Monday, September 6, 2010

Germany



































































We spent 3 nights in Munich and 1 night in Hiedlberg. In Germany they serve their beer in a liter glass. It is HUGE! We went to a brewery that was ran by an old Abby in the countryside one day. We spent another day walking around hte city and hte afternoon in the englihs Gardens. We tired to go to the concentrations camp, but we didn't realize it was closed on Mondays! In Hiedlebreg we climbed up to the old castle, which was romantic in a dilapitated way. They also had the largest keg ever!






















Obendorf
















Obendorf is a small mountain town in Austria. We stayed with one of Sam's old babysitters in her apartment for four nights there. Her name is Eva and is a a 40 year old teacher. We had an amazing time having a relaxing four dyas outside of the city. We also went on a 10 hour hike to the top of one of th emany mountains. To thank Eva we cooked her an Italian feast! this might have been my favorite time.

Florence







Florence was so much better than Rome. We stayed in a campsite on a hill overlooking the city. We saw the city durring a beautiful sunset. We also went to the Ufitzi and biked around the city. I have discovered I find city biking to be terrifying. Oh, and of course we had amazing food!

Rome














































Rome was interesting. All of us loved the food and the sites, but we didn't like the city itself. It felt touristy, over crowded, and very dirty. Also, it was wierd to see all the pagan cites that were destroyed by the church, and then go to the vatican that was made rich by its plundering of other religions. We had amazing food here though! I loved the collesum and the roman forum.

Madrid







Madrid was the one place that all of us fell absolutly in love with it. The food was amazing and the people were so nice. We ate constantly at this food festival that was right next to our hotel. To give you a picture of it, let me describe one dish to you. They have a tank of fresh octopus. When you order ocotpus, they take one out, pu tit in boiling water. Then once cooked cut it onto the plate with scissors, spice it, and serve it. The food was so fresh and so good.



Barcelona






















Barcelona was very fun. The Gaudi architechture and the food were my favorite parts of this city. Cynthia and I explored the Gaudi buildings alone one day, and had an amazing meal of gazpacho and pallea. We went to one of my favorite resteraunts of the whole trip in Barcelona. The tapas place had a magazine for a menu, where they told you the origins of all of the food.

Avigion







This is a very cool old city, where the pope temporarily resided. The old castle was fun to explore.

Paris
















Paris. Highlights only since we spent a lot of time here. I went on a date with Sam, which was very special. Cynthia and I spent the entire day by ourselves in the Louve with the guided tour, where we had an amazing time. And of course cheese and bread!

Brugges
















Brugges was one of my favorite cities. The old history of the place was very fun. The beer was delicious! We went on a brewery tour at deHalf moon brewery. We also followed Jack's instructions to a secret local bar that had a special and secret house brew. Finding this place was an adventure! We also spent a nice afternoon in the old nunery. The old clock tower provides a great view of the city if you are willing to climb all the stairs. We had delicous fires, waffles, chocolate, and mussels in Belgium.