Amsterdam

In Amsterdam, we had booked a hostel for 2 nights that claimed to be just outside the citz. after an hour and a half shuttle ride we were kind of upset... we came back on the shuttle to amsterdam for the day and we had to come back earlz, before midnight before the trains stopped which sucked! So we decided (no other hostels were available) to do the pub crawl anyway the next night and just sleep in the train station again. It worked out and the pub crawl was awesome but we were VERY tired when we arrived in Berlin. The pub crawl was very fun and we definitelz got the amsterdam experience. We are in Berlin for 3 nights and then we are heading to Krakow Poland to visit the Auchwitz museum.

Brussels

Brussels was beautiful! Tommy and I loved it. We couldn#t find a hostel so we slept in the train station that night but during the day it was super nice! Most of it was in walking distance so that was nice, we spent one day wandering through the city, visiting the cathedrale, central square, and some gardens. It was a reallz nice relaxed day.  We also had the best belgium waffle ever with strawberries and whipped cream and belgium chocolate on it. Very good!

Paris!

When we got here, it was really disorienting. Neither Tommy or I could sleep on the plane...it was so hard. We got to Paris at 830am and through airport security and customs by 930am.  We kept asking for help from all of the information people but hardly any of them speak english so that was difficult. haha it took us 4.5 hours to figure out how to leave and which hostel was ours. We headed over to the Paris Clichy hostel to check in.  After a short nap, we went out in search for supper. We found a cute little french restraunt and ordered pizza.  We weren't sure what kind of pizze until it arrived...turned out to be 3 sausage haha. It was good.  We went for a bit of a walk and headed back to the hostel.
We woke up at 10:10pm and we were not sure if it was 10am or 10pm. haha I have never been so confused. I got up, got dressed, and headed for the shower. A guy told me it was morning. Then it got darker, so obviously it was still night. Then we slept more. Until 8am,
Today, we took the metro (which is atomated and easy to trick- we bought kids passes) to the Louvre. It is so huge. We walked around for 5 hours. Tommy got in trouble for touching the frames and funniest of all he set his backpack on a piece of art (not realizing it) to rummage through it for something haha. We also got in trouble for eating our bread on a bench. We bought a loaf of bread yesterday and ended up eating that as our lunch today. After the Louvre, we jumped on the metro and headed to the Eifel Tower. So exciting! We thought that we had bought passes for the elevator (not noticing the huge ESCALIERS sign) and after walking up about 4 flights of stairs we realized we were not walking to the elevator haha! So we bit the bullet and climbed all the way up. The stairs are outside so its 10x scarier than a glass elevator because it is painfully slow haha. But I survived. We rode to the very top from the 2nd platform and it was really nice. After the Eiffel Tower we came back to the hostel on the metro and headed to FrescoMarche which is a grocery store. For 11 euros (about 15 bucks) we got = 2 microwave suppers, a loaf of bread, a 6 pack of Carlsberg, an orange, and a bottle of Merlot. CRAZY!!!!! So now we are just at the hostel drinking a few beers, and relaxing after a really long and tiring day.

one more day!!!!!

Graduation tomorrow morning! And then we take off Saturday morning. Yay! Going out for supper tonight at Charisma to celebrate my graduation. That will be fun.  Haircut today at lunch and then (after a little bit of last minute packing and cleaning up) we will finally be ready for europe.
I sewed some sleep sheets for Tommy and I yesterday. So now we have sheets! Everything is almost ready.
Bought new shoes to trek around in:

Very nice!

Will post grad pictures tomorrow.

25 Days!

25 Days until Europe!!!  Still battling out my thesis! Once that is over I will be able to concentrate on going right away. It will be so nice! I made a preliminary packing list:

dressy jacket

2–4 shirts/blouses/tops

2 pairs trousers/skirts (shorts?)

10 pairs socks

10 pairs underwear

umbrella

swimsuit

dark (cardigan) sweater

rain coat

cover-up

scarf, hairband, bandanna

ball cap

1 pair dressy shoes

1 pair walking shoes/boots

flip-flops or sandals

belt

alarm clock/watch (batteries?)

flashlight, headstrap, extra batteries

multipurpose tool, scissors

Spoon, fork, plate, bowl

compass

whistle

door stop [for security]

inflatable travel pillow

hairbrush

laundry bag

daypack (fanny pack? purse?)

safety pins

Razor

(Ziploc®) plastic bags, garbage bags duct/gaffer’s tape (packing tape?)

toothbrush, toothpaste

shampoo, conditioner

bar soap and container

deodorant

mirror

nailclippers

Washcloth

universal (flat) sink stopper

detergent, spot remover

water squirt bottles

antibacterial wipes

toilet paper

analgesic of choice

diarrhea treatment of choice

infection treatment of choice

insect repellent

sunscreen, lip balm

tweezers

bandages (other first aid?)

tampons

water bottle

sunglasses

eye mask

earplugs

Pens

notebook

addresses

journal

guidebook

hostel card

passport

copies of important documents

driver’s license, health insurance information

travel tickets

charge & ATM cards, cash (traveller’s cheques?)

2 personal cheques security pouch [worn under clothes]

camera (extra cards & batteries)

Anyway. there are a few things that we'll need to buy before we go. I am super excited!!

30 Days!!!!

Backpacks ready!
30 more days until we leave for Europe!
Can't wait :D
We booked our first hostel for Paris for 2 days. So exciting! AND We have been looking at CouchSurfing too.  That's exciting. We are thinking of doing that in London considering it will take most of our budget to get us there. Now, to figure out how to pack for a month into a backpack!

Countdowns

36 days until the end of exams!!
80 days until Europe! So excited!

I just need to get through the next month and I will be so happy :)
36 days to finish all of my projects and thesis is scary though!!

Yay Europe

Very excited!
I applied to the air force today. So we'll see where that goes. Lots of stress due to my thesis and major project. YIKES! only a month to finish them!

Figuring out our route

Here is our tentative route:

Here are out priority cities:

Paris, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Venice, Athens, Istanbul, Krakow, Berline, Amsterdam, and Brussels

The main things that I want to see:

Mostly I am looking forward to the good food! Wine in france and italy, chocolate in belgium, beer in germany, etc.

89 days :)

Bought the tickets!

We bought our tickets to Europe!! We will be backpacking from June 4- July 5 starting in Paris :).  I am so excited now!

Woohoo! Now just to figure out where to go! and this will be Tommy and I :D

So excited! Now where to go in 31 days?