Mont St. Michelle.... and food

Yesterday after breakfast we went to Mont St. Michal. It is an old abbey and a small town on on a hill/mountian that is somtimes an island and somtimes not. Real monks and nuns actually live there and we got to sit on an service, it was not pretend. We had for lunch what the french call "Sandwich American" haha. They had tomatoes, boiled egg, ham, and butter on bread that was very french. :).

We went to dinner at my distant cousin's restaurant. It was really really really good. I had steak with pepper sauce and potaotes. The potatoes were all fancy and delicious. Mom had scallops wrapped up in a crepe. Dad had veal. My favorite part of it was the dessert. I had apples like in pie inside of a crepe with homemade caramel and whipped cream. It was sooo good. :)

Today we drove to myGreat Aunt Lulu's house in Nante. She and her husband were very nice. We had a lot of fun with them. We had "Lunch" with them but it was hardly lunch. We arrived there at around 1. Lunch took three hours ( of just eating) and we stayed untl 7:30.
1st course- peanuts, cashews, chips, tomatoes. 2nd course- laongustene (really big shrimp.) 3rd course- fresh green beans, fresh prime rib (best I've ever had), salad, pesto sauce, french bread with butter homemade from the farm. 4th course- tiramesu. 5th course- cherries, necterines, coffee, tea.
It was so so good.

When we got back to Redon we had a light dinner of ham, canteloupe, bread with cheese, and icecream. We are really tired and are going to go to bed. J'aime bien Francais....
Sarah :)

Brittany

We have arrived in Britanny, France!!!!! Yesterday we drove through France until we came to a hotel in the middle of nowhere. I am not joking. Dad was really feeling the allergys and as a result mom was driving, neither are ideal situations haha. We were all anxious to stop. Dad went straight to bed and Mom and I went to find somthing for dinner. The hotel was by an intersection with 3 roads. We took all three and drove for about 7 minutes down each one. We saw a couple houses, barns, fields and cows, lots of cows. We ate left over breadsticks, fruit, and some peanut butter for dinner. We also got some really good apricot jelly that is really expensive in the states. It was excellent.

Today we drove the rest of the way to Redon, Britanny. We stopped at a boulangerie (bakery) for some pastries and delcious bread. We tried to find some place with interent, and of course, good old McDonlads came through for us. Tonight we are staying with my dad's Aunt Nicole and Uncle Eve. We had a very nice dinner of langoust, lamb, greenbeans, some sort of gravy with vegetables in it, bread with salted butter, and for dessert fresh fruit with whipped cream.

I went on a run along a pretty river and discovered a basketball hoop. Guess where I'[ll be tomorrow evening haha.

Au Revior!!!
Sarah

Switzerland

We had breakfast at the hotel and I went on a run around the little town. We headed out and drove toward Switzerland. We drove through the mountains of Italy and stopped for lunch at a little Italian place. When we walked in there was a group of men wearing dark uniforms, big leather boots, with dark hair and beards. They were talking loudly and eating. Mom was not comfortable staying there but Dad wasn’t worried. They really looked scary. After a bit they got up to leave, we noticed they all had a patch on the front of their uniform. We figured out that they were tour guides/ actors for the nearby castle. Haha.


We had to drive through a very long (6000 meter) tunnel to get across the Swiss/Italian border. We weren’t in Switzerland for a long time. We saw the cows and heard their bells, we saw the beautiful rivers and scenery in the mountains, and drove through little towns looking, yet again, for a good place to stay. We gave up on Switzerland and found a cute little lodge type thing in France. We had dinner here. It was very good. Mom had steak, dad had meat and cheese and I had a pork chop. The meals came with green beans, bread, and funny little square pasta. For desert we shared an apricot tart. The tart was really good. There was no Gelato in Switzerland.

Sarah

Monaco, Riviera...more Gelato!

We spent most of Today in Monaco. Monaco is a tiny principality entirely surrounded by France. Their King can still trace the royal line back 1,000 years. The sole city of Monaco is Monte Carlo and it is very rich . It is about 425 acres. Many wealthy people come here to sail on their multi-million dollar yachts and vacation homes. Our rented Mercedes was outclassed. I ran past lots of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Porsches. After my hot run on the board walks of Monaco, I swam in the Mediterranean sea. The water was really blue and clear (and a bit warmer than Kodiak ocean.)


We left Monaco and ate sandwiches in the car. We drove through the winding mountains of France and into the winding mountains of Italy. Dad stopped at a little pastisceria and we got an apple tart. I never get tired of pastries. The drive was very beautiful. We saw the lovely green vegetation, river rapids, and charming little towns. Tonight we are staying in a tourist town. The illustrator from the children’s book Pinocchio came from this town so there are Pinocchio murals everywhere. We ate dinner in our room and had leftover sandwiches, really good fresh fruit from the little shops here, and a couple different pastries. Tomorrow we head to Switzerland.

Sarah

PS. I had two new flavors of gelato today, mango and cherry :)

Italy...Cinque Terra.....and more Gelato

We drove across the flat lands of Italy and into the mountains. We arrived in a national park called Cinque Terra. It consisted of five villages that were connected by walking paths. The differences in the types of vegetation were really interesting. We saw oranges, lemons, limes, olives, figs, grape vinyards, and cherry trees. Dad and I stopped and picked some from a tree that seemed to be growing wild. Dad got a stick and pulled down the branch so we could reach the cherries. They were tiny and very delicious.

We stayed in a town called Levato, a town nearby because the actual Cinque Terra villages were very pricy. We looked all around for a place to stay for a reasonable price. After a couple of hours of going up to houses and hotels we decided to head out of town. On the way out we saw a sign for Maria Rosa’s B&B. Finally we had a place to stay. It was run by a little Italian woman that spoke no English. Fortunately her daughter was there and helped us get checked in. It was a little house that was hundreds, maybe even a thousand, years old (no exaggeration!) We stayed in a little room with three single beds pushed together. It was cute and very much so the authentic Italy we were looking for. We woke up and had breakfast outside.

We spent today at Cinque Terra. I set out for a run across all five villages. The trails in between were not at all what I had expected. If any of you have read “Born to Run” the trails were similar to what is described there. It was hot and very hilly. The trails were more like goat paths, barely one skinny person wide. Some places were on the edge of a sheer cliff with no guard rails. I ran through all the towns and then back to the one in the middle, a total of 7 or 8 hard miles. The view was very pretty. The Mediterranean ocean is a very blue color.

We drove up to northern Italy and stayed in a town by the water. We went out for another Italian dinner of pizza, pasta, bread, and calamari. We stayed at a small Italian inn and just ate the best pastry I have had since entering Italy. It was a steaming hot croissant with apricot jam inside. Today we will go to Monaco.

Sarah

PS. So far I have tried lemon, cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberry, vanilla, orange, pink grapefruit, pistachio, and rum raisin (drinking age is a lot lower here, jk.)

We arrived in Italy and there was an immediate change. Within a couple the miles the streets were less kept up, the houses were totally different, and even the weather started to change. It was cool and drizzly in the Austrian Alps. After a couple hours it was dry, warm, and flat in Italy. We stayed in the hotel on the military base in Vicenza. I finally got to play some basketball at the gym :).

We spent Yesterday in Venezia (Venice.) We had so much fun. It was about an hour drive and we parked in a huge parking garage outside of a bridge. We had to walk across the bridge and then there were no cars. It was really cool to be able to freely walk everywhere without worrying about cars. We saw gondolas, personal boats, and water taxis. The water was actually pretty clean and the old city was enchanting.

One of the things that I was really excited to see was Saint Mark's Cathedral. I wanted to see the double organ lofts. We stood in a really long line to get in. When we finally got to the front they told us we couldn't get in because we were wearing shorts (it’s hot in Venice.) Dad had on his shorts that he can zip pieces onto and turn into pants. He got in. After he came out we had a crazy idea. We safety pinned his pants pieces onto my shorts. I was now wearing super cool duel-tone capris with added safety pins for effect. I got in and got to see the organs ha-ha.

One of my favorite things was, as expected, all the gelato. I have tried lemon, cantaloupe, rum raisin (i did not know what it was when i ordered it,) and pistachio, and I'm not out of Italy yet. We decided to try different things all day instead of having a big meal. We ate a lot of gelato, some interesting pastries, and some fruit. A big thing in Venice is glass. There were shops selling it everywhere. It was really pretty. We walked all around looking at the shops. The GPS said that we walked 10 miles.



We went home and stopped at an Italian restaurant and got some authentic pizza, it was really good. It was the best pizza I have ever had. The crust wasn't quite as doughy as most pizzas in the US are. It was thinner and crispy, but no craker like.

Dad and I went and played basketball. I got to play one on one with this guy that was practicing there. It was a great workout. With all the eating we are doing it's a good thing we're exercising.

We just ate breakfast at the hotel and now we are off to Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra is 5 Italian villages that are linked together by walking paths, not roads. Cinque means five and Terra means town in Italian. The Lloyds’ recommended this place and said it was really pretty. It will probably be a little less crowded than Venezia.
Sarah

Once Upon a Time....

So there I was. I went on a run through the beautiful hills and mountian towns of Austria all the while my heart filled with the sound of music :) . I ran up the tallest peak until I  came to a medieval castle. Its towers plunged into the sky. It was surrounded by a river and as I explored the castle I saw the amazing decorations and paintings. I came upon a secret tunnel that led to a tower. I climbed the 768 steps to the very top of the castle tower where I looked out and admired the view. I was so high up that all the little peasants looked like ants. Befor I  knew what was happening a key stuck in the lock and the lock shattered into a million pieces. I was stuck!! Many handsome princes came and tried to unlock the door. Finally prince charming arrived. He stuck a tool in the lock and with a twist I was free!!!We rode off into the sunset on our horse-drawn carriage to live happily ever after on gelato and pastrys. That is what happend.... well, maybe not quite like that. :)

On sunday morning we went to church with the Lloyds. After church we had a picnic lunch with fresh rolls, meat, cheese, and fruit. We climbed up a mountain to get to the old, mideavl castle on top. (I wasn't joking about the castle or the mountain.) I had a lot of fun at the castle. It was very old and exciting. The second castle we went to was more like a palace. The decorations were the originals and everything was extravagent. The chaneliers were all huge and made of clear glass, there was gold, silver, and bronze furniture in every room, and the beds had large, draping canopies. After that we all went home to bed and crashed.

Yesterday we climbed 768 steps up the tallest church steeple in the world. The view from the top was amazing. I discovered that I am afraid of heights when I am on a man-made structure. The church itself was made in the gothic style, it wasn't very pretty, but it was really cool. My favorite thing about the church was the monster pipe-organ.

We then went to the castle that Walt Disney modled his castle after. It was reallz pretty. There were little rivers and waterfalls along the path we took to get there.We climed up to a bridge above the castle. Everything was very beautiful. On our way down we rode on a horse drawn carriage. Here we said goodbye to the Lloyds and took off for Austria. The drive was very pretty. It was really neat to see the Alps. The shorter ones were all in bloom and looked very inviting. The talls ones were rocky, snowy, and very forboding. We arrived at Litchenstein and began searching for a place to stay. After looking for about a half and hour (this town is the size of the downtown portion of kodiak) we found one. One strange thing here is that you pay by person, not room; so I was going to have my own room on the floor above my parents. Mom went up with me and when she left I locked the door. When I pulled the key out part of the lock came with it. Thats when I knew I was in trouble. I told mom to wait a minute and I tried to get out by myself. It soon became apparent that I wasn't going to get out by myself. Mom went and got the hotel guy and he came up and worked for a while. He then remarked " This is not good"... ya think? He called somone else and they still couldn't figure out how to get me out. Dad came up and the guy went to get some more tools. Dad saw immedately what was wrong and with a quick twist I was out and to bed.

This morning I went on an hour long run through fields and meadows and hills. It was fun to run in Austria.  (For those of you that don't know, this is where the sound of music took place.)

So as you can see, Most of my story was really true, just a little mixed up and exagerated. I'll post pictures as soon as we can use our laptop again. Talk to you later.
Sarah