European Adventure

Paris, Our Last Days

2009-05-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

Paris was a wonderful trip with many ups and downs. We stayed our first night with our family friend who has a house and business just outside the city. He was a interesting French man. It was an akward experience, but one that we will remember for a long time. He hardly spoke english, was sick and seemed to be on many pain drugs, and smoked like crazy. We did not last long sitting and trying to communicate with him. He went back to bed when we ventured into the city by ourselves on the metro (underground subway). First thing we did when we got into Paris was book a hotel for the second night!!! Then we walked a long way down to the Eiffel tower but the line was to long so we decided to wait until the next day to go up to the top. We had a good Chinese dinner and took the metro back to Gerard, the French man's house, just praying that he had kept his doors unlocked. We got of the train and walked, which seemed like a long ways as it started to get dark in an unfamiliar area. We finally got to his house and there was not ONE light on in the house we went straight to bed, don't even think we brushed our teeths that night!! Woke up early smelling like smoke and wrote him a thank you note and told his secretary/ex-wife we were leaving and thank you for the stay. She luckily drove us to the metro station because we had our big backpacks on and we went straight to the hotel in Paris, checked in and relaxed. Went for an awesome breakfast and then tried to see the sights of Paris even though our legs and bodies were exhausted! We went through Notre Dome, walked the famous road down to the marble arch, and went up the eiffel tower. Being the end of the trip we were tired so we headed back to the hotel and went to the internet Cafe to check on all of our flight info. When we walked out we were caught in a THUNDER STORM, and it was pooring down rain! Our clothes got soaked but got over it! Enjoyed a great dinner of French Onion soup and French vanilla ice cream! Paris was a true adventure which just adds to the awesome memories of European trip!Thanks to everyone who were with us through this blog, we had a great time updating it, and we are going to miss our European Adventure.........Until next time!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

2009-05-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Moms day to our mothers at home!!! We surely do miss you and wish we could give you both great big hugs on your special day!! Thanks for being so great!! WE MISS YOU

XOXO

Love you!

Interlaken and Gimmelwald, SWITZERLAND

2009-05-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye to the beach and our comfort in Italy was very tough. We headed from the cinque terre, to Switzerland. It took four seperate train rides, and almost seven hours to arrive in Interlaken. Its a lot how people say it is, the trains here in Switzerland are much more calm, clean, very on time, and are much easier to ride. The trains went by fairly quickly and we headed to our hostel in Interlaken. The small city is so beautiful, and the alps are in our laps! We had a good dinner, played some ping pong with some guys at the hostel from Australia and Boston....then we headed to bed. This morning we woke to clear skies and amazing views. We headed to the VERY small town (if that) of Gimmelwald, perched high in the Alps. We took a train, bus and a Tram/gondola to the town. We are now at a very low key mountain hostel that stares right at amazing mountains. Today we have relaxed and done a bit of walking around...and tomorrow we take another tram to the tip top of the mountains which should be great! We head to Paris on Tuesday, and then head home. Cant believe how fast this trip has gone by!!!

No thats not us parachuting down, we wish though!!

Kelsey even found a cow bell to wear (dont have to worry now Sue/Linda :) )

Cinque Terre, cont.

2009-05-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

The fun continues here in the cinque terre. The sun was shining brightly today and its soooo beautiful here. This morning we took the train to the first town of five, Riomaggoire, and from there we hiked to the next two towns. Each one was unique and we just spent are time exploring each individual town and soaking up the sun on the way. The hiking here is all on the coastal cliffs, from one town to the next, its amazing. After exploring, we came back to Monterosso had a great late lunch and sat on the beach and went swimming. And YES we did not have our mothers to remind us to put sun tan lotion on....so we are now paying for it, we are FRIED :) feels great though! Keeping this short, we have two more nights here, then off to Interlaken, Switzerland to do some hiking in the Alps!!! Love to all!

A little slice of Heaven- Cinque Terre, Italy

2009-05-06T08:17:00.001-07:00

What more can we say, we are in paradise over here. We took the train from Rome, to the cinque terre, four hours, sat with people from Vancouver and had a very pleasant ride. When we arrived we were greeted at the hotel with a glass of wine. We went to the beach, layed in the sun, and stared at the bright blue clear water. ( I must say that I did beat Andy into the Mediterranean!!!) We walked all around the very cute little town of Monorroso, and had a wonderful Italian meal, a reccomendation of Andi Poggi. Today we got up had our best continental breakfast so far, and hiked to the next little town of Vernazza. The famous one that everyone knows from picture, and it sure was pretty! The hike was great through the vineyards along the steep cliffs, and we had lunch when we got there. The Italians in these little villages are so nice, friendly, and seem so at peace here in there cliffside villages. Tomorrow we are going to hike and explore the other three towns! They are easier hikes and closer together! Take care and Love to all.

Rome Italy! 10 days left

2009-05-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, our Rome experience has been an interesting one...especially starting out. Immediately after we got off of our four hour train ride from Venice, we were grabbed by hotel reservation man, which we thought was good since we did not have a place to stay. However this was one of our first mistakes on the trip. He set things up so fast we did not see it coming! Our hotel is in a good location and is cheap, but lets just say our mold in our bathroom is not pleasant to shower in. No need to say anything more. We are excited to get to the cinque terre tomorrow and stay in a nice peaceful, CLEAN, hotel run by a nice italian man. Not to make Rome sound bad, we have seen some pretty amazing ancient ruins of Rome and the history here in the city is so amazing. The colleseum is what we expected, and was very cool. Today we went to the Vatican, the Basilica, Sistene Chapel, and many other sites. Yes we were tourists on a double decker bus again, jumping off and then back on again, but it is the best way to see the city in a day. Weather is great here, we hope all is well at home, Much love!

Innsbruck Austria, to Italy!

2009-05-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

keeping this post kinda short today...limited time. Innsbruck was great, we were able to go for a great little hike over looking the Alps and the city. However very short stay. Apparently May day is a big deal over here, so it made it hard to book anything in Italy. We had planned to stay two nights in verona but because it was not enjoyable we cancelled the second night and took the chance of getting a room in Venice!! and we got lucky!! Venice is so beautiful, we walked walked walked all day in the hot sun. Heading to dinner here soon for a good italian meal hopefully and tomorrow we head to Rome for two nights! From Rome we head to the cinque terre staying at Andi Poggis hotel (kelseys aunt and uncles friend) cant wait!!! Love to all! Happy Days!

Austria.....Rainy days

2009-04-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

Hello again to everyone! To update everyone, we left Regensurg and headed to Salzburg Austria! The hills were not so much alive, as they say in the sound of music, very rainy and cloudy! We could tell that the mountains were there, and if there was sun, it would have been a very pretty area. The first day we took advantage of just overcast skies, and we walked around the town, through Maribellgardens, and all around old town. We had our first bad dinner, at a spaghetti place, yuck! The next morning we walked to the cathedral and then to the castle on the hill looking over Salzburg! Despite the clouds and the rain it was still beautiful, and we got a tour of part of the castle. We went back to the hotel to dry off and relaxed! After a great dinner, cheap too, at a nearby Indigo Restaurant, we went back to the hotel and things got stressful! We were trying to head to venice for the weekend, keep in mind its May day, so.....everything was booked!!! Nothing within the main city was available nor in our price range. Our plans officially changed. After talking with another young couple, they suggested we stay at Verona, and take a day trip to Venice, only hour away. Today we arrived in Innsbruck at very family run hotel that is in the middle of no where. Way up in the hills, and we are just starting to see the peaks of mountains around us! Tomorrow morning we may do a hike then off to Verona, Italy!!!

Prague, Regensburg, and Dachau

2009-04-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of catching up to do, and it seems like a lot of new stories to tell! First lets start with Prague. We had a very good time and got to see lots of old historical buildings, however it is a definite tourist spot. Lots of people and very overwhelming! I dont know if we mentioned it but we got to visit the famous castle, and we went to the Jewish quarter, and the Jewish cemetary. Our last night we did get to go to black light theatre which was so awesome! It was a mix of blacklight dancing and comedy which was all nonverbal. We were glad to be moving on to Germany......

Happy Birthday Casey!(and John) Turn the volume up, love you and miss you!
As for Germany, we love it! Coming from Prague we felt so at ease here in Regensburg, a small city on the River, and we are staying here for two more days. The first day we immediately ate the famous bratwurst...sooooo good! We enjoyed walking around the city and soaking up the sun! We went to a german beer garden, where a nice german man welcomed us into Germany by paying for our bill!! We went into the cathedral in town, which was free! Later we laid in the park with all of the local young people and Andy even got to go slack lining! Today we woke up and headed to the train station to go to Dachau to see the famous concentration camp. Emotional, and tiring day but well worth it! It was so amazing to see how people were treated just under 70 years ago. It was hard to see the gas chambers and barracks. Now we are back into Regensburg and are hoping for sun tomorrow before we head to Salzburg Austria on Tuesday. We are going to go enjoy another Bratwurst or two (Andys hoping for six) for all of you at home!!!! :) Take care, love to all! Thanks for keeping up with our adventure!

Prague

2009-04-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

Today has been beautiful! Very sunny and warm here, in Praha and we have been relaxing and taking in the sites. We walked over Charles Bridge this morning to head to the Castle. The line was very long and we decided to save our money so we just walked all around and enjoyed the sun. We did however pay to get into the Jewish cemetary which was very interesting, but not sure if it was worth our money. The city is booming today, and is very crowded, we are starting to get excited to go to Regensburg, Germany which will be very quiet (we head there tomorrow). Black light theatre in a couple of hours, and then off to the next country! The quick stay at Prague, was perfect, and we feel like we have seen a ton, and saved lots of money since its so cheap here! 2 dollar beers, 1 dollar ice cream, what more could you ask for on a sunny day! Sorry no pics today, No USB since we are at the Tourist info place, but its free here! ha Take care!!

No reservations......

2009-04-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Oslo was very fun and so good to see more family! We walked around "frogner park" we are not sure that is the right name. Its famous for its statues, had lots of fun with Anders and his twin girls! Went to dinner with the entire family and got a true norwegian meal with good company! We went to the countryside with Petter and his wife and stayed with them last night. We stayed up late drinking tea and talking. We got up early this morning to head to Prague. The airplane was a big time culture shock! It was 9 AM and 90 percent of the plane were wasted and drinking more. It was not easy to catch sleep or read, VERY LOUD! We got into Prague, took bus and metro to downtown, with a hostel in mind that we looked on the internet. Of course when we got there they were booked solid. They looked for us to stay at other hostels and they were all booked!!!! They were suprised but it must be a busy weekend. They helped us find a nice hotel in the center of Prague, and we are now all settled in. We have been walking around the city, had a beer, and now we are off to get dinner and probably some more beer! Tomorrow we plan to see the castle, and we have booked Black Light Theatre, for tomorrow night! Very excited. Hoping tomorrows weather is better than todays.

Bergen to Oslo, Norway

2009-04-22T00:55:00.000-07:00

We woke up in the morning at Bergen, and headed to the train station! We got the 8 am to Oslo, which was supposed to be a six hour ride, actually turned into 7 and a half hour. The train ride was so amazing, we passed through tiny Norwegian villages and many different fjords. When the train climbed over the mountains, we got the highest point on the trip and stopped. The train had technical problems! Apparently it happens a lot on the particular route that we were on. It started up after an hour or more. Arriving in Oslo, Andys relatives were waiting for us! Anders, and his very cute twin girls, were waiting and took us back to his flat. He is a chef here and he had a great dinner planned for us! We had fresh salmon in marinade, and a wonderful dumpling and sausage soup. Petter, his father came over for home made waffles, famous here in Norway. We took a short car ride to a lookout over the city at night, which was very beautiful! Today we are headed to town to explore, and then having a family dinner! Prague is next, we fly out tomorrow, another adventure begins! Love to all!

Bergen with Kelsey's Family....Not long enough!

2009-04-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

WOW!! Norwegians are soo much fun! Kelsey's family has been so great to us and they are so fun to be around! They cant stop laughing and with all six girls together it was crazy! We took the boat from Stavanger on Sunday and had to say goodbye to Andy's family. The boat ride was amazing, sun was shining and it looked very similar to being out on the San Juan Islands. When we got off, Kelsey's family were all jumping up and down waving us over to them....the fun began! Arriving in Bergen, it was very sunny and we all had t shirts on, shared a beer with the family as they read the letters sent from Bampa (Kelseys Grandpa who is cousins with them). They loved them! They rented a flat (apartment) for us all, and it is very cute and cozy! Seven girls and one guy. We walked around Bergen and had dinner. Last night we sat and shared stories and laughs together in the tiny living room of the flat. This morning we woke up to some light rain, but we were not stopped, we headed to Fløibanen which is a tram that took us up to the top of a mountain overlooking Bergen! We then had lunch and did some shopping, and already had to say goodbye. They promised that they would come and visit soon! Their home town sounds wonderful, and we are sad we could not make it there, Next time!! Tomorrow we catch the train to Oslo, for a bit more of Andys family and then we are ON OUR OWN!! Yikes! Love to all!! Take care!
Skøl!! (cheers) we have learned a little!

Pulpit Rock, and a day in the Sun...sad to leave Stavanger

2009-04-19T00:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a great and sunny day!! We think that we may have to come back here and stay a lot longer next time! Even living here is an option...its sooooo amazing and pretty! Mountains, Sea, city life, and such great company! Stavanger seems a lot like Bellingham in many aspects. We hiked with Agathe yesterday to the famous pulpit rock! It was one of the most AMAZING sights that we have seen! A sheer cliff down to the beautiful fjords below us. We then came home and got even more spoiled than we have been so far. Agathe's boyfriend, Arve, took us on his friends boat out on the ocean, was not a little boat either, it was 46 feet! Very very nice yacht! We stopped at a nearby small town and got fresh shrimp off of the dock, and we peeled and ate many! After crusing the sea, we rushed home to get ready for our dinner at Aunt Agathe's house! She served us beef stroganoff, and it was soooo good!! After dinner, we enjoyed some of the night life in Stavanger with Agathe and Arve, even got to go back on the boat and hang out with the Norwegians!! Hope all is well, we will blog again soon, so keep watchin!

Our Video To all at home! Hope it works!! Click on the Play Button

Kelsey the True Norwegian

2009-04-17T01:21:00.000-07:00

Hello again everyone! Its about ten thiry AM here in Stavanger, and we are getting ready to go to town with Kirsten! Kelsey is in getting ready, so I thought I would do a quick blog and show you some pics from last night....After dinner we were all sitting around talking, relaxing and Kelsey came walking down the stairs, in a Norwegian Costume!! ha It was so funny, she asked if she could try one on so of course they were happy to let her! I thought everyone would enjoy these pics, we are true Norwegians over here!! Kelsey is soaking up the culture :) Hope everyone has a good day when you wake up I guess....weird to think you are all sleeping! Thanks for watchin our blog and sharing our adventure with us! Love you all! Keep leaving comments, its great to hear from you!

Stavanger- Andys Relatives!

2009-04-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Today from London we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Norway! Our flight was short and sweet. We landed in Stavanger, got our luggage, and walked outside to see our relatives holding a sign with our names on it. It was great feeling to be welcomed into our next adventure of our trip. We headed from there to Kirsten, my Dad's second cousins house with Kirsten's daughter! The house is so nice and in the center of town, very cute, and home like! It seems as though we have known them all forever! Very easy people, they served us a great lunch, walked to the highest part of Stavanger that looked over the beautiful city. We then walked a nearby beach which was also great! We came home to such a great home cooked meal, pork, rice, salad and a delicious gravy type sauce.....mmmm best meal so far! Cant wait for tomorrow- we will head to town and truly see Stavanger! We also have plans this saturday to go and see the famous Pulpit Rock in the depths of a nearby Fjord! Those of you whom have not seen the pictures of this famous rock, wait for our pictures, it looks amazing. The weather is supposed to be great this weekend as well! Love to all!

PS John and Sue\Mom and Pops- we are learning so much about you !! :) Check out the sweet pic!

Day 3 in London!

2009-04-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

Our last day in London.... however we are ready to move on, we have seen the sights and are excited to see Norway starting tomorrow! We sort of relaxed today, headed to the famous Kew gardens, which is outside the city so it was a long train ride. We walked several miles through the gardens, the sun even came out for us! On our way back into the city we stopped in Kensington and got to see the Kensington palace and say hi to the royal family! Hyde park across the street from our hotel, has been busy today with the sunshine, and we soaked it up just like all of the locals! We are off to get fish and chips and a beer down the street! Cheers and hope all is well!

xoxo

CHEERS! Day 2 in London!

2009-04-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

WOW! We are tired already! Our legs hurt every day and every night, so much walking, but its all well worth it. We are definetly sleeping well. So yesterday we caught the Tube, which by the way we are getting very use to we are like pros now ha. We got off in Westminster, and headed to the Westminster Abbey and wow are we glad we did! We paid like 20 pounds to get inside and were guided by a cell phone like device that showed us inside. Inside was so amazing! We did not realize that so many famous people were buried inside the church, we definetly would not want to be in there at night, seemed kinda spooky or haunted. We took the beautiful tour throughout the church and lit candles at the end and said a few prayers. It was very fun! We then walked nearby to the Horse Guards, and happened to be there at noon so we got to see the changing of the horse guards which was great too. We walked through the National gallery which was fun, kinda boring though, lots of art.... We also went to see the British Museum, very boring. We may not be musuem people after all. We went and got tickets at the famous square where they are half price. We decided to see Chicago! We went to our first pub and got a cold beer and some delicous bruchetta. We then saw Chicago, which was ok, fun to just experience a theatre show while we are here but may not have been the best pic...live and learn!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Day 1 LONDON BABY!!

2009-04-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

What a trip so far! We survived the dreaded plane rides, and they turned out to be fairly smooth and they went by fast! Arriving in Heathrow airport we headed to baggage claim after going through customs, and both our bags were there waiting for us! Then we had the fun time of finding what train to take to Paddington station, following our hotel directions. We of course asked a local who seemed to look like he may know, but we got on the wrong train, and headed deaper into the airport instead away from it and towards London. Stressed, Tired, a bit anxious, we got off the train and asked some one else and were led in the right direction! From there it was simple to find our hotel and we went straight there to check in and leave our bags. Exhausted, but knowing we have to push through until nightfall, we got a pass for a tour on a double decker bus. Fun, but it started to rain! We were definetly true tourists sitting on that bus with ponchos on. We kept getting looked at and people would point and shake there heads. We took the long bus ride around central London, and hopped off at the tower of London. From here we rode on a boat on the Thyme River, going under the many London bridges. We saw pretty much all of the major attractions in a matter of three hours! Getting off at Big Ben, we walked to Buckingham Palace, through Hyde Park, and to the famous marble arch. The city is beautiful, and full of many different people and cultures. We are definetly looking forward to tomorrow when we wont be so grouchy and tired! We are headed to Portobello Market while the sun is out, which happens to be very close to our hotel, and we will see if there is something for dinner there! Hope all is well at home!

Packing, Packing, Packing....

2009-04-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

2 more days until we head out! We can't wait to get to London. We have all of our stuff laid out and we think we're all ready to go! We will find out this weekend when we put our stuff in the backpacks and start hauling them around:) We both can't believe that our trip is finally here after planning it for over a year!

Two Weeks, The Countdown Begins

2009-03-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

Well, our plans have changed what seems like a hundred times so far, and we expect plenty more to come. We are no longer visiting Kelsey's family in Norway :( too expensive and we have realized we just dont have enough time to see everything. So far, we have several places to visit and everything is so unexpected. Not knowing when trains run, realistic times to travel from place to place, and what specific places we really want to visit. So many people have great ideas but to pack them all in is ccccrrrraazzzyyy. So.......we will some what play this by ear. We are starting to pack while realizing packing light may not be so easy! A lot to think about for a month away from home! The anxiety and excitement begins! Stay tuned!