Standing in Awe

Firstly I want to thank my family who, after my last post, was so encouraging and comforting. I am most definitely savoring these last 48 hours. It is a bitter sweet in every sense; the sweetness of the fresh honey from Crete with my yogurt this morning and yet the bitterness of my inbox filling up with innumerable emails wanting me to schedule, plan, and prepare. Greece has been the perfect end to an amazing trip. Our hostel is unreal with air conditioning, in room bathrooms, free breakfast, a rooftop terrace that overlooks the acropolis and a beautifully remodeled home with wood floors and real mattresses. It is insane. We arrived late last night and ate here at the hostel where I enjoyed and incredibly fresh Greek salad complete with a large slab of feta on top. After a great sleep in our luxurious beds we enjoyed the wonderful breakfast and then went to the famous and huge flea market. There was shop after shop filled with hand made leather sandals, ouzo, luggage, baklava, and tri...

So I know I haven't posted in a while and I apologize. As my mother has noticed I am growing weary. I am still enjoying the amazing experience, but living out of a backpack and constantly packing and repacking is getting old. A while ago Megan and I made a rule saying we need to stop talking about home because we are going to miss what is right in front of us, but somehow we find ourselves breaking this rule more and more with each passing day. Small things like "second to last time packing," or "this time next week...". All that being said we have still been having a great time in Italy. From Switzerland we got on a train and headed south through the mountains to the Cinque Terra on the northwest coast of Italy. It is a series of 5 small towns with hardly any traffic nada slow paced lifestyle. As soon as we got there and found Barbara, the adorable little women we rented a room from (which is more common than hotels in these small towns) we headed strait for ...

Another day in paradise. So yesterday we decided to just relax in the morning. After the 6 hour hike the previous day we were pretty tired and a bit sore. After a while reading and soaking in the sun we decided to hike up to a big waterfall with our new British friends. The hike was a but more uphill than expected but totally worth it. We walked up through the grassy hills and into a big pine forest. After traversing across the hill and swinging down and around a large rock, we were staring the waterfall In face. It was huge and showered down onto a bunch of flat rocks creating mini frigid world pools everywhere. We hiked down prepared with our swimsuits and plunged into the glacial cascade. We were instantly frozen, but some how extremely alive at the same time. With the waterfall to your back looking out through two huge vertical rocks that have been sliced by the water you can see the snow capped mountains beyond. It was unbelievable. After warming up in the sun a bit we headed back...

Wow! That is pretty much all I can say about the alps. We arrived yesterday to Gimmelwald and I literally can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is. Everywhere I looked I was staring the alps in the face and breathing clean air. The scent of fresh mown hay filling the air and the sound of the bells around cows and goats necks in the distance. Taking a fifteen minute around town was enough to see the whole thing. There is a small shop called "the Honesty Shop" where no one is attending the shop you just write on an envelope what you took and put the money in the box. after a long day of traveling we laid low and just relaxed. This morning I awoke before the alarm to the sound of rushing water out the window. A peak out the window and a quick photo snap of the insane view and I headed out for my first day hiking. With Megan, and two new friends we headed up the mountain toward the glacier. Around every bend we found waterfalls and grassy fields full of wildflowers...

After a disastrous day we made it to Berlin just fine. I was greeted by a screaming running Marie (foreign exchange student from sophomore year of HS) and the feelings were mutual. We headed for the train and instantly it felt like we had never been apart. We dropped our bags at the hostel, which was a Hilton compared to the previous one, and Marie showed us around her favorite German city. Overall Germany felt much less European than all the other places we had been. The more modern buildings and traffic felt more like home than Europe. In the evening we went up to the top of this big tower to see the city all lit up from a birds eye view. It was stunning. After a good nights rest we decided to do a bus tour the following day. It was very interesting because I had a VERY brief idea of German history and much of it was explained. We learned about wen Berlin was decided and saw remnants of the Berlin wall ad even visited Check Point Charley. I still can't believe that the Berlin wal...

Once we finally made it to Berlin we had a great time. Marie picked out a wonderful hostel with hot showers, soft beds, and friendly staff. After a long hot shower I felt the cleanest I have in a while. We headed out and saw Bandemburg Gate which was part of east Germany and has been the site of many historic battles. We meandered toward the mall and grabbed some dinner before ascending the 240 meters to the highest point in Berlin to take in the city all lit up. We were pretty tired so we went to bed ready for a packed day the following morning. I went to bed more satisfied than I had felt in a long while. We made it to Berlin, I was with Marie, and in a soft warm bed. It's funny how you don't realize how unsettled you feel until you really do feel content. In the morning we headed down to the bakery on the corner to try out some yummy German breakfast breads. With coffee as my fuel we went out on te town to do a little shopping. We quickly jumped on a "hop on, hop off...

So in my last post I was writing from a bus. Let me tell you about the day we had on Tuesday: our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:25am so we woke up at three and were on the bus that we had to chase down the street not to miss. After a sleepy ride to the airport we got there and still needed to print our boarding passes because Ryanair does not accept them electronically. So after waiting in line for 20 minutes the lady told us to go to another place where it will only cost us about five pounds as oppose to 60 a piece if she prints them for us (what airline doesn't print boarding passes for free??) so we get to the computers pay and right when I click print the computer shuts down for no apparent reason. Once it reboots we finally got them printed off a screen shot from my iPhone. We then proceed to wait in line with all of the people checking bags to get a simple stamp that says we are the people in our passports. After the printing fiasco we were running a bit short on time an...

Hello London! I think London has been one of our favorite cities so far. There are so many things to love: the accent, the atmosphere, fish and chips, English gardens, and the Olympics to name a few. We arrived late and headed strait for bed after a long day of traveling. We woke the next morning in good spirits ready to hit the town. On the recommendation of my friend Hayley, who we stayed with, we took a little river walk to the train and we were nt disappointed. It was quiet and covered with flowers and a little protection from the habitual rain. We took the tube into the city and upon reaching ground level we found ourselves watching the women's Olympic marathon! It was incredible. We soon found a pub to try some fish and chips, but unfortunately they were out so we settled for some sausage and mash instead. We pressed on to the London bridge and let the river lead us around town. We saw the London eye, the Globe theater, and as a little treat the city has little "wenlo...

After a quick up and down we arrived very early to Paris from Madrid. We landed in an extremely small airport and honestly had no idea what we were doing, but we followed the crowd and made it to the city center after a long bus ride to the city center. The countryside of France is beautiful and reminded me of stories my friend David has told me from growing up there. We ended up quite close to the arc de triumph and decided to sprint across the 12 lane traffic circle to get a closer look, only to find that there was an underground pedestrian walkway. With our 20 pound packs in tow we found a map and trekked across the city to find our hostel. Not before stopping to see Notre Dame first. After many questions and fighting the language berried we finally found the hostel and just sat for a while. When we were recuperated we wandered the neighborhood a bit and found our street quite charming with flower shops, creperias, cafes, and a fruit market all just a slow stroll away. We then head...

It seems as though dad and uncle Mike weren't even here. I think that is how the next month is going to go. We had a great time. We enjoyed the slow paced life of Alicante, allowing the small streets and sweet taste of gelato to whisk us away in a seemingly dream world. After a long train ride past fields of sunflowers, we arrived in a different world. The hustle and bustle of the big city was a lot for two country bumpkins, but with their trusty guide we made it. We saw two huge museums and spent an afternoon acting as royalty in the palace. We also made a loop through the park ate roasted piglets in the oldest restaurant in the world. After rolling ourselves home last night this morning came pretty early. Megan made it safely, and now the next chapter of the adventure begins. We are off to Paris first thing in morning. Standing in awe of how quickly the time passes, Sigourney