Brugge, the most romantic city in Belgium...glad I'm here with my sister... :)

Belgium Chocolate soccer balls in Brugges





Sarah trapped behind bars next to the canal in Brugges

Sarah in front of a little peeing boy sculpture
in Brussels (it is very famous)

Getting ready to devour Belgium waffles

St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brussels


Canals of Bruges
Us hanging out in our cool tent



Guiness Storehouse... our first sips of Guiness
My friend Joe Keane in Galway who gave me a tour of the city and taught me Gaelic

Sarah and the shore of Wicklow
Our new friends at the top of the hill in Wicklow


Sister time overlooking the countryside and Irish sea
The sisters and cousin Carolyn at a sculpture in Dublin


Carolyn and I pretending to kiss statues of famous Irish men
On our bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher... the background is the Burren countryside


T




The Tower Bridge of London and the London Eye
In front of Parliment














Just kidding, Katie is Awesome :)

We finally got pictures uploaded! (Sorry, we had a hard time labeling them and getting them in the right order so it's kind of a mix and match puzzle with the picture to the description) Enjoy!!!!

We're here in Brugge, and we both like it way more than Brussels...although, we were running on no sleep again yesterday while walking around through Brussels so that could have been part of it :) We spent the night of the 26th at the airport in Dublin since our flight left at 7:35am and we didn't want to miss it because we overslept our alarm, so there was no sleeping at all that night. We played a lot of cards and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to keep ourselves awake :)

Our last day in Ireland, the 26th, we took a day trip from Dublin and went to Wicklow, a 45 minute train ride south in very pretty countryside and right next to the sea...katie wanted to jump from the train into the water, but I assured her it was probably cold and we should wait until we get farther south :) But guess what? We met more boys :) These 4 were from Texas, and neither of us had plans, so we left from the train station together and started exploring. We walked to the highest hill for a great view of the sea and then down to a cool lighthouse. Katie took of her shoes and was trying to out run the waves, but ended up with very wet jeans. Later, we found some delicious chicken and chips (french fries) with salt and vinegar. The boys invited us to go on a Pub crawl around the Temple bars, but we unfortunately had to decline to grab our packs from the hostel and catch the last cheap bus to the airport.

Brussels was pretty in the main square where all of the big old buildings are, but otherwise there's graffetti all over everything, even churches, and the rest of the city wasn't very pretty. But we had our Belgium waffle drenched in chocolate sauce and strawberries...it was heaven in a bite :) DELICIOUS! And we savored every bite...it probably took me 20 minutes to eat it, and you all know how fast I usually eat :) But after that, we were tired and just wanted to get back to the train station to catch the train to Brugge...

By the time we checked into our hostel in Brugge last night, all we wanted was to go to bed. That was our first night in a mixed dorm, but it didn't matter because we went to bed before everyone got in, and we were up and gone by 10:30 this morning and everyone else was gone or still sleeping. So we ate some breakfast at the bar downstairs, loaded up our stuff, and walked the 2km to the campground just outside of the main city centre of town...it felt longer than it was :) But it was a nice little area, and we got the tent all set up (we were having a little trouble so maybe you should have helped me more Mom...but katie, yeah, I know, I camp way more than her! So she would brag after that it was because she was in future problem solvers...hehe) :), ate some lunch, then washed some clothes in the bathroom sink...we had a lot of fun with that, Katie said it was like we were back in the "old days", I was like, it's because we're cheap and can't afford a washing machine! :)

Then we walked back into Brugge...my back has started hurting a little bit, so I'm going to start wearing the top of my main backpack around my waste as a large fanny pack instead :) I don't care how dumb I look, it felt so much better than having to wear my daypack on my shoulders! Brugge is very pretty, all cobblestone streets, and canals winding through the city. Every church is gorgeous. And it's so funny...they say that in Dublin you can't go a block without seeing a pub...well, in Brugge you can't go a block without seeing a chocolate shop! Killer! We stop at every window and drool :)

Tomorrow we're catching the morning train to Amsterdam, and then the plan is to reserve an overnight train from Amsterdam to Copenhagen once we get to the train station tomorrow morning...hoping there are sleeper seats available for us! Then after Copenhagen we'll be heading to Berlin...

We'll keep you posted the next time we get to an internet cafe...Jordan said gas is expensive there...boo! Everyone bikes around here and takes the train...we should implement more of that in the US :) Mom, stop using our blog for your social network...it's called e-mail! :) just kidding...no, but seriously :)

But keep posting everyone, we LOVE to read them and have contact with people that speak english :)

LOVE YOU ALL! 2 MORE MONTHES OF THIS CRAZY TRAVEL BUSINESS!!!! Keep sending us good vibes! :)

Love Sarah and Katie

Back in Dublin

Katie speaking:
Hello to all! So our poor cousin Carolyn had to go to the hospital yesterday. She was in a lot of pain and it took over 4 hours to get seen and cost £66. Sarah and I, being the insensitive cousins we are, stayed the morning in Galway to go to the street market and walk around the city a bit more. It was a beautiful morning and the harbor was gorgious! There were tons of swans, giant fish, and it was very nice and sunny. Then we jumped on a train back to Dublin and decided to put our backpacks in a locker at the train station so we didn't have to find our hostel right away. We are trying to be as thrifty as possible to we insisted to the locker attendant that we could fit our huge packs in a medium sized locker because it was cheaper. After a lot of pushing and shoving we succeeded and saved £3 :) Then it was off to the Guiness Storehouse! It was a self-guided tour up through lots of exhibits on how the beer is produced. There was some tasting and the top is a 360 view over Dublin. You could see mountains in the background on one side and the sea to the other side. It was a sunny day and the view was so gorgious! You also get a pint of Guiness at the top! Both Sarah and I have never had it before, so we weren't sure what to expect. I loved it straight off the bat... it is thick and tastes like roasted coffee and chocolate. Sarah hated every sip she had to take, but made herself drink the entire thing because it was part of the entry fee. I would have gladly finished it off, but she declined and suffered through it. We met some nice men from Greece who were following the Bruce Springstein concert tour through Ireland (hilarious!) and they gave us some great travel pointers. Surprisingly, we were both very tipsy afterward (4pm) and were stumbling around the street for awhile!
Carolyn was smart and booked a room for us at the Travelogde last night. It was the cheapest thing we could find because it was the weekend, but it was a really nice hotel and we had our own room and it was AMAZING! We finally had our own space with the comforts of home! We had soup and baggettes, watched some TV, and just relaxed. Carolyn flew home this morning and Sarah and I are now back at a hostel. We explored a bit more today and found a music festival going on in a nearby park. Then we went to the National Gallery which had many famous and interesting paintings.
I must note that we have been very good at budgeting so far (only because Sarah keeps tabs on all the spending and £££). I'm always asking if we can split an ice cream cone or get a good meal and she insists that it's just too expensive. So we bought noodles, sauce, peppers, and chicken stuffed pancakes and made them at the hostel tonight. It was actually a great and filling meal, but we're splurging on some chocolate for dessert. She keeps saying that we can eat the famous foods in each country (Belgium waffles, Beer in Germany, Pizza in Italy, Gyros in Greece, Hot Chocolate in Switzerland). We're also going to start camping pretty soon which I'm hesitant about, but we aren't lugging the tent and sleeping bags around Europe for nothing! We're running out of computer time so it's time to wrap up! We're just going to go back and have some hard cidar at the hostel and watch a movie!
Sending love and luck from Ireland!

Correction: The Cliffs of Moher :)

Sarah Speaking:

So I've slept with earplugs since starting college, as most of you know, and I always wake up to my alarm. But two mornings ago, I apparently (according to Carolyn who was sleeping right across from me), heard the alarm go off, opened it, shut it off, and went right back to sleep :) So she doesn't wake me up because she thinks I just want a little more time to sleep, and we wake up an hour later a miss breakfast...which is free...you don't pass up free food here! Even if it is just tea and bread with jelly! Shoot! So then last night, I give the alarm to Katie and say it's her responsibility to get us up, and we had to be to a tour at 10, so we couldn't sleep through it this morning. Katie is a new wearer of ear plugs, I think that's the only way to get sleep in a 10 bed room in a hostel with people coming in at all different times of the night. So apparently (again according to Carolyn who was sleep right below her) the alarm went off, and Katie slept right through it :) Luckily, I woke up at 8:30 and we weren't late :)

We went to the Cliffs of Moher today, which is basically (according to my friend Kelly Smithers ;) the picture on the postcards that you see when you see Ireland. They were beautiful. And the bus ride went through the Burren, which is the rocky landscape that is characteristic of Ireland, and it was so neat to learn about the history behind all of the castles and tombs that had been standing there for thousands of years. It rained when we got to the cliffs, but that didn't dampen spirits in seeing it. Very worth the money we payed to take the tour. And it was really funny, on the bus ride back I think the busdriver had a cd in or something, but it was all of these different songs of different genres sang by an Irish singer with Irish instruments. So picture the songs "closer I am to fine", "Pave paradise and put up a parking lot", and "I would walk 1000 miles" all sang like an Irish song...it was pretty funny to listen to :)

We got back here and made pasta which we had picked up at the grocery store last night, and ate a lot...so I'm very full right now. But again, when there's food there, I'm going to eat it on this trip :) Carolyn isn't feeling very well :(, so she's upstairs lying down...we're all kinda tired, so I think we'll shower and play some games tonight :)

WOW! Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remind myself that we're really here...I'm in Ireland! It's very green and I love their music and Irish accents :) Dublin tomorrow, then on to Brussels on the 27th! Then begins the rest of the summer!

Thanks for listening...miss you all! Love from Ireland!

Greetings from Ireland!

Cheerio!
This is Katie typing. We're currently in Galway, Ireland which is on the Western coast. We haven't posted anything in a few days so here's a quick recap...
London was a lot of fun besides being deliriously tired. We walked around for about 5 hours and saw the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Shakespear Theater, London Eye, the Parliment Buildings, Big Ben, Westminster, St. James Cathedral, and Buckingham Palace. We took lots of pictures, but didn't take any tours because we're waiting for when we return with Mom. I must mention how CRAZY expensive London it. The pounds are the same amount as dollars, but with the poor exchange rate, it was double. You couldn't get a decent meal for under $15! I think we were too tired to even think about eating at that point. Funny story at the hostel the first night... We went to bed at 7 and set the alarm for 8:30 (check out was at 10 and we had to catch our train out of Paddington Station at 12:30). So never hear an alarm clock go off, but I wake up and look at my watch and it it 10:58! I frantically jump off the top bunk, say 'good-morning' to the girl awake in our room, and shake Sarah awake yelling that we need to grab our stuff and that we're going to miss the train! Sarah stands up, walks to the window, pulls open the shades, and it is pitch black out. Turns out it was 10:58 pm... oops! So I felt really dumb and went back to bed. We got up and made all our trains to Bristol where we met up with our cousin Carolyn who has been studying in Swansea, England for the semester. We jumped on our flight to Dublin where we arrived yesterday and checked into our hostel which was very nice. We watched a futbol game of Manchester United vs. Chelsea in the lounge and at the end, tons Irish children showed up and just went crazy screaming! It ended in a sudden death shootout which was pretty exciting to watch. Hopefully we can go to an actual game sometime because Sarah really wants to (except they're crazy $$$). We toured Dublin this morning and off to the cliffs of Moar in the morning! More to come later because I'm being kicked out of the computer area!

AHHHHH!!!!!!

katie and I haven't slept since leaving madison at 8 yesterday morning...we're going to sleep now...

ran around london baby!

love you all!

T-1 Day!!!

Well, we got all packed, and katie's already complaining about how heavy her 30 pound pack is...and wants me, the sherpa, to carry it ;) we'll probably be getting rid of some of our stuff tomorrow morning... :)

We can't wait! Nervous, excited, nervous, excited...LONDON BABY!!!!

T-2 Days!

Final packing and preparing! We have the tent and sleeping bags ready so we're prepared for both hostels and campgrounds...some of the things we're looking forward to: freedom!, seeing the sights, seeing our cousin Carolyn, visiting Ireland right away, celebrating both of our birthdays while there, since we couldn't see each other on either of them :( Things we're not looking forward to: the super long plane ride, paying a lot of money for food, getting adjusted to the time difference.

Almost ready to leave! WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

T-3 days!

We've been waiting for this since mid-February when we bought our round trip tickets to London and knew there was no turning back! We can't wait! Thanks to all who have supported us in living the dream :) We couldn't have done it without you!

Each of us had a "theme" song that we thought fit well with our summer:

Sarah: "Steer" by Missy Higgins
"Now you finally know that you control where you go you can steer...."
Katie: "Across the Universe" by The Beattles
"Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing through my open ears , exciting and inviting me..."

We now would like to invite you along to share in our journey! Please post comments, we'd love to hear from the people we love back home, and would love to know what you are up to! Cheers!