Hello friends, families, and friend's families. We have returned safely and are beginning to adjust to the time change. There will be lots of time for post trip-updates now, and they begin with the complete uploading of our trip photos. There are no descriptions yet, but there is a chance they will come later. If anyone wants to know what something is, just let us know the picture number and we'll be more than happy to tell you a short story about it. Ok, thats all for now.
http://picasaweb.google.com/matthensley1
Monday, October 1, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Proost!
Hello to all from Bavaria! We enjoyed a wonderful vacation from out vacation in Dubrovnik and rested our weary feet just in time to gear up for more sightseeing...So off to Venice we went, for two wonderful days and nights...no celebs to be seen unfortunately, we just missed the film fest. But we did enjoy numerous cheap pizzas, live music, long strolls, and romantic water bus rides...no gondolas for us....verrrry pricey.
We caught a night train to Munich and slept soundly, which is a good thing because we started our sightseeing right away with a walking tour of the old city..man will I be telling you all about that when I have more time...quite the historical epicenter for WWII and the nazi movement. After the tour we embibed some delicious bavarian beer with our guide at his local watering hole. Oh yes, people wear lederhosen here..seriously. Yesterday we took some time out to go to fantasy land in the form of an extravagant castle build by mad king ludwig, as the inspiration for the disney castle, this place did not disappoint. Ready to take on some heavier history, we took a guided tour of the Dachau concentration camp. I can go on for hours about that experience and our tour, but somehow a blog doesnt seem like the appropriate place to do it. I can just say that it is an experience not to be missed nor taken lightly.
Tonight, we are off on another train to Prague, where we will regale you with more detailed stories and photos...As always we hope all is well at home and can not believe that we will be back there with you all in two weeks....
We caught a night train to Munich and slept soundly, which is a good thing because we started our sightseeing right away with a walking tour of the old city..man will I be telling you all about that when I have more time...quite the historical epicenter for WWII and the nazi movement. After the tour we embibed some delicious bavarian beer with our guide at his local watering hole. Oh yes, people wear lederhosen here..seriously. Yesterday we took some time out to go to fantasy land in the form of an extravagant castle build by mad king ludwig, as the inspiration for the disney castle, this place did not disappoint. Ready to take on some heavier history, we took a guided tour of the Dachau concentration camp. I can go on for hours about that experience and our tour, but somehow a blog doesnt seem like the appropriate place to do it. I can just say that it is an experience not to be missed nor taken lightly.
Tonight, we are off on another train to Prague, where we will regale you with more detailed stories and photos...As always we hope all is well at home and can not believe that we will be back there with you all in two weeks....
Monday, September 3, 2007
Hey everyone, we've been relaxing on the Dalmatian coast in Dubrovnik, Croatia, for 3 days now and are starting to feel rested enough to update this thing. We left you last in Florence just before we split south for Rome, and plenty has happened in the in-between. Rome was hot, as expected, but well worth the visit. We spent our first full day there exploring the Vatican, visiting the tombs of the popes, admiring the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and generally Catholic-ing it up. We burned ourselves out in the morning by getting lost and walking the long way around Vatican City, so we rested up in a park before heading downtown to see some beautiful sights like the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and some really interesting marketplace areas. Dead tired, we made it back to our campground (yes, we were camping in Rome) to swim in our pool and read a little before an early bedtime. The next day we woke up early and spent about 4 hours exploring Roman ruins before the heat got to us, and after an afternoon dip we went back and spent the evening in the fabled Coliseum. It was bigger than life, and twice as old. Forgive the lack of color commentary but I have nine minutes left on this computer.
Two full days in Rome was "enough", but we would definitely like to return one day to complete our tour. The next morning we bolted (via a four hour train ride) to the rainy port town of Ancona, where we caught our ferry to Croatia. We didn't pay for a sleeping berth, so we just crashed on a couch in the bar like all of the other backpackers but were rudely awoken by the bartender at 1:30am telling us the bar was "closed"! How dare they! Sleepy and disgruntled, we pulled the cushions off of some chairs in a hallway and quite peacefully resumed our sleeping. By the time the sun was up, we were in sight of land and happy to be in beautiful Split, the largest coast town in Croatia. From here we caught a four and a half hour bus across the country to Dubrovnik. It was a decent bus ride, and at least we took solace in the fact that due to measurement differences, Croatian buses can go 30 km in the time it takes a regular American bus to go 20 miles. Look it up, it's true. We also didn't almost get left behind when the bus took a pit stop half way through, so rest easily parents!
There is so much more to say and I'm trying to get some pictures up, but they don't want to go up. I'll figure it out and tell you more about dubrovnik before we leave, I promise.
Off to Venice in four days though and will let you all know!
Adios!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Yes, I am aware it has been a while.
Howdy to the folks back home,
Our trip reached the one month mark two days ago. One month of whittling away a dishwasher's fortune on starchy foods and nights on springy mattresses. One month of sleeping in 17 separate beds and struggling through 5 different languages. And one month to go. Luckily it isn't (as the saying goes) "all down-hill from here". Feeling as fresh as we did when we boarded our train in Sacramento for the east coast and with one month of travel knowledge to boot, we eagerly await whatever awaits our footsteps. If the past month is any indication, the odds are that it will be up at least one flight of stairs.
We have one more night here in Firenze (florence) in the heart of Tuscany, home to the Old Masters of the Renaissance and some of the finest leather craftsmen in the world. We left you last in the center of Basque Spain, and it has been a mighty week (and a half?) spent most notably in the Ligurian Coast of Italy in the five villages of the Cinque Terre. The cinque terre is a land of such indescribable beauty that the words we've tried to use to describe it to other people make us sound like we've gone delirious with backpackers fever (or some similar ailment) so I'll try and spare some of the more grandiose adjectives.
The five towns (from north to south: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manorolo, and Riomaggiore, our home base) lie on a UNESCO protected coastline and are surrounded on three of four sides by some of the bluest, clearest water I've laid eyes on. The fourth side is most commonly bordered by a terraced hillside covered with green vineyards and farmland, layered cottages and rolling hills. Connecting them all is a 6 or 7 mile path along the cliff-face that spirals up the hills and down into the villages, about 5 hours worth of hiking in all. We chose to split our trek up between the three days that we spent there, spending the rest of the time soaking in the beach, eating fresh local pesto, conversing with our guesthouse host Sergio, and sitting on a warm stone bench, drinking cheap local wine and watching the sun set and the moon rise. Pictures will commence. I chose to leave out some detail partially because of time and partially because Emily probably wants to impart a little jealousy on you all as well. Mostly because of time.
There are still some gaps to fill in, but more and more I'm beginning to realize that we have a decently large (and dedicated!) readership who may prefer consistent updates rather than long chunks and then long boring waits, so it is my solemn (fingers crossed) promise to you all that to make up for this short entry that I will post more regularly, with more gusto, and more detail than you imagined possible. And pictures! So many pictures.
To all who helped us get to this point, financially or just with some friendly advice or well-wishing, thank you for an incredible month. Rest well knowing that we are fully in gratitude to you all and are having the time of our lives here on the other side of the world. This slice of pizza is for you..........
Our trip reached the one month mark two days ago. One month of whittling away a dishwasher's fortune on starchy foods and nights on springy mattresses. One month of sleeping in 17 separate beds and struggling through 5 different languages. And one month to go. Luckily it isn't (as the saying goes) "all down-hill from here". Feeling as fresh as we did when we boarded our train in Sacramento for the east coast and with one month of travel knowledge to boot, we eagerly await whatever awaits our footsteps. If the past month is any indication, the odds are that it will be up at least one flight of stairs.
We have one more night here in Firenze (florence) in the heart of Tuscany, home to the Old Masters of the Renaissance and some of the finest leather craftsmen in the world. We left you last in the center of Basque Spain, and it has been a mighty week (and a half?) spent most notably in the Ligurian Coast of Italy in the five villages of the Cinque Terre. The cinque terre is a land of such indescribable beauty that the words we've tried to use to describe it to other people make us sound like we've gone delirious with backpackers fever (or some similar ailment) so I'll try and spare some of the more grandiose adjectives.
The five towns (from north to south: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manorolo, and Riomaggiore, our home base) lie on a UNESCO protected coastline and are surrounded on three of four sides by some of the bluest, clearest water I've laid eyes on. The fourth side is most commonly bordered by a terraced hillside covered with green vineyards and farmland, layered cottages and rolling hills. Connecting them all is a 6 or 7 mile path along the cliff-face that spirals up the hills and down into the villages, about 5 hours worth of hiking in all. We chose to split our trek up between the three days that we spent there, spending the rest of the time soaking in the beach, eating fresh local pesto, conversing with our guesthouse host Sergio, and sitting on a warm stone bench, drinking cheap local wine and watching the sun set and the moon rise. Pictures will commence. I chose to leave out some detail partially because of time and partially because Emily probably wants to impart a little jealousy on you all as well. Mostly because of time.
There are still some gaps to fill in, but more and more I'm beginning to realize that we have a decently large (and dedicated!) readership who may prefer consistent updates rather than long chunks and then long boring waits, so it is my solemn (fingers crossed) promise to you all that to make up for this short entry that I will post more regularly, with more gusto, and more detail than you imagined possible. And pictures! So many pictures.
To all who helped us get to this point, financially or just with some friendly advice or well-wishing, thank you for an incredible month. Rest well knowing that we are fully in gratitude to you all and are having the time of our lives here on the other side of the world. This slice of pizza is for you..........
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The Golden City and the Marvelous Coast
Well my friends...things are, as they say, on the up and up. Matt and I happily left Madrid a few days ago and took a rather uncomfortable night train to Lisbon. Arriving at 9 am we lugged our bags over some pretty steap hills to our hostel..where a hung over and snippy woman let us drop our stuff and told us not to come back until 2 in the afternoon. Tired, hungry and smelly, we strolled the empty streets of Lisbon looking to kill time.
After a breif nap on a bench we made our way downtown, and what a downtown it was. The streets are paved in smooth golden cobblestones intermixed with deep black ones to create wonderful mosaics with different patterns all over the city. I was unaware how significant painted tiles were here until I started noticing buildings completely covered in them - a variety of patterns and bright colors that would warm even the weariest of travelers' hearts.
The next few days were completely wonderful, and wonderfully cheap as well. Matt and I managed to cook most of our meals in the Pension's tiny kitchen and explored the many hilly neighborhoods Lisbon had to offer, catching some great views of the city the higher we climbed. We also managed to see Europe's biggest Aquarium which housed the oceans biggest vertebrate fish, the Sun Fish, a truly strange creature that can be several meters long and way just as many tons...it is very pokey, needless to say. On our final day we took a bus along the seaside to Belem, a neighborhood with THE BEST (self proclaimed and affirmed by others) Pasteis de Nata...tasty tiny warm flakey crusted custard treats covered with powdered sugar and cinnamon...truly deadly.
The next day, we departed on another overnight train for San Sebastian. Finally, a coachette..how marvelous to sleep in a bed on the train...though it arrived at 6:30 in the morning. It was a fantastic trip across the Portuguese countryside in our little compart that we shared with a french family, whose 3 year old Anna was the source of much entertainment and laughter. There is something majestic and intoxicating about seeing a beautiful foreign land pass by your window as you listen to music...for us, it was Seu Jorge singing David Bowie tunes. As the sut set like a juicy peach dripping over the terrain, I knew that I would someday return to this place.
We woke up early in San Sebastian, which turned out to be a blessing. At 7 am there wasn´t much we could do except walk around and hope that maybe, we could find a place to stay. Our first impression of the city wasn´t the greatest...there was trash all over the street and people wandering about, still drunk from the night before. Thankfully, that opinion was quickly turned round.
After trying several pensions...there are about 6 on every block in the Parte Vieja, we found one with a room for us, for 60 Euro per night...well above our budget, but we knew this was going to be an expensive place to stay in Summer. So we took the room, and took to finding some breakfast. By this time, the dirty streets were suddenly clean and the drunks had all gone to bed. We had the city to ourselves and snacked on apples and peanut butter by the beautiful La Concha beach. After finding a good supermarket we bought some baguettes, cheese, and deli meat to dine on for lunch and returned to the Pension to get ready for a day in the sand.
We went to the third beach in town, supposedly less crowded but popular with surfers...Noah, you would have loved it. Warm water, 4 - 6 foot waves, and long rides. The sand was softer than any I could remember digging my toes into, and the water was great. Matt and I spent 3 hours body surfing, bobbing in the waves, and laying on the golden beach. When people say that sometimes you need to take a vacation from your vacation...they mean, get to the beach.
After an early evening nap we were ready to get out and enjoy the festivities of Semana Santa...a week long festival and international fireworks competition. The expensive room was well worth the free entertainment we enjoyed here. First we watching some of a sand castle building contest, then went and heard some really great, slightly trippy music. It was played by a band..no, a symphony, called Tirri Tarra that included a choir. They played kind of rocking, sort of classic, and sometimes new wave (the bad parts) but all and all was really incredible to watch.
Then, we sampled some delicious tapas and headed out toward the beach for the fireworks display. While most of the entrants into the competition are from various regions in Spain (each getting their own night to display) we were there on the biggest night of the festival (Saturday) which meant we got to see China´s fireworks. I´m telling you guys, I´ve never seen anything like it - the craziest, most complex, completely colorful fireworks you could ever imagine. I hate to say it, but they put Sonoma´s to shame...but hey, I suppose I shouldn´t have expected anything less from the country that created them!
This morning we slept in and got ourselves up just in time to see the Giant´s parade...a gathering of about 30 or so giant costume things maneuvered by people perched within them. Each giant danced its way through the streets to musical accompaniment of accordians and various flutes. Trotting alongside them were smaller giants - little kids dressed up sporting enormous paper mache heads - who would bop onlookers in the head with their balloons...pretty funny to watch a giant devil bopping a two year old over and over again, just to be met with laughter. It´s been a bit rainy today but we´re hoping the sun will break through so we can hit the beach again and take some photos of this unusually beautiful city whose french and spanish influences are reflected in the ornate architecture and flamboyantly decorated bridges, monuments. It is no wonder that everyone tells you to come here. Truly, you should.
After a breif nap on a bench we made our way downtown, and what a downtown it was. The streets are paved in smooth golden cobblestones intermixed with deep black ones to create wonderful mosaics with different patterns all over the city. I was unaware how significant painted tiles were here until I started noticing buildings completely covered in them - a variety of patterns and bright colors that would warm even the weariest of travelers' hearts.
The next few days were completely wonderful, and wonderfully cheap as well. Matt and I managed to cook most of our meals in the Pension's tiny kitchen and explored the many hilly neighborhoods Lisbon had to offer, catching some great views of the city the higher we climbed. We also managed to see Europe's biggest Aquarium which housed the oceans biggest vertebrate fish, the Sun Fish, a truly strange creature that can be several meters long and way just as many tons...it is very pokey, needless to say. On our final day we took a bus along the seaside to Belem, a neighborhood with THE BEST (self proclaimed and affirmed by others) Pasteis de Nata...tasty tiny warm flakey crusted custard treats covered with powdered sugar and cinnamon...truly deadly.
The next day, we departed on another overnight train for San Sebastian. Finally, a coachette..how marvelous to sleep in a bed on the train...though it arrived at 6:30 in the morning. It was a fantastic trip across the Portuguese countryside in our little compart that we shared with a french family, whose 3 year old Anna was the source of much entertainment and laughter. There is something majestic and intoxicating about seeing a beautiful foreign land pass by your window as you listen to music...for us, it was Seu Jorge singing David Bowie tunes. As the sut set like a juicy peach dripping over the terrain, I knew that I would someday return to this place.
We woke up early in San Sebastian, which turned out to be a blessing. At 7 am there wasn´t much we could do except walk around and hope that maybe, we could find a place to stay. Our first impression of the city wasn´t the greatest...there was trash all over the street and people wandering about, still drunk from the night before. Thankfully, that opinion was quickly turned round.
After trying several pensions...there are about 6 on every block in the Parte Vieja, we found one with a room for us, for 60 Euro per night...well above our budget, but we knew this was going to be an expensive place to stay in Summer. So we took the room, and took to finding some breakfast. By this time, the dirty streets were suddenly clean and the drunks had all gone to bed. We had the city to ourselves and snacked on apples and peanut butter by the beautiful La Concha beach. After finding a good supermarket we bought some baguettes, cheese, and deli meat to dine on for lunch and returned to the Pension to get ready for a day in the sand.
We went to the third beach in town, supposedly less crowded but popular with surfers...Noah, you would have loved it. Warm water, 4 - 6 foot waves, and long rides. The sand was softer than any I could remember digging my toes into, and the water was great. Matt and I spent 3 hours body surfing, bobbing in the waves, and laying on the golden beach. When people say that sometimes you need to take a vacation from your vacation...they mean, get to the beach.
After an early evening nap we were ready to get out and enjoy the festivities of Semana Santa...a week long festival and international fireworks competition. The expensive room was well worth the free entertainment we enjoyed here. First we watching some of a sand castle building contest, then went and heard some really great, slightly trippy music. It was played by a band..no, a symphony, called Tirri Tarra that included a choir. They played kind of rocking, sort of classic, and sometimes new wave (the bad parts) but all and all was really incredible to watch.
Then, we sampled some delicious tapas and headed out toward the beach for the fireworks display. While most of the entrants into the competition are from various regions in Spain (each getting their own night to display) we were there on the biggest night of the festival (Saturday) which meant we got to see China´s fireworks. I´m telling you guys, I´ve never seen anything like it - the craziest, most complex, completely colorful fireworks you could ever imagine. I hate to say it, but they put Sonoma´s to shame...but hey, I suppose I shouldn´t have expected anything less from the country that created them!
This morning we slept in and got ourselves up just in time to see the Giant´s parade...a gathering of about 30 or so giant costume things maneuvered by people perched within them. Each giant danced its way through the streets to musical accompaniment of accordians and various flutes. Trotting alongside them were smaller giants - little kids dressed up sporting enormous paper mache heads - who would bop onlookers in the head with their balloons...pretty funny to watch a giant devil bopping a two year old over and over again, just to be met with laughter. It´s been a bit rainy today but we´re hoping the sun will break through so we can hit the beach again and take some photos of this unusually beautiful city whose french and spanish influences are reflected in the ornate architecture and flamboyantly decorated bridges, monuments. It is no wonder that everyone tells you to come here. Truly, you should.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Alright everyone, it´s time for some of MY photos (this is Emily). Matt´s monopoly must end :) Anyways, this is a view of one tiny area in the gardens at Versailles. They actually go for miles and include several small palaces and a venetian canal that Louis XIV rerouted a river to create, also the canal housed a full sized 28 (?) gun battle ship..pretty nuts. So here are some more photos, out of order for our blog timeline but in order in their own timeline..got it?
This was the view out of our hotel room window in Paris.
One of the more elegant metro stops in Paris, and one of the few still holding onto its art noveau style. This was also our connection to the rest of the city.
Ah the Alps, I feel that I´ll never properly capture their magnificence in words or photos. You simply have to be face to face with these mountains to truly appreciate them, to hike along a ridge side trail with the peaks so close you swear you could almost touch them. This was taken on Matt and I´s hike up to Murren, a beautiful Swiss town/chalet/hamlet. This town, and many others are reached by wonderful cable cars, trains, and terrifyingly claustrophobic funiculars...but you gotta do it. Even you mom. It´s an experience you´ll never forget.
I think you get the idea.
Oh my Gaudi!....I had to, sorry. But the point is, this guy was nuts - in a good way. His buildings and concepts behind them are to be admired if for no other reason than they were trying to be something no one had seen before. Plus they´re pretty cool looking, especially if you´re into Dr. Seuss. This is one of the many building in/surrounding the Park Guell...a very cool green space in the middle-ish of Barcelona. While we were there Matt and I saw Woody Allen filming a scene for his new movie with Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem...I took a photo from far far away, damn not having telephoto. It was kinda cool to see, but pretty annoying because they were filming on this awesome staircase the we were forbidden from climbing and pretty much viewing due to the shoot.
The hall of mirrors is infamous, at least if you took art history or saw Marie Antoinette. In reality, it´s pretty cool, but too crowded with people to really get the feel for what it would have been like promonading through the space in the days of the sun king. An interesting factoid - this hall was built because mirror was incredibly expensive and was a sign of wealth, additionally, the king had them installed here strategically because all the aristocrats and got an ego boost from looking at their all important selves
The last photo for now is from the Park Guell, where instead of carving hearts and initials intro trees, they carve them into cacti. You could spot them all over the park and I thought it was pretty neat. Anywho, that´s all for now from me. Matt and I have been in Madrid for a few days now, both sick (with colds), and a bit weary. But we´re staying at a great hostel with free internet, a good kitchen, and dvds in the living room...not a bad place to feel like crap:)
Friday, August 10, 2007
Without Further Ado......A Brief Photo Essay
Chillin on the beach in barcelona.
These photos are out of order, but who cares. This picture to the left is Spiez, Switzerland from the train. This lake is one of the lakes that borders Interlaken, where we stayed for three nights.
This is the church of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It is an unfinished architectural masterpiece by Antoni Gaudi, who has many beautiful buildings in the Barcelona area.
This is Emily and I in front of the Tour Eiffel in Paris.
The Notre Dame.
Emily in full gear in Interlaken.
The Swiss Alps.
The beach in Barcelona, a great place for a dip.
The view of Barcelona from Guell Park, primarily laid out and designed by Gaudi.
Bern, Switzerland.
The Eiffel Tower at dusk.
Emily in the Alps.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Buenoth Ding Dong Diddily Diath
We have ventured forth from the lands of the Bonjours, the Guten-Tags, Dankes and Merci´s. No more Sil vous plaits or whichever combination of all of those they speak in Switzerland. No señor, we are now safely in the country where a man can look another man in the eye and say...¨vamanos, amigos¨. (Although in this particular part of that country, they happen to work in a bit of French to confuse us and to spit in the face of Castillian Espanol. Beautiful Calalunya, we are at thy mercy.
Barcelona is the first stop on our trip in which we didn´t have a hotel booked before arrival. A night train from quaint Bern, Switzerland had us in at 9:00 in the morning, and I (for one) hadn´t really slept a wink. Neither of us were that excited about the trek through town with baggage in tow in search of accomodations, but thats just part of Living La Vida Loca here in Espana. We found a decent (though more expensive than planned) room on the fourth floor of a building, and being no stranger to stairs, we took it for the night so that we could spend some time exploring.
Barcelona may be a large city, but the good bits are all fairly close together, and easily accessed by subway. After learning our mistake in Paris, we sprung for a three day metro pass to prevent 10-15 hour aimless walks around the city. So far it has been the best place to find good, cheap food, and we have been filling our stomachs with delicous Tapas, Paella, and Sangria. Today we woke up after some serious lightning storms last night that kept me awake in a stuffy room with no window and went out in search of a place to spend our next two nights here. This was real adventure: the two of us with no way out, a city full of booked hostels and pensiones, everything we own on our back, trying to find a room in the rain using a foreign language.
Needless to say, we ended up safe (don´t worry families) in a good-enough-for-us cheap-enough-for-us place in a great side street in the Barri Gothic, the best neighborhood in town. Now we´re feeling cocky because we´ve booked trains to Madrid and Lisbon and a few hostels ahead to save ourselves from spending another day like today, but all in all it was a great experience.
Now to turn a page back, I´ll tell you about Switzerland.
Interlaken is a town of about 15,000, nestled at the base of the Alps and between two beautiful green lakes. In the summer, it is a backpacker and adventure seeker Mecca due to its quick access to skydiving, hiking, ice climbing, canyoning, and just about every other way to almost kill yourself for lots of money. We were there to rest though, so some slight hiking was just good enough for us. The Alps, as expected, are huge. Kind of like a reverse Grand Canyon. Interlaken, in its prime, is generally about 20 percent backpackers, most of whom speak English. This worked to our advantage, because we never quite got a grasp on which tounge was being spoken by the locals. The hostel was a great place to meet other people, and after drinking with the Irish (something I´ll warn you about), playing Euchre with the Canadians, and explaining Fraternities to the Aussies, we were very pleased to have had some company for a while. I might have left stuff out, but Emily plans on posting a bit as well, so I´ll save some for her.
Barcelona is the first stop on our trip in which we didn´t have a hotel booked before arrival. A night train from quaint Bern, Switzerland had us in at 9:00 in the morning, and I (for one) hadn´t really slept a wink. Neither of us were that excited about the trek through town with baggage in tow in search of accomodations, but thats just part of Living La Vida Loca here in Espana. We found a decent (though more expensive than planned) room on the fourth floor of a building, and being no stranger to stairs, we took it for the night so that we could spend some time exploring.
Barcelona may be a large city, but the good bits are all fairly close together, and easily accessed by subway. After learning our mistake in Paris, we sprung for a three day metro pass to prevent 10-15 hour aimless walks around the city. So far it has been the best place to find good, cheap food, and we have been filling our stomachs with delicous Tapas, Paella, and Sangria. Today we woke up after some serious lightning storms last night that kept me awake in a stuffy room with no window and went out in search of a place to spend our next two nights here. This was real adventure: the two of us with no way out, a city full of booked hostels and pensiones, everything we own on our back, trying to find a room in the rain using a foreign language.
Needless to say, we ended up safe (don´t worry families) in a good-enough-for-us cheap-enough-for-us place in a great side street in the Barri Gothic, the best neighborhood in town. Now we´re feeling cocky because we´ve booked trains to Madrid and Lisbon and a few hostels ahead to save ourselves from spending another day like today, but all in all it was a great experience.
Now to turn a page back, I´ll tell you about Switzerland.
Interlaken is a town of about 15,000, nestled at the base of the Alps and between two beautiful green lakes. In the summer, it is a backpacker and adventure seeker Mecca due to its quick access to skydiving, hiking, ice climbing, canyoning, and just about every other way to almost kill yourself for lots of money. We were there to rest though, so some slight hiking was just good enough for us. The Alps, as expected, are huge. Kind of like a reverse Grand Canyon. Interlaken, in its prime, is generally about 20 percent backpackers, most of whom speak English. This worked to our advantage, because we never quite got a grasp on which tounge was being spoken by the locals. The hostel was a great place to meet other people, and after drinking with the Irish (something I´ll warn you about), playing Euchre with the Canadians, and explaining Fraternities to the Aussies, we were very pleased to have had some company for a while. I might have left stuff out, but Emily plans on posting a bit as well, so I´ll save some for her.
Pictures will come soon, we´ve yet to find another good place to upload from, but you can count on getting some sometime in the next week or so I´d say. I know it has been a while since any substantial post but the fact of the matter is that we´re awfully busy exploring and have other things (like food) that we´ve got to spend our money on. We are sorry, and we will do our best.
Thats all I can think of off the top of my head, I´m fighting off a cold and heading off in search of peach nectar and falafel for dinner, but we head to Madrid in two days, and then catch a night train to Portugal after that. Adventure will ensue, something will go wrong, most things will go right, and I´ll fill you in on the best of them.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
The hills are alive.......with something or other
Hey all, reporting from the base of the Eiger, the Mounch, and the Jungfrau in the Swiss Alps and life is beautiful. Ill be posting pictures eventually but access is limited. Actually, time is limited, im not sure if i have time to type much but i promise we will post again soon. Switzerland is great and we are camping at a great hostel and meeting some fun people. We go to bern tomorrow and catch a late train to barcelona tomorrow night, so we'll be there next time we talk to you. sorry so short
auf wehdersehn
auf wehdersehn
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Bonjour American Pig-Dogs
Hey folks- still getting used to the European keyboard so bear with me........
Paris is fantastic! We've spent three satisfying days walking nonstop around the city, and it has been one of the coolest places I've been in my life. Our hotel is in beautiful Montmartre, minutes away from the Sacre Coeur. We wake up every day and get fresh almond crossiants from the local Buloungerie, and purchase baguettes and fresh local cheeses for our picnic lunches. We've seen nearly every landmark in the city, including the Louvre, Arc D'Triumph, and the former royal estate of Versailles. Our French is passable, but we can get through a meal with it and it is a lot of fun trying. We leave for Switzerland on Friday after spending tomorrow celebrating Emily's birthday with a boat ride and a trip up the Tour Eiffel. I don't have much more patience for this keyboard, so I'll just add pictures. Au Revoir!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Gay Paris
Bonjour!
Matt and I arrived in Gorgeous Paris last night. Many accordians, beatiful lights, french onion soup...no time for internet...but we'll write more tomorrow..Safe and Sound and loving it!
Em
Matt and I arrived in Gorgeous Paris last night. Many accordians, beatiful lights, french onion soup...no time for internet...but we'll write more tomorrow..Safe and Sound and loving it!
Em
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Our Last Night in London
Does anyone remember the movie Three Men and a Baby? With Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg (I think), and one other man, and a baby? Tom Selleck plays an architect in it, apparently. This is because the movie was origionally "trois hommes e un bebe", a french film that was written by our current host's sister-in-law. She got the idea after witnessing him (who happens to be an architect) and two other relatives taking care of a local baby (possibly related). Tom Sellecks character is (very) loosely based on him, and we are excited to be in the presence of hollywood royalty.
Our stay in London has definately been a lot higher-class than we anticipated. We spent today on a driving tour with our gracious host John around the greater London area, seeing all of the sights not worth walking to. London is a large, spread out city with neighborhood pockets and some parky-ish spots. Yesterday we gave ourselves a 7 hour walking tour starting in one of these spots, aptly named Green Park. We ventured into Hyde Park where we passed Buckingham Palace on our way to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Parliament Square. Having a limited budget, we focused our attention on the outside of these buildings and can only guess at the wonders they may hold within. Then we ventured across the Westminster Bridge to a long walking promenade along the southern bank of the river. The nice thing about London is that all of the major museums are free, so after sharing a small sandwich for lunch, we took a break inside the Tate Modern. Afterwards, we crossed back over the Tower Bridge, leading to the Tower of London and back into the center of the city.
Last night we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to a late showing of the Simpsons Movie, and it was a nice distraction from how tired our legs were after walking all day. The advertisements before movies in Britain are way more interesting and clever than those across the pond, even for products like Ford, that are based in America. I don't know how we end up getting stuck with all of the Toby Keith "Ford Truck Man" crap.
Today we got up around 10:30 and had a full breakfast courtesy of John at the house. We then began our driving tour and ended it many hours later with tea in a local park. I think we may stay in tonight so we can get all packed up and ready to go for tomorrow, but I can't say for sure because Emily is napping and I don't want to wake her and ask her. After three great days in London, we move on to Paris tomorrow at 1 in the afternoon. I assume it is pretty much going to be the same city except for the Seine runs through it instead of the Thames, but I could be completely off base. I'll have to let you know.
Our stay in London has definately been a lot higher-class than we anticipated. We spent today on a driving tour with our gracious host John around the greater London area, seeing all of the sights not worth walking to. London is a large, spread out city with neighborhood pockets and some parky-ish spots. Yesterday we gave ourselves a 7 hour walking tour starting in one of these spots, aptly named Green Park. We ventured into Hyde Park where we passed Buckingham Palace on our way to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Parliament Square. Having a limited budget, we focused our attention on the outside of these buildings and can only guess at the wonders they may hold within. Then we ventured across the Westminster Bridge to a long walking promenade along the southern bank of the river. The nice thing about London is that all of the major museums are free, so after sharing a small sandwich for lunch, we took a break inside the Tate Modern. Afterwards, we crossed back over the Tower Bridge, leading to the Tower of London and back into the center of the city.
Last night we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to a late showing of the Simpsons Movie, and it was a nice distraction from how tired our legs were after walking all day. The advertisements before movies in Britain are way more interesting and clever than those across the pond, even for products like Ford, that are based in America. I don't know how we end up getting stuck with all of the Toby Keith "Ford Truck Man" crap.
Today we got up around 10:30 and had a full breakfast courtesy of John at the house. We then began our driving tour and ended it many hours later with tea in a local park. I think we may stay in tonight so we can get all packed up and ready to go for tomorrow, but I can't say for sure because Emily is napping and I don't want to wake her and ask her. After three great days in London, we move on to Paris tomorrow at 1 in the afternoon. I assume it is pretty much going to be the same city except for the Seine runs through it instead of the Thames, but I could be completely off base. I'll have to let you know.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Transcribed Email Update Numero Uno
Editors note: This is an Email that Emily sent out. We have different email lists of people and we're trying to consolidate a bit. This will be our universal hub of communication for now. Carry on.
Cheerio to all,
Matt and I arrived in London late last night in the beeeeeautiful heathrow airport...note the sarcasm (editors note: Heathrow is fine, I don't get it). After a good nights rest thanks to Jan's surefire tylenol PM Matt and I went off on our first European adventure. It was really pleasent actually, we rode a two story bus (top story of course) through central london..picadilly..baker street(Go Holmes!) and trafalger square till we reached Covent Gardens for a light lunch. The tiny restuarant owner, not that he was a tiny man, just small restaurant was Portuguese and Praying for rain so that he could walk his son to the Simpsons movie in 3D about 20min away. All and all, pretty hilarious. So we carried on to the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone (allllll right) and some cool egyptian mummies, ancient European astrological instruments and such..all pretty awesome. Finally, my feet were sore and we were both a bit worn our so we took the tube back to John's house...who is, by the way, amazing. One of the nicest men I've met and so generous. His house in St. John's Wood is gorgeous - he is an architect and from what it sounds, is very succesful...cool company paid surprise vacations to Prague and such - anywho. He cooked us a traditional dinner tonight. A starter of fresh cantalope followed by some kind of lamb (first time I've enjoyed it) with roasted potates and garlic greenbeans and wine...followed by some delicious cheeses and british crackers and more wine and finally finished off with fresh strawberries and cream....hard to beat in any five star restaurant...I'm just debating what to cook for him! Anywho, tomorrow we're off to Parliment, Westminster Abby, the Tate Modern and maybe some theatre at the Globe or some such. I'm not sure how regularly we'll be e-mailing once we're away from daily access but I'd love to hear from everybody...see what you're up to. Also, we've got a pretty hilarious and sometimes silly blog for our trip at mattandemilyadventures.blogspot.com...(editors note: you already know this) either way check it out...especially ben...we've got lobby featured prominantly...also, I need joel's email address. Thanks everybody...forward this on to all who would be interested and I don't have their emails...nicole included..THANKS!!!!
Love to All
EM
Editors PS: I made it through the new Harry Potter without anyone spoiling the ending for me! London is sweet. Talk to you all soon! Matt
Cheerio to all,
Matt and I arrived in London late last night in the beeeeeautiful heathrow airport...note the sarcasm (editors note: Heathrow is fine, I don't get it). After a good nights rest thanks to Jan's surefire tylenol PM Matt and I went off on our first European adventure. It was really pleasent actually, we rode a two story bus (top story of course) through central london..picadilly..baker street(Go Holmes!) and trafalger square till we reached Covent Gardens for a light lunch. The tiny restuarant owner, not that he was a tiny man, just small restaurant was Portuguese and Praying for rain so that he could walk his son to the Simpsons movie in 3D about 20min away. All and all, pretty hilarious. So we carried on to the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone (allllll right) and some cool egyptian mummies, ancient European astrological instruments and such..all pretty awesome. Finally, my feet were sore and we were both a bit worn our so we took the tube back to John's house...who is, by the way, amazing. One of the nicest men I've met and so generous. His house in St. John's Wood is gorgeous - he is an architect and from what it sounds, is very succesful...cool company paid surprise vacations to Prague and such - anywho. He cooked us a traditional dinner tonight. A starter of fresh cantalope followed by some kind of lamb (first time I've enjoyed it) with roasted potates and garlic greenbeans and wine...followed by some delicious cheeses and british crackers and more wine and finally finished off with fresh strawberries and cream....hard to beat in any five star restaurant...I'm just debating what to cook for him! Anywho, tomorrow we're off to Parliment, Westminster Abby, the Tate Modern and maybe some theatre at the Globe or some such. I'm not sure how regularly we'll be e-mailing once we're away from daily access but I'd love to hear from everybody...see what you're up to. Also, we've got a pretty hilarious and sometimes silly blog for our trip at mattandemilyadventures.blogspot.com...(editors note: you already know this) either way check it out...especially ben...we've got lobby featured prominantly...also, I need joel's email address. Thanks everybody...forward this on to all who would be interested and I don't have their emails...nicole included..THANKS!!!!
Love to All
EM
Editors PS: I made it through the new Harry Potter without anyone spoiling the ending for me! London is sweet. Talk to you all soon! Matt
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
New York New York
Hididdlyho Friendorinos
It's a me Emmmmily..and I'm taking over our final American blog. We finishing up our last night of three in Sunny NYC...and what a three days it has been. Matt and I enjoyed ourselves cruising the subways and strolling the streets of the busy city.
Our first day was highlighted by a visit to the Met to see an ancient egyptian temple, some pretty radical armor & weaponry, and some creepy paintings of charubs and royals. We followed that experience with a relaxing and FREE ride on the Staten Island Ferry...I highly recommend it.
Yesterday it rained, but that didn't stop us Northwesterners. We sought out a delicious pizza joint and found comfort in the warmth of the NYC public library, just as the poor souls in Day After Tomorrow had. It was incredible to be inside that building (not because of cinematic associations) and admire it's beautiful architecture - appreciate the history. So, we recharged our batteries and went off to BROADWAY where we caught Spring Awakening (Thanks again David)..We followed our theatrical romp with some original NY cheesecake and called it a day.
Today, not much of note - I'm not even sure how much of what I've been wrirting is either - we met up with Mike Sullivan which was a total treat and spent the rest of the day lounging in Prospect Park....reading Harry Potter. I admit it, snicker if you like but it's the last book and I won't have the ending ruined for me. Speaking of, I'm 100 pages away from the end....and with my nerd flag waving high, I retreat to the couch.
It's a me Emmmmily..and I'm taking over our final American blog. We finishing up our last night of three in Sunny NYC...and what a three days it has been. Matt and I enjoyed ourselves cruising the subways and strolling the streets of the busy city.
Our first day was highlighted by a visit to the Met to see an ancient egyptian temple, some pretty radical armor & weaponry, and some creepy paintings of charubs and royals. We followed that experience with a relaxing and FREE ride on the Staten Island Ferry...I highly recommend it.
Yesterday it rained, but that didn't stop us Northwesterners. We sought out a delicious pizza joint and found comfort in the warmth of the NYC public library, just as the poor souls in Day After Tomorrow had. It was incredible to be inside that building (not because of cinematic associations) and admire it's beautiful architecture - appreciate the history. So, we recharged our batteries and went off to BROADWAY where we caught Spring Awakening (Thanks again David)..We followed our theatrical romp with some original NY cheesecake and called it a day.
Today, not much of note - I'm not even sure how much of what I've been wrirting is either - we met up with Mike Sullivan which was a total treat and spent the rest of the day lounging in Prospect Park....reading Harry Potter. I admit it, snicker if you like but it's the last book and I won't have the ending ruined for me. Speaking of, I'm 100 pages away from the end....and with my nerd flag waving high, I retreat to the couch.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Assorted Californication
Hey friends and friendettes,Thought I'd give you all one more update before we get on that steam engine across the American world. Since last post we spent two great days in San Francisco, enjoying the sights and the friends and their lobsters (crayfish). We also made a trip out to the Eel river for a couple of days of camping with some good buds.
Packing for the trip is almost complete, and we have our passports and rail passes and all kinds of goodies at our disposal now. On Wednesday we will start our three day train trip that ends in New York City, at which point I will enlighten you on the boring things that we did on the train. I am also starting to realize that posting images isn't quite as easy as I had hoped, so we may not be putting up millions of photos all of the time, but we'll try and at least throw one or two in on each post so you know what kind of stuff we're looking at. But we will still be taking millions of photos all the time, so be ready for a boring slideshow when we get home. I feel like these are really boring, so hopefully Emily will post something soon to lighten the load. Until she does.............you'll have to put up with this guy.
oh yeah p.s., in my attempts to upload photos, I made another web album of pictures from down here. enjoy!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Comment allez-vous?
Hey folks, this is the first post of our travel blog, and with any luck we'll be keeping it up to date on our wanderings and ponderings and whatnots. We're in sunny California right now, trying to get as much relaxing in as possible before the traveling storm hits us in the faces. This means lots of swimming, movies, wine tasting, and other assorted leisure related activities to make sure we're all rested up by the time our train leaves on July 18th. I'm fooling around with a few options trying to determine the best way to post pictures for you guys, so be sure to check those out if you please. So far I've put up a photo album of the ones Emily took on the drive to California (the one on the left included) and you can check that out here.
So far the summer has been a blast, and this past week has been no exception. We left my house in Baker after a delicious BBQ and ventured towards Sun River where we met up with Nathan at Skull Hollow where he romanced us with Jimi Hendrix from his pickup stereo and all of the Pabst Blue Ribbon we could handle. We still had more driving to do though, so it wasn't very much. Maybe next time, bud.
After catching very little sleep at Kim's house in Sun River, we left town bright and early and hit the road again, rolling into Glen Ellen around two o clock. So far the highlights have been a couple of great swimming sessions (both in lake and in pool), a fantastic day downtown celebrating the fourth (fireworks especially), a lively BBQ to celebrate Emily's graduation, and today's venture out to the wineries for free tours and tasting thanks to Nicole. We still have a trip into San FranFrisco in the works for tomorrow for a free showing of the SF Symphony in Golden Gate Park, and a 2-3 day camping trip in the works for next weekend. It is finally cooling off after a few 102-104 degree days and we are thankful. Our bellies are full and our schedules are open. I'll try and get a general itinerary posted sometime in the next few days, or something else, or nothing else. You are at my mercy.
Bonsoir!
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