Project Europe 2010

Easy Berlin

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:21:00 +0000

Just settled into the most efficient space on the planet: an EasyHotel cubby hole equipped with huge bed taking up half of the cubby, Philips TV that doesn't work without a 7EUR remote and chip, and a tiny bathroom whose door functions as both the bathroom door and the shower door. I'll have to take a video later- it's thrillingly efficient and mildly reminiscent of a few of my college closet-bedrooms.

We're in Berlin for three nights then off to Frankfurt Wednesday morning to catch our plane home. We secured a reservation for the train to Frankfurt so all that's left to do now is enjoy the city. It was pretty easy to populate our list of things to do: Museum of Things, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenberg Gate and Reichstag, Bauhaus Archive, Pergamon Museum and maybe the Zeiss Planetarium. We'll sneak in a lunch at KaDeWe, the continent's largest department store if our feet don't give up on us!

Unicorn Attack

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 08:34:00 +0000

After soaking up the lessons of the Museum of Communism, Chris and I ventured out into Prague's streets in search of food. (The McDonald's right next to the museum was of course out of the question.) We dipped into a bistro and enjoyed some very cheap Pilsner-Urquell, chicken with peaches, three discs of fried camembert with cranberry sauce, numerous baked and sliced potatoes and a serious mound of spinach. The food alone was enough to satisfy us but a special treat had yet to present itself.

I heard the rumblings of a song, far far away as if I was only imagining or having a flashback. No, it couldn't be. I strained to hear, cocked my head in the direction of the music and completely missed what Chris was saying. The beginning notes became louder, yet still hardly audible. Louder and louder and YES! It was the theme song from Robot Unicorn Attack, playing in a random, relatively nice-mannered bistro in Prague. For those of you who haven't heard it, I highly recommend a Google search. Fabulous! Thank you Prague!

We then of course went to see the Astronomical clock, the Charles Bridge and wander about the old medieval part of town...pale in comparison! ;)

Anyone can comment now!

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:57:00 +0000

Der, sorry for all the inconvenience. I have altered our blog settings so that anyone may post without signing up for a google account. That was my bad- didn't read the not-so-fine print, so to speak.

Comment away! We're like Tinkerbell- your claps (aka comments) will help bring us home.

T-Minus 7 days

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:12:00 +0000

Today amongst the rain and white sky, we visited the Eggenberg brewery here in Cesky Krumlov. For about 15 USD total (310 CHK) we received a tour of the facilities, two beers per person on draft and four bottled beers to take home. They are heavy, so we are doing the responsible thing and drinking all four tonight.

Our favorite of the draft beers was an unpasteurized, unfiltered "yeast" beer (which had the perfect head and I photographed, of course). We also enjoyed a dark beer brewed with carmelized and roasted hops. It might be my (Jess) favorite beer so far- as in so far in my life!

Tonight we are curling up in our cozy Krumlov House private double with new books. I scored "The Ecology of Commerce" and Chris found "The Greatest Show on Earth." (I am eager to work for Interface in Atlanta, if anyone has any connections?) We were very impressed with the English books available! Perhaps another expat... Tomorrow we're off to Prague for three days then to Berlin for our final three. Then home sweet -familiar, cozy yet horribly hot- home. Cannot wait.

Massive Upload

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:36:00 +0000

Hello dear followers. You might notice three new slideshows up (or folders in Picasa, however you want to view them). Most of the Munich photos and videos are from the BMW Museum. It was too sexy to restrain my camera.

Now we're settled in at our guesthouse in Cesky Krumlov. It's by far the absolute coziest place we've stayed so far. We are incredibly tempted to just stay here until we fly home. Today we spent a total of $26 USD on two delicious sandwiches, two bus tickets and one serious dinner (as the photos will attest) with two beers. Twenty-six dollars!! We're paying 35 EUR a night to stay in this little lap of luxury...it's nuts. AND there's a teeny tiny black and white cat about the place. How perfect is that?

Enough with words- off to the photos! *And don't forget that to view video, you'll need to click on the picture slideshows or the row of pictures up top. It'll take you to our Picasa Web albums.

Love you Wien

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:58:00 +0000

Forty-seven days later and like it or not, we're still traveling. We have nine days left before our flight home and believe me, we're counting the days.

We now in Vienna and heading to Cesky Krumlov tomorrow. The internet has been a bit sparse the past week or so. In the absence, we visited Mayrhofen, Austria and Munich, Germany. In Mayrhofen, we visited a pretty cool dairy and just a few more peaks within the Alps *yawn! ;). We watched the first game of the World Cup in the English Garden in Munich, after a day full of BMW museum. (Don't worry Dad, I have a TON of photos and videos for you!). I never drank this much beer in my life. Even got heckled for only a liter of beer.

In Vienna, we soaked up as much of the Leopold Museum as we could muster. The museum has the largest collection of Schiele's works, some Klimt and a good helping of early Secession art. *drool. Today we biked around the city and survived unscathed, un-honked at and relatively financially intact. Gorgeous city, one we would both enjoy living in. Austria remains our favorite country. Plans for the rest of the day include food from a market and some serious laziness in our quiet, Soviet-era apartment complex. We have to go stock up on fussball-watching goodies! Our google account is maxed out with photos and we've purchased 20 additional Gigs so look for more photos tomorrow night!

Best things in life are free

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 06:53:00 +0000

As you'll see in the latest photos, we headed up to SeefelderJoch yesterday- first by tram then by cable car to the top. At the peak, we tried desperately not to fall off the face of the mountain. There was one point where this was actually a bit of a challenge! We enjoyed the view, the snow and the free rides up the mountain!

In other news, the music in the camp bathroom here is all the best of 80's soft rock! Loving it.

Bitte Shuze!

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 06:51:00 +0000

We are loving Austria. Yesterday Chris and I joked about splicing a video together that showed five seconds on a cable car with Austrians then five seconds on the metro in Paris. It would be a wonderful way to show how incredibly warm, carefree and genuine people are here in Austria.

The other day we took note of interesting fish in a stream by Olympia Sportszentrium... We later fed squirrels, walked around Lake Wildsee and got engaged. After this full day, we enjoyed dinner at Camp Alpin, like always. As we looked at the menu, the head managess of the Camp told the other lady working there how to say, "we have fresh fish" in English, a message she delivered perfectly. After eating about 68,294 pounds of ham on this trip, we jumped at it.

To our surprise, out came two foot-long fish from head to tail- the same fish we had seen in the stream earlier in the day. They were perfect. The head lady then let us know that not only were they fresh, they were caught in the stream on the camp property. It doesn't get much better than that. The perfect close to a perfect day.

In Seefeld...

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:19:00 +0000

So after the squirrels were ALL OVER Chris, as you'll see in the gazillion photos I took between freaking out, we found the perfect engagement ring at a family-run jewelry store here in Seefeld, Austria. We're not big on hype or formalities but when we saw the right ring, it was a simple decision. Now we've uploaded all the photos, one of the ring of course, and we're going to go enjoy dinner! Only 19 more days to go before we're home sweet home. I'll try not to blind you all with my mad bling at the airport ;)

Prego, Mr. Ed

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:05:00 +0000

So, one of us just ate horse, and horse tartar at that. But wait, I get ahead of myself. We arrived in fair Verona via first class trains that were woefully short. From the station, we headed the wrong way up some heavily trafficked streets and crossed nearly a thousand crosswalks amongst the traffic circles. Narrowly escaping, we reoriented and found our way to B&B Divina. Perfectly content, we lazed about while the heat of the afternoon passed.

Thoroughly rested, we walked around the core of the old Roman settlement, trying to take sensible pictures when really, all we wanted to do was take a thousand pictures of everything. It's one of the most beautiful, genuine and romantic cities we have visited. For all of you who have asked, Verona, Verona, Verona is the one we would recommend you visit. Just touristy enough to find services but not spurred to the frenzy of a tourist's pace or budget. Perfecto.

After a leisurely walk, some drooling over window displays and two jaunts into 13th Century Catholic churches, we had stayed away from our dinner recommendation as long as we could stand. With a two course offering for 15 euro, why not get two courses? Well, any normal human would be perfectly satisfied with the first course of hearty, fresh pasta- that's why! But we haven't learned that lesson just yet. So after some perfect pasta, it was time for the second courses. And that's when the horse tartar arrived.

It was as if someone had been making hamburger patties to grill and forgotten one on Chris' plate. Mmm. Brave soul dug in best he could, savoring the capers it came with and the potatoes. In this case, the pasta dish saved Chris from having to eat the entire mound of horse meat. He said it tasted pretty much like any other meat. Instead of having a sauce, like many beef tartars of yester-dinner, this horse tartar had little to no seasoning. I couldn't really sympathize with him as I devoured the most delectable veal and mushroom combination ever to share a plate.

All in all, the peach/mango and coconut gelato on the walk back filled any room left in our stomachs and we will be sure to think twice before ordering two courses again, especially if one is horse.

A Few Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sun, 30 May 2010 19:31:00 +0000

Some things I may have failed to mention:
* In Barcelona, we had very delicious Chinese food with a perfect Japanese dessert.
* When people say they speak a little English, you can bet they speak much more English than you speak of their language.
* People only speak a little English in small-town Germany, Barcelona and non-tourist-route Italy. In Holland and Belgium, you're pretty much square. Even if you speak French in France, you'll never be good enough.
* Fondue in Switzerland is heavenly but G&M's in Charleston is comparable.
* Music in most places we've been so far has been English, and primarily from the US. We've heard more Queen here than I ever dreamed to hope for in one lifetime. We even heard Dolly Parton in Cochem, Germany.
* We have only seen fountain soda here in Florence. It's on draft, so to speak. Otherwise, it's bottled.
* We have enjoyed conversations with Jonas in Amsterdam, Matt from Vancouver, Peggy and James from Tampa, Anthony and his boyfriend from Australia, a man and his son from India and Fred and Natalie from Raleigh. We also received tips on Florence today from British travelers and a couple from Florida. Insert small world cliche here.
* The Simpons in Italian is still fabulous. We enjoyed that little slice of familiar entertainment while in Parma.
* Hulu isn't available outside of the US! Not even Canada! Once again Canada gets the shaft.
* Gelato is as good as all the tourists gush.

Risotto, be mine forever.

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 29 May 2010 17:22:00 +0000

Backlog from yesterday, 28 May 2010
What a great day in Parma! This small city has been a treat and a wonderful introduction to Italy. It's small enough to walk through and not too much traffic that you sincerely fear for your life while crossing streets. Our goal for the day was to eat as much as was comfortable and we defintely succeeded. With a morning cappucino and heavenly pastry, we were ready to explore the baptistery and the Museuo Disocesano di Parma. The hour and a half of gazing at remarkable 12th century frescos left us completely famished (ha!), and we indulged in some pistachio and strawberry gelato. Culinarily satisfied, we walked about the streets where Romans once tromped and traded. We discovered a small, cozy bookstore full of beautiful collectible books, from Pinochio to antique Taschen hardbacks. Let the drooling commense!

Not able to buy books, we set out for more food! Chris ordered a first course of risotto and a second course of insalata with procuitto. I ordered a first course of arribiata spagetti and a caprese for the second course. Just one course would have been a more prudent choice! Chris scored the best dish of the day award with his risotto. Served on a flat plate, the risotto was a creamy circle of goodness dashed with the freshest ground pepper and local parmesian cheese. My spagetti revealed what spagetti is supposed to taste like- fresh pasta complimented with just enough tomato and olive oil to make you lick your lips with every bite. Ready for a nap but a long way from the hotel, we sat a while longer and enjoyed an espresso in the tiniest of cups.

Something unusual also happened today- I felt like shopping. This has only happened about 10 days in my whole life so we capitalized on it while it lasted. We had our eyes peeled for a good pair of jeans or a purple top (which seems to be the pentultimate of cool right now). I should add the caveat that I am awkward enough with salespeople who speak English so the prospect of an Italian boutique was daunting. With Chris' encouragement, we went into a shop that had a shirt I liked in the window. After two failures of jeans- not knowing my European size or even how to say numbers in Italian- I tried on the top in the window while Chris chatted with the congenial shopkeeper. Prego! An attractive pattern, a flattering cut plus one mastercard and we were on our way, shopping bag in tow. We have now purchased exactly two things that are not Dune paperbacks, food or survival related! Don't worry- gift purchases will surely come later in the trip when we have fewer kilometers to travel.

Later 28 May, after dinner at Leon d'Oro
We just enjoyed one of the best meals, worthy of celebration. It began with a house red wine that tingled on our tongues. It was followed by ossobucco for Chris and risotto with red cabbage for me. Chris' ossobucco rested in a nest of yellow risotto, in an quantity impossible to finish. We slowly made our way through the hearty dishes and after over an hour, finally surrendered. A dessert tray had been rolled closer and we knew better than destroy ourselves on the main courses.

A decision was in order: which of the many delicious desserts would we chose? Chris saw one nestled amongst the others. It was cakey, tripled-layered, folded in on themselves. The outer layer was a vibrant red, soaked in liquor. Cozy inside were two layers: one of chocolate and another of custard. Beside it, a heafty dollop of creme with coffee bean peppered throughout. Decadent, amazing and fulfilling. We finished the dinner of indulgence with a shot of distilleria- grappa from chardonnay. Stout, flavorful and subtle, it warmed and enlivened us just enough for us to haul ourselves up three flights to our room.

And now.. Deep Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 29 May 2010 17:18:00 +0000

We are now two days into the second half of the trip, and we've thrown out our plans left and right- skipping Paris because of the crap weather, hop-scotching through France to get to Spain, adding a stay in Lauterbrunnen for three nights, going to Parma instead of Milan, adding more hotel breaks than expected...so many changes have been completely the right thing to do but taxing in their own way. Despite the excitement of travel, we are missing our friends and our family. I remind myself that this is a rare trip and that every day is a different lifestyle- one I won't likely have again. There are foods and experiences to be had here that are of a place and time we must grasp while we can. Carpe Diem!

On another note, inside the glacial-falls of the Trummelbach river, it dawned on me that the current rate of the melting of glaciers isn't something to brush off as a natural process, as well as the carelessness of such a claim. The power of the water was humbling and intimidating but just a glimpse of the strength of unbridled earth.

The Saint of Parma

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sat, 29 May 2010 17:14:00 +0000

Backlog from 27 May 2010
We've made it! Country #7! By now hopping on and off trains is old hat. Today we took six different trains between Lauterbrunnen, Switz. and Parma, Italy. Once we read it was the birthplace of delicious prosciutto and parmesan, coming here was a no-brainer.

Upon arriving in town, we found the train station in a state of reconstruction. Once we finally found the exit, we headed out in the direction we thought was correct. None of the scant steet signs revealed we were on the right path so I asked a crossing guard who was helping a ton of little kids get out of school. A safe bet, right? As a cigarette hung from his lips, he spoke a great deal of Italian- of which we caught that there was a stop light involved in the opposite direction we were heading. Already he had been more helpful than every person in France put together, but he wasn't done yet. Thinking we spoke French, he began asking parents if they spoke French! What had we gotten into?

One father spoke French, and I attempted to communicate but I'm sure it was just a bunch of deer-in-headlights and head nodding. I handed him our notes, which we had scrawled a completely inadequate map onto. He recognized the hotel name and asked if we were on foot, and we said "Oui..Dah..Si." He gestured to his car and pointed here and there for where we would fit. His adorable son sat in the front with Chris looking completely mellow, as if strangers from strange lands often rode beside him. Amazed already that he was giving us a ride, he then used his cell phone to call and verify the location. Lots of Italian later, we were on our way! Within two blocks, we were delivered right to the door of Leon D'oro. We thanked him profusely in Italian, French and English as he held up traffic for us.

The door to the hotel had a sign on it. Italian, of course. But with the door locked, we hoped if we just stood around, eventually something would happen. Our driving friend hadn't left yet and called the hotel again for us. Presto! We were let in and the rest is history.

People come here to jump off of things.

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:30:00 +0000

From Monday, May 24: Today we woke up to the deceiving peacefulness of Camping Eicholz in Bern, Switzerland. Last night, we were completely surrounded by children of all ages with a different idea of personal space and private property than we Americans are engrained with. Having had troubles with our tent, we were nervous about anything stronger than a stiff wind, let alone a football or tumbling child. We huddled inside listening to our audiobook and willed the sun to set. Around 10pm, it finally was dark enough to mellow out the children, and we were safe for the next few hours...
At 8am, we awoke with a start and said to each other, "We've gotta get out of here [before the children wake up]." We hiked back to the tramstop, managed to ride the tram without paying for the 3.80CHF tickets (ouch!), and hopped onto the first train to Interlocken. From there, we took a Jungfraubahn train to gorgeously situated Lauterbrunnen. I thanked my lucky stars that Chris has such a knack for chosing the most amazing camping locations. We had camp set up by 11am and set off to find some rosti! Hotel Oberland hooked us up with the amazing potato dish with local swiss cheese and other tasty morsels on top.

We took the cable car and then a tram up to Winteregg. The hike back was beautiful but brutal on our legs. We're still recovering! (But found that fondue and ice cream help.)

Feast to Famine

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Sun, 23 May 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Besides a few letters in their name, Bern and Barcelona have very little in common. From sandy to green, Spanish to Swiss German, cheap to eeeexpensive and ocean to glaciers, we traveled pretty far yesterday. With a gorgeous river along the campgrounds and packed parks all throughout town, we have had a rejuvenating day in Bern. Tomorrow, we're off to Camp Jungfrau in the Alps and hope to hike up to the tallest peak in Europe. Sike! We'll take a rather expensive but oh-so-worth it funicular to the peak.

Little update: The tent worked like usual last night with it's little repair and my head is on the mend! We're also enjoying Speaker for the Dead on audiobook and Chris breezed through Dune and is onto the Prelude already...You'd think traveling would slow the lad down but you'd be wrong.

Today in Barcelona

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:58:00 +0000

After a lovely chat with Fred & Natalie from Raleigh, NC over croissants and coffee at Casa de Billy, we head out to find a solution to our previously mentioned tent problem. After four outdoor equipment shops, we ducked into a hobby store, full of trains and fake grass. They had metal tubing and a saint working there who used a Vermeer caliper to measure our tent pole, find an appropriate tube AND cut it down for us. SAINT! His picture is among the slideshow. He even let Chris put some elbow grease into it. That problem somewhat solved, we sought a Menu del Dia. I enjoyed some delicious gazpacho and Chris had a significant quantity of roasted asparagus. That was just the first course. We had ham-stuffed pork loin as a second course and crema Catalan and chocolate cake. With the beers, it was 21 euro- all included. A good end to a successful morning.

In the afternoon, we trekked up to the train station and hoped to secure transport to Bern for tomorrow. Haha- how silly we are to think any train through France might be anything but a huge hassle. "Not possible," is the phrase train ticket sellers tend to use... but we figured it out and we'll be on our way to Bern tomorrow.

We then hopped into the metro system and via vernicular, went up to the Castel. The best thing about that was the random stray cats and the view. (Wouldn't recommend it- plenty of views elsewhere.)We made our way back down the mount and visited Mies van de Rohe's Pavilion. We sat in the chairs, regardless of signage in multiple languages not to. With sore feets, we made our way back to the casa and are planning out what comes next!

A Few Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:47:00 +0000

In Barcelona, the music in nearly every restaurant is from the 80's or early 90's. In Germany, purple seems incredibly popular. In Gent, we should have drank more and eaten more of Amadeus' spare ribs. France hates Eurail passes, their holders and makes it difficult to like traveling through France. There are windmills in every country we have yet traveled through, as well as community gardens along the train tracks. Australians travel really far and sometimes stop in Dubai on their way back from Europe. There is magic in Belgium's waffles. Holland's mayonnaise makes me want to move there, and we are now eating mayo on everything. There are Chevrolet and Ford dealerships in downtown Barcelona.

After the tent broke, but before the head wound.

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:40:00 +0000

In an effort not to worry our mothers, as we so often tend to do, it's only now that I am updating you, dear readers, of our latest of interesting developments-tent breakage and head wounds! Our last night at Tossa de Mar, the front pole of the tent decided to break. It's an ultralight tent, made with heated aluminum, yada yada which equals "fragile." So, miniature emergency rolls of duct tape saved the night, while Chris applied some of his boyscout-taught knotting techniques to stabilize our new construction. We were ridiculous relieved as the sun went down and our tent remained standing. More later on what we hope to do with the tent-home we had planned for the remaining five weeks of our trip.

So, the head wound. As I, Jess, was preparing to get into the shower here in Barcelona, I was throwing laundry around, trying to multi-task and not paying enough attention to potentially lethal open windows... As I stood up from fussing about, my head contacted the bottom corner of the window. After actually yalping, "OW!," I said some incredibly unladylike things. Meanwhile, I determined that stitches were probably unlikely but the adrenaline made me shaky, so I fled to the room and enlisted Chris' help. Tall as he is, he quickly determined I would 1) Survive and 2) Not need stitches or even emergency duct tape on my head. Unpleasant and the opposite of fun but just another trial of the trip.

All's well that ends well! And now for something totally different...

The Fruits of Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:03:00 +0000

After the onslaught of cold weather that was the beginning of our trip, we eagerly raced, or rather slowly took slow trains over a period of days, towards Spain. We assumed Spain to be an oasis of warmth, a land without clouds or windchill. We had some serious luck in this regard. As we rolled into Spain (our train being so delayed that they recruited a bus to take us instead), the clouds literally parted and the temperature was nearly 80. Though Spain is not always magically perfect for weather, it turns out that the very day we arrived, the weather cleared, and it remains sunny all week.

Tossa de Mar was a vacation within our vacation. The ocean was a crystal clear turquoise, dwarfed by cliffs that shot straight up from the beach and lined with scrubby succulents and pines. Our campsite was situated at the top of one such cliff, and had a view over the railing all the way to the beach. On the downside, our campsite was also at the bottom of a hill. The bathrooms were on the top of the hill. The bus stop was on top of the hill on top of the previous hill. When we left this morning, to finally depart after three nights of relaxing by the ocean, we strapped on our backpacks and hiked about fifteen minutes up to the bus stop - at about a 45-degree incline, we definitely got our exercise from Tossa, but I suppose it's good preparation for the Alps.

We have now settled into Barcelona, arriving at the luxurious yet comfortable guesthouse Casa de Billy (yes, you read that correctly, an expat I believe). Thrilled to be sleeping in a bed again and spoiled by a location incredibly central to the city, we are plotting our approach to the city tomorrow.

As usual, we are targeting food and sights - Barcelona is loaded with both. The deal in Spain for food is that most restaurants have what is called Menu del Dia (Menu of the Day). It's a ridiculous steal at around 10 Euros per person, for a 3 course lunch (yes lunch), with wine included. Everywhere does it, it's a national custom (almost a law). After a massive lunch, it may be time for a siesta - most places don't even start serving dinner until 9 PM, so we have a large amount of time to fill up.

Somewhere after siesta, we will seek out what Mark Bittman refers to as the best sandwich he's ever had, the flauta d’ibéric d.o. jabugo - at CafeViena - made from what many say is the world's best salt-cured ham (jabugo).

I suppose Jess will inform you about the architecture of Barcelona, I mainly just ramble on about food. Stay tuned for more coherent and structured posts from her, while I slip into a jabugo y cerveza fueled coma.

(Did she mention the pancakes with bacon cooked into them in Delft? Wow.)

¡Perfection!

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:55:00 +0000

It turns out that some places in the world are nearly perfect. We have found one of those places, but we´re not the first. Chris first caught a glimpse of our current campsite on Times´ top 20¨. We´re Number 5, and the featured image is probably the campsite next to ours, if not ours exactly. When we´re not pinching ourselves, we´re enjoying the perfect temperature, ridiculous view and the most beautiful pitchers of sangria on the planet. Will write more about Tossa de Mar later on, when we´re not at an internet terminal typing on a Spanish keyboard¿

Where are we?

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:40:00 +0000

So, on our way to Spain, we've stopped in Tours, Poitiers, Limoges and now Toulouse. In Tours, we stayed the night. In Poitiers, we were intrigued yet didn't make it much farther than the train station. 600m up with 20lb packs, I don't think so. Had a nice stay and walk around Limoges- which was sadly and largely closed due to previously mentioned and loathed national holiday. So now we're in sweet, gritty, real Toulouse. More manageable than Paris, more urban than Tours and more relevant than Poitiers. So far, we're enjoying Toulouse for tonight and Saturday night. After discovering that camping was pretty far out of town, we hunkered down in a relatively nice place just a stones' throw from le gare (train station). At 6:45am on Sunday, we'll be catching a train to Barcelona and then connecting to somewhere else in Spain- so the proximity will be greatly appreciated! For now, I'm just uploading the latest photos and seein' if the ol' paternals are signed onto Skype. The never-ending game of cat and mouse with wifi and 6hrs time difference... One day! For now, we are happily full of mussels and frites, kir and cassis so bon soiree and please do one thing for me- enjoy your water pressure and soft toilet paper!! I'll live vicariously. ;)

Like Pamplona...

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Wed, 12 May 2010 21:37:00 +0000

The avalanche of the unexpected continues. After the decision to chuck Brugge and head to Bayeux, we didn't know where we should go next. Even though we could have made the Hotel de Bayeux our second home, it was 60E a night and time to find a new destination. But where?? Further into uncharted French territory? Or bite the long-train bullet and head to Spain?? With two hours to checkout and free wifi, we feverishly researched possibilities. Okay, we'll head to Paris and catch the night train to Barcelona, followed by a train to Valencia. We'd be enjoying the gorgeous Spain weather by noon. HA! If only things had gone as planned.
Upon arriving in the incredibly packed Paris station, we headed toward information to book a bed on the next night train. "Not possible," she says. Not tonight. Not tomorrow night. Not Friday night, Saturday night...shall I go on? Turns out, lucky for us, it's a holiday and EVERY HUMAN in ALL of France has their butt in a train seat. Anywhere we asked, Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastian- every train was booked. Well, we decided, this information person was not giving us the information we wanted. So we headed out in the direction of another large train station and another info station. We found one, slightly reminiscent of British customs detention (gulp), but were helped find a way out of Paris. Said train had no reservations, so it was first come-first seated on the train. We waited and waited like lemmings for the platform to be announced as a crowd grew behind us. Within seconds of the platform number popping up, the entire massive hoard that had gathered moved like a wave, some running and some pulling Heismans in order to get a seat. It was ..like Pamplona... As I write, we are on a train not to anywhere near Spain but to Tours, France. It's in the general direction of Spain from Paris and most importantly- NOT PARIS. If we've learned one thing about ourselves as travellers, it's that we prefer smaller cities. Sorry Paris...maybe later when we're down with schedules and dropping some mad money...and it's July.

Update: Writing now from a wonderful hotel, Hotel Ronsard, in Tours. The city is full of youth, traditional architecture, and we couldn't have felt safer as we navigated her 11pm streets. Thank you Tours!

Cloud 9

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Tue, 11 May 2010 08:58:00 +0000

Card returned, cash in tow and wonderful hotel to rest our heads already secured for tonight. Thinking of skipping Paris and it's 1 degree low for Thursday. How about Spain instead?? Like retired New Jersians heading to Florida- we're off to Spain on Thursday! In the meantime, D-Day beaches and the Bayeux Tapestry. Very excited to see both! They were on our list of too-far to go but now we're HERE and the sun is shining. Thanking our lucky stars!

So far in Bayeux...

noreply@blogger.com (Jess) — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:24:00 +0000

So, still Monday but now we are in Bayeux, France- famous for THE tapestry of tapestries and the beaches that hold the memories of so many who fought for and liberated Europe in WWII. When we arrived, the wind was fierce and the streets were deserted. We found an atm, which ate Chris's card. The first hostel we went to was full. Since it was kind of shady anyway, we weren't too upset and found a wonderful hotel instead - Hotel le Bayeux! We love it already. This is our first room to ourselves, with walls! electricity! free water! free towels! free linens! It's heaven. Tomorrow we'll tackle the bank- hope they speak a bit of English and hope we can get the card returned. We'll play it by ear! Lots of back up plastics and every finger crossed.
Tomorrow we'll visit the tapestry and some beaches. Most likely, we'll stay here another night tomorrow and visit Mont St Michel on Wednesday.. but you never know how the wind might blow..