Galway

Ireland! Wow, what a beautiful country! We spent the day on a tour bus in the countryside. My stomach was not too happy about this (I look forward to not riding on trains and buses daily), but it was completely worth it. Our tour took us to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. The Burren is a big hill covered in limestone. I didn't have a clue what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was neat just walking through all these rocks.

The highlight of the day was definitely the Cliffs of Moher. It's truly a sight to behold. The cliffs are about 700 feet high, and it's a straight drop off of them. We walked along the top of them, and there's a point where there's a sign that says "Please don't go any further." This is not a sign that people follow. There's a path carved out for people to walk on. Matt and I stuck to the innner side of the path, but there were SO many people getting close to the edge. It made us both quite anxious watching this (there have been a number of deaths on these cliffs.) We didn't venture out to far on this path. But we did get to see some amazing views.

The Burren (side note, The Burren was the name of our local Irish pub in Davis Square-now we know where the name came from)

The Burren

The Cliffs of Moher

Scary path on the cliffs

The Cliffs of Moher - pictures do not do any justice

Me and Matthew :)

We stopped on our way back to Galway-great views of the Atlantic

Another scary drop off

Be sure to read the post on London below!

London

We finally made it to an English speaking country! Granted, this didn't matter too much since, one, pretty much everywhere we've been people have spoken English and, two, it was still difficult to understand people! But we did have a bonus here; we had a great tour guide, Susan. Matt and I graduated high school with Susan, and thanks to the greats at Facebook, it's been easy to keep up with each other even though we haven't lived near each other in ten years. Our first night there we met up with Susan and her husband Rod for dinner, and we were pleasantly surprised to see another guest there, Estelle. Estelle was a foreign exchange student at our high school during senior year, so it was kinda a mini reunion. It was a lot of fun catching up and seeing some familiar faces.

Matt and I did lots of walking while in London. We did another free walking tour, and I thought the meeting point was close to our hotel. Well, if you consider a 50 minute walk close, then I guess it was. The walking tour took us by Buckingham Palace, lots of WWII monuments, some of the royal palaces, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Big Ben, lots of parks; lets just say it was a LOT of walking. Which was good, because it helps balance out all the eating we've been doing. We learned that the city began giving the pigeons birth control because there were too many of them. Also the pelicans in one of the parks have began eating pigeons-this is not normal. Apparently there has been a bit of inbreading within this group of birds. After the tour we went over to Leicester Square which has TONS of movie theaters as well as all the play theaters. We were really excited to be able to watch a movie in English, so we caught the A-Team. London is about six weeks behind as far as movies go (however they always get Harry Potter on time!). We were hoping to catch Knight and Day, and Matt was sorely dissapointed when he saw it doesn't come out there until August 6th. However, we both enjoyed the A-Team, so it all worked out well.

The next day we caught up with Susan and Rod again who were gracious enough to be our guides for the day. We saw St. Paul's Cathedral and went into one of the free museums and saw some great views of the city. We rode on top of one of the double decker buses, which was actually quite fun. The museums in London are free so we stopped at the British Museum. We said our goodbyes to Susan, and then headed back to Leicester Square for a show. Unfortunately I couldn't convince Matt to see Mama Mia (and the tickets were also quite expensive), so we agreed on Sherlock Holmes. I was not at all impressed with this show-it went a bit over my head. So next time it will definitely be a musical!

Just in case I should forget, which I did, many times!

Buckingham Palace

Look kids, it's Big Ben! (Who can name that movie? Mandy-you don't get to play :)

This is actually the clock tower. Big Ben is the bell inside it, so we actually didn't see Big Ben.

Westminster Abbey

The Tower Bridge-most people think is the London Bridge. The London Bridge is actually just an ugly concrete bridge with not much of a design to it. This one is much prettier.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Unfortunately we didn't get any pics with Susan. We must remember to get some next time!

Salzburg

Salzburg!! After much anticipation, we finally made it here, and the first (and pretty much only) thing I wanted to do was of course, The Sound of Music tour. We woke up bright and early Monday morning and made our way to MiraBell Garden to start our tour.

Our first stop was in Mirabell Garden: the fountain where Maria and the kids marched around the fountain singing Do-Re-Mi.

Our next stop was the gazebo! This is the quinessential Sound of Music tour picture. I can add it to the Watt's family gazebo picture collection.

This is the lane that Julie Andrews skipped down with suitcase and guitar case in hand while singing "I Have Confidence." I had to skip down the same path! A bit down the road is the house that was used as the front of the Von Trapp's house. We got to see the house from a distance, but didn't get to stop at it.

This is the house that was used as the back of the Von Trapp's house. The canoe scene was filmed here as well as the scene where they have lemonade and bounce the ball with the Baroness. It's hard to make out, but there is a balcony and the scene where the Captain tells the Baroness good-bye was filmed there. The gazebo was located to the left of the house originally, but was moved to a place where tourists could see it. This house is owned by Harvard, and they do not allow tourists on the property. They hold seminars here, and I've already looked to see if they're holding any that I can attend! Harvard allowed very little filming to be done here. One of the rooms in the house was completely replicated in a Hollywood studio since they couldn't use the room for filming.

I'm not exactly sure how this lake plays into the movie, but it was a really pretty view anyway.

This is the church where Maria and the Captain got married in the movie (they actually were married at Nonnburg Abbey). I was surprised at how small it was, or maybe it just seemed small since it was empty. When I watch the movie everything just looks much more grand.

This is where the children and Maria hung from the trees and also where they road their bikes. This was it for the tour, but I found a couple more things to see in Salzburg.

This is the fountain where Maria sits and splashes the water while singing "I Have Confidence." Matt and I were told it was in Old Town, so we walked and walked and walked all through Old Town unable to find it. After what seemed like hours (it was probably more like only one hour), I looked at the map and realized that we thought was Old Town was actually New Town. So after much frustration, we figured out where Old Town actually was and found the fountain!

One of our last stops was Nonnburg Abbey. This is the Abbey where the real Maria went to be a nunn and it was used in the film as well. It's still a convent so we couldn't walk around inside.

So Salzburg was a success. The city was small and walkable, and we really enjoyed our time here!

Finally Back!

Haven't posted in awhile since Aaron has been here to keep everyone updated. (See Matt's blog for Aaron's posts. Hopefully he'll update on Prague sometime too.) But Aaron and Melissa left this morning to head back to the states :( We were sad to see them go, but I'm glad we had something to look forward to (well, I did at least), Salzburg!! We made it to the land of singing hills-or something like that. I've already found like 15 different Sound of Music activities for us to partake in, and Matt is probably wondering why he agreed to come here with me. I'm hoping to do a tour in the morning, assuming they have room available. If not, Tuesday will be the day. I'm super excited to sing till my heart's content (Matt's ears may start bleeding before then). Our hostel was showing The Sound of Music as we walked out, and it took every ounce of control not to plop down on the floor and enjoy the show. But Matt direly wanted to find some internet, so hopefully the hostel will be playing an encore when we return.

The last week has been full of great activities. The weather cooled off for Venice, so we were able to enjoy some activities. We got to watch a fireworks show our first night (it was about as good as the Heartland Festival's show-definitely no Thunder!!). We got to wonder through the streets, and it was great not having to worry about a scooter running you down at every turn. We also enjoyed a gondala ride-very touristy, but who can go to Venice without partaking? I would definitely return here. Next was Munich which we enjoyed as well. It felt a little more modern than a lot of places we visited, probably because so much was ruined during WWII and had to be rebuilt. It was really fascinating hearing the history of the city and seeing places where history took place. We ventured down to Dachau, and it was truly an experience I'll never forget. It's very heart breaking, as I'm sure you all know. Read Aaron's account for more detail on it. He posted some pics too. Prague was our last stop with the Hawkins', and it was a great place to end. Gorgeous city that also has a bit of a sad history. We did walking tours in both Munich and Prague which we greatly enjoyed. Taught us a lot about the cities that we weren't aware of.

Our traveling here has been quite interesting as well. One day we got off at the wrong stop and missed our connecting train. Another train was six hours long, no AC, and pretty hot outside. It was not very enjoyable. We've had screaming kids and very loud, laughing German women. Today the train was so full that cart was full and people had to sit in the aisles-there are actually little seats that pull out of the walls for people to sit on. But they don't look comfortable. And there's no way I could've sat in one for six hours. Luckily, we got there early and got comfy seats. I hope the travel continues to go smoothly-especially for Matt's sake, I kinda freak out when things don't go as I plan!

Well, guess I will head back for some sleep-must prepare for plenty of singing tomorrow!!

Venice

Italy has been redeemed! Rome was not a good experience, but Venice has been great. Weather is much better so that definitely helps our mood. Looking forward to Germany tomorrow! (See pics on Matt's blog)

Day 13-Rome may be out to get us!

We had plans to be out of the room by 8. That didn't happen (I'm sure you're quite surprised). We all woke up with stomach issues. Did not make for an easy morning. When we finally made it up we met Giovanni, the owner of the b&b. She's wonderful; very personable. Her niece Julia made us a great breakfast. Then we were off. We made it to the Vatican without a problem, waited in the hot sun for about twenty minutes, made it up to the basilica, only to be turned away. Why was this? My collar bones were showing. I had on a dress, with sleeves, but not enough of my shoulder was covered. I actually had a wrap I could cover up with, but Mandy didn't have anything for her bare shoulders. Needless to say this did not give us a good first impression of the Vatican. While Mandy went off to buy a wrap, Matt and I made it into the basilica. We saw the tomb of the disciple Peter and made our way around the church. We can't help but wonder how much different it would've been if we were catholic. There were all the tombs of the popes and lots of statues of them, places to pray and maybe somewhere to do confession, but we just don't really get any of that. The place was beautiful, but I have no doubt I did not get as much out of it as someone who's catholic would have.
Mandy was able to find a wrap and make her way through the church. Once we caught up with her we were off to the sistine chapel. We were all impressed with this. It was difficult to stare too long at this as it caused some neck pain. But the paintings appeared to be jumping right off at you. Really quite beautiful.
The heat here has really gotten to us. Aside from the physical effects, sweating and such, it's made us a bit moodier. The crowds really got to us today as did the guards. (one guard had the job of telling everyone to be quiet and no photos in the sistine chapel-he had to repeat this roughly every two minutes. As much as it annoyed us I'm sure the job had to drive him crazy too) I'm glad to be leaving Rome tomorrow. Although Venice is apparently stifling hot as well. Maybe germany will bring is cooler weather.
Mandy leaves us tomorrow. We've had a great time with her and wish she could stay along for the rest of the journey. Aaron and Melissa arrived today. We'll meet up with them later and head to the Trevi fountain.
Will try to post pics soon-hopefully later today.


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Location:Rome may be out to get us!

Day 12-We made it to Rome!

We woke up bright and early this morning (as in before the sun was up, and the sun rises really early here) so that we could make our flight to Rome. We flew RyanAir and it was truly the mist uncomfortable plane we've ever been in. I guess that's one of the consequences of a cheap flight.
When we left Paris we were rather chilled. When we walked off the plane in Rome we could barely breathe in the heat. I think this is one of the reasons that so far Rome has been our least favorite. We toured the colosseum and it was pretty awesome. Then we did a bus tour of the city. Our time here is short so the bus ride was helpful to see the big sites. We head to the Vatican tomorrow and also Arron and Melissa arrive!!
Now our electricity just went out. Yet another reason Rome is not sitting well with us!
(electricity finally came back on-say prayers it stays on-much too hot to sleep without ac!)
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Day 11 - Paris

We leave Paris all too soon. Tonight is our last night, and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Last night we headed over to the Sacre Coeur, and th e views of Paris were amazing. The area around there was wonderful too; lots of boutiques and small restaurants. We found a café to eat at, and Mandy made a couple of friends. The manager offered to sell our server to her, but the 200 euro price tag was a little too much for Mandy. So she settled for a couple of pictures with him. They tried to convince me and Matt to leave her there, but we knew she’d never find the hotel on her own, so we forced her to leave with us.
Today we went to the Louvre, for the third time. Today was the first time we actually got to go inside (fyi, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays). The Louvre is amazing. I wish I knew more about art to really be able to appreciate all the pieces we saw, but it was a great experience regardless. It’s amazing that these pieces were created hundreds, some thousands, of years ago, and they’ve been preserved so well. We saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, The Wedding Feast at Cana, the Code of Hammurabi, and lots more. Like I said, it was quite amazing.
We’ve had incredible weather in Paris, but the rain finally caught up with us today. We tried to walk through it some, but it left us pretty cold. We made it to a huge mall, but it was so claustrophobic that it sent us running. We did see the line to Louis Vutton, but Mandy and I decided we’d wait till our next trip to Paris to buy something there!
On to Rome!!


The view from Sacre Coeur.

Moulin Rouge!
Mandy and her Bangladeshi husband.

Matt and I at the Louvre.

The Wedding Feast at Cana

The Venus de Milo

The Code of Hammurabi

The Mona Lisa.

Day 8 - Bordeaux

Today we went on a tour of a vineyard. We were told that it was a 12 kilometer walk through some vineyards. I was quite happy to find out when we met the tour guide that it was only a 5-6 kilometer walk-Mandy seemed dissapointed. This tour was by far the best thing we’ve done so far. We hiked through some vineyards and woods. When I say we hiked through woods, I mean, WOW we hiked through woods. The pass through the woods was so tiny that our guide missed it on our first pass. There were literally places where the pass was wide enough for your foot, but there were thorns on one side of you and a 10 foot drop on the other (no exaggeration). We all loved it! It was super exciting. Our guide, Bruno, was very informative, telling us about how the grapes are grown and cared for. It was very personal. He has travelled the world, went to school a while in the States, and then started doing these tours. I do not want you all to think this was some prepackaged tour that everyone does. He was totally playing it by ear, walking up hills, across draining ditches between vineyards, and through not well kept passes in the woods. We talked with him and he said that he, himself plans these tours, then calls the vineyards and sets it up with them and plans the walk accordingly. We definitely saw the REAL countryside.
Anyway, we stopped for lunch at a vineyard where we were given a tour of their cellar and then served in what appeared to be their kitchen. I can only compare it to eating in an old farmhouse and being served only what was grown on their land. We were served lots of duck, apricots grown on the trees outside, marmalade, bread, tea and coffee, and of course, wine. It was a really great lunch. After lunch, we headed to the next vineyard, and it was HOT. The three of us managed quite well, but one girl from New York(who was on her honeymoon) was told by her travel agent that this would be a stroll by the river; she came in flip-flops and a black dress. Her husband had jeans and a heavy cotton polo shirt. Wow! We were able to walk through several vineyards and see some of the homes in the area. We made it to the next vineyard and had another wine tasting. The group we were with was a lot of fun and really made it enjoyable. Bruno had a thing for Mandy and kept telling Matt how beautiful she was. On the ride back, he came and sat next to Mandy and told her she could stay in France and marry him!
While in Bordeaux we met a super nice Irish girl that went with us on the trip. She was on a 3 month solo trek through Europe. We had dinner with her that night and had a blast. We also met three girls from Hong Kong that were studying French. One of them inparticular was a hoot! She would talk in English and some French and ask super funny questions, like why they didn’t smash the grapes by feet (too much I Love Lucy I think). She was adorable and she had a blast (and she drank too much) and made our time that much better.

Lunch at the Vineyard.

Mandy and her future husband, Bruno.

Wine tasting

Bordeaux had lots of cow statues like Louisville has horse statues. These cows are used as a fundrasier-they will be sold in a couple of months.

One Expensive Egg

So we ventured down to the little restaurant in our hotel to grab a bite to eat. Matt was the only one that was really hungry, and he wanted the full english breakfast. Mandy really wanted a bottled coke, so when the server (who appeared to run the whole place) came over, Matt ordered his meal and Mandy tried to ask for a GLASS bottled coke. He immediately told us to hold on while he tried to track down the hotel receptionist who spoke english. He didn't have any luck with that, so when he came back, Mandy instead attempted to order one egg. She tried to point to "fried egg" on the menu and said "uno." Next thing we know, Mandy has a full steak and eggs breakfast with one egg-the menu said it came with two. Then Mandy attempts to ask for an extra plate, evidently the spanish word for dish (as in a full meal) sounds very much like the english word "plate". Within minutes, I have a full english breakfast in front of me! Poor Matt had to suffer through eating two more eggs (since I don't like runny eggs), some of Mandy's steak, and some extra sausage just to not appear like a wasteful American.
So far Mandy's one egg has turned into two full meals, and she is still without her glass-bottled coke. Having not learned her lesson, Mandy again tried to get a bottled coke. She, instead, ended up with a coke zero in a glass with lemon. Ultimatelyk Mandy's one egg and coke ended up transforming into two full meals and a coke zero!! EXCELLENTE! (Mandy is now banned from attempting to order any food!)

Running of the Bulls - Day 5

We just returned from the Running of the Bulls, and it was a sight to see. We woke up bright and early after too few hours of sleep, threw on our white and red, and headed to the arena. We got there just before the running started. We watched the running on a large screen in the stadium, where the run ended. Then they would let bulls out one at a time to run around and let all the people chase them. It made me a little queasy at times, maybe cause of the lack of sleep. No one got gored, but a couple of people were hit hard enough that they were out cold. We got a couple of videos, so I'll attempt to post them.

Pamplona - Day 4

Adios Barcelona, hola Pamplona!

We left Barcelona this morning and took a train to Pamplona. It was a slow morning, a little flea market browsing and then to la Bocqueria to grab some lunch to take on the train with us. La Bocqueria was really one of my favorite things about Barcelona-very bright and lively. We made it to the train station easily, well, except for the packs on our back; they are quite heavy, but luckily we don't have to carry them too much. We caught our train and met an Australian girl named Fiona. Very sweet girl who entertained us much of the ride. Once we got to Pamplona, our taxi driver was great who told us all about the festival. We told him we were from KY and he said he knew KY because of Rick Pitino. Not sure why he knew of Rick, but we felt an immediate bond just the same!



We just got back from watching the Spain vs. Germany. Go Espana!! We watched it at a little bar near our hotel, and there were quite a few characters there. It was especially awesome since they won :) Matt was quite excited because they had Duff beer. For those who don't know, this is a Simpsons reference. We thought maybe the bottle was just decoration, but after speaking to a few servers, we were able to get one. (See pic below)



We are in Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. Everybody here is dressed in white with either a red sash or belt. Mandy and I ran to H&M yesterday and stocked up on white clothing; bought some cheap clothes so that when we get soaked with sangria, we won't ruin any of our Europe clothing. Still need to get our red sashes, but other than that, we're ready for the bulls.


It's late here, so time for bed. Our hotel has AC and there's no street noise, so hopefully we will get a good night's rest!

Matt and his Duff beer.

The bar where we watched the world cup. The little man in the navy was having a great time. We tried to get video of his dancing, but unfortunately it didn't work.

Matt´s Blog

Be sure to also look at Matt´s blog. We´re limited on internet access currently, so we´ve only been posting to one blog each day so far. We´ll post more when we get somewhere with wifi. There´s a link to his blog on the right side of this screen. Or you can go to:

www.obrotherwhereami.blogspot.com

Barcelona - Day 2

Today has been very busy and very HOT! We´re still adjusting to the time difference, so after a slow morning, we were off to Park Guell. This is a fifteen hectare (no clue how that converts to acres) plot of land where an architect, Antoni Guadi, built many amazing buildings. It sits on top a hill overlooking Barcelona, so we got in quite a work out. We were lucky that there were escalators to take us up part of the way. Once we made it to the top, there were many gardens and structures to enjoy.

Not exactly sure what the significance is, but we´ve seen many postcards and magnets with this on them.

At the highest point of the hightest hill of the park there was a large cross. This offered great views of the city. It was quite a hike to get here.

Mandy at the top of Park Guell, next to the large cross.

Our next stop was Sagrada Familia. This was also one of Guadi´s pieces, although he was not the first nor the last architect to work on it. Construction began in 1882, and it will be at least another decade before it´s done. From what we saw, it looks like it could take many decades to finish it. It was truly a work of art. We weren´t able to make it to the top of it´s towers because the lift was broken, but hopefully we´ll get the opportunity to do that tomorrow.

Our last stop was close to our hotel: La Boqueria. This was an amazing market filled with fruit, vegetables, candy galore, meat, etc. We were surprised at how cheap things were (well, at least the fruit) since it is located in one of the biggest tourist areas. Our fruit cups were one euro-if I could find these in KY I would buy one every day. Instead I will have to continue cutting my own fruit.

We´re back at the hotel now resting up for the evening. Our hotel is great; our room has a balcony looking over the street-it feels like we´re in the Opryland Hotel.

Mandy and I on our balcony.