where the wild things are

random pictures n° 2

2009-08-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-10T03:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

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..?

2009-07-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

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!?

2009-07-08T02:21:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

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

random pictures

2009-06-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

I have heard recently that there are more people following the blog than I thought, (awe.) So I guess I have to keep everyones interest: Here are some pictures that I havent had a chance to upload. Computers have been particularly slow recently but today, I have some spare time and alot of paitence.

We are currently in Brugges, Belgium. Its adorable, and as per usual the food is decadent. Today we tried Belgian waffles with fruit (which they make fresh in little street corner shops,) and we had fries from a place that has been around since 1894! Yeah, it sounds like we are being little piggies, but I have yet to try any Belgian chocolate, save for a piece that was served with my afternoon espresso. Its much better than taking it with sugar.

I suspect our hostel has a bed bug problem, as I woke up with a huge swollen lip and several itchy bites on my shoulers, (not only that, but there was a man staying in our room who talked- alot and very loudly- in his sleep. And he walked in his sleep, and he wasnt much more pleasant in real life. Hes gone tonight though.. thankgod,) ahh and breakfast was a riiiip off.. for these reasons, this is easily the worst hostel ever.

Since the last post, we have been to Berlin, Frankfurt (again- long story as to why we returned.. but there was free pasta involved,) and now Brugges. We've met alot of really, really nice people along the way: a soccer player-cop duo from Leeds; a personal trainer ´kiwi couple; a couple Quebecers; and a cool Aussie who has been travelling for 2 and a half years..among others. Most hostels have been great- the Baxpax place in berlin was wicked, but we were stuck with bunks in a thirty bed dorm. Frankfurt Hostel (thats the name,) has free breakfast; cheap beer; and pasta party night on Saturdays- where they play rediculous Gypsie Kings tunes (Bang bang Maria from dels ring a bell ?) and serve penne with tomato sauce and fresh basil.

Right now we are staying at Le (Crap) Passages..which we are sharing with a choir group from england. Very interesting.. 5€ breakfast: rip off; so-called free beer: not-so-free; very little security; and opening a window is a bad idea as the natural light reveals even more flaws; not to mention the place took us at least two hours to find, (of course it was under our noses the whole time).. But still: I have a soft spot. Le Passages has that rare, old-world charm: The product of dust and elegance- like a Grand Old Dame among several young, glittery bleached blondes, who refuses to retire. With steep, creaky wooden staircases, faded oriental rugs, and black-and-white 1920s photographs in the salon, Le Passages represents old-school Belgium.

Tomorrow we will be going to Luxembourg to meet a friend, hopefully. If not- Antwerp. We will know when we get to the station. Apparently its landscape is like a typical fairytale: complete with castles and misty forests.

Here are some pics, (of Switzerland, a bunch of inukshucks sp?* and some other randos ) but nothing from adorable Brugges, I'm afriad.

xo k&l

ps: horto, we have not forgotten about you. In Hungary, it was our good fortune, ( or perhaps misfortune,) that we had a chance to try Polinka.. Im sure you know it. We also saw the town Goolash pot down by the lake, where locals go to party.. Hahah. You would have loved it. And Despite what everyone says, Budapest wasnt exactly our cup of tea.

Frankfurt Hostel

we (heart) frankfurt

2009-06-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

After our stint in the Jungfrau region.. which was amazing.. we travelled the 26 hours to Veszprem Hungary, (you say Impossible! but i say: 2hours to Basel, an additional 2hours to Zurich, followed by 8hours in zurich, then 12hours by train to Budapest, and finally one metro, one regional train and 3 busses to Veroslöd.. plus some walking, as they drop you on the hiway.) Needless to say, i have never been more thrilled to take a shower. We were there at Jesses village of the gypsies for two days before moving on to Frankfurt. It was unreal.. a very humbling experience. Deffinately some good garden-fresh food though. Best cauliflower soup I have ever had.

Upon arrival in Frankfurt (áfter another 13hour train and a terrible sleep as per usual,)we were greeted with free iced coffee; pleasant weather; and were greatful to find a more-than-perfect hostel right outside of the train station. Excuse mý french but (quoting Louie here,) this place is the tits. The food is amazing of course:we had bratworst on fresh kaisers today for like 2euro..amazing! And I could live in this hostel, sans the annoying Brazillians who are currently keeping me awake enough to write this blog.. Okay on second thought: Maybe they should be thanked.

I realize that i have made a bad habit of talking about how amazing a place is without photos to prove it. unfortunately appologies are in order, as once again I dont have any pictures of the place we are currently visiting. I have pics.. but as per usual, the computer is painfully slow, (painfully,) and I only had paitence for 4 tries tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

hope everyone is doing well

with love from frankfurt,
k&l

Switzerland

2009-06-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Last night we left Amsterdam and took an 11hour night train to Basel, Switzerland. We arrived this morning at six, which was quite painful. Of course we got off at the wrong station and had to catch another train going to the other Basel station, (they are called Basel SBB and Basel BB. Ohhhhmygod.) and then it was another two hours and one train change to Interlaken. But its SO worth the hassle! Anyone who has been to the Jungfrau Region can understand why its easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! As per usual, the pictures dont do it justice but at least I can give you an idea of where we are staying. I know I promised more pictures, but this computer is painfully slow so here are a few, at least.

Tomorrow we are heading up toward the Jungfrau to camp for 3 days. Its the highest point in all of Europe, so it should make for very interesting camping.. Plus we want to see some Ricolah guys up there.

On the 14th we take another night train to Budapest, Hungary where we will be visiting Jess for a few days!

lots of love,

katelyn and louie

Montpellier, Paris, Amsterdam and the hippie commune

2009-06-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry its been so long since we last updated the blog.. Here's what we have done since Wednesday:

Took a train from Madrid to Barcelona, (which, in hind sight would have been better if we stayed longer then 3hours)

Took another train to Montpellier- which SUCKS by the way.

Camped for one night at a sketchy French trailer park.. and then in the morning got the heck out of there.

Took a train to Paris, stayed for two days.. but I wish we had stayed longer.

Took 4 hours to find the Eiffel Tower, then stayed for six minutes. Also so Notre Dame.

Took a train (well, several trains,) to Brussels and then to Amsterdam where we stayed in a hostel last night.. in the redlight district. Yeah.

And finally, pitched a tent at Zeeburg for tonight and tomorrow. Such a cool place, I would recommend it if you're ever in Holland. However, its FREEZING here!! Everyone is in coats. Its about 11 degrees/ cloudy..well raining sometimes. But to be honest we kind of like it.

Anyway thats it in a nutshell. More updates to come but here are some pics! ( appologies for the poor quality/ low resolution :( This computer really sucks )

With love from Amsterdam,

its quite difficult to get a picture of the whole thing, especially if you don't want to be mauled by tourists.

Notre Dame

Paris, the cleanest we have been in about a week.

The hippie comune, "One Peaceful World," near our campground.. really creepy in real life.. The pictures dont do it justice. I'll post more next time.

Last Day In Madrid

2009-06-02T03:54:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day in Madrid, but the photos from below were taken yesterday in the mountains. Nothing special.. we went hiking, had some lunch and went back to the city for gelato.

These shirts are rediculous, right?

Tomorrow, we go to Montpellier!

We´re Spoiled, and One for RyMac

2009-05-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

Today we made lunch, (biggest meal of á typical Spanish day.. six courses ohman,) for Carlos´s parents and 3 of his friends.. and us of course. There were 9 people, so you can imagine Louie, Carlos, Victoria and I have been up since 9am cooking. It was alot of fun though. Sorry to keep it short but pictures are better, and I´m in a rush because Carlos and Louie are going to eat my dinner, lol.- Anyway, here are some photos of the country side, the mountains and Carlos´s house there. oh ps.. did anyone know that its quite common for European households to have a permanently-placed spit, (of some sort,)in their kitchen, to hold an entire leg of Procuitto.. its crazy. Theres a HUGE isle in every grocery store dedicated to gigantic legs of procuitto, which are hanging absolutely everywhere. pps i still can´t find the question mark key on this Spanish keyboard

Also, Mac, as specifically requested, a pic of some ¨cool shit in Spain¨. This ones for you: ´(obviously,) its a bottle of Grand Reserva 904, Rioja from 1995- and we had a couple of them today. It was delicious and I thought of you when I was drinking it.

day 4, Madrid

2009-05-30T05:13:00.000-07:00

Carlos took us to Retiro Park yesterday to check out the cool statues, but first we went for Tapas. Last night, his friends came over and we had dinner together. We´re so lucky that everyone speaks such fluent English! If you´re from del´s I´m sure you´ll recognize the primavera alio olio.. i was jonesen.. Also, (and forgive me for not having any photos,) two nights ago after the gym, we went to a bar called Casa Pepe which is where they serve Spanish beer in 1.60 €, 5oz glasses, and FREE chicken wings! As you can imagine, the place was packed. Sure.. some had feathers in them still, but they we pretty tastey. I wish I had a picture of the bones all over the floor, though.

week 1- Madrid, Spain

2009-05-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hello from Europe!

We have been here for 31 hours and we´ve already eaten more food than a normal Canadian would eat in 3 days.. and wishing that we didnt buy our camping gear back in Canada, as camping accessories are SO inexpensive.

More importantly, the beer is also CHEAP- as you can see above, they pay less than a $1 Canadian for Heineken at the grocery store. 0.17€ for a beer, can you imagine! (this spanish keyboard doesnt have a question mark that I can find..) We bought a six-pack today for 3€!

Anyway.. Carlos´dad, (who is an civil engineer for the King of Spain,) took us for an authentic Spanish lunch today. I don´t think anyone understands how much these people eat, especially at lunch: for starters, they don´t eat until 3pm, as they have dinner at 10. Second, the primary meal of the day is lunch. And finally, all of this is because the bars are open from midnight until 7am. Wild. So lunch is about a million courses, served in a style that we would recognize as tapas, but they consider ¨´tapas´something completely different. We begin with two bottles of wine- for 5 people- and a glass of gaszpacho each; then comes Pan Tumaca with Serrano ham and lomo, then white asparagus with mayonaise, then croquettes with ham, then something they call Broken eggs, (which is really french fries with Paprika and blood sausage with a sunny-side -up egg on top;)THEN there was rabbit soup; more Pan Tumaca; another bottle of wine; and finally a steak with potatoes and red pepper. THEN dessert: cheesecake, honey dew, (which they swear isnt honey dew at all,) with walnuts; espresso; brandy; sweet wine AND cigars. Of course they thought it was hilarious when we had to take a break after the first Pan Tumaca.

On Sunday, we are going to Carlos´ house in the mountains to cook for 8 people. His dad is crazy about food, so pressures on and Lou has no idea what to cook for him.

Tonight we are watching the Barcelona- Manchester United game with some of Carlos´friends.. more on that later this week.

Sorry there isnt more to talk about. Madrid is a pretty flat, dry place so the photos arent the best either. It reminds me of Florida, sans ocean. Our hosts make up for the un interesting landscape though. Caleb, if you´re reading, I can´t wait for you to meet Carlos and Victoria!

Thanks for checking out the first post- they are bound to get better!

(here are some more pics from Madrid so far)

love!
Katelyn & Louie