Finally in BUDAPEST!

Our whirl wind adventure finally drew to a close. We are no longer packing up and moving every 48-72 hours. In fact, we plan to stay where we are for quite a while. Okay 3 months may not seem like that long for many people but compared to what our schedule has been for the last 12 days 3 months seems like an eternity. I am not going to lie, the day that we flew out of Rome I was an emotional wreck. There were a lot of contributing factors:
I was home sick
I missed Caliah (cat)
I felt like we were over spending (not true but it contributed)
and I knew we were moving to a new country and city and we didn’t have a place to live or a hotel to stay in
My hormones were all over the map
and I was scared.

That travel day was the worst. I just wanted to be home and that is the one thing I couldn’t do. So after a miserable morning we packed and went to the airport.Our flight didn’t leave until 10:15 pm but we were kicked out of our hotel at one. Instead of lugging around 100 lbs of luggage we decided to just go sit. I e-mailed a bunch of people about apartment showings the next day and things seemed to be getting a little better, at least my emotions had equalized and I wasn’t crying anymore!

Once we got on the plane I just dealt with the fact that it was going to work out one way or another and we had an emergency fund for a reason.
We arrived in Budapest. We arrived at around 1 am and so non of the public transport was open and I wasn't about to pay for a hotel for a total of 9 hours until check out so we found a nice little private spot and set up bed. This is a bad picture but it is the only one we got.
When morning came, we realized that for an airport it was quiet, clean, and not such a bad place to spend a night,. We are so grateful it was the Budapest airport that we were staying in not the Rome or Athens one! Early in the morning we headed to our friends Cade and Kristi to drop our bags off while we went apartment hunting. We spent the moring making breakfast, heading to the local mall to look around and eating lunch. It was a good day. When we were back at their apartment I noticed that had a second room with nothing in it except two suit cases. As we were getting to leave I made the innocent comment "you guys should really find a stowaway for that room!" and that is when they said "Well, you guys should get a mattress and we could split rent!"... Hmmm... that was a good offer (considering that found a great deal 5 blocks from school and right down town already!) We still went to our appointments but felt that we could handle sharing an apartment for 3 months with a couple that we really get along with! It has been 4 days and so far everything is going really well!

On our way home from our final appointment we say a huge crowd outside a hotel. I asked someone what was up and they said the Dalai Lama was coming. I didn't believe it so I wanted to leave but Brent said a couple minutes and this is what we saw! The Dalai LAMA! How awesome is that?!?! I never got a great look and the crowd was big so this is the best picture we got!

On Sunday we walked to church (about a 20-30 minute walk). Our branch has about 30 members and therefore only two hour church! The meetings were really good and after we stayed and chatted for about an hour!

On the way home we walked right past the school! Here is Brent and Cade excited that classes started the next day!

On Monday, Brent and I realized that if we were going to make this living situation work we needed a few things! So off to IKEA we went. (IKEA IS BEYOND KING HERE!) Kristi and Cade had never been before so it was fun to watch them taking it all in!

We got everything except the air mattress for under $20.00 US. I also found this creepy hippo... Look at those eyes!

On Sunday Jared (the first counselor) told us about taco Tuesday. HE and his wife are both from California so they miss Mexican food and this is the closest they found! Tuesday's were half prices taco's. It was a great night of talking about traveling, Budapest, back stories and everything! They are so interesting and have been just about EVERYWHERE in Europe. They have two adorable blonde hair girls I am totally jealous of!
Taco Tuesday was a huge hit!
Honestly, since we have been here we have been anti- picture and anti tourist. I think we are a little exhausted from everything else we have been doing, but I am only giving myself until Saturday and then I am going to force myself to take more pictures! I have a couple fun posts about what life is like living over here. I will also do a tour of our apartment and everything else.

Moving here was really hard, but I love being here! I have a couple prospect for work and so hopefully will have something to keep me entertained soon!

Rome: Vatican City and Close to Home

Day two of Rome. I told you last time that Rome was kinda a let down, like we were missing something so today was the day to find out what! We started our day here at the Vatican! It is a completely different country so of course I had to find Blair a Vatican Pen.

This picture was taken at the back of the line for the St. Peter's Basillica. The front of the line is all the way at that big building. For how long the lines, it went super super quick! We were in line probably 15 minutes and it was free entry. The huge line was for the metal detectors!

This is the cieling for the dome in the Basillica! It was really pretty. Everything was so so intricate it was hard to take it all in and even harder to capture on film. Honestly, none of these do it Justice.

This is the Holy Water located at the front of the church. Brent said he didn't actually touch it so he is not sure how deep the little well is.
The alter! Very intricate, but as we looked around the entire church we both noticed a lack of the prescence of Christ. We found two paintings with Him in it (and there are about a million of paintings!). It was very hard to feel like this church was dedicated to the work of God when all the statues and paintings were of imperfect men (saints and Popes).

The Vatican is guarded by Swedish military. Here are their outfits. Now you have to be a real man to wear that to work everyday!

After St. Peter's we had to go to the main event THE SISTINE CHAPEL! This is the expensive part. It was suppose to be $15.00 Euro's per person to get in. That is a lot of money when you are travelling like us, so we brought our student I.D. cards. Now most places don't accept U.S. student I.D's. but guess what! They totally gave us the student discount! It was awesome! Half price!
We walked through the incredible hallways filled with artwork EVERYWHERE! They were also filled with tour groups. I hate tour groups, they get in the way, step on your feet rush past you just to stop and take up the entire space for as long as they want. I can't wait to be able to afford a tour!


These are the exiting stair case. Just thought it was a fun picture! (this is out of order in the sequence).

This is one of the tables on display! How pretty is that!?! In the hallways leading up to the chapel (and there were a ton of hallways) there were so many pieces of artwork it was crazy. Paintings, sculptures, bust and tapestry are just a few of the things we saw!

Okay the main event. The chapel was crowded, and my feet hurt... BAD (12 days of straight walking will do that to you!) but it was all for this! The famous creation. It was a gorgeous room, but this painting was actually a lot smaller than we were both expecting. It isn't bigger than any of the other murals of the creation.

This is the whole ceiling. The panels were HUGE! The pictures are blurry because you really aren't suppose to take pictures at all. We are such rule breakers! Everyone was suppose to be quiet because it was a sacred place but no one was so it was really hard to feel anything. At all the different Catholic Holy Sights Brent and I both found a rather lack of the spirit prescence. It is hard to feel like something is Sacred when you have to pay to get into it.

After the Vatican we had one more free museum to use on our Roma pass to make it worth the money, so we found a castle to go to. We weren't expecting much but it actually turned out to be very VERY cool. This picture was from the top tower!

These type of doors were all over. Most were shut and locked but the ones we did get to go through lead through passageways and everything. I guess it is one of the things that made this castle so fun. It was a tourist location but it was bumpy and not really designed for tourist so it actually felt authentic.

This was in one of the many open space. At some point this castle was used for battle because cannonballs and cannons and catapults were everywhere.

This is outside the church. This bridge was awesome! Huge statues everywhere!

By the end of this it was still pretty early but we were so so so so so TIRED! 12 days of running around Europe with your head cut off is really exhausting especially when you don't get to board a plane and come back home... But being in Rome we had to try the pizza. It is so confusing trying to order off of a menu that you can't even read or pronounce. We tried three or four different places before I walked into a pizza place pointed at two slices and paid (only 4.33 Euro's!) They cut a huge slice, re-warm it cut it in half and then make a sandwhich. Honestly, I prefer little ceasar's, which means I probably didn't spend enough or didn't get the right thing but EVERYTHING looked the same... oh well!

It was a fun day in Rome but I had to BREAK the promise I made my Dad... I had to spin in a public square as if to announce "Hello World, I AM HERE!" (his words not mine!) This is a hilarious picture to me because it was pretty crowded and I got a ton of funny looks! Love you Dad, sorry to disobey your request!
Rome was fun but it felt like the cost of London for the living condition of Greece, a little bit of a let down. This is how most people who have been have also felt so I guess we are all just missing something.

Things I want to Remember about Rome:
Only two trains that intersect in one place= not good
Tour groups=bad
Chocolate Chip Gellato is AMAZING
Outside of Churches are plain whereas inside are really intricate
Smells bad
1 Euro shirts!
City didn't seem to special to us :(
EVERYONE uses their horn
People won't really stop for you at the cross walk
It is really nice to stroll around the city
Street Vendors are a ripe off (3.50 for a soda)

The whole Trip was really fun! Now onto Budapest. It will be good to be home for a while! Post soon to come of the moving in process!

Rome: Colluseum and Wanderings!

*** DISCLAIMER: BRENT DID NOT PROOF READ!!!***
Our first day in Rome, we were pretty excited! The first thing that we HAD to do of course was the Colluseum! The metro stop stops right outside so when you get off this is what you see!! It wasn't quite as tall as I always thought it would be but it was just as spectacular.

There was an exhibit inside that told you what a typical day look like at the stadium! It would first start out with a parade of the people sentenced to death (which included floats and musicians and things) and then there would be acts for the whole morning to entertain the people. Around lunch time they would finally execute the people and then after the fighting would commence! The next day it would start all over again and sometimes it last for over 120 days!

The fights actually began as a re enactment of the Roman defeat over different territories, but eventually evolved into more! These are some of the original stairs up to the viewing areas. They are pretty worn down now but I think we could still make them up!
Little history, no every gladiator was the same. they would chose which kind they were and then get weapons accordingly. I forget which type this armor represents but I like it because he has a trident, and I would TOTALLY fight with a trident.
This is the view of the coliseum from the top. you can see in the far side the part of the stage that has been restored. The underground tunnels used to be compartments to house different mechanical devices used for the show as well as animals. They would bring in a ton of different animal (usually from the territories they conquered) to fight against the gladiator. Emu's, bears, Lion's, cheetah's were all included in the list of animals once present here at the stadium.

This is who Brent would choose, good old sword with one are in a cast with a rounded blade on the end. most gladiators were slaves who were forced to fight, sometimes for their freedom but not always. Most never lived past a few fights and rarely made it to 30 (the average age of death back then).
There are any lions left here but there is something more fericious! That is right the TERRIBLE KITTY CAT! We saw two or three just laying around and I can't blame them! When you have a play structure this big who is to say that you don't get to run wild! I miss Caliah like alot! (The Kitty is on the gray rock in the very bottom of the picture...)
This is gorgeous view from the second level. Much like Shakespeare Globe theatre in London, people were also sat according to their class with the Royatly in their own private viewing box!

After the coliseuim we wandered past the Roman Forum and took some great pictures! There is a lot that remains there. I am always amazed at how some people decided to make their home and 2000 years later we can still walk through it!

After the Roman Forum we were walking and ran into this! Okay, we didn't just run into the Ministry of Defense but we were walking along the side, turned our head and realized it was kinda a big deal!

We were allowed in, so we wandered. Our buildings back in the USA do not have as much detail COMBINED as one of these types of building in Europe! I am not sure when this building was made but the statues, fountains and eternal flames all in one spot was pretty awesome!

This statue was just inside the entry way.

After we finished at the Defense building (which actually wasn't guarded very well) Brent was really happy that we were able to find this church! Now on this Europe tour we have seen a lot of Churches (LIKE ALOT!) and this one didn't really make my most exciting list from the outside. In fact none of the churches look that amazing from the outside, they are all kinda bland... until you go inside...
Then you get this...

and this...and this...
It feels like there is so much detail in one section of wall that you could spend all day just studying it, trying to take it all in! It was very very gorgeous and overwhelming. This was in the book Angels and Demons. Since Brent read the book recently he gave me the run down because it has been forever since I finished it! Just know it was important!

Wandering is kinda our thing. We tried to make an organized plan in London and it just didn't work so we wander and for the most part we really wander into everything we want to see, including this (KALEN LOOK IT IS AN ELEPHANT!). Bernini's Elephant to be exact! He was a Catholic sponsored Artist who designed sculptures for the churches (yes that is another church in the back, but it doesn't really look like it again).

For Lunch we sat on the edge of the Panthenon and ate some bread from breakfast as well as yogurt and chips. I took a little chunk of bread and threw it to the birds... Well the chunk was to big or there were to many birds because they all had a field day trying to steal the piece from each other! A couple other people came and took pictures so it was a pretty big deal!

Once inside the Panthenon we just stopped and took pictures and basically enjoyed the general splendor! Brent told me that this was once used as a place for pegan rituals but when the catholic church took it over they turned it into one of their holy sites! Rapheal the artist (and the ninja turtle) is buried here and I really like the incription on it from the King of that time. It says "Here lies Raphael, by whom Nature feared to be outdone while he lived, and when he died, fear that she herself would die." Thought it was very poetic!
This is Brent by the tomb!
This is the cieliing. The whole inside is very bright because of this whole. This is said to be where pegan worshipers let out evil spirits into the world!

After some time in the Panthenon we took a stroll down some alley's. Rome is a great place to stroll. There were little shops EVERYWHERE and so we took some time in each one! I am pretty much pro at souvinor shopping now! We kept strolling until we found this little hidden treasure! The Trevi fountain!

They say that throwing a coin over your right shoulder will ensure love forever (like I need a coin to ensure that!) so I took a throw! Brent chose not to partake!

It was gorgeous! The water is so crystal blue and there are people EVERYWHERE!

Off one of the sides there were little carved caves with water shooting from the walls. These are how all the drinking fountains are here! We ALWAYS take advantage of free water when we can! Usually, it is pretty delicious!

Finding cool fountains in the middle of the street is something we don't have in Portland or Utah, but in Europe it feels like they are EVERYWHERE!

This is Pyramid of Gaius. He built it for himself as a tomb in the B.C... I think he was onto something but this seems pretty minor for what I have in mind!

Of course we had to eat out, and because of budget we hit up the MICKEY D's! I just had a hamburger but Brent Splurges on the mozzerella burger. I didn't care for it but he enjoyed the change of taste!

These are the Spanish Steps! Talk about hugely famous! They are known EVERYWHERE! Brent told me that some people make a pilgrimage up the steps on their knees. We went into the church at the top and listened to a service, which was a lot different than what I am used to. It was very enlightening.
This is the Square where we transfer from Suburban train to urban train! There are Huge statues and Street performers! Tonight was a statue and a Micheal Jackson impersonator... He could have been a little more committed in my eyes!

Overall it was a great day in Rome, We kept feeling like we are missing out on something HUGE and maybe we don't feel like we have done it right because we still haven't made it to the Vatican (which is tomorrow!) hopefully then we can feel like we have seen Rome all the way through!