PICTURES!!!

Blogger has proven very difficult to post pictures because the website is in German on this computer so I don't know what I am doing. Check out our pictures here: http://www.xanga.com/EmilyVanVoorhis

Gimmelwald, Switzerland

First of all, let me start out by saying to Paul and Kristen--CONGRATULATIONS--I would put a ton of exclamation points, but I'm really not sure that this Swiss keyboard has them....at leastI cannot find them....so visualize that. I cannot even believe that Paul could possible soon be the father of two....that makes 3 kids, right? Just kidding.....you're an awesome dad.

And Kristen--we did have the most AMAZING crepes in Paris. We stayed in a neighborhood near the Eiffel Tower called the Rue Cler--and there was a little crepe stand and we had wonderful Nutella crepes. In fact, Aaron and I bought a huge jar of Nutella today at the Co-Op in Interlaken and we have been putting it on pretty much everything....Nutella here is way better than what you can get in the US.

So we are now in Switzerland. We left Paris around 10:43 on Tuesday night and our sleeper cabin was really nice. We had our own room, so that was nice as well. Although we did not get much sleep because our stop was at 4:50 AM and it was not the last stop, so we were a little nervous that maybe the conductor wouldn't actually wake us up.....we set our alarm just in case. But nonetheless, it was a restless nights sleep. Our longer rides should be better. We arrived in Basel, Switzerland at 4:50AM and caught the train from Basel to Interlaken that left at 5:27. We arrived in Interlaken around 7:40AM and we slept most of the train ride this morning.

To get to the small town of Gimmelwald, you must taken an additional local train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen which is at the base of the alps a little up the valley from Interlaken. Then you take a bus from Lauterbrunnen to the Schilthornbahn talstation (the cable car station). From there you get on the funicular--a lift--and ride it up to Gimmelwald. This thing scared me to death. It is not the greatest for someone who is afraid of heights. You literally dangle in the air as it whips you straight up a mountain. And it sways....a lot. Gimmelwald is up on a plateau in the midst of the alps....and IT IS GORGEOUS. I swear it is the most beautiful place I have ever been. Aaron is blown away as well....he keeps taking pictures of everything he sees because it is all so amazing. The alps literally shoot up all around you (even though we are at around 5,000 feet altitude.) Pictures do not even do it justice. The town of Gimmelwald is very small and very few tourists--thanks Rick Steves. There are only about 100 residents and they are all traditional Swiss cow farmers. We can buy fresh cheese, eggs, milk, butter and sausages from just about anyone in the town. We are staying at Esther's Bed and Breakfast and it is so lovely. We have million dollar views from our room--maybe I can post some tomorrow from this computer at Esther's. There are several other young couples staying here--one from Canada and one from Spain. Tonight we all sat around drinking wine and sharing food....it was really nice. Tomorrow we may join up to do a hike. Today we walked around the town and did a few shorter hikes, but we were pretty tired, so we basically just enjoyed the scenery.

I guess that's it from Switzerland for tonight. Good night.

Last day in Paris

tonight we are taking a night train to switzerland. we leave at 10:43 local time--7 hours ahead of central time. we take the train to basel; switzerland which arrives at 4:50 am; then we catch another train to interlaken and arrive around 7 am. we have a sleeper train in 1st class; but we are still a little nervous about taking the train overnight--this is the first of several overnight trains.

today it is rainy; but we got up this morning and went to st. sulpice church which is where the rose line from the da vinci code begins. it was neat to see and the neighborhood; st. germaine de pres is also neat. we are taking a train to the chateau versailles this afternoon--about a 30 minute train ride: we are looking forward to that.

we most likely will not have internet access in switerland as we are staying in a small town in the alps with only 200 residents. on sept 2nd we meet my--emily--parents in milan and then head to cinque-terre in italy. so hopefully we will update soon!

IN PARIS

the french keyboards are completely different, so this message will be short:

we are staying at a wonderful hotel in the rue cler district: with a balcony overlooking les invalides...it is gorgeous. after our ride over in the chunnel; so far we have been to notre dame; musee d orsay; eiffel tower which is a few blocks away: bateaux mouche ride on the seine; sainte chappelle; and much more: ill write more when i find more patience for the keyboard

London day 2 and 3

so we did do a lot of walking in the past two days.....i limped home last night and then got up and did it all over again. aaron estimated that we walked around 8 miles today and another 6-7 again today. at least i don't have to feel bad about eating dessert every day.

yesterday afternoon we walked all around kensington and knotting hill (k or no k...i'm not sure?) then we returned to the tower of london to see a few more things when the lines weren't quite so long....we saw the crown jewels and they were really cool. we also saw sir walter raleigh's prison cell....and i've always been told he was a relative of mine....right meemaw? after the tower we went to a really neat noodle bar called wagamammas. it was good. then it started pouring rain so we got soaking wet. but the national gallery was open late last night so we went to see that. the paintings were really great. then we stopped and got hot chocolates and some apple pie a la mode....yum.

this morning we woke up and had another english breakfast: fried eggs, beans, bacon, toast and tea. it is served every morning at our hotel's little tea room overlooking their garden. after breakfast we took the underground over to leceister square where we purchased discounted tickets for a show.....we chose mary poppins. then we went over to the knightsbridge neighborhood and went to harrod's. i actually had to purchase something, but it was definitely worth seeing! the department store is really opulent. then we went to a grocery store and bought a picnic lunch that we ate in hyde park by the pond. then we went to the british museum. it was also very interesting--especially the rosetta stone. after that we went to the cabinet war rooms and the winston churchill museum. it was fascinating--the place where churchill and the war cabinet and other government officials hid underground during the air raids of world war two. they spent about 6 years underground. and the rooms were left just as they were during the war. i think the tour said that the compound was around 30,000 square feet. after that we went to an evensong service at westminster abbey. that was amazing! and the choir was unbelievable. i think the normal choir was on vacation and i'm pretty sure they said that the choir today was from st. james' church in los angeles, so we might have to check that church out for a service sometime! the service was very moving....and we were right at the front of westminster abbey--hardly anybody was there. tomorrow we are planning on attending evensong at st. paul's cathedral.

we had just enough time to grab a quick dinner before heading to the west end district to see mary poppins...like i said, it was really good. the effects were amazing...although the musical was very different from the movie. that's about it!

we are having a wonderful time!

London

we made it safely to london. there were about 5 air marshals on our plane--at least we believe they were air marshals as they boarded the plane 45 minutes before anyone else and looked kind of like cops. i can't figure out how to use control to capitalize letters on this computer, and i refuse to press cap locks every time....so excuse me. we are currently at an internet cafe in kensington. this morning we went to the tower of london and we are going back this afternoon to see the crown jewels when there isn't a line. yesterday we walked around the westminster area--saw trafalgar square, st-martin-in-the-fields, westminster abbey, big ben and the houses of parliament, and the london eye. we then took a sunset cruise down the thames. it was a very good first day. we also ate at a pub and had fish and chips and peas.....an odd combination but very tasty. we drove past buckingham palace in a london cab, which was cool. our cabbie was full of information and talked about his experience with princess diana and also how londoners are still upset with queen elizabeth over the royal's reactions to her death. he also talked about all the conspiracy theories that she was murdered. it was interesting.

we are planning on walking through knotting hill next and walking past kensington palace--where princess diana lived until she died and is now the official residence of prince charles, but he isn't there very often.

that's it for today. hopefully we will update soon. otherwise we are on to paris on saturday.

Europe Itinerary

For those of you who have been asking.....here is our itinerary (granted, 6-weeks is a long time and we are prepared to be flexible):

August 21 (Monday): Fly to London
August 22 (Tuesday): London
August 23 (Wednesday): London
August 24 (Thursday): London
August 25 (Friday): London
August 26 (Saturday): Chunnel to Paris/Paris
August 27 (Sunday): Paris
August 28 (Monday): Paris
August 29 (Tuesday): Night train to Interlaken/Night in Gimmelwald, Switzerland
August 30 (Wednesday): Gimmelwald
August 31 (Thursday): Gimmelwald
September 1 (Friday): Interlaken, Switzerland
September 2 (Saturday): Meet Emily's parents in Milan/Travel to Cinque Terre, Italy
September 3 (Sunday): Cinque Terre, Italy
September 4 (Monday): Siena (Tuscany), Italy
September 5 (Tuesday): Siena
September 6 (Wednesday): Siena
September 7 (Thursday): Siena
September 8 (Friday): Goodbye to Emily's parents for a few days/Rome
September 9 (Saturday): Rome
September 10 (Sunday): Venice
September 11 (Monday): Meet up with Emily's parents again/Venice
September 12 (Tuesday): Salzburg, Austria
September 13 (Wednesday): Hallstatt, Austria
September 14 (Thursday): Vienna
September 15 (Friday): Vienna/Goodbye to Emily's parents
September 16 (Saturday): Budapest, Hungary
September 17 (Sunday): Prague, Czech Republic
September 18 (Monday): Prague
September 19 (Tuesday): Night train to Munich
September 20 (Wednesday): Munich
September 21 (Thursday): Fussen, Germany (along the Romantic Road)
September 22 (Friday): Rothenburg, Germany (along the Romantic Road)
September 23 (Saturday): Berlin
September 24 (Sunday): Berlin
September 25 (Monday): Copenhagen, Denmark
September 26 (Tuesday): Night train to Amsterdam
September 27 (Wednesday): Amsterdam
September 28 (Thursday): Amsterdam
September 29 (Friday): Bruges, Belgium
September 30 (Saturday): Brussels, Belgium
October 1 (Sunday): Fly back to Chicago

Any tips that you would like to offer to us would be much appreciated!!

In Chicago

This is the site than we plan to use to update our friends and family while on our trip to Europe. We have officially left Nashville and are now in Chicago waiting to leave for our trip on August 21st. We arrive in London on August 22nd and return home on October 1st. So stay tuned! More entries to come!

Love,
Emily and Aaron