Vienna!

Well, we survived our first (and only) overnight train, and it actually wasn't bad at all...the trip would have been incomplete without at least one overnight ride. We were in a little couchette with four bunks, but they were pretty spacious and comfortable. It was definitely an easy way to take a 12-hour train ride!

We got to Vienna bright and early, and began by exploring the city. There is a main road on which most of the sightseeing lies, so we did the loop via a combination of walking and tram-riding. All the buildings are absolutely beautiful, and things like Parliment, City Hall, the Hofsburg Palace (which houses a ton of stuff, including the Vienna Boys Choir and the Lipizzaner Stallion training grounds) and the Museum Square were really impressive. Everything here is so big and grand, it makes our cities look so lame!

We took the metro out to the northern corner of the city to go see Vienna's famous ferris wheel, which is over 100 years old and still running. It now sits in the middle of probably the strangest amusement park we've ever seen; with all the bizarre rides and decorations, walking through the park was a sight in and of itself.

After finishing the loop, we cleaned up and headed off to the Vienna Opera! The opera in Vienna distributes tickets for the evening performance an hour before the show. They are standing-room seats, but actually a really good location in the theater, and for about $4, we couldn't pass up the opportunity! The show was a Wagner opera, and was really good except that the set and costumes were done in a really avant garde style (read: bizarre and distracting). However, the performance was very enjoyable, so we were glad to partake! We ended our Vienna evening with a traditional Viennese dinner at a popular local restaurant, complete with goulash and potato dumplings...all in all a great stop!

We just arrived in Prague, which so far has been very easy to get around and find sites (despite a language we can't understand with letters from an alphabet we don't know!) It just finished raining, so we're off to explore the sites!

See everyone soon!
Alison

Venica...and Vienna

After a very grueling train ride here (a 10 hour ride that was only supposed to take 4.5 hours) we finally made it to Venice last nite!! We dumped all of our stuff and ran to the city. We carefully explored the canals (it is SOOOOO easy to get lost here) and got our mandatory gelatto. We were only staying here for one nite, so today we went back into the city, and then to the island of Murano to look for their famous glass. I'm pretty glad we aren't staying here longer. Its a pretty city, but it is SO overrun with tourists, its driving me nuts.

Tonite we are for some reason voluntarily getting back onto a 12 hours train ride (our first, last and only overnight train!). We are going from Venice to Vienna and are staying there for one night before we go to Prague for 2 nites.

Hopefully all is well back in the states, all we hear about are floods and fires here, so stay high (and not too dry) over there!!

Only one week of travel left :'(
Love you guys!!!
Kristyn

When in Rome..

Hello from Roma!!

We have had a couple more awesome days in Florence! Yesterday we did a 23 kilometer bike tour of a vineyard, and we got to do wine tastings and olive oil tasting right where they bottle their products. The whole operation was run out of a castle built in 1199, and after a few grueling hours of biking we got a nice big lunch with wine, pasta, dessert, coffee, and more wine.....Then we had to get back on our bikes and try to get up a 900 meter hill. It is needless to say that not only did we not make it up the hill on our bikes, but that nobody in the tour group made it up. We all ended up walking the bikes (after about 50 meters, haha) and huffing and puffing up the giant hill. I guess we have been eating too much pizza (and pasta and gelatto, and foccaccia, and olives...). We didn't do a whole heck of a lot after that, and we spent a relaxing nite back out our "hostel."

We spent our last 2 nites in Florence camping in an olive grove near the Piazza Michelangelo, which is on a big hill that overlooks the whole city. We got to watch some amazing sunsets from up there, and camping wasn't even that bad!! We were in an aluminum frame tent (like a little hut) and it had a locking door and everything. It even had adorable little bunk beds inside, so it was barely even real camping. It was almost nicer than our last hostel, because as soon as the sun went down the tent was a lot cooler than a builing with no AC.

Today we tried to make it to Rome starting pretty early. We had heard there was going to be an Italian train strike, which apparently they do about once a month, leaving all the major intercity transportation in shambles for a while. We had the joy of trying to figure out how to get here with no regional trains running and no reservations for the EuroStar trains (the nice trains with big cushy seats and AC). We teamed up with about 6 other people from our campground that were also trying to get to Roma, and finally found a train that was actually leaving and going to Naples...We hopped on right as the doors closed and had to stand by the bathrooms on the train for the 2 hour ride!!

Oh well! It wasn't that bad considering it was one of the nicer trains (and it was airconditioned). And I don't know if you are sensing the common theme here, but I think I'm a pretty sad Floridian....Its so hot here!! We are taking about 3 cold showers a day. I don't even miss the AC that much, but I really, really, really, miss ice cubes. Why don't they drink cold beverages here?!?!? Its insane!!

Either way, we made it to Rome without too much trouble, and our hostel (although its a little scary here this time) is really close to the Colosseum. We went all through that today, and of course re-enacted several scenes from Gladiator (just for you Brittany!!). Tomorrow we have plans to wait in line for the Vatican, probably forever. We want to make sure to see everything here, but there is just so much to do! Tomorrow night we are also doing a pub crawl, so we may sleep in on Sunday instead of dealing with Rome on a Sunday :)

I can't believe I only have a little more than 2 weeks of all this left! I'm a serious travel addict now guys, and I think I'm going to be nomadic as much as possible after this. Seeing this many places is just so amazing.

Anyway, we still have a lot more gelatto to go find, so I must go explore more of Rome! Hope everyone is doing great - keep up the comments!

XOXO (on both cheeks),
Kristyn

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” -Jack Kerouac

Firenze!

So, after leaving Cinque Terre, we began our journey south further into Italy. We stopped off at Pisa and took the requisite tourist pictures, then continued into Florence. Everyone has spoken very highly of Florence, so we were pretty excited to get here.

Our first day here was pretty slow, just exploring the city and getting a feel for our area. Yesterday, we climbed to the top of the Duomo, which gave us a great view of the city. We also explored Florence's open-air market, grabbed some lunch, and cooled off with gelato in the city that made it famous. At the end of the day, we went up to the Piazza Michaelangelo to watch the sunset over the city. Today, we are getting ready to hit up the Galleria Accademia to see the world-famous David sculpture and explore that side of the city.

We have been hanging out with a group of kids from Colorado we met in Cinque Terre who are actually staying in our hostel here too. It's been fun to see the sites and hang out with a group for a change, and it allows everyone the flexibility to do what they want a little more.

The only downside about Florence so far is the unbearable heat and humidity. It's really draining to walk around in the heat, and almost nothing here is air-conditioned (ah, spoiled Floridians!) Needless to say, we've been consuming disturbing amounts of water and taking lots of cold showers. Rome is going to be just as bad.

Oh well, such is summer!
Alison

From the mountains to the sea...

Well, after four amazing days in Switzerland, including two very long hikes (yes, I said hikes) we pried ourselves off our alp, caught our cable car (and bus, and five trains) and headed to the Italian Rivera to arrive by sunset at Cinque Terre. We are staying at Riomaggore, the southernmost of the five villages, and one of the cutest of the five.

Today we walked the trail that goes between all five villages, (well, we made it to the fourth before we needed foccacia and a nap on a sunny rock) each of which are nestled in the cliffs overlooking a turquoise Mediterranean. The towns are comprised of a rainbow of stucco and flowers, and look so cute with their laundry lines and boat-filled harbors. Surrounding them are mountains filled with grapevines, lemons and olive trees, all of which overhang onto the rocky cliffs below.

Switzerland was amazing, but this area is absolutely beautiful in its own right (plus it was reassurring to see the ocean again!). This one will be even harder to leave behind!

Oh, how we love us some Italy!
Alison

The Alps are Amazing

Hey Everyone!!!
We just arrived in Gimmelwald - WOW. We had to take a train, then a bus, then a cable car to get here, but we are now on top of a mountain surrounded by waterfalls. After all of our extreme adventures we are happy to be here...no cars, very few people and even fewer tourists. Of course we are sitting here using the computer and run into a slew of Floridians from UF!!

We are planning on doing nothing but hiking, and picnicking and staring at the mountains for today and tomorrow, but then we have a loooong train ride from here to Italy, so we are resting up.

We should be able to load pictures soon - so keep on the lookout!

We love you guys, talk to you soon!!

Kristyn

Paris and Switzerland!!

Hey Everyone,

Our last few nites in Paris were really great! We ended up taking a 4 hour bike tour through the streets of Paris at nite which included a stop at the best ice cream store in towm and a river cruise on the Siene. On our very last day we took a train out to Vesaiiles and wandered through the chateau and the gardens. It was so pretty!

We are now in Switzerland and it is one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. We went paragliding today, which is where you basicaly run off a mountain with a parachute on your back and float down. We took off from over 2700 feet over the valley into the clouds and over the crystal clear alpine lakes!

Tomorrow we head off to Gimmelwald, where we plan to do a lot of nothing other than eat cheese and hike.

Hope everything is going well there at home, we love you guys!!

Kristyn

So Many Stairs

WOW

We have really packed a lot in here! Yesterday we climbed the Effiel Tower (we took the stairs, be proud of us!!) and then did a 4 hour bike tour of Paris at night which included a river cruise on the Siene. It was a really great day.

We also had our first chance to do laundry, which has really been one of the highlights of our trip, haha. We were getting kind of smelly!

We are leaving tommorow for Switzerland, and can't wait to get to a peaceful retreat....this vacation is exhausting ;D

Should we go skydiving or try something else crazy in the Alps?? Who knows!

Love you all, and keep the comments and e-mails coming, its nice to know you guys are reading this!!

Kristyn

Paris J'taime!!!

Well, we have made it to Paris, and we are in love!!!!!

After getting to the city and finding the hotel, we of course headed straight to the Eifel Tower and spent a good amount of time there taking pictures like all the other tourists; whatever, it's amazing!!! From there, we took a long trip to get acquainted with the city and check out the location of the major sites. Between yesterday and today, we have seen:

• The Eifel tower (and climbing it tomorrow)
• The Louvre and the Mona Lisa
• Notre Dame
• The Champs de Elysees and the Arc du Triumphe
• Place de La Concorde
• Basillica de Sacre Coure
• The Catacombs

On top of all that, we've done lots of exploring the city and eating crepes! The city is great, and it will be sad to leave in a few days!

Watch out for the bike!!

Hey guys!!

Another day in Amsterdam! We woke up yesterday and headed to Vondelpark and wandered for a while! It was so much better than Hyde Park in London (which was so boring, just grass and trees, no landscaping). Since we were close, we headed over to the Van Gogh museum for a little bit of culture in the city of sin ;). It was a cool collection, but a little smaller than we both expected. After that we headed to another open air market to forage for food. I found an amazing sticky pancake drenched in caramel! We are learning quickly in the city to watch out for the traffic of which there are 4 kinds: the above ground trams, the cars, the people, and the insane amount of bicycles!! They have their own lane to ride in and their own traffic lights!


After all that walking (which included a few wrong turns around the canals - you can't help but walk in circles!!) we went back to the hostel for some quiet time before the night began. We had a good rest - naps are a frequent occurrence on this trip - and then went back out for food and fun. There is this fast food company here called FEBO. You put you money onto a little slot on the wall and open a little hatch with a window and grab your food. Its like a giant hot food vending machine!!

Strengthened by rest and food, we explored a couple bars and coffeeshops, and Alison found her new favorite beer (Belgian Peach flavored lambic beer!). Its so much different in the city at night: its so peaceful and pituresque and quiet (away from the Red Light district). But the wierd thing is the long long days since it gets bright starting at about 4:30 am and the sun doesn't set until 11 or 11:30! It makes it feel like the days are so long no matter how late you slept in or how many naps break up the day.



Today, we slept in super late and went to the Anne Frank house. The line was so long we gave up pretty quickly and went for food (writing this all out makes me realize we eat a lot!!). We went to the train station to book our tickets to Paris, but as we got our number to stand in the hour long line the computers went down for some unknown reason. Since nothing was going right, we decided to go to a museum we know would be entertaining, and went to the Cannibis College. It was a free informational "museum" with a huge marijuana garden in the basement. The people here are very serious about their weed, and its kind of funny to hear them talk about it.

After that we went back to the Anne Frank house and just sucked it up and waitied in the line. We toured the whole thing and it was a pretty moving place. After all that seriousness we went for falafel! I finally got Alison to agree to try something new [;)] and she loved it.

Tommorow we're going to try to get up early and rent bikes (probably a bad idea with my coordination skills) and go to the Heineken brewery and do a canal tour and the comedy show that we've missed 3 nites in a row!

Hope you are all liking our updates - still can't find a place that will let us upload photos, but we sure have some good ones (just think Sex Museum).

I'm starting to miss home a little (and my own bed), one week down, 4 to go!

Kristyn

Oooh Amsterdam

Hey Familiy and other internet stalkers,

We have arrived in Amsterdam!! I can neither confirm nor deny what we have done so far (my grandma reads this!!) but I can tell you that we have seen some unique sights. The'"red light district"is really quite entertaining, and we spent all day yesterday wandering it with some fellow travelers we met in Belgium. We also went to the Sex Museum, and did a lot of walking through Vondelpark and strolling along the canals of the city.

Today we woke up late and went to the Van Gogh museum. We went to an open air market and searched for deals and cheap food, and will probably go to a comedy show later!

We'll try to keep updating regularly!

Love you all,
Kristyn

Bye Bye Belgium!

Well, after two short days, we've wrapped up the lovely city of Brussels. This place was the mecca of gastronomic experiences; they really do have three food groups of chocolate, waffles, and beer. There were chocolate shops on every block, and we even took a tour (and tasting!) of the chocolate museum. We had lots of Belgium waffles, which were sweet and hot, baked with a sugary crust, and topped with your choices of chocolate, strawberries, bananas, creme fraishe, or even ice cream...it doesn't get any better! Also, we hit up some home-brewed Belgian beers, particularly the fruity Kruk (sour cherry) or Framboise (rasberry). Finally, we partook in the national dinner of "Moules en frites", or Mussels and fries, a strange but delicious combination.

While we were here, we got to check out a number of touristy attractions. Some of the highlights included:

• The Grande Place - an open square surrounded by beautiful Gothic churches, buildings, and shops
• Mannike Pis - Brussel's famous peeing cherub statue. Tiny and cheesy, but hilarious (especially since locals like to dress it in costumes!)
• Le Atominum - A giant model of an iron atom built for the World's Fair. Yes, only we would find a giant atom.

And the best part of the trip - a real European soccer game!!! We scored tickets from a scalper last night for the Belgium vs Portugal game, part of the Euro Cup. Belgium lost 2-1, but since the Portugal fans were way more fun anyway, we just cheered for whatever crowd we were surrounded by!

Anyway, we're headed out pretty early on the train to Amsterdam with 2 of our roommates. We'll talk to you soon!

Alison

One country down....

Hey everyone!!

So sorry we couldn't post lately! When we tried to get onto the blog in London, the hostel computers wouldn't let us (apparently our site is in suspicion of having porn related content....HAHA!)

Anyway, we did so much in London. I'm just going to list all the awesomeness:

• Big Ben (at nite and during the day)
• Saw Parliament and Westminster Abbey
• Trafalgar Square
• Buckingham Palace (and the changing of the guard)
• Tower of London (and a tour by a real Beefeater - and PS that diamond they have in the collection of crown jewels is utterly amazing!!)
• Harrod's - totally awesome, that place puts Macy's to shame
• Hyde Park
• Tate Modern Museum
• AND, we did our very own pub crawl for my birthday. There was a train line (in the shape of a bottle) that runs in a circle through central London. At every stop you are supposed to get off, find the nearest pub, and have a pint (I tried having a different type of beer at each place too!!). It was really fun, and we did pretty well for a couple of girls!

We also ended up doing a whole lot wandering/meandering/aimless walking. My leg is holding up for the most part, but it slows me down a little by the end of the day.

Anyway - we also went out to a couple of awesome bars in some cool neighborhoods. The only real problem with the UK is that its so freaking expensive. Its about the same as trying to find food and drinks in New York City....but our money is worth half as much!! That put a serious drain on our fun at some points.

The hostel was really fun, and a pretty good deal overall (only 17 pounds per person per nite, or about 35 dollars). We were in a room with 4 bunk beds (8 people total). It was 5 girls and 2 guys for most of the time, and it seemed to work out pretty well. There was a bar on the first level, and it was open really late (most of the pubs shut down around 10 or 11, which is also when the tube staops running) so it was nice to be in a place that was busy until the wee hours. We met people from the US, Australia, Britain, Nigeria, South Africa....and on the last nite I stayed up and watched the sun rise (at 4am!!!! way too early) with a bunch of the kids by the rooftop hot tub! A lot of people we met are going on to Brussels and Amsterdam just like us, so we already have plans to meet up with friends.

Finally, we are safe and sound across the English Channel, and are now in Brussels. The train was so fun! We're going to be here tonite and tomorrow nite, and head to glorious Amsterdam on Sunday morning.

We miss you guys (but not too much yet ;)

Love you all lots!

Kristyn

PS - I'll keep trying to find a place that will let us put our photos up, we have some funny ones already