Goodbye To Prague, Hello Bruges (and a little taste of Amsterdam)

We finished our time in Prague with a trip to the Zoo. Grrrr! This tiger wouldn't stop roaring. It was intimidated by Brandons raw masculine power.

Here is Brandon exhibiting some of that said masculine power as he takes control of this wild donkey.

So close. Good thing we had that thin pane of plastic between us. So comforting...

We also visited the church in Kutna Hora filled with human bones. It was creepy, but not quite as creepy as the museum of torture that we hit the next morning. That made both of us feel sick to our stomachs. A little advice...don't practice witchcraft. It DOES NOT end well.

Scooby-Doo where are you?!

After Prague we took another night train to Amsterdam. The plan was to spend the day there and head to Bruges later that night. You might be wondering why we didn't post pictures after spending the day....well, we didn't stay long and here's why. You may enjoy Amsterdam if you like the following things:

A. Smoking copious amounts of pot.

B. Hookers

C. Smutty and skeezy establishments

D. Many, many cyclists with mild road rage and a sense of entitlement.

We are not knocking any of these things. Many people like them, but they are not for me and Brandon...so we moved on to greener pastures. A country full of chocolates, waffles, and french fries! These things are definitely our cup of tea.

One of the many beautiful views in Bruges.

And yet another.

The best view of all. Get in my tummy!

Can we stay? Forever?

Brandon is very patient, but after being the subject of about 3,000 photos, he reaches his breaking point. But I must add that he lets me go into every Zara, H&M, and Mango store I see. Best husband ever!

Prague!

The rain can dampen our clothes and make my hair frizzy but it can't dampen our spirits in the amazing city of...Prague!! Upon arrival we comenced our second wave of feeding frenzy (the first was in Italy). All we have done since our night train pulled in this morning is eat vast amounts of carnie food sold on the street for easter celebrations. We're talking meat cooked over an open wood fire, chocolate dipped strawberries on a stick, and roasted nuts. Mmmmm. That's just a sampling of the things we've eaten. If we told you everything you might be disgusted with us....enough about food though! The city is beautiful and full of energy and hordes of people. We thought budapest might be full of easter celebrations, but it was pretty quiet for such a big city.Turns out the party was here! We did enjoy many things in Budapest, though. The thermal baths, sightseeing, and the english movie theater. We enjoyed the movie theater so much we went two days in a row, to see "Source Code" and "Unknown". You may think its crazy to go see movies on a european vaction, but we needed a break...and it was so nice after being deprived of american entertainment for a month. I'm not down playing all of our amazing experiences, just saying it was a nice addition to our travels. Don't judge, okay! :)

P.S. Thanks for all of your ideas. We have narrowed it down to Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. I think there is some more narrowing down to do. Let's be honest, we only have six days...Budapest Parliment building.
Fisherman's Bastion- One of our favorite places in Budapest.
The thermal baths. The four men near the railing, sufferring from the beginning stages of skin cancer are playing chess while soaking in the bath. Looks like this game has lasted for a really long time, judging by the brown crispiness....
Snack food at the movie theater. Just like home!
Eden was on the top bunk during our night train ride. Much better than the other night train where we didn't have beds. However, the four star hotel we stayed in the night before was miles above this. (It was cheaper at the hotel too!)
Eden enjoying an elevated experience.
Hey look, I'm there too!
Rain gear, the first time in a month that we have had to bust it out. No complaints though, it was only one day out of thirty.
Apparently I'm a tough looking hombre in sepia. Thats what keeps Eden coming back for more, me, in sepia.

The last thing we ate before going to bed, and a definite repeat on tomorrow's list of amazingly good food we will be consuming.

Your valuable input is requested!

We are conducting a survey today. We have made good use of our time here in Europe. After we have visited all the cities on our itinerary we will still have an extra week to explore before our return flight. There are so many options and we are both indecisive people. Any suggestions? Some things we thought of were amsterdam, london, belgium, or a more extensive trip to germany. Please comment and give us good ideas!

Love you all!

The Hills are Alive...with the sound of Brandon crying because he has to drive a smart car.

Eden was thrilled to ride these beautiful Lipizan "stallions." Our two hour ride included a stop at a brown bear inclosure (with real live brown bears!) and some cantering in a lovely pasture (and some unplanned galloping). Two days Brandon is still sore, but glad he could give his wife a great time.
Eden got some food out of a nearby dumpster* to feed this duck, he dont care tho!
*A clarification, it was a nearby garbage can, and it was her un-eaten portion of her kebab, so really not a true dumpster diving event.
Eden can JUMP!
Cheesy romantic photo op.
Good camera work by Eden.
Best snack ever, MT DEW and Worcesterschire chips from an English store. Delightful! My first real mt dew in about a month. I bought an extra one for tomorrow.
Overlooking the city of Werfen (Verfen in english) from the castle on the hill in Austria, near Salzburg. The same castle featured in the movie "Where Eagles Dare" With Clint Eastwood! Since I have seen the movie at least a dozen times it was really cool for me. I hear there is another movie that was allegedly filmed near here, but what could possibly compete with Clint Eastwood?
Our rental car. I want to beat myself up for even standing next to it. But it is fully insured so I may drive it off a magnificent cliff into a pristine lake. Maybe.

You havent experienced the alps until youve experienced the julian alps!

Disclaimer: Because of the foreign keyboard there will be no apostraphies in this text (and zou might have to substitute y for z). We are too layz to figure it out.

Remember how we said we were never leaving Dubrovnik. That was before the hurricane like wind and rain the next day. Also, many of the tourist attractions we bragged about in our prior post...were not opened because it isnt "tourist season" yet. Luckily we did leave, and we came to slovenia...which is AWESOME!!! Dont get us wrong. We still loved Dubrovnik. But there is so much to do here! Slovenia was kind of short changed in the guide book. I would never have guessed that its such a happenin place. You have the alps and the mediteranian! Its great.

Today we went with ˝Canyoning Bob˝ on an excursion through a slot canyon! We wore full wet suits, dove off about ten waterfalls into crystal clear pools, rappeled down some cliffs and ended our trip with a thirty foot jump into a pool of water surrounded by a beautiful forrest! We have a few pictures but they arent even close to the real thing. We already booked our horse back riding for tomorrow. Maybe scooters as well. Gotta run, we want to spend as much time adventuring in Slovenia as possible! Love YA!

P.S. Dubrovnik was really fun as well, total amazing in fact, just no Canyoning Bob!

Pictures-Also a new written post below

This may look like gelato...but don't be fooled. Its a giant crepe filled with whipped cream!

Biking the shoreline in Nice.

Venice

Brandon...being Brandon.

The pack is almost as wide as I am tall. Woah!

One of about three thousand falls in Plitvice National park in Croatia.

There are no words.

Port in Dubrovnik from the fortress walls.

More views of old town Dubrovnik.

Now we are going to fill our bellies! See ya!

Love,

Eden and Brandon

We are never coming back!!

I'll try to give a quick update since Cinque Terre. From there we headed to Nice, France. Surprise! We weren't planning on france, but we were ahead of our travel schedule and decided to take a one day detour. Other than avoiding a crazy, sketchy group of gypsies on the train we had a good time. We were there for less than 24 hours, but we managed a nice bike ride along the boardwalk and some delicous crepes and pastries. From there we headed to Venice for a day. We spent our time there navigating the labrynth-like streets and canals. Highlights include our last day of Italian food (I ate a whole pizza and Brandon ate two main courses in one sitting-yeah, we know we're gluttons) and getting yelled and spit at by a crazy old italian guy. Apparently its not ok to sit on steps outside of a church. His words were in italian, but we think we recognized "anti-christ." Yikes. This is where the fun begins. We took a night train to Zagreb, Croatia. We opted for the cheaper seats over the private sleeping car. Loud, brightly lit, and the chairs didn't recline. Not the best sleep of our trip. And the best part? Our train arrived at 4:20 in the morning. We found ourselves at a train station full of disgruntled drunks. Not the best part of our trip, but its all part of the backpacking experience. We took a bus to Plitvice that morning and stayed that night at a guesthouse. The park was amazing! The water was incredibly clear and the scenery was really beautiful. We were probably a few weeks too early though because not all the trees had leaves on them, but the crowds weren't bad and it was great to hike around in the mountains all day. We took an all day bus from there to Dubrovnik, and by all day I mean ALL day. Totally worth it. We love Dubrovnik! We are going to make it our "vacation from our vacation." We met a guy at the bus station and rented an apartment from him for the next few days. It is cheaper than a hostel and is a really nicely furnished place. It is still the off season here, but it is gorgeous! The weather is warm, the city is spectacular and there is so much to do that we are probably going to stay a day or two more than we planned, or possibly until we are in our eighties. However, when the tourists arrive that might change our minds. So what are our plans for the next few days? Horseback riding tomorrow, ocean fishing this afternoon, swimming and sun bathing daily and maybe a few other activities. I think we willskip the paintballing and rock climbing for now, but who knows. Also, I think Brian should move here and start a dive company, we will help on the boat. Love you all, come visit us sometime!!!

No Post Today-These pictures speak for themselves.

The big mamma!!! This is in volgograd, the last russian stop before green Itay.


This is where I must have spent a past life. Amazing


Our record is 4 gelatos in one day. Not too bad, but I am sure we can get it up to seven or eight by tomorrow.
The afore mentioned moment of reflection (or daydreaming as Eden calls it) about being a gladiator.
Trevi fountain, crowded. The Mcdonalds drink was all we bought from there, no fast food could compete with the pizza margerita or clam spaghetti.

We threw coins over our shoulders to insure that we will be back someday. It worked for Eden last time and I always listen to what my wife has to say, so I did it.

This is me looking at some ruins, note the lovely green color, not unlike my eyes.
Eden is a wild and crazy girl on vacation. Notice her tackling these ruins with ease!
No caption is needed here. But I'm putting one anyway. All we are lacking is more gelato.
Impressive.
The weather is about seventy degrees, and Eden just makes it that much hotter!!
I know what your thinking, we just uploaded someone else's photo. Nope, it came from our camera.
Sunset on the sea. This is what vacations are all about.
Gross. I have a long way to go before I can compare myself to Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, but I'll try harder. Water was cold, but we swam anyway.
Baby octopus and wide eyed shrimp. Eden the food critic says: "I was satisfied."