Tuesday, May 27th
Well, Natalie FINALLY got back home at 5 PM. So, we caught up on everything that happened back home and in Klagenfurt, and then at 9:30, I left to catch my bus to the city. BUT, it wasn’t going to come for another 25 minutes, so I decided to walk. When I finally made it to the train station, the ticket place was closed, so immediately, I started to panic. You can buy tickets on the train, but it’s kinda frowned upon, but I had no choice. So, when the ticket guy came around, I asked him if I could buy one and he told me his machine was broke. SO, my first thought was, “oh no, I’m going to prison.” Luckily, that didn’t happen. His “colleague” came an hour later and I bought it from him. Pretty much five minutes after I got on the train, an American boy came up to me and asked me if I wanted a beer. Normally I hate beer, but considering how high my stress level was after that ticket situation, I agreed. I moved all my stuff and went and sat with him and five of his other American friends. They were on their own Eurotrip—headed to Florence—so they were in party-mode. To make a long story short, they bought the rest of the beer on the train—over 50 euro worth—and by the end of the night, only one bottle was left! It was probably the most fun train ride I’ve ever been on.
Wednesday, May 28th
I got off the train at Treviso at 3:15 AM. My plane didn’t leave till 12:20, and I had nowhere to go until I had to be at the airport. The train station was completely empty except for one guy that was sitting on a bench. I went and laid down on the bench next to him. Next thing I knew, he pulled out his sleeping bag, took off his socks and shoes, and made his bed on the bench. Yup, he was a homeless person. Not gonna lie, I was pretty scared. Mom, if you knew where I was, and who I was sleeping next to, you would’ve have been SOOO worried. Haha, but I’m still alive and here to tell the story, so it’s all good.
At 7:00 I went to the airport and sat around for the next five hours. I was soo incredibly bored and exhausted. Neway, I landed in Frankfurt, took a 2 hour bus ride into the city, found my hostel, and was asleep by 9 PM.
Thursday, May 29th
Their plane was supposed to land around 12:30, and so I decided I’d get to the airport by 10:30 just to be sure I could figure out where they’d come out and everything. So, after I got there, I realized there flight was delayed by 40 minutes. …not terrible, but the anticipation was killing me. So, 40 minutes after their plane landed, they still hadn’t come out of the baggage claim. I started to worry, and thought maybe they missed their flight in London. So, I called my dad and mom, and they hadn’t heard anything. Eventually, after another 25 minutes, they came out. The airline lost Chad’s bag, so that’s what took so long! But, I was sooo happy to see them! I couldn’t stop smiling all day long.
Right after they landed, a few of us went and got kebabs. The ones that actually tried it loved it. Then, we hopped on the ryanair shuttle bus and drove 2 hours to another airport outside of Frankfurt. When we got there, Abby gave me the Tostitos cheese dip that she’d packed for me. We had it finished in about 20 minutes. It was heaven. Oh yeah, and by this time, one of Dane’s straps on his bags completely broke off.
All of us in the Hahn Airport...you can't really see Abby or Chad though.
The Birthday Boy after one strap broke :(
Everyone was SOOOO tired!
Zzzzzz.
Zzzzzz.
Hahaha
Zzzzz.
So CUTE!After our plane ride, we were in Barcelona! It was about 9:00 PM when we landed, and then we had to take yet another shuttle bus into the city center. …everyone had at least 15 hours of travel time before actually making it to a destination. Then to top it off, we take the subway to our hotel, and after getting off, Dane realizes that his wallet was gone. Yup, he got pick pocketed after being in Barcelona for no more than 15 minutes. Oh, and did I forget to mention it was his 18th birthday? That has to go down as the worst birthday in the history of birthdays. Poor guy!
Anyway, we found our hotel, got all checked in, and then everyone took showers. We went out in search for a pub to celebrate Dane’s birthday, but there was absolutely nothing open. So, we went and got a late, late dinner—kebabs.
Friday, May 30th
The girls were awake around 10 AM. We called the boys to see if they wanted to go to the beach with us, but Chandler answered and said they’d rather sleep. So, the three of us went alone. The beach was beautiful and the weather was absolutely perfect! This was probably one of my favorite days. I could be a beach bum for the rest of my life. Oh yeah, and it was a topless beach! I was happy the boys weren’t there cuz I wasn’t quite sure how they’d handle it. Around 2, the boys decided to come, and we all played in the Mediterranean for an hour or so. By that time, I was feeling quite crispy. So, we went home, showered up, and then went to find a seafood restaurant.
Me and Jamie on the beach!
And us three girls.
And finally all the boys came.
Siblings.
Chan in his dorky shirt.Well, this was by far the best seafood restaurant I’ve ever been to. The food was delicious, and then at the end, the waiter came out with two bottles of schnapps, and a bottle of whisky for all of us to drink. FOR FREE!
Sis and the sangria!
My AMAZING seafood platter.
The waiter serving Dane his whisky shot. Yuck!!!
The entire table.After dinner, we went back to our hotel, and then later that night walked back to the beach and just hung out there for a while.
The richest homeless guy in Barcelona.
Me and Chandler!Saturday, May 31st
We were up super bright and early. We caught our bus to the airport, and our plane to Paris, found our hotel, dropped off our bags, and went out for pizza. This was the first European pizza any of them had had before, and I think it went over pretty well! We had time to kill before we could check into our hotel, so we walked up and down our street for a while, checked our emails at an internet café, and then checked in. Our hotel was SOOOOO nice. We had two huge four-person rooms, but I’m positive we all could have fit in one pretty comfortably. We were all exhausted from such an early flight, so we went to bed around 3 PM, and didn’t wake up until 9 PM. That was pretty much my saving grace. I was incredibly sunburned from the day before, and any sort of movement was excruciating. Sleeping was the best thing for me.
When we woke up, we all showered, and went walking through the streets of Paris. We stopped and ate at a kebab/crepe stand. And then went and saw Notre Dame, the Eiffel tower as it sparkled, the Louvre, and whatever else was around that area. Around 2 AM, we all headed back and went to bed.
Ham and Cheese Crepe!Sunday, June 1st
We woke up super early to make up for the 6 hours of sleeping the day before. The girls all got a baguette (for only 90 cents) to share. We went to the Eiffel tower and stood in line for a good hour and a half waiting to go up. Everyone except for Becker went to the very top. Becker is afraid of heights (haha) so he stayed down by himself and just walked around the area and did some souvenir shopping.
After coming down the tower (we took the stairs!), we met up with Becker and he showed us all the good places to do souvenir shopping. Then, Abby, Dane, Jamie and I all went out for Starbucks, went to Notre Dame, and then went back to our hotel. That night we hung out in our hotel for a while, and then went out at night again.
Standing in the longest line EVER.
Look like anyone you know?? 
I wrote my name on the Eiffel...shame, shame.
At the top of the tower.
Going down ALL THOSE STAIRS.
At Starbucks.
In the boys' room.Monday, June 2nd
Basically this day only consisted of shopping…which didn’t bother me much. The boys split up from the girls, and then we met back up for dinner at KFC later. Then around 6, we were basically on a mad-dash to the Eiffel tower. We reserved segways for all of us to go on a tour together. We finally made it there and well that night was probably the best night of our entire trip. We all had a little segway lesson thing for about half an hour. Then, when we were all feeling fairly comfortable on them, we were off! We went and saw a bunch of sites, and then went and stopped for dinner at a cute little café. Then we kept going on the segways. I felt like a celebrity because all of the other tourists that saw us would immediately grab their cameras or video cameras and start taking pictures as we went by. I have to admit, we did look pretty cool. And they were SOOOO fun! Everyone had a blast. That will be my next big purchase after my car, school, and everything else is paid off!
Walking around the city....some random building.During our segway lesson!
Becker at one of the stops.
Dinner with our two tour guides.
Baby brother.
All of us.Our tour ended at 11:30 or 12, and then half of us went to the Moulin Rouge. That was pretty cool and really looked just like the movie. But, there was nothing to do there, basically just looked at it. If we wanted to see a show, it would have been more than 100 euros…I think not.
Afterwards, we were all super tired and went straight to bed.
Tuesday, June 3rd
We were awake by 5 AM, and checked out by 6. Our train to London left at 6:43, and it was the EuroStar…the new thing that goes through the underwater tunnel that connects to London. I was super excited to see the tunnel thing, but sadly, every single one of us slept through the entire ride.
We arrived a little after 8 AM, checked our bags at the airport, and then searched for a place to buy the Big Bus tickets. After an hour of asking around, and being sent in circles, we went to a travel agency and got it all straightened out. Oh yeah, and it was pouring down rain this entire time. Basically, this was the worst day of the trip. We were all sooo tired and miserable. Oh, but one good thing…we got fish and chips, and it was delicious.
Our dorky ponchos provided by the tour bus.
Buckingham Palace.We went on a cruise that was included with our bus ticket, but everyone fell asleep through the second half of it. Around 5, we went to our hostel, showered, and then we all went out to the Hard Rock Café—the first one ever made! That was amazingly fun. We sat downstairs and there was a live band playing, and the food and drinks were amazing! I had some kind of margarita and it was the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my whole entire life. After dinner, we went into the gift shop and got a tour through some like rock star museum.
Jamie was disgusted by the flooding in the shower and wouldnt let her feet touch the water. 
Becker with the signed Oasis guitar.On the way home, a crazy lady was following us and yelling nonsense. I told Becker and Chandler to ignore her, but of course they stopped, turned around and talked to her. She asked where we were from, and when they told her, she yelled, “You’re disgusting!” …apparently she didn’t like Americans. So, she continued to follow us all the way to the metro screaming hateful things at us. It was dumb.
A typical moment on the escalator.OH YEAH, and before I forget…up until this point, I STILL had glass stuck in my feet from two weeks before. Walking around so long everyday hurt horribly, and by the end of this night, I couldn’t take it any more. I forced my brother and sister to do anything in their power to get it out. Our only “surgical” supplies were fingernail clippers, tweezers, and peroxide. After a good hour of picking, tugging, and screaming, they finally got a nice big sharp piece of glass out of my heel.
Wednesday, June 4th
Since we had to be at the train station by 2 PM, we didn’t really do anything on this day. We slept in till 9:30 (doesn’t seem very late, but after getting up before 5 AM, it was pretty nice), checked out, and then went to the station. We did some souvenir shopping, and then ate at the same all-you-can-eat pizza place that I had my Easter dinner at in the train station. Then, we sat in a bar to kill some time and spend the few pounds we had left.
We took a train to the airport, and then flew to ROMA (my favorite place)!! We didn’t get to Rome until about 9 PM, and then after bargaining with the taxi drivers, got two cabs for 60 euro each to take us to our hotel (they started at 75).
Our hotel was a cute little place way out in the outskirts of Rome. The owner spoke zero English. …so checking in was a bit difficult. And, we only booked it for 8, so sneaking in an extra person was also a bit difficult. After about an hour of checking in, we finally went out to eat at this pizza place about a half mile down the road. Then we came home and went to bed.
Thursday, June 5th
We were at our bus stop by 10:30 AM waiting for a bus we weren’t even sure would come. It wasn’t a very good start to our day. But luckily, it came and took us into Roma. It probably took a good hour to get into the city. Once we were there, we did all of the normal things that you do in Rome. Ate pizza, ate gelata, saw the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, The Vatican, and ate pasta in Piazza Navona. I bought a painting of the Pantheon from a painter on the street. I absolutely love it. The Pantheon is my favorite building in Rome, so I’m pretty pleased with that purchase. It was an incredibly long—but very fun—day. We didn’t get back to our hotel till midnight. Then, we went straight to bed.
Becker loooking so pathetic waiting for our bus.
And now Jamie.
At the Trevi Fountain.
The cutest guy I've ever seen.
All of uf at the pantheon.
Drinking the fountain water at the spanish steps.
The boys at The Vatican.
And all of us.
I love this one.
Dane and his two favorite girls.Friday, June 6th
We left a bit earlier on this day. We were in Rome by 11 and went straight to the Colloseum. We did the whole tour thing of that and the grounds outside of it. I debating doing the tour again, but I’m glad I did. This guy talked about completely different things than the last one did. Then, everyone was starving so we ate some pizza on a little side street. Then, Jamie and I went shopping as everybody else went to the Sistine Chapel—I didn’t wanna go again. When we met up with everyone at 6:30, they told us that they couldn’t even find it. SO, that proved to me that they would have been lost without me—literally! Mom and Dad, I officially have some map skills!
Inside the colloseum.
Adam, Dane, and Chandler looking out at the Colloseum.
The wiping system in the old days.
Adam tickling the statue's toe.
All of us at the colloseum.
And now just the siblings.We got home around 8:30, sat around and didn’t do anything for a while, and then Jamie and I went out for some pasta at a restaurant down the road. It was amazing.
They decided to purchase these cute boxers :)
At dinner. I was impressed with their wooden plates.Saturday, June 7th
Well, this was yet another early day. We were all ready by 5 AM—awake by 4. We went to catch our bus to take us to the city which would connect us to a bus to take us to the airport. BUT, lucky us, the first bus drove right past us without stopping. So, we had to get a taxi. That was a huge ordeal, but we finally got a couple to lug us there. …and we realized that we got ripped off from the first taxis that took us to the hotel. Ugh.
We flew to Berlin, and once we were there didn’t have any problem finding our hostel. We were all staying in one huge room. It was an awesome hostel. After dropping our bags, we went through the Check-Point Charlie Museum. …if u ever go to Berlin, DON’T go through that. It wasn’t very good. Normally I like that kinda stuff, but I was just bored to death in this one. Afterwards we went and looked at the remains of the wall, and just walked around a bit. Then, us girls went shopping (didn’t buy a thing), and then went back to the hostel and met up with the boys. A few of us went out to this huge party thing. It was really fun. We got back after 2 AM and had to be GONE by 5:30 AM the next day—not a good idea.
The wall is the grafiti thing behind all of us.
love this piece of the wall.
Beck with his Beck's beer.
In our hostel. Looking cool.Sunday, June 8th
Well, nobody woke up to our alarm, but luckily Chandler happened to wake up at 5:35 AM. He woke us all up and basically everyone flew out of bed, brushed our teeth, packed our bags, and were out the door within ten minutes. It was chaotic. We ended up having to take another taxi to the airport.
We got to Frankfurt around noon and luckily we could check-in right away. We all went to bed right away, and didn’t wake up until supper time. Then we showered and went out to a cute bar and grill type place and ate weiner schnitzel. Everyone loved it, I knew they would. OH, and we watched the Germany vs. Poland Eurocup game which was held in KLAGENFURT! Germany won, and after we left the restaurant, it definitely showed. People were going crazy everywhere. There were flags all over the place, all the cars were honking, and there were tons of drunk people everywhere. They are sooo into soccer here, I love it!
Last group photo of the boys.Us girls went out for a drink and then went back to the hotel. We packed our things and then went to bed.
Monday, June 9th
We were up before 4 AM. Everyone else had to be at the airport by 5:30. I decided not to go with them to the airport cuz it was just going to be too big of a hassle and I thought I’d be pressing for time. I said goodbye to everyone at the hotel (and I didn’t cry this time!). Then, I went upstairs, showered, and decided a nap would be okay. Bad mistake. I woke up 30 minutes late, and ended up missing the 7 AM shuttle to the airport. So, I had to wait till the 8 AM. My plane left at 10:50, and you have to be there 40 minutes before your flight in order to be checked in. The ride was 2 hours long, and there was sooo much construction. I was stressed out the entire ride. I made it to the check-in desk by 10:05 (five minutes to spare!!).
Then, I took a train back to Klagenfurt, but it was delayed for 2 HOURS. Talk about a long boring wait when all you wanna do is get back home. Ugh. Once I was finally on the train, I instantly fell asleep. The conductor came and woke me up before my stop. I felt like I was five years old again and it was Earl waking me up on the school bus.
When I stepped out of the station and into Klagenfurt, I was in shock! The town was soooo crazy! Like I said, the Eurocup is being held here for the next month, so that means an extra like 60,000 people are here from all over Europe. There are tents set up all over the place and people everywhere. Natalie and I decided it’s like an Iowa/Iowa State game with people tailgating everywhere. Except this is a month long tailgating party and it’s 10,000 times as big. There are two soccer games every night. One at 6 PM, and one at 8:45. All of the games are held in Austria or Switzerland. …so basically it’s CRAZY and I love it!
Tuesday, June 10th
The weather was beautiful so Natalie and I went to the lake to swim. We found the most perfect secluded little cove and went swimming there. I can’t describe how perfectly amazingly beautiful it was. I’ll take a picture sometime and put it up here. The water is completely clear all the way to the bottom, and it’s at least 7 feet deep everywhere. And did I forget to mention that there are swans and ducks everywhere and we’re surrounded by mountains?
Last night we watched tourney games at Mozartheim.
Wednesday, June 11th
And finally, I am up to date with this blog! This morning I had an 8:30 class. Then at 10:30 Natalie was still sleeping and I was bored, so I went to the same little cove as yesterday and went swimming by myself for a couple hours. Then I had class at 2:30, and then tonight we went and watched the tourney games at Mozartheim. THE END. I am going to bed now!
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