Cassandra again :) … here to fill you in about our final days in Europe. So yes, one of our last blogs...I’ll try to make it real juicy ;)
I’m actually surprised that D (aka Darin) didn’t fill you in about Moulin Rouge because as he said “It was better than Wicked.” Of course, I don’t agree, but it was still pretty sweet. We went to the 11:00 pm show on Sunday night, hit up some dinner before, and then waited in line for an hour or so before getting in. The place was packed with people sipping on champagne and being mesmerized by the flashiness of the dancers, singers, costumes, acrobatics, ventriloquists, and the scantily clad dressed women. It was pretty late by the time the show was over so we headed back to the hotel and chilled there.
Monday:
Exploring Paris - We slept in a little and then ventured to the Louvre. We moved through the museum pretty quickly (determined to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo) with some stops for interesting photo opportunities along the way. Straight down the street from the Louvre and mini Arc de Triomphe is the real Arc de Triomphe, so we trekked in that direction. Stops for shopping were a must, but we eventually made it to the Arc where we climbed to the top to take in another gorgeous view of Paris. The rest of our afternoon consisted of:
-Banana and Nutella crepes…YUM!
-Finding the bus station we need to go to in the morning
-Grocery shopping for dinner that night
-Realizing that it was very inconvenient to carry around the 8 bottles of wine we had purchased so as true tourists do, we stopped along the side of the road, pulled out a map, and then continued to walk through Paris and ride the metro juggling our wine/groceries/shopping purchases and receiving looks from everyone we passed
And now for what might possibly be my all-time favorite evening of our entire trip……………..
***Picnic by the Eiffel tower…Menu: sandwiches made on fresh baguettes from some random bakery, French wine, parmesan cheese, and chocolate.
***Watching the Eiffel tower sparkle for 5 minutes on the hour at 10:00 and 11:00….BEAUTIFUL!
***Seeing the end of a World Cup game…there was a huge TV screen by the tower and the place was packed with Brazil fans cheering, shouting, blowing horns, etc.…it is crazy awesome how stoked people get for the World Cup!
***Soaking in our final night in Paris….
Tuesday:
Traveling to Dublin in a daze (well I did anyways since I had decided that we weren’t going to sleep while in Paris :) ) - The morning began with a not-so-patient, unnecessary wait in various lines at an airport outside of Paris. Also, Joe has some issues passing security due to a corkscrew that Darin has secretly stowed away in Joe’s bag (not on purpose of course). Eventually, we made it safely back to Dublin, where to our surprise….it wasn’t raining! Dublin did its best at redeeming itself from our initial bad first impression at the very start of our journey. The boys and I spent the day shopping, walking along the river, searching for an Ernst and Young building, eating fish and chips, and napping.
Wednesday:
Traveling home – Not a whole lot to say…breakfast, flight to Manchester, layover with lunch, flight to Philly with 2 meals, layover, flight to Chicago, bus to Rockford. Yeah that’s right, between the getting up early and the time changes, we managed to have 3 meals before noon. Boom. And it doesn’t stop there! We had all been craving TACOs for days and since high-quality, fast-food tacos are non-existent, I decided that a classic Happy Joe’s Taco Joe pizza would be the perfect first meal back in America :) Besides eating the entire day, we basically spent our time in the air sleeping, watching movies/TV, completing crossword puzzles, and enjoying our final hours with each other.
Thursday:
Home, laundry, transitioning from living our adventure to reflecting on it, adjusting to reality, & visiting with all our wondering friends and family (you!).
Signing off for the last time...all my love,
Cassandra
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Paris - Part 1
We incurred our biggest "hiccup" on our trip while trying to get to Paris. We reserved our train a day before, but our first two options for trains were completely booked and we ended up arriving in Paris around 5 PM instead of the 1 PM that we were hoping for. Apparently we were pretty lucky because the French rail workers were recently on strike and there were no trains to Paris earlier in the week.
Upon arrival in Paris we found our hotel, which was a nice change compared to the random hostels. There was little price difference between cheap hotels and hostels in Paris, so we enjoyed having our own room. After settling in, we walked to Sacre Coeur, also known as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It's basically a huge white church on top of a hill which provides for a great view of Paris. We walked around the area and went inside, then proceeded to hang out on the steps outside of the church and watched the sunset over the city. We could see the Eiffel Tower from the steps, but we were a few miles away, so after the sunset we took the metro there to get a better view. We didn't have much time because we knew the metro closed by 1, and we left around midnight and ended up catching one of the last few trains back to our hotel.
Sunday, June 27th started with church at one of the most magnificent venues that we have ever attended mass, Notre Dame. After church we went on our 3rd Fat Tire Bike Tour of our trip. Just like the other bike tours, we heard some interesting stories about the city's history and tourist attractions, and we better understood the layout of the city.
After the bike tour, we had some free time and I could think of no better way to spend it then to go to La Defense, the financial district. Yes, I may be a little weird, but all three of us did think it was pretty cool once we looked around. It is completely traffic-free, so it's not congested like the downtown of any other city. After La Defense, we headed back to the hotel to relax and get ready for Moulin Rouge!
Darin
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Interlaken
Interlaken is a small community high up in the Swiss Alps that provides tourists with a lot of extreme opportunities. When we got there, we had to determine whether we wanted go skydiving, bungy jumping, canyoning, white water rafting, canyon jumping, paragliding, or ice climbing. We settled on rafting and bungy jumping.
Rafting began with a 15 minute ride up into the mountains to the start of the rapids we were going to navigate. Upon arrival, we had a quick lesson in rafting safety, and then we were off! There were some challenging areas along the river, but we were able to navigate all of them without losing anybody on our raft. The water was runoff from the mountains, so naturally it was very cold. That didn't stop us from swimming a couple of times on the river when we were on calm water though! Very refreshing! There were some amazing views along the river, as we passed many snow-capped mountains and ended up in a large lake. All I can say about the views can be summarized in one word: WOW. Honestly, they looked fake. If I wasn't viewing them with my own eyes I would've thought they were a Bob Ross painting.
After rafting, we headed off for bungy jumping. Yes, we voluntarily chose to go up into the mountains, take multiple lifts even higher, ride out over an ice-cold lake in a 500 ft. high cable car suspended on a line between two mountains...and jump. And we'd all do it again. Crazy? Probably. Fun? Absolutely.
Rafting began with a 15 minute ride up into the mountains to the start of the rapids we were going to navigate. Upon arrival, we had a quick lesson in rafting safety, and then we were off! There were some challenging areas along the river, but we were able to navigate all of them without losing anybody on our raft. The water was runoff from the mountains, so naturally it was very cold. That didn't stop us from swimming a couple of times on the river when we were on calm water though! Very refreshing! There were some amazing views along the river, as we passed many snow-capped mountains and ended up in a large lake. All I can say about the views can be summarized in one word: WOW. Honestly, they looked fake. If I wasn't viewing them with my own eyes I would've thought they were a Bob Ross painting.
After rafting, we headed off for bungy jumping. Yes, we voluntarily chose to go up into the mountains, take multiple lifts even higher, ride out over an ice-cold lake in a 500 ft. high cable car suspended on a line between two mountains...and jump. And we'd all do it again. Crazy? Probably. Fun? Absolutely.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Rome - VENICE - Interlaken
Alright all, well as Laura mentioned, she ciao-ed out of Europe from Rome last Thursday morning…it was sad to see our group be minimized to three and to realize that I was being left with two guys who liked to read maps and talk about taxes…needless to say, they became excellent shopping buddies, kept their promise of keeping accounting talk to a minimum, and overall took wonderful care of me :)
After hugging Laura goodbye, Joe, Darin, and I set off for a quick visit to Venice. We definitely owned that city in the handful of hours we were there…taxi boat rides, gondola ride, Venician glass jewelry shopping, etc. etc. Our stay was short, but we quickly fell in love with Venice and all its canals.
That evening we jumped back on a train and headed to Interlaken Switzerland…arriving late at night and just in time to catch some zzzz’s, but of course not before checking CPA exam scores one last time….and finally, after an entire month of suspense, Darin and Joe were confirmed, ecstatic, certified public accountants!!! Celebrating would have to hold off due to the day we had planned for Friday…Joe will fill you in with the next blog.
Kisses,
Cassandra
After hugging Laura goodbye, Joe, Darin, and I set off for a quick visit to Venice. We definitely owned that city in the handful of hours we were there…taxi boat rides, gondola ride, Venician glass jewelry shopping, etc. etc. Our stay was short, but we quickly fell in love with Venice and all its canals.
That evening we jumped back on a train and headed to Interlaken Switzerland…arriving late at night and just in time to catch some zzzz’s, but of course not before checking CPA exam scores one last time….and finally, after an entire month of suspense, Darin and Joe were confirmed, ecstatic, certified public accountants!!! Celebrating would have to hold off due to the day we had planned for Friday…Joe will fill you in with the next blog.
Kisses,
Cassandra
:::PERUGIA:::
Greetings from AMERICA! That's right, we all made it home safe and sound, exhausted, and with backpacks full of dirty clothes and bottles of wine :) Better yet, we all still get along and would go back to Europe with each other in a heartbeat!
For those of you avid blog readers who won't be seeing us anytime soon to get the complete tale of our adventures, we'll try to get the blog wrapped up with a summary of our travels in the past week.
As promised, the following is a more in-depth account of our daytrip to Joe's and my favorite city - PERUGIA, ITALY....and may I just dedicate this blog post to all the wonderful friends that spent 2 weeks with us there in May 2009 for our UNI capstone class :)
The day started out at the Rome train station (my least favorite place in Europe) on platform 2...which apparently is not the same as platform 2PE...well, a little jog in the morning never hurt anyone. So after booking it through the station at the last minute, we successfully jumped on the train to Perugia.
Once in Perugia, we hopped in a taxi and headed to Lungarotti Winery in nearby town Torgiano. Joe and I toured this winery last May, and to our surprise, we got our own tour from the same lady once again. After ordering 2 cases of wine, we headed back to Perugia where we walked all our favorite streets and enjoyed the quaint city's gorg views.
Best part of Perugia: Food, of course!
Lunch = La Tana Dell Orso for the world's best LASAGNA BOLOGNESE...and yes, it is still just as good as ever! Plus, we ran into Lucy, the part owner of the restaurant/bar and friend of all us UNI-ers who were there last year.
Gelato - We made Laura and Darin participate in our gelato-off to see if my favorite gelato place (at the top of the hill) was better than Joe's (by the Etruscan wall)...and well duh, of course mine one :)
Laura and I did a little shop-shop while the boys investigated the mini-metro, and that about concluded our time in Perugia. The city was just as beautiful as ever, all the hills and steps still intact, and full of memories that will never fade - All my love to the Italy Capstone of 2009!
We train-ed back to Roma that night and I believe Laura’s last blog has that city covered.
Love&hugs,
Cassandra
For those of you avid blog readers who won't be seeing us anytime soon to get the complete tale of our adventures, we'll try to get the blog wrapped up with a summary of our travels in the past week.
As promised, the following is a more in-depth account of our daytrip to Joe's and my favorite city - PERUGIA, ITALY....and may I just dedicate this blog post to all the wonderful friends that spent 2 weeks with us there in May 2009 for our UNI capstone class :)
The day started out at the Rome train station (my least favorite place in Europe) on platform 2...which apparently is not the same as platform 2PE...well, a little jog in the morning never hurt anyone. So after booking it through the station at the last minute, we successfully jumped on the train to Perugia.
Once in Perugia, we hopped in a taxi and headed to Lungarotti Winery in nearby town Torgiano. Joe and I toured this winery last May, and to our surprise, we got our own tour from the same lady once again. After ordering 2 cases of wine, we headed back to Perugia where we walked all our favorite streets and enjoyed the quaint city's gorg views.
Best part of Perugia: Food, of course!
Lunch = La Tana Dell Orso for the world's best LASAGNA BOLOGNESE...and yes, it is still just as good as ever! Plus, we ran into Lucy, the part owner of the restaurant/bar and friend of all us UNI-ers who were there last year.
Gelato - We made Laura and Darin participate in our gelato-off to see if my favorite gelato place (at the top of the hill) was better than Joe's (by the Etruscan wall)...and well duh, of course mine one :)
Laura and I did a little shop-shop while the boys investigated the mini-metro, and that about concluded our time in Perugia. The city was just as beautiful as ever, all the hills and steps still intact, and full of memories that will never fade - All my love to the Italy Capstone of 2009!
We train-ed back to Roma that night and I believe Laura’s last blog has that city covered.
Love&hugs,
Cassandra
Monday, June 28, 2010
paris
Dearest faithful blog followers:
Just wanted to let you know that we are still alive! The keyboards in France are just ridic so we will spare you the lengthy blog :) Last day in Paris today and then heading back to Dublin tomorrow morn so we can fly home on Thursday. Miss and love you all and see you very soon!!!
Cassandra
Just wanted to let you know that we are still alive! The keyboards in France are just ridic so we will spare you the lengthy blog :) Last day in Paris today and then heading back to Dublin tomorrow morn so we can fly home on Thursday. Miss and love you all and see you very soon!!!
Cassandra
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Roma!
We arrived in Rome on Monday morning and Joe and I led us four on a roundabout way (which is how it has usually been) to our hostel to drop off our backpacks. We then took the metro to the amazing Vatican City. It was very convenient that Joe and Cassandra have been there before, as they were great tour guides for Laura and myself:)
We first headed to the Vatican museum and although the line was very long, it moved fast and we were in within 90 minutes. The museum had all sorts of sculptures, more than I could have ever imagined. Every room ceiling was also completely covered with a beautiful mural. The museum ends at the Sistine Chapel with the most famous of the Michelangelo paintings. We then went to St. Peter's and looked around in the square then went to the top of the Basilica and saw a -
(this is precisely where our blog timed out last night. so switching from Darin to Laura for the continuation of your latest update :) )
-breathtaking view of the city of Roma!! To Cassandras dismay, we did not arrive at the bottom of the cupla in time to climb, by foot, the 551 stairs. We were made to take the elevator halfish way up and then the stairs for the rest of the journey. The best part = climbing the stairs that were build around the dome part of the church...very slanted and awkward! After a few photos were snapped with Vatican City (the smallest country in the world), we headed back down.
TUESDAY was spent in a city north of Roma: PERUGIA, ITALIA. This charming nook of splendidness is nestled in a gorgeous area of italy countryside. It was wonderful to behold, especially because Joe and Cassandra spent their May term there last year. I will allow them to expand on this wonderful day in the near future. My favorite part: there was a train ride involved which = card games of 500! AND there were significantly less tourists strolling the streets :)
Wednesday we spent touring the rest of ancient Rome...
Colosseum = awesome.
Forum = awesome.
Panthenon = not so awesome because of the scaffolding covering the front, but probably awesome in real life.
Trevi Fountain = awesome...especially the photo i asked an elderly man to take of us four. yea, me and darin made it in all the way, cassandra halfzies and joe not at all.
Spanish Steps = awesome. would have been awesomer with more flowers (like the postcards) and less people (again, like the postcards)
and gelato stands (mmm delicious culinary masterpiece)
Time to catch the metro to catch a train to catch my plane back to the USA :)
and time for the rest of this pod to catch a train to venice OR switzerland...yeah, that story to come!
All my l o v e,
Laura
(this is precisely where our blog timed out last night. so switching from Darin to Laura for the continuation of your latest update :) )
-breathtaking view of the city of Roma!! To Cassandras dismay, we did not arrive at the bottom of the cupla in time to climb, by foot, the 551 stairs. We were made to take the elevator halfish way up and then the stairs for the rest of the journey. The best part = climbing the stairs that were build around the dome part of the church...very slanted and awkward! After a few photos were snapped with Vatican City (the smallest country in the world), we headed back down.
TUESDAY was spent in a city north of Roma: PERUGIA, ITALIA. This charming nook of splendidness is nestled in a gorgeous area of italy countryside. It was wonderful to behold, especially because Joe and Cassandra spent their May term there last year. I will allow them to expand on this wonderful day in the near future. My favorite part: there was a train ride involved which = card games of 500! AND there were significantly less tourists strolling the streets :)
Wednesday we spent touring the rest of ancient Rome...
Colosseum = awesome.
Forum = awesome.
Panthenon = not so awesome because of the scaffolding covering the front, but probably awesome in real life.
Trevi Fountain = awesome...especially the photo i asked an elderly man to take of us four. yea, me and darin made it in all the way, cassandra halfzies and joe not at all.
Spanish Steps = awesome. would have been awesomer with more flowers (like the postcards) and less people (again, like the postcards)
and gelato stands (mmm delicious culinary masterpiece)
Time to catch the metro to catch a train to catch my plane back to the USA :)
and time for the rest of this pod to catch a train to venice OR switzerland...yeah, that story to come!
All my l o v e,
Laura
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A bit lengthier discussion of Prague and Munich...
Overall, our experience in Prague was positive. The day after arrival in Prague we did a free guided tour of the city (strangely enough, our guide had lived in Mason City, IA for a couple of years!) We appreciated the city much better during and after the city, as our first impression of Prague left some room for improvement. We visited the castle in Prague which looked over the city.
Later in the afternoon, we hit up some tourist shops and looked at souvenirs and that sort of thing. In the evening, we went to an excellent restaurant (high class joint, but within our budgets because the cost of living in Prague is super-low!) I had the best salmon that I've ever had, and I think I've had some pretty good ones before! The others also enjoyed their meals.
Today in Munich we attended Mass. We were targeting an 11 a.m. service which was supposed to be in English but turned out to be Vietnamese, so we went to a 2 p.m. service instead...English, but intended for the Nigerian community in Munich. It was a very interesting experience to say the least! There were lots and lots of songs, chants, yelling, dancing, and 'Amens'!!! They were perhaps the most welcoming group of people I've ever met, as during the sign of peace I think I shook hands with, high fived, or hugged everz purpose in the entire congregation!!!
Anyway, we are heading to Rome in an hour!!!
Overall, our experience in Prague was positive. The day after arrival in Prague we did a free guided tour of the city (strangely enough, our guide had lived in Mason City, IA for a couple of years!) We appreciated the city much better during and after the city, as our first impression of Prague left some room for improvement. We visited the castle in Prague which looked over the city.
Later in the afternoon, we hit up some tourist shops and looked at souvenirs and that sort of thing. In the evening, we went to an excellent restaurant (high class joint, but within our budgets because the cost of living in Prague is super-low!) I had the best salmon that I've ever had, and I think I've had some pretty good ones before! The others also enjoyed their meals.
Today in Munich we attended Mass. We were targeting an 11 a.m. service which was supposed to be in English but turned out to be Vietnamese, so we went to a 2 p.m. service instead...English, but intended for the Nigerian community in Munich. It was a very interesting experience to say the least! There were lots and lots of songs, chants, yelling, dancing, and 'Amens'!!! They were perhaps the most welcoming group of people I've ever met, as during the sign of peace I think I shook hands with, high fived, or hugged everz purpose in the entire congregation!!!
Anyway, we are heading to Rome in an hour!!!
!!! Praha&Munich !!!
Holla friends and fam!
Real quick update as I only have 3 min of internet time left!
Thursday we did a walking tour of Prague, chilled, and went to dinner with my cuz Carol...crazy that we are randomly abroad in the same city at the same time, but it was great to see her and share our travel stories :)
We headed to Munich Friday morning, explored the city (in the rain) and then went to a beer hall...the Hofbräuhaus.
Saturday was spent at Dachau memorial site...we are having a difficult time discribing it because you really need to experience it for yourself...we went on a guided tour which helped to bring us into the site and really experience how the past is currently being relived and impacting our future...leading us into Lauras favorite quote on a stone at the memorial "We honor the dead to warn the living."
Today we are going to enjoy some breakfast, attend mass (in English this time!), and keep exploring Munich.
We really love it here, despite the rain, which says a lot of the city!
Tonight we are taking a night train to Roma which we hope holds some sunshine and 90 degree weather :)
Thanks for the prayers, messages, and love! It is crazy that we have been doing this for 2 weeks already and it is all our support from back home that is helping to keep our travels safe and stress free.
Love,
Cassandra
Real quick update as I only have 3 min of internet time left!
Thursday we did a walking tour of Prague, chilled, and went to dinner with my cuz Carol...crazy that we are randomly abroad in the same city at the same time, but it was great to see her and share our travel stories :)
We headed to Munich Friday morning, explored the city (in the rain) and then went to a beer hall...the Hofbräuhaus.
Saturday was spent at Dachau memorial site...we are having a difficult time discribing it because you really need to experience it for yourself...we went on a guided tour which helped to bring us into the site and really experience how the past is currently being relived and impacting our future...leading us into Lauras favorite quote on a stone at the memorial "We honor the dead to warn the living."
Today we are going to enjoy some breakfast, attend mass (in English this time!), and keep exploring Munich.
We really love it here, despite the rain, which says a lot of the city!
Tonight we are taking a night train to Roma which we hope holds some sunshine and 90 degree weather :)
Thanks for the prayers, messages, and love! It is crazy that we have been doing this for 2 weeks already and it is all our support from back home that is helping to keep our travels safe and stress free.
Love,
Cassandra
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
G E R M A N Y **berlin* & *dessau**
greetings faithful blog followers :)
we would like to extend our sincere apologies for leaving you all hanging without an UPDATE! the past few days. internet has been scarce and our adventures have been thick! but here i am again, opening your minds with my perspective of our time in BERLIN, GERMANY!!!
MONDAY morning, we treked from our lovely hostel in amsterdam (where we shared a room with two california girls! ((i asked if they felt awesome for havin the summer's hottest hit "California Girls" by katy perry singing about them...they said of course! they get all the praise: example 2 = the beach boys' tune!)) ) to the train station!! this was to be our very first rail experience on this journey. we had purchsed unlimited rail passes to last a 15 day span, so we basically had to show up and hop on! one littel glitch: the passes had to be "validated." hm. doesnt sound too hard, we mused. HOWEVER. and oh what a HOWEVER. when you want to catch the 6:58am train and the service office doesnt open (despite the workers that are there fifteen minutes in advance. grr.) until 7am...a problem bubble arrises and squishes its way into your perfectly planned out day. seriously. there were a handful of other backpackers wanting to catch the early train from amsterdam to berlin and simply couldnt because their passes hadnt been validated. (aka: match passport to ticket and stamp - a .0000000003 second process.) us four actually hopped onto the 6:58 departing train, thinking we might just stay on and if we were asked along the way, explain our plight. well. we didnt end up staying on that train. we somberly scooted off just before the whistle blew. we made our way to the office which was just opening its doors and validated our flippin tickets. then waited for 2 hours till the next train came to wisk us away from the land of poor service and grouchy locals. without another hiccup, we arrived in berlin about 3:20 pm and started our exploration of the cosmopolitan area.
TUESDAY was spent in two large chunks. 1. FAT TIRE BIKE TOUR from 11-4 alllll around the city and 2. meeting up with cassandra and joe's friend, Isaac (who is darin and my friend now too!) who is attending school in Berlin for composition this summer. this day was phenomenal. due to limited time and space, i will let you know that A) we learned a LOT about the city of Berlin!!! and i love it :) and B) because of my innate and well-fostered love of photos (thanks mamma!) i completely wiped out whilst attempting to snap a photo of my three dear friends biking as flower children do throughout the parks of Berlin. yes, i lost control of the bicycle because my left hand was holding as i twisted back to take the picture - my bike went off the (really large, ha) sidewalk and after it caught the fence, i did a flip in the air, landing ever so gracefully on the ground, camera down. three bruises (the biggest being my pride) and a broken bike (which did not result in a fine) later, we continued on our way. but dang it all, i got that picutre, my camera survived, and it was good!
WEDNESDAY was a day full of TRAVELING ON THE TRAIN! and holy cow. this day was absolutely JAM PACKED with crazy happenings and helpful characters. this is seriously too long and complicated and intricate and juicy to type on the blog. an accurate summation would be: this day was a rollercoaster ride of emotions that included racing from one train to another after a derailment, being beyond completely confused by the german language of which none of us speak a lick, meeting nice angels on earth that pay for unexpected taxi rides, translate that we need to switch trains, etc... and arriving in prague with a not so amazing greeting. best part of this day that i will share with you all: Oswald Boelcke's Memorial site in Dessau, Germany. Boelcke=BOHLKE in ancient slash actual german terms. you guessed it, my great great great (maybe another great) uncle has his very own memorial place in the quait down of dessau, germany for being the very first flying ace, who also trained the red baron :) this part of our wednesday was especially amazing. once we finally arrived in the town, we rented bikes (for only 4 euro each!! with a lot of hand motions to the store dude as we dont speak the same language) and peddaled off to find the memorial. about 2 miles later, we arrived at the gate woo! cassandra went to open the green entrance that appeared to be locked but, to our delight, opened without a squeak. visiting my ancestors memorial was quite moving. no, i never knew him. my dad never knew him. gramps martin never new him. he died quite young, actually (consult wikipedia for more details :) )but he is my blood, and how sweet that he is honored in such a way all the way over here in europe!!! i snapped a plethora of photos and took a short video to share with my bohlke -and all interested parties- family. i feel extremely greatful to have had the opportunity to visit this place. i am fairly certain i am the first to make the journey from our branch of Bohlke's in the states. i know that all of my family would be touched by the experience. maybe some of the members that would have been most interested have passed from this worldly life, but we were all there together in spirit yesterday. i was the vessel, but we all met oswald together.
on that pleasant note, i'll sign off for now. hope this blog tides you all over until our next opportunity to write a love letter to you. have a great thursday! keep praying for us - remember, a lot LOT LOT of yesterday was left out, but we know we got through because you all keep us in your thoughts :)
love from a second-floor internet cafe in prague,
laura
we would like to extend our sincere apologies for leaving you all hanging without an UPDATE! the past few days. internet has been scarce and our adventures have been thick! but here i am again, opening your minds with my perspective of our time in BERLIN, GERMANY!!!
MONDAY morning, we treked from our lovely hostel in amsterdam (where we shared a room with two california girls! ((i asked if they felt awesome for havin the summer's hottest hit "California Girls" by katy perry singing about them...they said of course! they get all the praise: example 2 = the beach boys' tune!)) ) to the train station!! this was to be our very first rail experience on this journey. we had purchsed unlimited rail passes to last a 15 day span, so we basically had to show up and hop on! one littel glitch: the passes had to be "validated." hm. doesnt sound too hard, we mused. HOWEVER. and oh what a HOWEVER. when you want to catch the 6:58am train and the service office doesnt open (despite the workers that are there fifteen minutes in advance. grr.) until 7am...a problem bubble arrises and squishes its way into your perfectly planned out day. seriously. there were a handful of other backpackers wanting to catch the early train from amsterdam to berlin and simply couldnt because their passes hadnt been validated. (aka: match passport to ticket and stamp - a .0000000003 second process.) us four actually hopped onto the 6:58 departing train, thinking we might just stay on and if we were asked along the way, explain our plight. well. we didnt end up staying on that train. we somberly scooted off just before the whistle blew. we made our way to the office which was just opening its doors and validated our flippin tickets. then waited for 2 hours till the next train came to wisk us away from the land of poor service and grouchy locals. without another hiccup, we arrived in berlin about 3:20 pm and started our exploration of the cosmopolitan area.
TUESDAY was spent in two large chunks. 1. FAT TIRE BIKE TOUR from 11-4 alllll around the city and 2. meeting up with cassandra and joe's friend, Isaac (who is darin and my friend now too!) who is attending school in Berlin for composition this summer. this day was phenomenal. due to limited time and space, i will let you know that A) we learned a LOT about the city of Berlin!!! and i love it :) and B) because of my innate and well-fostered love of photos (thanks mamma!) i completely wiped out whilst attempting to snap a photo of my three dear friends biking as flower children do throughout the parks of Berlin. yes, i lost control of the bicycle because my left hand was holding as i twisted back to take the picture - my bike went off the (really large, ha) sidewalk and after it caught the fence, i did a flip in the air, landing ever so gracefully on the ground, camera down. three bruises (the biggest being my pride) and a broken bike (which did not result in a fine) later, we continued on our way. but dang it all, i got that picutre, my camera survived, and it was good!
WEDNESDAY was a day full of TRAVELING ON THE TRAIN! and holy cow. this day was absolutely JAM PACKED with crazy happenings and helpful characters. this is seriously too long and complicated and intricate and juicy to type on the blog. an accurate summation would be: this day was a rollercoaster ride of emotions that included racing from one train to another after a derailment, being beyond completely confused by the german language of which none of us speak a lick, meeting nice angels on earth that pay for unexpected taxi rides, translate that we need to switch trains, etc... and arriving in prague with a not so amazing greeting. best part of this day that i will share with you all: Oswald Boelcke's Memorial site in Dessau, Germany. Boelcke=BOHLKE in ancient slash actual german terms. you guessed it, my great great great (maybe another great) uncle has his very own memorial place in the quait down of dessau, germany for being the very first flying ace, who also trained the red baron :) this part of our wednesday was especially amazing. once we finally arrived in the town, we rented bikes (for only 4 euro each!! with a lot of hand motions to the store dude as we dont speak the same language) and peddaled off to find the memorial. about 2 miles later, we arrived at the gate woo! cassandra went to open the green entrance that appeared to be locked but, to our delight, opened without a squeak. visiting my ancestors memorial was quite moving. no, i never knew him. my dad never knew him. gramps martin never new him. he died quite young, actually (consult wikipedia for more details :) )but he is my blood, and how sweet that he is honored in such a way all the way over here in europe!!! i snapped a plethora of photos and took a short video to share with my bohlke -and all interested parties- family. i feel extremely greatful to have had the opportunity to visit this place. i am fairly certain i am the first to make the journey from our branch of Bohlke's in the states. i know that all of my family would be touched by the experience. maybe some of the members that would have been most interested have passed from this worldly life, but we were all there together in spirit yesterday. i was the vessel, but we all met oswald together.
on that pleasant note, i'll sign off for now. hope this blog tides you all over until our next opportunity to write a love letter to you. have a great thursday! keep praying for us - remember, a lot LOT LOT of yesterday was left out, but we know we got through because you all keep us in your thoughts :)
love from a second-floor internet cafe in prague,
laura
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Amsterdam by Joe
Greetings friends and family!
Yesterday we arrived to Amsterdam from after several days in London. We had a great time in London but were ready to move on to see what The Netherlands had in store.
In our first night in Amsterdam, we got situated in our hostel and found a good pizza restaurant. We watched the USA-England World Cup soccer game there and yes, Europeans do absolutely love their soccer! I believe the soccer celebrations continued throughout the night, as we were all awoken at 5 AM to some choosing to party on in the streets!
Today we went to the Anne Frank museum. Very interesting place to say the least. Later in the afternoon Darin and I went to the Heineken factory and had a great time learning the "proper" way to drink a beer. Cassandra and Laura went shopping, sometimes to the same store eleven times as they went in circles all afternoon.
Anyway, we are set to leave for Berlin tomorrow morning. We have enjoyed Amsterdam and the hostel that we stayed in has been great. The staircase is very steep, and has provided some comedic relief as someone to remain unnamed may or may not have fallen up the stairs.
Joe
Friday, June 11, 2010
l - o - n - d - o - n day2 !!
oh what a day we have had here in ENGLAND!
-> tower of london:
first stop of the day, not at all glamorous.
--> tower bridge:
next on our eastern london tour, glamorous to the max yo!
---> elephant parade:
there are big concrete elephants scattered hither and yon in this city - different people/groups/orgs/businesses purchase them, paint them as they like, and the money goes towards saving the elephants in africa foundation. basically = we like to find them and take photos with them! so far a peacock (MY FAV) elephant and also well some more awesome ones have been spotted and forever logged on our camera cards.
----> london bridge:
again, high hopes and no glamor. not even photo worthy! (but of course we took some anyway...) tower bridge is the one to visit for sure!
-----> millenium bridge:
dedicated may 9, 2000 by the queen herself. very modern - great example of the phenomenal mix of old and modern here in LONDON!
------> shakesphere's globe theatre:
sweet to behold - thats about it. it is still open to see performances, if you're interested :)
-------> platform 9 3/4:
AMAZING. dear all harry potter, ron weasley, hermione granger, etc. fans = this is definitely a must-visit site! its comical, actually, because its not a huge attraction here in london. however, that did not deter us from snapping loads of photos on this magical, made-up platform with the cart (that im sure harry himself used to travel to hogwarts!!!) half-way through the wall!!! LOVELY MOMENT INDEED!
------> lunch. yumyum:
after our morning 'bridges of london' tour, we ate some deliciosa comida!!! (delicious food). lasagna and spanish omlet (tortilla) filled our stomachs. mmm. yum seriously.
-----> afternoon: darin and joe
british museum!!! (FREE) rosetta stone!! lots of walking!
----> afternoon: cassandra and me
covent gardens!!! (AMAAAZING!!) vendors, shops, street performers and a nutella snack break!
---> supper:
purchased at convenience store and consumed in st. james park (smallest and most charming in london :) ) after lots more walking, specifically to the square where the ginORMOUS tv screen is set up to show the WORLD CUP !!
--> more walking:
visit the london eye as well as big ben during the day. great photos porque it was finally sunny with some clear skies!! love it yes thankyouverymuch.
-> and here we are :) alive and well. . . after at least a marathons worth of walking.
favorites:
ROSES are ALL OVER LONDON!! beautiful, lucious, colorful. we love them.
PARKS! this city is a huge city, yes. however, it is broken up by large, green, peaceful parks!! we love these too!!
chao for now!
love,
laura
-> tower of london:
first stop of the day, not at all glamorous.
--> tower bridge:
next on our eastern london tour, glamorous to the max yo!
---> elephant parade:
there are big concrete elephants scattered hither and yon in this city - different people/groups/orgs/businesses purchase them, paint them as they like, and the money goes towards saving the elephants in africa foundation. basically = we like to find them and take photos with them! so far a peacock (MY FAV) elephant and also well some more awesome ones have been spotted and forever logged on our camera cards.
----> london bridge:
again, high hopes and no glamor. not even photo worthy! (but of course we took some anyway...) tower bridge is the one to visit for sure!
-----> millenium bridge:
dedicated may 9, 2000 by the queen herself. very modern - great example of the phenomenal mix of old and modern here in LONDON!
------> shakesphere's globe theatre:
sweet to behold - thats about it. it is still open to see performances, if you're interested :)
-------> platform 9 3/4:
AMAZING. dear all harry potter, ron weasley, hermione granger, etc. fans = this is definitely a must-visit site! its comical, actually, because its not a huge attraction here in london. however, that did not deter us from snapping loads of photos on this magical, made-up platform with the cart (that im sure harry himself used to travel to hogwarts!!!) half-way through the wall!!! LOVELY MOMENT INDEED!
------> lunch. yumyum:
after our morning 'bridges of london' tour, we ate some deliciosa comida!!! (delicious food). lasagna and spanish omlet (tortilla) filled our stomachs. mmm. yum seriously.
-----> afternoon: darin and joe
british museum!!! (FREE) rosetta stone!! lots of walking!
----> afternoon: cassandra and me
covent gardens!!! (AMAAAZING!!) vendors, shops, street performers and a nutella snack break!
---> supper:
purchased at convenience store and consumed in st. james park (smallest and most charming in london :) ) after lots more walking, specifically to the square where the ginORMOUS tv screen is set up to show the WORLD CUP !!
--> more walking:
visit the london eye as well as big ben during the day. great photos porque it was finally sunny with some clear skies!! love it yes thankyouverymuch.
-> and here we are :) alive and well. . . after at least a marathons worth of walking.
favorites:
ROSES are ALL OVER LONDON!! beautiful, lucious, colorful. we love them.
PARKS! this city is a huge city, yes. however, it is broken up by large, green, peaceful parks!! we love these too!!
chao for now!
love,
laura
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Greetings from LONDON baby!!!!
We have had a full day here in London so I'll try to keep it as short and sweet as possible...basically, the day was filled with all my fav things....biking, delish food, and WICKED!
Laura, Darin, Joe, and I began by purchasing our tickets to WICKED and then heading to our Fat Tire Bike Tour...highlights/sounds/sights:
-Princess Di's former house and memorial
-Cannons shooting off for the Queen's hubby's bday (41 cannons to be exact)
-Location for the Queen's bday celebration on Saturday/sand volleyball for the Olympics 2012/place where 007 was "born"
-Trafalgar Square...the most popular area of London, complete with a big screen for the World Cup on Saturday
-Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace
-A random pelican...named Willy
We then hit up some gelato and headed home to our hostel to get ready for WICKED!!! Stopped for dinner along the way at Loose Box to eat salmon/linguine/deliciousness and Laura had some chicken/asparagus/pea/salad. And well, then it was WICKED in LONDON= AMAZING, duh. Gave Joe and Darin some culture :)
Stopped for some drinks and here we are.
My fav thing about Europe so far...the great people, and not just those I'm traveling with, but the sweet people we meet along the way...
1. The nice man that cooked our supper one night in Dublin
2. The ladies who worked at a random shop in Blarney and stored our bags for a couple hours
3. Everyone we have met at the airport who have shared the experiences and advice on where to travel/what to see
Tomorrow: More London...we'll keep ya posted :)
Love, hugs, prayers, and all things nice,
Cassandra
Laura, Darin, Joe, and I began by purchasing our tickets to WICKED and then heading to our Fat Tire Bike Tour...highlights/sounds/sights:
-Princess Di's former house and memorial
-Cannons shooting off for the Queen's hubby's bday (41 cannons to be exact)
-Location for the Queen's bday celebration on Saturday/sand volleyball for the Olympics 2012/place where 007 was "born"
-Trafalgar Square...the most popular area of London, complete with a big screen for the World Cup on Saturday
-Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace
-A random pelican...named Willy
We then hit up some gelato and headed home to our hostel to get ready for WICKED!!! Stopped for dinner along the way at Loose Box to eat salmon/linguine/deliciousness and Laura had some chicken/asparagus/pea/salad. And well, then it was WICKED in LONDON= AMAZING, duh. Gave Joe and Darin some culture :)
Stopped for some drinks and here we are.
My fav thing about Europe so far...the great people, and not just those I'm traveling with, but the sweet people we meet along the way...
1. The nice man that cooked our supper one night in Dublin
2. The ladies who worked at a random shop in Blarney and stored our bags for a couple hours
3. Everyone we have met at the airport who have shared the experiences and advice on where to travel/what to see
Tomorrow: More London...we'll keep ya posted :)
Love, hugs, prayers, and all things nice,
Cassandra
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
edinburgh *** por laura
HELLO blog readers!!
we are currently in L*O*N*D*O*N, ENGLAND!! arrived about 10pm (3ish hours ago...already visited the Thame River and all of the sites around her ---> ejemplo uno: BIG BEN donging at midnight!!...more tomorrow about this wonderful city!) AHORA MISMO, i am going to tell you alllll our day in
EDINBURGH, S-C-O-T-L-A-N-D!!
EDINBURGH, S-C-O-T-L-A-N-D!!
we awoke this fine June 9, Wednesday morn in our used-to-be-church hostel, (ma, you would love it) threw water on our faces and headed out into the rain . . . that is customary here in the UK :) dressed in fleeces and jackets, we tackled the "IMMEDIATE BEAUTY" of a city (aka scotland) by climbing her hills to the famous EDINBURGH CASTLE. the castle was bomb. however freezing cold our sandal clad toes were, we enjoyed mosying around the grounds that some lived within their entire lives...saw some crowned jewels as well as great views of the city mmm.
LUNCH TIME brought us (well, cassandra is in charge of scouting out the best eatery joints...so far, so good) to another used-to-be-church (theme?) "The Hub Cafe" where we feasted on pea and smoked bacon soup, tea (cassandra), coffee (laura), diet coke (joe, but it tasted kind of funky...) and tap water please (darin) yum yum all the fixins.
afternoon - - - - - cassandra and i explored the ROYAL MILE as well as PRINCES (yes breeny, one S) STREET. we loved our afternoon full of free tea samples (out of this world delicious! Whittard!!! look them up) and souvineer shopping slash postcard writing (my fav) and crazy boys doing unicycle/sharp knives acts in the middle of the street. yes. while cassandra and i conquored the flat lands (yea, shopping joints) joe and darin trotted off to CLIMB A GIGANTIC, GINORMOUS, HUMONGOLICIOUS (the boys want this to be really intense) MOOOUNTAIIIN to overlook all of edinburgh. (photos of proof to come.) yes. thank you indeed.
so, we met back up at the bus station where our luggage was stored (for £ 7 aka seven pounds aka expensive kind of because the pound is strong) and continued our european adventure south to the UK :)
considering the fact that my comrades are breathing down my neck (minus cassandra) (okay and joe) to make this less of a book, i'll sign off for now.
CHEERS as they say here in scotland. well, they said in scotland!!
MIND THE GAP and thank you I-N-D-E-E-D for reading and loving us.
love,
laura
LUNCH TIME brought us (well, cassandra is in charge of scouting out the best eatery joints...so far, so good) to another used-to-be-church (theme?) "The Hub Cafe" where we feasted on pea and smoked bacon soup, tea (cassandra), coffee (laura), diet coke (joe, but it tasted kind of funky...) and tap water please (darin) yum yum all the fixins.
afternoon - - - - - cassandra and i explored the ROYAL MILE as well as PRINCES (yes breeny, one S) STREET. we loved our afternoon full of free tea samples (out of this world delicious! Whittard!!! look them up) and souvineer shopping slash postcard writing (my fav) and crazy boys doing unicycle/sharp knives acts in the middle of the street. yes. while cassandra and i conquored the flat lands (yea, shopping joints) joe and darin trotted off to CLIMB A GIGANTIC, GINORMOUS, HUMONGOLICIOUS (the boys want this to be really intense) MOOOUNTAIIIN to overlook all of edinburgh. (photos of proof to come.) yes. thank you indeed.
so, we met back up at the bus station where our luggage was stored (for £ 7 aka seven pounds aka expensive kind of because the pound is strong) and continued our european adventure south to the UK :)
considering the fact that my comrades are breathing down my neck (minus cassandra) (okay and joe) to make this less of a book, i'll sign off for now.
CHEERS as they say here in scotland. well, they said in scotland!!
MIND THE GAP and thank you I-N-D-E-E-D for reading and loving us.
love,
laura
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Cork/Evening in Edinburgh by Joe
Greetings from Scotland!!!!
Today we awoke in a foggy and rainy Dublin. We have determined Dublin is dreary and may be slightly overrated. Luckily, our flight took us to the hidden gem or Ireland, also known as the Cork/Blarney area.
Upon arrival, we went to the Blarney Castle. It was awesome. We somehow found a way to fit all of our backpacks through the entryways and tight corners of the castle. Yes, we were "those people" that were clearly tourists carrying a month's worth of stuff with them. At the top we kissed the Blarney Stone, and we were instantly blessed with the gift of gab.
Once we said goodbye to Cork/Blarney, we proceeded to Edinburgh, UK. There we put our new found gift of gab to the test at a local establishment called "El Stazione." We tested multiple local brews to determine which ones to drink. Upon a statistical sample performed by Darin and myself, we determined all were worthy for a couple pints.
We are now back to the hostel. It seems to have an interesting history, as it was once a church and all the rooms have an open ceiling. Tomorrow we plan on exploring Edinburgh, including the castle, Scottish Parliament, Hollyrood Palace, to name a few. Tomorrow night, we will be taking a flight to London.
Tune in for later updates!!!
Today we awoke in a foggy and rainy Dublin. We have determined Dublin is dreary and may be slightly overrated. Luckily, our flight took us to the hidden gem or Ireland, also known as the Cork/Blarney area.
Upon arrival, we went to the Blarney Castle. It was awesome. We somehow found a way to fit all of our backpacks through the entryways and tight corners of the castle. Yes, we were "those people" that were clearly tourists carrying a month's worth of stuff with them. At the top we kissed the Blarney Stone, and we were instantly blessed with the gift of gab.
Once we said goodbye to Cork/Blarney, we proceeded to Edinburgh, UK. There we put our new found gift of gab to the test at a local establishment called "El Stazione." We tested multiple local brews to determine which ones to drink. Upon a statistical sample performed by Darin and myself, we determined all were worthy for a couple pints.
We are now back to the hostel. It seems to have an interesting history, as it was once a church and all the rooms have an open ceiling. Tomorrow we plan on exploring Edinburgh, including the castle, Scottish Parliament, Hollyrood Palace, to name a few. Tomorrow night, we will be taking a flight to London.
Tune in for later updates!!!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Dublin!!! By Darin
Hey friends,
Our flights all arrived safely and we are currently in Dublin after a day of sightseeing on the town. Laura almost didn't make it, the immigration lady didn't seem to want her to enter the UK after our flight from Philly to Glasgow, but they ultimately let her through:) We walked around much of the south side of Dublin today, and made a visit to the Guinness Brewery which gave a great view of the city. We left there around 2 PM and it has been raining ever since, but we still walked all over. For lunch a couple of us had to try the famous fish and chips, which were quite tasty. We spent an hour or two tonight playing Euchre, but most of the time was spent debating over the rules and Joe and I pointing out the several reasons why 500 is better.
We've got an early flight to Cork tomorrow to see the Blarney Castle and stone, and we will end up in Edinburgh, Scotland by tomorrow night. Hope all is well back home, we're sending our best from Europe!
"It's all grand, and it's all green! I think we found the place where we belong! One short day in the Emerald city!" -As sung by Laura and Cassandra (they're somewhat strange)
Our flights all arrived safely and we are currently in Dublin after a day of sightseeing on the town. Laura almost didn't make it, the immigration lady didn't seem to want her to enter the UK after our flight from Philly to Glasgow, but they ultimately let her through:) We walked around much of the south side of Dublin today, and made a visit to the Guinness Brewery which gave a great view of the city. We left there around 2 PM and it has been raining ever since, but we still walked all over. For lunch a couple of us had to try the famous fish and chips, which were quite tasty. We spent an hour or two tonight playing Euchre, but most of the time was spent debating over the rules and Joe and I pointing out the several reasons why 500 is better.
We've got an early flight to Cork tomorrow to see the Blarney Castle and stone, and we will end up in Edinburgh, Scotland by tomorrow night. Hope all is well back home, we're sending our best from Europe!
"It's all grand, and it's all green! I think we found the place where we belong! One short day in the Emerald city!" -As sung by Laura and Cassandra (they're somewhat strange)
Saturday, June 5, 2010
last post from i*o*w*a*y !!
hello!
**this is the voice of laura**
thanks mucho for stopping by - hopefully you will enjoy entering into our european adventure via blog. our plan is to take turns blogging each day so you'll hear from each of us!!
presently, i am finishing packing my ONE bag as tomorrow morning (5:40am) darin and joe will be arriving in manchester to pick me up and continue onward to fetch cassandra before heading to the ohare airport in chitown. we will fly into D U B L I N first. AH yes!!
the places on our route = dublin, IRELAND; cork, IRELAND; edinburgh, SCOTLAND; london, ENGLAND; amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS; berlin, GERMANY; dessau, GERMANY; prague, CZECH REPUBLIC; munich, GERMANY; venice, ITALY; rome, ITALY; bern, SWITZERLAND; and paris, FRANCE.
farewell for now. prayers and advice welcome and appreciated!!!
thanks for stopping by our BLOG!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
!!! Welcome !!!
Hello Friends & Family!
Welcome to our blog :) Stay tuned for posts as we embark to Europe on June 6th, 2010. For now, sending our love from Iowa!
Welcome to our blog :) Stay tuned for posts as we embark to Europe on June 6th, 2010. For now, sending our love from Iowa!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)