| AUGUST 1, 2001-- After an eventfull first evening (to say the least) in Florence, the rest of our stay there was totally awsome. We stayed in Florence 4 days and three nights. We saw the Florence Cathedrial and we climbed the Bell Tower (407 steps to be exact.........Ryan counted) to get a birds eye view of the city (We will have pics uploaded as soon as we return to the States). The city was beautiful, and held true to the old style of Italian architecture. We also made our way to Acedemia, (the museum that holds the Statue of David, and many other historical artifacts). Seriously, the only way to describe it is " Holy Cow" (or other less appropriate adjectives). We have a tendency to purposely get ourselves lost in the cities, to see what we can stumble across. In Florence we stumbled across a glorified street circus. It was amazing. The street was filled with incredible musicians, mimes, street vendors, and throngs of interested tourist on-lookers. Our hostel(X insane asylum), however, was frankly pretty hilarious. We were greeted by a staff who really needed a vacation. (Come-on, guys you work in a hostel, how hard can it be.....). They were however the butt of our jokes for the next week,.......... so we should probably be thanking them for the laughs. Once again we met loads of rad people. (Marika, Jules, Charlotte "thanks for the book", Tex (BS), amongst others). Thanks for the good times and good conversation!!!! "Cheers to Pres. Bush...ha ha ha". With the exception of the first night we had a great time in Florence, or as the Italians like to say (Firenze). ..............OFF to ROME (Roma) for an experience we will never forget. Rome had to be our most eventful (interesting) city we have ever visited. Since we didn't really want to spend another night in the train station, we decided to make a reservation this time (thats college students for ya... planning ahead!) The hostel we stayed at (Allesandro downtown) will go down in history. The place was 5 minutes away from the train station, which was something we were not used to....usually we would have to walk 36 miles up hill both ways, in the snow-with no shoes on!! Anyways........to set the scene up for our pending adventure, the first person we meet was an X-- Who Wants To Be Millionaire contestant who had won a hefty chunk of change. Stan (AKA Captain Stan) was a brilliant man from California who was in Rome for an Archeological dig... it gets better.... he conversed (using sign language) to some girls who were in town for the Deaf Olympics.... He also spoke Spanish and Italian... Not to mention Steve witnessed him giving the hymlic maneuver(SP?) to some girl who was choking on water. Stan was a piece of work... he was so RAD!! In addition to Stan we met all kinds of awsome people at this hostel. Chris from Gainsville cooked us a great meal which was much needed and appreciated. (Thanks Dude) Chris also told us that while in Rome we should rent SCOOTERS for fast, easy, efficient and moderately priced travel. (Oh Boy)! We figured hey when in Rome do as the Romans RIGHT!? So... we rented two totally rad retro scooters which we named Michealangelo and Donatelo, (appropriate right?) and then proceeded to tear up the city. We rented the Scooters for 24 hours and on the first day Steve had a "biker chic" (Jackie from NY) on the back of his hog. The first day with the hogs we motored\scooted (whatever) to the Colosseum. Upon first sight of the Colosseum our jaws hit the pavement. This structure was absolutely awe inspiring. While we were waiting in line our friend from Florence, Marika, just walked up to us like she knew excactly where we were gonna be.....Rad. It was cool to see a farmiliar face. Marika also ended up staying at the same hostel as us. Anyway....we bought our tickets and the 4 of us proceeded into the Colosseum. Honestly words cannot descrbe what was waiting for us inside. 3,468 words, UN-B-LIEV-ABLE!!! It was so amazing in fact, Ryan sh*t his pants 3 times. But thats okay because on that day he wore 3 pairs of undies..... Hey, gotta be prepared. Then, we hopped back on the hogs and headed towards (or so we thought) the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain. But, we got lost...... Wait scratch that......the two of us never get lost, lets just say we got side tracked. After we were finished being "side tracked" we went back to the hostel to prepare ouselves for a night on the town with the hostel staff. Dean (damn Canadian, ha ha) Liam (Aussie), Frankie (Aussie), Kristy (AMERICAN) showed us a good time. But, they promised us riots because Pres. Bush was in town. However, much to everyones dismay (not really) they never happened. Somehow the thought of inhaling tear gas was less than appealing to us. We were more interested in grabbing a cold one........which we did. While we were in Rome you might say we were in the wrong place at the right time. Not only was Bush in town, and not only did Mt. Eatna erupt but there was massive rioting in Genova. One might say that Italy was a crazy place in late July. But hey, we wouldn't want it any other way. The next day we had to return the Scooters, before making our way to Vatican City (which was once again, awe inspiring.....enough said). Ryan only sh*t his pants twice that day......he's getting better! It was a sad moment. But before we did that, Ryan came up with an idea for the record books. We strapped Marika to the back of Steve's scooter with Ryan's video camera in hand and well.... ... lets just say you'll have to watch the video. Anyway we bidded Michealangelo and Donetelo a fond farewell and were on our way. The next morning we left for Annecy France for a little R & R with our gracious friend Lauren Lopez. ...........to be continued. Thats all for now folks >The Boys P.S. Alysse made it safely back to the States. |
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| June 5- we registered for our airhitch vouchers today!! ?? its kinda weird. i guess we'll see...how it goes with them. OH WELL. gotta trust it! we leave in 3 weeks!! |
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| JUNE 26- We woke up this morning at the butt crack of dawn, something were not real used to..lol.. All sleepy eyed and anxious we were interviewed by Kadi Hendricks from NBC-2. (We keep asking ourselves, "HOW DID THE THREE OF US END UP ON TV!") Once again we would like to thank Kadi and the staff at NBC news for taking interest in our travels. Your support is greatly appreciated. (The segment airs on Thursday the 28th.) Thanks to Steves DAD we got to the Orlando Sanford Int'l Airport in no time. (Thanks DAD) We got to the airport at noon. The Airport was right out of theTwilight Zone. As the tumbleweed flew by us-- we entered the airport only to find there were 2 flights going to the UK, one of which was canceled. BUT no worries!! The people at the front desk kept assuring us we would be able to get on a flight! We kept ourselves amused for 10 hours (We played frisbee, listened to some music, talked with some rad people, and even played in the rain......ONLY to have them tell us they don't except the airline vouchers that we had!!! Come to find out that the AIRLINE (UNIJET) 2 booths down DID. Unfortunatly, the next available flight leaves the 28th. SOoooooo off we went to the cockroach inn <with the aid of cabbie JOSH. NOW we WAIT!!!! |
| June 30th- We last left off right around the cockroach inn... Happy to say things have gotten mucho better since then! Thanks to a good friend (Colin) who showed us warm hospitality, while we were delayed in Orlando. <thanks dude> After a short stay in Orlando we were on our way! We got back to the airport at 11am on Thursday and were in route by 19:05hrs (7:05pm) Air2000 was the lucky recipient of our AIRHITCH vouchers. We had a fantastic flight due to the excellent service provided by good ol' SHAY (our flight attendent) who made sure we were having a good flight. He also scored us a trip to the cockpit, the captain was so excited to meet us that he spilt his coffee all over himself and the instrument panel!! GOOOOOO CAPTAIN!!!!!! Upon arrival in Newcastle, England we made our way through customs, passed baggage, and directly to the information desk where 2 ladies graciously hooked us up with a cheap place to stay! (Castle Leazes) So far we have been meeting interesting locals and spending time within the city! Off to Manchester soon...... Until next time- CHEERS **P.S. The news story has been postponed until Monday at 11pm |
| July 3, 2001- Well, quite a bit has happened since the last time we were able to get to a computer, but we will do our best to fill you in.... We caught the 3pm bus to Manchester, and arrived at Manchester station around 7pm. We didn't arrive in the best of all neighborhoods, however, we managed to find our way to the Picadilly hotel, were we received directions to the local hostel from the bell hop. After walking almost 2 miles while listening to the drunken ramblings of an overly friendly Englishman, who insisted on showing us the way himself, we found out that we were about Five minuetes to late and they had just rented out their last room. (So... If the englishman wouldn't have taken his sweet time we would have had a bed right then and there.)We were then refered to Woody's Backpackers. (which coincidentaly was right near the bus station) We arrived at Woody's to warm smiles and friendly faces. The hostel wasn't the most posh place in the world, but it had its own subtle charm, exactly what we were looking for! We soon made friends with an aussie girl named Rachel Harcoan, and the owner Mark. After a bit of chatting, Mark took us to his favorite pub, O'Shea's, a wonderfully authentic Irish bar. At O'shea's we engaged in interesting conversations with the locals (who for the most part, love Americans) while sipping on a few "pints" and listing to a fantastic Irish band. The next morning we made arrangewments to stay another night (mainly to rest and relax) and prepare for our trip to Scotland. We spent most of July 1st just lounging around the hostel, and we met yet another new friend, Josh. Josh was from San Fransico, and was on the last day of his 10 week treck through Europe. We spent the night chatting with him, and taking in a few pointers. (That's where we got the rule's of engagement. See Josh, we told you we would pass them on.) The morning of the 2nd we made our way to the rail station to hop the Brit Rail headed for Edinburgh. Though the train was standing room only we found a place to sit (on the floor), with a nice veiw in the baggage car. The train ride was absolutly beautiful. The English and Scotish country side is like nothing we had ever seen. Upon arrival in Edinbraugh we took a taxi directly to the hostel ( the Ritz Carlton of Hostels; in a town as beautiful as Edinbraugh we should have excpected nothing less). Last night we meerly settled in and prepaired for the upcoming day. This morning we hit the town and checked out Edinburgh castle, St. Mary's Cathedral, and so many of the amazing sights in Edinburgh. This town is truly breathtaking!!!!! Alysse even got her nose pierced..... Sorry MOM! And that brings us to right now. We plan on spending a few more days here, and then we are off to 'T' IN THE PARK. (Check it out on our links page) Beck, here we come............ Until next time kiddies!!!!!! |
| July 15th Our last update left us in Edinburgh, Scotland. A lot has happened since then! In Edinburgh, we left behind 2 RAD Aussie's (Jane and Andrew), hopefully our paths will cross again sometime in the near future. We departed to Balado, Scotland to attend a 3 day music festival (T in the Park.) At the festival we camped out for 3 days IN 8 inches of mud! The first night would have been just dandy, had it not been for the 2 drunken Scotts who fell on our tent giving us a 3am wake up call. But no worries, we had an amazing time and saw many brilliant bands (Beck, Nelly Furtado, James, Coldplay.......) After the festival we headed to London for a less than 24 hour tour. However, thanks to our cabbie we passed all the sights, SOOOooooo..... we saw London (hahahahaha) Frankly, it was way above our budget and we were anxious to get to the continent. We took the underground train (Eurostar) from London to Brussels, Belgium, then into Amsterdam. Upon arrival we scored a PHAT(cool) flat just off the beaten path. We stayed with 2 other travelers (Galena and Gilat) who we met on the train. Thanks for cookin us din-din girls!! Amsterdam is one confusing MAZE everything looks the same, and the most dangerous thing is crossing the street. NOTE TO SELF: Watch out for busses, cabs, cars, scooters, BIKES, pedestrians, and fast moving backpackers!! In Amsterdam we had the best cup of coffee ever, (I don't know what they put in that stuff) We then departed to Interlaken, Switzerland to experience the ALPS.................. 3 words BEAU- TI- FUL!! We have already taken a hike through the mountains.(Mind Boggleing) Tomorrow we are scheduled to go paragliding. (WE ARE STOKED) until next time kids!!!!!!! |
| July 18th- Sadly enough we left Switzerland with full aspirations of revisiting it again someday.......OFF TO ITALY........ ==>We left Interlaken at 12:30pm on the 17th..... ==> arrived in Milano, Italy at 4:40pm... ==> Left Milano at 6:00pm in route to FLORENCE... =========> ======> ======> 8:00pm ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!!! At this time, we were just sitting on the tracks about an hour North of Florence in a small town called, only God knows where! So we were told, in ITALIAN mind you, that a train had de-railed ahead....and that we were in for a LOOOOOOOooooOOONNNNGG night!!!!! We finally arrived in Florence at 1:06am....to be greeted with tumbleweeds. The place was a ghost town. Now things are getting interesting... PROBLEM # 1: Its 1am... everything closes at 10pm PROBLEM # 2: None of the phones work PROBLEM # 3: Where do we stay? PROBLEM # 4: How do we get there? SOLUTION:Take a cab to the closest 5 star HOTEL and put in on the credit card PROBLEM # 5: All the HOTELS are booked SOLUTION: According to our cabbie, the best plan was to wander the streets aimlessly...and look for accomodations. Well we all know where this story is going. PROBLEM # 6: Suprise...Suprise! We got lost! SOLUTION: An ANGEL named Jeff Jones from New York...directed us back to the train station. TIME: 4:00 in the morning. At this point we set up camp in the train station, and road out the evening/morning. (We are not so sure we slept) We made it through the night and made our way to a near by hostel in the morning. QUITE EVENTFUL! to say the least!! WE have 3 words for ya... EX-HAUST-ED! until next time, the boys |