Loving the slow life of the 5 villages along the Mediteranean of the Cinque Terre!! Everyone here has time to chat, drink some wine, have some food, and then repeat the sequence. However, I am feeling very unstlyish because even the men are so well manicured, clean shaven (on legs, arms, and face) eye brows waxed, wild clothes, and carrying purses that look much better than my tourist pack! Hiked the trail of all 5 towns today, starting on the souther ened and working our way up to the top where the beach awaited!
Yesterday, right after we arrived to town via train, we headed to the beach. What a surprise! I guess Italians dont see it necessary to wear their bikini tops, think speedos are flattering, and the children dont even wear swimsuits until they start developing! (except some little boys do wear speedos)
Could get very used to the delicious food, pesto, seafood, pizza, etc here! Not much longer, then on to Santorini.....more to come...off for dinner.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Cinque de Terre
There may be no more amazing place in the world than where I am right now. So I will make it short because I cannot wait to get back to the beauty of the Cinque de Terre. We are in Italy. I believe I bought a bottle of wine for $3.70.....a delicious bottle, not a cheap bottle. We are staying in Vernazza. So awesome. Boats, the Mediterreanean, great hikes, wonderful Pesto, wonderful cheese, homeade breads, cute Italian grandmas sitting outside reading the paper in moo-moos. We hiked for about 5 hours today. Over under and around cliffs, ocean views, and in and out of 5 of the most unique towns I have seen.
We met a fella named Marco, he is a cop in the area. He is so serious about his job that he spends 2 hours in his town, 20 minutes in ours, and does a 1 minute sweep of the last town in his quest to keep us safe. He told us this while carrying a man bag which is apparently very cool here, most of them are nicer man bags than their lady friends, not kidding. It is also apparentantly popular for guys to shave their legs and arms, tan, and spend more time in the bathroom than I do in a week.
Love the food though =)
In fact, I am going to eat more now.
Then on to Santorini.
Life is very good. And I have not stopped realizing how blessed my life really is.
Signing off....
Randi
We met a fella named Marco, he is a cop in the area. He is so serious about his job that he spends 2 hours in his town, 20 minutes in ours, and does a 1 minute sweep of the last town in his quest to keep us safe. He told us this while carrying a man bag which is apparently very cool here, most of them are nicer man bags than their lady friends, not kidding. It is also apparentantly popular for guys to shave their legs and arms, tan, and spend more time in the bathroom than I do in a week.
Love the food though =)
In fact, I am going to eat more now.
Then on to Santorini.
Life is very good. And I have not stopped realizing how blessed my life really is.
Signing off....
Randi
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Rescue me!
I am now fully convinced Randi wants me dead and tried to kill me today. Ive been on plenty long hikes in my lifetime, maybe 6-8 hrs...but nothing like the 3 hour hike turn disaster today.
Truly, I didnt mind the fact that after the first hour or so of hiking straight up on loose rocks we were in a cloud and couldnt see anything, I didnt mind the fact that it started to pour rain on us (must have been a rain cloud), didnt mind the fact that the temperatures dropped down to 30 degrees and we were wearing shorts, and honestly i didnt really mind the fact that my shoes were soaking wet due to the streams we had to cross and the snow mounds we had to climb through. What I did mind was when we finally found another human being who was up on the mountain and he was hiking in all this great gear, even using an ice pick through the snow, and my flipping pancho hood would not stay up! While we were cold, wet, tired and feeling a bit lost and close to death but did not complain. There was no speaking....period...
So the saving grace after we found the peak we were climbing to was to ride the gondolla down to the town that had a hot tub, swimming pool, warm showers, and we even got a free pass into the steam room and sauna thanks to a guy about 70 yrs old named Alen who gave us his key to get in!! (because it cost 14 Franks to get into the sauna area) Needness to say we were there for like 3 hours.
Well, so tired, never knew I had some of these muscles in my legs until they started hurting today. Good thing we will be getting some more good sleep in our communal sleeping area with about 20 other girls tonight.....oh what i would do for a good nights sleep.....next chance I get Im booking a Marriot Hotel when Randis not watching.
Truly, I didnt mind the fact that after the first hour or so of hiking straight up on loose rocks we were in a cloud and couldnt see anything, I didnt mind the fact that it started to pour rain on us (must have been a rain cloud), didnt mind the fact that the temperatures dropped down to 30 degrees and we were wearing shorts, and honestly i didnt really mind the fact that my shoes were soaking wet due to the streams we had to cross and the snow mounds we had to climb through. What I did mind was when we finally found another human being who was up on the mountain and he was hiking in all this great gear, even using an ice pick through the snow, and my flipping pancho hood would not stay up! While we were cold, wet, tired and feeling a bit lost and close to death but did not complain. There was no speaking....period...
So the saving grace after we found the peak we were climbing to was to ride the gondolla down to the town that had a hot tub, swimming pool, warm showers, and we even got a free pass into the steam room and sauna thanks to a guy about 70 yrs old named Alen who gave us his key to get in!! (because it cost 14 Franks to get into the sauna area) Needness to say we were there for like 3 hours.
Well, so tired, never knew I had some of these muscles in my legs until they started hurting today. Good thing we will be getting some more good sleep in our communal sleeping area with about 20 other girls tonight.....oh what i would do for a good nights sleep.....next chance I get Im booking a Marriot Hotel when Randis not watching.
Mountain Hostel Heaven
We are on top of a mountian in the alps. In a town of 8 houses. Known as Gimmelwald. It is beautiful. Beautiful views, awesome hikes, no stores....well, one grocery store that takes 45 minutes to hike to. It is awesome. And we are staying at a place called the Mountain Hostel. It is Kesleys first hostel experience. If we are still friends after this we will be friends for life.
We walk in and the lady gives us our bed assignments. Kez gives me a funny look. I smile. We walk upstairs to the room marked "Girls" and look. We are beds 11 and 12..... of 24. There is nothing seperating the beds, no rails, just 6 beds on top, 6 on bottom, both sides of the room. Yeah Kez is dying... If we are frineds after this we are friends for life.
Oh, and there are 3 showers, of which it costs 1 Frank to use. For 5 minutes.
Oh, and there are 3 toilets for the whole place.
Oh, and it is all Co-ed. Yes, if we make it through this we will be friends for life.
Did I mention there are 50 or more people sleeping here?
And I convinced Kez to take a challenging hike as well. It would have been awesome had we been able to see in front or behind us, not been rained on, ran into snow, and maybe been able to at least see one of the mountian peaks........ Needless to say, I am still waiting for Kez to speak to me.
Just kidding. We are still friends. She even shared some chocolate with me tonight!
More on the hike, the spa treatment, Alan, and our Angel John Long later.
Signing off to play Phase 10.
Randi
We walk in and the lady gives us our bed assignments. Kez gives me a funny look. I smile. We walk upstairs to the room marked "Girls" and look. We are beds 11 and 12..... of 24. There is nothing seperating the beds, no rails, just 6 beds on top, 6 on bottom, both sides of the room. Yeah Kez is dying... If we are frineds after this we are friends for life.
Oh, and there are 3 showers, of which it costs 1 Frank to use. For 5 minutes.
Oh, and there are 3 toilets for the whole place.
Oh, and it is all Co-ed. Yes, if we make it through this we will be friends for life.
Did I mention there are 50 or more people sleeping here?
And I convinced Kez to take a challenging hike as well. It would have been awesome had we been able to see in front or behind us, not been rained on, ran into snow, and maybe been able to at least see one of the mountian peaks........ Needless to say, I am still waiting for Kez to speak to me.
Just kidding. We are still friends. She even shared some chocolate with me tonight!
More on the hike, the spa treatment, Alan, and our Angel John Long later.
Signing off to play Phase 10.
Randi
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Finally stopped shaking...
Being taken by van up in the mountain roads, only to be dropped off on the edge with a few ropes while wearing a wetsuit, helmet, and waterbooties are all what started the shaking. Then the tour guides, Luke and Satchi, hook us to the rope, and say, Go ahead, just lean back all the way and put all your weight on the rope and rappel down this cliff...WHAT? Nice way to start the morning, down probablz 500 feet to the canyon we were about to go down. Was seriously awesome though....after getting down to the canyon that is. And Randi...she just laughed the whole time as I was shaking for about 10 minutes after my feet finally hit the ground.
However, I am pretty sure Randi should have gotten paid for all the work she did for our group in saving peoples lives because some of them were...well lets just say...not too advanced in outdoor activities.
Our guides were cool but how can i put this nicely....were typical mountain men. So, being the responsible gals we are, kindly refused their offer to `hang out later tonight`. Safety first....
However, I am pretty sure Randi should have gotten paid for all the work she did for our group in saving peoples lives because some of them were...well lets just say...not too advanced in outdoor activities.
Our guides were cool but how can i put this nicely....were typical mountain men. So, being the responsible gals we are, kindly refused their offer to `hang out later tonight`. Safety first....
Owning the Alps Canyons
Well-
We just got off of an amazing tour of the Gimesel Canyon in the Alps. We went canyoning for the day lead by our fearless leaders Luke and Satchi. It really was amazing. We cliff jumped, zip-lined, rappelled, waterslid down rocks, drank beer, ate cheese, and enjoyed some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.
Really, more than I could have imagined.
My favorite part, besides that Kez's helmet was named Barbie (she made a German Kareoke debut to I'm a Barbie Girl........oh yes.....in Bacharach).......oh Bacharach..... was a girl with the helmet name Hasi..........oh Hasi..........still not sure how she made it down the canyon. She started off with both Kez and I (as she lay down on the ground) pulling one leg of her wetsuit on at a time. We got the wetsuit on.....it took only 20 minutes.... first up, the rappell. Hasi took off down the rock, decided to jump, face planted, tried to get up, couldn't, and proceeded to slide sideways down the rock. You think it is over..... it is not.
As we proceeded down the canyon, mind you these are steep, slippery, tricky rocks, Hasi continues to trip, fall, and get help up and down rocks. But her shining moment came when we just finished a jump and were using a rope to climb up the rock. Her legs must have gotten a little less anxious than her face, because again...... a face plant, and a slight jump off the rock with her face. Oh Hasi, you made my trip.
We just got off of an amazing tour of the Gimesel Canyon in the Alps. We went canyoning for the day lead by our fearless leaders Luke and Satchi. It really was amazing. We cliff jumped, zip-lined, rappelled, waterslid down rocks, drank beer, ate cheese, and enjoyed some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.
Really, more than I could have imagined.
My favorite part, besides that Kez's helmet was named Barbie (she made a German Kareoke debut to I'm a Barbie Girl........oh yes.....in Bacharach).......oh Bacharach..... was a girl with the helmet name Hasi..........oh Hasi..........still not sure how she made it down the canyon. She started off with both Kez and I (as she lay down on the ground) pulling one leg of her wetsuit on at a time. We got the wetsuit on.....it took only 20 minutes.... first up, the rappell. Hasi took off down the rock, decided to jump, face planted, tried to get up, couldn't, and proceeded to slide sideways down the rock. You think it is over..... it is not.
As we proceeded down the canyon, mind you these are steep, slippery, tricky rocks, Hasi continues to trip, fall, and get help up and down rocks. But her shining moment came when we just finished a jump and were using a rope to climb up the rock. Her legs must have gotten a little less anxious than her face, because again...... a face plant, and a slight jump off the rock with her face. Oh Hasi, you made my trip.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Another day another town...
Left Rothenburg at the crack of dawn, hopped 4 trains in about 6 hours, and then accidently got off at the wrong train station! Figured it all out though, no worries, got to Interlaken about 40 min after our scheduled time. Staying at a hostel called the "Backpacker's Villa" right in town, thank goodness we have a private room and not bunks! Randi keeps trying to get me out of my comfort zone....all I ask for is a little privacy!
An Austrailian guy asked us on the train today if we were from Denmark, and then later in the afternoon when walking around the city another Austrailian guy asked us if we were Austrailian! This is all coming after we have been told we look German! Hmm..maybe that's why America is known as the Melting Pot!
Realized today that we have had either wine, beer, or both every night....and tonight will be no different. Tomorrow holds a big day of Canyoning through the mountains--cannot wait for a little outdoor adventure. Still trying to convince Randy to go hang gliding! I said, "If you're not going to do it when you're in the Alps when are you going to do it?" All I got for a reply was, "Never." Good thing I don't give up easily...
An Austrailian guy asked us on the train today if we were from Denmark, and then later in the afternoon when walking around the city another Austrailian guy asked us if we were Austrailian! This is all coming after we have been told we look German! Hmm..maybe that's why America is known as the Melting Pot!
Realized today that we have had either wine, beer, or both every night....and tonight will be no different. Tomorrow holds a big day of Canyoning through the mountains--cannot wait for a little outdoor adventure. Still trying to convince Randy to go hang gliding! I said, "If you're not going to do it when you're in the Alps when are you going to do it?" All I got for a reply was, "Never." Good thing I don't give up easily...
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Mission Accomplished
Ahh...feels so good, just shipped a huge box back to my house to be waiting when we arrive home. Although Randi has been making fun of me the past day for shopping so much, I justify it because 1. its been raining so its nice to go into the stores 2. getting all of the shopping done in one place is just plain efficient 3. i now have birthday, Christmas, shopping done for like 2 yrs and 4. it was helpful to her also when she put some things in the huge box I just shipped.
Besides shopping here in Rothenburg, last night we hit up a great local spot for some home cooking where we had fish and potatoes and sauerkraut and weiners, visited St. Jacobs church, and went on a Night Watchmans tour of the town last night. With an umbrella and our phrase book we can do almost anything in this place!
Pretty excited to hop the early train to head to the Alps tomorrow--Switzerland here we come! With high hopes of lots of hiking and white water rafting.
Besides shopping here in Rothenburg, last night we hit up a great local spot for some home cooking where we had fish and potatoes and sauerkraut and weiners, visited St. Jacobs church, and went on a Night Watchmans tour of the town last night. With an umbrella and our phrase book we can do almost anything in this place!
Pretty excited to hop the early train to head to the Alps tomorrow--Switzerland here we come! With high hopes of lots of hiking and white water rafting.
A trip to the Theme Park
Ever hear of Rothenberg ob de Tauber? Well think of German medevil times..... then add a bunch of tourist that push each other to each shop that sells the exact same size or shape of everything....add some cobble stone roads......a medevil crime and punishment museum.....and take a deep breath of freshly baked scheneeballs to your hearts content.... you will be on the ride of your life. Some people call it heaven, I call it hell...... Kez is still recovering from 12 hours of shopping like she was on crack.
Off to Interlakenn tomorrow where I hope to find some mountains to climb and some more friendly Frau's to build my self esteem.
And somehow Germans survived thousands of years on bread, beer, wine, and jam. I personally could use some corn.
Off to the pub.......someone tell Kez when she gets done shopping.......Thanks.
Randi
Off to Interlakenn tomorrow where I hope to find some mountains to climb and some more friendly Frau's to build my self esteem.
And somehow Germans survived thousands of years on bread, beer, wine, and jam. I personally could use some corn.
Off to the pub.......someone tell Kez when she gets done shopping.......Thanks.
Randi
Monday, June 22, 2009
Randi the heartbreaker
Well Randi did mention Bacharach a little bit in her post (the super small awesome German village on the Rhine River) but I truly dont think she did the place justice with her one sentence. First off, they were celebrating a wine festival the 2 days we were there so the wine was flowing and costs less than ordering water, live music, lots of food etc in this town of 800 people. Thats where we met Tony and Max who lived there (even though their names do not sound very American) It just so happened they lived 2 doors down from our `zimmer`and they were a lot of fun and took a lot of time to show us around the area, cook some wild pork, and play singing starz which is like kareoke on their tv.
Awesome running-biking trails went right along the river so we visited some other villages and took the boat further up to check out some castles. The best investment we have made on this trip so far has been the phrase book so we are attempting to speak some German because in these smaller towns they have no idea what we`re saying! we may have been the only American tourists in Bacharach, but i do know one thing.....Randi was the biggest heart breaker that town has ever seen! She has sworn me to silence because `What happens in Bacharach stays in Bacharach` (What i do know about the situation is that shy innocent Randi became very familiar with the word `NEIN` which means NO)
Off to check out Rothenburg---signing off--auf weidersehen
Awesome running-biking trails went right along the river so we visited some other villages and took the boat further up to check out some castles. The best investment we have made on this trip so far has been the phrase book so we are attempting to speak some German because in these smaller towns they have no idea what we`re saying! we may have been the only American tourists in Bacharach, but i do know one thing.....Randi was the biggest heart breaker that town has ever seen! She has sworn me to silence because `What happens in Bacharach stays in Bacharach` (What i do know about the situation is that shy innocent Randi became very familiar with the word `NEIN` which means NO)
Off to check out Rothenburg---signing off--auf weidersehen
From Amsterdam to Bacharach to Rothenburg
Left Amsterdam and headed to Bacharach via Franfurt. We met Patrick and Christopher at our hotel and they were kind enough to let us hitch a ride to Mainz to get on the boat to Bacharach and the Rhine Valley. We got plenty lost. Patrick had a near anxiety attack as his GPS in the Range Rover he rented that Kez and I named 'Helga' took us to the Volkswagon store instead of the boat!
The Rhine Vallez was awesome. Beautiful castles, views, and Baracharh, where we stayed was tiny and fun. We hit up a wine festival that was over the hill in the next town. They drink wine here like we drink beer.......by the pint.
After 2 days there, and more fun and ridiculousness going on then I will ever say, including a midnight dip in the Rhine, some fellas named Max and Tony, Wild Boar, lots of Wine, and a really hilarious Frau named Emily......we headed to Rothenburg today. We will see what is in store here.
Frau Emily hugged me on the way out.....stating, 'Ahhhhhh, you are big like my son. How high up are you?' Then hugged Kez immediately after stating, 'And you, you are small like my daughter.'
I am Flattered Emily.
Signing off.....
Randi
The Rhine Vallez was awesome. Beautiful castles, views, and Baracharh, where we stayed was tiny and fun. We hit up a wine festival that was over the hill in the next town. They drink wine here like we drink beer.......by the pint.
After 2 days there, and more fun and ridiculousness going on then I will ever say, including a midnight dip in the Rhine, some fellas named Max and Tony, Wild Boar, lots of Wine, and a really hilarious Frau named Emily......we headed to Rothenburg today. We will see what is in store here.
Frau Emily hugged me on the way out.....stating, 'Ahhhhhh, you are big like my son. How high up are you?' Then hugged Kez immediately after stating, 'And you, you are small like my daughter.'
I am Flattered Emily.
Signing off.....
Randi
Thursday, June 18, 2009
THE SLEEP POLICE
I didn't realize that in Europe there are such people known as the sleep police. They exists. Currently in the form of Kesely Egli. Thought I was going to sleep, I was wrong. The police said no. Now that I am awake......we will see if Amsterdam is ready for Ace and Maverick.
Reporting live from a fuzzy blue couch bed.
Randi
Arrival
We made it to Amsterdam after a few last minute flight switches and 8 hrs in the air! We landed around 6 AM and found ourselves wondering the empty streets of this crazy city for hours before anything opened or we saw much sign of life. (this may have been the point I felt on the verge of tears wondering WHAT DO WE DO NOW???) Needless to say, the situation improved and before long we were eating in cafes and on a biking tour through the city and out to the countryside.
After a day of seeing national monuments, coffee houses, the Red Light District, biking, seeing a cheese farm, and then meeting up with Nicky who is a local we are staying with, what more could we possibly want?!?! SLEEP! Going on 32 hrs without sleep I began to feel like a walking zombie and Randi confirmed it by saying my "response time" was slower than normal. Nothing that a little sleep and a good dinner can't fix! The slogan here....IAMSTERDAM
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Take off.....
June 16th, 10:42 pm
I'd like to officially welcome myself to blogging. This is a first. I just finished my going away party hosted by my sister in her sweet new feathery headband, her boyfriend, and a girl I just met named Laura. Pizza, Phase 10, and Framboise........oh and some perfectly baked papa murphy's cookies for dessert. I have repacked 3 times, and feel confident that if it isn't in my backpack, I don't care.
Gonna miss watching the Twins beat the Brewers next week.....or anyone else crappy they play =).
RP signing off
Europe....Here we come!
Welcome to this blog! (This is Kez writing now...but Randi will too and we will probably post together in Europe) Hopefully we can update this pretty often with photos and stories!
First things first though...Packing....but how do you even prepare for this?!
We are hoping to see Amsterdam, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece in about 21 days. 1 backpack to hold everything I need for the next 3 weeks...seems crazy to me! I can think of a whole lot of stuff that I just might need in that time but it's definitely not fitting in this bag!
First things first though...Packing....but how do you even prepare for this?!
We are hoping to see Amsterdam, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece in about 21 days. 1 backpack to hold everything I need for the next 3 weeks...seems crazy to me! I can think of a whole lot of stuff that I just might need in that time but it's definitely not fitting in this bag!
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