Our Summer in Europe

Last stop!

Munich was wonderful! We spent the first half of the day shopping in the center of town. I have absolutely no idea how we are going to pack all our stuff - it will be a miracle if it all makes it back to Texas. After shopping we were planning on taking Mike's Bike Tour and seeing all the tourist stops through that. HOWEVER, as we were on our way to the meeting point, Brooke's shoe breaks! So instead she found a pair of €5 flats and we went to a beer garden for the evening.

Tonight we are packing and getting ready to come home tomorrow! We are excited to see everyone and tell you everything!

-Kiley

We just got to Munich after a few days in Switzerland!! Switzerland was unbelievably beautiful! Our hotel was AMAZING (Falken Hotel) and the family that ran it was so helpful. We loved everyone - especially the owners, Sina and her husband, their 3 daughters and their dog, Keira. The people in Switzerland are so helpful and friendly, by far the nicest of all the countries we have been to. And the weather was perfect - it wasn't cold at all.

Yesterday we shopped in the morning (lots of Swiss chocolate!) and planned on going up the mountain to the highest point in Europe in the afternoon - but it ended up raining for a bit so we didn't get to go! Instead we hiked (!) the 4 km from Wengen down to Lauterbrunnen.

We were sad because when we woke up this morning it was foggy, which meant we weren't able to go SKYDIVING. We had a reservation (with one of the owner's daughters) for 1pm and they called this morning to tell us it was canceled :( Very disappointing - it would have been amazing to see the mountains from that view!

Just got to Munich - and it is raining! We are suppose to going on Mike's Bike Tour tomorrow, but the weather may not work in our favor :(

It is hard to believe that we come home in 2 days - we can't wait to see everyone!

Miss y'all,
-Kiley

Happy 4th of July! It is weird not celebrating - but they don't seem to care much about it over here. We are wearing red, white and blue today in celebration (and singing lots of American songs!)

Ciao from Venice!

We got to Venice yyesterday morning after a really long ferry from Greece (we had airplane seats but we ended up sleeping on couches because it was more comfortable...). We checked into our hotel (a Best Western that is right next to St. Mark's Square) and our room is great! We have our own balcony with a great view of St. Mark's :).

Yesterday, we shopped and explored the area around St. Mark's. We got dressed up and went to dinner at a great restaurant, then walked around St. Mark's Square at night. It was great - they have live music playing at the restaurants in the square.

Today we got up and went to St. Mark's Basilica. It is INCREDIBLE. The inside is all gold and mosaic - it is unbelievable! We weren't suppose to take pictures - but we snuck a few! We also we up ot the top of the Bell Tower and got great pictures of the entire city.

We leave tomorrow for Wengen, Switzerland - where it is going to be FREEZING!

Love you all!
-Kiley

*Whit's phone is officially dead again.

Here are some pictures!!!!!!!!!!! (but only from Cinque Terre on...)

Sorry it's been a while... we have been traveling back and forth to the Greek Islands!

We left on Thursday afternoon for Santorini. The ferry we took didn't get in until midnight, so we took a cab to our hotel (the cab driver gave us our room keys... it was super weird!). The hotel we stayed in was adorable with the nicest owners who gave us gifts when we left.

The next morning we got up and walked to the main square of Fira (the main town on the island). Everything here is UNBELIEVABLE - by far the prettiest place any of us have ever seen! All the buildings are white with blue trimming and the people are really friendly. On Friday we explored Fira and then took a bus to Oia. We ate dinner at restaraunt that overlooked the ocean and watched the sunset... it was gorgeous!

On Saturday, we got up early and took the bus to Perivolos Beach (it's a black sand beach). There are little bars/restaurants lining the shore and they have waiters on the beach, too! We rented an umbrella and chairs to lay out in for the day. We spent the rest of the day alternating between swimming in the ocean and laying out. We took the bus back to Fira around 6:30 and grabbed dinner at a restraurant with a great view. Then we went back to the hotel to shower and get ready to go out. We walked back to the main part of town and found a really fun bar called Tropical. They played great music and we got to dance until super late!

On Sunday, we went to Perivolos Beach again and laid out/swam all day. Afterwards we went back to town and shopped a little more at the cute stores in the square. We grabbed gyros for dinner and then picked up our bags from the hotel. We had to catch an overnight ferry back to Athens at 10:35pm. We didn't have seats for the ferry and ended up sleeping on the floor with our bags in the hallway... it was very sad.

Now we are sitting in Patras, waiting for our ferry to Venice! We don't get there until Wednesday morning... it's a 32 hour ferry! :(

Miss you all!
Kiley

*just thought we would let y'all know, it is suppose to be like 30-40 degrees in Switzerland when we are there. And we have shorts.

Yasas! (i think thats how you say hello in Greek...)

We got to Athens 2 days ago after a LONG ferry ride from Italy. We should have been able to take the train from the port to Athens right away, BUT because of the strikes we ended up stuck in Patras, Greece for most of the day. It was not super exciting... and we ended up taking a bus (2 and 1/2 hours!) into Athens. But once we got there, our hostel was great! We stayed at Athens Backpackers, and our room had a great view of the Acropolis. We got in around 7pm, showered and went up to the Rooftop Bar. Then we went and watched the soccer game between Greece and Argentina (Greece lost :( ).

Yesterday, we got up and went to all the tourist/historical sites. We saw the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, the National Gardens, the Acropolis (including the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike, etc. - but it was an uphill hike to get there!). We tried to see Parliament, but the street was closed because of the protesters (we avoided that area - don't worry!).

Today, we are shopping and exploring the city some more before leaving tonight on a ferry for Santorini!!

-Kiley

*Whit's phone is charged at the moment so we can recieve texts for free!! send us your love!

We have officially left Rome... we took a train this morning to Bari, Italy (which is nothing special, trust me!) to catch a ferry to GREECE! We have a few hours before our ferry leaves so we are sitting with our bags in an internet cafe near the train station.

Yesterday was exhausting, but totally worth it! We started the day off at the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatino. We spent several hours wandering around amazed. It poured rain while we were waiting in line to get tickets, so we all got soaked. We were wearing rainjackets, but they didn't seem to help much because we were drenched. The sun did eventually come out and we dried off pretty quickly. After the Colossuem, we took the metro to Vatican City. We got to see St. Peters Basilica, but the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel was closed. (That's what we get for trying to go on a Sunday!) Afterwards, we went to eat at a pizzaria near The Spanish Steps. Then, we walked around and wound up back at Piazza Navona. We looked at the art work some more and Whitney got a pretty picture! Then we went back to the hotel and packed for our early morning today!

Miss you all,
Kiley

PS. I sent a few postcards, so be on the look out for those :) -Kiley