Switzerland

Woke up to this view! 

Max cooked for us often and it was wonderful! 

Yay Switzerland! 

Lucerene 

Swiss countryside hikes! 

Zurich for the day

Zurmatt 

The Matterhorn 

Lunch! 

Max, Mihai, Kelsey, and Kirdy 

October 12-20, 2013

What is in a little town of Switzerland called Root? Max. We hadn't a clue what to expect coming here, but were so thankful for the timing of our visit. We are at the middle of our trip, where the travelers sickness was really wearing in and Max was there to take of us! Thank you, Max!!
We didn't arrive in Lucerne until midnight, realizing only that we never arranged for a meeting point with Max. Good thing Kelsey knew what he looked like, otherwise we may have been stranded in sub-zero Switzerland weather!
 That night Max made us pizza, hot tea and lots of chocolate! Ladies this man is single, TAKE HIM!!!

The next morning we awoke to a view we couldn't really believe (when you arrive at 1am you don't see much). Max's house is at the base of huge green hills with little Swiss houses and cows with REAL cowbells, while out in the distance is a mighty mountain covered in snow! Is this for real??? How do people actually live here??
Max walked us around the city of Lucerne. If you haven't been to Lucerne, GO! There is a breathtaking lake cradled by the Alps, with the city surrounding one side. Max showed us some of Switzerland finest, from the famous hot cheese spilled onto bread with some paprika, to fondue and even a Yodeler or two.We strolled along the lake, and felt like we may be in Heaven! What an amazing place!

Our week really consisted of relaxation and overcoming sickness! We had plans to go to Austria and hike, but if you read our blog, obviously that was a bust! So we headed back to Max's and stayed 8 days!! Max works everyday so we would just sleep in (yet stay up super late, so the sleep factor still wasn't quite up to par), we would go for hikes in the Swiss country side, along the river or around town. And everyday Max would bring us home a new kind of chocolate from work =) always exciting! 

We met so many people from all over the world while staying in Switzerland! Max's roommate Gorga is from Serbia, his friend Mihai who we hung out with regularly was from Romania, and then at Max's work party we met guys from Turkey, England, Germany and Switzerland. We got to go climbing with Mihai and a friend from Catalonia one night as well! So much fun! Kelsey killed it being her first time in a long time (climbed a 5.9) and Kirdy climbed her highest ever (5.11a). What a great time! Max cooked for us most nights and, let us tell you, he is a marvelous cook! He even taught us a thing or two... like how to use a knife!

We really loved Switzerland because it was a place we really just hung out and learned the way of life and met people. If we could do another trip we would never spend less then a week in a country! Of course, Max was a large part of our adoration for Switzerland as well.

On Friday we took a day trip to Zurich (capital of Switzerland). Max went to a funeral, so Kelsey and Kirdy walked about discovering the city. It was stunning also with a huge lake surrounded by Alps (just in slightly larger proportions then Lucerne).

The Saturday we spent in Switzerland was one of the most amazing day of our trip thus far! We traveled 3 hours to the tiny town of Zermatt that houses the iconic mountain, The Matterhorn! Kirdy went a couple hours early by herself, only because it was a bucket list check off for her and she needed to spend AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE around this beauty. Kelsey, Max and Mihai came only a couple hours later! We all hiked the Matterhorn trial, looking back every 5 minutes to be blown away by the views of the valley we were in surrounded by huge Alps! 
Max and Kelsey had packed us lunch, so we laid out our picnic with a view! Our hike continued until dark! As we got closer and closer to the Matterhorn it just kept changing shape and beauty. Every angle of this mountain is amazing! We sat at dusk, and just took in our surroundings. Here we were in southern Switzerland, in the most amazing place one could ask for, with incredible friends, feeling life as it should be (and, of course, eating more chocolate)!

Our time in Switzerland was serene, tranquil, amusing, gorgeous, eccentric and slightly nutty! We owe Max a never ending supply of thanks and gratitude! We didn't really know what to expect getting off that train, but we are sure glad we came here. We were staying with a guy neither of us really knew (a friend of a friend), and it turned into a life long friendship! WE MISS YOU MAX!!!!!

Homeless in Austria!

October 15, 2013

 

We boarded a train from Zurich, Switzerland  to Taxenbach, Austria very excited to have a couple of days to hike in the Austrian Alps! The train took about 6 hours and the views were absolutely amazing! The train route took us through mountains, valleys and beautiful Austrian countryside! Neither of us could express how magnificent the mighty mountains were that we passed by! We raced from side to side within the train trying to capture as much of the vast beauty as possible. This was not a train for sleeping , reading or journaling! This was like a tide at Disneyland! 

Our day was just super restful and wonderful, but then as the sunset on our gorgeous views, then starts the problems. We get off at Taxenbach station (if you can call it a station) and there was no soul in sight! Not a bus, no taxi not even a random fog roaming the streets! We tried to use a pay phone to call a taxi and got hung up on. To top it off, Kirdy's iPod was dying with all our phone numbers to call on it. We decided to walk the 15 minutes into town to ask how to get to Rouris (sp?), a little town about 10k away holding our hotel. We get to "town" and everything is closed! Of course! Why not close at 8pm!? We walked back to the train station hoping a fellow traveler or local might magically appear! 

We did meet a local and, in his very broken English, he told us the directions to get a taxi. We walked down a dark deserted road for a while before making the decision to go back to the train station and take a train to Salzburg, because, at this point, being in a big city was our best option! We got to the train station in the nick of time! 

Also, can I just say, we love having a eurail pass, it made our crazy night possible and free!

So here we were on our way to Salzburg, no idea where we would sleep or what we would eat! It was a bit scary to think about sleeping in the station but at the same point we were up for the adventure! All we kept saying was "Man, our moms would die right now if they knew!" 

After our 2 hour ride to Salzburg we wondered the streets around the station searching for Internet. Finally, we found we could steal the Internet from the Ramada. So we lurked outside on a corner like true homeless people to connect to the Internet. We decided that instead of trying to find an expensive place to stay that night (which we would only be sleeping a few hours at this point) it was best just to head back to Switzerland, and continue our relaxing stay at our friend Max's. 

Before we boarded our train to Zurich at 1:40am, we accomplished almost all the things we usually do when visiting a country (just didn't get our patches)! We bought groceries, talked to locals, Kirdy tried a s Austrian beer, we slept and we took some pictures! Ya, so check it, it counts. We visited Austria.  :)

We slept soundly on the train for 6 hours and arrived on Max's doorstep right before his roommate left for work at 8:30am! God truly had his hand in this event. We are both now sick and sleeping a lot! We are so thankful to have a wonderful home to recover in for the rest of the week before we restart our traveling!!

The night in Austria was very far from planned, yet Kelsey and I loved it! Yes, scary at times. Yes, we just wanted to be in warm beds. And, yes, hiking in Austria would of been great, but like we say, "nnnrrrraaaaa!" NRA - no regrets...ADVENTURE! We say this to replace YOLO (you only live once) because lets face it, YOLO is way over used! We are excited about each of our days and we don't regret the big mistakes we may make because each moment shapes our adventure! And, adventure we are having :) 

P.s. Kelsey lost her iPod on the train in Austria! Please pray, hope, wish,etc. that there is a miracle and we get it back!!!!  

Blast to the Past - Brugge, Belgium

"Brugge is Disneyland for adults" 

Paninis!!! 

Kirdy climbing another old structure.

Eating a Belgium chocolate waffle!

October 5, 2013 

After an unexpected long day of traveling due to railway construction, we finally stumbled into Brugge, Belgium. After settling into our 6 bed female dorm room, we ventured out to find some food (first time eating all day)! Little did we know, in Belgium the grocery stores close at about 3pm! After walking for what seemed like forever, we made it to a night shop (even the gas stations didn't have a store). We bought what we thought was a microwaveable pizza only to realize it was indeed an oven back pizza (our hostel didn't have a kitchen)! No worries though we microwaved it anyways! We enjoyed our quiet night, playing chess, chatting to the staff and Kirdy enjoying her first Belgium beer! 

The next day after doing all our laundry in the sink, we headed out to explore the town! Our hostel was only about 15 mins walk from the town square. Honestly, we had no idea what to expect. Neither of us had done any research on Brugge, but just had a recommendation from Kelsey's friend, Melissa, to go there (and, of course, we wanted Belgium chocolate)! 

As we walked into town our mouths dropped! It was like we stepped back to the 13th century! There stood the most massive church tower! It is about the size of a modern day sky scraper that shadowed us as we passed through the narrow cobble stoned streets! We've never seen anything like it. Battling for greatness, the castle tower rose above the city to the east of the church tower! Both magnificent in mid evil architecture. We had no plan for the day but to simply stroll the streets. We walked through a free old hospital museum (later we found out that it was not free - oops!) It was fascinating to see all the old surgical tools and how medicine was made - it all seemed very painful. 

We ended up eating paninis by the moat, with a view of the crazy beautiful castle. Let me tell you, when you don't eat much except protein bars, a hot panini is a gift from heaven!

We finished up our day with a Belgium waffle and a cherry Belgium beer for Kirdy!!! Sooooo good - even Kelsey liked it!

After heading home and grabbing some food for dinner (MICROWAVABLE tomato soup and bread ;) ) we decided to check out Brugge at night! It was beautiful all lit up! Kirdy tried to climb an old tower, but started to break off bits of old stone so she stopped this sort of activity. :)

Brugge was very relaxing and is such a beautiful city! The chocolate is amazing, the waffles superb and history is rich! 

Viva Barcelona

From left to right: Kels USA-California, Collin USA-DC, Idan Israel-Jerusalem, Ercan Greek/Miami. Jarrah Australia-Sydney, Kirdy USA-Oregon)

Mediterranean Sea, baby! 

Family dinners! 

So much good food for so cheap!

Old world meets new world- Christopher Columbus was here! 

The Magic Fountian

Ice cream time 

Last night together

Saying goodbye to our Finish boys :(

October 10, 2013

Exactly a week ago we made the decision to come to Barcelona! Originally, we weren't going to due to it being so far away from everything and completely isolated by freakn France! 

But, man oh man are we glad we went! Leaving Barcelona was like leaving family! 

When we left Paris, we made a pact to start being really social in the hostel and try to make friends and begin this crazy backpacking, youth hosteling adventures! Little did we know that our favorite part of Barcelona would be the wonderful fellow travelers! 

We were completely blessed! As soon as we walked in the hostel (before even being able to take off our packs) a group of 4 boys invited us to eat with them (they cooked a feast)! They said we looked like we were in super need of food and tired - yes, we were that easy to read. :) 

We bonded almost instantaneously! Two of the boys are  from the USA (Miami and DC) and the other two are from Israel and Australia! They invited us to head up the big mountain in Barcelona to see a great view of the city. We discussed common traveler talk, politics, religion and random 20 something's discourse! It's so fun to have so many different cultures, views and lives coming together while respecting each other, joking and just having a blast! Super eye opening! 

We stayed on the mountain watching the sunset as the night of Barcelona became bright. There was a drum circle happening that we befriended!

After the mountain, we headed back to hostel and met so many more people! Two Finish guys who we had no luck pronouncing their names so ended up calling them Fin 1 and Fin 2! There was also a girl from Poland, a boy from Germany and many more!!! So much fun! 

The next day we decided to go to the beach with our little, original group of 6! About 23 degrees Celsius all day meant skirts and flip flops! Awesome! On our way to the beach we went to La Sagrada Familia - pretty much the symbol of Barcelona! It looks like a huge sand drip castle! Very cool! 

The beach was wonderful. It felt so good to be in the salty Mediterranean Sea! We swam and played in the sun, enjoying every minute. 

After the beach, we hit up a grocery store where the 6 of us each pitched in two  ingredients for our Greek/Miami friend to work his magic and make chicken fajitas with mashed potatoes, salad and wine! Very cheap and oh so good! It was so fun to be around the same group day in and day out.

After dinner we hung out and chatted in the hostel for a while, then gathered a big group of us together (maybe 13) and headed to a beach party/free club entrance! We danced the night away with our friends from around the world!!! This would be our second night without sleep in Barcelona and not the last! Viva Barcelona! 

The next day we had to check out of our hostel but decided to spend an extra day in this great city, so us two girls, and our four friends from Israel, Australia and Finland all got a room at a new hostel for the night (our original hostel was completely booked)!

We went on a walking tour of the Old Gothic City! It was crazy to see the old Roman Empire still standing in peices, as well as the exact square where Christopher Columbus returned to Spain with all his new world goods to share with the king. We stood in the place where the old world met the new world! So cool! 

This was a freak day in Barcelona, RAIN! We weren't going to let that get us down though! We just hung out with friends! 

That night we went to the magic fountains! It is this really amazing color fountain show that happens in front of the most gorgeous palace. It was truly spectacular view! And very unique to Barcelona. 

We went out to our last meal with our friends and had wonderful stone oven pizza! We did as the Spanish do and stayed in the restaurant till midnight! After dinner, we walked the streets of Barcelona, ate ice cream, ran into live music and a huge local Catalonian party! It was all students from the university that were our age! What a cultural experience, from the live music to the drum lines to speaking Spanish with the locals! It was the icing on the cake of our time. 

We didn't want to go to sleep (and sleeping 3 hours that night might not count as sleep) because we didn't want to have to say goodbye to our amazing new friends! These boys were like family to us by this point! The only time spent apart was to sleep (and Lord knows that wasn't much)! 

Barcelona set the bar high for our hostel experiences from now on. We loved our time not because of the city itself but because of the memories we made with friends from around the world! We are truly living the life right now!!!!

Eiffel Tower

On our way!

So many tourists! 

Arc de Triumph

  

Paris 

So beautiful 

Love bridge! 

Louvre

Neapolitan's Tomb 

Dinner!

October 8, 2013 

We thought Brugge was a confusing with its old winding streets that made no sense..... We had no idea what confusing was until we arrived in Paris. The city streets go in every direction, have names that are so hard to pronounce and are extremely laden with traffic!  

After we settled in to our cute and funky hostel that was at the base of Sacré Cœur de Montmartrae We set off to explore this city with our map in hand, thinking it would be simple to walk to all the sights. So we walked and walked and walked. Again, we looked at the map and realized we had only walked a small portion of Paris, but we continued. That night, we walked from the Cathlic Roman Church to the Arc of Triumph and then to the Eiffel Tower!!

The Arc of Triumph is surrounding by a circle of traffic without crosswalks toward the arc. The entrance is hidden in the middle of a long tunnel that extends from one side of the circle to the other. It took us so long to find the entrance, but we followed an Asian tourist and voilà!! We were there! The building is massive and so detailed! It was really surreal to be standing in front of it! 

The Eiffel Tower is visited quite frequently  by tourist, but we didn't comprehend the beauty of this structure until we were standing in front of it. Beside the tower, lays a field of grass where people relax and eat while enjoying the creation - this was the obvious place to enjoy our two meals in Paris of a bagget, sausage, wine and cheese. :) Staring up at the Eiffel Tower really put this whole trip in perspective! There is something about that building that is just so mesmerizing! It makes you feel small! 

The Norte Dam is absolutely gorgeous in the architecture. Gargowals surround the sides of the building to drain water and ward off evil. There are crazy details of saints, and of course the magestic two towers! Gothic architecture is amazing!   Inside, a sermon was preached as tourists flooded the grounds and some participated in the service. Candles were offered at a low price of ten euros. ;) 

We randomly stumbled upon the bridge of love and it was so beautiful in the way thousands and thousands of locks shimmered in the light. Sadly, the locks are cut because it is illegal.

The Louvre is gigantic!! Unfortunately, with our short stop to Paris, a 12 hour day looking at art in the Louvre was out of the question. However, the intricate architecture and colorful gardens were so amazing and satisfying! We can't stop being awed by French architecture because of the details! 

We got lost heading to the Catacombs (do to false directions) and were ten people away from being let in before closing. That's right, we were that close and they didn't let us in. It's ok though, we will see them in Rome!

Our time in Paris was a quick adventure, but totally worth it! We were amazed at how much we actually liked this city! Yes, most of the people can seem a bit rude, but we also met a lot that were very nice! 

We mastered the metro after our first evening of walking miles and miles - that felt like a good accomplishment! 

On our last evening in Paris we ate our  dinner in front of the sparkling Eiffle Tower, and then rushed back to our hostel to grab our stuff and catch our night train to Barcelona! 

There was one small problem once we got to the train station...all the trains were canceled via strike! We talked to the people at the information desk and, due to our lack of French, we were even more confused! Long story short, we pretty much scored out of the deal and got to sleep on the non-moving train, got free food and a free high speed train the next morning (but we also lost a day)! 

It was quite an interesting night. We enjoy each day and the adventures they bring! 

Night train

Wednesday October 2 we boarded our first night train! 15 hours lay ahead of us between Copenhagen and Amsterdam and we had no idea what to expect! 

We ended up both scoring the top bunks of a 6 bunk compartment. Our only other roommate was an older, eccentric, crazy funny Danish woman named Dinna! She told us crazy stories and great travel advise! We loved her so much we got a video of her and pictures with her! Haha crazy Americans we are. 

We chatted with Dinna till about 9pm and then all of Sweden snuck up on us at once and suddenly we were exhausted! 

In went our matching pink ear plugs and we slept on our moving hostel for a good 12 hours! 

We arrived in Amsterdam feeling refreshed and ready to rock in roll! We can't wait for our next night train in a couple days! 

Amsterdam: "Todo, We're not in Vegas anymore!"

Having fun with Steven! 

Anne Frank house! Very cool!

Street performer from Canada!

Amsterdam, People told us it was like Vegas...not exactly. Amsterdam is way more beautiful, the prostitutes are self employed business woman and the gambling is replaced by "coffee shops" and cheese museums! Now Amsterdam and Vegas do have their similarities, the city is laden with British bachelor parties ( dressed as babies, fairies and smurfs), Asian tourists trying to snap photos of the girls in the windows like they are on a safari, and of course the thousands and thousands of tourists! A great place to people watch!! ;)

We arrived in Amsterdam around 11am and after settling into our 20 person bunk room (a little like a frat house) we decided to go out and explore! Awesomely enough, we stumbled upon a 3 hour, free walking tour. Our guide was funny and very informative! We learned history of the city, the quirkyness of the Dutch and we even got to meet the two most famous twin prostitutes, THEY ARE 72 YEARS OLD!!! 

We felt safe in the city after the tour and were excited to go walk around at night! Our hostel was in the red light district which is the most highly monitored and safest part of the city! 

We met another black fleeced American on our tour, so naturally we invited her to hang out with us! She was a student from Arizona studying abroad in Prague! 

After eating a traditional Dutch dish Strompot (mashed potatoes with a meatball) and Kirdy tasting her first Dutch beer (best beer in Europe so far), we walked around checking out the canals, cheese shops and leaning buildings. 

That night we journeyed out not having any plan but just to walk around and people watch! What a great night! It feels like we did about 10 laps of the city! So many people out and about, people old and young (but mostly around our age).  This city really is like nothing either of us had ever seen! Yes, prostitution is legal. Yes, the streets smell like weed from all the legal smoking. Yes, pretty much all things are accepted and legalized. But, it's really not anything like the "sin city" of the states! Our tour guide taught us that the Dutch are business people, and if your not hurting anyone and its good for business why not make it legal and tax the crap out of it! Prostitutes pay taxes and have the right to refuse business from whoever they want, and the cannabis exchange is highly taxed and regulated. 

Our next day in Amsterdam, we met up with Steven (Kelsey's boyfriend Marcus's cousin) who showed us around the city and took us to the the Anne Frank house. What an amazing place to see in person. They have managed to save the wallpaper from their hiding spot that has the pictures the family put up and the girls various height measurements throughout their time there. It's very sad to walk through and be reminded how the Jewish people were treated but it is very important to remember our history, so we can change the future. 

It was great to learn the history of this great city and not just know it for its infamous party scenes! 

That night we made dinner with Steven (spaghetti of course)! Steven lives across the bay, in the cutest refurbished shipping crate! We forgot to take a picture but pretty much they paint these crates bright blue, red and green and then stack them on each other! Each one has its own bathroom and kitchen (like a studio). Mostly just students live in them, so they are like ultimate dorms! 

Steven's friend Glen joined us after dinner! It was time to go out and dance on the city. So as apparently Dutch people do, the boys rode their bikes while us two girls sat on the little flat part on the back! We rode to the ferry and then all over downtown Amsterdam! What fun it was and a great an workout to balance on the bike back! 

The night was so fun and we are so thankful to have been able to hang out with Steven! He was a great host for the night and just fun to be around in general!!!! Thanks Steven you made Amsterdam rock!