we are on a train from Berlin to Prague. We have a few days to catch you up on...so here's what happened.
Just like Angela said, Switzerland was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. I (Lauren) did get to enjoy about 15 hours of it, so that is good. I'm not going to lie, I'm very envious of the day Angela had. If I hadn't been curled up in bed shivering under 2 blankets, or accidentally doped up on muscle relaxers I would have been right there with her the whole way.
We did meet some awesome people at the hostel though...Aaron, Joel, Matt and Jane. I will never forget them.
The next day was a blur of gondolas, busses and trains as we made our way to Mainz, Germany. Not gonna lie, I slept for most of it, still trying to shake my queasiness from altitude sickness. Angela was so great though, making the whole day easier for me, such a great friend. Once we got to Mainz, we were exhausted. Turns out Angela is sick with some kind of cold or allergy thing as well, so we got an early dinner and fell asleep at 8:00. Ha yes, you read that correctly, 8:00 pm we fell asleep.
The next day we got up early to get a train to Berlin. We took the bus on the way to the train station. When we got on the bus we noticed that nobody was paying for a ticket or swiping a card or anything, so we just followed the crowd and sat down on a seat. 5 min later we are being questioned by a guy with a badge asking us for our tickets. I just stared open mouthed at Angela while she casually told him what happened. Meanwhile I have a 20€ bill in my hand ready to pay for 18 tickets if he just will let us go. He calls over this fellow badge men and there are three of them staring at us. Luckily they decide to just let us go (by sheer luck we were stopped at the train station stop!) so we jump off and speed walk onto the next train leaving for Berlin.
Once in Berlin, we met a really nice Ecuadorian transplant named Benjamin who showed us around a bit. We had originally planned on taking a bike tour of Berlin, but unfortunately we arrived too late to go on any tours. We checked into our gorgeous hotel (thank you Hyatt!) and went off in search of the Berlin wall. We found a piece not to far from our hotel and read all about it. Then we went to dinner at a nice German restaurant. I got potato and sausage soup, Angela got sausage and French fries. We then went and saw a movie in one of the only English theaters around. We saw Midnight in Paris in English, in Berlin. We then went back to our incredible hotel and slept like babies.
We both aren't feeling very well. We've got red noses and our eyes are droopy, but we're still hanging in there. We are both very excited for Prague. We should be there within the hour!
Things we learned in the last couple days:
1. We are crazy for taking this trip. It's all fine and dandy till one of you, then both of you get sick. We are just so grateful this didn't happen at the beginning of the trip.
2. Swiss children are LOUD! On two separate occasions, on two separate trains there were Swiss kids running a mock, yelling and screaming, and their parents just watched in amusement. I thought about clotheslining the little rug rats every time they ran down the aisles. Angela took a healthier approach and shushed them when they ran by.
3. The movie theaters in Europe have assigned seating! Like the theater. We just thought that was awesome.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Swiss Simplicity
Wow... The beauty is amazing, like nothing I've ever seen, here in the Alps. On the train, then bus, then gondola up to the beautiful, quaint, homey hostel our jaws were on the floor and my finger couldn't work fast enough on my camera as we gazed high into the sky at the magnificent monstrous mountains.
We are currently on a train from Interlaken Switzerland to Mainz Germany where we have a free night at another Hyatt. As I see the mountains getting smaller in the distance I am saddened. It was sooo hard to leave this morning and say goodbye to Gimmelwald and the Mountain Hostel. But just like in Nice, I know I will be back. Luckily we got to stay two nights so yesterday was a full day there.
We slept in till about 9:30, woke up and had some coffee with Jane and Matt, a great Aussie couple, who were so kind- giving Lauren some medicine because she didn't feel well. After feeling a little better we took a 45 minute hike up to Murren, where we had a delicious brunch, overlooking a picturesque view of the mountains. Lauren, still not feeling her best decided to go back to the hostel to relax, while I took a hike to see some waterfalls. Turns out Lauren actually took a muscle relaxer- no wonder she didn't feel up to hiking! I was really bummed that Lauren didn't feel well, especially because this was the place she was most excited about. We think it may have been altitude sickness, as she's feeling a little better now off the mountain. But I hiked to the waterfall on my own and took sooo many pictures of EVERYTHING! (wish I could put them up now, but there's no way to on my iPad.) I walked under the waterfall and soaked in as much beauty and fresh air as possible. I walked back to the hostel all down hill and found Lauren enjoying herself reading a book.
For dinner Petra, the owner of the hostel, invited us to enjoy Mexican food with her family and friends. The wonderful meal that reminded us of home was put together by Aaron and Joel the awesome guys we met that love Gimmelwald so much that they never left! I found out that the close-knit community, slower less complicated way of life, and the beautiful mountains are the reasons they've stayed. Honestly, I agreed and was tempted to stay as well! We played cards for hours with our new friends, and my not-so-pleasant competitive nature came out... The guys taught us how to play Crud- a pool game in which I decided I couldn't leave the Mountain Hostel until I won at least once! Thanks guys for letting me win, although now I wish I would have lost and I'd still be living the simple, relaxing life that I found in the small town of Gimmelwald.
Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the trip for so many reasons. 1.We got to finally relax and throw our schedule out the window.
2.We saw God's beautiful creation.
3.We met great people and enjoyed a delicious meal, played fun games, and had stimulating thought-provoking conversation.
Although the day was not greatly eventful or crazy, it will always be special and I will count down the days until I can return to the simplicity and ease that is Gimmelwald.
Don't want to think about the reality of heading home on Friday :/
Only three stops left!
-A&L
We are currently on a train from Interlaken Switzerland to Mainz Germany where we have a free night at another Hyatt. As I see the mountains getting smaller in the distance I am saddened. It was sooo hard to leave this morning and say goodbye to Gimmelwald and the Mountain Hostel. But just like in Nice, I know I will be back. Luckily we got to stay two nights so yesterday was a full day there.
We slept in till about 9:30, woke up and had some coffee with Jane and Matt, a great Aussie couple, who were so kind- giving Lauren some medicine because she didn't feel well. After feeling a little better we took a 45 minute hike up to Murren, where we had a delicious brunch, overlooking a picturesque view of the mountains. Lauren, still not feeling her best decided to go back to the hostel to relax, while I took a hike to see some waterfalls. Turns out Lauren actually took a muscle relaxer- no wonder she didn't feel up to hiking! I was really bummed that Lauren didn't feel well, especially because this was the place she was most excited about. We think it may have been altitude sickness, as she's feeling a little better now off the mountain. But I hiked to the waterfall on my own and took sooo many pictures of EVERYTHING! (wish I could put them up now, but there's no way to on my iPad.) I walked under the waterfall and soaked in as much beauty and fresh air as possible. I walked back to the hostel all down hill and found Lauren enjoying herself reading a book.
For dinner Petra, the owner of the hostel, invited us to enjoy Mexican food with her family and friends. The wonderful meal that reminded us of home was put together by Aaron and Joel the awesome guys we met that love Gimmelwald so much that they never left! I found out that the close-knit community, slower less complicated way of life, and the beautiful mountains are the reasons they've stayed. Honestly, I agreed and was tempted to stay as well! We played cards for hours with our new friends, and my not-so-pleasant competitive nature came out... The guys taught us how to play Crud- a pool game in which I decided I couldn't leave the Mountain Hostel until I won at least once! Thanks guys for letting me win, although now I wish I would have lost and I'd still be living the simple, relaxing life that I found in the small town of Gimmelwald.
Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the trip for so many reasons. 1.We got to finally relax and throw our schedule out the window.
2.We saw God's beautiful creation.
3.We met great people and enjoyed a delicious meal, played fun games, and had stimulating thought-provoking conversation.
Although the day was not greatly eventful or crazy, it will always be special and I will count down the days until I can return to the simplicity and ease that is Gimmelwald.
Don't want to think about the reality of heading home on Friday :/
Only three stops left!
-A&L
Murphy's Law
Well, it happened. That dreaded day that you never want, but always expect. That one day where everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. It all started when Angela casually mentioned on our train from Rome, "we haven't missed a train yet!". The day was further jinxed while waiting for a ferry in Sorrento when I said, "tomorrow is going to be the best 24 hours of our lives." Basically we learned that neither Angela nor I have the gift of prophecy. Sooooo here's what happened..
We took the train into Naples where we were going to switch onto a smaller train to take us to Pompeii. Naples is nuts. Even the train station proved seedy with old creepy men (Angela can attest to this) and random train children wrestling in sandwich shops. It was worth it though, because Pompeii was really cool. It was an ancient city frozen in time. We found out that most of the good stuff has been taken to the archeological museum in Naples, but it was still amazing to walk the ancient streets all the while staring at Vesuvius towering above. We got to see two of the victims forever frozen in their state of terror at the exploding volcano. We couldn't imagine the fear of everyone as they tried to figure out how to evacuate. Angela and I didn't expect Mt. Vesuvius to be so large, but even after we took the train to Sorrento we could still easily pick it out, standing much taller than every other mountain around.
We made it to Capri with relative ease, though quite tired. Our hotel was beautiful and we couldn't wait to see what fun the next day would bring. We started making a list; Blue Grotto, Beach lounging, mountain climbing, restaurant..eating, or just doing a lot of nothing and enjoying being on the beautiful island of Capri. When we woke up the next day, it was rather grey and cloudy, but we shrugged it off as morning weather. Then after breakfast it started raining...and didn't stop for the entire day. There was nothing to do but throw on our rain jackets and do what we could. So we shopped and ate for the day, then bought our ferry tickets to head back to main land. Turns out we didn't allow enough time to travel from the marina, back to our hotel to grab our bags, then back to the marina to catch our 3:30 ferry. But the "words give" up are not in our vocabulary and we tried our hardest. Picture, if you will, Angela and I running down the tiny streets of Capri, splashing in puddles, faces wet with rain, pants falling off because they are heavy and soaking wet with water, all the while hunched over with giant 30 lb backpacks strapped to us. Unfortunately we did miss our ferry, but got a partial refund and bought tickets to the next one.
Once back in Naples, we boarded a train to Rome and then a night train to Venice. We decided to risk it and not make reservations on this train...turns out so did everyone else on the train. It was a free-for-all. People in the hallways, scoping out available seats. Luckily we found two together in a car filled with three men. Stinky men. We thought, oh well, they seem nice enough and hunkered in for the long trip to Venice. We dozed off and what felt like minutes later we were being awakened by the ticket checker dude. Once he checked our passes he paused on the guy across from me. They started yelling at each other in Italian and before we knew what was going on he was up and out of our car. He was getting thrown off for not having a ticket. Soon enough some seat vultures came to claim his space. After another few hours of restless sleep, the ticket dude came back to check again...the other man in our car started yelling in Italian and Angela and I just looked back and forth from man to man unsure of what was happening. Next thing we knew he was getting thrown off for not having a ticket. Mind you, this is all happening at 2:00 am. So with more room and the train thieves gone, Angela, I and the seat vultures spread out to relax.
Next thing we know we are being rushed off the train by a conductor. We are confused, so are the girls with us. In as much English as they could, they explained that the train separated from the one going to Venice and if we didn't get off now we were headed to Trieste....on the border of Slovenia and Croatia. So there we were...at some unknown train station in northern Italy, at 5:40 in the morning, confused and tired. But it all worked out and we boarded the next train to Venice.
Looking back we are grateful it all happened. Things won't always be perfect or go according to plan, and we really were able to learn how to abandon our own plans and make new ones. Though we do wish we could have had a sunny day on Capri.
Venice was fantastic. It was a Saturday, and there were giant fish markets and fruit/vegetable markets going on. We wandered around for hours chasing the sunny streets and taking in one of the strangest cities on the planet. We had a fantastic breakfast at a little pastry shop. And made our way over to Saint Marks basilica where we people watched for a while. Angela actually coaxed a pigeon to sit on her arm! She found a piece of bread and the bird jumped on her! Her reaction was priceless. We then made our way back to the markets and purchased random veggies, fruits, cheeses and bread and had ourselves a little Venetian picnic on the side of the Grand Canal. We had to fight off pigeons the whole time, but it was great. Eventually we got too tired to keep going, and we went to our hostel camping ground (we got a whole cabin this time!). We are crazy party animals, and fell fast asleep by 9:00 pm.
What we learned these few days:
1. Kids in Capri are just like kids at home. One ran up behind me and did that whole "I'm gonna tap you on one shoulder then run away from the other side" thing. It cracked us up. We watched him run back to his friends and they were all giggling.
2. Italians DO NOT want you to put your feet up on the train seats.
3. Naples is no joke. Three different people on the tram warned us to hold onto our bags really tightly.
4. Even when everything goes wrong, and we are a little lost and confused Angela and I still have a blast. We can't help but laugh (way too loud most of the time) everywhere we are. She puts things in perspective when I'm being a bit of a baby, and always forces me to remember the positive. BEST. TRAVEL. BUD. EVER.
We are now on a train to Spiez Switzerland and from there we will go to Interlaken, then Gimmelwald Mountain Hostel. Not gonna lie, I'm probably most excited for this stop of the trip. But we learned from our mistakes, and we are not making any bold statements in the hopes that we won't jinx it this time. More later!
Lots of Love,
Angela & Lauren
We took the train into Naples where we were going to switch onto a smaller train to take us to Pompeii. Naples is nuts. Even the train station proved seedy with old creepy men (Angela can attest to this) and random train children wrestling in sandwich shops. It was worth it though, because Pompeii was really cool. It was an ancient city frozen in time. We found out that most of the good stuff has been taken to the archeological museum in Naples, but it was still amazing to walk the ancient streets all the while staring at Vesuvius towering above. We got to see two of the victims forever frozen in their state of terror at the exploding volcano. We couldn't imagine the fear of everyone as they tried to figure out how to evacuate. Angela and I didn't expect Mt. Vesuvius to be so large, but even after we took the train to Sorrento we could still easily pick it out, standing much taller than every other mountain around.
We made it to Capri with relative ease, though quite tired. Our hotel was beautiful and we couldn't wait to see what fun the next day would bring. We started making a list; Blue Grotto, Beach lounging, mountain climbing, restaurant..eating, or just doing a lot of nothing and enjoying being on the beautiful island of Capri. When we woke up the next day, it was rather grey and cloudy, but we shrugged it off as morning weather. Then after breakfast it started raining...and didn't stop for the entire day. There was nothing to do but throw on our rain jackets and do what we could. So we shopped and ate for the day, then bought our ferry tickets to head back to main land. Turns out we didn't allow enough time to travel from the marina, back to our hotel to grab our bags, then back to the marina to catch our 3:30 ferry. But the "words give" up are not in our vocabulary and we tried our hardest. Picture, if you will, Angela and I running down the tiny streets of Capri, splashing in puddles, faces wet with rain, pants falling off because they are heavy and soaking wet with water, all the while hunched over with giant 30 lb backpacks strapped to us. Unfortunately we did miss our ferry, but got a partial refund and bought tickets to the next one.
Once back in Naples, we boarded a train to Rome and then a night train to Venice. We decided to risk it and not make reservations on this train...turns out so did everyone else on the train. It was a free-for-all. People in the hallways, scoping out available seats. Luckily we found two together in a car filled with three men. Stinky men. We thought, oh well, they seem nice enough and hunkered in for the long trip to Venice. We dozed off and what felt like minutes later we were being awakened by the ticket checker dude. Once he checked our passes he paused on the guy across from me. They started yelling at each other in Italian and before we knew what was going on he was up and out of our car. He was getting thrown off for not having a ticket. Soon enough some seat vultures came to claim his space. After another few hours of restless sleep, the ticket dude came back to check again...the other man in our car started yelling in Italian and Angela and I just looked back and forth from man to man unsure of what was happening. Next thing we knew he was getting thrown off for not having a ticket. Mind you, this is all happening at 2:00 am. So with more room and the train thieves gone, Angela, I and the seat vultures spread out to relax.
Next thing we know we are being rushed off the train by a conductor. We are confused, so are the girls with us. In as much English as they could, they explained that the train separated from the one going to Venice and if we didn't get off now we were headed to Trieste....on the border of Slovenia and Croatia. So there we were...at some unknown train station in northern Italy, at 5:40 in the morning, confused and tired. But it all worked out and we boarded the next train to Venice.
Looking back we are grateful it all happened. Things won't always be perfect or go according to plan, and we really were able to learn how to abandon our own plans and make new ones. Though we do wish we could have had a sunny day on Capri.
Venice was fantastic. It was a Saturday, and there were giant fish markets and fruit/vegetable markets going on. We wandered around for hours chasing the sunny streets and taking in one of the strangest cities on the planet. We had a fantastic breakfast at a little pastry shop. And made our way over to Saint Marks basilica where we people watched for a while. Angela actually coaxed a pigeon to sit on her arm! She found a piece of bread and the bird jumped on her! Her reaction was priceless. We then made our way back to the markets and purchased random veggies, fruits, cheeses and bread and had ourselves a little Venetian picnic on the side of the Grand Canal. We had to fight off pigeons the whole time, but it was great. Eventually we got too tired to keep going, and we went to our hostel camping ground (we got a whole cabin this time!). We are crazy party animals, and fell fast asleep by 9:00 pm.
What we learned these few days:
1. Kids in Capri are just like kids at home. One ran up behind me and did that whole "I'm gonna tap you on one shoulder then run away from the other side" thing. It cracked us up. We watched him run back to his friends and they were all giggling.
2. Italians DO NOT want you to put your feet up on the train seats.
3. Naples is no joke. Three different people on the tram warned us to hold onto our bags really tightly.
4. Even when everything goes wrong, and we are a little lost and confused Angela and I still have a blast. We can't help but laugh (way too loud most of the time) everywhere we are. She puts things in perspective when I'm being a bit of a baby, and always forces me to remember the positive. BEST. TRAVEL. BUD. EVER.
We are now on a train to Spiez Switzerland and from there we will go to Interlaken, then Gimmelwald Mountain Hostel. Not gonna lie, I'm probably most excited for this stop of the trip. But we learned from our mistakes, and we are not making any bold statements in the hopes that we won't jinx it this time. More later!
Lots of Love,
Angela & Lauren
Murphy's Law
Well, it happened. That dreaded day that you never want, but always expect. That one day where everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. It all started when Angela casually mentioned on our train from Rome, "we haven't missed a train yet!". The day was further jinxed while waiting for a ferry in Sorrento when I said, "tomorrow is going to be the best 24 hours of our lives." Basically we learned that neither Angela nor I have the gift of prophecy. Sooooo here's what happened..
We took the train into Naples where we were going to switch onto a smaller train to take us to Pompeii. Naples is nuts. Even the train station proved seedy with old creepy men (Angela can attest to this) and random train children wrestling in sandwich shops. It was worth it though, because Pompeii was really cool. It was an ancient city frozen in time. We found out that most of the good stuff has been taken to the archeological museum in Naples, but it was still amazing to walk the ancient streets all the while staring at Vesuvius towering above. We got to see two of the victims forever frozen in their state of terror at the exploding volcano. We couldn't imagine the fear of everyone as they tried to figure out how to evacuate. Angela and I didn't expect Mt. Vesuvius to be so large, but even after we took the train to Sorrento we could still easily pick it out, standing much taller than every other mountain around.
We made it to Capri with relative ease, though quite tired. Our hotel was beautiful and we couldn't wait to see what fun the next day would bring. We started making a list; Blue Grotto, Beach lounging, mountain climbing, restaurant..eating, or just doing a lot of nothing and enjoying being on the beautiful island of Capri. When we woke up the next day, it was rather grey and cloudy, but we shrugged it off as morning weather. Then after breakfast it started raining...and didn't stop for the entire day. There was nothing to do but throw on our rain jackets and do what we could. So we shopped and ate for the day, then bought our ferry tickets to head back to main land. Turns out we didn't allow enough time to travel from the marina, back to our hotel to grab our bags, then back to the marina to catch our 3:30 ferry. But the "words give" up are not in our vocabulary and we tried our hardest. Picture, if you will, Angela and I running down the tiny streets of Capri, splashing in puddles, faces wet with rain, pants falling off because they are heavy and soaking wet with water, all the while hunched over with giant 30 lb backpacks strapped to us. Unfortunately we did miss our ferry, but got a partial refund and bought tickets to the next one.
Once back in Naples, we boarded a train to Rome and then a night train to Venice. We decided to risk it and not make reservations on this train...turns out so did everyone else on the train. It was a free-for-all. People in the hallways, scoping out available seats. Luckily we found two together in a car filled with three men. Stinky men. We thought, oh well, they seem nice enough and hunkered in for the long trip to Venice. We dozed off and what felt like minutes later we were being awakened by the ticket checker dude. Once he checked our passes he paused on the guy across from me. They started yelling at each other in Italian and before we knew what was going on he was up and out of our car. He was getting thrown off for not having a ticket. Soon enough some seat vultures came to claim his space. After another few hours of restless sleep, the ticket dude came back to check again...the other man in our car started yelling in Italian and Angela and I just looked back and forth from man to man unsure of what was happening. Next thing we knew he was getting thrown off for not having a ticket. Mind you, this is all happening at 2:00 am. So with more room and the train thieves gone, Angela, I and the seat vultures spread out to relax.
Next thing we know we are being rushed off the train by a conductor. We are confused, so are the girls with us. In as much English as they could, they explained that the train separated from the one going to Venice and if we didn't get off now we were headed to Trieste....on the border of Slovenia and Croatia. So there we were...at some unknown train station in northern Italy, at 5:40 in the morning, confused and tired. But it all worked out and we boarded the next train to Venice.
Looking back we are grateful it all happened. Things won't always be perfect or go according to plan, and we really were able to learn how to abandon our own plans and make new ones. Though we do wish we could have had a sunny day on Capri.
Venice was fantastic. It was a Saturday, and there were giant fish markets and fruit/vegetable markets going on. We wandered around for hours chasing the sunny streets and taking in one of the strangest cities on the planet. We had a fantastic breakfast at a little pastry shop. And made our way over to Saint Marks basilica where we people watched for a while. Angela actually coaxed a pigeon to sit on her arm! She found a piece of bread and the bird jumped on her! Her reaction was priceless. We then made our way back to the markets and purchased random veggies, fruits, cheeses and bread and had ourselves a little Venetian picnic on the side of the Grand Canal. We had to fight off pigeons the whole time, but it was great. Eventually we got too tired to keep going, and we went to our hostel camping ground (we got a whole cabin this time!). We are crazy party animals, and fell fast asleep by 9:00 pm.
What we learned these few days:
1. Kids in Capri are just like kids at home. One ran up behind me and did that whole "I'm gonna tap you on one shoulder then run away from the other side" thing. It cracked us up. We watched him run back to his friends and they were all giggling.
2. Italians DO NOT want you to put your feet up on the train seats.
3. Naples is no joke. Three different people on the tram warned us to hold onto our bags really tightly.
4. Even when everything goes wrong, and we are a little lost and confused Angela and I still have a blast. We can't help but laugh (way too loud most of the time) everywhere we are. She puts things in perspective when I'm being a bit of a baby, and always forces me to remember the positive. BEST. TRAVEL. BUD. EVER.
We are now on a train to Spiez Switzerland and from there we will go to Interlaken, then Gimmelwald Mountain Hostel. Not gonna lie, I'm probably most excited for this stop of the trip. But we learned from our mistakes, and we are not making any bold statements in the hopes that we won't jinx it this time. More later!
Lots of Love,
Angela & Lauren
We took the train into Naples where we were going to switch onto a smaller train to take us to Pompeii. Naples is nuts. Even the train station proved seedy with old creepy men (Angela can attest to this) and random train children wrestling in sandwich shops. It was worth it though, because Pompeii was really cool. It was an ancient city frozen in time. We found out that most of the good stuff has been taken to the archeological museum in Naples, but it was still amazing to walk the ancient streets all the while staring at Vesuvius towering above. We got to see two of the victims forever frozen in their state of terror at the exploding volcano. We couldn't imagine the fear of everyone as they tried to figure out how to evacuate. Angela and I didn't expect Mt. Vesuvius to be so large, but even after we took the train to Sorrento we could still easily pick it out, standing much taller than every other mountain around.
We made it to Capri with relative ease, though quite tired. Our hotel was beautiful and we couldn't wait to see what fun the next day would bring. We started making a list; Blue Grotto, Beach lounging, mountain climbing, restaurant..eating, or just doing a lot of nothing and enjoying being on the beautiful island of Capri. When we woke up the next day, it was rather grey and cloudy, but we shrugged it off as morning weather. Then after breakfast it started raining...and didn't stop for the entire day. There was nothing to do but throw on our rain jackets and do what we could. So we shopped and ate for the day, then bought our ferry tickets to head back to main land. Turns out we didn't allow enough time to travel from the marina, back to our hotel to grab our bags, then back to the marina to catch our 3:30 ferry. But the "words give" up are not in our vocabulary and we tried our hardest. Picture, if you will, Angela and I running down the tiny streets of Capri, splashing in puddles, faces wet with rain, pants falling off because they are heavy and soaking wet with water, all the while hunched over with giant 30 lb backpacks strapped to us. Unfortunately we did miss our ferry, but got a partial refund and bought tickets to the next one.
Once back in Naples, we boarded a train to Rome and then a night train to Venice. We decided to risk it and not make reservations on this train...turns out so did everyone else on the train. It was a free-for-all. People in the hallways, scoping out available seats. Luckily we found two together in a car filled with three men. Stinky men. We thought, oh well, they seem nice enough and hunkered in for the long trip to Venice. We dozed off and what felt like minutes later we were being awakened by the ticket checker dude. Once he checked our passes he paused on the guy across from me. They started yelling at each other in Italian and before we knew what was going on he was up and out of our car. He was getting thrown off for not having a ticket. Soon enough some seat vultures came to claim his space. After another few hours of restless sleep, the ticket dude came back to check again...the other man in our car started yelling in Italian and Angela and I just looked back and forth from man to man unsure of what was happening. Next thing we knew he was getting thrown off for not having a ticket. Mind you, this is all happening at 2:00 am. So with more room and the train thieves gone, Angela, I and the seat vultures spread out to relax.
Next thing we know we are being rushed off the train by a conductor. We are confused, so are the girls with us. In as much English as they could, they explained that the train separated from the one going to Venice and if we didn't get off now we were headed to Trieste....on the border of Slovenia and Croatia. So there we were...at some unknown train station in northern Italy, at 5:40 in the morning, confused and tired. But it all worked out and we boarded the next train to Venice.
Looking back we are grateful it all happened. Things won't always be perfect or go according to plan, and we really were able to learn how to abandon our own plans and make new ones. Though we do wish we could have had a sunny day on Capri.
Venice was fantastic. It was a Saturday, and there were giant fish markets and fruit/vegetable markets going on. We wandered around for hours chasing the sunny streets and taking in one of the strangest cities on the planet. We had a fantastic breakfast at a little pastry shop. And made our way over to Saint Marks basilica where we people watched for a while. Angela actually coaxed a pigeon to sit on her arm! She found a piece of bread and the bird jumped on her! Her reaction was priceless. We then made our way back to the markets and purchased random veggies, fruits, cheeses and bread and had ourselves a little Venetian picnic on the side of the Grand Canal. We had to fight off pigeons the whole time, but it was great. Eventually we got too tired to keep going, and we went to our hostel camping ground (we got a whole cabin this time!). We are crazy party animals, and fell fast asleep by 9:00 pm.
What we learned these few days:
1. Kids in Capri are just like kids at home. One ran up behind me and did that whole "I'm gonna tap you on one shoulder then run away from the other side" thing. It cracked us up. We watched him run back to his friends and they were all giggling.
2. Italians DO NOT want you to put your feet up on the train seats.
3. Naples is no joke. Three different people on the tram warned us to hold onto our bags really tightly.
4. Even when everything goes wrong, and we are a little lost and confused Angela and I still have a blast. We can't help but laugh (way too loud most of the time) everywhere we are. She puts things in perspective when I'm being a bit of a baby, and always forces me to remember the positive. BEST. TRAVEL. BUD. EVER.
We are now on a train to Spiez Switzerland and from there we will go to Interlaken, then Gimmelwald Mountain Hostel. Not gonna lie, I'm probably most excited for this stop of the trip. But we learned from our mistakes, and we are not making any bold statements in the hopes that we won't jinx it this time. More later!
Lots of Love,
Angela & Lauren
Thursday, October 13, 2011
When in Rome
Ciao!!
Wi fi has been limited so we are posting two blogs at once. Right now we are on a train from Rome to Naples where we will catch a train to Pompeii and then a ferry to the island of Capri. But first let us tell you about Roma!
When we arrived two days ago, we were pretty dang tired. We had a difficult time finding our hostel again, not as bad as Pisa, but still enough to make us a bit tired and grumpy. Now when I say Hostel, I don't want y'all to get the wrong idea, this was no ordinary hostel, this was a camping hostel. We stayed in tents. Structured tents with bunk beds, that had a sliding door that locked, but still...a tent. And let me tell you, it was awesome! We had the whole tent to ourselves so we could be as weird as we wanted. The first night in Rome we decided to take it easy and chill out at the camp. This place was legit...it had a small grocery store, a laundromat, a restaurant, bar, pool, sand volleyball. It was fun. So the first night we did some laundry and went to sleep by 9:30..party animals.
The next day in Rome was my (Lauren's) birthday!!! The nice guy at the hostel bar gave us free birthday coffee and served us a tiny piece of pie with a candle in it and sang to me...very nice. So we got ourselves in gear and went into the Eternal City. After having little success with the catacombs (they close at odd hours and we couldn't figure it out) we went to Palatine Hill, where ancient Caesars and Romulus and Remus lived. We then walked through the ancient Roman forum and finished with the Colosseum. We were blown away with how much a city can change. Once a massive empire completely focused on being a "republic" and worshipping countless gods, is now the center for Catholicism and is almost entirely Christian. We stared at the Arch of Constantine and read about how one Emperor's heart was changed, and the religion of the empire was changed for good. Rick Steve's writes, "In A.D. 300, you could be killed for being a Christian; a century later, you could be killed for not being one." Now I'm pretty sure Jesus wouldn't have approved murdering non-Christians, but woah, that's an intense shift in belief.
Angela treated me to a delicious birthday lunch at this random restaurant we found. We walked from the Spanish Steps, to the Trevi Fountain, then to the Pantheon. Unfortunately by the time we were done with all of this, the Vatican was closed, so we couldn't go in. But we went anyway to get pictures and see it. Then, by sheer birthday luck and a little divine intervention we found my favorite restaurant in Rome that I ate at with my parents and brother while we were there. San Marco on Via Sardegna (that road intersects with via venito). What a perfect birthday dinner :) wine, cheese plate, bruschetta, chicken, steak, "broccoli" (more like greens, our waiter kept calling it baby broccoli), and soufflé. There was a table of Texans next to us who were celebrating their son's 10th birthday as well. Small world. After dinner we eventually made our way back to the hostel and went to bed.
Today we were rushing around like crazy to get to the train station in time. Ang's shoe broke on the bus, and we almost missed our train...but we made it and we are on our way.
Random things that happened in Rome:
1. Angela and I became experts at the Roman Metro and bus system.
2. Apparently I look Italian because people keep asking me how to get places.
3. We got invited to go with a group to party at the club Jersey Shore partied at while in Rome. We said no and hastily ran toward the Vatican to be cleansed.
4. Angela made my birthday very special and I'm so happy I got to spend it with her. Though I missed my family, it was still a great day.
Thanks for reading! More to come
Love,
A&L
Wi fi has been limited so we are posting two blogs at once. Right now we are on a train from Rome to Naples where we will catch a train to Pompeii and then a ferry to the island of Capri. But first let us tell you about Roma!
When we arrived two days ago, we were pretty dang tired. We had a difficult time finding our hostel again, not as bad as Pisa, but still enough to make us a bit tired and grumpy. Now when I say Hostel, I don't want y'all to get the wrong idea, this was no ordinary hostel, this was a camping hostel. We stayed in tents. Structured tents with bunk beds, that had a sliding door that locked, but still...a tent. And let me tell you, it was awesome! We had the whole tent to ourselves so we could be as weird as we wanted. The first night in Rome we decided to take it easy and chill out at the camp. This place was legit...it had a small grocery store, a laundromat, a restaurant, bar, pool, sand volleyball. It was fun. So the first night we did some laundry and went to sleep by 9:30..party animals.
The next day in Rome was my (Lauren's) birthday!!! The nice guy at the hostel bar gave us free birthday coffee and served us a tiny piece of pie with a candle in it and sang to me...very nice. So we got ourselves in gear and went into the Eternal City. After having little success with the catacombs (they close at odd hours and we couldn't figure it out) we went to Palatine Hill, where ancient Caesars and Romulus and Remus lived. We then walked through the ancient Roman forum and finished with the Colosseum. We were blown away with how much a city can change. Once a massive empire completely focused on being a "republic" and worshipping countless gods, is now the center for Catholicism and is almost entirely Christian. We stared at the Arch of Constantine and read about how one Emperor's heart was changed, and the religion of the empire was changed for good. Rick Steve's writes, "In A.D. 300, you could be killed for being a Christian; a century later, you could be killed for not being one." Now I'm pretty sure Jesus wouldn't have approved murdering non-Christians, but woah, that's an intense shift in belief.
Angela treated me to a delicious birthday lunch at this random restaurant we found. We walked from the Spanish Steps, to the Trevi Fountain, then to the Pantheon. Unfortunately by the time we were done with all of this, the Vatican was closed, so we couldn't go in. But we went anyway to get pictures and see it. Then, by sheer birthday luck and a little divine intervention we found my favorite restaurant in Rome that I ate at with my parents and brother while we were there. San Marco on Via Sardegna (that road intersects with via venito). What a perfect birthday dinner :) wine, cheese plate, bruschetta, chicken, steak, "broccoli" (more like greens, our waiter kept calling it baby broccoli), and soufflé. There was a table of Texans next to us who were celebrating their son's 10th birthday as well. Small world. After dinner we eventually made our way back to the hostel and went to bed.
Today we were rushing around like crazy to get to the train station in time. Ang's shoe broke on the bus, and we almost missed our train...but we made it and we are on our way.
Random things that happened in Rome:
1. Angela and I became experts at the Roman Metro and bus system.
2. Apparently I look Italian because people keep asking me how to get places.
3. We got invited to go with a group to party at the club Jersey Shore partied at while in Rome. We said no and hastily ran toward the Vatican to be cleansed.
4. Angela made my birthday very special and I'm so happy I got to spend it with her. Though I missed my family, it was still a great day.
Thanks for reading! More to come
Love,
A&L
Our Train of Thought
Good Morning from Italy!
So much has happened since our last entry. Sorry we haven't been as devoted blog writers as we should, sometimes we just get too tired and sleep instead :/ anyway, where did we leave off....Versailles
So we actually did wake up early just like we planned to take our pilgrimage to the most decadent, embellished, beautiful palace in Europe. It was HUGE! Built by Louis XIV and was home to only two other French King's after that. Louis XV and the poor Louis XVI...who as you all know was the poor sucker who got his head chopped off by la guillotine. This palace was unreal. It was the definition of overindulgence. We got to see where Louis and Marie Antoinette were married, where they slept, ate, partied...it was good to be the king. Until a mob of furious peasants came knocking on your door and dragged you off in your sleep. The gardens were amazing as well, and we got to see the fountains working which was beautiful.
After Versailles we went back to Paris to fit in some last minute sight seeing before our night train. We walked down the Champs Élysées down to the Arc de Triumph. We took a trillion pictures at the Eiffel Tower. We had an excellent dinner where we sat next to a mother/daughter pair from Texas! They were so sweet and very helpful. We then ran (literally ran) back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all sparkly at night..we didn't make it in time, so we sat on a bench for an hour waiting for the sparkles to start again. It was totally worth it. We freaked out the locals by singing French songs as we watched the tower glow...it was lovely.
Then we said goodbye to Paris and boarded our 10:25 night train to Nice. Man we're glad we did that, cause that was a ten hour train ride, and we slept through most of it. Lets clarify one thing during this blog, we are coming back to Nice. Holy Cow. Everything about it was amazing. Our Hostel was wonderful, the weather was gorgeous, the beach...heaven. Our hostel was the most welcoming place yet. It was basically run by Aussies, and inhabited by tons of college age travelers just like us.
Right off the bat we met a girl named Alisha who was from Sidney Australia. She was traveling alone after a business trip and we hit it off right away! She had been in Nice a couple days so she knew how to get around better than us. We took the tram to the market where we saw flowers, soaps and food. We went down to the beautiful beach and ate our bread, cheese, olive and fruit picnic lunch. We decided to take the bus to a better beach, but after laying out for about 30 minutes the sun went behind the clouds so we left. The French coast is sooo picturesque. The water was crystal clear, mountains were lined with cute village houses of different colors, and there were so many people leisurely enjoying themselves in the sun, some clothed, some not so much. I feel that things are so much simpler here in the smaller towns than in America. It seems that people do little to impress others and that there are few trying to 'keep up with the Jones'. I love this aspect of Europeans that claims 'here I am, take it or leave it.'
That night Alisha shared some delicious pasta with us and we split a pizza from the hostel. We met our Dutch friend Villem, who we met on the bus, at a bar called Wayne's. Turns out Villem just graduated from a university in Amsterdam with a Sport Marketing degree! So Lauren and Villem had a lot in common. We heard it was awesome and we felt right at home with the band playing country music. We went back quite early, for we had to catch our train to Pisa at 7:50.
We got to Pisa around 2 and took forever to find the hostel. Over an hour later, 15 kg bags still on our backs, we made it to the hostel which was literally down the street from the Leaning Tower to find out that something was wrong and we had to stay at another place. Quite frustrated, we were taken to a hostel 10 minutes away. We were bummed that we were now so far from the tower, but made the best of the situation. Luckily we got a discount on the room and a discount for a restaurant close to the tower. We got pretty and went to take pictures by the tower. I was surprised to see how much the tower actually leans; they weren't lying when they called it that! It was funny to see so many tourists doing the typical 'I'm pushing the tower over' and 'Ah! The tower's falling on me' poses and we joined right in and shamelessly took some of our own. We ate pizza (again) and walked back to our hostel by 10. We were curious to see who would be in the two extra beds in our room and were pleasantly enthused to find two middle aged women from Lithuania. They loudly talked our ears off and gave us tips about Rome. They were gone when we got up and we headed to the train station again. Destination: Rome.
Lauren and I both decided that we don't really mind and almost anticipate our time on trains for it gives us time to soak everything in. About an hour ago we had a great conversation about what we have learned about ourselves so far on the trip. Some things, like our flaws, are hard to come to terms with, but I am so thankful that we have each other to help us learn and become better. Although confrontational conversations can be difficult, after getting some things off our chest I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that even though we get lost and sometimes drive each other crazy, I have the best travel companion anyone could ask for!
So much has happened since our last entry. Sorry we haven't been as devoted blog writers as we should, sometimes we just get too tired and sleep instead :/ anyway, where did we leave off....Versailles
So we actually did wake up early just like we planned to take our pilgrimage to the most decadent, embellished, beautiful palace in Europe. It was HUGE! Built by Louis XIV and was home to only two other French King's after that. Louis XV and the poor Louis XVI...who as you all know was the poor sucker who got his head chopped off by la guillotine. This palace was unreal. It was the definition of overindulgence. We got to see where Louis and Marie Antoinette were married, where they slept, ate, partied...it was good to be the king. Until a mob of furious peasants came knocking on your door and dragged you off in your sleep. The gardens were amazing as well, and we got to see the fountains working which was beautiful.
After Versailles we went back to Paris to fit in some last minute sight seeing before our night train. We walked down the Champs Élysées down to the Arc de Triumph. We took a trillion pictures at the Eiffel Tower. We had an excellent dinner where we sat next to a mother/daughter pair from Texas! They were so sweet and very helpful. We then ran (literally ran) back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all sparkly at night..we didn't make it in time, so we sat on a bench for an hour waiting for the sparkles to start again. It was totally worth it. We freaked out the locals by singing French songs as we watched the tower glow...it was lovely.
Then we said goodbye to Paris and boarded our 10:25 night train to Nice. Man we're glad we did that, cause that was a ten hour train ride, and we slept through most of it. Lets clarify one thing during this blog, we are coming back to Nice. Holy Cow. Everything about it was amazing. Our Hostel was wonderful, the weather was gorgeous, the beach...heaven. Our hostel was the most welcoming place yet. It was basically run by Aussies, and inhabited by tons of college age travelers just like us.
Right off the bat we met a girl named Alisha who was from Sidney Australia. She was traveling alone after a business trip and we hit it off right away! She had been in Nice a couple days so she knew how to get around better than us. We took the tram to the market where we saw flowers, soaps and food. We went down to the beautiful beach and ate our bread, cheese, olive and fruit picnic lunch. We decided to take the bus to a better beach, but after laying out for about 30 minutes the sun went behind the clouds so we left. The French coast is sooo picturesque. The water was crystal clear, mountains were lined with cute village houses of different colors, and there were so many people leisurely enjoying themselves in the sun, some clothed, some not so much. I feel that things are so much simpler here in the smaller towns than in America. It seems that people do little to impress others and that there are few trying to 'keep up with the Jones'. I love this aspect of Europeans that claims 'here I am, take it or leave it.'
That night Alisha shared some delicious pasta with us and we split a pizza from the hostel. We met our Dutch friend Villem, who we met on the bus, at a bar called Wayne's. Turns out Villem just graduated from a university in Amsterdam with a Sport Marketing degree! So Lauren and Villem had a lot in common. We heard it was awesome and we felt right at home with the band playing country music. We went back quite early, for we had to catch our train to Pisa at 7:50.
We got to Pisa around 2 and took forever to find the hostel. Over an hour later, 15 kg bags still on our backs, we made it to the hostel which was literally down the street from the Leaning Tower to find out that something was wrong and we had to stay at another place. Quite frustrated, we were taken to a hostel 10 minutes away. We were bummed that we were now so far from the tower, but made the best of the situation. Luckily we got a discount on the room and a discount for a restaurant close to the tower. We got pretty and went to take pictures by the tower. I was surprised to see how much the tower actually leans; they weren't lying when they called it that! It was funny to see so many tourists doing the typical 'I'm pushing the tower over' and 'Ah! The tower's falling on me' poses and we joined right in and shamelessly took some of our own. We ate pizza (again) and walked back to our hostel by 10. We were curious to see who would be in the two extra beds in our room and were pleasantly enthused to find two middle aged women from Lithuania. They loudly talked our ears off and gave us tips about Rome. They were gone when we got up and we headed to the train station again. Destination: Rome.
Lauren and I both decided that we don't really mind and almost anticipate our time on trains for it gives us time to soak everything in. About an hour ago we had a great conversation about what we have learned about ourselves so far on the trip. Some things, like our flaws, are hard to come to terms with, but I am so thankful that we have each other to help us learn and become better. Although confrontational conversations can be difficult, after getting some things off our chest I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that even though we get lost and sometimes drive each other crazy, I have the best travel companion anyone could ask for!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Ahh wii wii...
Bonjour!!
We are in Paris France! I think the last time we spoke to y'all ang and I were on the train to the London airport. Well, after an entire day of traveling and security check ins and lines we finally made it to Paris!!! We ended up just hanging out in the hotel the first night we were here, which turned out to be a great decision. We met a nice older couple in the hotel restaurant who were staying in the presidential suite. They were so kind, gave us Paris tips, their personal maps and lists of things to do. Then because they were leaving early the next morning and wouldn't have time to enjoy them, they gave us a bottle of champagne and a giant plate of fruit :) So that night we feasted on free champagne, kiwis, and a paper view movie of water for elephants.
The next day we took our hotel shuttle into the city center. I don't think we were prepared for how much more difficult it is to get around in a city when you don't speak the language. But we kept slowly trying to learn new words in French. After snacking at a cafe, we were walking around the Louve to find the entrance, and it started to pour on us! I mean like soaked through out of nowhere. We just couldn't stop laughing and tried to find shelter in a church. The French didn't think it was as funny as we did.
We then walked to Notre Dame and gawked at the massiveness of it.
But we didn't go inside, (don't worry, we did today). Next we got lost in the Parisian subways for about an hour and almost missed the Fat Tire bike tour we wanted to go on. Boy I'm glad we didnt miss it, because it was AWESOME! Ang and I agreed it was our favorite thing we did here. We rode around for about 4 hours with a break at a cafe in the middle. Met some great people and had an awesome guide, Matt from Austin Texas of all places. We then ate a lame dinner at some weird restaurant. Ang ordered salmon, aaaand it was raw.. I ordered ravioli, aaand I got a total of 3 noodles. Bad choice :(
Today we set a wake up call for 8:30, so naturally we woke up at 9:30 instead. We shuttled into the city and had a delicious breakfast of quiche and crepes. Then we eventually made our way back to Notre Dame. Wow. That place is beautiful!! It is so quiet and huge and ancient. We then decided to embarrass ourselves, so we shoved our jackets under our shirts and pretended to be hunchbacks of Notre dame (angela's brilliant idea).
After the church we walked down to the museum D'Orsay and wandered around amongst the artwork of Van Gogh and other painters that I can't remember. Ang has a souvenir from the trip, an illegal photo taken on her Ipad of van gogh's self portrait.
On our way back to the Eiffel tower we were looking very lost and confused with our maps out standing next to the river seine and two young Parisian students offered to help us find out where we were going. When they realized we were American and it was only our second day in Paris they wanted to take us to a classic Parisian cafe. (Disclaimer right now moms, dads, brothers and sisters, it was bright daylight, we never left the main street, and we sat outside where many people could see us..we were not being dumb we swear). What followed was a very funny, sometimes awkward, very memorable drink at a cafe. One of the guys was a bit theatrical and confessed his love to Angela, then he finished his confession with a proposal. Don't worry I got pictures of the whole thing. They claimed we would never meet a better pair of guys than the two of them, but they didn't even offer to pay for our drinks! Some gentlemen....but they were nice and funny. Glad we met them.
Then we went to a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Chez Gladine. This is a local favorite, hidden amongst the streets of Paris. It was packed with people. They sat us at the same table with a German couple on one side of us and two French women on the other side. So we got to make new friends :) Lucky they were there too, cause we had no idea what the menu said. Whatever we ordered was amazing and we both cleaned our plate. Then we went to a little Patisserie for some dessert pastries. Life is difficult ;)
Back in the hotel room now. Better get going cause we have an early day ahead of us. We are going to the Palace of Versailles in the morning!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!
Love,
Ang and Lauren
P.s. Mom, I cant stop singing Gigi in my head. Everything is Gigi to me. "don't you marvel at the power of the mighty Eiffel tower?" "I don't understand the Parisians" "what a marvelous place Maxim's is"..we have to watch it when I get home. -L
We are in Paris France! I think the last time we spoke to y'all ang and I were on the train to the London airport. Well, after an entire day of traveling and security check ins and lines we finally made it to Paris!!! We ended up just hanging out in the hotel the first night we were here, which turned out to be a great decision. We met a nice older couple in the hotel restaurant who were staying in the presidential suite. They were so kind, gave us Paris tips, their personal maps and lists of things to do. Then because they were leaving early the next morning and wouldn't have time to enjoy them, they gave us a bottle of champagne and a giant plate of fruit :) So that night we feasted on free champagne, kiwis, and a paper view movie of water for elephants.
The next day we took our hotel shuttle into the city center. I don't think we were prepared for how much more difficult it is to get around in a city when you don't speak the language. But we kept slowly trying to learn new words in French. After snacking at a cafe, we were walking around the Louve to find the entrance, and it started to pour on us! I mean like soaked through out of nowhere. We just couldn't stop laughing and tried to find shelter in a church. The French didn't think it was as funny as we did.
We then walked to Notre Dame and gawked at the massiveness of it.
But we didn't go inside, (don't worry, we did today). Next we got lost in the Parisian subways for about an hour and almost missed the Fat Tire bike tour we wanted to go on. Boy I'm glad we didnt miss it, because it was AWESOME! Ang and I agreed it was our favorite thing we did here. We rode around for about 4 hours with a break at a cafe in the middle. Met some great people and had an awesome guide, Matt from Austin Texas of all places. We then ate a lame dinner at some weird restaurant. Ang ordered salmon, aaaand it was raw.. I ordered ravioli, aaand I got a total of 3 noodles. Bad choice :(
Today we set a wake up call for 8:30, so naturally we woke up at 9:30 instead. We shuttled into the city and had a delicious breakfast of quiche and crepes. Then we eventually made our way back to Notre Dame. Wow. That place is beautiful!! It is so quiet and huge and ancient. We then decided to embarrass ourselves, so we shoved our jackets under our shirts and pretended to be hunchbacks of Notre dame (angela's brilliant idea).
After the church we walked down to the museum D'Orsay and wandered around amongst the artwork of Van Gogh and other painters that I can't remember. Ang has a souvenir from the trip, an illegal photo taken on her Ipad of van gogh's self portrait.
On our way back to the Eiffel tower we were looking very lost and confused with our maps out standing next to the river seine and two young Parisian students offered to help us find out where we were going. When they realized we were American and it was only our second day in Paris they wanted to take us to a classic Parisian cafe. (Disclaimer right now moms, dads, brothers and sisters, it was bright daylight, we never left the main street, and we sat outside where many people could see us..we were not being dumb we swear). What followed was a very funny, sometimes awkward, very memorable drink at a cafe. One of the guys was a bit theatrical and confessed his love to Angela, then he finished his confession with a proposal. Don't worry I got pictures of the whole thing. They claimed we would never meet a better pair of guys than the two of them, but they didn't even offer to pay for our drinks! Some gentlemen....but they were nice and funny. Glad we met them.
Then we went to a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Chez Gladine. This is a local favorite, hidden amongst the streets of Paris. It was packed with people. They sat us at the same table with a German couple on one side of us and two French women on the other side. So we got to make new friends :) Lucky they were there too, cause we had no idea what the menu said. Whatever we ordered was amazing and we both cleaned our plate. Then we went to a little Patisserie for some dessert pastries. Life is difficult ;)
Back in the hotel room now. Better get going cause we have an early day ahead of us. We are going to the Palace of Versailles in the morning!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!
Love,
Ang and Lauren
P.s. Mom, I cant stop singing Gigi in my head. Everything is Gigi to me. "don't you marvel at the power of the mighty Eiffel tower?" "I don't understand the Parisians" "what a marvelous place Maxim's is"..we have to watch it when I get home. -L
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
We see London, we'll see France...
Two days hardly seemed like enough time to explore London. But, surprisingly here we are on our way out of the city and we both feel ready for the next adventure.
After sweet Lloyd dropped us off at the underground, we found our hotel aka the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in. Hyatt Corporation really knows how to take care of their employees. The London Churchill was incredible, and we got to stay on the executive floor :) all the free diet coke, bottled water, cookies and coffee you can drink. Not to mention the happy hour and AMAZING breakfast. Anyway, back to London...
We reluctantly left the room and explored. We went to Kings Cross Station and found platform 9 3/4!!! The train station has set it up to look like a cart is going through the brick wall. All around the station were signs that said, "Hogwarts students follow the arrows to platform 9 3/4". Kind of awesome..
We then went to the British Museum and spent almost two hours wandering around the giant place. We saw tons of mummies, the Rosetta Stone and artifacts from every ancient civilization in recorded history. We had to rush back to the hotel to get ready for (drumroll please.....) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!!!!!! Yes you read correctly, Ang and I scored a great deal on Phantom tickets :) So after a quick change of clothes and a free dinner of breads, cheese and tarts we literally ran to Her Majesty's Theater and found our seats. It. Was. Amazing. I (Lauren) sobbed like a baby at the end and we stood applauding for a very long time after. I already want to see it again.
The next day in London, we lounged around the hotel a bit and checked out of our room. Then we went on a really great double decker bus tour of London with a company called Big Bus (we scored buy one get one free tickets!) We had an awesome tour guide named Samantha, who was incredibly entertaining, knowledgeable and interesting. We hopped off at the tower of London and took a boat down the river Thames all the way to Westminster, where parliament and Big Ben are.
Around 7 we met Lucy, Angela's friend that we stayed with, at the underground and made our way to her flat. She was so incredibly sweet and hospitable, so much fun to. After dropping off our 15 kg bags, we went to a pub for dinner and a drink with Lucy and her roommate Fred. What can we say about Fred...posh British accent, practical joker, sharp dresser..he was hilarious! We had a great time with Lucy and her friends, it wad really fun to see how real people live in London. Thank you so much for showing us such a great time!!
So now we are on a train heading to the Luton Airport where we are catching a plane to Paris. We were going to take the Chunnel, but when we looked at prices, a plane ticket was almost a third of the price! (Ang found that, she's good at finding stuff). So off we go to Paris..we are so excited to check out what the city is all about.
Things we learned in London:
1. There are quite a few little people here. Ang spotted 3
2. People do weird stuff on London undergrounds...sleep, talk to themselves, nurse a baby...that last one really made us laugh. She made no attempt to hide it!
3. London is a lot less friendly than anywhere else we've been.
4. Everybody has a different accent! It really is amazing how everybody sounds different.
5. Angela and I are stellar travel companions.
Airport is the next stop! See you in Paris,
A&L
After sweet Lloyd dropped us off at the underground, we found our hotel aka the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in. Hyatt Corporation really knows how to take care of their employees. The London Churchill was incredible, and we got to stay on the executive floor :) all the free diet coke, bottled water, cookies and coffee you can drink. Not to mention the happy hour and AMAZING breakfast. Anyway, back to London...
We reluctantly left the room and explored. We went to Kings Cross Station and found platform 9 3/4!!! The train station has set it up to look like a cart is going through the brick wall. All around the station were signs that said, "Hogwarts students follow the arrows to platform 9 3/4". Kind of awesome..
We then went to the British Museum and spent almost two hours wandering around the giant place. We saw tons of mummies, the Rosetta Stone and artifacts from every ancient civilization in recorded history. We had to rush back to the hotel to get ready for (drumroll please.....) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!!!!!! Yes you read correctly, Ang and I scored a great deal on Phantom tickets :) So after a quick change of clothes and a free dinner of breads, cheese and tarts we literally ran to Her Majesty's Theater and found our seats. It. Was. Amazing. I (Lauren) sobbed like a baby at the end and we stood applauding for a very long time after. I already want to see it again.
The next day in London, we lounged around the hotel a bit and checked out of our room. Then we went on a really great double decker bus tour of London with a company called Big Bus (we scored buy one get one free tickets!) We had an awesome tour guide named Samantha, who was incredibly entertaining, knowledgeable and interesting. We hopped off at the tower of London and took a boat down the river Thames all the way to Westminster, where parliament and Big Ben are.
Around 7 we met Lucy, Angela's friend that we stayed with, at the underground and made our way to her flat. She was so incredibly sweet and hospitable, so much fun to. After dropping off our 15 kg bags, we went to a pub for dinner and a drink with Lucy and her roommate Fred. What can we say about Fred...posh British accent, practical joker, sharp dresser..he was hilarious! We had a great time with Lucy and her friends, it wad really fun to see how real people live in London. Thank you so much for showing us such a great time!!
So now we are on a train heading to the Luton Airport where we are catching a plane to Paris. We were going to take the Chunnel, but when we looked at prices, a plane ticket was almost a third of the price! (Ang found that, she's good at finding stuff). So off we go to Paris..we are so excited to check out what the city is all about.
Things we learned in London:
1. There are quite a few little people here. Ang spotted 3
2. People do weird stuff on London undergrounds...sleep, talk to themselves, nurse a baby...that last one really made us laugh. She made no attempt to hide it!
3. London is a lot less friendly than anywhere else we've been.
4. Everybody has a different accent! It really is amazing how everybody sounds different.
5. Angela and I are stellar travel companions.
Airport is the next stop! See you in Paris,
A&L
Monday, October 3, 2011
2 Perfect Days In Warwick, England
Hello Friends and Family,
It has been a couple days since our last entry and so much has happened! When we got to the Birmingham train station, John was there to pick us up! We got to stay with my(Lauren's) dear dear friends Tony and Jan, Georgie, John and Lloyd. They are my British family :) John drove us into Warwick and we spent some time walking around the incredibly charming city. Warwick has a huge castle that can be seen from all over town, and tons of old Elizabethan style houses and streets. After having a proper English tea, we went back to the Dencer's home and Jan got us Fish & Chips! So delicious!!! We got to eat and spend time with Debbie and Phil who stopped by to say hi.
What happens next will forever be known as one of the funnest nights of our lives! All the Brits took us out for a night on the town! We went out to an area called Leamington Spa, "the best place in town" according to our guides. So here we were, two American girls with our fantastic friends John, Georgie, Lloyd, Matt, Dan and Sam. We danced until 4 am and even then were begging to stay. Love those Brits :)
Needless to say, we got home late and ended up sleeping in till noon! After a wonderful breakfast (thank you Jan!) we drove into Stratford. Most people know it as Stratford Upon Avon, the hometown of William Shakespeare. We wandered around Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare was baptized and buried. It was so old and beautiful! We then strolled around the river Avon and sat out on the Porch of a pub called the Dirty Duck. It was a drop dead gorgeous day and we soaked up every bit of it. We also went into the Shakespeare Theater and saw a very old stage and theater. We also got to stop by Hannah and Matt's house and meet their baby girl Jessica. When I came over to England 5 years ago I was lucky enough to get to be a guest at Hannah and Matt's wedding. It was such a great time getting to see them again.
We were invited to an outdoor cookout at Sam and Dan's house with the whole family. Tony and Jack were back from London and we were so glad! It was special to be a part of such a close family gathering on a Sunday night. It felt just like I was home eating a Sunday meal, watching the big game on tv. But this time instead of American Football we were watching Indie Racing! (I was watching the Dallas Cowboys game on my IPhone...I don't even want to talk about it..the loss is still fresh). Then we went for a quick drink at a coffee house looking pub. We went to bed pretty early and were up and ready when Lloyd came by to take us to the London tube. Thank you thank you thank you Lloyd for driving us!!!
I(Angela) LOVED Warwick and the lovely people who made it soooo special! Lauren kept telling me that I would love you Brits, but I didn't realize I would love you guys and enjoy our visit as much as I did. She was sooo right and I can't wait to make it back soon!
It has been a couple days since our last entry and so much has happened! When we got to the Birmingham train station, John was there to pick us up! We got to stay with my(Lauren's) dear dear friends Tony and Jan, Georgie, John and Lloyd. They are my British family :) John drove us into Warwick and we spent some time walking around the incredibly charming city. Warwick has a huge castle that can be seen from all over town, and tons of old Elizabethan style houses and streets. After having a proper English tea, we went back to the Dencer's home and Jan got us Fish & Chips! So delicious!!! We got to eat and spend time with Debbie and Phil who stopped by to say hi.
What happens next will forever be known as one of the funnest nights of our lives! All the Brits took us out for a night on the town! We went out to an area called Leamington Spa, "the best place in town" according to our guides. So here we were, two American girls with our fantastic friends John, Georgie, Lloyd, Matt, Dan and Sam. We danced until 4 am and even then were begging to stay. Love those Brits :)
Needless to say, we got home late and ended up sleeping in till noon! After a wonderful breakfast (thank you Jan!) we drove into Stratford. Most people know it as Stratford Upon Avon, the hometown of William Shakespeare. We wandered around Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare was baptized and buried. It was so old and beautiful! We then strolled around the river Avon and sat out on the Porch of a pub called the Dirty Duck. It was a drop dead gorgeous day and we soaked up every bit of it. We also went into the Shakespeare Theater and saw a very old stage and theater. We also got to stop by Hannah and Matt's house and meet their baby girl Jessica. When I came over to England 5 years ago I was lucky enough to get to be a guest at Hannah and Matt's wedding. It was such a great time getting to see them again.
We were invited to an outdoor cookout at Sam and Dan's house with the whole family. Tony and Jack were back from London and we were so glad! It was special to be a part of such a close family gathering on a Sunday night. It felt just like I was home eating a Sunday meal, watching the big game on tv. But this time instead of American Football we were watching Indie Racing! (I was watching the Dallas Cowboys game on my IPhone...I don't even want to talk about it..the loss is still fresh). Then we went for a quick drink at a coffee house looking pub. We went to bed pretty early and were up and ready when Lloyd came by to take us to the London tube. Thank you thank you thank you Lloyd for driving us!!!
I(Angela) LOVED Warwick and the lovely people who made it soooo special! Lauren kept telling me that I would love you Brits, but I didn't realize I would love you guys and enjoy our visit as much as I did. She was sooo right and I can't wait to make it back soon!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Ed-in-burr-uh (Edinburgh for all you Americans)
Well, it is officially October! My favorite month (this is Lauren by the way). We are currently on a train traveling from Edinburgh, Scotland to Birmingham, England. We are sharing car B with a lot of native Scotsmen and their dogs. Apparently sheep dogs are allowed on UK trains...go figure.
So, here's what happened yesterday. After a PHENOMENAL day and night in Ireland, we woke up (ang woke up, I never slept) grumpy and tired. Turns out we booked a flight on Obnoxious Airlines, aka Ryanair. Loudest, craziest Irish plane in the world. When we got to Edinburgh, I'm sad to say our sour disposition continued until Angela's wonderful friend Anna let us take a nap in her flat. After a 4 hour nap we were new women!
Anna took us on a fantastic walk through Edinburgh University. It was uncommonly hot and sunny so people were out everywhere enjoying the weather. One Scottish woman referred to the day as "scorching", while to ang and I it felt like a crisp mid October day. We walked all along the charming shops and pubs and made our way up to Edinburgh Castle. It was closed, but gorgeous! Nestled on top of a rocky cliff overlooking the city.
We then took a historical tour of the old underground city of Edinburgh called Mary King's Close. Long ago this was a normal city street where people lived and worked, but 300ish years ago the city of Edinburgh built the current city on top of the old one. In doing so they evicted all the residents and closed up the old streets forever, making it as if they were never there. Now what is left is a very spooky, underground city full of creepy, dusty, dark, empty rooms where families lived. The black plague and the bubonic plague tore through Mary King's Close and all of Edinburgh, killing 1/3 of the population. Mary King's Close was hit harder than anywhere else in the city due to it's high density population.
The tour was awesome, and the tour guide was hilarious. She kept trying to scare everyone in the tour with loud noises and jumping from behind walls, needless to say she succeeded and ang and I were constantly spooked (I was the real baby, grabbing onto Angela every time I heard a noise).
We then had dinner with one of anna's flatmates, Ian. We ate at a pub/club called Frankensteins. Then we had a drink at the Edinburgh University student union (they have bars ON campus! When the bouncer saw we were from Texas he let me know how ridiculous we are for not having alcohol on our campuses. I explained we could have them for tailgating before football games, but he still thought it was "rubbish").
Things we learned about Edinburgh, and ourselves:
1. Angela CAN get embarrassed! We went to a cafe called The Elephant House, which is where JK Rowling, inspired by the beautiful view of Edinburgh castle, first thought up Harry Potter. Needless to say I behaved like a starstruck teenager, wanting pictures from every angle and even borrowing a waitresses pen to pretend like we were writing on napkins. Apparently this is not cool...
2. Anthropology Majors are the BEST tour guides! Thank you so much Anna, Ian and Beverly! We learned so much from y'all and had an amazing time.
3. Scottish and Irish people are the nicest people in the world! Always helping us out even when we don't ask for it (shout out to the old couple on the bus who basically walked us to the train station).
4. We don't know anything about our own country. These people are so educated in politics and history, I'm almost ashamed of how little I've retained from my years as a student.
Ok, well ang and I are feeling a bit train sick, so we're going now. Next stop, Birmingham train station where my dear friends the Dencers are picking us up, and then off to Warwick! So very excited to see everyone!!
Love to all, and may the good Lord keep you in the hollow of His hand (Irish saying),
Lauren & Angela
So, here's what happened yesterday. After a PHENOMENAL day and night in Ireland, we woke up (ang woke up, I never slept) grumpy and tired. Turns out we booked a flight on Obnoxious Airlines, aka Ryanair. Loudest, craziest Irish plane in the world. When we got to Edinburgh, I'm sad to say our sour disposition continued until Angela's wonderful friend Anna let us take a nap in her flat. After a 4 hour nap we were new women!
Anna took us on a fantastic walk through Edinburgh University. It was uncommonly hot and sunny so people were out everywhere enjoying the weather. One Scottish woman referred to the day as "scorching", while to ang and I it felt like a crisp mid October day. We walked all along the charming shops and pubs and made our way up to Edinburgh Castle. It was closed, but gorgeous! Nestled on top of a rocky cliff overlooking the city.
We then took a historical tour of the old underground city of Edinburgh called Mary King's Close. Long ago this was a normal city street where people lived and worked, but 300ish years ago the city of Edinburgh built the current city on top of the old one. In doing so they evicted all the residents and closed up the old streets forever, making it as if they were never there. Now what is left is a very spooky, underground city full of creepy, dusty, dark, empty rooms where families lived. The black plague and the bubonic plague tore through Mary King's Close and all of Edinburgh, killing 1/3 of the population. Mary King's Close was hit harder than anywhere else in the city due to it's high density population.
The tour was awesome, and the tour guide was hilarious. She kept trying to scare everyone in the tour with loud noises and jumping from behind walls, needless to say she succeeded and ang and I were constantly spooked (I was the real baby, grabbing onto Angela every time I heard a noise).
We then had dinner with one of anna's flatmates, Ian. We ate at a pub/club called Frankensteins. Then we had a drink at the Edinburgh University student union (they have bars ON campus! When the bouncer saw we were from Texas he let me know how ridiculous we are for not having alcohol on our campuses. I explained we could have them for tailgating before football games, but he still thought it was "rubbish").
Things we learned about Edinburgh, and ourselves:
1. Angela CAN get embarrassed! We went to a cafe called The Elephant House, which is where JK Rowling, inspired by the beautiful view of Edinburgh castle, first thought up Harry Potter. Needless to say I behaved like a starstruck teenager, wanting pictures from every angle and even borrowing a waitresses pen to pretend like we were writing on napkins. Apparently this is not cool...
2. Anthropology Majors are the BEST tour guides! Thank you so much Anna, Ian and Beverly! We learned so much from y'all and had an amazing time.
3. Scottish and Irish people are the nicest people in the world! Always helping us out even when we don't ask for it (shout out to the old couple on the bus who basically walked us to the train station).
4. We don't know anything about our own country. These people are so educated in politics and history, I'm almost ashamed of how little I've retained from my years as a student.
Ok, well ang and I are feeling a bit train sick, so we're going now. Next stop, Birmingham train station where my dear friends the Dencers are picking us up, and then off to Warwick! So very excited to see everyone!!
Love to all, and may the good Lord keep you in the hollow of His hand (Irish saying),
Lauren & Angela
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