London, England 7-6-08

We too the Eurostar train. It is so cool. It goes about 180 mph (240 km ph). We are all tired since we got about 4 to 5 hours of sleep last night. We arrived in london to catch a bus to our hotel. Our bus never showed up so we lugged our luggage to the tube (metro or subway). That was an experience. Once we got to the hotel the rooms weren't ready so we had to lugged everything upstairs to a holding closet room. Then we headed for the city on a walking tour. We walked past Big Ben, The Parliment and Trafalgar and Leichester Squares. We ended our tour in Convenant Garden. It used to be a market. After our tour we had a little free time before dinner. We had a snack (hamburgers and the most amazing mashed potatoes), we were a little homesick for American food. Then we walked around some more. After dinner Seth took us on an adventure to a fabulous 6 story soccer store that is cheap. But by the time that we got there it was closed. So we headed for the hotel. Most of us went to bed early.

Paris, France (Day 2) 7-5-08

Paris, France (Day 2) 7-5-08

So our day started early again. Breakfast was ok. It actually had yogurt this time. I was pretty happy about that. After breakfast we headed for the bus. We took a 2 hour bus tour of the city. We had the tour guide from hell. She thought she was so funny and really no one could understand her. So everybody was asleep for most of it. After that we were dropped off for about 45 minutes to get lunch. We again had hamburgers and fries. Chelsea had escargo. After that we got back onto the bus to head to Versailles. Again we had the same tour guide. Versailles was gorgeous and the gardens were amazing. After versailles we headed back to the city center and were dropped off by the opera house. We had 45 minutes free time. We pretty much sat there and looked at everyones pictures on their cameras. After that we headed to an early dinner. We had dinner crepes. They were pretty good but not completely filling. We also had crepes for dessert. Those were amazing. I am so learning how to make crepes. By far the best authentic meal we have had in Europe. After dinner we headed to the Eiffel Tower via the metro again. We got into line to go to the top and the police arrived and cornered off an area. We found out that someone had left a duffel bag unattended. They must get this a lot because it was taken care(blown up we heard the explosion) of within about 45 minutes but our group was impatient so we decided to go on our river cruise first. That was cool and really nice to sit down for an hour. We met people from Atlanta, GA. Thet were very nice and somehow they new we were from northern california. After the cruise we headed back to the Eiffel Tower. It stays light late so it still was not lit up. We took one sideways type elevator (similar to the Cograil) to the first level and then we stood in line forever to catch the second elevator. But the views were amazing. I could see how it could be romantic up there. The lights came on as we were on it. It was so cool. After we got to the bottom we met up with the group. About 6 of us laid on the grass nearby and stared at it in ahhhh. It was amazing with lights. Every hour for ten minutes the have blinking lights so we laid there in amazement and watched that. It was so cool. After all of that we headed for the metro and to our hotel. Bed late up early, AGAIN.

Paris, France 7-4-08

Fourth of July (American Style) 7-4-08

Kevin and Carly had a 4th of July BBQ. Kevin got a tattoo (A Pirate) with Robert on the 2nd (Robert's 18th Birthday). I heard that it got a little crazy around here. Oh well what is the 4th of July without someone getting out of hand..... HAHA.

Paris, France 7-4-08

So we arrived in paris and checked into our hotel. As soon as we were settled in, we met downstairs and started on a walking tour. We took the metro(subway) to get to our destination. So we walked for about an hour. We saw Notre Dam (no Hunchbacks though) and a few other churches and sites along the route. We had a little bit of free time and we did a little bit of shopping and got our first taste of a French Crepe. Not knowing what the menu board said we ordered what we thought was sugar and chocolate. It was actually sugar and coconut. Of course we all tried it and I have to say it wasn't that bad and I am not a huge fan of coconut. Then we met at our meeting place and talked with Steven (our very knowledgable tour guide). He is so amazing, I really think that he knows everything. He is from Kentucky and lives near Heidelberg, Germany now. He is thinking about moving back to the States at the end of this year. Then we were off to dinner. We ate a little cafe. It was ok. Then after that we walked up a hill and a million steps to a church with a view of the city. It was gorgeous. But we never found the Eiffel Tower from there. We were looking in the wrong direction. There was a little shopping area at the top and so we had some free time to go and get souveniers. We had our 2nd crepe of the trip (plain chocolate). After that we headed back to the metro to get to the hotel for bed. It was a very long day.

Colmar, France (Alsace Region) 7-3-08

Colmar, France (Alsace Region) 7-3-08

Well it rained in Colmar but fortunately it was pretty light by the time that we got there. We did a walking tour of the city and then sent out on our own. We immediately went to eat. Breakfasts haven't been to filling, so we were all starving. Most of us had a hamburger and french fries. It was pretty good. They don't really understand us very well, by far this has been the hardest place as far as the language barrier. After that we did some shopping and then we went to the museum of the person (Bartoldi) that built the Statue of Liberty and gave it to the United States. It was pretty neat they had a replica of the ear of lady liberty life sized. That was cool. After that we headed for a park in the area with fountains and a merry go round. It was there that we encountered some real french kids that thought it was funny to follow us and call us "be-ach"(that bitch in American). They continued following us for a few minutes. Chelsea had a flyer from the museum in her back pocket, and they got daring and ran up and took it out of her pocket and ran away. We were laughing because we new what it was. They stopped a little ways down and looked at us and ripped the paper up and walked away. It was quite a funny experience. After that experience we headed for the bus to drive to our hotel for the night. It was an early night in the hotel. Monique (my roommate) and I played on the computer for a long time, then we went to dinner, then we played on the computer some more and then we went to the cold tub. They don't believe in hot tubs here. So it was the same temperature as the indoor warm pool. After that we went to bed.

Lucerne, Switzerland (Day 2) 7-2-08

Lucerne, Switzerland (Day 2) 7-2-08

So we drove into lucerne in the morning. For me it wasn't a very great bus ride, I was not at all feeling well. It was so pretty the views were amazing. We went on an hour walking tour. The town is so beautiful. We went through the "walking bridge" that used to be part of the train station. Absolutely gorgeous. We also went to the lion monument. After that we had some free time. Nikki had something to eat (I opted for a roll and 7up)and then met up for the excursion Mt. Pilatus. That was so cool. We took an hour 70 minute boat ride on Lake Lucerne then we got onto the steepest cograil in the world that took us to the top. There wasn't much snow up there and it was somewhat cool but not bad. We were able to walk around and look at the views for about an hour. The views were so breathtaking and so beautiful up there. There is a hotel and restuarant at the top. On the way down the first leg of it we took a larger standing gondola with about 30 people on it. Then the 2nd and 3rd leg was a 4 person gondola. It was a tad bit scary. But once we got used to it, it was ok and amazing. Once we got to the bottom we headed back to the city center and had some more free time. We just looked around and then waited for the bus. We got back on the bus to go back to the hotel which was about an hour away. Once back at the hotel we had dinner (another good one).I actually ate this meal because I was starting to feel better. Thank GOD. After dinner the kids wanted to go to the bar again but a few have gone a little overboard with drinking so parents needed to help out (no drinking for me). So after everyone got a little pissed off about it most had went back to the hotel. Then at 11 we had to do bedroom checks to make sure that there weren't boys in girls rooms and vice versa. So we got into bed around 1245.

Verona, Italy and Lucerne, Switzerland 7-1-08

Lucerne, Switzerland 7-1-08

Well we arrived in a little village called Huttwil, Switzerland. It is a very cute village. The hotel rooms are small (or at least ours was). The actual hotel has a real cute cottage charm. My hotel room was across the street in another hotel that was linked somehow to the one that Nikki was in. Nikki's hotel was definitely more cozy and cutesy that mine was. We had dinner at the hotel and it was so good. We all just really appreciated it so much after our Italy meal fiasco. So much better than the 2 previous nights. From there the kids took me to a little bar for my birthday around the corner. Is all I have to say is "THANK GOODNESS" it was close. The kids once again sang me Happy Birthday there. It was so sweet of them to continue to think of me and my birthday. It was so much fun and I was told that i was a lot of fun. The kids (yes, the kids got me drunk) just kept buying me drinks. Then there was a Swiss Army guy that decided that he also needed to be part of the group that was buying me drinks. So of course my mother taught me well and I can't ever say no when someone buys me a drink (especially the Swiss (my heritage)). It was definitely worth it. I had a lot of fun spending my birthday in Italy in the morning and then Switzerland in the afternoon and evening. Not many people can say that.

Verona, Italy 7-1-08

The kids sang "Happy Birthday" to me as soon as we got onto the bus this morning. It was very cute. Our bus driver "Johan" gave me 2 small bottles of wine. It was very sweet of him. Verona was really pretty. We only had two hours. So we walked to the colleseum it was pretty cool. We did not go inside, we decided to sit down and have lunch so we found a cafe across from the colleseum. So while we ate our minestrone soup we people watched. It was really neat. They have a lot of street performers. After that we went shopping. Then we headed to Juliets balcony (Romeo and Juliet). It was pretty cool. After that we went to get geleto banana splits. Again I liked this town, it had a small town appeal. Unfortunately though the towns that I really liked, we did not have much time in. All for the good, I probably wouldn't have liked them if i spent more time there. HAHA