Devil Computers

Well last night we watched our first movie in a theatre on the trip. Watched "1408" which was a scary movie about a haunted hotel room. We are begining to think that every computer in Latvia is also possessed. Having a hard time with pictures so we won't post any.

Other than stupid computers, life is good. We had a great time exploring Estonia while visiting Tallin and Parnu. Really can't wait to show off pics of the hostel we stayed at while in Parnu. Might be the scariest hostel in all of Europe. We have spent the last three days in the capital of Latvia. We have been trying to think of how to discribe Estonia and Latvia and it is really hard. The best we can come up with is really old and really new. All three of the balkan countries were occupied from 1939-1991. One German occupation sandwiched in between two Soviet occupations. When the Germans invaded Latvia and kicked out the Soviets who where just finishing up what is refered to as the "Year of Terror", Latvians viewed them as liberators and celebrated their arrival. Little did they know that the next few years of German occupation would not be much better. After WWII ended here came the soviets again. What a terrible time it must have been while the rest of the world was celebrating the end of WWII, many countries in the east were simply trading one terrible occupation for another. It is mind boggling that this continued until 1991. Today we learned of many "settlement camps" as the soviets called them. This is the Soviet version of a concentration camp only not so discriminating. Most were located in Siberia where winter temps were commonly dipping below -40 celsius. I think you get the idea. These countries have gone through some terrible times but they are doing much better now. Democracy and capitalism are flourishing. Giant shopping malls dot the edges of "old" town and are constantly bustling. Two days ago in Riga we visited the largest market in Europe. Very crowded place where little old ladies will run you down if you get between them and the bakery booth. Hazen had another attempted pickpocket on his day pack. Still haven't got anything from us. Probably just a matter of time.

Aubree has had a relapse on her cough and we were able to get some cough syrup today. After we finally found a pharmacy and bought the bottle we couldn't figure out how to get the remarkably simple looking cap off the gd bottle. Back to the pharmacy; some old lady was able to get it off with the help of Hazen's pocketknife. Aubree cried like a little two year old when she had to chug the "30 weight motor oil". Quite entertaning for Hazen though. The real kicker is now we have a full bottle of syrup and the cap won't go back on. The little moments of travel are sometimes the hardest.

A couple nights ago Hazen made an attempt at partying like a European. The night started by watching a group of four of the craziest british guys ever. In their very hard British accent they yelled and competed by trying to find out who could punch the other in the shoulder the hardest. Obviously they were way too drunk for 6pm but quite entertaining. Spent dinner time chatting with two Germans, a turkish woman, and a guy from India (haven't seen an American for quite a while). Quite the good mix. Hazen accompanied the Turkish woman and the now three germans to a pub with live music. If you can picture a basement with live music in Latvia this is where Hazen was at. The first band was from Latvia and put on quite a show. Bands from luxemburg and france also played. Hazen hit the street around 2:30 to cool off a bit as it was about 80 celsius in the basement. Met some latvians and sat down for a cup of tea, chatting on until 4:00. Took a couple days to recover from attempting to party like a European but he is glad he got it out of his system.

Well we are heading to Klaipeda, Lithuania tomorrow by bus (trains aren't good). Very excited to continue heading south toward some serious sunshine.

Sadly, goodbye Finland

One more time we would like to say how much a of a great time we had visiting family in Sweden and Finland. Everyone was so kind and very welcoming. We ate like a king and queen the whole time. After leaving northern Finland we stayed in Kokkola in hopes of visiting the nearby town of Halsua. Aubree's family is linked to this area. When we arrived in Kokkola we had a hard time finding a place to stay but finally tracked down a small cabin out on the beach. We headed back into town for dinner. Not much going on in town so we headed to bed early and were up early to try to find a bus to Halsua. Unfortunately no buses were running there as it was Sunday. We decided to jump a train to Helsinki and arrived midday. Helsinki is another nice Scandinavian capital but Stockholm definately was our favorite. We visited a fortress out in the harbor. It connects a large group of islands. Really looked like a deterent to invasion by sea. The rest of our time was spent kicking around town taking it all in. Tried to take a nap in the grass and subsequently got eaten alive by strange grass bugs. Not fun.
Yesterday we took a gigantic ferry from Helsinki to Tallin, Estonia. We got two stamps in our passport that day. Unfortunately, those are the first since we began our trip back in May. Tallin is a great untouched old town. Really feels like you are in medeival times. As an example of how untouched the place is: we visited the oldest pub in Estonia. It opened its doors in 1993!! Everything is either really old or brand new. This place seems to be benefiting from the fall of the Iron Curtain. We tried out our archery skills and it turns out that boy/girl scouts have failed us or we have failed them.
Took a bus to the town of Pärnu as it was suppose to be an amazing resort town. Well, it is raining pretty good. We spent about an hour walking around town trying to find a room but it seemed the whole town was booked solid. We did find a room but we haven't seen it yet as it is getting cleaned as a Lithuanian football team is currently occupying it. They are charging us about $16 (200 EEK) for two beds and the manager said the room is in REALLY bad shape. Should be interesting to find out what we are getting ourselves into. Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow so we can hit the beach. If not, will have to try a mud bath. Suppose to have good ones here. I think we will head to Riga, Latvia after this. Probably three days there before heading to Lithuania. Sure is nice to be on the down hill slide of the trip. Have been missing our family a lot lately and we can't figure out the damn phones to give them a call. Will try photos next time. This is a very old computer and doesn't understand USB drives. Hope everything is going well back home and can't wait to hear from you. Take Care.

So this is Finland

No running of the bulls this year but this is what probably would have happened.

Stockholm was exhausting

Parliament building in Stockholm. Very fascinating tour.
Beautiful Stockholm

Getting together for tea and coffee with Niina, Anna-Karin, Helena, Maria and Anna-Kaisa

Mountain view of Finland with Arto and Anna-Kaisa

Stradling the Arctic Circle. It was a bit chilly up there.

Saw our first wild reindeer. This one is very big for this area.

We finally made it to the homeland. Finland is absolutely beautiful. Lars brought us from Sweden to Finland yesterday and showed us several sights along the way. We got to Arto and Anna-Kaisa's house just after noon. We talked for a bit, more about the family lines, then headed to the Arctic Circle. It isn't very far from where they live in Ylitornio, maybe 10-15 minutes. We had another wonderful home-cooked meal when we got back. We are definitely getting spoiled. Anna-Kaisa's other sister, Helena, and 3 of her 4 daughters came over later in the evening for tea and to visit. Very nice family. There is even more light in the evenings here than we experienced in Sweden. It did not even think about getting dark last night. Was a little hard to get tired with daylight. Finally went to bed around 1:00 and was very weird. Had to pretend we were taking a nap to fall asleep. Today we went to the cemetery to see where Anna-Kaisa's parents are buried. We then drove up to a nearby mountain to get a 360 view of the area. There is forest everywhere with small towns scattered here and there. We will go to Helena's (just on the other side of the border in Sweden) later today for tea and then back here for dinner with one of Arto and Anna-Kaisa's three sons. We are having an excellent time meeting everyone and seeing Finland. We hope that all the family will be able to see it someday. From here we head south through Finland with possible stops in Halsua or Veteli to find out more history on the family, then on to Helsinki. We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the nice weather we are hearing about at home. Take care.

The comforts of a home!

Hello from Pitea, Sweden. We arrived to meet Aubree's relatives this afternoon, Maija and Lars Ruisniemi. They were kind enough to pick us up from the train station. We were driven around the town of Pitea and had an excellent dinner. Sure was great to have a home cooked meal. Hazen also got to try caviar for the first time. We have been doing a lot of talking about the family history and will drive to Finland tomorrow to visit Anna Kaisa who is also Aubree's, Grandmother's cousin. She is located right on the arctic circle line. I think we were able to locate the original Kalliokoski family homestead as there is a small village bearing its name. On our way back to Helsinki in a couple days we will try to get there. Will have to take a train, bus, and probably quite a bit of walking. It should be interesting walking the neighborhood banging on doors trying to find where the Kallioskoski farm was located.

We spent three days in Stockholm and had a great time. The weather was amazing in the mid-20's every day. We took a tour of the parliament building. It was fascinating to see how their government worked. Any country that has a 82% voter turnout is probably doing something right. Hazen thought Stockholm was the most beautiful city we have visited so far. It spans fourteen islands with 50+ bridges. Unfortunately the prices are quite high so we have been roughing it a bit. Spent the last couple nights sleeping in a grade school classroom with 14 other bunkmates. Last night we spent on a 14 hr night train with probably the rudest people in all of Europe. We survived and are now enoying the beauty of Northern Sweden.

Hello from Scandinavia!

Hello everyone. Hope all is well. Happy Birthday Mom (Lynn Hannum)!! Congratulations to Casey and Adrian (sorry if misspelled) on their wedding yesterday. Sorry we couldn't be there.

Just got into Stockholm a couple hours ago but there is much more to share before we get to that.

Well, today marks about half-way on the trip. An even 2.5 months. We have been to eleven countries and don't regret a single day.

From Amsterdam, we traveled to northern Germany. We stayed in a small town called Puttgarden. It is where the ferry leaves from that goes to Denmark. Found a great deal on the only Pension in town. Had a good dinner at the only restaurant in town. I think you get the idea. Very good nights sleep with another lovely German breakfast. This time our hard boiled egg was soft boiled. If you get a chance to have one of those, pass on that. Aub lost hers back onto her plate. Not a pretty sight. However, the toast was good. Man, what we wouldn't do for some biscuits and gravy right now. Jumped a gigantic ferry to Denmark. The train actually drives onto the ferry. How cool is that. Went straight to Copenhagen and found a cheap hostel. Dropped the bags and hit the town. It is a very beautiful town that was enhanced by the jazz festival that was going on. All around town there were concerts in parks, bars, and everywhere else you can think of. Made for a lot of cheap entertainment.

Most of our full day was spent with DIY tours. We have become pros at giving ourselves introductory tours of any given city. At midday we went to a organ concert that was held in the main church. It was a powerful performance that we both really enjoyed. The church itself was built just after the reformation so it had a completely different style as they were trying to separate themselves from Catholicism. It looked more like a Greek palace than a church. Pretty refreshing to see a different type of architecture. In the afternoon we visited Christiania. This is a piece of land on the outskirts of Copenhagen that was abandoned by the government in 1971. Shortly thereafter, people moved in and claimed sqautter's rights. They have been there ever since. This place makes haight-ashbury look like McDonalds Playplace. They only have nine rules including no cars or hard drugs. There was weed being freely smoked everywhere you looked. Many "houses" were built from scraps or alternative house building methods. If you want a case study in alternative lifestyles look this place up. It was interesting to see but we were definately a bit uncomfortable.

Headed back to town for some more Jazz. We were sitting on the canal listening to a band and people watching when out of nowhere, the skies opened up and here came the rains. This was the heaviest, most severe rain we have ever witnessed. It lasted about five minutes and it made the thousands watching the band scream and run for cover. We tried to make a tent out of our two umbrellas but that didn't work out too well. Had to head back to the hostel for dry underwear. Spent the rest of the evening watching street performers and relaxing as the locals do. Explanation: Drinks are so expensive at the bars or restaurants that everyone just goes to a convenience store and drinks in the squares. Makes for great people watching.

On our way out of town this morning, we walked by a club and heard the unmistakable thumping sound reverberating from the building. The damn place was still open at 9am. Hazen had to look in; People were still dancing and carrying on like crazies. These europeans are something else.

Probably should get going as we only have three days to enjoy stockholm before making our way to the land of 24 hr sun (or rain).

Germany, Belgium and Netherlands

Beautiful Rhine Valley. Famous Lorely cliffs on the left.

Exploring the Rheinfels Castle. It was perched just above our zimmer in St. Goar.Actual cannon balls....In an actual castle!!!! Cool!!!
Great ride down the Rhine.

Tour De France - Look closely at the spectators on signs, rooftops and climbing up our backs.

Notice the racer with the yellow jersey (current leader) holding his ribs. Many racers came by us in this condition. Nasty wreck just before they got to us. Lots of bloody knees and elbows.

Hazen warming up for the race.

The entrace to the hiding place in the Ten Boom House. Haarlem, Netherlands

Ten Boom House - Haarlem, Netherlands

Welcome to Amsterdam "Where even the dogs get some action"

Well, seems like it has been a while and we are very excited to share our latest and greatest with you.

After our last post we arrived in St. Goar, Germany. It is a tiny town located on the Rhine River. We arrived at our accomodation to find it was just an old German lady's home. She didn't speak much english but was very excited to have us. She reminded us of a grandmother in all that she did. When we checked in she asked if we wanted tea or coffee with our breakfast and we replied that we did not want either as we don't prefer them. As a true grandmother would, she said but the tea has peppermint leaves from my garden. So, she guilted us into drinking tea for three days in a row. Breakfast was toast (12 pieces, literaly), egg (1 hardboil), cheese, bologne, and homemade jelly. Every day we ate the same thing. Seemed a little bit weird but we didn't complain because she was so nice and we were looking out over the Rhine river and some of the most amazing castles. The next day was spent taking a nostalgic paddle boat up and down the Rhine. It was so nostalgic that it was 30 minutes late to pick us up. However, as we paddled by castle after midevil castle it was easy to imagine a time when the castles would pull a chain across the river to stop passing boats in order to enforce their toll. Very beautiful place.

The next day was spent touring the castle in St. Goar. It was a massive castle that was the only one in the region to withstand the seige of Louis XIV. However, that nasty old Napolean came through a few hundred years later and was successful where his previous countrymen were not. This castle was amazing because it was the real deal. Actual cannonballs, holes in the walls specifically designed for pouring hot tar on invaders, and secret underground tunnels. Ton of fun to explore especially because we had the hole thing to ourselves. We entered just after it opened and beat the masses by a couple hours.

Very long travel day to Brussels. We finally made it and were greeted at our hostel by a very friendly group of fellow travelers. Had a great evening walking around town causing trouble. We were in search of Belgian waffles but did not find anywhere that night.

The next morning we got up way to early, relative to how late we went to bed, and took a train to Gant, Belgium (15 mins). Walked around town a bit as we waited for the Tour de France festivities to get started. People started lining up on the barriers around noon so we followed suit. Stood in the EXACT same spot for five hours straight. Not a whole lot of fun, especially when the monsoon decided to attack the city. We survived the floods and a new problem became evident. Space was becoming hard to come by. And people got very creative. There were cops everywhere but they could not stop people from climbing on street signs, street lights, roof tops and every tree available. Amazing; by far the biggest crowd we have ever seen. The day was filled with parades until the bikers got close. The racers were quite the spectacle as they sprinted to the finish line. The two racers from Belgium came in first and second and the crowd went balistic. Many racers came by use with nasty road rash and some even holding ribs while their teamates pushed them across the finish line. Apparently there was a nasty wreck just before they got to us. Can't imagine getting up the 20 days in a row to do the same thing over again. Aubree particularly enjoyed Gant because she splurged on "her" belgian chocolates. So far she has only eaten one of the 15 as she is savoring the flavor.

Jumped a train to Amsterdam. Arrived in town midday and headed directly to the laundry. Things were definately past due. After we got that under control we met up with a friend we had met in Brussels and hit the town. We spent about six hours walking around town going to various restaurants and bars to taste the tastes. Had a great time. This town is absolute madness. Multiply the stories you have heard by about 100 million.

Today we took a quick train ride to nearby Haarlem. Quick side story: Hazen borrowed a book from a hostel in Switzerland for something to read on our hikes. It was an excellent book called the "Hiding Place" written by Corrie Ten Boom. The Ten Boom family was a Christian family in Haarlem that helped countless people escape Nazi persicution. Corrie was the head of the Dutch underground and promoted passive tactics. They were eventually betrayed and sent to concentration camps where her father and sister were murdered. Side story Over. When we found out we would be in Amsterdam we decided to visit her house. We were able to enter and it is much like it was during Nazi Occupation. It is now run by a non-profit devout Christian organization. All in all it was an inspirational visit.

We just got done with a walking tour of Amsterdam. Unfortunately it was not as good as the Berlin tour but it was still very interesting. We think we saw some participants from the Amazing Race running through town with a cameraman and sound guy following close behind. Tomorrow we are on our way to the lovely, Denmark. We will probably stay in Puttgarden, Germany at the ferry port to Denmark. Will then head to Copenhagen for a couple nights before heading to Sweden. We are really excited about the Scadinavian part of our trip as we will be meeting with multiple parts of Aubree's family. Guess that is it for now. We sure hope all is going well back home. Have to admit that we have been jealous of the weather temps we have been hearing about. Might be a bit of karma from all of the bragging we did at the beginning of our trip about the sunny beaches and such. Well, take care and hope to hear from you all soon.

Berlin and catching up on pics

Eiffel at night - Very beautiful (and romantic)

Omaha Beach

American Cemetery - Normandy

Any country that measures their beer in liters is OK with us.

Aubree Heaven

Entrance to the Dachau Concentration camp - "Work will set you free"

Neuschwanstein Castle - From "The Bridge"

Neuschwanstein Castle - Disney took inspiration from its beauty. Check out the bridge to the left. The above picture is taken from that bridge. Probably the scariest bridge we have ever been on. Bouncing up and down. Hence, Aubree has every muscle in her body flexed.

Aub rocking the luge - Continuing to amaze

Small chunk of the Berlin Wall - Gestapo had secret underground buildings here.

Brandenburg gate - so much history has been witnessed by these hunks of rock.Reichstag Building - we climbed to the top of the glass dome. From the top you can see into the parlimentary chambers. This is to ensure that Berliners will forever be able to see what their government is up to. Also politicians can always see the public looking down on them. Very powerful message that should be shared a bit more around this world.

This is also the building that a fire was started in that allowed Hitler to take "emergency" power over the government and its army.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Finally we found a good computer with a USB port. Hope you enjoy the pics. Currently we both feel like crap. Both have nasty colds. Neither of us can hear much as our heads are plugged so we continue to walk down the street yelling at each other. Snot is usually dripping from one of our nose's so we are a pretty fun couple to hang out with.

We were blown away by Berlin. The history was uncomprehendable. Luckily we found a great walking tour that was able to give us an amazing 4hr overview. By the end we were completely exhausted mentally and physically. This city has been through so much and all we really knew about was the stories surrounding WWII. What a fascinating place; There is very thoughtful and though provoking art around every corner. The city has very carefully been rebuilt with the public's say at every step of the process. Original buildings are easy to spot as they are covered with patched over bullet holes and soot. We want to relay every amazing story we heard while on the tour but unfortunately we would go broke paying for internet fees. Definatly a must visit on any europe tour.

Right now we are in Frankfurt, Germany. Our hotel is smack dab in the middle of the Red light district here. Interesting to watch from our third story balcony. The pros definately frequent the area. A couple days of relaxing (watching BBC) before moving to the Rhine River Valley for more castles and sightseeing. Suppose to be a beautiful part of Germany and Hazen is very excited to take a Rhine cruise. About three nights there and then Brussels to see the Tour de France and get Aubree her Belgian chocolates.

That's it for now. Hope everyone is doing ok and has a safe and fun Fourth. I think we will be just watching the blinking lights of the strip clubs and pretending they are fireworks.