Back in the States

I just wanted to let you all know that I will continue with the places I visited even though I am back in the States. Please just check for updates :D

Rome

Italy!!

            Our first day in Rome was one of relaxation, a nice change of pace.  However the next day it was right back to the grindstone.  This means trying to survive Rome’s metro, which is not bad except it is extremely humid, quite a few people, and hot.  The metro is probably warmer than it is outside, or at least more humid.  So it was the metro to the Coliseum and the nearby Roman Forum with Palatine hill.  All of this was tons of walking in an extremely hot sun and hardly any shade, particularly in the Forum.  We saw so many tourists and I have begun to think of myself as a different kind of tourist, hopefully one that doesn’t stick out as much as these people, but the backpack does not help.  Anyways, the Forum was my favorite.  It has so many old temples and while most do not know what each temple was for, unless you had the audio guide, they were usually labeled with the deity that was worshipped there.  After this very warm morning and part of the afternoon we stopped by the Bocca della Verita or Mouth of Truth, the myth goes that if you were to tell I lie will your hand is in the mouth it will shut on your hand.  Do not know if it is true, definitely did not try it.  That evening was one of steps and fountains.  For we went over to the Spanish Steps to watch more silly tourists, look at the obelisk at the top, and check out the fountain at the bottom.  I had never realized just how much water Rome really has, and it seems like any time there was even a small natural spring, they put up a fountain.  Check out my facebook pictures of all the obelisks and fountains and you will get a small idea. Otherwise it was a night of sitting by the Trevi Fountain (threw in two coins) and eating gelato, then heading over to the Triton and trying some cheap wine.   All in all a great start to Rome.

            The Vatican museum was our next stop.  I got there early and only had to wait 10 minutes in line and right away headed to the Sistine Chapel.  There was hardly any one there and it was still very quiet, a nice time to enjoy all of the beautiful artwork.  However I had to go through everything that I had missed by skipping ahead to the chapel, thus I had to go back, look at everything and then go through the chapel a second time.  This time it was packed and everyone was talking and taking pictures.  Normally this would horrible and guards would be everywhere, but everywhere you looked there was a camera and guards were just watching, not saying a word.  I was extremely happy I had been in there previously.  Later that night I headed to the Pantheon and found more obelisks (three) and some amazing fountains (fountain of the four rivers by Bernini).  Then it was a quick metro stop at the Coliseum to see it at night, this was a bit of a disappointment, and the lighting was not the greatest.  The next day we were back at the Vatican to see St. Peter’s Basilica and Square.  There were no lines and while inside we were the only ones for quite some time, making it extremely quiet and easy to relax and take in the splendor.  Outside was another obelisk and more fountains and then we tried to find some catacombs, did not work out exactly.  But I did get to stop at San Giovanni’s Piazza and see the tallest obelisk, which ended my tour of Rome. 

            The train ride to Naples was extremely hot and uncomfortable, air conditioning did not work.  And then we had to get on a smaller local train to get to San Agnello which is close to Sorrento.  But details of that part of Italy will be coming soon. J

~DH

Florence: The Gelato Capital

Italy!!
Our first stop in Italy was Florence. And as Suzy and I love ice cream we were very excited to try gelato. Thus we learned that Florence is considered Italy's gelato capital :) this is wonderful news for us. We also were informed that some places make their own and after trying some of this, know that it is probably the best I have ever had.

While in Florence we have visited the Uffizi, to see the Birth of Venus and Spring, Accademia to see Michelango's David, the Archeological Museum for the Chimera and the Francois Vase (Chimera ended up being in California), the Bargello Museum which houses Bernini, Donatello, Michelango works. Some of these museums were planned, Uffizi and Accademia and such. Others such as the Bargello was found on accident, in which we went, "hey that looks neat. let's go there," little did we know we would be seeing some amazing things. For one thing I never knew that Donatello did his own David and it is also really interesting. Then there are the churches.

Florence has some very famous churches. The two main ones we saw were the Duomo and Santa Croce. The Duomo we found on our way to the Uffizi, for as we are walking down the streets we see this HUGE green and white building, and once again think, "wow, what is that?" So we stop there, people are standing in line, everyone is taking pictures, and there are signs but none say what it is. Instead we find someone selling postcards, and there it is 'duomo.' TaDa! We found something we were not even looking for! And inside of this amazing building is even more amazing architecture! Dante has a painting of himself there and many famous people helped with its building. The bapista next door has amazing doors on it, but we chose not to go inside. The Santa Croce is also beautiful. Even though you wonder if there are a few different buildings you see that things were slowly added on and everything works together. Inside of this church was many floor plots for various citizens of Florence. Some of the citizens were quite famous, Michelango's tomb is there, as is Galileo's. Otherwise this church is a wealth of knowledge, for as we have learned you take your time and see more when you have an audio guide. Therefore I learned that during the flood of 1966 the waters came high enough they reached the church, and the water level is marked in the church. This level was higher than my when standing in front of the plaque. Also one of the monuments for a famous citizen is the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty.

And now we are on our way to Rome. Hopefully the air conditioning in the hostel works and we find Rome as easy to navigate as we did Florence. ciao!

Munchen!!

Germany!
*Note: This is 4 of 4 about Germany. If you want to read the other ones look at the ones following this, they each pertain to different areas in Germany and are labeled such.

Munich. A beautiful city surrounded by many interesting things. In fact we were outside of Munich for 2 out of 3 days.

Day1: Neuschwanstein and other place. I only call it other place, because I am too lazy to look up the name and too tired. However it is outside of Munich by train about 2 hours. And both of these castles are beautiful. The other place was the home of Ludwig II ancestors, while Neuschwanstein is one of the castles he built. All I can say is that castle is crazy. Ludwig was technically declared insane later on in his reign, but the castle he built had an indoor cave inspired by an opera, a singers hall and was one of the most decorative things I had ever seen. The surrounding mountains only added to this beauty. There was a gorgeous gorge just north of the Neuschwanstein and this could be crossed by a bridge. The scenery was again beautiful. This is also the castle that inspired Disneys castle.

Day 2: Dachau. Germanys first concentration camp. I do not truly know how to describe this place. And while we were allowed to take pictures I took none. This was not due to it being to horrific. It was more out of respect, the people that had died there reserved that and I felt like it was a little thing I could do. So while I can tell you about what I saw there is no real way for you to understand what the cremetory, baracks, gates, guard towers, and yard looked like. They had videos from survivors and we had a great guide explain everything that had occured there. If you would like to know more about this place, just ask and I can explain more throughly.

Day 3: A bike tour around Munchen! Our guides name was Jolly and he was just that. He made sure everyone felt welcome, had fun, was safe, tried beer, and learned alot about this wonderful city. He showed us where Hitler loved to give speeches, where kings used to live, where people tried to riot, where the old gates stood, and a beer garden. Now in Bavaria it is a good thing to know that they sell beer by the liter if you want. A very good thing to know and try, especially during a bike tour. Jolly explained things from the past and the present of Munchen. He told us where the Oktoberfest had started and why, and just how much Bavaria liked their history. These people had even tried to stop a fire by using beer, due to a shortage of water, they are very dedicated to the town and will probably never run out of beer.

So while I did not spend a lot of time in Munchen I did learn a lot of Bavaria and its history. Now I sit in Florence, exhausted but unable to fall asleep. The train ride here included me being on the top bunk of three with a very hard matress. Hopefully the walking tour goes well and the weather holds out. It is supposed to be around 90 something today. And therefore I end yet another chapter and begin the next on ITALY!!

Berlin

Germany!
*Note: this is 3 of 4 about Germany

Berlin may have been one of my favorite cities I have ever visited. There was so many museums, monuments, restaurants, and people that I enjoyed visiting, and therefore I will break up this post into those catagories.

Museums: Berlin had amazing art, architexture, and information. There was old master museums, galleries, and even buildings (sorta). In one museum they had reconstructed old gateways, alters, and fountains. The museum contained pieces from Assyria, Rome, and Turkey. We walked around many museums and were unable to see enough, even while doing this for about 3 days. The German history Museum took a day, and I do not even really look at everything! The various galleries had some beautiful paintings. There was the fountain of youth, conquering love, and a madonna. Also the nice thing about Berlin museums is when you buy some of their tickets you get in to many museums and get free audio tours :)

Monuments: Berlin does not really do flashy monuments. In fact when a local was showing us around the city they took us to many places we had already been. There was a place to honor people who had demanded their husbands back from the police, the square where the Nazis burned books, and a small building that was for unknown soldiers. Everything was just out of the way and unless you knew exactly where to look you would walk right by, which we did about two or three times.

The restaurants we went to the normal person might not consider. For one thing I am a vegatarian, which our guide knew, but decided to be more cultural and ate meat. The other being that one was completely in the dark. The first one I refer to was Austrian. It had tons of meat dishes and amazing drinks. This meant that I had veal, something I rarely ate when I did eat meat. But it was definitely culture food. And the second place was as I said quite blinding. You are told to turn off anything that remotely emits light. We then pick our menu, well it is actually a poem about our food. I think I only guessed one item correct and that was the dessert. It had been labeled as drunk smurfs sledding, and was of course blueberries w/ cream and a bit of liquor. Our server was blind and quite helpful. But the whole experience was fantastic. When you can not see your food you almost enjoy it more. It made me try to picture things but also go with texture too. And though you keep waiting for your eyes to adjust, they do not. So you pour wine in the dark, eat in the dark, and talk to each other, never knowing what anything really looks like.

The people that we stayed with were wonderful. They helped us pick the right museums and brought us to the said restaurants. They also made the most wonderful breakfast in the world. I really do not know the name of what it is I ate, but it is like a mixture of whipped cream and cheese. Unfortunately you can not get it in the states, stupid FDA anyways. And thus I am ending this chapter on Berlin, thinking back on my wonderful breakfast.

Dresden!

Germany!
*Note: I am writing all about Germany in a short period of time, very early in the morning. Therefore be sure to check for more about Germany in other posts (4 total) and be sure to ignore any and all of my mistakes :)

Dresden is another beautiful city. We were able to find our hostel very quickly and not get honked at by too many cars, which is a definite improvement. Also the city is very clean, compared to Dublin at least. Our hostel had a definite Australian theme and the people their were not Australian, but this mattered little to them. And now for our tour.

I will break Dresden into two parts, the old part and the new part. We saw most of the new side of town our first day. Now while it really is not that new, it is full of a different kind of German. Our map told us how some people in this part refuse to use running water. But the new side had many cute shops, cafes, and churches. Martin Luther has a church there, or at least it is called Martin Luthers church. Otherwise there is also a rather old cemetary in this part as well. This cemetary is completely Jewish. It felt like stepping into a park and all of the tombstones faced Jerusalem.

The old part of town is more of what had been rebuilt after the bombing. The various churches, castles, and opera house. It was interesting as you can see the old stone that had survived the bombing (completely black) mixed with the new stone (tan color) in the buildings. Then in many places, particularily the caste and Zwinger, there was the old statues and the new standing side by side. Dresden has done a lot to bring back the old city and many of the towns people like this, but some worry because the old palaces are turning in to hotels and soon part of the city scape may disappear behind bigger buildings too.

During our stay in Dresden President Obama was due to arrive. Now one may think that we would be excited for the chance to see our president. We were, but it was also frustrating. Everywhere we looked there was police. And not just like 3 or 4 in one spot, more like 8 to 10. They were circling blocks. When you walked down the street you would see a line of the police vans driving by (again 8 to 10). And the day he was due to arrive the completely closed off most of the old city, as that was where he was supposed to stay. Though it does amuse me that the hotel he is staying in is the old residence of King Strongs mistress (right next to the castle). Thus ending our stay in Dresden, as we fled before more cops came and the city stood still.

Bad Nenndorf

Germany!
For this part of Germany we stayed with some family of mine, Henri! It was wonderful. Bad Nenndorf is a tiny little village (about 10,000) and as they liked to tell us, it was mainly older people. However this village is very close to many other little villages. Therefore we went everywhere around this part of the country.

In Hameln, we saw the town that orginated the story of the Pied Piper, as 130 children disappeared from the town and no one heard from them ever again. It had a beautiful clock that told this story, and it was surrounded by about 20 to 30 different sized bells. These bells played the music of the Pied Piper for the clock at two times throughout the day. Luckily Suzy has a video camera and thus we will be able to share this experience. Unfortunately it will only be shared once I get back to the states.

Then there was castles. One of the castles was on a hillside and not much was left of it, just the gatehouse, a watchtower, and a few different buildings. But the castle was not as impressive as the view that we got when we looked down at the countryside. We were able to see the River Waser and all of the little farms. I should clarify, as it seems that this region does not have many farm house on their own. It was more like the farm houses we just on the edge of town, so the towns/villages are always surrounded by fields. The second castle was most definitely a castle. In fact a duke still lived there or at least still owns all of the property. It was beautiful, tons of wood carvings everywhere. There was also a mausoleum that was huge. But the current owner had blackened out all of the windows and put in black lights to give it a erie effect. This mausoleum had at one point even housed the remains of Charlemagne. There is also a stable that looks more like a small palace. It houses some of the most beautiful horses I have ever seen. They also train their horses for particular "dances", but we were too tired to watch :( as we probably would have fallen off our seats.

A bike tour of the country side was also part of this trip. We biked for 40 km (25 miles) in about 5 hours. It was a great way to see the country and talk to Henri and her family as we biked. Henri tried to teach me how to say more things in German, but I do not think it worked very well. Otherwise I must say that Germany is great about alternative energy. They have windturbines and solar panels everywhere! And while it does not improve the landscape, it did not matter because everything was so beautiful anyways.

And this ends my short description of our stay in Bad Nenndorf.

Germany!!!

I realized that I had not explained the last title.  And as I sit in the train station in Bremen I figured I had plenty of time.  We realized that we wanted to go to different museums and a castle in Turku, but soon learned that hardly anything is open on Mondays, not even some of the bowling alleys!

Otherwise Germany is interesting so far.  I am extremely happy to have someone that can speak German with me and that most Germans seem to have a good handle on English.  This picture of the blog this week is Dresden.  This is a city that has a lot of history and is the city we will be staying for a little while, after visiting Henrike!!

Finland! Nothing is ever open on Mondays :(

This was the second country on my whirl wind adventure.  Finland is the home of Laura, my exchange sister.  Thus we stayed in Helsinki and were able to see lots of the city.  We viewed Disney art, Finnish art, Helsinki Doom castle, Finland's Fortress,  a few markets, and a few saunas.  A word to the wise, always ask if the sauna benches are actual benches or just steps it saves on the bruises.  

Laura's mom made us some amazing food.  And while I am a vegetarian I had to try some Finnish food that included meat, therefore I named myself a cultural vegetarian.  So if anyone ever gets a chance to have reindeer I highly recommend it.  Also Tina makes the best cinnamon rolls, we even got to take some with us, and while Laura made us these before, it was good to try Tina's.    Also it was fun to have squeaky cheese any time I wanted, thou this was not homemade it was great.  

During our stay in Helsinki, I got to meet a few of Laura's friends.  We went to a world festival that had some interesting people playing music and a lot of booths about different organizations.  Though the best part was just talking to other Finlanders about their culture and government.   For instance, I had not realized how integrated the government and religion were with each other.  If one claims to be part of a church they have to pay a certain amount out of their yearly income to that religion.  The only percentages I learned were Lutheran which is 1% and Mormon which is 10%.  This taxation allows for the family to baptize children there, have first communion, get married, and a funeral service, at least in the Lutheran faith.  Laura's friends also discussed the Finnish school and university systems with me and it was interesting to learn more about a government paid education.  

Then it was on to Turku.  Laura goes to the school here and it was the original capital when the Russians and Swedes ruled.  Therefore we saw Turku's castle, another Doom church, the university, a few market places, and went bowling.  Turku was a very relaxing city compared to Helsinki.  And while Helsinki was much more relaxed than Ireland, it was still nice to just visit have more good food, check out shops, and watch movies.  I really enjoyed Finland and know that I would love to go back there someday.  

~DH

*coming soon*  GERMANY!!!!

No Brellie

When traveling around Ireland you will learn certain things.  One important fact is, it rains.  It may be sunny in the morning, but no matter what, it will rain.  Thus it is easy to tell who is a local due to the umbrella.  Yet when traveling the umbrella is more of a hindrance and can cause you to hit other people instead (I witnessed this a few times).  Some people staying in our hostel were unlucky enough to not have a rain jacket or umbrella, unlucky or just plain dumb.  However this fact that we do not have an umbrella has amused the locals greatly.  Some of our hostel desk workers have asked where ours was and at other times people on the street have asked us where ours was.  One such instance was in Rush.

 

Rush is a tiny little town along the coast of Ireland.  It is a fishing community and has two beautiful beaches.  However when we thought of going to the beach we did not think of one thing, this is Ireland when in rains, it pours.  Thus once at the beach and a light sprinkle of rain had begun, we hoped that it would soon be done.  Of course we were wrong, and in order to get out of the rain we either had to go back the way we came (2 miles to the train station) or find a café.  We chose option number 2 and were in desperate need of another local to point us in the right direction.  So as we walk around in yet another torrential down pour we see a lady walking her dog, with an umbrella.  Therefore we flag her down and immediately ask how to get to the nearest café.  She gives us the information and smiles asking, “No brellie?”  What the heck is a brellie? Then we remember umbrella?  Oh the Irish. 

 

However I am both sad and happy to state that I am no longer in Ireland.  We went to Dublin two days ago from Cork and spent our last day in the town, out on the coast in Rush.  Ireland has been wonderful.  You quickly realize that even though they speak English, it really is not the same English is you and that they are very helpful people.  But now it is off to Finland, and while I sit awake, guarding our luggage, I write to say goodbye to Ireland and hello to our next leg of this lovely adventure!!

~DH

Ireland ~Cork!!

Cork! After a very nice 5-hour bus ride through different parts of the country of Dublin, we have made it to Cork!  Now before we left we had figured out how to get from the bus station to our hostel, well we did not account for something, wrong information.  When viewing our hostel and the bus station it had said they were on the same side of the river, wrong. The hostel was on the other side of the river.  So after wandering for a minute or two and taking out a book, we learned from a wonderful Irish man that we were going the wrong direction.  This is not the first time we have done this and it is definitely not the last.

 

While in Cork we have visited the Blarney Castle.  Located in a city named Blarney, huh who knew?  The town was quite the tourist city and we did not want to stay there long.  But the castle was beautiful.  This was the third castle to be built on the site and built in 1446.  The castle had been attacked several times and had many rivers and hills for its protection.  Also the castle looks formidable, built on a cliff of exposed bedrock, that adds another 30 feet on to the castle.  There were tunnels dug into this, and though we looked at some, we decided we did not want to crawl around and get lost.  The castle itself is rather large and for the most part intact.  Even though the wooden floor/ceilings are gone you can tell where they were and are able to climb up many tiny staircases to the roof.  It is here that you find Blarney stone.  The stone is on the very top and built into the side of the castle.  You are to kiss the stone by laying down grabbing onto hand rails, as to lean over backwards, a man helps you.  We each got our picture kissing the stone and then fled.  For as were we just reaching the top floor it started raining, not the usual rain of Ireland, more like a torrential down pour.  This made things slippery, such as stone, which the castle is built out of, and caused us to not take many pictures of the aw inspiring view from the top.  But once out of the castle it slowed down, a wonderful thing about Ireland is the weather really does change every 15 minutes.  Now I know most of us say the same thing for Minnesota, but this is worse.  We have gone from extreme wind for a bit, to misting, to sunny, to rain all in the course of an hour.  The sun seems to rarely come out, but when it does it is wonderful.  In fact we did not see the sun until our 2^nd full day in Dublin and that was only for 20 minutes!  Anyways, the grounds of Blarney are beautiful, unless it is another torrential downpour and then you decide to cut your walk short, even though everything is gorgeous.  After Blarney it was a bus ride back to Cork City Centre for lunch.  And then a walk around the city to get in the sites.  We visited St. Finn Bier’s Cathedral, Elizabeth Fort, Cork public museum, and the tried to find Cork City Gaol (jail).  The jail was hidden way up some hills and after walking for 40 minutes we found it, about 5 minutes before it closed.  Then it was back to the hostel for a meal, and some down time.  And then back to Dublin by a 5-hour bus ride, to hopefully get to see part of the coast.

 

Now, here are a few things I have learned while traveling in Ireland.  Always have a raincoat, an umbrella is nice but doesn’t cover enough.  Keep snacks with you, if you are not sure where you are at least you have lunch.  Watch out for poo, and spot it for fellow travelers as well.  The French people will get made when asked about their soup, be prepared to ask your question several times and still not get a real answer.  Ask the Irish if you need help finding a place, if they don’t know they will at least point you in the right direction.  Do not get confused by the Gaelic that is everywhere, it is an amazing part of their history.  Go to pubs that have Irish music, even if they end up playing a few AC/DC songs really poorly.  Always check your hostel for its kitchen equipment, before shopping.  Ask the people working the desk, they know where almost everything is and have great suggestions for food, shopping, and entertainment.  Though one needs to not take all their advice, otherwise their suggestion for getting to Dublin jail would be to go and hit the guard that can be found a few blocks down the lane.  Hopefully this has helped you understand our trip a little bit more.  And I know one thing, I really want to come back to Ireland.  Poo or no poo.   

~DH

IRELAND!!! ~dublin!!

 Dublin, an amazing city, full of interesting people.  The hostel that we are staying at is really nice and clean, except for it being a 14 bed room.  But we have seen tons of sights around Dublin and learned so much about the Irish people.  Our first day (after arriving) included Kilmainham Gaol (a jail) that had tons of history especially around the Easter Riots, then the Museum of Modern Art (housed on the old royal hospital estate), the Guinness Storehouse to learn how stout is made. Day two was: the zoo, a pop over to the Decorative Art Museum, Jameson Whiskey Distillery, Dublin Castle, and the Bram Stroker’s Dracula Museum (bad).  Day three: Trinity College, National Museum of Ireland, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the General Post office.

 

So I know that by just stating all of these things does not tell you exactly what we have been doing over here in Ireland, but please understand.  We have done a lot.  Dublin was a confusing city at first, getting slightly lost on the way to the hostel for the first time.  And trying to find Kilmainham, then to the Guinness storehouse, and other places.  But we mastered the tram and all of the different stops, so we could avoid the bus, plus it is cheaper!  Otherwise we have been soaking up as much Irish history as possible.  The trip to Kilmainham was probably the most educational, it really brought home just how much this country has been through.  During the potato famine, Kilmainham could fit 194 people, but it housed over 3000, and this was tiny cells, but people needed to eat.  They were practically asking to be put in jail.  And the estate that had the royal hospital (now modern art museum), was beautiful.  There was a cemetery that they could date till the 1700, but there was different parts, that was important all the way back to the 600s.  Plus a sign for a porcupine is always a cute thing.  Otherwise my favorite part about Dublin was Dublin Castle.  Though the castle could be dated to the 1200 and a little prior (a Viking Wall was found), it showed so much of the changes that had taken place.  It had been burned, in the 1600s and exploded in certain parts, due to ill planning and them exploding the powder tower!!  So most of the present castle was rebuilt in the late 1700s by the English.  I should say for the British, they really seemed to use it as a way of showing off their power.  The castle has a huge upper yard and huge rooms.  There is even a throne room where the English King or Queen would have people presented to them.  Queen Victoria had them cut off the lions that used to hold up the throne, because she did not want to have to hop up on the throne!  Anyways, I guess I really liked the castle and seeing some of the ruins they had found, so we could see a tiny little staircase that had at one time let merchants in and out of the castle.  Okay I will stop with all the Irish history.

 

Dublin is an interesting city.  We have seen more dog poo than one wants to in their whole life.  Then there are all the weird cafes.  Some places are neat and cute, and we feel perfectly happy there.  Other times we get French people mad at us, for asking what is in the soup they are serving us.  Or trying to figure out why they don’t announce things on the dart.  The Dracula museum was supposed to be scary, ha! Also Dubliners are very nice, they constantly walk up to us whenever we have a map and ask us where we want to be.  This is not them trying to be weird, just nice. 

 

Oh and we are experimenting with cooking, hostel style.  At the beginning, we actually had no idea if the hostel had any cooking equipment.  So we knew they had a microwave and plates, thus we chose: frozen fish sticks, canned spaghetti, and microwavable rice.   All I will say about this is, never again.  That combination was not needed and not good.  Microwaving frozen fish is gross.  Definitely the bottom of our cooking experience.  But I will be adding more about Ireland in a day or two, as we are in Cork at the moment and soon heading back to Dublin.  Thus look for an update soon, as my European Adventure continues!!

~DH

Chicago and beyond

Monday night we left Minneapolis MN by megabus and are now in O'Hare International Airport in Chicago!! While this is exciting, we are actually not able to check in until 3 hours before our flight and we arrived in Chicago at 8:25.  The bus ride was interesting, as some people still need to learn how to be parents, but otherwise fairly easy to sleep on.  We then found Union Station and from there found the metro stop that would take us to O'Hare.  The airport was huge and hard to get around, but most importantly boring!!  We figured out the Wi-Fi, played cards, and bought a little over priced food.  Otherwise the ride to the airport was better than the actual airport.  The 'L is fun and an interesting way of seeing Chicago, but it was a little over an hour ride so that was plenty long enough.

On a side note, a fellow traveler now has her blog linked on this site and I will be getting into London on Wednesday morning only to fly out again in the afternoon for Dublin.  Yea for another long lay over!!  Otherwise I will be adding more soon, but am in desperate need of a nap or hopefully can check our luggage soon! 

The Adventure about to begin

Hi!
As this is my first blog I asked my oldest sister for advice and received...none. I will be traveling to Europe on Tuesday and wanted to have this blog to allow my friends and family to see where I have been. Also as many of my friends and family have gone to some of these places before I would love any suggestions for places to go. Perchance you have not been to Europe then we are in the same boat (or plane or ferry or train).

Here is some background information on my trip. I will be backpacking through Europe with two college friends (they have their own blogs) and visiting many family and friends. The trip will be 10 weeks long and cover many countries, these countries include Ireland, Scotland, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Greece, Spain, France, England, and ending in Zim (thus begins Chase's journey). These are not completely set in stone and may change later.

Therefore, let the vicarious living begin on Tuesday!!
~DH

ps~I am not an English major that is my other sister, so please ignore any and all errors. Thanks :) And thank you smartest oldest sister!