Brett "Not Exactly Indiana" Jones

We set out on Friday with a new leader and a new strategy. Our leader was Brett. Up to this point of the trip we had given him a hard time on not having any idea where we are. So what do you do when you entrust directions to a man who could get lost in a supermarket? You turn a blind eye to time and pray that you get to the ultimate destination.

Fortunately for John and Ryan's sake, Brett did a great job. We set off to find the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and we found it. What a spectacular example of Gothic architecture, and a true credit to Brett's navigational abilities!


As we left Notre Dame, we headed towards a K-State family's house. A friend of the Grice's and a sister of Ryan and John's teacher this fall, we were looking forward to meeting Jean and Phillip, both who graduated from K-State. As we walked along the Seine (what a tough life), we realized our fearless leader, Brett, had forgotten the map to navigate the perilous streets of Paris. So here we were, Three Men, Lost Abroad.


Fortunately we made it to our destination, only to enjoy the meal of a life-time, a 7 course meal. Jean and Phillip were more than accommodating, as we received everything from appetizers, to fruit, to venison, to chicken and pasta, more fruit, fromage (French for cheese) and then to desert. We all left stuffed and happy, as we thoroughly enjoyed the company! Thank you Jean and Phillip.

After leaving our hosts, we decided to stop by the Eiffel Tower at midnight, just in time to see the Tower light up with a magnificent light show. What an incredible evening. Tomorrow we will see where Paris takes us. After all, we are just Three Men, One Summer Abroad.

Timeless Perfection

We know we have not updated the blog in a long time, but we apparently could not find enough time to do so with the 72 hour installment of internet given to us by our hotel in Paris. Off we went, every day after we woke up to see the sites and find out what Paris had to offer for three men on one summer abroad.

We decided today that we should mix it up and experience Paris from a different perspective. The Monmartre district was the perfect fit.

If you are familiar at all with the Rocky movies you will remember the scene where he reaches the pinnacle of his training as he runs up the stairs to the movie's theme music. Today was the day we checked out a very different part of Paris but it would definitely cost us physically. The Monmartre district in Paris lies on a hill 130 meters high and is known for the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur.

The white dome of the Basilica can be seen from across Paris and is a landmark for this artisan district found just behind, which is famous for being the workplace of Paris' best artists. We toured the inside of the Basilica to observe the immensity of the structure and beauty of the architecture. It was a bit unsettling to play the role of the tourist while many worshiped in the Basilica at the same time.
Beyond the Basilica is a hip plaza with many street vendors and artists. Some artists you may be familiar with from the past are Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh. Our experience was of many artists trying to "sing for their supper" and sketch a portrait of us. Personally, we did not need an artist to show us what we look like because we have plenty of pictures. Check them out!

















While the view is not exactly the same as that of the Eiffel Tower, it is quite a unique perspective of Paris. Almost timeless. Paris is not all about the shopping and everything being as big as possible, but also about creativity and individuality. As we all know, what goes up must come down. After an afternoon with artistic history we descended to walk the streets of the surrounding areas in Paris. What would we find next?

As we ventured beyond the Montmarte district, we came to the Arc de Triumph. Here we witnessed the most chaotic-round about in the world, 8 lanes of living hell. They say an accident happens here once every 30 minutes, mostly by tourists. The trick to navigating this maze of cars is to never touch your breaks, something tourists just can't figure out. This arc was much more impressive than we imagined, but we quickly turned our sights to Champs de Elyse, one of the worlds most famous shopping districts.

Here we stopped by a store where Brett saw a jacket he thought would look good, until he saw the price tag. When we realized the jacket was 690 euros and the nearby belt was 290 we quickly realized we were shopping in the wrong mall. What a realization for three college men. So we headed on, with no destination in mind. We ultimately ended up at the Eiffel Tower for some great pictures, before heading back to the hotel for the evening. Tomorrow we have great plans, including meeting up with a K-State family. Until then, we are just Three Men, One Summer Abroad.

TOM CRUISE in PARIS!!!

Paris...the city of love or so they say. Let's just say love must be lost because we have found none. As it turns out we are just Three lonely Men, on One Summer Abroad. We'll make the best of this trip though! The first day in this world renowned city we had no place to stay. However, due to clever opportunism we found a great hotel for a reasonable price. Near the Port d' Orleans metro stop, our hotel is in a great location to access the whole city without the hustle and bustle of daily metropolitan area.

We slept like kings. Well, Brett and Ryan did. John slept on the floor but figures he had way more room on the floor than they had in the full sized bed. The next morning we could not figure how to approach Paris over the next 5 days so we decided to get a map. Just think, the whole city in your hands. Without a Smart Car, moped, bicycle, or super cool sports car, we navigated the city by way of subway to the greatest sites in the region.

First, we walked along the Seine River taking in the sites. While French men in cute speedos are awful attractive, we decided that it might be better to take a sight seeing cruise along the river. From the Louvre to the Eiffel tower this cruise was a great way for us to take all the sights in at once then figure what was worth actually going to over the next few days.

We will be honest when we say that Paris is not exactly fitting for these Three Men because there is somewhere between zero and no chance any one of us wants to shop. As it turns out Paris is about 60% shopping. We are making the best of our trip though.
















After the sight seeing cruise down the river we decided that since we were already at the base of the Eiffel Tower, we should probably go up. Past the French military guards with machine guns (scary!) we got into the line of all lines. More than an hour later we bought tickets and proceeded to the top of the tower. Brett, the only one of us extremely petrified of heights is the only one of the three of us who could not stand close enough to the fenced in edge (of which no one has fallen through) long enough for us to get a good picture. Priceless! He was not alone though. John does not see any reason to leave the ground unless you are going somewhere so he was still apprehensive about the elevator ride to the top. By the way, they do not have bathrooms at the top. Here are some of the pictures that made the ride to the top worthwhile.




Our day was not long. We ended the day by continuing to walk along the river and discover more of what Paris has to offer.

Also, here are some statistics we have calculated throughout our stay in Paris thus far...

Metro stops to our hotel from the Eiffel Tower: 7
Number of People to Climb and Descend the Eiffel Tower Every Year: 6,000,000
Mopeds in Paris Seen Today: approx. 1,520,000
People Selling Eiffel Tower Key Chains: approx. 2,980,738
Weddings Witnessed Under the Eiffel Tower During Sunset: 1



Today has been a relaxing but priceless day. Paris will turn out to be an amazing city during our stay. Even if not, we are still Three blessed Men, on One Summer Abroad.

PS - Unfortunately, Tom Cruise is not in Paris nor did we see him. However, we just wanted to see if you would read the whole post. Thanks!

Lets Just Say We Didn't Go Tanning On These Beaches

After arriving in Caen, France we hopped onto a train to the city of Bayeux in the Normandy area of France. From there we planned to take a bus to the American Cemetery and walk to Normandy beach. Apparently this is no way to see the historic site of the assault on the Germans. Later we would find out why.

We arrived around 7 a.m. It was still cold and there was a long wait ahead of us in the most bare train station in the world as we waited for the noon bus to the beaches. John could barely take it.

With the thought that food might warm us up and get our bodies in the mood to be out and about we set out to find a diner. Only fifty feet away we found delicious food and our next "character" of this trip. What's another entry on this blog without a new "character"?

Name: Jean-Marc
Age: Approx. 35
Nationality: French
Occupation: Overzealous, over-excited, and annoying sandwich maker, bread-getter, and tour guide salesman

JM, for short, owned a small hotel (maybe four rooms) and a bar/diner downstairs and was very lively for 7 am. We told him that we would be venturing to Normandy for the day and he about exploded with excitement, insisting that our current plans were all wrong and that we had to take his tour. The price might have been a bit high, but after 15 minutes of him ranting it seemed well worth it to agree to take his tour just so he would stop pleading (lets face it, he was begging)! We were assured though by a couple from Cinci that the price was much less than larger tours and more worthwhile than our current plans. With faith, we took a jump and had an amazing day!

Anxious to drive our tour bus (a 7 person van) and tell us all about American history, our driver, Simon, backed over a yield sign as he pulled away from JM. Without skipping a beat he whisked us off to our first stop, Port-en-Bessin. It was here that we saw where the British stormed ashore. But the most impressive part wasn't the obstacles that were overcome in the battle, but the movable port that was constructed in 10 days. Remains of the port can still be seen today. That's a true testimony to the planning and leadership of the Allied Forces.

Our second stop of this trip was a set of German Bunkers, that housed guns that could fire 12 miles. We were able to go in and see the massive size of them. Fortunately for the nearby boats, the guns are no longer in operation.

As we proceeded along the coast, we came to the most famous area of the Normandy Beaches, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. Here over 9000 Americans who gave their lives on D-Day and over the following months are laid to rest. It was a very sombering area, which really made us reflect on what has been given for us to be here today. As we proceeded on down to the actual beach, we realized the sheer obstacles the Americans overcame. How we ever took the beaches is a testiment to the brave men who risked their lives.

Our final stop on the tour was Point du Hoc, where 250 Army Rangers scaled sheer cliffs to neutralize 6 guns. While many died during the climb, 150 made it to the top and pushed the enemy back. The most amazing part of this area was the many bomb craters that still remained. It was the only part of the beaches that we visited that hadn't been touched in 65 years. There was still barbed wire running around the German bunkers. Once again, a testament to the bravery and courage of the Allied troops. As we headed back to our dear friend JM, we all fell asleep. What an exhausting day.

As if we weren't worn out enough we quickly made it back to JM and heard him re-sell us on his tour. But that was the only place to eat nearby, so we set down for the exact same sandwich we had that morning then jumped on the train to head to Paris.
The train ride was about an hour long but John could barely stay awake. This is no surprise as he has a history of falling asleep on the 10 minute ride to HS when he would catch a ride.

Apparently the train ride was too much for Brett as well. What an adorable picture of these two. Once in Paris we all headed to bed, completely exhausted. Tomorrow we will set out to explore Paris as just Three Men, One Summer Abroad.

Anchors Away!

This is the part of our trip where we mix it up a bit.

London may be the roost for every bird, but it is time we find out what the rest of Europe has to offer. We chose not to fly but instead catch a train to the city of Portsmouth, England where we would meet our night cruise (okay actually it was a ferry) to France. This may be one of the top 5 travel decisions of our journey because simply put, Europe is not only made up of buildings and cathedrals filled with thousands of tourists but also pristine nature. It's complexity as a beautiful continent is mostly caught within the rolling hills and small farm houses with more character than one can imagine.After an hour train ride and hitchhiking with no end in sight for another 30 minutes we finally arrived at the city of Portsmouth around 4 p.m. We could say that most of our trip goes like this: lots of walking, taking in our surroundings, and trying to figure out where in the world we are going! Maybe this is how we get the most joy out of life. We think it is much more about the journey than the destination. But what is the point of going to Europe if you do not see some of the best sites in the world?!

Although today we are not really going to see anything. Well, actually we saw every little bit of a pub where we set up camp because they have free wifi (which you rarely come across in Europe) and our ferry to France did not leave until 11 p.m. We probably should have paid rent ha!

Our boat wasn't exactly the Titanic (luckily) but it did the trick. Brett learned that ferry's are not only a source of travel for people, but more so for cars and semi's. John learned that he should have brought pants because we could see our breath when we got to France, and Ryan learned that even while in the English Channel you can still be wall-burritoed.

To give you an idea of what the boat looked like we will describe it to you. It was big, looked a lot like what it does in the brochure and had a big sign that said "rent me" on the side (actually it said Brittany Ferries). The boat was a few stories high with tons of rooms. Our room had four beds (two bunks) and a bathroom with a shower. Once on the boat we went around exploring and found a ping pong table, restaurant, bar, and dance floor! After looking around we decided to hit hay because we would be landing at 6:30... or so we thought. We set the alarm for one hour early in our room so we could wake up and take a shower then get ready. However, since the time change, we managed to wake up to a lady first speaking french, then her translation to English saying "all people still in their cabins must leave immediately," since we had landed in Caen, just Three Men showerless, on One Summer Abroad!

Livin' la Vida Loca

Sunday morning (we thought it was Sunday) rolled around and similarly just like we would wake to the chickens in Kansas, we woke to Ryan telling us to get up. Then came the big decision, sleep or take a walking tour of the most memorable sites in London. After some extensive decision making we decided to take the tour. It was a great (or "brilliant" as our Irish tour guide would say) decision to take the tour after all.

On the tour we walked by many different historical places, including Buckingham Palace. Although the Queen was not in, we did manage to get there in time to watch the changing of the guards and listen to the quite interesting band they had. We heard songs such as Livin la Vida Loca as well as Can You Feel the Love tonight played by the British band. Our tour guide told us they play the songs for excitement for the tourists as well as the band members.

We found it rather interesting to find out that depending on which flag is up at the Palace you can tell if the Queen is in or not. Unfortunately for us the Queen was not in, as the British flag was up rather than the Queen's flag. We then went and saw Prince Charles' house as well as Prince William and Harry's house. After that we went to Trafalgar Square and saw many different fountains as well as a statue of Admiral Nelson. We then headed down to see Big Ben (the clock, not the quarterback) and Westminster Abbey. There were plenty of opportunities for pictures around there and we decided to take one in a phone booth as well as others. On a side note we saw a statue of Abraham Lincoln along the way, not quite sure why he was there though.

Right after the tour, our tour guide told us that there was a great place to eat lunch where we would get a little discount. We decided it sounded good and set out on the trek of a lifetime to get there (not realizing that we would be walking around 2 miles!)

After eating a decent meal we walked to Piccadilly Circus to look for a t-shirt and ran across a couple of street performers. The first guy was flexible enough to do the limbo beneth a one foot tall bar. The second man did a handstand on stacked 2X4's of wood. Both were amazing, but we decided to not try our hand at them!









Fortuantely, by the end of today we have definite plans for the future. We are headed to Portsmouth to take the night ferry to Caen then to Normandy on Tuesday morning. Although we wont be spending the night the next six days in a hostel in Paris or on the shores of Ireland, we did find a nice hotel for five nights in Paris. Until we uncover our next bump in the road, remember, we are just Three Men, One Summer Abroad.

When You're Left, You're Right

From one side of the river to the other we go today as we change hostels to have a better location the next group of sites we would like to see. This new hostel looks like the inside of a crayon box with its lime green painted walls and rainbow colored lights. Definitely not for those over the age of 25. However, this is great because there were tons of students in the "Chill Out Room" to meet.Shockingly though we were more ready for this new hostel than they were for us as our reservations apparently were for JULY instead of JUNE. Oops! There we were, three men, one summer abroad and no place to stay. Luckily enough we sweet talked to receptionist into placing us into a four placed room where we met our second "character" of this trip.

Micah, a high performance motorcyclist from New Jersey, arrived in our room shortly after we settled in for the evening. His story was one of road tripping through Europe meeting different people along the way and entering motorcycle races on the Isle of Man between Britain and Ireland. He was just passing through so this was the last we saw of him.

After we checked in at 14:00 (that's how they tell time here, but their clocks still only go to 12) we walked a few miles to the British Museum. Check this out - there is actually very little British history in this museum as it is almost everything they have jacked from other people over the years while the past Empire attempted to conquer the world!

It was pretty incredible. Pictures are soon to come.

Next up, the London Eye, or big Ferris wheel thingy. Ok, nevermind. No pictures until Florence when we can upload those from Brett's camera that is not compatible with John's computer

Build for the World Fair in London, the London Eye is the place to be is you want to see all of London in 30 minutes...for the fee of 17 Euros. That is the quickest money has flown out of our pockets this whole trip but we do not think it is something to pass up. Overall, it is something we think you have to do when you come to London but is not worth doing twice. John would know, this is the second time he took the most expensive ferris wheel ride in the world. As it turns out another option is also to rent out a whole capsule and they will serve you and your date champagne for a LARGE amount of money. Sounds like the shortest, most expensive date ever.

On another note, we have figured out how to get around very well. It is surprising how efficient and effective public transportation is in London. Levels upon levels of underground trains must have taken years to finish and hours of time to maintain. Once you know how to uses the London Underground the city is yours and you can go anywhere!

We know what you are thinking, "everything is going great on this trip!" But what would a backpacking trip with three men be without a few "bumps" on the unforeseen road? As we said before, the hostel we moved into was not expecting us until July. After some checking, the hostel in Paris is not expecting us until July as well!! Here we are in England, with no place to stay once we take our ferry to France for six nights. Paris is expensive. Hostels lack vacancy. Should we cancel our travel to Paris? Ireland is nice, nearby as well! We can go anywhere. The world is ours. After all we are just Three Men, on One Summer Abroad.

A "Wicked Ole Time"

Today is the day we kick it into high gear. Ready to see the sights, experience London, and live life we leave our hostel with only a map and each other.
First, the gruesome and bloody Tower of London. Known as the site of famous executions of prominent men and women such as Sir Thomas More and Queen Elizabeth I, the Tower is one of many Royal castles around Britain. We took a guided tour throughout the castle walls listening to tales of old London during the times of the Tower, happy and tragic.

Following our time at the Tower, we grabbed a sandwich down by the river. It turned out to be on bread with an outside texture of a rock, but turned out to be delicious.

We followed a tip given by our tour guide to check out an evening walking tour just north of the Tower of London about Jack the Ripper, the notorious 1888 London serial killer. This was a creepy, but awesome tour along the sites in White Chapel, London of all the murders. It was given by a friend our previous guide for seven pounds for two and a half hours! At first we were hesitant but afterwards we are convinced that it was a seven pound story.

Alright, here are some of the hidden things we stumbled upon during our day.

1. A THOUSAND cocktail parties, It seems that part of the culture here is to get off work and while still wearing your suit head to a pub on the way home and "have a pint" as they say here. It's incredible still being in a nation very similar to our own and being shocked by little things like this normal day in the life of a Londoner. Maybe it is just a midwest thing but we either look incredibly like Americans (most likely in our polos/tshirts/shorts/tennis shoes) or it is just the nature of large cities to always dress up. Brett says every girl looks like they could be on the top fashion magazine "because with their clothes, every girl is trying to make a fashion statement."

2. Harry Potter fans eat your heart out! While walking the streets of London just north of the Thames river we found the filming site of Diagon Alley, where Harry Potter bought his first wand!

3. Just beyond the set of Harry Potter we walked by the secret meeting place where Marx and Engels met to write Das Capital and other famous anti-capitalist works! Ok, John is probably the only one who cared about this at all (silly political science majors).

4. After the sun set we figured out the London Underground system and traveled to the South Bank of London to the London Eye. It was a bummer though because the Eye was closed. The good news is that we have great pictures of the Houses of Parliament at night.

The South Bank area turned out to be pretty hip so we hung around for a while. Tomorrow we will go back but today we decided to walk down to the pier. If you have not caught on yet, we probably walked about 37 miles today so on that note, we are off the "Chill Room" at our hostel to relax and meet people from around the world. After all, we are just Three Men on One Summer Abroad.

London Bridges

Leaving Rome was an interesting trip. After dropping off our bags at the university in Rome we caught the Metro to Ciampino, Italy then a shuttle to the Ciampino Hotel...well, not really to the hotel because when the driver dropped us off he pointed in some vague direction and told us the hotel was just around the corner. So, off we went, packs and all, hiking with hopes of seeing our hotel sometime soon before we dried up in the heat like the grapes in the vineyards guarding the roads of Italy. Two times we stopped to ask for directions. Our Italian is by no means great, but I think we may be getting better! Once in the Hotel, we all essentially passed out from exhaustion and jet lag. Yet before we called it a night and while the sun was setting we all shared a bottle of red wine to celebrate our safe arrival in Italy.

The next morning we took a cab at 5:15. for a 5 minute ride to the airport he charged us 20 Euro. What a rip-off! But it got us there when the shuttle was not running so we cannot complain too much.

Admittedly, we were a bit worried about our less than $100 dollar Ryan Air flight to London early that morning. However, it was pretty decent for the price. It reminded us of a Southwest flight marinated in a pool of capitalism. They tried to sell us everything from bottled carbonated water to European lottery tickets! After landing safely it was a relief to be able to ask for directions to the St. Christopher's Village Hostel without having to ask if they spoke English. Well, English in Britain is not exactly what you would expect. More of our adventures in London to come soon!

When in Rome...

Good news! Brett and John met up safely with Ryan (who was not wearing a k-state proud shirt but did have a sign made of paper) in Rome. Once John arrived the two spent the evening walking along the streets of Rome and seeing the sights. It was a leisurely walk because both had spent a bit of time in Rome before so they simply enjoyed the evening.


Later that evening, Ryan and John briefly met their first "character" of this trip. Alex, a Canadian girl about their age was traveling Italy on a whim with her girl friend. They had no plans for stay at night nor were they concerned about where the wind blew them the next day. Sounds like they are living the good life! It would be incredible to cast you worries to the wind and solely focus on gaining new experiences to enhance life. However, we like our plans. We have assured a place to stay for the next 16 days in 3 different countries until we arrive in Florence, Italy at our apartment. What we do during the days are still fairly left up in the air for debate but we for sure will get the most out of our experience.

The next morning Brett arrived through the gate after a 24 hour layover in Toronto with a bright red CANADA hat on. Priceless! We then took him to the best pizza joint near our hostel then we found our way to the Rome branch of our university to drop off our big bags. This was a long HIKE.

What's worse than hiking through the narrow, hilly streets of Rome? How about London while the subway system is on STRIKE! More to come soon...

T minus one day...

Tonight is our last night in the States.

Well, for Brett and I that is the case. Ryan is already in Rome waiting for us to arrive. Tomorrow at 5:30 Brett and John fly from MCI in Kansas City to Canada. From there we split up. I hope this is not telling of what is to come! John flies to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Rome. It's pretty much going to be the longest day ever. During that time, Brett will be chilling in Canada for a WHOLE DAY before his connecting flight straight to Rome leaves.

Hopefully, I (John) will exit my plane in Rome to find Ryan waiting for me at the gate. It really would make my day if he were in a suit with a dry erase board with my name on it like they do in the movies (if you're reading this Ryan, see what you can do). For some reason I expect a K-State PROUD shirt and a huge grin. That will do for me.

That night we will find a hostel and see the sites for a bit. I have been to Rome before so it will be great to see my favorites from the last trip with Ryan. The next morning we will pick Brett up from the airport and then head out for the day. I'll be honest, we are not too certain where we are staying that night (Moms, don't worry... we will work it all out). Luckily, the rest of the trip is well planned out.

Tonight is our last night of certainty.

It has the feel of closing our eyes as we cannon ball off the high dive on your very first entry into a pool. It is the unknown and the unexpected. We, three juniors in college are about to take the trip of a lifetime! I sit here anxious, thrilled, and nervous. It reminds me of the 2007 film Into the Wild where an Emory graduate decides to break away from society and "go north" on an adventure. While we are not as divested from mainstream culture as he, I wholly agree with the main character's belief that "the core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences." These next few weeks will be full of new and exciting experiences and we all hope they will renew, refresh, and build upon the core of these three men, during one summer abroad.

Looking Forward,

Three Men, One Summer Abroad