Our European Adventure

The Final Two Weeks (7 and 8)

2008-08-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Here we sit on the eve of our leaving Europe wondering what happened to the last two months...it has been such a great trip but has flown by! We've traveled to London, Edinburgh and Dublin over the past three weeks.

In London, we were greeted with good weather... surprisingly! While we were there we went to several excellent shows (Wicked, The Lion King, and Dirty Dancing) and walked all through the city.

We took a short flight to Edinburgh, Scotland, where we toured the city and spent the majority of our time out in the countryside of the West Highlands - a region of Scotland that is filled with sweaping views, castle ruins and LOTS of sheep!

Our last stop on this "European Adventure" was good 'ole Dublin, Ireland! Here, we have tasted Guinness (ick!), spent an afternoon in the fishing village of Howth (aka. Bono's backyard as he has a home here and is often spotted walking the streets) and ended our time abroad with a full-day at the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher.

We're headed HOME tomorrow and couldn't be more excited (and tired!). Our trip has certainly allowed us to "run wild" and get out the travel bug (at least for a while!) before changing gears and settling into school. So law school, here we come!

*We apologize for "skimping" on the pictures. Our internet is VERY slow and we're running low on patience! We've tried and tried, but kee

Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland (and no, despite all our looking, we didn't see Nessie!)

Doune Castle in the Highlands of Scotland

The Cliffs of Moher

Week 5 and 6

2008-07-24T03:08:00.000-07:00

Picking up from where we last left off...

Josh and I had a great time in Nice and especially enjoyed our day trip to Monaco/Monte Carlo where Ferraris and Bentleys filled the streets. From Nice, we headed to Munich where we took a historical tour of the city, watched the Glockenspiel chime in the Marienplatz, and ventured out to the Neuschwienstein - which the Disney Castle/Magic Kingdom Castle was modeled after - and Linderhoff Castles.

Between Munich and Brugges, we stopped for a night in Luxembourg - which is only a small dot on the map and just as small in person. The following morning, we headed which has been one of our favorite places. While there, we toured the city, ate Belgian chocolate, and rented bikes - making our way to Holland and back! We said goodbye to the quaint city of Brugges this past Sunday and are now in Paris - leaving for London later this afternoon. While in Paris, we went to EuroDisney (which was really fun!) and toured the sights of the city.

We are excited for our last two weeks of traveling and are really looking forward to being in English speaking countries :)

Overlooking the coastline of Nice.

Outside the casino in Monaco.

Monaco Bay...do you see the yachts?!

Josh taking a turn at body surfing. The waves were massive!

Quick picture on the beach in Nice.

The Hofbrauhaus.

The Glockenspiel in Munich.

Traditional Bavarian dress.

Neuschwienstein Castle

The Bavarian Alps.

Luxembourg

Our bike ride in Brugges.

On our way to Holland...

Brugges

Trip to EuroDisney.

Loved the "meet-and-greet"...it was fun to be a kid again!

First stop in Paris - Notre Dame

The Louvre

On top of the Eiffel Tower.

Week 3, 4 and Part of 5

2008-07-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

Since our last post (two and a half weeks ago) we've traveled through the rest of Italy (Cinque Terre and Venice), to Austria (Vienna and Salzburg) - a quick day trip to Budapest - to the Czech Republic (Prague and Cesky Krumlov) and we just arrived in Nice tonight! With free internet and air conditioning, we're loving France :)

A few highlights from these past few weeks would be hiking the five towns of Cinque Terre, wandering the streets of Venice, watching the EuroCup 2008 finals on an open-air screen in Vienna, and hiking the Swiss Alps. Needless to say, it's been quite a trip!

Given that we've taken over 1200 pictures thus far, we've limited ourselves to only a few from each place (below). Hope you all enjoy - - we love and miss ya'll.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Cinque Terre: On our way to Vernazza...hot and sweaty!

Vernazza below! Almost there...

Nothing beats a scoop of gelato on a hot day in Venice.

Dodging pigeons in San Marco.

Murano.

Taken from the Rialto Bridge.

The House of Parliament in Budapest (A famous Hungarian landmark, though it is apparently modeled after the House of Parliament in London).

Getting a stranger to take a decent picture of us has been a challenge.

Saint Stephan's Basilica - in Budapest.

Germans carting their beer around to the EuroCup finals. They are serious about their beer drinking.

Outside The Hofburg Palace in Vienna.

In Prague's Old Town Square

On St. Charles Bridge in Prague - looking out on the Vltava River.

Cesky Krumlov - a small town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.

The lazy Vltava River in Cesky Krumlov. Floating down the river is a perfect way to spend the afternoon!

Who knew there were hay bails in Cesky!?

The Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg.

Hiking in the Bernese Oberland Region of Switzerland - just a short train ride from Interlaken. It was gorgeous. These pictures just don't do it justice; you'll have to see it for yourself.

I dare say we saw over thirty waterfalls over the course of our ten hours of hiking.

The city of Interlaken (situated between the Thunersee Lake and the Brienzersee Lake).

At a lookout point on our hike to Harder Klum.

A shot of the Jungfrau Mountain - taken at 8:00 pm or so.

On our way out of Interlaken, headed for Lucerne.

Infront of the Kapellebrucke in Lucerne.

Lake Lucerne.

Week 2: Italy

2008-06-23T01:43:00.000-07:00

From Athens, Josh and I flew to Naples to catch a ferry to the island of Capri. We stayed in cute hotel in Anacapri which is the mountainous/less touristy area on the island. We hiked Monte Solaro (the highest point on the island) and jumped into the Blue Grotto after hours :) as to avoid the crowds (as you can see from the boat load of Chinese tourists!) for a quick swim. It was gorgeous - the view from inside the cave is breathtaking.

The following day, Josh and I visited Positano on the Amalfi Coast for the day (which is also a very beautiful place). From there, we took a bus to Sorrento to catch a train to Rome - which was a walking-intensive city to say the least! We saw all there was to see and were exhausted at the end of each day.

Now, we are in Florence and headed to Cinque Terre in the morning. We had dinner at one of my favorite places - Acqua al 2 - and have been enjoying a slower pace for the past two days...eating gelato, walking through the city, shopping at the market, and touring the museums.

*Sorry for the pictures being out of order...we are not that savvy and pressed for time.

Inside the Blue Grotto

...snapped just after swimming inside the Blue Grotto.

At the Trevi Fountain

Dinner at Acqua al 2....yummy!

On our last day in Rome, we went in search of the Circus Maximus (hoping to see a real chariot or two) and this is it...what a let down.

Our first lunch in Florence - just on the edge of San Lorenzo - delicious, complete with Michael Buble music.

Florence

On our first night in Florence, we went to hear the symphony...they were magnificent!

The Duomo

Positano 1

Positano 2

Some dirty Italian had pissed on the steps at the bus stop in Positano. A very unpleasant smell.

The Pantheon

The Collesuem

Monte Solaro

View of the Blue Grotto from the top of the cliff.

Here we are in China....I mean Italy.

The Marina Grande in Capri.

Week One: Greece (Athens/Greek Isles)

2008-06-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

We're a week into our 8-week "adventure" and it's been just that! We had to run through the airport for both of our connections, my bag was lost in the Chicago airport (it took three days for us to receive it), and we made it onto our ferry leaving Mykonos just minutes before it left the port! With seven weeks still left to travel, I am sure we'll have many more close-calls to add to the list :)

Below are a few (select) pictures from our trip, thus far. As you'll see by the naked butt and "best flat-top permed mullet this side of the world", Josh is having a ball with snapping shots around every turn (...he's enjoyed being "cultured" as he calls it!) - Kidding aside, it's been a lot of fun and we've enjoyed touring Athens (below are two pics...one of us at the Parthenon and the other is of the Panathenaic Stadium (home of the first Olympic Games in 1896) and sunbathing on the beaches of Mykonos. Some highlights of Mykonos were seeing the sunset, hiking to the gigantic windmills and spotting the enormous, yet friendly pelicans.

We're back in Athens until tomorrow afternoon where we'll be heading to Italy for the next two weeks and I must admit, that we're looking forward to something different than the gyro pitas that we've had for nearly every meal! *I hope these pictures aren't too jumbled...we're pressed for time and new at the whole blogging "thing"!

Love ya'll and we'll post again soon...