Neon Green Banana Hammock
So, Jesse and I just got back from a Salzburgian (not quite sure what people from Salzburg are called) pool complex. One of the great things about Europe is that every one has a great body image and everyone wears a bikini- even the dudes. Tall, fat, short, skinny, 25 or 65 it doesn't really matter here. It is kind of nice not to feel that you have to be Hilton-skinny (although not Hilton-skanky) to walk around in a bikini. For example some guy was letting it all hang out in a neon green banana hammock (also known as Speedo), the likes of which I haven´t seen since my last trip to LaBear`s. We also got to see the buttcrack of a 40-something mother as she strutted her stuff in an itsy-bitsy bikini that would fit most 5 year-olds. Unfortunately, Jesse hasn´t got to see as many hooters as he would like! I guess you can´t have it all...
Anyways, we are on our way to Berlin tonight which is pretty exciting. I hope at least the AC on the train will work this time! We hope all is well at home. The trip is quickly coming to an end which is both exciting and sad. We miss you all very much!
Meghan & JeSSe
Huh, Huh... You Said ´´Wiener Schnitzel``
Greetings from Vienna, Austria! Since our last post we have visited the watery town of Venice, which was very nice- even with all of the crowds. Our first day there we got lost, which is very easy to do, and had a great picnic in a quiet little residential square. Then we hit the museums on the island- The Correr and Archaeological Museums and the Doge´s Palace. Pretty cool and with tons of gold- no surprise there. The Piazza San Marco is a mad house with equal parts insane tourist and pigeon. Although we aren´t sure who has the higher IQ- the pigeons geting a free meal at the expense of hundreds tourists paying a euro per bag of feed or the tourists letting the filthy things land all over them. Oh, wait! I guess the pigeons win!! ...Or is it the pigeon feed vendors?? We may never know.
The next day we slept in (we had AC, so it was actually cooler in the room than outside) and then headed out for a tour of the Grand Canal on a tronchetto. Then we headed out to the island of Murano to look at the famous glass they make. That was a lot of fun, we got to see a demonstration where they made a leetle glass ´orse (for effect say it in a cheesy Italian accent). After that we headed back to Venice and tried to see San Marco´s Basilica. Jesse couldn´t get in with the backpack (funny how they don´t tell you that you can´t bring in a bag until you are at the head of the line) so he waited outside since it was about to close and the line was still really long. I went in and looked really quick, it wasn´t as good as some of the other cathedrals we have seen. It was very dark and dirty. The only neat thing about it was the mosaic murals covering the whole ceiling. Oh, yeah- it was all gold tiles, no surprise there!
Last night we caught a night train to Vienna and had to share a compartment with 4 other people. Luckily they were really fun and interesting to talk to. We were with two Brits, an Austrian, and a guy from Holland. We stayed up most of the night talking about politics, they sure do love Michael Moore. Anyways, they were a fun group to be cooped up with for 12 hours, even if the air conditioning didn´t work. Thankfully, they weren´t any of the stereotypical smelly Europeans. We arrived in Vienna early this morining and found a neat little hostel near the train station. We crashed for a while since we didn´t get much sleep on the train, then headed out to see the sites. So far Vienna is a very clean and laid back city, much better than some of the others we have been to. Tomorrow we are heading out to explore more of the city and then we are moving on to Hallstatt and Salzburg.
We hope that things are going great back home, we are very much looking forward to coming back and enjoying the AC! Remember to keep writing us emails at our address or leaving us little notes here on the blog. We love to hear from you all!!
Meghan and JeSSe
The Accademia Museum Has a Boner
Jesse and I hit Florence's two great museums today, the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia Musuem. Both were very cool featuring The Birth of Venus and David. The Accademia is lucky that it has the great David, otherwise I think it would have to shut down since there really isn't much more to see there except for some ugly modern art (it is like wearing plaid and paisly together when compaired next to the amazing David) and a giant poster of an old naked guy with a boner (YUCK!!! I cannot believe they put that in the same room as David!). That is not my idea of art!
Anyways, we had a pretty easy day today and also got to see the Duomo. Florence get bonus points for being walkable for sure, but I'm not sure that I would spend a lot of time here otherwise if not for the art. I think Jesse and I are in agreement that Rome is much more historically and culturally interesting. Although, it is the birthplace of gelato...
Jesse has a small sword
Jesse wanted me to post a picture of the dagger he bought in Toledo, Spain from a guy with only 3 fingers on one hand.
The Pope says "Hi"
Okay, so I know that it has been a long time since our last real post and that we are super far behind on what we have been up to. I will try and make this as quick as possible for you guys.
After our special bus ride in Toulon, France we visited the island of Porquerolles. It was nice, but the water- again- was freezing. I think Jesse and I were the only ones on the beach who were wearing jackets while the crazy French frolicked around in Speedos. The trip was fun though, we found a neat little cove all to our selves and had some great cheap French wine and then had even better ice cream in the little village. The boat ride home was a bit rough, but no one blew chunks, so that was good.
The next day we took a train to Switzerland for over 15 hours!!! At least the scenery was good. That helped the time to fly by quicker. We stayed in a tiny town called Gimmelwald that only has about 150 residents, most of which are related. The first night was spent sleeping in a barn. They think it is hilarious that people will pay money to sleep in their cattle barns. It was cool, except for the crazy little kids running around terrorizing even the flies. We slept in our clothes since it got pretty cool and had about 5 blankets (Jesse says I had about five and claims he only had one- whatever!) and made pillows out of hay. Luckily the hostel down the road had some openings and we made reservations there for the next couple of nights. The first full day was spent on a 7.5 hour hike of the North Face trail. It was really beautiful and pretty easy. We had lunch at this great little restaurant that was off by itself on the side of a mountain. There was even a cute litte sheep family. We had to take the cable car back into town since at the end of the hike neither of us had the leg strength to walk down hill. That night was spent in the "Lovers Room" cozily cuddled up next to 2 complete strangers in one giant quadruple bunk bed. Jesse slept next to a dude!!! Hahaha...
The next day we did a smaller hike along a river and into the valley between two mountains- very pretty. The rest of the day we spent relaxing at the hostel, drinking hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps (okay, that was just me), and lounging in the hot tub. Did I forget to mention the cheese fondue (I had it twice, it was wonderful)?
After that we headed into Germany to visit Charlotte. Whatever your misconceptions may be about the German people, Charlotte's family happened to be the nicest family in the whole of Europe. The completely welcomed us into their home, showed us incredible hospitaltiy, and even did our laundry- just like mom! I think it is our new German home-away-from-home. Her mom even took care of me after the infamous White Sausage and Wine Incident of 2005. For the first time in this whole trip it did not feel like we were so far away from home.
Thank you, Hieke Family!!!!!
So, in Germany we visited the famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria and got to drive on the autobahn. And no matter how bad the stories Charlotte's dad told us about her last trip there, her driving was great! Even with me needing to pull over ever 10 kilometers on the way home. The next day was also really great (and involved much less barfing). Charlotte took us to this great public pool complex by her house and we had a blast! They had some fun waterslides, a bubble pool, and water falls. Jesse and I even jumped off of the high dives. I only made it to the 5 meter one (which is a feat in itself considering that is the rough amount that I fell) and Jesse made it all the way to the 10 meter and even got a free colon cleansing. It was probably one of the most relaxing days we have had yet. We even got an awesome home cooked meal. Very tasty!! That night her dad drove us to the train station in his
Mercedes ML. We only went 200 kilometers per hour on the autobahn and, if you don't feel like doing the math, that is 124 miles per hour (don't freak out mom, I am still alive!).
The night train to Italy was good since we had our own compartment, until the insane Swiss police rudely woke us at 2:30 in the morning by barging in and turning on the lights. I don't think they have invented knocking yet there- or the word 'please' for that matter. For such a diplomatic country you would think they would be more polite! Finally, we arrive in Italy and got onto another train to the Cinque Terre. We stayed in a tiny town called Manarola. It was really beautiful and had a little harbor that was used for sunning and swimming. Our room even had AC!! My favorite thing about the town was the yummy focaccia bread. There were tons of different kinds, but my favorite was pesto with a little dab of melted mozzerella cheese in the middle. Did you know that pesto and focaccia were invented in the Cinque Terre? The guy at the shop even started to recognize me since I was there every day! Our first full day there we spent at the harbor swimming and snorkeling. The water was much warmer than the French Riviera (thankfully!) and there at least were fish to look at (Jesse says it looks like Lake Travis). We spent the rest of the afternoon taking a siesta and then had a really good Italian dinner complete with octopus tenticles. The next day we hiked through 4 towns int he Cinque Terre in about 4 hours. We could't make it to the last town, so we sat in Vernazza and had gelato instead. I figure we earned it!
We headed to Rome the next day, which happens to be one of the most frustrating and completely inefficient cities on the face of the planet. The problems are only exacerbated after a day of traveling. It's a good thing Rome has some great sites, because Jesse and I were ready to turn around and head back to the Cinque Terre after about 5 minutes in Rome. Our first night was pretty miserable being spent in a huge citiadel of a hostel. No A/C, one window, 20 beds. Not my idea of fun. I know that they know it is hot there, WTF???? The next day was much better after we got to see a few sites. We first went to the Vatican City and saw St. Peter's Basilica. Those Catholics really know how to build a church. It is somthing like 3 football fields long and a gazillion stories high with a ton of gold and marble. I think we all need to donate some money to them since they obviously don't have enough. After that we went to Palantine Hill where the emperors built their palaces and then to the Roman Forum. That was probably our favorite site with all the old ruins and columns every where. We even got to see where Julius Caesar was burned after his assasination on the Ides of March. History Rocks!!! After that we did a stroll to the Pantheon and walked to the Trevi Fountain while eating gelato (I know Leanne is dying of jealousy out there!!). The fountain was so cool, especially at night. It is completly run by aqueducts and if you throw a coin into it over your shoulder legend says you will return to Rome some day. Hopefully when we have more money and don't have to take buses!
The next day we went back to Vatican City to see the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chappel. That Michelangelo really knows how to paint a ceiling! We also saw the Colosseum, Mamertine Prison (the prison where Saints Peter and Paul were held), and Capitol Hill. Pretty cool stuff. I think we also had more gelato. Yesterday was an easy day (Rome wasn't built in a day and you definitely can't see it in 3!) we spent it in the quiet and empty National Museum of Rome which was a nice change from the crazy bigger sites. Then we headed out to a book store and got some good reading material. I bought The da Vinci Code which is a really great read, especially after seeing all the sites and paintings it talks about in the book. Jesse got The Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs. We spent the rest of the day at the hostel (this is a different one- we couldn't stand the first one we stayed at) relaxing and reading. Today we caught a train to Florence and have an interesting hostel in the middle of nowhere. At least it is an old villa, that's about all it has going for it. Tomorrow we are going to get to see Michelangelo's David, I am really excited! Then we head off for Venice.
Okay, most of you probably haven't even bothered to read this far, but if you did you get a gold star! Being here makes us miss home that much more, but it will be over before we know it! We miss everyone tons!!
Love,
Meghan & JeSSe
Barfing on the Autobahn
Here is a quick note to anyone planning a trip to Bavaria in Germany:
It will make you sick and that is not good when you have a 3 hour trip on the Autobahn. The good news is that I had the wonderful experience of puking at 160 kilometers/hour. So Jesse and I are in Germany with Charlotte for another day (which is not all bad). Also good news- we uploaded another batch of pictures, so check the previous posts for new links to pictures. It think that makes about 280 pictures left to upload, not counting the 100 or so from Switzerland and Germany. Fun stuff!!!!
We will update again soon, and give you guys all of the details on what we have been up to since Tulon, France- to say the least it will be a very long post!
Meghan & Jesse
Guten Tag from Sindelfingen, Germany
Here is a quick note to keep you all posted on our where abouts. We are visiting our friend Charlotte in her home town after our visit to the alps. Yesterday she tried to fatten us up Hansel and Grettle-style by feeding us pretzles, milkshakes, weinerschnitzle, and more ice cream in a 3 hour period. Have I mentioned that I love Germany?
So, today we are driving to see the castle of Neuschwanstein. That should be pretty cool and we will get to travel on the autobahn! Jesse and I will update the blog hopefully tonight (while we have free internet access) when we get back. And hopefully we will be able to download some more pictures to the blog for your viewing pleasure.
Auf Wiederseheahen,
Meghan and JeSSe
Ricolaaa...
Howdy from the Swiss Alps!
Just a little message from Jesse and I that all is well, luckily London was not on the itenerary. The news is a shock for us, we just found out today, and sympathize with the citizens of the UK. Anywho, the Alps are great and we will be updating the blog as soon as we can. We miss you all, hope every one had a happy 4th of July and watched some great fireworks for us. Please keep emailing us and leaving us messages on the blog (messages left on the blog are public so beware!). We have not heard from nearly enough of you! The web address is
www.agsineurope.blogspot.com and you should check it every few days for current entries (yes, these are instructions for the apparently non-computer savvy members of my family).
Love,
Meghan & JeSSe
PS- none of you would like Switzerland, so I guess Jesse and I will have to keep it for ourselves!!!
Happy Travels!
Meghan & Jesse 
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Riding the Special Bus
Okay, before we tell you how things have been going for the past couple of days, we first have to tell you about our special bus ride. So we are in a coastal town in France called Toulon (we decided to completely scrap our trip to Nice) and we headed out to the beach today. At the tourist info office the guy said that you could take the bus back into town from the beach, which is a couple miles away. So Jesse and I hike to the beach and hang out for a while and then decide to take the bus back into town. We find the bus stop and the right bus and hop on- simple enough, right? Wrong! Since Jesse and I have no information on this town at all, we just figure that we will ride the bus until things look familiar and then just hop off. That was going great until we saw a familiar place after a stop then headed into the mountains. Can you say "Deliverance"? So we keep riding the bus thinking that at some point in time it will turn around and head back to the coast. Next thing we know, we are the last people on the bus and the driver finally asks us what our stop is (I think, it was all in French). Not knowing where we are I just throw up my hands. I think that is a symbol that transends all language barriers. So, I walk up to the driver with our map and show him where we want to be and he gives me this look like I just had a monkey fly out of my butt. Anyways, he turns around at the top of a hill and head back down (thankfully!!!). At the next stop the driver gets out of the bus and takes his break, but lets us stay on. While we are sitting there laughing about the whole situation, what drives by? Another city bus that says "Speciàl" on it. So, we just died laughing since we were obviously on the wrong bus to start with! Everything is going great after that until the ticket-checking-guys board the bus. Jesse and I think we are screwed, since we have been on for so long and then realizing that we did not validate our tickets when we first got on. Luckily, the guy turned out to pretty nice and understood that we were stupid Americans (which, after that event, I will not deny). So, the whole thing turned out well and we even got dropped off by this internet cafe!
Anywho, since our last post our schedule has changed a bit. At the recomendation of the guy who own our hotel we decided to go to Toulon instead of Nice. We are going to this island called Porquerolles (do not ask us how to prounounce that) and from the pictures we have seen it looks beautiful! There is only one problem, if the water is anything like it is here we will be freezing!
Almost out of time, we will post again as soon as possible! Miss you all!!
Meghan and JeSSe
Oui, Oui, Oui...
Okay, back in France and writing to you from the town of Arles (pron. Arl), but only after visiting Barcelona. I am kinda sad to be out of Spain, partially because I kinda knew what they were saying, but also because it is a really great country. Our first day in Barcelona was good, we started with a walk on Las Ramblas. This is a huge street with a pedestrian walk way down the center. At the north end of it is a huge department store, which kicks the butt of any I have seen in the States. The basement is a huge supermarket, it is kind of like Wal-mart on steroids.
The pedestrian walkway is filled with street performers and pet stands. They sell all kinds of animals there from parakeets, chickens and roosters, and pigeons to chinchillas, fish, and groundhogs. They also have this great market just off the street that has every kind of fruit, vegetable, meat, fish, and olive you can possibly imagine. We then walked to the port and watched this huge speed boat take off. For lunch we went to this cool little bar next to our hostel that served little sandwiches which were slices of a baguette with different toppings. They had somthing like 40 different types. We also had a regional white wine and apple wine called Sidra. They pour it from high up into the glass in order to aerate it and make it fizzy. When you are ready to pay they charge you for the number of toothpicks left on your plate.
The rest of the day we just relaxed, which was a nice change, and for our last night in Spain we headed out for tappas. We went to a neat little bar near the port and had this great cheese (even though it looked nasty from the mold, it was really good); two kinds of chorrizo, cured beef, and bread with crushed tomatoes and olive oil on it (a regional specialty). To top it all off we finished off a bottle of Sidra, and Jesse even tried his hand at pouring it.
The next day we went back to the market and bought ourselves some picnic items, that was an adventure in itself. We got lucky enough to find a butcher who sold turkey lunch meat. The Spanish eat ham like it is going out of style. I think if I see another piece of ham I might murder someone. We ended up eating them at a little park in the southern side of the city while watching two guys do Tai Chi.
We then hauled ass to the train station so that we could make our train to Arles. Except for the part where the guy in Spain gave us a schedule that did not exist. Apparently the train we wanted does not run on the weekends, although the date was right on the schedule, whatever! So we ended up in the train station's bar in Narbonne, France. While we were waiting we met another couple of Americans (another Megan and her mom Jill) traveling to Arles- or at least trying to. We ended up riding the train together to Nimes and had a great time, they were a blast! Jesse and I ended up staying the night in Nimes and headed out early to get to Arles (today, the 3rd). Arles has been great, it is a really cute little town on the Rhone River and it has a ton of old Roman ruins in it. We just ended up relaxing and hanging out in town. There is a neat little festival going on this weekend where everyone dresses up in traditional costumes , kind of like a Dickens on the Strand or RenFest.
Okay we have to go, our time on the computer is almost up. Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July. Eat lots for us!!!! We miss you all tons!
Love,
Meghan and JeSSe
