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:)