Germany

Germany
We were really excited to see Germany. We had two friends we were especially visiting, Joe and Dylan. So after a very long and uncomfortable sitting up overnight journey, we arrived at Stuggart at 4 in the morning, a bit tired. Joe was kind enough to pick us up in Stuggart with another friend from America, Kai. We saw the VW museum and other car and beer factories as well as a great futbol stadium. Around 6 in the morning we went to sleep until 1PM aka 13:00. Joe made us a huge German breakfast with delicious pasta with meat inside just boiled with another dish made with the same kind of pasta with fresh tomatoes and eggs mixed in. We also got German pretzels which are a little harder version of our soft pretzels. After that we saw Schwabisch Gmund where Joe lives. They have lots of beautiful old buildings and churches. Tall church towers, flowers in the streets, bakeries, ice cream shops, fresh fruit stands were plentiful. The city also had some midevil festivals going on, lots of music and costumes. We sat outside for a cold drink by an old palace that just looked like a doll house. From there we visited a German family that hosted Dylan a few years ago to join them to celebrate his birthday, but we couldn't say that because in German tradition that is bad luck if it is not actually the individuals birthday yet. Another tradition we learned is that we you say "Prost" it means cheers and you have to look deep into the eyes of the person you are cheering with or else you will have gay children (?), kind of weird but made us all laugh. The family we visited was awesome..they lived in a beautiful place with lots of land and animals. The dinner we had was delicious and a 4 course feast...every step as good or better as the one before. Our favorite dessert is fresh fruit and ice cream so we were very pleased. After a wonderful fun evening we drove 2.5 hours on the autobahn! to Munich where Dylan has his apartment, we got to begin celebrating his birthday before we even arrived. after a German beer and some good conversation we hit the sack once more. Dylan had class and we slept in a bit. Once we woke we toured Munich! We saw the city hall, the outside of some great museums, and the main square.  Munich is part of Bavaria which is a state in Germany where many German stereotypes are founded. Some of these we experienced. We walked in the English gardens and met some of Dylan's friends. Then we got a little caravan together, mostly students in the same program as Dylan and made  our way with a grill and bratwursts to the river where we took a very cool dip. The friends we made were from all over the US, from California, Ohio, New York, DC, another Michigander, Canada and more. We grilled, talked, drank, swam, and adventured through the woods stumbling upon an old naked man strolling proudly by the river along the paths. The weather we had in Germany was wonderful...blue skies and warm enough to wear shorts or dresses. Germans have a very structured system, all the way from metro schedules to recycling. The warmth,the flowers, the fresh bread, the alps, the old architecture, the hospitality and our friends (old and new) made this country an even greater experience than we had hoped

France

France
After some frustrations with our plans in Spain we were very grateful to arrive in France. When we arrived in Paris we had to switch stations through the metro and  then get more train tickets to get to Angers where our friend Matt picked us up from the train station. We dropped all our stuff then went to a local bar to meet some friends. Many of them were international students from the states and they were all wonderful. We also had an exciting night tour through a castle, by fountains, by a river and saw some great sights. After a nights rest we went through Angers in the day and also went to get our tickets for the next place (Stuggart, Germany). After some crepes and cider we watched a few friends episodes with Matt, Heloise, and Matt's boyfriend Adrien. We woke up to a personalized alarm message from Matt telling us that we had to get up the train was leaving...it made us laugh to hear. We stored our luggage in a train station in Paris and went out in the city. After touring so many places so quickly we have gotten used to walking and seeing things for free from the outside...in an effort to save time and money. So we saw the basics...the Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Arch de Triumph. We also went to the Louvre, but we ended up taking a nap in the garden instead of paying for a few short hours. We both appreciate art but didn't feel like we could fully appreciate it in the time allotted us. The French people met the challenge with open arms of maintaining their reputation of being cold and a bit rude, yet there were a few gems we found. The city was really fun to walk around and see. French can be a beautiful language, but we realized how much Spanish we knew compared to French once we arrived there. Luckily we had some pretty great tour guides for most of our time. We are really practiced in the art of little sleep, metros, maps, rushed sightseeing, finding inexpensive ways to share and eat, and being flexible by now. We both have random injuries and desire pedicures :) 

Barcelona 
Dear Barcelona,
First off I want to thank you for your wonderful sun. It has been some time since we have been able to reap the benefits of warm weather. Our shoulders are especially grateful! Despite your luxurious beaches, delicious sea food, and wonderful tapas, we did find you a bit temperamental at times. Let us recap on the events and misfortunes in Barcelona...
When we arrived from Madrid, it took us a while to locate our hostel. The people were very friendly but alas they spoke no ingles. Try as they may to help, their easy going lifestyle did not fit well into our schedule. You see, everything was closed by 6, including any way of getting money to pay for our hostel. This gave us entertainment for the next few hours wandering around the streets of Barcelona looking for an ATM. Afterwards all we had energy for was dinner and sleep. To make up for our interesting evening the night before, we started the next day off quite well, strolling down the sidewalk past street venders, sidewalk artists, cafe's, sail boats, beaches and naked men running down the pier away form the police. It was quite lovely to say the least. We stopped in a cafe and ate some wonderful sea food. We proceeded to the beach and soaked up some sun, took some great pics ands collected some interesting rocks along the Mediterranean shoreline...to be continued

Spain-madrid

Madrid
The contrast between traditional Spanish and other European countries as well as the clash between Catholic and Islamic influences is seen in the streets of Madrid. Sarah and I arrived to this beautiful city grateful for the warmth and instant beauty right away, yet very tired and both a tad sick. We sucked it up and went to reserve our tickets at the train station a walk away. We had a terrible time of it and after a few hours of floundering spanish and unhelpful Spaniards we finally figured out we needed to go to Barcelona the next day. Then we got some wonderful cheap food straight away and made some friends. Before we could hit the hay these friends invited us to a bull fight. How could we turn that down? So we didn't;we went to the bull fight. It was great to see all the Spaniards out and avoiding the scalpers we each got some cheap tickets and piled and climbed and stepped through. The men and women were out but it did seem like a traditionally male affair...smoking cigars and passing around the alcohol. The sport itself was violent and strangely captivating there was obviously a lot more going on then we could understand. We left a little early wondering why it was still legal. When we got back to our hostel there was nothing to do but crash...and that we did. We got up and packed again, ate breakfast at our hostel, and went out on a walking tour for 3 hours. We had a great tour guide heard some good stories and then made our way back and to the train station. 
On the train we could see the countryside, there are rolling hills, winding dirt streets, white fluffy clouds, striking blue skies, green grass, some rocks, red red sandy dirt, but truly the thing that dominates it all is the sun...illuminating all it touches...making every hue of color explode and reach all it's potential, every pigment it was meant to be. Here the sun doesn't seem to be warring with anyone but rather is an essential part of what makes Spain Spain. Even though people may complain, fan themselves, and even get a little pink on their shoulders (as Sarah and I have) it doesn't change the love and the ease and the acceptance of these people's relationship with "sol". 

England

England is full of an almost familiar feeling of everyday life. The people have changed a lot since our ancestors first left these lands but the English blood and ties are still very strong for both of us. During our time in London we had fish and chips, figured out a lot of complicated directions, met a few more people, saw some amazing sights, experienced some night life with some American friends, learned about English beer from our host (and connoisseur) Rob, and even sampled Indian and Italian while we were there. We have become experts on finding cheap food in markets and sharing outdoor with each other. There are lots of great things about England. There are red telephone booths, lovely accents, and lots of tea. When we arrived from Scotland we were pretty tired once again..the Edinburgh airport floors are very hard and cold...and got some mcdonald's (cheap) and waited for Rob. We ended up getting our first beer lesson and crashing early. After a 12 hour sleep we headed into the city. We saw all the big sites: Big Ben, St. Margaret's church, Buckingham Palace, parliament, the London eye, a bad street performance, a street market, a street where all the movie premiers are. Rob was an excellent tour guide. We said goodbye to Rob and headed to the Apollo Victoria Theatre. We got the student priced tickets for Wicked for the evening, and a found a nice restaurant to eat while we waited. The show was awesome! Later we met some friends from America, Brandon and Brantley. There was a lot to observe near Piccadilly Circus and we got some cheap pizza and took advantage of the interesting people to watch. We then embarked on what we thought would be a short trip back to Rob's but actually took us until 5:30am. The next day we went to where Rob worked to continue our beer lessons and also got an amazing lunch at an Italian place nearby. We went back to Rob's packed up and then went to church. After that we went downtown alone to catch a few more sights...the Tower Bridge and all the other big stuff at night. We went back to Rob's to finish getting ready, watched a few episodes of the Office and left on a treacherous journey to the airport. We made it ok, but maintaining our tradition of chasing the buses along the way. When we left we felt happy to say "cheers" and go on our way. 

Edinburgh-the city of shifting light

Edinburgh...
When you enter Edinburgh there is a rich Scottish culture that greets you and you find yourself searching for ways that you identify with it. Both of us have some Scottish blood in us and Scotland felt quite safe and easy to adjust to. We arrived early in the morning exhausted from our very late night in Dublin in conjunction with our very early plane from Dublin. (2/2) We pushed through it though and we went out for a free walking tour...we were pretty exhausted so the amount of actual information obtained is questionable. We got some fish and chips, met some more Americans, and read our books for awhile at the pub. We proceeded to go to bed fairly early. The next morning we checked out and went to a supermarket to pack a picnic for our day out. We bought tickets and went on a train to Sterling Castle, ate our lunch overlooking the Scottish country side off a cliff, and enjoyed a lovely tour. The city was rainy and very chilly the first day...we could barely keep the umbrella open. One thing about Edinburgh is that it is very built, lots of rock and bag pipes...cold, wind, rain, running in the rain, museums, brilliant writers, romantic, lots of green and flowers, rough land with rich history, scattered castles, tamed rock that breaks open to water...it almost seems sad how much the rocks have been tamed...cafes, pubs, and elegant. Another great place...
"this is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful, it breaks the heart again and again."
-Alexander McCall Smith
"It is quite beautiful
Bits of it"
-Oscar Wilde

The queen is coming!-Ireland

Ireland is full of green...everywhere you look it is full of a deep vibrant life that is so fiercely natural. The wind will blow a cool (sometimes too cool)breeze through your hair and sneak on every corner of your body. The cool mists, tall trees, the rain all bring this sort of sleepy dreary energy that makes you never want to leave. The sun fights to be heard too and it consistently has shown a never surrendering face...revealing majestic rainbows and a depth to the nature and the green that one had no idea was even missing until it is seen.
The people are a bit more complicated, as people tend to be. The leftover feelings of resentment were very strong towards the crown (of England for ruling them for many years)and were all too evident with the protests on the street. The economy has really struggled there and there has been many immigrants and emigrants in the past 50 years complicating the culture. The queen did in fact come to Ireland while we were there and it shut down most of the city. Unfortunately, that did effect our trip a bit and it made it both exciting and a hassle to tour. A monarch from England has not ever visited the Republic of Ireland and no monarch has visited Ireland for 110 years.
For Sarah and I, Ireland was also filled with music and the pleasure of a wonderful Irish family. The Grangers were simply wonderful. They had a beautiful home and were the most generous and kind hosts that could be.
The highlights of the touring were the outside of many buildings such as Trinity college, the Guinness factory and sneaking into St. Patrick's Cathedral where Handel practiced and "The Messiah" was first performed as well as where Jonathan Swift was the dean (author of Gulliver's Travels). We met wonderful friends at the museums and pubs...hung out with a number of Americans who might see again (8/8).
Due to the queen our second day in Ireland we avoided the city all together, we still counted 74 gaurds just on our way from the Granger's home to the highway. The security was paramount; the largest Ireland has ever undertook. We had the opportunity to drive to Glendalough, some Irish lakes. You can take trails around the lakes as well as see ruins and rolling green mountains on your way. The glaciers have left these lakes when they moved many years ago. There are tall green trees, soft cool mists, fluffy sheep, yellow bushy flowers and tall green dewy grass.
Ireland is unique, and we will never forget it.

Norway

5/11/11
So funny story, once we checked in for our flight to toronto we walked down the ramp to a little pea shooter plan...awesome. We weren't sure we were going to make it but if we weren't there were only 18 passengers and 2 pilots...to top it all off Naturally we had the last seat conveniently located in the back right next to the bathroom. As the day progressed our day got better...we met a few other backpackers from ann arbor, later in Toronto we met a really cute guy at customs. He helped us with our luggage transfer. As we were Walking by later He stopped us and wished us safe travels! I guess that makes up for the previous bad luck.

5/12/11
So we really havnt actually slept really since we left but after almost 16 hours in route we are almost there! As we were getting on the plane to Oslo we were standing behind two guys who were Norwegian and they were making fun of Americans and how they comment on how good their English is. The best part about it was the way they talked while imitating and English accent! 
When we landed we had to go get our luggage, and when we walked out of customs Erlend, Magnus, and Megan were there with a huge American flag to greet us as well as country music awaiting us in the car.
We are just leaving the country where we visited Erlend's family at there country home. It was beautiful. His mother made us a wonderful dinner and delicious dessert with awesome strawberries. His whole family (including the pets) were wonderful. The home was built over 200 years ago and the lumber was from even before that! You could tell that the home felt different than most American homes but the house was in such a beautiful condition it was hard to believe.

5/13/11
 Today we got up and Erlend made us eggs,toast, and bacon. We then met up with Meghan and Magnus to go to the the statue park, it was wonderful and beautiful. There were many/all naked people. Magnus then left to go to class. Magnus and Erlend are both law students and are very intelligent and witty. They have fun teasing us and our country, but all in good fun. The rest of us then went to the opera house near the water. The architect Wasserstein has designed many buildings around the world including the library of Alexandria where Meghan and Lindsey got to visit last year. The building was designed to walk up on the roof outside. We then went to the fort William the 4th made to defend the Country. We were able to tour the castle and learn about the history. Sarah dropped her glasses down a dark passageway and had to have them rescued/ unlock the passageway to get them...oops :)
We then went downtown to get a kebob ( a dish that is pita bread filled with meat, ours was lamb, and veggies). we met up with Magnus and relaxed in a park for a while before going to a friends birthday party. At the party we met a lot of really nice norwegian's most of whom were college students.

5/14/11
Today we got Oslo passes to use for transportation and go to any museum all days. we took a ferry across the bay to see the Viking ships  and then went to see ConTiki's ship made out of papyrus. After that we went to the national gallery and saw some famous art such as: Scream, the thinker, and Madonna. Later that night we went to visit Magnus' parents home. his mother was very welcoming and father made wonderful food on the grill. Although it ended up raining for the first time that night it ended up being a great night full of great people And great memories.

5/15/11
This brisk rainy morning came quickly as we only finished packing and getting ready for the next leg of our adventure a few hours ago. We are now on our way to the airport leaving Oslo and going to Dublin, Ireland. We were blessed with great weather basically the whole time. Unfortunately we are missing a national holiday here on tuesday. But we are glad that gives us even more of a reason to return as soon as we can. Oslo will be hard to beat but we are excited to see what else Europe holds. Enough cannot be said about how much help and enjoyment Erlend and Magnus (and their families) provided for us on this trip. It's a bummer to leave them and Meghan behind but we shared some great memories with them and hope for more in the future...Meghan's memories should be shared sooner as long as we can make to Poland in a few weeks as planned :) one thing we won't miss is being in the most expensive city in Europe, but other than that no complaints here, it was a wonderful experience and a great start to our trip. 

We are leaving on Wednesday...

This is a picture of Sarah and I from our sailing class last fall :)

Who knew time could fly so fast? This semester has been a whirl wind to this place...the place where we will literally fly across the ocean and spend the next whirl with new experiences. Many friends to make, many old friends to visit and a forever friend by our sides we will embark together.

Hope you enjoy our updates.
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