Genova or Geneva, that is the question.

The Reeds were up bright and early to catch a train out of Rome. The same train picked up the Roscoes in Florence and we were off to Milano to connect with a train to Geneva, Switzerland. In true Eurail fashion, our train arrived in Milano about 15 minutes late leaving us with a mere 10 minutes to track down our train to Geneva. One of us (names will be left out to protect their identity!) saw Genova - Track 4, and we were off. About 2 stops into our trip we looked at the map and realized we were heading south instead of north. Low and behold there was also a city called Genova (Italy) - looking suspiciously like Geneva - both destinations have trains that left at exactly 14:25. This verz small mix up turned our 8 hour train ride into a 12 hour train ride. We hopped off at this podunk town in Italy (had enough time for beers), took a train back to Milano sat around the train station and then departed for GenEva, Switzerland - which we arrived at around 10:00pm. It was a long day, but a good story to be told.
The Reeds also taught the Roscoe's how to play the card game, Oh Shit - I think they are hooked. (For all of you non-Brands, this is a card game that I truly only think the Brands know how to play.)

Today, Saturday, we have spent walking around Geneva. Not sure if it is Switzerland or if the heat has finally let up, but the weather has been extremely pleasant today. Even a slight drizzle.

All 4 of us have had a fantastic 17 days in Europe and can't wait to share our other stories and pictures with you all. Tonight we leave for Paris and tomorrow (1:30pm) we catch a plane to Boston (for an excrutiating 5 hour layover) and then off to Columbus. The kick in the teeth for the Reeds will be the 90minute drive from Columbus to Troy.

See you all very soon.
R&R
(By the way, if you have signed up for the Kickball Tournament - this is a reminder. It is August 12th! For those of you who haven't signed up and are interested, email Jeff on Tuesday.)

Reeds in Roma

We also made it to Rome without any issues. There are a ton of people, motorbikes and cars all zooming around you. You are lucky to find a street that has a light, on the others you cross while saying a prayer - those bikes come out of nowhere.
We splurged a bit and have a hotel room with AC - oh how hard it is to leave in the mornings! However we have been starting out very early in the morning (today was 6:30am!) and then we of course come back around 2:00 for a siesta and AC.

Tuesday night we walked around town and saw the Spanish Steps and tossed a quarter into the Trevi Fountain - hopefully our wishes will come true. We also strolled down Via Del Corso and just window shopped - Prada, Gucci, D&G, etc - thankfully there are a ton of knockoff purses and belts being sold everywhere. On our way home it also started thunder and raining - which was kind of welcomed since it has not rained on our trip at all (knock on wood of course!). We did talk to an Italian on the train to Rome and he said this has been the hottest and driest summer in 30 years - we planned well!

Wednesday we did the Roman Walk. To the Colosseum, Arc de Constantine, Roman Forum, Capitol Hill - all which have what is left of the stone buildings from Julius Ceasars time. Very impressive to think about who would have walked on the same pathways we were on. During our trek out for supper we strolled past the building that houses Rome's prime ministers. There was A LOT of security and very nice black cars. We are thinking this is where the cease fire negotiations were being held - who knows though! We then strolled through 2 squares filled with restaurants, street performers and artists (which of course I bought from!). We had a delicious meal on one of the squares during yet another rain storm. And Jeff ate a whole tomato - talk about trying new things on this trip!

Thursday we get up when it was still cool outside and visited St. Peter's Basilica, St Peter's Square, the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. All are very breath-taking and something you have to see for yourself. Our getting up early actually paid off since we only had to wait in line for the Vatican for 60 minutes (45 of those minutes were waiting for it to open). We also saw the Castel Saint Angelo - which is a large building that was built for holding the tombs of emperors. It took you both down in the ground a ways and then also up above the city - which was a great view! We are now on our way out to find yet another great Italian meal and soak up our last night in Italy.

To Geneva tomorrow.
the Reeds!

Florence - Roscoes

No problems getting to Florence. We were waiting in line to make reservations for our next train to Geneva when we met a girl from Florence who gave us some great tips on things to see. She spoke perfect English, which made it nice. We got to our hotel and found a ceiling fan - when you are used to staying in rooms without AC, you have no idea how amazing a ceiling fan is.

We found a little Italian place that had the best food. It was a great Italian meal. Then we went to a festival that they are having in the middle of town and had a couple of drinks - we're going back tonight. On the way home, that great Italian meal started doing tricks on Chris' stomach and we made it to a bathroom (wash closet in Europe) just in the nick of time. It would have been ugly.

We slept in this morning (Chris feels much better). On our way to the train station today, Jaclyn wanted some Gelato (ice cream) so the lady handed us 2 huge sugar cones and filled them before we could ask the price - they ended up being $10 each. We got fisted on that one, but that is the price for not speaking Italian. We are currently in Pisa checking out the Leaning Tower. We will be going to check it out as soon as we get out of here.

We miss you all and hope everything is OK in the States. Next stop: Geneva, Switzerland where we will be meeting back up with the Reeds.

Arrivederci,
The Roscoes

Venice

Once again, we made it to our destination unscathed. However, it was a little later than we would have liked. Our train from Berlin to Munich was an hour and a half late so we missed our sleeper car that would take us to Venice. The train station put us up in a hotel room and we caught the first train out the next morning. Too bad we spent all DAY on the train instead of all NIGHT. We lost a lot of time in Venice.

For the first time since our trip started, our hotel was air conditioned. It wasn't freezing, but when you are used to sweating all day and night, it was very refreshing.

Once we were there, it was awesome. The city is beatiful with people everywhere. However, since it is all canals, there are no bikes or cars which makes it a lot less stressful. We walked around the city most of the day and checked out all of the stores selling Venetian Glass (every other store sells it). Afterwards we had our first Italian meal and then we took a short gondola ride. It was later in the night so the city had calmed down quite a bit and you can really enjoy the beauty of the city. BTW.....If you are thinking of starting a business, buy a Gondola in Venice. They make $240/hour.

We all got up the next morning to check out the farmer's market and while we were walking around, a pigeon pooped on Jaclyn's shoulder (and we have a picture). She recovered from the trauma and we went on with our day.

Jeff and Kyley left for Rome the later that morning and Jaclyn and Chris left for Florence that afternoon (Jaclyn had to do a little more shopping!).

Arrivederci,
R & R

Berlin

Made it to Berlin in one piece. Was able to make it to the hotel and post office (Momma Brand - no peeking!). Had a very delicious German BBQ with Christian and Karen. Karen took us to a bar and stayed up too late!

On Saturday, we did a lot of shopping, saw the Keiser Willhelm Memorial which was a church that was mostly destroyed by the bombings of WW2. Also went to the Jewish Museum which had a lot of info on the holocaust. Went to Checkpoint Charlie which was the gate from Germany to the US Sector. Then saw a large portion of the Wall that now has murals painted on. Met up with Christian and had a nice supper on the "beach" and then went out for some cocktails. Christian taught us a lot about German history and was an excellent tour guide - Thanks, Christian!

Todaz (Sunday) we are off to see more of Berlin and then onto a sleeper car to Venice.

Hope everyone is doing well. See you all in a week.

-R & R

Amsterdam

We arrived in Holland yesterday and headed straight to our hotel, then after climbing 2 floors of steep steps we realized we found the "old hotel" that we canceled. Anyways, we are right outside of the RED LIGHT DISTRICT in a cool location. We are "seeing" a lot, but the place is very different than what we expected. Almost everyone speaks English, even though the language of Netherlands is Dutch.


Our first night we took a bike tour from the city into the countryside. We watched the farmer make cheese and wooden clogs. That night we strolled through the red light district, but NO transactions were made! (sorry boys!)

We ended our night at our hotel bar where we met various new people (Romania, England, Dutch). We were not feeling so well today after many liters of beer!

Today we went through various museums- Van Gogh, Rijks, Anne Frank, etc. Then after eating a full Indonesian meal (recommended in Holland), we did some shopping. The ROSCOES bought too much and now will be mailing hom many packages.

Tonight we will see what we can get into!

P.S. The weather is hot here too! We are dripping with sweat each day and spending on average 20 Euros on water each day. Today was a little overcast, so it was more tolerable. Hope all is well with everyone at home.

Next stop: Berlin, Germany (visit with Karen Remus and Christian)

-R & R

paris - brussels Belgium

in paris we saw eiffel tower (almost missed it going up after 11pm, supper way too long); louve, arc de triumph; notre dame; had steak tartar - beware of raw meat; bike tour around paris ; looooaded saturday night-went home at 3am, metro closed gates at 1am... oooops. today in brussels, visited pissing boy; grand place; mini-eruope (he;he;he) heading to a,sterdam tomorrow. -Bonjour

paris night 1

well we made it to paris with no issues. celebrated bastille day which is thier 4th of july.....fireworks at Eiffel Tower last night....AWESOME....

FYI:::The Keyboqrds qre All different on these things in case i ,isspell something.

also went to the arc de triumph, becquse we hit the wrong subzay....or metro qs they call it in paris; we qre in verailles todqy and qte bqquet sandwhiches;

um....1 shower 4 entie 3 floors and a bqthroom on eqch floor that we had to share;

ok...thqtis all for now; Love you all; bonjour

et nous ne sommes pas en ligne

Je ne peux pas croire que le jour est finalement venu. Nous souhaiter la chance dans notre aventure.

1 week away

Well, it is only 1 week and 4 hrs away..and we will be off on our adventure. We are hoping to be able to stay in touch with you all by logging on every couple of days and posting some interesting tidbits about our trip. Be sure to leave us some comments on the bottom of the blogg.

Who's Ready??

Welp, leaving July 13th heading to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Venice, Rome, Genva, and Back to Paris.


It's 4099.06 miles to Paris. We've got a full tank of gas and half a pack of cigarettes. It's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it.



That sure is a long time in the air huh...




Here is a calendar of where we will be while over there.



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