Via dell Amore

Our family friend, Diane recently visited Italy and Cinque Terre. While she was in Cinque Terre, she planned a little scavenger hunt for Nick and I. Part of the Cinque Terre hike is known as Via dell Amore, or the Walk of Love. It is a tradition with the locals and tourists to take this walk and place a padlock with your names on it on the fence. Diane actually painted our names with red fingernail polish (Laurie and Pat's too) on this walk and then sent Nick and I the padlocks with instructions on where to find our names! We decided that our last night in Cinque Terre we would have a nice dinner and take the Via dell Amore.

On the Walk of Love....

Here you can see the hundreds of locks on the fence.

We found our names!

Our locks on the fence.

This was the perfect way to end our time in Cinque Terre. Thanks Diane!

Cinque Terre

From the moment we started planning this trip, Cinque Terre was one of the places we were most excited about seeing. I have to say, this place did not disapoint! Cinque Terre are five small towns along the Italian coast. It is a national park and there is a hiking trail that connects the five towns. We spent five wonderful days here, just exploring the towns, hiking the trails and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. Cinque Terre is where pesto and foccacia originated and we enjoyed plenty of both. Here is a view from our hike-

This was such a nice break from all the sightseeing we have been doing throughout this trip. We were able to just relax and enjoy the beauty that the Lord created. We highly recommend it!

Ahh...Chamonix

Hello from the beautiful French Alps!

I have alot of blogging to catch up on, including our day at Versaille and our time in Lyon. Both were great! I am sitting in a cute internet cafe in Chamonix and I wanted to let you know what we are doing currently before I back track.

Chamonix is probably one of the coolest places we have ever been! It is the site of the first ever Winter Olympics and home to the highest peak in Europe- Mont Blanc. We arrived here on Sunday evening and have so enjoyed our time soaking in this small town. It is such a welcome change of pace from everything we have done so far.

We are very close to the Swiss and Italian borders and so Chamonix is a unique mix of cultures. We have discovered Macaroons and they are heavenly! We also tried the cheese fondue, something the area is known for.

The first picture is a view of the river that runs all through town and the last picture is the view from our room the first night- unbelievable!! That is a glacier you see in the picture and the top of the mountain is covered by clouds.

Thanks for checking in on us! We are having a fabulous time!

Next stop- Italy!

Bonjour Paris!

We woke up entirely too early (4:30 am) Wednesday morning to catch the Chunnel (train) to from London to Paris. It was already light outside (and stays light until well after 10 pm here). We had found a flat to rent in Paris and planned on staying there. After taking the metro to the neighborhood where the flat was, we found where we were supposed to be staying. Turns out, pictures from the Internet can lie and this place was dirty... to put it nicely. We decided we would rather take our chances and sleep in a park that in that dump, so we set out (in the pouring rain) to find a new place. After wandering around the foreign city (in the rain) we found the perfect place for us. It was a small hotel, with super clean rooms and the price was perfect. We were beyond thrilled (Nick did a celebratory dance in the elevator). We took quick showers and headed out to see the city. The next day and a half were filled with all the sightseeing you should do when you go to Paris. Despite the weather, we had a blast wandering around taking it all in, in the city of lights.

One of the first glimpses of the city. You can see the Eiffel Tower very small in the background.

Nick in front of the Louvre Museum. A helpful hint- we downloaded free podcasts from Rick Steves (the travel books we have been using) and they were so helpful. He has free audio guides for all the sights and museums. We would have been lost in the Louvre (the worlds largest museum) without it. We saw the Mona Lisa as well as Venus de Milo.

Nick and I on the top of Notre Dame. The sun finally peeked out!

We ended our day at the Arch de Triomphe

(We did see the Eiffel Tower but those pictures are having a hard time uploading)

More London

Our last few days in London have been great. The girls had school this week, so that left Nick, Cait and I to explore the city.

We went to Kensignton Place on Monday with Cait and Lilly.

After watching Notting Hill on Monday night we decided to go and explore the real Notting Hill neighborhood. We saw the Travel Bookshop that the one in the movie was based off of. Sadly the one in the movie does not really exist.

After Notting Hill, we ventured into the city. Nick and I with Big Ben.

Westminster Abby

We had such a great time in London. Cait and Josh were wonderful hosts. Thanks for showing us your city!

London Snapshots

We are having a blast so far in London. It has been wonderful to be able to explore and really enjoy our time here. Instead of trying to sum up the past few days for you in words, I think pictures would be better.

This is the view from our room at Cait and Josh's house, where we are staying. Isn't so beautiful? Every time I glance out the window, I am reminded that I really am in London!

Here are Annie and Ellie waiting for the big red double decker bus. We have traveled by bus, the underground or "the tube", the overground and most importantly walking! You can see in this picture Annie's scooter. Because everyone walks where they need to go here, the little kids ride in the stroller if they are small enough or they ride one of these scooters around. She is great at it and its really fun to watch!

Nick pulling Annie on her scooter.

The Tower Bridge and the Thames River

Nick and I on the London Bridge with a view of the city

Some shots from a fabulous market we went to called Borough Market. They had everything you could imagine!

Nick and I in Hyde Park.

On Saturday we went to Ellie's favorite park, Hamstead Heath. There is a farmers market there, several playgrounds and even a pool. We had a picnic and Nick and I walked up to the highest point in London called Parliament Hill. From here you can see many of the famous landmarks.

We went to Buckingham Palace and saw one of the royal guards. From there we walked up to see Piccadilly Circus (a central part of town) and there was a protest going on over the Gaza strip. What was at first interesting, quickly started to make us a little nervous so we headed back home.

Thanks for checking in on us!

Your Not Going to Believe This.....

So, Nick and I wake up Wednesday morning with a whole list of last minute things to do before we leave for our trip on Thursday. Nick goes to work and I am working around the house, making lunch and doing some laundry. Well, Cait, Nick's sister calls Nick and was asking about our travel information and when we would arrive.

Here's how their conversation went:

Cait- So, what time do you guys get in tomorrow?

Nick- You mean Friday? 7 am.

Cait- That's weird. I could have sworn you flew in tomorrow.

Nick- Really? Hmm that is weird.

(ten minutes later after checking her email Cait calls back)

Cait- NICK your flight is TODAY!!!!!

So, as you can imagine, Nick rushes home in a huge panic and says " Cait thinks our flight leaves today!!!!" Then he looks on the computer and we realized Cait was right!!!

We start screaming and panicking and trying to figure out what to do. We decided to try and make the flight, figuring the worst that could happen would be that we would have to reschedule it and hang out in DC for awhile. We started throwing everything we could fit into our bags, dirty clothes and all and rushed out the door.

After running several VERY last minute errands and packing we finally left Blacksburg around 1:00. Our flight left at 6:40 and we weren't sure where we were going to park our car because we did not have enough time for our original plan. Thanks to some friends who helped us out and LOTS of praying, we made it with time to spare and boarded the plan!

So, after all that, a sleepless plane ride and a long line for customs we have already had some travel adventures! We are safe and happy in London though and having a blast with our family. We have already experienced some great parts of London life and I will share some of that soon!

Welcome to Our Blog!

I have been wanted to start a blog for awhile now but I was never sure exactly what I would write about. Well, now seems like the perfect time because we are going to be traveling this summer to Europe!! Nick and I both have a summer vacation this year- he just finished his first year of graduate school and I just finished my first year of teaching and we knew we needed to do something big. Nick's sister, her husband and our three precious nieces all moved to London earlier this year and this was the perfect opportunity to go and visit! We will be staying in London as well as traveling around France, Italy and Ireland.

Our travels start tomorrow, we are flying out of DC. We will keep you posted!