Paris

So I met mom, sis and Nate in Paris over the weekend and here's what we got up to...

Dinner at a very tiny and very good restaurant. I had an onion tart and a few snails with basil and butter. mmmmm


We went on a great river boat tour down the Seine and had a wonderful view of . Paris at night. Of course pictures can't do it justice but here are a couple just for the heck of it.
Above, sis, me, mc
Below, a fairly well known monument that I can't recall the name of

Here you see Nate and I outside of the National Opera House. We take music very seriously.

Heather on the other hand does not.

We walked about a million miles on Saturday. We were too tired to take photos but here's one that snuck in. Also this is the day that Nate ordered a 'large' beer and it came in a gallon jug. It also cost me 14 euro. What a rip off.

We met up with mc at Notre Dame and took a tour up the bell tower.

We had some great views of the city from up high, but also loved checking out all of the creepy gargoyles. This is such an amazing building.

The interior of the church is just as amazing. We visited it on Sunday morning during mass. It was odd to see mass going on with hundreds of people milling about taking photos. Odd concept but hey the French do things differently I suppose.

Just a photo of some amazing stained glass.

After our tour of Notre Dame and the ruins below the square we walked another million miles. Here we are again, the three girls. Odd that we are in the same order. Sis, me, mc.

A rainy street in Paris.

A quick stop at Galerie Vivienne to check out the beautiful glass roofs in this old shopping market.

A beautiful little flower shop that has inspired me...

So there you have it. Paris in less than two days.

I'll go back with more money next time.

Berlin

Andy and I spent a nice weekend in Berlin. What an incredible city!! I loved it. There is so much history and delicious food there, one can't help but find it an amazing place to visit. We stayed in an area called Friedrichshain which reminded me a lot of New York's East Village with all of its shops and restaurants. I very nice still slightly gritty area on the east side of town. Anyway here are a few pics of the trip.

Treptower Park home on one huge ass Soviet War Memorial.

Here we are at the East Side Gallery:

And here is a piece I liked a lot.We went up to the top of the famous TV tower and had a look around. I'd include photos, but they never do a view from up high justice, and I'm too lazy.

Here I am with a couple of huge giants. Bet you didn't know that Berliners are into giant worship... well you'd be wrong.

Pretty.

Moving.

Impressive.Fun.

Even more fun.

Well there you have it, a short view of our time in Berlin. If you haven't been, go, if you have been go again.

Authur's Seat

Andy and I went for a quick jont up to the top of Arthur's Seat, which is an ancient volcano located in the middle of Edinburgh. From the top you get a great view of the city as well as a sense of the age of this country. It's so craggy and old, very Scottish.

A Quick Stop in Rothenburg

Cindy and I went to dinner in Rothenburg last night at a little winesteube where The English Conversation Club meets every Wednesday night for food, wine, and of course conversation. The club consists of mainly 80 year old Germans who like to meet English speakers and chat it out. This club has been made famous by one of America's biggest nerds, Rick Steves of PBS fame. We were lucky enough to have two Americans show up when we were there, solely because they saw the place on Rick's tv program. And I'll save you the suspense, they were big nerds too.

All in all it was a wonderful evening of good food and drink and fun conversation with old men. Rothenburg is a magical city that feels a bit like a Brothers Grimm fairyland. It's a must see.

Reporting from Bad Windsheim

After the train ride from hell Cindy and I made it to her home in Bad Windsheim Germany. Bad Windsheim is sort of in between Nuremburg and Frankfurt. I spent the rest of my trip just wondering around the town and checking out the sites. Here are a few photos of the village.

I visited an open air museum full of old buildings from all over Germany. The buildings range from farm houses and barns to brewhouses and even a grain mill. Here are a few photos.

Reporting from Burchtesgarden, the Eagle's Nest and the salt mine

Today Cindy and I went on our tour of the salt mine with a quick stop at the base of the Eagle's Nest, that jerk Hitler's home away from home. Cindy took most of the pictures today so I'll update this post once I get them from here. Here are a few that I took though, just to whet your appetite.

Here's Cindy at the visitors center at the Eagle's Nest. The actual building was closed and WAY up the mountain but we did get a little peek of it and were told a little bit about the actual 'town' where all the Nazi scumbags had their homes and what not.

We then made our way to Burchtesgarden for a quick walk around and cup of tea.

Then off to the mine we went. Again I'll have a few pictures up of the mine once I get them from my auntie. Trust me they will be worth viewing. I'll give you a hint we had to dress up like bakers or hazmat workers for our tour. I'll keep you posted.

Here's another pretty shot of the alps.

Reporting from Salzburg

Ahh what can one say about Salzburg. Suffice to say it's like a little fairyland full of incredible beauty and smug people.

Seriously though what's up with Austrians they are so smug and sarcastic. Good thing the scenery is worth the visit. Photos cannot to it justice but here are a few typical shots.

Famously, Salzburg is known as the birth place of Mozart, the home of the Trapp family singers (think Sound of Music), and sits and the base of the alps. This is a must see, and I wish we had more time to just wonder about the city. We did manage to fit in a delicious mug of the best mulled wine I've had to date, a tasty dinner up at the fortress followed by a quartet concert of Mozart, Hayden, and Dvorak. Tomorrow we are off on a whirlwind tour of a salt mine and a peek of the Eagle's Nest.

Mozart is a big deal, here's a monument to him with a bunch of tourists.

Reporting from Munich

I have started my little adventure through Bavaria, starting in Munich. Aunt Cindy and I stayed in a little B&B called the Gastehaus Englischer Garten shown here.

Such a cute place with very friendly people and a great proximity to the Englischer Garten. Here are a few pics of it.

We walked around the city, found the most amazing farmer's market I've ever seen, and because I was in such awe I didn't get any photos of it. So you're just going to have the imagine the most amazing farmer's market and this one will be right on par with whatever you can conjure up.

Here's the one photo of the evening that I had presence of mind to capture. This was taken in Marien Platz which is a huge plaza with lots of shops and posh people milling about.

We are off to Salzburg next... stay tuned.

Beach Day

Andy wanted to get out of the house and thought a nice stroll on the beach would do us both some good. Now while it was beautiful and picturesque it was freaking windy and cold. Good call Einstein. While it was cold and windy we did have a nice time. In fact Andy treated me to hot chocolate after our walk which was delicious but made me sick because it was so decadent. I just can't win in this crazy country.