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 the 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!