August 14-19, 2009
Bye bye Christine we will MISS you!!!
Another boat ride away awaited our last and most relaxing stop, Santorini. Santorini is the island of Greece that you see in all the movies. The towns that are on the hill with all white houses and blue roofs. If you have seen “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” or “Mama Mia” you know what I am talking about.
Our travels to Santorini involve a funny story. The group of New Zealanders we met on the boat ride to Mykonos happened to be on our ferry to Santorini and we found out they were staying at the same hotel as us! It was fun to have a group of people to hang out with. Once we got to our hotel we decided to all go out to dinner near the ocean. We ate some traditional Greek food, rice wrapped with grape leaves, Greek salad, and some tadizi.
The next day Ash and I made breakfast and then went to rent an ATV. We realized after driving it around a bit that we probably got one of the slowest ones on the island. Everywhere we went we were passed up by scooters, cars and even HUGE busses. O well, no matter how slow it was we had a great time exploring the island. First we went to the “red sand” beach. It was located in a little cove that you practically had to hike down to. We took a swim laid out for a bit and were off to our next stop, the light house at the TOP of the island basically on a cliff. We hiked to the very edge took some pictures and then were off to OUI (where the white and blue villages on the hill are located). Our time in Santorini was kind of like Rome in a day because we only had the ATV for 24 hours and the island is big and like I said our form of transportation was really slow.
The drive to OUI was about an hour and a half away along very windy roads. It was actually fun driving through them. We were driving a long the coast for quite a bit of it, it was beautiful. Once we got to OUI we parked our ATV (no cars, scooters, or ATV’s allowed) and explored the city on foot. We walked down the Cliffside on very steep steps that lead to the harbor. On our way down we saw a group of donkeys transporting people to the top. This is what everyone says “to do” when you go to Santorini. We were super unfortunate because that was the last trip of the day for the donkeys. When we got to the bottom we sat down and had some AMAZING calamari. The sunset was just minutes away so we rushed back up the hill and caught it just in time. It was spectacular. The brightest oranges, reds, and yellows. There were hundred of people scattering the street just to watch the sunset. I guess we were in the place to be. It was a great show.
The way home was a little scary because it was pitch black and our ATV didn’t have the best headlights. Good news though, we got home safe!!! On the way home we stopped off on the side of the road to watch a 1-time a year firework show. Every August 17th Santorini puts on a firework show to simulate the volcano that lies in the center of the island (an island itself). We just happened to be in the right place at the right time for this one. She show was nice but nothing compared to 4th of July fireworks. Later that night we had some wine with our friends from New Zealand on our patio.
Our last day of vacation in Santorini we took it easy. We walked down to the black sand beach for a swim in the ocean and then laid out by our pool. We made some dinner and packed for our 40 hour adventure home.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Rome in a Day!!!
August 9-10, 2009
The wonderful Chianti wine tasting tour left us with only 1 full day to explore Rome!!! Rome in a day is practically impossible/crazy to do. We were determined to get it all done. How could we miss the Colosseum, Vatican, St. Peters, the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, or Trevi Fountain?!?! WE COULDN’T!
We started our day off bright and early. It was off to the Colosseum first. The Colosseum is a 2,000 year old building (a great example of Roman engineering). The Colosseum represents Rome at its grandest, and let me tell you it is spectacular! It was built when killing became a spectator sport (gladiators, criminals and wild animals fought to their death). It would fill about 50,000 people. They say that all the people were in their seats within 15 minutes of the gates opening. They way they got this done was with whips! Scary. So, the lines to enter the Colosseum are hours long. We thought it would be a great idea to go with a “tour group” to speed up the process. They offered for 10 extra Euro to give us a guided tour and not wait in line. Since we were trying to do Rome in a day we decided to take their offer. 1 hour and 30 minutes later we finally entered the Colosseum. Needless to say we got totally ripped off. After we gave the guide our money she disappeared and didn’t come back until 45 minutes later. They we talked outside of the Colosseum for 20 more minutes and then had to still wait in a line to get in! We were furious. As soon as we got in we ditched the group, took some great pictures, and then tracked down the tour coordinator to get our money back. At the time we were frustrated, but looking back it is kind of funny. After touring the Colosseum we walked through the Roman Forum. This is ancient Rome’s birthplace and civic center. It is a huge park with a bunch of ruins and statues.
After the Colosseum we were off to Vatican City. This is a tiny independent country of more then 100 acres and the religious capital of over 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. We went to the Vatican Museum first. The museum contains Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. The walk to the Sistine Chapel is about 4 miles. It was really crazy how BIG the museum is. The even more amazing part is that every single inch (walls, floors, doors) is covered with the most beautiful elaborate art I have ever seen. The Vatican Museum is by far my favorite museum on the trip. At the end of the 4 mile walk through thousands of works of art you are rewarded by entering the Sistine Chapel. This is the personal chapel of the Pope and also where a new pope is elected. It was beautiful.
Next we were off to St. Peters Basilica. This is known as the richest and most impressive church on earth, and it was. We ran into a little problem before entering the church though. OUR SHOULDERS AND LEGS HAD TO BE COVERED. In the 100+ degree weather this was the last thing we expected (should have paid more attention to what Rick Steves’ had to say) . We had to run across the street, buy a few scarves and hope to get let in. When we got to the front of the line we were still showing too much skin. So I pulled my skirt way down low to my knees, and Ashley gave Christine her scarf (she made a skirt with the extra) and we went in. After Christine and I were finished we went out to get Ashley, she took Christine’s scarf made a skirt and we went in again. The basilica was beautiful and enormous.
With no time to waste we were off to the Pantheon. This is the best restored building in Rome. The interior was almost flawless with a gigantic skylight. The Pantheon comes with a funny story. When we entered it we didn’t really see any signs that said “Pantheon” so we were not 100% sure we were in the right place. Ashley took it upon her self to go ask the reception desk where the Pantheon is. As she was walking over Christine and I saw a sign that said Pantheon. We were in the right place we turned to tell Ashley not to ask but she was already talking to the lady. The expression on Ashley’s face was priceless when the lady told her “ You are IN it.” HAHAHAHA. It was one of the best laughs I have had all trip.
Next we went to Trevi Fountain. It was super gorgeous and very crowded. We went to the base of it, look our pennies (yes AMERICAN pennies), tossed them over our shoulder and made a wish. Now Trevi Fountain will have a little bit of the states in it. Finally about 10 hours later we were off to our last stop. We didn’t plan our trip very well because after walking around all day we saved the STEPS for last. We decided to climb them in a figure 8 to make them interesting. It consisted of 2 circular staircases. On top was a great view of the city.
Our most exciting fact of the day is what Christine’s PEDOMETER said. She wears one for a contest that she has at her work. All the employees count their steps and get entered into raffles depending on how many steps they get. At the end of our day in Rome we walked an astounding 15 miles!!!
Off to Mykonos.
The wonderful Chianti wine tasting tour left us with only 1 full day to explore Rome!!! Rome in a day is practically impossible/crazy to do. We were determined to get it all done. How could we miss the Colosseum, Vatican, St. Peters, the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, or Trevi Fountain?!?! WE COULDN’T!
We started our day off bright and early. It was off to the Colosseum first. The Colosseum is a 2,000 year old building (a great example of Roman engineering). The Colosseum represents Rome at its grandest, and let me tell you it is spectacular! It was built when killing became a spectator sport (gladiators, criminals and wild animals fought to their death). It would fill about 50,000 people. They say that all the people were in their seats within 15 minutes of the gates opening. They way they got this done was with whips! Scary. So, the lines to enter the Colosseum are hours long. We thought it would be a great idea to go with a “tour group” to speed up the process. They offered for 10 extra Euro to give us a guided tour and not wait in line. Since we were trying to do Rome in a day we decided to take their offer. 1 hour and 30 minutes later we finally entered the Colosseum. Needless to say we got totally ripped off. After we gave the guide our money she disappeared and didn’t come back until 45 minutes later. They we talked outside of the Colosseum for 20 more minutes and then had to still wait in a line to get in! We were furious. As soon as we got in we ditched the group, took some great pictures, and then tracked down the tour coordinator to get our money back. At the time we were frustrated, but looking back it is kind of funny. After touring the Colosseum we walked through the Roman Forum. This is ancient Rome’s birthplace and civic center. It is a huge park with a bunch of ruins and statues.
After the Colosseum we were off to Vatican City. This is a tiny independent country of more then 100 acres and the religious capital of over 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. We went to the Vatican Museum first. The museum contains Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. The walk to the Sistine Chapel is about 4 miles. It was really crazy how BIG the museum is. The even more amazing part is that every single inch (walls, floors, doors) is covered with the most beautiful elaborate art I have ever seen. The Vatican Museum is by far my favorite museum on the trip. At the end of the 4 mile walk through thousands of works of art you are rewarded by entering the Sistine Chapel. This is the personal chapel of the Pope and also where a new pope is elected. It was beautiful.
Next we were off to St. Peters Basilica. This is known as the richest and most impressive church on earth, and it was. We ran into a little problem before entering the church though. OUR SHOULDERS AND LEGS HAD TO BE COVERED. In the 100+ degree weather this was the last thing we expected (should have paid more attention to what Rick Steves’ had to say) . We had to run across the street, buy a few scarves and hope to get let in. When we got to the front of the line we were still showing too much skin. So I pulled my skirt way down low to my knees, and Ashley gave Christine her scarf (she made a skirt with the extra) and we went in. After Christine and I were finished we went out to get Ashley, she took Christine’s scarf made a skirt and we went in again. The basilica was beautiful and enormous.
With no time to waste we were off to the Pantheon. This is the best restored building in Rome. The interior was almost flawless with a gigantic skylight. The Pantheon comes with a funny story. When we entered it we didn’t really see any signs that said “Pantheon” so we were not 100% sure we were in the right place. Ashley took it upon her self to go ask the reception desk where the Pantheon is. As she was walking over Christine and I saw a sign that said Pantheon. We were in the right place we turned to tell Ashley not to ask but she was already talking to the lady. The expression on Ashley’s face was priceless when the lady told her “ You are IN it.” HAHAHAHA. It was one of the best laughs I have had all trip.
Next we went to Trevi Fountain. It was super gorgeous and very crowded. We went to the base of it, look our pennies (yes AMERICAN pennies), tossed them over our shoulder and made a wish. Now Trevi Fountain will have a little bit of the states in it. Finally about 10 hours later we were off to our last stop. We didn’t plan our trip very well because after walking around all day we saved the STEPS for last. We decided to climb them in a figure 8 to make them interesting. It consisted of 2 circular staircases. On top was a great view of the city.
Our most exciting fact of the day is what Christine’s PEDOMETER said. She wears one for a contest that she has at her work. All the employees count their steps and get entered into raffles depending on how many steps they get. At the end of our day in Rome we walked an astounding 15 miles!!!
Off to Mykonos.
Cinque Terre - Vita Pigra di Vernazza
August 5-6, 2009
Cinque Terre is a remote chunk of the Italian Rivera. It is made up of sun, sea, sand, wine, swimming, and super hard but rewarding hiking. Cinque Terre means five villages. We stayed in Vernazza and think that all of you should take your next vacation there! It is our NEW favorite stop by far! Vernazza is thought of as the jewel of Cinque Terre. It is a super small town with one main street that leads right to the beach, harbor and some cliffs that you can jump off of into the ocean.
Because the plane from Barcelona to Milan arrived too late to catch a train Ashley and I spent a night in Milan right near the main train station. That night we got some Italian food for dinner. It was very good despite the fact that they put cheese in Ashley’s pasta (she is allergic). That night we went to bed super early because we were so excited to get to Cinque Terra.
We arrived to Cinque Terre at around 2:00pm. It was still very sunny and beautiful. We walked down the cobble stone street toward the ocean our B&B right on the ocean. Cinque Terre basically had one main street that was We walked up the tall thin building to the 3rd level where an 80 year old woman (the owners mother) met us with the key. She was soooo sweet and didn’t know a lick of English. She talked to us for a while (we didn’t understand a thing) then let us into our very quaint room. It was perfect! We quickly threw on our bathing suits and were off to the water.
The beach in Cinque Terre is small but the cliffs are huge. We jumped off them for a while and then swam around to a more secluded area. Here there were very flat rocks that you could lay out on and catch a tan. There was one problem though… Ashley made a new friend earlier when we were diving off of the cliffs. He was a 60 year old man from Paris that wouldn’t leave her alone. When we were laying out on the rocks all of a sudden he comes up right next to her and practically puts his arm around her… the rest is history. He wouldn’t leave her alone for at least 4 hours. After we finished tanning we went to our towels that were right off of the beach. Needless to say Pierre (Ashley’s French lover) followed us over to that area. This is when he decided to give her and everyone else on the beach a show. He walked up the cliff so he was about 10 feet above everyone, turned around to look at the ocean, and pulled his Speedo bottoms up so high it made a thong (BORAT STYLE)!!! Then he continued to do some stretches and toe touches. EVERYONE was entertained. Once he was finished he came down to our towels and made his way right next to Ashley again to once again give the googly eyes. Ashley repeatedly told him she had a boyfriend but he didn’t seem to mind. (Although I don’t think Kevin would be threatened by a 60- year old man ;) Talked her ear off for about an hour and then gave her his digits, address, and email. We want to thank Pierre for an AMAZING laugh.
For the rest of the night we hung out on our towels with a great group of people; a couple from Florida, two sweet girls from Holland, and a group of guys from Australia. We grabbed a few bottles of wine, some pizza, and made our towels into a picnic. While we were eating an amazing band started to play. It was gorgeous music. It was a band of two, a drummer and a pianist. This piano was not a normal piano, it was three different levels. I would compare the Phantom of the Opera. Very gothic and powerful. It was amazing.
Day 2 in Cinque Terre we hiked from our village to Monterosso. The hike was very very hard but super rewarding. We were literally on the edge of the cliff the whole way there it felt like it was up the WHOLE time. It took us about an hour to get from Vernazza to Monterosso. The views were unbelievable. We were able to see Vernazza with a birds eye view. It is hard to describe how beautiful the scenery was hopefully the pictures will give you a little idea. Once we got to Monterosso we went straight to the water. Enjoyed a swim, swam to a cave and then grabbed some lunch. This was a very sad lunch for us because it meant it was almost time for us to leave. We only got 24 hours in Cinque Terre but it was the best 24 hours of the trip. We will both be back to visit and you should too!
Now off to Florence!
Cinque Terre is a remote chunk of the Italian Rivera. It is made up of sun, sea, sand, wine, swimming, and super hard but rewarding hiking. Cinque Terre means five villages. We stayed in Vernazza and think that all of you should take your next vacation there! It is our NEW favorite stop by far! Vernazza is thought of as the jewel of Cinque Terre. It is a super small town with one main street that leads right to the beach, harbor and some cliffs that you can jump off of into the ocean.
Because the plane from Barcelona to Milan arrived too late to catch a train Ashley and I spent a night in Milan right near the main train station. That night we got some Italian food for dinner. It was very good despite the fact that they put cheese in Ashley’s pasta (she is allergic). That night we went to bed super early because we were so excited to get to Cinque Terra.
We arrived to Cinque Terre at around 2:00pm. It was still very sunny and beautiful. We walked down the cobble stone street toward the ocean our B&B right on the ocean. Cinque Terre basically had one main street that was We walked up the tall thin building to the 3rd level where an 80 year old woman (the owners mother) met us with the key. She was soooo sweet and didn’t know a lick of English. She talked to us for a while (we didn’t understand a thing) then let us into our very quaint room. It was perfect! We quickly threw on our bathing suits and were off to the water.
The beach in Cinque Terre is small but the cliffs are huge. We jumped off them for a while and then swam around to a more secluded area. Here there were very flat rocks that you could lay out on and catch a tan. There was one problem though… Ashley made a new friend earlier when we were diving off of the cliffs. He was a 60 year old man from Paris that wouldn’t leave her alone. When we were laying out on the rocks all of a sudden he comes up right next to her and practically puts his arm around her… the rest is history. He wouldn’t leave her alone for at least 4 hours. After we finished tanning we went to our towels that were right off of the beach. Needless to say Pierre (Ashley’s French lover) followed us over to that area. This is when he decided to give her and everyone else on the beach a show. He walked up the cliff so he was about 10 feet above everyone, turned around to look at the ocean, and pulled his Speedo bottoms up so high it made a thong (BORAT STYLE)!!! Then he continued to do some stretches and toe touches. EVERYONE was entertained. Once he was finished he came down to our towels and made his way right next to Ashley again to once again give the googly eyes. Ashley repeatedly told him she had a boyfriend but he didn’t seem to mind. (Although I don’t think Kevin would be threatened by a 60- year old man ;) Talked her ear off for about an hour and then gave her his digits, address, and email. We want to thank Pierre for an AMAZING laugh.
For the rest of the night we hung out on our towels with a great group of people; a couple from Florida, two sweet girls from Holland, and a group of guys from Australia. We grabbed a few bottles of wine, some pizza, and made our towels into a picnic. While we were eating an amazing band started to play. It was gorgeous music. It was a band of two, a drummer and a pianist. This piano was not a normal piano, it was three different levels. I would compare the Phantom of the Opera. Very gothic and powerful. It was amazing.
Day 2 in Cinque Terre we hiked from our village to Monterosso. The hike was very very hard but super rewarding. We were literally on the edge of the cliff the whole way there it felt like it was up the WHOLE time. It took us about an hour to get from Vernazza to Monterosso. The views were unbelievable. We were able to see Vernazza with a birds eye view. It is hard to describe how beautiful the scenery was hopefully the pictures will give you a little idea. Once we got to Monterosso we went straight to the water. Enjoyed a swim, swam to a cave and then grabbed some lunch. This was a very sad lunch for us because it meant it was almost time for us to leave. We only got 24 hours in Cinque Terre but it was the best 24 hours of the trip. We will both be back to visit and you should too!
Now off to Florence!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Paris - The City of Light <3
July 29-31, 2009
“Paris is a world capital of art, fashion, food, literature, and ideas, it stands as a symbol of all the fine things that a human civilization can offer”
We arrive to the main station Paris on a sunny afternoon, got our 3-day “Mo-pass” and we were off to our hotel. Paris hostels do not have the best reputation so we found a hotel with a private room for super cheap! The hotel ended up being really really nice and it included breakfast!!! Once we got settled we relaxed a little bit at our hotel, booked a few hostels, and then got ready for a big night. We decided to go on the Paris Pub Crawl. Pub crawls are a great way to meet other travelers.
Before the pub crawl we got some dinner at a very cute French restaurant. We got a 3 course meal for 8 Euro! That is a HUUGEE deal. The French onion soup was amazing! After dinner we met the pub crawl group in the center of the city and within minutes we were off to our first bar. We ended up meeting a whole group of people from San Francisco, some girls from LA, and 2 really awesome girls from London. We ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night. The pub crawl ended up at a really nice club. Ash and I walked in and immediately a guy that worked at the club asked us if we wanted to be VIP. Of course we said “YES” and went into this really cool area. It basically had a bottle of alcohol at every table with mixers and ice. So we were able to make our own drinks for the rest of the night. It was a very late but great night!
The next day we slept in and took it super easy. It was nice to get a day to catch up on sleep. That night we took the Mo to see the infamous EIFFEL TOWER! It actually was build a hundred years ago with no function but to impress, and impress us it did. It is one of the most spectacular monuments I have ever seen. At night it lights up and when the clock hits 10 it sparkles for 5 minutes. When it sparkles it takes your breath away. After being in awe for a few hours we grabbed some French fries and ice cream and made our way back to the hotel.
Day 3 in Paris we did it all. We started our day off with the “Fat Tire Bike Tour.” If you remember we went with the same company in Berlin and had a super time. We loved the experience so much we went again. This time with a 2 Euro discount because we are loyal customers. We saw the Notre-Dame Cathedral, Sainte Chapelle, the Louvre, The Army Museum, Luxembourg Garden, the Pantheon, the Arc de Triomphe, the finish line of the Tour de France, and a woman with the shortest shorts we have ever seen!!! For lunch we stopped off at a café in a park and had some savory crepes. We ended the bike tour at the Eiffel Tower then we were off to the Louvre to visit Mona Lisa. The Louvre is Europe‘s oldest, biggest, greatest, and second-most-crowded museum housed in 16th century palace. The Louvre has over a million pieces of artwork. If a person spent one minute looking at every piece it would take them over 9 months to see them all! Crazy right?! We saw Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, David and Goliath, Aphrodite, and Napoleon’s apartment.
After the Louvre we made our way back to the Eiffel tower to climb all the way up to the top! Obviously the best view of Paris. It took our breath away for 3 reasons:
1. The climb was LONG and hard
2. It was sooo high we got vertigo
3. The view was amazing
After visiting the top off the Eiffel tower we went to the huge lawn area at the base. This is were a ton of locals and tourists grab a bottle of wine and a blanket and wait for the light show. Ash and I bought a bottle of wine and laid back and enjoyed the show. The sky was so blue with a few clouds that it made the view of the Eiffel tower even more beautiful then the day before. It was soooo romantic ash and I decided to take a very special picture:
“Paris is a world capital of art, fashion, food, literature, and ideas, it stands as a symbol of all the fine things that a human civilization can offer”
We arrive to the main station Paris on a sunny afternoon, got our 3-day “Mo-pass” and we were off to our hotel. Paris hostels do not have the best reputation so we found a hotel with a private room for super cheap! The hotel ended up being really really nice and it included breakfast!!! Once we got settled we relaxed a little bit at our hotel, booked a few hostels, and then got ready for a big night. We decided to go on the Paris Pub Crawl. Pub crawls are a great way to meet other travelers.
Before the pub crawl we got some dinner at a very cute French restaurant. We got a 3 course meal for 8 Euro! That is a HUUGEE deal. The French onion soup was amazing! After dinner we met the pub crawl group in the center of the city and within minutes we were off to our first bar. We ended up meeting a whole group of people from San Francisco, some girls from LA, and 2 really awesome girls from London. We ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night. The pub crawl ended up at a really nice club. Ash and I walked in and immediately a guy that worked at the club asked us if we wanted to be VIP. Of course we said “YES” and went into this really cool area. It basically had a bottle of alcohol at every table with mixers and ice. So we were able to make our own drinks for the rest of the night. It was a very late but great night!
The next day we slept in and took it super easy. It was nice to get a day to catch up on sleep. That night we took the Mo to see the infamous EIFFEL TOWER! It actually was build a hundred years ago with no function but to impress, and impress us it did. It is one of the most spectacular monuments I have ever seen. At night it lights up and when the clock hits 10 it sparkles for 5 minutes. When it sparkles it takes your breath away. After being in awe for a few hours we grabbed some French fries and ice cream and made our way back to the hotel.
Day 3 in Paris we did it all. We started our day off with the “Fat Tire Bike Tour.” If you remember we went with the same company in Berlin and had a super time. We loved the experience so much we went again. This time with a 2 Euro discount because we are loyal customers. We saw the Notre-Dame Cathedral, Sainte Chapelle, the Louvre, The Army Museum, Luxembourg Garden, the Pantheon, the Arc de Triomphe, the finish line of the Tour de France, and a woman with the shortest shorts we have ever seen!!! For lunch we stopped off at a café in a park and had some savory crepes. We ended the bike tour at the Eiffel Tower then we were off to the Louvre to visit Mona Lisa. The Louvre is Europe‘s oldest, biggest, greatest, and second-most-crowded museum housed in 16th century palace. The Louvre has over a million pieces of artwork. If a person spent one minute looking at every piece it would take them over 9 months to see them all! Crazy right?! We saw Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, David and Goliath, Aphrodite, and Napoleon’s apartment.
After the Louvre we made our way back to the Eiffel tower to climb all the way up to the top! Obviously the best view of Paris. It took our breath away for 3 reasons:
1. The climb was LONG and hard
2. It was sooo high we got vertigo
3. The view was amazing
After visiting the top off the Eiffel tower we went to the huge lawn area at the base. This is were a ton of locals and tourists grab a bottle of wine and a blanket and wait for the light show. Ash and I bought a bottle of wine and laid back and enjoyed the show. The sky was so blue with a few clouds that it made the view of the Eiffel tower even more beautiful then the day before. It was soooo romantic ash and I decided to take a very special picture:
The next day we were off to Barcelona and wow we have a SCARY train story for you!!!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Interlaken
July 25-27, 2009
WOW...sorry for the major delay in our blogs- Aubz and I have been having the time of our life and slacked off a bit. Anyways, we arrived in Interlaken mid-day to a beautiful town that somewhat reminded us of Tahoe, but better! Interlaken was a very nice change from all the amazing buildings and cities that we had been experiencing the last few places. I would move to Interlaken for a summer in a heartbeat and just relax by the lake and do outdoor activities...if I had the money (which I don't ;) From the train station we walked about 20 minutes to our hostel- which was far from a hostel. It was actually both a hotel and a hostel so it was very very nice, especially for what we payed. Our room had a balcony which gave us amazing views of the Swiss Alps and our pool, along with our own shower, toilets, and sheets which is a major plus! We were in a four person room, but fortunately had the room to ourselves the first two nights. For the next few hours, we relaxed by the gigantic pool and grassy area in our hotel, while enjoying a Swiss beer (rough life...I know ;) We then cleaned up and headed to town for dinner. We happened to be there the night of a big Latino Festival and celebrated by having some burritos and chips with guac. and a margarita!
Day 2 of Interlaken was unforgettable. Interlaken is one of the most famous places in the world for extreme sports. So naturally, we had to do something. We were deciding between white water rafting, canyoning, and paragliding. Since canyoning was the only activity which is truly unique to Interlaken, we decided to give it a try. We don't have the pictures at the moment, but we will post them as soon as we get home. For some reason, Aubz and I were the only girls in the group, but we had a lot of fun. We drove for about an hour to get out to the mountains and then started out the fun by repelling down a cliff that was at least 150 feet tall. Since I'm afraid of heights, I was a little nervous to just start going backwards down rocks, but at least rock climbing helped to prepare me a little. Aubz was a champ about it and didn't even seem scared. We did all types of fun stuff after that including sliding down natural water slides into waterfalls and flying off into the water. After about 20 minutes, we got to a point where we got to choose to jump off a 10 foot jump or climb a bit and jump off a 25-30 foot jump. Aubz decided on the smaller one since you had to climb to the higher one and she didn't want to hurt her shoulder...probably a good idea! I somehow got the courage to climb up and stand on a ledge big enough only to support your feet then jumped off. It was such an exhiliarating feeling! We also ziplined through a waterfall and then let go of the rope and dropped about 15 feet into the water. After being in really really cold water all day and doing some pretty crazy stunts, we were exhausted and slept most of the van ride back to the hostel.
When we got back, I decided to carry my fearless attitude into the next activity. So our hostel had this big ramp that was used for skateboards or bikes to go off of into the pool. A few days before we got there, some guys decided to turn this ramp into a waterslide by bringing a hose up there and keeping the ramp wet. I had seen guys go for about an hour, but was too nervous to go. Then we see this guy go who forgot to keep his face up when he slid, so he ended up smacking his head on the slide and apparently ended up with 4 stiches. I didn't know this at the time though. After about 30 min of coercing, I decided I wanted to give the slide a try. The first time I went I pretty much just flopped into the pool, but the 2nd and 3rd time I was able to do a front flip off it! It was so much fun and felt like being a little kid on a slip-n-slide again! While hanging out at the pool, we made friends with some of the employees at the hostel who worked in the activites center. One of the girls was having a bbq at her house that night and we were invited to join all of them for the party. It was relaxing hanging out there, but we didn't stay too late because we were absolutely exhausted. However, we did get to watch a really pretty lightning storm while enjoying a beer.
The next morning we were asked if we could switch rooms because they needed ours for some reason. We had no problem with it and were actually upgraded into a private room with a shower. The guy also felt so bad that he told us we could have some wine for the hassle (best customer service we have had in Europe)! Since we hadn't really seen the lake yet, we decided to walk to one of the lakes the next day. We walked along the lake for about an hour and found a small lake club that only cost 5 euro a person to enter, but had a pool, a nice grassy area, a slide into the lake, and inflatable trampolines out in the middle of the lake. The water was pretty cold, but we were so excited to be in such a beautiful place that we didn't care and went in anyways.
The entire time we were there, no one had used the slide so finally we decided to try it out. It was almost as if people needed to know it was okay to use because right after we went, people were on that slide for the next few hours. We stayed here for most of the day and then headed back to the hotel. The rest of the night we hung out at the hotel and played pool with some of the guys while enjoying our free bottle of wine. Oh and I forgot to mention one of the best parts about the hotel...a St. Bernard named spliff lived there. She was a hugeeeeeeeee dog that came and went as she pleased and even went into the little coy pond after being coaxed by us with some food ;) The next morning we were so sad to go, but were anxious to see Paris!
WOW...sorry for the major delay in our blogs- Aubz and I have been having the time of our life and slacked off a bit. Anyways, we arrived in Interlaken mid-day to a beautiful town that somewhat reminded us of Tahoe, but better! Interlaken was a very nice change from all the amazing buildings and cities that we had been experiencing the last few places. I would move to Interlaken for a summer in a heartbeat and just relax by the lake and do outdoor activities...if I had the money (which I don't ;) From the train station we walked about 20 minutes to our hostel- which was far from a hostel. It was actually both a hotel and a hostel so it was very very nice, especially for what we payed. Our room had a balcony which gave us amazing views of the Swiss Alps and our pool, along with our own shower, toilets, and sheets which is a major plus! We were in a four person room, but fortunately had the room to ourselves the first two nights. For the next few hours, we relaxed by the gigantic pool and grassy area in our hotel, while enjoying a Swiss beer (rough life...I know ;) We then cleaned up and headed to town for dinner. We happened to be there the night of a big Latino Festival and celebrated by having some burritos and chips with guac. and a margarita!
Day 2 of Interlaken was unforgettable. Interlaken is one of the most famous places in the world for extreme sports. So naturally, we had to do something. We were deciding between white water rafting, canyoning, and paragliding. Since canyoning was the only activity which is truly unique to Interlaken, we decided to give it a try. We don't have the pictures at the moment, but we will post them as soon as we get home. For some reason, Aubz and I were the only girls in the group, but we had a lot of fun. We drove for about an hour to get out to the mountains and then started out the fun by repelling down a cliff that was at least 150 feet tall. Since I'm afraid of heights, I was a little nervous to just start going backwards down rocks, but at least rock climbing helped to prepare me a little. Aubz was a champ about it and didn't even seem scared. We did all types of fun stuff after that including sliding down natural water slides into waterfalls and flying off into the water. After about 20 minutes, we got to a point where we got to choose to jump off a 10 foot jump or climb a bit and jump off a 25-30 foot jump. Aubz decided on the smaller one since you had to climb to the higher one and she didn't want to hurt her shoulder...probably a good idea! I somehow got the courage to climb up and stand on a ledge big enough only to support your feet then jumped off. It was such an exhiliarating feeling! We also ziplined through a waterfall and then let go of the rope and dropped about 15 feet into the water. After being in really really cold water all day and doing some pretty crazy stunts, we were exhausted and slept most of the van ride back to the hostel.
When we got back, I decided to carry my fearless attitude into the next activity. So our hostel had this big ramp that was used for skateboards or bikes to go off of into the pool. A few days before we got there, some guys decided to turn this ramp into a waterslide by bringing a hose up there and keeping the ramp wet. I had seen guys go for about an hour, but was too nervous to go. Then we see this guy go who forgot to keep his face up when he slid, so he ended up smacking his head on the slide and apparently ended up with 4 stiches. I didn't know this at the time though. After about 30 min of coercing, I decided I wanted to give the slide a try. The first time I went I pretty much just flopped into the pool, but the 2nd and 3rd time I was able to do a front flip off it! It was so much fun and felt like being a little kid on a slip-n-slide again! While hanging out at the pool, we made friends with some of the employees at the hostel who worked in the activites center. One of the girls was having a bbq at her house that night and we were invited to join all of them for the party. It was relaxing hanging out there, but we didn't stay too late because we were absolutely exhausted. However, we did get to watch a really pretty lightning storm while enjoying a beer.
The next morning we were asked if we could switch rooms because they needed ours for some reason. We had no problem with it and were actually upgraded into a private room with a shower. The guy also felt so bad that he told us we could have some wine for the hassle (best customer service we have had in Europe)! Since we hadn't really seen the lake yet, we decided to walk to one of the lakes the next day. We walked along the lake for about an hour and found a small lake club that only cost 5 euro a person to enter, but had a pool, a nice grassy area, a slide into the lake, and inflatable trampolines out in the middle of the lake. The water was pretty cold, but we were so excited to be in such a beautiful place that we didn't care and went in anyways.
The entire time we were there, no one had used the slide so finally we decided to try it out. It was almost as if people needed to know it was okay to use because right after we went, people were on that slide for the next few hours. We stayed here for most of the day and then headed back to the hotel. The rest of the night we hung out at the hotel and played pool with some of the guys while enjoying our free bottle of wine. Oh and I forgot to mention one of the best parts about the hotel...a St. Bernard named spliff lived there. She was a hugeeeeeeeee dog that came and went as she pleased and even went into the little coy pond after being coaxed by us with some food ;) The next morning we were so sad to go, but were anxious to see Paris!
$$$ Zurich $$$
July 24, 2009
First I have to start off by saying Zurich was the most expensive city we have ever been to!!! We were for sure warned… but we thought “how bad could it really be?” BAD!!! Ashley and I had to pay $5 for water, $10 for a small sandwich, and $6 for about 20 fries. Besides the prices of everything in Switzerland it is beautiful. We were happy we visited Zurich, just wish we could have enjoyed the food and night life a little more.
So, we arrive Friday July 24th. The train station was centrally located in town so it was only a short walk to our hostel. Ash booked us in the “ZIC ZAC Rock Hotel.” Every room had its own theme. Apparently a lot of hotels and hostels in Zurich have themes. We were staying in the “Journey” room. It was really nice. For the first time all trip (except in China) we had our own room. It was refreshing not having to lock up our bag before we went out of the room.
First I have to start off by saying Zurich was the most expensive city we have ever been to!!! We were for sure warned… but we thought “how bad could it really be?” BAD!!! Ashley and I had to pay $5 for water, $10 for a small sandwich, and $6 for about 20 fries. Besides the prices of everything in Switzerland it is beautiful. We were happy we visited Zurich, just wish we could have enjoyed the food and night life a little more.
So, we arrive Friday July 24th. The train station was centrally located in town so it was only a short walk to our hostel. Ash booked us in the “ZIC ZAC Rock Hotel.” Every room had its own theme. Apparently a lot of hotels and hostels in Zurich have themes. We were staying in the “Journey” room. It was really nice. For the first time all trip (except in China) we had our own room. It was refreshing not having to lock up our bag before we went out of the room.
The next morning we woke up bright and early. Ash had to finish her final homework assignment to complete her MBA. July 26, 2009 Ashley was officially DONE with SCHOOL!!! WOOOO HOOOO! When Ashley was doing her homework assignment I went to the farmers market right on the river bank. I got a piece of fruit, a baguette, and the most amazing Swiss cheese I have ever had in my life. I was in heaven when I walked up to a stand with hundreds of different kinds of freshly made cheese. Yummy!
Later that afternoon we explored the town. We walked all the way down the Eastern Bank towards the lake then over a bridge and through the Western Bank. It was so beautiful. The weather was amazing, the water was so blue, and the buildings had so much character. The streets are cobblestone and narrow with very colorful buildings. Zurich is surprisingly very hilly. Some of the roads were very steep and hard to get up. The river running through the town was filled with boats and SWANS! We had a ton of fun feeding the swans. The town was also scattered with large flower pots painted by different artists. My favorite were the 3 pots dedicated to the Olympics for soccer. We also found a very peaceful park the looked over the city. People were playing bocce and gigantic lawn chess. Ash and I decided to go to the playground and have a little swing. We felt like we were 5 again!
That night we went to a restaurant/bar that had live music. We got a 12oz beer for $8 and enjoyed the music. Later we went to our favorite bar, Wings. This was our favorite because it was the only one in town that offered free internet. Even though our stay in Zurich was short we enjoyed it a ton. Off to INTERLAKEN - the worlds biggest adventure sports destination after New Zealand.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Prague
July 22-23, 2009
After a very short stay in Berlin, Aubz and I were so excited to leave for Prague. The train to Prague was only 6 hours long, but it seemed like it was 15 hours. Somehow we managed to pick the one car on the train whose air conditioning didn’t work. Oh, and the windows also didn’t open on this train so it pretty much felt like a smelly boys locker room! We were more than relieved when we finally reached Prague. The walk to our hostel gave us our workout for the day, maybe even for the week. Apparently the station we got off at wasn’t the closest to our hostel. After about 20-30 minutes of huffing and puffing up streets resembling the steep streets in San Francisco, we were at our hostel at last!
Clown and Bard is probably the nicest hostel we have stayed at so far, with clean sheets and big bathrooms. Unfortunately, the first night we got stuck with some older women who were more than grumpy that we weren’t in bed at 9 with them. By the way, people don’t usually go to bed before at least, and that’s even considered an early night. I took a shower and found out that the bathroom didn’t lock- luckily I never got walked in on. Aubz and I walked down the street for an authentic Czech dinner that was soooo good and ridiculously cheap. After relaxing a bit, we were ready for bed. At the time we had no idea that this was not going to be easy. I think the older women planned it, but they decided to have a snoring orchestra. The one lady snored like a normal person, which was bearable because at least it was constant. On the other hand, the other lady sounded like a horn that went off just as we dozed off, EVERY SINGLE TIME! We couldn’t hold it in any longer and just bust out laughing at our situation. My earplugs finally came in handy for both of us.
First thing the next morning, we changed rooms and ended up with a nicer room, bathroom, and roommates. We didn’t do any sight seeing today because we had to do so much needed laundry. On our way back from laundry we stopped at a restaurant that was down a very long and spiraled staircase with animal skins or fur lining the walls. It was a very manly restaurant, but the food was good and cheap. There was so much food leftover that we were able to spend 7 dollars for both our lunch and dinner. Two of our roommates ended up being these nice guys from Michigan. The other two girls didn’t show up till at least after 5 in the morning so we never really met them. That night we went on a pub crawl with the hostel. One of the guys who worked at the hostel has a boxer named Tyson that he brought along for the party. He reminded me of Presley except that he licked twice as much…I know, very hard to believe but it’s true. There were so many dogs all over Prague; which made me really miss Pres and Aubz miss Martini (Rob‘s dog). The weirdest part of the night was when we came to the last club. I was sitting down and turned around to see a guy I had gone to Cal Poly with named Nick, who was accompanied by a guy I knew from Bellarmine. What are the odds of that happening?
After a very short stay in Berlin, Aubz and I were so excited to leave for Prague. The train to Prague was only 6 hours long, but it seemed like it was 15 hours. Somehow we managed to pick the one car on the train whose air conditioning didn’t work. Oh, and the windows also didn’t open on this train so it pretty much felt like a smelly boys locker room! We were more than relieved when we finally reached Prague. The walk to our hostel gave us our workout for the day, maybe even for the week. Apparently the station we got off at wasn’t the closest to our hostel. After about 20-30 minutes of huffing and puffing up streets resembling the steep streets in San Francisco, we were at our hostel at last!
Clown and Bard is probably the nicest hostel we have stayed at so far, with clean sheets and big bathrooms. Unfortunately, the first night we got stuck with some older women who were more than grumpy that we weren’t in bed at 9 with them. By the way, people don’t usually go to bed before at least, and that’s even considered an early night. I took a shower and found out that the bathroom didn’t lock- luckily I never got walked in on. Aubz and I walked down the street for an authentic Czech dinner that was soooo good and ridiculously cheap. After relaxing a bit, we were ready for bed. At the time we had no idea that this was not going to be easy. I think the older women planned it, but they decided to have a snoring orchestra. The one lady snored like a normal person, which was bearable because at least it was constant. On the other hand, the other lady sounded like a horn that went off just as we dozed off, EVERY SINGLE TIME! We couldn’t hold it in any longer and just bust out laughing at our situation. My earplugs finally came in handy for both of us.
First thing the next morning, we changed rooms and ended up with a nicer room, bathroom, and roommates. We didn’t do any sight seeing today because we had to do so much needed laundry. On our way back from laundry we stopped at a restaurant that was down a very long and spiraled staircase with animal skins or fur lining the walls. It was a very manly restaurant, but the food was good and cheap. There was so much food leftover that we were able to spend 7 dollars for both our lunch and dinner. Two of our roommates ended up being these nice guys from Michigan. The other two girls didn’t show up till at least after 5 in the morning so we never really met them. That night we went on a pub crawl with the hostel. One of the guys who worked at the hostel has a boxer named Tyson that he brought along for the party. He reminded me of Presley except that he licked twice as much…I know, very hard to believe but it’s true. There were so many dogs all over Prague; which made me really miss Pres and Aubz miss Martini (Rob‘s dog). The weirdest part of the night was when we came to the last club. I was sitting down and turned around to see a guy I had gone to Cal Poly with named Nick, who was accompanied by a guy I knew from Bellarmine. What are the odds of that happening?
Since we got home so late the night before, we slept in till almost noon. After realizing what time it was we scrambled to get ready as quick as possible. We then headed for Old Town Prague by foot. The architecture in old town was so pretty! We paid to go to the top of the cathedral that held the Astronomical Clock to see a gorgeous view of all of Prague. We could see the castle in the distance that we would later walk to. We stopped for lunch after the church to get a break from the heat. (It was so hot out that there were these big trucks that would come back and mist the people…everyone just stood behind the truck and cooled off). We ate a cute outdoor place called Staromestska Restaurace. The food was amazing, but wayyyy overpriced! We were given bread that we not only didn’t order, but were also charged for it! When we asked about the charge, the waiter said everyone is charged that…we were not so happy. Then the waiter had the audacity to tell us how much to tip him…multiple times!
We then headed in the direction of the castle. As we walked over the bridge to the castle, the weather quickly began to change. Luckily, we reached the castle just before it started to absolutely pour. Then we found out the bad news- the castle was already closed and we couldn’t buy tickets. It was disappointing to not be able to go inside, but we were still able to take pictures of the outside and thus save some money. We left the castle around 6:30, and took a tram that dropped us near the hostel. All in all, we walked for about 6.5 hours and were exhausted by the end of the night. We tried to save some money on dinner for the night by stopping at a grocery store to pick up food. We both got instant soup that had little flavor, but only cost about 40 cents. We both tried to get to bed early since we had to wake up early this morning to catch our train. Oh and I forgot to mention…sharing a room with all these people finally caught up with me ;(. I got a cold and have been sneezing and blowing my nose all day. Aubz is crossing her fingers that she doesn’t get sick. We left this morning at 9 am from Prague and will arrive in Zurich around 9 pm; which is in about an hour. We miss you all and can’t wait to share all our pictures and more funny stories when we get home!
Berlin: Boats, Bikes & Bar Crawls
July 19-21, 2009
After a long day of travel Ashley and I finally arrived in Berlin. I thought it would be a great idea to book our hostel on a boat. The “hostel boat” we stayed at during our time in Berlin was docked on the Spree river. Eastern comfort was very cozy! Definitely a lot quieter then Bob’s Youth Hostel in Amsterdam. Funny story; on our walk from the train station to our hostel there was a very long wall separating us from the river. The wall was covered with graffiti and amazing artwork and only about 10 feet high. Ashley and I were joking that it was the Berlin wall. When we got to our hostel we asked the receptionist what were her top picks for sightseeing were. She told us about many places but didn’t mention the wall. So we asked her where we could go to see the Berlin wall. She laughed and said “just take a look outside.” It just so happens that our hostel boat was docked 100 yards from the Berlin Wall… pretty cool J Later that night Ashley and I ventured into a small town across the river for some dinner. We found this yummy Italian restaurant with HUGE portions.
After a long day of travel Ashley and I finally arrived in Berlin. I thought it would be a great idea to book our hostel on a boat. The “hostel boat” we stayed at during our time in Berlin was docked on the Spree river. Eastern comfort was very cozy! Definitely a lot quieter then Bob’s Youth Hostel in Amsterdam. Funny story; on our walk from the train station to our hostel there was a very long wall separating us from the river. The wall was covered with graffiti and amazing artwork and only about 10 feet high. Ashley and I were joking that it was the Berlin wall. When we got to our hostel we asked the receptionist what were her top picks for sightseeing were. She told us about many places but didn’t mention the wall. So we asked her where we could go to see the Berlin wall. She laughed and said “just take a look outside.” It just so happens that our hostel boat was docked 100 yards from the Berlin Wall… pretty cool J Later that night Ashley and I ventured into a small town across the river for some dinner. We found this yummy Italian restaurant with HUGE portions.
Since we only had one day in Berlin we wanted to make the best of it. Ashley’s boyfriend Kevin as well as our hostel roommate told us we should go on the Fat Tire Bike Tour. This was great advice!!! We biked around for about 6 hours and saw everything you should see when visiting the city. Francis, our tour guide, was super funny and very knowledgeable. We even stopped off at a beer garden halfway through the tour. It was nestled in the center of the Tiergarten where many people enjoyed walking, biking, running, and even laying around naked (nudist colonies go there). Ash and I got a stein of beer so big we practically had to use 2 hands to pick it up. During the tour we got to see The Pariser Platz, Humboldt University, Berlin Cathedral, Brandenburg Gate, Victory Column, and more.
That night we went on a pub crawl with a few friends we made on the bike tour. It was really fun! 10 Euro got us an open bar for the first hour and free admission plus a shot at every bar. We went to five different bars that night and even stopped at a Hookah lounge for a late night dinner.
Now we are on our way to Prague! Tune in soon to read more about our adventures there!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Amsterdam?!?!
July 15-18, 2009
The ferry ride to Amsterdam was probably the nicest accommodation we will have our entire time in Europe. The ferry was at least 100 euros cheaper than any other mode of transportation, and probably twice as nice. We boarded the ferry to find out that we had our own cabin with a toilet and shower. We were so excited to have a shower that continually ran without having to keep restarting the shower every 20 seconds! The ferry ride took about 7 hours and we arrived 2.5 hours before it departed, which meant lots of relaxation without anybody else slamming doors and snoring. We woke up refreshed and ready to finally be in Amsterdam. Before we got there we had to first take 2 separate trains to get to the central station. Since we had just come from London, we had only pounds and no euros. The ATM machine wouldn’t work, but thankfully the conductor felt bad for Aubz and I and came up to us so we wouldn’t miss the train, and then let us ride for free.
When we arrived in Amsterdam, we had to look for a hostel since our room was “somehow” only booked for 1 person (Aubrey ;) It actually worked out for the best in the end because our hostel that we stayed at was much cheaper than the flying pig. We arrived at Bob’s Youth Hostel around 11 am to a very noisy and excited group of people in the reception area. Our hostel had one rule posted everywhere: Cannabis Yes!, Tobacco No! This pretty much sums up Amsterdam in one phrase. Aubz and I then got settled in our room and set out to explore.
The ferry ride to Amsterdam was probably the nicest accommodation we will have our entire time in Europe. The ferry was at least 100 euros cheaper than any other mode of transportation, and probably twice as nice. We boarded the ferry to find out that we had our own cabin with a toilet and shower. We were so excited to have a shower that continually ran without having to keep restarting the shower every 20 seconds! The ferry ride took about 7 hours and we arrived 2.5 hours before it departed, which meant lots of relaxation without anybody else slamming doors and snoring. We woke up refreshed and ready to finally be in Amsterdam. Before we got there we had to first take 2 separate trains to get to the central station. Since we had just come from London, we had only pounds and no euros. The ATM machine wouldn’t work, but thankfully the conductor felt bad for Aubz and I and came up to us so we wouldn’t miss the train, and then let us ride for free.
When we arrived in Amsterdam, we had to look for a hostel since our room was “somehow” only booked for 1 person (Aubrey ;) It actually worked out for the best in the end because our hostel that we stayed at was much cheaper than the flying pig. We arrived at Bob’s Youth Hostel around 11 am to a very noisy and excited group of people in the reception area. Our hostel had one rule posted everywhere: Cannabis Yes!, Tobacco No! This pretty much sums up Amsterdam in one phrase. Aubz and I then got settled in our room and set out to explore.
Thanks to the advice from our hostel, we found a bike store that rented bikes for only 5 euro for 24 hours. We def. got what we paid for because the bikes were 2nd hand and very very uncomfortable! Next we headed to our first “coffee shop” in Amsterdam called the Grey Area. The staff was really nice and the shop was the only American coffee shop in Amsterdam, so of course we loved it here! After coffee, we were famished and wanted to try some authentic Dutch food. We found a café nearby that had outdoor seating on this little bridge, with gorgeous views of the canal on both sides. The canals all over gave Amsterdam a unique charm, and it has been my favorite place so far. For lunch, I had croquets and Aubz had a cheese sandwich, since they are known for both of these dishes.
After lunch, we biked to Vondelpark which was an absolutely huge park. We passed by this large water fountain that all the locals lay out by and bring their children to splash through the very shallow water. Everyone in the park was just enjoying the sunny day and relaxing on the grass so we decided to join them. As we were about to lay down, Aubz spotted some guys playing soccer nearby and of course had to join in. They were beyond impressed with her juggling skills and said they had never seen a girl who could play, let alone that good. One of the guys had a really really cute dog that I played with while she played soccer. We stayed there for a few hours before finally heading back to our hostel.
Our second day in Amsterdam, we stopped by the Rasta coffee shop before heading to the Hemp Museum. The Museum was very informative and gave details of everything you needed to know about Hash, Cannabis, and even how to decide what sex a plant is. At the end of the tour, there was a large room of Cannabis on display to give everyone an idea of how it is all grown.
We grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the Anne Frank Museum. It was surreal to see the Franks’ house after learning so much about them growing up. The tour was self-guided, but had excerpts from her diary written throughout the rooms, along with documentaries from those who had known Anne. The end of the tour was the most difficult to listen to as they described the last days of her life and showed pictures of those who lost their lives at Auschwitz.
Later on, we had dinner at a traditional Dutch restaurant called Bistro Bij Ons where Aubz and I split a really good dinner. That night we headed to the Red Light District because we had heard of the area, but had to see it for ourselves. Probably the weirdest and most uncomfortable area I have been in in my life. Everywhere you looked there were half naked girls in red rooms trying to lure in the men. There were also some pretty interesting stores in that area that were entertaining to browse. We quickly had enough for the night and headed back home.
The last day we checked out the Van Gogh museum, which was pretty incredible. The museum was in chronological order of his life, so you were able to see how he progressed as an artist with each year and each person that came into his life. As we were leaving the museum it began pouring on us so we found the quickest shelter we could; which was a nearby restaurant. After drying from the rain we were on to our much anticipated tour for the day: the Heineken Factory! We got to see all the vintage ads and bottles they used to use back in the day. Along the way, we each got a free beer to taste. The most entertaining part of the tour was watching these Asian women send a video email to friends where they were dancing and singing (video to come later).
After relaxing for a bit, we headed to a popular part of town where we ate dinner and attempted to go to a snoody night club. The bouncer was a complete a-hole and wouldn’t let us in because we had “flip-flops” on. Obviously he knew nothing about shoes because we actually had nice sandals on. Anyways, since Aubz has pretty much always been let in to the nicest clubs in New York, she had a hard time accepting denied entrance. The dumbest part was that the guy said we could put tennis shoes on and he would still let us in. We then went to a bar that was playing live music and was much more relaxed. Just as we thought we were done for the night, we saw a street show of a guy with some serious soccer skills. One of the most impressive was when he climbed up a pole while juggling the ball on his head. Once again, Aubz showed everyone that girls can play soccer and put a few other girls to shame. A crowd of over 30 people were all cheering for her as she blew everyone away. Then came 2 girls from the Cal Poly soccer team. I didn’t know them, but they were trying to juggle with Aubz and pretty much just embarrassed themselves. Instead of admitting that Aubz was really good, they instead blamed it on the fact that they had had a lot to drink and Aubz had only had one…typical girls! The next morning we quickly packed up and shopped for some souvenirs before getting on the train to Prague.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
London Bridges
July 11-14, 2009
The next day was spent hanging out on Jubilee Walkway near the London Eye. Jubilee Walkway is very entertaining because of all the street performers. We saw some amazing acts and unbelievable costumes. Later we took a great boat tour down the Thames River, which at one time was the busiest river in the world! On the tour we got to see the famous "London Bridge," St. Paul's Cathedral, Shakespeare Globe, The Tower of London, and a really beautiful bridge called the "Tower Bridge." After the Cruise we went on the London Eye. It is the worlds second highest observation wheel. It is designed like a giant bicycle wheel made by 6 different countries in the Europe. That night Ashley and I went to the "Absolute Icebar London." This was a crazy experience! When we walked up to the bar they give you lined poncho and gloves. Once you walk in the temperature drops to below freezing! The bar is made completely of ice. Our shot glasses were made out of ice too! It was sooo super cold! They say you aren't allowed to be in there more then 30 minutes or you will freeze to death (I think they are exaggerating a little... but only a little).
On Tuesday we met up with my friend John from Seton Hall. He now plays futbol (soccer) in London. First we went to an authentic "full english breakfast" then he showed us around Trafalgar Square - a central square the is the destination of most marches and demonstrations. We also took an all day walk (shopping spree) up and down Regent St. THANKS JOHN!!! Ash and I definatly got our SHOP on! Later that night we met Sarah Foden (Erin's husband Mark's sister) in Soho. We had a great time talking and having a few cocktails. :)
Ashley and I arrived in London quite early in the morning. We bought 72 hour "tube" ticket for the time we were there. It was such a great deal. For 3 days of transportation in only cost about 17 pounds (about $25). I made reservations at a hostel called ASHLEE HOUSE. I thought it would be a fun idea because it shared the same name as Ashley. The Ashlee house turned out to be a really nice place to stay. The receptionist Lucy made us feel like we were at home. We ended up being in a 10 person room. It was fun because we had the chance to meet a bunch of different people from all over the world. That day Ash and I decided to make up our own walking tour. All we had was our map to guide us. It ended up being such a fun day because it wasn't planned and we ended up having the best timing! On our self guided tour we passed the London Museum, The Tottenham Pub (where we had our first European lager), The National Gallery, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament and the London Eye. Our timing was great along the walk because we stumbled upon a beautiful orchestra performance in St. James Park right outside of Buckingham Palace and then an our later we happened to walk right up to the "changing of the guards." This was really funny because the guards were trying their hardest not to laugh and be serious... but we saw most of them crack a smile and a few of them just lose it to laughter.
The next day was spent hanging out on Jubilee Walkway near the London Eye. Jubilee Walkway is very entertaining because of all the street performers. We saw some amazing acts and unbelievable costumes. Later we took a great boat tour down the Thames River, which at one time was the busiest river in the world! On the tour we got to see the famous "London Bridge," St. Paul's Cathedral, Shakespeare Globe, The Tower of London, and a really beautiful bridge called the "Tower Bridge." After the Cruise we went on the London Eye. It is the worlds second highest observation wheel. It is designed like a giant bicycle wheel made by 6 different countries in the Europe. That night Ashley and I went to the "Absolute Icebar London." This was a crazy experience! When we walked up to the bar they give you lined poncho and gloves. Once you walk in the temperature drops to below freezing! The bar is made completely of ice. Our shot glasses were made out of ice too! It was sooo super cold! They say you aren't allowed to be in there more then 30 minutes or you will freeze to death (I think they are exaggerating a little... but only a little).
On Tuesday we met up with my friend John from Seton Hall. He now plays futbol (soccer) in London. First we went to an authentic "full english breakfast" then he showed us around Trafalgar Square - a central square the is the destination of most marches and demonstrations. We also took an all day walk (shopping spree) up and down Regent St. THANKS JOHN!!! Ash and I definatly got our SHOP on! Later that night we met Sarah Foden (Erin's husband Mark's sister) in Soho. We had a great time talking and having a few cocktails. :)
Day 4 in London was kind of a huge mess! Ashley and I woke up went to the travel agent to buy our EURAIL ticket. We realized we needed to go across town to get on the day of travel. Then we had to plan how we were getting from London to Amsterdam. With a few hours of deliberation and time spent on the Internet and tubes we decided to take the FERRY from London to Amsterdam. This was the cheapest way by far and it turned out to be very very nice and fun!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Dubai: Desert Safaris, Bus Tours, Brunches, Waterparks, High Teas and More
July 7-11, 2009
We arrived in Dubai around 4:30 am, and were greeted by Mark and Erin. We rested a bit before going on the "Big Bus Tour" through Dubai. O, by the way, the heat there is ridiculous. You pretty much can't stand outside for more than a few minutes before you start sweating and your sunglasses fog up within seconds. Anyways, the bus tour basically became my nap time. It was fun because we got to see Dubai in a 3 hour nut shell! While I slept Aubrey paid attention the whole time and became our tour guide the rest of the trip as she pointed out all the sites and stated all the facts she had learned.
Friday we slept in a little and prepared for a long but fun day at the famous Yalumba Brunch. The food was really good and the alcohol never stopped coming. Mark was pretty entertaining and managed to convince the male waitor to sit on his lap for a picture. 7 hours and lots of champaigne later, we took a cab back to erins. We were all so tired after dancing our hearts out all day that we were all in bed by 9!
The next day we took it easy until we went to the Burj al Arab for high tea. The hotel is the only 7 star hotel in the world, it was absolutely amazing. We enjoyed the food and tea, but were really sad to say goodbye to Erin and Mark. I guess we are all going to have to plan a trip for next year so we can meet up again. Dubai was so fun. Aubrey and I want to go back in 5 years to see all the change and hopefully less construction.
We arrived in Dubai around 4:30 am, and were greeted by Mark and Erin. We rested a bit before going on the "Big Bus Tour" through Dubai. O, by the way, the heat there is ridiculous. You pretty much can't stand outside for more than a few minutes before you start sweating and your sunglasses fog up within seconds. Anyways, the bus tour basically became my nap time. It was fun because we got to see Dubai in a 3 hour nut shell! While I slept Aubrey paid attention the whole time and became our tour guide the rest of the trip as she pointed out all the sites and stated all the facts she had learned.
That night we went to a mexican buffet dinner with margaritas, wine, and beer included. Apparently, drinking is really expensive in Dubai if you don't do an event that is "all inclusive." The food was good, but didn't compare to authentic mexican food you find in Cali. However, they had a chocolate fountain which made my night. Anything you can think of to be dipped in chocolate, they had! Aubrey keeps making fun of me because of how big of a sweet tooth I have.
Wednesday morning we got up and went to a desert safari from HELL while Erin and Mark were at work. Erin and mark have gone on the tour twice because they liked it so much. Unfortunately for us, we had a really really bad driver. The drive out to the desert was about 2 hours. There were 5 of us total in the car, and we actually made friends with two of the people. They were a sister and brother from London about our age. We couldn't stop talking for 2 hours straight and then it happened... the driver went off the road into the dunes and started driving like a maniac. We were going so fast over the sand dunes, doing 180s, and driving at a practically upsidedown. Aubrey and I were in the very back of the car and were not doing so well. After about 2 minutes of pure screaming and joy, we all shut up real quick as we tried to keep everything in our stomachs. I thought maybe it was just me who didn't feel good but Raz was the first to puke and one by one people started puking everywhere! I somehow made it out okay, but 3/5 of us puked including Aubrey! The only enjoyable part of the day was getting to ride on Camels in the middle of the desert. That night we met Erin and Mark and Aubrey's friends from college, Salam and Sarah, at the BIGGEST MALL IN THE WORLD - DUBAI MALL. There we had dinner watched the fantasic fountain show. It is a million times better then the Belagiao in Vegas.
Thursday, Aubrey and I decided to make our own itinerary for the day and went to the Atlantis hotel for some fun in the sun (http://www.atlantisthepalm.com/aquaventure.aspx). We went on every single slide and had a blast. One of the slides is pretty much a pure vertical drop and then takes you through a tube that is surrounded by a ton of sharks and fish. It was so fun that we went on it 3 times. While we were there, we ran into Tamana and Raz from the safari and hung out with them for the rest of the day. After being in the sun all day, we couldn't wait to have some relaxing time. We went to the mall with Erin and picked up all different types of take-out including Mexican, Chinese, Persian, and Lebanese. We spent the rest of the night relaxing at the apartment and playing Apples to Apples. By the way, Aubrey is the most obnoxious person to play this with (just kidding) but somehow she managed to win 3 out of 3 games, I think it was a conspiracy.
Friday we slept in a little and prepared for a long but fun day at the famous Yalumba Brunch. The food was really good and the alcohol never stopped coming. Mark was pretty entertaining and managed to convince the male waitor to sit on his lap for a picture. 7 hours and lots of champaigne later, we took a cab back to erins. We were all so tired after dancing our hearts out all day that we were all in bed by 9!
The next day we took it easy until we went to the Burj al Arab for high tea. The hotel is the only 7 star hotel in the world, it was absolutely amazing. We enjoyed the food and tea, but were really sad to say goodbye to Erin and Mark. I guess we are all going to have to plan a trip for next year so we can meet up again. Dubai was so fun. Aubrey and I want to go back in 5 years to see all the change and hopefully less construction.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Great Wall of China and Bicycles
- July 3-5, 2009 -
Today Ashley and I found our first hostel of the trip. We were really lucky because it is super nice! It is called Sanlitun Youth Hostel (http://www.hostels.com/hostels/beijing/sanlitun-youth-hostel/24985) right in the center of Beijing. For dinner we went to "Wan Fu Jing" street. They basically sell anything you can think of on a stick (seahorses, hearts, silk worms, scorpions and more). It is a place where tourists come to have some authentic dinner. Even though it was tempting we decided to eat at a Peking Duck restaurant. We basically had a three course meal and plenty of drinks for only $7!
The next day we went to the GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Ashley and I decided to climb to the top unlike most of the other people in our group who took the Gondola. The Great Wall was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Do you know that to walk the entire Great Wall it would take a person 3 years?!?! On the way down from the Great Wall we took a toboggan. This was so much fun! It is a must do if you ever visit the wall. That night we went to Hooters for dinner. It was nice to have American food. Believe it or not the Hooters in China is exactly like the ones in the United States. The only difference is that about every 30 minutes the Hooters girls stand in the middle of the restaurant and dance and sing. It was super fun!
On July 5th we rented bikes and rode from our hostel all the way to Tianamen Square. This was definitely an humbling sight to see because of all the history behind it. General Mao's portrait was right in the center of the building... After navigating our way through Beijing on a couple of bikes and only a very confusing Chinese map in hand we got back to the hostel packed our bags and headed to the airport. DUBAI HERE WE COME! GET READY ERIN AND MARK!
Today Ashley and I found our first hostel of the trip. We were really lucky because it is super nice! It is called Sanlitun Youth Hostel (http://www.hostels.com/hostels/beijing/sanlitun-youth-hostel/24985) right in the center of Beijing. For dinner we went to "Wan Fu Jing" street. They basically sell anything you can think of on a stick (seahorses, hearts, silk worms, scorpions and more). It is a place where tourists come to have some authentic dinner. Even though it was tempting we decided to eat at a Peking Duck restaurant. We basically had a three course meal and plenty of drinks for only $7!
The next day we went to the GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Ashley and I decided to climb to the top unlike most of the other people in our group who took the Gondola. The Great Wall was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Do you know that to walk the entire Great Wall it would take a person 3 years?!?! On the way down from the Great Wall we took a toboggan. This was so much fun! It is a must do if you ever visit the wall. That night we went to Hooters for dinner. It was nice to have American food. Believe it or not the Hooters in China is exactly like the ones in the United States. The only difference is that about every 30 minutes the Hooters girls stand in the middle of the restaurant and dance and sing. It was super fun!
On July 5th we rented bikes and rode from our hostel all the way to Tianamen Square. This was definitely an humbling sight to see because of all the history behind it. General Mao's portrait was right in the center of the building... After navigating our way through Beijing on a couple of bikes and only a very confusing Chinese map in hand we got back to the hostel packed our bags and headed to the airport. DUBAI HERE WE COME! GET READY ERIN AND MARK!
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