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Erin & Adam's Crazy European Adventure - 2006A record of our every CRAZY move... 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. |
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