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
Monday, June 28, 2010
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!
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