Interlaken

We left Paris on Monday morning and arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland in the afternoon. The train ride through the Swiss countryside was beautiful. There were lakes with crystal blue water and gorgeous houses and farms along the coast. The hostel we are staying at is very nice too, probably the nicest so far in our trip. We were only planning on staying in Interlaken for one night, but we ended up staying for three and are leaving for Rome tomorrow. Interlaken is hands down my favorite place we have visited it so far. It is such a cute little town and the mountain tops and trails are amazing, the view never gets old to me. There is so much to do outdoors, like hiking, rafting, skydiving, swimming, etc.

Yesterday Kelly and I went canyoning which was a blast. We climbed to the top of a mountain and used a combination of jumping, sliding and climbing to get down the canyon through the water. While we were doing that, Kyle and Nina went on a hike through a few towns near Interlaken and had a great time. I think it was definitely a birthday that Kyle will remember! After our canyoning trip, Kelly and I met up with some of my friends from OU that I went to Greece with (that we randomly ran into) and went on a hike. The hike was so challenging, it was so steep at some parts, but the views made it totally worth it.

Today we went white water rafting. The rapids were insane, we went through some class 3 rapids and even one class 4 rapids - definitely a great experience. Here are some pics from our time in Interlaken

Just another weekend in Paris...

Sorry for the delay in posts, it has been hard to find an internet connection in the last few days. Brussels was a really cool city and we were all very glad that we spontaneously decided to spend a night there. The first thing we did there when we arrived was dabble in some authentic Belgian crepés and waffles with fresh fruit; needless to say, it was delicious. We ate lunch at a tavern where we sat outside on a nice patio right along a nice street in the city. When we checked into our hotel, we set our bags down and layed down in our beds...we ended up falling asleep for 4 hours, I guess we needed it!!! The next morning we caught our train to Paris....

Paris definitely lives up to the hype. The city is so beautiful and there is so much history and culture here. I think the Eiffel Tower is my favorite monument we have visited so far in our trip. Also, we went to the Louvre yesterday and although many people have told us the Mona Lisa is disappointing, we all enjoyed it. We all wore our DJD Fight On shirts and got some good photos taken around the city. The first night we ate at a restaurant called Fontaine de Mars, which is the restaurant Barack Obama dined at when he visited Paris. We drank wine and ate French delicacies and it was delicious. Last night we went on a dinner cruise through the city. It was another really cool experience and it was a fun way to see the city. Today we visited Notre Dame and a few other cathedrals. We also toured the Catacombs, which is an underground tomb for millions of Parisians. The bones of over 6 million people were transported from cemeteries to these underground tunnels in order to improve sanitary conditions in the city. All in all, it was a very enlightening and interesting day.

Tomorrow we are catching our train to Interlaken, Switzerland, my most anticipated destination!! Also, Kyle turns 22 on the 14th while we are there.

The first picture was taken at Grand Place in Brussels which is in the center of the city. The next one is the Eiffel Tower at night and the last one is inside the Triangle at The Louvre.

Bedankt...tot zien!!!

We arrived in amsterdam on tuesday morning after our overnight ferry from london. The ferry was really nice, there was even a casino and roulette was calling my name, but I resisted the urge! We were woken up in the morning by a steward knocking on our door saying "you must leave now!!" We almost didn't make it off the boat...so much for the wake up call we thought we were getting.
Amsterdam is a very interesting city. There is, of course, the redlight district, but the rest of the city is very beautiful and inviting. Today we went to the Vincent Van Gogh museum, which was pretty cool (even for someone who is not really into art). We decided to cut our trip short and go to Belgium tomorrow. We are catching a train at 8am tomorrow and are expecting to arrive in Brussels around11am.

Oh, and we saw Lil Jon yesterday on the street and I snapped a photo to prove it!

london

I arrived in london yesterday around 4pm and met up with the rest of my eurotrip crew at around 5pm at our hotel. The first 2 weeks of my trip I spent in Greece definitely flew by, I can't believe its over. I am, however, very excited to be with Nina, Kelly, and Kyle and start the 2nd half of my trip!

The weather here is beautiful, sunny and about 80ish. Today we explored the city a little bit and covered a lot of ground. We went to buckingham palace, abbey road studios, and hyde park. It is so refreshing to be in a city that speaks english, I definitely take communication for granted when I am back home. It was so relaxing to go to a restaurant last night and order my dinner without having to point to the menu and receive confused looks from the server.

The picture of the four of us is in front of the fountain at Buckingham Palace and Nina, Kelly and I are doing our best impression of Sherlock Holmes at the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!