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Europe Trip

a travel blog by Trevor and Amber


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Versailles (by Brenda)

Paris, France

Hi all. Part of my duties with this trip is sharing in the blog, so here goes. Yesterday, I recovered from the plane ride, slept well and up early, ready to go. We arrived at Versailles, after a couple of train rides, picked up a Starbucks coffee, (right next to the McDonalds)- cannot get away from them. We wanted to get the most out of it, so we stood in line to rent the head phones, did not have the right ticket when we got to the front, so back for tix, then back into line again. Anyway, we saw lots of queens, bedrooms, anterooms, Louis XIV and XV furniture and silk chairs. Then outside for lunch, on the gravel, all the grass was roped off!! The whole grounds is HUGE, including the Grand Canal, which is impressive, but kind of weedy. The gardens were mostly shaped trees and bushes, in triangles, would be nice to see from the air. On the way out, we checked for a classical music concert, that we thought was beside the fountains, but it never happened. Then off to the Eiffel Tower, to see the lights come on, around 10pm. We thought they would start at the bottom and rise up, but they just slowly became brighter, then a laser show for 5 minutes at 10pm. Really impressive. Lots of vendors in the area, selling trinkets off all kinds and women begging for money, sad! I have already tried 3 different beers and cannot say any of them were bad. CHEERS to all

permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on May 24, 2009 from Paris, France
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Paris (by Amber)

Paris, France

We tried to start today early and did ok at least we made it to the Louvre before it opened so that is an almost miracle. When we visited the Louvre grounds I knew it would be a long day to actually visit the museum based on just how massive this beautiful museum really is. I think from what I briefly read the Louvre was once a palace and they have since added on to it to expand the museum. This explains the absolutely beautiful architecture which fascinates me as much as the massive amounts of displays and beauty of the displays.

When we got into the Louvre we decided to go see The Mona Lisa or as Brenda would say Mona which was her favorite piece to see. Part of the reason we went there first was because we really didn't know where to start and also to avoid any lines and crowds as we were one of the first 50 people in. I think most of the people had this thought because there was already a crowd by the time we made it all the way there.

I don't really even know what to say about the various pieces of artwork as there was so much and so many dynamics of different types of art that I found so intriguing. I will say that my favorite sculpture was "Cupid Awakening Psyche" which was also Trevor's favorite piece. It is a beautiful depiction of love.

There was also this tiny room in the back of the Denon wing which had small sketches by various artists which I absolutely loved. The little dark room was absent of colors and formal frames but it felt like i was spying on works of art in progress and getting a glimpse into the artists and the models.

I don't really even know what to say about the various pieces of artwork as there was so much and so many dynamics of different types of art that I found so intriguing. I will say that my favorite sculputure was "Cupid Awakening Psyche" which was also Trevors favorite piece. It is abeautiful depiction of love.

There was also this tiny room in the back of the Denon wing which had small sketches by various artists which I absolutly loved. The little dark room was absent of coluors and formal frames but it felt like i was spying on works of art in progress and getting a glimpse into the artists and the models world. (I know so profound)

After 5 hours at the louvre we probably didn't even see half of it but our brains were so tired we decided to get lunch and check out the Notre Dame cathedral. On our way we stopped at the. Concerergerie which is an old prison where Marie Antoinette was held before she was beheaded by the guillotine during the French revolution, it was really interesting and also had a list of names of all the people held in that prison to be killed during the French revolution. They also had a room set up similar to what Marie Antoinette would have been like they even had a rig which they believe was in her cell and a glass she probably drank out of right before she left the prison. I am really appreciating high school social studies.

Notre Dame cathedral was beautiful but to be honest not what I was expecting with all the hype we have seen many other churches that are just as beautiful and just as large as the Notre Dame cathedral but it is very beautiful. After the cathedral we got back to the hotel and walked up to Montematre for dinner and a great view of the city, we also bought some cool souvenirs.



permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on May 25, 2009 from Paris, France
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Paris by Trevor

Paris, France

Last night we decided that we were going to go to Berlin. So we got up and went to the Train station to get our tickets. We had to wait in line for an hour (our longest wait yet). By the time we got out of there it was around noon.

Our next stop was the Eiffel tower. The night before the line ups had been huge (45 minutes) just to get tickets. So we got out the metro and there is loads of people crammed in by he stairs out. It was pouring rain, heavily. The guys who sell cheap souvaneirs tried to sell us an umbrella, even they had one. We ran accross he square and decided to grab a bite to eat and wait for it to calm down a bit.

We just wanted sandwhiches, so we found a place and it had wifi. It needed a code, so we asked he waiter and he came back and put a price of paper on he table with a nickel on top. Amber tried to look at it and didn't get it,she held it up to the light, I thought you might have to scratch the paper and it would show up, no dice. Amber's looking around and there is another waiter jsut killing himself laughing at us. It was now obvious that the waiter "pulled a fast one" on the "tourists". He came back with a big grin on his face and gave us the real code. We had a good laugh. The food here was really good and the waiter we had was awesome!

So we headed out to the tower, by now the rains had driven away practically all he other tourists so there was no lines. The top level was closed because it was in he clouds, when we got there so we bought tickets for the 2nd level. Once up there, there was a great view, it was freakin cold because of the wind and rain. We hung aroudnd for half another becuase they told us that they were opening he top level, so we bought out tickets for that and waited in line. Finally we started moving and rode the elevator to the top. It was even cooler up that, wow Paris looked amazing. A few pictures later, us getting in a few romantic kisses and we headed back down.

We took the stairs at the Eiffel Tower.

We decided to check out some other things, one cool thing was he Pantheon, a really old church with a huge dome that was coverted to secular use.

The church was beautiful and we got to climb to the top where we got some cool shots of the tower and notre dame from a distance. Inside of it was somethign called fulcrum's pendulum. It was the neetest thing, it was suspended from the center of the dome and there was plumb swaying back and forth near the ground. On the floor were the hours of a day, all the way to 24 and the pendulum swung exactly on the right time. No mechaics no anyhong just motion. I won't explain how it works, just google it, it's really interesting.

After that we had a really good dinner at a auhentic (not touristy) French resturaunt.

After that we headed back to he hotel and planned to book some stuff for Berlin. We found some hostels in our books that we wanted to stay at, so mom and I went down to use he computer, a couple must have just got there and they were friendly. They said they would be really quick, so we waited. And we waited while they wrote their blog ... checked his and her Facebook ... His and her Email ... His ESPN ... frickin ESPN are you kidding me, so much for being quick. I even started tapping my toe after a while, so annoyed! Finally they left and said "sorry for the wait", bullcrap you were.

Finally we got on and were able to book a hostel for our stay. And quickly updated our blog and headed to bed.

permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on May 26, 2009 from Paris, France
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Last day in Paris (by Brenda)

Paris, France

Our last day here in Paris. We went to see Sainte Chapelle for an hour. The lower chapel was smaller, less detailed, but proceeding upstairs the stained glass windows were amazing. Pictures of mostly every biblical story were depicted. Part of our entry involved a security check, Trevor was carrying a paring knife we were using to cut fruit for lunches. So it had to be secured, with my passport, for the time that we were in the chapel.

Amber left us after that to do some shopping while Trevor and I went to the Catacombs. They are located under the city, where an old quarry existed, where rock had been taken to build many of the buildings. Cemeteries from all over had been moved to this site over the years and now 'dem bones 'dem bones 'dem dry bones were piled 6-8 feet tall and as deep as you could see.they were layered with skulls and long bones, each section commemorated the approximate year of burial. This was at the bottom of some very curvy steps and long damp dark tunnels. - not for the claustrophobic or out of shape people. We met a family from Chicago in line , Trevor starts making ghost sounds on the way down. To scare the boys about 5 - 10 years old.
We met Amber after at Sainte Denis basilica (we were half hour late as we misjudged the distance and train times). There we toured the crypts of mostly French royalty, from early 7th century to the French revolution (1790) including Marie Antoniette and King Louis XIV. We went back to the hostel to pick up our bags and made it to the train station early, where we boarded the night train for Berlin.

We were in a 6 person 'couchette' small bunks, three high, at least we could lay down to sleep.it was quite restful. One of our mates there was a Mongolian man who was in Paris with his 80 person choir group, they has been in an international contest there. We could hear some of them singing in another room of the train. He spoke only a little English, mostly Russian as he had spent 8 years schooling there, learning to play the violin. The french countryside looks like the prairies, very green this year, crops of wheat, barley, canola that I recognized( still a farm girl at heart). We arrived in Berlin at 9 am - that is amber's story to tell, BUT beer is getting cheaper, only 3 euro for 500 ml (50 cL they call it) compared to 7 - 9 in Paris.


permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on May 27, 2009 from Paris, France
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Berlin by Amber

Berlin, Germany

Wow what an incredible day of history! We took the night train leaving yesterday at 8pm and arrived in Berlin this morning at 9am and went to the hostel, as we were sitting trying to decide what to do I overheard someone ask some other people if they were waiting for the free walking tour. I asked what it was and since we had no plan it sounded like a good idea to get a first glimpse of the city. Our guide, Paulo was excellent and gave us a great refresher on the history of Berlin and significant events and buildings. It was so interesting and again makes me think back to high school social and appreciate everything Mr. Cender taught me. Some of the most interesting things we saw was the memorial sight which is essentially a whole bunch of rectangular pillars in a park covering probably a whole city block. The sight is very strange and the idea is to get people thinking about the memorial and what it means. At first I thought it looked like a cemetery but with no flowers and no names, the guide explained many other people thought it was to depict many trains or soldiers or if you walk through it the walls feel like they are closing in on you, it is very impacting and reinforces the fact that I want to go to a concentration camp. I feel it is important to remember what thousands of people went through and tell their stories.

Another impacting site was the place where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and what Berlin has decided to do with the space. The ground space above where the bunker was is now a car park with nothing at all to indicate why the space is significant, in fact throughout the whole city i think they have done a really good job honoring the people who suffered so much without paying any tribute to the men responsible. Later on the walk we saw one of the largest remaining portions of the Berlin wall as well as the square where the huge book burning took place, again I love the artist symbolism of how they have commemorated this site. On the ground there is a green wreath where you can look through a glass tile in the ground to a part of the library that is completely sealed off and inaccessible with white empty shelves lining the walls. I will let you think about the symbolism of that.

After the tour we went and had a nap and then some drinks and dinner at the hostel we then headed for museum island and visited two museums for free. The first had manz egyptian and greek artifacts where we saw the bust of Nefertiti which to be honest i dont know what the deal is but maybe if we could have read the german explanation i would know. The second museam was an art museam with a few pieces from Monet, it was nice.

permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on May 28, 2009 from Berlin, Germany
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Berlin Day 2 (by Trevor)

Berlin, Germany

Today we had a busy day planned. A were gong to get up early and line up to see the dome at Reitstagge (the german parliment). It is a huge dome in that overlooks the sessions, and it's free to the public. We wanted to beat the lines and get there early. We didn't and had to wait for about an hour and a half, they told us it would be only an hour. We got in finally, and headed up. It was cool when you first got in, there was a central columns covered in mirrors, all at different angles, put all pointing down towards parliment but not directly. I thought as we were traveling up the staircase along the outsides all the mirrors would point directly into parliment, but they didn't and it was dissapointing. We climbed to the top and checked out the view. It wasn't worth the hour and a half wait.

We then decided to go back to the Holocost memorial, that we saw on the tour the day before. There was an information center below. It was very enlightening and sombering. At some points you think to yourself how could people be so cruel? It was hard to read all the stories, but they had some interestig ones from survivors and the hardships that they suffered.

After that we headed to see a church that had been bombed in WW2, but instead of tearing it down they left it as a reminder. That was cool, but the church that they built to replace it was even cooler. It had blue stain glass windows, cut into squares, all the way around the church.

After this, we were all pretty exhausted so we headed back to our hostel for a nap. When we got in the room, there was a pair of blank panties hanging on the ladder to go up to my bed. And they weren't Ambers. They must have been by the lockers and the cleaning lady put them their, but there was another girl staying in the room, so we moved them to her side. Below her bed, there was an Irish guy, so for good measure we made sure he could see them, you never know they might be his.

We then headed for dinner and we ate outsite, even though it was 10 degrees, because they had heatlamps and blankets, quite ammusing. As we were leavong dinner We saw a bachelorette selling condoms, again quite ammusing.

After dinner we made our way back and called it a night. By this time the panties were placed on my moms bed, so obviously no ones and we just through them out.

permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on May 29, 2009 from Berlin, Germany
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Berlin-Prague (Brenda

Berlin, Germany

We got up early, made it to the station in the nick of time, we had been told reservations were not necessary, so we didn't. But when we got on the train and settled, turns out most people did have reserved seats, so we stood for 1/2 hour in the hallway and at the end of the carriage, being jostled around. We finally found 3 separate seats, but in the meantime, I had made friends with 4 Korean boys in the carriage, they did not speak much English, but we managed. At the next station,we were able to sit together. When we arrived in Prague, they do not use Euros, so off to the bank machine, get a 2000 Krowne note, which no one will make change for, and we are trying to buy a bus ticket to the hostel. Bus tickets cost 100 Krowne each, so finally done. The exchange rate is 25 Krowne to 1 Euro, hard to keep track in your head what you were spending. We made it to the Chili Hostel, after bumping the suitcases over mostly cobblestone streets.
We headed for the castle there (whatever name it was) so we hurried, it was closing at 5pm. It was also raining. We get to the station stop, and turns out we still had another 2000 metres, yes 2km to walk to the actual castle, so we went to find beer. So we wandered around some more, had goulash with dumplings ( and beer) for supper, came back to the hostel, did laundry, went for a nightcap, came home to bed. I am the oldest person at this hostel, could be all of their mother!!

permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on May 30, 2009 from Berlin, Germany
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Prague (Amber)

Praha, Czech Republic

We woke up fairly early this morning to bells ringing from the church next door for about 15 min straight and then I thought I could hear a choir but I am not so sure. The bells were so loud they rattled the light bulbs, it was kind of irritating and I am sure the guys in our room who had just gone to bed didn't appreciate them either.

The free Internet at the hostel still wasn't working so we headed for a delicious breakfast before our free walking tour of Prague through the same company as the tour in Berlin. The tour was good and again we learned a lot about the city's history and architecture(which I love). A few interesting things we saw were the old and new town square, the old powder gate from a portion of the old wall that used to stand around the city to protect it. We saw the Jewish quarter and the "new old synagogue" as well as an d Jewish cemetary which was actually part of the inspiration for the holocaust memorial in Berlin. The cemetary is really highbecause in places bodies are burried 10 people deep. When the cemetary was full they would just put more people on top. We also walked by the Prague holocaust memorial which houses every name of the 70 000 Prague Jews killed as well as some artwork done by children in concentration camps. We saw the Charles bridge and later walked across it as well as got a great view of the largest castle in the wolrd according to genuis book of world records. ( it really is absoutly unbelievably massive). We saw the Lennon wall which depicts freedom of speach in a now non-communism country.

During the tour the guide told us some very interesting stories about the city. Trevors favorite story talks about how Prague was going to be invaded by russia in a move to reinforce communism in the country and so the people take action when they receive word and replace all street signs expect the ones pointing to Moscow to "dubcheck" to confuse thenarmies when they come. This genious tactic worked for a few days before the army sorted it out. The funny part is that during the second wolrd war they use this same tactic against the Nazi soldiers and they take down all german shows.

After the tour we hurried and got our bags from the hostel ( who's Internet was still down) and headed off to the train station hoping we could find a place to stay when we got to vienna.

permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on May 31, 2009 from Praha, Czech Republic
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Vienna (Trevor

Wien, Austria

I've officially been away from home a month now. We are seeing amazing things, but missing home. Amber goes crazh every time she sees a dog because she misses Cohen. We miss our friends, our church, our family and we are thinking of you all.

We started June with an amazing day, one of he better ones we've had. We are now in Austria, Vienna to be exact, we got in last night so the first thing we did this morning was to hit up a tourist info place to see what we should do. The lady was very helpful, and we planned out our day, she also talked us into taking a wine tour the next day. Mom was really excited, and amber and I thought it would be interesting so we said sure why not, so stay tuned for that tomorrow.

So we were off to check out Schlos Schonbrunn, it's the "summer palace" of the royal family "Hapsburg". It's similar to versaille in Paris. We were guided through the palace, which was similar, but the nice thing is that they furished the rooms for their actual purpose rather than for displaying art. We learned some good history too. There is the one queen, called "Sissy" and I hated her from the moment we heard about her. She was forced to marry the king of Austria, and he loved her dearly, but she thought of marriage as an institution, and dispised it. She spent hours a day combing her hair. She never had a portrait painter of her, after she was 30, because she was aging. And she rarely attended family meals, because she watched her figure. She wasn't even that pretty.

Amber says it was because of her evil mother in law, always spying on her and amber says "she can relate" jk.

Amber bought some "sissy" earing and says she wants to be just like her, just because I desipse her.

The grounds here were far better than the grounds at versille. They were better decorated and actually had flowers, what a concept. There was a beautiful bulding at the top of a hill that overlooked the palace and the whole city of Vienna. There was also a labyrinth that we got to go into and have some fun in. All in all this was a great place.

We then headed to an awesome market, except than when we got there EVERYTHING was closed, because it was a stupid holiday here. So finally we found a place to eat, it was nearly 3 o'clock. The waiter talked into getting shnapps, except he brought us some nasty tasting stuff that wasn't good at all. Before we drank, I wanted a picture of everyone's glasses, so I said "everyone put your hands on your shnapps" and mom burst out laughing, she said that sounded dirty, and after 3 mintures or so she finally stopped crying from lauging so hard.

Next we went to check out "the crooked house". It was this building that was designed by someone. Everythig was crooked, nothing was straight, floors, walls, it was very neat. In this place, there was a art exibition, some weird art from picaso, and the guy whodesign the buildigs. I'm not a big fan of weird drawings that I don't undersand, but the buildings themselves were really neat.

So were off to see downtown; we jumped on a tram, and rode it for a while, and got off When some crazy guy starting talking to amber in German, he was kinda scary.

We sat on the lawn, at the winter palace and amber read a fairytale to us, told us all about Vienna and the sites we saw and were going to see.

We then went and checked out a gothic cathedral, very very gothic.

After that we saw this really good street performer from austraillia, he did some amazing acrobatics on this giant pole, he was really good and was like nothing we had seen.

After that we headed home, we got lost in the subway station for the second time trip, we walked right through it, following the signs to our line, then all of a sudden we were outside again, so we backtracked, and found this tiny sign by an elevator that we missed.

We came back, had a beer or 2, talked with a gay couple from San Fransisco. Then headed for bed.

permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on June 1, 2009 from Wien, Austria
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Vienna Wine Tour (by Brenda)

Vienna, Austria

The day we arrived in Vienna, we had stopped at the information shack, and discovered that there was a wine tour the next day, so for something different, we decided to go. So we met up with the guide and 4 girls from USA, they had missed the tour the day before. The tour guide directed us to a train, the conductor came to check the tickets and we were on the wrong train!! So off at a platform, in the middle of nowhere about 15 minutes from Vienna, catch the train back to the original station and get the correct one. So now, we are about an hour late, but what can you do. We arrive at a small village northwest of Vienna, it is quaint and down-home. We stop at the first place, taste 3 different wines, as the guide Adam teaches us how to swish and smell and breathe, while we are drinking. THEN, we climb onto bikes (pedal variety at least, we could have been impaired) for a leisurely bike ride through the valley along the Danube River. The river was quite high, they have had lots of rain. The vines were growing high on the hills, up as far as the eye could see. The vines were protected by the old foundations from houses, that the Romans had put there in the early 1100s. The stones also help reflect the sunlight and retain the heat in the evenings. Between admiring the scenery, there was intermittent rain showers, so now we are riding bikes with bright yellow ponchos. We rode to another house, where the barbeque was set up, Adam added 2 kinds of sausages and some schnitzel, had carried salads up and we had a feast and tasted another 4 wines from that local winery. The sun shone while we ate, it was a great picnic. After some time to regain our balance, we rode to a small village on the way back, wandered around and tasted some apricot schnapps, and bought some to bring home. It was a glorious day, the silence of the countryside was wonderful, and I spent the last mile just looking around and couldnt believe where I was. Aside, the 8 of us drank another 6 litres of wine on the train ride home, Amber and I stopped early, so you can imagine the rest of them. We had a late supper at the Mozart, a local popular restaurant. A fine day!!!

permalink written by  Trevor and Amber on June 2, 2009 from Vienna, Austria
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