Nice is Nice.

Sorry it's been so long, internet has been hard to come by.

Just a to quickly fill you in:

ROME
-A trip to the Vatican (so big!). And in traditional Europe fashion, we even found a part of it under construction (shocking!)
- The next day, Kelly and Melissa took a trip to the city of Pompei to see the ruins, Devin and Trina went to the beach in Sorrento, and Jessica, Staci, Heather and Stephanie went to the beach in Rome.

Santa Margherita
AMAZING ! By far one of the prettiest places on our trip. It is a cute little yacht town on the water. The first day Heather, Stephanie and Staci hiked through the 5 Cinque Terre cities and Melissa and Jessica hiked them the second day. Kelly, Devin and Trina hung out at the sunny beaches (yay, sun finally!).

Anyone who has hiked through the Cinque Terre can vouch that it is a love-hate relationship. While hiking through you think to yourself "wow, this is one of the prettiest places I have been, it is so worth the 'strenious' work". However, once you begin to walk up any sort of hill involving steep, narrow, rocky stairs , your thoughts begin to change as you begin to hate life again. No worries though, once the hills are over , you love the hike again and realize its amazingness.

No blog entry would be complete without a story from the train. Somewhere between Santa Margheritta and Genova , Stephanie's wallet was swiped. This made for a journey to the Police station in Genova, where they spoke little English (she had to describe her name using phrases like "Ferry boat" multiple times).

Nice
Is nice (haha). We have spent the time so far hanging out on their beaches (rocks, not sand) ( and maybe not today because it looks like rain ( can it please stop following us?).

Nice also brought a big day for Kelly as she celebrated her birthday! (the first anniversary of her 21st, what better way to celebrate it than beach side?).

Up Next: The last stop of our trip... Barcelona! It is an 11 hour train there , so wish us luck and it is highly likely we will be able to provide you with a quality story from the train.)

Best man bag: The black leather, "man-clutch"
Random/awkward moment: When the guy who owns our hotel in Santa Margheritta decided to let himself into our room (with his key) at night , while wearing a helmet to check to see how things were going. " Fine, just sleeping! "

Creepiest Moments: Igor as we have named him, the son of the owner of the hotel in Santa Margherita, showed us to our room and because of his horrible stench Kelly decided it would be best for her health to stay back a few steps. Luckily she did not get to close because her up chuck reflex was close to being activated.
Trina asked Devin the second day in Santa Margherita if she thought Igor could speak Russian, apparently she was not let into the loop on the joke. His name is NOT Igor he just very much resembled Frankenstein helper also named Igor. Devin noted though that it was possible since she heard him speaking quite well in French earlier in the day.
In Nice when Devin and Trina were walking on the street a young man who apparently was very taken with Devin decided to come up to her and offer her a bite of his pizza sandwich? When she politely said no thank you he thought that the next best thing to do was kiss her on the cheek with his mouth full of sick food. Needless to say Devin was not happy or taken with this young fellow.

Questionable Meal of the Day: Maybe we should have seen this coming but trying Mexican food in France. Brie Cheese Enchilada probably not the best choice, you know just a little tip from the Americans stick to cheddar next time. Margaritas also come in the size of a shot glass, but either way it was a great way to celebrate Kellys big 22!

Best Roommate Ever: Cindy from Sydney, jut like one of the gang she just fits in so well!

Shout Outs: All Families get excited to see us in 5 days we miss you!!!
Hey Mickey Jessica says hello!!!
Thanks to all who wished Kelly a very happy birthday!

When in Rome...

PREFACE:

The train.

Whoever said the Eurail was flawless LIED! The only train from Slovenia to Venice was cancled. This meant that instead of getting into Venice at 2:00 as planned, we got to spend the day in our most favorite place in the world... train stations... in the Ljub and and the middle of Austria. There were a few moments that made our trip memorable. This story may or may not be based on facts. That is up to you the reader to decide.

A certain passenger whose identity will be kept secret went to use the facitilities during the train ride. Many of you may not know this, but when on a train, the Italians feel that it is not necessary to keep a tank full of waste. They feel it is perfectly fine to dump it onto the tracks as you go. This passenger needed to relieve him or herself during the train and went to use the facitlities. It was a long train! He or She tried to finish as quickly as possible, but like all things in nature, time was not of the essence. He or She went to flush when finished, only to realize that we were stuck in a train station. Something we all dreaded when having to use the facilities. While stopped in the train station, a sudden burst of laughter erupted. Feeling quite embarassed, they had to wait until the train continued moving and then exited in a bashfull manner back to the cabin. Needless to say this gave us a good laugh during the nightmere (not as bad as Prague).

Venice was seen in an hour at night for Devin, Staci, Heather and Stephanie who were going to Florence the next morning. It smelled. The people who stayed the next day got to see the beauty of Venice. We slept in, which was nice after the long, long train ride and headed to Venice to see all the sights in day light. We first conqured the big quest of the day (finding Trina a new purse after hers broke) (it may or may not be a Gucci knock-off, but is tagged as "go"). We headed to San Marcos square, went in the church (what else do you do here besides go to churches?). Jessica and Kelly took an elevator to the top of a tower, while Melissa and Trina walked the side streets. They went to the Rialto and found a Gondola rider who they talked down to a more friendly price. Following the gondola ride, they finally went out to celebrate Trina's birthday (day 3) and saw the sunset from the bridges and made their way home. Venice by day and night is a beautiful sight (yes, we are poets).

Random moment: Trina trying to jump out of the Gondola. She jumped from one Gondola to the next, freaking out it was going to tip over. By the time she got to the deck, she was in the splits (one foot of the Gondola, one on the deck) deciding that her only option was to crawl on all fours to save her life from falling into the sick Venice canal.

Best meal: The meal next to the Grand Canal, best food ever!

FLORENCE

Staci, Heather and Stephanie checked into their hostel (5 star with a color changing pool) and went to visit the man of their dreams... the statue of David.

The next day they embarked on their bike tour... a 13 mile ride through Tuscany. The tour started at a castle that makes wine and the number one olive oil in Tuscany. The castle is home to a Count and Countess who have no children of their own, so they are giving their estate to their nephew (who is very single and in his 20's... yes, we were on the lookout). They saw how wine and olive oil were made and began their ride. One of the tour guides sisters goes to U of O! They rode down the hills into the valley where they had a 5 course lunch and then rode back up to the castle. (See pictures, too pretty to describe).

Awkward moment: The van ride to the castle when our tour guide stopped to buy bread and came back with lolly pops for us. He made us eat them and when we got the the castle told us to hide them from the rest of the group. Or when he asked us what color eyes we had and took off his glasses and told us he only had one eye. Or when he made Staci (who was sitting in the front) hold his stuffed leperchaun's hand while he held the other one on the dashboard so the leperchaun could see.

Best meal of the day: toss up between the 5 course lunch, or Italy's version of Mac and Cheese.

Devin visited her friend Summer who is staying in a villa behind the Campanillie for 5 weeks. She had her own personal tour guide who took her to all the local hotspots, including a bar who had happy hour where you could use American dollar bills (dolla dolla bills y'all!). She saw all the sights of Florence: Ponte Vechio, a couple Piazza's, San Lorenzo open market, the Camponillie Duomo. Cynthia took them out for a night on the town, including a great meal, meeting lots of Itallian men (one who looked like Ross Geller with a tragus piercing) (don't worry Poiny, I learned how to say I'm taken in Itallian to ward them off). The night ended with meeting Gnarles Barkley on the streets (a singer, download "Crazy" or "Smiling Face"). He asked Devin to go on tour with him, but declined saying "I have to meet my friends in Rome tomorrow". All in all a great visit with an old friend.

Trina, Kelly, Melissa and Jessica took the early train from Venice and made it to Florence by 9:22 am! We went straight to the Duomo and made our way inside to check out a church (surprise!). They then went to see David (so hot!) and waited in line for an hour because Trina didn't know where to go to get a reservation (it was worth it, so hot!). After the long wait and Kelly's stealth snapshots we made our way to Ponta Vechio, where they walked around and took pictures. Kelly and Jessica (obsessed with towers) decided they wanted to climb to the top (570 something steps). Melissa and Trina (not obsessed with towers, opted not to go). It was then off to the train station to meet Devin.

ROME!

We arrived to our hostel, which resembled the worst frat house we have ever seen/ identical to London. Realizing this, we ran far, far away to the hotel across the street, where we are currently staying (god bless you Hotel Ivanahoe and your air condition, we salute you!). Sorry parents, you would not have wanted us to stay here. There were no locks on the door and it looked like there was a foam sangria party going on in the hall. Don't worry, they were all dressed nicely with their popped collars and boat shoes (maybe that is an exageration, but there were people from Iowa).

Today we saw all the sights of Roma: The coliseum (walking distance from out HOTEL!), ancient Rome, tomb of the unkown soilder (take that Arlington!), the best fountain ever made (Trevi Fountain), Jessica's dream home, the Pantheon (which btw, is does not have glass covering the "eye"), the Piazza Novena (under construction, SURPRISE) and ended at the Spanish Steps. Some of us experienced the Metro system (bring hand sanitzer!).

Random moment: Loosing Kelly, Jessica and Melissa and finding them on the way to Trevi Fountain. Running into the other group every day at every location. Fate?

Best meal of the day: Pizza or Gellato.

Worst meal of the day: The so called "pasta" at the restaurant that decided to close before they brought our food out. This means that we had uncooked pasta with sauce.

Number of bug bites between everyone: 352

Shout outs:
-Props to you if you made it through!

More Pictures

Yay, our dorm, errrr, hostel has free internet!

Here you go:
Kelly, Jessica and Melissa on the Sound of Music Tour

Prague Castle

Salzburg Countryside

Mozart's Bridge (Sound of Music mockery)

The really ˝great˝ art gallery in the castle in the Ljub
Church at Prague Castle

Scariest escalator EVER in Prague.

A really small church in Budapest

Surfing on a river in Munich (guess which one of us is surfing)
Jessica's favorite thing of the trip. CHARLES BRIDGE!

Prague's version of the glockenspiel, the ˝astronomical clock˝

A cafe somewhere

Oh right, in Prague. This was also the last time we paid a service charge.

This is for you JanSport.

Please put us in a catalouge!!!

Heaven. Known to others as Hofbrauhaus.

Bikes in Munich

All white church in Munich

In and out of the Ljub

We don't actually know how to spell the name of the city we are in, so we are forced to abreviate. Or you can do as Trina does and type in ˝L's, J's and B's, Slovenia˝ to find the actual name.

We arrived in the Ljub with pouring rain and lightning (hmmm, just like all of the other cities). Please remind us of the rain in a few days when we complain about how hot it is.

The train ride was uneventful for everyone but Staci. Originally she was sitting in a compartment with three nice old ladies. They got off the train a few hours into it and two ladies around the age of a Mom and a guy about our age went into the compartment. Everything was fine until the guy came to collect their tickets. Still have no idea what they were arguing about because it was in another language, but the people and the ticket guy were exchanging words and gestures in an angry tone for a good 15 minutes. After the ticket guy gave up and left, the ˝family˝ began to exchange words. Things got heated between the guy and one of the Mom type ladies and before she knew it hitting, punching and kicking began between the two. Not sure what to do, she hudled in the corner (kind of like the duck and cover method used before) when the ticket guy walked by and saw what was happening. He began to intervine and Staci tried to escape, but he wouldn't let her, thinking she was part of this ˝family˝. Finally the guy escorted the Mom type lady and the guy elsewhere and Staci was left awkwardly with the other Mom. Staci then left the cabin.

The Ljub gave us about 4 hours of decent picture taking weather (how kind of the Ljub). Sadly, Jessica found out from a local that it had been really hot and sunny the past few weeks, which we sadly missed. The locals were happy to see the rain. Us... not so much (good thing Staci has 2 umbrellas, anyone want to rent one for a Euro?). We walked around in search of food, only to find one place open. Apparently people don't believe in working on Sundays. The place we found was ice cream... not just ice cream, but American sized ice cream! One scoop really means 3. We found this out the hard way when we ordered 2 scoops and ended up with 6. Oh well it was really cheap and yummy!

The thunder rolled in and we headed back to our hostel, which is ironically a dorm for some college. A nice dorm compared to our ˝dorms like dungeons, number 2 in 2004˝ (see Princeton Review). But these are by no means ˝Palaces˝ like those at Peperdine (see Princeton Revies). By the way, we have no idea what school it is we are staying at.

Day 2 in the Ljub (aka half of Trina's real birthday):

We woke up at 6 because our dorm room does not have walls. It is a wall of cabinents and a door. The cleaning staff actually showed up (apparently they don't normally show up) and found the best method of cleaning the bathrooms in a hurry at such an un-godly hour is to scream and slam. We decided it was time to go out and see the day that was Trina's birthday in the Ljub (tomorrow is Trina's birthday in the states, got to love the time difference!).

We went out in search of food again (apparently the Ljub doesn't believe in food) and settled for ice cream again (hey, it's dairy, we met one section of the USDA food pyramid). Not sure what to do because of the extreme weather (just because we went to school in Oregon doesn't mean we are used to/ enjoy the rain) and went to the castle. Which isn't really a castle, rather than a modern art gallery. Staci, Devin, Trina and Kelly called the art ˝terrible˝ as they too are also capabale of painting an orange line on a piece of white paper. Because of the down pour we decided to head home and made the decision to celebrate Trina's birthday in Venice (cross your fingers for no more rain) (seriously).

Best meal of the day: Ice Cream
Worst meal of the day: This country does not believe in food.
Awkward moment of the day: Walking downtown and seeing a man stare at us as he pees on a wall.

Shout outs:
-Only Jennnnnnnnnna Mathies, because she is the only one that appreciates our blog and comments.
-The weekend and work is not an excuse. We know you don't have anything better to do.

P.S. Becky, we know you are reading this from class. Seriously, what else would you be doing in there?

P.P.S. Why is the Ljub obsessed with Dragons? THEY AREN'T EVEN A ANIMAL!

The hills are aliveeee...

With the sound of musiccccc.

If you haven´t gathered already, we are in Salzburg! For those who have seen the Sound of Music, this place is historical, and for those who haven´t, this place is really pretty!

Yesterday we split into three groups.

Jessica, Melissa and Kelly woke up at the crack of dawn to explore the salt mines. They rode a mine cart 2000 meters (?) into the ground, took 2 slides (see pictures when we get back), rode a boat across the lake and went down into the earth where it was 50 degrees and full of salt! They also sported some snazzy jump suits (watch out for them on the runway at Fashion Week Fall 2012). After eating all the salt they could handle, they headed back to ground and decided to see if the hills really were alive with the Sound of Music. They weren't, hills don't sing. BUT, they did go on the Sound of Music tour and see all of the sights from the movie.

Devin and Trina went to a fish infested lake called Lake Fuschel that was absolutely beautiful. It had the clearest water they have ever seen. They decided that tanning would be the perfect relaxing day after still recovering from the Prague train (see previous entry). Would you expect anything less from Trina and Devin?

Staci, Heather and Stephanie also went to see if the hills were really alive. They wouldn't know because none of them have seen the movie, but they went on a bike tour around Salzburg. They saw locations from the Sound of Music (which were pretty, but we didn't know what they were) all from the comfort of a terribly uncomfortable mountain bike seat. We miss the beach cruisers from the previous tours.

Today:

Trina, Kelly, Devin, Jessica and Melissa decided to get the Salzburg card (shout out to Uncle John). They went to the Mozart Bridge, the Fortress, the birthplace of Mozart (kind of creepy), a boat cruise and then ended the day by going to the Stiegl brewery. They tasted all different kinds of beer, raspberry, orange, light, wheat, and elderberry (?) and got a free gift! Then they got stuck in a downpour because apparently it does that here when it gets really hot. They ran to the bus station to find the bus driver that dropped them off and he picked them up. He drove them all the way into town, stopped the bus and came to the back to ask us exactly where we needed to be dropped off. I don't know if this was because he thought we were drunk from the brewery or if he just thought we wouldn't be able to make it home by ourselves. We have yet to figure it out.

Staci, Heather and Stephanie spent the day exploring old town. They walked around and ended up on a street that was extremely packed for no reason (seriously, wayyyy to crowded). After a few hours of walking around they decided to find the oldest restaurant in Europe, which is conveniently located under a church. However, they got caught in an extreme down pour and ran into the first store they could find. After they decided to give up, they left the store (ironically the oldest bookstore in Austria) and went to buy umbrellas (sadly, Staci now has 2 umbrellas).

Best meal of the days: Hostel food, tastes just like Common Grounds and even has Cheesey Grillers (called ˝toasties˝)
Best man bag of the day: The shiny leather one with Tom Cruise's face on it.
Embarrassing moment: Melissa sliding across the crosswalk with traffic at a stop all laughing at her.

Shout Outs:
-Mary Terese. I love you.
-JanSport. Without you we would have nothing to carry our clothes. Check out their blog, which is almost as cool as ours. (www.jansportroadtrip.com)
-Dad- I left the umbrella here and it rained. Now I have 2. Ooops.
-Poiny. Are you happy now?
-JB and Sue Precious. Thanks for all the advice about Salzburg. That Salzburg card rocked.
-Bruce and Josie. What up?
-Burr parents. Sup Mason?
-Everyone's fam.
-Becky, thanks for being obsessed with us, it makes us feel special.

Europa '08 and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!

We thought about starting from the end and working our way backwards to give you a happy ending and let you know we made it to Budapest, but we want you to suffer as well. Here is our hour by hour break down of our horrible day:

5:30- We wake up to a beautiful sunny morning. Happy and eager for a new day, we headed out.

5:54- First gate won't open. This building is not to fire code. (See Hostel)

6:00 am- We open the first gate.

6:15- We go down the GIANT escalator and get on the metro to what we think is the correct station.

7:00- Jessica and Trina ask the ticket lady to print out each and every station's train schedule as they do not match the Eurail booklet. She rolls her eyes every time. Jessica does interpretive dance to figure out where we are.

7:20- Back on the metro. We were at the wrong station.

7:35- Get off the metro to be detained by ticket control. We were told by the eurail lady that our pass worked to get on the metro the same day we were traveling on Eurail. SHE was wrong. Ticket controll confiscates our most valuable posession, our student ID cards (which hold the same value as a library card) and not our passports. We get charged $50. (We considered not telling anyone this story for fear that our parents may be "disapointed" in us. It's too funny not to tell.

8:00- We get to the correct station and get in the ticket line. A man with google eyes behind us continuiously yells to open a new window. They open one and he runs laughing like a maniac to steal the spot. (2 1/2 with our backpacks on, Devin may have overdosed on Motrin)

8:15- We finally get our reservation.

8:15-11- We hang out, try to sleep, entertain ourselves, play games.

11:20- Loud speaker comes on. 15 minute delay. We can do this.

111:25- 20 minute delay.

11:30- 30 minute delay. What the hell is going on?

11:50- Train arrives. YAY we jump on, so excited to get out of the cold. Oh wait, this is not the end.

12:30- 1 something- Train still hasn't moved. We guess Trina should have never predicted that we would wait here for an hour and a half. At this point Melissa has fallen asleep and woken up asking how far we have come.

Stephanie has also started to use her frantic voice. "This reminds me of a little thing called Alaska Airlines," she says. (Talk to any Vegas girl to ask this story. They will be happy to express their feelings).

1:30- PANIC!!!!!!! Train worker pounds on door screaming in a dog-defining high pitch "BRATSLAVA, STUVARO, KUTY BUDAPEST. OFF THE TRAIN!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TO TRACK 3! GO TO TRACK 3! RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Melissa and Kelly throw bags down like it's their job. Staci decides her best way to get out alive is to take the duck and cover method (Earthquake drills in elementary schoo paid off!). Devin is seen in the hall laughing like a mad woman (maybe the motrin kicked in?). Train conductor- still yelling!

1:32- Wait in line for train on track 3. We move fast huh?

1:34- Upgrade to first class. This day is looking up!

1:35- First class smells like B.O. and is negative 500 degrees. Complete opposite of our "ICE" train.

1:40- Jessica runs back to tell the group we have to count 5 stops, it should be around 2 and a half hours. DO NOT SLEEP. Trina looks to the right and left. Kelly is sleeping. Devin's passed out. Maybe it's the motrion. Devin's a little more aware because every time she gets bumped she pounces "is this our stop?" No worries, we have emergency evacuation covered.

4:50- Everyone stands ready to go. 5th stop!!!

4:51- Announcer says this is an irregular stop.

4:53- The train stops at a sketch train station.

4:54- 6:50- We are harassed by a homeless woman multiple times for money. We all wonder how to say "Job" in Czech.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Still waiting.

6:55- Train arrives. 4 more hours until Budapest!

10:40- Arrive in Budapest. Wait in a really long line for the ATM. Wondering why the train station is such a happening place.

10:50- Still in ATM line. A bell rings. Hundreds and hundreds of backpackers drop their beers and run screaming to the train that just pulled up. Maybe they had a bad day too?

Rest of the night, we no longer keep track of time:
-Around the building, outside, down the stairs. Ticket lady tells us the tram stops in 5 minutes. We still have to get on the metro to get to the tram. We make it to the metro just as it is pulling up.
-We had trouble finding out hostel. Found it. After making it up 8 flights of stairs, we go to bed.

What a day! Funny now. Actually we kind of laughed the whole way through.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BUDAPEST (the highlights, we are tired to typing)
-Chain bridge, St. Stephen's Basilica, biggest Synagouge in Europe, St. Mathies (not suprising it was under construction, just like the rest of Europe). And the well deserved Bath House.

Random moment: Running into another person we know from Oregon at St. Stephen's.

Best meal: What ever we had for lunch (except Staci)

Shout outs:
-Everyone who read to the end of this blog entry.
-JanSport- We love you, but are tired of carrying your bags around. Can you pay for our chiropractor bills?
-Everyones family. You know who you are.
-Becky

TGIF (thank goodness for TGI Friday's!)

We love Prague.

We woke up today to a familiar sound. Rain. Really, are we back in Oregon? Why is the rain following us EVERYWHERE. We are cursed for life with rain.

Yesterday was a beautiful warm sunny day (how odd). It's a good thing we packed all of Prague into yesterday and saw all of the sights (Prague castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town, Astronomical Clock (far worse than the glockensphiel) and the Old-New Synagouge and took a boat ride).

Today we went to TGI Friday's. America has never tasted so good! Worth the 305 we paid for each meal.

A funny little story to enlighten everyone with: our hostel. (We know you love these stories). Picture 7 girls asleep in their bunk beds in the middle of the night. Innocent, calm, a little hot because the radiator is on and the hostel won't turn it off because they don't understand why we would want it off in SUMMER. They are abruptly woken by a loud obnoxious banging on the door. Not wanting to answer it because, we're in the Czech Republic, we wonder who it is. We think it may be Heather, but Trina does not agree, saying "She'd do the Kappa Delta knock if it was a real emergency", so we all take her advice and choose to ignore the knocking. Stephanie finally can't take the knocking anymore and opens the door, to find a man and a large group of people standing behind him.

The man abruptly says "are there any open beds?"
"No," Stephanie replies shutting the door.

Minutes later.

Banging again, this time it is continuious, increasing in sound and speed.

We think it is Heather again, but no one says anything because of Trina's previous statement.

Finally Stephanie gets out of bed after we all force her and opens the door. The man pushes her aside and turns on our lights, demanding to know who is sleeping in each and every bed. When he see's Stephanie's open bed he says: "No one's sleeping there!"

"I WAS sleeping there," yells Stephanie, pushing the man out and locking the door.

Needless to say we didn't sleep the rest of the night. It was a combination of worry that our door was going to be broken down and fear that the 12 angry people sleeping in the hallway were going to murder us because we had beds and a reservation, and they didn't.

The next morning was real fun. Several odd things happened:
-Two men decided to shower together in our one and only bathroom for 16 people who paid and 12 who did not and Staci and Heather heard odd noises as they waited outside.
-Keep in mind this is by no means a luxourious bathroom... it is SICK. But there is a tub.
-Staci had to guard the door while Heather showered because the door to the luxourious bathroom does not lock and some guy kept banging on it trying to open it because he wanted to wash his face (keep in mind there are other sinks)
-Oh and you have to request for hot water. This means going to the rude people at the front desk and asking them to come fix the water heater (shouldn't that always be on?)
-Devin and Kelly took ice cold showers before figuring this out. Trina too, she didn't want to go ask. They are mean.

But other than that we LOVE Prague!

Best meal of the day: Friday's. Duh! Jessica, Trina and Kelly tried traditional Czech food (duck and dumplings).
Random moment: A guy wearing a weird Eugene, Ore. sweatshirt, but he did not speak English. Is Eugene the new hot vacation spot in the States? We also saw a car driving with a California plate. Wouldn't it just be cheaper to buy a new car?

SHOUT OUTS:
-Caroline, Frankie, Gabby, Smackers, Foxy and Pumpkin (yes, Trina does live on a farm). Caroline, can you please read this to the animals? Shout out to Trina's parents and the rest of the fam too.
-Dad, thanks for making me bring the umbrella I didn't think I would use. I used it.- Staci
-Jennnnnnnnnnna. We tried those chocolate eggs. AMAZING.
-Everyone at the VRI. We miss the crab chowder.
-Poiny, way to be the hardest person to get ahold of EVER!
-Happy 24th Alli

PICTURES!!!!

Eiffle Tower

Palace of Versailles (garden) Our other favorite Palace.... Buckingham

(what a tiny little home)

Again the Palace of Versailles front view Paris- River Thames

(Marie Antonette wanted a new front it's

currently under consruction like the rest

of Europe)

Bus Stop in London waiting for our fav the DOUBLE DECKER BUSES!

Czech... CHECK!

Munchen recap:
-Happy Independence Day America... we represented in Germany. We split into three groups (just like the three colors of America) and explored everything Munich had to offer.
-Trina, Devin, Melissa and Kelly wandered around Munich and saw all of the sites by foot. The glockenspiels, the open market, the biggest building in Munich (and climbed to the top) and the square with squirting water.
-Staci, Heather and Jessica (we forgot to mention we picked her up in Amsterdam, so if her parents are wondering, she is safe with us) and went on a bike tour. They peddled around Munich and saw churches, a royal palace, the French garden, the English garden (props to Heather for not getting lost on this bike ride) and of course the second biggest beer garden in the world. The ride ended with a stop at a river where people in Munich surf. Yes, it was weird, yet amazing.
-Stephanie stayed home sick and hurt her back. (Thanks to Dr. Kristin for the email help!)

Today
Today we took a train. Yes we feared being stuck and a police investigation, but we conquered our fears... we rode our train straight to Prague (we were a little worried when the police with big guns walked by... we think they were out to get Staci who couldn't find her ticket (don't worry mom, she found it)).

When we finally got to Prague (6 hours, as scheduled! later) we checked into our hostel (which is no Belgium hostel) but we enjoyed the scenic walk up 5 flights of narrow curvy, steep stairs. We made it to the top where the hostel kicked some guy out of our room (apparently he wasn't supposed to be there anymore) and went out to explore the city.

Prague=AMAZING. That's all. We saw the Charles Bridge and Old Town, which kind of looks like a fairy tale. We climbed to the top of the old town bridge tower (yay us).

Tomorrow:

We are headed to Prague Castle and some Jewish stuff.

Best meal of the days: Hofbrauhous beer (again)
Number of "man-pri's" (male capri pants) seen since we've been in Prague: We lost count after 365. Tomorrow we shall count "mandalls" (high fashion women's sandals for men)

P.S. Pictures are coming soon... We know you are looking more foward to this than our actual arival home.

Goodbye train... Hello München!

In case you are wondering, we got off the train... 8 hours later.

Amsterdam highlights:
-Finding out the hostel we were supposed to stay at was located in the Red Light district (did we accidentally book a brothel?)
-Heather getting lost on her bike during a bike ride. How she missed the turn, the world will never know... or she was just too slow to catch up.
-Kelly running into J.Burr's friends at the Van Gogh museum (who knew 18 year olds and 22 year olds were so cultured?)
-Meeting up with Staci Stringer!
-AMSTERDAM. enough said. Pretty sure we all want to go back. (UPDATE: Amsterdam is the Venice of the north... not Brugge like we previously said).

So now we are in Munich. Today we paid tribute to Staci and Devin's people and went to the concentration camp in Dachau. Definitely an experience.

Of course we ended our day at what some people refer to as "heaven" aka the Hofbräuhaus. We proceeded to act like Americans by playing king's cup at the table. Don't worry, we'll be there tomorrow decked out to celebrate the fourth. München doesn't know what's coming.

Best meal of the day: Hofbräuhaus.

Worst meal: What little we brought on the train while we were stranded... if we only knew.

Random moment: Ironic that our train was called "ICE", yet it felt like we were in a sauna?

Shout outs:
-Bay- how jealous are you that we are legally in Germany and you're not?
-Jennnnnnnna- we'll get the chocolate, don't worry... but where do we get it?
-Becky- love the updates and the commentary, keep them coming... to Heather
-Jan- thanks for the vegan restaurant recomendation... who knew Rick was down with the vegs?

-Rainclouds, can you move your Euro trip to July? Thanks.

HAPPY 4th of JULY! Talk to you in Prague.

get us off this train!!!

We've been on this train for 5 hours (update: 6 hours), going back and forth between the same two stations, Dusseldorf and Dortmund (no we are not in a Harry Potter book and yes we are on the right train) . Don't worry our train was just stopped in a tunnel for some sort of "police investigation"

I guess we'll see you in another 5 hours Munchen?

Number of times Staci has changed seats to reduce motion sickness: 3 (with the way we've been going back and forth this will probably change)

Number of MASH games played: 7

Shouts out:
-Heather's blackberry, our only connection to live outside this train (oh and Jan for the international plan)
- vacation Jason for telling us about beer heaven, we'll be there soon!