Back, and Catching our Breath!

So, it has been a while since my last post, but we were so busy at the end of our trip, and since we got back, it has been unreal! Last you heard, Justin wasn't feeling well, and we were in Florence, since then, we have done and seen a lot, so I guess I will just jump in!

Justin started feeling better shortly after I wrote my last blog. That afternoon we took a walk around the city, and saw some of the more major sights, including the Ponte Vecchio, and the Uffizi Gallery. It was a beautiful day, and it was just nice to take a stroll around the city. Unfortunately, our high hopes for Florence were shattered that day as well. We had expected a beautiful city in a warm Mediterranean climate- Yes, we did find these things, but what most people fail to mention is how absolutely filthy the city is. It is unbelievable! There is litter and graffiti everywhere you look! Even locals who look relatively upstanding, will open a bottle of soda, and throw the cap into the river over their shoulder. We witnessed this on several occasions actually. Even in line at the Academia, to see Michaelangelo's statue of David, there was graffiti and scribbling all over the walls of the the building. I just do not know how so many people fail to mention this, when talking about Florence. In any case, it was good to take a walk and get out of the hostel. That night, we went to dinner with some of the people we had met in our hostel, in a really cheap trattoria near where we were staying.

The next day, we had planned to go to Pisa, to see the leaning tower, and to get closer to the coast, out of the city. However, the more we heard that there was nothing else there, the less appealing it sounded to sit on a crowded smelly train for and hour and a half, just to turn around and come back. Needless to say, we opted to stay in Florence. For whatever reason, neither Justin or I were really in the mood to do the touristy things. By this point we had come to hate all tour groups, and all audio tours, since they seem to get sucked into whatever it is they are listening to, failing to realise that they are in a beautiful and historic place, which is to be taken in and experienced, not rushed through like an amusement park. In all honesty though, some of these people wouldn't have noticed that there was comet falling from the sky right at their heads, as long as they had their stupid earphones on, or were following some damn tour guide with their umbrella, or flower, or whatever up the air, so that people could see them.

Enough with my rant though. We once again, decided to just take in the city, and we walked around with a couple of girls we met. We walked through the leather markets, and to the other side of the Arno River, had some gelato, and just relaxed. That night, Marco, the owner of the hostel decided that we should all go for a true Tuscan meal. He made us reservations at a restaurant close by, and the thirteen of us headed out. It was really a lot of fun. For 20 Euro, we had a ton of fresh delicious pasta, and bread, and grilled meats, and wine, all from the area. It was the most we had spent on a meal since we have been in Europe, but it was definatly worth it! It was the best meal I have ever eaten, and the company was amazing. We had met an art student waiting for his apartment to open up from Mexico of all places, who was incredibly intelligent, multi-lingual, and well-traveled. He broke every stereo-type of Mexico I have ever had. We also met a couple of guys from California, who were working on farms in Italy through a program called Wolf, which promotes organic farming, and twin sisters from Australia, and it was just really great to be able to spend our last evening in Florence hanging out with everyone we had met, and gotten so close to.

Our last day, Justin and I felt like we had to get up early and do some of the things we hadn't done the whole time we had been there. We finally saw David, which was incredible. However, the Acadamia, the museum where his is, is quite possibly the worst museum in all of Europe. I am not kidding you. David is the ONLY thing worth seeing, and the rest of the museum is full of bad medieval art, only worth seeing if you are looking for a good laugh! That afternoon though, we made it into the food market, actually the largest in all of Europe. It was full of delicious food: meats, vegetables, fruits, cheeses, wine, and of course bread and pasta. Justin and I made our way to a counter advertising Paninis, but unfortunately, even though this market is in the middle of the tourist area, it is virtually untouched by the tourist population, and therefore no one speaks english. Luckily, a local woman could see our distress, and she helped us pick out some Peccorino Cheese, Procuitto Ham, and Ciabatta bread, all from Tuscany, and a cheap bottle of wine from a local vineyard. We had purchased some apples earlier, so we took our feast, and headed to one of the parks near our hostel. It was delicious, all of it. With this, we decided that Florence, may be filthy, but Tuscany definitely makes up for this with its food! That evening, we caught our night train to Munich, somewhat sad to leave Italy. We had met some great people, and had some great times, even if we weren't huge fans of the city.

Waking up in Germany was definitely a shock to the system! This was probably in part due to the fact that the train ride went quickly, but was hot and a bit crowded. When we arrived, it was only 6:30 in the morning, but luckily, it was easy to find our Hostel from the train station, and while we couldn't get into our room yet, we were able to shower, and get some breakfast. (Never in my life did a shower feel better!) Once clean and refreshed, we headed out to see about a tour of Dachau, which we had seen a flyer for. The tour was actually a bit pricey, at 15 Euros, especially when entrance to the Concentration Camp is free, with the exception of transportation out there; but knowing something about the subject, I had liked what the flyer said he discussed. Justin and I had decided to go see what it was like, and if we didn't like it, we would go out on our own. We had shown up a bit early, and a woman doing another tour had advised us that we should grab some food, since the tour was all day, and there was no where to get food once at the camp. By the time we came out of the shop, the tour guide had shown up. He was a tall and lanky young Irish guy, much to our surprise. We got to talking to him, and he was really into what he was talking about. He was really knowledgeable, and incredibly friendly, but unfortunately, only Justin and I showed up, not meeting his minimum for going out to the Camp. However, he offered to draw us a map of the camp pointing out some things to be seen, or to take us the next day, even if the minimum was not met. With very little deliberation, we opted for the second option. In addition, however, Jamie, the guide, offered to bring us around the city a bit, pointing out several important places in the city, pertinent to the subject. I had known that Munich was where the Nazi party had begun, and where their headquarters were throughout Nazi rule, but I also knew that many of the key sites were not well labeled, and Muncheners, were not keen on reliving this part of their past with every tourist in the city. I was thrilled when Jamie brought us through the Nazi Party Headquarters and Offices, including Hitlers former office, in a building now which has been converted into a music school. He also brought us to the monument for victims of National Socialism, and the University in Munich, where the White Rose, a student resistance group, was formed and locates before the members were discovered and later beheaded. Jamie also pointed out many of the buildings which were damaged in the war, and explained the Bavarian attitudes towards the Nazi Era. After about an hour he pointed us in the direction of the English Gardens, and a good beer garden where we could eat our lunch. It was a beautiful day, and it was great to just relax and be outside. That evening we headed to the Marienplatz, the main square in Munich, where the infamous Glockenspiel was shrouded with scaffolding, much to our dismay. We had sausage, and kraut, and potatoes for dinner, before heading back to the hostel.

The next day we met Jamie and once again we were the only ones, however he upheld his promise to bring us out to Dachau. Dachau was actually the first of the Camps, and served as the model, for all of the others, in large part due to its proximity to Nazi Headquarters. In the 12 years of its operation from 1933 until 1945, more than 40,000 people died there, and thousands more were deported further east to meet their fate at the more well known Auschwitz camp. It was at Dachau as well that the infamous words ARBEIT MACHT FREI, work will set you free, came to signify the camp system. It is important to note that there are now houses build adjacent to the camp, which now overlook the bunkers, and the SS Training Camp, is now used as a Police Training Camp for the Bavarian Police Corps. Jamie was an excellent guide, and it was so much more enriching to be there with him than to have gone on our own. He was also incredibly insightful into the attitudes in the area, and this as well was helpful in understanding the ways things have progressed in the town of Dachau. Ironically enough, Dachau has several squares devoted to great American figures who fought for racial equality, despite their seemingly indifferent attitudes towards the war and the camp; including Martin Luther King jr Strasse, and John F Kennedy Platz. Once our tour was complete was asked about payment. Much to our surprise, Jamie did not want to take our money, he just asked for reimbursement for the transportation. Instead, we each gave him 10 Euros, it just seemed criminal to not give him some form of compensation, as he was so significant in shaping our experiences in Munich. He once again pointed us in the direction of a good beer hall with good cheap food, which we headed to after we returned. The Augustiner, is actually a brewery as well as a beer hall and a restaurant. It was full of locals, and the best we could do was to point at our English menu, and make hand gestures. We had some excellent food, a combination plate of several authentic Bavarian foods, and an enormous blueberry pancake with ice cream on top! With that Justin and I were both realizing that our only regret was how little time we had set out for Munich, and didn't want to leave. Unfortunately, we had set reservations to get to Prague the next morning, but we didn't leave without Justin buying one of the 1 Liter Beer Mugs that Munich is famous for.

That night was much better than the previous sleeper car experience. The temperature was better, there was not a smelly old woman below me, and we had a longer journey, which meant more time to sleep! Our Train was actually delayed getting into Prague by more than an hour though, and by the time we got in, we were happy to be off the train. That is until we realized that Czech, is the most complicated langauge on the face of the earth. Okay, that is probably not a true statement, but in any case, it was tough for us. At least Italian, French, German, are all languages with similarities to English. Our first struggle was finding an ATM so that we could buy our public transportation tickets. This is not an easy or enjoyable feat when the temperatures are rising, and you have a 50 pound pack on your back. Nonetheless, we eventually found cash, and bought our tickets, so that we could head to our Hostel. Ironically enough a couple got of the Tram with us, who were clearly American, so we asked them where they were from. Believe it or not, the were also from Memphis! If we have come to know anything in the past few weeks, it is that this really is a very small world! When we got into our hostel, we could not check in yet, but even the lobby was enough to know that this hostel (the Czech Inn, yes, we found it quite witty as well!) was exceptional in every meaning of the word. It was ultra modern, and very hip, looking more like a five star hotel than an travelers hostel! After having a quick soda, and changing our clothes, we headed back into the city to wander around. We made our way to Old Town Square, who's name really explains it all. There were food stands and gift shops, and we had a quick lunch. We had heard that Prague was cheap, but it wasn't until we had bought our lunch that we realized this was only partially true. You see, by European standards and exchange rates, this is very true, but we found our selves paying approximately what we would have paid in the States for most things, and nonetheless, this was a welcome change of pace from the past few months. There is one notable exception to this rule though, and that is beer. Czechs consume more beer per capita than anywhere else in the world, and you would too, if a pint of beer was actually cheaper than a bottle of water. We discovered this easily, with a stroll around the park, and through Pragues only Beer Garden. We hung out up there until our hostel was ready. When we got into our room, it was clean and modern, but we were most happy to get into the shower. By this time is was almost 4:00, and after sleeping on a train and wandering the city with a pack on, it felt good to get clean again. We were actually quite disappointing in our next move. I know you have gotten used to tales of us trying to do the cultural thing, and eating the local food, drinking the local firewater, but after months without it, when we saw a flyer for Mexican food, Justin and I could not resist. It was delicious, and well priced, and AMAZING!!! I could not have been happier. Unfortunately, we were kind of tired, but we headed to a local favorite that we had heard about for a pint. It was packed, and instead of sticking around we opted to go back to our hostel.

The next morning we headed up to the castle, which has held the ruler of Czech people for nearly one thousand years, including kings, and presidents. It was touristy though, and, well, you already know what Justin and I feel about this, so I will not rant again. It had amazing views, and we took good pictures, but we were not sad to leave it behind. The rest of the day we meandered through the city, poking into shops and whatnot. That night, we were better and had a true Czech meal of duck, and Goulash, which was different, but not our favorite. We wandered a bit more after dinner, realizing why Prague is such a beautiful city. At night everything is lit up, and there is music coming from everywhere. I was unaware that Prague was such a cultural hub, but good music and good art is everywhere and cheap to find. We took a lot of pictures and Justin bought me a flower (I know, I found it hard to believe myself!) before heading back to the hostel for our last night on the road!

The next day we went to Jewish sites. Prague had a huge Jewish culture before WWII, and after seeing thousands of churches and Cathedrals in Europe, I was open to a change. We went to the Jewish Cemetery, which is so overcrowded, there is barely room to walk, since for centuries this was the only place in Prague Jews were allowed to be buried, and then to the Spanish Synagogue, before needing a cup of coffee. With this, we opted to go back to the old town square, where Justin noticed several lighting trucks, pointing out that they were heavy duty, and someone must be filming something there. We rounded the corner, and walked through the square, stopping at a street at the opposite side, where a film was being shot! They were yelling at people to get out of the street and stop staring, since it was ruining their shoot! We were both looking to see if we recognized anyone, but no one looked that familiar. Until that is, I turned around to see Adrien Brody, the Academy Award winner from the Pianist! Justin and I opted to sit at the outdoor cafe, and suck up the overpriced cup a' Joe for a front row view of the filming. It was really entertaining to be able to sit there and watch, and we have vowed to go see the movie entitled Brothers Bloom, once it comes out in theaters. Not to mention the coffee was damn good! Once they had finished that shoot and had moved on to a location around the corner, we left the tourists behind us for the road less traveled, where we found a shop full of one man crap. I mean, his shop looked like someones garage had just thrown up in it, except the owner knew what everything was, where it was, and what it was worth! It was unreal! It entertained us for a good 45 minutes, until we managed to pry ourselves away to some other shops. We walked into one with some fun art, and I bought a small print to put on my wall when we get home. After wandering around for a bit more, it was time to head back to the hostel, collect our things, and make our way to the airport. Eurotrip 2007, was officially over.

While we were ready to get back to routine, I think we were both sad that this experience was now behind us. We had been looking forward to it for so long, and in, what felt like an instant, although it was 19 days, everything was over! We met some incredible people, had some surreal experiences, and ate a lot of good food, and above all else, we realized that the adventure is not over, because we will definitely be back at some point. The travel bug has latched on, and the question that remains is where to next, and when.

Swiss Alps to Tuscany

We are now in Florence Italy, and although it is incredibly beautiful, it is hard to make a comparison to Switzerland. Switzerland was the cleanest, friendliest, most beautiful place I have ever been! Interlaken is a small city\large town located in the heart of the alps, and in between two lakes. It was incredible to see the snow capped mountains all the way around us, when it was warm enough for us to be wearing tee shirts. The only real down-side was the cost of everything. While the exhange rate to the Swiss Franc is actually favorable, the cost of everything is enough to make you want to cry. It was outrageous. 12CHF for a meal at McDonalds, made it easy to forget that the franc was actually very slightly cheaper. Our first night in town, we made our way to Hooters of all places, where the cheapest thing we could find was a hot dog and fries, and even that was 8 bucks. Since it was pretty easy it was difficult to see the true beauty of the area, but that all changed the next day. We woke up and headed towards a small town nearby, but higher up in the mountains, called Grindelwald. From there we had the most amazing view of the mountains. Everwhere we looked it was just grassy green hills dotted with small swiss chalets, and ENORMOUS alps in the background. Truely Incredible. We then made the decision that the reason the Swiss will not join the EU, and have remained completely isolationist for the better part of their history, is beacuse in a place like this, you have no need for anything, or anyone else. If I lived in Switzerland, I would be perfectly content with everything, and I would have no need to complain, or be angry either. We also made a day trip to Luzern, but being Good Friday, it was rather uneventful. The city is indeed beautiful, but once again expensive, and Justin and I were happy to have stayed in Interlaken.

The other thing that is really truely amazing is the Swiss ability to retain languages. You can walk into literally any store, be it the most expensive, or the cheapest grocery, and you will be greeted in German, French, Italian, and Romanch (the official languages of Switzerland) and in English. Not only is this incredible, but when they begin responding to you in English, you realize that they are perfectly fluent in all of these langagues. They do not seem even the slightest bit offended when you cannot respond in any of their native languages, instead they seem pleased to be able to be of assistance. This was only more obvious, when leaving the country, a man at the ticket counter at the train station helped us reserve the rest of our reservations for our trains in perfect english, giving us as well an infinate amount of knowledge about sleeper cars, Italian trains, and the Czech Republic.

Once on the train, the only thing I can say is that is was incredibly surreal. To go from the Swiss Alps, to Tuscany and Florence in Italy, was unreal. It was a long journey, but facinating, because unlike anywhere else we have been, you litterally get to see the culture, language, and climate change in front of your eyes. We got into Florence in the early evening, and headed towards our hostel. Justin wasn't feeling well, but we pushed on. We checked in, and it was pretty cool to find that our hostel was more like a small community than anything else. The owners just recently opened it, and hang out with the guests, and live upstairs. It's pretty cool. Shortly after we arrived, the owner decided that it was time get a drink, and he brought a bunch of us to a small wine bar, where the wine was cheap but good. Unfortunately Justin was still not feeling well so we headed back.

Today we went to the Duomo, the main cathedral in Florence, to see the push cart fireworks. They litterally attatch a 15 minute firework display to a small cart and they light them off after mass on Easter Sunday. It was crowded and hard to see but incredible nonetheless. Justin still is not back to himself, so we are just catching our breath, but hopefully he will be better tomorrow, so we can do a bit more exploring.

And off we go!

As most of you know we have left for our trip. Currently we are in Dijon visiting our friend Alison, But for the past four days we have been exploring Paris, and Normandy in France.

We arrived in Paris last Thursday on the Eurostar through the chunnel, and spent forever looking for our hotel. It was really just under our noses, but we failed to notice its understated sign above the enormormous McDondalds right below it. Once we dropped our bags off and got settled a bit, we went to La Gare du Nord to firgure out our train reservations to Dijon, and then on to Lausanne Switzerland. The woman was very helpful and it was nice to see that people knew what the eurail pass was, and how it worked. From there we decided to just take a walk. We headed towards the Louvre and Les Jardins des Tuileries, and then over to Notre Dame Cathedral. It was a beautiful day, and we were both ready to be out of a train for a bit. The walk felt really good. There were a million people on the Ile de la Cite, and it was packed by the Notre Dame, but we went inside anyway, mainly because it was free. There were a million people inside as well, but if was still magnificent, and well worth the trouble. By that point it was getting later, and we decided to head back to our hotel. Out of convenience and price, we opted for the delicous cuisine known as the big mac. We were both tired and didn't feel like trying to figure anything more out. It was then that Justin announced that he felt like McDonalds was his own personal Embassy, because he always knew what to expect and it felt like home...clearly the delirium was kicking in.

The next day was friday, and we headed out to the Centre Pompidou, a modern museum, literally made to look like it was built inside out. As is only fitting the modern art inside was just as avant garde, and it was fun just to poke around, not to mention it was absolutely pouring and we didn't want to try to find something outdoors to do. We went to get a cup of coffee, and Justin wanted a sandwich, so we headed over to our other safe haven, Starbucks. Unfortunately they didn't take our giftcards, so Justin ended up spending a fortune on a bad sandwich, and I decided that certain sacrifices had to be made to the Travel Gods to make them happy, since as we left our overpriced meal behind us, the sky started to clear. We had made the Travel Gods happy. We finished the day in the Louvre, were we saw the Mona Lisa- as disappointing as Plymouth Rock and Stonehenge, but none the less a must see. After wandering around a bit we went towards the Eiffel Tower, and saw it at night, light up and as beautiful as ever, before making our way back to the hotel.

Saturday we went to Normandie, to Bayeaux, and the D-Day beaches. It was once again miserable and rainy, but we made the best of it. It was still beautiful, and the mist in the air made the beaches seem somewhat more authentic than if it had been sunny. We saw the pointe du hoc, Omaha beach, and the German and American cemetaries. The American Cemetary was a place I had been before, but there were so many Americans, and we have been in Europe for so long now, that to be on American Soil, and to see the American Flag waving was somewhat surreal. At one point they lowered the flags, and played taps, and it gave me goosebumps to see everyone stop and take off their hats, and wait for the song to be done. It was incredible. And there were soooooo many Americans there.

We had wanted to go to Versailles on Monday, but I read that it was closed on Mondays, so we went on Sunday instead. It was as well packed with people, and we waited in line forever to get in. I had been here before as well, but as a tour group you dont see everything. I was happy to see it again anyway. Once we finally got in though, there were so many people that I didn't even enjoy itm but it was an amazingly beautiful day, and the sun was shining, so the time in line wasn't too awful, and the gardens after were very enjoyable. We both got ice cream and just hung out for a bit before returning to the city. We got back, and there was some kind of earthday rally going on, and it was pretty cool to see all these performers and whatnot in the city dancing around and playing music, it was really a good time. From there we strolled down the Champs Elysses, and saw the Arc de Triomphe before dinner in the Marais district.

Yesterday was our last day in Paris, and we ended with a bang, we went to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower and then went over to the Sacre Coeur, and Monmarte, famous for its art and bohemian lifestyle. We had lunch at a small cafe, and then made our back to the hotel and the train station to catch our train to Dijon and Alison.

When we arrived in Dijon we got the hotel right away this time, and found Alison. It was good to see another friendly face, and so we went to a local bar and caught up with eachother over a pint. Today, Alison gave us an impromptu tour of her home for the past six months, and we had lunch at one of her universities cafes. Tonight I think we are having dinner with her host mother, and then we may go out for a bit. Tomorrow though, we head to Lausanne Switzerland, and then on to Interlaken, so it won't be too late of a night. I can't believe we are already on to Switzerland, when we planned our trip, it felt like we were going to be in France forever, but I guess time just seems to slip through your fingertips when you are travelling. We should have internet more readily available for the rest of our trip, so I should be able to update more regularly which is nice. (as long as we don't anger the travel gods any more!)

...And sorry about the pictures, you are all going to have to wait till I get home to see those, but I promise I will get them up as soon as I can when I get back!