Ciao ciao everyone! After almost a week going internet-free, spending the majority of our time deconstructing sheds, planting native shrubs, tending to the horses and eating lots and lots of pasta, we're finally back!

Worldwide Opportunites on Organic Farms (WWOOF) has been incredible so far. We're staying with a family of four in the tiny village of Portacomaro. Together, David, Chiara, Samir (6) and Oliver (2) have created an amazing farm where they keep about 20 horses, or Cavalli as it is said in Italiano, and are slowly creating a little chunck of heaven where they teach members of the community to ride.

Since we've been stationary for a bit, its been quite a dramatic difference to our previous travels. We eat lunch and dinner together as a family, and I can't begin to describe how amazing the food is here. Chiara is an incredible cook - using the simplest recipes, but all fresh ingredients and herbs. We eat pasta everyday for lunch (usually accompanied with fresh salad and bread), then dinner is when we eat the meat. They also have cows on the farm strictly for eating, so we've had beef the majority of our time here, though last night we had rabbit, a first for me. Hopefully over the next few weeks, I will be able to learn as much as possible from Chiara and bring some traditional Piemonte recipes home with me.

I'll go more into what we're actually doing on the farm in another post, but just wanted to let everyone know that we're still around, very well fed, and enjoying a brand-new type of travel.

Buono notte!

I’m sure it’s pretty obvious to most people already, but when you carry around a limited number of clothes and you’re constantly walking around cities, you tend to get a little stinky. Kevin and I are trying to avoid this by periodically washing our clothes at an actual laundry mat instead of just in the sink of whatever hotel we’re staying in.

Our most recent experience was in Bordeaux on last Monday, and I can’t say it was one of our best. There was a washing facility not too far away from our hotel, so we thought we could finish our “chores” before the vineyard tour we signed up for at 1:30PM. When we walked in, the first thing I noticed was the severe smell of cigarettes, so I thought, “Great, we’ll wash our clothes only to have them smell like an ashtray afterward.” If only that were the worst part of the situation.

There was only one seating area in relatively small place, and a very stinky, somewhat scary looking bum was sitting there. Rather than stay there, standing for a hour washing our clothes go around and around, we decided to run to the post and run and grab croissants across the road. Kevin mentioned how he was worried the bum would steal our clothes, I was just worried about the smell. When we returned, the stench was much, much worse.  It smelled like a port-o-potty, but without the pleasant chemical smell of sanitizer. At that point, we should have grabbed our clothes and just air dried them in the hotel, but we put our clothes in the one of two dryers. It worked for about 30 seconds, then nothing. Kev put a few more coins in – nothing. We checked the seams, played with the dials, but absolutely nothing we could do would get the machine to start up again. Kevin was livid. He had a few choice words for the situation, which he yelled toward the machine, and I couldn’t figure out why he was so upset. We only wasted 2 euro on the machine, no big deal. Then it dawned on me. Our clean clothes were going to have to go into the dryer that the bum was using.

Now don’t get me wrong, I was a bit upset when we first got in there and it smelled of poop, but I couldn’t hold it against him – he was trying to clean up, he was washing his clothes! But that was before I realized that he pooped his pants while we were standing waiting for the dryer. I kid you not, he got up from the bench, and left a puddle of poop, and with each step, another puddle was left behind. I will spare you some of the more grotesque details, but to give you an idea, I was gagging for the next 20 minutes while we waited for our clothes to finally dry.

I am happy to report that Kevin and I can look back at this now and laugh*, and neither of us have seen any adverse effects of the bum dryer.


*Just kidding, I showed Kevin this post before I put it on the website – he’s still upset.

A few days later, we’re in Bordeaux and I feel like it’s worlds away from Paris. We’ve been more proactive about finding people on Couchsurfing, which I feel is part of the reason we’ve enjoyed our time here so much.

Our first experience was on Thursday night. We walked around most of the day – saw the city center that is now all declared a UNESCO heritage site – then went back to the hotel and started to wind down after a long day. I was on the CS website and saw that there was a “Thirsty Thursday” event that night, starting at 8:30 at a bar that was walking distance from our room. What do we have to lose? Worst case scenario, we have a glass of wine and leave after 30 minutes of awkward silence. Best case scenario, we meet some great people that could teach us a bit about the city we’re in. We get there and see a large group in the back of the bar, assuming that they’re couch surfers. Kevin and I had no idea how to approach the situation – “Do we just walk up and announce our names? Do we wait until there’s an open chair…?” Luckily someone came up to the bar and I asked if they were part of CS. He made room for us at the end of the table and the night began. We were lucky enough to sit next to two incredible women, TJ and Maela, both who currently live in Bordeaux. We had a full night of wonderful conversation, learning about French culture and sharing travel stories. We left the night content and very happy to have been “proactive” about meeting people in the region.

The second experience was tonight, and I’m writing this just minutes after arriving back to the hotel from our night out. Let’s go back a few days - Kevin had received an email from Camille welcoming us to stay with her when we were in Bordeaux. We had already reserved our hotel for our stay, so it didn’t work to actually “couch surf” but she did invite us over to her parents’ house tonight for dinner. At first we were uncertain about it; did her parents actually want to have a few vagabonds invade their house for an evening? But whatever, let’s go for it. Again, what do we have to lose?

Tonight. Was. Amazing. I am blown away by the hospitality shown to us by Chantel, Eric and Camille (and her brother J). We had a wonderful evening full of absorbing conversation, fantastic French food and delicious wine. Their home was beautiful, to say the least. And as much as I love talking to Kevin, it was wonderful to be able to talk to someone actually from the country and talk about the differences between the United States. Did you know that going to college is basically free in France? We’re talking less than 500 euro for a full year. And high school is actually a challenge for students here (i.e. they have expectations far surmounting those in the US). Camille did a study abroad for her senior year in California and said that she never had to study for a test and passed easily. The math she was learning was equivalent to that of an eighth grader. The night satiated our desire for a home-cooked meal, gave us a deeper understanding of the culture, and for me, saved my experience here in France. Honestly, after another failed day in Libourne (story to come later), I was cursing our decision to come to France. But tonight really changed my view on the country – Merci beaucoup Chantel, Eric and Camille!!!

A few things that I’m going to take away from France – you can’t begin to learn everything about the culture by reading it in a book, or even by walking the streets of the city. The people are what make a place wonderful. I can’t thank TJ, Maela, Chantel, Eric or Camille enough for giving us such a warm welcome into their city and home. It’s been absolutely wonderful spending time with you and I hope that one day we can return the favor.

Liz

Alright. I was a little negative in the last post. So here's a few of the beautiful things that we saw over the last seven days. Enjoy!

Bonne nuit!

Liz

Ahh Paris. Everyone has an idea of what the city is all about, whether it be the stereotypical beret wearing, baguette eating, cigarette smoking monsieur or madam, or just know it for the rich history and beautiful sights it has to offer – the Louvre, Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame… the list goes on and on.

But there’s quite a bit that people don’t talk about when discussing the City of Light, so let’s begin.

Did you know that in Paris, dogs poop on the sidewalk and their owners don’t find it necessary to pick it up? Then, when two travelling Minnesotans walk through the streets for the first time, they both step in said poop. It’s everywhere. And you can smell it everywhere. Walking down the Avenue des Champs Elysees for the first time, “one of the most beautiful streets in the world,” you can’t look at the sights because you’re too busy looking at the ground for landmines. Luckily, we only had to clean our shoes once, but still – it’s disgusting.

Did you know that in Paris, when you reserve a hotel room, you should expect hidden fees, so a budget room then becomes extremely expensive? We spent a total of seven days in Paris, and stayed at two different hotels on opposite sides of the city. When we were planning, it turned out to be cheaper to stay in a private hotel room than it would have been to stay in a 12 bunk shared hostel, so we thought we’d be stupid not to go for it. When we first arrived at Hotel Saint Albert in the Batignolles district, we were met by a tiny Indian/Parisian man who clearly was not as enthusiastic as we were about life. “Rude” doesn’t really begin to describe his demeanor. Everything we said disgusted him for some reason, but we brushed it off – we’re in Paris! Nothing can ruin this! As we were paying, Kevin asked for the wireless internet password, only to discover that it’s not free, though it stated it was on the website we booked with. It was only 2 Euro a day, but still, it’s the principle of the matter.

 We went to the room – four flights up a small spiral staircase (which was also under construction), and found our “delightfully” small hotel room. Oh well – at least we have free breakfast and wireless internet. Here’s a trick we’ve discovered to make our dollar last longer. When you receive a complimentary breakfast, make a sandwich for the road – BAM! Instant lunch. But we weren’t able to do this at our first hotel because the breakfast was so minimal. Old croissants, raw eggs, and stale cereal. Joy. But it was free, so it was good enough. Fast forward four days when we finally can check out of the hotel. The expectation was to just drop off the key and leave. We thanked the man at the counter, to which he replies, “Du rien, but you still have a bill to settle.” Say whaaaa? We paid for the room, and regrettably paid for internet – what else? You know that awful breakfast I mentioned earlier? Turns out that was TEN EUROS PER PERSON, PER DAY. I was livid, LIVID. This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I am usually not very vocal about my anger, at least when it comes to dealing with strangers. Not this time, shaking my head, the only word I could find was “no” over and over again. I tried to explain how it said on the website we booked with how it said free breakfast and free internet, both of which they’re charging us for?? No way. For those of you who don’t know the conversion, 10 euro is about $13.50. So we paid $13.50 each for a few pieces of stale bread, muddy coffee and a packet of jam, whereas if I were in the States, I could have gotten TWO Grand Slam breakfasts at Denny’s. Apparently there was no arguing with this man, so we decided to pay the bill and get the hell out of there, never to speak of it again.

Did you know that when you leave one terrible hotel in Paris, you show up at an even worse hotel next? Our next place was on the East side of the city, closer to the Latin Quarter and Notre Dame. Again, it was pretty cheap considering, but at least it can’t be worse that the first place. Wrong, very very wrong. I’ll spare all the details, but here’s a brief list of the things we experienced at Hotel Saint Sebastian: dead/decomposing pigeon greeting us on the windowsill across from ours, hair all over the pillows and sheets (questionable as to where on the body they were from), mold in the shower, hair on the toilet (not from one’s head), the strong smell of methane throughout the hotel, construction that starts at 7:30AM, Wifi in lobby only, and an obligatory breakfast consisting of ¼ a baguette and one croissant. Not my favorite.

Did you know that in Paris, the stereotype of Parisians being rude is actually true? We came in contact with many locals throughout our week in the city, but only came across two helpful and kind people. Everyone has an attitude, even when you’re trying to buy something from them. “You want to buy a sandwich from moi? And I have to give you change? Ughh how dare you.”

Last, but not least…

Did you know that in France, you have to pay to make a reservation for the train, even though you already spent over $1000 for your Eurail ticket? This has affected us two times now, first by getting a 40 Euro fine on the first train we took to get to Paris, then again as we tried to leave - We came to the station early, waiting in multiple lines for upwards of an hour, only to discover that there were no spots left on the train. We’d have to wait until 6:00PM tomorrow before we could get a seat to Bordeaux, something I was not about to do. Through a bit of finagling, we managed to secure a spot, standing in the bar car for the four hour-long train ride. Thankfully, being in the bar car also means the beer is only a few steps away.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed parts of Paris. The sights are beautiful, and the first day in the city is pretty magical. But then the magic wears off and you’re stuck in a dirty, expensive city. We clearly overstayed this time, but hopefully Bordeaux and Libourne will make up for France so far. Kevin will be publishing a much more positive post soon, I pulled the short straw and had to talk about the negatives…

Sorry we haven't been posting as much. We've been busy drinking beer.

Prost!

After spending the last 6 days in the Netherlands, I became accustomed to their rail system. Though not everything was labeled clearly, I still could figure out how to get around the country relatively easily. Then we hit Germany. Our scheduled trip was from Delft to Venlo, and then get a connection in Düsseldorf that would finally bring us to Nürnberg in a little less than eight hours later. Simple enough. I had all of the connecting trains written down, along with arrival and departure times; I’m more comfortable when I’m prepared and organized. Little did I know that on our train from Düsseldorf, most people were more prepared than I and already had reservations.

We had been sitting for maybe 30 seconds before we were asked to move from our initial seats. Let’s try again. Finding another set of seats that could house two 35+ pound day packs, 2 day packs, and two humans was a bit tricky, but we managed. Then we noticed a small black rectangle above each seat with two cities stated – the first being the scheduled arrival of the man or woman who reserved the seat and then their departing city. I then began the countdown of when we were getting kicked out. We were currently in Köln and had until Frankfurt until we got kicked with das boot*. We prepared by looking up how to say “I’m sorry” in German (“es tut mir leid”) and I did my best to not look nervous/anxious. Oh, I forgot to mention, our Eurail passes are for First Class, so we’re surrounded by fancy Germans wearing suits, cufflinks, and highly polished dress shoes while I sit in a ripped fleece, a dirty shirt, and muddy hiking shoes. I don’t fit in.

So long story short, we do indeed get kicked out of our seats one more time by a very nice businessman, but we also discovered the magic of unreserved seats. Remember those black rectangles I talked about earlier? As we walked further down the train, we stumbled upon two seats with blank rectangles. Unreserved seats! Wunderbar**!



*Kevin informed me that “boot” translates to “boat”, but you get it.

**Another great thing - they give out free chocolate bars in first class.

Yesterday included:

Haarlem
Tulip fields
Bike rides (30+ km)
Bike crashes (only one)
Thatched roofs
Keukenhof
Silly Dutch kids
Orchids
Barnyard animals
Beer
And Pannenkoeken!

Fun-filled and action-packed.

Happy Queensday everybody!

Day three in Amsterdam already - we've tried to see as much as possible, though as Kevin mentioned earlier, jet-lag can be a downer. Thursday was pretty much a wash, without getting much sleep on our multiple flights over we were American zombies walking aimlessly through the City Centre. Did I mention that when we got off the train it was pouring outside. We're talking EXTREME rain. Luckily it cleared up a bit so we could find a place to stay.

Funny story - after spending the last  6 months doing nothing but research for this trip, I neglected to get a room for the first two nights. But fortunately Amsterdam is very traveler-friendly and we found a open room only a few blocks from Central Station called Hostel Aroza.

Bedtime was around 6PM Amsterdam time, 11AM Minnesota time. We woke up somewhat refreshed the next day, and headed out fairly early to see what Amsterdam had to offer. See pictures below of our adventures so far...

We've since left Hostel Aroza and are now staying at a Bed & Breakfast a little further outside of City Centre. The story of our walk to find the place will have to be for another time. Now, I need eat some fresh creme de fromage, fresh baguette, strawberries and wine. Goedenavond!

Greetings from the Toronto airport. We're here on a 2 hour long layover, then off to Reykjavik and finally to Amsterdam! We had a lovely 1.5 hour flight with a very handsome flight attendant, followed by a much less pleasant trip through customs. I thought everyone was friendly in Canada...

Believe it or not, this was the best picture I took of Kevin. Looking forward to an entire trip of awkward photographs.