I Amsterdam

The next stop on our list is Amsterdam! I am really excited to see this place and don't know what to expect. All I have heard about Amsterdam is the Red Light District and Coffee shops! I can just tell this is going to be an awesome three days here!

As soon as we arrive we already have an incident with the trams... but it was a funny one none the less. We hop on the tram to take us to the center and the doors close as it departs. Spencer isn't on. He is standing outside while we are riding off. Oh Spencer here we go again...Hopefully he will get the next one and find the hostel! We arrive at our stop and Nick gets off then all of a sudden in the five seconds of stopping the doors close on us and me and Tanya are stuck on the tram till the next stop. We just start laughing really ha

rd about to pee our pants because this would happen to all of us. So we catch a tram back to

Nick and manage to hustle off the tram. Those were some speedy doors on those trams! We end up at the Hostel and miraculously Spencer actually beats us there! The fun has already started! This is place is crazy and there are bicyclists everywhere... in fact I had a few close encounters with a few.

I hostel was located next to Vondell Park and the canals. It was within walking distance to ever

ything. We decided to go get dinner and explore a little for the evening. Amsterdam was so unique. The roads were cobblestone and it is a city built on canals. It was so pretty and quaint. Boat taxis went up and down the canals, the houses were connected to each other and were actually crooked! It looked like an illusion and the atmosphere was just so alive! We decided to check out our first Coffeeshop. I had no clue what to expect and was a little wierded out by it. The Coffee shop smelled of smoke and there were menus to order all sorts of flavors and different joints of all different prices. You can even roll it your self! How convenient!

Amsterdam has amazing shopping...shops everywhere. Too bad I only had limit on what I can actually carry... so Tanya and I got some sweet leather jackets.

Spencer can eat this car.

Another highlight of Amsterdam is the famous Red Light District and hopefully you don't find the occasional blue light! I didn't know what to expect, actually I didn't know what the RLD was! We ventured to it and there were prostitutes in windows selling themselves! Holy crap that was a scene. It was really crazy at night and we would see guys do in the doors... Hmm. We dared Spencer to ask how much and he did! It was an experience for sure.

This is one of my favorite pictures I took....

We also visited the first Coffeeshop ever. The Bulldog!

Amsterdam was one of my favorite stops. Everything about it was so unique and gorgeous and awesome place to take some pictures. Eating a sandwich overlooking the canals or

exploring the strange red light district this place is a must see!

Visting the Cannabis College and the Flower market!

Off to Praha!! Lets catch that train!

Well Switzerland was amazing. Its beauty and people were just so amazing! I could see myself living there. And meeting the family was just so awesome! They were really nice and I appreciate them taking us in for a few days!

We got on our overnight train to Prague, Czech Republic. It was only supposed to be a six hour train ride... well to say the least it ended up being a 14 hour journey because there was detour on the tracks. Lets just say it was a really long ride and our overnight train cabin was the size of a shoebox!

The train ride went through Austria which was gorgeous green hills. spencer sticking his head out.. don't hit the pole!

Our destination has arrived. Please exit the train. Now off to the hostel. Praha is really cheap, but then it adds up. We stayed in Praha for 3 days wondering around the beautiful city. We checked out a cemetery from the holocaust, Prague castle, and watched the matches. And their currency goes by Crowns with really large numbers on your bills! It was weird. Praha is a Gothic city with cobblestone roads and amazing architecture of gothic gargoyles and statues everywhere surrounded by a river.

We are rich in Czechs!

We watched the World Cup in the center! It was really neat seeing fans from every country. Guess who was playing?

We explored the Prague Castle and Church. So intricate and gorgeous!

Enjoying some wine overlooking the city!




A really cool wall we found.

We all tried Absinth for the first time. It was really intense! They guy lit it on fire and we all shared a sip. It was gross.

The famous Charles Bridge.

Keeping your shoes in Praha.

Figuring out the game plan.

We even did a pub crawl to have some night fun and lets just say we were the coolest girls there with the best dance moves! Tanya and I decided to be twin sisters Taylor and Peyton. It worked quite well. We partied all night with some crazy people and ended up getting back to the hostel at 4 am and it was sunrise. We forgot to go to bed... oops. And now we have to pack and leave to the train station in 2 hours. Now this is where it get interesting and really funny.. not at the time but when we look back on it later! We get back to the hostel and we are still drunk and Spencer is in bed sleeping. He headed back a little earlier than us. I take shower to wake up and rinse the sweat off from dancing! It is about 5 am and I am packing and try to sleep for 30 min. I am exhausted and wake Spencer up. We are supposed to catch the bus at 6:50 to catch are train leaving at 6:31 am. He still has to pack. We hustle and sprint to the bus and we miss it. We are freaking out and are all still trying to sober up. We hop on the next bus at 6:12 am. We get to the station at 6:27 am. Holy crap we are about to miss our train... It is time to SPRINT!!! We book it through the station yelling trying to find our gate. I never new my cousin Nick was so fast. We are all running out of breath from being drunk/ trying to sprint with a 35 lb backpack on you. Let me just tell you it wasn't that easy. We swerve around the corner, up the stairs and scramble on the train. Two seconds later the door closes and the train departs. WE MADE IT!!! And now I can't breath... actually neither of us can. Water please. I don't think I have ever sprinted so hard or Spencer for that fact. It looked like we were in a movie chasing a train and I feel that this experience of running drunk to catch a train was necessary for a REAL backpacking experience!! Well now its time for shut eye and six hour train ride to Berlin. Hello headphones with Mr. Jack Johnson and my eye covers I snatched from the plane ride. Then spencer looses his train pass and we make him go hide from the evil ticket checking lady person. That didn't last long.. so he had to buy a ticket. But in the end we eventually made it to Berlin!

Berlin!

Berlin was just a day trip to cut the trip to Amsterdam short and to catch up on rest. We were in need of that for sure. We rented bikes and followed the Berlin wall. My butt hurt at the end of that day!
The wall had really pretty artwork on each piece.

It was a really really long bike ride following a really really long wall.

Meeting the family

After Interlaken we were headed to St. Gallen up in the north area of Switzerland to meet the Gemperle cousins!! We arrive at the station and Marcus, Marion's dad picks us up. He rolls up in a minivan and then hits the curb. I started laughing and thought to myself this is going to be great! He takes us to the house where my grandpa Ernie and grandma Anna-Marie grew up. It was really awesome to see the roots of the family. We met Martilee who is Anna-Marie's twin. She was so welcoming and adorable. She looked just like Anna-Marie! Her English was a little rough but we managed. We met Marcus' wife Susan who was also very nice. Our greetings are so different from the states where it is just a hand shake or a hug. In Europe its three pecks on the cheecks. I got used to if fast :) It was a long day so Spencer and I stayed at Martilee's house. It was really homey and cute. She was more than welcoming and we felt right at home!Martilee's backyard..

She made us the the Swiss breakfast, bread and yogurt! They took us to Appenzall where the real Swiss culture was and where the little people are. Spencer wouldn't fit in so well. The weather was drizzling but the green hills with little farms on them were just like a postcard. We walked around the town and it was so little and cute.

Later we drove to restaurant and had coffee where we were going to meet Fabien, their daughter, and Daniel, their son. She was so nice and friendly. Her English was very good also. She just got her license so she was excited about that... so I volunteered to ride back with her to the house. That probably wasn't the wisest choice...she knocked her side mirror off with a pole she came to close to... it was pretty funny actually!

Marion came home and the next day we picked up Tanya and Nick from the airport. That night all the swiss cousins came over. The dinner was fun. St. Gallen bratwurst and Marcus' homemade beer which the boys liked a lot. The cousins were pretty shy at first because they didn't know much english. They were mostly staring at me because I was having fun laughing and joking with Fabien and Marion. They eventually warmed up :)

We also went go Kart racing and decided to use the helmet scarfs over our faces to act as robbers and scared a few people on the way the way back to the house. I was not ready to end up in a Swiss jail portraying a robber!

We took a day trip back to Appenzall to the experience the real Swiss culture in this little restaurant where they made their own cheese! We had the macaroni and cheese and it was amazing!! They little swiss ladies even yodeled to us and sang. It was really fun. The farm house also had a school attached like the old days! Then we played on the adult playground and pet goats. After lunch we went grass bobsledding. That was super fun! It was like a mini roller coaster down down green hills! That seemed a little sketchy.





Well our last day in Switzerland we went to Zurich to hang out and to watch the Spain vs. Swiss world cup soccer game or futbol. Lets just say we couldn't have been in a better spot to watch the madness. We were at a pub watching the game and the Swiss won!! Everyone went insane yelling Hup Shweiz and Shweitzer Nati!! The main streets got shut down because of the wild celebrations jumping on cars and throwing beer everywhere! It was soo much fun to be a part of it. Spencer and Nick even hopped on cars!

This is us trying to all fit in Fabbien's little car... and Martilee trying to take the picture :) good times.

Super stoked after we won!! Hup Shweiz!!! The streets went insane! I have never experienced real passion for Futbol!

I have to say we are all good looking cousins.