We Hiked Cinque Terre

"Um... I don't think that we should drink that." - Aura Maria referring to the large yellow bottle placed in front of us at the restaurant followed by four shot glasses.

BOOM!!!... "Did someone just set off a bomb?" - Eric

Luckily all of the locals of La Spezia looked just as surprised as us at the explosion, which we assumed meant that things blowing up was not a common occurrence. We guessed later that some kid put a fire cracker in the dumpster because the La Spezia soccer team, Spezia Calcio, won the regional championships that day for the first time ever.

"Oh, so a 'Dutch Oven' in Australia is not a way to make delicious meals while camping but is rather more like what we call a 'Covered Wagon' in the US?" - Meg (Us becoming cultured with our new Australian friends)

"Oh, that train doesn't run today and that one only runs on every other Tuesday. That one runs on holidays and..."
We came to miss the punctual German trains.

We Wandered Marseille

  

Sitting on the harbor, eating a crepe for lunch and enjoying the sun. Up rides a guy in black leather on his motorcycle and stops right next to our table. Once he gets off, he picks his little boy up off the back of the motorcycle clad in a black leather jacket, big sleek helmet with the visor and a plastic gun. The man then proceeds to hand the little boy a single red rose. With the gun clenched in is left hand and the red rose tucked behind is back in his right hand, the little boy strides up the woman selling crepes and hands it to her. The crepe woman takes a quick break from cooking, kisses the boy and the cheek and tells him she loves him and to run back to daddy. Its moments like that make you love life.

Bad News: no beaches close to us

Good News: no NUDE beaches close to us

The pictures speak for the rest of the trip. We loved old port, Notre Dame, and the little islands off the coast. The waters were gorgeous!

We Ran Through Paris

Crepes for lunch, crepes for dessert....should have had crepes for dinner!


"What is the french guy making our crepes saying?....Ah he is making fun of my pencil behind the ear.... Even in Paris." -Brendan


Louvre, crepes, Notre Dame, Pompidou, walking the Champs d'Elises, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Spring Festival, metro, more crepes, fall into bed.


"Oh my gosh! Metro in Paris during rush hour. Not the best idea. This guys arm pit is right in my face and I am running out of air!!!!" - Meg

We Got a Taste of Brussels

We Became Family In Frankfurt

Our Hostel

  

"We are going to get off this metro to meet my uncle, and I am not really sure what he looks like...this might be a problem...." -Meg


"Ich bin Amy, Ich kann kein Deutsch!" - Erik (my cousin teaching Brendan how to say 'I am a Yank and I don't speak German')


"Do you hear that?".... A second later hundreds of bikes wiz past us in a blur!


Yellow fields forever.


The Germans were so hospitable. When we asked two German girls where to eat because we were hungry and looking for lunch, they whipped out a brand new package of cookies and offered them to us. We accepted. They were delicious!