I was going to try and blog while I was over there but didn't for two reasons:
1) it costs money and I didn't want to pay to blog
2) i felt lame sitting on the computer when I could be seeing europe/my sister HATED it when i checked my e-mail
anyways, here we go.
GETTING THERE
getting there was less than trivial. our flight with US Airways had a connection in Philadelphia. there were thunderstorms in philadelphia that prevented us from landing for a while and we ended up missing our connecting flight. when we finally landed (around 9pm) they told us we had to get a flight at 8:40pm the next day! this was not great news to us. we found out that there was a flight to london at 11pm that night and got on it. the woman who printed the boarding passes told us our luggage would most likely make it on the plane.
LONDON
we landed in london and were pretty stoked. we weren't that stoked when our luggage didn't show though. we talked to baggage services and they assured us that they would send the luggage to the europe address we gave them within a day or two. no problem. on with our journey to paris.
PARIS
here are some highlights:
- luxembourg gardens
- sacre coeur cathedral
- jim morrison's grave (pere-lachaise cemetery. pretty epic cemetery though.)
- tour eiffel
- eating at Le Temps des Cerises. so we got this local tip to eat at this restaurant in this hip, non-touristy area La Butte aux Cailles. our waiter spoke no english and the menu included zero english. my sister was able to pick off saumon (salmon) but I hate copying people's orders so I was just like whatever I'll just pick something random. boudin noir. i got it and recognized some mashed potatoes but the main thing I couldn't figure out. it was kinda like sausage but not exactly. i was later informed that it was a pig intestines filled with blood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudin). nice.
THE LUGGAGE
the not so great part of paris was our luggage not being delivered. we spent lots of time on the phone and eventually made the trip to charles de gaulle airport where our luggage was. I could write a lot on this whole thing but basically we were informed that we would be without our sick backpacks (that were so kindly loaned to us), clothes, and camping equipment for our time in europe. ouch. thanks US Airways! we went to the mall right before our train to belgium and bought a tent for 31 euros, sleeping bags for 10 euros (what a steal!), some clothes, and a bag to put this stuff in. wow. off to belgium and rock werchter.
BELGIUM
this part of the trip was epic. 4 days of music from R.E.M., Neil Young, Radiohead, Beck, Lenny Kravitz (yes!), Jay-Z (yes! again), My Morning Jacket, Sigur Ros, Ben Harper, Donovan Frankenreiter, MGMT, Band of Horses, Raconteurs, Justice, etc. you can check the complete lineup here.
- my favorite performances were Radiohead, Neil Young, and My Morning Jacket.
- Radiohead was seriously ridiculous and I would highly recommend seeing them if you get the chance.
- MGMT, Band of Horses, Raconteurs, R.E.M., the National, Beck, and Justice were also really sick.
but besides just the music, the festival was so fun
- we met and camped by this really great group mostly from Barcelona
- the food was really good. french fries with mayo. soooo good.
- so many people! it took us an hour to get into the festival on the first day.
- it rained. maybe this wasn't that fun but it made things interesting...
basically I would go back for sure. so if anyone is down next summer..............
ITALY
we spent the first two days with friends of my sister's who lived in a small town outside of Milan. this time was amazing. both nights were amazing. the first night we had the pizza of my life and the gelato of my life. not a bad combo. it was really great not being a tourist for these days. the second night we had a HUGE dinner at the house. i love the way italians eat. i came to the table with my game face on and everything they brought my way I grabbed a big portion. there were two tables, the parents and their friends at one and my sister and I and her friends at one. the parents and friends didn't speak english but through my sister's friend I was informed that they were pretty down with me. they said that I could sit at their table because I ate and drank like them! this was possibly my highlight of the trip for me.
next was florence.
- climbed the duomo and scored some epic views of the city
- the duomo was hands down the best cathedral I saw
- bomb gelato
- stayed at a sweet hostel and met some cool people
and then cinque terre.
- wow.
- beach day!
- some very unfortunate food poisoning from a 60 euro dinner. ouch.
- an amazing hike between the villages on the last day.
LONDON
we lost some time along the way and were left with 1 day and 2 nights in London. so I have an excuse to go back! anyways we did a whirlwind tour of london in a day.
- Green Park was very nice
- Big Ben
- the British Museum
- houses of parliament
and now i'm back!
and here are the pictures.
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