Naples

Somewhere new for me!! We headed to Naples this morning at 730 and didnt get there until ONEish becasue the ticket teller send us on a train that didnt stop where he said it would. It was ok though after a few laughs, another ticket, and a great scenic tour of the coast. Our hotel was grand...called Grand Hotel Parkers- its in tons of book and stuff- real nice with a breathtaking view of the mediteranean outside our window. It is kinda far away from the town though so unfortunately we have to take a taxi everywhere- something i dont care for. We decided to venture out into this well known town only to find a scarry dirty place. This town is full of loud people who all look at you as if the want to take you, your stuff, or they wish you would never make eye contact with them. So, we had som elunch and then walked up and down one of thier 'main streets' Kinda gross. After all this was done we decided we had enough and took an over priced taxi back to the hotel. We relaxed, went up to what is apparently the nicest resteruant in Naples (on the top of our hotel) and found is easy to relax with a glass of wine and a post card worthy view overlooking Naples and the Sea. Gorgeous, we started to feel better. By recomendation we found a cute, local pizzaria down the street and with the help of the hotel staff our stay started to become more enjoyable.

The next day we decided to head to the Almafi Coast because we read about thier beaches and interesting culture. It was a two hour trip with a train and an hour long bus ride that suprisingly didnt make me car sick. This bus wove around and around the mountains facing the coast, so there was water sometimes 100s of feet below us on our left and tall green hills towering over our right. These huge buses are in my opinion oversized for the tiny streets but somehow they seem to run smoothly. We finally stopped at a small town called Miniori and rented some umbrellas by the beach. We had a blast enjoying the black sand beach, sun, and water, but mostly we enjoyed watching the people. I dont think there were any other Americans there, all Italians from the town or on vacation. Thier culture, interactions, and bathing suit attiar are all so different we could help but stiar sometimes. This day became wonderful. We ended by weaseling our way to Georges (the nice reseraunt ontop) and only ordering salad and dessert... which still cost more than i would pay for a meal. None the less, it was wonderful- gorment food and a gorgeous view of Naples at night.

Rome Again

Met mom in Roma today. She came to pick me up from the airport today....it is so great to see her. She is so brave because she ventured out into the big scarry Rome all by herself to see the Coluseum and Forum today. I am so proud, she only got slightly lost once and very lost once....good for her!!! Once she picked me up we went back to the Hotel...yes I said HOTEL- it was amazing!!!!! Not only was it the cutest hotel ive every really seen (decorated in bright colored stripes and checks) it was equipped with a real shower, yummy smelling soaps, someone to help me with my bags, and chocolates on the really really clean clean sheets- what a blessing....i am so so spoiled. So, we spent the evening eating dinner at a small cafe outside the Colleseum as the sunset- it was great catching up and planning the rest of our trip. We were like little girls cause we stayed up talking till past two in the morning!

The next day we slept in a little, something i hadnt done in a month. We ate the complememtary breakfast at the hotel ( a real breakfast) and set out to see the Vatican. I didnt mind seeing it again becasue all my mom really wanted to see was the Sistean Chapel......i could see that a million times over, well maybe. But, second time round it was just as breathtaking and even more fun cause i got to see my moms reaction- she was blown away. We saw St. Peters bascilica again too which was still grandeous and wonderful. Half a day is gone once you get through all that so we hit a few more "must sees" and then took it easy with a shower and dinner in a cute artsy piazza. Early to bed tonight....Naples in the morning.

Paris

Our final destination!!!! We started by meeting my friend Bobby from high school at the train station for breakfast Saturday morning. He has been traveling Europe for the past two weeks and leaving a few hours after we got there. It was great to see him. Then Fred, who ive known for over 6 years now came to pick us up. He love is French and now lives in an apartment in Paris so we stayed with him for the 4 nights.

Day 1
We started our Paris trip off very quickly. Fred took us to Notre Damn, the Effiel Tower, and ;;;;;;; park all within an afternoon. It was great to see everything so fast and to catch up with Fred. We ended day 1 by watching Italy and the US tie in game 2 of the world cup. Even in US games in Europe are a hit here. Wierd.

Day 2
We met Freds dad and Marie for breakfast this morning. It was a blast because we went to ::::::: which is a famous and ritwy cafe and we really enjoyed getting to see them both. The girls, and myself of course, love the French accents and all the French speaking. They were so sweet to meet us in town. So, from there we went to Molmarte which is a huge Basillica on a hill overlooking all of downtown Paris. We went to half a mass and then walked around admiring all the art and artists that this areas draws. We then met Fred girlfriend Alic and went to a museum full of Van Gogh and fun artists like that. Then, onto the most famous ice cream in Paris- we waited in line for over 30 min to get ice cream- so good though. It was a France game this night in the same place as last night......everyone was way crazy here about soccer too. On the way home we had to get another crepe with nutella inside......ask me to make you one when i get home casue i am going to learn and they are going to be awesome.

Day 3
Freds girlfriend was so nice today becasue she took us all over Paris. She is really well studied about art so she took us to the louve and we had a personal tour guide....awesome!! We saw all the big painting but were kinda sad casue the Last Supper was in Milano on tour. Too bad. We ate lunch at a sweet cafe outside the louve and continued on to window shop up and downt he Arch de Triumph street (forgive me for forgetting the name....i dont have it in front of me) We tried some macaroon from the best macaroon shop in all of France.....i havent been to any others but i will take them for thier word- it was delicious. We met Fred after he was done with work and ate dinner with him and his friends at a super local French resteraunt. we had to wait 2 hours to get into this place but it was well worth it- cheap hearty French food- loud and local. We felt pretty European.

Day 4
Sad its almost over but this day was blissfull. We took a Mikes Bikes tour (they guy who started this company is an Aggie so we had to do it) from Paris to Versailles. It was perfect. Once we got to Versailles we stopped at a market and bought fruits and sanwhiches for lunch. Laura and I munched on our 1 kilo bag of cherries all the way through the bike ride. The guide took us thourgh all the gardens and main grounds of the property with a picnic facing the cheateu and ending with a tour of the palace. It was wonderful....prfect ending day to a perfect trip. Our last hurrah was a wine picnic in front of the effiel tower as the sun was setting. The effeil tower lights up with twinking lights every hour for ten min so we stayed to watch that and then ending the trip. So sad because this has been one of the most fun adventure of my entire life. My mom comes tommorrow and I meet her in Rome so i have some time left which is great becasue I am by no means ready to go home. Love yall and miss you

Barcelona

Hello!!! Please excuse the type-os. French key boards are the worst.

Well Barcelona was a trip! We arrived at 830am and we got to our hostel at 130pm.....beating. So, once we got there we met one of Laura and Julias friends who is studying abroqd for lunch. They eat thier lunch at 1-4 and they have theese wonderful "meals of the day" where you pay €8ish and get a 3 course meal with dessert and wine or beer, its so so nice to be full. They come with ,eat and salads and pasta, so so nice. So, in this city there is so much to eat and so little time. We made the rest of our evening into a stroll up and down Las Rambles to watch the crazy street performers, see flower mqrkets; artists; open aired markets (morebeautiful than you can imagine), and all the rest. It was an early night but a good one.

So day two we hit many tourists sights such as the bay area and many of Goudi's architecture.....by the way i have found a favorite style of building..... Goudis mordern twist on the city is breathtaking and genius. I love the mozaic art and interesting designs he layed out in the city. We went to Picqssos museum which was so so wonderful, one of the favorite ive seen. We met a friend of Julias and had a great afternoon with him and his friends. Again small world. At the end of the afternoon we sat down to try the long awaited and very hyped up Sangreia wine- it was delicious... get we werent afriad to fall in love. So, instead of dinner we found a cheap Flaminko show.... it was amazing seeing them sing and dance the way they do. We loved it!!

Day three was super tourist day becase we went to three main areas of the city in less than a day which our hostel guy said in his thick spanish accent was "imposible." We went to a park completely designed by Goudi for the elite of Spain. Again, his designs are like no other. Olympic Park was next, we enjoyed seeing all the stadiums and standing where the best athletes in the world have competed but the place was like a ghost town- almost no one there. Back to Las Razmbles street to finish the afternoon with lunch while watching a soccer game which was fun when Argentina won becuase the streets were full of people in blue and white uniforms parading up and down whisteling and waving flags. We finished Barcelona with some shopping and a long hot awalk to the train station for the night train. So fun!!

It is easy to tell we are towards the end of our trip because we seem to do less tourist sights and more and more culture soaking such as walking around and spending more time in the cafes. Well, our last stop together is France, bitter sweet for all of us.

Cinque Terre

¨Is this real? Is this real?¨ We had to ask ourselves that a million times when we first pulled up into the town. Cinque Terre, ´five towns´in French, is literally that. Its an area of the Itailan coastline that is made up of 5 small towns tucked away in the hills of Tuscany overlooking the Mediteranean. Its gorgeous. It is so wonderful that Italy made it a national park and bands new building in these towns. So, these small villas are mostly car free, some have beaches, some are on cliffs, but all have incredible views of the sea. So, we stayed in Rioggimore, the first of 5 towns. This town had great homemade gelato and a wild Italain life to it. There is one street that runs from the train station by the ocean up the hill. When you step foot into the street you are overwhlemed by all the loud Italians yelling across the streets at thier friends or family who work in thier perspective shop, snack bar, etc. Everyone there knows everyone and the older people congregate daily on benches to watch the people go by. Its a hoot. There is always someone hanging out of an apartment window above silently people watch or yelling down thier conversations to thier family or friends below. Laundry hanging from the balconies and everything, just like a movie or something, unreal.

So, the adventure of this area is to pay the €3.00 and hike from one town to the next. Each hike is progressively harder yet progressively more beautiful, which is hard to believe. So, we hiked all the way to town number 4 the first day. The hike is perfect becasue on the left is the deepest blue colored water youve ever seen and on the left is lush green rolling hills with vinyard crawling in every which direction. The hike got hard too, felt awesome. The forth city had a beach with a perfect view of the sunset so we hung out there, ate and finally made the walk back to our apartment in city 1. We hurried back for some more gelato and watched some of Italys world cup game #1. Man, those Itailian are crazy about thier soccer!!!! There were fireworks, beer, cheering, and tons of people all on the tiny streets of this town watching Italys first win. I think they love thier soccer more than we do our football, its cool to see.

Day 2 was just as awesome. We took the train to the fifth town (Monterssa) which is the most touristy becasue it has the most beaches and hotels. We sat out on some rocks over looking the ocean, Julia took a swim in the cold water (so proud of her) and we all journaled. Our plan from there was to hike all the way home but we did the hardest hike (from city 5 to 4 which was the hardest by far but the most beautiful) and had enough so we rested before taking a train the rest of the way back.

We had our last real Itilian meal and then took the train to Pisa to wait for our morning flight to Barcelona. Man, is that a crazy story...ask me about it when i get home. K, love yall.

Florence

Wow, Florence is wonderful! Its beutiful here. Its a mix between the windy streets of Venice, the crowdedness of Rome, and the Tuscan beauty of Siena. I love it here. Yesterday we visited the Duome, which is a huge church in the middle of the city. Huge, but rather plain compared to others weve seen in Europe. We are staying in a hotel that overlooks the Arno river and is about 800 years old, relly nice for the price though. We grabbed lunch at a small deli that makes probably the best sandwhich ive ever had, finally they put a decent amount of meat on there!! So good! Our meal was followed by gelato of course, which was wonderful for Luara and I becauseit had been over 2 days since we had it last, shame. The David was our next stop and goodness; this grand statue was overwhelming. I didnt know too much about it, but standing in front of the massive stucture, you have no choice but to be in awe of it perfection. The rest of that museum was dull campared to the famous statue. We saw some girls who recognized Laura and my Sky Ranch backpacks and let us know she was a councelor there a few years ago, she was an Aggie as well. Small world.

After a little window shopping and people watching, we hiked along the Arno River to a Piazza where dozens of Italians were watching the World Cup on an oversized TV screen. They all had food and beer, but no talking- lots of concentration on the game. We continued to hike up a hill where we found Piazza de Michelangelo. There were tons of people up there because the view of Florence with the Tuscan countryside in the background is breathtaking. We found some food, watched a dozen or more bride and grooms come up to the Piazza to take wedding pictures overlooking the city, and then watched the most gorgeous sunset. It was quite the night. We walked back to our hotel and stopped at the Ponte Vecchio bridge and listened to some live music before going to bed. Great day.

Today, we explored yet another museum, the Uffizi. Great works of art, a little over my head, but very impressive none the less. It lunch time irhg tnow so i will hopefully finish the rest of my day later. Love yall and miss you.

Siena

We were so excited this morning for Siena, we have heard such great things. It was Diana birthday so she had an extra kick to her toady even though she was a little sad to be away from her family. So, we arrived in Siena and from there had a mess of a time finding our hotel. Since its a small town, the English speakers are few and far inbetween. We took advice from one British man who told us how to bus there. We ended up quite a ways away from where we were suppose to be; about 2 kil downhill from where we check in was. So, unaware of the distance ahead of us we decided to walk. Yes, we walked uphill for over an hour with our 35 pound packs on and no much of a sidewalk. My favorite moment was when we were rounding a curve facing oncoming traffic with no sidewalk behind a lady who could walk faster than baby steps. I thought at one point Julia was going to loose it. So funny. We arrived at check in to find it was another kil to our actual hotel. Even funnier huh, so after hearing our story the kind owner took us in his own car to save our poor backs.

When we saw the Villa we were staying in all our worries were gone. It was one of the most gorgeous hotels ive ever seen. There were only 3 rooms in this small Italian countryside house. Its exaclty what you picture when you think Itlian Countryside, im sure. You could go anywhere wihtout smalling flowers and the view was more gorgeous than i emagined. We walked through the gardens and park of the villa adn found a pool that overlooked the greenest valley youve ever seen. A few houses covers the far side and the sun shown perfectly over the hills. So, in honor of Dianas birthday we took teh afternoon and laid by the pool all afternoon, literally under teh Tuscan sun.

Dinner was down the small street at the only resturant anywhere near the hotel. So, with our little Italian and a patient, funny waiter we had some authentic Italian pasta, wine, brouchetta, and dessert. Wonderful as the sunset behind the hills. After dinner, we laughed and laughed for a fwe hours at our day and anything else really. Today was wonderful. I love yall, hope all is well.

Rome

Hang in there, this is going to be a long one!

We arrived here early afternoon, found our Hostel in the Ghetto of Rome and spent the afternoon walking around the city. Its not everyday you can say, "we took a stroll past the Colleseum today."

Day 1
We walked for 10 hours today, 10! We started in the ---- Gardens, walking aimlessly becasue our limited knowledge held us back from really understanding what ruiens we were looking at exactly. So, we made our way to the sea of people surrounding the Colleseum, found a tour and hoped on. Our tour guide was a cookey Italian lady who must have been on some kind of drug and couldnt stop hitting on these three American teens, creepy but entertaining for us! The Colleseum is huge! Built in 80AD, its guessed about 1 million Gladiators and 3 million animal died there. Crazy! We then took a lunch break where I saw an olde high school friend, Josh Robles, randomly walking down the street, small world. We picked up another tour and learned all about the ancient city forums, Capitol Hill, and the Monument build 100 years ago to signify triumph and a unified Italy. We then walked to Pantheon and then took a small rest at the Spanish Steps. Too much for one day! Overload! We ended the day eating dinner in an artsy Piazza with a sunset walk home past the Colleseum.

Day 2
The Vatican!!!! Its Wednesday so we went a little later than we had originally planned and heard the Pope speak! It was really neat becasue we were at one point within 3 feet of him as he passed the crowds on his way to the stage area. We then took a guided tour with an American genious pretty much. Man, was this guy a character! He was shorter and skinny, thick glasses and so many corks i cant even begin to describe then. We had a blast learning everything about the Vatican, St. Peters Bascillica, and the Sisten Chapel. By the end we had spend about 5 hours here. Gelato and a rest in the park helped end the afternoon. We then walked toward the Colleseum and ate at a resturant overlooking the Colleseum, really cool.

Day 3
Day trip today!! We love Rome, but we decided to use this last day to take a train to the Umbria area. We decided on Perguia, which is known for thier chocolate and scenic views. We arrived in this small city and hiked 2 hours without reaching the Centro. We found a mess of elevators that seemed to be the only way up from where we had walked. The top was breathtaking. It overlooks the hills of the countryside and seems to go on forever. We sat on benches in a park that overlooked this view for a little over 2 hours. Lazy bums, huh? Happy lazy bums thats for sure. So we then explored the chocolate shops and pastry stores. It was a great break from the big busy city. Onto to Siena tommorrow.

Venice

Wow, getting to this very anticipated destination was a BEATING. Leaving Interlacken, we almost took the wrong train twice, and almost didnt have a seat once. Finally, getting onto the last train we had a 5 min lay over and ran onto the train to find it jam packed. I have never meant a phrase more seriously than now...jam packed. We all had to stand like cattle cramed up against other unfamilar cattle....we didnt even make it into the cabins. Julia was actually standing in the train bathroom for 2 hours- we had to turn a dozen or so peolpe away from using it during the train ride. Ha!

So, we arrived in Venice- it was like a promise land to us becasue there was SUN.....we are so so grateful for the sun and warmth. (These past two days have been the first weve had that we didnt have to pull out our rain jackets.) We arrived to a sea of people. We unknowingly planned our Venice trip during the Italian "thanksgiving" weekend, so i think half of Italy trecked up to Venice. Crowded doesnt even begin to describe it- i think New York on Christmas Eve is more like it. So, we made our way to the apartment that we rented for the next 3 days by taking a "waterbus" to our island. There are 117 island that make up Venice and 400ish bridges connecting the islands. Walking through the alleys is like walking through a shrub mazes; you never really know where you are or where youre going.

We found quickley that Itailans for the most part dont believe in "service with a smile." Its hard to get service in the first place and when you do, its thier way or no way. Took some getting used to, but i think we have it down now.

Venice has been wonderful and the most relaxing stop we have had because the greatest thing to do here is to walk through the alleys, window shop, and people watch. We have done our fair share of that. Everyone dresses so nice here- we are definatley out of place in our rarely washed shirts, jeans, and tennis shoes. All the women here wear scarfs- in thousands of different colors and in thousands of different ways. Facinating.

This stop has been so wonderful- we have all found a new love here- Gelato Ice Cream. Its only 1 euro for a scoop and there are stands on every corner- dangerous. So, tommorrow we head to Rome for more adventures. Love yall.

Interlacken

Were in the Swiss Alps!!! Interlacken, Switerland...means town between two lakes. Gosh, its breathtaking. We first got a glimps of the mountians as our double decker train weaved in and out of the Alps from Zurich. The sun was out, and it had snowed the 3 days before we got there- so you can imagine how mountain tops looked. It only rained for a little bit when we arrived in the Interlacken and got ourselves situated in our bed and breakfast. This was the most wonderful place to stay; the couple who owns it met in Interlacken (hes an American from Virginia and shes a local) and they spent the beginning of their married life traveling six monthes, working hotels the other six monthes- so cool. So, they were extremely friendly and helpful; a part of the visit we will not forget.

We spent the first day taking a boat tour around one of the lakes as the sun was setting. We then tried to scrounge up some cheap food and found the the cheapest in town was the McDonalds (ironically the most expensive one in the WHOLE world) which cost us about 3 dollars for the smallest hamburger you can picture; value meals there were over 10 dollars. We didnt eat much that night. Crazy expensive in this tourist town.

So, we woke up to a lovely surprize.....the sun!!! So nice to see it out! Interlacken is an adventure town- you can raft, skydive, hang glide, parasail, canyon, rock climb, etc. So, due to weather the only option we really had was to paraglide which was enough! They bused us up to the top of a mountain that surrounded the town and paired us up with a guide. He unloaded his paracute and then, after strapping in- we ran off the mountain and hoped the wind would catch us (said that to scare you mom- the wind always catches) You get this amazing 30 min flight above the city and lakes- you really feel like a bird, its powerful to lamely describe how I felt.

After the ride of a lifetime we descided to hike up some more of the Alps and find some huge waterfalls inside one of the mountains, again a wonderful display of Gods glory and power. We ended the day tired, but i had a pick-me-up because Andrew came to Interlacken that last night, it was so great to see him for a few short hours before we left early the next morning. Well, Italy is next- were so excited for warmth and new culture. Love yall- hope all is well.

Munich

Well, again it's cold and rainy- it has rained 7 out of the 7 days we've been in Europe, and today was almost too much for even us hard core tourtists to handle. Well, we took our free walking tour around Munich (or Mun-chin as the Germans call it) in frezing cold rain, again. Today it was 47 degrees feeling like 42. My two long sleeve shirts and thin jacket are barely enough. Checking the weather report, it looks as if we are in for at least another 5 more days of it- please pray the weather gets warmer and sunnier. It's much nicer to tour a city with your head up as opposed to down keeping your face out of the wind and rain.

So, Munich is full of beer; its the beer capital fo the world at that. They consume on average 40 gallons per person a year, so that should tell you something. We did our best walking around the city yesterday between down pours and noticed a much more alive city than Berlin. More tourists, more shoping, more food. Though it feels very Westernized; there is alot of history here as well. Hitler's first attempted at an uprising happened in this city. Also, he almost got shot here before he actually rose to power. Wierd to think about, huh?

Some high points in this city.....meeting new people. People are willing to talk and are noticiabley more freindly in this city.....maybe it's the fact that most of them have been drinking beer since breakfast (you think I'm kidding). We met people from all over the world today- most who are doing some version of a Western Europe tour as we are. One German lady who lives in Wyomming is traveling here while her husband in is fighting Iraq; another girl about our age who has always dreamed of coming over here from Brazil is traveling alone for 3 months striaght. Another high point- i finally got a long awaited German prezel and it was just as delicious as i had be expecting.

Our afternoon today ended with a chilly yet peaceful stroll through the gorgeous Englischer Gartens. It's a huge park on the northern side of downtown; brilliantly green and lush. Despite the cold, there were crazy surfer boys surfing in a fast current river that ran along the park....hard to explian but very impressive.

Well, I hope you are well and I encourage you to appricate the heat that you are living in as we missed and appricated Texas for all its warmth and glory today. Love yall.

Berlin

We arrived in Berlin at 9 AM yesterday......yes it's true-we woke up at 2:30 AM London time to get here. Crazy, i know. Well, first off, Berlin is different than London, which doesnt surprize anyone im sure. Diana and I both got a sort of unsettling almost eerie feeling walking around the city yesterday....could have been the lack of sleep but we were convenced otherwise. We toured a famous museum about Ancient Greece and then ended the evening sitting at a cafe looking onto an open aired market with glass of German wine....so fun! We have started Hostel life and its......lets just say interesting- not quite like an American owned flat in London, but it gives us a semi-warm place to sleep and shower.

Today was an adventure- its was wonderful learning about all the History of this place. We took a free city walking tour from a guide who knew so much it was hard to store it all in my brain as fast as he was talking. We walked through downtown east and west Berlin and learned about Nazi Germany, World War II in Berlin, the numerous fallen governments in the recent past, and the Berlin Wall to name a few. So interesting! This city does do a lot to cover its past but if you look hard there is symbolism everywhere telling about the past and giving hope to the future. We were real interested in the Holocost, and they have one memorial so far dedicated to victims (it only open last May)- in the middle of the city. Its for "All The Killed Jews". Bold name; bold memorial. It is in the center of the city and its made up of 7110 rectangular stone blocks of all different heights; some we could walk over and some were many feet about our heads. The irony of it all is the memorial has NO symbolism at all. Its random; makes no sence.

After learning so much about the history of this place, all the crazy rulers its had, and its plan for a New Berlin (as they like to title it), we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around looking at the scarce remains of the Berlin wall. So much of this city is brand new. The buildings, streets, plazas, memorials are all new and very modernly designed. Real cool to look at. Its hard to find history with your eyes in this place.


Berlin has been real neat; tomorrow we're off to Munich, so two more days of trying to figure out what really long long words mean. They add about 2-3 too many syllablles to thier words if you ask me. Well, I hope all is well with you. Please e-mail me if you can to let me know how you are; we seem to have pretty regular internet access. Alright, again I miss yall and love you. Please forgive the mispellings- German keyboards are a little tricky :)

London

We're in EUROPE!!!! London has been our first stop. We arrived early yesterday morning super tired from the long flight and met our host family who are one of our Theta sister's parents. They have an amazing flat right in the middle of it all!!! They have been more than hospitable from food to directions to entertainment. They are such a blessing. It is really nice to start our trip in an English speaking country. Shortly after we got here we walked all around the city getting a feel for the place. We found our way to Buchingham Palace and saw the queen as she was leaving! Today, with a little more knowledge of the city, we headed to Big Bend and the Parliment House (which are attached for all of you who are as ignorant as us), Westminister Abbey (so much history there), and The National Gallery where we saw paintings by DiVenci, Rembrant, Picasso, Michaelangelo, Dega, and Monet. I probably butchered thier names...sorry; they were amazing none the less. Tony Balir was giving a speech at the Parliment House today so there were protesters sounding the place. We got out our cameras at the sight of a "Stop Bush Wars" because we thought it was so wierd they were protesting our President, but it quickley turned into laughter when we realized these protesters were voicing thier opinions about drugs in England; thier bush and ours Bush are two different political issues. We ate our first English food today for lunch- its pretty bland just as the rumors tell but we had to try it.
The weather here is descirbed as "wait 10 min and it changes"- its so true, its cold and rainy for 10 min and then the sun comes out and warms everything up for a few mins and then its back to cold rain. Walking around the city has been fun; the English walk everywhere, which may expliain how they are noticabley skinnier than Americans. Driving on the other side of the road still catches us off guard, we keep thinking there is no one driving the car.
It's been a blast so far- we are just so happy to be here- it's off to Oxford tommorrow, and Friday we plan to see St. Paul's Church, Kensington Palace, London Brigde and the London Towers. As for tonight....Mama Mia followed by Mrs. Collman's dessert!!!!! We're laughing so hard and having a blast, but we love yall and miss you.

T Minus 3 Days!!!

This is a blog for my friends and family to see as I travel through Europe!!! Laura, Diana, Julia, and I leave Monday afternoon for London. I will keep you posted about our adventures! Love yall!!!!