five towns

tonight is our last night here

and we are sad to say goodbye

this place has a certain way of slowing you down

it was a well deserved resting place

couple of days on the beach


another amazing hike

all during sunny ninety degree days

funny that this weekend is tradionally the last weekend of summer

and we are lucky enough to sepnd it here

again we met some interesting folks

had drinks and dinner with them last night

cait ended up behind the bar for a second straight night

gotta love free drinks

so far the food has been the best of the trip

we are staying in some guys guest house i read about

honor system bar

one euro beer and wine

by far the best deal in town

tomorrow we are off to visit a friend in rome for a few days

please tell the grandparents we will say hi to the pope for them

still no word on where our next stop will be

its proving difficult to find a logical & easy (translate: fast & cheap) spot to get to from rome

then get to amsterdam for our final stop

we will keep you posted

we passed our half way point of the trip this weekend

it has been everything we expected and so much more

the sights and sounds are truely unique

nothing can compare to this in the states

we feel truely blessed to have been able to take this trip

and share it will you all

we have arrived

in the italian reviera

here is the little town we are staying in

we already had a nice half day at the beach

and a happy hour with the best za we've ever had

nerd you would have truely enjoyed it



here is the view from our room

we're staying in some artist's guest house up on the hill

we have a great balcony

6 degree celsius

that was how cold the river was we rafted on yesterday

glacier fed i might add

lots of class three and some four (those were the fun ones)

here is cait falling out of the boat after a team photo


we were in full wet suits and helmets


our guide was from costa rica

named carlos

who's brother runs a costaricaextreme.com

nice plug for them

rafters in our group were from canada, england and new zealand

such a great time

the river fed into one of the lakes that borders interlaken

we actually jumped into both the river and the lake

fulfilling cait's first wish when we got here

to swim in the bright blue water of lake brienz

after the full day of rafting we packed up for cinque terre

cait decided to lose her passport for about an hour

that was fun

as you can imagine

we found it

tried to find hostels in rome

and determine where we are going next

what a view

we just got back from a hike in the mountains

we took a train about an hour up the mountain to about 9000 feet

this is what awaited us


the views were amazing

hike was pretty difficult


walking on ridge line the entire time

very cool

last night we checked out the local clubs

met two cousins from belfast

traded lots of good stories

we've met folks from boston, texas, austrialia, england, berlin and ireland

everyone willing to share advice and stories

tonight will be a restful evening after two nights of staying out late

tomorrow we're going rafting

so far everywhere we've been things have been very expensive

and sad to report but interlaken has a hooters

really?

cait and i are openly soliciting ideas for where we should go after rome

we have about seven days before we have to be in holland

few more pics for ya'll

city center in interlaken

cait in a paris train station

flowers from the mountain

good bye paris, hello interlaken

we have left the land of crepes

onto the land of mountains

swizerland is absolutley geogrous

we stayed in bern last night

may have been the best night of the trip so far

not just because of the name

the city was dead

but we stayed up drinking with some random german bus driver

had great conversation

moved a little bit slower this morning

finally made it to interlaken

and everyone who recomended this place

thank you

we are so glad we made it here

today we just walked around, took pics

sorry no pics today, forgot the cord

met some guys from texas who recomened a few things to do while we are here

also got our reservations for monteresso and rome

paris day two and three

new internet cafe new photos

here is the sunset i mentioned in the last post

thursday night we grabbed some dinner and wine

slept until almost two on friday

it rained friday almost all day; finally broke around seven

we got our train tickets to bern for tommorrow

then grabbed some lunch on the way back to the hotel

our expierences have been much better than our first in regards to ordering food

we eventually made it down to the louve and effiel tower

we hiked our asses up to the second deck to get this shot of paris

here is cait and i on some bridge over the river

after, we took the metro home

had dinner in a little cafe by our hotel

bought a bottle of wine

and taught cait how to glay gin

today the sun was out all day

we made it to the arc

did some shopping

cait did i mean

went back to rest our weary feet

tonight is a boat ride on the river

then dinner

and pack for our trip to switzerland

couple other notes

we had our first crepes and they were amazing

paris is ginormus

not as many stray dogs as everyone said

and over half the shops are closed because they are on holiday

some streets are deserted

pretty crazy

two more pics...

city of lights

we have landed

plane was delayed two seperate times

door wouldnt seal and engine wouldnt start

almost twelve hours on the plane; scheduled for seven

plane ride was nice

minus old man winter in the row behind us listening to "shake it" so loud i thought he had a boombox on his lap

on demand movies should be on every plane

took off at 630pm msp time; landed at 934am paris time

forgive any typos but the keys are mixed up here

forgive qny typos but the keys qre ,ixed up here

the last sentence is typed using american key positions

back to the trip

three successful trains to reach our hotel

not bad for two rookies in france

joel would be so proud

as of now we have been up for almost 30 hours straight

needless to say we are tired

could not check in until 330

dropped off the bags and started to walk

got to the seine and notre dame

had some lunch where no one spoke english; interesting

it was cloudy and cool with off and on rain

we walked a lot

got lost a lot

finally checked into our hotel

tried to plan out the rest of our time here

we will be doing the big sights tomorrow

also buying our train tickets to switzerland for sunday

this internet cafe does not allow my camera to upload pics

so that will have to wait

i did get a great picture of the sun setting while we were over hudson bay

off to grab some dinner

some water

and some sleep

leaving on a jet plane

i will be back again... in about twenty days

our ride is coming in about forty five minutes

quincy always knows when the luggage comes out

one of us is leaving

her only deterrent is trying to sleep on our clothes we plan on wearing


has yet to work on keeping us home

out of office notice has been turned on

bills are paid

i think i am ready to go

next entry should be from paris

god speed

*RIP LeRoi Moore*
1961-2008

t minus one day

we leave less than 24 hours

started packing a little bit ago



hard to think of packing for three weeks

first round of packing successful, but heavy as hell

had to make cuts... books, long sleeves, liquids

and we've arrived at this




still probably around 40 pounds, dont have a scale

i hope my judging the weight by how many curls i can do with it will suffice

loaded up the old ipod with the latest dave concerts from alpine this year

tina bought me a few photography magazines to research cameras

i'll be taking photography lessons when i get home, as an early christmas present to myself

now off to watch the twins beat the a's

firsts

i'm nervous and excited

i think what i'm most nervous about is all of the firsts we'll experience

the first time we try to read a sign in french

the first time we navigate through the subway system

the first time we check into a hotel

the first time we get lost

the first time we have to run to catch a train

the first time we have to pay for something in euros

the first time we find our way back

the first time we use an internet cafe

the first time a gypsy tries to sell me a cell phone (gilmore)

i'm excited about everything else

t minus two days

cait and I leave on wednesday for the great unknown

neither of us has ever been to europe before

sad to say but my sister who is 6 years my junior has spent two months in australia as part of an exchange program in high school

neither of us speak french, italian or any other language

we plan to spend time in paris, switzerland and cinque terre during our first ten days or so
the second half of the trip has yet to be planned and we will likely take it as we go

possibly spending some time in rome, prague or germany

i hear coldplay is playing in germany on september second

tonight is the farewell dinner at our parents house

tomorrow is the last full day of work, pretty much checked out already

hard to concentrate with all things we are trying to get organize and all the advice we have been getting from everyone

great stuff

just a lot to take in regarding trains, tipping, pick pockets, hostels, things to do…

first try at blogging

for the momentus occasion of my first trip to europe i'd thought i'd try this blogging thing out...