Infamous Amsterdam

** "Coffee" in this post is used in place of other mood altering drugs which are LEGAL in the Netherlands for those 18+

What can I say? Amsterdam is pretty great! We got off the train and found our hostel (which was situated right around the red light district and all of the night life). This hostel was great because we got a double room for what we usually pay for a dorm! Plus they had a cat named Simba, who we loved on lots. (We miss our babies!)

After checking in we decided to do the canal tour. It was an hour long and sort of dull. Probably not worth the 10 euro/person but it was relaxing at least. I like canal tours!

From there we wandered around checking out the infamous Amsterdam coffee shops. For two people who don't know anything about "coffee" everything was overwhelming. All sorts of 'coffee'!!!

With our complete inexperience on the subject we settled for chocolate 'coffee' muffins, called Space Cake, from Freeworld Coffee Shop. After our muffins we sat and had a beer at a bar on the street, and did some people watching.

The smell of 'coffee' fills the streets and everyone around us was smoking. It was surreal to be in a place where it is legal and widely accepted. The dispensing of 'coffee' in Amsterdam has regulations like that of alcohol. You must be 18+ to buy it and can only smoke in public at approved areas. (Bars and coffee shops). Every store has a variety of moking devices, papers and 'coffee' products. Such as beer, candy, energy drinks, baked goods and more! We even saw seed shops, where you can get everything you need to grow your own. It was really interesting.

My muffin made me giggly, and H just got sleepy. So it was a completely lame experience, but I guess 'coffee' just isn't that exciting to begin with. I personally don't see the attraction.

We went back to our hostel and slept. Woke up this morning and went to Alkmaar ro see the famous cheese market. Come to find out, the last one of the season was the first week of September. (Our guide book said it was the last week) so that was a bust.

We still visited the cheese museum and learned how cheese is made. Then we went to a local cheese shop and bought some cheese and crackers for lunch. The cheese was great! We had one that was sort of like sharp cheddar, then other was softer and had herbs in it.

From Alkmaar we took 4 trains to get to Hamburg, where we are now. (And so far it sucks. But that is for another post!)

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Brussels

Got to our hostel late again. We are always the last in/first out. Oh well, if the other people in our dorm expect silence they probably shouldn't stay in a 24 hour hostel. We both had top bunks last night! It was fun.

This morning we had a simple hostel breakfast then spent about 1.5 hours using the free wi-fi to figure out our next few days. We are going to Amsterdam today and planned on spending the next 2 nights there, but it was really expensive. So instead we will stay in Amsterdam tonight then do two nights in Hamburg, Germany.

Finally situated, we wandered into Brussels to explore. We found the Grand Place which is noted as the most beautiful town square in Europe. It was extremely gorgeous with its old buildings and towering spire of town hall, but I don't know about most beautiful.

We continued on to go pay our respects to the most famous peeing boy, Manneken Pis. On the way we came across a place called Waffle Factory so we decided to see what all the hullaballoo about Belgium waffles is....well what can I say? It was the best thing to ever grace my mouth!!! Oh my gosh! It was like funnel cake, but better. We got the traditional waffle dusted in powdered sugar and it was to die for. We gobbled up our treats by the time we walked to Manneken Pis.

We took all the neccesary tourist pics with the fountain then grabbed a couple of beers at a bar across the corner. It was called, Poechenellekelder. Which is Flemish for....something...probably. They offered 142 types of beer, mostly brewed in Belgium. Most Belgium beers average 6% alcohol by volume! Some up into the teens!! There were beers that were 15% alcohol by volume! Wowza. We each tried two. First round was the Bink Blanche and the Leffe Blanche. Next round was 2 Hoegaardens (which we tried last night at the hostel bar and loved). Belgium beer is all its said to be, just like the waffles!

On our way back to the train station we 'accidentaly' crossed paths with Waffle Factory again. This time we split a strawberry & cream waffle and we made friends with the owner. :) He enjoyed that we came back to his shop out of all the other waffle shops on that street.

Made it to the station and sent out a postcard, then got to the platform just in time to miss our train. We waited an hour and now are en route to Amsterdam!!

We are staying in the infamous redlight district tonight and tomorrow we go to Alkmaar for the cheese market/auction! Alkmaar is the last thing we had to do on a specific date, so even though we have an itenerary for the next month...we havw all the freedom in the world to change it too! It feels good to travel on a whim.

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Luxembourg

Even though its the smallest country I know, Luxembourg is not to be missed. The country is a little smaller than the state of Rhode Island, but it is simply quaint. We visited Luxembourg City (the capitol city). Its only a couple of hours outside of Paris, and makes for a good day trip.

The train station is about a 20 minute walk from the center of town. We got a map from the tourist office (always our first stop!) And went to find wi-fi. There was a really nice open square with lots of resteraunts and wi-fi where we spent an hour enjoying people-watching and catching up online.

From there we went to the Bock Casements, which are the remains of a medieval fortress that once kept Luxembourg safe. It was used for cannons, weapons, and soilders (up to 50 cannons and 1200+ soldiers). The main casement area is roughly 110m long and 7m wide (the whole casements cover about 1100 sq. meters)

In WWII it and the other casements in the city served as a bomb shelter for up to 35,000 people.  Nowadays, it is essentially an underground tunnel system that we got to run around and play in! There were tunnels, caves, lookouts and soooo mannnny spiral stair cases. It was a complete maze! Some stair cases just led to dead ends, some tunnels ended in bricked off passages and overall it was really confusing and just awesome!

There is a well that is 154 ft deep and legend has it a mermaid lives in the bottom. Although we didn't see her, it was still really cool. The portholes had a wonderful view of the city and we narrowly escaped through the (even more) underground secret passage (which was used in case the main bridge was destroyed in battle).

Overall it was pretty interesting and down a couple of dark dead end stone passages, I caught orbs on my camera! Ghost Hunters much!? It was a good use of our time in Luxembourg.

After the casements we grabbed sandwiches from Subway (yeah, Subway!). I made up a new sandwich, instead of my usual two choices. Heather was very proud, that way even though it was Subway it counts as something new. :) the Subway also had an orange soda called Miranda! It was delicious.

The only thing I missed in Luxembourg was a postcard! We totally forgot to buy one on our way out! It is the only country I don't have one from. Sad day!

From Luxembourg we headed to Brussels, and here we be!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Paris in a Day

"We arrived in Paris one year ago, it was the turn of the century and..." Wait, sorry wrong story! We arrived in Paris two evenings ago. But first we stopped in Frankfurt, Germany. We had a couple of hours to kill so we left the station and wandered around until we found an interesting place for dinner. It was an Australian bar/grill called Kakadu. When I say Australian, I mean it! Heather had kangaroo for dinner!! I went for the Frankenfurter braut (yay Rocky Horror!). I tried the kangaroo too, it was pretty good! I will never see a kangaroo in the same way...

We arrived in Paris just before reception closed at our hostel. It was a 440 bed hostel (biggest in France!) It had a cafeteria area and tv lounge on the main floor, bar/ dance club, laundry room, lockers, and movie theatre in the basement and 10 floors of dorms!! As usual, we arrived and everyone in our room was asleep. We rumaged around in the dark and found our beds, got changed and went to sleep. Heather always sleeps on the top bunk, but I think its harder to dress your bed that way. I'm good on the bottom bunk :)

In the morning we got ready, had breakfast (hostel breakfast: cereal, deli slices and bread), did a load of laundry and headed out to tour the city. We started our site seeing tour in Montmarte. Its just north of central Paris and is home to my favorite place! As soon as we got off the Metro I started singing 'Complait de la Butte' and as we rounded a corner to the Sacre Couer a street performer was playing that song on the accordian! I tipped her for her obvious great taste in music. The Sacre Couer was as beautiful as I remembered. The view of Paris from atop the infamous steps is stunning. We sat and ate some snacks, taking in the view, then it was off to my favorite destination!!

We had to ask for directions because it wasn't marked on the map, but as soon as I had a visual of the red windmill I went run-walking down the street, dragging H behind me. Yes, the Moulin Rouge is awesome in real life. I took a few pictures (or 20) and we sat and admired the view for a while. When I first came to Paris I was 15 and with a school group, so the Moulin Rouge was NOT on our tour. But this time I even went inside!! (To the box office area, not the stage area) Then my amazing wifey took me to the official Moulin Rouge boutique!! I looked around for about 30 minutes until I decided on a red coffee mug with the famous windmill logo on it. (OMG I want coffee now!)

From the Moulin Rouge we left Montmarte and went to the catacombes deep below the city streets. I had never been, and nothing could have prepared me for the emensity of the crypts! The catacombes are gorgeous/eerie and enourmous. There are bones stacked floor to ceiling, room after room, corridor after corridor. We couldn't find a figure of how many corpses there are but we over heard a man saying it was over a million. No matter how many there are, its insane. I'd never touched a human skull before, but if I continue with Forensic Anthropology I will be doing it for a living!! Heather and I, of course, we looking at skull ridges, bone size, type of bone, etc. A very anthropological-scientific approach. The catacombes are so big that we walked straight through at an average pace and it took 50 minutes!

From the crypts we went to Notre Dame to take pictures, play with gargoyles, ring the bells, fall in love with a Gypsy princess...the usual. From there it was on to L'Opera! Made famous by 'The Phantom of the Opera' the actual opera house is just stunning. We missed the last tour of the day so we walked the perimeter and admired all of the sculptures and what not. Continuing on our ridiculous site-seeing extravaganza we went to the Champs-Elysses. Starting from the Obelisque we tried to snap shots of the Louvre but it was closed for the night. So we bought some crepes (sugar/butter for me, Nutella and banana for H) and began our  meandering.

We purused shops here and there, then while walking out of the Disney store we heard screaming from across the street. Come to find out, the French premiere of 'Abduction' was taking place at the movie theatre on the other side of the street! We darted over to join the screaming tweens and sure enough, about 15 minutes later Taylor Lautner himself arrived and went strolling down the red carpet!! We took some great pictures, seeing as we were maybe 20 yards away!! Heather was overly excited because she had never seen a celebrity in real life before. I'm glad coincidence put us in the right spot at the right time! Heather was giddy the rest of the night. Taylor is just as adorable (if not more so) in person!

We finished our celebrity tour of the Champs-Elysee at the Arc de Triomphe. By this time it was lit up and we sat on a bench admiring it from outside the scariest traffic circle I know. After our feet were rested we found a Metro stop and went to our final site...Le Tour de Eiffel. The tower is one of the most beautiful monuments at night. I re-created my "falling off the tower" picture from last trip! And we sat and watched the tour sparkle on the hour. What a wonderful way to end our whirl-wind tour. (Can I please note that we did everything on our site-seeing tour in eight hours!!! Most people take 3 days for all of these sites. It was exhausting!)

We got back to our hostel and passed out! What a great day in gay Paris!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Bears, Chocolate and Beer!

Yesterday we left the hostel and headed on a walking tour of Bern. With our handy map we visited Bern's bear garden first! The bears weren't out yet so we watched the keepers and listened to the bears throw themselves againt their cage doors. When the keepers let them our into the enclosures the cubs came barreling out at full speed with momma close behind. The male had his own enclosure and he came out and immediately started eating all the apples he could find from his variety of foods. We ended up spending much longer watching the bears than we meant to!

Next stop was the clock tower, which was lack-luster from what our guide book described. We walked through the old town passing the parliment building and fountains galore. Then headed to Zurich.

In Zurich we had to go on a hot chocolate treasure hunt for this tiny cafe Sam Brown went to on "Sam Brown Europe". It supposedly had amazing hot chocolate, the best in Switzerland! So we grabbed a city map from the tourist office circled the street we needed and started the expedition.

Luckily the city's main street was closed for a bicycle festival! So it made our walking time super quick. We took a few side streets and back allies then tucked away in a corner was Chocolatier Shober. We order 2 of their classic hot chocolates with cream. They were GREAT! BEST HOT CHOCOLATE EVER. We both were making those little "yummy" noises the whole time! Totally worth the hunt!

From Zurich we spent 4 hours on a train to Munich. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Munich because all of the hostels were booked for Oktoberfest. It was ok though, because our hotel was very nice! We tried to go to Oktoberfest, but silly us...it was the weekend. All of the beer tents were booked up. So we settled for the next best thing, the beer hall of Hofbrauhaus! (Also a Sam Brown reccomendation) the beer hall can hold 3500 people and esentially is set up like Hogwarts' main hall. Long wooden tables and benches, where you slide in anywhere there is room. We each ordered a stein of beer (1.5 litres!), Heather had the Radler (lemonade beer) and I had the Weiss Radler (white lemonade). We also had some typical German foods: brautwurst, potato salad, bavarian pretzels, and strudel!

We made some Spanish friends at the table next to us, they named Other Bunny "Joseph" and took a picture with him. Then some nice Polish guys sat next to us, who didn't speak a lick of English. We got along fine though and had lots of toasts and laughs and an overall good time. We got pictures with them too. As far as we could tell they were on a man-cation. They both had wedding rings on, but no wives to be found (but possibly they were married to each other?). I taught the guy next to me to spell my name and he taught me his (which I have since forgotten). We joined in the beer hall singing and table banging. And it was just an amazing experience!!

After we were thouroughly buzzed we went back to our hotel and slept the best sleep of the trip. We didn't get up until 9:00 today!!!! We showered and got to the station by noon. We had some lunch and booked tickets to Paris. We sat outside Starbucks for a while and used their wi-fi, and now we're on the train to Frankfurt. Final destination, Paris. (And yes I did make that joke on purpose)

Safe Travels!
- Kit & Heather

Swiss Alps

This morning we got up early (its a common theme) and had breakfast at our hostel. We're staying at the Youth Hostel Bern which is part of Hostels International. HI offers affordable, reliable hostels almost everwhere in the world. Our hostel has over 200 rooms!!! And lots of ammenities including free lockers, breakfast, a laundry room, pool, and key card for the front door and your room.

We're staying in a 6 bed female dorm, with two other girls. The breakfast this morning we buffet style with cereal, oatmeals, toasts and fresh jam. 'Twas delicious!

After a filling breakfast we went to Interlaken and caught a few trains til we reached Jungfrau- Top of Europe. It took about 2 hours from Interlaken to climb up the mountain on 3 different trains! Jungfrau is 11,333 ft and is the tallest peak in Europe and the highest train station. It cost 140 SCF (Swiss Franc) per person to go to the summit.

Once at Jungfrau we got to explore an ice palace with cool scenes cut out of a glacier in the side of the mountain!! That alone was worth the fee, but there was more. We also go to go out on the plateau and take pictures of the Swiss Alps, play a little in the snow and simply enjoy the breath taking view from 11,333 ft!!! Past the plateau we went to the Sphinx observatory which was another 108m up. It was so amazing! They even had a "snow fun" center. It had snow tubing, sleding, and more! That part cost extra so we didn't go.

The view from Jungfrau was simply amazing. I've been on top on many mountains, but the Alps are just sheer awe-inspiring. It was an amazing journey.

After our day atop Europe's highest peak we took the trains back down the mountain into Interlaken. We walked around and found a resteraunt that we both agreed on called "Des Alps". Heather had a potato dish with mushrooms, bacon, and Swiss cheese. It looked like stir fry. I had a sausage dinner with two sausage links warpped in Swiss cheese and bacon with fries on the side. We also each had a local beer. Everything was delicious!! I'm so glad to have tried some Swiss cuisine! We were going to try dessert but our waitress took 30 minutes just to bring out the bill. So we paid and left.

We came across a chocolate shop and each of us had a truffle for dessert. I tried the Bailey's truffle and Heather had the honey one. Both were covered in Swiss chocolate and both hit the spot. Nothing better than Swiss cheese and chocolate!

Today we decided on our souveniers! We had been debating what to do because we don't want to haul a lot with us, but we want something to remember each country. I came up with the idea of buying a patch to put on our back pack from each country we visit! This way over the years they will be covered in memories. And patches don't take up room or weight for us to lug around. The only bad thing is we didn't get patchs from Spain! Perhaps we will order some online. Luckily we will be back in France before we leave! Heather got a Bern patch with the bear of the Bern flag and I got the Swiss flag!

We are on the train back to Bern now. We are going to do laundry and shower tonight then do a walking tour of the city tomorrow before departing for Germany for Oktoberfest!

So far Switzerland is definately our favorite country. Everyone here is so nice and everyone we have encountered has spoken perfect English. Switzerland doesn't actually have one national language, they have four! German, French, Italian and Romansch. Most Swiss can speak all 4 PLUS English! Its very impressive. It did however make for a fun day, listening to cashiers or train workers switch in and out of each language flawlessly.

Tomorrow night at this time we'll be in Munich!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Safety First

It occured to us yesterday that we should have a plan in case we get seperated. Some trains in Europe split cars and each car heads a different way. If you're not careful you could end up at the wrong destination simply by being on the wrobg car.

Although we try our best to get where we're going we needed a back-up plan in case we became seperated. Here are our safety rules:

1) Always carry your day pack! If for any reason we seperate you HAVE to keep your day pack with you. Even if you go to the restroom at the train station, or stop by a cafe on the platform. We survived with only our day packs for almost 3 days, so it can be done. We each have our passport wallets with Eurail passes, money, train timetables, map of Europe, and credit card in our day packs. I have our European cell phone, so Heather has the phone number written down...should we get seperated.

2) If seperated on a train, we meet in Bern. In the event that one of us gets seperated on a train (say the food car decides to redirect to a different city) then we will meet in Bern. Its a central location and only has one train station. We will meet at platform #1.

3) If seperated in a city, meet at our hostel/hotel. This assures we each know where to meet up in case we get lost in the throngs of people!

With these plans laid out if, for whatever reason, we became seperated we would know exactly what to do. The odds of being seperated are small, but if it did happen and we didn't have plans it could be more terrifying than it should be.

One of the first times my family went to Six Flags when I was a kid my mom took me to the Lost Child station and said "If you ever get lost you find someone in a Six Flags shirt and you come to this building. I will meet you here" I always thought she was overprotective, until one time my mom had to pick me up from the Lost Child station. ;) All I'm saying is Safety First can prove for a stressfree trip!

Safe Travels,
- Kit

Lyon & Vienne

Well our attempts to handwash our clothes didn't work out so well, seeing as they were all still damp this morning. Oh well, guess they will have to air dry. At least they are clean and smell pleasent.

We check out first thing this morning and caught the Metro to Lyon's second train station. From there we took a trip to Vienne, a city that dates back to ancient Roman times around first century BD!

We had a very French breakfast at the cafe by the train station. Heather had quiche and I had a delicious crouqe monsuier, a traditional French ham and cheese sandwich. From there we headed to the tourist center, but first we got distracted by the post office. We sent out post cards to Lorrie & Bill, The Purcell family and Erin & Chelsea may even get one from Other Bunny. ;)

When we found the tourist office it was situated in a gorgeous park with 100 year old trees that seemed to stretch forever. The tourist office gave us a map of the city and told us to follow the brass Elm tree emblems that lined the streets. It made it very easy to navigate the city and see everything that we needed to see. Plus I made a game of it, I would step on each emblem and declare "a tree!" So we knew we were on the right path.

Our first stop was at the church of Saint Pierre, which was constructed from 5th -6th century AD. Making it one of the oldest churches in France!

Past that was Saint-Maurice cathedral which was erected between the 11th and 16th century AD. It was huge! I love all of the cathedrals of Europe. They just don't build buildings this grand anymore.

Continuing on the route of trees, we found Augustus and Livia temple. This temple dates back to 20 -10 BC. It is essentially perfectly preserved and in the middle of town! There are modern buildings on all sides, then positioned in the center is this beautiful ancient wonder. It was a surreal site for sure.

Trekking along we discovered Saint-Andre le Bas church and cloister, then we crossed the Rhone river to play at the Archaeological site of Saint Romain en Gal Vienne. This site is a neighborhood of ancient Vienne. They have uncovered houses, stores, workshops, warehouses, public baths and roads. There is so much to explore! This ancient neighborhood covers probably 2 square miles (if not more) and you get to wonder freely for only 4 euro/person! We paid our dues and walked around for about 2 hours.

Once we finished at Saint Romain we went back towards the central part of town and checked out their enourmous ampitheatre which can seat 13,000 people!!! Its massive size reminds me of Red Rocks in Colorado.

Our final ancient find was that of Cybele's archaeological garden. It contains the remins of the old Gallo-Roman town, including the archways from a portico that was past of the forum.

After we had finished the 3.5km "Heritage Trail" we headed back to the station. Had a quick snack then caught a train back to Lyon. From Lyon we exchanged euro to Swiss Francs and caught a train to Bern via Geneva.

Currently on that train, and soooo excited for Switzerland!! We're going to an ice palace at the highest train station in the Alps, Jungfrau!!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Travel Day

This morning we checked out of our hostel around 8:00am, from there we caught the Metro to Barcelona-Sants train station (estachio). We got on the 9:00 train to Figures, then switched to the train to Montpellier. When we arrived at Montpellier we suddenly switched into French mode! Heather and I each took French for 3 years in high school, but suddenly we crossed into France and we are getting along great!

We have only talked to the train attendants, information attendants, cashiers, etc en Francais. We reserved seats on our next two trains from Montpellier, then sat down for a refreshing Orangina.

We took the commuter train to Marseille and finally had 2 hours to stretch our legs. Got a couple of Metro tickets and hit the city center. We had our daypacks and backpacks, but still hiked 1.5 miles toward the beach and up 126 stairs to get a view of the city from Ft. Nicholas. We enjoyed the sea breeze for a bit then turned around and trekked back to the station.

We are on our final train for the evening, heading for Lyon. We are simply stopping over in Lyon for the night. Tomorrow we are going to Switzerland!

I forgot how much I love France. :) Its the only European country I had been to prior to this trip! And although today was mostly just travel, and tonight we are stopping over....we will be back in France later in our journey. We can't wait to visit Paris together! We have both been seperately, but nothing says romance like a date on the Eiffel Tower with your wife!

UPDATE: we wandered around Lyon til we found our hotel. Its only 15 minutes from the train station on foot. Apparently reception closed at 19:00, and we got here at 22:45!! They had text me the code to get in the building and a code for a safe. Come to find out they left our key in a safe by the reception area. So we got into our room and its actually an economy apartment! We have a kitchen, table area, desk, bookshelf, closet, tv and double bed. Plus we have a patio. Only thing is, the laundry room is closed and without the receptionist we can't get wi-fi and we need to look up train schedules for tomorrow. :( (I blog in advance and post when I find wi-fi)

Heather is happy though because there is an awesome bathtub, and she got to take a hot bath. She is very excited to smell nice. I did a load of laundry in the sink with our Tide packets. Then used rope from my pack to create a clothesline on the patio. I'm so handy!

Now we're watching Bones in French! They all sound super silly in French. Good luck translating those anatomy and forensics terms.

Its extremely nice just to lie around. We won't have too much down time the entire trip, so I will enjoy what I can get.

Au revior pour ce moment!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather 

Tarragona

This morning we woke up early and took a train to Tarragona. Its a city once inhabited by the Roman empire. It still has a huge stone wall encompassing its "old town" and people live within its wall! We visited the cathedral, which was gorgeous (like most ancient cathedrals). We only paid a couple of euro a piece because the main cathedral part was closed for construction, however the chapels still open for viewing were awesome. The tour even had an audio device which told you about each section. We looked around the shops for a while and found Spanish Kinderballs!! Kinderballs are these chocolate balls which have a toy inside! They don't sell them in the states, because kids like to choke. And no, its not the same as a Nestle Wonderball. :P

After our snack we adventered around town for a bite to eat. Heather had some pizza which she claims "didn't taste like any pizza I have ever had!" She loved it! I, however, bought a salmi sandwich only to find it was saturated with tomatos. Yucky! Oh well.

We got to play around the Roman forum, or what's left of it. We speelunked through caves, tunnels, chambers, and floor after floor of ancient Roman stones, sculpture, and architecture. My favorite was the view from the 6th floor. The Mediteranean is so gorgous!!

Following our adventure through the ancient playground, we visited the National Museum of Archaeology. It was 4 floors full of Roman artifacts. Heather looked like she was in heaven, being an anthropologist/archeologist and all that.

Finally we went to the ampitheatre on the coast. This was the least impressive of the ruins. Although all Roman ampitheatres are mind-blowing (how did they move those stones!?), this one was well ruin-ed. It was fun to play around, but hardly worth the 3 euro a piece. Especially after seeing everything else Tarragona had to offer.

We made it back to the hostel about 18:00 and found out our packs had (finally) arrived!!! Everything is in its place and we are super grateful to have our stuff back!

We each ate a Fruit Roll-Up out of joy (yeah, we packed 4 boxes.) Then galivanted around Barcelona to see some famous Gaudi works of art. Our first stop was Sagrada Familia. Its an enormous church deisgn by the artist. They broke ground in 1909 and even after Gaudi died in 1926, they still worked on it. 102 years later and its still not done, giving it the nick-name "The Unfinished Church". It was amazing! I can't describe its crazy archetecture. You should probably just look it up online, or plan a trip to Barcelona to see it yourself! :P

We also saw Gaudi's Casa Batllo, or house of bones. It is simply a house on a main thoroughfair where Gaudi was contracted to decorate the interior of a gentlemans home. The man loved it so much he told Gaudi to re-do the outside as well. Now its an eye-sore next to fancy shops along the Passage de Garcia. We loved it! The outside structures look like bones and its so colorful! The roof looks like a dragon and the whole thing is mind blowing.

We came back to the hostel after our tiring day and spent entirely way to long re-packing our back packs for tomorrow. Mainly because we spent 2 hours bantering with each other and laughing to the point of crying out of exhaustion. It was fun!! Now we're all showered, our packs are ready, and we depart for France tomorrow!!

Even though we have only been here 3 days it seems like a week. We have averaged 3-5 miles on foot each day! At this rate we will be slim & fit when we return to the states. :) Hurray European workout!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Barcelona!

Today has been gorgeous. Its beautiful weather outside, we checked in to a really great hostel, and the airline is paying us 100 euro per person/day for still not knowing where our packs are!!

Suddenly, I'm not too worried. We spent the day in downtown Barcelona. Walking along the La Rambla and around the Gothic Quarter. We also spent time around Catalunya.

With our new budget we each got a new outfit and some basic toiletries. I also got a backpack to tote our new treasures in. We honestly have no idea when we'll be getting our luggage! So perhaps we will have 200 euro to buy clothing tomorrow as well. ;)

Tonight we are going to take the Metro back to our hostel, sleep a little, then get up early to adventure to Tarragona.

The Metro systems is Madrid & Barcelona have been amazing! Simple to navigate and pretty cheap. They also have lots of convienent stops throughout the city.

We must be doing something right to blend in, we have been stopped and mistaken for locals at least 6 times!! Tourists have stopped us and asked for directions or which train goes where! Its awesome to blend in :) Even though we have been doing our fair share of map reading and asking directions too. 

Overall its been a great day!! Tomorrow should be fun to experience the walled city of Tarragona!!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Good Thing We Took French in School!

All those times people in Texas told me "Why are you taking French? You should learn Spanish!" May have been right. But they were only right today. Because when we're in France, it'll be a breeze.

This morning we got up and showered, then put our dirty clothes back on. Alas, we still don't have our packs. But I guess we'll be wearing dirties for most of the trip, joys of backpacking.

We had breakfast at the hotel, which the online booking told us was included. Unfortunately, (language barrier #1) it wasn't. So although Heather ate her cost, I did not. I'm not a big breakfast person to begin with. Alas, we paid 27 euro at check out. Womp-womp.

Then we continued to the train station, where we ran around trying to figure out where our platform was. The departure boards only showed 1 train leaving at 10:30 and it did not seem to be going to Barcelona. We finally found a gentleman who spoke enough English to point us to a platform. We realized quickly we were in the wrong place when the train had 4 cars, and we were booked on car 8. We found a woman who spoke English and she told us we were at the entirely wrong train station! She was very nice though, and seemed genuinely concerned that we missed our train.

Now we took the Metro across town to the correct station and are waiting at the ticket office to get a new ticket. I hope they still have some spots open on the next train (which departs in an hour)

We knew there would be a learning curve to this. I just hope we got it all out of our system in Madrid! :P

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Off to a Bumpy Start

First leg of the flight was a blast! KLM is a great airline, with lots of entertainment and food. Lots of food!! The 8.5 hours direct flight went by swimmingly. Arrived in Amsterdam, printed our boarding passes, rushed through customs, and headed out to our final destination of Madrid.

That's where things went wrong. When we got to Madrid we joined the rest of our flight at the baggage claim. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 45 minutes. Nothing. Finally a worker called over the loud system for our flight to go to the lost & found claim window. So for a reason still unknown to us, NONE of the baggage from our flight made it to Madrid!!! Everyone was really pissed, because the airline couldn't even tell us WHERE our baggage was! Not to mention everyone was left without clothes & such!! We were in an especially tough situation because we are hostelling, and don't have 100% set plans. Yet, the airline required an address to send our packs to. After 5 hours of waiting around the airport, we finally just booked a hotel for the night near the main train station. Called home and had H's mom track our stuff down, then booked a hostel for the next two nights in Barcelona to have a semi-permenant address. Here's to hoping we get our stuff tomorrow!! We only have the clothes on our backs, our money & cards, passports & train passes, phones and cameras. So I suppose, it really could be worse.

After finally straightening stuff out with the airline we wandered around the heart of Madrid for the last 5 hours. Which truly brightened up our crappy day!! What a fun city! We wandered aimlessly on/off the Metro and found our way to the Opera, the Crystal Palace and we even managed to find the infamous Chocolatier!!

We stopped and had hot chocolate and churros! :) Sam Brown was not lying, you could set a spoon on top of the chocolate and watch it sink...very...very...slowly. Heather was in heaven! It tasted like dark chocolate and hazelnut, and the churros were splendid!!

Currently, we're on the Metro heading back to our hotel. Finally time to get some shut eye. (Remember, its 11pm here....so its 4pm at home) A 7 hour time difference, a total of 10 hours in the air, and forever fretting over our bags has wiped me out!

Tomorrow morning we are having breakfast at the hotel then off to Barcelona!!

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather

Leaving on a Jet Plane

We have a couple more hours in the states, then its off to Madrid!! I'm so excited, I don't think either of us slept a lot last night. (Which should make sleeping on the plane a breeze)

Alright, so theoretically... most of our hostels have wi-fi. So I will be updating as much as possible. I also have our FB page set up to auto-post from this blog. If you always want to keep up with our posts you should sign up by email on the left of the page.

I cannot believe this is happening! 5 years of dreaming, and 2 years of planning...and here we are. AND I'm feeling MUCH better!!! Hurray!!! I was going to be so pissed if I was still sick when we left.

First stop...Amsterdam. (Silly layover) THEN Madrid!!!!!

Safe Travels,
- Kit

39 Hours!!

We are less than 2 days away from departure. And instead of running around and rushing to get ready... I am sitting on the couch drinking hot tea and PRAYING this cold goes away before Sunday!!

We just got back form Colorado today, and I brought the sniffles home with me. :( Come hell or high water, nothing will keep us from Europe (obviously). But if I don't kick this cold ASAP the first week or so may be exhausting (more so than planned).

Nevertheless, this is going to be the absolute BEST trip EVER!!

Don't forget to check us out on Facebook as well, Europe in 45 Days.

PS. Looks like we may have taken on a stowaway for the trip. You've heard of the roaming gnome... but what about the roaming bunny!?

Safe Travels,
- Kit

Finalizing Plans & Packing!

Well we have 10 days until departure! I completed my last shift at work, making me unemployed for the first time since I was 17! It's amazing to know that we get to go to Europe for a month and a half and not worry about work! I lucky enough to have a job lined up upon our return, so I don't even have to worry about coming home and being broke. :)

With ten days to go we have been kicking it into high-gear. Mostly finalizing our itinerary, checking out train reservations and hostel reservations. There's so much planning that goes into a six-week trip! Even so, we have left space in our itinerary for changes. I mean, no one wants to go on vacation and have an hour-by-hour schedule. Especially not a trip like this one. We know what cities we'll be in on what days and have a list of things to do, but overall it will all come down to how we feel when we get there.

Usually I wouldn't start packing for a trip over a week in advance. However, we leave for Colorado tomorrow and won't be back until the 16th. Which means we will have one full day between before we leave for Europe. So as much packing as we can is a good thing to get done now. We don't want our one day to be stressful, we should relax and enjoy our time in the states before departure.

One thing that we had to get done was our "in case of emergency" file. It's good to leave copies of important documents with a trusted friend or family member in case you run into trouble abroad. We're leaving copies of our passports, bank info, nonliterary, travel insurance, embassy phone list for the countries we will be visiting, Eurail passes, and our loss and theft protection for our passes. This way, worst case scenario, if we loose any valuables it will be easy to get copies faxed to us. It's the little things like this that are important to remember when planning a trip like this. Safety first!

As we pack we are thinking about other logistics. Such as "do we need an extra camera battery or SD card?" Currently, I have a 1GB SD card for my camera and Heather has a 4GB. You would think 4GB would be plenty of space, but you probably haven't seen Heather's travel pictures. ;) Luckily, we have family members who have graciously agreed to let us borrow an extra SD card or two. I suspect we will come home with a ridiculous amount of photos! Photos are free, and the very best souvenir! Specifically, I want some stereotypical tourist shots: trying to push the Tower of Pisa back up, in front of the Eiffel Tower, on a gondola in Venice, up the clock tower in Brugge, drinking a stein of beer at Oktoberfest, etc.

All in all, I think we have planned this trip effortlessly. And I cannot wait to embark! I also can't wait to share our stories with all of you. Stay tuned!

Safe Travels,
- Kit

Two Weeks!

Holy wow, Batman! Only a little over 2 weeks until we depart!

I've kicked into stressful/last minute detail mode. It seems like we still have a lot of little things to get done before leaving. Lists are my friend. If I make lists of things to get done I will be able to keep up with the madness. Or, I hope to.

Its surreal really. To plan for something for about two years and then finally its time to just GO! No matter how much you plan and stress and fret...you just have to go, and hope for the best.

Heather and I are both blessed with common sense and intelligence. Armed with cultural knowledge and both with Anthropology backgrounds (her more so than me.) Both will come in handy as we embark to 14 countries all with their own language and cultural entities. My hope is to not completely look like the bumbling tourist everywhere we go. I want to enrich myself with other cultures!

All in all, this could possibly be the most outstanding trip in my life. And I just want to do it right!

Safe Travels,
- Kit