Thursday, July 5, 2012
About the photos...
Here's the deal... Pictures won't send from my email anymore. Sorry about that one! Don't you worry, though. First thing I do when I am back in ATX is upload them to Facebook. Sorry mom and other parents who are itching for the pics.
Valencia, Spain
We safely arrived here from Rome on Monday. Sunday night we all pulled all-nighters due to an early morning flight and the Spain vs. Italy game (Spain won... Which made for a relatively quiet night in Rome. No worries, we still found ourselves hanging outside the colosseum for a while, which was nuts. We just laid outside of the incredible building talking... and dozing off. It was surreal to think that we were sitting outside of the place where gladiators fought and the people we read about in the New Testament walked.)
When we got here on Monday, we had our first real "hiccup" of the trip, which is pretty good. Basically, we couldn't find our hostel and spent 2 hours calling around and looking things up online at an Internet cafe. We finally found it (thanks Newt!) and the place is great! It's a 7 bed apartment, complete with a kitchen, washer, living room, tv, bathroom, and dinner table - perfect for our last country together.
To keep with the trend, we took a long nap when we got to Valencia (after we found the hostel) then woke up to go see the city. We walked around for a while and went to city center then back to the apartment to play cards and hang out and go to bed.
The next morning, Gramps (Hutton) made us omelets (sooo yummy) and we headed out to the beach. The beach was (nearly) perfect - perfect weather with sand instead of gravel and the water wasn't too cold. Fabulous. I even went for a run along the beach... Seriously, could not be better. The only thing was, it was a nude beach. Totally fine- we just minded our own business and acted like it didn't phase us at all.
After, we went back to shower and found ourselves watching the Spanish Animal Planet channel for a while until Cloud (Kyle) convinced us that we should go walk around again. So, we did. We found a cool park place that had these art-climbing structures. After, we went back to the apartment again and played games/hung out and were off to bed.
Something about Valencia that you should know, the smells as you walk along the street are rarely pleasant. I often find myself holding my breath and hoping the by the time I breathe again the putrid odor would be gone. More often than not, it isn't but a minute before the smell returns.
Another thing, on a more positive note -Valencia has beautiful skies! Not only do they look like they were painted, but it feels like they are only 40 feet above us. It's incredible. God did a pretty good job... Between the beach and the skies, I'm fond of this place. It's definitely a different experience here from our other places. Valencia is a pretty random place to go... We aren't really sure of the history of this place... All we knew is there is a beach and Ryanair flies here. But since it's the end of the trip, we are all pretty much fine with just chillin here.
The NEXT day was FOURTH OF JULY! Yeah!..... Except we are in Spain and no one cares. The boys decided they wanted to see more of Valencia and the girls opted to just go to the markets, shop around a bit and then head out to the beach. We spent most of the day just lounging around and enjoying the sun and very salty water. When the guys came back they taught Smills and me how to body surf.. Ha. Then we all had a Fourth of July picnic on the beach. It was cute. After which we played with a volleyball, Barton injured nearly everyone, Sarah and I climbed a rope tower and the guys sang God Bless America to Heather. Nearly perfect. It's just sad that it was our last night together.
This morning was an early-ish morning (we actually slept last night, though.. So that's good). We finished packing up and said "bye" to Bart and Kyle (they are working at a summer camp in Austria for the rest of the summer) and are now on our way to the airport. The best part is... Sarah, Heather and I are wearing our matching shirts we bought yesterday.
Now we are in London to hang out for a couple of days before we all make our way home to the States.
It's been such a great trip! I'm going to miss traveling and traveling with these people quite a bit.
If I do anything cool in the next couple days I'll post it.. Hopefully I can get enough wifi to post some pictures. (I'm doing my best, mom.)
When we got here on Monday, we had our first real "hiccup" of the trip, which is pretty good. Basically, we couldn't find our hostel and spent 2 hours calling around and looking things up online at an Internet cafe. We finally found it (thanks Newt!) and the place is great! It's a 7 bed apartment, complete with a kitchen, washer, living room, tv, bathroom, and dinner table - perfect for our last country together.
To keep with the trend, we took a long nap when we got to Valencia (after we found the hostel) then woke up to go see the city. We walked around for a while and went to city center then back to the apartment to play cards and hang out and go to bed.
The next morning, Gramps (Hutton) made us omelets (sooo yummy) and we headed out to the beach. The beach was (nearly) perfect - perfect weather with sand instead of gravel and the water wasn't too cold. Fabulous. I even went for a run along the beach... Seriously, could not be better. The only thing was, it was a nude beach. Totally fine- we just minded our own business and acted like it didn't phase us at all.
After, we went back to shower and found ourselves watching the Spanish Animal Planet channel for a while until Cloud (Kyle) convinced us that we should go walk around again. So, we did. We found a cool park place that had these art-climbing structures. After, we went back to the apartment again and played games/hung out and were off to bed.
Something about Valencia that you should know, the smells as you walk along the street are rarely pleasant. I often find myself holding my breath and hoping the by the time I breathe again the putrid odor would be gone. More often than not, it isn't but a minute before the smell returns.
Another thing, on a more positive note -Valencia has beautiful skies! Not only do they look like they were painted, but it feels like they are only 40 feet above us. It's incredible. God did a pretty good job... Between the beach and the skies, I'm fond of this place. It's definitely a different experience here from our other places. Valencia is a pretty random place to go... We aren't really sure of the history of this place... All we knew is there is a beach and Ryanair flies here. But since it's the end of the trip, we are all pretty much fine with just chillin here.
The NEXT day was FOURTH OF JULY! Yeah!..... Except we are in Spain and no one cares. The boys decided they wanted to see more of Valencia and the girls opted to just go to the markets, shop around a bit and then head out to the beach. We spent most of the day just lounging around and enjoying the sun and very salty water. When the guys came back they taught Smills and me how to body surf.. Ha. Then we all had a Fourth of July picnic on the beach. It was cute. After which we played with a volleyball, Barton injured nearly everyone, Sarah and I climbed a rope tower and the guys sang God Bless America to Heather. Nearly perfect. It's just sad that it was our last night together.
This morning was an early-ish morning (we actually slept last night, though.. So that's good). We finished packing up and said "bye" to Bart and Kyle (they are working at a summer camp in Austria for the rest of the summer) and are now on our way to the airport. The best part is... Sarah, Heather and I are wearing our matching shirts we bought yesterday.
Now we are in London to hang out for a couple of days before we all make our way home to the States.
It's been such a great trip! I'm going to miss traveling and traveling with these people quite a bit.
If I do anything cool in the next couple days I'll post it.. Hopefully I can get enough wifi to post some pictures. (I'm doing my best, mom.)
Monday, July 2, 2012
Athens, Greece
Well, as I mentioned in the previous post - Greece is awesome.
Seriously, though, I love it here. Cheap GOOD food, incredible history and cool ruins, nice people and great weather. Not much could be better.
The first full day in Greece was ... Full. We woke up to go on a walking tour of the city (thankfully the boys woke up because our alarm didn't go off, so the ladies had a rushed morning). Our guide was actually born in Texas (San Antonio! Whatsup) and has been living in Greece for 3 years. She knew a lot and we were grateful for a real tour after our disappointing experience in Vienna. We walked all day (really...) and saw Athens in its entirety (pretty much). It was absolutely incredible! This city is full of amazing history and I was glad to learn more about it.
For lunch we had my favorite meal of the trip - gyros. Not only was it the best tasting but we also got it AND a water for only €2! I was so happy. I need Abilene to get a Greek restaurant.
After walking around all day and seeing the Agora (Greek and Roman), Acropolis, the Olympic stadium, the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Library, the changing of the guard, Temple of the Unknown Soldier and SO much more, we went to dinner at a restaurant next to our hostel for 10% off, again, and I got another gyro. Love those things.
We then made our way over to Mars Hill - where Paul spoke to the people and leaders of Athens (Acts 17). Interestingly enough, so did many other government and Greek Orthodox leaders. Apparently they were having some sort of ceremony/remembrance for St. Paul. We went on the opposite side and sat to look over the city as the sun set and read Acts 17 to each other. It was one of the coolest moments of our trip thus far. Just getting to read Scripture from where it actually happened was awesome and inspiring. We stayed up there a while and then walked around the city before heading back to the hostel.
We were sad not to go to the islands, but there is already just so much to see in Athens alone that we decided we will just have to save it for another trip. We're thinking a Mediterranean cruise, complete with a tour of the Holy Lands.
The next day we woke up to head out to the coast and spent the day on the beach. It was very relaxing and we even had a nice little picnic for lunch. Later that afternoon we headed back to clean up and head to dinner (traditional Greek food, of course - my new favorite type of food). After, we went to "Socrates NOW," a performance by the renown Yannis Simonides of the Apology of Socrates. It was a cool experience and inspiring. I would recommend looking him up. The actor is extremely talented and seems to be an incredible professor. After, we walked around Athens a bit more, went to the hostel and played go-fish until we went to bed.
The next morning, today, we went to the market, saw a few more spots in Athens, had our last gyro, and headed to the airport for Rome.
We just made it to Rome and we will be here the night before we leave for Spain in the morning. Just enough time to watch the Italy vs Spain game - the final game for the EuroCup. We are pretty excited to because we will be in the winning country either tonight or tomorrow, win-win for us!
Seriously, though, I love it here. Cheap GOOD food, incredible history and cool ruins, nice people and great weather. Not much could be better.
The first full day in Greece was ... Full. We woke up to go on a walking tour of the city (thankfully the boys woke up because our alarm didn't go off, so the ladies had a rushed morning). Our guide was actually born in Texas (San Antonio! Whatsup) and has been living in Greece for 3 years. She knew a lot and we were grateful for a real tour after our disappointing experience in Vienna. We walked all day (really...) and saw Athens in its entirety (pretty much). It was absolutely incredible! This city is full of amazing history and I was glad to learn more about it.
For lunch we had my favorite meal of the trip - gyros. Not only was it the best tasting but we also got it AND a water for only €2! I was so happy. I need Abilene to get a Greek restaurant.
After walking around all day and seeing the Agora (Greek and Roman), Acropolis, the Olympic stadium, the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Library, the changing of the guard, Temple of the Unknown Soldier and SO much more, we went to dinner at a restaurant next to our hostel for 10% off, again, and I got another gyro. Love those things.
We then made our way over to Mars Hill - where Paul spoke to the people and leaders of Athens (Acts 17). Interestingly enough, so did many other government and Greek Orthodox leaders. Apparently they were having some sort of ceremony/remembrance for St. Paul. We went on the opposite side and sat to look over the city as the sun set and read Acts 17 to each other. It was one of the coolest moments of our trip thus far. Just getting to read Scripture from where it actually happened was awesome and inspiring. We stayed up there a while and then walked around the city before heading back to the hostel.
We were sad not to go to the islands, but there is already just so much to see in Athens alone that we decided we will just have to save it for another trip. We're thinking a Mediterranean cruise, complete with a tour of the Holy Lands.
The next day we woke up to head out to the coast and spent the day on the beach. It was very relaxing and we even had a nice little picnic for lunch. Later that afternoon we headed back to clean up and head to dinner (traditional Greek food, of course - my new favorite type of food). After, we went to "Socrates NOW," a performance by the renown Yannis Simonides of the Apology of Socrates. It was a cool experience and inspiring. I would recommend looking him up. The actor is extremely talented and seems to be an incredible professor. After, we walked around Athens a bit more, went to the hostel and played go-fish until we went to bed.
The next morning, today, we went to the market, saw a few more spots in Athens, had our last gyro, and headed to the airport for Rome.
We just made it to Rome and we will be here the night before we leave for Spain in the morning. Just enough time to watch the Italy vs Spain game - the final game for the EuroCup. We are pretty excited to because we will be in the winning country either tonight or tomorrow, win-win for us!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Cinque Terre, Italy
I love this place and want to come back as soon as possible.
We left Rome for Cinque Terre on Tuesday morning. We took a train from the Termini station to La Spezia, then another train to Riomaggiore.
Since we arrived later in the afternoon, we were all pretty ready for some food - so, we found a good deal on a big pizza that we could share and went down to the waterside to eat it. The pizza was great - and even better with the incredible view of a little marina surrounded by blue sea and cliffs.
After lunch, we swam around and joined many others in jumping off the cliffs. I won't go into detail, but let's just say I had a mental block and took entirely too long to jump off the cliff and had a rough landing... Ha. But we all ha a lot of fun and it was wonderfully refreshing to be in and surrounded by the water.
Afterward, we showered and headed back down for dinner. Since Cinque Terre is known for their pesto pasta, we all had to have some. We found a nice little place that had it to take away and went down to the water again to sit on the rocks. This was one of my favorite parts - I absolutely loved having a relaxing dinner with great food and friends, surrounded by moonlit waters gently crashing against the rocks. It was pretty fabulous. And, naturally, I finished the night off with some gelato and went to bed.
The next morning we woke up later than planned, but it was okay. We had decided to have a girls morning while the guys went on a hike through the cities. (If you didnt know, Cinque Terre literally means "five lands" and consists of 5 small cities along the western coast of Italy - all unique in character and so beautiful! Their names are Riomaggiore, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Manarola, and Corniglia.) Heather, Sarah and I went to a pastry shop in Monterosso al Mare that Sarah went to several times when she was here last and had a very tasty breakfast. Then we headed to the beach and hung out there for a couple hours until we met up with the boys later that afternoon. I was in near heaven being able to swim around and soak in the sun. Unfortunately, I forgot that the malaria medicine I had been taking since I left for Africa makes my skin very sensitive to sunlight - sooo, I fried. If I wasn't in Cinque Terre I would have been miserable. I have acquired the new nickname of "Rudolph" and have since been asked many questions about how Santa and the elves are doing.
We met up with the guys and after swimming a bit more, we had a late lunch at a nice little restaurant by the beach. We decided to splurge a bit and get our first "good meal" of the trip. I had some yummy ravioli with ricotta and spinach... And gelato, of course.
We then headed back to Riomaggiore to shower, pack up and head to La Spezia to watch the Portugal vs Spain game and catch the 1am train back to Rome. We watched the game in a little plaza a few blocks from the train station with some locals and hung out there until the train.
We spent the night on the train and were surprised to find that many others had the same idea... Making for a crowded and not too comfortable night's sleep (or if you are Barton or Hutton... No sleep. And Bradyn found himself under some chairs and halfway in the hall).
This morning, after the night on the train, we made it to the airport for our noon(ish) flight to Greece, then a bus out to Athens. We finally arrived after a long day of traveling and this may be our favorite place (we keep saying that. I just think everything is great). Great hostel and we just had an incredible dinner for cheap - very traditional Greek meal of pork, pitta bread, tomatoes, potatoes, and tiziki. Then found some 1.5L water bottles for €0.23 and some huge scoops of gelato for only €2 (big deal. It was so much. Barton and I had to share with everyone in order to finish).. And despite a little scare with the Board of Nursing not being able to find my application, they received it and I can still be a nurse. Praise God. It's been a good day!
Even though we are speeding through Europe, I am amazed at how we still feel that we really have been able to experience the culture in each place we had gone to. Of course, I feel like I need to return to each of these places (and many other cities/countries). It's been so much fun and I am increasingly grateful for the friends I am with. 24/7 can be a lot for 7 friends to spend with each other, but we are having a great time and have made a lot of "memories" that I'll cherish forever. I'm really thankful for this opportunity and realize I need to start my real job so I can afford to come back (soon)!
More to come later.
We left Rome for Cinque Terre on Tuesday morning. We took a train from the Termini station to La Spezia, then another train to Riomaggiore.
Since we arrived later in the afternoon, we were all pretty ready for some food - so, we found a good deal on a big pizza that we could share and went down to the waterside to eat it. The pizza was great - and even better with the incredible view of a little marina surrounded by blue sea and cliffs.
After lunch, we swam around and joined many others in jumping off the cliffs. I won't go into detail, but let's just say I had a mental block and took entirely too long to jump off the cliff and had a rough landing... Ha. But we all ha a lot of fun and it was wonderfully refreshing to be in and surrounded by the water.
Afterward, we showered and headed back down for dinner. Since Cinque Terre is known for their pesto pasta, we all had to have some. We found a nice little place that had it to take away and went down to the water again to sit on the rocks. This was one of my favorite parts - I absolutely loved having a relaxing dinner with great food and friends, surrounded by moonlit waters gently crashing against the rocks. It was pretty fabulous. And, naturally, I finished the night off with some gelato and went to bed.
The next morning we woke up later than planned, but it was okay. We had decided to have a girls morning while the guys went on a hike through the cities. (If you didnt know, Cinque Terre literally means "five lands" and consists of 5 small cities along the western coast of Italy - all unique in character and so beautiful! Their names are Riomaggiore, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Manarola, and Corniglia.) Heather, Sarah and I went to a pastry shop in Monterosso al Mare that Sarah went to several times when she was here last and had a very tasty breakfast. Then we headed to the beach and hung out there for a couple hours until we met up with the boys later that afternoon. I was in near heaven being able to swim around and soak in the sun. Unfortunately, I forgot that the malaria medicine I had been taking since I left for Africa makes my skin very sensitive to sunlight - sooo, I fried. If I wasn't in Cinque Terre I would have been miserable. I have acquired the new nickname of "Rudolph" and have since been asked many questions about how Santa and the elves are doing.
We met up with the guys and after swimming a bit more, we had a late lunch at a nice little restaurant by the beach. We decided to splurge a bit and get our first "good meal" of the trip. I had some yummy ravioli with ricotta and spinach... And gelato, of course.
We then headed back to Riomaggiore to shower, pack up and head to La Spezia to watch the Portugal vs Spain game and catch the 1am train back to Rome. We watched the game in a little plaza a few blocks from the train station with some locals and hung out there until the train.
We spent the night on the train and were surprised to find that many others had the same idea... Making for a crowded and not too comfortable night's sleep (or if you are Barton or Hutton... No sleep. And Bradyn found himself under some chairs and halfway in the hall).
This morning, after the night on the train, we made it to the airport for our noon(ish) flight to Greece, then a bus out to Athens. We finally arrived after a long day of traveling and this may be our favorite place (we keep saying that. I just think everything is great). Great hostel and we just had an incredible dinner for cheap - very traditional Greek meal of pork, pitta bread, tomatoes, potatoes, and tiziki. Then found some 1.5L water bottles for €0.23 and some huge scoops of gelato for only €2 (big deal. It was so much. Barton and I had to share with everyone in order to finish).. And despite a little scare with the Board of Nursing not being able to find my application, they received it and I can still be a nurse. Praise God. It's been a good day!
Even though we are speeding through Europe, I am amazed at how we still feel that we really have been able to experience the culture in each place we had gone to. Of course, I feel like I need to return to each of these places (and many other cities/countries). It's been so much fun and I am increasingly grateful for the friends I am with. 24/7 can be a lot for 7 friends to spend with each other, but we are having a great time and have made a lot of "memories" that I'll cherish forever. I'm really thankful for this opportunity and realize I need to start my real job so I can afford to come back (soon)!
More to come later.
I'll post pictures on another post because they won't send right now.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Vienna, Austria
Vienna.
I don't even know where to start. This city continually surprises me - it is nothing like I had imagined. I expected it to be just a bunch of old buildings, but it is so much more.
We got here midday and had to take a nap, of course. After our nap, we headed to the city center to see what we could see. Since none of us know anything about Vienna or Austria, we just walked around for a while in hopes of learning about things and figuring out what we were looking at. We didn't learn much, but our navigator by day, "Cloud" (Kyle), got us through the city and we felt like we saw quite a bit.
As we were walking around we were getting hungry and tried to find a place to eat. We had been wanting to get some bratwurst, but were having a hard time finding a place. Eventually we all got to the "growl" stage and needed sustenance (that's for you, Abby and Alyssa)... So we looked around at what was close by and thought we would try "Chinagarten." We walked in and immediately regretted that decision, but since the lady looked so happy to have a costumer and never left our side, we felt obligated to stay. The menu looked sketchy, as did the buffet, but we braved it and all buffeted it up (and prayed no one would get sick). The food was pretty... Eh, no, it was bad. We had a good "memory," though, and laughed nearly the entire time (well, the girls did). They even had a fish tank.... With the fish floating upside-down. It was an experience to say the least.
After dinner, we tried to make ourselves feel better about our horrible meal, so we had some gelato and headed to a festival that our crazy hostel lady told us about. All we knew was "free," "island," and "festival." So, we went.
And, boy, was it an experience. It was a free Austrian version of ACL.. Sort of. Lots of stands selling drinks, food, and souvenirs dispersed along a pathway that had several stages for the bands. We stopped at a few and were mildly impressed but kept moving.... Until we came to "Green Shirt." I wish I could begin to describe what we saw, but there really is no way. He was just incredible and blew Bradyn's mind. All I can say is: dubstep, opera, rap, black light, light saber, high-low, power to the people, and sheer talent. We have a few videos between all of us, but nothing will do justice to what we experienced.
The evening ended with us coming back to our hostel, still singing and talking about our new hero "Green Shirt."
The next day began with bread, nutella, cheese and apple juice then going to St. Augustine church for mass. St. Augustine was the church Napoleon was married at, as was Mary Antoinette (according to our little map). It was good, even though Bradyn had to poke and pinch himself to stay awake.
After mass, we took Heather back to the hostel because her foot was bothering her and the rest of us went on a bike tour of the city. The bike tour was great for seeing a lot of things and getting some variation to our daily exercise but we didn't learn anything. We don't think our guide really knew what he was doing... He actually told Hutton he didn't know where we were.
After the tour, we finally got our bratwurst and found a place to watch the England vs Italy game.
The next day, after a late night, we woke up - had our usual breakfast of bread from the market and set out to find a museum to go to. Unfortunately, many places were closed or were too expensive. So, we went to St. Stephen's church then got some brats and headed to the hostel to pick up our stuff and leave for the airport.
We made it to Rome and spent the night there last night. That's also where we met up with Barton!
This morning (Tuesday) we got on a train for Cinque Terre and just arrived! It's so beautiful - I will post later. Internet is pretty hit or miss so who knows when that will actually be or when this message will actually go through.
I don't even know where to start. This city continually surprises me - it is nothing like I had imagined. I expected it to be just a bunch of old buildings, but it is so much more.
We got here midday and had to take a nap, of course. After our nap, we headed to the city center to see what we could see. Since none of us know anything about Vienna or Austria, we just walked around for a while in hopes of learning about things and figuring out what we were looking at. We didn't learn much, but our navigator by day, "Cloud" (Kyle), got us through the city and we felt like we saw quite a bit.
As we were walking around we were getting hungry and tried to find a place to eat. We had been wanting to get some bratwurst, but were having a hard time finding a place. Eventually we all got to the "growl" stage and needed sustenance (that's for you, Abby and Alyssa)... So we looked around at what was close by and thought we would try "Chinagarten." We walked in and immediately regretted that decision, but since the lady looked so happy to have a costumer and never left our side, we felt obligated to stay. The menu looked sketchy, as did the buffet, but we braved it and all buffeted it up (and prayed no one would get sick). The food was pretty... Eh, no, it was bad. We had a good "memory," though, and laughed nearly the entire time (well, the girls did). They even had a fish tank.... With the fish floating upside-down. It was an experience to say the least.
After dinner, we tried to make ourselves feel better about our horrible meal, so we had some gelato and headed to a festival that our crazy hostel lady told us about. All we knew was "free," "island," and "festival." So, we went.
And, boy, was it an experience. It was a free Austrian version of ACL.. Sort of. Lots of stands selling drinks, food, and souvenirs dispersed along a pathway that had several stages for the bands. We stopped at a few and were mildly impressed but kept moving.... Until we came to "Green Shirt." I wish I could begin to describe what we saw, but there really is no way. He was just incredible and blew Bradyn's mind. All I can say is: dubstep, opera, rap, black light, light saber, high-low, power to the people, and sheer talent. We have a few videos between all of us, but nothing will do justice to what we experienced.
The evening ended with us coming back to our hostel, still singing and talking about our new hero "Green Shirt."
The next day began with bread, nutella, cheese and apple juice then going to St. Augustine church for mass. St. Augustine was the church Napoleon was married at, as was Mary Antoinette (according to our little map). It was good, even though Bradyn had to poke and pinch himself to stay awake.
After mass, we took Heather back to the hostel because her foot was bothering her and the rest of us went on a bike tour of the city. The bike tour was great for seeing a lot of things and getting some variation to our daily exercise but we didn't learn anything. We don't think our guide really knew what he was doing... He actually told Hutton he didn't know where we were.
After the tour, we finally got our bratwurst and found a place to watch the England vs Italy game.
The next day, after a late night, we woke up - had our usual breakfast of bread from the market and set out to find a museum to go to. Unfortunately, many places were closed or were too expensive. So, we went to St. Stephen's church then got some brats and headed to the hostel to pick up our stuff and leave for the airport.
We made it to Rome and spent the night there last night. That's also where we met up with Barton!
This morning (Tuesday) we got on a train for Cinque Terre and just arrived! It's so beautiful - I will post later. Internet is pretty hit or miss so who knows when that will actually be or when this message will actually go through.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Heidelberg, Germany
Really, though. Heidelberg has been our favorite city yet. We first arrived and (after going the wrong way for 20 minutes) found our hostel then went exploring. We headed toward Philosopher's Walk (a trail up the mountain alongside the river with great views of the city all the way up) and saw many locals along the way just hanging out by the river - laying out, playing in the park, canoeing, biking... There was even a big sand volleyball tournament happening. It was really neat to see. We even played in the coooolest playground. I don't even know how to describe some of the climbing/playing structures they had but they were fun.
We made it to Philosopher's Walk and hiked up (sooo steep! We were all wishing we were in better shape for this activity). The view was incredible. Heidelberg is a gorgeous city with a unique and very quaint atmosphere about it. After, we had to treat ourselves with ice cream, naturally, then headed to the old part of the city. Picture for yourselves what you think an old cute German town looks like... That's Heidelberg. We had some dinner there and hoped to go up to the castle buuuut it started to rain. So, we ran back to our hostel on the other side of town, absolutely soaking wet"... but Smiller says "what a memory."
The next day, we got a cheap breakfast from the market by our hostel and headed out to the dock for a boat tour of the city. Unfortunately, Heather has a stress fracture in her foot and decided it best not to join us. We were pretty sad but were glad she had the option to rest.
The boat was awesome, though. Definitely the best way to see the city. We enjoyed some incredible scenery and cool castle/old building views. We stopped at a little town outside of Heidelberg that had 4 old castles (2 still inhabited, 2 not). We went up to one of them and climbed around on the old walls then headed back to the dock where we thought the boat would be to pick us up..... But we missed the memo that it would come an hour later. So, we got some gelato and found a park. Sarah and I played around on the swings and bars while the boys.. Well, I have no idea what they did. Probably just sit. Then we headed back and got on the boat to return to Heidelberg.
After the boat, we tried to go see the castle in Heidelberg, but since it wasn't free we just walked around and went back to the hostel to get Heather for dinner.
We ate at a little restaurant that had kebabs and pizza while we did laundry in a store close by. We were accompanied by one of the guys from our hostel who is a doppelgänger for our friend Chris Sarsgard... So weird, but he was cool and we enjoyed the company. After, we found a spot to stand and watch the Germany vs. Greece game... Which was not an easy task seeing how the entire country was watching the game either at a restaurant or in the streets or wherever they could find a spot.
We even had the pleasure of chatting it up with a local man named Hanz, who we are convinced is Robin Williams' German twin.
After the game, that Germany won, the town went nuts. Horns were going off and people were rejoicing into the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully we were pretty worn out from our day of hiking and walking that we didn't have trouble falling asleep.
Now, after an early morning train ride and flight, we made it to Austria! More to come later.
Pictures are mostly of our boat tour and a few from Philosopher's Walk/around town. Enjoy.
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