4/24/05

We got up bright and early at 1 in the afternoon. We had our breakfast and then hit the town again. We went to a flea market that was super overpriced. I think that you are suppost to barter but how can you barter when they ask 15€ for a pair of 20 year old sunglasses.
We got caught up on the blog and had pizza outside of the Kiserwhilhem Kirche(I will have to correct the spelling later) This church was heavily bombed in WWII and what remains is just the shell. The top is broken off so it looks very eerie.

4/23/05

Did we see Berlin, ir did we see BERLIN? Holy touring Batman! We got lucky and had beautiful weather for our sightseeing megathon today. We started off by going to the Pariser Platz where the Branderburger Tor(=gate) lies. This is the only surviving city gate from WWII and markes the western side of the main road. Unter den Linden. It was once the boundary beteen East and West Berlin. There was a huge children's festival going on all day so we walked around the gate to walk the length of the festival. Cool music and lots of fun stuff to look at. We stopped to have a Frickadelle for a early lunch. At the end of that blocked off road we saw the Siegessäule, a 67 meter tall tower/obelisk. Bulit in 1873, it commemorates 19th century prussian military adventures. Than we walked back thrugh the Tiergarten, a central Park equivalent for Berlin. Next to the huge Tiergarten was the Reichstag. Another landmark. It is a miyture of modern(the glass dome) and a more classical style of architecture. It bacame the seat of the German reunified Parliament in 1990. We wanted to go inside but the line was 100 meters outside the door. Then we walked to where a portion of the Berlin wall is still standing. They had an outdoor museum called Topography of terror that recounts the actions of the Reich befor and during WWII and the aftermath of the East/West Berlin, Germany and wall(built in 1961) It was very upsetting. Germans didnt have a chance once Hitler took control. Anyone who resisted was simply killed. Jewish or no. Then we walked just 200 meters to checkpoint charlie. The checkpoint remains in the middle of the street. It was eery to see. So many, over 1000 were killed trying to escape east berlin. There were black crosses setup on each side of the street to signify each person killed. A picture with their name and how thex were murdered was on each cross. I began to cry. Caleb and I signed this giant, no really, guestbook right next to checkpoint Charlie. A lift had to raise us off the floor ro sign it. It was the first time I ever signed my soon to be married name and I got very emotional. hehe
We walked back towards Unter den Linden on Friederichstrasse and came across a film that was shooting right on the street. They had blocked off a section of the road. We watched for a bit, interesting. Next we saw the Berliner Dom. Built in 1905 in the New Renaissance style, it is a former court church of the Hohenzollern family. We walked through an art fair and then continued across the Schlossbrüke, 4 marble statues line each side of the bridge. We kept walking until we came to the MarienKirche, a red brick Gothic style church. Just beyond is the Neptunebrunnen, a huge fountain on which king Neptune sits atop, hence the name. From there we could see the Rotes Rathhaus. We were also next to the 365 meter tall Fernsehturm(TV tower) Anywhere you are in Berlin you can see it, sort of like the space needle in Seattle. We got some groceries quick because everything will be closed tomorrow(crazy Europeans take a day off!) and continued onto AlexanderPlatz. It was bombed in WWII and reconstructed. This is where nearly 1,000,000 people rallied to have the Berlin Wall torn down and the GDR regime done away with. Thew were successful in 1989 the wall came down! We walked across Alexander Platz to see the world time clock. By then we were hungry and pooped so we went back to our hostel to eat, rest befor our Techno fest tonight. WOO HOO!
We went out to the Icon Club. They dont open until 11:30 and we got there just a little early and the guy at the door told us to come back in 3 minutes. It was getting cold by then so we just shivered until he let us in. The Place was like an underground bunker totally made of bricks with several different rooms and leather couches. The DJ started at 12 and it was nice D&B beats. It started out loud and as the night went on it just got louder. We met some nice people around 2 in the morning and had a nice political (among other topics) "discussion"(shouting is probebly a better word). We had a very nice time with good music until 4A. We were planning on closing down the bar but we were both exausted by this point and the music showed no sign of stopping. We missed an S-bahn and got on the wrong one so we didnt get back to our hostel until 6a.

4/22/05

Finally...Berlin! I have wanted to visit Berlin since I came to Germany in high school and every time since then, so I am pretty psyched to finally be going there. We packed up camp, but we had to wait for the tent to dry before packing it up because we will be ytaying in a hostel in berlin and at mz friend Carine's house in Paris so we won't camp again until May. We didnt want it to get all moldy and gross sooo...we missed our train. But no biggie cuz there was another one in 1 hour. We met a nice german man at the train depot. He and his wife are living and working for the past 3 years in ElPaso Texas. He is a military liaison of some sort. Finally the train. We get to take 2 high speed ICE trains today which makes the trip from Würzburg->Berlin much faster. Entertaining ourselves on the train is getting harder and harder. you can onlz play cards for son ling. Berlin is a HUGE city. It was a bit overwhelming at first especially since the first hostel we went to had no dorm beds so we had to find another. The guy at the hostel was nice enough to call ahead for us and check for availability. He even gave us directions to the other hostel. So the people at the Sunflower Hostel are super nice even if zou don' stay there. :) Our new hostel is pretty nice for the 14€ per night/PP price. The staff were extreamly welcoming and friendly, which at that point I welcomed because it took us a while to find this hostel. Very modern and classy decorations both in and out of the rooms. Caleb and I took showers right away after not showering at the last campground for 2 days(yikes)

4/21/05

Both of us woke up very early in the morning(middle of the night) to pee and saw that it had gotten so cold that there was a layer of ice all over the tent. I guess if we were Eskimos it would be insulation right? hehe So apparently Germany hasn't gotten the memo about it being the end of April and spring is here and winter weather should be over now. Brrrrrr it was freakin' cold last night! We do have sun today and no rain so we console ourselves with that small favor. :)
We really packed in the sightseeing in Würtzburg today. We saw the Residence and surrounding gardens(a palace designed by famous 18th century Architect Baltazar Neumann in the Baroque style). All the wall paintings were done by the famous Venetian Painter, Tiepolo. The palace has an adjoining "court church" where more paintings are found by Tiepolo. The baroque style just isn't fancy enough for me though. hahahaha It is a bit gaudy. So many architectural embellishments and everything is covered in gold. So they went cheap...Not! hehe We saw several churches in the Marien Kapelle(my fave!), Sehönborn Kapelle, St. Micheals Kapelle, st. Peters Kirche, and another Neumann work, the Käppele which is a top a very steep hill. We also went to see the Alte Mainbrüke on our way to the Fortress Marienberg(another castle) atop another very steep hill. So we got lots of exercise :) We snuck in seeing the basilica Neumünster. For a small city Würzburg is packed full of things to do and see. It is a very pretty city. It seems most people are quite well off here. No street people at all. We got some food cuz we really hadnt eaten a real meal all day. We made a German favorite, bratwurst with mustart for dinner. It is going to freeze again tonight. It is cold, very cold already. Once again we go to bed with the sun.

420 2005!!!

6:25am we awoke and packed up camp. fortunately the only thing that is wet is the tent. we packed up everything in the laundry room. we had to wait for the reception to open. they were supposed to open at 8am but they didnt actually open the doors until 8:20am. Luckily we still made it to our train with breakfast from our new favorite bakery in Oberammergau. We actually purchased a Bayern ticket today cuz it was cheaper to travel that way than to use a train day from our eurail pass. We made it to the train with only 30 seconds to spare. Our first change of train was Murnau and next Munich HBF. However the train we wanted to take to Wurzburg at that time only runs on Saturday and Sunday. So we had to wait for an hour an a half for the next train to Treuchtlingen to connect with wurzburg. So we went to do some cheap interneting. It is amazing how much more long distance international calls cost than internet and internet is very expensive. We did something very German today. We rode the train and ate our lunch on the train of prezels with mustard and german bakery bread with sausage and cheese. It was gut! Once in wurzburg we jumped on a tram (without paying! so naughty but cheap hehe) which took us right in front of our campground. This campground is right in the city on the west bank of the Main River. Surprisingly, it is fairly quiet and nice and comfortable for city camping. When we took our tent out it was completely soaked. As we arrived in Wurzburg it stopped raining and it didnt rain all night! Miracles do happen folks! It was the first time in almost a week that we went to sleep with a totally dry tent. It felt good in a way I thought I could never feel about a tent. we go to sleep with the sun when we are camping cuz it is tough to do anything without lights. For the second time in 2 weeks I had to do major surgery on mz big backpack. Thank god I thought to bring the sew kit cuz the whole bottom of my bag was coming off.

4/19/05 Tuesday

Still raining. It rained all night but we are dry inside our tent. We went into Oberammergau downtown to get breakfast. We found this little bakery(Backerei - Konditorie Franz und Roswitha Gschwendtrer) on Schnitzlergasse II and we shared what I believe is the best bakery I have ever eaten! We got 3 different kinds and all 3 were fantastic. After that we were equipped with enough energy to run a marathon. We took some photos of one of the most ornate painted buildings and the Pilatushaus and a couple of other buildings that have wall paintings. That is the big thing about Oberammergau, the painted buildings and the Passionspielhaus. Oberammergau puts on the largest inside passion play every year at easter. It is pretty famous. We got a phone card and called our families like good kids and did some internet then we went to the supermarket to fill up or food bag. We took back the food to our tent and made sandwiches and went for a hike. Like I said before, the trails are like 500 feet from our campground, so great. We ended up hiking over 3 hours. It was beautiful on our hike with mountians all around us and green grass and trees as far as the eye sees. It even slowed to a light trickle of rain for us! (caleb) there are huge snails and slugs everywhere. We touched one 4 1/2 inch black slug and it felt really cool. (angie) Upon our return Illi invited us into her caravan again. She is a strict Catholic so whe was watching the whole hullavaloo over the new pope in rome. Lots of change going on in the world right now. We played cards with Elli and had some snacks and then retired to our small tent home. It rained all night again! glad that we move on tomorrow.

4/18/05 Monday

Oberammergau, unfortunatly I believe is a bit colder then Schwangau and Füssen. It also rained all day and night. We do have a fantastic view of the mountians and forrest from our tent wow! This campground is nicer then the one in Schwangau. The ground is much softer which is great because that means we could put the tent up properly so that we remained dry and warm. There is a polish lady that works for the campground who has been very kind to us. She lis letting us keep our backpacks in her caravan so they dont get soaked. It has been raining since sunday and from sunday to monday caleb's backpack got soaked. So it is super nice to have a place for our stuff. She also had us over for tea and snacks in her caravan. She only speaks polish, a little more german then us, and like 6 english words. So communicating was a small task at times. But suprisingly successful. She lives in Poland about 150 K from the border of the Ukrainne and Chernobyl. Apparently her daughter and son and law and grandson lived near Chernobyl and there is still enough radioactive contamination in their area that her grandson was born with birth defects- so sad.
The campgrounds in Germany are more expencive the all the others at which we have spent time, but it is still 1/2 price of staying in a hostel. We did go on a short hike in the rain after dinner. It is awesome how close we are to several mountian hiking trails. We must only cross a bridge and voila!

4/17/05

We decided to rent bikes today to get a chance to tour around Füssen and rode though the Altes Stadt. We also saw the Rathaus. We discovered that it would be better to take a bus to our next destination- oberammergau while stopping at the train station. We once again forgot that it is Sunday, so our attempts to find an open bakery or market were thwarted until we came across a gas station close to our campground. (caleb) its so nice to see 100 different beers in a gas station. It takes a while to decide, I wish I could try them all. It rained so we took cover in our warm tent. Man it is COLD today Home Oberammerwau is warmer.

4/16/05

Wow! We saw a whole lotta castles today. We are lucky because we are within hiking distance of both Hoenschwangaw(origonally called Schwanstein) Castle and Neuschwanstein castle. We ate breakfast and got on our way. It was a 5 km walk to where you get tickets for the 2 castles. We toured Hohenschwangau first. Hohenschwangau was the castle king LudwigII grew up in. It isnt as large or ornate as Neuschwanstein but it was a cheery castle(golden yellow outside). Caleb thought that the castle looked more like a Museum inside than a castle. Paintings everywhere. The tour was a recorded audio tour but there was still a girl there to take us from room to room and point to the things of intrest mentioned on the audio tour. The climb up to Neuschwanstein was a bit steeper then the other castle. We were assigned a time to enter the castle for our tour, so while we waited for our number to come up we climbed a bit more to stand on the Mareienbrüke. This is a bridge that spans between tow peaks and over a waterfall. You also get a fantaistic view of the Neuschwanstein. I had been here before in high school and was to afraid to go out on the brige at the time, but this time No problem. Ok it was a little scary, but overcome. The we went on the guided tour through the castle. The tour group was large. Not all of the rooms were finished in the castle because King LudwigII was suspiciouslz found dead in inches of water(and was an excellent swimmer) So we only really toured 10-12 rooms. The most impressive rooms were the kings bedroom and the chapel and the singing hall. The kings bedroom was cool because we have never seen such intricate, beautiful woodwork anywhere. The bed frame top was several models of famous cathedral steeples. Very cool and gothic. The chapel was cool because it was one of the most colorful and cheerful chaples I have seen anywhere in europe(besides madrid) And the singing hall because of all the wall paintings and stage backdrop. It was designed by a theater designer and not an architect and you can tell. We walked back to the campground by following the waterfall which turned into a river behind the castle. It was very peaceful and pretty. Today was a great day.

4/15/05

We packed up camp at 8am to start moving towards or next destination, Schwangau. We are suing another one of our train days. We go from Bühl-baden baden-karlsruhe-stuttgart-augsburg-Füssen and from there we have to take a bus to our campground. All of the trains were on time and all of the rides went smoothly except for the train from Augsburg to Füssen. It was a small, 2 car train that was packed so full for the first 40 minutes of the ride that everyone was packed in like sardines. All of the corrigors were packed too, we were 2 of the lucky people who got to stand. After an hour and 4 stops the train cleared out enough so that we could have a seat. The weather is gorgeous today, sunny and super warm. Füssen and Schwandau are right next to the mountians. Our campground in Schwangau has a lake right next to it. Unfortunatly our campsite doesnt have a full view of the lake, but we have A view of the lake and a full view of the mountians. On the busride to the campground we got a peek at the Neuschwanstein! So awesome! It is staying light out longer and longer. It is snuggly inside our tent, but we can tell that it is going to be cold tonight since there is snow right by our tent.

to be continued...

4/14/05

Wow, it is crazy to think that is has been over 5 months that we have been traveling. This last part of our trip is going by much faster then the first 2-3 months. The first 2 months of our trip seemed to take a lifetime to pass. Other long term travelers told us that it would be this way. Today we got moving around a little earlier and took took the bus into Baden-baden. We payed for the first leg of our journey from Seestrasse in Oberbruch to Bühl(3€) but we just hopped on the back of the bus from Bühl->Baden-baden. Such rebels. It was a beautiful ride. The scenerz onlz got better as we got closer to Baden-baden. It is a prettz citz. There must be at least a little monez around here for some of these giant houses in the black forest hills. Our first hike was to the summit of one of those black forrest peaks where the spookey remains of an alte Schloß(old castle) reside. It was quite a hike and straight up. It got our hearts pumping. I can see where those hiking poles would come in handy for these kind of hikes. Lots of people use them here. The castle was really cool. You could climb all the way to the top for a fantastic panoramic view of the city and forrest. We found an area to sit for a while and take in the view. Caleb lost his "found watch" and was sad. As we climbed down there was stairs descending to a dungon area. I was scared but Caleb finally talked me into it. It was so spookey down there. Caleb said that it made the whole climb up there worth it. We were starting to get hungry for lunch so we found some bread and cheese at an open air parmet and some Frickadelles at a meat shop. We sat in the back of the Neues Schloß and ate or Frickadelle picnic. We saw a few more sights, mostly churches, which there are no shortage of in germany. Then we found some interent to update our blog and stay in contact with the outside world. We took the bus back to our sampsight in Oberburch. We made checken noodle soup and Milchrise for dinner. Its funny how early zou got to bed when you camp. Its like being a kid again.

4/13/05

Today we took the day off. We slept in for quite a while and then we went on a hike around the campground. It is quite a big one but I am convinced that we have the best spot. I only have 2 complaints about this campground. 1 the person mowing the lawn mowed so close to our tent this morning that he bumped the tent pegs and made the area around our tent muddy. 2 there really isnt any place for people who are tent camping to have any privacy its pretty out in the open. But aside from those things, the prices in the small shop are fair and the camping price is fair. And there is great scenery.

4/12/05

We left Saarlouis todaz for our new destination. Baden-baden in the black forest region. First we made a pit stop in Heidelberg to see the castle there(or what is left of it). We had two hours and we made the most of it. We found lockers right away big enough to hold all of our stuff(woo hoo!) Then we made a bee-line to the castle. I think everyone that was there either spoke english or Japanese. There is quite a view from up there. We wandered though most of the rest of the city but we ended up taking a bus back to the train station just to be safe so that we didnt miss the train. We stopped in Baden-baden too, but we didnt have enough time to see anything because the train to our camground was leaving. We made it to the campground before dark and had a great nights sleep in front of a lake with ducks and everything.

4/11/05

Today is another take it easy day. Did the last load of laundry. It is super nice weather wise today, lots of sunshine but not to warm. We walked to the market to get bread and milk for breakfast. We walked with MJ to another town 6 KM away from Altdorfweiler(the town she lives in) to go to Eiscafe Europa. There we had some excellent gelatti(Italian stzle icecream) dishes. I went for the banana split and Caleb went for the fruit flavors. It was a great day to take a long walk. We bathed in the sun when we got back and played cards for a bit with Johanna and MJ then we watched some telly(simpsons).

4/10/05

Slept in. We stayed around the house. We got some much needed blogtime in on the computer. And we helped Marie Josee stuff letters into envelopes for Anes hotel business. We made a norweigen dish for supper with meatballs and potatoes and a great creamy sauce.

4/9/05

Ane, the aupair mom, is a manager of a 5 star resort hotel. the hotel is within seeing distance of the luxembourg border. so today we were treated to a day at the hotel pool, spa, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and tanning spa. We even had our own room to change in and take a shower afterwards. It was sooo cool. We were allowed to have a traditional German dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was so delicious. Some guests of the hotel were dancers performing that night. Ane got all of us tickets. The performance was held in this big top tent. It was like performance art with dancing mixed in. The performers were from Israel. It was really interesting. It was a great day.

4/8/05

We decided to take a day trip today. We saw Köln. There is a huge cathedral there. It is right outside the main train station. We also went to Arnhem. The city was nice. It looked very much like Amsterdam, but much cleaner, easier to navigate and less junkies in the red light district hehe. This took us pretty much all day to do. We didnt get back to Marie Josee until 1am.

4/7/05 Thoursday

Johanna loved the pancakes so much that she requested to have them again this morning. She didn't go to school again because she was´nt Fehling well enough. We went into Town with MJ to Saarlouis. She Takes a German class there 2 times a week and we went with her this time. Before class, we had time to walk around. We ate Luch from a street vendor. It was a sandwith made from pork and lots of spices. It is called a Frikadelle. It comes on a Brotchen roll and with mustard it is so scrumptious. One of my favorite foods since we started traveling.

4/6/05 Wednesday

We spent the whole day with MJ and Johanna at the house. It was so relaxing. I made American style pancakes for everyone and MJ being a good Canadian, had actual maple syrup(which we have not had since leaving the states) for them. Deeelish! We played lots of cards and watched the movie “Cat in the hat”, played the game of Life Auf Deutche, and saw a bit of television.

4/5/05

We had breakfast, late with Alix and then walked to the Hauptbahnhof to catch our train to Saarlouis, where our friend Marie Josee is living and working as an Aupair. We are to stay with them for the next week. At first we thought we were to take a bus from Saarbrücken to Saarlouis. But we Soon found out that only a train goes there. The train to Saarlouis left 5 minutes after we walked into the station. This really kind woman helped us figure out how to purchace a ticket from the machine. We just made it onto the train with no time to spare. Saarlouis is a pretty small Town. Once there, we purchaced a phone card and tried to contact MJ. No luck. So we waited around the train station calling every few minutes. By 4:20 They were still not home. Caleb(through Trial and error and asking questions) figured out that we were Missing a 0 from the number and finally got through. So she gave us directions and told us what bus to take. MJ was waiting at the final stop to take us to her Aupair family’s house. We were so Happy to see MJ and Meet Johanna and Anne and be in a real home. It is like a 4 star hotel to us after Hostelling , Camping, and traveling in General. They live in a beautiful house and their Backyard is basicly the Woods and a gorgeous field. It is so nice here.

4/4/05

On track again...to Saarbrüken, Germany. We had to take the train from Annecy to Lyon, however our train was late so our original route was a bust. The only other way from Lyon to Saarbrüken toway went through Metz. But we had to wait nearly 5 hours for that train to depart. So we hung out in Lyon for a bit. We couldnt go exploring together because someone must always be with the bags. So I went shopping for food and water and caleb stayed out front of the train station with our bags. We took the tent out to dry weile we were outside at Lyon. It got so Cold last night that there was ice on the outside of our tent so the tent was sopping wet when we put it away this morning. Finallz at 5:15p we departed for Metz France where we changed trains. We had about 20 minutes between trains so we walked around outside a little bit. It looks like a nice City and it is definatly one of the prettier train stations that we have been to. Some celtc motifs in the architeture. The train from Metz to Saarbrüken was so tiny. Only 1 car in length. The ride was only 30-40 minutes long. We met this cool French Girl from Orleans named Alix. She is ging to school in Saarbrüken for English and German. She spoke Great english, and we chatted pretty much the whole way. The train gets in at 12:08a And we didnt exactly know where the Campgrounds were that we wanted to stay at. Alix was so sweet and asked several people for us, in French and German no less, for directions to the campgroundand which bus we would need to take to get there. No one knew for sure where the campingrounds were and the busses to that area, we found out were no longer running. A taxi could take us, but it was going to be 10€ or more. So Alix being the extreamly kind hearted Person that she is offered to let us stay on her floor for the night. We were greatful and accepted the offer. Her Apartment is fairly close to the Hauptbahnhof so it was convenient for tomorrow too! We stayed up until 3:15a talking and we had a really nice time.

4/3/05

We took it easy this morning. Once we got around to being dressed we had coffee with the Hosts of the Campground (which by the way is just a really Great Backyard of a couple and their teenage daughter) The view from our site gives us a wonderful unhindernd look at the alps and lots of forrest. It is fantastic. We met a nice French couple that was staying in their camper here. The woman is a teacher and invited us to stay with her where she is from near Clermont Ferand France. We Chose to do some more climbing and hiking today.(caleb) The mountian hike was Calleed Le Clay but I think that we passed it though. We were much higher up then we were yesterday. We climbed almost all the way to the summit, but it just got to steep. I am sure that we could have done it but it's’s getting down thats the hard part. On the way down we sampled some Alp water that was fantastic. It tasted even better then the water at the campsite.
(angie) when we got back to our Campground our Hosts were haveing a little soire with a small Group of people. They were playing botchie ball. If we spoke French we would have played but it's just no fun to stand around and smile while people speak a language you cannot unterstand. Both of us want to learn French now. Once the Sun goss behind the mountians it gets much colder outside very fast. We went to bed at sundown since it was so Cold and we must get up early to catch our bus/train.

4/2/05 Saturday Annecy-Savoie

The alarm went off at 7a. Time to get up and pack our shit before someone notices our tent in the park. No problem. We hiked over to the beautiful lake to enjoy the Sun coming up over the snow capped mountians before the tourist office opens. We are basicly in a Lush Phalli of the alps. Very near Albertville, site of the recent decades winter olzmpics. The tourist office opened at 9 and we were the one of the first in line. We got info about camping, hiking and busses. There are loads of hiking and biking trails in the Savoie area. Lots of Wooded areas and of course the mountians. We took a bus out to our new campground just outside of Annecy in Duingt. The view here is absolutely gorgeous. It appears everyone here rides a bike, walks a dog, or runs. Oh, and we noticed that there is a pretty carousel in every French ville. They are pretty, but it’s cute.
We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking. The trail started out paved and it ended up that we were doing some pretty nice rockclimbing.

4/1/05 April fools day

We packed up camp at 8a and headed to our bus stop to go into Town. Our train to Annecy leaves at 9:44a but it turned out to be late. We made Turkey and Cheesse Baguette sandwithes on the train for breakfest. You get to see a lot of the countryside on the train. The Flowers are budding everywhere in France. We see a number of vineyards by the side of the track. We arrived in Lyon at 12:40p. Our train was suppost to leave around 2:15 p so we went outside to enjoy the super sunshiney day. The weither in General has been exceptional. It tends to be cool late at night into the early morning and then by 1p it’s nearly hot. Around the time our train was to take off it was cancelled unexplicably. I get into line to ask the ticket office what is wrong and if there will be another train to Annicy todaz. After about 10-15 minutes I get up to the representative and they tell me that there is a partial strike today and that I have to get into line to check to see if there is even ging to be another train today. So I get into the line only to find out that we cannot get onto a train until 5:20p to Annecy. When we arrive in Annecy 2 hours later just about everything is closed, including the tourist's office. We didn’t have an oppertunity to find a Campground before we got to Annency so we were just wandering the streets of Annecy. At first trying to find a map. We found the outside of the tourist's office-closed- there was a fairly detailed map of Annecy there. We thought we saw a camping area Marked on the map and started hiking with our gear in that Direction. We, after a long walk, found a camper camping area in a beach/park Parking lot, but no marked tent camping area. We are both exhausted at this point. Just past the camper camping area there is a park with trees and picnic tables. We experienced our first night of totally free renegade camping. We have never Setup camp so quickly and quietly. Caleb was so proud to camp for free. I was a little scared at first but sleep quickly took over. It was a very Cold night.

3/31/05

We Chose to stay in Arles another day. We did some shopping in town and found a place to do some Internetting. We spent most of the day at our Campground enjoying the nature and Sun. We made gnocchi w/French sausage and marinara sause w/shredded Cheesse, all from our little Hoetpot. Fairlzy impressive. We met George, the manager of the Campgrund. He does a really good job. He is a nice guy from Holland who is a transplant to Arles. The night was colder and windier then the others.

3/30/05

We tore our eyes open, before Full sunrise, at 6a. Our bus leaves at 6:37A from about 60 Meters from our campsite. We are using one of our trainpass days and doing the whirlwind tour of the Coted’azur. We start with Marsaille. Marseille is about 45-1hr from Arles by train. Our train left Arles at 7:39a and arrived in Marseille at 8:40a. We couldn’t find the tourism office so we did our sightseeing based on our Western Europe guidebook map of Marseille. And without a compass. not a good mix. By Accident we did get to see the Cathedrale La Major, Lo Vielle Charite’, the Memorial des Camps de la Mort, Fort St. Jean, several points of view from the Port and we saw Basilique dev notre Dame de la Garde from afar. you really can see “La bonne mere” statue shining a top the Basilica from across the port. We found that Marseille is a dirty city because even though there are several garbage cans people still litter a lot. We went back to the train station another way then we came out. Many many Steps led to a fairly impressive station front. The view from the top was choice. Next stop-- St. Raphael.
We wanted to go to St. Tropez first, but only buses Transport people to St. Tropez. St. Raphael was gorgeous. We walked Almost straight to the beach. The sand on the beach was very soft but huge grains. Coral and Terra Colors. So pretty. We found a bakery for more bread (Atkins is really Rolling over in his grave) and back on the train to Cannes, home of the famos Cannes Film festival, which doesnt take place until early may so no luck for us. We walked the streets of palm prints and signatures of stars like Julie Andrews. We found a nice beach in Cannes to plop down on for a spell. Caleb says that the water is really Cold. The water is a lovly blue and so clear. We then walked the Promenade around the beach that goes in front of all the posh Hotels. Caleb had to wear his coat and hood all day because he forgot his hat and he didn’t want to burn his scalp. It is actually warmer in Arles than by the med. coast, but that is sea winds. We start heading back at 6:41p. (caleb)On the train we walk though part of 2nd class, the first part that we walk though looks like baggage class. The Seats are on the floor and are made of sheet metal. Luckily for us we got 1st class railpasses (we would reccamend this to anyone). We are Lucky enough to get a bathroom on the train with a seat and toilet paper. There is still a hole in the floor of the car but I quite like seeing my pee go onto the railroad Tracks. We are Lucky because we got a City train that will go straight through to our final destination city, Arles! We will have to walk the 4k back to our campsite since the busses stop running at 8:45p here in Arles. Good exercise I guess. We will sleep well tonight no doubt. Caleb even fell asleep on the train home. So cute hehe.

3/29/05

We awoke at 8A. I took a shower, they were nice and clean with reasonably hot water! We walked to the bakery that we went to yesterday to get breakfest. We had These meat pasteries and shared a pastry/tartlette thingy with peaches on top. It was so delicious. The French definatly have a way with bread and other bakery Items. There are several Sites of Roman runins in Arles. Apparently it was inhabited by the Romans for quite awhile around the time of Constantine and the dawning of Chritsianity). We bought 10 bus tickets as a way to tour Arles cheaply and provide Transport to and from the train tomorrow and the next day. Did we say that the weither here is righteous?! So warm that I am sweating. Hooray for springtime in the South of France.
We went to see the Theatre Antique, Eglise San Trophine and the Roman Amphitheatre. We did’nt pay to go into the Theatre and church, but we snuck into the Amphitheatre with an American tour group. We’re so crafty. Hehe. I am glad that we decided not to pay because it was cool, but it wouldnt have been Worth the Money. Inside though there is a tower with a Great view of the City. It was another perfect night for camping. Caleb Thinks that Arles is a romantic place...and I agree.

3/28/05 Easter Monday

(caleb)
Today is a national holiday in France. We packed up camp and made our way to the train station only to find out that there had been a time Change weile we slept. Angie went to the bakery to grab some bread and I bought the tickets. We shouldnt have bought them though, the conductor didn’t even check. Once we got to Arles, we found out that the busses must not run on Easter Monday. So we walked the 4K’s to the Campgrund. It was wonderful weather again.
(Angie) We tried to find a supermarket to get some food and found a couple that were closed because of the holiday. We picked up a loaf of bread and a tart from the Artisan bakerz (boulangerie) and had enough for dinner with that. We played cards for about an hour at our campsite. We sat out absorbing the Sun until it was gone. This campsite is much nicesr then some others we have frequented. Nice, cushy, grassy, ground that actually allows stayes to be passed.

3/27/05 Happy Easter from Avignon!

We awoke to chruch bells this morning and found out that the easter bunny had visited us all the way in Avignon, France at a Campgrund! We suspect the German family, especally the little German boy was the culprit. It was very sweet, literally. All of the chocolate was so good! We got super Lucky weatherwise today. Very Sunny and warm. A perfect vacation day. We went first off to a couple of the same places that we went yesterday to take some Photos.
(Caleb)We ended up Getting some French custard Things. It is so cutte how everyone here wraps Things and puts them in a decoritive box. The customer service in this country is Great, and so far garbange wise it is cleaner then Ireland. We take a lunch Break at our campsite and continue exploring the other half of the City. We walked around the entire wall of the City. Tomorrow we will go to Arles and hopefully uze it as a base for a train day.

3/26/05

We awake in Avigon to... rain. It seems to have followed us to France from Amserdam. We went to the camp’s cafeteria/restraust to make ourselves breakfest out of the rain and upright. We had biscuts and strawberry jam and bread with meat and cheese. Our typical Travel breakfast. This campgroundhas, yes its true! Hot showers so caleb and I plan on taking Full advantage. We are ashamed to admit we havent taken a shower since our last morning in Ireland.
The showers were hot and pretty much a little slice of heaven. A shower can make you feel like a new human being. Still raining after all that. We our out of Room on our digicam so no Photos can be taken from our first day in Avignon, but you can believe us when we say it's is a beautiful city. The Cathloic Pope setup his digs here for about 100 years or so. And what does every poch pope have? A palice! So we walked across the bridge overthe River Rhone and explored Avignon. There is what appears to be a totally intact City wall all the way around the old City. All of the buildings from within the wall appear to be from the same period as the cathedral and the Papal Palice(14th century) Very beautiful. We plan on touring it when we start taking photos. We got provisions- from the market since tomorrow is easter and not everything is going to be open.