I know...right? Right!

Are you rugged enough?

2011-05-15T03:46:00.006+01:00

I figured since I haven't posted in a very long time the next time I do it better be a rugged post!

rugged enough for you?

And it begins...

The before picture!

Where's mle...?

Long legs have the advantage...even if they are weighed down by lead feet!

The mother of all slip-n-slides! Yes please!

refreshing...

The after picture...

Thanks for coming to support me Kate!

Next time it's going to be you and I!

shoes full of mud & stones

Yes it was as bad-ass as it looked!

Chris' Birthday Dinner...

2010-12-13T16:31:00.000Z

For Chris' Birthday I planned a surprise weekend get-away to explore the area in VA near us. I settled on Mineral, VA as they had several Christmas Tree farms where you could choose and cut your own Christmas Tree and it was only about 2.5 hours away. In addition I found this lovely historic Inn called the Littlepage Inn that was a plantation in the 1800 and is still owned by the same family today. On top of that loveliness I reserved us a 2 hour horseback riding trip in St. Anna's National park. If you would like to view pictures of all these activities see Chris' blog.

For Chris Birthday dinner, however, I made reservations at Pomme french restaurant in Gordonsville, VA about 1/2 hour away from Mineral on the recommendation of the Inn owner. What a fantastic reservation. The town of Gordonsville was lovely with Main St. all lit up for Christmas. There were many antique and quaint looking shops that we would have liked to explore had we more time, however, we were satisfied with our experience at Pomme.

They had an extensive wine cellar and the specials for the night were lovely and complimented our meal perfectly.

Chris and I were seated at a lovely table near this mural of an apple orchard, which was fitting since Pomme translates to apple in English. The decor was lovely and welcoming, the service was attentive, but not over powering, the food was nice and overall we would go back.

Two satisfied customers!

Happy Birthday Chris!

Facial Fun...

2010-12-10T16:17:00.000Z

After another night of games...I believe it was Catan or Skip-Bo this time...but really who can keep track, Carl, Chris and I started talking about weird things we could do with our faces. Inevitably the stories started rolling out about the crazy faces we used to play around with in our youth. These were two my brothers, friends and I used to do in elementary school.

WARNING: This next set of pictures is not PC, so if you are faint of heart turn back now!

When I was in elementary school the fun thing to do was "Chubby." The whole series isn't captured here, but basically the story goes like this:

"Hi my name is Chubby! I'm Chubby, my dad is chubby, my mom is chubby and my brother's chubby too. One day my brother says to me, "hey Chubby you want to go for a ride on my motorcycle?" So I say sure. We started riding on his bike and I said, "Faster, faster!" My brother asked, "Are you sure?" So I said sure (pull hands back on face to stretch the skin tight) and it went so fast!

Then came my O'Connor family's "scary face". When my brothers and I were little we used to do all sorts of crazy face contortions. This is one I remember my parents showing us. My hands were so little at the time that it was difficult for me. As you can see, it's not difficult anymore...just a little disturbing!

Kate comes to visit...again!

2010-12-08T16:00:00.000Z

Kate came to visit for an evening to celebrate the end of two long and rewarding years of earning her Master's in Occupational Therapy at VCU in Richmond.

We celebrated by putting on some very large pants...

So large, in fact, that two grown women could fit into them with plenty of room to spare!

Halloween...

2010-10-31T23:16:00.000Z

What am I? I ask myself that regularly...

This was my Halloween costume this year, thanks to my quick trip to the Goodwill Thrift Store.

I won Most Creative Costume at work

So, can you guess?

A Psychedelic Candycane

Celebratory lunch...

2010-09-28T00:31:00.002+01:00

After a very long time searching, after many revisions of resumes and cover letters, after many discouraging interviews and lack of responses my search for full-time employment has come to a end...nd it was all worth it! I have been offered and have accepted the position of Fitness Coordinator at Chambrel at Williamsburg, a Senior Living Campus near William & Mary College. I will be in charge of personal training, group exercise, fitness programming, healthy cooking demos, nutrition and health education workshops...skies' the limit really...for independent and assisted living residents and staff! I am very excited and really feel like I belong in this environment. They are my kind of people!

To celebrate the joyous news Bev and Robin took Chris and I out for a celebratory lunch and it was DELICIOUS!!!! Thank you both so much for all your support and encouragement!

I would also like to thank my parents for their thoughtful card and oh so special box of chocolates that I love so much (you know me so well!), as well as their never-ending support and encouragement. I wish we could be closer, but I am glad for the chats we are able to have!

And, of course, my loving husband who has continued to support and encourage me from the very beginning! I love you very much!

Thank you to everyone else who have been so supportive via e-mail and phone calls/texts! It has meant a great deal and helped me continue on even when there didn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel!

Nights of Catan...

2010-09-14T18:19:00.002+01:00

As usual, Chris and I can't get enough Catan...luckily, we were able to partake Friday and Saturday night, thanks to Carl & Kate.

Yet another one of my talented husband's mysterious and "useful" tricks!

Carl studying the board very intently...we threw in a new spin by the "explorers" version that my brothers and sis-in-law came up with last year!

Kate joined us Saturday for a delightful grapefruit & avocado salad. She was in charge of making the salad dressing. Ever since culinary school, I've been giving Kate some informal lessons and one goal she's been working toward has been to properly emulsify a vinaigrette! Well, with a bit of over-motor stimulation, she has successfully done it!

And here's the proof! Isn't it beautiful!

Good job Kate!

Crabbing...

2010-08-14T22:47:00.005+01:00

Chris and I took advantage of the lack of humidity, but warmth of the sun by heading out to the dock and me learning all about one of Chris' favorite childhood activities...crabbing. Now this isn't crabbing for meat, it's crabbing to be able to experience crab!

The bait...raw, gone-off, chicken wings...yum!

I wasn't sure what to expect yet...

But I quickly caught my first crab...I yelped loudly when I thought it was going to pinch my toes!

This one was enjoying his lunch so much he wouldn't stop eating even after being caught...

Chris is "The Crab Whisperer"

Sittin by the dock on the bay...wastin time!

The Crab Whisperer...

2010-08-14T22:44:00.001+01:00

Luray, VA...

2010-08-14T22:38:00.002+01:00

Chris and decided to explore VA, as it is such a beautiful and charming state! We decided to head to Luray where they have the Luray Caverns and tubing in Shenandoah Nat'l Park.

We stayed at the charming Cardinal Inn...

It was actually somewhat cool and without humidity the evening of our arrival, so we played cards in from of our room!

Luray Caverns - Audio tour...

2010-08-14T22:16:00.006+01:00

Chris and I headed for the caverns and man were they worth it. Such beauty that has taken thousands, if not millions, of years to form below the surface of the earth! They have maintained them well. Chris and I were impressed with how respectful the tourists have obviously been, as it is very easy to touch the stalactites and stalagmites, but visibly people have refrained.

I don't love audio tours, as they often, in my experience, drag on and aren't very interesting. This one, however, was just the right amount of intriguing information with the option to learn more about specific formations. Chris and I synced our audio up by pressing play at the same time for each section, which made it more fun too!

This is a good example of drapery. Apparently the surface was initially flawed and not smooth, which forced the water to take a round about root and ultimately formed the long, thin draping stalactites!

This is the best picture I could take with my camera of the dream pond. It was a large pond when it came to surface area, but only about 12 inches deep at the deepest part. It was a mirror image of the stalactites coming down from above. Chris and I could have sat there for hours being pleasantly awed by it's beauty.

You are witnessing a blind date cavern style! ;)

I do love those drapes!

This is a draping stalactite from the side. It's a good example of how this they are...and looks like a draping towel..yes?

This caught my sights as I rounded the corner! I call it the Buddha temple underground.

A great example of a stalactite (right) and stalagmite (left) union...they've been together for hundreds of thousands of years...

This is the organ that serenades many a wedding in the caverns...

The guy who created it wanted to make the rocks sing...and sing they do with the help of tuning forks attached to various stalactites around the organ, that is in turn attached to specific keys on the organ. It was beautiful and had wonderful acoustics!

This is most people's favorite part. They are called fried eggs...they were stalagmites that broke off and back in the day people would rub the nubs for good luck upon their exit from the caverns (which isn't allowed anymore) and that action over and over again caused the smoothness that resembles egg yolks frying!

Luray Caverns - Garden Maze...

2010-08-14T21:48:00.002+01:00

With our pass to the caverns we got free admission to the Secret Garden Maze. Chris wasn't too excited about it in the beginning...

Then he found relief in the misters and I had a happy camper on my hands again!

And then there was Kate...

2010-07-28T01:52:00.004+01:00

Oh Kate... One of the things I have truly loved about living in Poquoson, VA has been being closer to Beth and Kate, who both reside in Richmond now. It's a quick drive up for the weekend and I've always got a place to stay!

Kate found out about that South African Wine Festival going on at a local VA Winery, so we partook in the food, wine and festivities!

The parking lot was right next to the vines...

They love their meat!

La-a-a-a-a-amb

Enjoying all the overpriced delectables!

Only at a wine festival...or an O'Connor family reunion (he-he)

Our favorite part was the entertainment!

Carthage, MO...

2010-07-28T01:21:00.003+01:00

So much happened in between Munising, MI and Carthage, MO...Here's a quick recap:

Carrie, Ian's wife, was kind enough to put me up for a night while I was en route. She showed me the great haunts of Duluth, MN! She is now living with Ian and working as a vet at an alternative therapy clinic for animals in Hong Kong...and from what I can tell, loving it!

I was also able to visit my Aunt Kat, Uncle Dan, cousin Devon, Great Uncle Jerry and Aunt Ellen and friends Chris and Kate while in Grand Forks, ND...great to be back there, always!

Next stop on the list was good old Dub-C! I always love heading back to my hometown, especially during the spring/summer. My dad was busy working hard as a park ranger at TRNP and giving Memorial Day addresses to honor our veterans. My mom and I played. We had people over for dinner. I watched the last of the kids I used to babysit graduate from HS; all of which impressed me with their levels of maturity! Yes, it was a lovely visit!

I had a stop over in Kansas City, MO to see my one and only. He introduced to "fine" KC cuisine (Backyard BBQ, Gates BBQ, Strands Fried Chicken where I introduced our waitress to the Arnegard Martini...), track ball and walks around the neighborhood!

That brings us to Carthage, MO where I had the privilege of having an extended with Krista, whom I hadn't seen in many years! Krista and I had many adventures and some pretty competitive games of ladder ball! We watched many great movies and cooked even greater meals! Oh, Krista...thank you for such a wonderful time!

Munising, MI...

2010-07-28T01:06:00.004+01:00

The other memory that plays so fondly in my mind from that roadtrip was our stop over in Munising, MI. Now I really built this up in my head every since I was in 8th grade, so you can imagine how excited I was knowing I was finally fulfilling my dream of revisiting the area. As it were, it was much less exciting than the memories I had, however, as an adult and with much more time there I was able to explore and create new memories!

The first of which was on the falls trail!

And Sand Point Beach!

The first time I ever had fresh seafood was at this place...The Dogpatch restaurant! They had an all-you-can-eat fresh seafood buffet the day we passed through. I remember being grossed out by having to peel the shells and legs off the shrimp (what do you mean the are real live creatures before I eat them?) however I fell in love with crab legs!

Unfortunately I should have listened to my hotel front desk clerk when she encouraged me NOT to eat at the Dogpatch. It was greasy, bland and smoky...with no seafood buffet. But it was fun going back!

They have so many trails to waterfalls and along the cliffed coastline of Lake Superior, so I took advantage by taking a 4 hour hike!

Though you can never really go back, you can always visit and make new memories!

Mackinac Bridge...

2010-07-28T00:59:00.002+01:00

When I was an 8th grader (technically the summer prior), my mom, brothers and I took the northern route back to MI when visiting the family rather than the quicker, but more congested southern route that takes you near Chicago. I have such fond memories of this trip. One of which was crossing the Mackinac Bridge. Though the water was every bit a brilliant blue and beautiful as I remember, I figured it wouldn't be safe to take pictures while I was driving, so you will have to settle for this one from my side mirror!

NY, OH, MI...

2010-07-28T00:44:00.004+01:00

So after all the picture taking I did in Europe, I was plum sick of it when I got back to the states, so though I visited alot more people than will be reflected on my blog, I did take some pictures (after getting razzed by Uncle tom).

Before I go on though, I want to give a shout out to Uncle Rory, Aunt Judy, Meagan & Ryan in Williamsville, NY. They were gracious hosts (as were their mammoth dogs) and I very much appreciated their hospitality.

Another HUGE shout out to the Cyrus clan; Aunt Becky, Ashley, Kassie, Shelby, Sami & DJ. I had so much fun getting to know you all again! Teaching and learning...lots of good food was had, lots of great jokes were told!

Here I am with Uncle Tom (in his cabin) and Great Aunt Ruth! She came over for breakfast and unfortunately the waffles I made were less then tasty! Nothing a lot of syrup can't fix though!

Uncle Tom took me out a couple times on the kayaks! I fell in love and can't wait to get my own!

Then he took me to Hell for some ice cream!

I feel pretty special as I made the list of people who Uncle Bruce and Uncle Tom take to the diner! Very important business!

I love my MI relatives. Though I don't get to see you all enough I really appreciate the time you take to make sure I see you when I'm there; Ronnie, Devon, Karl, Uncle Karl, Aunt Margaret, Buddy, Dave & Charlene, Aunt Ruth, Uncle Bruce, Zach, Grandma Marianne and of course, Uncle Tom. Here's a holla to Brad and his lady as well!

Silver Spring...

2010-07-28T00:39:00.002+01:00

I was lucky enough to visit my cousin Maura and her two new additions (one more recent than the other...) Gwydion (her husband) and Porter (their son). Gwydion and I got along famously and he's still razzing me to have Chris and I move across the street from them! We are chefs in the kitchen, getting all geeked up about food and different dishes / ideas!

It was wonderful catching up with Maura again as well! As for Porter, well he was 3 weeks old at the time, so he mostly slept. Although I was surprised at how much I noticed his small changes each day I was there! The miracle of life you know!

Charlize...

2010-07-26T15:45:00.002+01:00

Not Theron, but my spunky, red 2004 Forrester! I love her! When she's feeling extra spunky she like being called Charlie! I got a great deal and with the awesome patience and negotiations of MILly, I drove her home in less than a day!

Ain't she a beaut!

Last days in Paris...

2010-07-25T21:00:00.004+01:00

I was meant to fly out of Paris a week prior to my actual departure date due to the Icelandic Ash Cloud that shut most of European air travel down for weeks.

The day before my departure I decided to walk around the city one last time

Notre Dame from the front...

He is the Bubble Whisperer...

I came upon this and wished my nephews were here, as they would have loved trying this out! I wanted to do it myself, but alas, I am not longer child-sized!

Nothing stops this crowd of tourists....

Goodbye France, Goodbye Europe...Hello Homeland!

Jardin de Luxemburg...

2010-07-25T20:20:00.005+01:00

The other garden I found and visited twice was the Garden of Luxembourg. Upon arrival I found everyone was enjoying the sun...avoiding the shade!

I sure do love tulips...

This dog was truly smiling...now that I review the pictures I see it's not as obvious as it was in person.

Thought of my nephews when I saw these...bet they'd love em!

Upon my exit I found that the sun shifted and so did the people!

Jardin de Plantes...

2010-07-25T19:52:00.003+01:00

I went out seeking gardens and find them I did!

Poppies...

Cherry blossoms!

Harry Krishna, Harry Krishna...

Mmmmmm...dessert!

Long walk in Paris...

2010-07-25T17:54:00.008+01:00

Upon Chris and my arrival in Paris, France, we immediately set out for the Seine River for a walk to the Eiffel Tower.

First stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral...

Complete with street artists...

Along the Seine.

On Saturday and Sundays, or perhaps just really nice days, they close down the roads to cars and pedestrians abound.

Where have all the trash bins gone?

Mmmmm...Lilacs!

After walking for two hours in the hot, hot sun we finally caught a glimpse of our destination point. Although it still looks pretty far away! Let's keep trekking!

These were all over Paris...

We're almost there!

View from the top!

On my way down the Champs d' Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe...

The Arc de Triomphe...

"What's up man...I'm just hanging out on my big boat painting my little boat."

La Rochelle...

2010-07-25T17:35:00.004+01:00

La Rochelle delivered on the much sought after self-service launderette AND another gorgeous farmer's market. The only difficulty was trying to figure out the directions for the washing machines and driers, as they were posted in French. We managed just fine in the end.

All the vibrants colors!

And the seafood...

Yes please!

Do any of these come in green?

This is the picture of restraint for this pup...tied to a sausage stand. The smells were tempting us, so I can't imagine how difficult it was for him!

These are mini macarones... we were going to taste them, as Chris has never had one, but the line was so long we settled for pictures!

"He wants a shoehorn, the kind with teeth!"

Bordeaux...

2010-07-25T17:26:00.004+01:00

On our way from St. Emillion to La Rochelle, Chris and I stopped in Bordeaux for a couple hours and lunch, of course! The boardwalk was pretty magnificent!

Uzerche, France...

2010-04-10T17:52:00.002+01:00

After going about 5 hours out of our way b/c I put all my navigational faith into our new, but unreliable SatNav, we decided to head back in the right direction, but take a small detour along the way. We are staying a couple nights in the small, but absolutely beautiful town of Uzerche, France with the Vezere River running out our hotel window. Spring has sprung, the sun is shining, no need for coats, only sunglasses and smiles. I walked along the river a bit and found myself thinking of Uncle Tom as I came upon a Kayak course in the river. I know he's not necessarily into sport kayaking, but kayaking reminds me of him and his new interest none-the-less. Chris and I are hoping the whole town doesn't shut down on the weekends, so we might have a chance to rent one and have a go.

I have found, during my travels, that lack of exercise and sleep are a poor, poor combination for all involved. Luckily we have been staying near towns with rivers and nothing motivates me more to go for a run, no matter how quick, then being near water with a lovely running/walking trail. It calls to me, with buds bursting on trees and flowers overcome with blooms. We are in a town I have never heard of in France...that is amazing! And I found out the dish I have been looking forward to the most since arriving in France, but have not been able to find on any menu is available at the restaurant down stairs. Can't wait to get me some Cassoulet! So if you'll excuse me...my stomach is a rumbling!

Lindau part deux...

2010-04-02T17:15:00.006+01:00

I rented a bike today and ventured beyond the footpaths to the big open bike paths which led me to the surrounding communities. It was lovely. But first, to the Island of Lindau:

Not sure that actually make sizes that big...

The lovely receptionist at my hotel, Sabine, says she's my German sister. We have a great deal in common and enjoyed two lovely evenings getting to know one another. First night, I bought some Italian Red Wine and cheeses and we talked politics and the state of the world from two countries' points of view. Quite interesting.

Next night, she brought me to her flat (which looked a heck of lot like the one I had in Boulder before moving in with Chris) and this random, but lovely Mexican Restaurant, owned by her good friend. I couldn't believe the mound of meat for my fajitas. I told them how we get about a quarter of the meat in the states and she replied, "But I thought America was the land of the big dishes?" To right, but not big amounts of the expensive stuff!

These, I learned from Sabine, are apple and pear trees, as fresh pressed juice is very popular in this area. I rode my bike through fields of these.

Lindau, Germany...

2010-04-01T15:43:00.004+01:00

I spent a few days in the Bavarian town of Lindau. I chose this town b/c of it's position on Lake Constance, which also borders Austria and Switzerland and has a view of the Swiss Alps from a lovely park just around the corner from my hotel. The moon greeted us with full beauty the night of our arrival.

Wanted to show Rebecca that though the beer is still present there is no meat in this meal of mine and hasn't been for two days. Still quite tasty though! I am in love with the way they combine potato salad, pickled cabbage of all types with their lettuce salads!

I do believe this was the first hand blower ever invented...impressed it still works, but thought it was going to set fire to something before too long, with the burning fumes emitting from the fan. Perhaps it was just my flesh.

YEAH SPRING!

Random but oddly inspiring...

The tiniest old school bike in the world!

That's right, someone had a vineyard in their back yard!

View from the park over Lake Constance.

So the first day it was absolutely beautiful and still quite warm...then came the cold front. it rained yesterday and snowed today. I am boycotting the cold and doing my domestic duties inside today (handwashing laundry b/c there is not self-service launderette anywhere in town and blogging!)

Neuschwanstein Schloss, Bavaria...

2010-04-01T15:25:00.004+01:00

Since Chris and heard it was in Bavaria, we made it a priority to visit the Disney Castle (known by American tourists). As Chris mentioned on his blog, King Ludwig II set out to build this and three other castle over two decades. He oversaw every single decision and had impeccable taste. When all was said and done there were several rooms that remained unfinished and he was only able to live in the finished rooms for 6 months before his untimely death. The castle was used as a model for Sleeping Beauty's castle by Disney.

Easter is a huge holiday in Germany (mainly for the Easter egg hunts) and many trees were decorated with plastic eggs. It was very colorful and brought a smile to my face each time I saw it.

It freaked Chris out a little though...that or made him hungry, I can't quite tell!

Believe it or not, this is not a postcard, but the actual view from the castle. I think I could live with this view day in and day out.

Munich, Germany...

2010-04-01T15:19:00.002+01:00

I'm a little bit ashamed to say that I did not see much of Munich. After I visited Dachau, I was in no mood to be a tourist. It is heavy stuff and stayed with me longer than I anticipated. But Chris finally dragged me out to city centre and the Hofbrauhaus...the famous beerhall, complete with an Umpa band, lederhosen (true and proud) and good food/beer!

Heidelberg, Germany...

2010-04-01T14:00:00.008+01:00

As Chris and I crossed France briefly into Bavaria again, we knew we had to have the proper equipment to hold our own. Luckily he was able to find us each a sweet new grill to let the Bavarian people know we meant business!

Ah, Heidelberg. So far it is my favorite European city. It is situated on either side of the Neckar River and is set up for so much outdoor recreation. People were constantly walking, running, biking and even paragliding. People were happy, healthy and friendly!

(coal barge)

Look at the eye of the "sitting duck", he's peeking at me!

Now I know about pink lady apples (they are my fav when honeycrisps aren't in season), but Diva apples...

Old Bridge...

Chris and I very much like these trees, but never did figure out what they were...

I sat here for a couple hours one day, just soaking up the sun and enjoying the view!

The castle. I sure got my workout that day walking up the steep, steep hill and many stairs...

The castle itself was fine enough...nothing new, but it included access to the Apothecary Museum, which I found fascinating!

I was trying to get just the right angle so the light would be good for the picture. As I leaned over the railing to get this shot, I heard the siren go off and continue going off for the next five minutes. Luckily, no one else was around when I did it, so no one knew who tripped the sensor! I guess they do now!

yes, that is a little alligator hanging from the ceiling in the sunlight!

Proof that chocolate and coconuts have been used for medicinal purposes for hundreds of years!

Called the cutting room, it's where they have all the equipment for chopping herbs and pulverizing plants for their oils in the biggest mortar and pestals I've ever seen.

The tiniest little medicine cabinet I've ever seen! Complete with Belladonna!

And now for a trip down memory lane to the HS chemistry lab...

View from the castle...not too shabby!

I ate at this restaurant one afternoon, then took Chris there for dinner, having no idea it was the most fabulous and perfect hole-in-wall German bar (I ate outside for lunch) ever created. We had some truly wonderful traditional Bavarian dishes and were served by very friendly staff who wanted us to experience everything Bavaria that we could in one evening. They had a piano player playing and we clapped after each song...then he proceeded to talk to us, very fast, in German. He only made statements, to which we responded with a raised stein, until the last song before our departure when he asked a question. That was when my stock phrase came out that I don't actually speak German. He laughed and got embarrassed that he had been speaking German to us all night when he speaks perfectly fine English. He played Casablanca for our final farewell song. It was quite the perfect evening!

Brugge, Belgium...

2010-04-01T09:49:00.007+01:00

After returning to Europe from Slidell, LA Chris and I decided to head to Belgium...I'm not sure how much the idea of Belgium chocolate had to do with that decision on Chris' part, but I soon found out:

more chocolate please!

Random...

The Clock Tower in Market Platz...

Bring on the chocolate...in all forms!

Brugge is a town surrounded my canals. We took the opportunity to take a boat tour...

Crocheting lace is also big in Brugge, as there were almost as many lace shops as chocolate shops. Here is a lace map of the city...

It wasn't only the chocolate that was good in Brugge, but also the beer. So good Chris had to put bunny ears on it.

We visited the Chocolate Museum and learned even more about that glorious cocoa bean!

I was in confectioners heaven with all the molding equipment on display!

I found this to be an interesting way of not really answering the question at all!

Dachau Concentration Camp...

2010-03-26T16:43:00.002Z

Today, after many, many frustrating moments that will inevitably arise when you travel in foreign lands for months at a time, I was on the road to Dachau, the first concentration camp built in 1933, soon after Adolf Hilter took power in Germany. This experience simply added to my sobering day. I have been in my head, choosing not to take pictures of what I saw as I hope you are able to one day visit a concentration camp memorial and have your own first hand experiences in the future.

What I felt/feel after reading the accounts of the inhumane way in which thousands, if not millions, of people were treated because of their religious beliefs, political views or simply b/c they didn't look the part, was humbled. I have to be honest with you all and say that though traveling around Europe is exciting and full of unique adventures, it also comes with difficulties. From simple things like not knowing if the tap water is drinkable, to bigger things like not having a home and constantly sleeping in different beds night after night. I am not writing this to try to invoke sympathy, believe me. Chris and I are very much enjoying ourselves. But during the moments of homesickness or feelings of frustration the world seems to be batting against me. Then I visit Dachau and see what suffering truly means. How these people who were beaten, degraded, humiliated, starved and tortured on a daily basis still had the will to live, to survive and stay strong through stories of their people or songs from their homelands or poetry, even underground orchestras were formed to keep spirits alive. These were people who were fighting for their lives and suffering intolerable conditions for what probably seemed to be a never ending amount of time, clinging on to the smallest spark of hope. Therefore I felt/feel humbled. A new perspective quickly puts me in my place as I am living this life of comfort and world exploration. I have never truly known what it means to suffer. I hope the same is true for you.

After reading this entry, please take a minute of silence and reflect on what it is you are thankful for in your lives.

Budapest, Hungary...

2010-03-22T22:31:00.003Z

Chris and I ventured out in the bone-chilling cold, cut you like a knife, wind to visit St. Steven's Basilica. Quite beautiful!

We walked down the avenue to City Park. This was Hero's Square...

The castle in the park...

The castle's church...

Though we were enjoying all the traditional food of the Eastern/Central European countries we were visiting, we were both jonesing for Mexican food. Believe it or not, we found it in the middle of Budapest. Now, our expectations weren't very high, especially after the terrible "mexican" restaurants in Dublin...and our expectations were not met in Budapest. But it did the trick for the time being. We were in Slidell, LA two days later and definitely got our fill of descent Mexican food there!

I tell you what though, Budapest had some magnificent homemade pasta nuggets and beef goulash along with pickled sides and homemade lemonades at this one restaurant (whose name I can not recall at this moment). It was a bit out of our price range, but totally worth it. We were serenaded by "gypsy music" and the waiter was very charming and did not care one bit that were were Americans who spoke no Hungarian! We enjoyed Budapest very much!

Bratislava, Slovak Republic...

2010-03-22T21:53:00.005Z

Chris and I popped through the Slovak Republic for a night on our way from the Czech Republic to Hungary...I must say, it's not a very interesting or nice country. But what we did see in the capitol city had it's charm! Here we had lunch in the Slovak Pub where the beer was good, but the food was not!

walking near Old Town...

This was the most amazing cheese shop...strictly sheep's milk cheeses (and wines...but not from the sheep of course). It smelled like it in there too.

This was the cheese we ended up buying...it was sensational...walnut cheese!

The Danube River...

I just thought this optometrist sign was cool...

Old Town Square...

Czech Republic - Spindleruv Mlyn...

2010-03-17T02:04:00.002Z

Katie and Dermot talked us into joining them in the Mountain town of Spindleruv Mlyn (still don't know how to pronounce it). We were jam packed (as you could see in Chris' blog pics) with Chris and my stuff jam packed in the boot and Katie and Dermot packed like sardines amongst their bags for the 2 hour ride up. Katie and I wanted to be a little more adventurous and see some of the smaller towns so we started out with the SatNav on "avoid toll roads" The boys kept their mouths shut until we came upon a slight hitch...the bridge that British Emily was persistently telling us to cross was non existent. I'm sure it was at one time, but there was no way for vehicles, such as our Clio III to cross and no alternative in sight.

The only other hang up with had along the way, besides Czech highway drivers only passing as high speeds up and around a blind corner into oncoming traffic where no one slows down, they simply just skim into place as though no lives were in danger...so other than that, we were sitting in traffic for about 20 minutes, waiting for the railroad crossing arms to raise since there was clearly no train approaching. Finally two men volunteered to raise the arms manually to allow traffic to cross on both directions. It was slow going, but nothing I've ever experienced before!

Once in SM, we were able to stay at the same hotel as K&D, which meant many, many, MANY games of Catan. We are changing up the rules all the time, really spicing things up. One of the spicier ways to play is to share rose champagne (two bottles) of 13% alcohol between two light weight ladies...that is the moment team testosterone took the lead in wins...but we sure had fun!

We went snow tubing, which turned out to be more ice tubing at night, the first night! So much fun!

Then we fed our hungry appetites with some lovely hand tossed pizzas...

Room with a view...

The prince getting his beauty sleep. Chris really took time to relax and catch up on his sleep...or at least he tried. He stayed up late many nights (all two of them) watching the winter olympics...though covered in Czech, we were still able to see some American wins!

Czech Republic - Prague...

2010-03-03T17:37:00.007Z

Chris and I finally made it to Prague about 4 days after we planned to be there. We were warmly greeted by Andrew, Robin's youngest child...though he is not a child any longer. Andrew is living in a town outside of Prague, teaching English. He was kind enough to take us around to some of the sites and orient us to the city.

A night walk back to the hostel... This was a wonderfully unexpected reward for the awful time we had finding parking. Luckily Czech drivers are extremely patient and considerate!

We desperately needed to do laundry and finally found a laundromat conveniently located within walking distance of our hostel. When we arrived we found that some English students were shooting a film of some OCD college kids who met and fell in love at a laundromat. Our clothes took twice as long b/c we could only access the machines during breaks in shooting, but we got free internet access for our troubles! The clean laundry was well worth it!

I was jonesing for some American style grub...quick and easy and well that's about it! So McDonald's was my choice and it was actually quite tasty compared to the US version...

Chris was in heaven since we went there at my request (this never happens) and b/c he discovered Taschtikas (hot mixed berry pie).

After my run in gluttony, I didn't feel so good...

Chris, on the other hand, felt amazing!

Later, I took a walk down to our parking garage b/c I discovered that though the night walk was lovely, I dropped the parking ticket from my pocket along the way. I took a scenic 45 minute walk back to the parking garage to see what I would have to do to retrieve my car. Turns out I only had to show my passport, drivers license, car registration, car keys and pay 3.000 Kc (~$150)...umm, lesson learned! Luckily, we decided to stay longer to meet up with our friends from Dublin, Katie and Dermot, so we ended up only paying for the equivalent of 1 extra day.

This is what I saw on my way to the parking garage!

This beer is delicious btw! It's similar to the Javaporter at the Southern Sun in Boulder.

We met Katie and Dermot at this restaurant b/c they boasted brewing their own beers (8 types) that you couldn't find anywhere else in CZ. I mainly picked it b/c it was big and I figured they wouldn't get upset that we would be there for hours playing portable Catan!

My victory dessert!

In Old Town Square...

The light was too dark for me to get K&D without a flash, but there is a beautiful bridge and castle in the background! Still, a lovely picture of a lovely couple!

Germany - Nuremburg...

2010-03-02T16:29:00.008Z

When Chris asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, I thought long and hard and decided I wanted to spend it in a small, Bavarian town. Well I got the Bavarian town part right, as Nuremburg was a bit bigger than I anticipated...however, Old Town was just the right size.

Here is my birthday walk...

The bottles on the side are what seems to be Bavarian wine bottles...

I ventured up toward the Imperial Kaiserburg Castle, which was under construction and only had tours in German. The clerk at the desk said the tours at this time of year are even boring for Germans and recommended I not pay money for it, but simply walk around the grounds on my own.

I love the windows in the roofs...

So many churches...

and purses in bird cages...

Back to the Garden Hotel to pick up Chris for lunch...He was busy wrapping presents in my stead...

view of the restaurant I picked out for us to eat...

the courtyard...

Hare with cranberry and the best spaetzle I've ever had...

Chris was super excited about his pork shoulder and sauerkraut with wheat bier...he's loved it so much he's still talking about it.

After all that AMAZING traditional German food we had to walk some of it off before we felt human again...

So we walked to the Toy Museum...

The girl's room was my favorite part. These are small recreations of kitchens but the equipment was made with real materials, so the rich children of dukes and earls could only play with them under the supervision of a governess.

The very first roller blades...

Here's to you Robin...

Walking back to the hotel at sunset! Happy Birthday to me!

Germany - Waidhaus...

2010-03-02T16:13:00.002Z

Putting off reaching Prague another night, Chris and I pulled up Google maps and picked a cool sounding city near the border of the Czech Republic. We settled on Waidhaus and stayed at a little place called Hotel Beihler (it was the boast of a bowling alley that swayed us). Turned out to be a wonderful stopover as the clerk was also the chef. He recommended some wonderful traditional Bavarian bier and food...

Apparently this is what Beef Stroganoff is suppose to be...there is no dark gravy or sour cream or noodles. Rather it's with a veggie sauce with all sorts of spices and croquette potatoes. It was delightful.

What London was for me...

2010-03-02T15:31:00.003Z

Chris and I were both very excited to get to London, but for very different reasons. For him it was for the site seeing. For me, it was the lounging, relaxing, and the food. They say that English food is the worst in the world, but I don't agree. I think it's Irish. All the things I learned to love about Irish food was in England and then some. Our first stop upon arrival was at Toby's Carvery for lunch...5 pounds each for all your can eat three meat carvery buffet!

AMAZING!

We were so excited for food we recognized. African food was delicious, but too much of a good thing can get tiresome. Let's dissect what is so amazing about this lunch;

1) Glasses of ICE cold tap water with lemon. That's right...this water is not bottled, not treated with iodine tablets and does not require filtering before you drink it...it simply runs like liquid gold from the faucet into your glass and flows freely and amweba free past your lips! AAAAAAAHHHHH!,

2)Gravy...gravy like a delicious velvet blanket over everything. Let's focus on the awesomeness of the delicate Yorkshire pudding for a moment. Now I will never understand why the English use the word pudding to describe everything they are too lazy to come up with a proper name for, but I'll go with it for now since Yorkshire Pudding is so amazing. Gravy with peas and corn (absent from the plate unfortunately) is also a fav of mine. Reminds me of Thanksgiving...

3) Speaking of T-day; Turkey, stuffing balls, cranberry sauce! Delish!

4) Speaking of meat; turkey, ham and roast beef!

5) Veg; potatoes (of course), roasted swede, carrots, peas and cabbage!

Now they they said it was all you can eat, but Chris and my stomach shrank so much in Africa that this amount of food about burst us right open. So though I longed for more Yorkshire pudding and glorious gravy, I had to just say no!

I didn't venture from the hotel much the whole time we were in London. When I did it was for the food! At the King and Castle Pub I had some lunch, but was intrigued at how many more types of sauce and color for sauce packets there were in England than in Ireland. From left to right, top to bottom: Horseradish sauce, English mustard, French mustard (I don't know why they left out German mustard since it's the far superior one), Mint sauce, Salad cream (excuse me sir, your hogging all the delicious salad cream), Malt Vinegar (put that one in for you Kate), brown sauce (hatche P), ketchup (not pictured)...

Tanzania - Arumeru River Lodge...

2010-03-02T09:23:00.005Z

Chris had the amazing foresight to book a nice, relaxing lodge for a recoup day after all was said and done for the Mt. and Safari before heading back for our Eurotrip. So we stayed at Arumeru River Lodge...most important part, it has a pool!

These are dik-diks! They are the smallest of the gazelle/antelope family. We first saw them during a torrential rain storm our first night there. They were standing like statues under a bush and we thought they were oddly placed lawn ornaments. Nope, they are tiny little speed demons!

These flowers smelled so good!

Avocado tree on the way to our room. It was really hard to resist the urge to pick them and eat them to our heart's content!

I was blown away how large and healthy the aloe plants were...

A river runs through it...

Pool time!

Tanzania is a high-risk malaria country (but mostly on the coast, as we got bit more in South Africa than our whole time in Tanzania), so we had some serious mosquito netting around our bed! We are happy to report that we are finally done with our course of Malarone, malaria meds!

Tanzania - On the way to Ngoragora Nat'l Park...

2010-03-01T22:18:00.006Z

On our way to Ngoragora Nat'l park we went through many little towns were there were hundreds of under ripe bananas being transported on the ladies heads to be sold at market...which was simply the side of the road, where ever shade was to be found.

a banana tree forest in town...

cattle being herded through town...

Chris and I were disappointed we weren't on this safari...

land rover convention...

snacks that will never be as good as Old Dutch Dill Pickle chips...

Masaai warriors...that tried charging us 20,000Ts after they volunteered for this photo!

A Masaai Village where tourists stop and for a "small fee" watch them perform tribal dances and take them on tours of their village. The distribute their earnings amongst all the tribes in Ngoragora...we did not partake in this.

And now to the part I love so much!

These two twiga were sweet on each other!

camels...

Little baby zebra are so beautiful...

For some reason this reminds me of Pawl...

Tanzania - In Ngoragora Crater...

2010-03-01T19:44:00.006Z

When I got this view of Ngoragora Crater I couldn't wait till we were able to see all the animals living in such close proximity with each other. Sanga was pointing out lone bull elephants from here...I could barely make them out as black specs from this vantage point.

Sanga getting the jeep ready. We were the first ones to touch the Crater floor!

Chris is so excited...and he just can't hide it!

Pink flamingos in Africa...

There's that lone bull Sanga pointed out!

A little water won't stand in our way! Not when a land rover is involved! Drove right through it!

We came upon some lioness with two cubs (1 Simba, 1 Nala)

Mama!

Can you feel the love tonight...

Laughing Hyena...

running away with his dinner...

This was something straight out of National Geographic. This mama Wildabeast literally just gave birth to this little calf and before she could pass the amniotic sac...

this hungry jackal was on the prowl...it took three full grown wildabeast (including mama) to protect the little calf, but they were successful!

what are you looking at?

Tanzania - Serengeti Nat'l Park

2010-02-28T10:50:00.009Z

Day two of our safari found us crossing the dry and dusty prairies of the Eastern part of Serengeti Nat'l Park. This was Chris' favorite part our Safari trek. The plains/prairies actually reminded me quite a bit of ND prairie land, except it was peppered with zebra, wildabeast, warthogs, gazelle and elephants instead of cattle.

I wasn't expecting to see storks at all in Africa, especially of so many different varieties.

The zebras in SNP were all about love, love, love!

A large herd of elephant...

Our first pride of lions...

Mufasa...ooooo, say it again! Mufasa!

straight out of the lion king...or is it the other way around?

1 leopard leaping...and a partridge in a pear tree!

Sunrise hot air balloon safari...reminded me of when my dad and I took a hot air balloon ride one Memorial Day weekend, oh so long ago, in Longmont, CO.

My favorite part of this game drive was sunrise over the Serengeti. It's magnificent!

This is my favorite picture of the entire Africa trip!

A Marshall Eagle with his caught prey.

Pumba!

This is a sausage fruit tree. Only monkeys and baboons eat the fruit...they really do look like sausages!

STAMPEDE!

African Bison...Sanga kept getting frustrated with me b/c I kept calling it Water buffalo. ("Not buffalo...bison!")

We knew we were about to see some predatory animal when we came upon the land rover convention...

1 leopard lounging...

Tanzania - Lake Manyara Safari...

2010-02-25T18:06:00.008Z

Day 1 of our 4 day safari saw us in Lake Manyara Nat'l Park...I got really excited when the land rover top was propped up allowing Chris and I to stand for easy viewing!

Baboons...

At the hippo pond. Chris could have stayed all day.

Grant Gazelles...

this little guy hitched a ride with us for 5 minutes...

Zebra...

Pumba (ngiri in swahili)...

giraffe (twiga in swahili)...

elephant...

kissing monkeys... (velvet monkeys)

the king of the baboons...

Tanzania - Mt. Kili...

2010-02-25T17:21:00.008Z

So these are only a fraction of the pictures I took whilst on the mountain...this is already Day5 I believe, but my SD card tweaked out at Lava Tower and all my fav shots are perhaps lost (if some genius computer dude can't help us retrieve them). So this is what you get for now!

This seemed to be a favorite past-time of mine...well it was more out of necessity than want. Handwashing clothes in freezing river water, then hanging them in the foyer of our tent and draping them on our back packs to dry in the sun (that only worked the first three days, till it started raining constantly).

Baranco Camp with the Breakfast Wall in the background. It's called the Breakfast Wall b/c you climb it immediately after breakfast and use so much energy that you want second breakfast at the top (I was only like fourth breakfast by the top). If you look real close you can see tiny specks of people on the wall.

Kili looming ominously...

We were heading to Karanga for a night, then base camp at 15,000ft was Barafu.

Loving the breakfast wall...feeling great, as was Nick, our Mt. Guide. He has summited around 70 times.

On the wall

Yusuph not loving the rain...porters in the background were essentially running up the wall carrying at least 3x more weight then we were at a snail's pace.

The tortoise rock

Finally!

The mess tent at Karanga...Still feeling super doable at this moment in time, however that night I visited the less than desirable "toilet" more times than I care to share, which left me weak and dehydrated. Therefore the hike from Karanga to Barafu with the elevation increase was the only thing my body could handle...

On the descent, after resting, drinking rehydration salts (YUCK!) and force feeding myself b/c I had no appetite which = no energy. We were literally walking into the clouds...it was surreal!

The helipad for rescuing severe AMS cases off the mountain!

Spanish Moss covered Heather plants on the descent.

Finally, after 4 hours of descending we made it to Mweka camp at roughly 10,000ft. It rained the whole way!

Nick, our Mt. guide, so happy at the morning of our final descent... He was a great guide, very knowledgeable, funny and really pushed us when we wanted to give up.

Our team Kilimanjaro crew. There were 11 porters, 1 cook (stomach engineer), 1 assistant guide and 1 Mt. guide...for 3 crazy Americans! They were a great group! Very quality people!

Christmas in VA & NC...

2010-02-24T19:32:00.002Z

So this is a bit out of order, but really felt strongly that you all experience these pictures... I mean how often can you get fried bologna, really?

This is just awesome...the dog is real btw!

MILly & DILly...

Cape Town- Day 9 Two Oceans Aquarium...

2010-02-24T19:22:00.001Z

On our last day in CT...Chris and I visited the Two oceans aquarium. It was interesting to see what animals can live in the conditions of the Atlantic and not the Indian (and vice versa).

Cape Town- Day 8 Buena Vista Social Cafe & Penguin Colony...

2010-02-24T19:08:00.005Z

Pamela, from Cape Fusion Tours, highly recommended this Cuban bar, which was conveniently around the corner from our hotel, so we finally checked it out. So glad we did, it was truly an amazing experience!

I'll take a single malt scotch please...yes, the one on the top shelf that you have to get a ladder out to get. Looks like no one has drank this for a while...could you please dust off the bottle! Only the best for my baby!

A legal Cuban...

and it was oh so smooth!

Thousands and thousands of penguins...cold chillin in the Indian ocean!

They didn't mind us at all!

Cape Town- Day 7b Gold Restaurant...

2010-02-24T18:59:00.003Z

Chris and I wanted to get as much local food as possible, so headed out for some entertainment as well at Gold's Restaurant. We started it all off with a drumming lesson!

Chris was pretty good!

Our appetizers...can't remember their names...

The entertainment was well worth it!

Cape Town- Day 7 Cape Fusion tour...

2010-02-24T18:36:00.007Z

During my research of things to do in Cape Town, I search long and hard for local African Cooking classes. It seems that Cape Fusion Tours is one of the only that provide them and what a service they provide. Pamela picked me up personally and took me to the District 6 (Apartheid) Museum, while giving me it's in-depth history.

This was what a typical home looked like before the destruction. I was, of course, interested in the fact that this was the kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom (the bed is behind me in the corner). There was no stove, simply a gas burner. They got water from the public faucet...

On our way out, we stopped by Charlie's Bakery...you could the sugar in the air coating your skin it was so sweet.

Onward to Langa township outside of CT...it's oldest township. Pictured here are Pamela and Eugene in front of Eziko Restaurant. I won't rant and rave about their amazing grassroots project b/c I've already done so in one of my January entries. So for further information on how these people are changing hundreds of lives see that entry.

Eugene is one of the most enthusiastic foodies I've ever encountered...so much passion for food, for the process, for the ingredients...he's my kind of people!

Pap...called Ugali in Tanzania, but essentially it's white corn polenta, but much drier and more crumbly (I like it better)...

Cooking my lamb stew!

Eugene teaching me how to make the steam dumplings in cabbage leaves...

This is the kitchen for the non-profit school...again, see the other entry for more information.

And here it is...my lamb stew (quite tasty and I'm not a huge fan of lamb).

Semp and beans (my fav). Semp is dried white corn, soaked and cooked for hours till it's the proper consistency. Often they pair it with sugar beans (which are very similar to pinto beans).

blanched butternut squash, sauteed veg and stir fried cabbage and spinach

steam dumplings in cabbage leaves...

We ate family style, with our hands (as it should be...so fun). Eugene was kind enough to share a bottle of wine from a local vineyard (his friend). It didn't even have a label, which is unfortunate b/c it truly was the best red wine I've ever had!

The damage!

Cape Town- Day 6 Winelands tour...

2010-02-24T18:32:00.001Z

We took a tour of the winelands for half a day and though it was quite rushed and not super organized (not like the Cape Peninsula tour), there were some beautiful sites and tasty wine/cheese.

Cape Town- Day 5 Around the Waterfront...

2010-02-24T18:24:00.002Z

One of my favorite pictures...as Chris and I approached the waterfront we found two boats, but this one was kicking ass! That coach was relentless!

The Victoria and Alfred Hotel

So this was at a Dutch restaurant...we were looking at trying some exotic beer and this one also had such an exotic glass that I literally had to give my left shoe as a deposit. I ended up not even liking the beer, but Chris sure did. Luckily, he didn't break or steal it, so I got my shoe back.

Cape Town- Day 4 Table Mountain & Beach day...

2010-02-24T18:09:00.003Z

Katerina, an old co-worker of Chris' from Google Dublin, was in CT the same time we were, so she joined us on another Hop on / Hop off bus tour. She braved a cable car ride up to Table Mountain (she's deathly scared of heights, so was a trooper!)

getting ready for the world cup

a view from the top

going into nothingness

I was pleased to see how thick and sturdy the cables were for the cable cars

Cape Town- Day 3 Around town solo...

2010-02-24T17:50:00.004Z

Chris was off threatening great white sharks this day, so I took to the town solo...here is what I saw:

This group was performing some traditional dance and song. Pretty cool.

Thought of you, dad, when I saw this...your impression of the pop-eye hamburger dude came to mind!

The trees in the Company gardens were breathtaking

random pub to get a beer and a tatoo

Camps Bay from the bus

Later I met up with Chris to spend time in our favorite joint in CT...Cafe Wired!

Cape Town- Day 2 Cape Peninsula Tour...

2010-02-24T17:31:00.003Z

Our second day in CT saw us on a tour of the Cape Peninsula with African Eagle tours. Our guide was really wonderful and our over all experience that day was great. I would recommend them for this tour.

Here are the 12 Apostle mountains...which is interesting b/c there are actually 17 peaks, but Liz thinks the others are simply back up singers! he-he

In Hout Bay on the was to Seal Island...

shy guy

It was really something to see thousands of seals...it was really something to smell as well!

Hout Bay in the background. (for the record, I'm squinting into the sun)

We stopped by an ostrich farm...I immediately bought the biltong (jerky)

Chris took a different approach and fed the birds instead!

hand carved...

ride em...hippo

Cape Town- Day 1 Camps Bay...

2010-02-24T17:11:00.004Z

Chris and I arrived in Cape Town full of energy and oh so excited about all the sun and warmth that we missed the whole time we were in Dublin. So first thing we did was hop on the Hop on / Hop off bus. What a great tour of Cape Town and not too expensive. We saw everything and got a taste of what we were going to want to spend time doing the next week. We hopped off at Camps Bay, the beach that often sees celebs.

We ate at Bungalow restaurant...I had the Ostrich Medallions

Chris had the mussels (I ate some too). They were AMAZING!

Turns out the Atlantic ocean is bitingly cold!

But the white sand was hot and beautiful!

Last days in Dublin...

2010-02-24T16:40:00.004Z

So our last days in Dublin, back in January, were actually quite glorious b/c we got the snow I missed during Christmas. It was incredibly cold, but I didn't mind b/c there was snow everywhere and everywhere I looked everyone was loving it. All of a sudden all these Irish people had full snow suits and I kept wondering, with snow every 15 years (on average), why would you have them and where do you have room to store them? But they were getting full use the last weeks.

Here is the fountain outside our old apt

On the way to Herbert Park

My favorite walk in HP

The duck pond in Herbert Park...it was frozen solid (poor fishy) so the kids were running and playing all over it. Most of the adults were pretty hesitant to adventure out onto it, but when they saw me running and playing they were much braver. The way I figure it, the pond is 2.5 feet deep, so if I "fall through" I get my ankles wet at most!

There was a group of business people who took the time to build this impressive snow man and dog during their lunch break. They were very proud of themselves, and rightly so.

Somebody lost their awesome stuffed dog...

Cape Fusion tour and cooking class....

2010-01-28T09:51:00.003Z

Yesterday recharged my batteries and forced the heavy history of apartheid on me. Pam, the wonderful woman behind Cape Fusion Tours, picked me up and started explaining the grim history of the people of Cape town. We headed for the District 6 Museum where she finished the history of what lead up to and happened during Apartheid. I was one of those people who was not educated around this issue and naively thought that this occurred many years ago. Perhaps even during America's history with Civil Rights. I was mistaken. This prejudice and discrimination was occurring from the 1960's clear through to 1990. The segregation and poverty this caused is something the country of South Africa is still fighting today. On the Winelands tour Chris and I took part in a couple days ago, we drove past the "townships" of Cape Town, as they call them. These townships are not towns at all, but simply shacks that people put up b/c their homes were taken away from them. Many of them further along the highway are migrants from neighboring S. African countries who have moved their families in the hopes of finding work in the big city of Cape Town. Their hopes are usually dashed almost immediately, as Cape Town is experiencing an unemployment rate of 50% for the Black and Colored population. The reason for this is that during apartheid, the government kept those populations uneducated so they would not rise up to overthrow, as they are the majority. Therefore, there is a huge number of uneducated who are then, in turn, unemployed. They simply wait on street corners for someone to drive by and give them work (ie: washing their car for 2o rand which equals roughly 2 euro, so they can buy bread to feed their family that day). With the World Cup fastly approaching the gov't is frantically trying to build gov't housing within these townships that replace the "eyesore" of the shacks and put the people in proper housing with electricity, flushing toilets and running water. There are simply too many townships for them to get this done before the tourists roll in.

Pam, being extremely knowledgeable in this history, wanted to make a difference through her tour company. She learned of a grassroots project in the oldest of the Cape Town Townships, called Langa. Victor and his student, Eugene, grew up and lived their whole lives in Langa. They found a love of food and cooking. Eugene went to school for it on a flook and went into Cape Town to learn how the culinary world worked. In the meantime, Victor started the Eziko Restaurant and Non-profit cooking school. Eziko, as Eugene explained to me, is an African word meaning place of gathering where friends and family eat together, almost like a feast. They built these places out of shipping containers (metal), to remain in the spirit of the shacks the gov't were tearing down, b/c it was a pat of their people's history. The cooking school, being non-profit, accepts up to 12 students from all over the world, but mostly African countries, who meet the criteria each term. I looked through the curriculum and was impressed at how similar the program was to mine at CSR. They are the only two teachers and once they have covered the theory and hands-on curriculum, they then do practical placements that ensure the students will have jobs at the end of it. This is making a difference at the heart of it. They are not only helping people find jobs, but also educating them to ensure they can keep those jobs, as well as move up in the ranks. Due to the recession and poor marketing schemes, Eziko School and Cape Fusion are struggling to stay afloat. They had to close their doors for the first time in November 2009. Luckily, they have been blessed with sponsors for the upcoming February term and are able to start up again, but they are still in desperate need for financial assistance and donations of materials and equipment.

Part of what Pam is doing is taking people (foodies) like me on these historical tours that end up in Langa, where Eugene then teaches you how to cook the traditional food of his people at Eziko Restaurant. Eugene is so passionate about cooking. Once he learned I had had formal training (half way through the lesson), he kept saying to me, "Keep spreading the gospel".

He walked me through Bredie (lamb stew), Pap (white corn porridge, similar to polenta but so much tastier), semp and beans (semp is white corn as a whole grain that is dried, then boiled with salt for many hours), stir fried cabbage & spinach, vegetables and blanched butternut squash. The final thing we made were cabbage wrapped dumplings, similar to their steam bread, but without yeast. It was a feast for 10 people, but the three of us sat down with some of the most delicious red wine I've ever tasted and feasted with our hands, sharing the food together. What an invigorating day. Though it started out heavy, it was wonderful to see that people are working hard, with no financial gain for themselves, to turn the circumstances of their people around. I want to become a part of this grassroots movement once I settle in America! If you are interested in learning more about it just e-mail me and I will pass along the links.

Once home, Chris and I realized it was our last night for experiencing traditional African cuisine in Cape Town, so we headed out to the Opulent African Gold Restaurant. Immediately we took part in the drumming session, then were escorted to our prime seats for experiencing the three rounds of Traditional African costumes, singing and dancing throughout our set meal. The people were friendly and in love with TX, it turned out. The food was decent (not quite the quality as the Africa Cafe), but the ambiance was superb. I loved the music and performances. It was a wonderful day, all around!

Cape Malay Cooking...

2010-01-25T20:33:00.002Z

So I finally had my first cooking class today. It was a 1:1 class with Gamidah in the extremely colorful and traditional neighborhood of Bo-Kaap. Gamidah was really very nice and showed me some really awesome things. We made Roti bread (Cape Malay style, not the same as the Indian style Roti bread Chris and I had in Fiji for our honeymoon). She also showed me chicken curry from scratch with oh-so-fresh spices! Finally, we made Cape Malay style samosas, which are also very different than Indian style Samosas. I actually like them better. So now I can make them at home. I was sent home with the recipes and step by step details of how to make everything, so when Chris and I visit or finally settle somewhere, guess what you'll be eating for supper. I have my second cooking class on Wednesday...

Our plan for the afternoon was to explore the Bo-Kaap neighborhood a bit, then walk to the train station, buy a ticket and take the train down to Simons town where we would venture up to the Penguin Colony. We ended up not hitting the train station till what appeared to be rush hour...everything was mass chaos and we didn't end up doing that. Instead we walked down to the Waterfront (the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront) and took pictures of sun-bathing seals, ventured through local shops and had a lovely dinner at a Belgian themed restaurant on the waterfront at sunset (umm romantic). Tomorrow it's a full day Wine tour! Such fun we are having.

Walking the Walk...

2010-01-23T16:59:00.002Z

Our third day in Cape Town saw Chris and I doing our own things. Chris opted for super lame and unadventurous diving with Great White sharks (he's so boring and predictable!). I chose to get my beauty sleep and be a woman about town! After breakfast, I headed down to the Hop on/ Hop off bus and did exactly that on various spots along the route. The best spot was The Company Gardens which were like a botanical gardens except free! So many people spending time with their loved ones, the scenery so beautiful! It was an oasis in the middle of metopolis! I applied my sunscreen at least 6 times again. Definitely getting sun, but seemingly avoiding getting full-on sunburned! I loved the sites again, but this time listened to the commentary the bus provides and learned a bit of history too. I got off on stop #15 and walked the rest of the way home. It was quite beautiful, but I felt like I was a foosball ball being bounced back and forth between street vendors and people asking for money and selling this and that. I have said the phrases "no, sorry" and "no thank you, I'm not interested" about 100 times today. They don't approach as much when I'm with Chris, so I'm going to try to stick with him from now on! Plus I love him, so that won't be hard!

Today was the grand opening ceremonies at the new soccer stadium and first match ever in the stadium. They built the stadium for hosting the World Cup come June 2010. It's quite the energy in the street and all around. People blowing horns and whistles and shouting with pride and excitement! People who attended are so proud that they will be able to say to their children they were at the first game. This is a historical moment for Cape Town. It's a fun energy to be around!

Tomorrow...beach day!

Bye-bye dub...

2010-01-22T17:19:00.002Z

Bye-bye rain's caress, Hello happiness, I think I'm gonna smile! So I may have changed the words a bit, but considering the circumstances I think it's appropriate! So Chris and my time in Dublin came and went. It was a flurry of stressful packing and last minute this and that, but we made all our flights and have been spending that last two lovely days in Cape Town, in the height of summer! WOOHOO! Summer, sun, warmth, ocean beaches! It's magnificent! So far...well, do you have a minute? It's only been two days and we've done so much! We opted for the Hop On, Hop Off bus tour (red line) to take us up to Table Mountain in a cable car. The drive through the city was really great (we were sitting on the top, getting sunburned even though we applied sunscreen like 6 times), the wind blowing through our hair! Great views only to find out that the cable car was having technical difficulties, so we hopped right back on and had a lovely lunch at the Bungalow restaurant right on the beach at Camp's Bay. Mussels, Ostrich medallions, lovely salads and LOTS of water! After, we strolled for quite some time on the beach, only getting our feet wet. The water was so cold it was literally painful. Now we have both in the Pacific Ocean, which can hold it's own when it comes to being cold, but this water...you know how if you put your feet in really cold water it takes your breath away right away, but then your feet just sort of go numb and it becomes bearable? Well, they just wouldn't go numb...they just kept being painful. Chris described it perfectly as being a dull ache of cold straight through to the bone, over and over again (because we kept stepping in and back out).

We finished yesterday with a trip to the grocery store (the Pick-n-Pay). It was hard to do the conversions in my head on whether or not 64rand was too much to pay for fresh blueberries. Turns out it was not. Even if the conversion says it is, they are the most delicious blueberries I've ever tasted. All the produce is from South Africa. They are a self-sustaining country for the most part. And, yes, we went to the grocery store on the first day! Of course we did, have you ever met me?

That brings us to today. We booked a full day Peninsula tour last minute for today and were picked up right on time. There were 11 of us total. We saw many beaches, got a lot of history (our tour guide was great), and had many stops that were perfectly planned. We took a boat ride out to Seal Island from Hout Bay and saw thousands of seals sun bathing and playing with each other...it was very cool, though didn't smell great. We made it to an Ostrich Farm where I purchased Ostrich jerky (or biltong as they call is here). I'm saving it for our climb up Kili, but am excited to try it. Chris' first stop was to reception to pick up a bag of feed. We fed two adults (one male, one female) and got some great pictures! The baby ostrich were so cute and playful. We couldn't feed them though.

Next stop, Cape Point, where Chris and I took too long having lunch and didn't make it to the lighthouse, but got our pictures next to the sign anyway. That didn't matter though b/c we got to the Cape of Good Hope (the south-western most part of Africa) and got a picture of us toasting. It was suppose to be us toasting with our nalgenes, but I forgot to grab mine so it's his nalgene and my plastic water bottle. Very classy!

We finished up the tour with a stop to the Penguin Colony in Simons Town (which we will absolutely be returning to later this week) and the Kirsenbosch Botanical Gardens. We were ready to head back to the hotel, but had a grand day. We are both having a grand time and are glad we are spending so much time in Cape Town. On our list of things to do the rest of our time here: Cooking classes (of course), diving (of course), tour of the winelands, Table Mountain, the aquarium, Penguin Colony, the beach and who know what else...isn't that enough?

As for pictures...we will do our best to get some up, but it likely won't happen with any sort of consistency until we are in Europe, as the web cafe (though conveniently located) is a bit pricey for taking as long as it does to upload anything. So for now, the stories are what you get...this is your exercise in using your imaginations. I hope the pictures live up to your imaginations!

Full of Excuses...

2010-01-11T20:02:00.002Z

As I sit here, eating my Chana Masala, I realize how long it's been since I have done a proper post, or any post at all for that matter, on my blog. I know I get extremely frustrated when a blog I check frequently doesn't update their posts. So, here it is...the best I can do at this moment in my life. Chris and I are preparing for our departure from Ireland. It is, as Kate Kapus described it, bittersweet, as we have learned a great deal, met wonderful and hopefully life-long friends and gone on some amazing adventures in our own backyard. We have also experienced the hardships of this recession, being so far away from friends and family and some of the less enjoyable, day-to-day things about living in a foreign country. So as we say goodbye to our friends, walk through Herbert Park one last time, eat at this restaurant and have lunch at that cafe, one more time, we will be saying hello to a new chapter in our lives. We will be saying hello to the adventures of Cape Town, South Africa (diving with sharks and seals, swimming with penguins, attending local cooking classes...you can guess who is doing what). We will be tackling a grand adventure on the highest free standing peak in the world followed by a sightseeing safari in the Serengeti. Then it's off to Europe...with no plans...just flying by the seat of our pants... Adventures await us, but in the planning and preparing I have not had time to post the pictures from the fabulous visit from Kate and Kyle... or Chris and my trip to VA for Christmas (or mine to NC). I haven't been able to post the pictures of the snow that just wouldn't leave Ireland alone (their snow flakes are hail pellets...) and all the snowmen that cheered me on as I walked across Herbert Park's frozen Duck pond. But, I assure you, we will have some down time during our travels, so I will do my best to get these and future pictures posted! That is my promise to you! Till then!

Tacoma 6 - Peter, Peter pizza eater...

2009-12-03T11:42:00.000Z

I was fortunate enough to spend a whole day out in Seattle Center with my eldest nephew, Peter. He is a sponge for education, especially anything science related, so I took him on a couple buses from Tacoma Dome Station to the Pacific Science Center. Before we started exploring the land of dinosaurs, tide pools, insects and butterflies, we made a pit stop for the only thing he requested all day...Pizza. Lucky for us, there happened to be a youth orchestra in the food court doing a holiday concert. As most of you know, Peter has a great interest in violins and has started taking lessons to learn how to play it himself. This is the only time I've ever had to encourage him to eat his pizza, as he was so mesmerized by the performance. He was pretty excited about the concert!

Pete loved the butterfly house. We had a butterfly chart in which we would find the names of the various butterflies flying freely around us without inhibition. He thought they were all pretty cool, but his favorite were the big brown ones that looked like they had eyes on the outside, but when they opened their wings it was electric blue!

Notice the lack of two front teeth...makes him even more adorable!

We learned about what they eat and got to watch them unroll their massively long tongues (comparatively to their body size) and pull the nectar out of the fruit.

When we were done at the Pacific Science Center, we headed over to the Space Needle.

Pete loved the different ships we could see in the harbor. He was most fascinated with the barges (pictured). He also loved his hot chocolate and lovely snack mom packed for us.

Seattle with Mt. Rainier in the background...

Sunset...it was only like 3:45p.

Once the sun went down Pete got pretty cold pretty fast, so we improvised and made him into a little Babushka.

A sign of a good day!

(on the bus ride home)

The whole family met us at the bus stop and took us out to Vien Dong for some great Vietnamese food. Everyone in the family loved the complimentary tea!

Patrick telling us about his day!

Like mother like son!

I had such a wonderful time not only in Tacoma but in all the places I visited on this US tour! But this does conclude my postings for it!

Thanks again to everyone who took the time out to put me up and visit with me, I really appreciate it and really enjoyed myself!

Tacoma 5- Rebecca and the Chocolate Factory...

2009-12-02T21:58:00.001Z

I took Rebecca for a girls day out at Theo's Chocolate Factory. For a mere $6/person you get an hour long tour through factory, learn where and how coc0a beans grow and how their chocolate is made. It's pretty amazing. The best part...eating way more than $6 worth of free samples. Or was it the sexy blue hair nets (complimentary with the tour).

Roaster from Germany from like 1967 or something...

Roasted cocoa beans from Ghana...

nibs...shells...cocoa butter...and the final product...the nectar of the gods...

The confection room where they were making ganache chocolates...

When they make any kind of bar that has any add in flavors (anything other than a solid chocolate bar that is), they hand mix in the add in...

Here he's mixing in the chili powder...that's a lot of chili powder...

pouring it into the machine that spits the chocolate into the molds...

The packaging room...we weren't allowed in there.

We really had a great time and learned a lot. After the factory we made our way to Whole Foods where we delighted in the warm buffet bars. It was a good day!

Tacoma 4 - Move over Bavaria...

2009-12-01T08:16:00.000Z

Rebecca wanted to get some stuff done around the house, so Peter, Patrick and I were kept occupied with some pretzel making. My first time, so Peter and Patrick helped me out. They are expert rollers after all...

They weren't too keen on the traditional pretzel shape, so we had a menagerie of letters and shapes...

You boil them for a short time in baking soda water at a rolling boil...

Then bake them to a Golden brown...

This is what was left of our three batches that afternoon...even less by the evening. I believe only four made it to the next day, but definitely not beyond that.

We learned they are quite tasty with good old mustard...although a nice cheese sauce would have been perfect too!

During the cooking of the last batch, we kept ourselves busy with a game of hide-n-seek. Peter and Patrick were pretty tricky hiding in the same place each time...but getting just as excited about me finding them each time, so I had to video the last time!

Enjoy!

Tacoma 3 - NW Trek...

2009-12-01T07:39:00.000Z

On that Saturday, Rebecca, the boys and I left Mat to his slumbering self and met up with Liz and her two children for some wildlife adventures at NW Trek. We started the day with some picnic lunch of PB&J, zucchini pickles and cheese and apple slices.

The kids got along really well. Actually, Peter seemed quite smitten with Mariel (pictured below). It's easy to see why.

First thing we did was go on an hour long tram ride throughout their "free roaming, herbivore" area where we saw Bison, Roosevelt Elk, Moose, Longhorn sheep, mountain goats and many other creatures.

Look at that there elk little lady...that thing's HUGE!

(thank you little Elvis)

Once we were done with the tram, we walked around the trails to the various viewing areas to see the bears, wolves, big cats (cougars, lynxes...), racoons, wolverines, badgers, beavers, river otters and such carnivores at those. Oh, we also took in some bird sightings of barn and great horned owls and Golden and Bald eagles.

We treated ouselves to some Sonic (good old American food...am I right?) where I left the kids with Rebecca whilst Liz and I caught up in her vehicle...

Once home, the boys were extremely excited to show papa all the stuff we saw on their map, plus tell all the stories of the animals.

Pete was pretty content just sitting on the couch, sipping on his treat of sugary drink. They slept pretty hard that night!

Tacoma 2 - Mat's wound...

2009-12-01T07:23:00.000Z

As previously mentioned...Mat had reconstructive knee surgery. I helped him with the dressing one day...this is what it looked like. When I redressed it, I may have been a bit too liberal with the tape for the gauze...that ended up being pretty painful for him next day, as it tore off a good deal of his leg hair. Sorry Mat...although I think it was pay back for all the times he pestered me in his own special way when we were kids ;)

The boys were pretty interested in seeing dad's wound...although I'm not sure what they made of it.

Tacoma 1 - Around the house...

2009-12-01T07:05:00.000Z

Mat had knee surgery the day before my arrival so there was plenty of time for naps.

I love a kid who requests apples as a snack...

Rebecca's duty of making the fire...I took it over by the end of my trip as I loved gathering the wood from the wood pile in back, wheel barreling it up to the front and starting up the fire. It's good, honest manual labor and quite meditative. Plus, the former was always a great way to spend 1:1 time with either Patrick or Peter since they had their own "wheel barrel" for helping out and it always ended in a wheel barrel ride. It was difficult for Patrick to pick up the wheel barrel to give me a ride, but Peter did fine ;)

These two played so well together!

Peter and I read about wolves all over North America, therefore he became a wolf during much of his play. The laundry basket was his cage.

This little guy sure liked the phone...

Lot's of putting it to his ear and saying something that sounded similar to "hello."

Guys...can you keep it down, I'm on the phone! Sheesh!

I spotted a real cowboy during my visit...that was an unexpected surprise for me!

Of course many boardgames were played while enjoying Rebecca's delicious stove popped popcorn. Later she let it slip that they typically enjoy popcorn as a Sunday treat, where as we had it almost every night I was there. I reminded her how much of a treat it was to have me there everyday, therefore the popcorn was still a treat! I beat Mat in Backgammon making me the Grand Champion of the World. I was not so lucky in Qwirkle...which is my new fav game...and Rebecca and I tied 1:1 for Catan! Good times as usual!