London Calling

With Brad in London



Hanging out with the flatmates


Reunited with Caren

Seeing the Sights


Weak attempt at Abbey Road crosswalk picture


The Changing of the Guards


The three of us got into London around 9 in the evening and took the tube to our Marriott. When we got out, we discovered that we had gone to the wrong stop but opted to walk instead of get back on the tube, thinking it would be very close. We thought wrong. We walked in circles for a short while until some locals offered their assistance and called the Marriott on their phones for us and gave us directions. Friendly place. By the time we checked in and cleaned up, it was nearing 10 o'clock and Brad only had a short time to see the city, so we hit the town. We got dinner at a kebab place (what are we going to do without these?) on Great Portland Street! and followed local's advice to go to Picadilly Circus for a beer. After beer and some dancing, we went to see the sights in the wee hours of the morning. Some local people who had missed their bus offered to show us around. In a matter of hours, we saw Trafalger Square, Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and some other tourist destinations. When we got back to our hotel, we were exhausted and slept in nearly until checkout the next day. When we checked out, Brad hopped in a cab to Heathrow to catch his flight home. Rachel and I went to Abbey Road and tried to recreate the Beatles album cover, however, it is much harder than you would imagine, because not only were there only two of us, but you have to have a random take the picture across the street and mind the cars that are speeding by. Needless to say, we didn't get the best shot off. That night, we took our huge bags and went to Clapham Common to meet up with a friend from New Zealand whom we had met in Greece, but was now living in London named Sam. He was very hospitable and let us stay with his flatmates (all from NZ) and him for most of our week in London. It was great to have a group of people to hang out with. We played rugby in the park, attended birthday parties and watched big rugby games at the local pub, rooting for the All Blacks (NZ team). We managed to see sights during the days, taking a river cruise and riding one of the double deckers through the city. Whilst on the double decker, riding by Big Ben, we saw Caren (a friend from middle school) out the window. We hadn't planned to get out at this stop, but our plans quickly changed as we hopped from our seats and ran for the door screaming her name. It was crazy to run into her in such a big city. That night, we all met up at Hyde Park to catch up, and ended the night in Camden town. The rest of our trip was spent viewing museums, parks and popular neighborhoods and markets and catching up with friends. Steph gets into town today, so we will continue discovering this great city. Molly leaves tomorrow for the good old USA and Rachel heads on to Lagos for round two with Steph. It's hard to believe that it is all coming to an end, but neither of us predict this being our last big global exploration in the coming years.

Amsterdam

When we got to Amsterdam, we stayed at a Marriott again. This time, we were in the center of the city. We were astounded by the number of bikes that were everywhere, and when there wasn't room for another in the alloted bike parking space, people just stacked their bikes on top of the other ones. Amsterdam was very pleasant, a bit like Venice with how many waterways ran through the city. Our second day there, we went to the train station to meet up with Brad. We got there early so that we wouldn't miss him. When we were reunited we all hugged hello and then headed off for the LONG trek to our "centrally located" hostel. With sore backs and tired legs, we checked into our room and headed out to grab some dinner and explore the town. It was funny exchanging travel stories with Brad because we had been to a lot of the same places and had to deal with similar complications. Amsterdam had a lot to offer, from night life to parks to museums. On our final day, we went to the Van Gogh museum and then boarded our train to London...Molly's final stop.

Home sweet...Belgium?

Mannequin Pis

The Atomium


We stayed in Brussels for four nights, apparently much longer than most backpackers ever stay. By the time we left, we had seen the city, mastered the bus system and even had the people that worked at one of the Kebab shops waving at us when we passed...practically locals. We started out on the outskirts of town at a Marriott. We happened to arrive just in time for Belgium's Independence Day. We spent the day in the main square with the rest of the town sampling the beers, chocolates and cheeses (healthy combination...) and preparing for the firework and light show that were to take place that evening. The show ended just in time for us to catch the last bus back to the Marriott. The next day we decided to stay at a hostel closer in town. We went to a bar called Delirium, which is in the Guiness book of World Records because it has over 2000 different types of beer. On our final full day in Belgium, we ventured to see the Atomium, a large scale atom model that was built for an exhibition in 1958-apparently it is Brussel's equivalent to the Eiffel Tower. When we returned to our hostel, the owner told us that he had double booked our room, but that they had a back up room in the basement. So we got a room to ourselves in the end and paid much less than we had expected-their oversight definitely worked in our favor. We left the next afternoon after seeing the Mannequin Pis and scouring the city for the best chocolate. By three in the afternoon, we were on a train to Amsterdam...

paris j'taime

A top the Eiffel Tower



The Tower at night



In front of Notre Dame with Steph



The bus ride was surprisingly tolerable as far as 14 hours of sitting goes. There were movies, mostly Czech, with the exception of Mr. and Mrs Smith, music and refreshments. We got in to Paris where we were greeted by Steph! Although five months has passed since we last saw her, it only felt like days. The three of us got on the crammed metro, Rachel and I attempting not to hit anyone with the many items hanging from our bags. When we emerged from underground, we had a clear view of the Eiffel Tower. Welcome to Paris! We proceded to the apartment where Steph is an Au Pair and met the family she has been living with for the last month. We sat down to dinner the first night with the family and exchanged travel stories. They have lived all over the world so we enjoyed hearing their experiences and perspectives. After dinner Steph, Rachel and I decided to check out the Eiffel tower at night because it sparkles every hour. While we were there, we found ourselves stuck in the middle of a sudden wind and rain storm that sent us running for cover under a nearby bridge. The next day we decided to go to Mont Martre to enjoy the view and some live entertainment. We got crepes and hiked up a hill to a monument. On the stairs overlooking the city, a band was playing. We quickly made friends with them-Rachel was even called up to dance in front of the audience. By the end of their set, they were inserting "we love Oregon" into the musical interludes of their songs. We spent the rest of our time in Paris doing some sight seeing, riding the ferris wheel, viewing museums and enjoying Steph's company. It was nice to get out of hostels for a few days and stay with a family. Next stop, Brussels.

PRAHA

We got into Prague around dinner time and made the trek from the train station to our hostel. We got a Eugene vibe almost immediately; first approached by a wiry haired old man telling us how to get to our hostels and that we should walk instead of cab, and shortly after, while looking down at a map, we were told by a student with dreads that it's better to see the world looking up...thanks for that. We made it to our hostel, which we later found out was a squash playing hostel-that explains why it was lights out at 11 and we were surrounded by people in swishy pants. Prague was incredible. After we checked in and situated, we went to find a place for dinner. We decided on an Italian restaurant that served delicious pasta-and we were presented with a gift of sorbet from the chef. After dinner, we set out to see the city. Around the corner from where we ate dinner there was a huge castle that looked like a haunted house. The buildings in Prague all look like they were once occupied by Kings or witches. And, it was cool because it ws uninhibited by most of Europe, even still using their own money system (a bit of an inconvenience for us to only use for a day, but cool nevertheless). After viewing castles we went to bed. We woke up to rain and thunder. We quickly found comfort at a cafe called Bohemia Bagel where they served breakfast sandwiches and unlimited coffee. The rain cleared in the afternoon so we decided to walk to a castle armed with a map. We hiked up a hill and had a great view of the city. As the sun got brighter, the water looked enticing, so we rented a paddle boat to see a different view of the city. On our way back to our hostel to get our bags from the luggage room, we stopped at a modern art showcase and got the best Belgian chocolate covered bananas of our lives. After a full day of activity, we grabbed our bags and walked to the bus station to board a 14 hour bus to Paris to meet up with Steph.

Austria and Munich

INNSBRUCK AND MUNICH





From Venice, we took a train through the Alps and into Austria. Our friend, whom we had met in Australia, Olivia, was from there. She welcomed us with open arms and let us stay at her apartment in Innsbruck. It was great to see her again and she acted as our tour guide, taking us to the home of Swarovski Crystals, Crystal World, to the highest European bridge and on a hike in the Alps, where we enjoyed Weiss beer and traditional Austrian food. The next day, we got the genius idea of renting a car, which we figured would also double as a place to stay for the nights we had it. Our first day with our portable home, at the suggestion of Olivia, we decided to drive to Munich. When we got there, we realized that we had arrived during a huge gay pride parade, so the city was bustling and there was much beer to be had. After a day enjoying Munich-the Hoffbrau Haus, the parade and a flea market, we made our way back to Innsbruck to join Olivia and her friends at a graduation party. We spent the night dancing and were dubbed by one of her friends as "special edition Americans." We think it was a compliment...The next day we said our goodbyes to Olivia, packed up our car and headed to Salzberg.

SALZBERG







Salzberg was beautiful. We had no map or travel plans, so we parked the car and explored the city by foot. We had a little idea of what was in store-Mozart's birth place and Sound of Music landmarks. We found these things and much more. We stumbled upon castles like a bum stumbles upon cans at Autzen at the end of a big football game. When it came time for us to find a parking place to sleep for the night, we quickly realized that most cities don't encourage homelessness, so the spot next to a lake overlooking the city that we had dreamed about never materialized. Instead we settled on a well lit parking lot next to a park. It ended up working out pretty well, and the sun woke us up early enough to prevent passersby from seeing us and gave us time to see all of the buildings and Sound of Music sights that we had missed on the previous day. We decided to leave around noon for Vienna so that we could explore some of the Austrian country side. Right outside of Salzberg, we found a lake called Lake Mondsee where we pulled over for a swim and some relaxation. It was gorgeous with crystal clear water and a view of the Alps. After a picnic and some downtime, we were back on the road to Vienna

VIENNA





Now Innsbruck and Salzberg were small, rustic towns, so going into Vienna looking hagard from the lake, we assumed it would be similar. We were so wrong. We pulled in to a big city-and if Salzberg was difficult to find a place to park the car, Vienna was nearly impossible. We drove around looking for parking, only to be informed that there wasn't a place to buy a parking ticket, so even if we found a spot, we could be towed. We finally found a garage and decided to leave the car there until parking ws free. We walked around the city a little during the night but were tired from our sparse sleep in the car the previous night. So, we returned to the car to find a spot to sleep. This one was a little harder, so we ended up on a normal street. Maybe homeless with a car wasn't such a good idea...We returned our home on wheels to Hertz the next day and walked around the city looking at churches and the elaborate buildings. We left in the evening for Prague, but we haven't had our fill of Austria.

Water Water Everywhere

VENICE
Our last stop with the Park’s was the beautiful city of Venice. Venice is unlike any other place we’ve been to-cars were replaced with gondolas and boats, and buses were replaced with vaparettos. We stayed on the small island of Lido to avoid tourists and took a vaparetto into town each day. We spent our full day there exploring the city and looking at art. Rachel and Molly went to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and saw modern art while Geoff and Gail went to a gallery with renaissance art. We took quite a liking to a restaurant near our hotel, so we ate there both nights in Venice and got to know the waiter pretty well. He was hilarious and very attentive, making special recommendations and if we asked him a question about Venice he would say “ask me anything, I know everything.“ The food was delicious-we don’t understand how Italians aren’t fatter. On the afternoon of the 9th, we parted ways with Geoff and Gail, they moved on to Cinque Terre and we were off to Austria.

Duomos and Cathedrals and Museums, Oh My!

FLORENCE
After two nights in Siena, the four of us went to Florence. We stayed in an apartment out of the way of tourists, right outside the city. We spent the 4th of July at the Uffizi Museum-it was a little overwhelming but incredible to see so much famous art in one place. Florence has been dubbed by many as the most beautiful city in the world and it’s not hard to see why. Duomos, cathedrals and century-old mosaics dot the street corners like Starbucks in Seattle. We took a day trip to Lucca to see the Dave Matthews Band perform. We somehow worked our way up to the front row-words can’t describe this experience. It got us really excited for the Gorge. For our last night, we went to dinner at a little place where we had gone with Beth and Danielle about a month before called Nell’s. It was the best food in Florence. On our final day in Florence, we saw Michaelangelo’s David and the Duomo. In the evening, we took a train to our final stop in Italy, Venice.

Party at the Palio

SIENA
Our next stop was the small, medievil town of Siena. And we were there just in time to attend their annual horse race called Il Palio. It was one of the coolest traditions we’ve experienced this trip. The main square in town was transformed into a race track. The city is divided into Contradas (basically different neighborhoods), each with a different mascot like a tortoise, shell or snail. Each contrada hires a horse jockey to represent it. They compete for pride and a banner called Il Palio. The entire city and tourists pack into the center of the square, arriving as early as 10 am to save their spot for the 7 pm race. The jockeys ride bareback and are assigned a horse at random only days before the event. It was a lot of build up for a 20 second race. It was an amazing thing to experience, we’ve never seen such neighborhood pride. And there was no sparing the losing teams’ feelings. For two days after the race the winning team, the Tortugas, paraded through the city, wearing their colors, making sure everyone knew who had won. We went to the winning Contrada after the race and they served free wine all night so everyone could celebrate their victory with them. We ran into our friends from the booze cruise again at the race-small world. The next day we squeezed in some churches and museums, packed up and got on the bus to Florence.

When in Rome

Getting from Barcelona to Rome required a lot of travel time. We started the day with a train ride to a bus station and then a bus to the airport, a flight to Rome, and to get to our Marriott was the most ridiculous. We didn’t know which Marriott we had booked, so while we were trying to figure out how to use the phone to call a few, the guy who worked at the lost luggage counter motioned us over and let us use his phone. He then offered us some of the vodka he had seized from somebody’s bag. After we sorted out where we were going, we took a bus to the metro, the metro to another bus, a bus to a train station, the train to a bus stop and finally the bus to the Marriott. We were told that this was the most direct way other than a cab. After all the travel it was nice to recoup at the Marriott. When we settled in, we turned on the TV to the news that Michael Jackson had died!! We watched it for a bit and then used the outdoor pool and gym. The next day we made our way in to the city to find our next hotel where we were to meet up with Rachel’s parents, Gail and Geoff.





ROME WITH THE 'RENTS



Gail and Geoff got in and we were excited to have some parents back in our lives!! We celebrated their arrival by going out to dinner at a nearby restaurant. The four of us took Rome by storm, making sure to see EVERYTHING worthy of seeing in the city. We went to the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Cafe Greco (the best cappuccinos in the world), Vatican City, the Borghese Gallery, Boca della Verita, the Forum, Circus Maximus, the catacombs, we saw enough art and landmarks to last a decade. We spent our nights trying different restaurants and sampling the local wine. Rome was exhausting because we were so busy, but was absolutely spectacular.