Europe Trip 2017!

Bon jour!  Paris:

Brady and I are newbies to the European scene, and we totally soaked it up.  We flew into Paris and stayed there for a few days in a quaint AirBnB in Montmartre.  We crammed as many sites as we possibly could in the 3.5 days that we were there.  That first day was a blur.  Our plane landed at 10am in Paris, which is 2 am MST.  I have literally never felt so tired in my life, and I have two small kids!  For some reason, Brady wasn't affected much by the jet lag but it straight up wrecked me.  After a few hours of trying to figure out some logistical and boring travel stuff we finally escaped the train station and stepped out into the city of Paris.  We walked through some semi-sketchy areas when we decided to get some bikes and ride to Notre Dame.  I think, normally, I would have been really amazed and in awe of this grandiose structure, but to be honest I hated everything.  Haha.  I just wanted to lay down on the pews and fall asleep.

this is what death looks like 

After Notre Dame, we walked over to Sainte-Chappelle.  When we were planning out activities, I was really excited to see this church and all of the stained glass.  Again, probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if I wasn't a zombie, but thankfully I could still appreciate the beauty.  Almost every square of stained glass was an artistic representation of a bible story.

I look horrible, but I had to document me asleep at the restaurant.

We still had a couple hours to kill before we could check into our little apartment, so we walked down to this little park by the water.  We sat in the grass and fell asleep.  I was woken up by Brady telling me he was too hot and we had to leave haha.  

We went back to Monmartre to check in.  We napped again and went out for dinner.  We found this cute little restaurant down the street and sat outside.  It was really cozy and fun to be eating dinner in Paris!  Along with a little second hand smoke from the couple beside us ;)

We went to bed that night at 11pm and woke up the next morning at 11am.  I haven't slept for 12 hours straight since college!  It was amazing.  We explored Montmartre a little more and walked up to Sacre Cour.  This was my favorite church in Paris.  I loved the lighter color of the building inside and out.  The area up there is really cute too.  Cobblestone streets, beautiful views of downtown.  This place is exactly how I imagined Paris.  There were artists lining the street drawing impressive portraits of the paying tourists.  We walked on the side of the church and noticed a couple guys playing a song.  We stopped and listened and it was so beautiful!  It felt surreal to be there being serenaded in the middle of Paris.  

We walked through the church and noticed a ton of signs with some version of the word, "Silence" written on it.  Most of the churches we went to were similar but the signage in Sacre Cour was in your face about it.  Anyway, we were walking through and noticed the pew section was being patrolled by a man dressed in black.  We heard a distinct single cry from a baby in the distance and then heard the loudest "shhh!!" I've ever heard.  The man in the middle was totally "shh-ing" a baby!  The baby cried out once or twice more and again, he shhh-ed them and pointed angrily toward the door.  My heart sank for that poor mother.  I saw her rushing out as she turned to the man, threw her hands out and mouthed "what!?"  Like what am I supposed to do?  It's a baby for goodness sake!  I wanted to find her afterward to tell her how bad I felt.  Thank goodness we're not shh-ed out of church when our kids are loud because we'd never be allowed!  Like ever.

Next, we went to Arc de Triomphe.  This structure is in the middle of a huge round about.  You have to go through this underground tunnel to get to it.  Some people (we're assuming they were American) would try to cross the street up above.  There were about 4 lanes of traffic without any lines and without any stop signs or yield signs, so definitely not the smartest thing to attempt.  It was painful watching them from on top of the Arc.  To get to the top of the arc, you have to climb a TON of stairs.  People were taking breaks on the way up haha.  There's a great view of the city though from the top and we saw the Eiffel Tower clearly.

At this point in our trip, we were sick of the Paris Metro.  It's incredibly stinky and stuffy.  I'm pretty sure the percentage of Parisians (or Europeans in general) who use deodorant is low!  We would rather walk two miles than go down there and suffocate in the metal box.  

Brady didn't complain much about the metro, but not pictured is me with a distressed look on my face.  I thought of Elaine from Seinfeld several times when she's rammed up against a ton of people on the subway in NY and her internal thoughts haha 

So that's what we did, we walked a long way to the Trocadero for the best view in the city of the Eiffel Tower.  It was nice to walk above ground, taking in the architecture of this great city.  It was cool to turn a corner by the Trocadero and see the Eiffel Tower in full, perfect view.  There were a million people and most of them were taking selfies ;)

We noticed a dirt pathway that led down toward the tower, so we walked along it and found a somewhat secluded bench.  We sat there for awhile just talking and staring at such an iconic masterpiece.  

As we were planning this trip to Paris, I was most excited to explore Versailles.  We took a train and arrived in the rain.  We walked up to the Palace of Versailles and realized it would take us at least 3 hours before we even got in the gate.  We switched up our plans a bit and went to the Paris temple first.  It was such a cool experience to go to the temple in another country!  It's such a beautiful and quaint temple.  In the main room of the temple, there's a beautiful spiral staircase.  We really loved being there.  Brady felt pretty weird walking in with just a t-shirt and shorts on but we figured God understands :)

The timing worked out perfectly because the rain had stopped once we were done at the temple.  We got back to the palace and the line had a quick wait time.  Thank goodness!  Walking through the halls and the magnificent rooms in the palace was interesting.  To know that actual kings and princesses walked those same floors was cool!  Well, to be honest, Brady was WAY more into it than me.  I enjoyed it for the first little while but we were being herded like cattle through that place for a good two hours and I was just done by the end.  Sorry art and history lovers. 

 

As soon as we stepped outside, I was pumped.  We could see the palace gardens for days.  800 acres of beautiful, manicured land.  There's a huge canal in the shape of a "T" in the middle of the gardens, wooded areas full of trees and brush, walkways, fountains, naked statues literally everywhere- what else could we need?! ;)  We rented a couple bikes and rode around for about an hour.  That was definitely my favorite part.  It felt good to not walk for once and to enjoy the views! 

When we were done biking, we got some gelato- which, by the way, was the first time we got decent sized scoops... am I just a quantity ice cream snob?- and it was delicious.  It started to pour down rain so we jetted back to the train station to get back to Paris.  

We wanted to see the Eiffel Tower at night because they light it up, so we walked back there to see it and to grab some dinner.  I'm really glad we did, because you gotta see the Eiffel tower more than just once when in Paris!  And I'm ashamed to say that Brady and I shared yet another nutella crepe.  Not ashamed that we ate one but that we shared one obviously.

Our last day in Paris was a little random.  We intended to go in the Louvre... but it didn't happen.  By the time we got there and found the right entrance, we didn't have enough time before our train left for Munich.  Instead, we walked around the park by the Louvre, we had our own separate crepes, and we went to Laduree for macarons.  People are gonna be mad again, but goodness gracious macarons are no good.  And they're like $2.50 for a bite sized dessert!  

We made our way back to the train station to catch our train to Munich.  Though long, it was a beautiful ride.  It was so refreshing to get out of the city and see rolling, green hills. 

 

We arrived in Munich where our good friends Tom and Kyra kindly greeted us with pretzels and hugs :)

We were so excited to see them and to get our next adventure started!

Hallo!  Germany and the Bavarian Alps:

I have to start by saying how we got on this trip in the first place.  I remember Kyra texting me on a random lazy Saturday about some awesome European fares.  She told me they were planning on leaving their kids with her mom and going to Europe for two weeks.  They wanted to do a Hutte tour in the Alps and invited us to join them!  Of course, my heart started racing as I day dreamed about backpacking in the Alps.  I mentioned it to Brady and he kind of brushed it off.  I kept bugging him though and we started to look at the deals.  We finally got our tickets... and then we asked my mom if she would come to Utah to watch our kids.  Thankfully, she was a go!

So, after the train ride we got to our hotel and crashed.  The next morning was Sunday so we went to Sacrament meeting in Munich.  We obviously didn't understand any of it, but it was so fun to be there!  Also, Tom served his mission in Germany and without him we would have died.  He planned and coordinated every little detail of this part of the trip and we are so thankful to him!  It was so nice to just follow him around and not have to worry about what train to take next or where we should eat.  You should always have a Tom with you when you travel :)

After church, we hopped on the metro, (which, by the way, is WAY cleaner and nicer than Paris) and went to check out Tom's favorite Church in Munich.  It was beautiful. I can't remember the name though!  He told us some interesting history of the Nazis.  It was an interesting feeling to stand where Hitler once stood.

We got back on the train and headed to the cutest little German town because Tom heard there was a festival going on.  Every building had specific and intricate German design and decor.  We (well, Tom) ordered our first brats and ate them on the side of the street as we waited for the parade to start.  We had the perfect vantage point with the cutest chapel peaking over the buildings in the background, the cobble stoned street, and the sweetest German family across the street from us with twin girls in their amazing trachten outfits.  Then, the parade started and we were blown away.  The parade consisted of several different villages representing their club.  Each village was led by someone (usually a young boy) carrying a flag.  Then there were two separate rows of children separated by gender and in order from youngest to oldest,  The smaller they were, the cuter!  All the girls kept their left hand on their hip as they walked along.  Every single one of them had a crown braid and wore the same trachten outfits.  It was all completely adorable.  Each group had a band too.  Toward the end, we heard a loud, obnoxious noise coming from a boy.  As he was approaching, we all had the same thought, "aw, that's nice of them to let the boy with tourettes be in the parade."  But as he passed, Tom informed us that he was yodeling!  Let me tell ya, it did NOT sound like the yodel I know.  It was an ugly sound for sure.  Wish I had video of that :)

We were being creepy and needed a picture of that cute little blonde boy!  That's Graham in a few years :)

We got back on the train and after a bus ride ended up in Fussen, Germany.  Tom found the cutest apartment for us to stay.  We all wished we had more than just one night to stay there!  Brady and I ventured off to see the Neuschwanstein Castle.  Tom gave us directions to go the back way to the castle.  We were told by a couple people that the trail was blocked off and that we should go the normal, touristy way... but we didn't listen.  We should have.  We walked around the gate that said in large, red letters, "Danger!  Trail closed."  Sorry, Dad.  We were walking along and all seemed fine until we hit a section where the trail turned into a metal grate that was bolted to a rock cliff side.  It ran along a raging river.  There was another sign that completely blocked off the bridge, so we decided to climb beneath it where a rocky beach ran along the rivers edge.  We scrambled a bit and realized we couldn't go further without getting onto the bridge.  We decided to climb back up.  The bridge was probably 20 feet up and to get to it we had to climb on some slippery, mossy rock.  I went first and finally made it to where I could grasp onto the metal bridge.  As soon as I clung onto the bridge, I let up a bit with my feet and lost grip and slipped.  Thankfully I grabbed on tight to the bridge but I was holding my body weight up with my fingers.  I felt like I was in a movie and I was about to die!  I yelled to Brady to come help me and he was so dang slow!  Finally, he knocked some sense into me and told me to pull myself up.  Thankfully I was able to do so.  I got up on the bridge and my hands were shaking.  Brady came soon after and we continued along until I burst into tears.  I was a little embarrassed because I would have been fine.  I probably could've been hurt but my life was not on the line... but still, I was scared and I let it all out!  Perfect way to start out our Germany adventure, right? :)

My eyes are a little blood shot from crying :-/

We made it to the castle and were thoroughly impressed.  The views from the grounds looking down on the valley were amazing too.  It almost felt like Kauai.  Germany is so lush and green.  We walked back up to a bridge that looks down on the castle and that was definitely the best view.

We met back up with Kyra and Tom in Fussen for dinner.  We had our first doner kabab and it was delicious.  We actually went to two different places and shared a doner at each.  After dinner, we came across a mini concert where people were dancing.  The band was singing in Spanish and wearing all white.  Always classy.  Brady and I went to dance for like two minutes till we were too embarrassed to continue. :)  We grabbed some gelato and headed back to our place.  

Day 1 of backpacking!

Monday morning came fast and we set out to get to Obersdorf to start our backpacking hutt adventure in the Alps.  We finally got to the trail head at 3 pm and had about 4 miles to hike and 3,943 feet of elevation gain.  We were so giddy to be hiking in the freaking Alps!  I loved the stark contrast of sharp jagged rock faces and the lush green grass and shrubbery that surrounded the trails.  It was surreal to finally be here!  I never thought I'd be hiking in the Alps one day.  I never thought I'd go to Europe at all... so this whole experience was amazing for me.

We arrived at the Waltenberger Haus that night.  This was a newly built hutt and it was fancy shmancy... well at least for a hutt up in the mountains. :)

A funny side story: When we were loading up on the bus to get to our trail head we noticed a group of four German hikers.  One of which was a red headed girl.  She cut Kyra off when getting onto the bus and didn't apologize.  Then, we got off at our trail head and we noticed they were starting on the same trail as us.  We were ahead of them for a bit but when we got to a sign that signified our trail, I stopped our group and waited for this other group to take a picture of us.  I asked them, "Will you take a picture of us?"  I was mainly looking at the girl because she was closest to me.  She kept her eyes down and walked right past.  Thankfully, another guy in the crew stopped and did us the favor.  When we arrived at the Waltenberger Haus, we were assigned a room at the end of the 2nd floor hall.  We walked in and low and behold guess who we were sharing the room with?  The redhead and her male friends!  Haha awkward.  Most of them were in their undies at this point when we walked in the room.  We ended up passing them and having them pass us several times throughout our whole hiking trip.  We eventually decided that the red head just has a "resting B face" because she was mostly nice when we talked to her haha.  

Day 2! We climbed 1,577 feet over 1 mile, then descended 2,120 feet over 3.22 miles.  That initial first mile climb was brutal.  We basically climbed straight up the ridge.  There was a section that was a rock face with "via ferrata" which is a climbing route laid out with steel cables so you can hold on and guide yourself a little easier.  My fear of heights started to set in when I looked down at that point.  It's always an unsettling feeling when you think, "If I slip, I could die."  As Brady, Kyra and Tom read this they're probably thinking, "exaggeration much?" Oh well!   

  

We might need some lessons on frolicking ;) 

We made it to the Kemptner Huette in good time and arrived just before lunch.  We had the most time on our hands at this Hutt out of all three and it was really nice to chill and soak up the beauty that surrounded us.  Brady and I walked along a little trail behind the building and found a beautiful view of the valley below.  We sat there for awhile and relaxed.  

We told my mom that we probably wouldn't have cell reception while in the Alps, but we thought we would at least try to call.  We climbed a big hill from where we were sitting and got a few bars!  We were so excited to talk to our kids for a minute.  I had been feeling a little anxious about them especially since we couldn't call to make sure everything was okay, so that phone call made me feel so much better!

We went back to the hutt and played some card games with Tom and Kyra... all while this creepy German woman was staring at us with a death glare.  It was only 8:30 at night but her looks made us be extra quiet and eventually stop playing.  I was borderline scared she was gonna murder us in the night.  Oh, so this particular hutt slept around 75 people in one room.  Each of the nights, the four of us bunked up and slept real close to each other.  I thought it was weird that Kyra and I were always in the middle ;)

Day 3!  This may have been the longest day of my life.  So, an interesting fact about the Alps (and maybe other hiking areas in Europe) is that the signage never states the mileage but instead states how long it should take you to get from point A to point B.  So Tom had given us a rundown of this day's hiking and said it'd be about 7 miles to our next Hutt.  The sign said that it would take us 9.5 hours to get there.  It wasn't making sense to us.  How could hiking 7 miles take that long!?  So I assumed Tom was wrong (sorry Tom!) and mentally prepared myself for a long day of hiking.  It ended up being 10.9 miles of hiking with 5,414 feet of elevation gain and descending 5,480 feet.  It took us 7.5 hours (so beat that Germany! haha jk), but we were toast by the end.  Like, I've never been more tired after a hike.

Though it was tough, it was amazing.  Probably my favorite day of beautiful views.  We hiked a few ridge lines where we would look down one side into Germany and then look down the other side and see Austria.  That was pretty cool.  It was also a really awesome experience to see the views from the very top of these massive ridge lines and then see completely different views from down in the valley.  I think I liked the views from the valley the most actually!  When we descended into the valley, we came upon a family that we had seen on the first day.  We assumed at the time that they were just doing a quick day hike but they had been backpacking through the Alps just like us!  They amazed all of us.  There was a young girl probably around 8 or 9 years old and a toddler aged 2 or 3.  The dad carried the toddler in a carrier and the mom had the biggest backpack I've ever seen.  They were so hard core.   At one point, the older girl was resting away from her parents and I asked her how old she was.  (Because so many people speak English I assumed she did too).  She looked at me with a confused face and shrugged her  shoulders as she said in broken English, "I speak Germany."  It was really cute.  Also, a phrase Germans (or maybe all Europeans?) say that is basically hello (I think...) is "servus".  Anyway, we passed the little toddler girl and she said in the sweetest pitch, "servus!"  She made me think of Graham with her blonde hair and sweet little cheeks.

We came upon a herd of cattle at one point and had to meander around them and their huge cowbells.  We were making jokes that they probably hate those bells so much.  They are extremely loud and we felt bad for them a little! :)  I think this was Kyra's highlight of the whole trip ;)

After 5 hours of hiking, we started to hope the hutt was closer than it was.  Every corner we turned and every hill we climbed we thought for sure it was the end but it NEVER WAS.  I wanted to cry I was so done hiking.  Finally, I turned a corner and I saw the beautiful Prinz Luitpold Haus.  I was ecstatic.  Pretty sure Brady and I hugged.  Sounds sad as I write that out but we were pumped to be done.  Everyone at the Hutts would drink a beer when they arrived and we wanted something refreshing too so we all ordered Apfelschorle which is an apple soda.  It was delicious.

We ended up being in the same room with the little family we had met and were continually impressed with them.  We had a huge dinner and dessert and soaked up our last night in the mountains.

Day 4!  We descended 2,535 feet over 3.5 miles.  It was a little sad to be hiking out of these beautiful mountains, but it was nice knowing that we'd see our kids soon.  We came across a few waterfalls and Brady of course felt the need to get in.  It's amazing how happy he gets when he can jump into water- no matter how cold!  We made it to the bus stop and started our trip back to Munich.

I don't know if we'll ever make it back to the Bavarian Alps, which is sad but it also helped me soak it up for all it was worth.  And it was worth a lot to me!

We made it back to Munich and had the evening to explore this cool city.  We climbed to the top of a church and saw the city from up high.  We did a little shopping and had dinner at an Italian place.   I guess we were done with the German food at this point!  

Kyra and Tom were doppelgangers with the couple on the apfelschorle :)

The next morning, we caught our train back to Paris and flew home to our babies.  11 days was a long time to be away from them but my mom made it so much easier for all of us.  They made cookies, cupcakes and play dough.  They had a really fun time together and Sadie even called me "Grandma" a few times when we got back.  My kids don't get to grow up close to my mom so this meant so much to me to have her stay with my kids and make those wonderful memories.

This trip was an adventure of a lifetime and I'm so grateful we made it happen!  Thank you Tom and Kyra for inviting us and letting us trek behind you.  You guys are so fun and we loved every minute :)