Italy ended with an awesome last day-- caprese salad for lunch with bruschetta, afternoon beer and ice cream on the beach, a huge farewell dinner with all of our Italian friends at a restaurant overlooking the water and an all night party on the water in Ancona. We made it home by 5:15am just in time to pack and freshen up before leaving Agnese's house at 6:40am for the train station. Our six days in Italy at Agnese's house were filled with excellent food, beautiful sights and hysterical friends. It was an awesome vacation within our vacation.
We arrived in Nice yesterday after a long morning and afternoon of train rides which took us from Ancona, Italy to Bolonga then to Milan and then to small coastal town in Italy that I forget the name of and finally then NICE, France!! On our way into town we did stop in Monte Carlo, Monaco for a little walk. While I say little walk we did decide to climb up the hill to see firsthand the true Monte Carlo Casino which was impressive. We were not able to go inside the interior though because we had our huge packs on, but the outside definitely did it justice. And I think I have decided for Christmas that I want a yacht...any in the Monte Carlo harbor will do...I am not super picky. HAHAHAHA!
We hoped back on the train for the short twenty minute ride to Nice from Monte Carlo. We checked in at our hostel and dropped our packs so that we could immediately start exploring. We walked all along the beach strand to Old Town Nice which is where we enjoyed dinner and then we walked back through the popping and busy city calling it an early night as we were in bed by 10pm.
Today we lounged around the beach and climbed an old fortress for a view above the city. I attempted to leave Danielle alone at the beach for two hours and go see the modern art musuem but the only piece I got to view was the sculpture garden and the "Closed On Monday" sign. We buckled this evening for dinner and ordered American hamburgers--boy were they good. This evening (in literally thirty minutes) we will board our first overnight train and head to Paris! We are very excited for our one night and two full days that we will have in the city! Almost a week and we will both be home!! Lots of love!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Banana Hammock
We have been in Italy now for four days. It has been so nice to be able to relax and kind of actually have a little vacation at the beach. We arrived to Bologna via train and met Agnese right outside of the train station. Agnese did a foreign exchange program in high school and lived for a while with Danielle and her family in Boston. The two families have remained extremely close family friends since then with multiple visits! I had never met Agnese but heard so much about her so it has been really neat to now call her my friend as well! Her family, as well, is just as charming as Danielle had described to me.
Agnese is currently studying in Bolonga so we spent an evening there with some of her close college friends. The next morning we drove two hours (so weird to be in a car again) to her hometown--Falconara. As I said earlier it is on the coast and a major port city for traveling to Greece and Croatia. As soon as we arrived we had a refreshing tomato and fresh mozzarella salad which was excellent. For dinner on our first night Agneses mother made wonderful pasta with bacon and a white cream sauce---true Italian delights! On our first day we went to the beach after lunch and then also we went to the beach in the evening to relax and meet some of Agneses friends from her hometown.
Yesterday Agnese had to drive back to Bologna to take care of her apartment for next year but Danielle and I went to the beach for a good portion of the day and relaxed. Last night we drove across town to a littler pastry shop that opens every evening at midnight to serve freshly made, warm pastries. They stay open throughout the evening making pastries for the next day--but if you come at night then you get to enjoy them straight from the ovens and they literally melt in your mouths. It was an experience I will never forget---literally I found my Italian Kogi Truck--haha! Oh and let me not forget to mention that I will be packing Agnese back in my bags because she makes the most wonderful and tasty iced coffee---I am going to sell her to Starbucks! Hahaha!
We will be in Falconara until Sunday then off to France, Spain, Ireland and.....Los Angeles. This trip has been more than I ever imagined it would be. As much as I have learned about each of the cities we have visited I have learned so much more about myself. I am excited to return home and see old faces that I miss dearly and I know this past month of traveling will never leave my memory. I am already nagging Danielle about where we are going next summer! Hahaha.
Agnese is currently studying in Bolonga so we spent an evening there with some of her close college friends. The next morning we drove two hours (so weird to be in a car again) to her hometown--Falconara. As I said earlier it is on the coast and a major port city for traveling to Greece and Croatia. As soon as we arrived we had a refreshing tomato and fresh mozzarella salad which was excellent. For dinner on our first night Agneses mother made wonderful pasta with bacon and a white cream sauce---true Italian delights! On our first day we went to the beach after lunch and then also we went to the beach in the evening to relax and meet some of Agneses friends from her hometown.
Yesterday Agnese had to drive back to Bologna to take care of her apartment for next year but Danielle and I went to the beach for a good portion of the day and relaxed. Last night we drove across town to a littler pastry shop that opens every evening at midnight to serve freshly made, warm pastries. They stay open throughout the evening making pastries for the next day--but if you come at night then you get to enjoy them straight from the ovens and they literally melt in your mouths. It was an experience I will never forget---literally I found my Italian Kogi Truck--haha! Oh and let me not forget to mention that I will be packing Agnese back in my bags because she makes the most wonderful and tasty iced coffee---I am going to sell her to Starbucks! Hahaha!
We will be in Falconara until Sunday then off to France, Spain, Ireland and.....Los Angeles. This trip has been more than I ever imagined it would be. As much as I have learned about each of the cities we have visited I have learned so much more about myself. I am excited to return home and see old faces that I miss dearly and I know this past month of traveling will never leave my memory. I am already nagging Danielle about where we are going next summer! Hahaha.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Munich still has my heart but Interlochen got my money...
For as much as I love to talk this blogging thing does'nt come natural to me! I am writing now from Falconara, Italy which is on the coast right next to Ancona. We arrived to Bologna, Italy two days ago from Interlochen, Switzerland. And....drumroll....we are now more than halfway through our trip! Time has flown yet we feel like we have seen so much.
As usual let me backtrack a little bit to Switzerland. We left Munich, Germany at 6am arrived to Lucerne, Switzerland around noon. I had been to Lucerne in high school with my parents on a spring break trip and with it being such a small city Danielle and I had planned to only spend a few hours there and then reboard the train to head to Interlochen where we were going to be spending three evenings. Lucerne was just as I remembered...beautiful. Having been to Lucerne I kind of had an idea in my mind of what Interlochen would be like. Let's just say it was 100 time more beautiful and AMAZING than Lucerne. (Mom & Dad- you did not see Switzerland..you saw Lucerne and you have to come back to see INTERLOCHEN then you have seen Switzerlands true beauty---it was completely unreal..I will offer my services as a private tour guide)
Right after checking to our hostel (Balmers Heritage--a very famous backpackers stop) Danielle and I headed straight for the "adventure desk". We booked ourselves for a 6hr. canyoning trip for 8am in the morning and then Danielle (with my encouragement) booked herself for a 450 ft. bungee jump out of a gondola over a lake. We split a pizza that evening for dinner and began to let our imaginations run wild as to what our next day would lead to....
Canyoning...unbelievable...we spent the morning in a gorgeous canyon jumping and sliding into freezing glacier runoff water. It was like nothing I have ever done. We drove an hour from Interlochen to this empty field where they instructed us to put on our wetsuits, life jackets, harnesses and helmets and then they drove us about 5 more minutes up the road and dropped us off a steep road with a huge drop off into the canyon 165 ft. below. Yupp---that is right--we repelled right over the edge of the road into the canyon. I even got to go first since I was the loud crazy one (go figure). From there we went all the way down the canyon---sometimes jumping into blue pools below and other times they literally grapped her lifejacket and swung you down the rockwalls into the canyon. Definitely something I will do again when I have the opportunity! It got me so pumped up that when we got back I even signed up for the whitewater rafting trip the next day at 4pm.
After canyoning we rested and got ready for Danielles big drop! We met the rest of the bungee jumping group and loaded up in the van to ride into the mountains to catch the gondola. As we drove the skies continued to get darker and darker...I am not very good at suspense so let me just say a terrible thunder and lightening storm hit us and Danielle was unable to bungee jump which definitely put a blunder in our evening. That jump is very unique and is only offered on certain evenings so unfortunately Danielle was unable to rebook the excursion. Danielle hit the bed early and I mingled around the hostel playing cards and meeting some really neat fellow travelers.
The next morning we had agreed to take hike up one of the peaks for an aerial view of the mountain range. Right after breakfast we stopped at the adventure desk for a reccomendation of the best overall hike (since we only had time to do one hike in the morning). The gal told us about a neat hike that takes you up to the top of a peak and then you can walk along the top for an awesome view and then bring a gondola down. She mentioned that it was steep but the best halfday hike in the entire area. Thirty minutes later we were on the bus heading to catch the train to take us to the start of the hike.
Okay...lets just say the lady at the adventure desk needs to check her definition of steep. This was not steep---this was directly up hill...UP MOUNTAIN. It was intense. I literally followed Danielle the entire way up the mountain huffing and puffing repeatedly staying that I might not make it to the top. 2 hours later and literally soaked in sweat we shared one of the more beautiful views of the Swiss Alps together. Yes...yes...the hike was 100% percent worth was was waiting for us at the top. Our pictures are unbelievable beautiful yet they do not even begin to do it justice.
With all of this typing you can definitely see how unbelievable Interlochen was---I am trying to keep things short (trust me I am leaving out so many details....those will be shared over dinners when I get home!). Anywho we made it back from the hike literally 45 minutes before I needed to meet for whitewater rafting (which trust me I was even more excited for it after the hot hike...falling out of the raft sounded inticing!). I was busy changing when Danielle entered our room and told me, "I asked at the front desk and WE just need our swimsuits and towels for rafting"...I was so excited that she had decided to join the trip! She said the entire hike she thought about how unbelievable the water would feel. Hahaha
So we headed together to meet our group for rafting. As soon as we got in the van to head to the loading site we immediately wanted a refund...we were stuck in a huge van with about 20 high school students who seemed to believe that the person they were talking to was in a different country and they needed to shout. We were so relieved when all of the vans arrived at the river and the chaperone for the group asked if we could switch rafts because she needed to be in the same group with the students...oh yes, we literally ran to the neighboring raft which was a great group of fellow travelers our age. The entire time our guide was going through all of the training and instructions Danielle and I were focused but not too concerned because we had both been rafting before. We offered to go in the front and totally felt ready. Lets just say I had never rafter class 3 and 4 rapids before---it was crazy intense. We had rapids crashing over our entire raft at points. We were flipping back and forth between following all of the commands that changed every four seconds "paddle right", "stop", "hold on", "GET DOWN". It was a ton of action and a lot of smiles. When we were done with the rafting trip the river entered into the bluest lake I have ever seen with snow-capped mountains surrounding the entire area--it was breathtaking. They let us even jump off the raft into the warm lake and swim to the loading dock.
Writing from Italy I definitely miss Switzerland...I will try to blog again later to fill you in on Italy as it has been neat as well but for right now I must hop in the shower as we spent all day at the beach and I need to get ready for dinner! Lots of Love! More to come soon!
As usual let me backtrack a little bit to Switzerland. We left Munich, Germany at 6am arrived to Lucerne, Switzerland around noon. I had been to Lucerne in high school with my parents on a spring break trip and with it being such a small city Danielle and I had planned to only spend a few hours there and then reboard the train to head to Interlochen where we were going to be spending three evenings. Lucerne was just as I remembered...beautiful. Having been to Lucerne I kind of had an idea in my mind of what Interlochen would be like. Let's just say it was 100 time more beautiful and AMAZING than Lucerne. (Mom & Dad- you did not see Switzerland..you saw Lucerne and you have to come back to see INTERLOCHEN then you have seen Switzerlands true beauty---it was completely unreal..I will offer my services as a private tour guide)
Right after checking to our hostel (Balmers Heritage--a very famous backpackers stop) Danielle and I headed straight for the "adventure desk". We booked ourselves for a 6hr. canyoning trip for 8am in the morning and then Danielle (with my encouragement) booked herself for a 450 ft. bungee jump out of a gondola over a lake. We split a pizza that evening for dinner and began to let our imaginations run wild as to what our next day would lead to....
Canyoning...unbelievable...we spent the morning in a gorgeous canyon jumping and sliding into freezing glacier runoff water. It was like nothing I have ever done. We drove an hour from Interlochen to this empty field where they instructed us to put on our wetsuits, life jackets, harnesses and helmets and then they drove us about 5 more minutes up the road and dropped us off a steep road with a huge drop off into the canyon 165 ft. below. Yupp---that is right--we repelled right over the edge of the road into the canyon. I even got to go first since I was the loud crazy one (go figure). From there we went all the way down the canyon---sometimes jumping into blue pools below and other times they literally grapped her lifejacket and swung you down the rockwalls into the canyon. Definitely something I will do again when I have the opportunity! It got me so pumped up that when we got back I even signed up for the whitewater rafting trip the next day at 4pm.
After canyoning we rested and got ready for Danielles big drop! We met the rest of the bungee jumping group and loaded up in the van to ride into the mountains to catch the gondola. As we drove the skies continued to get darker and darker...I am not very good at suspense so let me just say a terrible thunder and lightening storm hit us and Danielle was unable to bungee jump which definitely put a blunder in our evening. That jump is very unique and is only offered on certain evenings so unfortunately Danielle was unable to rebook the excursion. Danielle hit the bed early and I mingled around the hostel playing cards and meeting some really neat fellow travelers.
The next morning we had agreed to take hike up one of the peaks for an aerial view of the mountain range. Right after breakfast we stopped at the adventure desk for a reccomendation of the best overall hike (since we only had time to do one hike in the morning). The gal told us about a neat hike that takes you up to the top of a peak and then you can walk along the top for an awesome view and then bring a gondola down. She mentioned that it was steep but the best halfday hike in the entire area. Thirty minutes later we were on the bus heading to catch the train to take us to the start of the hike.
Okay...lets just say the lady at the adventure desk needs to check her definition of steep. This was not steep---this was directly up hill...UP MOUNTAIN. It was intense. I literally followed Danielle the entire way up the mountain huffing and puffing repeatedly staying that I might not make it to the top. 2 hours later and literally soaked in sweat we shared one of the more beautiful views of the Swiss Alps together. Yes...yes...the hike was 100% percent worth was was waiting for us at the top. Our pictures are unbelievable beautiful yet they do not even begin to do it justice.
With all of this typing you can definitely see how unbelievable Interlochen was---I am trying to keep things short (trust me I am leaving out so many details....those will be shared over dinners when I get home!). Anywho we made it back from the hike literally 45 minutes before I needed to meet for whitewater rafting (which trust me I was even more excited for it after the hot hike...falling out of the raft sounded inticing!). I was busy changing when Danielle entered our room and told me, "I asked at the front desk and WE just need our swimsuits and towels for rafting"...I was so excited that she had decided to join the trip! She said the entire hike she thought about how unbelievable the water would feel. Hahaha
So we headed together to meet our group for rafting. As soon as we got in the van to head to the loading site we immediately wanted a refund...we were stuck in a huge van with about 20 high school students who seemed to believe that the person they were talking to was in a different country and they needed to shout. We were so relieved when all of the vans arrived at the river and the chaperone for the group asked if we could switch rafts because she needed to be in the same group with the students...oh yes, we literally ran to the neighboring raft which was a great group of fellow travelers our age. The entire time our guide was going through all of the training and instructions Danielle and I were focused but not too concerned because we had both been rafting before. We offered to go in the front and totally felt ready. Lets just say I had never rafter class 3 and 4 rapids before---it was crazy intense. We had rapids crashing over our entire raft at points. We were flipping back and forth between following all of the commands that changed every four seconds "paddle right", "stop", "hold on", "GET DOWN". It was a ton of action and a lot of smiles. When we were done with the rafting trip the river entered into the bluest lake I have ever seen with snow-capped mountains surrounding the entire area--it was breathtaking. They let us even jump off the raft into the warm lake and swim to the loading dock.
Writing from Italy I definitely miss Switzerland...I will try to blog again later to fill you in on Italy as it has been neat as well but for right now I must hop in the shower as we spent all day at the beach and I need to get ready for dinner! Lots of Love! More to come soon!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Underneath three wool blankets being serenaded...
Yes, yes, that title means that we made it to Munich. We are staying at the famous backpacker hotspot "The Tent". Basically it is as it's named-- a huge tent that holds 100 cots of crazy visitors. Due to it's huge increasing popularity it is actually two huge tents and a small village of personal tents as well. It is only open from summer to Oktoberfest. It comes complete with a campfire-- that would be the serenading that I am enjoying as I type. Needless to say it makes me miss my summers as a camp counselor. Oh wait and before I end my raving of our little home for two nights did I mention it is only ten euros a night? Okay so now you understand how we got here-- cheapest "hostel" in Munich.
Their was a lot of excitement as we got into town today as everyone was preparing for the huge Germany vs Spain game! We immediately dropped our packs and headed into town to find a fun spot to watch the game. We quickly realized that we needed to have literally camped out overnight at a restaurant or beergarden to have a spot as everything was reserved! We had never seen anything like it before. All of the restaurants literally pull their tables outsude to the street to make this huge dining area and with the tables and chairs come of course numerous huge flat screen tvs or screens with projectors. I wonder how many of the restaurants actually bought the tvs just for the games? And of course hundreds of people crowd behind those seated to catch a glimpse of the action as they eat food from various street vendors. Nelson Mandela might have brought South Africa together with the creation of the World Cup but let me tell you today the game is still bringing together communities! It has been such an opportunity to be over here during the games!
A server at a very nice little place finally allowed us to snuggle up with a group who wasn't taking up the entire table they had reserved--and they were a lot of fun so it was an awesome night. Except for the fact that yes Germany did lose. Tomorrow we will have a full day in the city of sightseeing! Then off to Switzerland--please pray for little to no rain as it is expected to rain all three days that we are there!! We are really hoping to go canyoning!! Lots of love!! Goodnight!!!
Their was a lot of excitement as we got into town today as everyone was preparing for the huge Germany vs Spain game! We immediately dropped our packs and headed into town to find a fun spot to watch the game. We quickly realized that we needed to have literally camped out overnight at a restaurant or beergarden to have a spot as everything was reserved! We had never seen anything like it before. All of the restaurants literally pull their tables outsude to the street to make this huge dining area and with the tables and chairs come of course numerous huge flat screen tvs or screens with projectors. I wonder how many of the restaurants actually bought the tvs just for the games? And of course hundreds of people crowd behind those seated to catch a glimpse of the action as they eat food from various street vendors. Nelson Mandela might have brought South Africa together with the creation of the World Cup but let me tell you today the game is still bringing together communities! It has been such an opportunity to be over here during the games!
A server at a very nice little place finally allowed us to snuggle up with a group who wasn't taking up the entire table they had reserved--and they were a lot of fun so it was an awesome night. Except for the fact that yes Germany did lose. Tomorrow we will have a full day in the city of sightseeing! Then off to Switzerland--please pray for little to no rain as it is expected to rain all three days that we are there!! We are really hoping to go canyoning!! Lots of love!! Goodnight!!!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Learning about German culture..
Writing from Prague, Czech Republic
Whoah! I haven't written in a while! Let me backtrack to Berlin...We arrived to Berlin Wednesday early evening to the steps of Staci's coffee shop in eastern Berlin. Danielle and I survived a long day of trains traveling from Amsterdam to Berlin and then on subways around the city following the directions Staci sent us to meet her at work. It was a surreal experience to see Staci again as we had not seen each other in more than 3 years! Thursday and Friday we spent sightseeing around Berlin. We climbed the Reichstag Dome (the house of Berlin's parliament) for a gorgeous panorama of the city. We walked the narrow aisles of the Holocaust Memorial and even managed to lose each other amidst the massive columns and numerous aisles...Which resulted in Danielle and I asking almost every security gueard if they had seen our "other half". We finally located one another and after reflecting upon the nervousness and uncertainity of losing one another within the haunting memorial I couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like during the years of the Holocaust in Germany when families were ripped apart and seperated between varying concentration camps. It was a very intense feeling. On Saturday we took a 3 hr. train ride to Waremunde, Germany---which is North of Berlin on the Baltic Sea. It was an absolute blast--we spent the day at the sea just relaxing and tanning!
Now we are in Prague and it has been an absolute beauty--as so many people told us! Tomorrow we leave for Munich--we are staying at "The Tent" which is a huge tent that they put up every summer in Munich for backpackers--it sleep 100 people and is located right on the river--it should be an interesting experience!
Until I write again...love, Kim!
Whoah! I haven't written in a while! Let me backtrack to Berlin...We arrived to Berlin Wednesday early evening to the steps of Staci's coffee shop in eastern Berlin. Danielle and I survived a long day of trains traveling from Amsterdam to Berlin and then on subways around the city following the directions Staci sent us to meet her at work. It was a surreal experience to see Staci again as we had not seen each other in more than 3 years! Thursday and Friday we spent sightseeing around Berlin. We climbed the Reichstag Dome (the house of Berlin's parliament) for a gorgeous panorama of the city. We walked the narrow aisles of the Holocaust Memorial and even managed to lose each other amidst the massive columns and numerous aisles...Which resulted in Danielle and I asking almost every security gueard if they had seen our "other half". We finally located one another and after reflecting upon the nervousness and uncertainity of losing one another within the haunting memorial I couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like during the years of the Holocaust in Germany when families were ripped apart and seperated between varying concentration camps. It was a very intense feeling. On Saturday we took a 3 hr. train ride to Waremunde, Germany---which is North of Berlin on the Baltic Sea. It was an absolute blast--we spent the day at the sea just relaxing and tanning!
Now we are in Prague and it has been an absolute beauty--as so many people told us! Tomorrow we leave for Munich--we are staying at "The Tent" which is a huge tent that they put up every summer in Munich for backpackers--it sleep 100 people and is located right on the river--it should be an interesting experience!
Until I write again...love, Kim!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
D...I am kind of itchy...
Writing from Amsterdam...let me back track you to yesterday for a glimpse of our last day in Brugge.
Danielle and I decided to rise early and rent bikes for the day so that we could take an hour bike ride to the beach. We were told the ride went along the canal and through a really cute small coastal town, Damme. On our wobbly, rusty little bicycles we biked for 2 hours through the countryside of Belgium playing "HEY COW" as we went. Cows, sheep, goats--they were our little travel companions for the ride---Indiana is just always so close by when I travel. Hahaha. None the less we made it to the beach and had an absolute blast! Plus the bike ride home we seemed to be able to follow the map a bit more and we made it home in an hour!
Before we were going to leave for Amsterdam we were determined to visit the best Belgium chocolate shops. I am not even into chocolate but everybody said it was a must. Let me just say I think it was my first time having REAL chocolate. Our hostel keeper reccomended the abosulte best place--they cater chocolate for most of the royalty in Europe. Neuhaus was the shop (they have a store in NY and you better bet I will be checking in LA when I get home) and it was completely unreal. I paid 1 euro (about 1.25 us dollars) for a piece of chocalte about the size of a quarter it was completely worth it. As we headed for the train station I also sprung for a Belgium waffle with strawberries on it---I was kind of skeptic of this Belgium dessert because i don't really enjoy waffles but it was AMAZING! Oh...the sweet bug definitely bit me in Belgium!
Then off on the train we headed to Amsterdam--a four hour journey (with some delays on the train). Through this journey I began to realize that more than a sweet bug bit me--that little bedmite from Brussels must have had a good meal before Danielle killed him because I have about 10 bites across my body. Danielle has been laughing as we walk Amsterdam and I itch non-stop. The funny thing is that when I was little and had my allergy tests the only thing I was allergic to was bedmites and I remember my mom had to buy special plastic covers for the mattresses to ensure that I didn't get any allergy attacks--well too bad Barbie didn't come on the trip because the plastic liners were not packed in my bag. I will be researching how to say "I need anti-itch cream" in Dutch this evening.
Amsterdam has been unreal though--a true culture shock coming from the quiet little sleeping town of Brugge. Everything they say about Amsterdam is true yet everything they say won't prepare you for seeing the real thing. We began our morning with a tour of the Anne Frank house. It was very shocking to tour the home and live within Anne's diary and her time in hiding from the Nazi's. The visit to this museum is something I will never forget--studying Anne in school didn't even begin to compare to the experience of learning firsthand her experiences. Then we walked across town to tour the Heineken brewing facility. They had an interactive 4-D movie which was really fun. I am signing off to let Danille use the little computer that our hostel allows us to borrow. This evening we are doing a pub/club tour for 20 euro which should provide us with a fun time. Tomorrow we are off to Berlin and will be staying with my college roommate from my freshman. I have not seen her in three years since she moved to Berlin! We are very excited to have our own personal tour guide for Berlin! Until I post again, lots of love!
Danielle and I decided to rise early and rent bikes for the day so that we could take an hour bike ride to the beach. We were told the ride went along the canal and through a really cute small coastal town, Damme. On our wobbly, rusty little bicycles we biked for 2 hours through the countryside of Belgium playing "HEY COW" as we went. Cows, sheep, goats--they were our little travel companions for the ride---Indiana is just always so close by when I travel. Hahaha. None the less we made it to the beach and had an absolute blast! Plus the bike ride home we seemed to be able to follow the map a bit more and we made it home in an hour!
Before we were going to leave for Amsterdam we were determined to visit the best Belgium chocolate shops. I am not even into chocolate but everybody said it was a must. Let me just say I think it was my first time having REAL chocolate. Our hostel keeper reccomended the abosulte best place--they cater chocolate for most of the royalty in Europe. Neuhaus was the shop (they have a store in NY and you better bet I will be checking in LA when I get home) and it was completely unreal. I paid 1 euro (about 1.25 us dollars) for a piece of chocalte about the size of a quarter it was completely worth it. As we headed for the train station I also sprung for a Belgium waffle with strawberries on it---I was kind of skeptic of this Belgium dessert because i don't really enjoy waffles but it was AMAZING! Oh...the sweet bug definitely bit me in Belgium!
Then off on the train we headed to Amsterdam--a four hour journey (with some delays on the train). Through this journey I began to realize that more than a sweet bug bit me--that little bedmite from Brussels must have had a good meal before Danielle killed him because I have about 10 bites across my body. Danielle has been laughing as we walk Amsterdam and I itch non-stop. The funny thing is that when I was little and had my allergy tests the only thing I was allergic to was bedmites and I remember my mom had to buy special plastic covers for the mattresses to ensure that I didn't get any allergy attacks--well too bad Barbie didn't come on the trip because the plastic liners were not packed in my bag. I will be researching how to say "I need anti-itch cream" in Dutch this evening.
Amsterdam has been unreal though--a true culture shock coming from the quiet little sleeping town of Brugge. Everything they say about Amsterdam is true yet everything they say won't prepare you for seeing the real thing. We began our morning with a tour of the Anne Frank house. It was very shocking to tour the home and live within Anne's diary and her time in hiding from the Nazi's. The visit to this museum is something I will never forget--studying Anne in school didn't even begin to compare to the experience of learning firsthand her experiences. Then we walked across town to tour the Heineken brewing facility. They had an interactive 4-D movie which was really fun. I am signing off to let Danille use the little computer that our hostel allows us to borrow. This evening we are doing a pub/club tour for 20 euro which should provide us with a fun time. Tomorrow we are off to Berlin and will be staying with my college roommate from my freshman. I have not seen her in three years since she moved to Berlin! We are very excited to have our own personal tour guide for Berlin! Until I post again, lots of love!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
En Brugge--missing the 21st century bus...
Now...Brussels wasn't the most AMAZING city but Brugge--oh yes, have no fear Belgium you have not let us down (and thank you to Emily Voge for the huge recommendation on not missing this AMAZING city). Brugge is really neat--most cities became very modern with the 21st century move but Brugge--oh no--it missed that bus--it is still stuck in the 19th century and it is so wonderful in that time. Old city walls and buildings with gorgeous green parks and veerrrryyyy reeelllaaaxxxeeeddd lifestyle (we feel like we are going in slow motion).
We have only been here for a few hours but have walked most of the city. Tomorrow we are renting bikes and taking an hour stroll to a very old oceanside town and spending some time at the beach (yes, i miss LA--haha).
We have only been here for a few hours but have walked most of the city. Tomorrow we are renting bikes and taking an hour stroll to a very old oceanside town and spending some time at the beach (yes, i miss LA--haha).
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