where the music's playin

***disclaimer...this is a super long post...with a spoiler at the end...begin reading only to finish*** :-)

Long before, and all the way through this trip, we have been handed a helping hand now and then. Every single act of kindness has pushed us onward, cheered us up, helped us out, supported us, and made this trip everything that it has been. We would like to start off this post by thanking some wonderful people that have made this trip even more special than we could have imagined...
here goes...

All the friends and family who supported us in our planning for this trip, with advice, funds, emotional support, lodging, food, or anything else, (also by reading the blog!) it helped sooo much, and we appreciate you all. We are two lucky lucky people.

Mario, Diana, Antony, Karen and Paulo in Oxford, who have hosted us time after time, always welcoming us with wonderful company, great food, and warm hospitality

A couple of Mario and Diana's friends who we happened to meet at Cibo, Antony's restaurant, and who told us that we had better get started up to St. Bees a day earlier than we had planned...that saved us sooo much time and trouble

The super friendly and informative train conductor on the short train from Carlisle to Whitehaven (to start our hike in St. Bees)

David and ***Anne*** Hope, our impromptu St.Bees tour guides, and kind souls with good advice before starting our trek

Our hotel proprietor in Cleator Moor for good food, a comfy bed, and most of all, for picking us up in town and dropping us off the next morning at the trail head

the angel-like B&B owner in Grassmere who showed up in his car to pick up our weary bodies after a 15 mile day

Lilly and Reg, in the Italian restaurant in Penrith--what lovely people to dine beside, even offered us a bed at their house if we ran out of money!

Jon, a friend from two different pubs in Newcastle, for offering all sorts of interesting facts about the city, and giving us a warm friendly face in the rainy cold weather

the people of Great Britian for giving us free museums!! :)

workers in the Backpacker's Hostel in Edinburgh for working out an extra night for us when we realized that we were a day early, and for giving us a nights refund when we went to stay for a night with Carol and David

Carol and David!! two incredible people who treated us like family, like royalty even. Driving us around the city, feeding us incredible meals, providing an excellent bed for the night, and talking with us into the wee hours

yatzee for making such a great travel game

the friendly owners of the Meade B&B in St. Andrew's for good movies in the room, lovely porridge and breakfast conversation

the three musicians in Inverness for the first traditional music in a pub of the trip (and it was incredible)

Ther German at our hostel on Isle of Skye (Dunn Can hostel) for the use of his map. (If you happen to be reading this, we are so sorry that we have not mailed it back to you, we misplaced your address in our travels...if/when we find it, we will send it)

All the people in Dublin who helped us find the way to our hostel that night...it would have been much longer without you

The kind, kind, tour guide at St. Aoden's church for the free tour and letting us rub the wish stone there for good luck (I think it worked!)

Our Finnish roomates who entertained our conversation until late in the night until we realized they had to wake up at 5am and made them go to bed (and for leaving shampoo!)

Bernie, Mike, Ciaron and Anne for hosting two newlywed bums on their perfectly sized little bed and for being so welcoming and friendly to two people they had never met.

The owner for Letterfrack Lodge for some interesting entertainment

The man in the subaru and the couple in the mercedes for helping us get from point A to point B by taking a chance on two nice looking hitchhikers

All the hostels that have had 'free' boxes or cabinets...they were very. very. helpful

The super duper friendly man and his daughter who picked us up and took us all the way to the Cliffs of Moher, even stopping for a beach view along the way

The two women from Texas (who shall not be named) who picked us up on the way back! Even after realizing they had not picked up two Irish hitch hikers, they still took us where we needed to go!

Ms. Anna McMurray (and the other friendly members of the congregation) at the small church in Ennis. 93 years old, and full of history, stories, songs, and energy that would rival me on a good day. What a lady.

very nice hotel owner in Paris who gave us directions (oh no, much much too far to walk) to our apartment...whom we promptly ignored and walked anyway (over 5 miles)...but who was nice just the same

Scott for the great wedding gift of a couple of nights in Paris--how romantic

Annick and Jerome! for hosting us on their couch for three nights! also for all the wonderful food they shared with us! Couch surfing is amazing!

Bob and Corey (and their great neighbors), two fabulous people with a fabulous lavender farm who hosted us for a 'work week' on our honeymoon, which turned out to be an absolute highlight of the trip

Micky and her great, old house in St. Tropez. We stayed right beside one of the most expensive beaches for next to nothing! wow!

Micky and Carla for wonderful meals and company while in St. Tropez

The great Italian women on the train (the one that stopped for 4 hours...) from Florence to Naples that let us follow them so we would make it on the right train

Nonna, Linda, and all the family on Capri for making it such an incredible experience for us. We had an incredible time and so much of it was because of you!

Lorenzo for his amazing apartment

Josh and Chrisinda for coming all the way to Italy to see us!

Zach for his surprise letter in Capri!! What amazing friends we do have

Andi's parents for making us feel so at home in Germany, and for their kindness

Mr. and Mrs. Goenner for taking us all around Bodensee, sharing drinks and jazz, and for taking us to the airport!

Ute, Andi's friend, for taking us to see sights, and giving us good conversation in the only place of the trip where neither of us spoke any of the language

The kind lady at the bakery in Langenargen for happily putting up with our bad German

The apple growers and sellers in Bodensee! what a treat!

The nice Emergency crew at the Freidrichshafen airport for wrapping up Russell's hand when he cut it

London Paddington train station for having a Krispy Kreme...yes, really...it was amazing

Emma, Carol's daughter who was incredible. Tickets to a breathtaking show at the London National Theatre, complete with backstage tour and conversation over coffee--what an amazing way to spend our last days in England...

Continental Airlines for having over 300 in flight movies to choose from, something to distract us from our horrendous fear of flying

Jamie, the guy who traveled 295 days out of the year for work, at the Houston airport, for the corona and the fun conversation.

The Houston airport staff for understanding why I wouldn't want to fly into tornadic conditions...and allowing us to change our flight to the next morning

Linda and Greg for coming to pick us up at the airport...even though we weren't there...sorry! :-/

Shelley for coming to get us the next day and taking us back home

so!

if you haven't guessed it yet, we are back in the good USofA
that's right!
SURPRISE!

:)

Our only stipulation for this trip was that we would leave ourselves enough money to change our plane ticket, should we run out of money. So that when we did run out of money, we could come back home. The exchange rate chewed us up, spit us out and left us taking with it a third of our hard earned, saved, (and gifted to us by wedding guests!) money. Wow.
BUT! even back a little while before we were scheduled to come home, we have had one of the most amazing trips anyone could ask for, and do not regret coming home when we did. We'll be back for Thanksgiving now!!
And look at all the places we've been! All the things we've done! We are world travelers, married and ready to get started with our life together. This trip has only proved to us (once again) how well we work together, how much we love each other, and (again) what incredible friends and family (and strangers!) we have in our life.

Thank you for sharing in the journey with us!
Let's keep it going!
Love,
Maria and Russell




















Anyone who took our picture, gave us a good suggestion, gave directions or help in any way,

another post of pictures!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting (again) but hopefully you'll enjoy these pictures from the last month or so...


here were out couchsurfing friends (and Russell)from Melun (in France), Jerome and Annick. They were so kind to let us stay on their couch for 3 nights! Couch surfing is a great way to get around!





And while we're talking about helpful people in France, this is a picture of Bob and Corey, the owners of the lavender farm where we worked in Normandy. Work Away is another great way to travel around!!





After France, you'll remember, we took a loooooong trip down the Italian coast to Capri. There we spent time with family,




more family,





and our friends, Josh and Chrisinda! This picture was taken on a hike around the side of the island, on the ocean the entire way, up and down cliffs, beautiful!!





and Josh and Russell had fun boy time climbing rocks and jumping from them.





After a quick stop in Zurich (just long enough to let us know that even with a better exchange rate, it was still way way too expensive for us),




(in Zurich in front of the cathedral)


we made our way over the Bodensee to Langenargen to meet Andi's sweet sweet parents who have helped us out so much this trip,





and Mr. and Mrs. Gonner, neighbors who have also been a huge help, showing us around, driving us around, and checking on us now and then.





Germany has been great so far, here is us on our bikes that we have loved so much and the apple fields that we keep talking about (but picture this hundreds of times over)







and a few other pictures from the Bodensee area of Germany...



-all of the churches in the area had up harvest displays at the altar, full of fruits, vegetables, plants, flowers, grains, etc etc....very neat to see all of the different takes on it, and very colorful. This one is from Tettnang, where one of the main crops is hops, so you can see the hops and the beer in this display.




yes. it is this cold. and I love it.






One of the many beautiful sunsets over the lake.





Langenargen. One of our favorite pictures thus far.


This is one of Russell's sunset pictures...another favorite of the trip.



and one more picture from the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. Just to remind you how big they actually are...those little dots up on the cliffs? Yeah..those are people.

Thanks again for reading and keeping up with us over here! We miss you all, and it is nice to feel like we're not forgotten even though we've been gone for quite some time :)
More soon,
Maria and Russell

Food and other fun things

Happy 30th post everybody!!
If you've been reading from the beginning, thanks for sticking with us even though sometimes we go for a while without a post.

Anyway! I'll update you on Langenargen quickly....
First, there is snow!!!! Welllll not here, but we can see it covering the Austrian alps! How bout that? Walk out your front door and see snow covered jagged peaks in another country! They are beautiful lit up by the sun behind the lake. Really stunning.
Second, bike riding through endless apple fields (the smell is amazing) then coming home to fresh, hot, local apple cider is a great experience. It is apple season here on the Bodensee and we are enjoying every bit of it. A 5 lb bag of local apples from a roadside stand is only €2. They are some of the best apples I've eaten. Period.

All this talk about apples remindsme that I've been meaning to write about the food we've eaten on this trip. Not only the food we've eaten at restaurants, or in other peoples houses, but the food we have made ourselves. If you know me at all, you know I love to cook and that Russell and I both enjoy good food. With such a limited budget, sometimes it is hard, but I would rather miss museum or two in order to eat a little better. Many many times on this trip we have come up with a grocery budget to stick to for 3 days or a week...whatever...But always the budget is as small as I can make it. As a cook, it is a fun challenge. As a young couple, it is always an important lesson in using every penny as well as we can and stretching every dollar (excuse me, euro) as far as we can. And stretch we have!! I have been super proud to have made 2 or 3 meals a day for 3 or 4 days for £10! And this is without a pantry full of staple ingredients like flour, oil, etc. We have been lucky with some hostels offering a 'free' box of things left from others. The box is always fun to look through and has even given us a complete meal or two!! It contains things from soy sauce to carrots (in the fridge) to garlic butter, olive oil (yay!!!), flour, pasta, coffee, carrot cake to things like half eaten chocolate bars and nearly empty, open boxes of cornflakes.
Mostly though, we have eaten from supermarkets. This is the first thing (after a place to stay) that we look for in a town. And we aren't eating ham sandwiches every meal, either! On this trip we have eaten all sorts of wonderful( and.some mediocre) kitchen creations! For example:
Pumpkin risotto (all sorts of risotto, actually... It is great)
Quiches of all flavors
La crique (French bubble and squeak)
Beef stew (oh yeah...I've eaten quite a bit of meat on this trip)
All sorts of pastas
Zucchini parmesan
Eggplant Parmesan
Chicken salad
Salad with lemon and potatoes (yummmm!!!)
Caprese salad
Stuffed mushrooms
Pumpkin soup
Endive soup
Potato soup
Pancakes
Omelets
Bacon, biscuts and gravy
Roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans
Coronation chicken salad
Oatmeal
Sweet oakcakes
Savory oatcakes
Rarebit with roasted broccoli
Cheese fondue
Tarte tartin
Stuffed shells
Dutch butter bar cookies
Beer braised brats with german fried potatoes and sweet and sour red cabbage and apples
French toast

And that is only the beginning! So no, it isn't gourmet or fancy, but it is good and like all of our trip, handmade! This has been such a super saver on the trip. Having a kitchen. In places that you stay is key. Eating out is nice, but can put a strain on the budget. Thanks to generous people and family and every now and then a night out, we've been able to eat many things we wouldn't have otherwise!
The key to cooking in another country for cheap is buying what you know will be good in that area!
For instance, in England and Scotland and Ireland, oats were really really cheap, good and versatile!(hence all the oatcakes above,..)
Other things were good and cheap there too! Potatoes, fruit, and hummus!!! Really good, cheap hummus! And eating out? Amazing Indian food.
In France, Brie and camembert were fabulous and nearly a quarter the price you would find them in the states!
So we ate a lot of cheese! :) and fruits and veggies that were so fresh and wonderful
In Italy? Pastas of beautiful shapes and sizes, Mozzarella, parmesan, and tomatoes!!
In Germany, apples (of course!), brats, potatoes,and other german yummies
Of course, fruits and veggies and bread from the local stores are always cheap and amazing.
While groceries tend to be on the cheaper side here in general, there are a few exceptions. In St. Tropez, for instance, we decided to have a taco night (remember taco night when you were little?) so we found a store that had taco kits! $2 tops in the states. This one (remember, shells, sauce, and an envelope of seasoning) was €6 or around $8 (and you wonder where our money goes?!)
We got it anyway and had really good tacos!
And don't try to get peanut butter anywhere! A tiny container will cost you an arm
And a leg!

So as I finish this blog, I encourage you to stay in instead of going out! Make your meal tonight. With what you have! Take a look in your own 'free food' box or at the vendor down the road and put together your own travel inspired menus and meals! Take a look above for some easy suggestions! Write for recipes or to tell us about the yummy things you've made!

We can't wait to hear from you! We always love to read your comments! :)

Maria and Russell

Ode to a bicycle

A bicycle. It is amazingly simple. I never thought I would see the day again when I would get overly excied about riding a bicycle. But there have definately been these days (sunny days preferred) for Maria and I over the past week. Bodensee is a huge lake. Europe's third largest. Looming on the shores opposite us are Austria and Switzerland, the giant alps launching upward behind the small towns. Maria and I bounce around almost daily on 3 or 4 hour bike rides. We've both surprised ourselves as we had forgotten how efficient and effective bike riding truly is. We'll step off our noble steeds after an hour of riding only to discover we've gone 15 kilometers. It is fantastically easy and enjoyable, and we both feel sort of like kids again, playing around, killing time, and riding bikes. I even attempt riding a 'wheely' from time to time, but I've sadly come to realize that while one may never forget how to ride a bike, one can certainly forget how to ride an impressive wheely. I used to look smooth and polished while leaning backwards, wooing the ladies as I careened my bike forward, balancing on the rear wheel. Now I fear it looks like I'm wrestling a cow to the ground as I never quite acheive lift off with my front wheel. No worries though, it is enough for us to ride along trails, across bridges and through the never ending apple orchards of southern germany. It is truly a bit of paradise. When I reference a map, I notice that in perspective, we haven't explored much of Germany at all, just a tiny section. But on our bikes, I feel like we've discovered a hidden country along an immense lake, full of perfect little towns with brick pavers for downtown streets and beautifully colored tiles that adorn the tops of old churches and even fire stations. These towns are every few kilometers or so, stretched along the banks, all accesible on our bicycles, a few pedals away. It helps that the paths are completely geared towards cyclists, making navigation easy and safety a near guarantee (provided you don't endanger yourself trying to attempt a wheely).
A few days ago, one of our friendly neighbors offered to take us to a nearby town where we could spend the day walking around. It was a rainy morning, and he gave us the option of staying in the apartment or going along with him and his wife. As Maria weighed out weather to stay or go because of the rain, Mr.Gonner reminded us that 'there is no bad weather, only bad clothing'. I loved that quote, it may be my favorite of the trip. One other favorite quote came from our second day here. We were talking with Ute (another friendly neighbor) about how beautiful the sunset had been the prior evening. Ute said "we're only given a sunset like that once a year. If it happened every night, people wouldn't see it anymore."

A handmade holiday with Russell and Maria

Ah Germany...even sweeter when it took so much to arrive.
In all, our trip consisted of this:
A walk from our perfect little apartment in capri to the port (last Italian gelato of the trip in hand)
A (much nicer) boat ride from Capri to Naples
A walk from the port in Naples to the train station (walking? You ask?- yes...we're running out of money, remember?)
A long wait in the train station pretending to eat mcdonalds food so we could sit in their chairs...
A train ride up nearly the length of Italy from Naples to Milan. Overnight in a 4 person 'couchette' with two guys
A train ride from fashionable Milan to Zurich
A walk around Zurich and a grocery store lunch for a lot of money
A train ride from expensive Zurich to Romanshorn (I had no idea where either, don't worry) through beautiful Swiss alps
A ferry ride with some friendly german newlyweds across Bodensee to Friedrichshafen
A train ride on a tiny train from Friedrichshafen to Langenargen
A short car ride (with supermarket detour) with our friend Andi's mom to our apartment here!
Total? 29 hours of travel. Wow.

So! Now we are here enjoying the beautiful fall weather, the lake, the cute cute towns around the giant lake (central europe's third largest), and riding our bikes to the towns and to the apple festival we attended today!
Now, you might ask "they keep talking about 'no money, no money' so how are they doing things and having so much fun?!" well!! We are the masters of improvisation and creativity is how! We have created everything that we need with what we have or what at can buy at the grocery store for cheap!
For instance...
We don't have a tv here, but we watched a movie on my iPod tonight on YouTube with Internet 'borrowed' from some sweet person nearby who doesn't lock their Internet!
We are missing the storytelling festival back home, but have no fear! We created our own here (again) with youtubed storytellers. We opened the window for the outdoor effect, bundled up in a blanket, and listened and laughed all night!
No radio either... Solution? Radio application on iPod hooked up to speaker on portable DVDplayer and podcasts!! Now we can listen to all the car talk, wait wait don't tell me, and weekend edition that we want!!
This has happened all through the trip!
Tours at museums and churches? Who needs em? We researched things ourselves, copied them down and read them at the appropriate location!
We've made cheap as dirt restaurant quality food, picnics, music, art, travel guides, made our own games, everything!
We even made our own Oktoberfest! We decided that it would cost too much to get to Munich and stay there and get back. So we made decorations, played music, created an Oktoberfest game (with buckets and shower curtain rings) and laughed our faces off. I made german food for the occasion: brats in rolls with grainy mustard, sweet and sour red cabbage with apples, german fried potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and chewy sour cherry black forest oat bars! And get this... The entire meal, everything, came out to €3. total. That is it! Yipee!
So as I leave you on this chilly german night, I say 'who needs to buy it?' who needs premade, preassembled, preplanned fun? We have more fun making our own trip, we laugh harder and enjoy it more when we create it ourselves. Handmade fun, handmade food, handmade trip, handmade love on a handmade honeymoon. And you can't get more perfect than that. (that isn't to say we don't enjoy a good night out every now and then though....) ;)

Ciao to Italy

Wow Capri has flown by. It has been full of fun. Full of family and friends and food and fun. The water has been amazing and the scenery spectacular. And now we say "goodbye" and hopefully "we'll see you soon" if we're lucky. But that's how travel is, isn't it? It wouldn't be travel if it were a place that you didn't have to leave eventually. Which makes us all travelers on this earth, in life...ok enough philosophizing...we hate to leave but we are headed to a new country tomorrow! Germany awaits us- a little colder, more mountains, and a nearly 19 hour train extravaganza--whew.

So some Capri memories now:
Seeing the island coming into view from the bucking boat full of a Japanese tour group (all throwing up) and me (terrified that the boat will sink) and Russell (calm,cool,collected husband)

Finally seeing all the family (Italian and American) here on the island and having a giant and fabulous meal at my Zia Angelina's house

Waiting for Josh and Chrisinda at the port and finally watching them walk off the boat!

The huge meal at Maria and Salvatore's house with Nonna, Linda and J&C complete with a beautiful dessert, limoncello and priceless views

Seeing all the sights of the island with new people

Gelato at Buonacore (the best homeade gelato and homeade cones that you can smell a mile away on the island)

Making it to the end of our super long walk across the island with J&C and jumping into the ocean

The color of the water at Marina Piccola and the little fishies that nibble at your feet.

Waking up at 4am to walk J&C to the port for their 5:40 boat and walking back up the mountain to go back to sleep with Russell, enjoying the calm, dark quiet of the morning.

The perilous and unthinkably narrow road to my cousin Carmine's house and the (again) giant meal with family and friends that we had there. The laughter and stories in three different languages are hilarious and well worth the ride

Singing with Nonna and Angelina about coffee and something beautiful and (of course) O Solo Mio

Another wonderful meal with glorious views at cousin Salverio's house

Relaxing and swimming at the pool at La Residenza Hotel with Nonna and Linda

Watching J&C try to stay awake as we listened to lively Italians sing lively songs on their first night in Italy--then sitting for even longer to drink an espresso and have torta mandorla until nearly midnight

Our beautiful little apartment

A long dinner made of the best pizza, pasta and conversation in Italy with Josh and Chrisinda

Moments too numerous to count of food, incredible views, flowers, and family all here on this tiny island in the azure blue sea.

Now we prepare to depart this tiny island where my grandmother was born. Ah but this is travel- the desire to make the most of your time, the yearning for a few more moments of moonlight on ocean as smooth as glass, and the plan for a return trip soon. Well we did, we are, and we will.
Buona notte tutti! Next post from Germania!
Sending much love,
Maria and Russell

Capri

Ahhhh yes,one can definately acclimate to the caprician lifestyle quickly. It's fantastically relaxing, invigorating and recharging for the soul. Maria and I have defiately experienced some homesickness, so these past few days have been much needed. We had an adventurous,and admitadely scarry time trying to get here from Florence. First, our train from Florence to Naples was supposed to be only four hours long, not bad right, we knew we would be dining with family that night, so what's another long train ride. I comfortably dozzed off only to awake an hour later to a stopped train. After asking around, maria and I were told that something was blocking the tracks and we would be on our way within an hour. One hour passed, then another, then film crews started showing up outside the train, then the Italian passengers became restless from being deprived of their cigarettes, then, and I kid you not, they were given smoking privelages on the train. The train workers would not allow them off the train to smoke because of the dangers of standing on or near the tracks, it would be hazardous to their health I suppose (some irony, I think). So, after four hours of sitting on a stopped train and watching other trains pass by, all the while wondering how if something were blocking the tracks, why hadn't they moved it, and why was it not blocking other tracks, we were told that one of the locomotives wheels had broken, and we were not able to continue further unless we had a new locomotive. So back to a station that could give us a new locomotive, then back on course we were. When we finally made it to naples, it was 9 at night, just in time to have missed the last boat to capri. Now, the real problem with our situation was not having to improvise a new plan, but it was improvising a new plan in Naples, home of the mob, home of dirty dank and scarry streets. I half expected to be greeted by the godfather or one of his goons as we stepped off the train. So, we chose the first hotel we found to stay with the promise of a boat to Capri the next morning, "the Hotel Mignon". All in all it wasn't that bad, the room was clean...sort of, and it kept us off the streets for the night. We settled in exhausted from our ten hours on broken scarry Italian trains and turned on the television only to see the top story on national Italian news was a train broken down in the middle of Nowhere Italy, at least we made the news! After watching a little of Dirty Dancing overdubbed in Italian, we stepped out on our balcony to watch the chaos below us that is Naples streets at nights. It wasn't long until we noticed that some scantilly clad women were going in and out of our hotel entrance. Then we noticed they would stand on the surrounding street corners until invited into the hotel, do you see were I'm going with this? Apparently the hotel mignon had a reputation, but at least it kept us off the streets! So the next morning, we caught a ferry to Capri. The waters were incredibly rough, and for a time, I could fully appreciate lobster fisherman in Alaska, maria dug her finger nails deep into my hands, as I tried to reassure we weren't going to sink, and then, there it was before us, Capri, paradise and home until the end of September. Within an hour we were eating pasta, bread and fruit at maria's aunt's house, sharing Italian kisses on the left and right cheek( remember to go to the right first or you might end up planting one right on someones smackers). Ah yes, this is the life for me. Josh and Chrisinda joined us for three full days but had to leave today for Rome. We had the best time with them, and it seemed so surreal sharing food and drinks with them on their last night last night! It was a real treat having them with us and we were sad to see them leave as both maria and I know, we have the best friends in the world! As for now, I must go kiss my wife good night. Tomorrow we shall have another great day with maria's nona ida, and her aunt linda. So from maria and me to all of you out there in blogland, buona notte.