The rest of the time with the Idoates was magical. We were so blessed by being able to stay with them and get to know their wonderful family! Their daughter lives accross the street with 3 young kids that we just fell in love with. Poppi took us all around the little villages in the quaint rolling green hills. He showed us the house he was born in and took us to a convent where the nuns are not allowed to step outside the walls of the church. It was an incredible experience to see their simple and beautiful way of life!
They took us to their church and after grandpa bought all the kids patatas (potatoe chips) we all went for the day to San Sebastian. It is a little coastal town in the north of Spain. We walked the main strip along the ocean watching the sunset and riding the merry go round with the kids!
Because our eurail passes got stollen, we had to find the cheapest way to travel. The cheapest way to get to Zurich, Switzerland was to fly from Barcelona.... so we got on another bus and went to that horrible station that we have come regretably familiar with. We arrived in Switzerland where Mr Vandermeer picked us up! The Vandermeers are family friends of the Krzymowski (they were missionaries together in Equador years ago). We showed up at the house to a warm meal (alp macaroni) and swiss chocolates on our pillows!! We met their two sons, Fabian (who had just returned home to weeks ago from a year in Australia) and Sevrin, his younger brother who didn't speak much English, but still impressed us with his amazing break dancing skills!
We spent the rest of the evening on the trampoline (i thought of you, mo and canny) busting moves and getting put to shame by the triple flips we were being challenged with! The next morning Katrin (mrs. Vandermeer) took us into Zurich. We went to the main church and climbed the tower that overlooked the whole city. The river running through was spottless. They are not joking when they say Swiss people are very invironmentally friendly! The river flowing from lake Zurich through this huge city, and it was clear to the point that you could see the stones on the bottom!! We walked all around the town while she told us the history of Switzerland... about their christian origin and foundation. It is so fun being able to see a place with people that know it!
We sat in the World's richest square for a while. It is considered the richest plaza because it is surrounded by all the swiss banks and there are huge vaults under the plaza. Lots of rich people have accounts in Switzerland originally because of their honest system, also because they are independent and generally safe because of their neutrality (Katrin told us all of this). We then went to the all womens swimming hole that is right in the center of Zurich on the river. Back in the day that had swimming areas separated for men and women and just decided to keep it that way!! IT was so fun- they just had a square floating dock and the water from the river just rushed under it!! so doing laps in the pool was quite the challenge with the current and all!!
That night we hiked near their house to a restuarant on the top of a big hill that overlooks the Alps. We sat and ate traditional swiss meals as the setting sun cast an orange, red glow on the white-capped mountains!
We woke up early the next morning, had breakfast with Katrin, and then the four of us drove about an hour and a half to get to Grosser Mythen. We got out captivated by the rolling green hills speckled with swiss cows and the mountain jetting up from behind! The sound of the cow bells echoing only added to the magical scenery. There was a family climbing it the same time we were and they had a little, what looked like a 4 year old with them...we came to the conclusion that Swiss 4 year olds have the strength of American 30 year olds!
We had a picnic on top beneath a waving swiss flag- swiss chocolate for dessert of course!! The view was astounding. surrounded by white-capped peaks against a magnificently blue sky. The lake below was encased by the most vivid green hills that stood at the base of jagged the mountains!!
We reluctantly said goodbye to the Vandermeers the next morning and took the bus to the train station, only to realize that there was no way to get out of Switzerland by train for less that 250 swiss francs (which is about equal to the dollar). The train system in Switzerland is so good- their trains are so nice and reliable, but rediculously expensive. We stood at the station discussing our options, knowing full well that that train was not one of them. We tried everything...offered our police report as evidence that we did in fact get our eurails stollen from us.... nothing. So we decided to find internet to research any possible way to get out of Switzerland without having to starve to afford it. The ticket people at the train station assured us that there was no internet around, so we had no choice but to go back to the Vandermeers. The bus ride to their house was spent practicing what we were going to say when they open the door and we are standing there packs and all. IT was pretty embarrassing, but we had no where else to go.
We spent the next 5 hours in their computer room calling whoever we could to get out of Switzerland. We looked on airlines, trainstaions all over Switzerland, we looked into buses, rental cars... EVERYTHING! We must have called 60 sum phone numbers (at least enough to run out of money on all 3 of our skype accounts plus some from the home phone) at one point Jenny unknowingly was on with a charter bus rental company and got offered a special deal on a limo- we considered it for a half second through our tears of laughter. Our nerves and patients were running thin when Hope had been transfered like 4 times to differnt train station and departments and had been quoted like 5 different prices for the same ticket. someone was about to transfer her again, and she insisted that there must be something he could do for her... she demanded... "who am i speaking with?" -boldly... a long pause,,, and then she sheepishly said "oh... this number is for if you want a job...ok... thank you." I have been so blessed to travel with girls that have fun in the most stressful of situations! We finally found a ticket to the swiss border that we could then get on a german train... which were much cheaper.
So we went back to the train station and went to Interlaken, Switzerland through Lucern. The train ride was unbelievable, weaving in and out of the mountains. Lakes and waterfalls.Churches whose steeples mimiced the jagged point of the mountains beyond. We arrived in the evening to pouring rain!! We splashed our way to our hostel!! IT was so fun! We were starved and found a pizza place that was open... thank goodness!
The next morning we woke up and walked to the market for breakfast- We bought yogurt... i was severely dissapointed to open it and find that it was plain, so i went back into the store to try and find the cheapest honey i could... i found some (it was a huge bottle for really cheap, and it tasted horrible) i realized like 10 minutes later that i could have just bought another flavor of yogurt for cheaper than the honey... and now we had a massive bottle of nasty honey!! oh well.
We walked back to the hostel... getting more and more excited... WE WERE GOING SKYDIVING!! the people picked us up, took us to the loading point- gave us literally a 2 minute instructional lesson on a patch of grass, suited us up in our criminal looking orange jump suits and took us away! Only 2 could go up in the helicopter at a time, so we drew pens... i got the blue one which meant i was diving with Damien, an Australian guy that was just as excited as i was. The two of us and our tandem divers rode up to the helicopter pad and got in. Beat (yes, Beat is the name of the man strapped to my back!) strapped me into his lap and off we went! My legs were hanging out of the helicopter and i thought i was going to die from frost bite it was so cold. We flew around for about 15 minutes over the Alps before we actually jumped. I can't describe what I saw in that short flight. It was absolutely unbelievable. Astounding beauty!! I was blessed by the opportunity to see such beauty!
Then it came time to jump. Damien went first- we shook hands and out he fell- it was so surreal to just see two bodies just fall out of an airplane... not but 2 seconds after they dissappeared from sight, Beat was nudging me, sliding me foreward. He instructed me to stand on the helicopters leg. I stood up and rolled backwards out of the helicopter!! It was phenominal. I cant describe the feeling! 45 second free fall from 14,000 feet. I remember my first conscious breath and how loud it was...!! It was unbelievable. Looking around during the free fall blew me away! I WAS FLYING THROUGH THE AIR OVER THE SWISS ALPS!! The lakes below surrounded by the mountains... i don't even know... it was just awesome!! I still cant believe we got to do it!
After the 45 seconds, the chute opened (good news) and Beat handed me the controls. We flipped around and spun...the 6 minutes ride to the bottom when way to fast! I landed, hugged and thanked Beat for keeping me alive and ran to meet the girls who were screaming!! They were next!
Watching them fall was unbelievable... You can barely see the plance when they actually jump. It is even hard to find them when their chutes first opened and that was after they had been free falling for 45 seconds!! I watched their specks grow until they landed safely and ran to hug me!! It was a crazy experience that i will cherish!
The next day we took the train to Koln Germany... The cheapest we could find (which meant the we had to change 11 times- 11 trains in one day!!) Running to make connections- it was totally worth it, and we were well used to running for trains by now!!
We arrived in Odendorf at 1 am, where Kai, Barbaras youngest son (the only one we hadnt met picked us up at the station and took us home) Barbara insisted on making us food... she made 3 pizzas!! We chatted about KAis adventure is Australia (he just got back from traveling himself) while hope and i threw slices on eachothers plates while Barbara wasn't watching... we were so full, we couldnt eat anymore, and she always insists that we eat more!! She is wonderful!
The next morning we went to a classic car festival in Reinbach, a naboring village- we all rode bikes and watched the petti coat competition. it was hilarious, your stereotypical small town fair competition. All these women running around on stage in their 60s attire so proud to be on stage!! It was so fun to watch. We ended in Reinbach with our favorite gellato shop, where they shape the ice cream like meals... we got spaghetti! We rode back for a BBQ at their house! Barbara, Hope, Jen, and I danced around the living room to San Fransico- so fun!
The next day we went for a 55 km bike ride to Bonn! The scenery was awesome- we rode along the Rhine river and took a ferry accross it! It was pouring rain the majority of the time, but we didn't care- it was so much fun! It made me really appreciate riding... maybe one day i will bike accross germany! We went to the Haribo (gummy worm factory) in Bonn, where we sampled all of the different type of candy... not quite sure if that was ok by Haribo's standards, or by Barbaras... non the less, noone stopped us!! We then got back on the bikes and rode to the Birkenstock factory! It was amazing!! We took the bikes on a train back! We ended the night with playing cards and watching one of Barbara's favorite movies that was in German, with subtitles in French (real helpful) Kai translated every word... haha!! and when he would miss a sentence Barbara would scold!! I fell asleep... anyone surprised?!?
The next morning after a quick stop at the glass store in Reinbach, we took a train to PAris. We showed up at Helens house in the evening just in time for dinner (hellen in another family friend of the Kryzmowski's and Barbara) I didn't eat because i was pretty sick and tired, but the girls assured me that i didn't miss much with the duck liver paste that they could barely choak down!!
The next day we rode the train to the Eiffel tower... where our journey began. We started and ended our trip on the lawn of that tower! We sat and talked... remembering all the hilarious memories and crazy adventures that we had. I am so blessed by the experience that i had and the relationships that were deepend!!
We flew out of PAris the next day (we barely made the train to the airport... the ticket guy had to run out and wave to the conductor to hold the train...typical (we had to, it was only consistent with the rest of our trip)- Hope flew to London in the morning, and jenny and spent the rest of the time before our flight getting tax back and running from bombs.
There was a bomb threat!! Our plane was delayed by 3 and a half hours. There was unnattended lugage outside of our gate and so the teams came in and were yelling in French for us to get back. We scoped out a American guy who was taking charge and telling all those to back up! Jenny and i followed him, because if anyone was getting out of there alive, it was that guy and his wife! We spent the next 3 hours getting to know him- a chemistry teacher and ex-pilot- BINGO!! if worse came to worse, he could fly us home... though we were about ready to take a boat to america...! We met a couple older women who told us they had food, we kept them around!! We finally got on the plane where jenny and i settled in to watch the worst movie, we have ever seen in our entire lives (carolina... avoid it at all costs)- though that may not be too difficult. i would not be that surprise if Air India is the only Airline on earth that would play it! That and the Indian dancer Hellen who entertained us for 6 hours straight on the way over there! After the chicken curry, jen and i slept a bit... I stayed the night in Newark, NJ and Jenny continued on to New Mexico. Parting ways was really hard.
I took a flight the next morning to Denver, where my mom and dad picked me up. I am home now and enjoying time with the family... Europe was amazing... a blessing beyond words!
I have finally posted pictures on facebook... sorry i didn't do it throughout the trip! I hope you all have had awesome summers and I cant wait to see you each again!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The adventure continues...
ok, so when i said that the rest of Spain and Switzerland were going to be just as crazy as the weeks past... i din´t know then that in 2 hours everything would change...
We went straight from the internet cafe to the train station, which by the way is not pleasant... don´t remember if I wrote about that before, but avoid BARCELONA train station at ALL COSTS... it is impossible to get out! We were sitting applying aftersun lotion to our burnt bodies, when a woman approached us and asked if we spoke english... then she asked us for directions for the metro- she was in and out of spanish and french, so im not sure why that first question was relevant, but anyways, we kept pointing in the direction of the metro, but she kept pointing behind her as if she was confused. We gave up and said, sorry, we don´t really know- so she left.
About 20 minutes later we realized my purse was missing. I ran around the station...looking in every place we had been in the last hour. The lockers, the bathroom, everywhere, when it dawned on me that someone had stollen it when all of our attention was on that lady... now that we think about it...we kept pointing in the direction of the metro, which also happened to be in the same direction where my bag was sitting, and that is why she kept pointing behind her.
We sat stunned for a little bit, not quite sure of what to do. We went to the security officers in the area and they said they were closed... so we sat and discussed our next move. My purse not only had my camera full of pictures over the past couple weeks, my ipod, my portable silverear (quite valuable believe it or not), anti itch cream, my bible, pens (which are hard to come by), train timetable, chapstick, electricity converter, and my passport, i was carrying all three of our eurail passes. (eurail passes are basically our transportation around Europe, without them we don´t go anywhere without paying A TON of money) We were planning on catching an 11 pm bus to pamplona. It being 10 45 and the tickets being in my stollen purse, it wasnt looking like that was an option.
The last week has been a bit difficult, all of us wearing thin. Minimal sleep, mean people, travel difficulties had us all frustrated and tired... this was it though...my breaking point. I finally allowed myself to let down and cry. Siutting in a little circle on the train benches, shocked at what had happened, a man interrupted us with this question ¨do you speak english?¨ We all looked around half joking that it was happening to us agian. Jenny turned to me...i watched her face go from joking to absolute shock, i turned to Hope who was turned around towards a man hunched over the seat next to her, her purse in hand.
Hope grabbed the purse and ripped it, quite forcefully, out of the man´s hands. She looked over at me, almost confused and started to say ´¨That man almost stole my...¨ I interuppted her with a öh hell no¨... black woman style, and then proceeded to slap my hands loudly in his face and yell ¨come here¨almost inviting a fight. I ran after him and got pretty far, but stopped dead in my tracks when he turned around. In that instant i came to the realization that i was chasing a criminal. I didn´t know that I had it in me. I really shocked myself the way that i reacted. The man who had distracted us, joined his friend and sarcastically blew us kisses. Jenny responded by yelling ¨kisses, huh? yeah, well kiss my ass¨
We realize now how rediculous we must have looked. I, a stupid blonde american girl, was chasing a spanish criminal and yelling at him to come back while her friend in the background was yelling for them to kiss her ass... real threatening!!!
Hope was for sure the most collected of the three of us, and she was the only one who actually accomplished anything... she ripped the purse out of his hands...
We sat laughing hysterically that it had almost happened to us again... those guys had no idea what we had been through, and what we were willing to do to protect our other bags...haha!
Oh, and there were two security guards who were standing there watching this whole second interaction going on and didnt´do anything. They walked away like 3 american girls hadn´t just about made justice themselves on two spanish criminals.
We decided the next best step was to contact the police, so we walked to the nearest police station.. which wasn´t that near. The lady said that they couldn´t do anything tonight, but that i should come back first thing in the morning to file a report (good thing we were in spain when all of this happened... people here don´t speak a word of english...it is very good practice)
It was 2 by this time, and we had no where to stay, so slept outside the train station (when i say slept, i mean for about 22 minutes. the rest was sitting staring at the homeless men snoring next to us, or the one shuffling around in circles.)
The next morning we ¨woke up¨and walked to the police station to file the report... then walked what felt like miles to the american embassy. We were never so happy to see an american flag and a clean waterfountain. We walked in and were greeted by the most friendly americans i have ever met!! I LOVE america!!!
They were so kind and so quick- i had an emergency passport within the hour... i sure was looking foreward to the next one having a good picture... instead i got one of me wet with sweat, tear stained and running on 22 minutes of sleep... oh well!!!
WE made it back just in time to catch the bus to Pamplona...FINALLY!! (only after we stopped at our new favorite restaurant... the owner gave us free french fries, because we were practically regulars... 3 meals a day for the past 2 days!!)
The bus ride was slightly less than pleasant...all of us looking foreward to catching up on some sleep, until some well- rested american students decided to start a running game of a very enthusiastic and loud card game!!-
Jenny and I were about ready to create a sleepers union offering presidency to the guy in the chair directly next to them... noticing his equal frustration. WE laughed a lot about the fact that they were shamelessly OWNING the bus at this point... loud americans? pretty accurate steriotype....generally there is no one guiltier than i!!
Señora, y Señor Idoate (family friends of the Hardaways) picked us up from the bus station and immediately we were ok. mommi and poppi were there (they insist that we refer to them by these names!!) They don´t speak a word of English... NOT A WORD!! IT has been really fun getting to know them and translating for the girls... though jenny knows spanish pretty well and hope is learning very fast!!
They immediately took us out for dinner in the crazy city of Pamplona (fiesta de san fermin- running of the bulls) Mommi told us of how she couldn´t sleep at all the night before, she was so worried about us. Her next question was... do you have dirty clothes!!??? haha!!
I don´t think we have had a clean t shirt in about 3 weeks!!! They took us back to the house after i threw up in the mens restroom- sitting on a floor covered in urine (the girls was closed and it was comin fast)... 45 minute drive home and we were in paradise.
WE walked in. flowers in the entry- warm wood floors, hot chocolate and cookies. The most amazing beds we have slept in yet!!! cant explain what a relief it was to be safe and feel like we could sleep easy!! We slept in and walked out onto the porch in the morning. we hadn´t seen the scenery the night before because it was dark. The old house is placed by the most beautiful little river. Looking just past the river are rolling vibrantly green hills full of sheep and cows. It is like a dream!! In the afternoon, Poppi took us the all the little pueblos in the valley (there are 14) they are out of a storybook and this place is climbing the europe favorites... for sure top 5- Ignacio...mommi and poppis son (friends of the hardaways)wasnt lying when he said its the best place on earch... ancient stone walls covered with ivy and bursts of flowers!! the grass is so green and the water so clear!! words cant describe this place...or how much we needed it!!!
We had the biggest meal of our lives... hot chicken with peppers... pasta with bacon, bread, salad, yogurt and fruit with walnuts... it was incredible... safety, full stomachs, clean clothes, and warm beds... something we hadn´t had in a while!! We took full advantage of the traditional siesta!!!
We went to the running of the bulls this morning in Pamplona... they are not joking when they say it is a drunken festival... it is crazy... everyone is drunk, no one has slept in days and they are running away from bulls!! It was really fun to watch and i am glad that we have the three of us together... the spanish fascination with american girls gets a bit old, but we now know that we have it in us to fight to the death!!! We are returning this afternoon to mommi and poppis safe paradise!!
We went straight from the internet cafe to the train station, which by the way is not pleasant... don´t remember if I wrote about that before, but avoid BARCELONA train station at ALL COSTS... it is impossible to get out! We were sitting applying aftersun lotion to our burnt bodies, when a woman approached us and asked if we spoke english... then she asked us for directions for the metro- she was in and out of spanish and french, so im not sure why that first question was relevant, but anyways, we kept pointing in the direction of the metro, but she kept pointing behind her as if she was confused. We gave up and said, sorry, we don´t really know- so she left.
About 20 minutes later we realized my purse was missing. I ran around the station...looking in every place we had been in the last hour. The lockers, the bathroom, everywhere, when it dawned on me that someone had stollen it when all of our attention was on that lady... now that we think about it...we kept pointing in the direction of the metro, which also happened to be in the same direction where my bag was sitting, and that is why she kept pointing behind her.
We sat stunned for a little bit, not quite sure of what to do. We went to the security officers in the area and they said they were closed... so we sat and discussed our next move. My purse not only had my camera full of pictures over the past couple weeks, my ipod, my portable silverear (quite valuable believe it or not), anti itch cream, my bible, pens (which are hard to come by), train timetable, chapstick, electricity converter, and my passport, i was carrying all three of our eurail passes. (eurail passes are basically our transportation around Europe, without them we don´t go anywhere without paying A TON of money) We were planning on catching an 11 pm bus to pamplona. It being 10 45 and the tickets being in my stollen purse, it wasnt looking like that was an option.
The last week has been a bit difficult, all of us wearing thin. Minimal sleep, mean people, travel difficulties had us all frustrated and tired... this was it though...my breaking point. I finally allowed myself to let down and cry. Siutting in a little circle on the train benches, shocked at what had happened, a man interrupted us with this question ¨do you speak english?¨ We all looked around half joking that it was happening to us agian. Jenny turned to me...i watched her face go from joking to absolute shock, i turned to Hope who was turned around towards a man hunched over the seat next to her, her purse in hand.
Hope grabbed the purse and ripped it, quite forcefully, out of the man´s hands. She looked over at me, almost confused and started to say ´¨That man almost stole my...¨ I interuppted her with a öh hell no¨... black woman style, and then proceeded to slap my hands loudly in his face and yell ¨come here¨almost inviting a fight. I ran after him and got pretty far, but stopped dead in my tracks when he turned around. In that instant i came to the realization that i was chasing a criminal. I didn´t know that I had it in me. I really shocked myself the way that i reacted. The man who had distracted us, joined his friend and sarcastically blew us kisses. Jenny responded by yelling ¨kisses, huh? yeah, well kiss my ass¨
We realize now how rediculous we must have looked. I, a stupid blonde american girl, was chasing a spanish criminal and yelling at him to come back while her friend in the background was yelling for them to kiss her ass... real threatening!!!
Hope was for sure the most collected of the three of us, and she was the only one who actually accomplished anything... she ripped the purse out of his hands...
We sat laughing hysterically that it had almost happened to us again... those guys had no idea what we had been through, and what we were willing to do to protect our other bags...haha!
Oh, and there were two security guards who were standing there watching this whole second interaction going on and didnt´do anything. They walked away like 3 american girls hadn´t just about made justice themselves on two spanish criminals.
We decided the next best step was to contact the police, so we walked to the nearest police station.. which wasn´t that near. The lady said that they couldn´t do anything tonight, but that i should come back first thing in the morning to file a report (good thing we were in spain when all of this happened... people here don´t speak a word of english...it is very good practice)
It was 2 by this time, and we had no where to stay, so slept outside the train station (when i say slept, i mean for about 22 minutes. the rest was sitting staring at the homeless men snoring next to us, or the one shuffling around in circles.)
The next morning we ¨woke up¨and walked to the police station to file the report... then walked what felt like miles to the american embassy. We were never so happy to see an american flag and a clean waterfountain. We walked in and were greeted by the most friendly americans i have ever met!! I LOVE america!!!
They were so kind and so quick- i had an emergency passport within the hour... i sure was looking foreward to the next one having a good picture... instead i got one of me wet with sweat, tear stained and running on 22 minutes of sleep... oh well!!!
WE made it back just in time to catch the bus to Pamplona...FINALLY!! (only after we stopped at our new favorite restaurant... the owner gave us free french fries, because we were practically regulars... 3 meals a day for the past 2 days!!)
The bus ride was slightly less than pleasant...all of us looking foreward to catching up on some sleep, until some well- rested american students decided to start a running game of a very enthusiastic and loud card game!!-
Jenny and I were about ready to create a sleepers union offering presidency to the guy in the chair directly next to them... noticing his equal frustration. WE laughed a lot about the fact that they were shamelessly OWNING the bus at this point... loud americans? pretty accurate steriotype....generally there is no one guiltier than i!!
Señora, y Señor Idoate (family friends of the Hardaways) picked us up from the bus station and immediately we were ok. mommi and poppi were there (they insist that we refer to them by these names!!) They don´t speak a word of English... NOT A WORD!! IT has been really fun getting to know them and translating for the girls... though jenny knows spanish pretty well and hope is learning very fast!!
They immediately took us out for dinner in the crazy city of Pamplona (fiesta de san fermin- running of the bulls) Mommi told us of how she couldn´t sleep at all the night before, she was so worried about us. Her next question was... do you have dirty clothes!!??? haha!!
I don´t think we have had a clean t shirt in about 3 weeks!!! They took us back to the house after i threw up in the mens restroom- sitting on a floor covered in urine (the girls was closed and it was comin fast)... 45 minute drive home and we were in paradise.
WE walked in. flowers in the entry- warm wood floors, hot chocolate and cookies. The most amazing beds we have slept in yet!!! cant explain what a relief it was to be safe and feel like we could sleep easy!! We slept in and walked out onto the porch in the morning. we hadn´t seen the scenery the night before because it was dark. The old house is placed by the most beautiful little river. Looking just past the river are rolling vibrantly green hills full of sheep and cows. It is like a dream!! In the afternoon, Poppi took us the all the little pueblos in the valley (there are 14) they are out of a storybook and this place is climbing the europe favorites... for sure top 5- Ignacio...mommi and poppis son (friends of the hardaways)wasnt lying when he said its the best place on earch... ancient stone walls covered with ivy and bursts of flowers!! the grass is so green and the water so clear!! words cant describe this place...or how much we needed it!!!
We had the biggest meal of our lives... hot chicken with peppers... pasta with bacon, bread, salad, yogurt and fruit with walnuts... it was incredible... safety, full stomachs, clean clothes, and warm beds... something we hadn´t had in a while!! We took full advantage of the traditional siesta!!!
We went to the running of the bulls this morning in Pamplona... they are not joking when they say it is a drunken festival... it is crazy... everyone is drunk, no one has slept in days and they are running away from bulls!! It was really fun to watch and i am glad that we have the three of us together... the spanish fascination with american girls gets a bit old, but we now know that we have it in us to fight to the death!!! We are returning this afternoon to mommi and poppis safe paradise!!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
ITALY and Spain
ok, so about the experience in Athens,...
Our ferry back from Ios to Athens was slightly less than comftorable. We got stuck on the smokers deck and you would think that wouldn´t be a problem considering you are in the middle of an ocean that is just flowing with fresh air... but the glass protective windows did a phenominal (that ones for you leenis) job at keeping all of that out and all of the stagnant smokey air in! we spent about 8 hours of inhaling regurgitated smoke... excellent. oh also, there was nowhere to sit, so we slept on the metal floor!! we laughed it off as we have all of our lowpoints only to arrive at the next, creepier one!!
We got off the ferry tired and swollen with smoke and were approached by a cab driver that somehow talked us into getting into his cab and going to a hotel, that i am actually very surprised actually exists. It was in an extremely sketch neighborhood (dad, close your ears...we are fine!) . The taxi driver walked us into this place that i think had been vacant for some years and translated for us that we needed a room to a lady that didn´t speak a word of english... not a single word of english. she gave us our key and jenny and i took the lift up (you know the kind where you close the door and then watch the wall slide past as you go up-only room for 2- hope took the stairs!!) and walked to our room that was stagnant with stale smokey air... haha! just our luck. She said something while pointing at the Air conditioner... 20 minutes later after trying to get it to work, we figured she had said that it was broken. Shortly after that came a knock at the door!
The lady walked in and asked us for ¨the other key¨ via body language of course... it took a while, but we finally got it accross to her that she had only given us one key... she thought for a moment and then looked like she may have come to a sudden realization. She signaled that the taxi driver must have snuck the other room key in his pocket... she shrugged as if to say öh well¨ and left the room. We sat there in silence just staring at each other absolutely shocked at the situation we were in... we packed our packs against the door...created as many obsticles as we could. pulled the pepper spray out and stayed awake for a good while before we allowed ourselves to doze off... one thing i have learned about myself on this trip is that i don´t wake up for ANYTHING... alarms, loud people... we were a bit afraid that it would remain true for people breaking and entering, so we thought we would give me as much time and noise as we could so that i could be alert should that taxi driver decide to use that key that he stole and enter our room. at one point (aparently...i was told this in the morning, i didn´t wake up- of course) the girls heard something were straight up in bed, pepper spray in hand, and light on in no time at all!!
We made it though the night and left as early as we possibly could... pretty scary experience...glad to say its behind us!! that may explain the earlier comment about Athens.
Moving on... we got escorted out of the Vatican by security!!
Thats right, less than a week after getting kicked out of the parthenon, we got escorted out of the Vatican... we accidentally left through a door that should have a huge sign above it ÿou cant return if you go out this door¨ and had to go all the way around only to be told that we had to buy another ticket... we put up a bit of a fight that ended in security taking us out of there... no worries we went calmly and enjoyed a nice meal at a chinese restaurant just up the way!!
One thing i have learned is that Europeans love to say impossible¨ - even if it is unaplicable if they don´t want you to do something or they don´t allow it, they say impossible... its getting a little old...
Next we headed to Sienna for the Polio...It was absolutely incredible. The Polio is a famous horse race in Sienna Italy. The city itself is gorgeous...very old it is walled an almost entirely brick and stone! It is divided up into 14 sections of the city...10 of which compete in the race... there is so much history behind each one- rivals and allies!! anyways, it is held in the town center which is tiny. It is a ring surrounded by buildings- a clock tower, homes, restaurants. It is huge- almost bigger than soccer to these people. I loved it because it wasn´t a tourist attraction. The center was packed to the brim with locals who were so invested in a particular horse. The actual race is three times around this tiny little ring- takes a total of about 2 minutes. We stood to keep our spot by the fence for a good 5 hours and it was absolutely worth it. The teams of doctors and paramedics setting up raised our anticipation a bit. Because the ring is so small often times the horses slip around the corners and they have been know to jump into the crowd. Before the race began there was a huge parade with the horse and the jockie... the sections of town would follow their horse all the way through!! IT was so exciting.. the porkypine won!! the celebration was huge- fights broke out, people charged the horse screaming and crying!! INSANE! the section of town that wins gets to fly their flag in Sienna the rest of their year until the next Polio!! I am so glad we got to go!
Next we headed for the Chinque Terre which is the 5 cities on the western Italian Coast that you can hike. It was gorgeous. WE stayed in Riomaggore, the first of the five and enjoyed just wandering around and exploring the first night.
We spent the 4th of July hiking the cities... stopping for the national anthem with some americans we passed going the opposite direction. We stopped to swim in the ocean that was awesome. One night we got dressed up and went out to a nice dinner... when i say dressed up, i mean we showered and put on the only clean clothing we may have left (now none- laundry here is rediculous, so we just dont do it...haha) and when i say nice dinner... i mean we didn´t eat 5 euro spagetti!! we watched a lady get serenaided (no idea how to spell that... this spanish spell check isn´t really helping either) It was awesome. We went on the walk of love which was absolutely beautiful. it is along the coastal cliff overlooking the Italian ocean side!! Breathtaking!
Another wrong train... that was fun- about 4 hours in the wrong direction. Well we brought in on ourselves... we were going to try to take a ferry from a port city near rome to Barcelona instead of going through nice, france- as to avoid a 12 hour train ride. We got to the ferry and realized there was no way we could afford it, so we turned around and went back the way we came adding 4 hours onto the 12 that we were trying to avoid... haha- seriously i have loved the slip ups though, and i am so thankful to be with girls that embrace them and laugh at them as we go. we had a couple seconds to mourn. sat outside the ferry port that we had just ran a mile to in the humidity of about 1000 with our packs, and then picked ourselves up and walked back to the train station!!! We spent more time in Pisa than we had anticipated.
Originally we had planned to not go to pisa at all, not because we didn´t want to, but because it was simply öut of the way¨- it turns out we went twice!! - the 2 huge mistakes we´ve made via the rail system has landed us directly in front of the leaning tower... no worries we took the traditional photos that no one expects you to take in front of a tower that looks like it may fall over!!
We also were not planning on seeing Nice... haha!! stayed there!- it was very beautiful!
We are currently in Barcelona and leaving tonight for Pomplona... The running of the bulls, here we come!! we talked to a girl just last night that got ran over... she was fine...dont worry!! JEnny and I have already been routing an escape plan should Hope decide she wants to pet the nice little bull... we are all really excited!!
Barcelona was good!! The transportation system... not good! apparently France and Spain has completely separated their train systems, so if you want to go anywhere, you have to be in the country to make a reservation. So basically if you want to go to France from Barcelona, you have to make reservations in France. - which makes it hard if you are in Barcelona. So you have to stand in a line for about 5 hours to get out. We went to the station every day that we were here to try and figure it out, and gave up- we are taking a bus tonight to Pomplona at 11! We camped (we actually have camped a lot) and it was right on the beach which was so fun.
We bought these cheap little blow up mats and tried to learn how to surf on them, not very successful, and father, you will be very dissappointed to hear that i was not diligent in my sunscreen application and we are all paying the consequences.. we are very burned- a good 45 pound backpack on top of a sunburn will remind you to wear that sunscreen if the face peel doesn´t do the trick (for the Humphries clan!!!)
These past weeks have been amazing!! full of adventure and memories. Im sure that the rest of Spain and Switzerland will be just as crazy!!! Cant believe we only have two weeks left!
Our ferry back from Ios to Athens was slightly less than comftorable. We got stuck on the smokers deck and you would think that wouldn´t be a problem considering you are in the middle of an ocean that is just flowing with fresh air... but the glass protective windows did a phenominal (that ones for you leenis) job at keeping all of that out and all of the stagnant smokey air in! we spent about 8 hours of inhaling regurgitated smoke... excellent. oh also, there was nowhere to sit, so we slept on the metal floor!! we laughed it off as we have all of our lowpoints only to arrive at the next, creepier one!!
We got off the ferry tired and swollen with smoke and were approached by a cab driver that somehow talked us into getting into his cab and going to a hotel, that i am actually very surprised actually exists. It was in an extremely sketch neighborhood (dad, close your ears...we are fine!) . The taxi driver walked us into this place that i think had been vacant for some years and translated for us that we needed a room to a lady that didn´t speak a word of english... not a single word of english. she gave us our key and jenny and i took the lift up (you know the kind where you close the door and then watch the wall slide past as you go up-only room for 2- hope took the stairs!!) and walked to our room that was stagnant with stale smokey air... haha! just our luck. She said something while pointing at the Air conditioner... 20 minutes later after trying to get it to work, we figured she had said that it was broken. Shortly after that came a knock at the door!
The lady walked in and asked us for ¨the other key¨ via body language of course... it took a while, but we finally got it accross to her that she had only given us one key... she thought for a moment and then looked like she may have come to a sudden realization. She signaled that the taxi driver must have snuck the other room key in his pocket... she shrugged as if to say öh well¨ and left the room. We sat there in silence just staring at each other absolutely shocked at the situation we were in... we packed our packs against the door...created as many obsticles as we could. pulled the pepper spray out and stayed awake for a good while before we allowed ourselves to doze off... one thing i have learned about myself on this trip is that i don´t wake up for ANYTHING... alarms, loud people... we were a bit afraid that it would remain true for people breaking and entering, so we thought we would give me as much time and noise as we could so that i could be alert should that taxi driver decide to use that key that he stole and enter our room. at one point (aparently...i was told this in the morning, i didn´t wake up- of course) the girls heard something were straight up in bed, pepper spray in hand, and light on in no time at all!!
We made it though the night and left as early as we possibly could... pretty scary experience...glad to say its behind us!! that may explain the earlier comment about Athens.
Moving on... we got escorted out of the Vatican by security!!
Thats right, less than a week after getting kicked out of the parthenon, we got escorted out of the Vatican... we accidentally left through a door that should have a huge sign above it ÿou cant return if you go out this door¨ and had to go all the way around only to be told that we had to buy another ticket... we put up a bit of a fight that ended in security taking us out of there... no worries we went calmly and enjoyed a nice meal at a chinese restaurant just up the way!!
One thing i have learned is that Europeans love to say impossible¨ - even if it is unaplicable if they don´t want you to do something or they don´t allow it, they say impossible... its getting a little old...
Next we headed to Sienna for the Polio...It was absolutely incredible. The Polio is a famous horse race in Sienna Italy. The city itself is gorgeous...very old it is walled an almost entirely brick and stone! It is divided up into 14 sections of the city...10 of which compete in the race... there is so much history behind each one- rivals and allies!! anyways, it is held in the town center which is tiny. It is a ring surrounded by buildings- a clock tower, homes, restaurants. It is huge- almost bigger than soccer to these people. I loved it because it wasn´t a tourist attraction. The center was packed to the brim with locals who were so invested in a particular horse. The actual race is three times around this tiny little ring- takes a total of about 2 minutes. We stood to keep our spot by the fence for a good 5 hours and it was absolutely worth it. The teams of doctors and paramedics setting up raised our anticipation a bit. Because the ring is so small often times the horses slip around the corners and they have been know to jump into the crowd. Before the race began there was a huge parade with the horse and the jockie... the sections of town would follow their horse all the way through!! IT was so exciting.. the porkypine won!! the celebration was huge- fights broke out, people charged the horse screaming and crying!! INSANE! the section of town that wins gets to fly their flag in Sienna the rest of their year until the next Polio!! I am so glad we got to go!
Next we headed for the Chinque Terre which is the 5 cities on the western Italian Coast that you can hike. It was gorgeous. WE stayed in Riomaggore, the first of the five and enjoyed just wandering around and exploring the first night.
We spent the 4th of July hiking the cities... stopping for the national anthem with some americans we passed going the opposite direction. We stopped to swim in the ocean that was awesome. One night we got dressed up and went out to a nice dinner... when i say dressed up, i mean we showered and put on the only clean clothing we may have left (now none- laundry here is rediculous, so we just dont do it...haha) and when i say nice dinner... i mean we didn´t eat 5 euro spagetti!! we watched a lady get serenaided (no idea how to spell that... this spanish spell check isn´t really helping either) It was awesome. We went on the walk of love which was absolutely beautiful. it is along the coastal cliff overlooking the Italian ocean side!! Breathtaking!
Another wrong train... that was fun- about 4 hours in the wrong direction. Well we brought in on ourselves... we were going to try to take a ferry from a port city near rome to Barcelona instead of going through nice, france- as to avoid a 12 hour train ride. We got to the ferry and realized there was no way we could afford it, so we turned around and went back the way we came adding 4 hours onto the 12 that we were trying to avoid... haha- seriously i have loved the slip ups though, and i am so thankful to be with girls that embrace them and laugh at them as we go. we had a couple seconds to mourn. sat outside the ferry port that we had just ran a mile to in the humidity of about 1000 with our packs, and then picked ourselves up and walked back to the train station!!! We spent more time in Pisa than we had anticipated.
Originally we had planned to not go to pisa at all, not because we didn´t want to, but because it was simply öut of the way¨- it turns out we went twice!! - the 2 huge mistakes we´ve made via the rail system has landed us directly in front of the leaning tower... no worries we took the traditional photos that no one expects you to take in front of a tower that looks like it may fall over!!
We also were not planning on seeing Nice... haha!! stayed there!- it was very beautiful!
We are currently in Barcelona and leaving tonight for Pomplona... The running of the bulls, here we come!! we talked to a girl just last night that got ran over... she was fine...dont worry!! JEnny and I have already been routing an escape plan should Hope decide she wants to pet the nice little bull... we are all really excited!!
Barcelona was good!! The transportation system... not good! apparently France and Spain has completely separated their train systems, so if you want to go anywhere, you have to be in the country to make a reservation. So basically if you want to go to France from Barcelona, you have to make reservations in France. - which makes it hard if you are in Barcelona. So you have to stand in a line for about 5 hours to get out. We went to the station every day that we were here to try and figure it out, and gave up- we are taking a bus tonight to Pomplona at 11! We camped (we actually have camped a lot) and it was right on the beach which was so fun.
We bought these cheap little blow up mats and tried to learn how to surf on them, not very successful, and father, you will be very dissappointed to hear that i was not diligent in my sunscreen application and we are all paying the consequences.. we are very burned- a good 45 pound backpack on top of a sunburn will remind you to wear that sunscreen if the face peel doesn´t do the trick (for the Humphries clan!!!)
These past weeks have been amazing!! full of adventure and memories. Im sure that the rest of Spain and Switzerland will be just as crazy!!! Cant believe we only have two weeks left!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Austria, Italy, and Greece
Again, I must apologize for not writing more often. Finding time is hard to do here! ok, so picking up where I left off....it feels like so long ago. The streets of Austria were packed with fans from all over. The euro cup is being hosted in austria and switzerland this year, so anywhere you go in those countries it is all about futbol... soccer!! Vienna was awesome... i have never met more accomodating people in my life... dont remember if i talked about that the last time i wrote, but people went out of their way to help us out. The second we would pull out the map we would have someone stop to help! We went to the Croatia v Austria game in the fan zone downtown. They shut down all the streets and put up huge screens... thousands of people yelling and cheering flood the streets... the screen was right in the middle of the main square... you look behind you and there is a lit castle in the background!! IT started pouring rain. We got soaked-we were literally standing in 4 inches of water flowing over our feet. I have never experienced rain like this- it was relentless!! I will never forget the sight of thousands of fans, jumping and screaming, waving their flags in the pouring rain!! It was awesome! We found minimal shelter under an Austrian flag that some people were holding over them- it was completely worthless, but fun anyways! Depending on the group of people we stood amongst determined who we were chearing for to avoid getting beaten to death!
I have found that we have a habit of sleeping through the alarm...we always make our trains, but i do believe that we have only made 3 without having to run...at this point we have taken 60 or 70 some trains!- After Vienna, we met Jenny in Salzburge- it was so good to be the three of us again! For those of you who arent diehard sound of music fans- its filmed in Salzburge!! We stayed up late and watched the nightly showing that our hostel offers. It was us and 2 other Asian girls that were equally enthusiastic about the experience... by the end of it we were great friends skipping and singing...raindrops on roses!!!
The next morning we got up early and rented bikes to explore the city on our own. We decided to visit all of the sites in the Sound of Music- Mom, you would have loved it! We visited Nonburge Abbey, REsidence Platz, the outdoor theatre, the gazeebo, we also found the sites of the front of the house and the back of the house( the one on the lake) in the movie!! After a lady spent about 10 minutes telling us all the reasons we didnt want to - couldnt get into the lake, including that its dirty from duck poop, the rocks are sharp, its not very deep, fishhoods everywhere, and its illegal- we jumped in for a swim- got out just in time before security showed up! Sweeden was playing that night, so we had to fight the crowds but got lucky and ended up with free oversized Sweden jersies, bracelets, and hats (quite attractive- fisherman style with checkered mickey mouse ears that stuck out on the sides)- WE wore those religiously for the next two days... riding around on our bikes, we must have looked rediculous!!
We woke up early and went to the famous garden with the steps and the fountain... Meribella palace and garden). Then caught our train to Hallstatt, Austria!!
Word cant describe a place like this...I literally have never seen a place as beautiful as this (and that is saying something, having grown up in Colorado!) Hallstatt is a little village on a lake- it is literally unable to expand because it is surrounded by mountains that jet up out of the water- only accessable by boat. You should have seen our faces as our train pulled into the remote little dock. We were exstatic!! IT was raining- we jumped off and ran down to the dock! We stood, jaws dropped as we approached the picture perfect little village. We got off and found the place we were to stay in no time- Johann Holl!! It was the basement of a lady and her husbands house. The dining table hung over the lake- you look out the window and you could literally jump into the lake!! I became quite fond of the easy shoes in the closet that were high healed and made in china- I literally could not separate myself from them the whole 4 days that we were there.
Waking up in the mornings was like rediscovering and underserved privaledge! We cooked our own food for the days that we were there... this consisted of spagetti and fruit... oh and avacodos!! We hiked back into a rivene- up to this breathtaking waterfall- whose power forced mist to appear almost as rain- we got soaked. One day we rented a paddle boat and explored the water...I seriously cant describe what took place in Hallstatt. We had time to sit, explore, read, pray- God was so present, so real. I was able to really enjoy the girls. I realize so much each day what a gift they are. I learn so much from them and am so blessed by their sacrificial and patient love towards me!
We decided that we couldnt travel halfway accross the world to be in the most beautiful place in creation to not swim in the ice cold mountain water... so we mustered up our courage and went out to a dock a ways down from our little home. We set the timer of our camera and ran full force of the end of the dock. It was so cold- i felt like my lungs colapsed- we scrambled, splashing and gasping for the dock, which was so slippery with duck poop, that we found ourselves laying face down in it cracking up and unable to hoist ourselves up... we looked up and found a group of elderly tourists laughing and snapping as many shots as their shutter speeds could get in!! It was well worth the experience!!
We had our first pretty rediculous train mix up the night before we left Hallstatt for Venice!! We realized that there was no way to make the train that was schedualed to leave... so we ran down to the centre of town...tiny (one store and one bar) we ran down to the internet cafe where i pr9omose i contracted lung cancer and found the phone numbers for the rail station and our hotel in Venice. we rushed to the phone booths side by side. Hope called toll free to activate her international cell phone (unsuccessful...again) while jenny and i fed the phone euro after euro not caring the price- we werent going to lose the english speaking rail emplyee who was doubling as a saint. we booked the reservation, then called the hotel in Venice to change our check in time to 1000 pm. a lady picked up, jenny explained our situation, and she was silent on the other end. i didnt put a coin in fast enough, so we lost her. This happened a couple of times...the entire time we were actually on the phone with the lady, she was lecturing jenny about howcheck in times are like appointments, you have people waiting for you, you cant just miss them. It was hilarious...jenny was very patient and we got the job done!
The next morning catching the train to Venice was quite the experience. We shared a compartment with some older historians who were traveling to write a text book. They watched us run to the wrong platform and watch the train that we thought we were supposed to be on leave... they also watched the joy on our faces when we realized that wasnt the right train and that we actually still had a chance to make the right one!! We stayed at a place in Venice called The Best B and B in Venice!! I dont have to stay anywhere else in Venice to tell you that this was not the best B and B ANYWHERE!!
There was a sketchy looking contraption on the floor that provided hours of conversation. Hope was convinced it was a fire alarm...i could have sworn it was a smoke detector, but Jenny thought it was a mosquito trap...speaking of mosquitos!!! Jenny and i woke up in the middle of the night because we felt like we were getting eaten alive... Jennys left eye was slightly swollen with the bites that surrounded it!! She got a little angry and started taking it out on the mosquitos.. 4 in the morning and hope and i just layed in our beds laughing hysterically as Jenny ran around the room with her towel, jumping off of beds- doing whatever it took to swing and kill the little buggers. by the end of the little war, jenny definetly cam e out on top- the towel was covered in mosquito and the walls were speckled with our blood!!
We met a group of really nice girls at the B and B (the breakfast by the way was dehydrated toast with some kind of approcot jam!!) and spent the next day exploring Venice with them. WE all chipped in and went on a Gondola ride down the grand canal. It was breathtaking- the painting dont lie. It was awesome to be able to see it for ourselves. Our Gondola driver sang with us the only Italian song we knew... when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie- he was great!! After exploring Saint Marks Square (dad, you would have loved it, simply for the fact that it shares your name) and the church that is completely done in gold mozaic- we bought masks with our new friends and went out to a wonderful little Italian restaurant!!
WE are loving the Italian food, and spend about half of our budget per day on gilato!! We caught our train to Florence!! WE camped in Florence... Piazza Michaelangelo.. if you look out the door of our tent we literally were looking over the entire city of Florence- it was spectacular!! We met two guys from England, both named Lois that we quickly became friends with. They were hilarious making fun of Americans, listing all the stereotypes. They were like little brothers...
Funny story... we found out when we said goodbye that at the beginning, when we first met, that one of the Lois said they were studying Geography...all three of us the entire time, thought he said photography... we spent the next day and a half asking him about his favorite artists and what he likes to photograph- each time he would give us strange looks...
While in Florence we saw el dromo of course and the David... It was pretty incredible, though i must say the statues leading up to it were most impactful for me, Michaelangelos the prisoners-
Next stop... Greece. We of course didnt leave ourselves enough time to leisurely catch the train...we went into the town of Bolongia during our layover to go to the market and get some bread, salami, and cheese. WE ended up having to run about 8 blocks with our packs to make it... we did, but it was quite the workout...
WE made it to Ancona...our ferry to Igomenitsa left early the next morning from the port of Ancona... the nights stay in Anconca was....pleasant!
The ferries to and from and in between Greece were amazing...dont believe the horror stories that people tell you!! we had pools on ours- they were close to 23 hours each way. we made lots of friends playing frisbee and doing belly flops soaking the sunbathers! WE slept out on the deck under the stars... we could hear the water rushing beneath us!!!
I dont think we saw a single cloud in the entire week and a half we spent in Greece!! It was phenominal- Austria and Greece are by far my two favorite countries by far. We spent a couple days in Corfu, where we went on a quad (4 wheeler tour) with a group of about 30 other people our age... it was awesome- we explored the whole island and went to the three highest points!! we went to a monastary and wandered around for a while and ended with an offroading section- so fun!! we were launching off of rivets and speeding past one another- it was a highlight for sure. The next day we went on a kayaking safari, where we paddled to some jumping cliffs and to another monastary on an island where we also snorkled around... The water below us was 60 feet, but it lookes like 10. we could see every rock, every fish, every ripple of sand on the ocean floor. I have never seen water that clear... that blue... It was absolutely breathtaking!! WE had so much fun!! That night we attended a toga party... where we sported silky pink togas like everyone else at our hostel. WE watched men dance to traditional Greek music and we even got plates smashed over our heads...and yes dad we tried ouzzo...only you would like that stuff (it was horrible!!)) We rocked it on the dance floor...our style of course- jumping and laughing...entirely unattractive and we got majorly dissed by the dj when we requested a song and he said he would nt play it because only me and my little friends would dance to it... we laughed pretty hard at that one!!
we loved kyaking so much, that the next day we rented kyaks on our own and paddled out to the jumping cliffs again and spent the majority of our day there!! We caught a ferry that night to and got into Athens the next morning.
Our time in Athens was ummm... well.... we almost got kicked out of the parthenon...apparently jumping pictures are not allowed and man, are they whistle happy. The security carries around whistles and they are not afraid to use those things. They had them blown before our feet could even touch the ground... we got asked a couple of times...maybe more than a couple to not, so we finally just left! oh another funny story- i was so tired that i fell asleep on the metro and apparently would jult and kick the guy accross from me- hope had to hold my head up or it would fall!... the girls filmed it... the guy was laughing hysterically and trying to talk to them in Greek.
Caught another ferry to Ios! - an island We camped in Ios... it was fun and we got to spend some good time on the beach...playing frisbee and playing in the sand. One day we rented 4 wheelers and explored the island on our own( we got to see Homers grave)...it was fun, but the island is a party island.... not exactly our cup of tea!!
After a couple days there caught yet another ferry and went to Santorini, where we rented mopeds and rode around the island for a couple days... we set out with nothing but our sleeping bags, and my contact solution in our seats and no plans of where to sleep... we ended on a beautiful beach.... for an eventful night!! WE locked our key in the moped seat, and the one that we had the key for ran out of gas...it is quite the memory!!
Now we are in HOT Rome- after another ferry ride... a horrible nights experience in Athens... and a wrong train to Bari that took about 5 hours!! We decided that we HATE athens... i will try to write more about that experience next time, i am just about out of time! WE went to see the colosseum, the spanish steps, and fount de trivea!! We are loving every second of our time hear, soaking up every memory we can squeeze in. God is teaching us so much and i cant believe we have another 4 weeks ahead of us!! I hope that all of your summers have been amazing!!
I have found that we have a habit of sleeping through the alarm...we always make our trains, but i do believe that we have only made 3 without having to run...at this point we have taken 60 or 70 some trains!- After Vienna, we met Jenny in Salzburge- it was so good to be the three of us again! For those of you who arent diehard sound of music fans- its filmed in Salzburge!! We stayed up late and watched the nightly showing that our hostel offers. It was us and 2 other Asian girls that were equally enthusiastic about the experience... by the end of it we were great friends skipping and singing...raindrops on roses!!!
The next morning we got up early and rented bikes to explore the city on our own. We decided to visit all of the sites in the Sound of Music- Mom, you would have loved it! We visited Nonburge Abbey, REsidence Platz, the outdoor theatre, the gazeebo, we also found the sites of the front of the house and the back of the house( the one on the lake) in the movie!! After a lady spent about 10 minutes telling us all the reasons we didnt want to - couldnt get into the lake, including that its dirty from duck poop, the rocks are sharp, its not very deep, fishhoods everywhere, and its illegal- we jumped in for a swim- got out just in time before security showed up! Sweeden was playing that night, so we had to fight the crowds but got lucky and ended up with free oversized Sweden jersies, bracelets, and hats (quite attractive- fisherman style with checkered mickey mouse ears that stuck out on the sides)- WE wore those religiously for the next two days... riding around on our bikes, we must have looked rediculous!!
We woke up early and went to the famous garden with the steps and the fountain... Meribella palace and garden). Then caught our train to Hallstatt, Austria!!
Word cant describe a place like this...I literally have never seen a place as beautiful as this (and that is saying something, having grown up in Colorado!) Hallstatt is a little village on a lake- it is literally unable to expand because it is surrounded by mountains that jet up out of the water- only accessable by boat. You should have seen our faces as our train pulled into the remote little dock. We were exstatic!! IT was raining- we jumped off and ran down to the dock! We stood, jaws dropped as we approached the picture perfect little village. We got off and found the place we were to stay in no time- Johann Holl!! It was the basement of a lady and her husbands house. The dining table hung over the lake- you look out the window and you could literally jump into the lake!! I became quite fond of the easy shoes in the closet that were high healed and made in china- I literally could not separate myself from them the whole 4 days that we were there.
Waking up in the mornings was like rediscovering and underserved privaledge! We cooked our own food for the days that we were there... this consisted of spagetti and fruit... oh and avacodos!! We hiked back into a rivene- up to this breathtaking waterfall- whose power forced mist to appear almost as rain- we got soaked. One day we rented a paddle boat and explored the water...I seriously cant describe what took place in Hallstatt. We had time to sit, explore, read, pray- God was so present, so real. I was able to really enjoy the girls. I realize so much each day what a gift they are. I learn so much from them and am so blessed by their sacrificial and patient love towards me!
We decided that we couldnt travel halfway accross the world to be in the most beautiful place in creation to not swim in the ice cold mountain water... so we mustered up our courage and went out to a dock a ways down from our little home. We set the timer of our camera and ran full force of the end of the dock. It was so cold- i felt like my lungs colapsed- we scrambled, splashing and gasping for the dock, which was so slippery with duck poop, that we found ourselves laying face down in it cracking up and unable to hoist ourselves up... we looked up and found a group of elderly tourists laughing and snapping as many shots as their shutter speeds could get in!! It was well worth the experience!!
We had our first pretty rediculous train mix up the night before we left Hallstatt for Venice!! We realized that there was no way to make the train that was schedualed to leave... so we ran down to the centre of town...tiny (one store and one bar) we ran down to the internet cafe where i pr9omose i contracted lung cancer and found the phone numbers for the rail station and our hotel in Venice. we rushed to the phone booths side by side. Hope called toll free to activate her international cell phone (unsuccessful...again) while jenny and i fed the phone euro after euro not caring the price- we werent going to lose the english speaking rail emplyee who was doubling as a saint. we booked the reservation, then called the hotel in Venice to change our check in time to 1000 pm. a lady picked up, jenny explained our situation, and she was silent on the other end. i didnt put a coin in fast enough, so we lost her. This happened a couple of times...the entire time we were actually on the phone with the lady, she was lecturing jenny about howcheck in times are like appointments, you have people waiting for you, you cant just miss them. It was hilarious...jenny was very patient and we got the job done!
The next morning catching the train to Venice was quite the experience. We shared a compartment with some older historians who were traveling to write a text book. They watched us run to the wrong platform and watch the train that we thought we were supposed to be on leave... they also watched the joy on our faces when we realized that wasnt the right train and that we actually still had a chance to make the right one!! We stayed at a place in Venice called The Best B and B in Venice!! I dont have to stay anywhere else in Venice to tell you that this was not the best B and B ANYWHERE!!
There was a sketchy looking contraption on the floor that provided hours of conversation. Hope was convinced it was a fire alarm...i could have sworn it was a smoke detector, but Jenny thought it was a mosquito trap...speaking of mosquitos!!! Jenny and i woke up in the middle of the night because we felt like we were getting eaten alive... Jennys left eye was slightly swollen with the bites that surrounded it!! She got a little angry and started taking it out on the mosquitos.. 4 in the morning and hope and i just layed in our beds laughing hysterically as Jenny ran around the room with her towel, jumping off of beds- doing whatever it took to swing and kill the little buggers. by the end of the little war, jenny definetly cam e out on top- the towel was covered in mosquito and the walls were speckled with our blood!!
We met a group of really nice girls at the B and B (the breakfast by the way was dehydrated toast with some kind of approcot jam!!) and spent the next day exploring Venice with them. WE all chipped in and went on a Gondola ride down the grand canal. It was breathtaking- the painting dont lie. It was awesome to be able to see it for ourselves. Our Gondola driver sang with us the only Italian song we knew... when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie- he was great!! After exploring Saint Marks Square (dad, you would have loved it, simply for the fact that it shares your name) and the church that is completely done in gold mozaic- we bought masks with our new friends and went out to a wonderful little Italian restaurant!!
WE are loving the Italian food, and spend about half of our budget per day on gilato!! We caught our train to Florence!! WE camped in Florence... Piazza Michaelangelo.. if you look out the door of our tent we literally were looking over the entire city of Florence- it was spectacular!! We met two guys from England, both named Lois that we quickly became friends with. They were hilarious making fun of Americans, listing all the stereotypes. They were like little brothers...
Funny story... we found out when we said goodbye that at the beginning, when we first met, that one of the Lois said they were studying Geography...all three of us the entire time, thought he said photography... we spent the next day and a half asking him about his favorite artists and what he likes to photograph- each time he would give us strange looks...
While in Florence we saw el dromo of course and the David... It was pretty incredible, though i must say the statues leading up to it were most impactful for me, Michaelangelos the prisoners-
Next stop... Greece. We of course didnt leave ourselves enough time to leisurely catch the train...we went into the town of Bolongia during our layover to go to the market and get some bread, salami, and cheese. WE ended up having to run about 8 blocks with our packs to make it... we did, but it was quite the workout...
WE made it to Ancona...our ferry to Igomenitsa left early the next morning from the port of Ancona... the nights stay in Anconca was....pleasant!
The ferries to and from and in between Greece were amazing...dont believe the horror stories that people tell you!! we had pools on ours- they were close to 23 hours each way. we made lots of friends playing frisbee and doing belly flops soaking the sunbathers! WE slept out on the deck under the stars... we could hear the water rushing beneath us!!!
I dont think we saw a single cloud in the entire week and a half we spent in Greece!! It was phenominal- Austria and Greece are by far my two favorite countries by far. We spent a couple days in Corfu, where we went on a quad (4 wheeler tour) with a group of about 30 other people our age... it was awesome- we explored the whole island and went to the three highest points!! we went to a monastary and wandered around for a while and ended with an offroading section- so fun!! we were launching off of rivets and speeding past one another- it was a highlight for sure. The next day we went on a kayaking safari, where we paddled to some jumping cliffs and to another monastary on an island where we also snorkled around... The water below us was 60 feet, but it lookes like 10. we could see every rock, every fish, every ripple of sand on the ocean floor. I have never seen water that clear... that blue... It was absolutely breathtaking!! WE had so much fun!! That night we attended a toga party... where we sported silky pink togas like everyone else at our hostel. WE watched men dance to traditional Greek music and we even got plates smashed over our heads...and yes dad we tried ouzzo...only you would like that stuff (it was horrible!!)) We rocked it on the dance floor...our style of course- jumping and laughing...entirely unattractive and we got majorly dissed by the dj when we requested a song and he said he would nt play it because only me and my little friends would dance to it... we laughed pretty hard at that one!!
we loved kyaking so much, that the next day we rented kyaks on our own and paddled out to the jumping cliffs again and spent the majority of our day there!! We caught a ferry that night to and got into Athens the next morning.
Our time in Athens was ummm... well.... we almost got kicked out of the parthenon...apparently jumping pictures are not allowed and man, are they whistle happy. The security carries around whistles and they are not afraid to use those things. They had them blown before our feet could even touch the ground... we got asked a couple of times...maybe more than a couple to not, so we finally just left! oh another funny story- i was so tired that i fell asleep on the metro and apparently would jult and kick the guy accross from me- hope had to hold my head up or it would fall!... the girls filmed it... the guy was laughing hysterically and trying to talk to them in Greek.
Caught another ferry to Ios! - an island We camped in Ios... it was fun and we got to spend some good time on the beach...playing frisbee and playing in the sand. One day we rented 4 wheelers and explored the island on our own( we got to see Homers grave)...it was fun, but the island is a party island.... not exactly our cup of tea!!
After a couple days there caught yet another ferry and went to Santorini, where we rented mopeds and rode around the island for a couple days... we set out with nothing but our sleeping bags, and my contact solution in our seats and no plans of where to sleep... we ended on a beautiful beach.... for an eventful night!! WE locked our key in the moped seat, and the one that we had the key for ran out of gas...it is quite the memory!!
Now we are in HOT Rome- after another ferry ride... a horrible nights experience in Athens... and a wrong train to Bari that took about 5 hours!! We decided that we HATE athens... i will try to write more about that experience next time, i am just about out of time! WE went to see the colosseum, the spanish steps, and fount de trivea!! We are loving every second of our time hear, soaking up every memory we can squeeze in. God is teaching us so much and i cant believe we have another 4 weeks ahead of us!! I hope that all of your summers have been amazing!!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
sorry it takes so long for me to update this thing- we are running around all the time!! starting from where i left off...
Barbara's house in Odendorf Germany was AMAZING!- i learned a lot through her hospitality and warm spirit!- she was so generous and was an awesome cook! One of our favorite places to go near Barbara's house was a little gelato shop that served ice cream in the shape of meals! One afternoon we took a couple day trip to Darmstadt, where we met Rolland, one of Barbara's sons that lives there.
Coincidentally, the town was having a huge concert where they shut down all the streets and have stages everywhere... apparently Rolland is pretty popular in this college town and we had VIP passes to everywhere... on stage with the semi- famous DJ, we got our own bathroom that Rolland was really excited about. We also met a prince of Darmstadt. Not prince in the context of a political leader, but he was born into old royalty and is worth 2 billion dollars... the extremely white, fake teeth gave him away! He invited us to his pool party on the 14th of June, but unfortunately we will be in Italy :)
The train rides between these places have been a huge highlight. Sitting and getting the time to reflect while watching the amazing scenery fly by is an awesome blessing. Beautiful castles a top rolling green hills, rivers, quaint villages with gorgeous architecture!! It truly is a fairy tale place!
We also went to a school play while in Odendorf- it was called line one- we couldn't understand a word of it, but a little girl told us after that it was about a girl who went to Berlin on the train system and got lost...or something like that.
The morning that we left for Berlin, we stopped in at the local firefighters festival=- had some bratwurst and sourkrout! In Berlin we stayed with a man who works in parliament named Johannes. He was one of Barbara's friends and soon became our adopted father... running around going out of his way to show us how to get here and there and offering us more towels than we could handle. His English was pretty good with a couple slip ups that gave us some good laughs. One of which was when he was trying to tell us that the grocery store further down was cheaper, he said "The second magazine on the left sells cheaper men"!!!! Funny story- The night that we arrived, we were supposed to just go into his apartment with a key that he left us because he wasn't going to be home until 11. We missed our train and arrived around 11:30- we thought he was asleep inside, but couldn't get the key to work... we rang the bell, feeling horrible we may wake him up. just as we sat down to write a note that would explain the tent we were planning on setting up in the front yard of his apartment building, he came up the stairs and showed us kindly that the key did in fact work, and that we had been sitting outside on the stairs that hour for no reason!!
While in Berlin, we took a city of the tour- you know the kind where you sit on an open air bus with headphones that you can barely understand because it is echoing 30 different languages from the stations next to the English one. It was wonderful- we stopped and visited the Jewish Museum that was very impactful. Memorials, and posted stories of the victims of the Holocaust were very powerful. We learned a lot and felt like they brought a little more perspective to those stories that we had heard in history class.
We also visited the parliament, once again VIP style- we got to go in all of the old buildings and through secret passageways (so we like to think)- we climbed to the top of the glass dome in parliament that overlooks the entire city- the contrast between the east and west side of the, old, Berlin wall is shocking. The west green and beautiful- the teirgarten takes up most of the eyes view, but the east is full of buildings and streets. That same afternoon, Hope and I went to a man made beach on a lake in Berlin. They had a water slide that you had to swim out to- It was fun just getting to play in the water and check watch the overweight men in speedos get really excited about their game of life size chess!
One morning we took a 45 minute metro ride outside of Berlin to see a concentration camp. It was called Sachsenhausen. It was incredible and really emotionally draining. We walked through and listened to the stories of the people that once inhabited the barracks that we were now walking through. It made it all very real to us. Seeing the tiny bathrooms that 200 men would share- the toilets where the ruthless guards would drown innocent victims... we saw the infirmary where they would infect small children with hepatitis for experimentation- we saw the execution wall and the mass burial ground. Its impact was indescribable.
It was truely incredible to be in a place so rich with history. These are the places we've learned about for years and years, and there we were standing where Hitler has stood and seeing where these things actually took place. Hope and I stopped at what is left of the Berlin wall on our way out of Berlin to the Czech Republic.
We made it there safely only after witnessing a grown man, probably 6 foot 2, 250 lbs squeezed into a tiny, shiny, hot pink dress with his butt cheeks hanging out in the back- he had long hair and bright lipstick smeared all over his face, he was carrying some kind of alcohol in one hand and was being escorted by a couple of police officers!!- GOODBYE BERLIN!!
Prague is beautiful once you figure out how to get around- not such an easy task- after asking at least 7 people (all of them pointing different directions for the same destination)- talking to the info lady who knew 2 words of English- "don't know" - and taking a couple wrong trams, we found our hostel, which was up a gruelingly steep hill that was wet from the rain- we gave some people good laughs slipping and sliding our way up it with our oversized back packs!!
Hope and I went in search of a tour and came across a man that seemed to know where he was and what he was talking about- we approached him and asked him where the info center was, to which he replied, "I am the info center" (lie number 1 of many!!) He then spent the next half hour explaining to us that his boat tour was by far the best way to see Prague... Off he went about how our bodies are made of 70 percent water and how we subconsciously crave it... that on the molecular level we belong to the water... when we'd ask the price- he would go off about how it would change our lives and you cant put a price on that... how when we look in those swans eyes we wont be thinking about the money we spent. we couldn't control ourselves- we could not stop laughing... it was pretty bad because the guy was serious when he said "I am not a seller, I am a savior- ".
The best part of Prague was the 5 hour walking tour of the city (we found it after literally walking away from the boat tour guy as he shouted "fine just join the mindless gob of lifeless tourists on that useless walking tour" ) that we took after taking a nap in a park next to some artists painting the old Czech parliament building. I honestly can't recall a single thing that I learned from the tour- maybe a couple random historical facts, but the real learning came from the people that we toured with!
Lead by short tempered Martin, who spoke horrible English and waved his orange umbrella like he was king of the republic. There we 2 Mexican guys that joined the group- one of which was wearing a tank top and capre, lime green/florescent yellow Adidas joggers suit- We found out later his name is Dante and he is a heavy metal singer- it was quite entertaining when he would pull out his brush randomly on the tour and brush his pony tail that came close to touching his lower back. His friend bailed on the tour about a third the way through frustrated that he couldn't understand the guides English. Hope and I sat back and laughed as we watched Martin and the other guy discuss the money that he should get refunded...! The other two people that joined the tour were a true gift from God.
Mr and Mrs Haply- Columbian and here visiting one of their two daughters in Munich- I honestly don't know if I've met two more content and joyful people in my life- and they were so in love!! They were both at least a foot shorter than I and struggled understanding English as their second language to spanish! They were so content to just go along though (even though i can't imagine how much they could understand MArtin, Hope and I , pretty fluent in English, could barely make out what he was saying)- At one point Mrs Haply leaned over and told me "if you take 2 or 3 of the same tours, by the end you can usually understand a little bit of what they are teaching"-- It was a real gift to watch 2 older people enjoy one another so much-
I will never forget this image- Rocker Dante whispering to himself as he recorded the historical sights... Martin saying who knows what about some random statue- Mrs Happly a good 4 inchs from Martins mouth trying to read his lips and squeeze out any meaning she could make of what he may be saying... Mr Happly contently wandering around and listening in on other tours that he could understand better!!
We kissed our new friends goodbye (avoiding Dante of course) and headed back to our hostel for a good night sleep before heading to Vienna!!
Our travels to Vienna were quite interesting- starting off by entering a train that was COMPLETLEY full- not a single seat available- we walked down the crowded walkway and were unsuccessful in finding seats, but came to the last little stall with the door closed and curtains drawn- we thought we'd give it a shot. Hope gently knocked on the door and poked her head in only to find an elderly man with sunglasses and no luggage sitting there with 5 open seats around him- Hope asked if we could sit with him and his shoved her backpack, slamming her into the wall as he pushed passed to sit down in a chair, cross his arms, and pout mumbling what i could only guess was curse words in Czech!! We decided it wasn't worth it to deal with mr grumpy so we plopped down, packs and all in the narrow walkway connecting the stalls!!--
The hostel that we have stayed at the last couple nights has been our favorite by far- the community is incredible- we made dinner in the crowded kitchen filled with foreigners all traveling and meeting each other!! We've met people from all over the world and their stories are amazing!! Hope and I decided that we were going to avoid the tourist scenes here and try to find a hike- We found one that lead up to a little church on a big hill amidst vineyards, on the outskirts of Vienna!!-- It was gorgeous and we loved getting away from the crowds.
We stopped at the Danube on the way down and swan at a private yacht club- which i am pretty sure was illegal, but we decided that if we were to be confronted we would play the "sorry, we didn't know- i don't speak your language" card!!
Coincidentally, the Euro cup is being held in Vienna and we just happened to be here for the big games- the streets are flooded with people in red and white checkered outfits and hats- groups of people huddled on the streets singing traditional Austrian songs and jumping up and down!! Last night we went to the fan zone with a bunch of people from our hostel. They shut down the center of town and have huge screens showing the games... it was quite sureel!! Standing beneath the light castle and surrounded by hundreds of enthusiastic Austrians cheering and celebrating- It was an experience i wont soon forget!!
This morning we went to the Imperial Church where we listened to the Vienna Boys Choir- It was incredible- we are planning to explore the city today and hit the fan zone tonight for another crazy game!! We are going to meet Jenny in Salzburg tomorrow!!
Barbara's house in Odendorf Germany was AMAZING!- i learned a lot through her hospitality and warm spirit!- she was so generous and was an awesome cook! One of our favorite places to go near Barbara's house was a little gelato shop that served ice cream in the shape of meals! One afternoon we took a couple day trip to Darmstadt, where we met Rolland, one of Barbara's sons that lives there.
Coincidentally, the town was having a huge concert where they shut down all the streets and have stages everywhere... apparently Rolland is pretty popular in this college town and we had VIP passes to everywhere... on stage with the semi- famous DJ, we got our own bathroom that Rolland was really excited about. We also met a prince of Darmstadt. Not prince in the context of a political leader, but he was born into old royalty and is worth 2 billion dollars... the extremely white, fake teeth gave him away! He invited us to his pool party on the 14th of June, but unfortunately we will be in Italy :)
The train rides between these places have been a huge highlight. Sitting and getting the time to reflect while watching the amazing scenery fly by is an awesome blessing. Beautiful castles a top rolling green hills, rivers, quaint villages with gorgeous architecture!! It truly is a fairy tale place!
We also went to a school play while in Odendorf- it was called line one- we couldn't understand a word of it, but a little girl told us after that it was about a girl who went to Berlin on the train system and got lost...or something like that.
The morning that we left for Berlin, we stopped in at the local firefighters festival=- had some bratwurst and sourkrout! In Berlin we stayed with a man who works in parliament named Johannes. He was one of Barbara's friends and soon became our adopted father... running around going out of his way to show us how to get here and there and offering us more towels than we could handle. His English was pretty good with a couple slip ups that gave us some good laughs. One of which was when he was trying to tell us that the grocery store further down was cheaper, he said "The second magazine on the left sells cheaper men"!!!! Funny story- The night that we arrived, we were supposed to just go into his apartment with a key that he left us because he wasn't going to be home until 11. We missed our train and arrived around 11:30- we thought he was asleep inside, but couldn't get the key to work... we rang the bell, feeling horrible we may wake him up. just as we sat down to write a note that would explain the tent we were planning on setting up in the front yard of his apartment building, he came up the stairs and showed us kindly that the key did in fact work, and that we had been sitting outside on the stairs that hour for no reason!!
While in Berlin, we took a city of the tour- you know the kind where you sit on an open air bus with headphones that you can barely understand because it is echoing 30 different languages from the stations next to the English one. It was wonderful- we stopped and visited the Jewish Museum that was very impactful. Memorials, and posted stories of the victims of the Holocaust were very powerful. We learned a lot and felt like they brought a little more perspective to those stories that we had heard in history class.
We also visited the parliament, once again VIP style- we got to go in all of the old buildings and through secret passageways (so we like to think)- we climbed to the top of the glass dome in parliament that overlooks the entire city- the contrast between the east and west side of the, old, Berlin wall is shocking. The west green and beautiful- the teirgarten takes up most of the eyes view, but the east is full of buildings and streets. That same afternoon, Hope and I went to a man made beach on a lake in Berlin. They had a water slide that you had to swim out to- It was fun just getting to play in the water and check watch the overweight men in speedos get really excited about their game of life size chess!
One morning we took a 45 minute metro ride outside of Berlin to see a concentration camp. It was called Sachsenhausen. It was incredible and really emotionally draining. We walked through and listened to the stories of the people that once inhabited the barracks that we were now walking through. It made it all very real to us. Seeing the tiny bathrooms that 200 men would share- the toilets where the ruthless guards would drown innocent victims... we saw the infirmary where they would infect small children with hepatitis for experimentation- we saw the execution wall and the mass burial ground. Its impact was indescribable.
It was truely incredible to be in a place so rich with history. These are the places we've learned about for years and years, and there we were standing where Hitler has stood and seeing where these things actually took place. Hope and I stopped at what is left of the Berlin wall on our way out of Berlin to the Czech Republic.
We made it there safely only after witnessing a grown man, probably 6 foot 2, 250 lbs squeezed into a tiny, shiny, hot pink dress with his butt cheeks hanging out in the back- he had long hair and bright lipstick smeared all over his face, he was carrying some kind of alcohol in one hand and was being escorted by a couple of police officers!!- GOODBYE BERLIN!!
Prague is beautiful once you figure out how to get around- not such an easy task- after asking at least 7 people (all of them pointing different directions for the same destination)- talking to the info lady who knew 2 words of English- "don't know" - and taking a couple wrong trams, we found our hostel, which was up a gruelingly steep hill that was wet from the rain- we gave some people good laughs slipping and sliding our way up it with our oversized back packs!!
Hope and I went in search of a tour and came across a man that seemed to know where he was and what he was talking about- we approached him and asked him where the info center was, to which he replied, "I am the info center" (lie number 1 of many!!) He then spent the next half hour explaining to us that his boat tour was by far the best way to see Prague... Off he went about how our bodies are made of 70 percent water and how we subconsciously crave it... that on the molecular level we belong to the water... when we'd ask the price- he would go off about how it would change our lives and you cant put a price on that... how when we look in those swans eyes we wont be thinking about the money we spent. we couldn't control ourselves- we could not stop laughing... it was pretty bad because the guy was serious when he said "I am not a seller, I am a savior- ".
The best part of Prague was the 5 hour walking tour of the city (we found it after literally walking away from the boat tour guy as he shouted "fine just join the mindless gob of lifeless tourists on that useless walking tour" ) that we took after taking a nap in a park next to some artists painting the old Czech parliament building. I honestly can't recall a single thing that I learned from the tour- maybe a couple random historical facts, but the real learning came from the people that we toured with!
Lead by short tempered Martin, who spoke horrible English and waved his orange umbrella like he was king of the republic. There we 2 Mexican guys that joined the group- one of which was wearing a tank top and capre, lime green/florescent yellow Adidas joggers suit- We found out later his name is Dante and he is a heavy metal singer- it was quite entertaining when he would pull out his brush randomly on the tour and brush his pony tail that came close to touching his lower back. His friend bailed on the tour about a third the way through frustrated that he couldn't understand the guides English. Hope and I sat back and laughed as we watched Martin and the other guy discuss the money that he should get refunded...! The other two people that joined the tour were a true gift from God.
Mr and Mrs Haply- Columbian and here visiting one of their two daughters in Munich- I honestly don't know if I've met two more content and joyful people in my life- and they were so in love!! They were both at least a foot shorter than I and struggled understanding English as their second language to spanish! They were so content to just go along though (even though i can't imagine how much they could understand MArtin, Hope and I , pretty fluent in English, could barely make out what he was saying)- At one point Mrs Haply leaned over and told me "if you take 2 or 3 of the same tours, by the end you can usually understand a little bit of what they are teaching"-- It was a real gift to watch 2 older people enjoy one another so much-
I will never forget this image- Rocker Dante whispering to himself as he recorded the historical sights... Martin saying who knows what about some random statue- Mrs Happly a good 4 inchs from Martins mouth trying to read his lips and squeeze out any meaning she could make of what he may be saying... Mr Happly contently wandering around and listening in on other tours that he could understand better!!
We kissed our new friends goodbye (avoiding Dante of course) and headed back to our hostel for a good night sleep before heading to Vienna!!
Our travels to Vienna were quite interesting- starting off by entering a train that was COMPLETLEY full- not a single seat available- we walked down the crowded walkway and were unsuccessful in finding seats, but came to the last little stall with the door closed and curtains drawn- we thought we'd give it a shot. Hope gently knocked on the door and poked her head in only to find an elderly man with sunglasses and no luggage sitting there with 5 open seats around him- Hope asked if we could sit with him and his shoved her backpack, slamming her into the wall as he pushed passed to sit down in a chair, cross his arms, and pout mumbling what i could only guess was curse words in Czech!! We decided it wasn't worth it to deal with mr grumpy so we plopped down, packs and all in the narrow walkway connecting the stalls!!--
The hostel that we have stayed at the last couple nights has been our favorite by far- the community is incredible- we made dinner in the crowded kitchen filled with foreigners all traveling and meeting each other!! We've met people from all over the world and their stories are amazing!! Hope and I decided that we were going to avoid the tourist scenes here and try to find a hike- We found one that lead up to a little church on a big hill amidst vineyards, on the outskirts of Vienna!!-- It was gorgeous and we loved getting away from the crowds.
We stopped at the Danube on the way down and swan at a private yacht club- which i am pretty sure was illegal, but we decided that if we were to be confronted we would play the "sorry, we didn't know- i don't speak your language" card!!
Coincidentally, the Euro cup is being held in Vienna and we just happened to be here for the big games- the streets are flooded with people in red and white checkered outfits and hats- groups of people huddled on the streets singing traditional Austrian songs and jumping up and down!! Last night we went to the fan zone with a bunch of people from our hostel. They shut down the center of town and have huge screens showing the games... it was quite sureel!! Standing beneath the light castle and surrounded by hundreds of enthusiastic Austrians cheering and celebrating- It was an experience i wont soon forget!!
This morning we went to the Imperial Church where we listened to the Vienna Boys Choir- It was incredible- we are planning to explore the city today and hit the fan zone tonight for another crazy game!! We are going to meet Jenny in Salzburg tomorrow!!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Our first week!!
I can't believe it has already been a week since our adventure began!!- From the start- here it goes! Traveling was very simple- no complications! Traveling Air India was quite the adventure in itself. Straight from the airport we headed to our hostel. We learned a lot in our first day there... mostly about their transportation system. After realizing that arrows are not universal (up really means go down 12 flights of stairs) we got to the right train station. We finally found our hostel only to find out that they erase your reservation if you miss your arrival time- well, we missed our arrival time- but were able to book a room anyway!- we roomed with one lady from New Zealand and a couple of guys from India who were all very nice, though the concept of whispering seemed a bit foreign to them! That same day we went to the Eiffel Tower- played frisbee on the lawn (which we are also learning is not very European) and layed in awe that we had actually made it and were staring at the tower we had grown up seeing pictures of!!
The next day we headed down for our breakfast that was included.... it was croissants wrapped in plastic that you got from a vending machine!!- hey, at least we had croissants for breakfast in Paris!- we found our way back to the train station and went to Versailles, the castle built by king Louis XIV- he used the entire countries income for half of a year to build it. It was HUGE... fountains and gardens surrounding the gorgeous estate!- we walked around and landed in front of the grand canal for our daily cliff bar (our lunch for the next 9 weeks!). We started to play frisbee on the lawn and saw that a boy and his mother were watching. We invited him to play with us and shortly found out that his name was Louis, he was from England, 7 years old and here in Paris with his mother, because his older brother, Harvey got to got to Paris with their mother when he was 7...oh and he has swim lessons on mondays!!- We decided to make new rules for our game of frisbee... you have to spin 5 times as fast as you can before you throw it... Jenny, Louis, and I all had very successful first rounds, but when it came to Hope, she spun very enthusiastically, turned around and threw it strait into the grand canal (a man made pond/lake). We were very determined to get it out, and before long we had the whole lawn helping out!- there must have been 4 or 5 different languages and 20 different people offering umbrellas or their swimming services. It was quite the scene! we eventually got the beloved frisbee out by borrowing a paddle and holding Jenny's legs while she hung over the water and pulled it in!! We went back to our hostel for a quick nap and later took a train to the Louvre- we came a bit late so it was already closed- we will just have to go on our way back through Paris (on our way home). Later after having pizza on a cute little patio we went to Sacre-Coeur (a church) and walked around while the sun set!
The next day, after our vended croissant breakfast, we went to Notre-Dame for Sunday service. We had to carry our packs because we were leaving town after the service. (my pack by the way is huge- 49 pounds- planning on leaving whatever i can behind because it is so heavy) The church was incredible. Huge and beautiful. We crawled over our packs and sat down in one of the last rows and watched as the nuns and priests walked down the aisle. We learned that t
he 25 of May in France is Mothers day! we watched fascinated as the service went on in French. It was very interesting and quite disturbing watching the tourist take pictures outside of the blocked off peu area that we were sitting in. It made me a bit sick to watch people admiring the architecture of the church as people were sitting listening to the sermon on a sunday morning. I don't know how they deal with that every week. We had some time to kill so we headed to the Eiffel Tower for lunch. We bought some baggets and cheese and nectorines. We sat again marvelling at the beauty of the Tower! Jenny left for the train station to Koln while Hope and I stayed behind because our train didn't leave for another couple of hours. Hope and I were standing in line to reserve our train to Luxembourge when Jenny walked up- her train was full...and we found out that ours was too. (We learned you need to reserve your train at least a day in advance)- We asked what was open and the lady said a train to Brussels at 11 pm, so we agreed! We sat in the train station for about 4 hours laughing and trying to learn phrases in different languages!! That little unexpected bump in the road turned out to be a great adventure in Brussels!The next morning we toured a bit of Brussels and got on the train to Luxembourge as originally planned. Luxembourge was beautiful...my favorite city bar far (at least so far). It had stunning architecture surrounded by natural beauty- it was so green and the parks were incredible!- We had baggets and cheese...again on the lawn of a beautiful fountain. It rained a lot in Luxembourge!
The next day we got a train out of Luxembourge to meet Jenny in Koln, Germany. We took 5 trains and almost missed 3 of them!!- I will never forget Running with Hope down the train station platforms with our 50 pound packs bouncing on our backs- arms full of miscellanious things... frisbee, water bottles, cameras, carrots, ... laughing our heads off and asking people who didn't speak a word of English where to find our trains!!- We got off in Odendorf, where we are staying with Jenny's friend, Barbara. They picked us up from the station and we went straight to a birthday party. It was for a friend of Barbara's. It is tradition here to bring a cake if you are invited. There were 6 different cakes and we sampled the majority-- delicious! Only a couple of people spoke English, but all of them were extremely friendly and welcoming, unlike our experience with the French people!! We then went to a performance put on by children from India at one of the local Elementary Schools. One of Barbara's friends sat near us and translated. It was quite interesting. They performed the old testament from Adam to Jesus mainly focusing on Cain and Abel. I think it was slightly off considering we are almost positive that at one point little red ridding hood entered stage right as a peacock exited stage left!! We spoke with the priest who put it on and he laughed about how hard it must have been to understand Their native Indian language translated into German then into English!! It has been so nice staying in a home!-
Today, we went into the city of Koln and saw Kolndome, the second largest cathedral in the world! It was a jaw dropping experience. I had my first piece of meat since SAGA (our cafeteria at Whitworth) closed!!- bread and cheese is great, but doesn't do much for ya! Barbara is so hospitable- and we have a lot planned for our stay with her!!
Often times, I have to pinch myself, because I can't believe we are actually here, doing this. It is amazing- 6 days in Europe and we have already made memories of a lifetime!!
I will post more pictures later- some pop up just came up- don't really know what it is saying because all I know in German in Happy Birthday and I love you!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
a GREAT start!!
I got burned this weekend and grew quite the blister on my leg- here it is before it went in for surgery- decided it best not to take him along with me to Europe!
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