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2009 Xmas Blog

2009 XmasTrip in Europe - Blog

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January 1, 2010

Amsterdam for New Years

January 1, 2010

I haven't done a very good job of keeping our website up to date on this trip.  We have really been enjoying ourselves.  Amsterdam we always seem to under estimate.  As it turned out to be the funnest city on our honeymoon and now it has turned out to be the funnest city of this trip.  New Years eve on Dam Square was a fun and memorable experience.  We worried to start off with as we had made no plans.  We walked to Dam Square and found a bar right there to go in.  All through the time we were there we watched Dam Square fill with tourists from all over the world.  We went out side at about 5 minutes to 12am and listened to everyone welcome in 2010.  There was no official firewwork show, but the fireworks that were being lit off within the crowd was good enough.  It is sureal to say I welcomed in 2010 before our friends and family in the states. I facebook'd through the entire night as many of you know from following along on Facebook.  Hope I don't annoy anyone with all my FB posts.  I think we rolled into our room around 4am.  We walked the redlight district for a while, very interesting to say the least, but actually a lot of the normal places and bars were closed, I think for crowd control.  As they are all open tonight, we just walked back from this little Italian place that we had visited on our honeymoon.  Jeff had pizza and I had lasagna.  Last night as we were walking around out and about, you literaly had to sqeeze down some of the streets because there were so many people, mostly guys.  The number of men walking around here is incredible, they really out number the women.  Yesterday afternoon we picked up my ring and we walked around shopping.  There are so many clothes stores in the central shopping area and it goes on for ever.  Meaning miles and you are walking down these narrow streets filled with people and hearing all their languages from all over the world.  Most of the streets have lighted decorations hanging from to tops of the buildings.  It is so pretty in europe for xmas.  Nothing like the commercialized USA.  We always enjoy Amsterdam, next time we visit I am seeing some dang windmills and going to the cheese factory.  maybe we will make this our jumping off point for when Jeffrey graduates from High School.  Well I think we are off to our room to relax for a bit and then we will head out again.  I am going to post some pics from my camera and some more video on FB. 

Our hotel here is a bit mmmmm odd, the halls are like a maze, it was an old shipping house.  The original elevators are still in the building and they were running last night.  They never stop on a floor like we are used to.  They keep moving and you have to jump on.  They are moving pretty quick.  Might take a bit of skill.  I will have to grab some pics if possible of the hallways and stuff.  Ciao for now!

Tags: amsterdam


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Paris

December 29, 2009

Ahhh Paris, the city of lights has also turned out to be the city of long lines and crowds.  I guess everyone is here for the holidays because everything has been packed. Today we went to the catacombs, got in this really long line and the guy came to us and said he could not promise we would get in y the time they closed, so we left.  So much for seeing a bunch of creepy bones stacked up in tunnels under the city.  We were going to visit Disney Paris, but decided the lines would be way too long.  Part of our problem was over sleeping.  We just can't seem to wake up at a decent time to go do anything. Not adjusting to the time well on tis trip for some reason.

 Yesterday we did a lot, today not so much.  We went to Notre Dame yesterday and it was fantastic, but so crowded.  They started mass while we wer there so we stood in the back and listened to the pipe organ for a bit.  We then went to the concierge (old prison) and St. Chapple, but the lines were so long, we passed.  We went to the medevil museum and that was interesting. After that we ate lunch at McDonalds and then we walked for a long way to the palace de Luxembourg, that was very pretty.  We then kept walking down to the catacombs and they were closed because it was Monday.  Next we jumpedon the train and headed to the Eiffel Towr, if we thought the lines were long every where else, boy these lines were really long.  So we took some pictures, walked through the xmas market and then headed to a boat tour on the river.  All the sights at night are lit up and so pretty, that was very enjoyable.  We headed back to our hotel for a rest and then we went out again.  We headed to the ferris wheel and rode that and then just walked around.  We stumbled across this small indoor amusement park an went in.  We rode the rides and listened to music and enjoyed our selves in the indoor warmth.  Then we headed bck to our hotel.  Like I said today we headed back out to go visit the catacombs, bt the line was so long, so we just strolled the streets and found a place to eat.  We had steak and fries, mmmm yummy.  Tomorrow we head to Amsterdam, tonight we are going to do some laundry and get ready to head out.  Paris is a beautiful, great city, but the lines are just too long for my hubby.

View our pictures

More pictures to see

 

Tags: paris


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Day two in Paris

December 26, 2009

Oh my goodness we did some sight seeing today.  We rode the subway all the way across Paris to this graveyard which many people said to go see.  It was very interesting, this is where Jim Morrison of the doors is laid to rest.  What is even better is all the old tombs that people are burried in, they are creepy.  As Jeff and I were walking around we were talking about how funny it would be to scare people here, yes we have sick minds....  It was very interesting, I don't have pictures posted yet, but if I have time I will get some up from there.  I have posted a few pictures from today.  After visiting the grave yard we rode the subway to the opera house and took a tour, it is a ery beautiful building, then we went to the mall and it was crazy in there so we didn't stay long.  You couldn't even walk because it was so crowded, everyone is out in Paris.  The streets are so packed and busy and there are people ever where.  It is hard to walk on the sidewalks at ime because it is so crowded.  After the opera house and mall we rode the hop on hop off bus and saw a few of the sights, but it was getting cold and we were getting hungry.  So we jumped off and we ate at McDonalds and then rode the subway back to the hotel.  We needed to rest for a bit because we are going out tonight to the Moulan Rouge and Pig Alle and the red light district.  I can't wait to see the pig alle at night as I know it will be lit up with neon and lights, I will catch up again tomorrow and fill you in on our adventures from tonight.  Goodbye!

Try this link to our pictures, CLICK HERE


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Lets get caught up

December 25, 2009

We are now in Paris and so far it is so beautiful.  You will have to excuse me for any spelling mistakes as the keys on the keyboard are in different places for French.  So lets see, we left Copenhagen this morning, but lets finish with Copenhagen before moving on to Paris.  As many have seen the pics on my facebook page; Jeff and I rode the train outside of Copenhagen and visited Fredricksborg castle; it was so pretty; there was snow all over and it just had this feel of winter.  They had turned the castle into a museum and it was really neat to see a piece of Danish historty;  We then got back on the train and rode to Kronborg Castle; there were so,e sppoky casemates under the castle; hidden passages and tunnels; we visited the chapel and they had a maratime museum inside the castle with these models of boats and ships, they were really outstanding; the time it must take to build them; wow.  We visited the small town near the Kronborg castle and found a place to have pizza; it was so yummy, nothing like pizza in the states.  In Denmark they celebrate xmas on xmas eve, so yesterday when we ventured out, the city was closed up and empty, however the busses were running so we jumped on the bus that goes around the entire city and we were the only ones on; so the bus driver filled us in on all the historic buildings and plces we passed.  We then rode the water taxi to the Little Mermaid statue took a bunch of pictures and then walked back to our hotel, we spent the evening doing laundry in a danish laundry mat.  Boy it was a challenge at first because it was not in english, but we figured it out.  Last night I hardly slept a wink worrying about missing our plane to paris this morning, but here we are.  Our Hilton hotel is the bomb here, just breath taking, they upgraded us to a really nice room too.  After we settled in we headed out to the Arc de Triumph;  OMG talk about masses of tourists; wow there were so many people.  We then walked from there down the Champ Elysse at sunset, we walked the entire street, there was an xmas market down both sides, we stopped and got churros, chocolate covered strawberries and a bunch of other yummy stuff;  We were going to ride the ferris wheel, but the line was soooo long, we will try again tomorrow;  We are both tired and had a long walk back so we stopped for pizza at a little place ate and came back to the hotel, upon our arrival there was chocolate cake, roses and champagne in our room, compliments of hilton honors club, nice very nice.  Well that is all for now, advil is calling my name as my feet ache from so much walking and I am sure we will have a full day again tomorrow.  Merry Christmas....

Click here for photos   We have been posting our pictures on Facebook from my phone as we visit different places in the cities.


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Day 3

December 23, 2009

Yestersday it snowed on us all day long and the wind blew, burrrrr.... We took the subway to Rosenborg Castle and when we got there it had a sign on the door closed for the week.  No where in any of the tourist stuff did it say it was closed.  So I was a little mad.  So we walked back to town and ended up at the Rotundra building, your climb up this steep building that goes around in circles, craziest building I have been in too.  It leads to the bell tower of the church....it was a hike.  We then went to the ruins of Christianborg, an old castle that burnt down two times, we then took a tour of the royal reception halls which are still used today by the Queen, very pretty.  We ended our day with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.  Today we are off for an adventure up north via the train and going to Fredricksborg castle and Hamlets castle.  We should be on this adveture all day.  Catch up again tomorrow.

Tags: copenhagen


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Copenhagen day 2

December 22, 2009

Well we made it through our first day in Copenhagen and had a great time.  We walked through the pedestrian shopping center, we visited the royal palace, we saw the royal guards, we rode the huge ferris wheel that gave us a great view of the city and enjoyed Tivoli Gardens during the evening.  Today we will be heading out to the castles and seeing more of the city.  It is cold here, it snowed on us a bit yesterday morning, today it is a bit windy out, but no snow.  Tomorrow we will be riding the train about 20 miles away to see another castle.  I have been posting some pictures on Facebook and I am going to see if I can post them here too.  More to come so visit again to see what we are up to.  Bye for now.

Tags: copenhagen


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Getting Close

December 11, 2009

We are getting so close to our next journey for Christmas.  We can't wait.   This years trip we are still in the middle of planning with only a week to go before we leave.  At the last minute we decided to go to Paris, France instead of somewhere in Germany.

So our trip will start off in Copenhagen Denmark, go to PAris France and then end with New Years in Amsterdam.

Once again we will try to keep our website up to date and current while we are traveling.  Like I said we are still planning, so today I have been working on what we want to see in Paris.  We may go to Dinsey Paris while we are there.  We have heard that Paris is wonderful at night and during the holidays.

Follow along for this years trip.....

Tags: amsterdam, christmas 2009 europe trip, copenhagen, europe, paris


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