Our faces are getting fatter..

Hello from Germany! Wanted to catch up with y'all about the past couple of days. Yesterday was. our last day in Amsterdam. We took an excursion to the Hollan countryside. We started the day at a "Cheese and Clogs" place, where we learned all about Dutch cheese and the art of making wooden shoes. After we got to taste the cheese, wine, and dutch cookies, we shopped in the gift shop. Got some fun souvenirs, then headed to a little town on the water. It was so refreshing walking through the little streets with the sailboats on the other side of us! Of course, the food was amazing! Jackie and I ate some fried seafood, then we all stopped for dutch pancakes, which are tiny little pancakes with powdered sugar. YUM!! Erin couldn't sway from belgian waffles, so she got 2. :) When we got back to the city, we did some souvenir shopping. We all got Birkenstock shoes, thanks to Crissa's recommendation. We were in need of something light and fresh for dinner, so we stopped by the super market on the way home and got turkey sandwhiches along with fruits and veggies. All together, we spent about 12 euro, which is typically the price of one meal here! Today, we rode on the bus all day to Heidelburg, Germany. Most of the bus ride was spent sleeping, but I'm sure there was great scenery outside! When we got to Heidelburg, we had a couple hours to get settled in the hotel. Since I waited downstairs like a great friend to get the internet code, I got stuck with the horrible cot in the middle of the room that feels like I am sleeping on a bag of bones. What a great friend, I am :). I will get the best bed in Switzerland, so I'm happy! Tonight, we went into the town of Heidelberg. The big castle that is famous here was closed, so we just looked at it from the bottom of the hill, walked across a cool bridge, then found food! We ate at a place called Beir Brezel. The food was great!! I had sausage and saur kraut, and the other girls also had some yummy food! After that we walked around for a while, sat in a pub, then found a taxi to take us home. First of all, this taxi was a Mercedes. Second, the ear-pierced cab driver cranked the rock music up really loud, then was whipping around the curves of the road at very unsafe speeds. We some how made it back to the hotel safely. We are now crawling in our tiny beds and resting up for yet another 6+ hour bus ride to Switzerland! We will update from there ASAP! Hope all is well back in the states.

Still alive,

Kaci and the other three

A is for Amsterdam

No worries, we all made it to Amsterdam in one piece! Our last night in Paris was an interesting experience, but it’s too long of a story to write so you’ll have to ask us in person to get all the details! We started it off by following our temporary tour guide Crissa to her favorite restaurant, which was kind of a long bus ride away. We were all so excited to finally get to this restaurant we’d heard such good things about (and we were all starving!), but when we arrived, we found out from a sign on the door that the place was closed until August. So here we were, five girls who don’t speak any French in a very artsy, non-touristy part of Paris. Since we were too hungry to take the Metro back to town, we decided to eat at the first café we set our eyes on. It ended up being extremely delicious, and thankfully one of the workers spoke a little bit of English so we were able to order. After our super satisfying dinner, we got back on the Metro so we could go to the Eiffel Tower and stay to see it sparkle blue at 1:00 AM. We were really looking forward to a quiet night, just the four of us (Crissa had to leave early since she had to work the next morning, but we wish she could have stayed!), but the night did not turn out as planned. To sum it up, it involved the Eiffel Tower, wine (not too much actually), a rap battle, running down streets, and trying to find our way to our hotel via taxi very late at night! Like I said, we all were fine and made it to Amsterdam, so parents: DO NOT WORRY.

Our trip to Amsterdam started bright and early yesterday morning with a 3 ½ hour bus ride to Brussels, Belgium. We made a quick stop in Brussels so we could all taste the local cuisine and see some of the city. Of course, we headed straight for the waffle stands! We were honestly the first people from our group in line, that’s how excited we were about those waffles. I got a waffle with strawberries, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce; it was the best I’ve ever had. Dad: I hope you can re-create this delicacy the next time you cook breakfast! I think the group agreed that Belgium has the best waffles we’ve ever tasted! Kaci and Jackie were the only ones who were brave enough to eat mussels; Kaci liked them, Jackie didn’t. After we got our taste of Belgium, it was back on the bus for another 3 ½ hours. We were all jealous of Kaci’s ability to sleep so well…Jackie, Brittney and I did not sleep very well at all on that bus.

Our first night in Amsterdam we decided to be party poopers and skipped out on the “pub crawl” most of our tour group was participating in. Instead, we watched the Bachelorette episode we had missed and went to bed! This morning we went to see Anne Frank’s house. It was really sad to see the place she hid and hear her story; we can’t even imagine what she and her family had to go through, but after seeing the house, I think we all got a little bit better understanding of the whole ordeal. After the Anne Frank house we went to the Heineken beer factory. We got a 4-D experience where they “brew you” (basically take you through all the processes of brewing beer in a room that shakes and throws water on you), and then went on to make our own personalized beer bottles! We met some people from Dallas, Israel, and Spain on the tour so it was a fun experience! I’m really sorry if this is a choppy, hard to read blog entry. I’m really tired—not so shocking since we’re always tired--and was kind of distracted while writing this and I’m too lazy to proof-read (by the way, Brittney didn’t proof-read her blog entry where she said we were going to Morocco…we’re not going to Morocco, we’re going to Monaco). Anyways, we’re looking forward to going to the Holland country-side tomorrow and seeing the sights away from the city. Hope you’re enjoying our blog! We’ll keep ya posted!

-Erin and the rest.

Bonjour from Paris!

Sooo, Jackie and I are currently sitting on the bed eating flan. This is the life. :) I was gointg to do a little update on Erin and I's excursion to the Palace of Versailles. An excursion is an understatement bc we had to get on three subways, two trains, and had a long walk to the palace, but when we saw it, it was TOTALLY worth it!! It was huuuggee and the gates were beautiful and gold. They looked like what I imagine the gates of heaven look like! We took lots of pictures (haven't quite figured out how to update pics yet..we'll work on that). I didn't think it could get much prettier inside than it was outside, but when we got in, I realized that I was definately wrong! The inside was BEAUTIFUL!! Erin and I were in complete awe. It was all marble, there were statues, painitings, chandeliers, gold, etc. everywhere. I kept saying, "Erin, I can't believe people actually lived here" over and over! We saw numerous famous paintings, and King Louis VI and Marie Antoinette's bedrooms, but the best room was the Hall of Mirrors. There were countless chandeliers, mirrors, and statues in this forever long hall way. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. After that, Erin and I went outside to the Gardens of Versailles. Once again, I was speechless. Everthing was beautiful and green, all of the flowers were blooming and colorful, there was a lake that went out for miles, those grass/bush maze things, and statues everywhere. (and that was just one little part of it, these gardens went on for acres and acres). Erin and I had so much fun! We frolicked in the gardens for about an hour and half; walking through the mazes, looking at statues, flowers, the ponds, and taking silly pictures! After awhile we headed back up to meet our group and catch the train to head back to our hotel. When we got home we met up we Jac and Kace, got some tortellini and gelato and then called it a night. We were pretty tired so we went to bed early, but we still can not stop talking about how amazing Versailles was!

This morning we all got up rested and ready to go! We headed to the Louvre, a really famous art museum. There, we saw tons of famous paintings, sculptures, etc. including the MONA LISA! I would like to note that I navigated us through the Louvre to my girl Mona (the only thing I've been able to navigate us to the whole trip) so that was definately a high point for me! After that, we went to Notre Dame and toured the church! It was GORGEOUS! After that, Kace went back and took a nap and Erin, Jac, and I walked around Paris for a bit and did a little shopping in Galleria Lafayette. We then caught the subway back and grabbed some fruit from the little market by our hotel. We're now all about to get ready and head to meet Crissa for dinner and sitting under the Eiffel Tower! In the morning, we're headed to Amsterdam, which is supposed to be an all day treck, but we're stopping in Brussels, Belgium for some waffles, which we're all really excited about! Hope all is well! God Bless!!

Britt and the other three <3

Catching up!

Sorry we are a little behind on posting, we've been so busy, we figured y'all could wait :). Yesterday (July 20), we all split up. Britt and Erin went to the Palace of Versailles. They will update on that later. I was in a bad mood and in serious need of some Kaci time, so I went shopping at H&M and Galleria LaFayette, which is the big department store here. It was fun and a little scary to be on the underground subway and in a busy part of Paris by myself. After spending a little too much money, I came back to the hotel to get Jackie. We had a great afternoon exploring the area of Paris that we are staying in. We started the day eating at a little sidewalk cafe. We had a rude awakening when the waitress wouldnt let us share a pizza, so we had to order another dish and split both. The pizza was AMAZING! The eggplant, mozzarella, and tomato sauce appetizer was also yummy too! We got some weird looks while we shared the food. Guess that isn't a common thing to do over here? After we ate, we explored most of the streets around the area. We found some really cute shops. I, of course, bought some more fun things, and Jackie just looked around. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for some fresh fruit from a street market, and got gelatto! Britt and Erin got back around 6, so we went to yet another sidewalk cafe, and they had some great tortellini. Jackie and I just ate the bread. The other two were pretty tired from their busy tourist day, so they called it a day pretty early, but Jac and I ran into Emily and Dani (some of our friends from the tour group), and we all went up to the mountain that is a market and the area that the artsy people of Paris sell their things. I had a chocolate and banana crepe for dinner there! On the way down the hill, we made a little detour to see Moulin Rouge. We had no idea that the entire street would be line with prostitution and shops that we would never go in! It was kind of scary at night, but worrth seeing the Moulin Rouge! Jackie went off to see the Eiffel Tower again, and I came home to catch up on sleep and do some skyping with Bob!! We will try to get caught up on all of our Paris adventures tonight before we leave for Amsterdam tomorrow!! We definitely miss things about the US, but we are having a great time exploring the world :)

Love and miss everyone,

Kaci and the other three!

Bonjour from Paris!!!! Sooo yesterday (July 19) was a pretty crazy-busy day! We woke up at 5am to catch the train (Eurostar) which took us to Paris. It took us under the English Channel, but we were hoping that the tunnel would be see-through so that we could see underwater creatures and such, but it was cement, so it was just a plain old train ride. The country side of France was beautiful, but we tried to sleep for most of the ride so that we would have energy for the events to come! The train traveled very fast, and I think I read somewhere that it traveled at speeds over 100mph! Unexpectedly we stopped in the middle of our trip on the tracks and the announcer came over the intercom telling us that there was a fatality. We came to find out later that suicides are quite common in front of those trains. Once we got to France we made our way to our hotel by bus and everyone left their luggage in one room while each of our rooms were still being prepared for us. Kaci, Brittney, Erin and I split from the group to find our friend Crissa, who has been living in Paris for the whole summer, working at a biking tours place. We went to her by metro: (meeting spot-Eiffel Tower) and our pro navigators, Kaci & Erin, found our way through these underground railroads (keep in mind, none of us know the language here) while Brittney and I frolicked behind in high spirits! It was the coolest thing: standing in the park under the Eiffel Tower and seeing Crissa in the distance as we ran to greet each other in Paris! We had lunch at a cute cafe Tribeca, and had the BEST ice cream in the world (gelato) in a cute gelato shop that made the ice cream into flower shapes in your cone. After that we met back up with the group and Crissa was able to come with us on a boat tour (where Brit and I got MORE gelato) and back to the Eeifel Tower to go all the way to the top! Even though there were some lines and some waiting, it was so worth it to get to go up this historical landmark! Although there were a few in a group that took the stairs, after a long day of walking, there was no way that we were going to, so we took the elevator. It was a long ride up! I never realized how tall it was! My ears even popped as we went up to the top. Looking out over all of Paris is amazing! Paris is so HUGE and you just see buildings for miles: it was beautiful! While we were up there the sun was setting and it really was breath taking to see and unreal that we were up there. I still am in unbelief that we are here in Paris!

After the tower we headed to dinner. Our waiter was hilarious and the food was delicious! I think Kaci and Crissa ordered best. They got this salmon thing that was wrapped in some kind of warm flaky crust and had cooked spinach on the inside. The food here is excellent! Everything we eat is wonderful. On our way back to the hotel we had to pass the Eifel Tower again. By this time it is lit up and an amazing sight to see. At eleven o'clock each night it sparkles for about 5 minutes. We were there just in time to see it! It wasn't like anything we had imagined! It was magical to watch! We took pictures and videos and soaked it all in before heading back to the hotel.

By the time we got back we were exhausted from walking SOOOO much and having such a long day. I had no idea that there would be so much walking! All of our feet were aching (expect Erin-she's an iron woman or something). We were also sweaty from the heat, I wouldn't have expected it to be so hot, but it IS! And usually I don't mind the heat, but there isn't AC in our hotel, so its definitely an experience! So we were very ready to take showers and fall into bed. We lugged our stuff up to the room they had assigned us and opened the door to find one full size bed and a pull out couch and almost no room for our suitcases! We thought there had been a mistake, but we were wrong! We are making it work fine, it is just hard to have four oversized suitcases all in a tiny space! I definitely can't complain though! Who could do that in Paris?! Like I said, I still can't believe we are here! It is great and I’m so glad that I get to share it with three of my best friends! Stay tuned to hear most about Paris!
Love,
Jackie and the other 3 :)

Hello from London!! The past two days have been absolutely amazing! We've had so much fun, seen so much, and met a lot of great people! Yesterday, we were up early and hopped on the tube (what they call the Subway in the UK) and went down to Trafalgar square. It was right in the heart of London. We took pictures with the giant lions, and did a few jumping pics of the waterfalls (naturally :) We then got our double decker bus tickets and all hopped on the bus. It was really fun and we went all around London. We saw the Tower Bridge, London Bridge, the London Eye, where the black plague was, where that fire that burned all across London started (I was zoning during that part..my bad), St. Paul's Cathedral, Shakespeare's World Globe, where Daniel Ratcliff (Harry Potter) went to school (the London School for Boys), saw where John Harvard went to school (the man that started Harvard University), Big Ben, and a lot more that I can't remember off the top of my head. Basically, the double decker bus rocked our socks off. After that, we walked down the red road that led to Buckingham Palace. We took some pictures and rested a bit. We then had lunch at the Cript and had lunch and then went upstairs and toured the church, which was really pretty. After that we walked around, took a boat tour on the Thames River, and hopped back on the tube and headed home. We had such a fun day, but we're exhausted! We took a nap, and then went out with our group to a London Club called Tiger Tiger, which was huge, and a lot of fun!

This morning we were up early once again, ate some breakfast hopped on the tube and headed back to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. However, we thought it started at ten buuuut it started at 11. So, we had awhile to wait, but got great seats!! It was a really cool experience. We then went down to Westminster Abbey to see the church and Big Ben up close and personal. After that we hopped back on the tube (we are becoming experts of the tube) and headed down to the Tower of London, which was one of my favorite parts of the day. It is where they house the Queens crowned jewels. They were BEAUTIFUL! We saw the biggest white diamond on earth (I had to pick my jaw up from off the floor when I saw it) and got to walk around the tower. It had a lot of history that went along with it (which I love-yes I'm a nerd) but it was really really neat. Thheen we hopped on the tube and headed to Harrods. My heaven on earth. The only purchase we made were some truffles, (you have no idea how hard that was for me) lol Then we stopped by H&M and headed home on the tube for a rest. Finally, we went downtown to the Eye of London. Its like a huge Ferris Wheel over the Thames River. A lot of people from our tour group did it together (one car could fit 25 people.) It was beautiful and when you got to the top, you could see the whole city! To end the night, we went to a local pub and we all got local food and then stopped and got some ice cream from a stand on the way home! We're now all about to head to bed and get up at 5:45am..yes believe it, and head to Paris in the morning. We're all REALLY excited to see Crissa in Paris! Hope all is well in America!! Love and miss y'all! God Bless!

~Brittney and the rest of the three!

P.S.-We learned a lot of British slang while here.

Rubbish-trash
Bins-Trash can
Lou-the bathroom
Queue-Line
and many more :)

P.S.S.-I wrote this really fast, I'm on a time limit here, so I didn't proofread and probably left things out. Don't judge!

We're Here!!!!

So, today was long. We all got well acquainted with the tile flooring of the Heathrow airpot in London. Our tour group's bus system did not show up, so the girls from Texas spent 6 hours snuggling on the ground of the airport, no sleeping involved. Believe it. After we finally arrived at the Umi hotel on Leinster street, we were greeted with rooms that were not ready. We made some friends from Florida, Cali, Arizona, and Michigan, and we all went to the local pub to enjoy some cheesey chips and beer. Against our group's advice, we all went back to the room for a shower and nap time. Jackie wins the Sleepy Award for the longest nap of 4 hours. After we woke up and attempted to plug cosmetic devices in with our adpaters, we met the group for a "welcome drink" at another local pub. Our tour guide, Vitor, explained how the trip will go. His most important point was that we need to be on time, hope Britt doesn't get left behind!! After grabbing a slice or 2 of pizza from a sidewalk cafe, we are back at the hotel. Because of our marathon days of 30 sleepless travel hours, we are all ready for bed. We are passing on a night at the Picadilly Circus for sleep. This decision should make the moms proud! After some good sleep, we hope to wake up refreshed for our double-decker bus tour and walking tour of LONDON tomorrow! Goodnight, America! Hope all is well :) Tune in tomorrow for an inside scoop on our tour of London.

~Kaci and the other three.

Sooo, I've been waiting and anticipating for this day to come for quite awhile. Today, Jackie, Erin, Kaci and I begin our adventure all across Europe. I'm beyond excited to spend the next 30 days with these girls, catching up, remembering old times, and most importantly making all kinds of new memories that we will cherish forever! Jackie, Erin, and Kace leave around 11 and I (Brittney) leave between 3 and 4 and am flying solo to London! Haha, go figure!(the touring company booked our flights). Keep your fingers crossed that I don't get lost!(Which, those of you who know me, know that this is a VERY likely possibility for me). However, getting lost is probably the least of my problems. My biggest concern right now: luggage. I started packing today at 8am, still am not finished, and will have to get up in the morning to finish up. It has honestly driven me slightly crazy. I have a history of being quite the over-packer, and was determined to turn over a new leaf and pack light for once. Didn't happen. Normally, its fine, but this time the "I don't really care if its over 50lbs mentality" wasn't going to work for me because I have to haul that bad boy all over Europe by myself. So this time around, I really tried to make it work (REALLY, I did!), but, at the end of the day, I just said "Welp if its over 50, it just is, and by golly I'm gonna have some good lookin' arms when I get back!" ;) Hopefully, our next post we will be in London and will have some good stories for y'all (knowing us..there will be plenty!) Hope all is well! God Bless!

-Britt

PS- The picture is of me about mid-afternoon, realizing that there is no possible way to fit all that I wanted to take in my suitcase.

We're currently having our final meeting before we go on our European adventure. Brittney is cheering, and Kaci is sneering. Get excited people, this blog is gonna be interesting...

-The Four