The End Arrives

Hello everyone! Ruth and I got safely home last night. We stopped short of kissing the ground, but we're very thankful and excited to be home. I'll try to put together some online photo albums in the next few weeks and post them here. Thanks for tuning in to my European adventures!

The Grand Voyage to Scotland

Today Ruth and I spent 12 hours getting from Portstewart, Ireland to Glasgow, Scotland. It involved 4 buses, 1 train, 1 ferry boat, 1 taxi, and us wandering around like fools for quite a while. We were given directions from a very nice old Scotsman, but I maybe would have understood him more if he was speaking French. I did understand the words "wee bit" and "student" in the course of the conversation, but basically we smiled and nodded and continued on our very lost path. And once we actually got to the hostel his directions made a wee bit more sense- maybe we'll catch on eventually.

And Scotland is gorgeous- at least the Western coast that we've seen, so our travels were fairly enjoyable. Thus ends the story from today.

Seeing Belfast Fast and The Giant's Causeway

This'll be quick, but I just wanted to update you on how we're getting along. It's less than a week until we go home, and we're definitely getting excited! The British Isles are lovely, though, so we're glad to have a little more time to explore.

On Monday we visited the General Post Office in Dublin, which is where the Easter Rising was kicked off; the pillars are still pock-marked from bullets. From there we caught our train to Belfast, where we spent a few hours seeing the Botanic Gardens and the City Hall, before heading to Portstewart on the coast of Northern Ireland.

We're staying in a hostel that is less than a block off the sea. The coast is gorgeous and green and rocky, and we've enjoyed walking up and down the promenade. The people here are also super friendly, and you only have to look confused for a minute before someone comes up and offers help. Of course, we're lucky if we can understand them, as their accents are pretty thick, but it is nice to meet with such friendly people.

Today we saw the Giant's Causeway, which is a national park on the coast with bizarre hexagonal rock formations. It was brilliantly sunny and quite pretty. I love the sound of the waves and the fresh smell of the wind. This afternoon we had tea overlooking the ocean, which was delightful and helped us warm up, as the weather is quite chilly.

Tomorrow we're taking a ferry to Scotland, where we'll spend a few days before heading back to London for the rest of our trip...

I had a funny experience on the phone today: I called to make a reservation on the ferry, and halfway through the man asked for my zip code, which I promptly told him. He seemed confused and asked again for my zip code, which I gave him again. He still didn't seem to get it, so I told it to him again, making sure to let him know that I was from the US. He was super shocked that I was from the US, as he was sure from my English accent that I was from Britian. He seemed put out, and asked somewhat crankily if I wanted him to change my nationality to US. As I am from the US, I thought it would be good for him to change it. It was quite interesting, as I certainly do not and never have had a British accent. Ruth and I had a good laugh over it.

It's time to sign off! I'm looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

The Luck 'O the Irish

Speaking of the luck o' the Irish, Ruth and I had a lucky break with our travel plans. We had debated spending more time in the Cotswolds or other places in Western England, but we decided not, in favor of seeing Wales and Ireland and Scotland. The day after we left the Cotswolds, they were dumped on by some huge storms, and all travel in the area was shut down: train operations suspended and roads closed. Good thing we got out when we could, otherwise we would have been stranded! I guess there are worse places in the world to be stranded, but we're enjoying seeing the different areas of the British Isles.

Speaking of luck, we have been also lucky(?) in having some interesting B&B experiences. At our B&B in Wales, our good landlord like to talk, so we got an inside look at what life is like in small-town Wales. We heard all about his kids and things to do in the area and normal stuff like that, but then we ventured in to global warming and the French. Apparently, he's not too keen on the French, since he asserts that there are always wars going on between the British and the French. The current war that he told us about involved the French burning British sheep!

We otherwise had a lovely time in Wales: we rambled around an old castle (Conwy Castle), which we pretty much had to ourselves, and then toured the Bodnant Gardens, which are gorgeous. (As a side note, my camera has pretty much given up the ghost after all of the abuse it has taken this trip, so there probably won't be any more photo uploads until we get home.)

From Conwy, we trained to the port to take the ferry to Dublin, passing lots of sheepies and green fields, as well as the town/train station with the longest name ever: the lovely Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. This lengthy name apparently means "St. Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave."

Our crossing from Wales to Dublin was smooth, despite the 100s of young scouts that were on our boat and raising Cain. This morning we explored Dublin, walking around the town and seeing Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green and some nice Georgian-era architecture. For our thoroughly Irish experience we attended evensong at St. Patrick's Cathedral, sat in the Guinness pew (as in the beer), and listened to an organ play the "Tuba Tune," which is more commonly referred to as "Danny Boy!"

Tomorrow we head to Belfast for the day, and then to the Giant's Causeway on the Northern Coast of Ireland. Should be pretty! It's a little over a week before we come home, and we're excited to get back, since living out of a suitcase gets a little tiring, and we miss all you good folk. Hope you're doing well, and we'll try to keep you updated this last week!

Gallivanting About England

Ruth and I have been gallivanting about England, enjoying sheepies and rolling countryside and cute accents and flowers and tea time and homey B&Bs. We had an informative walking tour around Bath from a man who looked like Christopher Plummer. We learned such interesting things as who built what building and where the local bingo hall is.

We stayed in a very cute B&B in Bath and enjoyed chatting with the other guests in the house. Of course, I think at this point we're glad to speak with anyone who speaks English. One of the couples was from Boston, so we had some nice chats about Boston and New England. They brought jars of peanut butter and Fluff with them so that they could make fluffernutter sandwiches for lunch each day- so funny!

Our tea at the pump room was quite the event. We sat in a room overlooking the Roman baths and had tea that was accompanied by live piano, violin and cello music. It was lovely, and we got to avoid the torrential downpour that was occuring outside.

Yesterday was spent in the Cotswolds, where we explored quaint little villages and went on a hike through fields that should have taken 2 hours but ended up taking 4 because we kept on wandering off the trail. The trail was actually through farmer's fields, so we were walking with cows at times. It was beautiful, even the Slaughters (Upper and Lower), which are two villages that actually have nothing to do with death, despite the name.

Today we took 6 trains to get to Wales, but now we are in Northern Wales on the sea in a quaint little town with an old castle that we hope to tour tomorrow. Ruth and I are planning to speak whales here- maybe it will help us blend in with the locals.

To backtrack- the last thing we did in France before taking the ferry over was to tour the D-Day beaches and visit the Caen War Memorial Museum. It is really sobering and thought-provoking to tour the cemetaries, with their endless rows of marble crosses, and the pock-marked bluffs where so many died and the beaches that saw so much fighting. The beaches were especially jarring, as they are now a huge tourist draw- so people sunbathe and cavort in and around the memorials that mark the Omaha beach! It is an interesting contrast, thinking about men fighting and dying on the spot where people now get a tan and spent their holiday. Anyways, it was an interesting tour, complete with a tour guide who spoke English with an accent straight out of the Pink Panther. Times up, so I've got to run!

Back in the Motherland (or something)

Ruth and I just got out of a lovely tea at the Pump Room in Bath, complete with live music. We're staying in a cute B&B with a cute woman named Anne who is like a grandmother to us, and everyone speaks English. It's super exciting. This is all I have time for, sorry!

Parisian Adventures

Happy Bastille Day!

Ruth and I are sitting in the hottest internet cafe known to man. Hence, this might be short.

Ruth and I had a glorious time yesterday- at IKEA. We traveled out into the suburbs to visit an IKEA, because we thought it would be fun to go to an IKEA in another country, and it also provided a little taste of home. We wandered around the display floors and saw all of the interesting products that they carry only in Europe, and then we had a delicious and cheap meal in the restaurant. Everything in Paris is super expensive, so it's nice to find something a little cheaper every now and again.

After IKEA, we got started on our real sight-seeing: Versailles. We toured the Chateaux and the famous Hall of Mirrors. The palace was so grandiose and everything was gold-plated, and it is hard to believe that people actually lived there once. We took a break from the heat on a shady bench in the garden and watched tourists in golf carts fly by and tractors hauling palm trees to who-knows-where. The weather suddenly decided to get nice- sunny and hot- all of the sudden yesterday, so it was the perfect day to see Versailles. We also toured Marie Antionette's house and some of the gardens, but we couldn't see it all before it closed. Versailles is massive- to see it all in one day would be an accomplishment. The gardens were very beautiful, and the fountains in the garden would be something to see when they are actually working, which is only the weekends...

On our way home, we had another interesting subway experience. A homeless man got on the train and started pushing (quite hard) some of the women who were in his way. He spent most of the ride cursing and yelling, until he decided to pull out a knife and brandish it at some of the passengers and then stab the door. Once he pulled out a suspicious-looking bottle and took a pull he was a little happier and put the knife away, but it definitely was... interesting. We were glad that he didn't get off at our stop.

This morning Ruth and I were kicked out of our room by our landlady, who made us move up to the 6th floor for our last night. That was a little exciting, but we have a better view from the 6th floor, and we don't have to listen to her yell all day long.

The Bastille Day parade down the Champs-Elysees was this morning. Ruth and I have been so exhausted from all of our adventures, so we didn't get up early enough to watch it live, but we did watch it on TV. It was quite the military display- I think every single person in any branch of military, as well as all of the military equipment was on parade. There were even cement trucks!

We went to Montmartre this afternoon and saw the Sacre-Coeur church and enjoyed a beautiful view of Paris. We also took a saunter through the Luxembourg Gardens, which are very pretty and flowery.

This evening we're hoping to see the fireworks by the Eiffel Tower- we'll have to go pretty early to make sure that we get a spot. Tomorrow we're going to a World War II museum in Caen and touring the D-Day beaches, and then Monday we head off to England. We're going to be in small-town England and Wales for a while, so we're not sure when we'll get online again. I wish you a happy Bastille Day!

The Opera Man

I forgot to mention it before, but Ruth and I had an interesting encounter in the Brussels Metro. We were sitting there politely when suddenly a man got in and started singing opera. It was not too good, but it got even worse when he started quacking at random parts in his show. I've never heard quack-opera, but it certainly was quite interesting...

More later, but I just wanted to share the wonderment of the duck opera man with you all.

On Disney Castles, Night Trains, Brussels, and Paris

So, picking up where I left off...

Ruth and I had a nice journey to the Neuschwanstein Castle.

It is a very pretty castle, although it seemed a little strange because it is so (relatively) new. It also was dedicated to Wagner, so it was complete with a cave/grotto on the inside, which is something you don't see every day. Overall, it was a very successful trip. The scenery surrounding the castle is beautiful- similar to the Swiss Alps, but more tame (and German). You can see why someone would choose to build a castle there.

We had a ten hour night train to Paris, in which we sat up all night in a hot and stuffy and smelly and squishy compartment with four other people. It was slightly a nightmare, but we made it to Paris at last. It was nice to go on a night train, because it would have been a shame spending a whole day traveling on a train between the two places.

We had some difficulty checking in to our hotel- the place doesn't have internet, so they had no record of our reservation, since we made it only two days ago. Once we proved that we had a reservation, they were happy to let us in, but until then we had a very heated conversation in English on our side and Chinese/French/English on their side. Our hotel is in the Paris version of Chinatown, so we have our pick of Chinese restaurants- not something I was expecting in Paris.

Our first day in Paris was spent exploring little neighborhoods and local markets, visiting the Museum of Jewish History in Europe, and having a delightful picnic on the Place Voges. The Jewish museum provided an interesting look at how the Jewish culture evolved around Europe, and how it has been persecuted and belittled. Definitely provided some food for thought.

On Tuesday we decided to go on a day trip to Brussels, Belgium, just because we could. There's a fast train that runs there, so it only took an hour and a half to get there. We enjoyed the French fries and the Belgian waffles, and decided that the waffles are definitely better in Belgium. We saw the Grand Place, which is a beautiful square. We also went to the building that is modeled after the atom- hooray for chemistry!

We enjoyed wandering around Belgium and seeing what was to be seen.

Yesterday we plunged in to Paris. We had breakfast at the Eiffel Tower, ducked into Napolean's Tomb, where we lost our guide book, and then spent the morning finding an English bookstore to get another guidebook. Once we had secured one, we had crepes across the river from the Notre Dame before touring the it. We wandered around the historic core of Paris, seeing a memorial of the deportation, which remembers the French who were deported from Paris to concentration and work camps and never returned. We also saw the Concierge, where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned, and the St. Chapelle Church, which is a beautiful chapel with amazing stained glass. We finished our day in Paris by picnicking by the Eiffel Tower and watching it light up in the evening, which was a beautiful sight. It's pretty chilly here, with highs in the low 60s, which makes sitting outside for long periods of time a little challenging, but the tower at night was worth it.

Today we did an art museum blitz, seeing the Orsay Museum and its Impressionistic paintings (which I loved) in the morning, and then going to the Louvre during lunch when it is a little less crowded. We were more selective as to what we saw at the Louvre because it is just so huge and overwhelming, but we did see the Mona Lisa. I rather wonder why it is so famous, but it was good to see it in person. We wandered through the Tuilleries and then down the Champs Elysees to the Arc du Triomphe. Whew! It's been a busy day!

We have two more days in Paris- we're hoping to do Versailles one of them. Saturday is Bastille Day, so there will be fireworks and parades, which would be cool to see. We're paying an arm and a leg for internet here in Paris, so I'm not sure when we'll be checking in next. Hope you're all doing well!

Lake Como, the Fabulous Alps, an Evening in France, and Germany on a Whim

I loved Lake Como and thought it was my favorite place until I saw the Swiss Alps. Not that Lake Como is not pretty, by any means, but I love the Alps.

We had one leisurely day in Lake Como in which we toured the Villa Carlotta and its amazing gardens, and otherwise had a wonderful and relaxing time doing nothing and enjoying the lake.

The next day we were off for the Swiss Alps. We spent most of the day enroute, but the scenery was well worth it. We stayed in a little town call Lauterbrunnen, which is a 20 minute train ride from Interlaken. The valley that our apartment was in has 72 waterfalls, and I think we could see at least 15, including one that was a 10 minute walk away. The mountains and cliffs soared all around us, and we could see the snow-covered Jungfrau at one end of the valley.

The green hills and valley were dotted with cute Swiss chalets with cows and windowboxes and tidy gardens. It was beautiful! It unfortunately had a tendancy to rain all the time while we were there, which put a damper (hehe) on some of our plans. We did visit a chocolate school one rainy afternoon, and we also hiked up to Trömmelbach Falls, which are enourmous waterfalls that pour through caverns in the mountain that are draining from three different glaciers. The falls were super cool because you got to go into the caverns in the mountain where the huge waterfalls were; if you were in the valley you would have no idea that such a huge waterfall is there because it is mostly in the mountain. We did not do any other big activities, but it was so nice to relax and to walk around the village and valley.


It was also interesting because the Swiss are my kind of people- neat and tidy and on time. Compared the other other places that we have visited, everything was so tidy- the yards and the houses, and everything was super on time. In Spain a train left on time if it was out within 5 or so minutes of the posted time. In Switzerland, if the train left more than 5 seconds after the posted time you wondered what was going on.

We left our parents and Marie yesterday; they are heading home, and we have three more weeks left for our European adventures. We took a train to Colmar, France, which is a super cute small town with half-timbered houses. On the way, we decided to skip going to the South of France (because the tours we wanted to go on were cancelled), and instead head to Munich to see the Disney Castle, and then head to Paris a few days early to make sure that we see everything we want to.

Hence, I am posting from an internet cafe in Munich. We have been up since 4 AM to make our trains, and in Munich we have seen free concerts and protests about lab animals (complete with a coffin and pallbearers and people in animal costumes) and lots of beer gardens. Tomorrow we will tour the Neuschwanstein Castle, and then who knows?

We will keep you posted and hopefully will get pictures up sometime. Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

The Mondo Post: The End of Rome, Florence Rambles, Venice Cruising, and Lake Como Peace

Ruth told me that this post needed to come with a disclaimer, so here it is: I hope you’ve eaten your Wheaties this morning, because it’s going to be a long one! Also, some of my older posts have been updated with more pictures, and I would suggest checking out Ruth's blog if you haven't because she has some more photos.

(These are the popes shrubs above! Hooray for shrubberies!)

To finish off Rome… We finally got in to the Vatican Museum on Tuesday (after waiting in line for about 2 hours) and saw the Sistine Chapel and lots of other art- maps, Raphael’s walls, sculpture up the wazoo, mummies, artifacts, modern religious art, etc. Supposedly there are four miles of art to wander around at the Vatican, and I think we definitely saw it all before ending up at the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel was impressive and beautiful, and it was crazy to see these iconic paintings in person.

Rome itself was a surreal experience. There’s something bizarre and really cool about taking a taxi home at night and passing through the ancient walls of Rome and over the Tiber River, and seeing the Forum and the Coliseum and the Vatican and St. Peter’s all lit up.

On our last night there we experienced Rome at its best- at dusk and as the moon rose. It had cooled down, and the moonlight softened the ugly parts and made the whole city more beautiful. We retraced some of our tour from Monday- we climbed the Spanish steps, chucked our coins in the Trevi Fountain as it was all lit up (to ensure that we come back to Rome), watched the moon rise over the Pantheon while enjoying some of the best gelato in Rome, and watched the artists at work on the Piazza Nouvona. It was the perfect way to end our stay in Rome.

On Wednesday we went to Pisa for the day on our way to Florence. The train ride from Rome to Pisa was gorgeous- we were riding along the Mediterranean coastline, and the sea had about a million distinct shades of blue and green. The train station at Pisa was not so beautiful- we saw someone fall underneath a train as it was entering the station, which was horrifying. The screams and the chaos that ensued were crazy, and it made me incredibly thankful for the safe travels that we have had. We later found out that she had died...

After getting out of the station as the ambulance arrived, we wandered the streets of Pisa and climbed the leaning tower. It was difficult to stay balanced while climbing and descending slippery marble stairs that tilt, but really exciting to think that I was where Galileo had been and had done some of his research. From there, we headed off to Florence and wandered the streets around the Duomo and historic Florence in the evening.

On Thursday we toured Florence, visiting the David and Ponte Vecchio. Ponte Vecchio is a bridge lined with shops that sell silver and gold, with great views of Florence on the river. Local men take padlocks and attach them to the bridge and throw the key into the river to symbolize their undying love for their significant other; hence, there were lots of padlocks on the bridge. We also toured the gardens on the grounds of the Pitti Palace. The gardens had lovely views of Florence, a plethora of statues, and some beautiful fountains, which I very much enjoyed. We also escaped the tour groups, which was very exciting.

We spent the afternoon and evening in Siena, which is a smaller, out-of-the-way town in Tuscany. The ride there was gorgeous, with villas and vineyards and sunflower fields and olive trees and rolling hills- just like the pictures of Tuscany. We rambled around the city, climbed the bell tower for lovely views of the city and countryside, picnicked on Il Campo (the main square of Siena where everyone hangs out), and generally experienced life in a small Italian town with fewer tourists. The square was all set up for the Palio, which is a horse race that is held once a year in Siena, where all of the neighborhoods compete against each other in a race around the square. The square had a ring of dirt around it, mattresses padding the corners, and bleachers set up all around for viewing. We missed the actual race by a few days, but it was cool to see everything all set up. We saw some photos from the race in previous years, and it looks like it would be crazy. There really are no rules, so jockeys will hit each other and rider-less horses can win. Looks like fun!

We enjoyed our ride back to Florence, as it was at sunset and just generally beautiful. We had a little bit of excitement, since our bus driver was texting throughout the trip, but we made it safely back.

On our last day in Florence we spent the morning bartering and generally making out like bandits at the central market in Florence, which had anything and everything you could ever want. We hopped on our train to Venice, and then had a beautiful ride through some mountains to Venice.

Venice is lovely and watery and old. We cruised the Grand Canal on our way to the hotel and saw gondolas and old palaces and caught a glimpse of St. Mark’s and enjoyed the Venice ambience with about a million other people. It still was charming, despite the teeming hordes. In the evening, we explored the side streets of Venice- the rambling canals and cute bridges. We managed to find a relatively quiet neighborhood and had a peaceful supper in a garden. Hooray for gardens! We bus-boated back to our hotel, enjoying the lit up canal at night.

The bus system is really a bunch of mondo boats that cruise back and forth on the canal with river-side “stations.” It is quite slow, but a good way to see Venice, and really the only way to get where you want to go. It’s really amusing to see DHL boats and food boats and to see teenagers out cruising with loud music at night in their power boats.

On our full day in Venice, we did a grand tour, boating around the islands some more, seeing the glass blowing that Venice is so famous for, visiting some of the famous bridges: the Rialto and the Bridge of Sighs, seeing San Marcos Square, and wandering around the streets and canals and parks that are so pretty. We even managed to find a residential neighborhood where we could rub elbows with locals and almost no tourists.

I also managed to have a hugely Venetian experience… We had lunch on a little square, and the pigeons started attacking in swarms. (You don’t need to go to San Marcos to see pigeons- they’re everywhere!) They were even pecking my feet, so I started shooing them away with my feet- and ended up punting one quite soundly! It was quite satisfying. Score: Sarah 1, Pigeons 0. Of course, then I started laughing so hard that a) everyone looked and b) the pigeons were all scared away for real. But it truly is a strange sensation to kick a pigeon…

Yesterday we spent most of the day (my birthday!) traveling from Venice to Lezzano on Lake Como. It involved boats and trains and buses, and was quite an experience. Lake Como is one of the most beautiful places on earth- a gorgeous lake surrounded by huge, steep mountains that are dotted with villas and otherwise covered with trees. Because the mountains are so steep and the roads have to be carved out of the rock, the roads are incredibly narrow and windy- often they are only wide enough to allow for one car. As a result, the bus ride was quite an experience. The driver would honk on the curves where it is impossible to see if anyone was coming to say that he was coming and that he was going to go where only one car could go. A lot of times the cars and motorcycles didn’t believe him, so we would pretty much be stuck until the smaller cars moved on. And then we’d go careening on down the windy road.

We had supper on the water last night, just enjoying the gorgeous scenery. We also watched a thunderstorm roll in over a 20 minute period- the lightning was amazing on the lake. I also love thunderstorms, so it was the perfect way to end my birthday.

And thus ends the saga for now… We’re going to enjoy relaxing at Lake Como for a little bit, since we’ve pretty much been going straight through for a while. Hope you’re all doing well!