19 memorable moments!

19 - ¨You have happy fun¨ - Lauríe´s Venitian boyfriend, Mateo, in a pink polo

18 - ¨You think my tractor´s sexy¨ - sung by Cinque Terre´s all purpose lifeguard

17 - ¨You sit by yourself¨ - waiter´s reply to our question ¨Do we seat ourself?¨

16 - ¨You can wait me in the garden¨ Laurenzo´s (kelley´s Italian boyfriend) note to us at the hotel.

15 - Making a Public Announcement at the Colisseum in Rome to find Christine!

14 - Arriving at the Biker´s Home in Zurich and seeing Laurie´s face when she saw the nastiest man on earth with 20 tattoos on his bare stomach!

13 - Standing in Madrid´s Train Station and waiting three hours for #174 to be called...only to find out that half of our trip was not going to work out.

12 - Laurie and Kelley eating Margherita Pizza for 12 days in a row!

11 - Eating Gelato ¨for the last time¨ EVERY night!

10- Riding on a super nice and fancy train for FREE for 20 minutes...until we got caught by the train police and paid a 20 euro fine!

9 - Have we mentioned that the Eurorail Pass and Train System sucks?!?!?!?!? Overnight Trains....wow, not even 2 tylenol PM will work on that situation!

8 - Packing our suitcases and backpacks and moving hostels EVERYDAY for 19 days!

7 - The overwhelming number of European MULLETS and even more overwhelming BODY ODOR (EBO - European Body Odor!!!!)

6 - Kelley´s daily question..... "Is this free?" (bread basket, ice, tap water, seat?)

5 - Paying a sitting fee to sit at restaurants...and then seeing the sign that said "No cover to pay!" in Cinque Terre! Lost in translation...but at least we didn´t have to pay a sitting fee!

4 - Jungfrau....Climbing 11,000 ft on a 2 1/2 hour train ride to enjoy the view and a 2 MINUTE Dog Sled experience!! Oh, we got talked into so much!! And wearing socks for gloves and socks with chaco sandals to keep warm!!

3 - YUCK! Topless Women and Bottomless Men on the Barcelona Beaches!!!

2 - Our Gondola Ride in Venice....and our cutie Gondolier named Alisandro!

1 - Our two new favorite places on earth....CinqueTerre, Italy and Interlaken, Switzerland!!!

WE CAN´T WAIT TO COME HOME TOMORROW!!!!

Our last train ride.....27 hours long!

WHEW! We are soooo happy to announce that we made it to Madrid....after 27 hours of trains! We all agreed that we looked too pitiful for pictures today but this photo with Laurie and Gramps sleeping in the Barcelona Train Station....well you can tell that its been two LONG days!!! It proved to be another adventure of sleeping in a reclineing chair, missing a train, eating McDonalds, fighting with the train company to still honor our reservation even after we missed it, and riding on a super nice train to finish out the 27th hour!! We have been in our same clothes for 2+ days and cannot wait for a shower tonight!

We just enjoyed some wonderful pizza and spanish tapas to end the night...now its off to the showers and bed! We are excited to experience Madrid tomorrow...a walking tour and the Prado Museum! But we are even more anxious for Saturday....we feel like little kids on Christmas Eve...if we hurry up and go to sleep, it will be Saturday and we can come home!

Paradise!

We have said sooo many times that we are IN LOVE with Cinque Terre...and we are so sad that we are leaving tomorrow! We had a fun day and of course ended with three scoops of Gelato! We got up and hiked from Riomaggiore (city #1) to Vernazza (city #4) for 3 hours and it was gorgeous! Afterwards, we spent the afternoon on the beach...people-watching, kayaking, and soaking in the sun! We are proud to report that this beach had almost everyone clothed!!! We have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Cinque Terre and would have stayed here 19 days if we could have!

Tomorrow we leave at 3pm and will spend 22 hours on the train heading back to Madrid! No, that's not a typo.....22 hours!!!!! We have decided that we are not going to talk about it...just endure it and head to the USA!

Cinque Terre....

WOW! It's the most beautiful place on earth! Seriously, we couldn't end our trip any better than right here! We have not stopped saying how pretty everything is! We, of course, had an adventure this morning getting on our train....because we got on the WRONG train! Yes, we climbed on what we thought would take us from Rome to Cinque Terre...only to find out that we were on the wrong one and headed for Pisa, Italy! In the meantime, we made friends with the train man and he hooked us up with the correct train! Just another memorable moment!

When we got to Cinque Terre we got to climb 100+ steps up a mountain to our Guesthouse! It was awful with 3 suitcases and two huge backpacks...but once we made it, it was soooo worth the amazing view! And if we were drinkers, we would love the open bar that is available at our guesthouse! We decided tonight to hike from Monteroso (city #5) to Vernazza (city #4). Despite the warnings that it was a 90 minute trek and very hard...we did it anyways....totally sweaty but we did it! We just enjoyed another amazing dinner of Pizza and we are waiting for the train back to our town (monteroso)! Can't wait for tomorrow...a day of hiking and the beach!

Christine Jepsen, can you please meet your party at the exit!?!?

Yes, my friends, we got to make a Public Announcement at the Colisseum in Rome! After an hour of being separated from Christine, Jen went to the entrance and told them that we lost our friend! They took us to a booth and handed Jen the microphone to make an announcement! No worries, we found her and enjoyed the Colisseum!

The last blog was from Venice, and since then we have experienced an overnight train in couchettes (a room with 4 beds coming out of the walls!) and some of us had all girl rooms and some of us had boy roommates! It was a rough night but we all got a little bit of sleep!

After a quick 7am shower at our new hostel in Rome, we hit the ground running! We went straight to Vatican City and got talked into a tour group...soon to realize that each person in the big group was paying a different price! We fought and won with a cheap deal! It was super HOT in Rome and our energy level was at rock bottom but we enjoyed the Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican and Catacombs. We came back to the hostel and took an amazing 2 hour nap and then enjoyed the night at the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountains....people watching, getting our daily fix of gelato and tossing pennies as we made wishes!

Today, we toured the Colisseum, the ruins at the Forum, and the Pantheon. After a quick bite to eat, we bus hopped back to our hostel to do laundry (for the last time!) and now we are headed to the National Museum, dinner and then some more adventures!

Tomorrow we take a morning train to CinqueTerra and we cannot wait to see the sites and the BEACH!

Just to clarify....and the past three days!

Okay, so Jen posted that we saw Dirk in the train station....let's just clarify, we saw a HUGE poster of Dirk advertising his new book and had planned to post a picture...but we had technical difficulties and never got that far! Ha! Sorry for the confusion!

So sorry for the delay in blogs and pictures...we have had some technical difficulties and have not seen the internet in a few days! So....on Wednesday in Interlaken, Jen, Laurie, Kelley and Katie ventured up to the highest point in Europe on a train! It was a 2 1/2 hour adventure going straight up the side of mountains but the scenery was unforgettable! We were NOT prepared for the cold that we experienced but we did the best we could..using socks as mittens, wearing a lot of clothes, and wearing socks with chaco sandals (jen started a new fad!). We saw beautiful snow-capped mountains, went dog-sledding and regular sledding on the mountain, walked on a glacier, walked through an ice palace, and enjoyed some yummy hot chocolate! While we were freezing, Christine was hiking through some of the most beautiful trails in the world...enjoying some time with the Ipod and singing "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music"! After that, we took an afternoon train to Zurich. Let's just say that we were NOT impressed with Zurich in any way, form or fashion! But we did get some laundry done for free!! Yippee! On Thursday, we took a LONG morning train from Zurich to Venice and got to see some more of the most beautiful parts of the world....riding the the Alps! Sadly, we slept most of the time, but we did enjoy some of the scenery. We got to Venice around 6pm and checked into our Methodist Hostel that is amazing...we are all 5 in one private room and really enjoyed some quiet time. We enjoyed some yummy pizza and a GONDOLA ride that was unforgettable! Alisandro (our gondolier) was so funny and strong! Venice is even more beautiful at night...when it's cool, lit up and concerts are everywhere! Today, we are cruising the Venetian streets, sightseeing, and SWEATING! Gone are the Swiss days of jackets, a breeze, and snow-capped mountains! Tonight, we are taking an overnight train to Rome! We are on the home-stretch of our trip! We miss you all but are having fun!

Day 8 - Bern & Interlaken!

Oh, we are so in love with Switzerland....the weather feels amazing (chilly enough for a jacket!!) and the scenery continues to take our breath away! We've taken tons of pictures and can't get enough of the mountains, sunset, and houses!
Today, in Bern, we completed our walking tour through the city and saw the Parliament Building, the Bern Cathedral, Albert Einstein's Apt., the Aare River, many fountains, and the City Bear Pit (Bern means Bear!) with two bears named Pedro and Tanna. We had a few hours to hangout at the hostel and each lunch, watch TV in English, and rest our legs. Bern is VERY expensive so we weren't sad to say bye to the high prices on our way out of town! On our way through the train station, we saw Dirk Nowitzski!!!
Then, we took a 45 minute train ride and arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland! Jen continues to say this is her favorite city in the world. We walked a LONG way with our luggage and arrived at The Funny Farm Hostel...and we haven't stopped laughing since we arrived! First of all, there are five things that don't belong....Laurie, Jen, Katie, Kelley and Christine! Let's just say that ANYTHING goes at this place...and there is no modesty! We have one boy in our 6 man room tonight and Christine drew the short straw and has to share a bunk bed with him! The other 4 girls are sharing bunk beds that are double size beds (two on top bunk and two on bottom). The showers and bathrooms are outside by the beach volleyball court...so i think we might take a buddy with us in case of midnight potty breaks! Oh, and did I forget to mention that guys and girls share a huge room with laundry, showers and toilets??? Oh the fun! One more thing...the hostel mascot is a HUGE St. Bernard dog....we like to call him Beethoven! He roams the hostel and opens the doors with his head and then lounges on the staircases.
Our tour of Interlaken was so fun! Its a tiny little town but certainly does not disappoint.....gorgeous homes and hotels, amazing dinner (we tried cheese fondue and hash brown casserole with all sorts of things mixed in it!), tons of souvenir and chocolate stores!! Tomorrow Christine is going hiking with a group on a 3 hour hike and she is very excited. The other 4 girls are taking a 2 1/2 hour train ride up a mountain to Jungfrau (the highest point in Europe....11000 ft) and dog sledding!!!!!!! It was pretty cloudy today so we are praying for a clear day tomorrow....and we are already planning how many Dramamine pills it will take to keep us from getting sick round-trip!
Tomorrow marks the 1/2 way point for our trip...and we are all still speaking to each other! After our crazy adventures tomorrow...we are off to Zurich for one night!

Adios Barcelona, Hello Geneva?!?!?!?

Oh, where do we begin??? Another day and another adventure! So, we traveled from barcelona to Montpellier, France with 8 minute connection to our train to Geneva, Switzerland.....but of course, as we were running to the train....it left us!!! So, we waited and jumped on the next train an hour later! Oh wait, I forgot to mention that the train we missed was FREE! The next train was SUPER nice and we knew we were not supposed to be on it....but decided to live on the edge! And we got caught....and paid our 20 euros and laughed! As always, the Lord had a better plan and just laughed at us too! With our extra time until the next train, we scrambled to the convenient store and searched (in French) for a hostel and a phone number....we lucked out and got a good recommendation! It was a superb hostel and so nice to have a bed, FREE breakfast and a FREE bus pass for the day! It was the five of us in one room....and a swiss lady that spoke NO english....oh the laughs!
This morning we finished touring Geneva and absolutely loved it! The weather is wonderful and the scenery is gorgeous in Switzerland! As we were leaving we stopped at the ticket counter at the train station and made ALL of our reservations for the remaining 12 days....Cecily our ticket agent saved our lives and really helped us soooo much! We caught a train this afternoon to Bern, Switzerland and just ate dinner (pizza!) and made a quick tour of the town! We plan to get some sleep and then finish up Bern and head to Interlaken tomorrow!

Laundry attempt #1!

Oh my....as if we haven´t had enough adventures on our trip already....we had another one tonight at the laundry mat! We all combined our dirties into 2 loads and washed them just fine...and then the coin machine that controlled the whole thing broke!!! So, we were left with 2 big loads of soaking wet clothes! In our broken spanish, we found out that there was another laundry mat a few blocks away. So, we threw all of our clothes into a trash bad, traveled down the streets and put both loads into a super-duper dryer and got to sit on the streets and people watch and read while we waited. Jen was caught people watching a little too intensely and found herself in the middle of a two-man scuffle! Oh the fun!!! But it´s nothing a little bit of gelato (ice cream) can´t fix! Yummy! Off to pack and get ready for France!

Pics from 4th of july!

Here are some of the pics from 4th of July in Barcelona....we went to a water-light show in the park! And we think EVERY person in Barcelona was there too! It was so pretty and the National Museum of History was lit up with water falls in front of it! We loved hanging out in the park....people watching, enjoying some favorites american tunes and watching the show! Enjoy...and happy belated 4th!

Life´s a Beach!!

Today was a day that we will never forget! We slept in until 8:00am and then moved down the street to our new hostel! And we lucked out and got a 5 person apartment...so we have our own kitchen, shower, balcony, two twin and two double beds....and an oscillating fan!! Fans and A/C are very precious these days, especially when they are free!

Anyways, we stored our luggage at the hostel until check-in time and we headed to the beach! And my, oh my.....to say we were not prepared is an understatement! We learned more about the human anatomy than we ever knew! From topless women to bottomless men...we saw it all today! Here´s our question or where our confusion lies.....why were there men getting arrested by police for selling cold drinks and chips from their own cooler without a license to do so while the naked people were just hanging out and talking with no worries of ´indecent exposure´????? And here´s our other question, if you are going to take off the top half of the bathing suit, what´s the point of wearing the bottoms?? Let´s just say that our little eyes didn´t know where to turn except to our books, each other, or the water! We laughed until I thought we were going to cry and just prayed that no one around us understood our english commentary!

But after about 30 minutes of exposure, we became immune to it all and were not shocked by anything! After a great afternoon on the beach, we stopped by a cool restaurante to get some great fruit smoothies and head to the showers! Tonight is going to be a laundry night and then we are going to get ready to head to France tomorrow! Here´s a prayer request for all of you....we are taking a train from Barcelona to Montpellier, France with hopes that our connecting train to Bern will have 5 seats available! If not, we have to spend the night in Montpellier and we have searched and searched the internet for a room in this town...and everything is booked! So pray that we will be prepared for whatever curveball gets thrown at us tomorrow and that we will continue to trust the Lord to guide us....we have learned that many times each day! Also pray that we will do okay with the language barriers that will exist from here on out during our trip...because Christine and Jen´s Spanish skills only work in Spain!

Off to do Laundry and enjoy one more night in this amazing city! ¡Hasta luego!

Barcelona...Part 2!

¡HOLA! Today we finished our whirlwind hop-on/hop-off tour of Barcelona and we loved it! We got to walk through the 1992 Olympic Stadium and see where all the athletes lived. We rode a cable car to the top of a mountain to see the Montjuic Castle and see the view of the harbor and city! There were several big cruiseliners docked in the harbor! We walked around Las Ramblas and saw many shops and restaurants. Katie and Jen went to the Picasso Museum and learned some random facts about Picasso and his unique art! We came home for a short catnap and to rest our legs...and now we are headed back out to try some Tapas for dinner! And then...we are going out...yes, we plan to be out past 9pm tonight! I know, we sound like grandmas, but we are so exhausted each night! There is a water and light show tonight at a plaza so we plan to relax and enjoy the show! We are changing our hostel tomorrow...so we will be on the move!
And...the train staff redeemed themselves today...we walked right up to a counter (NO 2 hour wait!!) and we got tickets to start our way to Switzerland...we are off to Montpellier, France and then to Bern, Switzerland! We love being at the mercy of the train system and availability! But I think the Lord is forcing us to slow down and actually ENJOY a city before we leave!
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! We know that our water-light show WILL NOT replace fireworks...but we will try!

We LUV Barcelona!!!

Yesterday was a great day of adventure in Barcelona!!! We bought tickets for a hop-on and hop-off bus tour all over Barcelona and we got to see some amazing sites!! We went to the Temple Sagrada Familia and Gaudi is simply amazing! We then went to the Gaudi Park to see some of more his work and had a great time! At dinner time, we enjoyed some pizza and quiche and the random band making music videos...and at least three of them had amazing mullets!!!! We finished up our 1st day of touring by driving past the Barcelona Futbol Stadium...GOL!!! It's always funny to see us getting showers and putting on pj's at about the same time that the rest of the world and our youth hostel is getting ready for dinner and a wild night out! Laurie regulated last night by telling the men on the balcony 'no fumar' (no smoking) because it gives us all a headache....they listened for about 20 minutes and then did what they wanted to! We love our experience in our hostel....30 second showers and a very weak drain...but we are laughing and going with it!!! We are off for day 2 of Barcelona!!

Money doesn't grow on trees!!!!!!

So far we hate the train station staff! I think they are out to get us...because everyone of them tell us a different story and take our money!!! We found out that our Eurail Pass (that costs us an arm and a leg) doesn't pay for some of our trips! And, because the Paris trains were totally sold out for three days...we are no longer going to Paris! But we are driving through France to keep the rest of our trip the same! We just got off the train in Barcelona and it's raining but we are so excited to be here!
Last night we were completely jet-lagged and totally frustrated so we all crashed around 8pm! Our hotel was amazing and we even had our own showers!! We realize that we have spoiled ourselves already...b/c the Barcelona Hostel IS NOT like that but it's all about experiences, right?!?! Since we went to bed at 8pm...Laurie, Jen and Kelley were wide awake at 4:00AM...while the rest of Madrid was still dancing, drinking and partying in the streets! So they left Christine and Katie (who drugged herself to sleep!) and we went to Retiro Park, walked around and watched the sun rise! It was awesome to be starting our day at the same time the Spaniards were heading home from partying!! We are soooo out of whack with time zones!
Well, we are off to explore Barcelona! Love you all!

We are in Madrid!

After a 2 hour check-in ordeal and a lot of prayer....we finally boarded the plane to to Boston and then arrived in Madrid just in time to see the sunrise as we landed!!! We haven´t slept at all and are already ready to go to bed! HA! We did go to the Royal Palace and took a tour...and we saw the Governor as we strolled down Calle Mayor! If we can find a decent exchange rate and some yummy food....we plan to call it a day and get some much needed sleep!

4 countries, 5 girls, 19 days...oh my!

We are scrambling, packing, and counting down! We have so many plans, books, reservations, etc...but the Lord reminds us of this..."A Man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9 We are so excited and can't wait for you to join us each day on this journey! We know you will get a good laugh from our daily adventures...but we ask (beg!) that you pray for our journey too! It all kicks off on Tuesday!

:) Jen, Laurie, Kelley, Katie, Christine