When we were leaving our friends in the Netherlands a few weeks ago I said that when our trip was over we had to go back home into "real life." My friend said something profound that has stuck with me ever since...she said "This ís your real life." And its true, she was right. This is our real life. The entire last year of traveling and exploring the world has been our real life, and not something I should discount so quickly as júst some time off, or a long vacation. It has been the best year of our lives in so many ways -from meeting some of the greatest friends we will ever know, to first hand experiences of different cultures, this is a year to remember, forever. And never again will I qualify anything I say with that term "real life" again, because I want to learn to embrace every moment I have been given.
And becuase of this we have been eating mounds and mounds of delicious and unhealthy food and drinking more wine than ever before! Haha, this sounds funny, but it is actually very true. The saying "when in Rome" means (to my understandig at least) that when you are in Rome, you do as the Romans do. And we have been trying to follow that rule since we have been in Europe, so in each country, we will do as they do. We will eat what they eat, drink what they drink, and try to merge with the culture as closely as possible to get a feel for how others live.
This is of course more easily done when you live with and know the people of the country you are in. So since we have been staying in Germany our diets have consisted mostly of Croissants for breakfast (often times more than one), sandwiches for lunch, cake and tea in the afternoon, and somehow, every night for the last week, we have had Italian food for dinner. Our friends have treated us like we are royalty! Its been quite nice actually. They have fed us every meal, cooked us dinner, and even taken us out to some very nice Italian restraunts. Oh, and wine...every night...very good wine.
Our day trip to Duessledorf was very nice. Its a beautiful city, and even though it rained on and off the whole day, we still got to take a boat ride on the Rhine river and walk around town to see the old sights. The next day while we were in the Krefeld area our friends took the day off and drove us around to towns nearby. It was a lovely day and the land is so beautiful and the little towns are all so cute and old. And of course we had to stop and get our afternoon tea and cake in a little town called Hittengen. But the company was what was the best...it was such a wonderful time to be in their home with their family. So very good to see them, and we had a great time the last night looking at slides from the early 90's! I cant beleive it was 20 years ago that we were all a little "family."
We left our friends in Krefeld to go visit more friends in Bremen, which is about 3.5 hours North of Krefeld. Once again, its been an amazing time catching up with these friends too. They took us on a walking tour of downtown Bremen (which is actually a very beautiful city with lots of character) and then later on a bike ride around the outskirts of the city where there were beautifual thatch roofed houses and lots of animals on farmalnd. Oh, and of course tons of people out riding bikes, jogging, or even riding horses!!
They have fed us so very well here that this morning both Ryan and I feel like we never want to eat again. We are still full from yesterday! But seriously, how can you pass up what is put in front of you that makes you feel like a kid in a candy store?? For breakfast there are literally two baskets on the table full of pastries, croissants, and rolls that have been freshly baked, plates of various meats and cheeses, and dont forget the Nutella!! The table is also filled with liverwurst, butter, variuos jams and jellies. Oh and you have your espresso and cappachino as well...orange juice and boiled eggs. But as if that is not enough, you must go to the bakery later on to pick out which piece of cake you want to feast on a few hours later. You get to choose from 20 different varieties that all look like they have been prepared for the king. After eating this cake you take a nap (because thats about all you can even manage to do) and wake up and there are appetizers on the table! Procuitto and melon, delicious french cheese, and of course bread. Then one hour later at the Italian restraunt comes the bread and wine, followed by the main course, and then of course dessert! And its rude not to finish everything on your plate...so of course you must stuff it all down. And right when it feels like you cant fit anything else in your belly or it will literally start coming out of your mouth again, you are offeredmore. We learned that if you are the last table in the restraunt (apparently a German/Italian tradition) you get served a round of shcapps on the house!!!
All this was well worth the overindulgence. The company was wonderful, and did I mention that the food was good too? Yes, its been great. And Im sure the scale will agree when we get home. But you know what they say...............................When in Rome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
More Adventures
Hello friends and family! I am writing you from Germany, just outside Duessledorf. We are again with another good friend who was actually an exchange student of my familys' who came to study in the States when I was 9!!! I cant beleive its been that long, but we have gotten to see him over the years here and there, but its just very cool to be in his house with his family this time.
So unfortunately I will not be able to ever post any pictures from the first two weeks of our trip because our camera got stolen...it was in Ryans backpack which got stolen from the train the day after we left The Netherlands. Yes, this is quite a bummer, but that is probably the most valuable thing we lost, along with our travel book, which was just really inconveient to loose. Oh well. It happens! Luckily i have my i phone which i had been taking some pics with too, so we have a few on there. But the theif was sneaky because it was the morning and we had just boarded the train and put our bags on the overhead rack, like everyone else did since the train was quite busy. We were wide awake and talking, so we had no idea how it got taken. It was within 15 mins of being on the train, probably on the second stop it made someone just grabbed it from behind and ran off the train.
Actually, after leaving the Netherlands we felt in a slump for a few days there. Before we lost the bag we missed a train to our next really cool location. Because i am not used to telling time on the 24 hour clock, i caused us to miss our train to Coppenhagen. Not to worry thought, i now have my iphone set on a 24 hour clock so i am getting really really good at it (and i know i will NEVER hear the end of it). Anyhow, it was a night train, and a 12 hour ride. So we decided not to take the train there during the day the next day, but instead keep exploring on shorter train rides closer by. We visited Luxembourg, Heidelburg, Germany, and Trieburg, Germany (part of the black forest). Those days were tough because we felt alone and violated with the bag being taken, but we had fun nonetheless and looked very forward to being with our friends in Germany.
In Luxembourg we got to go shopping!! We actually tried to make it a fun time. We shopped on a street where there were pretty nice stores that Ryan would never buy clothes at, like H and M and some private designer stores. But we had heard that there was a mall close by, so we took the bus there to see if there were any cheaper shops, and there happened to be what is the equivaltent of a european walmart in that mall! So ryan got everything he needed there, even though we had bought some nice jeans at another store. we went back to return those jeans and they would only give us a store credit, so I got to do a little shopping of my own!! nothing fancy, just a new dress, tank top, and some underwear. but we had to spend that money there, so we had fun with it!
Luxembourg is such a small country no one ever thinks to visit there, but its actually a beautiful place. Its like a fairy tale land where you would imagine Cinderella running around with her one glass slipper. The town is built around a huge castle and giant walls that used to surround the old town, and there are newer buildings all inside these walls. and by newer i mean not 1500 years old, but maybe 800 years old. this is Europe! Very neat place to see.
Heidelburg is beautiful as well, with the main focal point being a giant castle and a nice river running through the town. Here we had some very traditional (and might i add delicious) German food...fried fish, roasted potatoes, brautworst, and saurkraut. Breakfasts in Europe have been amazing too...meat, cheese, and bread, and of course my favorite being yogurt and granola! After heidelburg we traveled south to the black forest which was beautiful too and we went to a spot where we saw Germanys largest waterfall and hiked for a few hours before we got a little quaint hotel and ate a quiet dinner.
Today we will take the train into the town of Duesseldorf to explore and take a boat ride along the Rhine river to see the nearby sights and castles. I should run, but I will try to write more stories very soon. Miss and love everyone!!
So unfortunately I will not be able to ever post any pictures from the first two weeks of our trip because our camera got stolen...it was in Ryans backpack which got stolen from the train the day after we left The Netherlands. Yes, this is quite a bummer, but that is probably the most valuable thing we lost, along with our travel book, which was just really inconveient to loose. Oh well. It happens! Luckily i have my i phone which i had been taking some pics with too, so we have a few on there. But the theif was sneaky because it was the morning and we had just boarded the train and put our bags on the overhead rack, like everyone else did since the train was quite busy. We were wide awake and talking, so we had no idea how it got taken. It was within 15 mins of being on the train, probably on the second stop it made someone just grabbed it from behind and ran off the train.
Actually, after leaving the Netherlands we felt in a slump for a few days there. Before we lost the bag we missed a train to our next really cool location. Because i am not used to telling time on the 24 hour clock, i caused us to miss our train to Coppenhagen. Not to worry thought, i now have my iphone set on a 24 hour clock so i am getting really really good at it (and i know i will NEVER hear the end of it). Anyhow, it was a night train, and a 12 hour ride. So we decided not to take the train there during the day the next day, but instead keep exploring on shorter train rides closer by. We visited Luxembourg, Heidelburg, Germany, and Trieburg, Germany (part of the black forest). Those days were tough because we felt alone and violated with the bag being taken, but we had fun nonetheless and looked very forward to being with our friends in Germany.
In Luxembourg we got to go shopping!! We actually tried to make it a fun time. We shopped on a street where there were pretty nice stores that Ryan would never buy clothes at, like H and M and some private designer stores. But we had heard that there was a mall close by, so we took the bus there to see if there were any cheaper shops, and there happened to be what is the equivaltent of a european walmart in that mall! So ryan got everything he needed there, even though we had bought some nice jeans at another store. we went back to return those jeans and they would only give us a store credit, so I got to do a little shopping of my own!! nothing fancy, just a new dress, tank top, and some underwear. but we had to spend that money there, so we had fun with it!
Luxembourg is such a small country no one ever thinks to visit there, but its actually a beautiful place. Its like a fairy tale land where you would imagine Cinderella running around with her one glass slipper. The town is built around a huge castle and giant walls that used to surround the old town, and there are newer buildings all inside these walls. and by newer i mean not 1500 years old, but maybe 800 years old. this is Europe! Very neat place to see.
Heidelburg is beautiful as well, with the main focal point being a giant castle and a nice river running through the town. Here we had some very traditional (and might i add delicious) German food...fried fish, roasted potatoes, brautworst, and saurkraut. Breakfasts in Europe have been amazing too...meat, cheese, and bread, and of course my favorite being yogurt and granola! After heidelburg we traveled south to the black forest which was beautiful too and we went to a spot where we saw Germanys largest waterfall and hiked for a few hours before we got a little quaint hotel and ate a quiet dinner.
Today we will take the train into the town of Duesseldorf to explore and take a boat ride along the Rhine river to see the nearby sights and castles. I should run, but I will try to write more stories very soon. Miss and love everyone!!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
To Italy and Beyond!
Hello friends and family! I am finally in a place where I can sit down and write a blog post without it costing me what Ryan and I would both pay to eat a meal. Argh....its expensive here! Oh, and sorry for not having pics...i did not bring the correct attatchments to load pictures. :(
So after leaving Zermott, Switzerland (home of the Matterhorn), we took the train to Florence, Italy where we stayed for two days. We got off the train and wandered the streets looking for the nearest hostel and found one very quickly! The old Italian couple that owned it didn't speak any english, but we got a private room for the cheapest rate yet (22 euro per person, per night)! We spent a few days wandering the streets of beautiful Florence and visiting the sights, and both decided that while we were in Italy we needed to eat gluten again.
Every other store on the street sold either pizza, pasta, sandwiches, or gelato. And let me tell you, everything you see in those food cases looks absolutely amazing. We both ate things niether of us had eaten in months, committing ourselves to the ill effects we knew it would have on us later. But I think it was worth it to experience the culture and amazing quality of the food. Let me tell you, they've got gluten down! Man, was that pizza good!!
We both fell in love with the culture there, and vibe people give off. Its a very free and open culture where enjoying yourself is priority. Be it eating delicious food, sitting at a cafe for hours with a friend, or basking in the warm sun anywhere you want, Italians are good at enjoying life. And as a whole, Italians in general are an extremely attrative group of people, both the men and the women. And its lovely just to sit and listen to them speak. The language truly is beautiful to an intoxicating level.
With Ryan's gluten induced head congestion and my gluten induced intestinal discomfort and weariness, we headed to Rome with a stop in Pisa first. We decided it would be fun to at least see the leaning tower while we were there, and I wanted a picture doing a handstand in front of it! We did just that, saw the tower, took our pics, and were on our way. There isn't a whole lot else to see there, but we did get to see some beautiful Italian coastline since the train took its time and went the long way down along the coast.
Rome was pretty freakin cool. We spent 3 days there, and while there was a lot more we could have seen and done, we both felt satisfied with all that we saw. We visited the Colloseum, Forum, Palatine, Pantheon, Vatican, Spanish Steps, various fountains, and a boat load of cathedrals... along with more pizza and gelato vendors all along the way! Its so awesome to see things that are 2,000 years old! I love learning about the history. Everything in Rome is so big and grand, and quite beautiful as well. I was suprised to see that there was a lot of grafitti throughout the city, and it wasn't the cleanest place either. Everyone in Italy smokes...I felt like I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day while we were there...and there are cigarette butts all over the streets. While i don't love grafitti and smoking, it was strangely attractive because I think it fits perfectly into Italian culture and it was all part of the bigger experience!
We had another very interesting hostel-mate while we were in Rome. He was definitely a highlight to say the least. He was a self-proclamied "loner" from Belgium who studies Irish church history. When we walked into the hostel room, he was very kind, but immediately told us that he gets hot when he's around beautiful women, and he was getting very warm. He was very taken abback by Ryan's tattos...almost scared of him. He asked a lot of questions to make sure Ryan was a safe guy. Over the next 2 days he kept us laughing under our breath, as he would walk around the room in his collared shirt and tidy widys, telling us story after story. He made Ryan stop using his deodorant because it was the wrong color, and gave him his own. He asked Ryan to help him put on a neclace and to put a bandaid on a blister on his heel that he coudn't reach (all in his underwear, mind you). And after sharing a bottle of wine with him one night we learned even more interesting things about him and all the self-taught energy work he does, and even showed us. There is more....but its much funnier to tell in person as we can demonstrate his accent and demeanor.
From Rome we took the train to Venice and spent a day getting lost in the town as we explored its sights. Ryan loved it there...it was old and falling apart, buildings sinking into the water and kind of a creepy, dark, chalostrophobic vibe (sp?). That is why i didn't love it, but it was really cool to see it. I knew there were canals in Venice, but I didn't realize that there are no cars, and that everything actually takes place in the canals like the trash service, taxis, store deliveries, etc are all done on boats. Everyone else is on foot! It was really neat to watch that from the 2nd floor of our SWEET hotel room! We found it when we were lost at night when we got there and it was just the same price as all the hostels we have been staying in. It even had a bedee! (again, sp??)
We both decided that we had to quit eating gluten since we were feeling worse and worse, so leaving Italy altogether made that a tiny bit easier :) From Venice we took a long train to Paris where we spent the day, and eneded up walking 10 miles around the city! We only had one day there so we wanted to make sure we saw as much as we could. What a beautiful place! The architecture is beautiful, along with the Sienne River and all the beautiful bridges. We visited the Louvre, climbed the Eiffel Tower, and saw the famous Paris Catacombs where millions of bones from sick people are stacked into artfully designed piles six stories below the street level. Creepy!!
We headed from Paris to Amsterdam to visit a friend of mine...an exchange student my family hosted while I was growing up. He is the first of 3 I will get to see while I'm here. Its so amazing to come to HIS home and stay with his family...quite a role reversal. And its so nice to have some home cooked meals (gluten free!!) and get to see his children. He has been quite the tour guide taking us to some beautiful Dutch sites and cities-our favorite place being the site of old Dutch windmills which are still in use! We got to go in and watch the sawmill-windmill and it was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen (Ryan was in awe). They also had oil-windmills, and cheese-windmills (of which we got to sample some amazing Dutch cheese). The culture here is great, as everyone rides bikes everywhere, and its a beautiful place too with canals and boats everywhere, but there are streets with cars and trains too, unlike Venice.
Tonight we are taking the night train up to Coopenhagen where we will stay for a few days, then over to Sweden. After that we will head back down to Germany to visit some more exchange student friends! This trip has been great so far, but I do miss everyone back at home. Look foward to seeing you guys and I will try to post again soon!
So after leaving Zermott, Switzerland (home of the Matterhorn), we took the train to Florence, Italy where we stayed for two days. We got off the train and wandered the streets looking for the nearest hostel and found one very quickly! The old Italian couple that owned it didn't speak any english, but we got a private room for the cheapest rate yet (22 euro per person, per night)! We spent a few days wandering the streets of beautiful Florence and visiting the sights, and both decided that while we were in Italy we needed to eat gluten again.
Every other store on the street sold either pizza, pasta, sandwiches, or gelato. And let me tell you, everything you see in those food cases looks absolutely amazing. We both ate things niether of us had eaten in months, committing ourselves to the ill effects we knew it would have on us later. But I think it was worth it to experience the culture and amazing quality of the food. Let me tell you, they've got gluten down! Man, was that pizza good!!
We both fell in love with the culture there, and vibe people give off. Its a very free and open culture where enjoying yourself is priority. Be it eating delicious food, sitting at a cafe for hours with a friend, or basking in the warm sun anywhere you want, Italians are good at enjoying life. And as a whole, Italians in general are an extremely attrative group of people, both the men and the women. And its lovely just to sit and listen to them speak. The language truly is beautiful to an intoxicating level.
With Ryan's gluten induced head congestion and my gluten induced intestinal discomfort and weariness, we headed to Rome with a stop in Pisa first. We decided it would be fun to at least see the leaning tower while we were there, and I wanted a picture doing a handstand in front of it! We did just that, saw the tower, took our pics, and were on our way. There isn't a whole lot else to see there, but we did get to see some beautiful Italian coastline since the train took its time and went the long way down along the coast.
Rome was pretty freakin cool. We spent 3 days there, and while there was a lot more we could have seen and done, we both felt satisfied with all that we saw. We visited the Colloseum, Forum, Palatine, Pantheon, Vatican, Spanish Steps, various fountains, and a boat load of cathedrals... along with more pizza and gelato vendors all along the way! Its so awesome to see things that are 2,000 years old! I love learning about the history. Everything in Rome is so big and grand, and quite beautiful as well. I was suprised to see that there was a lot of grafitti throughout the city, and it wasn't the cleanest place either. Everyone in Italy smokes...I felt like I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day while we were there...and there are cigarette butts all over the streets. While i don't love grafitti and smoking, it was strangely attractive because I think it fits perfectly into Italian culture and it was all part of the bigger experience!
We had another very interesting hostel-mate while we were in Rome. He was definitely a highlight to say the least. He was a self-proclamied "loner" from Belgium who studies Irish church history. When we walked into the hostel room, he was very kind, but immediately told us that he gets hot when he's around beautiful women, and he was getting very warm. He was very taken abback by Ryan's tattos...almost scared of him. He asked a lot of questions to make sure Ryan was a safe guy. Over the next 2 days he kept us laughing under our breath, as he would walk around the room in his collared shirt and tidy widys, telling us story after story. He made Ryan stop using his deodorant because it was the wrong color, and gave him his own. He asked Ryan to help him put on a neclace and to put a bandaid on a blister on his heel that he coudn't reach (all in his underwear, mind you). And after sharing a bottle of wine with him one night we learned even more interesting things about him and all the self-taught energy work he does, and even showed us. There is more....but its much funnier to tell in person as we can demonstrate his accent and demeanor.
From Rome we took the train to Venice and spent a day getting lost in the town as we explored its sights. Ryan loved it there...it was old and falling apart, buildings sinking into the water and kind of a creepy, dark, chalostrophobic vibe (sp?). That is why i didn't love it, but it was really cool to see it. I knew there were canals in Venice, but I didn't realize that there are no cars, and that everything actually takes place in the canals like the trash service, taxis, store deliveries, etc are all done on boats. Everyone else is on foot! It was really neat to watch that from the 2nd floor of our SWEET hotel room! We found it when we were lost at night when we got there and it was just the same price as all the hostels we have been staying in. It even had a bedee! (again, sp??)
We both decided that we had to quit eating gluten since we were feeling worse and worse, so leaving Italy altogether made that a tiny bit easier :) From Venice we took a long train to Paris where we spent the day, and eneded up walking 10 miles around the city! We only had one day there so we wanted to make sure we saw as much as we could. What a beautiful place! The architecture is beautiful, along with the Sienne River and all the beautiful bridges. We visited the Louvre, climbed the Eiffel Tower, and saw the famous Paris Catacombs where millions of bones from sick people are stacked into artfully designed piles six stories below the street level. Creepy!!
We headed from Paris to Amsterdam to visit a friend of mine...an exchange student my family hosted while I was growing up. He is the first of 3 I will get to see while I'm here. Its so amazing to come to HIS home and stay with his family...quite a role reversal. And its so nice to have some home cooked meals (gluten free!!) and get to see his children. He has been quite the tour guide taking us to some beautiful Dutch sites and cities-our favorite place being the site of old Dutch windmills which are still in use! We got to go in and watch the sawmill-windmill and it was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen (Ryan was in awe). They also had oil-windmills, and cheese-windmills (of which we got to sample some amazing Dutch cheese). The culture here is great, as everyone rides bikes everywhere, and its a beautiful place too with canals and boats everywhere, but there are streets with cars and trains too, unlike Venice.
Tonight we are taking the night train up to Coopenhagen where we will stay for a few days, then over to Sweden. After that we will head back down to Germany to visit some more exchange student friends! This trip has been great so far, but I do miss everyone back at home. Look foward to seeing you guys and I will try to post again soon!
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