We got to the vatican and there was a huge line outside, but it went really quick, because we got there right after it opened. We were amazed at the efficiency that they pumped tourists into the place. We were through the line in 10 minutes, then going through security, getting our tickets, getting our audioguides, and entering the museum, all that only took another 5.

The vatican museum was pretty cool, we saw a mummified mummy, that was pretty cool, and tonnes of cool statues, but architecture still takes the cake on being the most impressive. We were a little bit astounded at the amount of egyptian materials that the vatican posseses, especially those related to "idols and gods".

I was a little mad at myself, about 5 minutes into the vatican, our camera battery flashed "low", why in the world didnt i charge it? I realized after that i hadn't checked it at all in the last 5 days in Rome. So i couldnt take very many pictures.

The Sistine Chapel did live up to the hype, when we walked in, it just hits you like nothing else. I don't think Amber felt quite like that, but she did think it was cool. We loved how the paintings on the roof have so much dimension, and they just jump out at you, and how you can tell that the roof if curved, but cant determine its exact shape because of the paintings.

After the Vatican Museum, we went to check out St. Peter's Square and Basillica. Again the square was huge and alot to take in, very impressive. There was a long line to get into the Basillica, but they just pumped the people right through. The basillica was very impressive as well. Very orante, very beautiful. We loved the openness of it, especially around the alter, which is unusual.

There was 2 things that bothered me about the basillica.

1. Why was there not a single crucified Jesus anywhere on the alter? or anywhere in the church for that matter (that we could find)? Isn't that a requirement of all Catholic churches?
2. Why was there SO MANY statues of old dead Popes in the Basillica? It bothers me because it looks like the Popes are trying to "glorify themselves" by commisioning such extranvegant 20 foot tall statues.

After that we were so hot, it was 30+ in Rome again today. And we were hungry, we headed towards Castle St. Angelo and we stopped at one of the first places we saw. BAD idea! It was kinda overpriced, the pasta wasnt too bad, but i was kinda sick of that, so i got a hamburger. No big deal, except that it was 15 Euro and it was the biggest peice of crap of I've ever tasted. I was so grumpy after this, the waiter didnt help, he let our food sit on the counter, waiting for it to be brought to us, for 5 minutes, but what do i say? and its not like I cant tip him, tipping in Italy is automatically added to your bill, at a rate of 15%. So this jerk wad, got 5 euro from us, that he definalelty didnt deserve.

So i was uber grumpy when we left to go to Castle St. Angelo, we actually decided to check out this store that Amber wanted to go to first though. Amber was looking for a leather purse, but this place was way too overpriced, but right outside was just some guy selling guys shirts. And for the past 2 weeks, Ive been looking for a sleevless shirt, so that my arms and shoulders could actually get some sun. And this guy had some, and it was only 5 Euro, so i bought one! And then I went to rip the tag out because it was scratching me and I ripped the shirt! not too bad, we should be able to patch it up.

So finally we got to Castle St. Angelo and we toured around that. It was interesting, but dont do it on the same day as the Vatican, it will seem boring in comparison. But the one cool thing is that we got to go to the very top and look out over the city and see various things.

Next we headed to the Pantheon, because last time we were there, it was closed for a wedding (if Amber ever gets around to writing her blogs you would know that). It was pretty cool, the dome looked amazing, especially how the light traveled through it.

We were then in serious need of some Gellato. Amber looked up a place that was famous for it that was near by and we headed out. I got us lost, then Amber corrected our course, and then we ran into a protest. We think some people were on strike, but they we all kinda gathering and the police were there, but nothing was really happening. But we needed to go around a few blocks to get to this ice cream place.

We got there and I got an amazing 3 scoops, while amber settled for the double scoop. It was so delicious and messy (for me) because the ice cream was melting really fast and it got all over my hands, and i had to eat it quick, so i was sloppy and got it all over my face. Amber said i looked like a 5 year old and wanted to stand else where so she wouldnt been seen with me. I didnt care, my ice cream was delicious.

as we were getting ready to go, the protest started and we heard a lot of yelling, its a good thing we were going the other direction.

So we ended our day (our last day in Rome, and essentially traveling because we are staying with Ambers family in holland) with some shopping. we took an hour or so to go down this street which had a lot of stores. I got a pair of swin trunks (i couldnt try them on, and when i got the hostel and put them on, they are 1 size too big) and some bright blue underwear (i know you care) and Amber got a shirt and she bought a real Italian leather purse in a store, so she was really happy about that.

We headed back to the hostel, had our supper, packed our bags, showered. Then i wrote this blog, and I am going to bed.

written by  Trevor and Amber on June 16, 2009 from Rome, Italy
from the travel blog: Europe Trip
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In the morning we lounged around and at about noon decided to go for a bike ride to Dedemsvaat where we also had some really good lunch. Trevor was very excited to find some stores with lens clothing and affordable prices and bought a pair of jeans and two shirts. We then headed back and relaxed until dinner.

After dinner my Aunt Theresa took us for a drive to the grocery store to pick up some traditional dutch treats that i wanted, i got all the things my opa and oma used to bring home. We then drove to see a windmill which is now a garden store where we tried on some wooden shoes (surprisingly comfortable and my aunt says many people wear them to work in the garden) we then drove around and looked at some houses and also drove by the house my mom lived in when she lived in holland many many many years ago (i am not trying to age her). It was a nice evening and a good relaxing day. Tomorrow we head for my uncle perry's house but more about that in the next post.

written by  Trevor and Amber on June 17, 2009 from Hoogeveen, Netherlands
from the travel blog: Europe Trip
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We walked around Utrecht for a while before heading to a little community near Amersfoot to see a type of experiment relating to house styles, it was nice to see many differnt styles of houses in one community instead of the cookie cutter styles you typically see at home and in Europe, especially in Europe houses are often under strict regulations to look a certain way in a certain country for example a house in Austria has to look Austrian.

After some driving we headed back to the house and had dinner which coincidently happened to be my favorite dutch meal (i didn't even ask for it) Potatoes mixed with endive and bacon and meatballs. I just realized that i have never talked so much about the food we have eaten until we got to Holland I guess it is so nice to eat some familiar things and home cooked meals.

On saturday we went to the market in Spakenburg where we also got to see some old oak wood ships and then went to a steam mill where we got to see how they get the water off the farmland and into the lake, it was really interesting. After lunch we did some more driving and went to Harderwyk to see the old town and did some leisurly shopping. My uncle took us to see his new house which he is renovating before he moves in in July, it was a really nice old house with a huge garden and lots of windows. Then we headed back for some coffee, relaxed until dinner and after dinner watched a movie. It is so nice to relax and do normal things and eat normal things that we would at home.

Sunday was a good day too we got up and went for a walk to see where an underground hideout once was for some people during the war, we then went for coffee and pie and then headed to an old concentration camp, it was interesting to see how the camp was different from the one we went to in Germany, they had some nice memorials there.

After lunch my Uncle John and Aunt Harma came to visit until dinner. It was so nice to see all my family and we got to hear about their trip they were just returning from in southern France. After dinner we relaxed and went for a walk before packing our bags to head for Amsterdam.

written by  Trevor and Amber on June 19, 2009 from Ermelo, Netherlands
from the travel blog: Europe Trip
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So we got into Amsterdam and we had to wait in line to get metro tickets. We eventually found our tram and took it to the stop that the directions to the hotel said. But once we got off, we were lost. We wanted in the wrong direction twice before finding a map. Finally I found the street on the map and we went there. They didn't have our reservation ... Great! But there other hotel did and it was only a few blocks away. So the address brought us to one place but the directions brought us to a different place, no wonder we got lost.

We left our bags and headed back to the main square to do a free walking tour. Our guide was on crack, quite literally, maybe not at that moment, but there were some signs for sure. I said to Amber, "this guy needs to smoke some pot to mellow himself down". We toured around and saw the city and tuned out our guide most of the time. It was a little strange walking through the red light district, even in he day. And even talking about drugs makes me a little uncomfortable, so that 50% of the tour right there. But we did learn some history and interesting non-drug related facts, so it wasn't all that bad.

After the tour checked into the hotel and bummed around for a bit. Then we decided to get some food, so we headed back to the main square and found this Thai place, and it was terrible! We ordered and my soup came half an hour later. Then 2 other tables got their food before us, even though they came in 20 minutes after. There was only 4 tables in he resturaunt and our food took an hour. And then my order wasn't correct and it was extremely bland.

We really wanted to go home, so didn't feel like doing anything else, so we headed to bed.

The next day we slept in for the first time this trip, I know hat sad. We didn't get going until 1. We decided to skip the Reiget museum and headed straight for the Anne frank house. It was pretty cool to see where they all lived and hear the story again. Amber bought he book.

We spent the rest of he day shopping. Amber wants me to tell you about her jeans that she got. They were for teenagers and they fit her, short legs and all. And they we on sale. We bought a few other things as well, some more cool underwear, because underwear in Canada is either boring or super expensive. A sweater for amber and some souvenirs for our nephews and friends.

We went back and packed our suitcase and calculated how much we spent, so we could tell customs on our way back into Canada.

It was late but we headed back out for dinner. The first place we wanted to go to was open but heir kitchen was closed, so we headed down a side street and found a Dutch cuisine, place where we could get crockets. We had a nice dinner there. We walked back in the dark and saw the lights at night.

We headed to bed, we needed to be up early he next morning to catch our flight.

A great end to an amazing trip.

written by  Trevor and Amber on June 22, 2009 from Amsterdam, Netherlands
from the travel blog: Europe Trip
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Blah blah blah, we're on a plane.
Blah blah blah, we get to London.

Waiting an hour in the customs line.

We go to have lunch and we see a fish and chip place on the corner. Amber sat outside with the bags and I went to find the entrance. I'm three steps away and this huge guy yells at me "welcome to London", I replied thanks, then he tells me to "f BOMB off", I tried to walk by him, and he puts the back of my hand to my throat, like a karate chop, but didn't hit me. And then he kept saying "is this yours?" I'd had enough and walked away. We found a door on he other side and a few minutes later the cops showed up. They talked to him for a good half hour, I'm not sure if they took him away or he calmed down, but when we left he was gone.

So we made our way to the airport and it took way longer than I thought it would, probably an hour on the metro. When we booked the flight we really wanted to get on a 12 (noon) flight, but if the price didn't go up like it did when we checked the next day, we probably would have been running for our flight. So it was a blessing in disguise that we had to take the 9 oclock.

We got to Heathrow and check in using the self check in, checked our bags, got a Starbucks, bought some duty-free alcohol (we decided on Pimm's No 1, because our friend Simon suggested it, so Simon better be right!).

We went to board the plane and they re-printed our boarding passes! We were like what the heck, what was the point of using the self check in to print them then? Then he told us that we were upgraded to First Class!

Wow, first class is amazing! We got champagne as we boarded, our seats fully reclined, we got awesome service, free alcohol (3 glasses of wine and 2 rum and coke for me), and amazing food. The meal that I had on the airplane was probably one of the best meals I've ever had in my entire life. We had lobster and duck and this amazing salad, the only thing that was just ok was the desert, everything else was amazing.

We landed in Calgary at 8 oclock (so that's 4 in the morning Amsterdam Time). Amber's mom came and picked us up and we drove back to Edmonton.

We got to bed around 11:30 or so (7:30 am Amsterdam Time). And that ended our 25+ hour long day and our 8 week trip.

written by  Trevor and Amber on June 24, 2009 from London, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe Trip
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