Ciao, We wanted to put a message on the blog letting everyone know we are doing great and are leaving Rome today. The city has been a bit much, very busy and the worst internet connections/cafes ever. We have seen just about every site there is and will hopefully be catching you all up on our travels soon. We love you all! Emily and James [View Full Entry]

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Hello all, now to the best part of our trip so far... Our friend Ingo, from Freiburg, told us about this agricultural cooperative in the remote Ticino region of Switzerland. We had previously written to them while in Sarnen, and we super excited when we received the positive mail from Ulrico, one of the founders, a couple of days later . Our journey there was long but satisfying as we left Sarnen at around 9:30a and finally arrived in the hills of Pianta Monda at 7:30p, helped on our way by a kind stranger. Our adventurous travel there involved an amazing [View Full Entry]

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From Freiburg to Morges, a beautiful train ride highlighted by endless fields of grapes all in the process of being harvested and the gorgeous Lake Geneva with a backdrop of the pre-Alps and Monte Blanc. We met Jackie at the train station which was by far the easiest meet and greet we encountered on the trip thus far. That night we had a lovely French Swiss dinner with the our hosts, Jackie, Sylain, and adorable Marina. About 8 cheeses to choose from and a traditional hash brown like potato fritter, salad and of course some great Swiss wine. Delicious! We learned [View Full Entry]

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Our journey to Freiburg was a rainy train ride but that didn't dampen the beauty of Autumn in the Black Forest. Once we arrived it was a quick tram ride to Charis and Yalany's apartment where we met Ingo and his trusty companion Cappuccino. They all welcomed us with open arms and a delicious homemade pizza was soon to follow. The next day, weary from our travels, Ingo took us to a traditional hot bath house. This place was man made, they drilled down to an underground hot spring and piped it up at a wonderful 55 degrees C. There were [View Full Entry]

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Buongiorno Everyone, We‘ve been so busy exploring that we haven‘t had time to update our blog lately, but now we‘ve found some time to catch everyone up on our adventures before we head off to Switzerland. First of all Munich and the party of a life time, Oktoberfest!! A 15 day celebration of which we were lucky enough to celebrate the last day. The afternoon started with a liter of Löwenbrau at the Chinese tower where we relaxed in the sun and chatted with some locals in their traditional Bavarian garb. From there we toured the beautiful Englische Garten littered wit [View Full Entry]

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We start our journey together at the hotel flipper, a very small little place with a front desk clerk that could not be more bothered to do his job, letting out a big sigh every time he is asked for anything. Our room for the next two days was nice and small, measuring about 8'x10' and filled with two beds, a dresser and a sink. Needless to say we didn't spend too much time in our confined quarters. On the first day we just explored and took in Amsterdam as any tourist would. Not sleeping a wink on the plane [View Full Entry]

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Okay, quick update....James recieved his passport in the mail yesterday, which is about a week earlier than we expected. He booked his flight, is leaving today, and will get to Amsterdam tomorrow morning! Finally, things are starting to happen in our favor!! We plan to spend 2 nights in Amsterdam and then we may head to Munich and try and catch the last days of Oktoberfest, we will see.... [View Full Entry]

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Alright, well I have had a hard time getting myself to start this blog because so far our trip has been less than what we had hoped for. After going to California for my friend Niki's wedding and visiting my family in Wisconsin, James and I were all set to meet in Philadelphia where we were going to fly to Amsterdam together. Well, unfortunately James missed his flight and in all the chaos misplaced his passport as well. After searching for days, James realized he must apply for a new one. To make matters worst, he had just sent all of [View Full Entry]

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Well.... One week left on the beautiful Valley Isle. Today was a great day. I took the dogs Mele and Mauka down to the beach tied them in the shade and went for my first solo surf. A super fun session with 3-5 ft. waves with an occasional 6 footer, rode some nice one and even got tossed pretty good, just a reminder to respect the power of the ocean. Came out of the water unscathed and took the dogs to a calmer spot and threw the tennis ball in the water, they're good retrievers for australian shepherds. Back at [View Full Entry]

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