A hard reminder of war...

The 1990s Yugoslavian conflict is one that we are still piecing together, but tonight gave us our first hands-on encounter with it: seeing shrapnel from the war which was found in the attic of our hotel. Tomorrow, we will join our new friend Ivan out to the location of one of the most violent battles during the war, as well as a former mass grave, which is located about 45 minutes from Osijek. It is so helpful to see the places first-hand in order to understand what really happened. Stories and pictures to come!

Ljubljana, Slovenia & Zagreb, Croatia

Janne and the Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

We only have a couple of minutes between our next train to Osijek, Croatia- but we wanted to post up a couple of pictures from our stay in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Zagreb, Croatia. We have really enjoyed spending some time in the Slovenian and Croatian capital cities, and are so impressed by the diversity and character that both cities uniquely have. Special thanks to our new friend, Peter, for showing us around Ljubljana and telling us more about Slovenia history (and teaching us about great Slovenian beer)!

Janne and Peter in Ljubljana.

Now we are off to Osijek, Croatia - a town that marks a region of intense violence in the early 1990s wars in the former Yugoslavia. We are very interested to learn more from the local people, and hopefully leave with a better picture of what actually happened.

Off to a four-hour train ride!

Tyler in Zagreb, Croatia.

sLOVEnia!

Tonight is our final night here on Lake Bled, Slovenia, and we are quite sad to go. We have loved every second of it. The water is crystal clear, the mountains still are snow-covered (a HUGE change from the heat waves in Amsterdam and Rome), and there are adventures gallore!

Slovenia's official tourism line is 'I am in sLOVEnia,' and we are definently in agreement. We are in love with this country and all it has to offer!


Tomorrow we are off to Ljubliana, Slovenia for our final few nights here before Croatia! We are sad to go, but know we will be back.

Beautiful Slovenia!

When we first decided, on a whim, to visit Slovenia, we were unsure what to expect. We had planned most of our trip, but intentionally left a week and a half open to new adventures and spontaneity. We took the advice of Thomas Cook's Europe by Rail book (a wonderful wedding gift from our good friends Erlend and Andrea) and headed to a country relatively unknown to us both.

We have now been in the country for four days, and we have only one word to describe the place: "Wow!"

Slovenia seems to offer everything. From the beautiful coastlines of Portorose and Piran (see picture above), to the scenic Alps surrounding Lake Bled (where we are currently writing from), we continue to be impressed by the diversity of such a cool, small country.

We are currently writing from the Ojro Bar right outside of the Lesce-Bled train station. The trains in Slovenia are clean, new, and efficient. From Ljubljana (the capitol), it is only a quick one-hour train trip into the Alps. We are now waiting for a bus to take us to Lake Bled, a gorgeous glacial lake nestled in the mountains - and home of a medieval castle on a island! We are enjoying getting to know our new friend, David, who has been giving us great info on the history of Slovenia and its independence from the former Yugoslavia.


We are looking forward to four days in the mountain after four great days on the beach. Word on the street has it that Slovenia is about to get hit with the worst cold of the summer in years, so we may see some snow! Even the weather in this country is diverse! :)

Cheers to another week in this great country, and more updates to come!

Rome, Italy

We have now reached the half-way mark of our honeymoon adventure, and we could not have stopped in a more exhilerating location!

The Colesseum and the Roman Forum.

Rome! There is little arguing that Rome can be considered one of the most interesting and historically impactful places in the world. From its ancient ruins, many which date back over 3000 years, to the Vatican City, Rome stands out as a gem on the planet.

Out of all the stops on our adventure so far, we are definently trying to soak up the most here. Our days consist of early morning breakfasts at the hotel, to a subway trip downtown, to a full day of sight-seeing and history-learning. We have so far taken tours of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palantine Hill - the location of the start of Rome. We have also explored the ancient heart of the Rome, its modern streets, and stopped to take in a few of its grand museums.

It has been VERY hot here, with temperatures reaching 45 degrees C / 113 degrees F on Saturday. Although sweat is a common entity on EVERYONE here, we are still learning to avoid becoming embarassed when the sweat gets really bad.

We are learning some of the tricks of living here, and do have some advice for the those coming to visit:


1.) There are very high cover charges if you would like to eat a restaurant. We recommend buying the food "take-away" and sitting in a park to eat. This can save you literally 10 euros each time - and creates some pretty fun memories.

2.) There is an aqueduct which still brings fresh spring water to Rome every day. Throughout the city, you will find water spouts from which this spring water consistently flows. Instead of buying 2-3 euro bottles of water every time, use one bottle and re-fill with fresh water that is likely better than the stuff found in bottles.

3.) Pay the extra money for the guided tours of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palantine Hill. There is SO MUCH history that you miss a ton if you dont have someone pointed out sights along the way.

4.) Play. Rome is a gorgeous city, and it leaves room for you to become part of its history. Example, see below:
5.) Take time to realize where you are. Rome. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Rome!

We have now made it safely to Rome, and are already thrilled to be here. Rome has been a life-long dream for both of us, and we canàt wait to explore. Internet connection will be a little trickier here, but expect updates later this week!

Florence, Italy

Tyler waking up on the night train between Paris and Florence.

Goodbye, France. Hello, Italy! In order to save us a day of travel time, last night was spent aboard a night train between Paris and Florence, Italy. Each car fits six people, and beds fold down from the wall when it is time to sleep. We shared a train car with 4 fantastic Argentinians on their way to Italy for the first time. It was definently a new experience, and one we would recommend trying at least once in your life. Just make sure you bring some ear plugs to get some sleep!

The best part of the train was falling asleep outside of Paris, and waking up the next morning in Italy! Florence was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 1982 and widely considered one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. It is also the birthplace of great names such as Dante, Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Galileo Galilei! A lot of history in this city!

We have already had our fill of fantastic pizza, pasta, and of course Gellato (Italian ice cream). Tomorrow we hope to search for the Statue of David, arguably Michelangelo's most famous sculpture, which is found here in Florence!

Florence at night.

The River Arno, which runs right through the heart of Florence.

Happy French National Day!

Happy July 14th, France's National Day! Not a bad day to be in Paris!

Rome tomorrow!!

Le d'Artagnan Youth Hostel - Paris

Le d'Artagnan Youth Hostel

For the past four nights, we have been privilaged to stay at the Le d'Artagnan Youth Hostel in Paris (HI-Hostel France). It is located just 15 minutes away from downtown Paris, and is so far the nicest hostel we have ever stayed in. The hostel hosts over 440 guests at a time, but we never felt lost in the crowd.

Le d'Artagnan's friendly staff.

Not only does the hostel have a restaurant that serves three meals every day, it has an arcade, a movie theater, and a bar! We arrived the night of the World Cup championship game, and the hostel hosted a watch party - complete with at least 5 HD TV screens to cover the excitment. Very cool.

Our amazing room after a long train ride.

To learn more about Le d'Artagnan, especially if you plan on visiting Paris, visit their website here. We highly recommend it!

Paris, France

We are now on day three here in Paris, and are enjoying every minute! Janne has been busy practicing her french (which is minimal, but helpful). Above you can see her grasping a bit of French culture while she can (i.e. the Eiffel Tower).

Today we visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, and are headed back towards the Eiffel Tower for our first experience up close. The weather has been great, and we could not be happier!

Brussels, Belgium

As a short lunch stop on our journey from Amsterdam to Paris yesterday, we stopped for a three-hour stay in Brussels, Belgium. The city was BEAUTIFUL and filled with gothic buildings built in the 1500s and 1600s. Our pictures will come soon! Thanks to rosenblumtv.wordpress.com for the temporary picture above!

We are now in Paris, and are loving every minute. More updates soon!

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

While some scortchingly hot weather slowed our pace down a bit, yesterday was spent relaxing and exploring The Netherland's capital, Amsterdam. Neither of us have spent much time exploring Europe, and we were definently surprised by this amazing city!

Amsterdam by boat, the Church of St. Nicholas in the background.

Built on a series of canals that were dug in the 17th century, Amsterdam was best accessed and explored by boat! The city consists of over 100 ocean canals and over 1000 bridges. We decided to take the advice of the tour books, and hopped aboard one of Amsterdam's many tourist boats.

The smallest house in Amsterdam. 1 meter wide. Yikes!

Locals enjoying a hot day through the city.

A hot day in a cool city.

Today we will spend the day on the beach in Noordwijk (catching some of the action at the Noordwijk sand volleyball tournament), and tomorrow we are off to PARIS!

The Journey

For those of you who are curious, here is our tentative travel itinerary so far...

Our 31 day trip includes... Amsterdam (and surrounding area) to Brussels, Belgium. Brussels to Paris, France. Paris to Florence, Italy. Florence to Rome. Rome to Venice, Italy. Venice to Croatia. Croatia to Serbia. Serbia to Budapest, Hungary. Budapest to Vienna, Austria. Vienna to Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg to Hirtshals, Denmark. Hirtshals to Kristiansand, Norway. Kristiansand to home-sweet-home Oslo!

Courts, Cords, and Casinos (oh my!)

Day One of the honeymoon is coming to a close, and it is hard to express how good a single day can be. We started our day early by catching a train from Leiden to nearby The Hague. The trip itself was less than a half hour, and incredibly easy to do. We were especially impressed by Holland's double-decker trains! We have never seen a train that was two stories high!

Janne and the double-decker train in Holland.

The afternoon continued with a visit to the headquarters of the International Criminal Court. Although we were unable to get a tour since tours must be booked weeks in advance, we instead sat in on one of the public hearings. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The court was considering allegations against a Congolese military leader accused of recruting child soldiers for violence.

While the experience was not necessarily the most uplifting, it did help us to visualize and better understand how and where important trails such as the above example take place.

ICC Headquarters in The Hague

After learning more about the International Court, we made our way to Scheveningen Beach for a COMPLETELY opposite experience. Bungy jumping.

As a wedding gift to Tyler, Janne planned out an afternoon on the beach including taking a big jump together through Bungy Jump Holland. The bungy jump platform sits on top of the pier on Scheveningen Beach, right above the Atlantic Ocean. After being strapped into our equipment, we were lifted 200 feet / 60 meters to a lookout tower in which we clung to each other for dear life and took the plunge. While we are still waiting for our pictures to be developed, here are a few to help you visualize the plunge!

Scheveningen Beach with the Bungy Tower in the background.

Janne getting fitted with equipment.

Tyler getting his courage up!

The jump! (photo courtesy of http://www.digitalbreizh.net. Ours coming soon!)

Feeling good after the jump with the cord that saved our lives!

To close out the day, we thought we would celebrate by playing the 20 cent slot machines in one of Hollands numeros casinos. To be fair, we are both still students on a budget and were both super hungry after an exciting day. The world does not get much better than spending only 1 euro at the casino and getting a bunch of free food in return!

Janne and her free slot-machine food.

Noordwijk, The Netherlands

The honeymoon has officially begun! We are now writing from the Flying Pig Beach Hostel in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. After an exciting 3-2 victory over Uruguay in World Cup football, the county is BUZZING with World Cup Fever! We are very excited to be here in a country that is in the championship match later this week! The hostel is great, and is located right across from the best beach in Holland!

Today we are headed to see The Hague, the city which hosts the International Court of Justice. Tyler is very excited after studying political science and peace and conflict studies. More updates soon!

And we are off!

After a fairy-tale wedding, we are now officially off to the airport to begin our Euro-Rail honeymoon adventure! We look forward to updating you all frequently, and we can't wait to see what comes around the corner this next month!

Thanks so much to everyone who made our day special, including the beautiful flowers we received from NSB and Hostelling International Norway.

We will see you all soon from Amsterdam!

(Special thanks to our best friend in the entire world, Jackson, for the brilliant picture above. We could not have had such a perfect day without the support of great friends and family to celebrate with!)