So here is the deal. The Ipad is not compatible with google blogs. I could have posted text while on vacation, but I really felt like pictures say a thousand words. So here it all is in one big huge blog entry with pics. It's kind of long so you may have to come back to it a few times in order to finish:) We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and hope you enjoy reading our blog.
And so it all begins~
August 15th~
So Jeff dropped his child (I.e. The dog "Cash") off at prison this morning. All jokes aside, the Purdy women's prison has a really great doggie boarding program. Yes, the inmates take care of the dogs, but they are supervised by non-convicts. A couple of our friends use their program and say the dogs absolutely love it. The dogs get 1:1 time a few times a day and group play time with other doggie prisoners through out the day, and obedience practice/training. Not to mention they are safely "locked in" and cannot run away like our little lab loves to do while we vacation. We sure hope he loves it too! Poopah (I.e. Gary) is taking care of our precious Pearl pup while we are gone. He and Ryan, the house sitter, will be sharing little Pearl pup. After getting the dogs situated, mom's BFF Lynn dropped her off, and my BFF ("bestbian" per Jeff) picked us up and shuttled us to the airport to catch our flight. Thank you Shelly and Lynn!
~~Operation art, wine, history, beer, architecture, and soccer (for Jeff) begins!~~
"welcome to Delta flight passengers...... We will be arriving in Amsterdam in 9 hours and 5 minutes". We left Seattle at 1:40pm on Monday (15th) and arrive via straight flight to Amsterdam on Tuesday (16th) at 8am. Aspirin on board for DVT prophylaxis people! Mom and I are encouraging Jeff to participate in hourly "sit and be fit" exercises so we have minimal venous stasis. Jeff's not exactly engaging in the exercises. We shall leave him behind if he gets a DVT... j/j. Felt like the longest flight ever, but no transferring anywhere.
I will have you all know that from here on out if it appears as though I am wearing the same outfit a lot....it is because I AM. Yes, my friends, 30 days of clothing and toiletries all in one (1!!!!!!) carry on back pack! But please do not be fooled, the flat iron made it in the backpack! Mom treated me to "eye lash extensions" before we left so no mascara for me! (I snuck it in my bag just in case.... You just never know)
So as we fly, mom and I are feverishly reading our little torn out travel book pages to learn as much as we can and see as much as we can. Amsterdam shall be an interesting little place...... I share with you a few quotes from the travel books:
"coffee shops also sell cakes, muffins, and brownies. As cute as they sound,l these should be eaten with caution, as it's impossible to verify how strong they are and the effects often don't kick in for one hour or more- and then can last for up to one hour"-- reference: "let's go travel guide"
"if you are looking for a different type of entertainment, be happy to know that it was determined in 2008 that having sex would be legal in Vondelpark- provided it wasn't taking place near a play ground"-- reference: "let's go travel guide"
DISCLAIMER: contrary to the assumptions I am sure some of you are making.....we will not be engaging in sex in the park or "brownies" in the coffee shops. We love our jobs and PA school way too much for a weee little brownie.
"bikes are a huge part of Amsterdam culture, and if you choose to go with or without one and then you make friends with locals, expect them to mock you for relying on your feet or trams". reference: "let's go travel guide"
Well God forbid we look like tourists! I mean, the back packs and American tennis shoes just do not appear touristy at all, right? So, from the airport we hitched the bus, got off where we were supposed to and there was no bike shop in sight? After a few locals pointed us in wrong directions we finally stumbled upon the bike shop.
Me trying to figure out the bus system.....what did people do before iPads? Pretty sure the iPad is our security blanket and we will probably get robbed because of it. I whip it out for everything!
We didn't look like tourists at all with our back packs and rented bikes?
And we were off to find our hotel, drop our packs and not "look like tourists" on the clearly marked three speed rental bikes. We only circled Amsterdam a few times before stumbling upon our quaint little hotel. We were so happy to take our backpacks off! Now mind you it is 8am in Amsterdam and it would be about 10:40pm at home. We were tired but didn't care. We dropped our packs and took off.
First travel mistake made by yours truly (kat).... Booked our first hotel for the 15th (cause we left on the 15th)...... But we don't arrive until the 16th (due to time change). Awesome.... They didn't give our room away but, still charged us for the night we were not there. I tried to barter a free breakfast out of the hotel front desk boy, to no avail. Guess this isn't like Mexico?
Amsterdam has a unique and interesting history that one should read about. Rick Steves says, "Amsterdam is a laboratory of progressive living, bottled inside Europe's most 17th century city. Like Venice, the city is a patchwork quilt of canal bordered islands, anchored upon millions of wooded pilings."....."city of the future, built on good living, cozy cafes, great art, street corner jazz, and a spirit of live-and-let-live."
Rick wasn't lying. Here are a few of the things we did today:
1. Van Gough Museum.... Incredible!
Mom and I found ourselves trying to diagnose what mental condition Van Gough suffered from as we scanned through the different genres of his works. Amazing! Many of you don't know this about Jeff, but he has a knack for art, and really enjoyed this museum. Mom and I were very impressed with his knowledge of, and eye for art!
2. Lunch from a street vendor in Vondelpark. Delicious! Brie on a baguette with tomatoe and salami? Yes please! And the coffee is COFFEE! Us Seattle-lites are spoiled with our great coffee and so often I am disappointed with coffee when I travel. This was a cup of coffee (well... Really straight up espresso). Vondelpark is 120 acres of beauty.... But we have no pic's? Probably too focused on not crashing bikes. I am not kidding! There are no real rules other than pedestrians don't matter. There is a serious art to this bike thing and I really don't think you can do Amsterdam without them. Side note: watch out for trams while riding bike. Jeff experienced a near miss, and mom almost urinated in her pants when the tram nearly struck him as he was crossing! Btw... There are NO bike helmets, anywhere.... And all the bikes are something from the 1960's era. Step one trauma anyone?
3. Westerkerk Church: built in 1631 and the artist Rembrant is buried somewhere in there...... But no one knows where? Yeah I don't get it either. We climbed the bell tower to see amazing views of this interesting city.
4. Cafe break.... And some Heineken's. Can't go to Amsterdam and not drink Heineken's!
August 17th
Well my friends we were so tired by the end of yesterday..... We decided to nap at about 7pm then wake to have some dinner and experience the “night life” of Amsterdam in which we have heard so much about. But...... We fell asleep and didn't wake until 1am. We sat and contemplated still going out as the bars and "cafe's" stay open until the wee hours of the morning, but decided to fall back asleep instead. Therefore we woke up quite early and started our day off in search of an awesome breakfast place before going to the famed House of Anne Frank. (Yesterday, the line to get into the Anne Frank house was literally 2 blocks long).
Nothing really opens until 10, and 9am if you are lucky. Because we still had our trusty little bicycles we were able to cover some great ground and found a little cafe off the beaten path and had some of the most delicious breakfast (apple pancakes) and coffee (their cups of coffee are micro....but straight espresso)
Then headed off to the Anne Frank House. There was already a small line forming at 8:30am,.... So we joined to line. This museum would be worth every second of a two block long wait. It was the actual house that The Frank Family and the Krueger family lived in while in hiding from the Nazi's. Everyone reads the Diary of Anne Frank in grammar school, but we all agreed that the magnitude of the situation was underestimated greatly until this visit to the actual space they were hiding in. The wall paper, floors, and many artifacts were all original. Video's played with interviews from Otto Frank's secretary who assisted in the hiding of these two families, along with a video interview of another Jewish women who met Anne through the fences of two concentration camps. I teared up as we watched a middle aged man wearing a yamaka walk through with his young son and explain all the terrible acts of discrimination to their ancestors. What a heart wrenching experience for this family. "an exhibit towards the end brings forth one of Otto Franks motives for establishing the museum: not just to remember the victims of the Holocaust, but to use that memory to work for a future in which such atrocities remain a thing of the past.". (Reference: Let's Go Europe) Btw, no pics were allowed at the house of Anne Frank.
So after this we needed a pastry and a coffee:). Check.
So the cool thing to do when you live in Amsterdam is to live on a house boat. And I mean boat. The boats are slightly cheaper than the normal flat in Amsterdam, but require annual moorage, a lot of maintenance, and the insurance is substantially higher. But they are definitely very cool. So we toured one of the house boats.
Next we visited the Museum Het Rembrant. Incredible! We saw where Rembrant slept, entertained guests, sold paintings, made paintings, and got attacked by his mistress after a fight over alimony, his massive studio and the room where he stored his “objets De arte”.
That's all for now!
August18th- August 19th
Fly from Amsterdam to Berlin via Easy Jet this afternoon. Only a 1 hour flight but it was actually cheaper than taking the train and way faster!
First U-bahn/S-bahn experience: since we rode bikes everywhere in Amsterdam we had our first U-bahn/S-bahn (train/bus/subway system). Super painless and easy to navigate! A few little "discussions" about direction and stops, but mom and I just let Jeff take over the mapping skills and we made it no prob!
First hostel experience: since we arrived in the afternoon and planned to wake early in the morn we reserved a hostel via my trusty iPad last night. Ummm... Who ever said hostels were cheap lied. Well..... I take it back. If you want to stay in a 20 bed barrack sharing one bathroom and shower it can be "cheaper" per say..... But by the time you add up three people's hostel charge you darn near have a hotel paid for, anyways, this hostel had some private rooms so we did that. It was super clean, spacious, and all around very nice. But it was in the ghetto of Berlin. Mom says, "haven't you learned you get what you pay for?". We could have gotten a cab and skipped past the ghetto....but we are on a major public transportation kick and decided we would walk it to get the "full experience". The place was desolate! Half bombed buildings from WWII still remain abandoned, now with graffiti in English and German. We walked past a "compound" of graffiti and the equivalent to our "tent city" in Seattle but about 5x bigger with razor wire separating them from the rest of Berlin. Long story short, thank goodness it was light out and that Jeff is pretty big. It was a purely harmless walk, but eye opening. A little bit out of our element. P.S We were too scared to take our cameras out to take a picture of Berlin's tent city:)
Our new favorite sandwich! Brie and tomato baguette! Hence the chipmunk cheeks in this photo.
Topography of Terrors- our "3rd Rich tour" was a four hour walking tour through all the monumental sights in Berlin. The tour ended at the remnants of the Berlin wall. There stood a monument and a museum called the "topography of terror". The museum recommended no one under the age of 16 enter due to the graphic nature of the exhibits. It was a depressing, terrible, and disgusting day learning about "3rd Reich" and Hilter's people.
Not sure if you are able to read the caption on the above picture but it describes how this little girl was sent to an "asylum" due to her epilepsy. She was later killed at a concentration camp.
This is the remnants of the Berlin wall dividing east and west Germany
You can see the remnants of bullet holes in the concrete of this building where offices are still located. There were buildings all across Berlin that are still riddled with bullet holes from WWII.
Checkpoint Charlie- mom was so excited to see Checkpoint Charlie. As a child mom and her family were stationed in France as her father was US Army. She visited checkpoint Charlie with her family as a child and recalls the importance her father placed upon many years ago. When she visited they were unable to cross the "berlin wall". Today we stepped across a line of bricks flush with the ground. These bricks draw a line through out the city signifying where the wall used to stand.
Next we were standing on top of Hitler's bunker where he committed suicide once he realized he lost the war. No monument or signification here. The people of Germany do not want any Nazi followers to visit or worship here. It is illegal to wear the nazi swastika anywhere in Germany. (then some dumb American on a tour was wearing a swastika with a red circle and line through it.... Signifying "no nazi/swastika"...... But still, don't be tacky! It's a wonder many Europeans do not like American tourists.
Just below where we were standing in this gravel parking lot remains Hitler's bunker.
Mercedes taxis, porshe, VW: So the taxi cabs here are all Mercedes? A porshe, maserati are not unusual to see on the street.
First impression of Berlin in a day: desolate, depressing, war torn and still damaged, angry people.
Second impression: a city full of very important world history that every American should experience.
12:22am on Saturday, boarded the night train from Berlin to Munich arrive at 1pm (not the fast train). The fast train was kinda expensive..... And we found a deal for all three of us to get to Munich via the slow train and a few transfers for only 29 euro total (btw..... Super cheap). But we were so so so tired. The first leg of the train ride were cursing ourselves for being cheapos! And then the sun began to rise......
Incredible! The sun was a ball of orange fire rising over the vineyard and hops fields of Germany. We crossed many German towns that were your classic movie like Bavarian villages with the most intricate churches and even a few castles. We were so thankful for this gorgeous train ride and experience. At one point a hot air balloon was rising in the sunrise...we don't have a clue what towns we saw or where we even were, we just rode the train and took in the views... And more pastries and coffee!
And then it was 10:30 or 11am and we were nearing Munich. We were emailed by our friend Ryan, who told us there was a futbal game in Munich that afternoon. Jeff tried to explain to me that Munich futbal is a sold out event at the Allianz stadium and there was just no way we would get tickets. Stop after stop, more and more futbal fans entered our train. All of them had beers in hand and red jerseys on their backs. The German chants were resonating through out the train. Jeff was seriously elated! In fact I am pretty sure he was happier than I saw him on our wedding day. He doesn't speak lick of German but next thing I know he is wearing a fütbal scarf and chugging from a "cherry sherry" bottle with the kids in front of us! The kids were actually headed to another game of a minor league team and were delighted to practice their English with us. As the train continued more and more fütbal fans boarded with their Byern München jerseys! We inquired as to how we could obtain tickets and they all informed us this would be nearly impossible. (insert sad face here). Somehow Jeff managed to buy some kids scarf from him? Another scarf to add to his collection. How I did not get a picture of this I do not know?
We arrived in Munich, dropped our bags at our hostel/hotel (come to find out many "hostels" have hotel sections for a little more money), and raced back to the train station. We really just followed the sea of red Byern München jerseys. (mind you we haven't slept but an hour or two here and there since we rode the train all night..... Mom is such a trooper!).
Jeff finds the booth to buy some scarves, and mom and I set off to find a scalper (yes,....also illegal in Germany, but we didn't care). We thought it may be challenging to find three tickets all together but let's be real: 1) this is my husbands dream, 2) we may never be back here, 3). we just stayed in a hostel for two nights....... and money talks! But mom and I set a budget we would not go beyond for the tix and ended up paying 30euro less per ticket than we expected.
Futbal (Soccer) scarf Heaven!
Boom!!! Here are your three tickets, all together, at Allianz stadium in Munich, Germany! Bring on the beer!
Side note: OMG.... I sure hope these tickets are real. Mom and I are no dummies, but we really had not clue what to look for on the tickets to see if they were real. We drilled the guy for a bit, he seemed to know what he was talking about, but we just crossed our fingers. As we each inserted our tickets into the entrance machine I held my breath! They all worked!!!! We were in. But we quickly realized we were seated in the middle of the opposing team section, right next to their "ultras" and crazy crowd (The people that bang the drums and go nuts with flags and signs the entire time!!!) But we still wore our scarves proudly and cheered loudly. Byern München won 5:0!
69,000 people!
So pretty much everyone takes public transportation. On the way out of the game there were police and riot control every where! It was kinda scary because there were 69,000 people squeezing themselves into the subway station (Sold out crowd with no parking lot at the stadium?!?!)...and it was like 90 degrees. I am not a nervous nellie, and neither is Mom or Jeff..... But this amount of people in one little space was insane! See the pics!
I am a day behind on my blog, the train is pulling into Garmisch. My iPad IS Pudding me off because The dann Auto correct IS a Laib in He Ass! So if there IS typos or werd Kapitals itsp IS that My stupid iPad IS really not very Smart, and i am Rückzug over it!
August 21st:
Woke up in small (and I mean small!!!) hotel room in Munich. We all woke up and looked at our clocks and it was 10:30am. We must have had way too much fun at the fütbal game last night, not to mention it is about 90 degrees here! Thank goodness cause it was cold and dreary in Berlin! But when you are primarily walking or taking public transportation the 90 degrees feels like 120 degrees. We needed the rest so I am glad we slept late.
Just outside our hotel was a delightful little cafe with some of the best pastries and cappuccino. We ate our breakfast and figured out how we were going to bus/ train to Dachau. Then purchased a baguette for the road. P.S. Not sure how all these European women are so skinny? Every time I turn around one of them is carving a hunk of bread off the roll in their bag? So I tossed a baguette in my bag too:)
FYI: Hostels are cheaper because they are in raunchy areas of town. Lesson learned.
Thank you for the visual Jeff!
Dachau concentration camp: was the first Nazi concentration camp opened in Germany, located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the medieval town of Dachau, about 16 km (9.9 mi) northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria, which is located in southern Germany. Opened 22 March 1933, it was the first regular concentration camp established by the coalition government of the National Socialist Party (Nazi Party) and the German Nationalist People's Party (dissolved on 6 July 1933). Heinrich Himmler, then Chief of Police of Munich, officially described the camp as "the first concentration camp for political prisoners.". (reference: Wikipedia)
Btw... Another unbelievable history lesson. The museum, artifacts, monuments, and manuscripts from this concentration camp were nauseating, disgusting, and simply unreal that people on this earth would treat others the way the people in these concentration camps were treated. It was embarrassing to learn all the details of this important time period in history, and recognizing all the history I just did not know.
For example: 1). Women who were sent to the concentration camps would bind their abdomens to hide their pregnancies in fear they would be killed if their pregnancies were discovered. They would volunteer for the hardest and most laborious jobs at the camp to decrease their risk of their pregnancy being discovered. They would trade their clothing with women who were losing weight due to no food, in order to obtain larger dresses. 2). The medical experiments done to the prisoners were absolute crimes! Injecting men with air to cause brain air embolism just to see what would happen. Binding women's breasts who were breast feeding their babies to see how long the baby could live without milk and to see how long it would take for the mother to stop producing milk. Hypothermia experiments by dunking men into ice baths for extended periods of time to see how long the body could take the cold before cardiac arresting. Removing the sternum from people (no anesthesia) while they completed medical experiments in order to more directly visualize the hearts activities. And many, many more.
We left Dachau depressed and saddened by the human race.
OMG..... It is so freaking hot here! There is zero hope for looking good. Can't keep a stitch of makeup on my face, and my hair....well thank goodness for the Brazilian blow out is all I have to say.
Haufbrau beer garten: ok so the biggest tourist trap in Germany.... But we just had to see it while we were here. And it was very cool. Lederhosen and dirndls galore, beer in mugs too heavy and large to lift, and a Bavarian band to top it off. We took a little bicycle taxi from he train station to the beer garten and saw much of Marianplatz. It is gorgeous parliament buildings and cathedrals on every corner. We are still in awe of how they could build such intricate and ginormous cathedrals back in the 1300's? But they sure did. Here at he beer garten we met the nicest man from Munich. (side note: it is no secret that many Europeans do not necessarily like us American tourists... That would have to be a side discussion over a few beers). Josef was this man's name and he spent much of our dinner and drink just discussing the history of Germany, his family traditions, and life in Munich. We just wanted to put him in our pocket and take him along with us. When Jeff ordered his 2nd ginormous mug of Beer, Josef kindly informed us there are 600 calories in one of their mugs of beer. At that time I cancelled my second mug:). Holy cow! But it was so good, so cold, straight from the ice on the Bavarian alps!
We decided we had enough of the German cities which are way huger (is that a word?) and more metropolis than I had expected. Why did I have a vision that every town in Germany was Bavarian style with geranium flower boxes hanging from each window? You know, just like Leavenworth? Well it is not:) As much as we enjoyed our experiences in Berlin and Munich we were ready for Bavaria. So we headed south towards a little tourist town called Garmisch near the Zugspitze mountain. Our train was set to leave around 1930.
And HALT! We went to retrieve our backpacks from the train station handy luggage lockers, and…. our luggage was STUCK inside the locker! There was no budging the lock/key/ or the door. We thought maybe we needed to add more money? Nope that didn’t work. Perfect.... Here is the service desk... Nope, its closed. Oh great, call this service number: nope! Office is closed. Great! Its almost 8pm, Luggage is stuck, train is leaving, not a soul in site! Mom found some lady at the western union desk who tried to help, but no luck! She called someone, who called someone else, who called someone else and about 30 minutes later some man came and released the lock and gave us our bags. A little delay, but we were happy, and caught the next train to Garmisch!
I think e train to Garmisch was just over an hour from Munich. We arrived and it was a gorgeous Bavarian town (just like what I expected all of Germany to be like…..yup, just like LeavenworthJ) FYI: tripadvisor.com and booking.com are the go to sites for traveling/backpacking. We found a B&B that was mediocre priced, slept three people comfortably, and had good reviews other than……just one bad review. Many people complained they could not sleep at night because of the church bells singing throughout the night, which were directly across from the hotel. We all brought ear plugs, so we were not concerned. Our B&B was gorgeous, old Germany, with ski themed decor. Garmisch is a short jaunt from the Zugspitze Mountain which is super popular in the winter (where the winter Olympics were held in the 1930's). Our room windows opened all the way up and literally one of the most beautiful churches was just across the street (streets are about 8 feet wide here). I just wanted to sit on the window sill and read a good book....but we went downstairs to have a cold local brew instead. Priorities:).
There were several bad reviews re: the church bells. But I must say it is a shame that any one would complain a lick about those church bells. Yes, they went off often, and also woke the town at 6am (seriously no one comes out of their houses or hotels until after the bells go off,....then the streets are alive). But the bells were incredibly beautiful, and like nothing I had ever heard….and yes, so close to our bedroom window. By day two I slept through them and found them to be quite cathartic. The next day we just had to go into the church. We covered our shoulders with shawls, and entered the church, only to find pristine beauty. It is almost 5 years to the day that our dear friend Cameron was taken from this world in a tragic accident at work. We said a prayer, and lit some candles for our family and friends who are only with us in spirit.
August 22
ahhhh... Woke to the sound of church bells ringing just outside the window of our Bavarian B&B! We ventured downstairs to the dining room of our B&B only to find an unbelievable spread of delicious food. Mom is in love with the warm croissants and the home made liver pâté (yuk! I didn’t even want to try it).
Today we ventured off to the Zugspitze mountain! On the train up the mountain mom told a story of how she fell down the Zugspitze as a child and her dad rinsed her wounds out with beer from the local bar. She even has some scars to prove it. The Zugspitze was pretty! I can only imagine how beautiful it is when it has snow on it. There was even a little chapel at the top! We would love to come back in the winter to ski it.
You take a combo of cogwheel train and cable car all the way to the summit. Ummm.... It was just over 3000 meters, I calculated that to be around 10,000 feet to the summit. All I have to say is where is our cable car up to camp Sherman or camp Muir on Mt. Rainier? Would make climbing Rainier a heck of a lot less strenuous. But I suppose it would bring a lot more people up to our sacred little mountain. We shall keep our gorgeous mountain to ourselves! (p.s. Our mountain is 100 times prettier than the Zugspitze.... At least in the summer.) But by the looks of the winter pics, it may give Rainier a run for it's money. P.s. Once you take the cable car to the top you actually have to climb bout 300 feet to reach the true summit pin. It was funny to watch the mounds of people dude up in their huge packs, 100's of feet of rope, harnesses and carabineers, boots rated for Mt. Vesuvius, and "hike" to the top. Interesting pic's I suppose?
You pass a huge green/blue lake called Lake Eipsee along the way and look down on it from the summit. It was beautiful and our pictures truly don't do it justice. So we stopped here, got off the cogwheel train and had some lunch lakeside. I really wanted to go for a swim but we would have missed our last train back down to Garmisch. There is a resort called Eidelwild right here on the lake where many US military people do business and vacation for cheap rates! Totally worth checking out.
We needed some laundry done and couldn't find a Laundromat anywhere? Nor was there an internet cafe so I could load all this to my blog? Germany is definitely not as "connected" as America. Not to mention barely anyone has cell phones. Well if they do they are not on them 24/7 and not texting every five seconds like we are. I am definitely guilty of this 100%. Also haven't seen an iPad yet. No one is even texting or playing games on their phones on the train. The ipad has received many curious glances from locals. Needless to say, Jeff made friends with the manager of the B&B after our late night beers on night #1. The manager told Jeff he would have the "kitchen staff" do the laundry. Jeff's laundry and some of mine were done by the morning. Still a touch damp but we just hung them to dry. That night we sat out on the street, drank beer/wine/water and did some great people watching. A school marching band of drummers and carolers marched by a couple of times. They were very cute in their dirndl’s and Lederhosen.
P.S. Everyone male here has a "man bag". (I.e. Man purse). I think they are so cute and trendy....but Jeff refuses to wear one (even though I have to carry all his "stuff" in my bag)..... Well here is a pic jeff with his man bag (I.e. Carrying the wifes bag). He says "it's not a man purse it's a satchel, Indiana Jones had one"
August 23rd
Woke to another bomb breakfast at the B&B!
Took wrong bus to the train station (my bad!), so we got off and hitched a cab. The trains are way easier to navigate than the busses I think. Well we did see the olympic ski long jump on our "getting lost" excursion.
Jeff has an infatuation with buying a fütbal scarf from everywhere we go. I thought this was a great idea until I realized not only does every town have a fütbal team.....but some have a few teams. Mom also bought some things, so we stopped at a DHL to ship some things home. Sure hope they make it!
We really wanted to go see King Ludwigs castles in Füssen (a little south of Garmisch) so we took an interestingly long bus ride to the castles. Sure hope the castles are worth it cause the bus is hotter than Haiti! We were leary of it, but attempted the luggage lockers at the train station again. This time it was hassle free and our luggage was released at the turn of the key thank goodness!
King ludwigs castle: couldn't take pic's inside :(. (like most of the cool museums and art gallery's). But looking at the outside pics, you can imagine the beauty inside the castles. The castle that is on the Disney movie "Sleeping Beauty" is modeled after King Ludwig's 2nd castle.
We decided for the sake of time we would go ahead and get a couchette (cheaper sleeping car on the train...... Sort of?!) and head to Venice, Italy! Haha! That was a joke. Mom was scared to sleep next to "other people" (we boarded the couchette car in the dark, 10pm ish, and there were already 3 people sleeping in our 6 bed couchette. Couchette's are not built for people Jeff's size....probably not even people my size?. But I slept like a baby! I swear I can sleep anywhere if I am tired enough.
We arrived in Venice, Italy at 0630 in the morning! More about Venice in the next blog!
August 24th and 25th
Arrived in Venice at 0630 in the morning. It was HOT and MUGGY as heck at 0630 in the morning in Venice. The train station in Venice is so ghetto. Nasty bathrooms, and no luggage lockers anywhere. Beings it felt 100 degrees (exaggeration) at 6 in the morning….we were not excited about lugging our backpacks around Venice for the day. We didn’t plan to spend the night in Venice so we were on a mission to sweet talk some hotel into storing our bags. Mind you we look like a hot mess since we just took a couchette (mom calls them “cooch-ette’s”) all night and the bathrooms at the Venice train station were so nasty we really couldn’t clean up too much. We found an adorable hotel right on the main canal to stop and eat some breakfast, and figure out where we were going to go all day. OK, so it was quite embarrassing because this was a high end hotel, people were all dressed up to dine for breakfast, and here we are looking a sweaty mess……with our back packs. Awesome. Anyways, we had a delicious breakfast and mom was able to sweet talk them into storing our bags for the day! Yay! Go mom!
After the sun came up the heat burned most of the mugginess off and it was definitely more tolerable. So first off, the canals are really cool. Just like the movies and pictures. So right away we jumped on a water taxi and headed to Piazza San Marco. First stop at the photo op spot of the Rialto Bridge! This was our first experience of the amazing architecture and art that Italy has to offer. At Piazzo San Marco we were in awe at the Basilica di San marco and the Palazzo Ducale. Just amazing that something so grand and intricate could be constructed so many years ago.
Look closely....its casket on a boat beside us.
Even the dead people are transported via the canals.
and the beer:)
Then we just meandered, and “got lost” in the streets, and canals of Venice. Yes, ladies, this is where the shopping beginsJ Any designer you can think of in the main shopping district….and I could smell leather from the streets! Yes please! So I just had to buy a cute leather hand-bag in Venice, so I did.
The streets, canals, and villages here were just adorable. The wine is literally cheaper than the water. Delicious house wines for 1-2 euros a glass. But what quickly realized is they sell wine by the bottle…..not the glass here. No problemo! We will take a bottle then! Delicious local Italian wines that were just heavenly (at 10 o’clock in the morning).
In the early evening we hitched a train to Sienna. On the train we met a really nice college student from a small town in Oregon that was also back packing Europe. But he was doing it for the whole summer! He told us he hadn’t washed his clothing in two weeks! What a wealth of knowledge and experience he was. It is always so impressive to me how college kids are so care free and laid back, just soaking all the culture and education in.
It was super hot and of course we happened to board the train without AC. Grrrrr.
We arrived in Sienna at dusk and Derek helped us bus to central area of the city where we met the lady at our B&B, “Joy”. After paying and getting the keys Joy informed us our room was actually a short walk across the city. Uggggh! We were so tired and hot, but put our bags back on and trekked to our apartment. It was well worth the beautiful walk to our awesome little apartment in the center of Sienna.
We showered and rested a minute before walking around the city center and landing at a cute little Italian restaurant. The menu was all in Italian, so we just pointed and prayed for the best. It was goodJ In Europe in general, but notably Italy, people don’t come out until 8pm and are out and about the city with their kids and families until midnight. Not sure if it is cultural or just cooler at night?....or both.
Gelato~ YUMMY! I don’t know why I have never tried gelato at home? Probably because I just simply love ice cream so much. But let me just say Jeff, Mom, and I began a new fad for gelato everyday, and sometimes more than one time a day. Limon (lemon) is mine and mom’s absolute favorite.
August 25th
I woke up super excited for today! Wine tour of Tuscany with Roberto! We were the only people who signed up for Roberto’s tour today?...so we got a private wine tour of Tuscany! Roberto was so awesome! He asked if we wanted his classic group tour or if we wanted his favorite history and wine private tour. Hello?... Of course we want the local tour of the small and quaint villages and winery’s! Roberto grew up in Sienna, and knows everyone in Sienna, and all of Sienna’s history. He, along with all others from Sienna, are very, very proud of their city, its people, and the history of the city. Rightfully so, as we learned, Sienna is amazing. Roberto was hilarious! I had to write down a few of his quotes for the blog:
“when you have been married as long as I have you become bi-sexual. Yeah, sex twice a year”
to my mother: “how do you expect them to make you grand babies when you come to Europe with them”
He also made fun of mom and I the entire trip and totally became “team Jeff” for the day. He said to me, “you must be blond”. Could have been because I asked him how to say “guido” in Italian? What? I thought we had a joking relationship? Or maybe when I asked him if he watched Jersey shore?
First stop: Vertine. A beautiful small villiage in Tuscany with only 25 families in the villiage. The pictures just say it all.
The view of Tuscan vineyards from Vertine
Next stop: Isodi winery. The Farmhouse "I Sodi" is situated in the heart of the Chianti Classico among its wooded hills halfway between the village of "Monti" and the Castle of "Brolio" in a hamlet called "S. Marcellino".
It was built in 1893. Its name "I Sodi" "Hard soil" probably derives from the fact that the house stands on a stony ground which is not tilled.
The house is built in the typical local architecture with a "loggia" with arches and a loft or dove-cot from where you can enjoy a beautiful view of the "Crete Senesi" and further on the "Monte Amiata". Reference: http://www.agrisodi.com/farm.html
Here, we learned all about the making of Chianti wines and the growing of the grapes in the clay hills. 70 year old twins own the winery, Franco and Danilo Casini (Come on, it does not get much more Italian than that). Here we sat with Franco and Roberto for a couple of hours in their private wine tasting room, surrounded by some of the finest wines from years back, “not for sale”, and wine artifacts dating back into the late 1800’s. In this room there was a bushel of dried flowers in a beautiful old brass vase. Jeff picked the vase up, only to find it was actually a 110mm artillery shell that had been tilled up in the vineyards that was from WWII, along with a German tank gas can.
Here we also learned how to taste “olive oil”. Who would have known? I sure didn’t.
Franco was quite proud of some of the wine awards displayed in this room. Rightfully so. Of course we had to order some wine and olive oil to have shipped home. What we learned: you cannot ship wine home form Italy via the post office or other mailing company’s. It gets confiscated at customs due to taxes and legalities, etc…. So there is one distributer of Isodi wine in the US, in New Hampshire in which we ordered from.
I had to use the restroom, Franco didn’t speak much English at all, but he sure was “one with the ladies”. Hehe! He was nothing but a gentleman, but so cute, and so sweet. He escorted me up to his house above the tasting room proceeded to profusely apologize for the messJ He said no ladies ever come into his house….I thought yeah right! It wasn’t a mess anyways.
From there, we were taken to a “truck stop” to eat. Yes a truck stop! It was seriously some of the best Italian food we had all week! And, the cheapest to boot. Four courses of food at the truck stop. And wine with each course!
Funny story about the white piece of tissue on the ground to the bottom right of the picture. Jeff decided to pic it up so there was no litter in the field. Only to find someone had defecated there! Haha! hand sanitizer please.
The windy road behind us is the most filmed road in Tuscany.
It was a long and beautiful day of wine tasting and sight seeing with Roberto. Sienna is truly amazing. The next day we visited the Sienna Duoma (church), Il Campo (city square) where they hold the Palio (annual bareback horse race), and relaxed in the square and drank more wine, and ate more delicious food. We really didn’t want to leave Sienna and I can see a return trip in our future.
As much as we didn’t want to leave, we had to catch the train to Cinque Terre, Italy the next morning. Cinque Terre in August is difficult to find a room….eek. But the trusty ipad and trip advisor found us an awesome B&B literally two blocks from the beach in Monterosso, Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre consists of five very different villages. Monterosso has the largest beach access. The other villages have smaller beaches but sit cliffside, and are also incredible. It is a simply walk or jaunt via water taxi to visit the other villages. We are exhausted at this point and seriously ready for a little R&R and beach time. In which, we for sure got for the next couple days in Cinque Terre. The pictures again, tell more than words I can write. We will also be returning to Cinque Terre some day for sure. Not one negative thing to say about Cinque Terre. Home of ficoccia (spelling?) bread, wonderful white wines, and anchovies.
GTL anybody?
I could have stayed in Cinque Terre for the rest of the vacation, but we had to leave for Rome.
We arrived to Rome about 10pm and checked into the gorgeous Hotel Oceana. BTW….almost every hotel/B&B in Italy had a “bidet”. Wikipedia says: bidets are primarily used to wash and clean the genitalia, perineum, inner buttocks, and anus. They may also be used to clean any other part of the body; they are very convenient for cleaning shaven heads, for example. Despite appearing similar to a toilet, it would be more accurate to compare it to the washbasin or bathtub. Not going to lie, mom and I had to Wikipedia how to properly utilize the “bidet”. P.s. I am pretty sure our next house will have a bidet:) TMI?
Ahhh Rome! We kind of had a love/hate relationship with Rome. The history, art, architecture, is so very amazing and incredible (see the pics). Cannot even begin to tell you how incredibly rich this city is with art and history. On the negative side: it is so touristy and everything is very expensive.
August 29th
Rome all day- pantheon, coliseum,
“The Colosseum is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering. Its construction started in 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus. Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.”—reference: Wikipedia
“The Pantheon: adjective meaning "to every god" is a building in Rome, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD.” Reference: Wikipedia
Took a little break outside the Pantheon
Jeff didn't shave the whole trip. Longest he has ever gone without shaving.
This isn't the pantheon, but just across the way from the Pantheon.
“Arco di Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312.” Reference: Wikipedia
Roman Forum: “is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. It was for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections, venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches, and nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men. Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum.” Reference: Wikipedia
This is the view of the colosseum and arc from the Forum.
Palantine Hill: “is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Forum Romanum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the other.”
And so so so many more sites in the city of Rome.
We couldn’t go to Rome and not shop a little bit:) Mom and I literally could smell this leather shop from down the little alley. “La Sella” leather is my newest best friend, and Jeff’s new enemy! http://www.lasellaroma.it/about.htm. The minute we walked in Jeff knew we were in trouble! Those of you who know us, I am always teasing mom about her purses. They have improved over the years….but she finally bought herself a really nice leather purse, and wallet to match. The pair is just beautiful and I am so happy she bought them from La Sella. The coolest part is the shop brands your initials into the leather for you before you leave making it a one of a kind piece. I liked her purse so much, that we returned the next day to buy me a La Sella purse too. We loooooove our new purses.
The next day we visited The Vatican City, St. Peters Basilica, and the Sistene Chapel. Just see the pictures and captions. ~Bone~chilling~incredible~. We were not blessed by the pope (mom was blessed by the pope in Rome when she was a child) because he was coming out the next dayL Oh well, we said a prayer and just felt incredibly blessed this day. Jeff was in heaven with the art work here. Jeff also almost got ran over here. Ugggh! Scariest moment of the trip.
The square where the pope comes to greet visitors.
Just outside St. Peters Basilica
Inside St. Peter's Basilica (no pic's allowed in the Sistine Chapel)
The outer walls of the Vatican City
The ceiling on the way to the Sistine Chapel. Art style "al fresco"
We decided to take a ferry from Rome (Citavichia) to Barcelona. We were running behind because I had to buy that purse before we left. We literally had to run to the train from Rome to Citavichia. Poor mom’s knee started bothering her, and I seriously thought I might die too. Once we got to the train station the track was literally the furthest track from the ticket area. Ugggh. We ran again. But….we did kind of feel like we were on The Amazing Race:) People stared at us too….I think they thought we were on The Amazing Race too. Citavichia is about an hour train ride from Rome. Then the Ferry ports were another looooong walk from the train station (not a darn taxi in sight). By the time we reached the ferry we were so crabby, hot, sweaty, stinky, and just dunzo.
OK so when I say ferry….it really wasn’t. It is called a ferry because cars go on the ship also…..but it is nearly a cruise line. It was nice, we had private cabins with showers and full bathrooms inside, a bar, a discothèque, a pool deck on the top with chairs to lay out on, a casino, and decent food too. The ferry ride was 22 hours and an excellent source of R&R before Barcelona. We dropped our things in our cabin, changed our clothes, and hit the top deck by the pool for our first pitcher, of many, of sangria. After the sangria we headed to the spa to sign up for much deserved massages and pedis for the following day (even Jeff). While Jeff hit the showers mom and I hit the casinoJ We met some very nice Romanian friends at the casino. I lost 20 euro but mom won 60 euro playing black jack.
Mom and I leaving the port of Rome (Citivichia) and headed to Barcelona.
They even let dogs on the ferry! jeff's new friend for the night. Every time we saw a dog it made us miss ours so much.
Lights of Rome
August 31
As much as we adored our R&R and poolside lounging on the deck of our “Grimaldi Ferry” we were excited to pull into the shore of Barcelona! We hitched a cab to meet Gary (mom’s BF) and Courtney (friend since birth) at Las Ramblas street (mind you the hippest street in Spain) where Courtney rented us an awesome apartment! We got out of our cab to the sounds of Gary and Courtney yelling “hola” over the tops of their Sangria bowls on the street café of Las Ramblas. We dropped our back packs and joined them for Barcelona’s famed sangria and delicious piaella. We spent the evening on the hip streets of Las Ramblas and had a great time catching up with our friends.
Jeff said we take way too many pictures:)
Sept 1
The next morning we hit the beaches of Barcelona! Awesome! FYI….if you wear your bikini top you are the minority for sure! No tan lines for Courtney and I, is all I have to sayJ That evening we did a tapas and sangria crawl throughout Barcelona, did sight seeing of Guadi’s architecture, and it was very very nice!
"massaaaaheeey"...."masssaaaageeee"
Tapas crawl!
Elevators are mega mega small here.
Jeff riding the lion.
Crazy nights of Las Ramblas
Outside our apartment....all ready to hit the train station.
The next afternoon, after some sight seeing, we headed to the train station, picked a beach town on the map, and headed to the city of Cambrils, spain. The best choice ever! We loved Cambrils and Salou (neighboring town). Cambrils: “One of our best and most treasured attractions, Cambrils fine golden sand beaches extending along 9 Km - the perfect place to enjoy the marvelous Mediterranean climate.”
“Some of the best drinking experiences in Cambrils can be found in the beach bars, known as 'chiringuitos' - during the summer months they will be open until late at night and they will allow you to enjoy a drink in the open air listening to the lapping waves.” Reference: http://www.cambrils-tourist-guide.com/en/bars/cambrils-bars.html
Our new friends: Laura, Joan, and Eli from Cambrils!
Thank you so much for showing us such a great time!
We spent the day on the beach in Cambrils then met our new friends at the local Irish restaurant. We asked our nice waitress “Laura” where we can go to dance? She lit up and said she got off work at 10pm and would show us Cambrils. Laura was so smart and kind. She spoke 5 languages, spoke beautiful English, was so smart, fun, beautiful, and dreams of going to Canada (along with every other European) one day. When she got off work she took us to her sisters bar where we shared a couple of drinks and met some locals. About midnight her boyfriend, Joan, a five star master chef, showed up to take us to the “chill bar”. Jeff rode on the back of his moped (hilarious), while the rest of us took a ride in her sister Eli’s car. I cannot recall the name of the lounge she took us too unfortunately, but it was seriously one of the coolest lounges I have ever been to and the best mojitos in the world! The lounge was Budha inspired/themed with the richest fabrics, gold’s, and décor. After the lounge we went to “club black” where we danced the night away to a live saxophonist. And I mean danced the night away…..we left the club at 4:30am and the party was literally just getting started. Bless the siesta in Espana! We needed it the next day.
Mom and Gary went to the neighboring medieval town of Salou the next day while the “kids” napped on the beach. Jeff got owned by the beach todayJ hehe! A few huge waves took him out along with his sunglasses. Whoopsies. Courtney and I thought he had a sun burn on his back….but we were kindly informed it was a sand rash from being washed up.
Laura asked us to meet her again at 10pm today so she and her boyfriend could show is a “proper club” called Purta Pricipe (I think) in Salou. And oh they sure did. I was Vegas style club and we danced and had fun again until 4:30 in the morning. Again, as we were done, exhausted, and leaving, while the party in Spain was just getting started. Jeff has been collecting Futbal (i.e. Soccer) scarves from all over Europe…..so many that I literally lost count. Laura’s boyfriend, Joan, surprised Jeff with one of his Barcelona (according to Joan, the only soccer team that exists) championship scarves. It was very cool.
We may or may not have barricaded mom and Gary into their room....oh we felt like kids again that night. Too much fun.
Sept 4th
We were wiped out from our long night out on the town but had to get to Madrid in the morningL Blah. So we hydrated, got some breakfast and got on the “bullet train”. The bullet train goes 300km/hr! Courtney met a friend on the train. Haha! Well, he wasn’t a fried of any sorts….he was a self proclaimed murderer! Not OK! Yes, the man was bragging about how he was no longer allowed in Germany because he kept getting into street fights and killed a few people. Hey Courtney: “we are stuck on the train with this freak! Stop talking to him!” He literally had one of those scary horror movie clown laughs and thought everything was creepy funny? Can you say psychopath! He was headed to Colombia…..but on the train to Madrid? OK?! Again…..stop talking to Courtney.
FYI....the bottom left corner of this pic is my new bag from La Sella:)
We got to Madrid in only 2 hours from Cambrils on the fast train. It was pretty awesome. So we spent the first day in Madrid sight seeing, a local open air flea market, and a little shopping. Madrid is a very cool little city rich with history. Speaking of history….we decided (well maybe I decided) it would be important to embrace the Spanish culture and attend a real live bullfight. Mom was apprehensive…..she said she recalled the bullfight she went to as a child and said it was barbaric and awful. It was only 10 euros so we all decided to experience the “culture”.
Don’t do it! The bullfight was the worst ever. This entire trip, we have been very conscience of embracing, and immersing ourselves in the culture of each country. I think Jeff hit the nail on the head: “female circumcision and slavery used to be cultural…..but it still didn’t make it right by any means.” These poor bulls are kept in the dark for 16 hours before getting Vaseline smeared in their eyes and let into the ring so they can’t see well. Round #1: a fat guy on a horse spears the bull to “bleed him out and make him weak”…..in the mean time the horse gets gored by the bull at full speed so the fat guy can get close enough to spear the bull. We literally watched the bull charge the horse, flip the horse onto its back, cast itself against the wall, ten “matadors” ran out and beat the horse until it got up, they threw the fat man back on the horse, and made the horse keep going? No checking to see if the horse broke it’s leg or was injured. Round 2: 3 matadors come out and spear the bull with “hooks” that continue to hang out of the bulls shoulders. The bull is tachycardic, tachypnic, tongue is white and hanging out, and basically the bull is ¾ the way bled out. Round 3: the “brave” matador comes out and dances around the dieing bull like he is some sort of a bull fighting hero. He attempts to quickly stab the bull between the shoulder blades with his long sword for a swift kill. But unfortunately the matador couldn’t “swift kill” a turtle if he tried. It took the matador 3 attempts. Then the bull is still half alive and drug out of the arena by horses all dressed up for a parade or something. Oh…..but don’t be too concerned, they do eat all the meat. Hello?.....where is PETA in Spain? I just kept waiting for Pamela Anderson to pop out of the stands or something with her PETA signs and faux fur. Oh my friends, but that is not all…..they repeat this until 6 bulls are slowly bled out and killed. Needless to say….mom and Gary walked out first, then Jeff, Courtney, and I shortly after. Never again, will any of us go to a bull fight.
Pre bullfight smiles.
This is a picture of the bull getting the horse?! Who thinks that is OK?
again....pre bullfight smiles.
See the blood on the horse's armor? not OK.
Really? the bull isn't even dead yet? ....ok enough of the nasty pics.
I think you get the picture?
September 6th
The next day we did sight seeing: cathedrals, catacombs, art and history all day. We ended the night with a flamenco dance performance, sangria, piaella, then a little wine bar right by our hotel into the wee hours of the night.
My gorgeous mom watching the sunset!
Jeff's usual position of reading the map. Thank goodness Jeff and Gary could read a map.
OK....this might be one of those you had to be there stories. But Jeff and I were walking ahead of Courtney and heard a scream. I literally thought she got jumped or stabbed or something?...nope! I turn around and her dress has been blown over her face and her underooos are in full force. This was a giant air vent....Marilyn Monroe style.
So Jeff almost kissed this dog's bum bum. He was kissing the dog facing us and turned to kiss the other dog right when the dog stuck his bum bum in Jeff's face. Haha! Sucka! Jeff almost kissed a butt.
Making friends at the wine bar. This a spanish cider beer that you are supposed to pour from really high in the air to make lots of bubbles then you drink it like a shot. Tasted nice.
Can you tell I just loooove horses? This was a warm blood about 17 hands high.
Gorgeous boy!
Catacombs with 500 pillars inside and not a single one is the same. All hand carved.
Cured ham anyone? Everywhere in spain.
This was at a really neat open air market. They had delicious food along with some "interesting" foods too.
Shoes anyone?
At the Flamenco dance performance. Jeff are you wearing a man scarf? It is cute:)
September 7th
PARIS here we come. Now this was bitter sweet because it was the last destination on our trip….but it is PARIS! We chose to fly easy jet from Madrid to Paris. Finding accomadations in Paris was nearly impossible. Note to self if we ever go to Paris again to definitely plan ahead. We ended up finding an awesome apartment, only steps away from the Louvre. It wasn’t cheap, but reasonable for a 3 bedroom apartment in Paris to say the least.
Our apartment was in this little district full of great cafe's, restaurants, and bistros. So fun. So we dropped our bags upon arrival and meandered the streets to get a bite to eat.
The hop on hop off bus seemed like a reasonable deal to quickly see the city and use it as a source of transportation. Our plan was to completely ride the full hop on hop off route (2.5 hours) then decide where to go from there. But….we got to the Eiffel tower and couldn’t resist getting off the bus. So we did. The line was a mile long to get up the Eiffel tower! Uggggh! Then we saw a little tiny line, after investigating, we learned the small line was the line for those who want to climb to the second level, rather than take the elevator to the second level, of the Eiffel tower. We are in! 681 steps later we were on the second level!
Notre dam
The opera house with the busts of many famous musicians between each pillar.
Below this arc is an eternal flame of the unknown soldier.
View from the bus.
OMG Courtney...I swear you talk to everyone. Cute pic though!
Shots on the top of the Eiffel Tower (cognac)! I swear we really don't drink that much...but these pics sure look like we do?
Pic from the top.
What?! It was windy and chilly way up there? Eternity scarves are the best.
They double as so many things!
Family photo time!
Jeff pretended to ask Courtney to marry him on top the Eiffell tower! Haha! Oh the looks they got! Hilarious. I guess you had to be there.
Next we had to locate Courtney’s favorite pastry shop in Paris. It was well worth the hunt! Courtney got her delicious raspberry tarts, and we all noshed on delicious pastries, breads, sandwiches, and espresso. To die for!
Lastly we toured Notre dam. Awe inspiring art, religion, and intricate beauty.
“Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in France and in Europe, and the naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture. The first period of construction from 1163 into 1240s coincided with the musical experiments of the Notre Dame school.” Reference: Wikipedia.
Pictures really do not do it any justice. Incredible. No flashes allowed in most places therefor inside pictures are not great quality.
Sept 8th
The next day we all split up. Mom and Gary took a day trip to Normandy’s D-day beaches, Jeff and I went to the Louvre all day, and Courtney hit up the shopping district. We all had an awesome time.
Normandy D Day Beaches
Map of the battle plan.
US soldiers cemetery
Mom and Gary!
The Louvre
Venus de Milo
One of the areas where you could take pic's in the Louvre
The Mona Lisa is the little framed picture on the right hand side of this panoramic shot. So many people trying to get close enough to look.
Raphael's St. Michael painting.
Very cool because this is the same mural that is on Jeff's side (tattoo).
Next stop: The Lock Bridge.
“The most romantic bridge in Paris, Le Pont des Arts also known as the Passerelle des Arts is the target of love lockers. Built as a toll bridge in 1803, it was the city’s first iron bridge and lying close to the heart of France’s prestigious Academy of Arts and Letters, is celebrated by poets and artists for its delicate ironwork and beautiful Seine views. Today however more than 1,600 different sized and shaped “love locks” cling to its railings the oldest apparently dated 2008. Lovers from all over the world, aware of the bridge’s romancing traditions, have padlocked engraved metal souvenirs of their mutual enchantment, on the Pont des Arts railings before hurling the key into the Seine.” Reference: Wikipedia
We had heard a little bit of a different story. We heard that you place your lock on the bridge, go home, give the key to someone special. When that someone special goes to Paris, they search for your lock. Once they find it they are to unlock it, make a wish, and throw it in the Seine. Either way, Jeff, Courtney, and I left our locks on the bridge.
So sweet! This couple was taking some wedding pics with their lock on the bridge.
Our locks....intertwined.
Courtney's lock!
Last stop: dinner cruise on a boat, seeing the Paris lights at night, from the Seine river. An excellent way to end our last night in Europe. Mom and Gary didn't make it home in time from Normandy to catch the boat:( But they just loved their trip to Normandy.
Sept 9th: we flew home to all of our animals that we missed so much! Jeff immediately went to go bail “Cash” out of prison. BTW: Jeff's futbal (soccer) scarf count was 37 (I think...but I swear he hid some more from me) by the time we got home! Here is a pic of the "man cave" wall now (btw....this is only one wall....the collection goes to the other wall and the pillars)
Our kids are so happy that we are home! So they are sleeping. They have a rough life. Meet Cash (the black lab) and Pearl (the little white dog).
We hope you enjoyed reading our looooong blog. We literally had 2500 photos from all of our different cameras. It was so tough deciding which to post because they were all so great. We had an amazing, unforgettable time. We feel so blessed in life right now. Life is truly great.
Love always,
Katrina, Jeff, Mom, Gary, and Courtney
