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Christopher Robyn - Christopher Brammer

So there we were, on the beautiful white sand beaches of sunny Florida, contemplating life, old people, and drinks with the little umbrellas in them, when we realized there had to be something more. No, really, the drinks were fine, so were the beaches, but the old people...

And so, reminiscent, of the Beverly Hillbillies (only without the money, the car, the accent, the relatives, well, nothing like them, really) we packed up and headed for Europe.

First stop, Philadelphia!! (Yeah, I know...not in Europe.)

Just a few words about the following journals:

These journals are for the sole benefit of the authors and travelers and are in no way intended to be authoritative or even mildly suggestive.

If they offend you, stop reading.

Some entries will no doubt be long, some short. Some will contain many pictures, some will have none.

Finally, there is a lot more where all of this came from. We would love the opportunity to provide you with pictures, information on places to stay, eat, see, shop, and the cheapest ways to do all of them. PLEASE don't hesitate to comment and/or email with questions or just to chat travel...or baseball...

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Joined on: August 5th 2005
Last Login: July 17th 2008

Blog Entries: 13
Photos: 448

TB Code: [blogger=5612]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Christopher-Robyn, order by Date newest first.

By Christopher Robyn
October 30th 2005

The Chronicles of Norway

Europe » Norway

Cold Day in October
We stepped off the train from Oslo to Bergen in the mountains and were greeted with wind a snow...our first of the season.

Well, the trip may not have included a lion, a witch (with the exception of the Halloween faithful in Oslo), or a wardrobe, but Pope sure did get inside a lot of stuff. I'll start by introducing Pope. Pope is a Fat Tire tour guide from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and a recent graduate of Ole Miss. Believe it or not Pope is his real name!! His middle actually: Lawson Pope Spruiell. One time football QB and college golfer, Pope is a great guy and made a fantastic travel companion. The trip itself materialized courtesy of Pope's brother. When I found out the [View Full Entry]

By Christopher Robyn
August 3rd 2005

Diving in Head First

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris

Fat Tire Bike Tours
The shop is located at 24 rue Edgar Faure. If you are looking at a map, it is right off of Place Duplex extremely near the Eiffel Tower.

The next two days in Paris were very similar. Both involved getting up relatively early and preparing for a day of unknowns. Both involved me getting lost on my bike on the way to and the way from work and Robyn feeling her way around the Toulouse's apartment and their children. And both involved countless questions, very few answers, and even some surprises. So Robyn went to work for the first two day in Paris. The Toulouse's were getting ready for their annual trip to their private island off of Maine, and Robyn's task was to keep track of the kids [View Full Entry]

By Christopher Robyn
August 3rd 2005

My First Tour

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris

Eiffel Tower - Night
Built in 1889 for a new world exhibition, the Eiffel Tower was one of over 6000 designs submitted to a competition for the fair. It stands over 300 meters tall and is made entirely of steel. At nigh... [more]

This tour really deserves it own entry, so here it is. Oh, I have also included some photos of the places we stop on the tours and brief descriptions. These are NOT very good photos, and were mostly taken on the fly on the bike, but it will give you an initial idea. More to come... So the first tour on which I was asked to go was called a day Segway tour. Now, if you don't know, Segways are a kind of two wheel motorized vehicle that require a certain amount of training and balance. In fact, the tour always [View Full Entry]

By Christopher Robyn
August 2nd 2005

A Room with a View

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris

6 Rue Monsigny - The Door
Big and blue, kind of hard to miss, you would think. But for the number of times I have gotten lost already...

And then it was time to begin the part of the trip that was, well, the cause of the trip. The stage that would be, for one of us, the realization of a dream and, for the other, the making of one yet undreamt. We arrived in Paris on August 1st (yesterday) and found our metro connections to Pyramides with very little effort. We were met at the stop by the mother of the family for whom Robyn is au pairing and therefore the owner of the flat in which we were to be living. She took us the four city [View Full Entry]

6 Rue Monsigny - The Door from the Courtyard

By Christopher Robyn
July 31st 2005

...and everything after...Part V - Matera to Pompei

Europe » Italy

Matera - View 1
This is the old town of Matera, and a decent look at the sassi village. We have a TON of pictures of this town and have only put a small sample here. If you would like to see more, please ask.

It was really great to see Heidi and Chad and the Amalfi Coast is and always will be amazing, but the next morning we were up and off to the eastern coast of Italy. It was unexplored territory for both of us and we were excited!! Our final destination was the resort town of Monopoli where ACLE was running a camp and had offered us a place to stay for a few days. On the way, we were able to make a half day stop in the arid town of Matera. Matera sits towards the very bottom of the boot in [View Full Entry]

By Christopher Robyn
July 31st 2005

...and everything after...Part VI - Rome to Paris

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

The Colosseum
A great daytime picture of two of the most beautiful sights in Rome. Luckily, I caught them both together--I guess one of the them is rarely out in Rome...

You know, Rome is Rome. There might not be a better city on earth. No matter what I say, I won't do the city, or our time there, justice. We spent four days in Rome and filled the daylight hours with sightseeing, sightseeing, sightseeing. We took tours of the colosseum, the forum and Palatine Hill, the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's, and of the city at night. We saw as much as we could and still feel like we conquered the city. But Rome this time was not just about sightseeing. For one reason or another, several of our ACLE tutor [View Full Entry]

View of the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine

By Christopher Robyn
July 18th 2005

...and everything after...Part III - Pre-Vacation!

Europe » Italy

Boat Ride into the Grand Canal
Thanks to the lady at the tourist office, we had great views of the Grand Canal from a quick boat ride into Venice.

After 6 weeks in Italy and 6 weeks of "work", the number of camps died down and with it the number of required counselors. It's no secret that spending the previous 5 weeks apart had created a strain on our relationship, so Robyn and I decided that we had made enough money to stop working and spend the last two weeks in Italy on a sort of vacation. So, on Friday after the show in Marano, we made plans and prepared to begin our travels. On Saturday morning, we were still waiting to hear the official 'OK' from ACLE, as I [View Full Entry]

By Christopher Robyn
July 18th 2005

...and everything after...Part IV - The Journey South

Europe » Italy

Sienna - 1
A view into the main square of this very well preserved Tuscan hilltop town. It has recently become a tourist mecca, but it is still very beautiful.

We started out on Sunday with a drive into the traffic disaster that is Bologna. We had a full car as we were taking Ann, Gabi, Ashley, and Izzy to the train station for their connections to their next destinations. That done, we started the long drive down A1 through Florence, Sienna, to our final destination of a small (really small) beach town where we were going to stay with Cassie (Robyn's new employer) and her family. We stopped in Sienna for lunch, a brief walk, and, it turns out, some light shopping for Robyn. This is really a place that [View Full Entry]

By Christopher Robyn
July 4th 2005

...and everything after...Part II - Marano sul Panare

Europe » Italy

Caught in Action
These three were a couple of my best kids. They are working on the backdrop for our final show at the end of the week.

Marano was like a dream in many ways. It really is the poster child of ACLE camps. It has been running for 5 years, the camp director is a pro. She knows what works and what doesn't, but she also knows that the tutors run the show and that she is there to supervise and offer suggestions. Not to mention, there is a school with a beautiful park, a large gym, and a great professional theater all at our disposal. It was really a great place. Again, I spent only a few days there off and on, making trips back to [View Full Entry]

By Christopher Robyn
June 15th 2005

...and everything after...Part I - Quercianella

Europe » Italy

Quercianella
Here is a view of the port. That's pretty much all of Quercianella...

The summer really sped up after the second orientation and Robyn’s neophyte week in Milan. I had been all set to make the journey south to pick up a car and work as a regional type supervisor there, but that wasn’t to be. For whatever reason (and don’t laugh those of you that know me well), I was ear-marked by Arrigo (the founder of ACLE) as one who would work well with nuns (yes, nuns) and so I was asked to stay in the north and make my base in a small beach town near Pisa called Quercianella. Robyn was to [View Full Entry]

TravelBlog » Christopher Robyn