Madrid to the End -- Europe 2010

Finally.... my last update/conclusion of our adventure to the other side of the Atlantic!

We have been home just over 2 weeks now, and are fully recovered from the trip. Sadly, it has taken me this long to sort, post and tag all of my pictures and videos - but they are finally complete! (the 2 weeks includes a long family weekend at the beach off from picture sorting... I have over 2500 photos alone). Anyway, we made it home safely to my very happy parents -- I think they were amazed we didn't strangle each other after 6 weeks!
All photos (albums are sorted by city) can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cestory
All video clips/movies that I have clipped together are here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/cestory08?feature=mhum#p/u
**if the above link doesn’t work, go to YouTube and search "cestory08" (my YouTube account name).
****Please note the bullfighting videos do show the bulls being speared/swords inserted/dragged around the ring (different stages of the bullfight performance), so if that bothers or offends you skip that video clip****

Picking up where I last left off... Madrid continued....
We neglected to see much of the city in Madrid during the daytime because of the extreme heat, so we made the most of our nights! Our second day was spent doing laundry and fun things like that, and then heading to a local Irish Pub to watch the third place World Cup match of Uruguay vs. Germany. I think most of the bar was cheering for Uruguay, but Germany prevailed 3-2. I met up with a friend, Adam, who was going to college in Madrid at the time, but who had worked at Deer Valley as a ski instructor with me a year earlier. He and his 2 friends offered to take us out to see a local's idea of the nightlife. Adam and his friends were able to buy us entry into JOY, a club just off Plaza de Sol -- we did have to go early to get in ...about 1am! It was a great night of dancing and fun (see pictures). The clubs are much like Vegas, Cancun, etc -- mini shows or performances between songs, and lots of people everywhere. Needless to say it was getting close to dawn when we left about 5am :)

After a short nights sleep, Skype call home, and a day of planning, repacking & relaxing, we were ready for the biggest day of all. The WORLD CUP FINAL! Netherlands vs Spain. Both teams have never won the world cup, and Spain had never even been past the quarterfinals before this year. The whole country was ready, and Madrid was the center of it all. They had already announced where the jumbo screens would be set up, and when a parade would be held for the team upon their return (if they won of course). I will not claim that I "planned" this occurrence of being in the right place at the right time... but I did want to be in a soccer-crazy place for the final. I chose between Spain, Germany and Netherlands - and got very lucky :) Though the game did not start until 8:30pm that night, we headed to the main viewing street, just south of Plaza de Colon around 6pm. We literally stood and sweated from 6:30 until game time in about 100 degree heat, with nowhere to go. It was ridiculous how tightly packed with people the area was... if you watched the game on TV from the USA, you saw the huge street they kept showing… a long street filled with people. That is where we were, right below the panning TV cameras. The view is deceptive from the broadcast -- that street is about 2 miles long, had 3 Jumbo screens, and about 1.5 MILLION people on it!!!

As much as I complain above, we did have some bottles of water, some snacks and a decent view of the screen from our place in the crowd. We knew we were there for the experience, the people and the atmosphere more than to have an unobstructed view of the game. Once gametime arrived, the Spanish fans began chanting, singing and fervently watching the game. Each foul by a Netherlands player resulted in every Spaniard (guys, girls, everyone) pointing and yelling "El Punta" (translation: "B*tch") because of Netherlands obvious plan to foul or "play physical" rather than beautiful passing play like Spain. The singing was my favorite thing.... some were as simple as "Yo soy Espanol, Espanol, Espanol!" (Translation: "I am Spanish, Spanish, Spanish!") We learned the songs quickly and joined in with everyone around us. Adam and his friend Andrew joined us for the second half of the game -- and what a game it was. Every shot, corner kick or half-chance to score meant everyone raised their arms high and stood on tiptoes to watch the best they could. This went on through regular time, then the first overtime with Spain obviously having the greater number and best scoring chances, but Netherlands getting a few chances as well. Closing in on the end of the second overtime, rumblings about PKs (Penalty Kicks) can be heard throughout the crowd. As suspenseful as PKs are, no one wants to see this game end that way.

With about 5 minutes left till the end of overtime, Spain maneuvers into another attack and scores with a beautiful finish by Iniesta!!!! The entire crowd erupts with celebration -- smoke bombs and fireworks, mosh pits, and general screaming & singing. I am getting goose bumps just thinking about it right now.... obviously Spain held onto the lead till the end of overtime, and the final whistle prompted yet another celebration with singing, hugging, and more. We celebrated and sang along, taking pictures of the crowd, ourselves and Spaniards celebrating in their own ways. We watched as every Spaniard took such joy and pride from this win -- celebrating in a care-free way... as if every person had just won the lottery and wanted to share that moment with anyone and everyone around. It hit Thomas and I especially hard what a momentous event this was for Spain.... Thomas saw a nearby Spanish guy, one he had talked to during the game, literally fall down on his knees, tears in his eyes and everything when the match had finally ended. He was in the middle of the crowd, but it did not matter -- he was so happy for his country & this team that he did not care. Everyone's celebration was completely spontaneously -- it was such a strong feeling of total national pride and love that I have never seen before. I related it to my first year in Chapel Hill when UNC won the NCAA basketball tournament in 2005 -- over 70,000 people wandered the streets, singing and celebrating. This time in Madrid was similar, but on a different scale... every family, old people, young people were walking the streets -- singing, dancing, and joining in with one another. Over 1.5 million watched in the square, but over 5 MILLION came out to celebrate and walk the streets in every part of Madrid that night. We joined in and walked through the streets for a couple hours, had a celebratory beer or two while watching Spaniards carry on... it was definitely a night none of us will forget for as long as we live. (Note: If you have Facebook, check out Adam's video/slideshow from that night here: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=466885655897 )

After a quick 1 or 2 hours sleep, we caught a shuttle to the airport, and managed to make our 7am flight. Unfortunately, there was weather in Paris so we had a 2-hour on-runway delay to catch up on sleep... not fun, but well worth it for our previous night's experience! After arriving in Paris, we managed the huge metro network and dropped our backpacks off at the studio apartment where we would be staying about 5 minutes walk from the Lourve Museum. Our afternoon was spent doing a quick tour of the Lourve. We were all maxed out on museums, so we focused on only 1 wing of it, highlighting da Vinci's paintings (including the Mona Lisa and Madonna on the Rocks) and the Greek and Roman statues. We also did a self-tour of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, which was stunning even in such gloomy, cloudy weather. We took the long way back, walking along the left bank for several blocks before crossing back over the Seine River on our way to the apartment. After checking in, we went to the local grocery market to get breakfast foods, and some dinner supplies. I know.... we are in Paris with its amazing food... but we were so exhausted from Madrid and tired of eating out, that we elected to make spaghetti with marinara, and paired it with a fresh French bread and bottle of Bordeaux. It was a perfect night to watch a movie and go to bed early. The following day was rainy in the early morning, but cleared considerably as it went on. We spent most of the day at Versaille and its surrounding gardens. Personally I enjoyed the gardens over the palace itself, but both were stunning. At the end of our wandering in the gardens, we stopped for a delicious snack of a crepe and glass of beer or wine. That evening we visited the Eiffel Tower under clear skies, just after dusk. Unfortunately, the top level (900 feet up) was filled to capacity, so we only made it to the 2nd level (400 feet) -- but I have been told that is where the views are best anyway! After taking in a view of the city, we grabbed a couple of bottles of cheap champagne from the local vendors and sat on the grass covered Champ de Mars below the tower -- anxiously awaiting the "sparkling lights" of the tower that occurs every hour after dusk. While waiting we took silly pictures, drank our not-cold Andre-quality champagne, and met more people from Atlanta, GA sitting just behind us. The tower was stunning while it was "sparkling" for its 5-minute show, and we stuck around to enjoy some people watching and the rest of our champagne. A great end to the night :)

Our final day in Paris was the 14th of July -- known as Bastille Day, It is France's Independence Day... and has many traditions. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, as it poured rain from morning till almost 4 pm that day. There is the oldest modern military parade in the world held on the Champs de Elysse every year on this day, but because of the weather we did not make it out to watch. We did however, go out late that afternoon and walk the entire length of the Champs de Elysee, all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. The French flag was everywhere along the way, and a military ceremony honoring veterans was taking place at the Arc de T. as we arrived. We climbed up the inside and up to the top for another beautiful view of the city and the Champs de Elysee below.... and of course, watched the crazy traffic below on Place de l'Étoile, the roundabout surrounding the Arc de Triomphe where 12 streets come together and cars travel around as many as 10 deep -- crazy. We walked from there to the Champs de Mar to stake out a place to watch the Eiffel Tower celebration & fireworks later that night. We had an excellent picnic dinner of crackers with cheeses and dried meats, and a couple of bottles of red wine - drunk out of plastic Dixie cups, classic Story/Kulynych family-style! There was a very festive atmosphere as French locals mingled with tourists, enjoying the nice evening and waiting for the show to begin. The fireworks were spectacular and went on for almost 30 minutes time and we had an excellent unobstructed view from our airline blanket on the grass. We all agreed that Paris and all the Parisians we met were very nice, and we needed more time to see & experience the city fully.... another city to add on to the "next trip" list of course :P

We were packed and ready to hop on the metro at 5:25am the next morning to catch our train to Switzerland, only to discover that the line we were riding didn't start until 5:50 - oops! We still made our hi-speed train out of Paris with several minutes to spare, so all was well. After a couple of transfers, we were finally on the Zermatt Rail headed south through the mountain passes. It was a sunny day and the views from the train alone were breathtaking. There was immediate agreement that Switzerland was the most naturally beautiful place we had been. Upon arriving in Zermatt, we went off to explore the town. It is a no-cars-allowed town (only electric mini-taxis and small electric delivery trucks in the streets). There were many tourists from France, Germany and the US to be found. In terms of size and mountain-resort personality, it quite reminded me of Park City, Utah. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk all of downtown, and there are serious hikers, bikers and shoppers everywhere you look. We rode up the Gronergrat Railroad early that evening, which takes you up to just over 10,000 feet to a great view of the Matterhorn (top elevation: 14,692 feet), and about 10 other nearby peaks that are over 4,000 meters (13,100 feet). It was beautiful and surprising to see so many peaks piercing the clouds around them. Our evening was concluded with a perfect dinner of Raclette cheese, local white wine, and bread dipped in black truffle or herb Fondue - yummy! The next day we awoke early to pack our bags and rent some mountain bikes for the day. After riding up the Gronergrat the day before with several mountain bikers, we decided to give it a try. After taking in more beautiful views, snapping a few photos and wading through a several groups of Asian hiking tours, we found our trail and headed down. It was an adventure to be sure!!! Alex doesn't have that much experience going downhill, and I am very cautious so it was slow going on the steeps at first. Thomas' bike actually broke several hours into the ride (Thomas' derailleur literally snapped off the back wheel/gear transfer), so he had to catch a ride to the nearest tramway down. That left Alex and I to find the most direct "ride-able" way down. This was complicated because of the lack of signs and Thomas dropping our main trail map at some point during the ride. About 2 hours or hiking and biking later, we made it back into town covered in dirt and with just a few ugly, bloody cuts to show for it. We found Thomas, and grabbed lunch & Swiss Chocolate souvenirs, before catching the train toward Interlaken.

After arriving in Interlaken via train and walking 20 minutes across town, we checked into our hostel, Balmer's, for the night. It is the best known hostel (and bar!) in town, so we were able to stay in for the evening. We cleaned up, ate dinner in the beer garden and met some fellow Americans before going to sleep after an exhausting day. The next morning was an exciting one, as we had all agreed upon and booked this canyoning trip in Interlaken several weeks before. The focus was on adventure, fun and the scenery, not the difficulty of the route like in rock climbing (see Wikipedia for more info). Unfortunately, the rain from the night before & incoming storms made the biggest canyon too dangerous, so we drove to Grimsel Canyon east of Interlaken. It was cold water, but fun people, great jumps and slides through the canyon and an awesome trip all around -- make sure you check out the pictures on my Picasa site taken by their professional photographer (link at top)... the rappel at the beginning is about 150 feet, and the largest jump (with the side view) is about 30 feet to give you an idea of the scale. That night was spent reminiscing on canyoning, our trip overall, and trying to help Alex talk his way out of trouble with some girls he had met. (It goes a little like this... "I'm 22", "Christina is 24, my brother Thomas is 22 but we aren't twins." Girl says, "How does that work?" ... use your imagination from there, a couple of beers later he "explained it away" so he says!) For the next day, we did some research and decided with all of the adrenaline sport offerings in Interlaken, that we wanted to try something we couldn't do anywhere else, as it was our last "real" day of the trip.

We decided to go Ice Climbing on a nearby glacier. We set out early that morning with 2 other American guys and our guide Ano. It was again stunning and amazing to hear Ano tell stories about how the landscape changes both with the seasons and from the storms, and how global warming is affecting the area's glaciers. After driving and hiking up to the ice, we donned our crampons and Ano led us weaving our way onto the glacier, hopping over crevasses at their narrowest points. We made our picnic/bag lunch on the glacier atop the crevasses we would be climbing that afternoon. After setup and a demonstration by Ano, we discovered how easy he had made it look! It was quiet and beautiful at the bottom of the crevasses (as deep as 40-50 feet below the surface), but it was quite the challenge to coordinate the crampons and ice axes into the ice to pull yourself out. We took turns on several routes of varying difficulties, with the most difficult ones having only clear, smooth blue ice to dig your toe points into... and the occasional overhanging ice ledge to make it interesting. After thoroughly exhausting ourselves, we headed back to Interlaken and grabbed a celebratory beer to enjoy while discussing our trip, or whatever came to mind. It was a great note to finish on, and one that made me smile on the whole train ride that night to Zurich for our flight back to London the next morning. I will admit it was nice to get some well-deserved sleep in our quiet, private Air-conditioned room.

The next morning we caught our flight from Zurich to London with no problems, other than it flew into a different airport (City) than our flight back to the US on the following day. We caught the train, checked our bags into storage, then explored Piccadilly Circus area for some lunch and more World Cup merchandise. After a nice late lunch, we headed south toward Gatwick Airport, from which we would fly out to Atlanta the next morning. We stayed inside the airport again, this time in the Yotel -- which is a variation of the Japanese "sleeping pods" you can rent for a couple of hours of sleep. The rooms are no bigger than 8 by 8, but have a small bed with flat screen tv, flip-out table & stool, and full bathroom. (They are opening a location in JFK in 2011, so check it out if you're there.) After a good night's sleep, our flight was long but uneventful. We talked a bit about what was our favorite place, where we would want to live, and where we want to go the next time we get back to the Continent. Needless to say, my parents were there at the arrivals area and my mom was especially excited to see us after 6 weeks away.

All in all it was a successful trip, with many funny memories, a few unplanned adventures, and enough memories and photos to (hopefully) last a lifetime. Not that we did not have our arguments and disagreements as siblings are prone to do, but we realized early on how uncommon it was & how lucky we are to have this opportunity to travel together. I will gladly expand on the places, quotes, etc. for you (email me) -- but this email is long enough as it is! Thanks so much for all of your well wishes, emails and comments... they were much appreciated, and will be acknowledged/responded to as soon as I can. I will be in Atlanta until Labor Day, then back to Park City for the fall and winter, so please let me know if you will be around town too.

I will leave you with a quote that was written on the wall in our hostel in Florence, and a good one to consider each day:

“There is in truth no past, only a memory of the past

Blink your eyes and the world you see next

did not exist when you closed them.

Therefore, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise.

The only appropriate state of the heart is joy.

The sky you see now, you have never seen before.

The perfect moment is now.

Be glad of it.”

- Terry Pratchett

Much love and safe travels,

Christina, Thomas and Alex

¡Ole! all of Italy to Madrid

¡Hola!


Hope this email finds you well and recovered from the 4th of July weekend festivities. Though we missed seeing fireworks this 4th, we have enjoyed our own adventures since I last updated and are looking forward to the last few destinations of our trip.


Quick note: pictures from Berlin, Munich, Prague and some from Amsterdam (with captions!) are up on my website:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cestory
Or see the link in my last email! Please feel free to forward this email or the picture link to other friends or people who you think might enjoy these updates. Sorry for the lack of pictures from the recent parts of the trip... it is hard to get photos uploaded from external drives in internet cafes, especially when the programs and such are not in English! Ok onto the recent travels...


We had an amazing time in Capri, off the western coast of Italy - especially touring around the caves and crystal clear waters along all sides of the island in a small boat with our faithful "Capitano" Ago, a local guide from Capri. The well-known blue grotto cave was neat, but we really enjoyed the smaller green and white grotto waters. Thomas got some excellent video footage with his waterproof video camera, so you could actually see the deep hues of the water as we swam :) After 2 nights there in an amazing 4-star hotel-like hostel in Sorrento, we headed to Florence. There we toured the city at our own pace, tasting gelato at all the top places in town... Opinion among us was that GROM was the best overall, but it was close! We saw Michaelangelo's David sculpture, the Uffuzi gallery and the Duomo up close. We also got to spend some time with our good friend Laura Pattillo who is there studying for the summer between college years at Washington & Lee. She took us out for gelato, drinks, etc. and we quite enjoyed hanging out at the more local spots with her and her friends.


After Florence, we headed to Venice, the sinking city of isles. It is stunningly colorful and gorgeous at night especially considering it's age. We didn't plan to do too much here - mostly wandered the city, it's markets and got lost on it's back streets. We made sure to check out St. Mark's Square with it's nightly dueling orchestras, and enjoyed a drink from Rialto Bridge watching the black gondolas silently slip by. Getting lost intentionally among the many bridges and back alleys was the highlight for sure... We hit many dead ends, small residential streets, and found a neat hidden church in the middle of town.


We then headed to the Italian Riviera, among the towns of the Cinque Terre (along the northwest coast of Italy). We were only there for 2 nights, but during our full day we hiked the sometimes rough, but always scenic coastal trails from the town of Levanto (outside the 5 main towns) all the way south to Riomaggiore, about 7 miles total we think. It is a beautiful part of the country and the towns are picturesque coastal towns. We hiked early then relaxed on the rocky beaches, had a few drinks and watched the end of the world cup quarterfinal matches in the afternoon. We collapsed that night after talking to our family via Skype, before a long day of traveling the next day.


Finally, we departed Italy via a train to Milan then a short flight to Barcelona on 4ht of July. We arrived in Spain about 6 days ago, and have enjoyed the Spanish tapas, wine, and culture so far. We toured the FC Barcelona soccer complex and stadium, and had a fresh fruit breakfast, and fresh cheese and dried meat lunch from the large farmers market in town. Our last day in Madrid we went to the Sagrada Familia church (crazy modern architecture by Gaudi), and wandered the main "Ramblas" strip down to the coastline and port.


We spent two days in Sevilla, the first of which was same night as the second world cup semifinal! After Spain defeated Germany, we walked to the main square in town where 1000+ young people were dancing, singing and swimming in the not-so-big fountain in the square. As we walked home, we saw old men (who had been drinking of course) out walking their dogs, still wearing Spain jerseys and singing.... this is 1 in the morning no less! All we could do was laugh and agree with them... "Vamos España!" Our second day in Sevilla, we toured the Royal Palace at Alçaraz, saw the Cathedral, and enjoyed a traditional Flamenco dancing show. We also discovered the joys of cold sangria enjoyed with new friends on a very warm afternoon :) (it has been 95 to 105 degrees every day across Spain for the last week or so... thus we now understand and have adopted the Spanish "siesta" whole-heartedly.)


We arrived in Madrid yesterday, and did a bit of shopping, general errands & those sort of things. We ended our evening with a Spanish bullfight at the so-called "center of Spanish bull fighting", Plaze de Toros de Las Ventas, a 25,000 seat capacity arena on the outskirts of town. It was a novice fight, so the bull fighters were less experienced, and for 2 of them it was their first time performing in the Madrid arena. In fact the most experienced one in terms of fights in Madrid (and our favorite of the three, Miguel de Pablo) is only 17 years old! We waved white hankerchiefs to the Presidente asking him to reward Pablo for his valor in continuing even after getting knocked down by the toro during the final third of the fight. It was more exciting than we first expected as the inexperience of the fighters can lead to more than just the usual "faeda" or series of artistic passes. Two of the fighters were actually injured to varying degrees (Pablo finished his fight, but was later declared not able to continue for his next turn). I have one of them on my camera as well... it was quite an experience and one that we all enjoyed as a cultural experience and spectacle that you can experience in very few places.


[Note: An update on the fighters conditions, not life-threatening at all, and some photos [**one or two are somewhat graphic, beware. no blood though**] from the fight can be found here: http://www.las-ventas.com/ click on the link at the very top which starts with "Vuelta al ruedo para Miguel de Pablo en tarde accidentada; Manuel Larios, herido". You can use this translation website to translate short paragraphs from Spanish to English: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/?fr=bf-res ]


We are looking forward to exploring more of the city today, then going on a tapas tour or pub tour tonight to get a feel for the nightlife. Sunday will be entirely devoted to FUTBOL aka the World Cup final match: Netherlands vs Spain. I personally am quite torn as the Netherlands has been my favorite to win (and whose jersey I desperately want!) since the quarterfinals. However we are in Spain and FC Barcelona is one of my favorite club teams to watch... many of their players are on the Spanish National team. We expect to have a good time no matter what and will wear the Spanish colors of red and blue, hopefully finding a large public viewing spot (public park or square) in which to watch the game. After the post-match celebration (or sadness), we will depart very early to the Madrid airport and catch a quick "Easy Jet" flight to Paris.

During our 3 days in Paris, we will get to experience Bastille Day (their 4th of July equivalent), then depart for the final 4 days in Switzerland where we plan to visit Zermatt for the Matterhorn, Raclette cheese and Swiss chocolate! Then onto Interlaken for some hiking/mountain biking, canyoning and other outdoor adventures. We might possibly visit Jungfrau or Lucerne on our last day there. I can't believe how fast the time has flown, but it has been a great ride so far. Thanks again for all of your emails, notes, and such. We love hearing from everyone ... though we won´t have much time to email you back until we return to the USA, please keep sending them as you wish :P

Hasta luego,
Christina

Ciao! From London to Rome...

Ciao!

Sorry for the long wait between email updates, it hasn't been as easy as I thought to find good Internet cafes, let alone time to upload photos from there. My camera is also on the fritz now, so that isn't exactly helping either. I have managed to get a few online from Amsterdam, Berlin, and Munich but not nearly enough to give you a fair idea of what we've been up to. As always, you can see those photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cestory
Until I can get more photos up, here is a somewhat brief synopsis of the happenings and adventures since I last emailed:
Before departing London, we toured Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. Along with the big sites, we happened upon some fun side sights like Millenium Bridge, the ruins of Winchester Palace and more. The next day we slept in before boarding the Eurostar train to Brussels (the "Chunnel" under the English Channel as Americans call it).
We arrived in Amsterdam after a tight train connection, and mistakenly walked right through the red light district on the way to our hotel - it was a good welcome to town! The next 2 days in town we toured Anne Frank's House, Rijkmuseum, and Van Gogh museum, watched the USA vs England game in a pub full of rowdy England fans, and walked around all the districts. We did the Heineken Brewery tour and tried some traditional Dutch food - pancakes! - too.
After 2 nights there, it was off to Berlin via night train - a first for Thomas and Alex both. Maybe arriving at 430am didn't help, but they didn't get much sleep. We did a walking tour of the city that afternoon; I would highly recommend it if you ever get to Berlin. We heard the history and interesting myths and such from our Aussie guide about WWII, the Berlin Wall, etc. We visited museum island (who knew Berlin had more museums than Paris and London combined?), checkpoint Charlie, Hitler's bunker, the Berlin Wall, Brandenberg Gate, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The last sight in particular was extremely powerful and thought-provoking. I have never experienced a memorial where you are literally enveloped by the enormity of it. The lack of words and being left to your own interpretations also furthers its depth. Along with our city tour we also tried the various types of German food from currywurst (sausage with tomato sauce and curry), to the ever popular doner kebab (similar to a gyro but always with beef and on bread not a pita).
Another overnight train ride later, we arrived in Munich at a more sane 730 am. We did an excellent, informative and hard to imagine tour of the nearby concentration camp in Dachau. This was actually the first camp built where the Nazi system was perfected, and though it was not as large in terms of lives lost, the conditions there were worse than every other camp - a camp meant for just a few thousand had 75000 by the end of the war. It was interesting to see how the survivors of this camp had really taken the initiative to preserve the history, honor the lost, and really make it in their vision for visitors to see.
The rest of our time in Munich was spent drinking beer, walking between enormous beer gardens and watching the World Cup, seriously. It was awesome though :). We had a stein (aka a full liter glass) at the three largest gardens and another famous one - Hofbrauhaus - you may have heard of it haha! We had a great time relaxing and enjoying the many types of delicious beer over lots of football matches.
Onto Prague in the Czech Republic! After a rough but scenic bus ride, we arrived in time for a break before the disappointing US vs Slovenia match. What a terrible call! The next day we did a city walking tour and saw Tyn Castle, the Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, the many types of architecture, the Old Jewish quarter and cemetery, Charles Bridge, and more. I especially enjoyed the many eras and influences the city has seen, yet the Czechs are very proud of their heritage and independence. That night we did a very nice scenic boat tour and dinner - Prague is beautiful from the waterfront at night - great idea by Thomas. We were however the youngest people on the cruise by about 25 years, and drank several rounds of wine and beer before realizing alcohol wasn't included oops! I think our parents especially enjoyed the phone call that night after we arrived back at the hotel - it was a good night ;).
The next day we toured the Jewish museum at Pinkas Synagogue and the Jewish cemetery. The synagogue had the name of every single of the 80000 people who were murdered in WWII, along with hundreds of pieces of art done by children while they were in the camps. The cemetery was unbelievable - just to imagine not having enough burial space that the dead are stacked 8, 10, or 12 deep at some places. It was creepy to see so many tombstones, plain rocks and upturned/uneven ground. That afternoon, we toured the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. The cathedral was the highlight to me, as I love the Gothic style architecture and the enormity of this church was crazy. We also walked to the highest point in Prague at the monastery above the castle. The monks there also brew the best beer in the Czech Republic! Definitely the best wheat beer I have Ever had, in my top 3 overall. That night we went on the Pub crawl around town, met some other travelers from all over, danced like crazy, and had a good time. Somehow didn't lose each other in the madness, but "misplaced" one cell phone oh well.
Flew to Rome, Italy Monday morning way too early after a late night. After a good nights rest, we toured Vatican City yesterday with a semiprivate group. It was especially informative to know the history and neat side stories of the famous pieces, as well as the lesser known ones. I think our guide's explanations of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica helped us really appreciate them even more. Today we plan to actually get some real things done like camera, phone, Internet, and other issues. Tomorrow we are touring the Colosseum, the Forum, and Palatine Hill before departing for the coast near Naples and Capri. Yay for beach and hiking and sunshine :)

If you actually read this far, thanks and hope you can enjoy these mental images until photos are posted online! Keep checking back to my picture site ( link at top of email), and feel free to write back too. We can't respond to all of them now, but we do read every one and are glad to hear from you. Talk to you soon!

Love, Christina, Thomas, and Alex

London... Start of Europe 2010

Hello - Hope you are doing well and enjoying the summertime weather. My brothers, Thomas and Alex, and I just left Tuesday to begin our long-planned European adventure. We landed in London and have spent the last 4 hours touring the city mostly on foot the first day-- it's quite a big place. About 6 hours of touring on Thursday, and headed to Amsterdam on Friday. As I promised, I am trying to keep up with everyone who wanted to hear about it and see photos along the way. Some are posted, and others will be added as we go along, here: http://picasaweb.google.com/cestory (the site never changes, so save this email or this link!) Also, I have posted a ''calendar-style'' itinerary which we will are hoping to follow. :)

Cheers, Christina

Make a Smilebox greeting

Cross-Country Trippin :)

And finally, my blog includes my most recent trip... and for some, most anticipated. The drive from home in Atlanta, GA to my new residence in Park City, UT (about 30 miles east of Salt Lake City). What follows is more of a visual/picture blog as we drove along. Hope you enjoy and be sure to check out my other entries and picture album link of the overseas trips earlier this summer :)

So to start off: My good friend, Jeff Marino and I both decided we wanted to do something different for this coming year. Something that we might not have the chance to do once we got "real jobs" in a few years -- so we both applied for and accepted jobs as ski instructors for little kids (4-6 years old) starting in December 2008 when the Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City, Utah opens for the winter.

Jeff and I have known each other since elementary school in Atlanta (our moms were part of the "wild women" together at Wake Forest University), and he graduated this past May from Elon College at the same time I was graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill. We planned over the summer, and decided to leave in late August to go out and explore the area, as well as find second jobs for the ski season.

And so we packed the car and departed on Monday August 24th. Below is pictures of the car, and yes it is filled to the top





Jeff drove the first leg in the rain toward Alabama. Here is him raising his feet for good luck as we cross the Alabama line, and Talladega Motor Speedway - the only sight along the highway in Alabama:





From Birmingham, AL was my first driving shift, so Jeff took a break and was asleep before we even hit the Mississippi border :)




From there it was alot of open roads.... all by ourselves at some points.



We also learned some fun facts along the way... such as, Tupelo, Mississippi is the birthplace of Elvis.



More rolling green hills... then we crossed into Tennessee




We only crossed a small portion of western Tennessee, near Memphis. In Memphis we saw the FedEx HQ/Distribution Center, then crossed over the Mississippi River bridge into Arkansas.





And so we begin the LONGGGGG drive across Arkansas: ... rolling hills ... traffic jams ... which lead to detours! ... through about 60 miles of farmland and cornfields ...





... and small towns named Beebe?! The town also had a historic train station which had been turned into a tanning salon haha. Finally we crossed over the line into Oklahoma (the picture is a little fuzzy).





We drove a few hours ... beautiful clouds over the plains ... 75 mph speed limit signs ... the Arkansas river ... closing in on Tulsa.







We reached Tulsa, OK that evening - in time to have dinner with my brother Thomas. We then spent the next day touring around the Tulsa campus and resting.





Early on Wednesday morning, we departed Tulsa. Crossing the Arkansas River ... cornfields ... open roads ... We headed west, then north crossing into Kansas ...






It was so flat in Kansas that we could see both the first and last car of the train in one view, but the picture didn't exactly turn out - you can only see the middle cars:



We finally stopped in Park City - Kansas that is!



Then it was LOTS of cornfields ... and some "wind farms" ...






Finally crossing into Colorado - you can see the reflection of the dollar bills we used for all the toll booths...



We see our first hills! ... the Budweiser plant outside Denver ... rock faces which look much closer to mountains than anything else we have seen so far...





Finally we cross into Wyoming: the entrance sign is a bit fuzzy with the antenna in front of it.



We spent the night in Cheyenne, WY just a few miles over the border. The sunset was beautiful ...


Thursday morning we set out going west on Interstate 80, which would take us straight into Utah then Park City in about 7 hours.

We saw some amazing rock formations ... then lots of snow fences - they actually close the highway because of the large amounts of snow!




So the whole trip, Jeff had this "Scenic Drives of America" book that his dad had given him, and up until now none of the drives were both 1) on our way and 2) interesting looking - Talladega Speedway in Alabama does not count.

Anyway, we decided since it was a much shorter driving day that we would take the suggested scenic drive which started outside of Laramie, WY. We exited onto Highway 130 (Snowy Range Road) toward Laramie and Saratoga. It was about 15 miles to the nearest town, so needless to say we were all alone on the highway with amazing scenery all about...





We were literally the only car for miles... to prove the point I pulled what I call a "Jimmy Buffett" and drove on the wrong side of the road (don't worry - it was just long enough to get a picture - about 5 seconds!)



Along we went for several miles among the rolling hills, approaching the mountains ... then we reached the first town along the route -
Centennial - where the sign reads:
POP 100
ELEV 8060 ft






Finally, up into the mountain passes we go... we find a lake overlooked by a forest of surrounding trees ...





Jeff showing off his best mountain man pose in front of the lake



We were on "The Road to Castle Point" which peaked here at the Stone Turret at its highest point ...



The surrounding view from the top of the Stone Turret ...





More pretty views...





Then we came to our favorite hidden spot, which was absolutely stunning: Mirror Lake :)





There was another lake called Lake Marie which was hidden slightly off the path, along a gravel trail...





Then Jeff and I decided maybe we should actually be IN a few of the photos... so here is a self-portrait of me ... and one of both of us in front of Lake Marie




Finally we are headed down the mountain, back towards Interstate 80...





Let the mountains begin... the the first ad for Park City, UT






We didn't get a picture of it, but right before the Utah state line, a huge hawk swooped down into traffic - right in front of a pickup truck that was just in front of us - and picked up some sort of animal right off the road. It was awesome.

And finally.. UTAH! Across the state line ... and into the mountain passes ... past Echo Reservoir ...






Coming into the Little Cottonwood valley - where Park City is!





Off the interstate ... past the Utah Olympic Park ... and finally into downtown Park City ...





We made it! Late Thursday afternoon :) This is my car after washing it TWICE along the way



Our apartment - 1096 (the Lower Level), with stairs down to the main streets on the left



And that is the end of this trip. I am planning to add pictures of downtown Park City, our weekend trip to Las Vegas, and my marathon this weekend in Logan, UT.