trampsing through Europe.

In Brussels Belgium

VENICE

CATHEDRAL IN VENICE

CASTLE WALL IN GERMANY

CATHEDRAL IN BELGIUM

AFTER A RACE IN THE PARK

I WAS SHOWING I WON BUT IT WAS MORE LIKE A TIE.

FONTONA DI TREVI ROME

We had a great time in Europe, we saw so many neat things and buildings, castles, old churches and amazing structures, windmills, enjoyed great art and architecture and ate the best ice cream in the whole world in italy, their gilatto is amazing of course we had to stop at many pastry shops too, every gillatoo and pastry shop was not neglegted by us and I must say they know how to live since they have choclate available on almost everything.

We ate our way through europe just as I wanted and predicted and I have the extra pounds to show for it :). We trampsed through 11 countries in a wirlwind type of pace wich was mostly fun, somewhat tiring sometimes but I'm really glad we got to see all we did. We flew into Paris and that day saw the cathedral of notre dam, the louve the neatest museum in the world and the eiffel tower all while packing our huge hiking backpacks and being completly jet lagged well at least me, then we took the metro or train down a ways and stayed in a city down south a ways of Paris, as they wanted about 250 euros on average for hotels in Paris, that's about 320 or more US dollars...ouch. The next day we hopped on the train and headed for Geneva switzerland but we got off spontaniously at a small town in France near the border of France and switzerland. They were having some festival remembrance for winning a war or battle with Switzerland I believe. They had a market and a few festivities it was a really pretty town by some mountains.

The next day we enjoyed Geneva, going on a boat ride, the alps and lake were beutiful but it was a bit pricy there too. The next day we got back on the train and stoped of in Milan Italy where Thain served his mission and enjoyed a nice pasta dinner and treats and visited a beutiful church there. The next day we hopped back on the train and stoped in Rome where we stayed for two days and saw the coloseum, fontana di trevi and san peitro and Cistean Chapel, it is amazing the great art work there, did some laundry emailing and off we went to Venice where we also stayed two days. It's a beutiful roman city built on the water, we were there on my birthday so Thain bought me a beutiful glass necklace, they are famous for making all kinds of glass art in Venice, we even got to see a glass scuplturer do some glass art and Thain talked him into making a little gondola there on the spot for us wich was really neat and then we had a nice dinner and we went on a nice gondola ride through venice.

The next day we were off for Austria where we stayed at a small town and took another train and bus ride an hour away to a small town in Slovenia, where we took a walk up the alps there and had a neat dinner and dessert and came back to Austria stayed the night at the hotel and then packed up again and were off on a train the next morning at 8 for Vienna Austria, there we saw some neat sights, a palace and church and stayed two nights in Vienna (Wein), where Mozart came from, and the next day we spent in Vienna Austria we took a train ride to Slovakia a town there, Brataslava, saw the Brataslava castle had lunch at this cute castle like resteraunt under the castle, the food was the most interesting but somehow not overly gluteny worthy so we had no trouble not overeating there but it was such a neat place and authentic experience we are very glad we stopped there, then we hoped a train later that afternoon for Vac Hungary and that town was suprisingly very nice and we walked the square had some of the best gilatto there and probably the best or one of the best dinners there too the food was just so good, I had fried sheep cheese and a delecious feta cheese salad, the fried cheese was pretty good but the salad and sides were wonderful and Thain had a very very yummy goolash type dish, venicen beef stew type and gnocci (potato pasta) anyhow then we got back to our hotel in Austria at about 12 or 1 in the morning after bieng in 3 countries in one day, and took off the next day early for The Czech Republic where we realized that Velka Bites the town Grandad's or Grandmas Mother or Father, I think One of Grandmas parents right? Was born anyhow we realized it was in The South Bohemia area of Czech so we Stayed by the Train station in Bern and took a bus ride out to Velka Bites were we got a cab after a little bit of trouble as hardly anyone understood english but we got a really fun nice cab driver who took us up outside of Velka bites about 40 minutes to this beutifull castle, very unchanged by tourists or time with the rain coming down on the fall leaves and the hills green and beutifull all around with so many little lakes and things on the drive and aroundm it was such a neat, authentic, mystical experience then we came back after and stopped by Milan's where we knocked on the door out of the blue and Thain told him we were his family he was a little skeptical or confused at first but recognized me pretty soon and was very tickled and pleased and suprised that we came. We enjoyed talking to them and looking at pics for a few hours and then they wanted us to stay the night but as our pace shows we were off the next morning to Prague it was really nice to have seen them though, it's hard for me to get excited about doing something like that but it was really nice and meant so much to them that we came so I was really glad we did, it was a highlight of the trip.

The next day we took the train to Prague, the train rides through Austria mostly were just gorgeous by the alps and castles on the hill sides are all over that area, through Czech the train ride was really nice as well and we visited a lot with a girl from Slovakia, who we talked a lot about communism and governments and such with her, her perspectives were very neat and intersting as in her life time Slovakia was still communistic under Russia and she told of how there were only a few of everything available two kinds of yogurt, shoes etc, very limiting and that it was discouriging for a professer, which is what her father did, to make just a tiny bit more then a house maid, it didn't encourage one to spend the extra time to do a higher end profession, basically she wasn't a fan of communism but didn't think the western world had everything all together either mostly because a lot of people in our country really are so very sheltered and ignorant about a lot of things and the moral decays and she thought many of Americans think there way is the only way but she also likes America in a lot of ways too and was very nice and intersting to talk too, I think she saw the value of what we've done to help a lot of countries too more after talking with us, it's just really intersting to talk to people who've had a completly different life. We missed our stop in Prague while talking to her, and went an hour out of the way got off in a small town in Germany got back on a train going the other way and finally ended up in Prague, a very famous neat city in the Czech Republic. We walked over this very neat bridge with saint statues all over it and beutifull sites from it and up to a resteraunt were we had some very good food, I had, chicken skewers, spinich soup and a very good chocolate crepe for dessert. We then walked up to the castle walked around a little and got back to the hotel late that night.

The next day we were off again for a long train ride through Germany 8 hours I think and stayed in a nice quite, cute town near the border of Germany and Belgium, we took a cab ride up to an old church around a castle wall and walked down and stopped at a market bought some good bread and strong but good cheese some of the samples tasted to me like rat posining or something I don't know some of the cheese we had was so really good and other phew it tasted like something that was just wrong to eat and belonging in the sewer or something and I have gotten to where I love the sharp chedder cheese our favorite cheese we had was probably a sheep cheese in France, it was very good.
Well anyhow we stayed a night in Belgium the next night, somehow I'm drawing a blank on what we did there but it was nice I'm sure oh yes we saw some beutifull buildings and went on a neat castle museum tour and saw this space building thing wich the museum was about the building of it and very unintersting and overpriced but the structure itself was impressive to see, it was called the atomium and we went to mini europe wich was not that impressive just a few resteraunts from different places, and then the next morning we we went to the de haag where they had a mini holland type of place wich was a miniture of all the buildings in Holland, with little people and cars and all, it was really kindof neat to see. After we took the train to Amsterdam and got a hotel and went to see a windmill, it was really cool because the guy there gave us a personal tour and we learned a lot about windmills, all of amsterdam is under sea level by 2 meters I believe and the airport by 4 meters and the way they keep the water out is by suctioning them out by the windmills, it was just really neat and educational. We then went on a boat tour wich was alright and had a nice dinner and then to bed as the next day we took off for the airport and home, we made the flight to the US in only two hours :)..........that is of course because we gained 8 hours from time changes. Well sorry to make this so long but that is a very short synapsis of the trip as is :). We had a great time but we were both really ready to be back too and even though they have some great things. I just love living in America and being home :). We are so greatful to Jen and Nate, Emily, Ben and Deven for watching Spunks for us while we were gone. Can't wait to see you all too for thanksgiving or Christmas. Time sure flies!
love you all.

CASTLE IN CZECH REPUBLIC ABOVE

VELKA BITES

IN THE HILLS OF SLOVENIA

PART OF THE ALPS REALLY :)

VISITING NEDOMA FAMILY

DISTANT COUSINS? IN VELKA BITES

THE COLOSEUM

IN ROME

IN THE BEUTIFULL CITY OF VENICE ITALY.