http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Todd-and-Alicen/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Todd and Alicen en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:16:40 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:16:40 +0000 Hola and goodbyethis shall be my final blog We are at my brother's house in Issaquah Washington waiting for Alicen's Mom to pick us up and take us over the mountains to our temporary home base in Wenatchee WA. We're really looking forward of moving out of the backpacks and unpacking all the clothes and items we've sent from Tokyo and around the world.Last week after spending a few happil http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Issaquah/blog-400280.html Europe and therefore The Trip is coming to a close soon...We made it back from Berlin to London today and are back at Alicen's cousin's place relaxing in a comfortable home for the evening.Prague was really an incredible city. We were getting pretty tired of sightseeing and din't think we'd see anything that would really impress us anmore. But s soon as we came otu o the train station into the O http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Surrey/Egham/blog-397152.html Ive tried to write this blog a couple of times now and have had bad luck wth my internet connection crapping out right as i try to pubish it...hopefully this time will work.long time no blog eh.Since i last wrote when it was raining in rome we have seen a lot of european things which makes perfect sense when you stop to consider where we are. We did the coliseum the Vatican and Sistine chape http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Upper-Austria/Linz/blog-395588.html Part 1 In Which I Briefly Speak of our Time in SwitzerlandGeneva was a very lovely timeplace for us to do absolutely nothing. We spent 2 days there and spent about 15 minutes sightseeing. The rest of the time we slept did some exercise and enjoyed some excellent food and wine with Alicen's friend Theano who was very gracious and welcoming and let us stay in her very beautiful apartment. S http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-392123.html I'm slightly frustrated....I just wrote a really long and detailed blog about how surprising and beautiful Amsterdam was....then when I tried to publish it my internet crashed and it was all lost....I took an overnight train last night and didn't sleep too great so this minor setback is causing me more frustration than it should and it makes my loathe to retype it all...so i'll hit the highligh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Geneva/blog-391210.html Guten TagWe are enjoying Germany already we met up with Diana and her boyfriend Sven and her parents in their home just outside of Stuttgart Germany and are really enjoying their very warm welcome. It's like a bit of a family reunion with Diana's connection to Alicen's family. We're staying in their home and walked to their local beer garden this afternoon and enjoyed the local brew and som http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Baden-W-rttemberg/Stuttgart/blog-389422.html Springtime in Paris....Believe the hype Paris IS that good.Wow.Like really really nice.Seriously.We've been here for 3 days now and for two of the days the weather has been ideal springtime weather....upper 60's sunny light breeze....the trees are just beginning to bloom green and pink and white and yellow...the second day we were here it rained so we spent all day in the Louvre.Our first da http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-389031.html Just a real quick note hereWe had a great few days driving around Ireland with Jen and Matt and smallredhairedboys Logan and Cyrus.Today we're hopping on a train back to Dublin and then flying to Paris tonight....stilll not sure what we do after that but we have a few ideas and will decide where to go next based on weather forecasts and how busy each place is likely to be over Easter Weekend. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Kerry/Killarney/blog-388103.html Hello again.I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my Mother and yesterday my brother....but I guess i just typed it so won't bother actually saying anything now. badumpum.Oh this blog isn't off to a good start....It's fully raining outside and we are at a fairly cozy little hostel in Kilkenny Ireland. Jen and Matt and their boys are off in their Bed and Breakfast outside of town while we're ho http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Kilkenny/Kilkenny/blog-387394.html I'll keep this brief since I'm sleepy.I love Scotland. am I Scottish Mom Dad can you remind me if I have any Scottish in me what else the rest of you Scottish peeps remind me of your clan names and I'll see if can find anything for ya.I've felt so at peace and happy since I crossed the nonexistent border. I really enjoyed England but have felt so at home and comfortable in Scotlan http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Inverness/blog-385603.html Well the weather sure does shift when you fly halfway around the world....after about2 12 months of tempuratures in the high 80's or low 90's we're in Glasgow where is it is grey rainy and in the 40's....we love itWe shipped some clothes from Tokyo over to London and it feels so nice to wear fresh clothes with my Tokyo coat hat and shoes back into the wardrobe. The timing couldn't have b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Glasgow/West-End/blog-385230.html We are feeling so much betterEngland is the perfect place to come after the chaos of Varanasi and Delhi...the last few days in India were really exhausting and stressful with a train delay of over 6 hours as the topper on our last day.....the fliht was the longest we've had so far about 9 hours but really comfortable. British Airways was like luxury after flying Air Asia so often lately.For t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Surrey/Egham/blog-383897.html We're hereNo more Asia for us I don't think ill be going there any time soon....give me people of European of origin pleaseSweetnesss.....we're here.....let's enjoying.Later http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Surrey/Egham/blog-383361.html Wow I can't believe how much we've seen since the last blog post....India is seriously the most insane contradictory country I've ever been to and yes that includes Japan. One minute Alicen and I are fully in awe of something we've never imagined seeing in our wildest dreams and so incredibly happy to be here and then the next minute we're slapped in the face with the reality that this is t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-382497.html Okay so my skin is still dyed pink even after vigorous rubbing with soap and warm water....ah well such is life.We celebrated Holi today fairly lowkey with our driver and some other tour guides dousing each other with pink and green dyed water. Al and I each started the day wearing all white and ended as bright pink as you could be....very fun.The saying today has been Happy Holi. Which s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Udaipur/blog-380829.html Yesterday I rode a camel and Alicen rode one not far away She looked cool on a Camel and I felt quite cool myself.Camels are really big and tons of fun and the desert we rode through was full of gazelles and soft sand dunes. But boy are they ugly while still being cute mind you I really really want to ride a horse when I get home now though.We had a bed alone on the sand dunes sleeping abo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-380216.html We're 40 miles from Pakistan.That blows my mind.This is about the 'deepest' into the far reaches of the world we will go on The Trip.We booked a private tour through Rajastahn and have a driver who is taking us through the desert. We've been riding in the backseat of a tinyass car and seeing things we can't quite believe.India is not like anywhere else we've been.We are tired it is bedtime. So http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-379676.html We're in India....leaving this morning on a 14 day tour around Rajastahn Agra Varanasi and Delhi....hope to add bogs along the way. Our driver will be here soon.first impressions chatoic friendly good vibes. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/New-Delhi/blog-379229.html Tomorrow officially marks the second half of The Trip. Wow.Sorry but I just have to say...Holy Sht We're Going to Fcking India tomorrow http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-378688.html Sawadee CapWe have another decent internet connection in our room in Pattaya today so I thought I'd throw up these Kuala Lumpur pictures. You'll see the Petronas Towers KL Tower some mosques birds and random city shots.Today we're heading back to Bangkok and meeting up with our friends Krystal and Jon who have been living weirdly parallel lives for the past 3 12 years since arriving in ja http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Pattaya/blog-378000.html