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:

The next day we were off to Barcelona and wow we have a SCARY train story for you!!!

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!

$$$ Zurich $$$

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.

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.