random pictures n° 2

Now that Julian, Phil and Ponyboy have gone home, we can steal their photos that we were too lazy to take ourselves. But the important thing is that we were there! Actually, I think they are all of Florence.

On Sunday we are heading to Scandinavia for seventeen days. Unable to find a campervan anywhere, we rented a car. The good news is that we pick the car up from Charles de Gaulle airport and drop it off in Amsterdam on the last day. Since our friends leave from Amsterdam, it works out perfectly; and double points for us because our flight is out of Eindhoven the day after theirs. So we will be driving, kayaking and camping accross Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and we hear its beautiful. We might even stay at a yoga ashram or two, as theyre popular in Scandinavia.

We still havent been to Versailles! Mostly because Louie and I have been going to sleep at ungodly hours- not because we are in our twenties and we are just 'lazy like that,' nor because we are out partying all night, but simply because it is LOUD here! For starters, there is a bar beneath us that seems to be the only bar in Paris which is open until four a.m.; also, theres a lady accross the street who cries all night, she has a massive dog that will bark (I use that term lightly,) at anything louder than the wind. Then theres the construction- both outside and in the apartment accross the hall- that seems to start at five a.m. every day. We really are lucky if we dont see the sunrise.

Anyway today we are heading to Hotel d'Ville (an area of Paris,) to find Haarem pants, which I have been coveting since we cam to Europe in May- everyone here has them! Everyone!

xo

Paris sight-seeing

Our friends Julian and Phil, (who we met in Berlin,) visited our apartment in Paris this week. They were here for four days, so Louie and I decided to save the touristy stuff for their visit. Phil and Julian flew back to Manchester today and we miss them already! You may recognize them from earlier posts like this one

During their visit, we went to Notre Dame (again,) Le Louvre, Champs Elysees, Arc du Triomphe and Sacre Coeur. Unfortunately, we didnt make it to Versailles- but it was no. 1 on my list, so over the next tweleve days we will deffinately be going.

In eleven days, Kelly and her 'mystery' friend are joining us in Paris for a night, and then we hit the road in Scandinavia. After that, we'll be spending three days or so around the Netherlands as we have a flight from Eindhoven to Barcelona on September 13th.. after that, its only nine days until our flight back to Pearson! Time flies..

Anyway, below are the touristy pics from our visit with the Manchester boys.

we (heart) paris

Not only is the 5th district packed full of open-air markets and lovely flower shops, but it has a Bikram yoga studio! If Louie finds stage work, it'll be like we are at home.

Two nights ago we went for a walk along the Sienne toward St. Germain de Pres, and we discovered hundreds of people waltzing to live music along the river! How romantic..

There is a really cool daily flea market down the street from where we 'live'; it has vintage furniture and racks of pretty hand-made cotton dresses. We see it every day when picking up croissants but are always too late to browse. One of these days.

Since most of the Michellin-starred restaurants are closed on Sundays and Mondays, Louie has put off trying to find a place to stage. He has been practicing his French though, so hopefully tomorrow we are lucky.

I don't have any new pictures, but our friends from Manchester will be here tomorrow and we have been saving all of the touristy stuff for when they arrive. I'm personally ecstatic about visiting Versailles palace in the next few days! Its where Marie Antoinette lived.. (swoon!)

love

ps check out this restaurant, The Hidden Kitchen, isnt this a great idea!? We want to go soo badly!

19 Rue Pascal

we moved into the Paris apartment today! Its cozy. And we have it all to ourselves for three weeks, (this called for a little unpacking.) Unfortunately, we also went for groceries today- unwise since its Sunday and the only places that are open are quite pricey. Still.. we are settled in at last. Louie goes off to find kitchen stage\work for his portfolio tomorrow.. Wouldnt it be nice if they paid him? Maybe in pasteries..?

Anyway thats all.

xo k&l

is it tacky..?

If I were to name this post after a U2 song? Like 'The Sweetest Thing,' ? The answer is yes. Absolutely.

U2 was (were?) great in Croke Park- the 'home base' for the Dublin-born band members, ( or at least Bono.. and really, isnt he the only one who matters? I'd say judging by his Second-incarnation-of-Jesus complex, it seems a bit of a silly question)Patrick, Louie and i enjoyed some 'semi private' seats wayyyy above the action, as our row was surprisingly empty. They played under a huge spider claw glow-in-the-dark sort of thing.. aparently the Rolling Stones stage (whatever that is..) can fit into it three times. Oh that Bono..

We also saw Westport, Galway and Lacken.. which I think I have mentioned. Still: after countless pours, local Guiness makes Guiness in Canada taste like cardboard. I hear it doesnt travel well, (you don't say..)

Following a rediculously unlucky series of events and about forty minutes of fitful sleep; we have finally arrived in Paris. Well, actually, Beauvais. Which is just as nice. We will be in Paris on Sunday, and for 3 weeks following that.

here are some pics of the concert (Croke Park holds eighty five thousand people! can you believe it?) in the four days that they were there, a quarter of all of Ireland went to see U2! No wonder Bono has a God complex..





Bono had the lights switched off.. Nice little trick, Hezeus, but we know that the 'milky way' was just 85, 000 cell phones.

Innsbruck, Salzburg, Dublin and Mayo

It appears we have been a bit lazy with the blog. But to be fair: we were camping for a while ( so no wifi,) and the camera was dead, (so no pictures.)

Since the last post, we have toured Dachau concentration camp; we have travelled to Innsbruck to camp with 3 friends from Manchester; and from then spent two nights in Salzburg. On last Monday, we flew to Ireland to meet up with Shane and Patrick.

When we arrived in Kranebitten, (near Innsbruck,) it turned out that our campground had closed; but we were rescued by an old Bavarian man in a polka-spewing gold Golf. We were sort of scared when he took off with Phil in the front seat, but eventually he brought returned to drive us and our packs to Völs- an even tinier village in the Inn Valley. We camped there, but got caught in a wild thunderstorm that didnt quit until late the next day. Of course we packed our tents up in the soaking-wet and freezing cold. Salzburg was much nicer. We were lucky to get a private room at Strawberry Hostel, which we crammed five people into for €12 each.

The flight to ireland was easy enough.. no complaints except that the Ryanair weight requirements are rediculously low, and if it werent for a girl we met named Ilo, we would have had to throw out all of louies clothes, (.. certainly not mine. hahah) She ended up with his jeans and briefs and socks (and anything else you can think of in her carry-on.)

Dublin is a great city! If it werent for the fact that there are virtually no jobs, we would move there.

Currently we are in Castle Bar (West Ireland,) and its beautiful here. Patrick was also kind enough to take us around to his cottage in Laken, near the Atlantic. It's stunning! We have also visited Westport and Galway. We also went out for a few typical evenings on the town which means that the Guiness and whiskey were flowing.

Tomorrow, we go back to Dublin to see U2 at Croke Park. Can't imagine a better thing to end our stay in Ireland with.

So thats what we have been up to.. just hanging out with friends and checking out the surroundings like a couple of locals. Our flight to Paris leaves on Thursday morning.. at half six.. in the morning. So to save a mid-dawn scramble from Jana's in Rathmines all the way to Dublin airport, we are sleeping there on Wednesday night.

here are some photos from the last couple of weeks!

Enjoy

ps.. i know alot of you were concerned about that pic on facebook- and just to let you know, louie's wonderful beard is GONE.

berlin round two: fail

We left the The Tent in München, with the intent of getting Berlin right the second time. This was a mistake: The rainy weather followed us the six hours to Berlin's Hauptbahnhof station; it poured all night and into the next afternoon. After an okay night at Mieninger Hostel (it was 13€ for the same cookie-cutter, flavourless accomodation we have experienced in similar chain hostels,) we traipsed around the city, packs in tow- trying to find accomodation with substance. Apparently so was everyone else: we visited seven hostels, (on both the West and East side of Berlin,) only to retreat to Hauptbahnhof for the 2pm train to München.

During our 3h 'tour' of Berlin's fully-booked hostels, however, we did manage to see the Berlin Wall, (and that aint all.. as Louie insists I mention here.) We also saw Checkpoint Charlie and numerous monuments to fallen soliers. So maybe Berlin wasnt a complete failure.

The train journey between the two cities is nice enough: shacks, (or houses,) in sunny shades of yellow and tan pepper the fields as they slope away from the tracks; I have no idea who lives in these sheds.. experience tells me that maybe they are gypsies.. although their upkeep suggests otherwise: flourecent bunches of flowers and vegetables line the meticulously manicured properties. Further down the slope, woods are so dark and thick that you'd think its impossible to ever go exploring inside- but, like Germany's best kept secret, every now and again there is an opening in the sweeping Evergreen and Spruce branches through which you can make out the forest floor. Covered in moss and littered with needles the colour of toast, its so deep that it seems like you could hike forever in these forests that were so recently Nazi territory. Kind of erie, don't you think?

Because we gave up our spot in the giant tent two days ago, we now have to stay in our own tent- which is actually much quieter, although I miss the comfey beds and wool blankets of the 100-man tent.

we are due back in Memmingen (1h outside of München,) on Monday, for a flight to Ireland to visit some friends- so over the next eight days we are thinking of going camping in Northern Germany (Sylt and Kiel,) if the weather stays sunny like it has been today. We are also considering a four or five day trip to Split, Croatia. It takes about sixteen hours to get there- not bad, not great.

Below are some pictures of Berlin.

keep it real
k&l

oh, ps:
our trip is half way over.. wow!! Here is a list of the places we have been so far:

Spain
Madrid

France
Paris (x2)
Montpellier
Lille

Switzerland
Zürich
Interlaken
Lauterbrunnen

Germany
München (x2)
Berlin (x2)
Frankfurt (x2)

Beligium
Brugges
Ghent
Bruxelles

Italy
Venezia
Fierenze
Bologna

Hungary
Budapest
Veroslöd
Veszprem

Netherlands
Amsterdam (x3)

We have flights booked for Ireland and Norway as well.

münich.. day 5!?

It's official: we have been at The Tent longer than any other hostel or campground (or hippie commune, lol) in europe- making this our favourite overall place to stay. And we just paid for yet another night. I think I explained before why we like it so much. And today we found an organic supermarket nearby- bonus!

Yesterday, our Irish friends left for home, (Mayo and Dublin,) so Lou and I are by ourselves kind of. We have met a few people but no one worth travelling with. We also booked our flights for Ireland yesterday, which we got for the rediculous price of 0€ plus taxes.. Ryanair is stingy though, and they'll charge you extra for anything they can. For example, every KG over fifteen, is 15€!! That's 23.00CDN!! Per kilogram!! (Actually, the exchange rate is 1.60 right now.. eek. So its more like 25CDN) We are going to do our best to cram ten of Lou's 25kg into a carry-on. (You may start the betting pools now.. ) we are a little worried about all of our camping gear, but we'll see what happens.

Anyway, we are just hanging around this place for the day, because if we go into town we will deffinately end up at Höfbraühäus, and at the bottom of a litre of dunkle bier. Depending on how you look at it: disasterous. By the way, Höfbraühäus is the place where Hitler convinced the German people to elect him, thus starting the Nazi revolution, pretty heavy stuff, its crazy to actually be there. But the saurkraut and dark beer is to die for.

We met some guys from Newcastle, but that didnt go far beyond having dinner together in the cabin. And we met two kiwi couples who have the beds next to ours, but again, didnt really go much further than fa riendly chat. We're okay with it though: after a week and a half of drinking with two Irish guys, I'm pretty sure we could use a break.

We are heading to Amsterdam (round.. 5?) on the tenth- no idea what day of the week it is anymore- to meet Ashley and her friend, Sarah. And then we will probably just hang around Germany and the Netherlands until our flight our of Memmingen on the 20th. the plan is to check out Utrecht, Delft, den Haag, Haarlem, Hamburg and Hannover. And maybe Berlin since we missed the wall last time. Ehhh..

Anyway there are some more pics below. Hopefully we have more to talk about after Amsterdam Round 5 and the Netherlands.

by the way, I hear you people in kw have amazing weather.. must be nice. We have had rain every day, and 'highs' of sixteen. Double wool blankets at night; and we are deffinately rocking the white socks-and-Birkenstocks look. Whoopeee..

love k&l

ps.. check out Louie's travel beard. Ohgod.. Is that Elias the Menonnite?? ( When we are in Ireland, I think Patrick is taking him to his barber for a straight-shave.)

münich, still.

This post is more just for pics than anything. Especially because I know everyone is checking them out here, as I'm too lazy for facebook these days.

Shameus and Patches, I know you're reading &seeyou guys in a couple of weeks

xo k&l

münchen & the hippie commune

We took the train to Münich today with Patrick. Thankgod the weather is cooler.. And we are staying in this wicked hippie commune slash giant 100 bed tent. Not kidding, its so cool. And immaculately clean.

Venezia was lovely.. I will (try) to post pics of the Realto

Thats it I guess. We will be in Münich with the Irish guys for 3 days and then who knows? Maybe Vienna.

xo k&l

Paris round two, Fierenze, Bologna and Venezia

Since the last post we have, (obviously,) been to alot of places. We have also met alot of people, who we've been travelling with for about 5 days now- two irish guys and two Americans, actually.

We crammed 5 people into a tiny hotel room in Bologna for two days; last night we went to see an open-air screening of Ingmar Byrdman's (sp?) films, in the square. It was so cool! I dont have photos from the night time, actual screening but i do have pictures from the set-up during the day.

We spent two nights in Florence with fifteen or twenty people singing and playing music by the David, which overlooks the city.

Today we are camping again, this time in Venice. We're seeing the city tomorrow- the way into town is fool-proof.. unlike the direction we took to get here, which took two and a half hours.

For Ashley and Shameus- 'Bonjovi and Gino Ganelli everybody' See you in Ireland!

brutal luck

It's almost miraculous the bad luck streak we have had lately. Where to start? First: although Brugges was adorable, we did not enjoy searching for our hostel for two hours, on foot, and then realizing it was actually a thirty second walk from where we started- lierally. I don't exaggerate, thirty seconds. If that combined with the crazy sleep-walker I mentioned earlier, werent enough, the second night was just rediculous: Long story short, the hostel staff go home at the end of the night, leaving 50 or so guests to their own devices. In this case it was us, about thirty 20-year-old English choir members and a few randos. Around 2:30 a.m. the fire alarm goes off- for an hour. The street is empty.. no fire truck, no Politie. And of course nobody knows what to do. Finally someone hits it hard enough to shut it off. It turns out that the people responsible are 3 30-year-old, coked-out Spanish guys who, at this point could be found in their tighty whiteys harassing some girls with an aerosol can- lighter combination. Eventually, they passed out in the hallway and the cops were called. naturally, they didnt do anything about it.

After that, we checked into a hostel in Ghent, (so cool, but construction on every street corner, im afraid.) At midnight, an alarm went off in someones bag- which was locked- and it beeped for about 45 minutes. Then, we went to Amsterdam for round two. After following some really dodgey instructions all the way out of town; walking at least an hour and a half back in; and then finally being helped by a really nice Brit.. we found our hostel. It is easily the most sketchy one yet. I'm not even going to describe it, but for 15€ each per night, I guess you get what you pay for. Lets just say I would NEVER take my shoes off in that place. Or shower. Eugh.. So today after we finally make it to Bruxelles: It is impossible to find a train to Paris. This is the first time we have had any trouble with trains, but apparently this is the wost weekend to travel to Paris for some reason. When we finally caught a wifi signal, it turns out Bruxelles only has one hostel in the whole central area! How is that possible!? Please.. We finally found a place but got so lost that we had to take a cab, and the place turned out to be pretty far out of the way. All this, because we tried to go back to Paris. But its worth it.. So tomorrow we try our luck in Lille. Oh and our feet are absolutely covered in mosquito bites.

Here are some pics.. hopefully I don't have trouble downloading them tonight. Fingers crossed- maybe our luck has turned around.

xo