It's Easter-time!

Here we are in Amsterdam having a lovely time :) The tulips are blooming, the sun is shining and the bikes are invading. But first...Prague and Berlin.

A moonlit night in Prague...
Well, we arrived in Prague hot and tired and hungry. It was windy and dusty, and, you guessed it, we were in a super weird part of town. Let's just say we were a little irritated with the Czech Republic. However, after eating and dropping off our luggage, we made our way into town to see the sights. With the start of Easter weekend the streets and squares were filled with booths selling painted eggs, interesting food and tons of cool paintings. My favorite part, though, were the trees decorated for Easter. They were bare-branched trees with gorgeous pink and white cherry blossom branches discretely tied to them. Then green, white, blue, orange and pink eggs and ribbons hung from the limbs. So festive and cheerful!

Eventually we made our way to the river, climbed to the palace grounds for a great view of the city and waited with hoards of people to see the stupidest clock tower ever chime 8 O'Clock. We love overrated monuments when everyone else is watching too :) We finished the night with dinner overlooking the river and a long metro/tram ride back to the hostel.

Prague is:
-dirty
-twinkling lights reflecting on the river
-funky, modern statues
-confusing streets
-churros and chocolate at the market
-a quick stay

Home sweet home in Berlin...
This past weekend in Berlin was just what we needed! Stephanie Johnson, a friend of Ryan's who is working as a missionary in Berlin, kept, fed and entertained us for 3 nights. Between homecooked meals with her best friends, walking and driving tours and a movie night we felt right at home. Steph welcomed us into her home as well as her heart. We had great talks for hours and laughed and laughed and laughed until it hurt.

One of the best parts of our time in Berlin was the Easter church service. We have really missed church since we've been in Europe the past 4 and 1/2 weeks. (We tried to go in Rome, but the Pope missed our visit!) Anyway, the service began with a Gospel choir from New York, who sang in English. It felt so good to sing along with a large group of Christians. Britt and I have sung along to the chapel cd on her ipod, but it's just not the same as being in corporate worship. The sermon was, of course, in German. Steph translated for us every few minutes, but we loved being there even when we didn't understand. It was a really sweet time and encouraging to see God working in a city like Berlin that has boldly professed Atheism for so many years.

Berlin is:
-laundry, sleeping in, rejuventation.
-learning so much about the Berlin wall and the Cold War from a western Berliner--so fascinating
-riding in a very cool Mercedes with the top open and music blaring (Steph's friend(s) works for them)
-a long dinner and good conversation
-"Lars und de Frauen"
-curry wurst and donor kebab
-Southern hospitality

Exploring East

Tonight is our third night in Krakow, Poland (we are only staying 1 night in Prague for those of you following our itinerary). We have so enjoyed our time here! Thanks to the awesome recommendation from Jen, Jen and Ashley we are staying in the cutest little hostel. We just had cake night and are getting ready to watch a movie!

Aside from the great place to stay, I simply love the old world feel of Krakow. Poland looks just like I imagined it would--flat farmland, huge piles of firewood, tall and skinny trees, old brick and stone buildings, and everything with a sort of sepia tint. On our first full day here we went on a bike tour through town. The most interesting part for me was seeing the Jewish ghetto and the sights where Schindler's List was filmed. It was also fun to be moving fast on a bike and to see the city from a different point of view.

Today we took the train to Auschwitz concentration camp. It was so different from seeing Dachau in Munich, mostly because of their vastly different purposes. Dachau was a slave labor work camp, while Auschwitz was basically a death camp. It was sad and surreal and a bit scary, especially after hearing so much about the instability of Poland's history yesterday. Grandpa, it gave me so much respect for what you were fighting for during the war. I am so grateful that men and women like you who put their lives in danger to preserve the lives of so many helpless and persecuted people.

Early tomorrow morning we head to Prague, and then we'll spend the weekend in Berlin!

Krakow is...
-Mexican food! (sort of)
-biggest square in Europe, and we think it is the most beautiful too
-excellent hostel
-riding my bike into the bushes
-Polish food that left us feeling kind of sick
-a huge moat turned into a park
-a castle built by the guy who slayed the dragon and got the princess...or so the story goes

It's been a long time coming.

Well, friends and family, I'm sorry to have been MIA for a week or so. We have been without internet access (except the occasional wifi access on Britt's ipod). I have sent several e-mails on the ipod, but it is entirely too small to write a whole blog post. So...here we go with Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. I will try to keep it short and sweet, but you can check out Brittney's blog (www.brittneybrowneurope.blogspot.com) for a more detailed account...

Munich:
We had an eventful 3 days in Munich, mostly due to the weirdness of our hostel. We did a ton in and right outside of the city to avoid going to our hostel. However, when we did have to be there it was anything but typical. I won't go into details, but you really should read Britt's Munich post for the whole story. Let's just say I didn't sleep much during our time there.

One of our favorite things about Munich was the free walking tour that we took. Our tour guide was a California native who had studied abroad in Munich and moved back after graduating because she loved it so much. It was great to learn from her because it was obvious how much she cared about Munich's history and it's future. We also enjoyed learning more about the WWII events that happened in Munich. It's amazing how much easier it is to absorb information when you are standing in the very spot where it occurred. We felt that way again a couple days later when we took the train out to Dachau, the Third Reich's first concentration/work camp. It was stark and solemn and definitely made us pause and think about the gravity of the events that took place there such a short time ago.

We also spent one day traveling outside of Munich to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was the model for Disneyland's Cinderella Castle. It was beautiful and still fully furnished.I think historical places are so much more interesting when they are filled with the acutal couches and beds and thrones of the people who resided in them. We have discovered that plaques and "ruins" are just not the same. Overall, Munich was fun and interesting and we laughed at our circumstances, but we learned that paying 10euro for a hostel across the street from the central train station is probably not the best idea. Go figure.

Munich is:
-New paperbacks (in English, of course) to read on the train
-Germany's biggest schnitzel! We shared it. And we ordered the turkey version.
-beer with sprite so that it doesn't taste like beer...so much better this way :)
-buses and trains to the middle of nowhere Bavaria
-a huge and beautiful outdoor market
-Pretzel, which to Germans sounds nothing like Brezel, the German word for pretzel...they always looked at us with such confused stares
-camps and memorials and devastating photographs
-tales of royalty and the reminder that Jesus if the true King of Kings
-waterfalls ?
-40 person dorm room. oh wow.
-roasted nuts like in New York...made me think of you, Mom.

Salzburg:
The best decision we made here was buying the Salzburg tourist card. For 20euro we could basically get into any museum or attraction for 24 hours. So we spent 2 days (from 1pm the first day to 1pm the next day) taking a gondola ride into the snowy Alps, touring the weird trick gardens at Schloss Hellbrun, visiting Mozart's birthplace and family house in town, and riding a steep funicular to the preserved fortress that overlooked the city. We listened to classical music and saw some of the sights from the Sound of the Music, which apparently Austrians despise. Whatever, I had fun pretending to be Maria and singing "The Hills are Alive" all over town. Another great thing about Salzburg was that we were there on Palm Sunday, and we got to see many families dressed in their traditional Austrian outfits. So cute!

Salzburg is...
-slipping and sliding in the snow
-warm, sunny weather
-Mozartkugeln
-super creepy Marionette museum in a dark and dingy cave
-lovely, hand-painted Easter eggs

Vienna:
The first thing we encountered-and loved-about Vienna was the metro. It is so much easier to navigate than the complicated web of buses and trams. Also, we booked a really cheap but nice hotel, which is always a great change from crowded hostel dorms. One of our favorite things in Vienna was going to see La Boheme, even though it was sung entirely in German. We were so lost but still loved being in the beautiful theatre enjoying the incredible voices and orchestra. We also loved seeing the gardens at Schloss Schoenbrun. Not many flowers were in bloom, but the ones we saw were gorgeous. It must be really incredible during the summer. Our time in Vienna was brief but good, and we were excited to keep moving east to Poland.

Vienna is...
-Australian-themed pub--weird, but good.
-SO much construction!
-the beautiful tiled roof of St. Stephen's Cathedral
-giant garden mazes
-clean showers
-the most famous and, perhaps more significantly, the most crappy ferris wheel in the world
-excellent gelato
-culture and opera!

Eating yogurt in dairy land

Tonight we are in Munich, Germany, but first here are some thoughts from lucerne, switzerland...

(3/29)
Today we took the train (twice because I left my bedding at the hostel-oops!) from interlaken to bern. It was a short and breathtakingly beautiful ride along the lake. Bern was a cute, quiet city--especially on a Sunday. Most stores were closed, but we saw a few sights like the clock tower and the bear pit. We also spent an hour or so in our 1st starbucks of the trip. It was way too expensive (6.50 us dollars for a tall coffee) but it felt like home. It was so good to sit and chat and drink a caramel macchiato. Any homesickness I was feeling dissipated. Isn't it funny how the simplest things can make a world of difference in your attitude and mindset? After seeing Bern while wearing our enormously heavy backpacks for several hours, we hopped on another train to lucerne.

We stepped out of the train station in lucerne and were greeted by a gorgeous lake and icy winds. We found our hostel easily and loved it. The room was cheerful--yellow and green walls and bedding with plenty of natural light. We had a great view of the city and the river too. Britt and I spent the evening making dinner, painting our nails, watching old episodes of grey's and chatting like we were back in the dorms at westmont. It was a much needed time of rest and fellowship for us both.

(3/30)
We did some sightseeing around lucerne today and quickly realized that there wasn't much to see. A huge lion statue was the major attraction (well, the only one that was free). We saw it twice, and let me tell you, it was lame. We walked around a while, checked e-mail, booked our next hostel, went grocery shopping for dinner, bought more truffles and fed the swans in the lake. Tonight we went for a long, scenic run through town. It felt so good--even in the cold, and we got to see the area of town where university students live and go to school.

This has been such a restful and peaceful city for us. We have loved it, but we I'm excited to be in Munich! I'm thirsty for knowledge and history and a big, busy city.

Lucerne is...
-water all around
-snowy mountains in the distance
-swans and ducks practically begging for stale bread
-2 layers of pants, 3 shirts and 2 jackets--it was cold!
-a statue roughly resembling aslan...bp would've loved it
-grocery shopping in a train station
-salad and strawberries--finally!

Swiss Miss in Interlaken

So you know the photo on the side of the Swiss Miss hot chocolate boxes? The one with the green grass and snow-covered mountains? Well, Interlaken is like that times a million. This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Interlaken, which is a small town in the valley of the Swiss Alps, and the surrounding areas have had more snow this year than they have seen in 10 years. (Ryan, the snow is amazing! You have to come back here in the winter and go skiing!) Everywhere we look is pine trees, snow-covered mountains just a stone's throw away, gorgeous green fields and modest chalets with green, red and yellow shutters.

Britt and I thought about going skiing or snowboarding, but it SO expensive. I think we will try to go in Innsbruck or Krakow though, where it is supposed to be cheaper. Instead, we went night-sledding last night. It was a little scary, but definetely one of the coolest things I've ever done. We rode up into the mountains with a guy who works at the hostel and about 10 other people. Then we got our sleds and rode up the rest of the way in gondolas. We slid down the hill, stopping every 20 minutes or so, and ended up an hour later at a tiny Swiss restaurant where we had fondue and beer and hashbrowns and eggs. It was really, really fun!

Today we met up with a new friend, Victoria, from Australia. We traveled with her by train up into the mountain town of Wengen, where we enjoyed incredible views and lunch overlooking the ski slopes. Tonight we are going to a chocolate factory to watch them make truffles! Does it get any better than this? Tomorrow we head to Bern for the day and then Lucerne for the night! More on that soon...

Interlaken is...
-simply gorgeous.
-red-checkered bedspreads and everything wooden
-extreme sports central (the downhill skiing world cup is held here every year)
-our first experience with German
-fondue and chocolate
-blustery weather and warm fires
-2 train stations a half mile apart?
-serene, lovely
-how can we leave this place?

Masks and bridges and gondolas, oh my!

Britt and I have spent the past day and a half in Interlaken, Switzerland, but I wanted to write a quick update on Venice first...

Like I wrote before, we loved Venice as soon as we stepped out of the train station and stared out at the Grand Canal. It was the first time we have arrived somewhere and actually liked what we saw right away. We easily found our hostel and were warmly greeted by the other travellers and hostel workers. We spent 3 nights in Venice and had plenty of time to see the sites, rest and mingle. Some of the things we loved most included going to a Baroque opera, where the singers and musicians dressed up in historical Venetian costumes, getting lost but always finding our way back, seeing St. Mark's Square fill up with water from underground at night, eating Nutella crepes and browsing for souveneirs.

However, I think the 2 things that made Venice so great for us were the hostel we stayed in and the people we met. The hostel manager, Mimo, was the nicest, most accomadating person we have met so far. He let us use his cell phone and skype to call home, he made us dinner every night, and he treated us like we were old friends...something that was much appreciated after going through the "where are you from/what are you doing with your life/where are you traveling" routine day after day. The hostel had this awesome common room with a 2-story ceiling, tons of cozy chairs to sit and read and look out on the quaint Venetian streets, and a long dining room table where we shared breakfast and dinner together.

Venice is...
-new friends from the u.s., australia, and Iran
-gorgeous maze of canals
-color!
-masks and music notes
-glass, glass, glass
-blowtorches and fiery furnaces
-bellini and the office

Roaming Roma

(3/21) Pisa to Rome:
This morning we took pictures in front of the Leaning tower, ate crossaints and drank coffee, browsed souveneir shops, said good-bye to Jen, Jen and Ashley and hopped on a train to Rome...

This afternoon we walked out of the Roma Termini train station and went in the wrong direction for about 10 blocks before finding our hostel. We eventually got there, checked in and took a nap. We hadn't gotten much sleep in Florence! Britt and I went out tonight in search of the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps...and neither were quite as magical as we had expected. The fountain was beautiful, and we threw our coins in hopes of returning to Rome. The hasslers, however, were not so charming. We told a guy 3 times that we didn't want the stupid, tiny tripod he was trying to sell us before he started yelling at us and following us around. Not pleasant. Then we got to the Spanish Steps via some strange and dark back streets, and once we got there they were sort of deserted. We ate a gross, overpriced dinner and returned to our hostel, tired and frustrated.

(3/22)
This morning we ate a weird, but free, breakfast of dry Quaker Oats, stale bread and burnt coffee. Britt and I checked out of our hostel and went to find the other one where we were planning to spend the next 2 nights. Well, turns out that we were in the Comptom of Rome. We walked quickly and fearfully to our next hostel amidst groups of scary, leering guys, the sound of beer bottles shattering, cigarette smoke and filthy streets. Needless to say, this was not the Rome we had imagined. Once we found our hostel, the guy at the front desk (who spoke no English) shoved us into a tiny elevator despite the massive bags on our backs and took us up to our hostel room. I'm not even sure how to describe it except to say that it was Nothing like the hostels we have experienced thus far. It's name, Hostel Eden, was definitely a misnomer.

The rest of the day was spent as far from the hostel as possible. We went straight to Vatican City hoping to attend the 11:30 mass, but the pope was in Africa! We watched him on a big screen TV instead :) Next, we found our way through the crowds into St. Peter's Basilica, which was grander than I had ever imagined. Wow. The ceilings were enormous, the mosaics gorgeously detailed, and every nook and cranny was carefully and thoughtfully created. And I absolutely loved the Pieta, just as I had been told I would. It was the first representation of Mary and Jesus that was truly beautiful. It didn't seem contrived or strange. Instead, it was serence and sad and hopeful all at the same time. Michaelangelo is a sculpting genius!

After seeing the Vatican, we spent some time at a darling coffee shop in a tiny wooden booth checking e-mail and fervently searching for another hostel to spend the night. We didn't find anything available except a camp site (it was 40 degrees though), so we decided to leave Rome early and head to Venice tomorrow night. Britt and I ate gelato for dinner and walked to the Colosseum to see it lit up at night. So cool! We were finally starting to feel like we were in Rome.

Oh, and when we got back to the hostel, we found 4 American girls staying in our room. God is protecting us!

(3/23)
When we got up this morning we checked out of our hostel (so thankful to be leaving!) and headed to the Colosseum. We stood in line for a while but decided that with the time we had left we would rather see the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican museum was massive and overwhelming but incredibly cool. Every wall and ceiling was either painted, molded, sculpted or covered in mosaic. We followed the hoards of people all the way to the back of the museum to the Sistine Chapel. It was a little different than we had expected (which may, in itself, be a theme of this trip), but it was amazing anyway. I loved seeing so many Bible stories depicted in giant frescoes. I love the way that a painting can tell a story without words, and I love the fact that Brittney and I can both stare at a work of art, yet see it and think about it differently.

After leaving the museum, we hopped on the metro to get to the train station for our 2:50 pm train to Venice. We arrived in Venice at 7pm, got off the train and immediately fell in love with this city. More on Venezia soon...

Rome is:
-spread out so much...there is really no city center, which was so confusing
-disgusting hostel/ghetto
-"We miss Pisa!"
-creepy men
-gorgeous art
-so many nuns and priests!
-incredible to be standing in a place of such ancient history
-a chance to dust off my Latin and realize that there isn't much remaining besides root words
-the pope on TV
-reading I Peter in St. Peter's Basilica

Firenze/Pisa/Cinque Terre: Mishaps and Adventures

Well, right now we are actually in our hostel in Rome (the first of 2...we booked our rooms too late), but first I need to update on the last few days.

(3/19) Florence:
Today was all about seeing the sights of Florence--the Duomo, the Gates of Paradise, the Pontevecchio and Michelangelo's David. The David was so incredible to see in person. It was gorgeous--so immaculately and perfectly crafted. Every detail was believable and graceful and subtle. The Duomo was neat to see too, though perhaps a bit disappointing. It's amazing how empty a Cathedral can feel when the architecture becomes more important than the Architect himself. I am learning more and more that God's temple is filled with His spirit because His people dwell there--not because it looks nice on the outside. I think that the buildings are pleasing to Him, but the hearts of His people are so much sweeter.

One great thing we did today was cross the bridge to the other side of the Arno River and hike up to a monastery where we had a view of the whole city. Views like this one change my perspective so much. Florence seemed bigger, grander from up there. We also got to see the brilliant greens, yellows and oranges from the countryside of Tuscany.

Tonight we met up with Jen, Jen and Ashley (who had spent the day on a Vespa tour through the wine country...we were jealous). We had planned to go out with them and ended up joining their new traveling friend Peter, Bre Mason (a friend from Westmont who is studying in Florence), and a ton of her friends. We noisily traipsed through the city to a place called Aparativo, where for 8 Euro we each got a cocktail and appetizers for dinner. It was so good and a really fun atmosphere. We spent the night laughing and joking and making friends with random Florentine people :)

Florence is...
-teeny, tiny narrow sidewalks...these near misses with motorbikes are getting old
-voltage conversion issues-Yes, I actually burned my hair at one point.
-Gorgeous views and lots of history
-Jen Griffeth may or may not be married to a Macedonian bartender
-Dancing
-Laughing 'till we cried
-Duomo, duomo, duomo...we could see it from everywhere. Where should we meet? Um, near the Duomo. Where is the bridge? Just to the right of the Duomo.
-6 Euro gelato...oops!

(3/20) Pisa-Cinque Terre:
Today Britt, Jen, Jen, Ashley and I left Florence on an early train headed to Pisa. The hostel we had planned to stay at was full so we ended up at a really nice (but fairly cheap) hotel right by the Leaning Tower. After checking in, we literally sprinted across town to catch our train to the Cinque Terre. We made the train, but when we got to the Cinque Terre we found out that almost the entire park was closed. We were so bummed, but we took the train to Venazza (the middle city) anyway and had lunch at the creepiest little restaurant. It was such a weird day, which made it all the more fun! We took tons of pictures of the beautiful scenery: the brightly colored buildings of the tiny towns, blue-green water, and ruggled cliffs dotted with winter-bare grapevines. Jen, Ashley and I made the fatal mistake of wearing bathing suits, running shorts and sweatshirts because we thought we were going to be hiking all day. Little did we know that it would be in the 40s and 50s all day! People literally pointed, stared and laughed at us all day, but we laughed right along with them.

We ended the day back in Pisa with kebabs and gelato. Jen, Jen and Ashley reminisced about their time in Turkey and Lithuania, and Britt and I had a great time hearing about all their adventures. They are such beautiful and vibrant friends, and we so enjoyed our time with them!

Pisa/Cinque Terre is...
-Leaning
-lots of running and cold legs--One lady told us we looked like plucked chickens because of our goose-bumps!
-Cappucinos for breakfast
-Lots of laughter
-Our first Italian riot on the way out of town

Nice and Eze on the French Riviera

Well, after I left you last, we managed to take the wrong train, lose my cell phone in Avignon and make our way through dark and narrow streets and up the sketchiet set of stairs we had ever seen. BUT...the conductor cut us some slack, my dad cancelled my cell phone number, and at the top of the stairs was our hostel--nicer on the inside than out.

Brittney and I spent the past 2 days exploring Nice and Monaco by touching the water of the Mediterranean for the first time on the boardwalk of Nice, exploring castle ruins and an amazing cemetery that overlooked the city, watching the changing of the guards ceremony at the Monaco royal palace and witnessing the ritz of the Monte Carlo casino. One of our favorite things was a little cafe that we found yesterday, where we had lunch in the afternoon and returned for dessert later that night. The owner was there, and he was so sweet to us! We talked about chocolate and surfing and the beauty of France. We have had a great time here but are once again excited for tomorrow, when we will take an early morning train to Florence to meet our friends from Westmont--Jen, Jen and Ashley.

Nice is:
-narrow, windy streets
-richly colored buildings against the deep blue sea
-a homecooked meal for the first time (yep, we found a market and braved the hostel kitchen!)
-one tartin appel and a dark chocolate fountain
-a california feel: everyone bikes, rollerblades, runs or walks to get around town
-Elton John's house
-almost getting hit by trams and motorbikes too many times
-fountains and waterfalls
-the elaborate gravesite of the founder of Mercedes
-tiny French dogs with little French accents ;)

Hi everyone! I am sorry I have been such a slacker with this whole blog business! We are in Nice, France this morning (Day 7 of our trip) but I wanted to update you on the past few days. This is what my trusty little moleskin journal holds so far:

3/12
It is 9:30 am here in Barcelona, Spain, and we have another 1/2 hour before we can go check if the airport has brought my bag was lost in London-thank you, British Airways :) We left San Antonio on March 10th, traveled through Houston and London and landed in Barcelona at noon yesterday. We forced ourselves to stay awake last night until 8:30 pm. I think the last time I went to bad that early was around 1992. And even then... Anway, we slept until 8 this morning, and we are still fighting jet lag but feeling much better. It is still hard to believe that I am really, finally here. It is strange to think that we are completely in charge of what we do all day every day. No parents or professors or group leaders telling us what to do or where to go. It is incredibly freeing and exciting-though a bit scary. I'm praying that God will protect us and give us his peace. I trust that He will do as He has promised.

...3/12 continued...

My bag finally came yesterday afternoon! Yay! Our travel clothes were disgusting so we were excited to change into something cleaner and more Euro-skinny jeans, orange tanktop, grey sweater, brown boots. After getting ready and chatting it up with our new French friend Nassim, who was ridiculously fun and kind to us, we headed out for a day filled to the brim with sightseeing. We started out at Parca Guell (Gaudi's park) and enjoyed an amazing view of thecity and a picnic lunch. While walking down from the park, we got super lost and finally ended up at Sagrada Familia--an incredible cathedral that has been under construction since the 1880s. We got the audio headset and looked goofy, but we were so glad we did. Brit and I agreed that we could have simply stared at the ornate detailing for days. It was so so cool. It made me feel reverent and and filled with awe--like we were standing somewhere that really mattered. It was history in the making.

After thatwe wandered back to what we thought was our hostel, but we actually ended up at the Arc de Triof, which was similar to the one in Paris. It was fun to see and we were glad to have stumbled upon it. We were so tired that we ended up just eating gelato for dinner and hung out at the hostel listening to a great live Spanish band in the lounge.

3/13
Today we overslept until almost 11 am, and our French dorm mates had already moved out of the room. We began theday by heading to the covered market outside La Rambla and bought fruit and bread for lunch. We took our picnic to the end beach at the end of La Rambla and saw the Port de Barcelona, the maritime museum, the aquarium, and the funicular that leads to Monjuic Park (Olympic Village). Honestly, between spotting Sephora and Mc Donald's and the gigantic harbor, it looked a lot like San Diego. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting by the fountain by the millions of pigeons at Placa Catalunya reading and sunbathing.

Then we took a couple hours or so back at the hostel (we had to kill time before the late Spanish eaters would serve us dinner) and learned more French from Nassim. He taught us phrases like "when chickens fly," "it's raining strings," the days of the week, how to count to 20, and how to tell someone our age...je ven deux sant... Later we went out for a typical Spanish dinner (Ryan, we looked for your restaurant and couldn't find it...)

Barcelona is:
-people with down coats and scarves in 75 degree weather...seriously?
-Paella/sangria/tapas on EVERY menu
-many foreigners/tourists
-diff. from Mexico in every way, even though on the train leaving Spain I woke up from an accidental nap asking Brittney if we were still in Mexico
-friendly
-bright at night
-restaurants don't fill up until 9 or 10 pm
-a conglomerate of memories of San Francisco, San Diego and LA
-very expensive stores
-one very frightening pickpocketer
-many unlabeled streets
-amazing architecture
-a jillion motorbikes
-1 word: pigeons
-a tangled, beautiful mess of underground transport, which we almost got used to
-colorful, tiled
-funky hairdos and baggy pants on girls
-Euromullet

3/15 Avignon, France

Today was a conjunction of old world and new. We awoke this morning in our tiny hotel room with its tinier bathroom (think airplane with a bathtub). With Britt's ipod we checked our e-mail/train times and ate a breakfast of orange juice, strong coffee and crossaints (we love France!) Then we headed to the Pope's Palace in old town Avignon, which is surrounded by castle walls. Built in the1400s, the palace was grey, cavernous and sparse. The audio tour was AWFUL. Seriously, so boring! But we had fun looking around, and the view from the top was gorgeous. We walked the palace grounds a while before finding lunch and buying some postcards. Apparently Sunday is not the day to be in Avignon because pretty much everything but the palace was closed. It was fun to see, but we are excited to be heading to Nice tonight.

Avignon is:
-old
-cheerful and sunny
-French postcards
-croque monsiuer and quiche lorraine
-7 popes and 1 palace
-a bridge built only halfway across thewater
-a view of the Rhone River
-a hotel room for 2 after a hostel room for 12
-our French sucks...Britt keeps trying to speak Spanish to everyone :)

We're here!

It is 3pm in Barcelona, and we have made it to the hostel! We are exhausted but so excited to finally be here. 2 years of planning, saving and scheduling have paid off, and we are on our way to 6 weeks of European vacation. I think I am too tired to write anything witty or interesting, but I will try to post later tonight or in the morning!

Dad-Britt and I are headed to the bank to exchange money and finding out where to buy my sim card. I´ll e-mail you when I know the number.