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December 22 The end of an incredible journey...    And thus marks the end of an incredible journey...
Between the two of us we travelled to England, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Vatican City, Turkey, Greece, Spain, & Portugal in the last four months. Wow. What a journey.
Have we changed? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes. Are we glad to be coming home? Yes... but no, you know?
We have had a wonderful last two days in Nice. Last night Jen, Lindsey (a fellow Canadian friend from school), Adam and I went out for dinner to a restaurant and up on the Ferris Wheel in the Christmas Village, and then Adam and I went and saw a movie at the English movie theatre (where they don't sell popcorn... what the hell?!). This afternoon was spent walking around Nice and capturing it on film. We climbed up the mountain beside the Port and had an excellent view of an amazing sunset as you can see from the pictures. After, we made our way to our favorite pizza restaurant for one last amazing meal. We got pictures with the staff and exchanged addresses with them. They are being kind enough to let us leave all of our bags there for a few hours tomorrow before we catch our plane since we have to vacate our apartment by 10am and will head to the airport at noon. Then we shall fly back in time to you crazy kids and land in Victoria at 9:57pm your time, 6am in our heads. We are so excited to come home. We learned a lot this trip - Europe has a lot to offer. Here are some ways, however, that home has it beat:
In Canada:
Most of all, we missed our friends and family. That is one of the main lessons we did learn from this experience. One of my teachers here used an interesting phrase when describing the Mediterranean attitude that stuck with us: "It is me against my brother; it is my brother and me against my cousins; and it is my brother, my cousins, and me against the WORLD." Well, on that note... Aurevoir and we will see you soon! December 21 Hard to say goodbye...Well, like most things, we are finding that our "letting go" of this experience occurs in stages. At first, in mid-October, there was the "I'M NEVER GOING HOME...... NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Then, around mid-November, we found ourselves all travelled-out and longing for the conveniences of home. Now - with 3 days to go - we find ourselves nostalgic and introspective, trying to soak up every last drop of everything before it's gone forever. The other night we went out for dinner to the pizza place across the street (as usual). We were sitting there talking about how upset we were that we would likely never have this pizza again and we wish we could somehow get the recipe. Well, something I've learned about myself is that after 2-3 (but no more!) glasses of wine, I can suddenly speak French like Gerard Freakin' Depardieu. So when the cook passed by I told him how we were leaving and we thought he was the best cook in the world, and is there any way we could possibly know how he works his magic. Well to our surprise, #1 he understood me, and #2, he took us back into the kitchen and let us make our own pizza pies! He even wrote down the recipe for the dough! He does it all by eye though, so he wrote down the measurements in relation to a wine bottle, because there was one sitting there, so "about half a bottle like this of flour" and so on... so we'll have to measure out of one when we try to make it at home. The only sort of "mystery" ingredient was this weird cube of gelatenous yeast that he said was the key to the whole operation and it's what the French use in their baguettes. So when I get home I'm going to check out Victoria's selection of French Boulangeries to see what I can find. Once we get it perfected, we will make you all "Auberge St. Antoine Pizza" so you can see what all the fuss is about. Jordo had it when he was here and said we're not crazy - it's the best pizza EVER. Later that night, Adam being the thoughtful fiance that he is, told me to go out and have fun with all my school friends (at that big goodbye party I mentioned). I didn't stay the whole night, but long enough to get some pictures as souveniers. Looking back, it really was a ecclectic mix from all over the world... check out the pictures!
We are going to spend the next 2 days cleaning and taking pictures to remind us of our trip, we will post the last set of pictures on Friday
 .XOXOX Erin December 19 J'ai terminé! Woo-Hoo! No more school for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Now all we have to do is clean up our messy apartment and enjoy our last four days on the Cote d'Azur. Tonight we are going to a big party with all my friends from school to say goodbye - will post pics later!
XOXO Erin December 18 Last Days of Paradise....It's almost over. I find it hard to believe, but it's true, 4 months gone just like that. From what I've been hearing our lovely hometown of Victoria has been receiving the worst Fall in recent history (Rain, Snow, Wind, Abominable Snow men etc.)... yet Nice, France has had the nicest (pun intended) fall in its long history; I will miss the shorts and T-Shirt dress code upon my return I'm sure. Erin has only one remaining exam tomorrow and then she is all finished her Francais scholastic experience. I'm so proud of her, she has worked extremely hard the past couple of weeks and I'm sure it's paid off. I, on the other hand have been sleeping in, cooking, cleaning and packing. 95% of my Christmas shopping is done which is a relief, Erin is completely finished. There really is not much else to report, the skies are clear, the French are still rude and dog poo litters the streets in all directions....ahhhh I'll miss France. At least we will have memories for a lifetime as well as albums upon albums of fantastic pictures chronicling our many adventures.
See you soon, I can't wait.
Adam December 15 EXAMS = BOOOOOOOWhy the depressing colour, you ask? It is to illustrate my grim mood as I find myself smack dab in the middle of exam week. Four more to go (2 today, 1 on Monday, 1 on Tuesday) - I think they're going okay... and I guess I can't really complain since I'm almost done for good! All I can say is it's a GOOD THING THEY HAVE GOOD COFFEE OVER HERE!!! I'm going to need it.
BUT WE COME HOME ON SATURDAY!
Well back to the grind, wish me luck!!!
XOXOX Erin. December 12 Spain & Portugal RecapHola!
Well we are back
 . After driving around Barcelona and Valensia, The Gruesome Twosome (Adam & Jordo) picked me up at the airport in Madrid  . We spent that evening at a hotel in Madrid and the next day shopping and sight-seeing around the huge city. Adam bought me new boots! Yay! Okay, enough about shopping. The addition of Jordo means that Adam is no longer out-numbered by women and, as a result, I have learned that shopping and shoe-outfit combos AREN'T EVERYONE'S FAVE TOPIC. Je ne sais pas porquois, il est tres bizarre. So where was I. Right. After the boots (which are really nice)... sorry - we drove allllllll the way to Portugal (Lisbon, to be exact). It was here that we discovered we could tap into a wireless internet connection if we sat at the bus stop outside our hotel. It was a little cold, but a real step up from the bathtub. Lisbon was a really cool city - all of the building facades are made of different coloured tiles and the people (who, surprisingly, ALL speak English) were so nice. The food was good, but what you ask for is what you get - Adam and Jordo were craving hamburgers, so we stopped at a restaurant and I got pizza while they ordered "burgers and fries". I was laughing all the way through my pizza as I watched them struggle through their meals - two plain beef patties and French fries. I guess you have to order the bun, lettuce, pickles and tomato seperately. We had planned to spend the next night in Lisbon as well, but were surprised to discover that there was not one room at ANY hotel/hostel in the entire city. We literally got a list of all of them and called them all, and NOTHING. As it turns out, our mini-vacation fell exactly on a Spanish holiday which resulted in ALL OF SPAIN coming to Portugal for vacation. We finally found a room in a small town outside Lisbon, called Sintra. Sintra is the "Sidney" to Portugal's "Victoria". I actually preferred it, because I believe you can get a far better feel for the culture of a country by hanging out in the residential areas and seeing how they live, rather than navigating yet another massive city. In Sintra, we stayed at a big, beautiful bed and breakfast, and once again we were extremely impressed with the Portugese hospitality. We thought it was really neat how every time you go to a restaurant in Portugal, you see giant 20 person tables of entire extended families eating and laughing (and smoking) together. They would be there before we got there and long after we left. It seems that the culture all over Europe (but especially in the South) is to make dinner last all night, with as many people as possible. Not a bad philosophy if you ask me. I like dinner. The next day we checked out the town of Sintra and drove part way up a giant mountain that had a castle on top. When we got back into the car to leave, the CRAZY West-coast Atlantic weather (within 5 seconds) turned the beautiful sunshine into a freak hail storm! We sat in the car for about 10 minutes to wait it out. After it let up, we went to leave, and realized that the road on the mountain was one-way, so we had to drive up and over to get down. No big deal, right? Wrong. This road was made of super-slippery old cobblestones, and due to the hail, was causing all the cars to slide all over. Oh yeah, and it was like a 65 degree incline. Oh yeah, and that Spanish holiday meant ALL OF SPAIN was in their manual transmission vehicles trying to get up this hill at the same time (the hail made everyone want to leave). So, every second car got stuck in a ditch and the air was thick with the sound of burning rubber and clutches. Wow. Good driving, Adam! After that ordeal, we drove BACK to Spain, this time heading South to Malaga. We spent the night just outside of Malaga in Torremolinos. The next day we drove into Malaga, which was BEAUTIFUL (as you can see from the pictures). If this is what it looks like in the middle of December, I can only imagine what a paradise it must be in the summer. We had beautiful weather in Southern Spain, but not a whole lot of time. So, with what little time we did have, we drove up yet another big hill (with better luck this time) overlooking the city and were able to get a good look at the whole picture. Definitely a place I would like to return to one day when I have more time! After Malaga we drove from the South of Spain ALL THE WAY home to Eastern France. It took a little over 12 hours, and because Adam was the only person insured on the rental car, he drove the whole way, only stopping for gas and potty breaks. Very impressive. What was my role, you ask? I filled the key position of being stretched out in the back sleeping most of the time. Tough work. Sleeping in cars is not comfortable, but someone's got to do it.Well that marks my last trip within this big trip - which, sadly, is coming to an end. I am looking forward to coming home in 11 days, but not looking forward to the many exams that stand between me and my return. Adam's adventure is not over, however, he and Jordo are going to Switzerland today by train (I don't think Adam ever wants to drive again), leaving me to my studies. See you all very very very soon!
XOXOX Erin  December 11 Home, Safe, Sound and Sun TannedHello Everybody,
We just got home from Spain and Portugal, it's 3:30am but we are all safe and sleepy. Erin will write an extended entry tomorrow and fill you in on our cross-continental adventure. Until then.....
Adios,
Adam December 06 Off to Spain!I have posted new pictures of Adam and Jordo's crazy adventures in Barcelona. In a few hours I will catch a train to Marseilles and then a bus to the airport where I will fly to Madrid to meet Adam and Jordo. I'm bringing a big bag of homework with the best of intentions. Hopefully driving through the South of Spain and Portugal won't provide too many distractions
 . In other news, today is my fantastic sister Jennifer's 27th birthday. So to you I say:
  "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Voila. Your birthday wish has now been immortalized for all time on the World Wide Web (or at least until my MySpace account expires... which is probably the more likely outcome).
See you in 17 days!
Love,
Erin. December 05 Spain, Sea Views and Stolen CarsHello again from Spain,
The following story is not only a lesson learned, but also 100% true. Jordan and I awoke Sunday morning in Barcelona ready to hit the town in our ugly (yet very fuel efficient) Citoen Xsara. As we neared where we had parked the car last night I immeaditely knew something was wrong, terrribly wrong, the car was not there, it had been STOLEN!!!!! Or so we thought. After asking a few nearby police in Spanglish what we should do (and getting only raised eyebrows and demonstrative hand gestures) we decided to go back to the hostel and talk to some other English speaking folk. Appearantly, only residents are only allowed to park in Barcelona, we had been towed, but where? Turns out it was on the other side of a mountain, about a 30 euro cab away (and money is getting tight), so we decided "Why not walk there and see the city!" Bad decision. 3 hours and many cactus scratches later (yes we pushed our way through a cactus forest!) we had found our way through the bush and over the mountain. Now we faced a 182 Euro impound and tow bill, unfortunately there was no way around that mountain, we paid, and grumbled mightily about it, in English this time.
Now the good news. Barcelona was a great city, one of my favorites to be sure. It has a mix of old world charm (architecture, areas of town, churches) and new world flair (such as their ultra-modern port and futuristic themed buildings). However, my favourite part of the city were it`s numerous breath taking parks. Some down by the Mediterranean, some perched atop the local hills, just the place for an ice cream cone and a good conversation. Oh, and did I mention it was a sunny 25 degrees out (sorry Canada!). This morning we drove 3 hours down the coast to Valencia. It is an extremely clean and beautiful city right on the Sea. We explored much of the city today and will do more of the same tomorrow. We plan on leaving for Madrid at 3:00pm to pick up Erin. We have booked a nice hostel right in the middle of downtown, I am sure it will be fun. Stayed tuned for many more adventures to come.....
Your Amigo,
Adam December 04 New photos!Well I just posted the rest of Adam's Italy pictures. Unfortunately, they were untitled, so I named the ones I was sure of, for example the picture of chickens is now aptly labeled "chickens". I left the rest up to your imagination. I'd post some pictures of my last couple of weeks, but they would consist of me doing homework and sitting in the tub trying to establish an internet connection. Vivre le France! I'm flying to Spain in a couple of days, however, and will likely have something exciting to show you then. Until then, I shall live vicariously through my gorgeous fiance and his strapping friend Jordo
 .See you in a couple of weeks!
Erin December 03 Hola from Espagne!!!After two days in Nice (It was great seeing Erin!!) Jordo and I decided to head South to Spain. We arrived in Barcelona this afternoon and plan on spending the next two nights here before making our way to Madrid to pick up Erin on the 6th. Not much else to report other than we are happy, healthy and spending entirely too much money!
Buenas Noches,
Adam December 01 Road Trip Volume TwoBack from Italy, I would like to think I have been in some stressful moments in my short driving career, road tests, Vancouver etc, however, that was before driving in Rome, during rush hour, without a map or directions, amongst the millions of scooters and life long Roman drivers, breath-taking but not in the Good way. It took Jordan and I an hour and a half to get from the city center to the highway. Rome was good other than that. We saw the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, VE Monument again and this time we were able to get into the coliseum. Amazing they built it in only 8 years (and Victoria’s Save On Foods Center took RG Properties 5 years to complete in Modern times!). From Rome we went 3 hours South to Napoli (Naples in English),which is a large,dirty, scary city on the Mediterranean Coast. After spending about half an hour there we decided to head further south to the amazing Sorentina Peninsula and the tiny seaside town of Sorrento. After “losing our way” and going a little farther south than we intended we eventually arrived in Sorrento to find all the hotels either much to expensive or closed. So you know what that means “sleep over in the mini rental car!!” After a “restless slumber” the next morning we checked out the peninsula and were amazed by its beauty. On the other side of the Peninsula the spectre of a famous and still active volcano loomed, the one and only Mount Vesuvius. Towering above the Ancient city of Pompeii, why not decide to make it our next stop? You are able to drive nearly to the top of the mountain, then you must hike up the crater the rest of the way (about a half hour hike straight up) until you reach the very top, but what a view!! To the South Pompeii and to the Northwest Napoli with a view of Mediterranean that can’t be beat. I’ll post the pictures soon. From Pompeii we headed back to Tuscany to the little town of Sienna for the night (and actually stayed in a hotel room!). The next day we drove through the back roads of Tuscany and made our way back towards Nice but first we made a stop in Pisa. What did we find? Why a leaning tower of course (which actually leans more than pictures let on). From there we went North through the mountainous Cinque terre region and through the coastal towns of Genova and Savona before briefly driving through Monaco. Arriving back home in Nice at around 6PM. Last night Erin and I took Jordo to our little pizzeria across the street, he agreed they may have the best pizza he’s ever eaten. Today we are going o walk to the old town and show Jordan what the South of France is all about (and maybe have a glass of wine or two along the way). I’ll write again when we’re in Spain. Thanks for reading!!!
Adam |
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