Trouble in Paradise

There we were. Eating cold pizza on a curb in a thunderstorm in the dark. How did we get there you ask? Let us explain. 

We spent Saturday hiking through vineyards and up and down old stairs through the mountains of picturesque Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre means "5 towns" and we had set a goal to hoof our way through all of them in a day. It had been a truly gorgeous day.

Our legs were sore from the eight hour hike but we were feeling good about surviving various lizard attacks (okay... sightings) throughout the day.

We were more than ready to eat dinner, climb the 356 stairs to our hostel, play some cards (which we later found out is illegal in Italy- google it!) and go to sleep.

As we were waiting for our take-away pizza, we were approached by the hostel owner who had led us up 356 stairs (emphasis on this number... remember the eight hours of hiking?) the day before. In his broken English, he half explained-half acted out the message that we needed to immediately go get our bags and move out of our room to the dorm at the bottom of the hill. Confused and frustrated, we took our pizza to the hostel office and attempted to get some clarity on the situation. They had put us in the wrong room which was now double booked, hence the need for us to move... right now. 

After about half an hour of broken English and less than polite tones (cough cough... Olivia...) we concluded that yes, both parties were frustrated and what was done was done. Up the hill we went, pizza boxes in hand, to gather our belongings and trudge back down the hill on trembling legs. 

When we arrived at our room, we discovered that they had taken the liberty to gather our belongings for us and the new folks had already moved in. Our things were mixed together in a small room, so we did our best to sort our stuff into the correct bags as the hostel guy waited. Jill was doing fine until she picked up her new shoes that were mysteriously soaking wet. "Why are my shoes wet?" she asked with her very best I'm-a-teacher-and-I- mean-it voice. He didn't seem to understand her question so naturally Olivia repeated it slower and louder: "Why. Are. Her. Shoes. WET??!" Surprisingly, this didn't help his comprehension, nor did it dry her shoes, even when repeated in slower, various forms. (Water on her shoes... WHY?? They are WET. Not before, but now... WATER...)

Balancing two boxes of lukewarm pizza and carrying our ever-gaining bags, our legs quivered as we walked down 356 stairs (remember, we had just hiked up and down stairs for the past 8 hours). Just to spice things up, Olivia's sandal came undone and Twyla got in the way of a defecating bird as we took the walk of shame to the other side of town for people who ordered "dorm room- not private room." 

We arrived to our new abode and quickly told hostel man "yep, we get it" as he explained how to open the doors and told us not to throw trash out the window. Clearly, we didn't really "get it" about the doors, as we couldn't figure out how to open the double door in order to fit the pizza out so we could enjoy our (less than piping hot) Italian pizza outside. The hostel man asked for "attention, please" and he opened it for us. As we made our exit, Olivia exclaimed, "I'm just going to throw this pizza in the ocean!" (She refrained.) As we sat down to eat, the skies darkened, the rain began to come down on us, lightening illuminated the skies just enough to tell if we were eating the margherita or Hawaiian pizza, and thunder echoed loud enough to drown out our sighs of discontentment. 

So there we were, eating cold pizza on a curb, in a thunderstorm. 

Segovia

Segovia. Every time we see or here the word we cannot help but to break out into song. (It reminds us of the Genovia song from Princess Diaries). The views in this enchanting town were incredible. And following our rules from Madrid, we quickly found something to climb. The tower in the castle. It was as if Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and all our childhood dreams came to life. 

One evening we set out to walk along the river after shopping and eating all day, but we made a wrong turn and ended up following dirt-biking path through a field. Little did we know that this would lead us to a field of poppies and a view of the castle. So very beautiful! After we finally made it to dinner around 10 and as we were finishing up we realized that the last bus was about to leave soon. So us being us, we practically sprinted through the streets as the locals enjoyed the circus show. (It probably didn't help that we were hysterically laughing and dropping things as we speed- walked). We got into view of the bus and decided we better run for it. "Run, run," a local girl shouted. It didn't matter we missed the last bus and had to walk back to our hostal. 

We also discovered that Spanish food is not Mexican food. There are no enchiladas, nachos or burritos here; only half cooked pig cut straight off the leg hanging up in the restaurant, hard as a rock bread, and luke-warm cheese. Needless to say, we finally found an amazing Italian restaurant that we ate at three times in two days accompanied by chocolate desserts each time. 

The day after, we had planned to go hiking in the next town over because it had been recommended to us. We were dropped off the bus in the middle of nowhere and had to ask 3 times were the hiking trail was. Each time we were given different directions and we set out on which we thought would lead us to the top of a mountain and give us incredible views of the local towns. We started out walking on a paved path that seemed to be winding up the mountain side. We were in the thick of the forest and so it was hard to tell how high up we actually were. We kept going although we probably discussed half a dozen times if we should just throw in the towel and turn back. We finally saw blue sky and assumed that we had reached a clearing to see below. To our amazement, it was a clearing in the middle of the peak... For logging purposes. We had climbed up a logging road and our grand view turned out to be a big pile of logs. Well we didn't get the magnificent view we were hoping for but I guess we got in a good work out to equal out all the Italian food we've been eating. 

We managed our way back down and had to ask the locals were the bus stop was. We waited... And waited... Contemplated hitch-hiking.... Waited.... And finally the bus driver traveling in the opposite directions waved at us... Then after 20 more mins the bus finally picked us up and headed back to Segovia. And as you could probably guess, we went back to our favorite Italian restaurant for the third time. 

We are off to Pisa today and are excited to eat some real Italian food :) 

On another note:There is a little game we like to play called "most likely to...." Here is our list so far. 

Most likely to: 

Buy everything they see... Twyla 

Never write in their journal... Jill 

Pack Everything in a Baggie... Jill and Twyla 

Fall off bike while taking a selfie... Twy

Get pick-pocketed... Twy 

Ask for directions... Olivia 

Scare strangers with her sneeze... O

Have strangers laugh at her because she stepped in a mud puddle... Twy

Dominate the game of nerts... Jill

Always know exactly where we are... Amanda 

Always convince us to buy more ice cream... Amanda 

Shatter a glass water bottle in a resturant... A 

Pour water in her lap every time she drinks... Twyla 

Run after the bus and never catch it... Everybody, everyday 

Ride the bus for an hour in the wrong direction... Everybody

Most likely to order two cheesecakes, a brownie and a cake... O 

Most likely to wake up early and wake up everybody else... Jill 

Spill ice cream all over everyone else... Twy 

11 Lessons from Madrid

Don't let our post fool you we LOVE Madrid! Here are some things we have learned in our first two days here. 

11 Lessons from Madrid:

1. Just let Jill cook. It's faster, it's better, and it's safer. 

2. Eat ice cream when you see it, not when you want it. 

3. Well dressed men are not necessarily well-intentioned. Guard your bags! 

4. Get as high up as possible. The sights are unbelievable. 

5. Don't even think about getting dinner before 8:30. The restaurants are not open.

6. Do not let the dreamy blue-eyed Spanish speaking young man draw you in and feed you disgusting olives. 

7. The rain in Spain does not stay mainly in the plain. 

8. Water is not a human right. If you don't want to pay for water you have to specify you want free water.

9. Open roofed buses are not a good refuge from a rainstorm. 

10. Beautiful buildings do not always hold beautiful things. (Aka- what the heck is modern art?) 

11. The palace is not open after 7 contrary to popular belief (even though the sign did say till 8). 

Here's to another five days in Spain! We are older, wiser, and ready to take the bull by its horns!!! (Get it?) 

England

We have had the best time staying with Jill's parents in Long Whittenham in their beautiful 235 year old home.

Mr. and Mrs. Hammack have been beyond wonderful in letting us be a part of their family and community for a week. From the fabulous food to the personal tours around Oxford, Bath, and London, they made our time in England unforgettable!

The first day we went to Oxford and learned that Oxford in fact is not just one college but is rather many colleges within the town of Oxford. We wandered through shops and enjoyed hanging out in some old pubs. The buildings had our mouths hanging wide open due to the intricate designs. 

Our second adventure took us to Bath- yes there are Roman baths in England, who knew?! We toured the ancient bath house built during the Roman conquest on a natural hot spring. The bath house served several purposes including bathing, social activities, and pagan worship. We enjoyed a stop at Sally Lunn's Buns and ate a scrumpdilliumptious breakfast from a recipe dating to the 1600s. 

Our third day was spent in poshe London. (We kept hearing that word although I'm still not clear on the actual definition of the word. )We were able to see the Royal Crown Jewels at London tower and learn a little bit of England's dark history. 

We went back to Oxford for our fourth day and took a tour of the Bodlian library (where Harry Potter was filmed). Apparently Oxford has 11.5 million books and they receive 5,000 new books, articles, and magazines each week! IWe also took a tour of Christ Church College (as our tour guide Kevin called it "Jesus college.") 

Our last full day was spent at Blenheim Palace where the current Duke and his wife reside. Winston Churchill was also born there. We caught up on our history lessons and tried to follow the royal family lines throughout our tour there.  

Real mature grown-up teachers right there. 

As you can see we have mastered the art of packing light. 

Now we are in sunny Madrid. 

The Dingle Peninsula

We worked our way down to Dingle with a ferry ride and 4 buses. So we ended up spending a majority of the first day in Dingle just wandering the streets and sitting by the bay. When we arrived at our hostel, we could hear the hallelujah chorus playing: they had TOWELS for us to use. Real ones. And a bowl of fresh fruit. All this PLUS we were the only ones staying in the dorm. This was over and above the other hostels we stayed in, which may give you an idea of our accommodations so far. :) 

Our second day in Dingle began with a traditional Irish breakfast complete with bacon, sausage, eggs, beans (Amanda's favorite), pudding (yuck), and a tomato. 

We toured some shops and Amanda and Twyla both bought some paintings and shipped them home because they were too big to fit in their backpacks. We then went to Paddy's bike rental (sent to by another Paddy, who convinced us his pal was the best in town) and set out for our 25 mile bike ride along Slea Head drive. And yes we did wear the adorable helmets. The peninsula was absolutely beautiful as we winded in and out along the coast. We stopped several times to take pictures and catch our breath. At one point the road became very narrow and windy. A tour bus was attempting to pass a car and they probably did a dance for a good 10-15 mins before both could proceed to their route. Good thing we were past them and could watch from a distance! 

Somehow between the road and the gravel Twyla managed to stop too quickly and slid out again. She attempted to put a foot down but rolled her ankle and fell off the bike. Another bruise and road rash to add to the collection. Amanda also managed to jam her knee into the handle bar ... Both of them look like they have gotten into a fight. Olivia is bruise- free at the moment- a miracle indeed. 

At one point we saw some tourists looking over a small beach, so we stopped to see it. Even though it was beautiful, we thought we could get a better look by climbing over the farmer's stone wall. This time, none of us got hurt and we climbed to the top of a huge hill where we saw a 360 view of the ocean, the Sleeping Giant, the Three Sisters, a green field, and the village on the hill. So worth the climb!

The Sleeping Giant

The Three Sisters 

Back on the bikes we went, although we could have kept the sheep company up there for a while. We stopped for directions once when the road split and the signs were unfamiliar.  We were informed that all the road signs were written in Gaelic, and finally figured out which ones pointed us to Dingle. After we were pointed in the right direction we climbed up one last big hill (the only hill Olivia and Twyla had to push their bikes up- Amanda rode the whole way- go Amanda go!) we finally made it to the top and then sped down the last stretch into Dingle. 

The last part we came to had a huge round about to turn off to Dingle... Our most dreaded feat. Amanda led the way into the circle, but Olivia and Twyla failed to yield so they screamed the whole way around. A local young man leaned out the window and mockingly made "crazy biker" gestures and facial expressions... We can't blame him! 

After we made it made it back to Dingle we stopped by the park, took a nap break (sort of) and realized how burnt we had gotten during the day. We dropped the bikes off at our hostel and went out for pizza. Olivia then got her mouth stuck open for a bit... don't ask. She's just a freak of nature. 

We popped into O'Sullivans for drinks and good music. Here, we ran into four lovely ladies from San Diego (shout out to Leanne, Anna Beth, Jillian, and Sheryl). We swapped stories with them: they are traveling together at the ages of 60-65.  Four friends seeing the world. Just like us. We want to be like them when we grow up! We told them about our blog and they decided to make one themselves. 

In the morning, we had to return our bikes and head to the bus stop. To save time, we decided it would be wise to pack our now 25 pound bags on our backs and simultaneously pedal through town. Let's just say we looked REALLY cool and no one would have guessed we were from out of town.  

On the bus, we ran into two California fellows who we had seen before on the bus to the Aran islands and then again at the pub the night before. (We think they were following us...) We ended up talking to them on the bus and discovered one is an aspiringing musician who we talked into serenading us at our next stop. Keep your eye out for Chris Kellems. We may have been swooning over this young man. 

This evening is very Oregon-esque: we spent the afternoon in a cafe eating cake and journaling. We were given free scones (5 to be exact)... A goldmine to our regular toast, ham and cheese sandwiches, and pasta. On our walk back it finally (after 9 days of sunshine) poured on us. The rain drenched the paper bag that held the scones and caused Olivia to drop them all over the middle of the intersection just as she was singing "Bicycle!" to a group of passing cyclists. Classic. 

With wet faces and wet feet we are turning in early this evening. Tomorrow we fly out of beloved Ireland and join up with our fourth traveling companion in London. Jill- we have been waiting for you and are ready for you to join this gong show!!!!!

The Aran Islands

The sun has been on our faces, the wind at our backs, and the road has risen up to meet us! We have spent the last two days on the Aran Islands and it feels like we have gone back in time! 

After we got off the ferry we rented bikes and checked our stuff into the hostel. We asked directions to our hostel and were told it was "back on the road and up the hill". We asked which road and the nice Irish man laughed and said, "There's only one road and the only way is back!" That settled it! Sure enough it was back and up the hill. Over the next eight glorious hours we cruised the island on our steeds... aka silver bikes.

All across the landscape, a maze of ancient hand-built rock walls stretched beside us in either side. We were in awe as we pushed our bikes up the hills and sped down the slopes. 

There's one part of the island that stands out: the cliffs and the fort, both of which have very fancy Gaelic names which we can't pronounce or spell. By the time we rode to the cliffs, the other tourists had gone back to Galway, which meant we were free to explore on our own! We poked our heads over the sides of the cliff, climbed around in the grass fields and took pictures close enough to the edge that our moms will probably gasp (sorry mom). 

 It was about six o clock in the evening and we almost decided to stay until sunset (which we realized later isn't until 11pm... that idea faded quickly), so we mounted our bikes and headed back to our hostel. 

As we were riding back, Twyla had a great idea: take a selfie while riding her bike. Here's what happened next: 

Twyla's note: I stayed in this position for probably 5 mins while the two other dim-wits laughed at me and wouldn't help me get up. 

We finally made it back: Olivia and Amanda's guts ached from laughing and Twyla's whole body hurt from the fall. 

Today we explored the middle of the three islands: Inish Maan. We boarded a smaller ferry to get there, which was filled with people. However when the ferry stopped, we were the only 3 to get off! We had the whole island and three and a half hours before the ferry returned. We were planning in hiking a big loop around the island by following the blue arrows. "Just follow the blue arrows" they said... "You'll see it all" they said............ (foreshadowing here)

We did follow the blue arrows. We followed them until the path pointed straight into the sea. We had walked along a breath-taking path, again with more rock walls and cottages that were empty but lovely. Now, instead of walking back the way we came, we decided to blaze our own trail. We needed to get up the hill, but rock walls created a bit of a situation. Amanda tried climbing over a shortish one, and got a good scrape in the process. We scanned the rock pen in which we were now trapped and decided this probably wouldn't end well for us. We had only seen 11 total people at this point and they were likely not doctors. Instead, we forged our way along the rocky coast and finally stopped to eat our ham and cheese sandwiches when we knew we weren't going farther without missing our ferry. In case you're wondering, we did make it back, bruised and a little sunburned, but we made it back just in time! If we had to sum up this island in three words, they would be "big stone fences". (We just had a big argument over the placement of the quotations and period in the previous sentence ... Things are getting a little heated...)  

Anyway, we have loved both of the islands and will always remember our adventures together here on the Emerald Isle! 

(More to come... Stay tuned :) 

Cead Mille failte!

It means "a hundred thousand welcomes" in Gaelic...and that is just how we feel! We have been here 3 full days now and each day has been better than the last. 

Dublin, Ireland

We woke up much more cheery after much needed rest from our long and tiring plane rides. We went on a walking tour around the city. We saw the Dublin castle, parlement, and Trinity college. We even watched a game of cricket there. We learned a few things on our first day: 

1. Everyone in Ireland is really nice and helpful. If you don't know something just ask someone. 

2. You can get burnt in Ireland believe it or not. It has been sunny for the 3 days we've been here and apparently it rains 260 days out of the year. We happened to land our trip on the best days of the year. Lobsters. 

3. They REALLY love their beer! 

Wicklow Mountains: 

We were sucked into going on a tour just because the brochure said that we would see the scenes where Braveheart and P.S. I Love You were filmed. We visited the Dunmore caves, the Wicklow Mountains, a monostary dating back to the 1200s, and we visited Kilkenny castle. We enjoyed hearing old stories from our tour guide. Olivia did have to interrupt him at one point on the bus while he was on the loud speaker to capture a stupid moth. It was embarrassing. We went to St. Nick's church, no the Saint Nick...a.k.a. Santa Clause. Twyla was surprisingly impressive with her sense of direction, which would never happen at home.

Galway, Doolin, and the Cliffs of Moher:

We shoveled eggs down our throats and packed our bags to Galway. We learned  that we should've visited in September so we could've visited for the matchmaking festival that lasts all month. People from all over the world come to Ireland to find love. Gosh-darn it... We missed our shot. Twyla managed to spill a quarter of her water bottle all over her lap on the bus leaving her with damp pants all afternoon. Olivia had some trouble with accents as she asked someone, "I'm sorry I don't know what a pulls carrot is." ..... postcard, the word was postcard. The Cliffs of Moher were absolutely breath-taking. Just amazing! Good work God! 

Note from Olivia: (...and anyone else who knows princess bride...) these cliffs were INCONCIEVABLE! 

Note from Amanda: Luckily we can't post the video of Twyla and Olivia singing "I'm on the edge of glory." (While on the actual cliff) 

Note from Olivia: Oh it's coming! 

Cliffs of Moher 

Santa's Church

Eating Gelato... If you're wondering how we got a candid shot, we asked a passerby to take a candid shot... Totally natural. 

Cliffs of Moher!

No time for pepper or our own dishes this morning... Improvising at it's finest! 

This is Olivia's maternal grandma's maiden name! I think it's them! Gonna do a little research tomorrow. 

The Wicklow mountains are alive with the sound of muuuusiiiic!!!!!

We are headed to the Aran islands in a couple days... Thanks for your prayers and we will try and keep you all updated soon !