Roman the Streets.....

Hello everyone! THis is Kirstin. We finally have access to a computer for more than fifteen minutes, so I thought I would update our blog...finally!!! From Venice we took a train to Rome, a big city with lots of history. During our first day in Rome, we went on a bus tour. The day was HOT and muggy. Rome was much different than I had anticipated. The city is so busy and huge and right in the middle of big shopping malls and houses you see these huge monuments that are hundrends of years old! I couldn't believe it. Our bus tour took us to the Colloseum...wow! When we got off the bus we were swept into a picture with a Gladiator...who obviously wanted a tip for our picture with him! He was very affectionate and wanted a kiss for the picture. We said tough luck!!!!




The Colloseum was huge and amazing. We couldn't get over the fact that people had built this huge structure. Mostly slaves and servants. It was sobering to realize how many people had been exploited to create the monument. For hundreds of years, Gladiators had fought to the death. Only 2% of the Gladiators survived the death matches. The Christians were persucuted and many were fed to lions and other beasts as the crowds cheered on. It's sad to know that people enjoyed watching the torture and deaths of other people.



We stopped many places along the way and each place had some huge statue or monument. I thought I would take a little break on this bench and work on my poses for my upcoming modeling headshots. I think I look like a Roman, eh?

Along with the many sights, there were Vespas everywhere!!! Dodging the Vespas was a constant task!!! They come out of nowhere. In the big city, I now understand why people use them. You can't drive anywhere in Rome, it's so busy.



One of our last stops for the day was Trevi fountain. This was an amazing sight. The pictures don't do it justice. We were in awe of the beauty. The stairs around the fountain were absolutely packed with people. We managed to get down by the water and threw two coins each into the fountain for good luck and future romance!! Oooooh la la. The coins in the fountain are collected each night and are given to a supermarket in Rome that supports the poor and other various charities. Roughly three thousand Euros are retrieved from the fountain each day. Wow!!
Toward the end of our tour we met three guys from Kentucky, all backpacking to some of the same places as us. They were going to be leaving for Cinque Terre the same day we were. We all joked we might see each other there...and you'll have to stay tuned to find out if we do see them!

By the end of the day, were so exhausted from the heat and crowds that we bought some food and had a feast in a little park we found. We had quite a feast...and looked like a couple of bums. We had trash scattered around our feet, were sweaty, and were covered in bug bites. Rome has tons of mosquitos, and we all looked like we had chicken pox. Haley purchased this little device that is supposed to helo ease the itch of bug bites. It sends a small electrical shock to the bite. They didn't mind using it, and thought it would be hilariuos to randomly shock me with the zapper when I wasn't expecting it!!! Little stinkers.

THe next day we traveled to Vatican City to see the Sistine Chapel. We waited in line for about an hour and a half to get in, and just barely made it in time for the last visitors to get in. Vatican City is the smallest country and has an estimated population of only 826 people, most who work directly for the Roman Catholic Church as clergy or Swiss Guardsman. Vatican City houses some of the most famous art in teh whole world...and we got to see it. I was in awe. While studying at Willamette, I took a course on Renaissance art history and studied all of the art we saw. The

This fresco is Raphael's School of Athens. I never believed I would be able to see any of this in person. I was speechless. The Sistine Chapel was enormous. When we walked into the Chapel, the security guards told everyone to be silent and not take any pictures...we accidently took one!
If you look closely, you can see Michelangelo's famous The Creation of Adam. So cool.

After Rome, we left for Florence for one night. Florence is another city rich in Renaissance art and home of the famous statue The David. Unfortunately, we arrived on a day when all museums were closed and didn't get to see any of the art!! Our night in Florence we took a bus to a lookout point above the city. You could see all of Florence...the famous Duomo cathedral, theSanta Maria Novella, the Uffizi, and the Pitti Palace. Florence is one of the last preserved renaissance cities in the world. Some of the most famous Renaissance artists were from Florence.
That night we ate pasta on a terrace overlooking the whole city. We watched the sun set at the lookout and stuffed ourselves with Italian food!!! Yum. It all felt surreal.

The next day we walked around Florence and visited some of the famous sites such as the Santa Maria Novella and the huge and famous Duomo cathedral constructed by Brunelleschi. We also saw the Basilica of Santa Croce, the famous Bapistery, and the Santa Trinita.

After our exciting excursion, we headed off to Cinque Terre!!!!!

Dear Venice...thanks a lotto for the gellato.

Ciao, our beautiful friends and family fans!

This is Haley and we are in Italy, probably my favorite place on this earth! I travelled to Europe when I was 15 and when asked what my favorite city in Europe was, I never hesitated...Venice was always my response! That's why I was so excited to bring the girls here. We get in and the first thing we see is the large canal that runs through Venice. We then spot many boats and gondolas cruising through the water.

Venice is unique in that there are no cars allowed in the city. Boats are the main mode of transportation. If you need to hail a taxi, a boat will get you there. Feeling sick? The ambulance boat will rush you to the hospital. This is one of the many reasons that I love Venice so much! There are no street lights or loud traffic...no speeding and impatient drivers. No waiting for crosswalks and none of the rushing around trying to get where you need to go quickly. Everyone just strolls around the countless little alleyways and arched bridges.

The buildings are different here in that they use a lot more color. Many of the buildings are painted in orange, pink and yellow colors and work in brick and brightly colored shutters. One of my favorite parts about this town are the little alleyways which mostly measure 5 to 6 feet wide.

Our first day there was so relaxing because we didn't have any agenda, no big sights to see...we just wandered the streets and got l0st...which in Venice is not difficult to do! Venice is well known for a few things, one of them being masks. Almost every other store in this town is filled with brightly colored masks that locals hand make in their shops. I had been to Venice in 2000 and had gotten a mask so I wanted to get one this time. Lets just say that Lindsay and I love the mask stores...so, we would see another mask shop and just HAVE to go in. Kirstin felt a bit different about the masks. I think if she had seen another mask she might have passed out!

Another thing that Venice is well known for are the gondola boat rides. Young Italian guys in striped shirts paddle around and give you history about the town, they are also supposed to sing to you...but I have seen no evidence of that! All day we were wanting to take a ride on a boat but realized quickly that they were quite expensive. Then Lindsay said "what we need to do is just meet some locals with a boat!" I instantly doubted this idea. Like we would be THAT lucky! Well, that day we met a few people that quickly offered to take us for a boatride! It was so awesome! We flew through the large canal and then drifted slowly through the smaller rivers while our friend Argon told us a bit of history about the buildings surrounding us. We felt like locals just cruising around Venice.

Venice continues to be one of my favorite places in Europe. We felt separated from the world. It was a quiet, slow paced trip and we loved it!

I just want to mention a bit about my travel buddies! They are hilarious...we have a least 25 different one liner inside jokes since starting this trip (sorry to our friends back home who will be completely oblivious when Kirstin yells "butterflies!!" to Lindsay...ask us to explain this one later if you are curious). We are rarely bored together and laughter is not hard to come by around these two.

So, thank you girls for being so wonderful and helping me to have a trip of a lifetime! I can't imagine having this great of a time with anyone else! This has been a hard year for me and I am so thankful that God has brought you girls into my life!

Czech it out, we're in Prague!

Ahoy, Lindsay here.
We took our first sleeper train from Cologne to Prague...it was awesome. I went to sleep in Germany and woke up the next morning in Czech Republic ready to explore the city. I don't know if I have mentioned how much I love riding on the trains. I love getting to see the scenery and the time to relax a bit and catch up on some sleep.

We heard about a free walking tour of the city and soon found out how beautiful Prague is. We started in old town square where the first Astronomical Clock still stands. From there we ventured all around the city seeing different historical sights, churches, monuments and bridges. I really love the architecture here, everything has a big Art Nouveau vibe. Since Prague was never destroyed from war, the city is still in tact and beautiful. Everywhere we looked there were amazing buildings and castles. I felt like I was walking around in a fairytale land. After the tour we went back to our hostel to get ready for the evening. One of our roommates recommended a beer festival that was going on out in the country. Little did we know that there was a major hockey game happening that night as well, and it was being shown at the festival. It was the World Championship hockey game and Czech was in it to win it. The whole tent was going crazy with all sorts of songs and cheers, which of course we joined in although we had no idea what was being said. Czech won the gold and the entire crowd was dancing around on tables and benches celebrating. It was so much fun being a part of the excitement. The next day we continued exploring the city freaking out at how cute everything is. Our last day in Prague we went and saw the castle. The castle sits up on a hill and from the top we could see the entire city. What a view! To top it off, it was warm and sunny. There is a cathedral near the castle that took 600 years to build, I guess with all the gargoyles took a while to make. It was the perfect end to our visit in Prague.

One of my favorite parts of our trip has been the people we've met along the way. At our hostel in Prague we met Alex from Australia and Ashton from Canada. They are both traveling all around Europe as well, so it was fun sharing stories from our trips and getting to know each other. In every city we've been to we have met some great people. Having other friends around the world gives us a bit of our own traveling community. So thank you friends for making our trip so great.

PS: we will add more pictures of Prague when we have a computer to use.

Cheers,
Lindsay

Smells like Cologne!

I'm here!!!!!!!! I made it safely to Europe. This is Kirstin. I can't believe I'm actually here! So when I arrived in Cologne I was greeted at the airport by my two beautiful travleing companions. I was happily surprised to discover that Julian, (an exchange student that lived with Haley's family for a while) had a sister that let us use her flat downtown Cologne for the week. The flat is so cute, cozy, and easily accessible to downtown. I slept for 15 hours the first night (Lindsay thought she would be nice and let me sleep half of my day away!!) but it was much needed. Fortunately, I was able to adapt to the time change fast. My first day in Cologne was amazing. The three of us took the train to meet up with Julian at the city center. We walked around the shopping center for quite a while (and of course bought a few souvenirs!) and headed to the cathedral.

Dom Cathedral is a Roman Catholic Church that dates back to 1248. Construction of the church began then, but the church was not completed until 1880. During World War II the church suffered immense damage, but didn't collapse.

We walked around inside the cathedral...truly an amazing experience. I had studied the cathedral in an art history course while in school...and to see it in person....WOW! We had the opportunity to hike to the top of the bell tower...not an easy task, but before we did, we had to take another jumping picture! This is in the tunnel that leads to the stairs of the bell tower.

We took narrow winding stairs to the top, stairs that EVERYONE used traveling up and down. We thought we were going to pass out from stair stepping. The sight from the top was gorgeous. You could see all of Cologne, and the cathedral sets right along the Rhine River. Of course after our little jaunt up the bell tower, we were hungry.

The four of us ate at a small little cafe close to the cathedral. Haley had bloodwurst sausage with potatoes (surprisingly delicious), Lindsay had potatoe cakes with applesauce (yum!), and I had the best salad ever! Sauteed mushrooms, bacon, and onions! The Germans really know how to eat! After our break we shopped a little longer, than went back to the flat to relax. The three of us stayed in for the evening to rest up for the next day and plan the rest of our trip.

The next mornig we headed back to the city center in search of a post office and some good food. We had lunch near the central train station...awesome food. Lindsay had currie wurst (delicous), Haley had a sandwich that is pretty popular here (eggs, tomatoes, and cucumber), and I had a sandwich with brie and tomatoes. We weren't full yet so we had to have dessert. I don't know what it was called, but it was the greatest thing I've ever had. All I can compare it to is a doughboy donut, but way better. We sat down at a starbucks infront of the cathedral, enjoyed the sun, and wrote some postcards. Yes, it is sunny and beautiful here. It's been in the upper 60's, low 70's....perfect!

After our little break, we walked through old town Cologne, an area less touristy. We walked past an irish pub, heard some men speaking with strong irish accents, and of course we had to stop in. We sat down for a drink and started a conversation with some of the guys. We now have irish friends!!!! Kevin, Collin, Jim, and James!!! We talked for a few hours with them, asked them all about Ireland, where to go, where not to go. They are from a small town called Cork. All of them are finishing up carpentry and electrician apprenticeships, and head home to Ireland next Wednesday. Hopefully we will see them in Ireland! They were very friendly and extremely fun to chat with. We are definitely excited to visit Ireland!

Later in the evening we met up with Julian and a few of his friends from Cologne. We went to a huge dancing club and danced our socks off!!!!! So much fun. We met a lot of interesting people at the club and had a great time.

Right now the three of us are resting up, packing up, and prepping for our train ride to Prague. We leave this evening on a night train to the Czech Republic, YAY!!!!! We are so excited. We upgraded to a semi-sleeper train and will hopefully sleep during the night so we are ready for the day when we arrive in Prague. We arrive in the morning so it should work out perfect.....

We are having an amazing adventure together. Lots, lots, lots of laughing. I couldn't have asked to travel with better friends.

Well, signing off........we will update in Prague hopefully!!!!!

-Kirsten

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P.S: This is Haley, I wasn't able to upload photos from my camera...until now. Here are a few photos from our visit with Stefan that I couldn't put before.

Here Lindsay and I are doing another crazy jump picture in front of a government building in Hanover.

This is a picture of our gracious hosts that made us feel so comfortable while we were in Hänigsen. Thank you all so much!

I loved being here in Cologne to see where Julian lives and to meet some of his friends. Thanks Julian for making us feel so welcome.

-Haley

Berlin: much more than just a wall!

Hey guys!

It's Haley this time and we just got home from a trip into Berlin. Stefan, Lindsay and I all drove in on Monday and the first stop was a concentration camp near Berlin called Sachsenhausen (say that 10 times fast...I dare you)!! I had always wanted to go to a concentration camp but never really knew what to expect. This particular camp is one that still has a lot of buildings still intact so we really got the feeling of how it looked back when it held prisoners. Walking in through the iron gate which reads, 'work makes you free,' sets the tone for the feeling of sympathy and grief for the hundreds of thousands of people who had to endure such a place.

The entire camp is surrounded by barbed wire fence that once was electric. About 200,000 people passed through Sachsenhausen between 1936 and 1945 and about 30,000 inmates died there. We did an audio tour of the camp which gave us stories from the prisoners who were held there. It also gave us the history of the camp and explained what the conditions were for the prisoners, which were inhumane, to say the least.

The hardest point in the day for me was when we saw the cremation room and gas chamber. To think of how many people died there was overwhelming. This sculpture was placed near the building where a lot of the prisoners were put to death. It is in memory of every victim.

So many people that were put in the camp and treated like garbage, were put there because of what they believed in. It really makes me thankful for the fact that I can believe in my God in the way that I feel is true and right and I will not be punished for it. But, it did make me think..."what am willing to give up and sacrifice for my beliefs?" The time we spent there was emotionally draining and none of us really felt like talking much after learning about what happened there...

The next day we headed into Berlin and learned a lot about the important German city. A lot has happened in Berlin. And, as we have quickly found out since getting to Europe...we know hardly anything about European history compared to how much Europeans know about American history!

If you don't quite know what took place in Berlin...like me, then here is a little history lesson about the Country's capital city. In 1933 Hitler and the Nazi party came into power and quickly sought to destroyed the Jewish community, anyone who was against the Nazi party, and pretty much anyone who believed or seemed different than them. The estimated number of deaths from the Nazis are about 11 million...although this number is difficult for them to estimate. During the Second World War, huge parts of Berlin were destroyed during the 1943-45 air raids. Half of all houses were damaged and around a third uninhabitable. They estimate the total number of dead in Berlin from air raids to be about 30,000. Many of which were civilians. It took the city a long time to rebuild and you can still see some buildings which show signs of the raids.

This church was almost demolished until they decided to preserve the part that is shown in this picture. After the second world war; defeated Germany was divided up into 4 parts. Long story short, East side Berliners kept leaving the East side for the West because it was more prosperous. They didn't want to lose anymore of their residents so, just like any fair government...East German authorities decided to create a temporary barbed wire fence around West Berlin so that their people could not get in. Construction began at about 1 a.m. on Aug. 12 1961, streetlights were turned off so that no one could see what was happening and the residents had no idea until morning. Families were split apart and people who had spent the night in East Berlin, perhaps visiting friends, couldn't return to their homes in the West. They were stranded. Eventually a 96 mile wall was built up and East Berlin continued to be a communist city with a depressed economy until the wall was torn down in 1989. Now the wall is hard to find in the large city, a large piece of it is used for professional murals. In fact, it is the longest connected piece of art in the world!

Being in Berlin was amazing and we learned so much about a very important time in world history. I think the thing that I most took away from our trip to Berlin is just the examination of my feelings towards people who are different than me. Do I judge them or show them respect? Yes, the Nazi party did horrendous things...but we also live with Racism every day. It is up to us to change our hearts.

Anyway...I will stop ranting and I will continue on to talk about the wonderful Otte family who made our stay so amazing. I unfortunately can't upload my pictures on this computer so I don't have a picture yet but I will soon. They were so welcoming and Stefan's mom made amazing German food. We enjoyed getting to know his whole family. In fact, on the last night Irenne said "I wish we could have you here longer!" They were very sweet and we loved every minute of being in their village. Thank you's from the both of us! Tausend dank!!

So, we arrived in Cologne today and are visiting our exchange student Julian. Lindsay and I rushed to the airport to meet up with our final travel buddy Kirsten!!!! She was so excited to be here that we saw no evidence of jet lag! She ran around saying "O...M...G...I'm in Europe!!! I just couldn't be happier!" That was just at the airport...now imagine her excitement when we arrived at the apartment that Julian's sister is graciously letting us stay in while we are here in downtown Cologne! This is going to be quite an adventure! -Haley