Day 4: Adieu, London

well. i hate blogger. let me just say that. i always have a horrible time posting pictures and stuff, so i'm just going to post all the pictures first today in some sort of chronological order. then you can read about the day below. i'll figure it out so it's cohesive from here on out.

cool pic from the Millenium Bridge

one of our 100 or so pics of St. Paul's cathedral

inside St. Paul's

Big Ben, and i just accidentally deleted the pic we have of
Westminster, but i hate blogger and i'm not going through all that again

me and jo at St. Pancras station (which is crooked)
waiting for the Eurostar

cool peace sign tile work done on the side of
some apartment between the metro and our couchsurfing flat

the apartment we couchsurfed at.
marie-jeanne's flat is the second balcony down on the left side

Another early morning. Said thank you and goodbye to Alvaro. We went to St. Paul's again to check out the interior, It was well worth the second trip; St. Paul's was incredible. We hiked the 400+ stairs to the top of the dome and got another incredible view of downtown London. The crypt at St. Paul's was quaint - especially when compared to the eerie WestMinster Abbey. That place is unnerving at best and nightmarish at worst. We spent some time at WestMinster Abbey: went to Poet's Corner, checked out some of the graves of kings and queens, etc. We were rushed all day, so we didn't see much of Parliament or Big ben, and we weren't even able to do the audio guide for Westminster or do the walk to 10 Downing Street, or even see the changing of the guard. So it sounds like a disappointing day but it really wasn't. We walked over to Buckingham Palace just to see the park and the surroundings. And . . . I fed a squirrel. With my hands. No one but Jo probably knows this, but I love squirrels. So that was awesome. We saw a ton of London and went to St. Pancras (rad) to catch the 186mph Eurostar to Paris. St. Pancras is gorgeous and huge, the UK countryside was beautiful, and the loudest child in the world - a 2 year old spoiled French baby that didn't stop screaming the entire time - sat one seat away from us. So it was still an eventful day. Jo managed to sleep on the train anyway, just like on our ridiculously turbulent plane rides (I thought I was going to die). Anyway, we got to Gare du Nord Station in paris and quickly discovered that Paris is the opposite of London. Gare du Nord was crazy. Paris is disgusting really. I don't know why everyone comes back from Paris saying "Oh I love Paris, it is so beautiful, etc." Those people must not go where we went. It smells like someone went to the bathroo mon your upper lip everywhere you go. The people are all pushy, sweaty, and serious. The metro is mad sketchy. Some drunk bum pushed Jo and yelled at her. She got a little shaken up, so me and one of the few nice Parisians stood boxed the guy into his seat so he couldnt really move. It was insane to be on the metro in rush hour with our packs in our first really foreign country (England isn't foreign). We are couchsurfing here in Paris, so we didn't know what to expect. It's our first time ever doing it, and neither of us know this city. So it ends up that we are staying in a bad part of town. We got off at our metro stop and walked down some streets in the dark to the flat we were staying at. We were obviously tourists (thank you backpacks), and obviously tourists don't come to this part of town. I tried to play tough so Jo wouldn't be frightened, but the combination of the metro ride and the walk to our couchsurfing flat was the most scared I have been in recent or distant memory. We made it to the flat and met our couchsurfing hostess, Marie-jeanne Peraldi and her very nice flatmate, Virginia. The flat is nice and there's pink everywhere and two little dogs that run the place. It smells like dogs and we have all these weird rules. Like we have to cover the couches we're sleeping on with plastic everyday when we leave and make sure that none of our possessions ever touch the ground because the dogs will pe on them. So right now we have shoes and packs and everything hanging from bookshelves, the TV, doorknobs, etc. Our first couchsurfing experience appears to be an adventure in the making.

feeding the squirrels in St. James Park

Day 3: Getting Our Feet Wet

Alvaro had breakfast laid out for us this morning. And as we ate and gathered up our stuff, we realized we were in for another day of Rain and Cold. But it did not prevent a historic(al) day.

a royal breakfast

the view from our room in the Fusco's flat

cool thing of umbrellas. we came to love umbrellas on this trip.

Luckily our Tower of London tickets were good for a three-day time period, so though we missed it yesterday, we were still able to go. We hit it early. I was amazed at how chintzy and touristy it was. The only element of history about it, and the real star of the show, was the architecture itself. We took pictures by the Tower bridge and walked along the Thames. We got hot chocolate (of course) at a Starbucks afterwards.

Jo in what will become a familiar pose

a guy with a bow and arrow represents "Muscle Power"

funny what they now value

Tower Bridge

Tubed to St. Pancras and walked to the British Library to see the special collections room with Bibles and Qurans from over 1500 years ago and original pieces of work by Jane Austen, the Beatles, Keats, Shakespeare, etc.

Tubed close to the British Museum. Stopped to get food at a Pret a Manger shop on the way - gross. We ended up eating at some little cafe in Russel Square Park, though, which was green and nice. We did the Rick Steves audio guide in the British Museum. The Rosetta Stone and mummies were cool. The crowd was not.

Tubed to Picadilly Circus. Not as impressive or large as Time Square, but crazy nonetheless. Also, the Tower of London and British Museum were not as impressive as the Capitol in D.C. or the Smithsonian. Im' not complaining, both places were great. I just think it's interesting that we romanticize about going to Europe to see these old places when most Americans don't travel very much inside of America and we have some much more remarkable places to visit and things to see.

Tubed to St. Paul's. it was closed, but wow. By far the most amazing single sight we saw today. Inspiring. We walked across the Millenium Bridge (Harry Potter bridge) and went to see if we could see the inside of the Globe (still pissed about missing the show last night). We got in through some emergency exit in a cafe attached to it and poked around. We got chased out by a security guard who was American. Ironic. I mean come on, brother, we're supposed to look out for each other. We asked some guy to take a picture for us in front of the Globe but he couldn't figure out where the lens of the camera was I guess. Hence the following series of pictures with a finger in them:

the Millenium Bridge and the Tate Modern behind it

Walked down the south side of the Thames to do the London Eye - just awesome - and saw that London stretched out as far as we could see in every direction.

Josephine in the London Eye

view of Parliament and Big Ben from the eye,
right before it explodes to the 1812 Overture

We came back to base camp and had some late dinner (10pm) with Alvaro and his daughter, Vanessa, who just returned home. We have to remember to do something nice for this family. Tomorrow = lots more walking and Paris.

Day 2: Shock and Awe and Rain and Rain

We made it to the Fusco's. It's late, and I haven't slept in almost 48 hours. We landed in Heathrow at 10pm GMT. It was desserted. And we had to walk what I'm sure was about 2 miles of terminal to get to customs.

on the tube to Victoria Underground Station

It's amazing how unplanned I felt. Where was an ATM? Where did I get tube tickets? Which line do we take and where do we go once we get off at our station to find the place we're staying (The Fusco's)? I accidentally had Jo and I exit Victoria Underground Station to the south. We walked around in the dark and in the rain down many streets I'm sure we shouldn't have gone down. But my knack for directions (one of the few things I'll boast about) kicked in.


We bought rain jackets before we left. But I didn't pack an umbrella. And one of the first things I noticed abotu London is that all their street lights are very orange. There's no fluorescent light or bright yellow glow, just an eerie orange hue everywhere (Note: we found out later it's because London wanted it to look like simulated old lampposts that burned real flame). So it was dark and we were walking around for quite some time.


We made it to the Fusco's flat - which is about a 15 minute walk from Westminster and Parliament. Also, Alvaro Fusco (our host) is one of the kindest men alive. His wife and daughter are out of town for the weekend so it's just him hosting us. He made Jo hot chocolate (which she spilled on herself) and both of us ham and cheese sandwhiches. Jo called her dad. Now someone on the other side of the world knows we're alive (we didn't bring our phones so we couldnt call anyone from Chicago).

a picture of Alvaro that we snagged from Facebook
because I forgot to take one of him while we were there. Duh.

It is incredible that you can travel 6000+ miles and find yourself in the warmth and comfort of a complete stranger's home/flat. It's even more incredible that they don't feel like strangers after much time at all. A 5'5" Brazilian man wearing slippers that look like dogs, who makes us food at 1am despite his 7am church meetings the next morning is my new best friend. Tomorrow is the first day of our hectic, touristy schedule. We'll see how it goes . . . in a lot more rain.

our first video of the trip. not the best filiming,
but i was pretty dang tired and the place is small

The Day is Mine

Well, everyone, all your blog are belong to us. I am commandeering Jo's blog for the next 20+ days to relate our experiences, photos and videos from the trip. I kept a relatively detailed (relative + detail = funny combination) journal during our travels, so I'm just going to transcribe it word for word for these posts.

WARNING: sometimes it gets a little personal and in my head.

WARNING 2.0: sometimes on our trip I was a little grumpy because of the weather, hence the swears. But I want it to be as honest, so I want it to be word for word.

WARNING 3.0: I really did love the trip, but the first day was a little rough, so be prepared for this entry. Also (if you couldn't tell already, I am much more wordy than Josephine. So feel free to skim and scan if you'd like. just know that if you do skip over anything, you're lame. And with my introduction behind us, thank you for listening, and please comment and enjoy. Here we go:

everything we took with us

PROLOGUE:

3 goals for the other side of the world:

1. See/interact with incredible, historic and interesting places, cultures and people.
2. Enjoy the unplanned moments as much as the planned.
3. Leave anger, impatience and stress in the gutters of Europe.

Day 1: I Hate Chicago

On the plane to Chicago right now. It was delayed. For . . . absolutely no reason at all. I am pissed off. If we have the same old Jo and Doug bad travel luck (please see Jamaica, and getting stuck in Las Vegas, Charlotte, Aruba, etc.), I will just snap.

I've planned the crap out of this trip. I'm acutally a little worried the first few days may seem too rigid because of it. We'll hit our comfortable stride at some point, I'm sure. Sooner rather than later. I have to unwind somehow. I'm worried about flights and money and weather and patches. I worry too much . . . even about meticulously staying inside these lines in this leather journal that makes me feel like Hemingway. No more worrying.

* * *

9pm Greenwich Mean Time. Still not in London. We should be enjoying the end of MacBeth right now as yardlings in the Globe Theater (one of my trip highlights). Instead we're 37,000 feet in the air and cutting up our London itinerary. I despise, with all the emotion, anger and over-dramaticness I can muster, the US airline industry.

We spent the night in Chicago airport last night. It was freezing (as airports always are at night), and I had to sit there and watch my petite wife freeze and struggle to get some sleep and me not be able to do anything about it. When we landed at Chicago from SLC, we could see our original plane waiting at the gate. By the time the cattle got off the damn plane and we ran to our gate, the plane was gone. I lost it, as usual in these situations, and swore and complained. Jo got pissed at me (like she always does in these situations), and we had a big fight.

I didn't sleep at all. I walked the opposite direction down a moving sidewalk and then let it carry me back to the end for an hour. I watched a mouse come in and out of the walls by our gate. I yelled at a janitor in the bathroom who wouldn't let me use it and then used it anyway (he was just standing there). I thought about how much the US airline industry hates its passengers.

I felt more alone than I think I've felt in a long time. Walking up and down the terminal halls of an abandoned O'Hare airport, cursing the world for bringing bad weather to my vacation, causing a rift between Jo and I at the onset of it and erasing a day of trip we will likely never be able to take again. I won't let this ruin the trip, but it sure dumped all over the first day of something we've been looking forward to, working for and paying for for a long, long time.

We missed:
- The Tower of London
- Thames River Cruise
- MacBeth @ the Globe

(It gets better and happier I promise.)

back in the u.s of a

Well we are back home. It was strange flying into the future, literally. I was so confused trying to figure out how much time we had been in the air with the time differences. Time is a strange notion. Anyway, our last two days were just perfect. We toured Salzburg which is really a beautiful city. We got off the train and just started walking downtown. We walked along the river where they had a farmer's market going on. Much like all of the farmer's markets I've ever been to, there were lots of dogs (I made a sincere effort to pet all of them but I didn't have time to name them) there were lots of hippies - but they were Salzburg hippies so they were even more eccentric, there was lots of beautiful displays of flowers and vegetables and crafts and wonderful music. Some guy was playing the didgereedoo (after d-i- I realized I have no idea how to spell that word. oh well.) We got to the city center and I fell in love. They had horse drawn carriages, a choir singing in front of the free-entrance cathedral, a life size game of chess where two old men were playing each other, a beautiful fountain complete with ducks and pigeons, and some wonderful food. The city sits below a really cool looking fortress that we took a tram up to and toured. My favorite part of the tour was when we went out to a look out and I noticed a small yard in a hidden part of the fortress that had plastic slides and soccer balls in it. They have a keeper of the fortress who lives there with his family. What a cool place to reside! uh yeah I grew up in HohenSalzburg, the fortress, where did you grow up?
The next day we went to Fussen and the Neuschwanstein Castle and the luge. The weather was perfect and Fussen doesn't disappoint either. We decided to rent bikes because it was such a beautiful day and because it was cheaper than the many buses we would need to take. We rode through the town and onto a country path to the ticket center for the castle. By the time I got up the hill to the ticket center, my husband had already locked up his bike and gotten in line for tickets. Let it be known that I am not a good biker. At the slightest incline I feel like my thighs are going to fall off my already stubby legs. Its really a sad sight to see me bike. Doug makes fun of me all the time for it. Anyway, we then decided to hike up to the castle rather than pay for the shuttle (are you picking up on a theme here about how cheap we are). The hike was gorgeous though and in such a touristy rich place, there was virtually no one on the hike so it felt like we were walking to our own private castle.
Now Neuschwanstein is the castle that the Disney Castle is based on. It is incredible. My favorite part of the tour was at the end when you walk out of the unfinished portion of the castle. When King Ludwig died the castle was only partially finished and it was left that way. Entire floors of the castle are left untouched. Seeing the skeleton of a castle is a unique opportunity and I thought it was really fascinating. We walked back down from the castle to get our bikes and bike to the luge. I thought the ride to the ticket center was pretty but the ride to the luge was one of my favorite moments of the entire trip. We rode through a tree canopy on a dirt path next to swift creek that ran down from the mountain that we were steadily climbing. As we approached the area that had the luge we saw a sign that said it was the last day of the world hang gliding championship. The sky was a traffic jam of hang gliders. It was really cool. We made our way up to the luge and got two tickets a piece. The luge was probably some of the most fun I have had in a long long time. You get in your own personal sled of sorts and it is attached to some pulley system that pulls you up to the top of the mountain. You have a lever that you can either push forward to go fast or pull back to slow down. I put my lever to the floor and went down the mountain as fast as it can possibly go. I was going fast enough my little sled lifted off the luge path a couple times. I felt, looked, and acted just like all the other 7-year-olds that were also riding the luge. It was AWESOME! My husband actually fell off his sled thing but he was okay. He was trying to videotape the experience so we will post that video of the luge and his falling. hehe. Anyway, the day was gorgeous and it was a perfect ending to our trip. We had so much fun.
Doug kept a journal of his thoughts and experiences on the trip and asked if he could take over the blog for a bit and share. So with his thoughts we will post the video and pictures. We are still uploading all the pictures and video but will post everything soon.
I apologize if you are getting sick of hearing about the trip. After Doug posts I will take back over and resume my blathering on life and design and whatever else. In the meantime, I started my summer class and am back at work and really enjoying being home. I've realized that I learned quite a few things on this trip. I could bore you with all that I learned but let me wrap it up by listing only the two most important things I realized.
1. Seeing some of these wonders was great, but in the end they are just things and a life lived well does not necessitate their visitation. Rome was brutal our first day between the rain and the tourists and the cold, and as we sat in the apartment I realized that I was happier in an empty roman apartment eating tomato soup out of can, sitting with Doug, than I was seeing every cranny of the Vatican. That was a pretty great realization, that I have something with me that is greater than all the wonders of Europe, and if I never see another "attraction" again, I will still die the happiest woman.
2. I love America. I appreciate other cultures and other lands but at the end of the day, I really like mine. The train back from Fussen was packed and no seats were open. When a group of elderly women boarded the train and would've had to stand for 40 minutes, it was a group of American young men that gave up their seats, to the perplexion of the numerous other cultures represented on the train. When the gypsies and beggars stand outside attractions, they seek Americans because they are the most giving. People think its because they have the most money but its not. They often don't. Its that they are bleeding hearts. For all of its faults and for all of the faulted people, there are so so so many good Americans. They'd give you the shirt off their back, or in our case offer you a place to sleep and something to eat to complete strangers, like in Civita. I could go on and on about my observations of Americans and Europeans but just generally, I want to say that I truly love my country and countrymen. And what a great feeling to return with. Patriotism.

sober in munich

so we are now in munich. also i am writing this on a german kezboard which appears to mostlz be the same but not quite. i have just a short time before we leave for a tour of a concentration camp. its a rainz cold daz here (as in fortz degrees or so) so it seemed like as good a daz as anz to go to a concentration camp. we left the rome after an amaying ok it looks like z and y are switched. got it. ok anywaz we left rome and headed to venice. it was perfect weather and venice was just great. it was so confusing walking around though. there are so many little winding paths and tall old italian buildings, each of which i investigated the tiniest of details like door knobs and shutters and what have you. we toured the not so touristy areas and happened upon a deserted area where there was a boys school who were singing on the second floor, just up enough we could only see their heads. as we listened we met a cute little kitty that i named jo (thats the name i give cats if i canät think of one for them) so we just sat in the deserted alley and watched the sun set over the water and listened to an amazing boys choir. it was just fabulous, like having a soundtrack to a really surreal moment in time. the next morning we left for austria. the train ride was gorgeous. as we traveled into the alps and the hills became mountains, the sheep became mountain goats and everything became a rich green that i always thought was just color enhanced in the movies. the sun slid behind clouds and we were brought back into a familiar gray. we found our cool old hotel and walked around downtown innsbruck to a full on band playing in the main square. they played a song from sound of music to draw in the crowd and then went on to their more familiar oomp pah pah stuff. we stood and listened but we could tell it was moments away from raining so we hurried so see as much as we could before it hit. late the next morning we left for munich. compared to colorful italy, munich feels very similar to the borne film interpretation of the town. we can see our breath outside and people wear black and walk fast. we went to a beerhouse that a local recommended. if you want to get a strange look ask for water in a beerhouse. if you want to get a strange look from us, set down a dish in front of us that we apparently ordered. i got meat patties and dill pickle mash and my husband got half a chicken, literally a chicken with all its glory cut in half and cooked. they have a blueberry pancake for desert so we ordered it. turns out german pancakes are the size of my torso. the locals all watched us with glee as we tried to put down even more food. eventually we ended up putting food in napkins and sticking them in our pockets for later. they donät do take awaz and we were paying for it so we might as well get it all. listening to german in a beerhouse drinking carbonated water and sticking chicken in napkins in my husbandäs pockets, i really felt like i was in a foreign country. we do the concentration camp today, and then salzburg and castles in the next day or so. i have loved this experience but i am getting anxious to get home. i miss ice and normal towels and mac and cheese and people not hating me because i am american. i wasnät prepared to have to work so hard every place we went to get people to not disdain us just because of where we are from. anywaz i will write again before we head home.

where all roads lead

well the last few days have just been a whirlwind. We left Strasbourg, travelled 12 hours by train, stopped in Switzerland and bought some chocolate and enjoyed the beauty of an incredible country, stopped in Milan where we saw a man passed out lying in his own vomit and urine, and arrived very late in Vernazza Italy. Vernazza has got to be one of the most picturesque places I have ever been. It has little winding streets and old Italian buildings and a little piazza and a coast line. The streets are brimming in the day time with old italian people dressed to the nines and every window is adorned with clothes strewn on a laundry line. There were more cats than I could name or befriend (and I can do both a plenty) so there were a lot. We were there for 3 or 4 days. I really have no idea about time anymore and in Vernazza I'm convinced you aren't supposed to. The first day was not raining or at least not as much so we just explored all day. It was incredible. You get the feeling that this world is entirely separate from the world you live in each day. The journey some of these people take just to go to the market (everyday) to get food is truly impressive. When we get back we will post all the videos and pictures so you understand. There was a brief moment of sun while we were sitting on the rocks watching the boats come in. It was the first sunshine we had experienced this entire trip and there was one brief moment yesterday but that was it. We savored every second. In this area of the Italy they are famous for their Pesto and we had pesto pizza. It was excellent. I was so excited to not be eating french food that I tried to eat everything in sight. The following day was raining, of course, and we visited the other towns in the Cinque Terre. We were reassured that we chose the best one by staying in Vernazza. On the last day we went to Pisa. I was grumpy. TMI but I was on my period and it was day umpteenth of rain and I was hungry and tired and in every picture of the leaning tower I am scowling. Its kinda funny now actually. We left Vernazza the next morning and went to Pisa where we daytripped to San Gimignano. This place was so rad. Its this old fortress type place and it looks out over the Tuscan countryside. We left there for Civita de Bagnoreggio. Civita is out in the middle of no where, lie where people look at you weird because you are a tourist and no one speaks English. You will not believe Civita. Its a deserted castle town on an island of sorts with a little walking bridge out to it. There are about 10 residents there and 1 offered a b & b. We had reservations but when we arrived no one was there. Its eerie being in a deserted castle place in the middle of nowhere Italy with no idea where to stay or where to find food or how to survive the weather. We said a prayer and out came a woman from what looked like a cave and we ran over to her. She spoke on Italian and essentially we conveyed to her our predicament. She tried to call the guy we had reservations with but to no avail. Finally she took us to what looked like an abandoned old building and out came an old man in a torn shirt. They spoke in italian for a while and then the man turned it us and in perfect American acccented english said that we could stay with him. Huh? Turns out he is from Georgia (the state) originally though he has lived in Italy for almost 50 years. He let us stay in this incredible apartment that he rents out to architecture students in the summer. I can't wait for you to see the video and pictures. It was insane. He was definitely a hermit and wasn't interested in answering questions but he was very kind and took a liking to me. He had 5 cats and when I won them over I think he came with the deal. hehe. Anyway we hadn't eaten in 12 hours or so since we had done Florence, oh yeah, we did Florence on the way to Civita. I'll just say David was way way bigger than I had expected and totally worth the wait. And the Duomo there was fabulous. Anyway, he gave us some cheese and a bottle of wine and a sausage. In the empty apartment we found some old noodles so I made noodles with cheese and sausage cooked in wine. I felt like a chef and we were so hungry it tasted great. We toured Civita this morning in terrential down pour and then took our soggy butts to the train station and headed to Rome, where I am writing this from. We are staying with some of the nicest people, the Oppenheims. They are a military family and very catholic. One of the 6 kids is getting confirmed tomorrow and so lots of family is in town, and then there is us. Ha. They treat us like part of the family here for confirmation. Its really fun. We are so happy to be here and be dry and be fed. This trip has been surprisingly hard. It has rained everyday nearly all day and rain takes its toll. Our recompense truly has been the people that God has placed in our path. Alvaro in London. Marie Jeane in Paris. Cathia in Strasbourg. The couple visiting Vernazza who worked at the embassy in Rome and offered us a place to stay if our place fell through. Tony the ex-pat in Civita who fed us and housed us. Marty and Nancy from New Jersey in Orvieto who raised our soggy spirits on the way to Rome. The Oppenheims here. Seriously, if I've learned nothing I've learned that God sends His love to me through these saints. I have been surprised at how rude people can be on this trip, and on the same hand been dumbfounded at the generosity of strangers as well. I want to always be a kind person. I realize now more than ever, just how far kindness can really go.

last post for a fez days

ok one more quick try on the dumb keyboard but i will try harder to find the right keys and press shift. so today we toured strasbourg and it is a really wonderful city. it is a perfect little european town and cool architecture. virtually no tourists come here, especially americans so people were really taken back when they found out where we are from. the caps comes on everytime i do a period so no more of those; the people here are very nice actually and not at all like the rude people in paris; this sorta changed our ideas about french people but not about french food, though we have found a number of things we like and i even tried sardines and some moldy yogurt cheese both of which took everything i had in life to keep down and my eyes teared up; strasbourg has a really cool huge cathedral that we toured and it rivals notre dame; really creepy gargoyles not at all cute like in the cartoon; creepy ones depicting them eating small animals and children; everyone here smokes and no one has children or is pregnant; there are youth but they are all about 16 or so because that is when they are done with school and so since few go on to univeristy they just hang out and smoke and make out in the streets; the flea market has shirts that say university of montana on them but spelled wrong zhich zas funny; also the signs for sandwhich shops say sandwhicherie hehe; in stransbourg because it is on the border of france and germany they speak both languages so singe doug can hang in german we have been mostly ok with the language barrier; so tomorrow morning we head to vernazza which i am guessing the internet is sparse there but i wanted to say that today was excellent and we had a great time and i now dont think all french people are azful; there is some really great food and some fabulous old cathedrals and gothic style; i am really looking forward to italy now and supposedly the weather will get better so that is great;

from strasbourg

first of all im writing this from a french computer so i am not familiar izith the keys: i also donùt knoz zhere the period is: so ze hqd q good time in london and stayed zith the nicest guy ever right in the heart of dozntozn: we saz the tower of london and the british museum and the british library and the globe theatre and st pauls cathedral and zestminster abbey and buckingham palace: i liked st pauls the best: ze went all the zay to the top and also down into the crypt and it was just amazing: oh and we did the london eye: this is taking a long time to type because all the keys are mixed up. hey a period: you ,ust shift; oh zell: ok and i will just do lots of posting zhen we get back because this is stupid on this computer; we dont like france so much; we did the eiffel zhere the workers were on strice so we could not go to the top and we did ,usee d orsqy zhich zas reeqlly cool: we did a boat tour and notre dame which was my favorite for sure: the next day we did louvre and the walk to arc de triumph and ze went to the top and ze also did versailles: we stayed zith an amazing lady that we met from couchsurfing she zas great but lived in a totally scary area but very real paris i suppose: overall ze do not love hard bread and nasty cheese and rude people and the cold zeather: her place zas nice though but very very s,all but this place in strasbourg is a,azing: its huge and so so fancy: pictures so,eti,e zhen i can find the buttons: so it is late and iù, sorry this isnùt a better post: noz that i read it it doesznùt ,ake any sense: oh zell: also i can not find the at sign to send an e,ail to dad and say i a, ok so pleaze so,eone tell dad that iù, fine ande zill find the at sign soon: thanks:

from london

just a few minutes to post really quick.
it rained a lot here today but we had a great time. we went to the london tower, the british musuem, the british library, picadilly circus, the globe, st. pauls cathedral, and the london eye. my husband is amazing at directions and he had us zooming around on the tube in no time at all. i discovered that my awesome raincoat is maybe not so awesome. anything not in dark colors sticks out like crazy. ha. oh well. um we tried eating at three different places and each of them was gross. um what else? they call strollers push tins. popcicles are ice lollies. gotta go