Wednesday, May 27, 2009

san sebastiannnnnn

so we spent our last day in paris in designer shops, wishing we were rich... my favorites were valentino (everything was superb, so beautiful and precise, i wanted all of the shoes and the bags and the dresses... basically everything... ) and dior (the gowns were so exquisite) and dolce and gabbana (everything. i've always loved dolce).. and we got ladurée again... we also did laundry and sent a package from the post office, so that was cool... the next day we were supposed to go to switzerland and had train reservations and everything... but we checked the weather and switzerland was going to be cold. and then we looked for hostels. switzerland is severely lacking in hostels. switzerland hostels are expensive. so we decided to get up super early and try to get train tickets to san sebastian... yay spain! so we got to the train station and the girl got us seats on a train that was supposed to arrive in hendaye (about 20 minutes away from san sebastian) at 4:35 in the afternoon... enough time to get a hostel... our train got held over in bordeaux for 4 ish hours and then got delayed and there were screaming school children and it was insane. we got to san sebastian at 10:20 at night. terrifying. noone spoke english and noone knew where a hostel was. we wandered around. scared. we found some english speaking people and they pointed us in the direction of a hostel... we went into the first one we saw and booked a night, we then got on the internet and booked the next night for the hostel that we are at now and then booked our rooms in madrid... exhausted, we went to sleep... today we woke up and went to the train station to book our seats on the train to madrid... after that we went to the beach!! i love the beach. love love love it. we checked out of one hostel and walked to our other one... which had... australians! surfing australians! australians in their wetsuits! australians without shirts on... aah, australians. so we like this hostel... we walked into town and got some tapas and sangria for lunch and gelato for dessert (i had ferrero rocher and coconut)... mmm tasty... and then we went and tanned in the local style on the beach... after that we hiked up to the big jesus that is on the hill... cool. then we grabbed some dinner and we're going to go see the town with our australian roommate tonight, sweet!
audios!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

ze louvreeee

alors, hier nous avons visité le museé du louvre... nous l'aimons beaucoup...

i should write in english, maybe? ok, so yesterday we decided to have an artsy day, so we started at the louvre. the louvre was huuuuuge. ridiculously huge. exhaustingly huge. as we walked into the museum after buying our tickets we saw the winged victory, which was beautiful. then, we decided to see the french, italian, and spanish art. there was so much and it was all very beautiful, it was mostly paitings with religious themes. we saw the mona lisa, so that was cool, not as impressive as we thought it should be, so we wandered on... we went to the african and american and island-ish art, where there was .... an easter island head!! so cool. much better than the mona lisa. we were way excited, then went to the roman and greek art which was nice, greek pots and such.. and then to the egyptian section!! it was so excellent, there were sphinx-es and sculptures and sarcophagus-es and ahhhh it was so cool. super cool. i can't even describe it. then we went in search of the venus de milo and stumbled across the dungeon part of the louvre, it looked like a castle, super cool, there was a "the louvre during the war" exhibit down there, which showed what they did with all of the art during world war two, it showed what parts of the museum were open and what parts were deserted, it talked about the bunkers and gas masks that they had for the employees, in case anything happened.. it was an interesting exhibit, one doesn't usually think of what happens to museums during wars. then we walked up stairs and were greeted by the venus de milo, which was beautiful, i am just astounded by sculptures, the detail on them is just unbelievable, so after seeing that we went to see the greek and roman sculptures which were so exquisite.... after all of that art we were spent, so we walked over the the jardin des tuileries and enjoyed a nutella crepe by the fountain, we took the metro to go see the catacombs, but couldn't find them and ended up at jardin du luxembourg, which was beautiful and filled with french people basking in the sun, so we decided to join them. we walked to notre dame for mass, which was quite the experience, notre dame is huuuge. and i mostly understood what they were saying because it was french, instead of flemish like last week... then, we took the metro to montmartre to enjoy a nice evening out with a nice dinner, and to see the moulin rouge! it was a lovely evening, we ate delicious warm food that was made just for us... something we have missed very much, the vanilla ice cream with dessert was the best i've ever had in my life...

today was our lazy sunday, we took the metro to the arc de triomphe and wandered down the champs élysées from there, it was glorious. we went to louis vuitton which was out of this world. so cool. after walking down avenue montaigne, where all the high end shops are (chanel, dior, valentino, etc...) we decided that we have to go back tomorrow, as they were all closed, and it is our obligation, as girls, to go back and go in and wish that we could afford anything, or that we had boys that took us to those shops and would say " oh get whatever you want..." oh goodness, that would be so nice. we went to ladurée which is our favorite place ever. french macarons and petits tarts to die for. so delicious. then we continued on to a park just north of the jardin des tuileries where we basked in the sun. such a wonderful day...

love love love

Friday, May 22, 2009

versailles!!!

today we hopped on the 10:23 train for versailles, when we got there we had to find the palace, which was about a 10 minute walk from the train station... we saw the golden gates and jumped in line... we were in line for 3 hours. so long. it was a perfectly clear and sunny day, there were no clouds to be seen, so needless to say, we're a little sunburnt. versailles was gorgeous, gold, so much gold, and there were beautiful paintings and statues everywhere. there were also rude, annoying, terrifying tourists everywhere, but i guess that is to be expected... after going through the palace, caitlin and i set off to explore the gardens, we walked to the village that marie antoinette had built, which was quite a walk from the palace, but it's still within the gardens, which tells you how huge the gardens are... we took the 7:30 train back to paris, and i'm exhausted... more tomorrow..

love love

Thursday, May 21, 2009

look flowers! don't smile!

aah paris. i may never leave. for serious. today we took the train to giverny to see monet's garden, which has been my dream since i was 5 when i saw linnea in monet's garden. best movie ever. since then, monet has been my favorite artist ever, i have the limited edition monet barbie, monet posters, monet stationary, monet beanie babies, monet thank you cards.... monet everything, so today was big. big big. we waited in line outside of monet's garden for an hour and a half ... long line + one ticket window= bad. but we chatted with some people in line, so it wasn't too bad. we walked in and it was like walking into heaven, it was soooo beautiful! flowers everywhere, vines wrapped around branches, green benches... so good. we made our way over to the pond where we saw the japanese bridge!!!!! and the green boats on the water!!! and water lillies!!! oh it was just so perfect. we wandered around giverny for a while and pretended to be belle from beauty and the beast, and then we took the bus back to the train station in vernon to catch a train to paris. we then took the metro to the louvre, because we thought it was the under 26 get in for free night, turns out it was under 26 get in for free day and the louvre is closed tonight... zut alors! we hadn't eaten in 7 hours and needed food, but didn't want to pay € 24 for dinner, so our only option was...... mcdonalds!!! hahaha so strange, we saw more french people in there than we've seen elsewhere, so that was cool.....on the metro ride back to the hotel we were working on our parisian scowl, in which you have to look bored, disgusted, and disinterested all at once, whilst judging other people's outfits and do it all with a pout... it's pretty difficult, but all parisians have seemed to master it, so i think if we keep working at it we might get it... or we might be too happy to look disgusted and bored, i guess we'll see... versailles tomorrow!!!

à demain!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

paris!!!!!

i love paris. i love love love paris. i may never leave.
our train got in this morning at around eleven and we were in the sketchiest and scariest train station that we've been at yet. and there was no information booth. and there were no signs in english. party. so we wandered around and got day long metro/bus passes... but had no idea where we were going, so we got on a train to st michel/notre dame... there was no info there either, so i asked the lady at the ticket booth and she said to go to the bookstore, so we went to the travel section and started looking for phone numbers, addresses, anything... no luck, but a cute little bookstore employee helped us... we bought a map and headed out, still lost, but so happy to be in paris that it didn't matter. we saw a best western and ran in and asked for the nearest auberge de jeunesse, he said that there were none around, so we had him direct us to an internet cafe, where we found the hotel that we are at right now. we took a bus across town and got a room for the night ... and hopefully for the next few nights.... we asked how to get to the eiffel tower, and lucky for us there is a metro line that runs from near our hotel directly there. excellent. we hopped on the next metro and were there before we knew it, we walked outside and down the sidewalk, then we saw it. and nearly fainted from overwhelming joy. omg. it was a dream come trueeeee. aah there are no words to describe how excellent it was. so excellent.

internet time is up!!!
love!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

amsterdam hates us.

amsterdam is not the city for us. it's cloudy, cold, rainy, creepy, and super sketch. and we don't smoke pot, so there really isn't a reason for us to be here... we went to the keukenhof today to see the tulips, but most of them were dead, which was rather depressing... and admission was freaking expensive. so we're not pleased with netherlands. we went to make reservations for our train to paris tomorrow. we can't get to paris without paying extra, because only high speed trains go there. the only train that wasn't booked at 6:26 am. so it's going to be another early morning, but that gets us out of amsterdam and into paris faster.... haha it's been a longgg day. we need sun, so we're thinking that we'll only spend a day in paris, because we need sunny, warm paris, and it's cloudy now, so we're revising the plan and heading for italy and greece as soon as possible....haha sorry, that's not a very happy blog....

so my friend pags had some things that she wanted me to blog... and if you want to know anything feel free to leave a comment, or email me (caroline.john13@gmail.com), or text me, or facebook me.... pags wanted to know how we're spending our money, if we've tried to read a newspaper, and if i've used the hairties that she made me pack.... we're spending our money on keeping us alive(hostels, food, water) we're spending a lot of money on water, which is kindof depressing, water is expensive here. the other money that we spend is on museum admissions, etc... we have been shopping a few times, and caitlin got some cute stuff... but i'm poor, so i haven't bought anything yet... i'm waiting til the end of the trip... we haven't really read a newspaper yet because the only ones we've seen have been in flemmish and dutch... we looked at a dutch newspaper this morning on the train... paris should be better for newspapers, seeing as i can at least halfway understand french... and no, i haven't used the hairties, not a single one, they're weighing me down, pags....haha love you.

love love love
caroline

Monday, May 18, 2009

baby went to amsterdam, she put a little money into travelling....

Hey everybody!
Internet is expensive and hard to find here... at least for me... haha but right now we have free internet at our hostel!!! so good. we're in amsterdam right now, we took the train from brussels this morning... but i'll start from where i left off in london....
so we woke up at 4:45 to catch our 5:57 train ride to brussels and from brussels we took the train to bruges. bruges is just the cutest little town, there are canals and boat rides and it's just so quaint. we took a train to a hostel, which had no room... so we walked down the road a ways to the next hostel and booked the next two nights. caitlin and i set out to explore little bruges, we went to the grand markt in the center of the town and wandered from there. we stopped to get some belgian fries, or friten, they were so delicious.. yum then we went shopping at h&m and zara and then we got belgian waffles, tasty. we went back to the hostel for a nap, and we met our roommates, a couple from chicago and a couple from spain? or italy? haha... that night we had a picnic dinner with raspberry beer, delicious.
the next day we set off to explore the town some more, we looked for a catholic church for caitlin to go to mass that night. we found two beautiful ones and kept wandering... then we went to a park with a see-saw (is that how you spell it? haha) and bounced around on that... then it started pouring on us, boo rainy, cloudy weather. so we decided that we needed to get to greece and spain as soon as possible. we need sun and warm weather! we're from a place that gets 300 days of sun a year! so we went to an internet cafe and looked at flights to greece and revised our travel plans. we went to the hostel to change into dry clothes and look at the map that we had gotten earlier. we decided to go see the madona and child at the church of our lady, it is one of the very few pieces by michelangelo that is outside of italy, so that was pretty cool, and there was a 5:30 mass, so we decided to go there for mass later. next, we went to do a tour of the only brewery in bruges, called the haalve maan... they brew 3 types of beer, a blonde and a bruin bruges zot, which are 6 and 7.5% alcohol and one called straffe hendrik, which is 9%... the tour was awesome, we got to see the history of the brewery and go to the top of the chimney to see all of bruges. we drank a blonde bruges zot and then shared a straffe hendrik, they were very tasty. we then went to mass and then got dinner...
the next morning we took the train to brussels, found a hostel, and went out to explore brussels. we went to the grand markt and walked around on the streets near it. we went to see mannequin pis, the little boy peeing... which is a big deal apparently... alright... there were a bunch of greek restaurants, so i grabbed a pitta greque... basically gyros with french fries rolled in it, tasty. caitlin had a belgian waffle and we went to check in at the hostel... after putting our stuff in our room we walked to the royal palace and the big park next to it. we went back to the hostel and went to the backpackers bar downstairs. we had some nice conversation with the canadian bartender whilst crazy 16 year old spanish students ran around the bar... party. haha then we played some guitar hero, which i beat everyone at. haha i suppose they don't have as much practice as i do...
this morning we took the train to amsterdam, locked up our backpacks and wandered around... we got some lunch at a little restaurant, i had a grilled cheese, which is popular here? because everyone is stoned? we saw lots of coffee shops. lots. and a lot of creepy people... tomorrow we're going to go to the keukenhof gardens to see the tulips! and then we're going to the heineken museum... then the next morning we're taking the train to paris! horray paris!!! we're both out of control excited for paris. so excited! i'll try to blog tomorrow about my day... love free internet. love it.

love love love.

oh and i'm not sure if i'll be able to put up my pictures until i get back, there hasn't been anywhere for me to upload them yet... i'll let you know if i upload them...

Thursday, May 14, 2009

beefeaters, magical trees, and double decker buses

So today we had our "be the quintessential tourist" day, so we started off taking the bus to buckingham place to see the changing of the guard, which was pretty exciting, lots of tourists.... lots and lots of french people, caitlin and i think it must be spring break for all of france, we've seen more french people than we've seen english people... so after the changing of the guard we walked through green park to hyde park, where we walked through the beautiful rose garden... everything is so green here! also, it's very humid. i feel like i'm never going to dry off. my hair is way curly and frizzy..... and i really want to go to the beach, so after amsterdam, we may go to disneyland paris, and then down to the mediterranean.... horrayyyyy! anyways, we found a magical inside out-ish tree in hyde park and went inside of it, there was magic. and faeries. and leprechauns. then we walked to westminster abbey and big ben. super awesome... but westminster abbey was expensive, so we decided that we were going to go to the tower of london instead... so we took the bus over to the tower of london from trafalgar square on a double decker bus! the tower of london was huge, we got to go through all of the towers and see where the kings and queens lived and we got to see the torture chamber... and we got to see the crown jewels!!!!! i need some of those. really. and when i get diamonds i need to name them. then we took the bus home! and now it's late, we were out for 9 hours and 45 minutes... lonnngg day.... we're going to go grab a pint of strongbow, crash and take the 5:57am train out of here!!! night!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

hallo from jolly old england!

hey everybody!
caitlin and i are in london right now it's a tad bit chilly, cloudy and rainy... british weather! yay! we have been up for 25 hours! and it's only 2 in the afternoon here! our flight got in at 8:25, right on time, and after money exchanges (£52 for $100... not ok), immigration (a terrifying british man, we thought we were going to get sent back he was so scary!), and getting oyster cards to get on the tube it was 9:25. we took an hour long tube ride to king's cross station, and were swept up and out of the station by hundreds of fast paced british people. we were under the impression that our hostel was near the british museum, so we asked for directions to the british museum and headed where we were told. with our huge, heavy backpacks and heavy purses. fast forward to us getting way lost, we found the british museum, but noone around it had even heard of the hostel that we were looking for! finally we asked in a hotel and the concierge looked it up on the computer for us, we were sooooo far away. outrageous. so we made the trek to the clink hostel, and arrived a little after 12:30. after booking ourselves two nights here, we went out for a yummy lunch of bangers and mash! now we're chilling at the hostel, waiting for check in time! a bed sounds so nice...

xoxo

Saturday, May 9, 2009

phone update!

you don't need to delete me from your phone!! i set up my international roaming today and i can receive text messages for free! ... it just costs me extra to send them.. so you can text me... i just probably won't reply.. haha... and you can call me, but it's super expensive so i probably won't answer...
i'm packing! it's harder than it sounds... 3 months of fashion into a carry on sized rick steves bag?
and it's sunday, technically... i leave the day after tomorrow!!!!!
love.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

oh hi...

so... i leave for europe in 4 days! tuesday!
and umm, this is my travel blog.
so i'll be blogging about my european adventures here whenever i get a chance to hop on a computer over there...
so yeah, it'll be a grand old time
umm in other news, i'll have my phone over there, and it'll be way expensive... so really, please please please don't call or text me! delete me from your phone if you have to! haha
yep. i'll miss you all! talk to me on fb and email me and whatnot!
oh and i'm hoping to post my pictures on my flickr account... and i don't know how to link to it... maybe this will work? and if not just go to flickr.com and my username is i dream of you beneath the flowers
yay let the adventure begin!!