- PICT0001
Sarah, my brave travelling companion, on the train from Paris's hellhole of an airport. It's 7 am. She hasn't slept all night. Neither have I. - PICT0016
Looking up at said cathedral's spire. - PICT0002
We got off the train at a metro stop downtown and decided to walk to the hostel we hoped would have room for us (after discovering the one we'd made reservations at was in the red light district). In retrospect, it was a mistake to tackle the miles with packs on, but in this picture I was excited. We'd emerged into the city and immediately found a sight! (What is it? Who knows! But definitely a sight.) - PICT0005
The view from the window of our hostel, which finally let us in for a merciful nap at 3:00. Pretty Paris rooftops. - PICT0018
Building facades in the main plaza. The unifying theme: dingy Baroque. - PICT0010
No comment. - PICT0015
Leslie in front of one of many cathedrals in the fine city of Brussels. This one they light up at night, changing colors and patterns to classical music. Cheesy but endearing. - PICT0006
After the blessed sleep, Sarah and I decided to be true tourists and picnic and watch the sun set at the Eiffel Tower. Which we finally found after getting lost, again. - PICT0014
Sarah in quaint Belgian street. - PICT0019
I think the best thing we did in Brussels was leave the beaten tourist path on a walking tour suggested by our faithful "Let's Go." We saw lots of beautiful older buildings side-by-side with modern ones, which I tried to get at with this photo. - PICT0118
Gateway to old Munich--the last shot my broke-ass digital camera managed to take before dying completely. - PICT0009
Me, post-picnic, in front of the Eiffel Tower. At this point, I still don't believe we're in Paris. - PICT0012
Leslie having lunch at a sidewalk café (overpriced, naturalmente) in Brussels. The main plaza is behind me. - PICT0020
A narrow cobblestone street! We must take a picture! - PICT0007
It was really an exquisite picnic. A baguette, brie, the best strawberries I've ever tasted (featured here), and little bottles of chocolate mousse. Probably among the best meals I ate in Europe. - PICT0023
It's the park aaaand another cathedral. - PICT0011
Sarah, in the Paris train station, as we jog to catch the train to Brussels. - PICT0022
Sarah in a park. (This is all on our book-guided walking tour.) - PICT0041
After a 2-3 hour break, we staggered out into the light to buy dinner. Here, Sarah pokes a fish in the market. - PICT0028
The view from our hostel window--the spire of that first cathedral. - PICT0032
In Amsterdam, we stayed with Sarah's friend Kacee, who lives there, and Josh, whom she lives with. They were incredibly gracious and incredibly fun. The following are a few shots of their beautiful apartment. - PICT0117
For some reason (I'm guessing beer), the girl we got to take this on our beer garden tour thought we would rather have just a picture of us than a picture of us AND the liter of beer in a giant barrel of a glass in front of us. (sigh) There is one exciting feature of this shot: my purse strap sunburn. - PICT0025
Some...buildings... (I swear, I deleted a lot of these, but this was just a good representative shot.) - PICT0044
Sarah said hello to every dog we met in Europe, usually calling them "le chat" ("cat" in French). She wanted her picture with this one. He was pretty cool. - PICT0031
Sarah, on another train. To Amsterdam! - PICT0043
Okay, so I looked like a tourist in the market taking this shot. But really, how could I not? Look at all the flavors! - PICT0026
Some more...buildings... - PICT0110
...airplanes - PICT0039
And here we are in the bar, conveniently placed halfway through the museum. Three beers were included in the price of admission, and we ended up with a few more... - PICT0106
All these big grey buildings in northern Europe had beautiful red flowers in the windows, which I thought were just lovely.