¡Madrid!

Our Hostel- The Metropol

Urban Cow Tipping

Living the life

Rowing Away!

Lake in the Park

Statue of the Fallen Angel

View from our bedroom window

Palace?...Parliment?...World Bank?...sorry all wrong...it is the POST OFFICE MUSEUM!

Our friend Sam and me being good tourists!

Side view of Palacio Real (We just love this pic!)

In front of the Palacio Real (King´s Palace)

Leaving the Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor

¡Hola de Madrid!

After a lazy week in Barcelona we decided to head inland to Spain´s capitol Madrid. After a ton of research, and a recommendation by Mum, we decided to get ourselves Eurail passes. We got a global travelers pass and can now travel on any train we want in 21 countries in Europe. With this freedom in our hands, we hopped on a train and traveled at 300km/h to Madrid.

We arrived in the city and met up with one of our friends, whom we met at the Seapoint Hostel in Barcelona and is studying abroad in Madrid, and walked around the city. Our hostel is located right in the heart of the city so all the sights are a short walk away.

We strolled through the streets and discovered the beauty Madrid has to offer. It really is the unsung hero of Europe, as far as beautiful cities go. We are both blown away by the architecture and beauty of all the buildings. It is easily comprable to a London or a Paris.

After a day of travel, and no siesta, we called it a pretty early night and both just read ourselves to sleep around midnight, both of us eager to get a good night sleep so we could be fresh for a long day of walking.

Today we hit all the sights and took TONS of pictures! We started the day walking down the Gran Via, past the Museo del Prado and up to a beautiful park where we were told there was the only statue in the world dedicated to the fallen angel (El diablo).

After leaving the statue we strolled a little more through the park, dotted with gorgeous fountains, and came across a man made lake where we rented a rowboat and floated around for a good hour, enjoying the sun, the scenery and the company.

All-and-all it was a great day of sight-seeing. We walked everywhere and saw everything. There is a bar in our hostel and we are both looking forward to having a few cervezas and meeting some fellow travellers before we embark on our next adventure mañana (tomorrow!)

For anyone looking to come to Europe, Madrid really should be put on your list of places to go!

¡Adios de España!

Finally, pics from Barcelona!

The City from a tram across the main harbor

The harbor, a two minute walk from our Hostel


Hil on top of Montjuie with Barcelona behind her

Sunset over the harbor

Hil and I busing through the city

Glimps of the 1992 Olympic Stadium

Segrada Familia from the front

Sagrada Familia from the back

Beautiful Barcelona

Basically, Barcelona is amazing. End of post. Seriously though, the city is beautiful, cheap, and full of nice people. On our second night here, we met a group of American kids studying in Rome and we all just instantly connected. We spent basically the entire weekend with them, going out at night and laying on the beach during the day. It´s so amazing what a connection we had with them. They´re from all over the US like, Tennessee, Kansas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Washington D.C., New York, Washington, and more. We shared our travel stories and tips with them, and they shared theirs with us. The weekend was so good actually that we are altering our travel plans and stopping in Rome on our way to Greece to visit. We´re going to meet them throughout our trip too because as it turns out some of our destinations and dates match up. So cool!!

I still can´t post pictures with this internet, but today we did some ultra sightseeing of some amazing places. The olympic area was really beautiful and it was clear the the whole city was really revamped for the ´92 summer games. They have amazing architecture here and despite how different it all it, it really comes together and makes for an interesting city. If you have a sec and are interested, do a google image search for ´Sagrada Familia´and see just how beautiful this unfinished church is. It was started in the 1850´s by the city´s main architect and was never finished; it´s now being finished slowly but surely by private anonymous donations. Barcelona is an amzing place and I recommend it to everyone heading this way.

* spell check disclaimer still applies to this post.

Day 2 in Bar-th-elona!

We´ve been here in Barcelona for a couple of days now and are loving it. Our hostel is right on the beach so right off the bat this place is amazing. It seems odd to say that the beach could impress us since we live at one, but with the beach comes the entire costal atmosphere. We spent yesterday lazily wandering the Mediterranean coast before strolling through the marina and into the main area of town. Barcelona is so beautiful and so different from Paris and London. Things move more slowly, people move more slowly, and the prices are amazing. After practically bleeding money in Paris, it was nice to sit and have a beer that cost a mere $2 instead of $7.50.

Trevor is pretty close to fluent in Spanish and he is doing a great job at communicating and it´s making things much easier. When we were lost as all could be upon arrival late at night, we hopped in a cab and he was able to fully explain to the driver where we needed to be and even got some historical information on the city from him. After rushing from site to site for 3 weeks, it´s nice to just enjoy being in a beautiful l place.

Oh yeah, also, we´re going to EGYPT!!!! We found a 16 day tour which will take us to the Pyramids of Giza, Alexandria, rafting down the Nile, off roading in Jeeps, Camel riding, donkey riding, camping and more. Egypt was probably the primary destination for both of us but it faded as political unrest grew. After speaking to travelers here at the hostel and gathering information on the internet, we´re in. Both of us decided that we would be too bummed to come home having not made it there so needless to say we are beyond excited for what´s to come. March 20th!! When we leave Barcelona, it will probably be for Greece where we will spend the three weeks before departure to Cairo.

· Sorry there are no pictures on this post, the computer I´m on is a little antiquated. I also apologize for any errors in spelling as there is only a Spanish spell check; and lets face it, I wouldn´t even qualify to enter a spelling bee let alone have a chance of winning...

Buenos Noches

Hello! We arrived at our Hostel just a few minutes ago and are about to run out for some food, but I wanted to post really quickly that TRAVELING IS AMAZING!! We landed in Barcelona and got on a bus to our hostel where we promptly met 2 other Americans, one from Michigan and another from Vermont, heading to our same destination. The guy from Michigan was really cool (the girl from Vermont not so much) and right off the bat we struck up great conversation about where to go and what to see. He just finished his birth right trip to Isreal so we were able to ask him all about that because Trev and I really want to go there as well. So awesome. We´re so fired up to meet more travelers along the way. More to come...bye for now!

Au revoir Baguettes et Fromage

Not the sunniest of days, but the view was still beautiful. We had lunch down by that lake and it took forever to run there!

Taken by a photographer who clearly didn't get that we were going for a landscape view of the grounds...

The Hall of Mirrors inside the Palace. I swear it's not the mirrors making it look this crowded.

One last look at the sparkling Eiffel Tower before departure

Well we leave for Barcelona tomorrow so today was our last day in the city. We had a wonderful last day and are soon to have a wonderful last night as Caitlin, our host is going to show us some Parisian hospitality and take us to some bars for farewell drinks. 

Trevor and I were saying this afternoon how different each day is from the previous, despite the fact that we're still just out exploring Paris. Today we ventured to Versailles for two reasons: the first was to visit the palace of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette, and the second was to meet (literally for the first time) our cousin and his family. I'm not quite sure the cause of the crowds, as it is a Tuesday in February, but the palace was beyond crowded; so crowded in fact that some of its awe and glory was diminished. The rooms of the palace, as large as they are, felt reduced to the size of a dorm room for all that we could move around in them. The gardens and acres of land surrounding the palace however, were breathtaking (even without their spring bloom). Standing at the "back door" of the Palace for as far as the eye could see was palatial grounds; fountains, statues, lakes, gardens, pathways and forests lay before us. At one point while walking across the grounds, Trevor turned to me and said, I wish I could gallop like a horse; seriously though, it took a good 25 minutes to walk the length of the grounds. So great!

As I mentioned before, the other reason for coming to Versailles was to meet our cousin, whom neither of us had met before, for lunch. Our dad's whole family, as most of you know, is from England so other than my study abroad we have not made it over to England to meet everyone. We ate lunch at a restaurant right on the grounds of the Palace and the conversation flowed like we'd known each other for years. We started talking about genealogy and the origins of the Frimond family and our cousin who had done some research discovered that our name (and family) originated in Romania and was originally Friemund, meaning free world. How cool is that?! We're Romanian!! Anyway, we also talked about the usual stuff like work and the economy, but I figured our faithful readers would much prefer to know that they are friends/family with a couple of Romanian kids. 

So there you go, not a bad last day in France. I guess we'll just have to go to Romania now and visit our ancestors. Ta ta for now.

St. Valentine's Day

Stopping for a quick pic before crossing over the bridge to the left bank

Hil and I out front the Paris Opera House

View from a box inside the theatre.

Hil, Caitlin and I on the balcony of the Opera House.

Love how they decorated the place!

View to the right from the top of Sacre Coeur

Moi in front of Sacre Coeur

We realized after we should have just taken the picture together!

Standing at the top of the Champs Elysee in front of the Arc de  Triomphe

Sorry for the delay of this post...

Ahhh, there's nothing like being in the city of love on Valentine's day... with your brother!

There was no way of escaping the fact that we were in the midst of the world's most sappy Hallmark card as we strolled down the streets of Paris on Saturday. Couples to the left, couples to the right, couples making out with a flagrant disregard for the fact that there was anyone around who perhaps did not want to see their lunch in reverse. Anyway, enough of that, we actually had a great day out and about; we couldn't have asked for a better day as the sun was shining and was actually warm (36 degrees). Caitlin joined us and the three of us went to the Paris Opera house, Sacre Coeur and Monmatre. A picture really is worth a thousand words because I am having a hard time describing the beauty of everything; just enjoy what is above.

Yesterday we had somewhat of a lazy day as we spent it planning our next move -to Barcelona - and reading our books in the park at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Today however, we are heading to Pere Lachaise to visit Jim Morrison ('s grave site), and to Marais, the Jewish area of town for some good food, Victor Hugo's church,  and what we are told will be lovely sightseeing.

Just off the Metro Station!

Walking along the Seine

Just testing out the Water

In front of the Louvre

Hanging out with the Mona Lisa

Inside the Louvre

Sunset behind the Eiffel Tower

Hil all smiles before our walk home down the Champs Elysee

So we have left the UK and touched down in beautiful Paris last night. We took a twenty minute metro ride from Charles de Gaulle airport to our friend's house, who we are staying with, in the city. Tired, hungry and eager to get to our new temporary home we walked out from the underground to an unforgetable sight. We were standing directly next to the Arc de Triumph with the Eiffel Tower shinning beautifully in the foreground. We quickly whipped out the camera and began capturing this breathtaking moment. (Like any good tourist would!)

We woke up this morning around nine to beautiful, crisp, blue skies and loads of excitment about what we would see and do in the coming day. Our friends apartment is right of the Champs Elysee so, with the Eiffel Tower looming over us, we decided that would be our first stop.

After a ten minute walk, a five minute line and a two minute elevator ride we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower with a complete 360 degree view of the city. The view was great, but the weather could have been better. It was like being on a cold, stopped ski lift with freezing wind howling up your jacket. Needless to say we got our few pictures and were back down at the bottom, where the winds were non-existant, after about half an hour. Hil was really cold and needed to thaw so we decided to get indoors and where better to do that then the Louvre!

We decided to walk from the tower to the Louvre and see the city. We dawdled along the Seine and crossed almost every bridge we saw along the way. I can't even tell you how many times I had to pick up my dropped draw and pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming. This city really is beautiful!

We spent the rest of the day in the Louvre being mezmorized by not just the thousands of incredible works of art, but also the overall opulence, grandiose and beauty of the Palace itself. We spent hours walking the halls and only saw a floor and a half out of four total. I guess we will just have to go back again on another trip...any takers?!

We completed our day with a casual slow-paced stroll home down the Champs Elysee where we cooked ourselves a nice traditional...Italian meal! But don't worry, we prefaced the meal with a selection of lovely cheeses and baguette. Oh and lets not forget the red wine as well :)

Au Revoir for now!

Cheerio, London!

The view From the Whispering Gallery. A circular seating area looking down on the cathedral. A whisper in this location can be heard clearly 32 meters away, on the other side of the gallery.

The view from the Stone Gallery. About 300 meters above the cathedral floor.

Beautiful London.

A last look at Big Ben and all its glory

Well, we're heading to Paris this afternoon so this is the final entry for round one of London. Yesterday we had an awesome day; we met up with or flat mates in the financial district of London and went to lunch at the oldest pub in the city; it opened in 1546! There was room for literally 20 people in the whole place and the ceiling was no higher than 7 feet. For any fans of the movie Snatch, there is a scene where the characters are sitting making the deal about the sale of the diamond. Well, this scene was filmed inside this same pub - at the table we we sitting. Aaaaand, something we all found quite interesting is that the pub does not legally fall within the city limits of London despite being slap-dab in the middle of it geographically. By nature of some antiquated law this small area of the city (marked by black iron gates) is part of the county of Cambridgeshire.

When we parted ways, Trev and I continued on to St. Paul's Cathedral which was nothing short of amazing. Beautiful art, incredible memorials and sweeping views of the city from the roof of the dome. It was an absolutely beautiful day so once again we were lucky to be able to snap some great pictures.

We finished our day back at the House of Parliament where we listened to the House of Commons debate the financial goings-on of the country, and the House of Lords debate Marine preservation. Clearly the former was more relevant and interesting.

Our next update will be from a friends house in Paris. Cheers!