Porto, Portugal

Well we arrived at Porto at 2:30pm as there is an hour time change from Rome Italy. It was raining, no it was down-pouring! We found our hostel with a little difficulty but 2 amazing Portugese people helped us find our way! We got checked into our room and even booked an extra night so we can see the culture of Porto and their famous port wine. The lady that works at our hostel is absolutely amazing! We have spent the last 1.5 hours visiting with her and asking her many questions about Portugal and we have shared our story of how we arrived in Europe and what we have seen. Tomorrow we are going to do a tour of the beach, castles and the port wine cellars and hopefully the weather will hold off for us tomorrow and give us some sunshine so we can enjoy Porto in daylight :) The people here are so amazing and really have time for you; they are interested in you and all say hello to you. We feel so welcome and we are so excited to start our journey here in Portugal! We will be in touch soon!
Love From
P&T in Porto, Portugal

Off to Portugal Tomorrow!

Well we arrived at our new hostel, Central Station Inn, and what an amazing difference! We can even watch the NBA playoffs!! So that is pretty exciting for us as we check on a daily basis the final scores as we have a pool of who is going to be in the final and such :) Can't take our basketball away from us even on our Euro-trip adventure! Tomorrow we are taking the bus from the train station to the airport which is only a 5 minute drive away as Tam has to get her passport stamped before we can board the plane. We are pretty excited to go to Portugal as we made contact with Bert and Gemma and are going to stay with them for a couple of days. Before we do that Bert gave us some advice on places to see on our way down to Faro which is in the Southern Part of Portugal and we land in Porto which is located more in the Northern Part of Portugal so we will make a couple stops and see some places along the way. So we are pretty excited to be heading out tomorrow to Portugal! Tam is going to be an experienced flyer and traveller by the time we get home :)
Lots of Love
P&T in Ciampino, Italy

Rome... What an Experience!

Wow! What an experience! The moment we stepped foot into our hostel, Casa Olmata, we knew we were in for a treat! The hostel is an old and antique looking building right off the main square near Termini Train Station and oh boy we are glad we are checking out tomorrow. Our room is very dusty and smelly and the shower is even worse! You feel like you are standing under someone taking a tinkle and the water is super hot, insanely hot or freezing cold. There is no happy medium whatsoever with the shower. Also what they said was offered in our hostel isn't even close, its definitely a run for our money! But the good thing is we can get a good laugh out of the situation and really respect the amazing hostels we have already visited. Today we took a tour of Rome and what it had in store for us. The Colessum is magnificent, huge and to believe there were statues lined on the outside that they took down later in the Medieval times. We saw where the Pope stays and the beautiful fountains laid throughout the city. Now, Our bus driver well she was just a crazy lady! She was screaming Italian at everyone in her way and when they say Italy has the highest accident rate they definitely aren't lying! One Taxi even bumped into our bus! The sad thing is, you are safer in a bus then you are walking as drivers swerve to miss you in the crosswalk! Well it has been an amazing experience for us but on May 2, we are going to say "So Long Rome and Hello Portugal!" The good thing is we will have funny stories to tell when we get home about our experience in Rome. But for right now Ciao!
Love From
P&T in Rome, Italy

Verona now off to ROME!!

What an amazing time we had in Verona! We went into the city on Saturday night to view all the historical sites and to see what could catch our breathe. The Arena was pretty spectacular and was made all from stone. When we walked down towards the Arena there was a live band playing in the Square and it was nice to hear music! We went to our first pizzaeria and fell in love right away so last night we went back and got more pizza! :) The pizza doesn't even compare to the Canadian Pizza with its thick crust and all. Here they use fresh ingredients and make the crust fresh before your eyes.... and when you eat it you feel like your in heaven. LIKE ITS A PARTY IN YOUR FACE (just for Melissa Irwin!) Today we are heading to Rome for the next 5 days and will hopefully meet up with Monique and Adri, Patrick's Auntie and Uncle. Well we are off to catch the bus to the train station! Talk to you soon!
Love From
P&T in Verona, Italy

Verona, Italy... what an amazing start to a country!!

Well what an amazing start to Italy! We arrived in Verona 1/2 hour behind schedule due to technical difficulties with the train but we made it here safe and sound! Once we got here we needed to take the bus to our hotel as it was too far to walk to it. Well we purchased our tickets and got on the bus we were suppose to get on. Well there was only one problem if you were not from the area you had no idea what bus stop you were at as there were no signs on their bus stops. Well Tam built up some courage and asked one of the Italian boys on the bus (who happen to be the bus driver before they switched off) if they knew where our hotel was. Well he said to us "Follow me and I will help you." Well when it was our time to get off the bus with him, we followed him to our hotel. He was very nice and even tried to speak English with us. Before parting ways he told us to have a lovely time in Verona. What an amazing start! It gives such an amazing feeling to realize that there are still people like that in the world. It was a very nice and warm welcome. When we got booked into our room, we asked the lady at the reception desk "Where would be a good place to enjoy Italian Food?" She told us that there was this restaurant, a Buffet with Italian Food just across the street. Which was good for Patrick as he could eat a cow! Well when we arrived we asked the waiter where we could sit and we caught him so off guard with our English that he became so nervous but did answer in English, it was absolutely adorable! Well the food was amazing and we even had a Bio (Organic) Coke as we were eating at an Organic Restaurant. HELLO to an amzing time in Italy!

Munich, Germany than off to Italy TOMORROW!

What a day it was on the train from 9:07am to 4:00pm, Tam had to give herself a time-out as she had the giggles and was crying from laughter as she thought she was the worlds funniest comedian ever!! We are so exhausted from the travel and after arriving we found out we couldn't stay longer in Munich so we are off to Verona, Italy tomorrow as well. We just love to be true backpackers, always on the move and in trouble. We are staying 3 days in Verona and then off to Rome for 3 days then we are hopefully off to Barcelona. Time sure is flying by! 2.5 more months and Tam's Mom, Sandy will be meeting us in Ireland and we know one little girl who sure is excited to see her Momma! :) and a Momma that is excited to see her little girl too! It will be an unforgettable meeting. Well we are off to reserve some seats to Italy so we don't get kicked off. So we will talk again soon!
Love From
P&T in Munich, Germany

Terezin Concentration Camp

What an experience today was, you couldn't even imagine the feelings that goes through one's mind on a tour like this. You feel shocked, speechless and a sense of emptiness in your heart. How could one man do this to an entire race. Why the Jews? What made them so different from the Nazi's beside their culture and way of living? They are still human beings that have ever right to live just like the Nazi's did. Its not fair that one man can say you live and you die. Innocent children who only saw dreams and hopes were stolen away from them just because of their race. They were meant to grow up to become teachers, lawyers, doctors, farmers, any profession their hearts were set on but yet they spent more time on wondering when their last hours or minutes were numbered before it was their time to be sent away to Auschwitz. At Terezin there were only 300 prisoners that were executed some of them being Jews and the rest passed away from malnutrition, poor hygiene and diseases that resulted from overpopulation within the cells. There was one group cell that was meant for 100 prisoners but by the end of the war it was housing between 400-600 prisoners. Another cell that was meant for one person for bad behavior was filled with 20-30 prisoners, towards the end of the war they removed the doors to house more prisoners within their cells. Can you imagine being taken away from your family and having to live with 20-30 people some of them living and some of them that had passed? That your weren't given enough food to survive properly so you lost 1/2 your body weight within days?
  We are so thankful that we don't live in war but our thoughts and blessings go out to those who are fighting in war or have been in war. Its not easy and we can't even explain the feelings one person or family may face but our hearts go out to you.
Love 
P&T in Prague, Czech Republic