Something Something!!!

So here is an update. We are currently in Rome…Wait, What? I know right? I know it has been a long while since anyone has heard word and we apologize for that but we have literally not had access to solid internet till just recently. First off traveling by train is very exhausting, even if you are sleeping most of the time. Your body seems to shut down completely so that it has no desire to wake up and carry obnoxious luggage, riddle me that. To give you a starting place we left London via train to Dover…pretty uneventful. From Dover we took a ferry to Calais, France which was pretty neat. In my mind when we decided to take a ferry I saw a bunch of people standing huddled together on the deck of some cargo ship. Instead we were taken by a square boat that acted as a mini cruise ship equipped with everything you could need from arcades to full bar, restaurant, and gift shop. Landing in Calais after a fun ride we found out with much detestation that it was some French bank holiday…we do not know what for nor do we honestly really care because the train station was closed and every hotel and accommodation was booked. We hung out in the train station as long as we could till they kicked us out into the streets at midnight till they reopened at four. Huddled up in a cold corner outside of a restaurant we both gained some introspect into the livelihood of the homeless. Tired, groggy and sore we started to make our way to Venice, mind you we are at the top of France at this point. The ticket lady for some reason could only book us as far as Paris so that was our next flyby stop. Unfortunately this flyby turned into a 12 hour layover that we toted our luggage around hunting WiFi through the streets of Paris only to find out that we could have paid a few Euros to store our luggage for the day…which would have been totally worth it. From Paris we shot straight south to a place called Nice pronounced Neese which is on the very bottom of France. From there we went to Ventimiglia then on to Venice. With our trains being late and difficult we arrived in Venice about a quarter to midnight. After not finding our pre booked hotel we landed ourselves in essentially a hostel called Hotel Adua. Tired and cranky we went to sleep. Between exploring Venice and fighting with the people that “managed” our hotel we had a good time in Venice. Sure our door handle to our room was falling off and the WiFi only worked between seven in the morning and noon and we could only connect to it from a room that I could not keep power to my laptop going in we found out begrudgingly that with our Eurorail pass we would run out of days if we went to the wedding and not be able to get back up to Paris. So unfortunately we had to cut the wedding out of the schedule but our love and best wishes go out to them and the tequila is on me. Walking canals and seeing the sights we eventually left for Rome which is where we are now. And since I have already drawn your eyes for so long I’ll leave you here for the moment and update you tomorrow on how Rome was. We are well and happy…tired…but happy!

Word to our mothers

The Ox and Viper

Long Legs & Tiny Feet

Wow, for a last day in London we had quite the run around! I think we literally went from one end to the other. Trying to nab as many free deals and special offers as we could lets just say we ran the last five minutes to get some free organic hot chocolate. We stopped at Buckingham Palace and watched the Changing of the Guard, which is a pretty cool thing to see. We walked through the Queens Gallery which Stuart and I both agree that those were her extra works of art and her real prizes are inside. We took a stroll to the Royal Mews which is were all of the Queens horses and coaches are kept. But to say the least London was a blast! We now understand buses, undergrounds, and trains for the most part pretty well which I think will definitely help us out in the long run. We are now to the next traveling steps in our journey and it is going to be quite a doozy. We are going from London to Dover then taking a ferry to Calais France. We were looking at possibly taking the Chunnel, but the price was way out of our range. From Calais we will be making our way to Venice via train. I'm not sure when next we will have internet, but hopefully it will be sometime tomorrow, we plan on traveling non stop as usual so wish us the best of luck and prayers. We look forward to sharing more adventures with you.

May the road rise to meet you, but not so much as to hit your face.
Henry & Edward

Zoos, Cathedrals, and Pirates Too!

So that last couple of days have been a little more relaxed then most. We went to the London Zoo and saw their large variety of animals to learn that they have even more about 4 miles away. Giraffes, monkeys, and hippos, but no zebras...Stuart says that they were sick or dead or something since they were not there. We also saw St. Paul's Cathedral which of course is absolutely magnificent, but on the downside...no pictures inside. I'm really starting to regret not buying that camera watch from Dublin. We walked around several floors of Tate Modern which is a Modern Art museum across the pedestrian Millennium Bridge, or the Wibbly Wobbly bridge as some call it. When the Millennium Bridge was first opened it was closed the same day because it started to shake and shift, they then reinforced it and opened it up again. Anyways, Tate Modern was very interesting in some parts and hilarious in others. We could see the craftsmanship in a lot of pieces, but some of them were simply people throwing pain at canvases. And while I totally get emotional art some of it just looked silly.With our London Passes we actually get free movie tickets so we went and saw the new Pirates movie at the Chelsea Curzon which is a luxurious theater with an open bar and everything. We almost had some rum to watch Jack Sparrow be awesome but decided to stick to ice cream during a movie instead. Oh and for those of you back home...you haven't seen a real 3D movie yet hehe. The quality of the picture was amazing, and even though we had ridiculous glasses on it was well worth it! Spending some more time down in Picadilly Circus we wondered about just laughing and enjoying London which was well needed.  We have been pounding the pavement so hard the last week that we were starting to get tired in every facet of being. Well we are off today to really delve into London one more time before we head off to Italy!

Peace, love, and a free brownie to all!
Jekyll & Hyde

So much stuff!!!

Ok...so it has been a very exciting last three days. We have seen so many things in so short of time that the lines are starting to blur between days. Luckily I have my handy dandy notebook and Stuarts insane receipt collecting skills and memory to help keep things straight. First things first I must say that we are WORKING our London Passes. What is a London Pass you might ask? Well, the London Pass is a card that can get you into attractions, museums, cruises, and all sorts of things around London. It also comes with a lot of great discount options as well. So we can get free coffee some places and 2 for 1 meals elsewhere, oh not to mention free movie tickets! We have been everywhere from the very fortified Tower of London to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. The amount of culture and development in this city is mind boggling. With every street and alley there is a bit of history to be learned. Even if it is something as simple as how some offside food market used small dock it is still very interesting. Compared to Dublin as we stated earlier the people are much nicer here in London despite its hustle and bustle atmosphere. The best way I can compare the two is using a ninja and samurai analogy...besides I can get away with it while Stuart is sleeping hehe. Dublin life is like a ninja. In, out, no time for chit chat, very quick movements and then you're done. London has a very calculated and flowing feel to it while still being swift but not agitated. (Unless of course buses aren't running properly at stations and then you have drivers stepping out to yell at one another) On another note traveling with someone as mindful as Stuart (Amanda Small for those unaware) has been very helpful financially. She always seems to find the best deals even if she herself cannot make sense of them and I have to pick them apart lol, she is innately drawn to them and it is very nice. One savings though led us on a 2 hour train to train to bus bus bus to get something to eat. This was great because she remembered the place where we could get a sandwich, side, and drink for around 3 bucks, but it was still a really long journey. When the gloves come off with my companion though there is no stopping her. In other news... West Minster Abbey is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen inside and out. Unfortunately they are very strict in their no recording equipment inside, so we only have pictures of the outside but it was a sight to be remembered. We got to go into a section of Kensington Palace which was a treat of art and history with a touch of mystery added to make the history more enjoyable. Boat cruises, bridges, being on top of bridges, and watching bridges fold up. OH! Stuart would kill me if I forgot to mention the London Bridge Experience. So the London Bridge Experience and the London Tombs are England's scariest attractions on record. While the LBE is more of a spooky walk from room to room being educated and horrified at the different stories of London the London Tombs is where all the scariness is present. While the actors are trying to lay a thick layer of creepiness on you before you go into the tombs it is kind of hard when you are stuck in a room full of blank faced Germans that hardly speak English and two Americans, but they did a good job. Chainsaws, animated figures hidden doors and people in shadows we definitely jumped and screamed a few times. Well this is kind of a rough update and I'm sorry for the lack of communication. We have been getting up incredibly early in the morning and then don't get near to home till later and then have to climb a hill before we have to crawl up the stairs into our beds. We are going to the London Zoo tomorrow so I put Stuart to bed early so she can be well rested for tomorrow. I should probably follow suite and say goodnight to you all.

With worn plates and tired eggs
Nibbler and Samwise

Nice People!!!

So we made it on time to our flight, *gets smacked across head* Ok! So maybe we were 2 hours early for our flight after check in... so sue me. We ran into my Arch Nemesis Skye Plumb at the air port that was very exciting to see a friendly face!  Anyways we made it to London with general ease at the Gatwick airport. One thing we quickly came to terms with is that London is zoned off into different sections and within those sections are essentially different cities. It is a little more complex then the old north, south, east, and west that we are used to. Talking to a very helpful information lady we were quickly on our way to Croydon London via train. Arriving there we  talked to another information lady who was extremely helpful in assisting us in finding our hotel. We were honestly starting to get worried about our hotel as the last 4 people that we had talked to as to inquiries about it did not know it existed. But alas she found it. We bought a one day travel pass which allowed us to take trains, buses, subways etc all day long as may times as we liked. This was of course to prevent certain people from messing up to bad, not having any coins left, and being on the wrong end of town...Well besides that, we made our way via bus to our road of desire and starting walking up the side street to our hotel. When you are awake for 36 hours running around like mad people in Dublin the very last thing you want to do is walk uphill on a cobblestone street  in London. We unfortunately were way too early for check in, however the lady was nice enough to put us up in a different room. Getting situated we decided to head into the heart of London to acquire our London Passes. After some running around in Picadilly Circus and running into some very helpful people that were practically begging to help us, we found them and simply wandered for a bit more. Heading home to rest we ran into a little more bus trouble but nothing too severe and eventually made it home. We are now about to start our destruction of London! 

Wish us luck!

With the love!

  The Destroyer & The Corrupter

Stuart & Matt

So ya...Buses...

So there are a few things that we are working on of the Euro transportation type variety...ummm ya.

We are fine, tired, safe and warm so no worries as you can see here below...
So 2 1/2 hours later on a15 minute trip...

We are really tired and we are staying up for our flight to London which is in about 2 hours...

More updates to come as we fly...

With the love of a thousand buses...

Snippet and Gimli

Airplanes & Buses & Dublin Oh My!

After a grueling 20+ hours of airports and luggage and customs we finally landed in Dublin! We went and got our money exchanged...(which is always depressing with exchange rates) and set off to our hotel. After getting there and taking 5 minutes to figure out how to turn on the lights, we got set up, then flipped the lights off and crashed for a few hours. This of course was not enough but it was a good amount to build a little energy before launching into the city. Quickly talking to the lady at the front desk we set off to find our first bus (or as Stuart likes to call them DOUBLEDECKERBUSES). That is to express the speed and ferocity in her saying of the word hehe. We rode the bus till we felt we were towards the center of the city and hopped off. Deciding on a direction that we hoped we would remember later we dived right in. Immediately we were met with such a variety of cultures and accents bustling about as if the world would end if they didn't stop moving. Jumping into the flow of a river of people we found ourselves crossing streets, alleys, and I tell you that you definitely have to keep you eyes open when doing so. We are told growing up to look both ways for safety and that we should never trust any driver till they are completely stopped etc etc etc. In Europe all cars have the right away and you are destroying the synergy of the town if you hold anybody up for even just a few seconds. Needless to say we have been extra careful in crossing the streets and been very mindful of our surroundings. Wandering the streets of Dublin we found ourselves covering the place in gigantic circles while venturing off side streets and walkways (no worries we didn't go down dark allies). Being offered everything from fruit to hair extensions, and the occasional scalped tickets we slowly started to figure out the city. Being polite, however curt at the same time was very helpful. As we continued our aimless and colorful journey we ran into one dilemma...we didn't know what time it was. Of all the things we didn't pack a way to tell time was one of them. Going into promising stores we casually asked if there was somewhere to buy a watch. We found one electronic store that simply put cameras in every item they sold...I repressed the gadgeteer within myself and moved on. I then got the strangest looks when we walked into what appeared to be a "convenience store" and asked for a watch. Essentially, there are mini food stores everywhere that are simply food and drink, not miscellaneous random items as well, even people from Kenya were looking at us weird given our request. There are specific shops for randomness however. Finding at last a promising jewelry shop that sold watches we found a wonderful man and woman that helped us find something reasonable. They were very inquisitive as to our grand journey, and offered some great advice for when we come back through. They asked us to stop by on our way back and to tell them of our travels and to get more advice. Running up and down and all around we figured we should try and figure out how the bus system worked, so we stopped into a tourist information center. Locking what information we could handle into our overfull and overloaded brains we wandered a little more, grabbed some food and headed back to our hotel. After some regrouping and planning for the next day we passed out.

With lots of love from our exhausted selves.
Till next time
Amanda & Matthew