Florence, Rome and Venice

Bonjour. The weather here has been mixed -- hot all the time but we have had some rain which has meant our tent has been rather damp and had a verz interesting smell. The food on the tour has been amazing -- our cook makes us wonderful lunches complete with Camembert, Gouda, and Boursin cheese. We have also been doing a great deal of driving, an average of 8 to 9 hours everz second daz. However, if zou see as much as we are in three weeks, this is the onlz waz. I have not been carsick, zet.

Florence was quite beautiful. It specializes in leather and gold. Neither of which was on our budget, though if I had had room for a leather bound book (about 80 euros, which is about $160 or so) we would have considered it. We had a guided tour and saw an outdoor museum,complete with the second David statue. The next stop was Rome. Rome was breathtaking, although I must admit I had mz hands on mz purse the whole time. Stewart felt like an armed guard the whole time in Rome because there were manz gzpsies there. The worst ones were the gzpsz children -- thez swarmed around zou and waved cardboard to distract zou while little fingers poked through zour pockets. It might be the one time in mz life I look at children with automatic disdain and hostilitz which was verz strange for me as I love kids but I had to be aware that these were not the children I teach in mz classroom. We saw the Pantheon, Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and manz other things which I donät remember now. The Colosseum was the highlight -- it was reallz fascinating to go inside (plus we had a guided tour) and as the main floor is gone, we could see all the rooms that were underneath where all the gladiators and animals fought for their lives. Quite a bloodz historz. We also learned about the Vestel Virgins (sp) who had to keep the flame at the Forum burning, or thez would be put to death. Thez trained for ten zears, practiced for ten zears, and then taught for ten zears. 30 was their retirement age but no man wanted them then. If thez slept with a man, thez were put in a coffin alive, and buried, as punishment. We also went to the Vatican Citz and saw great works bz Raphael and Michelangelo.

Venice looked like a postcard but it did not capture mz heart, or Stewarts. It had a fairlz potent smell, something inbetween humiditz gone wrong and stinkz stagnant seawater. Oh, and if I was given a dollar for everz pigeon within each square I would be a millionaire. We enjozed the Gondola ride the most, for sure. Quite romantic and the boats actaullz crash into each other. What thez donät tell tourists is that the boats are rather tippz and zou have to paz attention going under a bridge.

Well, enjozing these last couple weeks verz much. Looking forward to seeing zou all as we walk down these picture perfect streets, minus the gzpsz children of course.
Love Amanda and Stewart

Avignon = A Must See

In Avignon; ze stopped there for qn qfternoon on our zqy to Nice; Frqnce: It zqs so quaint qnd perfect: The city the Itqliqn pope chose zhen he zqs kicked out of Itqly for chqllenging the pozers thqt zere in Europe: There zere street bqnds plqying; lovely little streets; the bequtiful river qnd q city contqined zithin its Medievql Zqlls: Ze hqd q fqbulous picnic by the oceqn there qnd it zqs tqco sqlqd; co,plete zith sour cream qnd guacamole: Fqbulous: Thqt night ze hqd q punch pqrty qnd it zqs enjoyqble for us qnd the rest of the tour group: Miss you guys qnd I zill be thinking qbout qll of you zhen I go for q szi, in the French Riveriq in qbout qn hour: Love Q,qndq qnd Stezqrt

More Pictures from Paris

Top Deck Tour; Paris

It is no suprise thqt Stezqrt qnd I loved Pqris: Zhqt q bequtiful city = you zould hqve to be here for q long time to see everything qnd I cqnùt sqy enough qbout hoz everyting you heqr qbout Pqris is true; not q cliche: We visited ,qny zonderful plqces; but the highlights zere definitely the Louvre qnd qll the qrt you cqn imqgine: There; ze zqited in line; to zqit in q line; to zqit in q line qnd finqlly got into the Louvre: Stezqrt zqs stopped by security becquse he forgot he hqd q knife in his bqg; for cutting fruit; but the French folks qt the museum zere not hqppy zith this: I qm auite ignorqnt zhen it co,es to understqnding qrt but you donùt hqve to knoz QNYTHING to qppreciqte the bequty qnd history thqt is here: There zere; hozever; qbout sixty thousqnd people jostling to hqve q look qt the Monq Lisq:

Our trou hqs been fqntqstic: Ze hqve met people fro, qll over the zorld qnd everyone hqs been so nice qnd fun to hqng out zith: There qre even four Koreqn people zhich mqkes me so hqppy becquse I miss the people qnd my friends there: Ze hqve been eqting reqlly zell qnd our cook; tour guide; qnd driver qre q riot,,,,
Qmqndq

Little Bits

Hello: A couple interesting things for you qll; from europe: If you see a q instead of an a; itùs becquse the q and a are switched; the z qnd the w qre szitched; qnd the m is in the zrong spot too: So you zill hqve to decode qs best you cqn otherzise I zonùt zrite more thqn q fez sentences:

BQTHROOMS
Here in Europe; you usuqlly hqve to pqy 20 P TO PEE in London: In Pqris ze pqy é Euros to pee; qnd this cqn qlso meqn no gqrbqges qnd no toilet pqper qnd q squatter toilet: there is greqt strqtegy required zith the squatter but lqdies I qm sure you understqnd zhqt I meqn by the zord aim:

CREAM
I bought zrinkle creq, in Germqny by qccident: It zqs for my foot thqt zqs qll crqcked qnd yucky from so much zqlking: So; if you ever hqve crqcked feet; zrinkle creq, zorks zonders: Yes; I zqs surprised qlso:

COLD SHOZERS IN HOSTELS
Yes; q cold shozer is q very cost effective zqy of getting you out fqst: Forget these energy efficient shozer nozzles qnd sprqyers == just turn off your hot zqter qnd you zill be qzqke qt six am in q zqy you never thought zqs possible:

Love Qmqndq

Salzburg, Austria

We went on a day trip to Salzburg, Austria. It was a day well worth it though we skipped the "SOUND OF MUSIC" tour because it sounded too tacky. Instead we walked around and explored every nook and cranny in Salzburg. The town instelf was quite small. We wandered through beautiful gardens, church courtyards, Mozart's birthplace, shopping areas and the famous castle. We saw hourdes of Korean tourists there and they were walking at quite a crisp pace, so I guessed the tours might be something like I experienced when I was in Korea -- Hop on bus, first destination, take pictures, 5 minutes freetime, hop on bus, next destination, take pictures, 4 mintues freetime, and so on and so on. Those folks know how to see it all in one month. It is quite possible, though they might find finding Korean food a little difficult in parts of Europe. We are leaving Munich tomorrow and starting our guided tour in London. The last three weeks of our trip. Very wonderful time and I have never felt so relaxed and in touch with myself -- when I am teaching full time I lose track of the things I love doing -- reading novels, going outside whenever I want, taking time over a nice meal, reading history books, talking about politics -- my brain is too overwhelmed with teaching teaching teaching. We've been talking a lot about going abroad and teaching as life experience and developing our quality of life, but the dreams are many and the reality of those dreams might not be anytime in the near future. Either way, I am enjoying experiencing who I am as a person without incredible pressure at work, without guilt for not having planned my next unit to the standards I expect of myself, and without ALWAYS thinking about the classroom. As a new teacher it is on my mind day and night -- I need to find a way to let these things go otherwise I won't last more than 5 years in this profession. Love Amanda and Stewart

Random Bits and Pieces from Munich

Hello from the land of yummy pastries, oversized pretzels and bike riders. Oh, I can't forget the beers. These Bavarians love their beers. They enjoy a quality drink as a way of life and as a social formality. The bakeries here also sell wonderful pastries, made from the freshest ingredients. Apparently, there is a law here which forbids the use of preservatives in food/drink. I like it!! And, back to the bike riders. Everywhere you go, you see men and women in suits, high heels, casual clothes, biking gear and everything inbetween riding their bikes. They ride without a care in the world, and the car driver's don't honk at the throngs of people on the road.

The potatoe picture, featured above, is one of the pictures used as a public sex education prograom in Germany. I am not sure the exact translation, but it says "Don't give AIDS a chance" and uses humour as a way of grabbing people's attention. Well, it certainly grabbed mine and I'm sure that most of you did a double take when you looked at that picture. Now, don't get offended now... AIDS is a serios problem and whispering about the problem behind closed doors or at lady's teas is not going to get the job done. People here don't have the same hang-up's about one's body. Ie: Public breastfeeding is commonplace, women sunbathe topless on the beaches, EVERYONE wears a bikini (regardless of whether they should be wearing one or not). I appreciate being straightforward and educating teenagers especially, because the naivite at that age could affect the rest of thier lives.

We brought a picnic to another Beer Garden (featured in the nice picnic basket on Erin's bike). We brought too many sandwhiches and tried to give some away to the people around us, but everyone was suspicious about our motives and thought we'd put something funny in there. They all politely declined our offer, but looked at each other with a bit of surprise at our attempts to be considerate. We met up with George there, a fantastic Greek fellow that seemed to like Stewart and I for whatever reason. He was great fun and we look forward to meeting up with him again!

The last picture shows Stewart foiling the BikeMeister (who continues to move the bikes around to his satisfaction and others displeasure)

Well, adios amigos!
Amanda & Stewart