Interlaken

This might be the most beautiful place in the entire world. It is amazing here. The water is the purest blue green ive ever seen. The mountains rise above us lush and green and the glacier covered peaks are beyond thoes. We sent the day recovering by taking a boat cruise across Lake Brienz. We got off in Brienz had lunch and then got back on the boat and headed back to the hostel. We booked our adventure for the next day and spent the rest of it doing laundry. The next morning we got up early and went on a 3 hour canyoning expereince. It was like nothing ive ever done. We jumped off rocks into pools, some jumps as high as 8 meteres (25+ feet) slide down slides and climbed through rocks, we came back and rested afterwards and since we still had plenty of adreneline flowing we headed back out to go hiking. We decided to do the 2 hour hike up to Harder Klum a restaurant high above the villiage. It was a hike, and not a very easy one at all. It was very hard work. Justine and I got up a little faster then the rest. The View was unreal. It was just like the movie of Heidi. I never imagined somewhere like this. While we were there we decided to try some traditional food, so we all shared some Roschtis, basically a hashbrown with melted cheese and an egg over easy on top. This was sooooo goood. It was perfect to prepare us for our hike back down the mountain. We all had to shower after our excursion, and then went downstairs to mingle with the other backpackers, we met some fun guys from Texas A&M. The next morning we walked around Interlaken and bought some souveniers and the best thing of all real swiss chocolate. It was sooo good. It was absolutly amazing. Chocolate at home doesnt even begin to compare. We got on a mid-afternoon train to Basel.

Barcelona

We seemed to have a problem that everytime we get off a train its raining, and Barcelona was no exception. It was very rainy and ugly out when we got there. Our goal was showers and sleep because most everyone was sluggish from the night before. I couldnt nap so i washed clothes and caught up on life while everyone else slept. When they got up we walked along La Rambla, the main boulevard in the city where there are tons of shops, restaurants, and tourists. They love their pet shop stalls along there-interesting. We walked to the Plaza famous for the fact that there are so many pigeons they eat right out of people's hands. Gross. We went to eat at a restaurant called La Fonda that Eyal recommened it was gosod food at a good price. Then we called it a night. The next day was Gaudi day. We started with the Sagrada Familia. The most impressive building ive ever seen, and the only construction site ive ever toured without a hard hat. Its planned to be finished in 2025, 150 years after its inception. From there we saw the Casa Mila (an apartment building) and the Casa Battilo which we spent a long time on in design history class. We spent a long time walking throught it and learining more about it. From there we went to see the Gaudi museum in Parc Guell. The park was full of tourists and street performers and it was high on a high over the city, we had to take outdoor escalators to get up there. The park was really beautiful, and the museum which was his home, was filled with a lot of his furniture designs. From there we headed down towards the beach and the city zoo, walked through another park and headed home. We grabbed a quick dinner on La Rambla and had a quiet night......until our brazilian roommates woke us early the next morning when the came in from being out at 730 am. That morning Justine, Kristin, Katie, and I went to the Picasso musuem. That was way cool because it was all the work from when he was young so it was really neat to see his developement as an artist. We got kara and headed over the the Summer Olympic sight, stopping to see Mies Van Der Rohe's Barcelona Pavillion on the way. All of the stadiums and buildings are still in a park that overlooks the whole city. Its a bit of a trek up the mountain to get there. We came back down and headed down to the beach, which worked out ok because the sun finally came out after we had been there for an hour or so. We then grabbed another dinner of Paella, this one not nearly so good as the first. We went out to a few bars and clubs but were feeling a little out of it after so much of that in Madrid. The next morning we headed to the beach and spent 7 hours baking ourselves in the sun, which even with spf 55 turned into a nice crisp burn. Which make for a not so comfortable train ride overnight in a reclining chair to interlocken, but it was an issue for all 5 of us, it wasnt just me. No one slept much in our chairs, so we were all pretty out of it when we got to switzerland.

Madrid

We got in pretty late off the train so we all headed right to bed, but the next day we got up ready to explore. No one knew much about what sights were great to see in Madrid to see so we decided to take advantage on the New Europe Free walking tour. Only there was no tour, they had been boycotted out by the paid tour guides of the city. So we got a verbal desciption of what all was good to see and why it was and then where to go. So we took off with a map and a few things we actually remembered. We found the Haribro candy store (not on the tour), the Madrid Opera house (whoes accoustics are second to only one other performance space in the world). We also saw the Habsburg#s Palacio Real, the Cathedral de la Almunda as well as the Placa Mayor and the Placa Santa Ana (where Hemingway used to hand out-its a major hang out for writers and poets), as well as the Congress building and the Placa Canovas del Castillio, with a very impressive fountain in the middle. After the tour we went to dinner at a Norwegian restaurant called Olsens, the second chef there is the brother of a coworker of Justine and Kristin from their first coop. The food was amazing, i had the best peice of pork of my life. The next day Katie and I got up early and went to the Muses del Prado, the most famous art museum in Madrid and most of Europe. They had the most stunning collection of Ruebens and El Greco's work. It was really amazing. After that we all met up to go on a Tapas tour. We went to some of the most authentic places in the city and learned the history behind the dish, while eatting and drinking ourselves retarded. Afterwards we all bought wine and a whole group of us from the tour went up to the Egyptian Temple to watch the sunset. One of my favorite nights so far. Good scenery and good company. On our last day, we did some shopping in the morning and went to the park where we rented row boats, but ended up laying in the boat more then rowing in the boat. We each did our own thing in the afternoon (I had lots of sorority book keeping to catch up on) and then grabbed tapas for dinner before the pub crawl. We met lots of fun people on the bar crawl, and needless to say we went quick to get up and catch our train the next day.

San Sebastian

We woke in Irun to get on our short 15 minute train to San Sebastian to discover cold and rainey weather. It was actually quite miserable out, made more disappointing by the fact that it was supposed to be our beach day. We went to the hostel and left our bags and then headed out to get some breakfast and check out the beach until we could check-in. We were a sorry sight on the beach. We were all bundled up in sweatshirts and blankets, we were freezing. The surfers were amazing though, and make for really great entertainment. They were amazing to watch. After we checked in we changed into warm clothes and went to walk around town, which didnt take long as San Sebastian is very small and compact, and we had some really delicious gelato. We decieded to brave the weather out and headed back to the beach for a few chilly hours. After some warm showers we headed to a place rumored to have good Paella. It wasnt just good paella, it was amazing Paella (a traditional rice dish made with saffron, and seafood (heads still on)). We stuffed ourselves silly. We mingled with others at the hostel and went to drink on the beach. This not going out till 2 thing and staying out till 6 is never going to work for me. We hit a couple bars and then ended at batta plan where kristin and i hung out on the balcony over the beach for most of the time we were there. Rough morning the next day, but we got ready and headed straight for the beach, still cloudy but seeming more promising then the previous day. Kara, Katie, Justine, and I climbed to the fort overlooking town and got to see the view it was great. By the time we got back down it was sunny so we enjoyed the few minutes we got before we had to get our train to Madrid.

Paris Part 2

Today we took the RER (the suburban train system) out to the Versailles Castle. We were all very excited about it because we had all learned a lot about it in our historty of design classes. I thought it was more away from things, but its very much in the middle of a neighborhood. The tour of the castle was truely impressive and everything we thought it to be and more. The hall of mirrors was very beautiful. I think that the Room of Peace was my favorite room. From there we went to see some buildings on the ground called the Grand Trianon, and the Peitet Trianon. As well as Marie Antoinette's hamlet where she would vacation away from the castle. It is rumored she would have the ducks and chickens that lived there dyed to match her costumes each day. but that was a haul. We had laughed at first when we were told it would take an hour to walk out to the end of the grand canal, but it was really true. The grounds and gardens behind the castle are truely massive. When we got back we picked up some groceries and met Caroline, her brother Guillaume, and Eyal to go down to the river. We ate and drank right along the Seine. It is a huge gathering spot for students, and there are dancing lessons, and drum lines, a very lively place. The next day was first dedicated to having internet access. It was wonderful. We hadnt been on in almost 6 days, so it was good to catch up. From there we headed to the Louvre Musuem. In some ways the architecture of the building itself seemed more impressive them some of the art inside, and the art is incredible. We saw the Mona Lisa, she much smaller then I imagined, but my favorite part was the room just of Peter Paul Reubens work, he is an artistic genius. On our way home we bought a thank you gift for Alexs family, as we were having drinks with them later that night. They were so generous to us, even getting out the expensive Fois Grais (goose liver pate) for us to try. Afterwords we went to a discotech with Caroline and Eyal. The next morning we really slept in, and then ran a few errands before getting a filling french meal and getting prepared to take our first overnight train. It was nearly and hour late leaving Paris, and not the most restful expereince, but we got through it. In fact we were all asleep when we got to Irun so that the conductor had to come wake us up.

Paris

After our top speed run through London, we were very excited to have more time to expereince Paris. We stayed with the family of an exchange student who goes to UC. The Vennier-Moreau's were really wonderful to us, we had our own seperate little house space. One night I had to sleep on the floor but the other 6 nights we all had a bed or a couch. It was awesome to have our own kitchen, and space to spread out, we let all of our clothes air out and went to the laundry mat as well. The first full day in Paris we went to see the Luxembourg Gardens, and Notre Dame, where we attended a Vespers service, the Consiergerie- where Marie Anoinette was held prisoner, and St. Chappelle (one of the most beautiful churches ive ever seen). We had dinner in the Latin Quarter and had some almost tradition french food. After dinner the Vennier-Moreaus daughter took us along with her friend from Philly, Eyal, to get some drinks in Moufftard. The following day we went to the Galleries Lafayette and the Paris Opera house. We then met up with Caroline and went to Montmontre, were we saw the Moulin Rouge and climbed up to Sacre Coeur Cathedral and had lunch up there were we could see most of the city. We went down to the Canal and watched the canal boats for a while. The third day we went to see the Arc de Triumphe. Kristin and I climbed to the top. It was very cool to see, because its a great way to see how Paris is laid out on axis, with a central focus point to each one. From there we walked down the Champs-Elysee and checked out some of the big name designer stores. We walked all the way down the to Place de la Concord, where many people were beheaded during the French Revolution. We then headed to the Tullerie gardens where we spent most of our time soaking our feet in the fountain. From there we took the train over to the Effiel Tower. Where ironically, we spend more time wading in fountains. We road up to the top, it was very amazing. We met up with Eyal, and grabbed some dinner and then headed back to see the tower all lit up at night. It was a great atmosphere because many students gather on the lawns around it at night.

London Part 2

I have been so behind on keeping up with my blogging, we didnt have much access to internet in Paris. Our third day in London Katie, Justine, and myself, the three of us got up early and went to get into the queue for Wimbledon. We werent sure how it all worked, but when we got there, we were 9711-13 in terms of position in the line. 6000 were admitted to the park right away, but we had to wait for the other 3700 people before us to make it in. We were very stubborn about it and waited for over 7 hours to get into the park. We read all about Michael Jackson, completed all of the sudokos in the paper we bought to read about MJ and made friends with some very nice older travelers from Melbourne. We were very exstatic when we got in at 6:30pm. We walked around for a while and watched several different matches, most of which were mens or mixed doubles. We purchased resale tickets and got in to watch Igor Andreev and Andres Seppi. Andreev later went all the way to the quarterfinals, so a big match!

The last day in London was a partial day becauase we had to go to Paris that night. We got up early again and went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. None of us were overly impressed. Most of the action happened insided the gates where we couldnt see. I was cool when they paraded past, but were were expecting something more like the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown solider in DC. We were really thrown off when the military band started to play a medaly of tunes from ABBA during it. Afterwards we went to Hyde Park and ate lunch along the Serpentine (the lake) and then went to Kensington Gardens where there is a statue in honor of Peter Pan, apparently the gentleman who wrote the story, wrote most of it in the gardens. Afterwards Justine and I went to check out Trafalger square, it was very impressive and very crowded, a bunch of people had written all over the National Gallery, it was all graffetti to Michael Jackson. Then we went and walked through Covent Garden marketplace. We went back to the hostle and headed for the train station. Kara and Justine nearly missed the train over some phone issues, but we all made it, and it turned out that the cheapest ticket available turned out to be the one that had a full meal served on it. We ate very well for dinner. When we first got to France we were all a little overwelmed by the language change but we got to Alex´s house where his family met us and got us all settled in for a week long stay at their house.