Home Safe

Well, today I flew into San Francisco. My last full day in London, the rain came pelting down in torrents, making it difficult to enjoy outside. My friend Ronnie and I bore it as best as we could, we ended up ducking into Harrods to avoid rain. We wandered around gazing at the overpriced merchandise before finally feeling a need to flee from such poshness.

My flight left at 11 am the next morning, but boarding started and one hour and fifteen minutes before take off. My plane was named "Ruby Tuesday" and she was a 747 (gaint plane). The flight was uneventful but decent. One of the great things about being a vegitarian on Virgin Atlantic is they serve you first!!! Even First Class people have to wait their turn to be served. I arrived in San Francisco tired and hungry but pleased to be back home. Cheers!

Strasbourg

Hello from Strasbourg,
I wasn't planning on writing again so soon, except for it decided to rain on my one day in Strasbourg. So I've been running from one cover to the next. I am hangng out with two very sweet Oregonians who are also here for one night before heading to Paris. We had a leisurely lunch and some good beers before tramping around in the rain. It hasn't been so bad, I think the rain was most intent on soaking me while I was wandering around looking for the hostel. Thankfully two very kind French people rescued me. Well, time's almost up, so I'll probably send some final lines from London. Cheers!
Harmonious Emilie

Luxembourg

Hello everyone,

I arrived in Luxembourg today after a long day trip to Amsterdam the day before. This city/country is beautiful. It is one of the EU capitals and played in large role in the founding of the EU. Both the old town and the new areas are superb. Today I took a bus tour so I could see all around the city and have been wondering around since.

Old town is fun with all the shops and neat artwork. Apparently, Luxembourg won recognition for its cultural emphasis. There are neat sculptures all over the new and old areas. Just coming here to see all the sculptures is worth it.

Well, I am off to explore some more before heading back to the hostel. Tomorrow, I will head to Strasbourg for one night before flying from Paris to London. Can´t believe it is almost over, but I am ready for a long sleep. Cheers from em.

On My Own

Hello everyone,

Nicole has left me to go back to the states, so alas I am on my own. Things are actually going very well. My first day I went to Antwerp (the second largest city in Belgium) and I had a great time. The hostel I stayed at had an excellent environment for meeting people, so I tromped around town with four people for most of the day. One of them is going to meet up with me in Amsterdam! Antwerp surprised me, I really enjoyed it. The town is beautiful and fun. The hostel I stayed in was probably the easiest to make friends at.

Today, I slowly made my way to Rotterdam. I will stay here for two nights (tomorrow I will visit Amsterdam). Everything in Rotterdam is new since the city was completely destroyed in WWII. It looks a lot like the states in the sense that everything was built so recently. I am enjoying my stay here as well although I haven't made any friends here yet, but I see a few faces around eager for companionship. Take care one and all!

With harmony,
Emilie

Brugge

Hello everyone from Brugge,

Belgium; what a great town it is. In fact it has my mothers name written all over it (figurtively, of course). Belgium has what one may call an affinity for chocolate...practically every other store in Brugge is a chocolaterie. Also, Brugge has elegant canals interwined throughout the downtown earning the nickname "Venice of the North". The buildings are well maintained and beautiful.

During our short stay in Brugge, Nicole and I have visited the Chocolate museum (where they supply you with free samples), we went on a boat ride though the canals, and walked all over the town exploring. Tomorrow morning we will head to Brussels for one last night before she heads back to the states. I have still a week left to adventure around and am looking forward to these last few adventures. And since computer time in this town is decidely expensive, that is all I have for now. Cheers.

Emilie the Drumm

Berlin Berlin

It is surreal to be in Berlin a city that was divided by a wall about 15 years ago. Today, we awoke determined to have a wonderful day...it was Nicole´s 22nd b-day. She is now affectionally as old as dirt. But what does that make me? Older than dirt!

Our first act was to find breakfast with a decent cup of coffee (yes, we are becoming spoiled by good coffee every morning) and breakfast. Balzac coffee fullfilled our needs very well! We walked down to the square where book burnings took place once upon a time then saw some churches, the big tower...typical tourist stuff.

Our big pleasant surprise came when arriving at the remains of the Berlin wall. There was a display called the "Typography of Terror" which explained the WWII involvement of Berlin and the Nazi´s. It was full of neat photos and had an excellent audio tour for non-german speaking people (that was free). We spent quite a bit of time savvoring this tasteful memorial.

For dinner we ended up at a cute Art Cafe where we ended up eating with a sweet lady from Great Britian. She was sitting all alone but had brought Harry Potter down with her (we knew she had to have been a kindred spirit). We had so much fun drinking and eating at this charming venue.

Alas we are now on our way to bed, stopping in for a bit of internet. Hope all is well on that side of the world!

With harmony,
emilie

Prauge, oh soooo pretty

Arriving the Czech Republic we anticipated a dramatic change in something...after all this country is not on the euro, has slower
trains, and speaks Czech. Well, we were both right and wrong. Prauge is breathtakingly beautiful...you don't see beggers...it is very clean and well maintained. It is simular to other cities in terms of beautiful architecture and shopping here is very fun!!! (I found Harry Potter for about $15.) The people are friendly and the good food is extremely cheap. We are loving it.

There are lots of scary stories going around about Prauge though and being the wimps we are, we stay in after dark...which is just fine with us. I am known as the Harry Potter girl at the hostel already. While reading, I curl up with my blanket and a bar of chocolate. Who knows...tonight it I could add beer too. Our hostel is not overly nice, but is in a decent area of town and has good people.We have a kitchen and a bath tub too!!! After walking around in this picture perfect city all day who needs anything else? (On a more amusing note, our hostel has a 5000 crown [$200] fine for bringing in a prostitute...a first on this trip.)

Tomorrow we are going to do the sites...the Jewish Cemetary and possibly the castle. Cheers!

Summers in Salzburg

Summers in Salzburg are a lot like summers in Seattle or winters in San Luis Obispo. The rain was practically unrelenting with the clouds breaking up every now and then for a ray of sun before closing for more rain...and even when it was feeling up to it, some seasonal hail came down.

When we had arrived in Munich, Nicole was surprised by the rain (California upbringing can do that to a person) so she was poorly prepared for the rain. Although, to be totally honest, I was much in the same boat (I've been been jaded by summers in SLO too). Despite our discomfort from the moody weather we still really enjoyed seeing this part of the world.

Salzburg was small and pretty. An afternoon of walking around town is all you need to get the feel of the area. 1 out of every 3 jobs in Salzburg is related to tourism...so there are also lots of tourists. After a day of this, taking to the Alps to see the surrounding lakes and towns was the thing to do. We actually ended up crossing back into Germany for some coffee and a visit to the salt mines.

Hey, for all you Sound of Music fans, they offer a tour. I decided to try it out...having heard wonderful things about it; our tour guide was very nice but did not provide what I wanted it the tour...information. You had to prod it out of her. We did see filming sites though, heard how much Christopher Plummer didn't like children and visited outlying towns as well. Oh yes...in the movie the Vontrapps escaped into the mountains...but if you look on a map the mountains would bring them into Germany. hmmmm. The real Vontrapps actually took a train from Salzburg to Italy, then France, then England before settling in Vermont. I'm glad I took the tour but wouldn't reccommend it to anyone else...unless they could take Sound of Music no matter if the guide was good or not. Apparently there is another tour guide who is very entertaining...that makes all the
difference in the world.

So if you plan to visit Salzburg, bring an umbrella and your woolies, plan on lots of tourists but if you like beautiful scenery, it's an excellent place to see. I am very glad to have visited it.

Magnificent Munich

Stepping off the plane in Munich was a refreshing change in our European adventure. Despite the Seattle summer weather (cool and sprinkling rain) we were delighted. Munich is gorgous!!!! It actually reminds me a lot of Seattle with lots more history; beautiful buidings (almost all restored to look like their originals before the war), neat shops, sooo clean, wide streets, and clearly labeled streets. It is so nice to have dummy proof streets around us again.

Today we took a fabulous walking tour around Munich where we got to see all the big sights (i.e. Glockenspeil, main goverment buildings, famous beer halls). Our tour guide was fabulous, he was actually an Irish guy who must have studied Munich history for he could answer all our probing questions and told us stories with infectious zeal. All day Nicole has been saying how wonderful it is to be in Munich and I couldn´t agree more.

Another good thing about Munich is despite it having yucky Nazi history, it didn´t rebuild most of those truely horrific places, and did put a couple momuments up in places where the resistence held its
own. I think it is a very tasteful way to handle such a nasty past. The only points I take off for Munich (and will probably be true in most of Germany) is the lack of vegitarian options. I had the strangest meal I´ve ever had last night (a cream cheese like log with onion to be spread on bread). It was interesting...but the menus here have been a bit limited.

We are thrilled to be here! Munich is a beatuiful town with great culture. Tomorrow we will be meeting up with a friend of Nicole´s (Gianna) who will be accompaning us to Salzberg. Check out the photos, I´ve finally posted all of them from Greece and some from today. Cheers from Emilie.

Athens

We arrived safely in Athens bleary eyed and with dragging feet. Our bus ride from Corfu to Athens was about 10 hours long (a night bus), and wouldn't have been so bad except everytime we got on a ferry, they made us get out of the bus.

Our plan was to spend the night in Athens and catch a morning ferry, but we found a night ferry, so decided to catch that instead and tour to Athens on minimal sleep. We figured that we'd take a walking tour and we wouldn't have to think, just enjoy.

Athens was creepy but the tour was fun, especially with all the other people our age. It lasted about 6 hours...so we are exhausted, but ready to head to Santorini. Okay, I'm out of time for now, but our time in Athens was fun. The Acropolis was awesome though!!!! Goodnight and hope to hear from you all soon.

With harmony,
Emilie

We love Greece! (Corfu at least)

Hi from Nicole, Emilie's official traveling mate!

We have been in Corfu, Greece since early Friday morning. We look a 7 hour night ferry from Brindisi, Italy to the island of Corfu. Needless to say, we slept a few hours, and had the pleasure of experiencing roudy Aussie travelers. Those kids party hard! (Literally, we left at 9pm Thursday night, and they were still drinking at 7:00am Friday morning)

We have been staying at Corfu's infamous "summer camp without supervision" called The Pink Palace. While I recommend it for it's price and aneminities (Included in the price= home made breakfast and 3 course dinner, day time adventure rentals such as kayaks, scooters, 4 wheelers, 'booze cruise', and lots of beautiful people!), the crowd attracted here leans more on the young partying type. Everyone is very friendly though, and we have had a great time.

After we arrived Friday morning (took 3 hours to check in, oye!), we slept for about 3 hours, then headed out to kayak to a nearby rock formation south of our hotel. The kayaks were super fun, and we enjoyed the little cove we found.

Yesterday, we rented a moter scooter, and scooted around Corfu! The island is pretty small, but we were gone for pretty much all day. No problems navigation wise, and Emilie was a fabulous driver! (I tried to rent one too, but haven't ever been on a scooter and haven't been on a bike since elementary school, so it would've been BAAAD with all of Corfu's hills!)

Today we spent ALL day at the beach because we had to check out of our room by 9am. We are both turning lovely shades of brown (and maybe a little red)! We both just had fantastic massages, and are feeling very relaxed to enjoy another home cooked dinner, and a LONG ferry too Athens. We will be in Athens tomorrow morning, then the following day be on our way to the other Greek island of Santorini.

Cheers!

Pompeii

You know those days when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Well today, both Nicole and I did. Actually, it was the NOT waking up that put us in a bad mood. Our alarm was set for 5am (yes punk, 5am, but don't get any ideas) because of our early train. We had a ride from our campsite to the local metro station at 6am. However, something went wrong and I woke up at 6.

Our packing skills have truely improved, we were out the door in 8 minutes flat. Unfortunately, we were also grubby from not having time to shower that morning (and the evening before we ran all over Rome). So that set the tone for the day.

We had decided to spend the night in Solerno due to its affordability and proximity to Pompeii. We arrived and hunted down the hostel; since street signs are optional in Italy, we had some difficulty but not too much. The hostel was in uproar when we arrived, so we only had time to drop our packs and run out the door. (We had both been hoping for some grooming time.)

We ran to the station to hitch our ride to Pompeii and made it due to a delay only to find out the train only stops at Pompeii during weekends. So we rode into Napoli then caught a train that actually stopped in Pompeii. By this time it was nearly 1 and we were starving.

The ruins are quite extensive and even more so when you are speed walking across them to the cafeteria. We finally ate an overpriced, but long awaited meal and attempted to nurse our dampened spirits with the sites.

Maybe everyone has talked up Pompei too much, maybe it was the lack of cool dead bodies hanging about (we saw a total of 4), or maybe it was that the coolest parts of Pompeii were closed i.e. House of Vetti & 3 other big ones, but we really were let down by the sights. We tramped around in the very hot sun for 4 hours, visiting some very beautiful places and some less so. Next time I will invest in a tour guide or or least the audio tour.

The good news was the gelato afterwards. It was divine. Not to mention arriving back to the hostel and taking a nice long, hot shower (a feat not too common in a hostel). So now we are cleaned, fed and excited to head to the greek islands. Yes, Pompei was a bit of a let down, but next time we shall be more prepared. Ciao from Italia, our next update shall be from an island called Corfu!

With harmony,
Emilie

Ciao Ciao from Roma

Hello everyone,

Nicole and I are currently spending our last night in Rome before heading onto Pompeii then Greece. We've been very productive in terms of hitting the sights. We are staying at a camp ground outside of town and found it to be a rather nice experience. Since arriving in Rome, we have seen quite a bit including...Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, 3 churches, Roman forum, collosseum, and Vatican City and all that implies. It's been a whirlwind couple of days but we are enjoying ourselves.

While visiting the Spanish steps we realized we had no idea what these steps were all about so we created our own little history. Ask us about it...and maybe we shall exclose our findings...or maybe not...yes we are nerds. Actually, getting around Rome has been much easier than we had inticipated. Guess we are becoming traveling pros...or maybe Rome is just easy...either way it has been very helpful in hitting the sights.

Thank goodness we decided to stay an extra night in Cinque Terre for it allowed us to avoid a train strike. Yes, a train strike in Italy. Apparently these strikes are fairly common and happen almost once a month...so yesterday and today the trains are out of service, but tomorrow morning they will be ready to take us ontoour next adventure in Pompeii. Alright, must say ciao for now.

With harmony,
Emilie

Email Issues

Ciao everyone.

My email address is not working correctly. If you have sent me anything at this address I probably haven't recieved it. Furthermore, my tech support doesn't seem to be helpful at this point in time. Contact me via . Cheers!

Emilie

Cinque Terre Holidays

These last two days in Cinque Terre have been like a dream. Day 1 we spent lounging on the beach in Monterosso. It was a quite day that ended in an evening feast of pasta and bread. We made it ourselves and washed it down with limoncello. Yum!

This morning, Nicole and I said goodbye to Heather for she is heading up to London to catch her flight home. She seemed confident and ready to go home. We headed out to Monterosso so we could hike back to our town. The predicted hiking time was 5 hours, not including break time in cities. We took about 6.5 hours total, and loved every minute of it.

The first leg was mainly going up steps...lots of them. It is known as the difficult leg, but we consoled ourselves by reminding ourselves that it would be easier from then on. It was probably the most beautiful and rewarding leg of the hike. The second leg was almost as grueling as the first, but more so for difficult terrain and the need for food and beer. When we finally arrived in Corneglia we had fabulous foccoicia, beer and chocolate. We were very content.

The last two legs of the trip we a breeze after the first 2 tough ones. With full bellies we walked to Manrola then finally Rioggimiore. It was a wonderful day. We both ended up a little burned, but felt a great sense of accomplishment. It was one of the most memorable days on this trip so far for me.

Our evening ended with cooking a fabulous pesto pasta and a garlic bread worthy of warding off all the vampires on the contienent. Tomorrow we head to Rome where we are going to spend two nights before heading to Pompeii. Goodnight all.

Emilie

Love at first sight

I have finally experiened love at first sight. It's okay Dad...I'm not in love with a boy, Cinque Terre has captured my heart. We have been here for less than two hours and already Nicole and I are staying another night (sadly, Heather is leaving us after tomorrow night). This place is beautiful and I want to stay forever. So when I make my fortune, I will be investing in a modest accommodation for me and my dog and whatever animals I have in my life (Dad, insert possible future male here).

Before arriving in Cinque Terre today, we spent about 4 hours in Pisa. We actually climbed the leaning tower of Pisa!!!! We also visited a few other beautiful and interesting sights before running out there (Pisa is neat, but there are a lot of tourists). Our ride to Cinque Terre was fairly smooth except for choosing the train car without air conditioning. Alas we are settled and (speaking for myself although both Nicole and Heather seem delighted) estatic to be here!

Cheers from the most beautiful place in Italy. Emilie

Firenze

Hello everyone,

Once again I have suceeded in uploading pictures!!! We are at an end of our time in Florence. It has been ideal with only a few minor issues. We have visited all the big sights...Santa Croce, Duomo, Uffitisi, Boboli Gardens, the open air market, Ponte Vecchcio and the Palace. Overall, Florence has been a rich and enjoyable experience.

The only drawback to Florence is the touristy edge which in itself can be fine except for the tourist traps. Yes, and we fell for a
couple...the worst example being the $10 gelato. Also there is this thing that appears on your tab called a copula (think speeled
correctly) which my translater called 'overcast weather' but was in fact a tax for sitting in the restaurant. This is not specific to
Florence, but happens to be one of its perks. The food has been fabulous and yes mum, so has been the limoncello.

Tomorrow we will be spending an afternoon in Pisa before heading to Cinque Terre. We are very much looking forward to visiting this so called 'unspoiled' part of Italy. Ciao and goodnight.

With harmony,
Emilie

Italia

This is just a brief posting from Emilie telling everyone we are finally heading the gelato diet (2 a day). Florence is beautiful and
we are having a blast. We've been busy attempting to make the most of our time in Italy. Heather is nearing the end of her time with us, only 4 more nights I believe. She is a little sad to be done, but overall ready for a bath and the washing machine. Nicole finally seems to be in the groove of things and I am plugging away. Cheers from Florence and more updates to come soon!

Ciao from Firenze ( btw...this is em)

Hello everyone,

I am writing from Florence, Italia, I think it is my favorite city in Europe. We have just enjoyed an excellent meal of pasta and vino, so please forgive my typos...which I am certain will be numerous.

Venice was fun. For Heather, like my mother, it was love at first sight. Our entire first day we spent attempting to find our hotel, which was in a town called Malcontent. Ironic since it took us about six hours to find the place, and believe me we were mal content by the end of the afternoon. We asked how to get to 'Sabbioni' which led us to an area called 'Punta Sabbioni', which is about 80km from where we wanted to be. 80km for the record, is not close.

We finally made it and spent the next day doing everything our hearts desired in Venice. We enjoyed visiting San Marco's, shopped a ton, climbed the bell tower, & visited the Peggy Guggenhiem. For me, the Guggenhiem was the high point of Venice, loved it!!!!!

Food was lovely, but expensive. We are now in Florence, where the food is decidely more affordable, along with everything else. Our pensione is on the edge of the old city, so almost every place we'd like to visit is in 20 minutes walking distance or less. We are happy to be here and will send more updates since internet in Florence is affordable. Cheers!

-em

Bonjooooouuuuuuurno!

Ciao everyone! This is Nicole E. Neuman, reporting from the heart of Florence, Italy. We just arrived today with no 'lost' issues! If you haven't heard already, our merry band of travelers got horribly lost when we arrived in Venice. I'm talking about traveling across the canals, an hour out of our way, to the Lido (aka far away part of Venice) kind of lost. With packs. And heat. Oye. Heather fell in love with Venice instantly (during the time we were lost) while I reserved the right to laugh about the whole incident at a later time.

Italy seems much more open to tourists and patient with people that don't speak Italian. I am enjoying the food situation more than Spain. (Less ham and bread, more pasta and tomatoes) I've got a feeling Florence will be like Seville, and be a great experience!

Ciao!!

Ciao from Padova

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to send a brief post from Italia. We arrived today in one of the smoothest travel days, minus the lack of buses. Apparently public transit goes on strike all the time in Italy and today was one of those days. Thankfully tax drivers aren't so into the striking thing, so we arrived safely in Padova.

I am happy to report that the Spanish airport security is working. I forgot to pack both my travel knife & bottle opener today, thus had them both confiscated. Ooops. I am sorry for the loss and relieved that the security was so nice about it. I wonder if they resell them? So alas, I have no knife or bottle opener. I have to say the knife has been extrememly helpful, but I am so saddened over the loss of the bottle opener after discovering the wonderful world of Tintos (fabulous red wine i came accross in Spain).

Tomorrow we head to Venice where we will spend two nights before moving onto Florence. While in Venice we will probably not be using computers since the price is about triple, but I hope you will all look up the new postings we will have in Florence. I think we will be posting on the 18th of July.

Ciao. Emilie.

Hola from Sevilla

Hello Everyone,

Today I am writing us from Sevilla, a gem in southern Spain. It is a smaller city full of super friendly people (which hasn´t been very common in other parts of Spain). We are staying at a hotel for about $30 US a night and it is awesome. We have our own bathroom and a bed for each person.

We already feel more at home in Sevilla than we have in other parts of Spain. Mostly I think it has to do with the warmth of all the people, but also Sevilla is a bit cleaner than most places we´ve visited. We are planning on visiting the Plaza Toros Maestranza, yes where they hold bull fights and give tours during the day. There is no way any of us actually want to attend a bull fight, but we´re curious to see the arena and get information from a tour. We also hope to attend a Flamenco
show this evening if we can find cheap enough tickets. Our tour book recommends a show that will cost about $15 US, so we are there if we can get in tonight!

Tomorrow we will be flying to Italy!!! Our flight leaves in the morning for Milan, and we will take a train to Padua and spend the
night there before heading onto Veniza. Two nights in Venzia, four in Firenze, and two in Cinque Terre. At that point Heather will be leaving us and Nicole and I will be heading south. Cheers!

Ciao from Granada

Hello everyone,

Spain has been awesome. We are now in Granada on our way to Seville this afternnon. I'd love to give you all the juicy details, but there is a line in the hostel so I just wanted to send a breif update on a slight format change. From now on, both Nicole and I will be posting updates on this journal. Maybe Heather if we can convince her too. So we'll sign it so you know who wrote the message. Cheers from Granada!

With harmony,
Emilie

España

Hello everyone,

It is soooo easy to use an ñ in this country! Currently I am writing from Madrid, we have a four-hour lay over and decided to use an internet cafe. We´d like to explore the city but are weary about missing our train.

Barcelona was a fun town. Before Nicole came, Heather and I visited the Picasso Museum which was fun but had a hoorible layout, and we also shopped quite a bit in the barrios.

Once Nicole arrived, we started doing the bigger things...we did our own Gaudi walking tour in which we saw 3 buildings (including the construction of a Cathedral that has been in production since 1882 and is supposed to be finished either in 2080 or 2035ish). It was amazing, I hope it is finished in my life time so I can see it completed some day. I am now a true Gaudi fan! We also visited the Gaudi Park (Parc Guell) which was gorgous, although we visited while it was raining and
got soaking wet. We also spent quite a bit of time on Las Ramblas, it is a street brimming with life that has some shops but is mostly full of performers and restaurantes. We really enjoyed our time in Barcelona.

As mentioned before, we are only stopping in Madrid for a layover. Since our experiences in large cites overall haven´t been as good as in the smaller places, we´ve decided to spent two nights in Granada and two nights in Sevilla. From there we will fly to Italy, spend 1 night in Padua, then head to vencie. And that´s about all I have to spit at you for now. Cheers!

PS Today I had a nun cut in front of me in the bathroom line; I find this very funny!

Barcelona

Nicole has made it to us safe! We are in Barcelona and it is a dangerous town. Not danergous, as in parents should worry, but dangerous because the shopping is so good! Heather and I visited the PIcasso Museum yesterday, which we enjoyed but was very poorly layed out, and ended up shopping all the way there and back. Nicole arrived in the evening and we got food and tried to catch her up on 3 weeks of European adventures. Poor Nicole! She is happy to be with us though and out of the London disaster. Take care, and some pictures are finally up!

Stuck in London

As I mentioned in the previous email, Nicole was supposed to meet up with us last night (July 7th). Poor Nicole had an ordeal with the London Underground and had to spend the night in London. She hopes to be catching a plane to Barcelona today, we shall see how it goes. Heather and I are both very excited about having her join us and can´t wait for her arrival. Cheers!

Andorra...yes it´s a country

Hello everyone!

Today Heather and I are spending time in the miniature country of Andorra. It is beautiful, in the picturesque Pyrnees mountains. It is among many things a shopping heaven with everything being about 25% less. We have yet to determine if this is true but for once I am excited to shop for girlie things to find out. Tonight we will be meeting our friend Nicole in Barcelona; we are both excited about having her come along.

We are now about to spend the next week or so in Spain, which we hear is going to be hot and difficult for a vegitarian to eat. I´ve been doing awesome so far, so we´ll see how things go. Heather and I keep hearing how awesome Granada Spain is, so we´re hoping to convince Nicole to spend some time there and possibly less in Madrid since we hear Madrid isn´t as fabulous as other places. We shall see.

The last couple of days have been quite an adventure or maybe a test of our traveling skills. We left Bayeux on Tuesday morning around 7am, spent the afternoon in the beautiful town of Mont St Michel. It was beautiful, but the tourists were driving me batty. That evening we booked a night train. We left Mont St MIchel around 4, arrived in Paris about 8pm, then spent the night on a train arriving around 7am at a small station that was close to where we need to be to catch our bus to Andorra, but not close enough to walk. So we waited for a train that never arrived, then hopped a 3 hour train to Barcelona and then caught a 4 hour bus back, but this one arrived in Andorra about 8pm. Yes, we did not smell good but we made it finally.

I am sorry to say, yet again, my picture uploading efforts have been thwarted, this darned computer doesn´t allow for uploading or attachments via email either, I hope to in Barcelona. Sorry everyone (all the feedback we are getting is for more pictures and we´ve got some awesome ones)!!!

a fourth to remember

So.....plans changed again. We did not go back to Ireland, instead we decided to visit Normandy beach and settled in a little town called Bayeux. This town was like a breath of fresh air compared to all the cities we've visited. Best of all, it had a Medival Festival going our first two days (essientially a Renaissance Faire). We saw a colorful parade, Heather ate lots of sausage, and there was a theatrical type production in the town park. We were blown away.

Unfortunately, this made booking a trip to Normandy Beaches more difficult than we hoped, so we ended up staying 3 nights, instead of an ideal 2. We aren't feeling too much pain over this sacrifice though. ;) Tomorrow morning we will head to Mont St. Michel then onto Andorra on Wednesday...we think....unless we change our minds....again. That's all for now, happy 4th (and happy birthday to the punk).

Plans Change

Hello from France,

Heather and I spent 2 days in Paris and came to the conclusion you really need money in Paris. We did okay, visiting the Louve, several parks, the catacombs, and much more. We also met up with two guys from Chicago and spent an afternoon roaming around Paris with them, they were fun and good for warding off all the french men.

In our hostel, we spoke to a well traveled Canadian who spent serious time in Morocco and she told us how much she dislike/felt uncomfortable in Lisbon, so we have decided to go back to Ireland for a couple days (Cork), then travel to Andorra and meet Nicole in Barcelona on the 7th. Crazy huh?

Currently we are spending the night in Cherbourg and heading to Ireland tomorrow. The town is crawling with American sailors, so we are enjoying speaking English and the free drinks that the boys want to buy us. They are funny though, almost none of them have ever heard of hostels before. There are also lots of women, one very cute one who carries all her earrings in a bag and puts them in on land since her superiors do not like them.

Everyone in France has been so friendly and helpful. Heather has been doing awesome with picking up the language. She had learned a little about 12 years ago but was awesome with pronouciations. It is so cool to see her pick it up. My french is horrible because I want to pronounce everything in the Spanish way but I can read pretty well though.

Finally I am uploading images from my camera. There should be more to come soon. Miss you all, hope you are enjoying your summer.

French Men

Well, we've arrived in France and made two friends from Chicago on the ferry. They are both farm boys and are very entertaining. The ferry ride wasn't too bad despite being about 20 hours long. We also met a very nice girl from Brussels who offered me a spot on her cuch when I make it out that way.

Tomorrow we're going to meet at the tower and go to the Catacombs together. Heather and I are so relieved because we've been getting hit on right and left by French men. Not ones our age, but older men. It's kinda funny but kind not at the same time.

Today we saw Notre Dame, the Louve, and Luxemburg gardens. We very much enjoyed the day and can't wait to get some rest. And I was going to upload picture tonight but they want to charge me 6 euros ($9) so you'll have to wait. We're going to try to upload tomorrow morning.

MIss you all, cheers!

we'll be on land again soon

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update, Heather and I will be taking a ferry to France which basically means we won't be on the internet for 2 days at least. So check back on June 28/29 June. Just wanted to send a quick update. :)

Dublin

Heather and I arrived in Dublin safe and sound to find it a place neither of us liked. We spent a half a day in the city and enjoyed the bus tour and St.Patrick's Catedral. But we decided to spend our next day (today) in Dun Leary (phonetical spelling) instead of Dublin. There were certain areas of the city we felt okay, but it felt like every other block we a not okay area.

We're both disapointed in not loving this part of Ireland but are asking about reccommend places from people our hostel. Dun Leary (again phonetical since gaelic has strange spelling) is beautiful and a smaller town connected to South Dublin. Tomorrow we will be taking a ferry from Ireland to France and it's going to be a long haul. Take care and we'll update you all on our experiences as soon as we can.

Cheers!

Edinburgh!!

Well, we've completed a couple days in Edinburgh and we both love it! Edinburgh is a nice mix of the old and the new. We both have been enjoying the tours...we just got back from our last one, "The City of the Dead Tour" which was pretty cool. We were literally standing over mounds of corpses (yes, that's for you mum).

Our hostel has a free walking tour that they take you on if you want, so Heather and I were there promptly at 10 this morning. The tour ended up just being the tour guide (Marty) and ourselves. It took two hours and was filled with a lot of interesting history and I was able to get a lot of questions answered. If anyone reading this is considering a trip to Scotland, look up MacBackpackers. Although their tours are geared to backpackers they can arrange for people to stay in B&Bs and they last for days to even as crazy as a year long.

Cheers from Scotland, hope to hear news from back home from all of you...and pictures will be coming probably in a couple days when we move onto Dublin.

onto Scotland

On our last morning in London, Heather and I visited Westminster Abby in the morning. Unfortnately due to the limited time we were unable to take a tour. It was a beautiful sight, and Heather particularly like all the monuments to the famous authors.

We boarded our train at King's Cross Station around 1pm (no we couldn't find platform 9 and 3/4). The train ride was very nice. We both got some sleep and a chance to see the countryside. Trains here are a very smooth experience, unlike flying which can be very jolting physically. When we reached Edinburgh and had about a half mile hike to the hostel, which wasn't too bad, unfortunately it was almost all up hill. We both did well though.

The hostel (Castle Rock Castle) has a view of the castel of Edinburgh and is much nicer than our last place. It's complete purpose is to serve backpackers, thus is it cleaner and larger but full of life and personality. I already like Edinburgh better, it is smaller, so it feels more managable and much like Florence, is mostly composed of old buildings so it feels more full of history.

Almost as soon as we came in, Heather and I were invited out to a meal and tour (Mary King's Close) by a friendly hosteler. She actually is currently living in Issaqua (town where my Dad used to work in Washington) and was about our parents age. She was a lot of fun and we enjoyed her company. We had a very enjoyable evening but were definately ready to sleep.

Today we are going to visit the Castle and other sites. Stay tooned for more adventures.

Cheers!
Emilie

PS Currently we cannot upload pictures due to limited access on the computers, we'll send more updates and pictures as soon as we can.

The Globe

Hello everyone,

Sorry about the delay in a new posting. The last computer I was on was on the fritz and I was unable to post updates. Well, I last left off on a day in London and while London was full of adventures I think I will share our experience at Shakespear's Globe theater.

We purchased tickets for a 6:30pm showing where we'd be standing just like the poor people did in the old days. Heather and I thought it would be fun...and it was minus the standing thing. The production was "A Winter's Tale" and was fabulously done. The acting was supurb as was the blocking and the costumes. We both enjoyed the show. Our poor feet were screaming bloody murder though, after a full day of running around London they didn't appreciate standing for 3 hours. We enjoyed it though but if you ever see a show at th Globe, buy seat tickets!

Everyone in London is a foreginer

Yesterday, we spent the day roaming around London. After updating everyone on our arrival via the internet, we decided to walk up the street a ways. In looking for a tube station we ended up asking a person for directions and thus encountered another very friendly Londoner.

Ronny ended up being our second London tour guide; he took us all around town with his frien Ellena. Ellena lives outside of Florence and is from Romania. Ronny lives in London very near where we are staying in Dollis Hill and is also originally from Romania. They took us all over town, we saw tower bridge, Tower of London, Greenwich, PIccadilly Circus and so much more I cannot list it all. We had a very late night but a memorable day!

Arrived

We arrived and met as planned in the baggage claim. Heather's flight arrived about 1.5 hours behind schedule so I got nervous waiting for her; it was awesome when she came down the hall!

The place we are staying is cute, Ned Kelly's Hostel. The people were very warm in welcoming us. After settling in we decided to head down to Green Park and Buckingham Palace. In the park we were taken under wing by an eccentric older gentleman who gave us a tour of the city and some food. We crawled into bed a little after 9pm and slept until 9am this morning. Breakfast was on the house so we had toast and cereal and are about to head on the days adventures. Cheers!

Just call me Iron Ethel Kidd

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

25 days out

I finally have purchased everything needed for my trip (well accept
maps & a book) but those are things I need to confirm with my two
lovely traveling partners. A fantasic twist fate came on Friday which
sadly was my last day working with Cal Poly's Food & Science
department. The wonderful ladies in the office decided to give me a
going away gift, which happened to be coolest travel journal & address
book ever. I would have bought it on the spot if I had happened upon
it. This was one of the last few items that I couldn't seem to find
the right one. I've also booked my storage unit in Los Osos and it
seems that yes, in fact, I will be graduating and traveling. I can
hardly believe it's all going to happen in just a matter of weeks.
Wow. And on that note, I going to go back to the books and bust out
some more school work. Cheers.

35 days before departure

"It is impossible for any rational mind to follow the peculiar mental convolutions that pass for logic among the male sex." -Elizabeth Peters

I was listening to a novel by Elizabeth Peters and this quote was too enteraining to not post.

35 days till my flight leaves SF, holy cow! Since this is my first post I suppose I better put some background information in it. I will be shortly enbarking on a 10 week European Adventure. I will have two traveling companions: Heather from week 1-5 & Nicole from week 3-9.

We will start in the UK, then travel to France, Andorra, & Portugal. Nicole will meet us in Spain. From there we will explore Spain and Italy. Heather will leave us after Italy, then Nicole and I will head to Greece. After Greece, we will do Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Germany, and Belgium/Netherlands. It shall be quite the adventure.