France Pt. 1: Ahhh, Paris!!!

Stealing a French Kiss

What can one say about Paris!? Nelson had visited Paris before but it was a first for Allie. Wow, did we have a blast! We also had other visitor, Allie's Mom who gave us the royal tour of the city of lights. How romantic it was. Allie's high school french lessons came in handy, enough to get by. We took a day trip to Versailles and also met up with our dear friend James who lives in Paris! A brief trip, but an excellent one! J'adore Paris!!! Next up, we travel to Switzerland but train where we checked out Zurich and Lucerne and also met yet another visitor, Allie's Dad!

UK: Our cold, wet, stop over in London!

Nelson and Allie checking out the sights on their brief stay in London!

Hello from London! We had about 24 hours between our flight from Tokyo to our flight to Paris to take in the sights of London. Clearly not enough time to explore this city. We were very jet lagged but still made an effort to see what we could in this cool city. It had a great vibe and British culture is awesome. We saw Parliament, Big Ben, the palace, and of course tried some fish and chips. We walked away from London knowing we must return to do it the right way! Next we head south to France where we spent one whole delicious month!

Japan: The wild world of Japanese culture!

Nelson and Allie with the beautiful blossoms in Ueno

Tokyo! The world of electronics, Japanese baseball, sushi, and very interesting and unique culture! We loved Japan and have vowed to come back and explore more. Their culture is extremely unique. The Japanese are very orderly, respectful, and very willing to help. Although there was a large language barrier, as they hardly speak any English, we found the Japanese to be very friendly. We were lucky enough to be there during the annual sakura, which is Japanese for Cherry Blossom Viewing. The beautiful cherry blossoms were in full bloom. We visited a fresh fish market, saw fascinating temples, and ate some amazingly fresh sushi! We found the city to be very clean and extremely modern with a complex metro system that made our head spin! Enjoy our journey through Tokyo. Next, we leave Asia and head for our final continent, Europe!

Cambodia Pt.3: A day with Cambodian children

Nelson playing with the kids

When we arrived in Cambodia we were taken back by the poverty, we wanted to help in anyway we could. Although a very small act of volunteer work, we chose a worthy charity and signed up for a day with the children. CHOICE Cambodia is a charity that primarily provides clean drinking water to villages outside of the main city. They also have a small school set up an hour from Phnom Penh. Every other Sunday 4 local villages send their children to the school where we volunteered. The organization provides arts and crafts, games, english lessons, and a hearty meal for all the children. This getaway from their daily lives every other week is sometimes the only way for them to obtain such attention and have a bit of fun. We helped with arts and crafts for the day. We couldn't help but notice that these children were so incredibly happy! They were full of energy, playing catching, hitting mangoes down from the tree and practicing English. They also listened to directions very well and were able to focus on their drawings. The experience was very well worth it and we encourage anyone who is interested to check out CHOICE's website here  CHOICE

Our time in Cambodia and as we traveled throughout the world, made us truly appreciate our lives and what we have. We are truly blessed and we feel we are in a position to help others. If you feel the same, we encourage you to help out in your own communities. There is always someone who could use your help. 

Cambodia Pt.2: The amazing temples of Siem Reap!

The enormous grounds of Angkor Wat

Greetings from Siem Reap! We traveled about 6 hours by bus to get from Phnom Penh to its sister city to the north, Siem Reap and it was worth it! The town has some amazing temples to offer its visitors, the main one being Angkor Wat Temple. The temples were constructed as far back as the 1100s! It also had a busy bustling "downtown" with many restaurants and bars. We were able to visit many temples by buying a 1 day pass for around $20 each. They were beautiful. It just happened to be th hottest day we had experienced on our trip. HOT! We could not drink enough water and after our temple tour via tuk tuk, we needed a nap. Enjoy the amazing pictures! Next up, we spend a day helping Cambodian children in need.