Europe Update

Liebe Freunde und Familie!

Here is an update on our trip thus far:

Following the trend of our Airport Curse, Thayer and I slept through both of our alarms the morning we left Seattle. Luckily, we were only 20 minutes off schedule. Nothing like running ten blocks to catch a bus to the airport at 5:00 in the morning.

A 5-hour flight, a 7-hour flight, a 4-hour train ride, a 20-minute walk, a 12-minute ferry ride, and a 20 minute taxi ride later, we arrived in Sønderho.

Sønderho is the tiny town on Fanø where we spent the last two days and nights. We came to Fanø, an island off the west coast of Denmark, to see my friend Brian and attend his wedding to his German fiancée, Claudia. The wedding was simple and small (whoever could make it out to Fano – not an easy trip) and held at the local Raadhus (town hall).

Brian and Claudia had a party the night before and a reception the night of the wedding at their rented house on the island. We got to meet a lot of wonderful people. Claudia's entire family spoke very little English, so when Thayer sat down and started speaking German, they were overjoyed! Thayer was, too, as he loooooves speaking German but never has the chance. We also met Jon and Lucy, a couple Brian and Claudia met while vacationing in Mexico for six weeks. They came to the wedding from their home in London, and were generous enough to let us spend our second night on the island (which was unplanned) at their rented house. We had such a fantastic time!

I cannot imagine a more adorable place than Sønderho. People live in houses with straw roofs! Businesses open late and close early, and everywhere you go, you can see someone eating ice cream. Life is slow and simple and peaceful. The "downtown" streets are cobblestone. You can't find coffee before noon, there is one bus for the whole island, and there are more bicycles than cars. You can't go to any restaurant without a reservation. We would LOVE to return there someday… it was a welcome break from Seattle city life.

My current favorite memory: On the back of the bicycle with Thayer tipsily driving, with Jon and Lucy on the other bike, riding on a path along the dark, still, silent Danish countryside, staring up at a billion stars, and faking a British accent while my new British friend faked an American accent back to me.

After Fanø, we got lost on trains until somehow we found our way down to Amsterdam. We got in around 11p. and checked into Hostel The Globe, where we shared a room with 18 other travelers. The next day, we took 3-hour walking tour and learned quite a bit about this incredible city. We strolled through a very popular shopping street (European fashions are awesome!) and then visited the Anne Frank house for an intimate look into the the life of the girl we've all read about. Last night, we walked through the Red Light District, which was an educating and surreal experience! When we got back to our hostel, we attempted to fall asleep over the sound of 30some drunken Irishmen down the block singing "I would walk 500 hundred miles...." Amsterdam is another city that doesn't sleep! Basically, the opposite of Fanø.

Today, we hop a train over to Berlin. You'll be hearing from us, soon!

All our love,

Hayley and Thayer

**Memorable Trip Quote:**

[While searching for a place to eat breakfast in Copenhagen....
looking at a menu in a window of a restaurant]

Thayer: I don't understand what the words mean! Let's keep going.

Hayley: Til what?! Til we understand Danish?