France

Bonjour,

We are leaving Avignon to head to Barcelona tomorrow.

Lavender actually does smell pretty nice =)

Avignon was smaller, so we weren't on the move that much.

We did rent a motorcycle today... I know the parents are grabbing their seats right now.. but we made it out fine and enjoyed our trip through the french country side to some smaller villages and a few more castles and ruins.

We have 4 night in Barcelona and 3 in Madrid.. we are looking forward to staying put a bit longer, seeing what spain has to offer... and to tell the truth, look forward to our own bed with a good movie, and our dog at our feet.... We might feel different when we get back to 100 degree weather, but right now we are a little home sick...

finding where and what to eat has been the biggest challenge... of course we pay out the wazoo when stumbling into places and not speaking the language..

We are doing well and will be home on July 3rd.

Swiss

Hello Hello,

We only had one day in Switzerland but it was very nice... great scenery, but overcase enough to make us pass on going to the top of some of the very high mountains for a view...

We had quite a luxury suite in a hotel overlooking the water... we paid well for it, but enjoyed every bit of it after 4 weeks on the move in and out of 'could be better' places to stay.

I can't post pics right now.. resizing them is the problem of the moment. I'm sure Beth will update the blog soon, or when we return.

Europe... update

Brian here...

Well, the computer is chugging away on a slow usb connection, trying to transfer pictures from the memory card to the my 2Gb exteral drive... At these internet prices it would have been cheaper to just buy another 2Gb card... oh the lessons we are learning on our trip. The cost of knowledge I guess...

Since I can't upload any pics we'll update the site soon... Florence, Cinque Terre, and Venice have been great. Jared ended his stint with us in Cinque Terre over some good wine and tasty Pesto.

We are now leaving Venice for Vienna ... Ciao !

Cinque Terre Trail

A snapshot of the trail linking all 5 towns among the coast and hilltops of Cinque Terre... most of it weaving its way through terraced hills of grape vinyards.

cinque terre was great... 5 little towns along the coast

Herman finds a friend in Cinque Terre !!

Our new 'moto' !!! A sporty Suzuki, smaller than it looks =)

Leaving the port of Hora, Naxos - heading to Santorini

Kicking our feet u after a long hard day at the beach

Yummy !!!

Sunset, 2nd night in Naxos, what a way to turn 30 !!

Beth gets a surprise Bday gift

One a few beaches we past on our day long scooter ride

One of the many views from our mountain ride on the 'moto'

Beth speeds down the road on the 'moto'

Market in the town of Hora

Right at sunset in Hora, Naxos

Sunset on our first night in Naxos

Leaving the port of Athens at Pireas

Check out the clear Aegean Sea water...

Accropolis - Look at that happy couple =)

Athens - Agora

Santorini

Naxos was amazing, however we had to leave. We are now in Santorini which has amazing views... The hostel we booked our room at gave our room away so they upgraded us to a suite! It is right up from the pool and has an amazing view.... i had a little too much vino last night and have been struggling a little today... we rented a car and tomorrow we will be all over the island... but for now i think were just going to veg at the pool... ive been trying to upload photos and havent been having any luck with it... will keep trying :)

photos

tried to upload photos but they have the computer protected against tourists like me!! so when i can well upload some photos :)

Naxos is AMAZING!!!

Ok, so weve only been here for one afternoon and we slept a few hours of it away but Naxos is so beautiful! We decided this is a perfect honeymoon location...

Athens was fun but really a dirty city... We went to the Parthenon the Erechtheion and all of the other ruins in the area... We learned (the hard way) which way is North on the compass... We thought we were going South and ended up far far North of where we started... luckily we were able to find someone heading to the metro and he took us and showed us the ropes... Now we know which way is North and South on the compass :) It was nice walking the non-touristy areas of the city and seeing what real athens looks like :)

Naxos is amazing... our hostel is awesome... we have a balcony and stayed up last night playing cards and drinking local vino... which comes in a liter plastic water bottle and costs a whopping 4US dollars... you know im in love here!! the greek food is pretty comparable to what weve had in the states... everything is delicious and when i get home im going to figure our how to make "mousaka" YUM!!!

Today we have rented a moto bike and are going to explore the many beaches of Naxos and then head into the mountains to a kitron distillery... What a way to turn 30!!!

We're Here!!

So the trip over wasnt the best... we arrived at the airport 3 hours early thanks to my time deficiencies... then once we were about to take off sat on the runway for 2 hours waiting for the weather to be cooperative... so we missed our connecting flight... they put us on the next flight which was at 12:30 which was also delayed by 2 hours!!  The best thing that happened was we were upgraded to Buisness class for both flights for free!!  Man was it nice up there... Free wine... They gave us Brie and grapes, smoked salmon, ew each had our own tv and a choice out of about 50 movies :)

 

Finally got a good sleep last night... out room is nice, small but more than enough for us... it has a wrap around balcony and a sink... the bathrooms are down the hall... Around here they honk more excessively than in baltimore!!!  I couldnt believe it...

 

Were off to our first day of exploring...

First post

Well, we havent left the living room yet but i figured i would try and send out a post... we should be walking out the door in less than 15 minutes and im nervous as hell!!!!!!  Were going to miss Momiji so much... I know some of you are interested so ill lay it on the line... 6 pairs of undies... 3 dresses... 1 skirt... 1 pair of kapris... 2 pairs of pants... and 7 tops... and i feel like we have too much stuff!!!!

Here we go!!!  Lots of love to our family and friends see you when we get back :)

DesTiNaTIoNs

May 28th Athens, Greece
May 30th Naxos Island, Greece
June 2nd Santorini Island, Greece
June 4th Rome, Italy
June 7th Florence, Italy
??? Cinque Terre, Italy
??? Venice, Italy
??? Vienna, Austria
??? Prague, Czech Republic
??? Luxembourg, Luxembourg
??? Paris, France
??? Barcelona, Spain
??? Madrid, Spain

The dates are not set in stone and we may add Brussels in Belgium.......