Home At Last

Greetings all!

After several jam-packed weeks of travel we are finally home. Of course, that does not mean this blog will end anytime soon, as we still need to fill everyone in on the past few weeks in terms of posts and photo sets, which Farrell has already begun to sort. Besides, we intend to travel more in the future (though probably not years at a time) and this blog allows us space to record and share our experiences. In the next few days you can expect to read about our initial bus trip from Amsterdam to Rome, our stay in Rome, and stories from our various stops in Italy, Greece, Croatia, and the arduous trip home.

Until next time,
Jessica and Farrell

A Tour and a Tasting

Greetings!

Last Wednesday we were given the opportunity to tour a dairy farm and their cheese-making facilities and, as two avid cheese lovers, it was an offer we couldn't refuse. Located in Nijmegen, De Diervoort was only a short bike ride away and a pretty one at that. Once there, the cheese-making process was explained to us before touring the factory (though much smaller than the term usually indicates) and the farm. Naturally, the tour ended with a cheese tasting. Of course, the farm produces more than its own milk and cheese also making yogurts, ice creams, vla (pudding of sorts), and chocolate milk. It was a really interesting (and tasty) experience and some place we will definitely be biking to again. Plus, in addition to everything else, the farm has several public trails that we are looking forward to exploring. View the photos from this fun outing here and take a glance at the cheese-making process.

Until next time,

Jessica

CouchSurfing in Cologne

Hello everyone!

I am glad to report that our trip to Cologne turned out great! The city was beautiful and we had an excellent host, which made our very first CouchSurfing experience very enjoyable. For those of you who have never heard of CouchSurfing, it is an online community of travelers who are interested in making new friends by hosting and visiting other community members. So, rather than staying in a hostel, this allows you a chance to stay with a local resident who is interested and excited to talk to you about their city and (if you are lucky like we were) show you around as well. It is a really great experience that I strongly recommend. And, don't worry, it really is safe: there is a verification system and you can view feedback and reviews from people that have hosted or been hosted by that individual.

As for the city itself, as the fourth largest city in Germany, Cologne has a lot to offer. Sometimes referred to as "Italy's northernmost city," Cologne is historically Catholic with beautiful cathedrals, a fun, relaxed atmosphere, and, of course, their famous Kölsch (or Koelsch) beer. What's more, Cologne has a lot of museums and on-going archaeological projects, which makes since given that Cologne is such an old city, nevertheless we were surprised by what we found. We walked along the Rhine, tagged along with a Danish tour group we bumped into, and explored all over the city. Take a look at the photos and see for yourself!

Until next time,

Jessica and Farrell

Germany for the Weekend

Hello everyone!

Well, we are off to Cologne and Bonn Germany for a few days! Look for an update on Sunday.

Quick update: The trip was great and we are back safe and sound, but a bit later then expected. Look for a post and pictures soon, but not today.

Until next time,

Farrell and Jessica

Amsterdam III: Farrell's Belated Birthday Trip

Greetings all!

Farrell's birthday was back in April and, as mentioned in the "Fast Forward" post, we took another trip to Amsterdam. We walked around our favorite parts of the city (along the canals) and explored Vondelpark, but we spent the majority of the day visiting the Stedelijk Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Unfortunately, neither of these museums allowed photography, so we do not have quite as many photos as usual. Nonetheless, feel free to take a tour of the sites on the way from the Central Station to the museum and back again. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Jessica

Saturday Travels Part II: Haarlem

Hello there!

We have finished sorting and Farrell has now finished labeling our pictures from Haarlem, Saturday's second trip following our visit to the Keukenhof Gardens, the largest flower gardens in the world. Described by locals as "a village in a city," Haarlem is a beautiful city filled with gorgeous old buildings, canals, looming cathedrals, windmills, and a rich history to accompany it all. Needless to say we had a great time, so we encourage you to take a look for yourself! Begin viewing the complete photo set here and see what it is like to walk the streets of Haarlem!

Until next time,

Jessica and Farrell

The Keukenhof Gardens

Hello there,

As mentioned in the last post, we took a trip to the famous Keukenhof Gardens, the largest flower garden in the world. Certainly, the gardens did not disappoint. Take a tour of "the Gardens of Europe," by looking at the finished photo set. Posted only two days after, consider this a belated Mother's Day post. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Jessica and Farrell

The Groninger in Groningen

Greetings!

We have been doing some traveling the past two days: Friday we went to Groningen, followed by a trip to the famous Keukenhof Gardens and Haarlem. Both days were a lot of fun, but very tiring, involving several solid hours of traveling each day. Take a look at the first set of pictures from our recent travels, here. This set focuses on our first day of traveling in Groningen, which began with a visit to the Groninger Museum (of art) and a walk all around this city, the capital of the province of Groningen. Look for pictures from Keukenhof and Haarlem in the coming days.

Note: I spent most of today sorting, describing, researching and tagging this photo-set and the two yet-to-be-launched sets of Keukenhof and Haarlem. However, as it takes quite a bit of time to write researched and externally linked descriptions for all of my photos, I haven't quite finished with this set. If you want to go ahead and take a look, go for it - I will post again when I've finished adding descriptions, tags and geotags to this set, for everyone else who wants the fully connected experience. 

Until next time,

Jessica and Farrell

Manchester Recap!

Hello again,

As you can see, we (Farrell) are making some progress in sorting these photos. These are from our very long day of travelling from Amsterdam to Manchester by train, plane, bus, and foot. Described by George Orwell as the 'belly and guts of the Nation," Manchester is in many ways exactly what you would expect from an industrial dinosaur -- dirty, gritty, bleak -- but, despite first impressions, Manchester boasts a lively music scene, a well-reputed university, and some really well-done museums. But don't take us at our words, have a look for yourself!

Find the Manchester photo set here, or start viewing a slideshow here.

Until Next Time,

Jessica and Farrell

Weihnachtsmarkt Photos!

Dad, Jessica and I made our second trip together, this time to Dortmund, Germany to visit one of the many famous German Weihnachtsmarkts, or Christmas Markets! Many German towns, really all of them of a reasonable size, host a Christmas Market during December each year. Our European friends have been excited about visiting them for months, and hearing them talking about the Weihnachtsmarkts so positively, we decided to visit one as well.

Well, it was everything they had hyped it up to be and more!

I did quite a bit of reading about camera care in very cold temperatures, and brought my DSLR along this time. That turned out to be a very good decision, as just about everything at the market was worth a photo, and many of those photos turned out quite nicely.

Find my largest set of photos so far here, or start viewing them as a slideshow here.

Farrell

Utrecht Photos

Dad, Jessica and I traveled to the beautiful Dutch city of Utrecht. Utrecht is one of the more prominent cities in the Netherlands, and is especially known for its beautiful old city center. Canals rivaling the beauty of Amsterdam's seem to never be out of site, and the bells of the famous Dom tower are a regular reminder of the city's history.

You can start viewing our photos as a slideshow here, or find the set here.

These photos were taken with my pocket HD video camera instead of my nice DSLR because of the very cold weather. The quality of well lit pictures is fine, but indoor photos of the dark Dom church are not as nice as I normally post.

Farrell

A Whirlwind Holiday

Happy Holidays!

Well, today is the day after Christmas and although we were not able to celebrate with family at home, it still turned out to be enjoyable and particularly special, as we celebrated in the Netherlands. Not only were we able to celebrate with Farrell's dad, which was nice in and of itself, we also did a great deal of traveling visiting Utrecht, attending one of the famed German Christmas Markets in Dortmund, Germany, and participating in a candle-light Christmas Eve service in the 14th century church located in Nijmegen's city center. Of course, the fun is not over. Tomorrow we leave for the Hague, followed by a day in Amsterdam, then a flight to Manchester where we will stay the night, followed by a train ride to Edinburgh on the 30th (where we will celebrate the New Year and explore for six days), ending with a three day stay in Ireland, arriving back in Nijmegen on January 8. On the 9th we will be relaxing in Nijmegen and preparing for our veritable food journey at the restaurant De Hemel where we have reservations for 5:30. Then, wrapping up this whirlwind holiday, Frank leaves on the morning of the 10th, which is when I will begin studying for my first exam on the 13th -- yes, unfortunately it looks as if I may be studying instead of celebrating on my birthday this year (the 12th), but in light of all our travels, I am okay with that.

Stay tuned for pictures from our day trip to Utrecht, our visit to the Christmas Market, and a few pictures from Christmas morning and snowy Nijmegen.

Until Next Time,

Jessica

's-Hertogenbosch

Fortunately, in spite of all the work (or perhaps thanks to), this week has managed to go by fairly quickly. Today is simply a study day for me, but Farrell has an exam later this afternoon and we both have one on Monday. So, my day should be comparatively relaxing: just studying, running a few errrands, and drinking peppermint tea and coffee.

Yesterday we got an unexpected fresh covering of snow. I am not sure what time it started but it was a good hour or so in the morning at least, which led to a beautiful and festive start to the day. No surprise snow today though, not yet anyway. I took a video yesterday of the snowfall because it was such an interesting and pretty snowfall, but we have not had a chance to look at it yet to see how I did or if it is worth putting up on the blog. However, our snow pictures and Christmas decorations will be posted over the weekend.

 For now, I leave you with these pictures from our trip to 'S-Hertogenbosch to pick up our visas. And, no, I cannot pronounce it properly. The few times I have said it, people usually just laugh and say something to the effect of "Oh, that was close!" or "Yes, something like that..." Although, it is always a little hard to tell if they are being sarcastic. And, of course, more than half the time the response is usually just a "No, not at all." (So, I guess that answers the sarcasm question.) Regardless, the Dutch always seem amused about it rather than annoyed, unless of course you happen across some crochety old man that believes everyone should speak Dutch, as does occasionally happen. Perhaps, I will write up that experience and post it this weekend as well. Anyway, enjoy the 'S-Hertogenbosch pictures -- it is a beautiful, old city with tons of canals, winding streets, and interesting canal-side statues.

Until next time,
Jessica

To Arnhem, by Bike

So, we have a new photo set from our afternoon trip to Arnhem last week. We biked 26 km there and another 26 on the way back for a grand total of about 35 miles. Impressed? Well, you probably shouldn't be -- here, that's still considered a reasonable distance, just not one you would make on a rainy day. Anyway, take a look at the photos, which chronicle our journey from Nijmegen, through the countryside and smaller villages, to historic Arnhem. We will be heading back at some point in the next few weeks, so let us know if there is something in particular you would like to see. Enjoy!   

From the top, or view the set here.

Jessica and Farrell

Need Sleep...Must Post!

So, we made it to the Netherlands! Its been ~33 hours with out sleep so far, so this post is going to be very short – prepare for sentence stubs. Nijmegen is beautiful. The flat seems cool so far. We missed a connecting flight from Frankfurt Germany to Brussels Belgium. People in the parts of Europe we have visited so far suck at giving directions, they don't use discrete distances or proper names (Terminal C vs 'go that way and take the second right'). There is a old, dutch style, windmill in our back yard. We took 3 cars, 3 trains and 3 planes to get here. My laptop can handle 220v input. This is really turning into a free associative thought spill. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed.

Farrell

Pictures are up!

Island from the plane
Originally uploaded by Farrell

I, very resourcefully, figured out how to login to the actual router for our resort. It has been nearly completely down since we arrived, with only a few people even claiming to have successfully logged on to it. We have slow wireless from the bar down the beach, which is what most people use. The lady that owns this place told us that whenever their is a hurricane in the Gulf the wireless gets funky, from atmospheric disturbances apparently. I, as the Computer Science major, feel that it has much more to do with the 30 new bandwidth hungry laptops that just showed up.

Anyway, these are pictures of our Miami airport, our flight from Miami, some island we flew over in the Caribbean, our landing at St. Kits, riding around St. Kits, and the ferry ride to Nevis.

Farrell