FREE TRAVEL!! :)

well this is one of the greatest wks of my life! after all the stress of planning this trip we finally get to get out of belgium w/o papa and mama T or any other governing body for that matter...this trip is the epitomy(SP) of freedom! it was so nice to just make my own decisions about everything...nobody guiding me just finally being on my own! :)

Sunday- we got up, packed, went to church, ate lunch. i served at the table of a french church today...little awkward but it was good. then after lunch we hit the train to brussels....then it got exciting... the TVG train we were supposed to take got cancelled so we had to go to the Info and get new reservations to go to Lille France, they had to call the train and tell them we were coming. so we had an hr ride on the eurostar to Lille then had to run in Lille to catch the train to Lyon Part-Dieu and had to pay 20 euros just to ride it for 4 hrs. then we finally arrived in Lyon and hit a 2 hr train to geneva and walked about 10 mins to our hostel which was really nice and non-expensive and just chilled and went to bed...we got there round 11:30

Monday- we got up at 9, cleaned up, and headed out in the rain to tour geneva. we went and looked at shops then looked at the Jet d'Eaus (tallest fountain in Europe) 134 m high. then went and saw St. Pierre's cathedral and the Hotel de Ville where the geneva convention was held i think it was really cool...then we just walked around geneva til 6 then hit a train to sierre, then a train up to Bluche to stay w/ jess and alyson (our friends we met in athens that are from boston). so we chilled w/ them them went to bed...we had 5 ppl on the concrete floor and 3 in the bed....it was preeeettttty crowded lol.

Tuesday- today we got up at 8, got dressed to go sking, the girls skipped classes and came with us down the mountain to sierre...the sunrise was beautiful over the alps. in sierre we hit a train to brig then hit a train to Vermacht.....this is where i almost killed a swiss guy...(the french are still jerks!) so we get on this train that says "glacier express" regretfully we didn't know that its the ONLY train in switzerland that isn't covered by our eurail pass....sooooo the stupid jerk charges us 64 CHF for a round trip pass to and from Vermacht soooo we all paid it and took it like a champ...but he failed to mention that the slopes on the Matterhorn were closed...and we're carrying skis and poles and boots...and dressed to ski...soooo we get up there and find out the slopes and the glacier are closed....very ticked off at this moment...so we stash our stuff in lockers that cost us 9 CHF. and start walkin around to find something to do....we start toward a gorge and on the way stumbled by a ropes/ zipline course so for 29CHF we spent the next 2.5 hrs on it...it was sooooo much fun....then we got back down the mountain and went back to sierre and hung out in the room then just hit the hay.

Wednesday- today started out bad...i was supposed to call caroline (our skydiving planner) sooo i waited for some chinese chick to get off the phone then she didn't so i took a self-guided tour of Bluche that has a population of 196 and the school has 750 lol. so i get back and she's finally off and i try to use my card and its blocked...my blood pressure was sky high. so i stomp upstairs wake the guys up rudely and tell them we have to go now...so in 15 mins we caught a bus to sierre and called her from there and then we caught the train to brig then to spiez and we just missed the train to reichenbach which is where the airfield is to skydive sooooo i called her and she said just to wait that they'd pick us up there. soooo we waited til 12:30 then a guy came and picked us up in his audi...he was an awesome driver...it felt good to ride in a car again i missed it. so we get to the place around 1, do paper work incase we died lol, got 5 mins of training and then the first group went up. it was awesome watching the groups go up. we were the 5th group up...we could only go 2 at a time so evan went before us it was awesome watchin him come down from 13,000 ft high in the alps. then sarah and i went up. the view was amazing up there. we saw the 3 most famous mountains in switzerland. and the 2 lakes of interlaken. then.....they opened the door, sarah was first so the cameraman hopped out on the wing and she and hans were sittin on the doorway then she went to look over, he pulled her head back and then they were gone... this was when my heart stopped beating...i hadn't been nervous or scared at all til now lol...so i pulled my legs over the edge of the plane, leaned my head back and we launched.....OOOO MY it was the biggest rush of my life. the camerman was in front of me the whole time recording us free falling for 45 seconds....it was sooooo intense and the view was amazing...we were spinning around and just flying like a bird. then after 45 secs he pulled the chute and i pulled out my camera and recorded the fall down...we spun circles and did like cartwheels in the air it was awesome! then after 3 mins we landed on our butts got unharnessed and undressed then sat and waited for the last ones to go then we headed back to the train and went home...we played a prank on the girls it was hilarious!! i called the girls and told them that evan didn't make it and that we took him to the hospital but he's breathing hahaha...so we got back and dressed him all up in makeup and bandages and it really looked bad on his face and head and we laid him down and i made up this awesome story then they all believed it and after an hr i woke him up to get a shower and he washed it all off and came back out and it took them 30 secs to figure it out and oooo my it was great. then we chilled for a while and went to bed/floor lol.

Thursday- originally we were supposed to go to venice, buttttt....we didn't so we went back to interlaken for the day . but we walked round interlaken all day...nothing really exciting...then went back to Bluche to stay one last night w/ them.

Friday- today we got up and said our goodbyes to our awesome friends jess and alyson, packed up and hit a train to sierre, brig, basal, cologne, aachen, and verviers....all but 2 were on time but we were supposed to get back at 7 and didn't get back til almost 9 but thats ok...we got back and ate chili and told our stories and went to bed.

this was one crazy wk i hope everyone goes skydiving someday...p.s-my computer is broken so no pix til i get it fixed sorry y'all!! happy halloween!!! :)

Belgium 12-14

well these were the last 3 days before free travel so everyone is really stressed and anxious to get out of belgium.

Thursday- today we got up and had a major history test then after we took the test we weren't allowed to leave b/c they don't want us staying up late so they made us stay in the pews for almost 2 hrs! how gay is that. then we had chapel, lunch, french, and lit. then i cleaned up and planned our trip to switzerland. then we took naps and had supper. at night i called grandma and grandpa. it was really good gettin to talk to them then i called keith...and for everyone who knows keith he's got a new g/f from butler so please somebody harass him for me. lol. kim u gotta get the DL on this chick for me.

Friday- today we got up, grabbed a bagged lunch, and hit the train to Brugge at 8:34. it was a 3 hr train ride. once there, Mama & Papa T gave us a tour of the city which is famous for lace. they showed us big windmills and churches and old ladies making lace...ev, ferg, than, and caleb rolled down the hill of the windmills...it was hilarious, ev got pretty banged up. then we had free time so we walked around shops and just relaxed and goofed off. we had some AMAZING hot chocolate there too. then we headed back to verviers and studied and finished planning our trip.

Saturday- today we got up at 8 had french and paul. we did a retarded skit in french then went to the market and H&M got some crazy furry hats. then after lunch we headed to Cologne (Koln) we saw the Koln Cathedral which is huge and awesome. and there was a guy outside giving free hugs from NY weird but funny. then we just walked around the city all night and ate at KFC. it was a good change in flavor. its oktoberfest in germany so everyone is drunk and there was a guy dressed up as superman selling shots it was funny. if you're a single guy learn german and move to germany...the hottest girls in the world i think live in germany!!! its amazing!
p.s- saturday was the worst day here: my computer won't turn on anymore and i couln't get ahold of jess til 2 am to get our trip finished so i was pretty stressed but o well free travel was coming up! :)

Belgium Days 8-11

for now on i'm just writing on here when we go somewhere or something interesting happens. b/c reading about my torturous days of class is no fun.
Sunday- we had church once again in French so i understood absolutely nothing that was said. we ate lunch, and slept til supper then watched Tartuffe for class, then we had devo. and chilled the rest of the night.
Monday- class alllllll day, plus 2 tests...not an exciting day at all...
Tuesday- got up at the buttcrack of day, got on a bus and drove an hour to the American Cemetary/Memorial near Liege, Belgium. there are over 7000 American soldiers buried here from WWII. it was a very somber place. the chapel/memorial was awesome, on 3 walls it displays the progression of the war in europe, and underneath it has descriptions of each picture. my words do not do it justice and neither do my pictures so i will do myself a favor and not try to describe it any farther to give it proper honor. we walked through the cemetary which is in the shape of a cross. and just gave my respect to those men who had given their lives for my freedom. at the end of the cemetary theres a huge american flag...but the only thing is that the memorials were under construction. after we had signed the guest book we left for Dinant, which is famouse for the Citadel that over looks the city. we took a cable car up to it and got a tour from an old guy that spoke 6 different languages. it was pretty cool. then we got back down, grabbed a disgusting bite to eat, and headed to another castle called Bouillon. it was cool we explored and climbed all over it and watched a bird show w/ hawks, owls, and big vultures in it. then we went down into the town and walked around for a while. then we hopped on the bus to go to Ardennes where the Battle of the Bulge was. this was my favorite place of the day and possibly trip although we only got to spend a depressing 40 mins there. the memorial is in the shape of a star and on the columns on the inside have a record of what happened on that day. on the outside it has all 50 states and on the outside of the columns it has a list of all the different artillery, infantry, and airforce regiments that was involved from the US military. i went on top of the memorial and the view is beautiful. there are also a few german tanks still there. after spending a lil time there we went and ate (the pita was pretty good) then headed home and studied til 3 am.
Wednesday- boring day of class, got out of french early due to lack of electricity. had 3 tests today...that was a blast. then after class i went for a walk by the river and read/wrote for a while. ate supper and studied the rest of the night for 3 more tests tommorrow. p.s- ferg looks gay w/ dyed hair...i'm glad i'm not part of the "hair-dying trio" lol...(ferg, evan, watson) and i'm goin to switzerland for a wk w/ them...great! lol

and it makes me feel old when lil cousins tell u not to come home b/c they can drive...i can rem when all they wanted to do was play w/ barbies...ugh! i'm gettin old.

belgium days 2-7

First off I want to apologize for not keeping up w/ my blog efficiently. The internet here is less than to be desired for. Ok well I’ve learned that trying to cram a semester full of class into 23 days is not exactly fun. Especially sitting in pews for 3 hrs at a time. But I guess going on day trips to Holland and germany make up for it lol.
Monday- we had short classes in the morning then went for walks in the afternoon and just tried to rest up a lil bit.
Tuesday- we had class til 2 then headed to Maastricht for the evening. In Holland there was a fair so the girls rode a ride then we walked around for a while and relaxed then ate at subway. On the way home the train was stalled b/c of a car wreck on the tracks so we got back around 9 then relaxed.
Wednesday- we had class til 4:20 then got changed really quick and went on the 40 min walk to the park which should’ve taken a maximum of 20 mins lol. Once there we played a game of ultimate Frisbee…it was awesome to be able to play anything! But the playing field is the worst nightmare for someone w/ bad ankles…o wait that’s me lol…but we had a blast! Then we just did h/w the rest of the night.
Thursday- we had paul in the morning then French in the afternoon but both were cut short b/c Dr. T had to go to the hospital for his leg. He’s better now his knee is still inflamed though. After class we just relaxed and walked around town some. Then had supper and did some more h/w.
Friday- ewww Friday the 13th. Lol today we got up pretty early, ate breakfast, packed our lunches and headed out for our cruise on the Rhine River. It took about 1.5 hrs to get there then when we got there we had 2 hrs b4 our boat took off so kat and I walked around got some good hot chocolate, at our lunches and just walked around the town for a while til around 2. our boat then took off at 2:30. the shores were filled with castles it was pretty cool…both literally and figuratively lol. It was very cold on the river as u can see in the pictures. Then we got off the boat 2.5 hrs later and walked around boppard til our train came. I had an authentic brautwurst, it was ok not great. Then we got back and chilled til round 3 am…sleep isn’t much of a priority as usual.
Saturday- we slept in til 8:30 had French for an hr then hit the market place right outside the house. That was pretty cool, it had everything u ever wanted. Then we ate lunch then headed to aachen for the evening. Mama T gave us a tour of aachen, I guess its famous for Charlamagne (SP) but it was nice and relaxing. The leaves were changing so it reminded me of home. It was nice. We ate there…it wasn’t too good nikki and I got some mix plate w/ fried calamari and anchovies, potatos, olives, chicken wings, and some sauces…not very good at all lol. Then we got back around 7 and studied for French.

Belgium Day 1

well after getting a good night's rest in our house in verviers, i got up at 8:30, got ready for church, and ate breakfast. then Dr. T taught our Bible class on Revelation, it was very informative i can't wait to learn more about this very complex book of the Bible that is so mysterious. at around 10:30 we went downstairs to worship. it was a French service so i didn't understand a thing but the ppl are amazing. the congregation is mostly of African decent they are so nice and they all want to meet you. after worship we came upstairs and ate lunch which was AMAZING we had pork, pasta, rice...and veggies. no mom i didn't eat the veggies lol. then Evan and I helped Mama T out w/ dishes and serving. then we chilled and did journals while some others went out and walked around Verviers. then we ate supper and had Leek soup and sandwiches it wasn't bad. then we chilled for the rest of the night Kat and i shared pics of honduras and a bunch of other stuff then we were the last ones up at 2 am so we shut the lights out and hit the hay...(no not together)....


































p.s---no mom & linz it isn't real...y'all know me better than that...i'd passout come on lol

Athens/ Belgium

today we got a wake up call at 4:30...thats a sin i think...but w/e...so we got on the bus at 6 and took off for the airport accompinied (sp) by the gayest tour guide alive...who unfortunately didn't know that at 6 am nobody cares about the history of greece which we already knew! so we got to the airport finally, checked in, and waited at the gate for an hr then took a 2.5 hr flight to brussels. once there we hit one train...then another. then we arrived and walked 15 mins to the church. laid our stuff down and got some waffles....OOOO MYYY...amazing!!! undescribable. then watson and i explored the city then got chinese...eh wasn't very good. then i tried to hold a conversation w/ a french lady while helping her move pews and chairs...that was interesting... then we chilled and had a meeting and went to bed...

Athens Day 7

today we got to sleep in til 9, and took a beautiful bus ride along the Attica coast for about 1.5 hrs to Posedions Temple. the view was breathtaking. Katerina gave us the DL on the temple yada yada yada...then we got to walk around up on the cliffs for a whopping 40 mins. this area is known for their beautiful sunsets. its the southern most tip of Greece. then we got on the bus and headed down the mountain to the beach. we explored and walked around the outskirts of the beach then relaxed in the water for a while. after changing we went to lunch which had amazing appetizers filled w/ meat and cheese, and souvlaki w/ french fries it was ok. then we went back to the h0tel and packed for a while. after an hr we went and walked around the placa one last time and met some awesome girls from Boston who are going to school in switzerland, and they invited us to stay w/ them when we go there so we don't have to pay for lodging. then i got one last amazing crepe filled w/ choc and PB. :) then packed and went to bed...
p.s-i got a tattoo it says self knowledge :) and no we're not actually peeing lol

Athens Day 6

Today was our free day!! :) no wake up calls it was great! so i slept in til 9:45 ate breakfast and we chilled and planned the day til 1:30 then headed to the metro and tram to Glyfada south of athens. it was supposedly a "really nice beach" wellllll...it was the rockiest place on earth it was like putting an ocean over the rocky mountains...but it was nice and refreshing so we swam and laid out til about 5:30 then went to pizza hut...yuck! then we came back and chilled b/c tommorrow we have a busy day...


p.s- i love y'all and i really appreciate y'alls comments it makes it a lil easier being away from my friends and family.

Athens Day 5

well today we got up and rushed to the bus to head to Delphi- the center of ancient greece. the ride was long yet beautiful. we stopped half-way through and took pictures of a beautiful canal the Corinthian Canal which is 4 km long and only 100 ft wide...and huge ships go through it that almost touch both sides...how crazy is that?...then we continued on our way to Delphi (Del-Phee) and went through some of the most amazing mountains and i felt like i was in honduras again w/ the crazy bus driver going through 12 ft wide streets w/ 2 way traffic lol. soooo we finally arrived at ancient delphi and Katrina gave us a tour of the temple of apollo, the naval (rock), the theatre, and we walked the whole way to the top of the hill to the most well-preserved stadium in greece it was awesome. the view was breathtaking. then we went down to the museum and we saw all that...yada yada yada...sorry i'm kinda tired of seeing old dead ppl's stuff...after the first hundred thousand naked statues they all start to look alike lol. then we got on the bus and went to a resturant kinda like la cumbre. we had some really good food like some good cheese stuff, souvlaki, and some mouth watering "ice cream cake" then i went outside to the cliff and took some amazing pictures of the corinthian gulf, mountains and the place where all drinking water for athens comes from. then we came back to the hotel then at 8:30 had devo on mars hill...anthony gave a great lesson and it was awesome. then we walked around the placa for a while then we went to hard rock cafe...then we chilled the rest of the night.

Athens Day 4

Today we got up and left for Corinth around 8. on our way there we stopped and took pix of the Corinthian Canal. it is amazing. its 4 mi long and only 100 ft wide. then we went to corinth. once there Katrina gave us a tour in the museum, the agora (where Paul was tried) then around the temple of apollo. then we got back on the buss after an hour and headed to Mycenae. it is one ollllld city. it had a tomb shaped like a bee hive that we went in. then we went up to the acropolis w/ the lion's gate. it was beautiful up there. then we ate a huge lunch w/ 5 courses. it was aight...then we headed to Epidaurus. we went to the best preserved theatre in greece and sang the greatest commands...it was amazing. then we headed back to athens. we hit up some shops, got cheap food and chilled.

P.s- pray for Dr. T he's having some health issues...and keep me in ur prayers also...not for health reasons (mom don't panic lol)...

Athens day 3

today was our one day cruise of the greek islands. we took off around 9 or so and rode 2 hrs to Poros...it was really touristy...we spent about 30 mins looking at shops. then we got on the boat and ate lunch which wasn't too bad. then we arrived at Hydra, which was the most beautiful of the islands. crystal clear blue water w/ white washed houses. then after an hr walking around we got on the boat and headed to Aegina...it was nasty but we went swimming anyways. it was fun, we grabbed supper then headed back to athens around 6. we got back and just chilled.

Athens Day 2

Today we got up and went on our tour w/ Katrina we first went to the olympic stadium replica. then we saw a library, presidential palace, and royal garden. then we went to the Acropolis and saw the parthanon. then we went to mars hill and anthony read a passage from acts 17 that may have been read from mars hill. then we went to lunch which was really good. then we went to a museum. then we went to church w/ Harding's program. then chilled at the hotel.

Greece Day 1

Today watson and i woke up to at 7 Greek time and we went out on the deck of the boat and watched the sun come up over the mediterranean sea. it was amazingly beautiful!! i ate breakfast up on the top deck and just watched the beautiful scenery. landing in patras was amazing its the cultural center of europe for 2006. we got off the ferry and on a bus and headed for athens. when we got to athens we chilled then went out to eat. i got pork souvlaki. it was mouth watering!! ok amen!