Saturday, May 30, 2009
Day 18 - Nous arrivons a` Paris!
Well, we made it. Paris. We got in late last night around 11pm, and wandered the streets looking for a hostel. We struck out a few times looking for a place because everything was booked due to weekend travelers. But, in the end, we found a nice place that we could stay for just one of our three nights since it was booked for tonight. So we slept, woke up, and went to Notre Dame, which is pretty close to where we are staying. It was beautiful, we went inside and everything. Then we went on a tour on the Seine, and took a couple of naps in some parks. Now we're headed to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc De Triumphe, followed by a pub crawl and a sleepless night.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Day 16 - The two dots that cost us 300km
So before I explain the two dots thing, I´ll recap the past few days.
Four days ago, we went to Switzerlad. We got a place in Interlaken; it´s a really nice town with lots of activities. It is kind of an extreme sports town like Chamonix, except it´s filled with more tourists and perhaps more opportunities to risk your life. (Which I like) We got in around noon and immediately checked into the Funny Farm hostel, which looked more like a hotel, but had hostel prices, so that was a plus. Then, we crossed the street and walked maybe 30m and then rented four mopeds for each of us. At first, I didn´t really know what I was doing since I hadn´t ridden a moped since I was 12, but then I got the hang of it. We rode around town and through valleys and alongside waterfalls; it was beautiful. And the mopeds were a thrill in and of themselves. We could get up to around 70km/h, and we had some great windy roads to cruise through.
After a couple of hours, Mike and I left Buck and Riley to continue their mopeding adventure as we left to attend our scheduled bungee jumping appointment. We had originally wished to do some skydiving, but it cost around 400 USD to go, so we went with the cheaper bungee jumping option. We did the bungee jumping through a company that actually runs through our hostel called Alpine Raft. They took us on a thirty minute ride up to some mountains, then we took a gondola (one of those suspended cable cars) up to a little area at 1600m elevation. Then, we took a little gondola over a lake and that´s where we jumped out of. It was amazing. The feeling you get when you are falling for a long period of time is indescribable, it´s almost liberating. So that was great.
We met up with Buck and Riley around 10:30pm that night, and we hung out around town for only a little bit since a lot of places closed early. They had continued riding around on mopeds for awhile and saw some sweet landscape of Switzerland while we were gone, and hung out with one of our hostel roommates for a little bit before we met up with them.
The next day, we left for Germany. It was a long trip, about 10 hours. We were intended to head to the town where Riley´s friends live, but we had made a little error in our planning. When we got in to Germany, we waited awhile for our ride before we started asking if we were in the right place. We ran into a really nice guy, and when we explained our situation, he said, ''You made a big mistake. This is Munster, you want Münster!'' These two town names sound exactly alike to our American ears, so we thought this was quite funny. It turned out that we overshot Münster by 300km, and so we wouldn´t get in at a reasonable hour. That´s when we decided to go to Hamburg and then come to Münster today.
We got into Hamburg around 10pm, and then we walked around for awhile trying to get a feel for the city. The main strip, Reperbaun, was full of sex shops and strip clubs, so we walked with tunnel vision until we landed upon a club that had some techno music. We hung out there for awhile, and then headed to the hostel, but before that, we found a gem on the way. We saw a kareokee bar, and a small one at that. The four of us sang ''Come on Eileen'' and then left. We were in there for maybe 10 minutes. We rocked their faces off. The next day we walked around for awhile, saw the harbor, and headed to Münster.
Münster has been awesome. When we got off our bus by Riley´s friend´s place, we started looking for the street. I went on ahead to try to find the street on a longboard, and when I came back, the three other guys were joined by a girl with a map, and a beer in their hands. Apparently, she saw them and thought they needed help finding our place and they needed a beer. We immediatly were impressed by German hospitalitz. That night, we went to this bar and ran into a bunch of nice German-folk. It was a great time talking to interesting people, and walking around the city. Everyone rides bikes, so we almost got smoked by them several times, but other than that, we handled ourselves pretty well as foreigners. After hanging out for awhile, we went back to sleep in awesome beds.
This morning, we had a delicious breakfast and walked around for a little bit. Now, we're headed out to walk around downtown, and then we'll catch a train in a couple of hours to go to Amsterdam. Münster gets a 10 out of 10.
Four days ago, we went to Switzerlad. We got a place in Interlaken; it´s a really nice town with lots of activities. It is kind of an extreme sports town like Chamonix, except it´s filled with more tourists and perhaps more opportunities to risk your life. (Which I like) We got in around noon and immediately checked into the Funny Farm hostel, which looked more like a hotel, but had hostel prices, so that was a plus. Then, we crossed the street and walked maybe 30m and then rented four mopeds for each of us. At first, I didn´t really know what I was doing since I hadn´t ridden a moped since I was 12, but then I got the hang of it. We rode around town and through valleys and alongside waterfalls; it was beautiful. And the mopeds were a thrill in and of themselves. We could get up to around 70km/h, and we had some great windy roads to cruise through.
After a couple of hours, Mike and I left Buck and Riley to continue their mopeding adventure as we left to attend our scheduled bungee jumping appointment. We had originally wished to do some skydiving, but it cost around 400 USD to go, so we went with the cheaper bungee jumping option. We did the bungee jumping through a company that actually runs through our hostel called Alpine Raft. They took us on a thirty minute ride up to some mountains, then we took a gondola (one of those suspended cable cars) up to a little area at 1600m elevation. Then, we took a little gondola over a lake and that´s where we jumped out of. It was amazing. The feeling you get when you are falling for a long period of time is indescribable, it´s almost liberating. So that was great.
We met up with Buck and Riley around 10:30pm that night, and we hung out around town for only a little bit since a lot of places closed early. They had continued riding around on mopeds for awhile and saw some sweet landscape of Switzerland while we were gone, and hung out with one of our hostel roommates for a little bit before we met up with them.
The next day, we left for Germany. It was a long trip, about 10 hours. We were intended to head to the town where Riley´s friends live, but we had made a little error in our planning. When we got in to Germany, we waited awhile for our ride before we started asking if we were in the right place. We ran into a really nice guy, and when we explained our situation, he said, ''You made a big mistake. This is Munster, you want Münster!'' These two town names sound exactly alike to our American ears, so we thought this was quite funny. It turned out that we overshot Münster by 300km, and so we wouldn´t get in at a reasonable hour. That´s when we decided to go to Hamburg and then come to Münster today.
We got into Hamburg around 10pm, and then we walked around for awhile trying to get a feel for the city. The main strip, Reperbaun, was full of sex shops and strip clubs, so we walked with tunnel vision until we landed upon a club that had some techno music. We hung out there for awhile, and then headed to the hostel, but before that, we found a gem on the way. We saw a kareokee bar, and a small one at that. The four of us sang ''Come on Eileen'' and then left. We were in there for maybe 10 minutes. We rocked their faces off. The next day we walked around for awhile, saw the harbor, and headed to Münster.
Münster has been awesome. When we got off our bus by Riley´s friend´s place, we started looking for the street. I went on ahead to try to find the street on a longboard, and when I came back, the three other guys were joined by a girl with a map, and a beer in their hands. Apparently, she saw them and thought they needed help finding our place and they needed a beer. We immediatly were impressed by German hospitalitz. That night, we went to this bar and ran into a bunch of nice German-folk. It was a great time talking to interesting people, and walking around the city. Everyone rides bikes, so we almost got smoked by them several times, but other than that, we handled ourselves pretty well as foreigners. After hanging out for awhile, we went back to sleep in awesome beds.
This morning, we had a delicious breakfast and walked around for a little bit. Now, we're headed out to walk around downtown, and then we'll catch a train in a couple of hours to go to Amsterdam. Münster gets a 10 out of 10.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Quick update
We are in Hamburg, Germany right now. More info to come later.
Yesterday, we were in Switzerland, and we rented mopeds and Mike and I went bungee jumping. It was awesome. Now we´re going to party Germany style!
Yesterday, we were in Switzerland, and we rented mopeds and Mike and I went bungee jumping. It was awesome. Now we´re going to party Germany style!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Day 13 - Chamonix
So it's been awhile, so here's a little taste of what's been going on:
Thursday night, we slept out on the beach of Cinque Terre until we got kicked off by some Italian police around 7:30am. We headed right for the train station to begin our journey towards Riley's aunt's place. We waited in Cinque Terre for about an hour for our train, and that train broke down about twenty minutes into the ride, so we transferred to a different train that kept stopping and got us in to our first layover about twenty minutes late. All of our tranfers were really tight, so we thought we had missed our next train, but it was delayed thirty minutes, so we made that one. The train after that one pulled out as we got in, so we were a little screwed by Italian trains. Then we took a roundabout route hopping all over different trains until 11pm when Casey, Riley's aunt picked us up for an hour car ride to their place.
We got in late, so we couldn't see the mountains that Riley had so fondly mentioned so the view would wait. We went to sleep almost immediately, and woke up to a view better than Riley had even remembered since his last visit. His aunt's house is a good ways up on one of the many mountains that surround Chamonix, and there is an incredible view of the other mountains from so high up. None of us could get over the sight; we often found ourselves zoning out in amazement. We had some breakfast and just hung out around the house; it has been so nice to be in a place where we can just be after being on the go so much for almost two weeks straight. Casey and Sersh's fourteen year old daughter, Annie plays the piano, so Riley and I fooled around on it for awhile as others napped and sat outside taking in the view. Then we had some lunch and went into town to watch some of Annie's tennis lesson and go exploring through the town a little. In the one part of town, there were a bunch of board gmes set up (including blockis) so we hung out there for awhile and then headed back for dinner. After dinner, we went back in to town to experience the night life a little, but we tunred in rather early because we had plans to go hiking in the morning today.
Sure enough, we woke up early to get to hiking with Casey, Annie, a girl from the states named Alex, and a woman named Karen from New Zealand. I wish I could tell you which of the mountains or trails we went on, but I have no idea. I can't explain the views or the trails well enough to do it justice, but I will say (again - but it is true) that it was the most beautiful view I have ever seen. After about an hour or two of hiking, we had some lunch and then us guys separated from the group and summited a peak off the trail. I haven't ever done any real climbing aside from a couple of walls in gym class, so this was tough for me. I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, and I got tired really quickly because the air was so thin. But, with ecouragement and guidance from my brothers, I made it - and I only thought I was going to die once, not bad. We took a different path down that was covered in snow - all the snow up there boggles my mind, it was easily 80°F up there - and it was pretty steep, so we fake skied all the way down. It was so much fun; we would run down the mountain until we got enough speed, and then jump into the snow and ski with our feet. We later caught up with the rest of our group by this lake. Mike found a little cliff we could jump off of, so he and Riley jumped in first, and then Buck and I followed suit. The cliff was nothing compared to what we have seen so far on this trip, but the catch was that the lake was freezing - literally. There was still plenty of snow in the lake, and I would say the water wasn't much above freezing, if that. We had to swim about twenty feet to shore; it was the fastest we have ever swam for sure. It was so cold that my jaw froze up and I couln't talk for a couple minutes - kinda funny. After the polar bear training, we headed back down a different trail and had a victory beer at a restaurant at the bottom. All in all, we were on the mountain for about six or seven hours - quite a hike.
Now we're all showering up and napping and preparing for dinner. A good calm time after today's excursion. Tomorrow, we head out for Switzerland and after that, Munster to visit another contact of Riley's.
It has been so nice to be in a house again, to get laundry done (Casey was kind enough to do ALL of ours), have meals prepared for us, and hang out with Riley's family. Chamonix is also such a cool town; it seems that everyone participates in some extreme sport, and most everyone who has moved here did it for skiing. One of the best stops by far. But I guess they all are. Europe is awesome!
Thursday night, we slept out on the beach of Cinque Terre until we got kicked off by some Italian police around 7:30am. We headed right for the train station to begin our journey towards Riley's aunt's place. We waited in Cinque Terre for about an hour for our train, and that train broke down about twenty minutes into the ride, so we transferred to a different train that kept stopping and got us in to our first layover about twenty minutes late. All of our tranfers were really tight, so we thought we had missed our next train, but it was delayed thirty minutes, so we made that one. The train after that one pulled out as we got in, so we were a little screwed by Italian trains. Then we took a roundabout route hopping all over different trains until 11pm when Casey, Riley's aunt picked us up for an hour car ride to their place.
We got in late, so we couldn't see the mountains that Riley had so fondly mentioned so the view would wait. We went to sleep almost immediately, and woke up to a view better than Riley had even remembered since his last visit. His aunt's house is a good ways up on one of the many mountains that surround Chamonix, and there is an incredible view of the other mountains from so high up. None of us could get over the sight; we often found ourselves zoning out in amazement. We had some breakfast and just hung out around the house; it has been so nice to be in a place where we can just be after being on the go so much for almost two weeks straight. Casey and Sersh's fourteen year old daughter, Annie plays the piano, so Riley and I fooled around on it for awhile as others napped and sat outside taking in the view. Then we had some lunch and went into town to watch some of Annie's tennis lesson and go exploring through the town a little. In the one part of town, there were a bunch of board gmes set up (including blockis) so we hung out there for awhile and then headed back for dinner. After dinner, we went back in to town to experience the night life a little, but we tunred in rather early because we had plans to go hiking in the morning today.
Sure enough, we woke up early to get to hiking with Casey, Annie, a girl from the states named Alex, and a woman named Karen from New Zealand. I wish I could tell you which of the mountains or trails we went on, but I have no idea. I can't explain the views or the trails well enough to do it justice, but I will say (again - but it is true) that it was the most beautiful view I have ever seen. After about an hour or two of hiking, we had some lunch and then us guys separated from the group and summited a peak off the trail. I haven't ever done any real climbing aside from a couple of walls in gym class, so this was tough for me. I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, and I got tired really quickly because the air was so thin. But, with ecouragement and guidance from my brothers, I made it - and I only thought I was going to die once, not bad. We took a different path down that was covered in snow - all the snow up there boggles my mind, it was easily 80°F up there - and it was pretty steep, so we fake skied all the way down. It was so much fun; we would run down the mountain until we got enough speed, and then jump into the snow and ski with our feet. We later caught up with the rest of our group by this lake. Mike found a little cliff we could jump off of, so he and Riley jumped in first, and then Buck and I followed suit. The cliff was nothing compared to what we have seen so far on this trip, but the catch was that the lake was freezing - literally. There was still plenty of snow in the lake, and I would say the water wasn't much above freezing, if that. We had to swim about twenty feet to shore; it was the fastest we have ever swam for sure. It was so cold that my jaw froze up and I couln't talk for a couple minutes - kinda funny. After the polar bear training, we headed back down a different trail and had a victory beer at a restaurant at the bottom. All in all, we were on the mountain for about six or seven hours - quite a hike.
Now we're all showering up and napping and preparing for dinner. A good calm time after today's excursion. Tomorrow, we head out for Switzerland and after that, Munster to visit another contact of Riley's.
It has been so nice to be in a house again, to get laundry done (Casey was kind enough to do ALL of ours), have meals prepared for us, and hang out with Riley's family. Chamonix is also such a cool town; it seems that everyone participates in some extreme sport, and most everyone who has moved here did it for skiing. One of the best stops by far. But I guess they all are. Europe is awesome!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Day 10 - Cinque Terre
So we finally left the trains for awhile a couple of nights ago in Monterosso around 11:30pm, and we settled into a hotel (that's right, a hotel) shortly after browsing the quiet streets of adjacent to the sea. We ended up staying there for the past two nights at 30€ a piece, and we got delicious breakfasts - of which only Buck and I decided to wake up for. The rooms were great; we had two single and one double bed, a fully loaded bathroom, and a little tv for those late-night Italian dubbed American movie experiences.
The town itself is beautiful. It's full of mountains and rocks and sea and beach and just about anything you can't imagine in a breathtaking landscape. It has somewhat of a feel of Italy in that the shop and restaurant owners all speak Italian, but Cinque Terre is a bit of a tourist trap. So we've experienced a schmorgous board of languages the past few days, and we haven't had much of a problem with the language barrier. Our room was right in front of the sea, so we had an easy walk to the beach when we finally set out for some sea time. Yesterday, we got out to the beach around 10:45 and swam around, jumped off rocks, and chilled on the sand for a few hours. The water is among the bluest I've ever seen. After that, we went to a little restaurant on the strip and had some Italian goodness followed by an appropriate nap. This city had the most feel of being on vacation so far; it has been a welcome stop. When we woke up, we headed out for a little hike around the mountain side towards one of the other towns. It was a really narrow passageway filled with steep stone steps and several scenes to scan. There were many times when we had to stop and just look - jaws dropped and everything. After an hour and a half of the hike, we found ourselves in Vernazza, the second town in Cinque Terre. We walked around there for awhile, took a dip in the sea, ate some treats, waited for the sun to fall, and then took the train back to Monterosso.
After we had some dinner, we walked around a bit and then headed back to our room. We took some showers, watched a little bit of Mission Impossible 3 in Italian - which was riviting - and then turned in somewhere around 11-12pm.
This morning, we had to check out of our hotel, but the owner let us keep our bags in a secure location (so we hope) so we could explore Cinque Terre a little more. We started out by heading to Levanto, a town just outside of C.T. where we heard that we could rent some mopeds. It took us awhile to find the place, and when we did, we found there was only one to rent. So we decided we'd try mopeds again in Switzerland and headed on our way. We thought we'd check out the other towns in C.T., so we did some train hopping and explored what the other towns had to offer. All of them had beautiful scenery, but some of them had better restaurants than others, so after a little searching, we found a sweet place to eat in Manorola, and then we took a litte outdoor nap by the water.
After we woke up, Mike and I headed back to Monterosso, and Buck and Riley took the trail we took yesterday in the opposite direction, so we'll be meeting up with them shortly. We'll probably eat something again and then we're gonna look for a good spot to sleep out tonight and save some hostel money. Tomorrow morning, we head out to Chamonix, France where Riley has an Aunt who is gracious enough to put us up for a couple of days. Can't wait!
Hope everything is well in the states!
The town itself is beautiful. It's full of mountains and rocks and sea and beach and just about anything you can't imagine in a breathtaking landscape. It has somewhat of a feel of Italy in that the shop and restaurant owners all speak Italian, but Cinque Terre is a bit of a tourist trap. So we've experienced a schmorgous board of languages the past few days, and we haven't had much of a problem with the language barrier. Our room was right in front of the sea, so we had an easy walk to the beach when we finally set out for some sea time. Yesterday, we got out to the beach around 10:45 and swam around, jumped off rocks, and chilled on the sand for a few hours. The water is among the bluest I've ever seen. After that, we went to a little restaurant on the strip and had some Italian goodness followed by an appropriate nap. This city had the most feel of being on vacation so far; it has been a welcome stop. When we woke up, we headed out for a little hike around the mountain side towards one of the other towns. It was a really narrow passageway filled with steep stone steps and several scenes to scan. There were many times when we had to stop and just look - jaws dropped and everything. After an hour and a half of the hike, we found ourselves in Vernazza, the second town in Cinque Terre. We walked around there for awhile, took a dip in the sea, ate some treats, waited for the sun to fall, and then took the train back to Monterosso.
After we had some dinner, we walked around a bit and then headed back to our room. We took some showers, watched a little bit of Mission Impossible 3 in Italian - which was riviting - and then turned in somewhere around 11-12pm.
This morning, we had to check out of our hotel, but the owner let us keep our bags in a secure location (so we hope) so we could explore Cinque Terre a little more. We started out by heading to Levanto, a town just outside of C.T. where we heard that we could rent some mopeds. It took us awhile to find the place, and when we did, we found there was only one to rent. So we decided we'd try mopeds again in Switzerland and headed on our way. We thought we'd check out the other towns in C.T., so we did some train hopping and explored what the other towns had to offer. All of them had beautiful scenery, but some of them had better restaurants than others, so after a little searching, we found a sweet place to eat in Manorola, and then we took a litte outdoor nap by the water.
After we woke up, Mike and I headed back to Monterosso, and Buck and Riley took the trail we took yesterday in the opposite direction, so we'll be meeting up with them shortly. We'll probably eat something again and then we're gonna look for a good spot to sleep out tonight and save some hostel money. Tomorrow morning, we head out to Chamonix, France where Riley has an Aunt who is gracious enough to put us up for a couple of days. Can't wait!
Hope everything is well in the states!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Day 8 - Trains, trains, trains
Well, last night was interesting to say the least. We had another sunset cheese, bread, and wine fest before grabbing our neccesary items for camping out on Les Calanques. When we went back to the hostel, we got a game plan together for how we were going to get to the mountain; we decided to call a cab. Luckily for us, the woman at the front desk was nice enough to call for us, but we didn't make it to the cab until after it had been waiting for a few minutes, so by the time we got into the car, we had racked up 7€. Then the cab driver took us a different way to Les Calanques; I asked him a few time about the route to make sure he wasn't trying to rack up a fee, but my French wasn't good enough to tell him out the route we took ealiar that day. So, we ended up at the mountain, but the only difference was we were on the other side. We were a little upset first because the place we were dropped off was way more remote of a location than the other side, and it would make it harder for us to catch our train. But, we decided to make the best of it and had a good time anyway. We were at a little port of a place, and so there were lots of little boats, so we slept in them - Buck, Riley, and Mike in one, and I slept on an upside down one next to them.
We woke up around 7am, when the sun started blasting us in the eyes. We had to get back to our hostel, and then catch a bus, then a métro, then a train, and we had a long walk ahead of us to get out of Les Calanques. To make a long story short, we ended up walking about 2.5 miles to get out of the mountains and waited at a bus stop. After that, we had to do a lot of figuring out how to get back to the hostel taking buses that we hadn't seen before. But we did it. It took us a couple of hours, but we did it. From there, we collected our belongings and got our stinky butts out of there.
We ended up catching a train at 4:30pm, and now we're having a layover in Nice. We'll arive in Cinque Terre around 11:30pm, with one more layover ahead of us. Hopefully we can find a hostel so late at night, but if not, it wouldn't be so bad to have another night under the stars...
We woke up around 7am, when the sun started blasting us in the eyes. We had to get back to our hostel, and then catch a bus, then a métro, then a train, and we had a long walk ahead of us to get out of Les Calanques. To make a long story short, we ended up walking about 2.5 miles to get out of the mountains and waited at a bus stop. After that, we had to do a lot of figuring out how to get back to the hostel taking buses that we hadn't seen before. But we did it. It took us a couple of hours, but we did it. From there, we collected our belongings and got our stinky butts out of there.
We ended up catching a train at 4:30pm, and now we're having a layover in Nice. We'll arive in Cinque Terre around 11:30pm, with one more layover ahead of us. Hopefully we can find a hostel so late at night, but if not, it wouldn't be so bad to have another night under the stars...
Monday, May 18, 2009
Day 7 - Marseille
Sorry it's been so long, computers haven't been too accessible lately, and time hasn't permitted a search for one.
In the past couple of days, we left Madrid, stayed in Barcelona for a night, and yesterday we arrived in Marseille. Our last day in Madrid was great; we walked all over the city and hit a couple eateries from time to time when we got hungry. During the day, we spent a lot of time in a beautiful botanical garden. In the nighttime, San Isidro started to pick up, and outdoor concerts started sprouting in several locations. The most popular thing to do as sky grew darker was to hang out in little pockets around the city and drink with friends. I guess the police turned a blind eye for the holiday. While hanging out in one of the town squares, we met some Americans and a few Spaniards, and ended up hanging out with them until around 4 or 5am - another late night.
The next day (two days ago), we took a train to Barcelona. The ride was great; the tracks were surrounded with various beautiful landscapes on either side. Once in Barcelona, we needed to take the metro to get to our hostel, but before that, we wanted to check out a famous building called Sagrada Familia which was awesome. When we got back on the metro though, we had our first Eurotrip mishap; I got pick pocketed out of 70€, so that bummed me out a little bit for awhile. After we checked in to our hostel, we hit the beach for a couple of hours and tossed the disc around. During the night, we walked around and experienced the rave that is celebrating a soccer game home team win. The streets were alive, but most places were closed so there wasn't much to do, so we decided to go to bed early and catch an early train to Marseille.
Last night we got in to Marseille around 7pm, checked in to our room, went to a local food shop, bought some cheese, bread, and wine, and then went to the beach and watched the sunset. It was incredible; we were surrounded by water and mountains, complete with a sunset. Afterwards, we went to get some pizza and tuned in for an early night.
This morning, we woke up early so that we could get out to Les Calanques and do some hiking and swimming. This part of Marseille truly was the most beautiful scenery I've seen so far in Europe, and possibly in my life. We climbed a couple of peaks, jumped off a cliff into some water, and took a soothing nap under the sun - with suntan lotion (for all you mothers out there). We then left the mountain cliffs and waited for our return bus, but it didn't come so we tried hitchhiking. It was a bit of a struggle since my French isn't the best (Pouvez-vous conduire mes amis et moi?), but there was a girl who saw us practicing our petitioning cars for rides and offered us a ride about three quarters of the way, and walked back. After that, we stopped at a boulengerie to get some snacks and then headed back to the hostel. We actually don't have a room tonight since they are full, so we're sleeping on the mountains of Les Calanques. We're all pretty pumped to sleep outdoors finally - and in such a majestic setting.
Tomorrow we head for Cinque Terre, Italy. It's looking like it'll be tough to get there; we need to have perfect timing catching trains and we're not even too sure of where we're going and what the hostel situation will be like there, so please keep us in your prayers.
Au revior!
In the past couple of days, we left Madrid, stayed in Barcelona for a night, and yesterday we arrived in Marseille. Our last day in Madrid was great; we walked all over the city and hit a couple eateries from time to time when we got hungry. During the day, we spent a lot of time in a beautiful botanical garden. In the nighttime, San Isidro started to pick up, and outdoor concerts started sprouting in several locations. The most popular thing to do as sky grew darker was to hang out in little pockets around the city and drink with friends. I guess the police turned a blind eye for the holiday. While hanging out in one of the town squares, we met some Americans and a few Spaniards, and ended up hanging out with them until around 4 or 5am - another late night.
The next day (two days ago), we took a train to Barcelona. The ride was great; the tracks were surrounded with various beautiful landscapes on either side. Once in Barcelona, we needed to take the metro to get to our hostel, but before that, we wanted to check out a famous building called Sagrada Familia which was awesome. When we got back on the metro though, we had our first Eurotrip mishap; I got pick pocketed out of 70€, so that bummed me out a little bit for awhile. After we checked in to our hostel, we hit the beach for a couple of hours and tossed the disc around. During the night, we walked around and experienced the rave that is celebrating a soccer game home team win. The streets were alive, but most places were closed so there wasn't much to do, so we decided to go to bed early and catch an early train to Marseille.
Last night we got in to Marseille around 7pm, checked in to our room, went to a local food shop, bought some cheese, bread, and wine, and then went to the beach and watched the sunset. It was incredible; we were surrounded by water and mountains, complete with a sunset. Afterwards, we went to get some pizza and tuned in for an early night.
This morning, we woke up early so that we could get out to Les Calanques and do some hiking and swimming. This part of Marseille truly was the most beautiful scenery I've seen so far in Europe, and possibly in my life. We climbed a couple of peaks, jumped off a cliff into some water, and took a soothing nap under the sun - with suntan lotion (for all you mothers out there). We then left the mountain cliffs and waited for our return bus, but it didn't come so we tried hitchhiking. It was a bit of a struggle since my French isn't the best (Pouvez-vous conduire mes amis et moi?), but there was a girl who saw us practicing our petitioning cars for rides and offered us a ride about three quarters of the way, and walked back. After that, we stopped at a boulengerie to get some snacks and then headed back to the hostel. We actually don't have a room tonight since they are full, so we're sleeping on the mountains of Les Calanques. We're all pretty pumped to sleep outdoors finally - and in such a majestic setting.
Tomorrow we head for Cinque Terre, Italy. It's looking like it'll be tough to get there; we need to have perfect timing catching trains and we're not even too sure of where we're going and what the hostel situation will be like there, so please keep us in your prayers.
Au revior!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Day 4 - Madrid is the best city ever
Last night, we hopped on a plane to Madrid around 6pm, and arrived about two and a half hours later. We jumped ahead an hour, so it was about 10pm when we got on the metro out of the airport. Right away we knew that Madrid was sweet. The topography is wonderful, the architecture is like nothing I´ve seen, and there are so many cool shops and eateries around the city. It´s also my first experience being in a place where we don´t speak the language, so it´s a cool shift from Dublin where everyone speaks English anyway. Luckily, we have Riley who can speak some damn good Spanish, and has been our crutch all the way so far.
We found a hostel around 11:30 or so, and then we decided to head out... it was our first night, so we couldn´t go to bed early of course! First we found some cheap eats and ate outside in a little town square area, and then headed to a bar for some sangria. Afterwards, we flirted with the idea of going to bed since today is San Isidro, and there would be fesitvals going all night, but on our way back, we ran into a few girls who were celebrating their birthday. They convinced us, along with the help of a very persuasive bar promoter, to come with them into this night club that was open until 4am. Well, they taught us to dance! It was so much fun learning all of these specific moves to specific songs; they were there just to have fun, and so were we. It was the best night of this trip so far easily.
We didn´t end up leaving until about 4am, and they were headed out to another club that was open until 7am, but we thought we should get some sleep since we didn´t want to miss out on the San Isidro fun. So we got some contact info, and we might actually meet up with them again today, which would be sweet.
Today, after a cheap breakfast, we walked around and gawked at some beautiful scenery. I wish I could put pictures up because this city is the most beautiful one I have ever seen. Now, we´re looking for a way to get a Eurorail pass for Mike, and then we´ll head to some of the hot spots where the San Isidro parties are happening. Who knows what´s in store for us in crazy Madrid!
We found a hostel around 11:30 or so, and then we decided to head out... it was our first night, so we couldn´t go to bed early of course! First we found some cheap eats and ate outside in a little town square area, and then headed to a bar for some sangria. Afterwards, we flirted with the idea of going to bed since today is San Isidro, and there would be fesitvals going all night, but on our way back, we ran into a few girls who were celebrating their birthday. They convinced us, along with the help of a very persuasive bar promoter, to come with them into this night club that was open until 4am. Well, they taught us to dance! It was so much fun learning all of these specific moves to specific songs; they were there just to have fun, and so were we. It was the best night of this trip so far easily.
We didn´t end up leaving until about 4am, and they were headed out to another club that was open until 7am, but we thought we should get some sleep since we didn´t want to miss out on the San Isidro fun. So we got some contact info, and we might actually meet up with them again today, which would be sweet.
Today, after a cheap breakfast, we walked around and gawked at some beautiful scenery. I wish I could put pictures up because this city is the most beautiful one I have ever seen. Now, we´re looking for a way to get a Eurorail pass for Mike, and then we´ll head to some of the hot spots where the San Isidro parties are happening. Who knows what´s in store for us in crazy Madrid!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Day 3 - Drizzly Dublin
Today we got up around 9:00, which is much better than yesterday, but on only three hours of sleep. We got our free breakfast (toast) and checked out of our hostel around 10:30 (or ''half ten'' as they say in Ireland). After that, we headed out to see the famous ''Book of Kells.'' I have never heard of this book, but apparently it's a big deal. It's a really old book with neat art and calligraphy. The book is held at Trinity College, not too far from where we stayed, so we headed over there and checked it out. When we were told it cost €8 to get in, we decided against it, but Mike befriended a student named Ariel who said she could get us in for free since she attends the college. So we ended up walking through; it was cool and all, but some of the artifacts seemed almost fabricated; a couple of us questioned the authenticity of some of the ancient books. We just finished our Irish breakfasts, which consists of two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausages, and two pieces of toast, and now we're getting ready to go to our next venue on our Eurotour: Madrid.
Last night, we wanted to find a bar with good specials and fun activities. We went back to Purdy's Kitchen because it seemed the place to be the night before. Well, I guess we missed out on the Tuesday crowd because it just wasn't as happenin' last night, but it was still fun. Apparently, on Tuesday nights, everyone wears white shirts and they throw neon paint at you on the dance floor under black lights. Sounds pretty sweet. It was still fun dancing and hanging out with our hostel roommates; our new mate of last night, Doug from Fort Collins, CO, joined us as well. All in all, a good time.
Overall, Dublin was great, but something tells me that we're just getting started and we only have to go up from here. I can't wait to see what Madrid has in store for us, and we're all pumped for the festival of San Isidro.
That's all for now, thanks for reading!
Last night, we wanted to find a bar with good specials and fun activities. We went back to Purdy's Kitchen because it seemed the place to be the night before. Well, I guess we missed out on the Tuesday crowd because it just wasn't as happenin' last night, but it was still fun. Apparently, on Tuesday nights, everyone wears white shirts and they throw neon paint at you on the dance floor under black lights. Sounds pretty sweet. It was still fun dancing and hanging out with our hostel roommates; our new mate of last night, Doug from Fort Collins, CO, joined us as well. All in all, a good time.
Overall, Dublin was great, but something tells me that we're just getting started and we only have to go up from here. I can't wait to see what Madrid has in store for us, and we're all pumped for the festival of San Isidro.
That's all for now, thanks for reading!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Day 2 - the deep sleep
Today we woke up at 1:30pm. Bummer. We missed out on the morning, but we intend to make it up this afternoon and evening with a trip to the Jameson distillery, and maybe hang out in a park. The weather is a little less beautiful than yesterday; there's a slight drizzle in the air and the sun has shied away from us unfortunately. So we'll play it by ear, as they say.
Last night, we awoke from our nap a little later than expected: 9:30pm. But the sun was still somewhere in the horizon, so it didn't feel too late. Our hostel-mate, John asked if he could tag along, so we made a friend and set out as a five-stacked American squad. We headed out for some grub and then we would try to find what Dublin had to offer. After poking our head in a few different restaurants, we landed on Charlie's an oriental fast food place.
After eating, we headed out for a bar, and we found the oldest bar in Ireland: the Brazen Head. Apparently, it was established in the late 12th century, so that's pretty neat. We all shared a pint of Guinness and relaxed in the little pub with much history. Afterwards, we wanted to find a more active bar, so we walked around looking for a bumpin' place with good specials. The 'Think Tank' was the bar for us. €7 to get in and €2 for ANY drink. Buck and Riley were tuckered out, so we parted ways with Mike, John and I left to try out the think tank. Unfortunately, they had a dress code, and Mike's sandals didn't make the cut, so we were left to find another bar. We settled on a bar called Fitzsimmons; it didn't have any specials, so we didn't order any drinks, but they did have a sweet roof terrace where we could enjoy the cool night. We met some Irish ladies when they asked if we had a light and ended up chatting it up for awhile with them. We even went back to Charlie's for a late night snack with them, and they told us that they could show us around Dublin today and take us to the zoo. We were pretty pumped to get some native guides, but sadly, when we called them when we woke up, one of them was pretty sick, so they had to pass.
So, no Irish lady guides, but we can still find a good time.
And we're off!
Last night, we awoke from our nap a little later than expected: 9:30pm. But the sun was still somewhere in the horizon, so it didn't feel too late. Our hostel-mate, John asked if he could tag along, so we made a friend and set out as a five-stacked American squad. We headed out for some grub and then we would try to find what Dublin had to offer. After poking our head in a few different restaurants, we landed on Charlie's an oriental fast food place.
After eating, we headed out for a bar, and we found the oldest bar in Ireland: the Brazen Head. Apparently, it was established in the late 12th century, so that's pretty neat. We all shared a pint of Guinness and relaxed in the little pub with much history. Afterwards, we wanted to find a more active bar, so we walked around looking for a bumpin' place with good specials. The 'Think Tank' was the bar for us. €7 to get in and €2 for ANY drink. Buck and Riley were tuckered out, so we parted ways with Mike, John and I left to try out the think tank. Unfortunately, they had a dress code, and Mike's sandals didn't make the cut, so we were left to find another bar. We settled on a bar called Fitzsimmons; it didn't have any specials, so we didn't order any drinks, but they did have a sweet roof terrace where we could enjoy the cool night. We met some Irish ladies when they asked if we had a light and ended up chatting it up for awhile with them. We even went back to Charlie's for a late night snack with them, and they told us that they could show us around Dublin today and take us to the zoo. We were pretty pumped to get some native guides, but sadly, when we called them when we woke up, one of them was pretty sick, so they had to pass.
So, no Irish lady guides, but we can still find a good time.
And we're off!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Day 1 - Dublin
We successfully arrived in Dublin around 6am this morning, and then, Buck, Mike, and I waited for Riley to arrive around 9:25am. While waiting, Mike and I hit the bar and had ourselves our very first Irish Guiness pint for breakfast. When Riley came, we set out for downtown Dublin and immediately found a hostle, known as the Barnacle Hostle. We checked in our bags and hit the town looking for some real food, and our first adventure: The Guiness Brewery.
To make a long story short, we stayed around in the brewery - which had an unbelievable tour, I highly recommend it - for about four hours. The finale to the tour was a free pint on the top of the tower, with a 360 degree view of Dublin! Well, people saw us guys and thought that we wanted as much Guiness as we could get our hands on, so they gave us their free pints. My tastebuds didn't quite enjoy the rich flavor of Guiness about two pints in, so I gave up pretty early on. We had a great time just hanging out in the Gravity Bar and chatting it up with the locals as well as other travelers.
Now all we're trying to do is find a way to get Mike's Eurorail that he bought online and has to pick up somewhere in Europe before he uses it. A bunch of us are fatigued from the flight and the early day activities, so we're heading back to the hostile to take a power nap and then hit the town once again for dinner and evening festivities.
We're all safe and we're all loving life right now. I speak for all of us when I say that we're so thankful to be here and with each other, loving all that Europe has to offer.
To make a long story short, we stayed around in the brewery - which had an unbelievable tour, I highly recommend it - for about four hours. The finale to the tour was a free pint on the top of the tower, with a 360 degree view of Dublin! Well, people saw us guys and thought that we wanted as much Guiness as we could get our hands on, so they gave us their free pints. My tastebuds didn't quite enjoy the rich flavor of Guiness about two pints in, so I gave up pretty early on. We had a great time just hanging out in the Gravity Bar and chatting it up with the locals as well as other travelers.
Now all we're trying to do is find a way to get Mike's Eurorail that he bought online and has to pick up somewhere in Europe before he uses it. A bunch of us are fatigued from the flight and the early day activities, so we're heading back to the hostile to take a power nap and then hit the town once again for dinner and evening festivities.
We're all safe and we're all loving life right now. I speak for all of us when I say that we're so thankful to be here and with each other, loving all that Europe has to offer.
Monday, May 11, 2009
T-minus 45 minutes
Our flight leaves for Dublin around 2pm, and we're going to go to the airport in 45 minutes!!! We're all excited; Gherty got in around 5:20am and has been workin' hard to get ready. I've got goosebumps because I'm so juiced with anticipation. Last night, a bunch of us (Buck and I, and the girl travelers) slept on the floor of Britta and Janna's apartment. We just finished making copies of passports and driver's licenses and eurorail passes, and now we're doing some final bookkeeping check ups and then we're off to the airport. Next post, we'll be in Europe! DUBLIN OR BUST!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Calm Before the Storm
Hey everyone. We're all pumped and waiting to go to Europe. Our flight leaves around 2pm tomorrow, and then we're off! Pray for safe travels and we'll try our best to keep you posted on our whereabouts.
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