. once at the bottom we saw a fountain and a courtyard and a plaque that read "spanish steps." i guess we had found them after all...they were just different than we expected. we ate dinner at a little cafe and headed back to our hostel.
in the morning we checked out of mosaic hostel because they were full the next night and moved to eden hostel called a "B&B." the hostel worker buzzed us in the door after we had made our way around the corner through groups of gang-member looking men and homeless people. i told him we had a reservation and had made it online and he smile and nodded and asked if we wanted a room. i said yes, we had made a reservation on the internet. he said, oh yes, we have internet. we quickly learned this would be an interesting night. he led us up a flight of stairs to an elevator that was about 4ft long and 2ft wide. if any of you have seen our backpacks youll know how well that went over. squeezing in, emily and i twisted and turned to get ourselves lodged into the corner while the owner squished in too and shut the door. the elevator stopped with a jolt and we backed out of the small space, unable to fully turn around. our room was behind 2 more locked doors and had a bathroom and kitchen area not too far from it. it was the creepiest place ever! it was not enough that the inside was like a dungeon but we were afraid to walk out the door--it was like being in downtown LA at night.
While in rome we got to see St. Peters basilica which was huge and ornate. the inside was adorned with golden lining, beautiful mosaics and countless pieces of artwork. we went to the top of the cupola which consisted of climbing 520 stairs some no bigger than a foot long in an enclosed spiral staircase. we saw michaelangelos pieta and later went into the museum to see the sistine chapel. the museum was by far the largest museum ive ever seen, and it took forever to get to the sistine chapel. after vatican city we found a cute little cafe/pub that had free wifi, and we ordered some blood orange juice which was delicious. we spent 3 hours there looking up new places to stay for fear we might not make it through the night at our other place, and also looking at some hostels in venice.
we got to see the forum and colosseum that night, and then returned in the morning to see it in the daylight. we thought the ruins were so cool, and were facinated by their building skills from so long ago. all in all we disliked rome when we got there, but liked it more and more as we got to see more of the sites and history. we left yesterday to get to venice a day early and love our hostel here. were staying at a place called "a venice fish" and its in a great location with a fun host. everyone is welcome to free dinner at night and free breakfast in the morning, and weve met some fun travelers from all over. ive fallen in love with venice after only being here a day...its hands down my favorite place weve been so far. we explored the streets today and are going to the opera tonight!
our hostel here has a camera hook up, finally, so we were able to load some pictures on to facebook. if youd like to see them they are in an album titled "europe so far" and have captions telling you where theyre from. enjoy!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Crazy Tuscany?
Our time in florence with jen, jen and ashley was so much fun. we went out to dinner at this sweet restaurant-bar place that had all you can eat appetizers and drink for 8euro. we had lots of fun there and then found a bar to hang out in for the evening. we made friends with the bartenders there, did some singing and dancing, talked with some of the other people there and went to bed really late. it was a fun and crazy night.
we got up the next morning early so we could get to pisa, check into our hostel, and make it to the cinque terre for a day of hiking adventures. our trip to pisa ended up being somewhat of a wild goose chase. we finally found the hostel from the train station but no one was there. it was a simple door with just a small plaque on the wall that said pisa tower. the door was locked. after buzzing and knocking for a while we sat down to have cappachino and pastries at the cafe next door. we saw that the door was open a little later and jen went in to see if she could find anyone. the hallways were just numbered doors and there was no sort of front desk or reception area. she found a lady who only spoke italian and didnt know what was going on, but she called giovanni the mystery hostel boss to see what was going on. he said he was in rome and couldnt check us in, so he had moved their reservation to another hotel across town. wondering how we were supposed to know this, we trudged through the town of pisa (which is gorgeous and sooo cute) trying to find our new hotel. passing the leaning tower, we found our hotel and checked in. it was a nice place, just a very weird circumstance. now we were racing the clock to make it back to the train station to travel to the cinque terra.
We all changed into hiking clothes (the other 4 girls wearing shorts and me in thin work out pants) knowing we would be doing rigorous hiking for about 5 hours along the coast and hurried off to make our train. when we got to the first city we stepped off the train into 40 degree weather and freezing icy winds. ready to start hiking to warm up, we went in to buy our passes only to find out the park was closed due to rock slides!! what a day...we had had so much trouble getting there already and now we were freezing without a purpose anymore. we decided to explore the city of vernazza so we could see what the little towns were like. we ate lunch at a pizza place there (we got put in the very back of the restaurant) and ordered the greasiest pesto pizza ever. (vernazza is where pesto began). we decided to brave the cold once more and went out walking through the city. i couldnt believe the stares we got. without fail, every person we walked by stared and pointed, or laughed or whispered, and some even asked if we were cold. of course we were cold! we were amazed at how bold people were just to sit and openly stare at us for so long and with such confused faces. we hiked the portion of the trail that was open...a whopping 20 minutes and headed back to pisa. lets just say our expectations were not completely fulfilled. once we got to pisa we had to walk all the way back to our hotel in the freezing weather, (it was now night time) with more stares from everyone. we looked like a bunch of crazy people. it was a crazy day, but still we had lots of fun together.
Emily and i left pisa this morning and made our way to rome where well be for the next 3 nights. we saw the trevi fountain tonight and the spanish steps and were hoping to go to the vatican for mass tomorrow. weve had lots of pizza to eat and dont know any italian. were in a pretty ghetto part of rome, but the citys not to far away!
we got up the next morning early so we could get to pisa, check into our hostel, and make it to the cinque terre for a day of hiking adventures. our trip to pisa ended up being somewhat of a wild goose chase. we finally found the hostel from the train station but no one was there. it was a simple door with just a small plaque on the wall that said pisa tower. the door was locked. after buzzing and knocking for a while we sat down to have cappachino and pastries at the cafe next door. we saw that the door was open a little later and jen went in to see if she could find anyone. the hallways were just numbered doors and there was no sort of front desk or reception area. she found a lady who only spoke italian and didnt know what was going on, but she called giovanni the mystery hostel boss to see what was going on. he said he was in rome and couldnt check us in, so he had moved their reservation to another hotel across town. wondering how we were supposed to know this, we trudged through the town of pisa (which is gorgeous and sooo cute) trying to find our new hotel. passing the leaning tower, we found our hotel and checked in. it was a nice place, just a very weird circumstance. now we were racing the clock to make it back to the train station to travel to the cinque terra.
We all changed into hiking clothes (the other 4 girls wearing shorts and me in thin work out pants) knowing we would be doing rigorous hiking for about 5 hours along the coast and hurried off to make our train. when we got to the first city we stepped off the train into 40 degree weather and freezing icy winds. ready to start hiking to warm up, we went in to buy our passes only to find out the park was closed due to rock slides!! what a day...we had had so much trouble getting there already and now we were freezing without a purpose anymore. we decided to explore the city of vernazza so we could see what the little towns were like. we ate lunch at a pizza place there (we got put in the very back of the restaurant) and ordered the greasiest pesto pizza ever. (vernazza is where pesto began). we decided to brave the cold once more and went out walking through the city. i couldnt believe the stares we got. without fail, every person we walked by stared and pointed, or laughed or whispered, and some even asked if we were cold. of course we were cold! we were amazed at how bold people were just to sit and openly stare at us for so long and with such confused faces. we hiked the portion of the trail that was open...a whopping 20 minutes and headed back to pisa. lets just say our expectations were not completely fulfilled. once we got to pisa we had to walk all the way back to our hotel in the freezing weather, (it was now night time) with more stares from everyone. we looked like a bunch of crazy people. it was a crazy day, but still we had lots of fun together.
Emily and i left pisa this morning and made our way to rome where well be for the next 3 nights. we saw the trevi fountain tonight and the spanish steps and were hoping to go to the vatican for mass tomorrow. weve had lots of pizza to eat and dont know any italian. were in a pretty ghetto part of rome, but the citys not to far away!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Florence
Getting to Florence yesterday was a frustrating time. We left our hostel in nice to catch the 7:45am train to ventimiglia and made it there just fine. Then on our next train to Milan the conductor came around checking tickets and told us we had to have a reservation. This had happened to us on another train and we still don't understand that whole process. So we had to pay 8 euro each to be on that train. Meanwhile we had very annoying compartment mates who drove us crazy with their loud iPod music and cell phone conversations. In Milan we went to the ticket desk and waited in line forever to talk to a rude man who told us our next reservation price was going to be 20 euro each unless we wanted to wait 2 hours for another one with no charge. So we decided to wait which made us miss dinner with our friends in Florence. we also got off at the wrong Florence stop because the sign only showed one station in Florence and had to run to platform e to catch a train to the next station. Our 7 1/2 he train ride turned into 12 hrs of traveling but were here and our hostel is great! Today we saw the duomo which was huge! The David which was also huge and beautiful! And micaelangelos piazza with an awesome view of the city. At the open air market today we heard thunder and saw lightning then got poured on! Then as we ran to our hostel it started hailing! We were so drenched. So we changed our clothes and now were off to dinner and karaoke. :)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Nice and Eze
Ever heard that quote...nice and eze? well they beautiful cities. We actually didn't go to eze but drove through it to get to monaco. Our trip to monaco today consisted of a gorgeous bus drive along the mountain coast, a spectacle at the palace, and big money gambling. We got to the palace in monaco about an hour before the changing of the guard, so we walked around the little streets and shops and went inside the cathedral there. at 11:55 the changing of the guards took place which was really fun to see--they're so synchronized and formal. they processed in behind drummers and did fun gun tricks when the commander shouted orders. After that we walked through the market and around the bay to monte carlo where we wound up and down the gardens in front of the monte carlo casino. at 2 they opened the doors to let the public in but we only got to see the entrance area (which was very pretty and ornately decorated) because it was 10 euro to go inside. I think this is the casino in casino royal and oceans 12. we took the bus back to nice and bought food to make a pasta dinner back at the hostel. We also decided to try a 1.85euro bottle of french wine from the store whose cork crumbled into pieces as soon as i put the corkscrew in, and after 10 min of trying to pry it out of the neck of the bottle it popped through the other side into the wine. needless to say, it was not very good wine.
Yesterday was our first day in Nice and we spent the day exploring the city. we went up the street right next to our hostel that led up to a really cool cemetary. all of the graves were above ground and were decorated with marble stones, sculptures, monuments, and flowers. i've never seen anything like it. we also saw the headstone of emile mercedes whose thing said he was the pioneer of the automobile. inventor of the mercedes maybe? after that we climbed up the mountain to what used to be a fortress on the very top of the hill. there was a grand waterfall on one face of the mountain and breathtaking views of the city and ocean from the top. this has been one of my favorite experiences, and some of the most beautiful sites. Along the promenade we watched people skate by and strolled all the way down to where the big hotels are. we saw the hotel negresco which gustav eiffel built the dome for and also walked down to the water. Stepping through the rocks (not sand) we got just close enough to touch the waves as they came in--so now i've touched the mediterranean sea! it's been somewhat cold and windy but the sun warms us up. We found an adorable little restaurant in an open area right off the promenade where we ate lunch then went back for dessert last night. it's called comfortable food restaurant...kinda funny...but they had the best food and the nicest owner/manager who made us feel very special. i had a praline chocolate truffle dessert and emily had an apple tart and cappuchino. We enjoy lounging at restaurants taking our time to relax and talk.
France has been a wonderful place to explore and i'm glad we'll get to come back when we go to Paris. French is for some reason incredibly hard for me to speak any words of, and i just find myself nodding andpointing alot. The gelato is amazing here and i think we've made it a habit to try some almost every day. we take a train to florence tomorrow morning where we get to meet up with jen forbes and jen griffeth--two of our friends from westmont who are traveling in europe for spring break. it will be fun to see familiar faces.
Yesterday was our first day in Nice and we spent the day exploring the city. we went up the street right next to our hostel that led up to a really cool cemetary. all of the graves were above ground and were decorated with marble stones, sculptures, monuments, and flowers. i've never seen anything like it. we also saw the headstone of emile mercedes whose thing said he was the pioneer of the automobile. inventor of the mercedes maybe? after that we climbed up the mountain to what used to be a fortress on the very top of the hill. there was a grand waterfall on one face of the mountain and breathtaking views of the city and ocean from the top. this has been one of my favorite experiences, and some of the most beautiful sites. Along the promenade we watched people skate by and strolled all the way down to where the big hotels are. we saw the hotel negresco which gustav eiffel built the dome for and also walked down to the water. Stepping through the rocks (not sand) we got just close enough to touch the waves as they came in--so now i've touched the mediterranean sea! it's been somewhat cold and windy but the sun warms us up. We found an adorable little restaurant in an open area right off the promenade where we ate lunch then went back for dessert last night. it's called comfortable food restaurant...kinda funny...but they had the best food and the nicest owner/manager who made us feel very special. i had a praline chocolate truffle dessert and emily had an apple tart and cappuchino. We enjoy lounging at restaurants taking our time to relax and talk.
France has been a wonderful place to explore and i'm glad we'll get to come back when we go to Paris. French is for some reason incredibly hard for me to speak any words of, and i just find myself nodding andpointing alot. The gelato is amazing here and i think we've made it a habit to try some almost every day. we take a train to florence tomorrow morning where we get to meet up with jen forbes and jen griffeth--two of our friends from westmont who are traveling in europe for spring break. it will be fun to see familiar faces.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The french have outraaageous accaants!
We our out of the land of somewhat familiar language and into france where we know how to say bonjiour, wee, no, and si vous plait. Yesterday we were in avignon, a city walled in and medeival. the palace there was a cool sight to see, and we learned about the papacy while it was located there during the great schism. our hotel key looked like something out of the 14th century and the architecture of the buildings was really pretty.
our traveling logistics have been a little crazy...finding our way to the barcelona train station and the right train out of avignon sent us into some frantics, but remarkably we made it to our somewhat creepy hostel here in Nice. Walking down a strange alley tonight around 9 we were looking for 20 de droite and found that it was what looked like a dungeon metal door leading to a series of apartments. i rang the button that read hostel smith and the door buzzed opened. opening the lead door we stepped into a pitch black hallway with a flight of stairs leading upward. we fumbled along the wall and found a light switch and were shortly greeted by someone from our hostel who showed us the way. once we got inside it wasn't so bad and the people are really nice, but the initial experience of getting here was a little frightening.
our last day in barcelona we walked down to the harbor and spent some time admiring the beautiful sea, then saw the cathedral and arc de triumph and talked with our friend nassim back at the hostel. he is so fun and tried to teach us some french. yea right! in france so far emily and i have had french cuisine...i had 3 cheese quiche and she had a croquet monsouir or something like that and lots of croissants. the trains have been a nice relaxing part of our travels and we are ready to see more of france here in the cote de azure.
our traveling logistics have been a little crazy...finding our way to the barcelona train station and the right train out of avignon sent us into some frantics, but remarkably we made it to our somewhat creepy hostel here in Nice. Walking down a strange alley tonight around 9 we were looking for 20 de droite and found that it was what looked like a dungeon metal door leading to a series of apartments. i rang the button that read hostel smith and the door buzzed opened. opening the lead door we stepped into a pitch black hallway with a flight of stairs leading upward. we fumbled along the wall and found a light switch and were shortly greeted by someone from our hostel who showed us the way. once we got inside it wasn't so bad and the people are really nice, but the initial experience of getting here was a little frightening.
our last day in barcelona we walked down to the harbor and spent some time admiring the beautiful sea, then saw the cathedral and arc de triumph and talked with our friend nassim back at the hostel. he is so fun and tried to teach us some french. yea right! in france so far emily and i have had french cuisine...i had 3 cheese quiche and she had a croquet monsouir or something like that and lots of croissants. the trains have been a nice relaxing part of our travels and we are ready to see more of france here in the cote de azure.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
City Sights
Today was a great day of sightseeing and exploring the city. Emily´s bag had been lost on our commute and never showed up at baggage claim, so we had been checking in at the front desk ever so often to see if it would come. she finally got it this morning, and we got ready to go exploring. We took the metro up to see Guell Parque...which is the Gaudi park. the architecture was really funky and unique, and we ate our own little picnics on a little stone bench. We had croissants and peanut butter, an orange and some beef jerkey. it was great. we wound our way down the streets and found the metro again to take it to the Sagrada Familia church. the church was beautiful and we each got the audio headset tour things that tell you all about the different aspects of it. We then walked a looong way and got a little lost, but ended up at the Arc de Triomp which was really fun to see. Back at the hostel we took showers with fluxuating hot and cold water then got ready to walk around the evening streets. We ate gelato for dinner (the cappachino flavor was awesome) and found our way to the placa espanya where a big beautiful fountain was supposed to be. it wasn´t until we go there that we found out the water shows only happen in september and october. so we took the metro back to our hostel and ate some left over pizza for dessert. there´s a live band playing in the lounge at our hostel and everyone is bustling around the common room. We´ve enjoyed talking with the people in the city and have made friends with some of the guys in our room. The weather is beautifully warm with a cool breeze in the day and chilly at night. everyone wears coats and BOOTS all day long, and we love the style. we´re still a little jet lagged and will be going to bed soon. Tomorrow i think we´re gonna make our way down to the beach and the market which should be fun!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Emily Brittney Barcelona
we finally made it! this morning we flew from san antonio to houston, then from houston to london, then from london to barcelona. it's about 9am texas time (3pm barcelona time) and we've been up for 24 hrs with a 2 hr nap on the plane. the two of us are exhausted and really really want to sleep but we're gonna stay up so we can get on a regular schedule. for the next three nights we'll be staying at centric point hostel in barcelona. it's safe and clean, we have our own beds, sheets, lockers, room keys and lobby access. they have free breakfast, free internet, free wifi and our room windows and lobby windows look over the beautiful de gracia street. there are motorbikes everywhere (like yours dad) and it's fun strolling along the streets looking at the buildings. At the airport we found our way to the baggage claim and metro station, got our metro tickets and even got off at the right stop! we kinda look like turtles with our backpacks but it's been very convenient to have the day pack clip on the front of my bag. Our flight from houston to london was wonderful with movies, tv shows, and music on demand, and the plane was only maybe half full so em and i both got to sprawl accross 2 rows of seats so we could sleep a little bit. we got dinner and breakfast, then breakfast again on the flight to barcelona, and we're trying to stay hydrated with enough water. It's so exciting to finally be here and tomorrow after a good night of sleep i'm sure we will have more enthusiasm for activities. anyone interested in reading emily's blog as well...here is the url www.emilyharmseurope.blogspot.com
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Getting Ready...
Welcome to my Europe blog! :) This week has been crazy trying to make sure I have everything I need for my trip. I've gone to tons of stores to find the right jackets, shoes etc. and am finally almost set! My backpack is definitely heavy, but as my dad told me, "you'll toughen up after a while." I'm sending out my last law school applications, doing my taxes, and I leave tomorrow to join Emily in Texas so we can go over plans together and get everything all squared away. Then we'll be off! Stay tuned for more to come. :)
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