The Final Days

Bonjour once again! We are back in France; Lyon to be exact- the current home of Mary Amari. Unlike our first French experience in Marseille, we were welcomed into Lyon with open arms.









But what we really want to say is thank you Johnny and Ambre! They were gracious enough to take hard earned money from their child's college fund so we could treat ourselves to a true French dinner. And treat we did!













Sorry we didn't take one before the meal we were too hungry :)

At this time we would also like to thank another Amari for generously opening up her home and skipping class to hang out with us for 2 days. Since she doesn't read this we won't waste anymore blogging space. But seriously, thanks Mary! We dig you!

The Epic Experience

Interlaken is known as the adventure capital of Europe, a perfect place for those with the middle names "Adrenaline" and "Danger". There's only one way we wanted to spend our time here: full of adventure and adrenaline!

When our dreams of canyoning fell through due to trential rain, we were forced to find another alternative. The Ultimate white water rafting experience down the Lutschine River was our ONLY option for the day. Instead of an adrenaline rush we found ourselves in a hypothermic state. Yes, the water was 6 degrees Celcius , but that didn't stop us from saving the lives of 4 men who fell to the wrath of the river when their raft capsized.









The next morning we arose from our slumber with a yearning deep in our souls for a true adrenaline rush. In the words of T.S. Elliot, "only those who will risk going too far can possibily find out how far one can go." At 11:45 AM we made a snap decision to go canyon jumping at noon that day.

From 300 feet you jump, you free fall, and then you swing at high speed through the narrow glacial canyon. Scary but awesome!



















Here is a video of some rando doing the same jump in Interlaken!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Lp3R0WyaM&feature=related

24 hour travel

There is only one word to describe this day...TRAVEL....MISERABLE...okay two words...



Ferry: From Brac to Split (1 hour)

Bus: Split to Zagreb (5 hours)

Night Train: Zagreb to Munich (9 hours)

Train: Munich to Zurich (4 hours and 30 minutes)

Local Train: Zurich to Interlaken (2 hours)

Total travel time: 24 hours





Some of our traveling buddies...you never know who you are going to meet on the train.

I sought trains; I found passengers. - Paul Theroux

Adventures of Harry & Lloyd

Rent-a-Scooter: yes please! Who wants to take a bus with a bunch of tourists when you can rent a scooter and roll like a local. Obviously, we do! You know you're in a trusting town when the only qualification to rent a scooter is to claim you know how to drive one.

Warning to all future scooter renters: Beware of vicious truckers who try to run you off windy 2 lane roads that are lacking guardrails. This is not for the faint of heart. In the words of Babs Hoffman: "Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey."



Peak speed of the day: 60 mph
Average speed of the day: 30 mph
Total time to drive 37 kilometers: 1 hour
Final destination: Bol Beach








"When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"



After soaking up the sun we scooted to Vidova Gora- the highest point on the Adriatic Sea. On a clear day you can see the coast of Italy, but conveniently our day was very hazy and you could barely see 2 feet in front of you. Luckily, we have good imaginations!




At this point we were below 1/8th of a tank of gas and had to literally coast all the way back. Our average speed home was however fast the wind would take us. The best part about this day: we didn't have to eat dinner because we filled up on June bugs on the ride home...

Hitchhikers

Our Croatian plans were to only go as far South as Plitvice, but since our Spanish compadres were headed even further down the coast we figured WHY NOT?!...Split, Croatia here we come!



Another 4 hour car ride later, we arrived in Split. Still not Southern enough for our taste so we decided to go to the island of Brac off the Dalmatian Coast. Unfortunately, we made it to the ferry dock just in time to wave the 2:15 ferry goodbye. Two and a half hours later after meandering around the streets of Split, we finally boarded the ferry to Brac.


First order of business upon our arrival...where are we staying? Fortunately, we overheard our native tongue being spoken nearby. Since the English language has yet to steer us wrong, we figured talking to some English speakers was the best place to start. JACK POT- Funky Donkey Hostel we're comin' your way!

The dynamic duo needed some quality time together, so we walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. We were feeling bold so we ventured through the water to sit on some rocks. It was at this time we hit a snag, Jodi's sunglasses jumped into the water. You better believe she's not leaving those baby's behind. There was only one solution to this problem: shimmy off your bottoms and jump in :)

Croatia - The So Called Promise Land

Throughout our journey, all the fellow travelers we have encountered have expressed their profound love for Croatia. Obviously, after so much praise we felt it necessary to see what all the fuss was about. With our days dwindling as we speak, we were only able to allot 4 days to Croatia, this so called paradise land.

In pursuit of Croatia, we faced many obstacles (aka several forms of transportation).

Itinerary to Croatia:
8:12am-10:43am: train from Salzburg, Austria to Villach, Austria
10:50am-12:32pm: bus from Villach, Austria to Ljubljana, Slovenia
2 hour layover in Slovenia at the ole faithful McDonalds
2:53pm-5:25pm: Ljubljana, Slovenia to Rijeka, Croatia

We'd like to stop here to tell a tale about 2 girls, 1 1/2 bags, 1 nightmare. Once upon a time 2 American sweethearts got off a train in Rijeka, Croatia expecting paradise only to find the European version of downtown Detroit. Talk about a heart-breaker...oh wait there's more. With the heat ablazin' and peg-leg Gertrude lagging behind, we roamed the streets in search of our hostel. We finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel (our hostel), only to find it was not a light but a mere mirage. After pounding on the door for 5 straight minutes we had to face the fact that no one was there.



Thankfully, a friendly neighbor called a lifeline and spoke to the owner who claimed he was 5 minutes away. 45 minutes later, when almost all hope was lost, Marco arrived. The next obstacle we encountered was how to get to Plitvice National Park. We had 2 options: take a 4 hour bus at 6 AM or rent a manual car and drive. We chose neither. Like modern day Robert Frost's, we took the road less traveled. We heard through the grapevine that 2 Spaniards staying at our hostel had rented a car and were headed South- we instantly saw 2 new friends in our future. After 2 minutes of bonding time we had plans to head South with our new amigos. That next morning, while in the car we exchanged names and were South bound!


3 hours and a couple of wrong turns later, we reached our destination. Now we've seen first hand, what all the rave was about...keep in mind folks this is a lake.

The Hills are ALIVE!

With the Sound of Music, of course:) You know where we're talking about..Salzburg, Austria!

While in the sauna (aka the train), on the way to Salzburg we encountered some Longhorns, 4 recent Texas graduates. Our unified belief that the South will rise again (and the fact that we were staying at the same hostel- the YoHo) made us instant comrades.

While making new friends, we were losing old ones. More specifically, Gertrude. Continuous traveling, as well as her morbid obesity has really taken a toll on her physically. First, her zipper. Now, her broken right leg. Keep her in your prayers that she will pull through til the end.



In celebration of the World Cup's opening night, we hit up the local hangout, Augustiner Braustubl-Mulln, with our new Southern amigas.



The next morning we bounded out of bed to go to our Sound of Music bike tour to see for ourselves if the hills are truly alive. After 4 hours of biking through the Austrian countryside, running through poppy fields, and singing nonstop, we were convinced that the hills are still alive and well.









Due to the World Cup, the hostel TV was only being used for football games. But with some heavy persuasion, we convinced our fellow hostel mates to watch the Sound of Music. Needless to say, we don't think they want us back anytime soon.

Once the Von Trapps were safely across the border, it was time for the U.S. vs England football game. Like true Patriots, we dressed in our red, white, and blue.


U.S.!



U.S.!


U.S.Aaaaaaaaaa!


Don't let our current foreign location mislead you, these colors don't run. As you can see, we wore our flag with pride!