Anne's Blog

One for 30 Information

2012-01-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

I was nicely asked to put a little something about a friend of mine. So here it is:
Go to her Blog and you will find a LOT of cool stuff, she is a very creative Photographer (should I even say that she take after me, even though we are not related?) Not being over confident here!! (Hey, one can always dream that one will inspire someone else in the beauty of photography)!
Anyway, she is also a writer and can't seem to put her keyboard out of reach. Seem like she tell the world that she will stop blogging/writing/Facebooking for a while, and after 5mn, she start all over again with a Better Blog!! So... If you need Inspiration, A smile on your face, or just out of pure Boredom, just head to her blog and check it out. I am sure you won't regret it!!

Mist and Lilies

Find your prop and get ready to stretch your photography-mind!

One for 30 Challenge. Starting in February over at MistandLilies.com.

Click Mist and Lilies: One for 30 for more information!

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Just because

2011-10-11T23:15:00.001-07:00

For all my fellow photographer out there, Thought you would enjoy this one!! I know I did!! OH and the video.. Priceless!!!

7 Obnoxious Things People Believe About Photographers

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I heart Faces, Water Photo Challenge

2011-07-24T23:36:00.000-07:00

I have seen this button in many other photographer blog, and I decided to try to get my brain working into some challenge. So my first entry will be the "Water" challenge and I can only think of ONE pictures that I love so much of Miss Morgane.

We were visiting my mother and the kids were playing outside in the garden with the "Water Clown" (you know the one that has a hat that goes up and down with the pressure of the water jet) well anyway, she was getting cold and I thought it would be a cute picture, so I asked her to look at me, and VOILA!!! Doesn't she look like a little fairy that she is??

I heart Faces

Oh and just for the fun of it, I am putting up this little video of the "sea" that was sang LONG time ago by Charles Trenet (Singer Poet) I love that song!! Oh and I thought the pictures were kinda cool too!!

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Hohenschwangau Bavaria

2011-06-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

Neuschwanstein Germany!! Or should I say the Sleeping Beauty Castle aka place that was built by Crazy Ludwig (Second of the name but First of the crazy, or maybe not)! No offend intended we all have some of those members in our family, and if you think you don’t they are probably buried in a long lost closet somewhere in a deep forest!!
Anyway, since it is one of the most visited castle in Germany we thought that

it was something we needed to do. So since we were in Bavaria, we decided to go there. Well what I didn’t know is that his parents had a little “vacation castle” next door!! LOL

So when we arrived and saw how long the line was to get to the Neuschwanstein Castle we decided to go ahead and go visit the “Parents” residence “Hohenschwangau” and then after eating lunch go to the White castle up the hill!! Well this decision was made BEFORE the cloud came and ruined everything for us!!

As you can see in the pictures it was a pretty sunny day to begin with… unfortunately

it change to rain storm pouring down on us as we were exiting the guided tour of the castle.
However we had some fun (as fun as a 30mn tour in a rush with a Guide who

spoke with a very thick German accent, and doesn’t let you take ANY pictures inside!!)
So we decided that we will come back another day when the tourist season isn’t at its peak

and hopefully we will be able to go to the Sleeping Beauty Castle to find out if

Ludwig was that crazy or only a Genius to want to live in such a paradise of a place!!

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Garmish vs Fussen

2011-06-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Garmish is a place where many of our neighbors speak about. Anytime there is a vacation destination in the Alps, Garmish comes up!! So when in Bavaria we thought we will see what the BIG DEAL it was about Garmish!! Well call me a total weirdo (which I KNOW I am) but other than the beautiful GORGEOUS view of the mountain I didn’t find the hotel amazing.

OK I didn’t go and see the room, we only saw the lobby, gift shop, bar, and restaurant

(which wasn’t THAT good either, the restaurant that is) So I do understand that the place the hotel is located, is incredibly beautiful! And that I bet that you can do a lot of activities in the Garmish area!! But I still believed that we didn’t have to be staying in the hotel that most of our neighbors stayed in!!

So I went online a few weeks earlier and found a “what looked like” a perfect family place!
When we pulled in the hotel we thought... Oh oh!! As of Oh man maybe we found the perfect WRONG place to stay!! Matt was very much not really happy at the sight of the hotel!

Got the key, entered our room, and as I took in the room and the view I HAD to run in the windowless hallway to prepare Matt. I got him to believe that it was going to be AWFULL and then he enter the room and saw that:

The room that we got was a small apartment, 2 bedrooms, and small kitchen/ living/dining area with a sofa bed. We fell in love with the hotel. Pretty cheap for a 5 persons hotel room in Europe! About the same price as the cheapest room at the “other” hotel! AND look at the view!! We stayed up watching those mountain until it was completely dark! AND I had to set my alarm to the first light so that I could come up and take pictures of our gorgeous view with the sun rise!!
So here it is: I am wrong or what? Don’t you think it is beautiful!!
We are going back for sure... Maybe when snow is on the ground so that we can see how beautiful it would be!!!

Sneaky daughter in Brittany

2011-05-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

The 3rd Weekend of May is the Mother’s day weekend! I was going to go visit my mama on the Monday after Mother’s day, but decided instead to surprise her. I called my brother and told him that I was wanted to surprise my “Mutti” on Sunday morning instead of showing up on the Monday evening. So I drove all day on Saturday, arrived in Auray on the evening and went to hide for the night at my brother’s house. We went to my mother’s house on Sunday for lunch, and as my brother and his family got in, I stayed behind and called her from my cell. She answer and I started a conversation with her like, I was just calling her to say Happy Mother’s day! Then I opened the house and asked her on the phone what she was doing? And telling her that I’d rather have a hug in person. She saw me and started crying!! :-(Both my brother and I were shocked that she would react like that, but she was thrilled, and I was happy to have been a sneaky daughter!! ;-)

I then stayed all week to help her start with some project of sorting the family paper and archives. And those were just taken during our little break time!

Recreation Plaza in a French Junior High!

(The building is where the class are held) Catholic School (Vannes France)

One of the best delicacy in Brittany France. The Kouign-amann is a super buttery fluffy cake that you will die for! (Best to eat in Brittany warm with a nice view of the ocean!! )

Have some kids that don’t want to share their breakfast bowl with their sibling, a nice litte souvenir from Brittany is a Named one!! Love those!!

Celtic Harpist in Vannes France!

Paper Boat in front of a real one!! Just love the idea!

"Celebration" or "Code" flags??

Toothbrush?? Anyone??

And of course who could leave without eating the best of Artichoke in all of France?

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Photo shot with Kim

2011-05-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

With the HCSC Photoclub, we sometime go and meet for some shooting (and no animals has suffer from any of our... shooting!) So on of those days that we were going to do just that! My oldest ask if I could take pictures of him before he removed his dreadlocks, so I text miss Kim,

Shop Talk Fun Heidelberg Germany Photographer Kim Kravitz Photography Heidelberg, Germany Boudoir, Wedding, Senior, and Couple Photographer

And we all went there. While Kim and Jenn were busy taking picture of the beautiful Annika. I took some of Handsome boy! LOL Here what I got as a final product.

I however don't shoot as good as Kim, and you probably saw her AWESOME shot of Damien jumping if you followed the link. And if you haven't seen it yet, GO GO!!! You won't regret it!

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Neckar Cruise mandatory Fun

2011-05-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

So every so often we have to have "Mandatory" fun! This month it was to go
on the Neckar river on a boat cruise (which was so lame, I am telling you.) Being stuck in a boat for 1 hour, just to go around to be able to drink beer for those gentlemen... Sorry, not what I call my kind of fun! LOL

Well at least I had my handy dandy camera and was able to pass the time by doing what I love to do... Taking pictures! LOL So here are a few of those!! Hope you enjoy them!

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Florence

2011-04-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

Matt last visit in Florence was a very bad one. The pollution in town was just awful, and
since he almost suffer from an allergy attack in Rome, we decided that it would be better
for him to stay at the villa for the day, while I took my mother to walk around Firenze.We cruise around the Via Del Purgatorio (fitted for me don't you think?) LOL
Discover a cool sign next to it! LOL
And finally made it to the famous Bridge!

Cruised some more! Had to get some fresh fruit!!

And discovered a pretty handsome view! (You decide what it is!) ;-)

And made it to the Duomo which was just incredible!!

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Abbazio di San Galgano

2011-04-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

Driving for a short while along the SS73 southwest of Siena you will get to San Galgano Abbey which dates back to the 13th century. At present it is in very bad conditions yet what remains shows how magnificent it was in its Gothic splendour. The admission to the abbey, one of Italy’s most remarkable ones is free.
In Val d’Elsa the monks of Abbey San Galgano used to administer justice and keep
the books of the municipalities of Volterra and Siena. Therefore they were very
influential in building Siena’s Duomo and exercised authority over
between Siena and Volterra. Sir John Hawkwood pillaged valuables from the Abbazia San Galgano twice or
maybe more in the 1300s. Disrepair increased and in the 1500s the Cistercian
monks of the abbey were not as powerful and rich as centuries before. In the 18th century the bell tower and the ceiling vaults caved in.
Today the abbey has no roof but its stone and brick walls have survived
the centuries and keep watch of the landscape around. By the church are the vestiges of the monastery and cloisters where today a tourist office is housed (tel. 0577 75 67 38; open 10.30am-7pm Easter-Oct).
The abbey plays host to summer concerts which the Accadema Musicale Chigiana supports.
At first the monks used to be housed in the Cappella di Monte Siepi which watches over the abbey later constructed by the Cistercian monks on a lower level. This minute and round Romanesque chapel was frescoed by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. His theme was San Galgano‘s life events. Unfortunately they are in quite bad conditions. San Galgano, to whom Saint Michael appeared, spent the last years of his life in here as if it was a hermitage. According to legends, the sword stuck on the floor meant that he would never surrender to earthly pleasures.

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Sienna

2011-04-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Sienna on a beautiful sunny day. We headed toward the center of the town.

Our first stop was at the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Church.

We went inside and I was sneakie and took pictures. I wasn't suppose to be doing that, (and got reminded about it by the nicest church caregiver ever... NOT!!) however it didn't stopped me!

The front door was pretty interesting too!!

We went to the center of town and Rafael and Mutti climbed the tower.

Then we went around town and discovered some more!!

the next picture is one of my favorite from the day, I called it:
What do Italian men talk about while in front of a pretty car?

Bellisima Sienna

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Pisa

2011-04-10T08:13:00.001-07:00

And here we are in Pisa, Rafael had to do the usual typical Pisa Tower pose.
It was very cute the way he was wanted to hold it right away! LOL

I dragged my "excited" family inside the Duomo, look at them so happy to be there!

At least they had a nice view no??

Wall of the Cemetery from the Baptistry

Marble Closeup!!

Rafael Closeup!!

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Tuscany Agritourismo

2011-04-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

This is our beautiful Villa that house the appartment that we stayed in, you can go to the website and rent it for a week or more, and they have lots of different size appartments.
Agriturismo Chiusdino Siena vacanze in Toscana » La Chiusa

The view from our bedroom!! Gotta love it!

The little village of Chiusdino from our villa.

Early morning from our entry floor!

Even the Roster participate with the waking up... even in the afternoon!!

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Casino

2011-04-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

Our plan was to sleep in Cassino, drive to Rome and then come back after a day of visiting Rome.
Then sleep another night in Cassino and drive to Naples to go visit Pompeii!
Well we had a change of plan on our second visiting destination. We decided that going to Naples was going to be a little too long, so we ended up going to visit Monte Cassino.

For those of you who don't know about the battle of Monte Cassino here is some infos:
Monte Cassino
It was pretty awesome as we went up the hill.
Fog all over, and not small spot, you can see how thick it was. We couldn't see too far!!Between September, 1943 and May, 1944 the town was occupied by the Germans. The Germans had a great strategic position - on the mountain - and were able to see the entire area. The Allied Forces made many unsuccessful attempts to conquer Monte Cassino. Finally after a battle that lasted seven days, the Polish soldiers overtook the German army. 860 Polish soldiers died and 2800 were wounded in that fierce battle. The battle also resulted in the bombing of the monastery. More than a thousand Polish soldiers are buried in the Polish cemetery located on the mountain across from the abbey. The town of Cassino and the Benedictine Abbey were rebuilt after the war. After we paid our respect to those Polish soldiers who lost their life.We headed up the hill to the Abbey to visit it! It was just incredible. Everyone know that the Italian are amazing on their architecture.
This abbey was a pile of dust and rock at the end of WWII, and take a look of what it is now. Just amazing!!While visiting the inside of the Church, we could hear singing coming up from the
basement of the church, so we headed down and came up to the most
beautiful mosaic covered walls and ceiling.
A little picture that my mother took, just for you to see that I do exist, it isn't just a automatic flying camera that use the Happy Trigger Finger!! See it is I in my blue turban! LOL

We left early afternoon to get to our villa. Next stop the Tuscany hills!!

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Rome

2011-04-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

We are in Rome. Of course on our way there, Matt had to get a HUGE allergy reaction to the pollution in the air. So just to make sure that he was OK, we started up next to the St Sebastian Catacombs. We were lucky enough to be greeted by a nice Roman delivery man, who warned us about guys that were breaking in cars to steal whatever was in cars. So, since I already had visited those Catacomb, I stayed in the car while Matt, the kids and my mother went to visit the church and catacombs. I was reading my book when this happen, couldn't resist!

Matt after his little visit under ground, was feeling much better with his allergy
and so we went on the discovery of Rome for the day.
We found a garage not too far from the Coliseum, and since it was already lunch time,
stopped at a little restaurant and watch Gladiator walking up and down the street.
Our kids were having a good old time!
Meanwhile I was very impressed by the way Romans parked! Gotta love this!

It was so funny watching those Italian Gladiator calling on cute girls that walked by them.
We did do the tour of the Coliseum which was amazing to go back for me!
Then we walked across from it to the old ruin
Had to take a picture with the little family.
Next to the Garage, my mother playing with the birds! LOL

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Italy Trip Switzerland

2011-04-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

Spring break is here!! Whoohooo!!! And we are on our way to Bellisima Italy
And so, you know what that mean?? The hills are alive with the song.....

So we are going up and down the hills, and in and out of the tunnels!

Snowed cover top.
And green field ready for the sheep to come along!! So pretty!!

Ural Bike

2011-04-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Those who know us, know that Matt has a URAL Motorcycle. Well he loves to be in Germany, because we live not far from a garage that is specialized in Ural repair (and I will spare you the stories of the many repairs that happen in the lifetime of his motorcycle)
So I went to pick him up after he dropped off "Tricky" to Tony's garage. And I couldn't resist taking a few pics of the other bike!!

Maulbronn Monastery

2011-03-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

Many people have told me about the Maulbronn Monastery,

I read a few post on Expat in Germany. So, this weekend we decided to offer our friend Larry to come along with us. A fellow photographer: Ági's blog told me to get there in the middle of spring time so that I could get the Magnolia tree in bloom. So we headed there and… Here is what we saw!!

We didn't see the Magnolia tree in full bloom, so I am heading back next spring for sure as it is a beautiful little village and the monastery is just amazing! Also the fact that I am hoping that the construction that was going on in the Chapel will be done by then (hoping) :-)

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Schwetzingen Blossom

2011-03-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

The cherry trees are in bloom. It is as usual beautiful. We went several time, had too, it is just so pretty…So here are a few pictures of those times. You can see that the flowers give joy to the people who are admiring! It is so cool!! We came upon a group of girls that were dress up in “Manga” characters and that were taking pictures of themselves! Morgane was so excited!! She loves Manga and that was like heaven for her!!
Love is in the air you can see lover’s enjoying the beauty of spring. Family watching little ducklings!
I just love spring!! Isn’t it beautiful??On our way out we cruised in Schwetzingen and everyone were enjoying the nice weather. Eating out is starting and it is so neat!!

Dinkelsbuhl

2011-03-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

I am part of the “Heidelberg Community and Spouses' Club” and there is a group that meet to discover the surrounding area towns. I have been asked to organize one outing to Dinkelsbuhl, and since I didn’t have a clue what I was getting myself into, I took the family there for a little outing on a weekend. But here are a few information of what I gather before going there!
This town look a lot like Rothenburg ob der Tauber, but without the tourist hordesIt is a very similar town, except that we can’t walk on the surrounding city wall.
Dinkelsbühl has old churches, half-timbered houses, fountains,
massive city gates and annual pageantry. Four major gates, the Rothenburger Tor, the Segringer Tor, the Nördlinger Tor,
and the oldest, the Wörnitzer Tor.On the other side of town there are two massive half-timbered granaries. One of them is still used as the town’s youth hostel. Also worth seeing are the Capuchin monastery and the Dreikönigskapelle (Three Kings Chapel).And after wandering through Dinkelsbühl, and enjoying its medieval charm, stop at one of the many restaurants serving hearty German fare and a well-brewed beer.Spring is coming up soon, we can see blooms coming out of the ground,
and it is such a pretty sign of mother Nature waking up! Love it!!

We had fun walking around town and the kids were just being silly all over town!
But we did had enough informations for the purpose that made me come here.
So we headed home for a much needed cup of HOT soup!OH and when we came home we discovered that the full moon was one of the largest moon in the year!! Way cool!!!

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Strasbourg and Colmar Shopping for Tripps

2011-03-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

This post is going to be short and sweet. Damien was wanted some new Tripps Pants, SO we went to Strasbourg, because we found a store that sell tones of cool looking clothes like the kids love! When we arrived in Strasbourg, we didn’t find the thing that he was wanted, so we had to go to their other store in Colmar. I know you are going to be surprise to see the “Statue of Liberty” in Colmar, but the city of Bartholdi’s birth, was dedicated on July 4, 2004 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death. For more information about Bartholdi you can access more here: Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi Damien bought this huge "bracelet" just because he think it is cool!

After we went to the second store, we walked around the town, and since we were starving, we had to stop at a local “Crêperie” Yummy!!!! Gotta love Crêpes for dinner!!

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Schoenenburg Fort Maginot Line France

2011-03-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Matt was put in charge of a visit of the Maginot line. And the Schoenenburg Fort was going to be one of the stop. So we decided to go and check it out. We went with Larry and Mike (and his sons). It was interesting, but a little weird! Miles of underground tunnels with rooms for divers use. Dormitories, dining room, mechanical rooms, air system purification room… First when you arrive you get to see a huge sign that say “Nobody goes through” (the humor is that, nobody came through from the East, but…. From the North yep!! They came alright!!) Anyway, here is a little history about the Maginot Line: "it was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defenses, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I, and in the run-up to World War II. Generally the term describes only the defenses facing Germany, while the term Alpine Line is used for the Franco-Italian defenses.

The French established the fortification to provide time for their army to mobilize in the event of attack, allowing French forces to move into Belgium for a decisive confrontation with German forces. The success of static, defensive combat in World War I was a key influence on French thinking. The fortification system successfully dissuaded a direct attack. However, it was strategically ineffective, as the Germans did indeed invade Belgium, defeated the French army, flanked the Maginot Line, and proceeded relatively unobstructed.

Military experts extolled the Maginot Line as a work of genius, believing it would prevent any further invasions from the east (notably, from Germany). However, the German army in World War II largely bypassed the Maginot Line by invading through the Ardennes forest and via the Low Countries, completely sweeping by the Line and conquering France in days. As such, the Maginot Line has come to mean a strategy or object that people put hope into but fails miserably. It is also the best known symbol of the adage that
"generals always fight the last war, especially if they have won it"."

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Girl Scout Passport to Pisa

2011-02-17T08:04:00.000-08:00

Morgane Girl Scout troop went to the Passport to Pisa event, and it was a great adventure.
We left on the Thursday morning (very early) and drove all day from Heidelberg to Pisa. Passing through Switzerland, and then off to Pisa. It was late in the day when we finally arrived. On the next day we went for a little discovery of Pisa. The girls had a great time holding the tower.
Some went up to the top but I already did that, so Morgane, her friend Alexis and I went to visit the “Camposanto”. It is a very pretty building and even though it is a cemetery, it is a very interesting and beautiful building. White Marble with Fresco and gorgeous arches. We went to pick up the Leader who skipped the long drive down because her daughter and herself were sick, but they were ready to go ahead and had fun. We drove to Lucca. Walked around the town with the girls, had some fun time jumping and posing with their friends.
Lucca is a definite place to stop by, and walk around.The next day the girls had activities and Morgane went to Volterra. The drive was long, but the village is gorgeous. It was Market day, so pretty busy without the tourist already, and then we took off and drove to the Agritourismo that we are going to rent for Spring break. I was needed to drop of our deposit, but wanted also to visit it and chose our apartment. It was a fun drive and even though it was a LONG drive, turning, up & down,
turning some more and finally arrived at our destination… We then headed back to Pisa and took the Scenic Mediterranean route!
It was the end of the day so I had to take that pictures, just because of the colors. It was a very interesting and fun weekend. We did experience some… not so pleasant event, but that is to happen with too many girls/women in the same spot at the same time! LOL!!
However those Girl's Leader are AMAZING, Morgane is so happy to belong to this troop.

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Heidelberg Walk

2011-01-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

Jennifer is a brand new teacher for the High School here. And it was the last day that we could have lunch date with her. So we went to Heidelberg and had a very nice lunch at a local restaurant. We walk to the little restaurant “Bier Brezel” on the Haupstrasse and sat down for some soup and flatbread pizza.

It was delicious, and they had a neat décor too! Anyway, I had my camera so… guess what?? I took some pictures!! ;-)

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Rothenburg ob der Taubus

2011-01-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

Finally we took the kids there. They loved it! Rafael was SO happy, he just had his New Nintendo and he could take pictures with it too! So… Needless to say that instead of one photographer in our family we had two! LOL

I had a very fun and pleasant meeting with a German gentleman. I was taking a picture for a project that I am doing, and he saw me and started talking to me (in German obviously) and I explained to him that I am French and that my German is “nicht gut”, I told him to wait and got Damien to call his dad to the rescue. By the time Matt arrive, the guy turn to me and said in perfect French: “How amazing it is to have people realize that it is the little details that make the big pictures of a beautiful town!” Matt and I were just amazed, he then said in German that he uses to be able to speak French better (we were like: What do you mean better?) LOL!!! We had a nice talk with him about Architecture and History of towns, and….

Then we went on our merry way! But it was fun!!It was a little cold, but not too much so we went and got some goodies at a local coffee shop, Hot chocolate, and enjoy the sunset there.

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Colmar with friends

2011-01-14T08:01:00.000-08:00

Colmar is a very beautiful town to cruise in! I took my friend and fellow photographer Jenn and her family there one day, and we went around and… took some pictures (obviously) Aren't they cute??

The décor from the Christmas season were still in place, but… not the busy street (which I love) Morgane came with us as well and it was a fun day with good laughing time. Jenn’s husband and daughter are giving her lots of teasing because of pictures that she takes,
and pointed at a waterspout for her to take picture of! AH!!! See how funny he is! (LOL)
Needless to say that he was miserable with not only one but two photographer taking pictures of everything and nothing! LOL

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Thin Tower Heidelberg

2011-01-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

One of my many remorse about thing in my life is sometime not having enough time to spend with friends. I love being around nice people that enjoy the same things in life that I do, and that make me smile. I felt pretty bad for Alan, because he was often home alone. Since Miss Charm is working like a nutcracker, he can only enjoy his big sister’s company after work. So… I one day volunteer to take him around. First we stopped at Rafael’s Award ceremony, and then we went for Lunch with Miss Charm (close to her work so that she wouldn’t have to lose precious time driving around) and then we drove to the “Thin Tower” area. Overlooking Heidelberg, and just took a few minutes to shoot some pictures. Of course, I had to get back home because Rafael was coming home from school, but… We did have a good time, shooting and being silly!!! Hope next time he come in town I will have more time to drive him around and show him all those cool place that I didn’t have time to show him!

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2011 New Year Celebration

2011-01-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

New Year Eve celebration was amazing this year. We went to Miss Charm’s apartment because we knew that will have the BEST place to be to admire the Firework display. We had a very nice dinner and then we enjoyed a quiet evening talking with such nice people. Then of course when we saw that Midnight was heading our way, we stepped outside to look at the display!!! And WHAOHHHH. The only thing that is missing from the pictures are the sounds, not just the Firework display sound, but the bells of the church sound. Every church in town rang!! It was so cool!!!We weren’t expecting THAT much of a show. We weren’t disappointed!! If you ever want to go to Downtown Heidelberg, make sure that you drive VERY VERY slowly when you are heading home after the fireworks, because those Germans are CRAZY nuts. Getting Fireworks in the street, even when cars are driving on that street or coming toward them.
I thought that we would for sure have our own space shuttle with the number of dudes that were trying to shoot us down (or up for that matter)!

Anyway…. Happy New year!! (even if it a little late!) LOL

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Baden Baden Christmas market

2010-12-26T01:27:00.000-08:00

Baden Baden is a very pretty town to cruise in. Spring, summer, fall and even winter under a foot of fresh snow, it is just so pretty. You won’t like the snow filled street if you don’t like snow, but… I found it that it is one of my favorite cities in the area. It is a little … Snob, for my taste, but… I am sure it is to the liking of some people’s wallet (not mine though, LOL) "Some people like meat pie, well when you don't have anything else, just eat snow pie"
It took us a LONG time to arrive, probably because it was the LAST weekend of the Christmas Market, and that people were merry and enjoying their family. It was a Christmas wonderland all around. The going around with the car SUCKED, but.. Once we were on our feet walking around it was just fun. So many opportunities for cool pictures. We even got the chance to go to the “Bath house” and get some much needed warmth!!"Morgane tried her best to stay all bundled up and warm, but it didn't work that well!"

We took Miss Charm and her visiting little brother Alan, and we had a good time. Making him taste the local "delicious" food (Bratwurst) and the so delicious Gluhwein (and HOT chocolate)

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Michelstadt Christmas Market

2010-12-19T07:58:00.000-08:00

Awww, let me talk to you about Michelstadt. I have heard about this little town since we arrived in Germany. And people have told me to go there several times. I knew of a pretty impressive Easter Market, but also that the Christmas Market was a MUST to go too! So… guess what?? Well we went! LOL"All the cute smokers decoration (I really need to start collecting those)"

"Even Free mouthful of snow"
And, it didn’t disappoint us a bit. It was so cool, well first we went with good friends, so… what else do one have to ask for? But they had some Yummy snacks and of course the eternal Gluhwein with lots of different shot of liquor. The guys had a blessed time!! And it was a good thing that I was driving too he?

"Rathaus"

Anyway, here is a little adventure to the Michelstadt Market. Snow, snowball fight with Miss Charm’s window (remember Larry?) and lot of warm beverage!!And a very needed WARM Charming Sandwich!!!

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Bad Wimpfen Search of Christmas Market

2010-12-18T01:26:00.000-08:00

The Neckar River valley has a lot of wonderful little towns and castles, but few sights along the way compare with the ridge-top town of Bad Wimpfen. We took our self out on a search to the Christmas market of Bad Wimpfen and were very impressed by its city wall still intact, and sporting a very medieval appearance. It was a very interesting day, as we didn’t expect THAT much snow on the ground (or at least we were hoping for street that would have been somewhat cleanup!) We were amazed of the fact that shovels don’t seem to be working that good in Germany, I mean, we used to live in NE and IA, and if you don’t clean your sidewalk or driveway,
you get somebody complaining about it. And the funny part to me is that Germans are supposed to be very… picky about their surroundings. Their yard are clean, the street in front of their house is cleaned (well at least in summer time).

I guess that when it snow it is another story! But... It was fun walking in the snow covered street, with no cars running around. We were kind of wondering about it, since we were supposed to be coming for the Market, and discovered that the market ended the weekend prior to our visit! AH!! That’s typical us! Showing up 1 week late for something! Well, it was OK, we enjoyed cruising around the town, snowballs fight and discovering beautiful views and buildings!! Just way too cool!!!
A definitely “Must go back” on our list for this next year season!

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Schwetzingen First Snow

2010-11-30T01:24:00.000-08:00

I am having a love affair with the Schwetzingen castle ground
(mind you I NEVER visited the inside of the castle as yet! LOL) So when I saw this beautiful sunshine after our first “real” snow, I took my camera, put on my boots, drove to the parking and walked around for 2 hours. I LOVE this place. I Love it even better when I don’t have to share it with anyone. And for whatever reason, I guess the Germans don’t like to go out in the snow!! I LOVE it!!
I even was surprised by meeting a little girl that I know!! Of course she was just showing the garden to her Grandmother who came all the way from California to visit for the winter!! But it was fun to run into Shaunna and Aurora and their guest!!
I am pretty sure Shaunna took some amazing pictures are well!! Typical artist that she is, you can even go and see it yourself: Captivus: Winter in Germany

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Heidelberg Christmas Market

2010-11-26T01:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas Market Season is kicking in!! I really love this time of year.

Not for the Cold walk in crowded street, but just because it is an opportunity for me
to take some pictures. And eat Crepes! LOL

So we took the kids and went to discover Heidelberg Christmas Market. And while we drove there, it started to snow! Yep… So imagine, we are all bundled up, but it was not THAT cold when we left home, and… we left, with snow all over!! So cool!! (and cold)

Lucky Santa was in a HEATED cabin, waiting for the kids to come and sit on his laps! Just took a quick picture before he spotted me and put me on the VIP NAUGHTY List! LOL

Awwwww!!! Yummy Crepes!!! Look at those Nutella Jars on the fridge in the back!
Rafael ask for one! LOL He is such a European boy for that!Last picture I took while waiting for Matt to come back from his MANY Gluewein refill stops!

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Speyer Pre-Christmas Market

2010-11-20T01:25:00.000-08:00

Speyer is a beautiful town to walk around. I really like it.
I also LOVE the history and the building of the town. It is just amazing.
On a Sunday afternoon just before Thanksgiving we went out on our “weekly outing” to Speyer.
I will only speak a little about the pictures, because I thought they were kind of funny.
On the Christmas market you can find a Telephone to Call Santa (How cool is that?)
Even though is it still Fall, look at those gorgeous yellow leafs, you can see how the German are ready to celebrate the Christmas holiday season with all the decoration at their windows.

Coffee and Cake, what else do you need on a cold day?The deserted Christmas Market area
(one week later, and it will be impossible to walk without stepping on toes!)

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Dilsberg on the Neckar Valley

2010-11-06T01:25:00.000-07:00

We are trying our best to go around the Heidelberg area and to visit little town that you kind of know that they are there, but don’t know what is it all about! So one day we took our kids and decided to go to Dilsberg. The drive there was gorgeous, we had a beautiful Fall afternoon and the temperature were so nice. No need of coats or umbrella! What else do we need to ask right?

Dilsberg is a classical example of a dual-town -- the touristic part of town that it physically separate and draws hordes of people, and the really, really sleepy peaceful town that everybody ignores but whose residents seem very content. We went around the Walled city and were lucky that there weren’t HORDES of people, in the contrary. It was almost deserted (Which I LOVE)! ;-)Went to see the Burgruine (Castle Ruins) that sit on the highest ground.
It was a very nice afternoon with the kids, no car in sight.

Even found a future restaurant that Matt seem VERY interested into… I guess it could be a perfect place to do business!! But… I don’t think so! LOL

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Fall Play

2010-11-05T01:21:00.000-07:00

Today was a perfect time for some pictures taking.

Especially since the kids were in a fall cleanup mode! It was so funny.

All of the kids (under 10) in our neighborhood, decided to gather leafs into

a HUGE pile and then to jump in it!

Needless to say that it took a LONG time to get a pile high enough for the kids to jump from a picnic table into it without breaking their neck, but…

they made it and did enjoy a lot of jumping and laughing. You can see how much Rafael had fun!!

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Schwetzingen in Fall

2010-10-27T00:24:00.000-07:00

When my cousin’s visited, we also went to the Schwetzingen Castle Garden.

Beautiful garden, which I love cruising around.

So when I saw the pretty fall light, I couldn’t resist. Here are some more pictures of our little outing, of course you must be sick of seeing this landscape, but I don’t get tired of it!!

So… Anyway… Enjoy and if you don’t like it. Just… skip this blog!

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Cousin's Visit

2010-10-26T00:19:00.000-07:00

My cousin’s came to visit with his Girlfriend. We had a good time. I showed them around the area. We visited one of their friend who has a winery near by, in Bad Dürkheim.

Marc (my cousin) wasn’t sure if he could find the place, but sure enough with a little googling, we found it! Drove there and arrive as the “Schnapps” was getting out of the distillery machine.

Just the Vapor will turn you drunk. It was hilarious! We got invited to lunch which was amazing. It was kind of interesting as the family don’t speak much French or English, so lots of translation at the dinner table. But Man, that Oma could cook! I need to go back and ask her for the recipe.

If you ever want to get some pretty good wine from the Moselle valley. Stop to their place and visit. I normally don’t like wine, but believe me… It was YUMMY!!

Here is their website:Weingut Mesel, Bad Dürkheim/Pfalz

Then I took them to Heidelberg, we took Rafael and went to the castle.

And had a great time. I just LOVE this castle. Just so pretty!!

Another day we took them to Ladenburg. For those of you who have been to my previous post, you KNOW I love Ladenburg. It is one of my favorite town in the area, it is such a cute little town. : Anne's Blog: Ladenburg Cruising Everyone that ever went there, Love it!! Beside they have great restaurant and great history. Anne's Blog: Ladenburg

So needless to say that we went several time there BUT it was the first time that we took the way that we took.

We ended up accross from Ladenburg with a BIG river in between our car and the town...

so we were like: hmm!!! Oh OK!!!

But... a boat was coming up to take us across. And let me tell you. It was so cool!!

That boat was so old it still had the old system to drag the boat from one side of the river to the other side! See?? Just interesting he??

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Quick trip to Worms

2010-10-18T00:21:00.000-07:00

We live about 40mn away from Worms.

It is a very cute town, and I love going there to take pictures.

It is a beautiful town full of history and tones of

architecture detail like I really enjoy on building!

Here is a few info on Luther

Luther and the Reformation

In 1517 the Augustinian monk Martin Luther mooted the nuisances of the Church,

when he posted his 95 theses to the doors of All Saints’ church in Wittenberg.

In the years following he published several writings which were perceived as heretical.

It these writings, he rejected the Church dogmas and practices that diverged from the Gospels.

At that he was excommunicated by Rome.Emperor Charles V summoned Luther in 1521 to the Diet of Worms to recant his theses.

He refused to do so, claiming nobody could not be confuted on the basis of the Bible.

Thereupon the Emperor outlawed him, which proved futile.

Frederick, the Elector of Saxony and Luther’s sovereign, shielded him.

A combination of theologic and Reformist claims and political interests eventually resulted in the Reformation. Luther’s ideas spread like wildfire. His conscientious decision had a tremendous and worldwide impact on both the religion and politics.

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Motorcycle Show Mannheim

2010-10-09T00:22:00.000-07:00

So one day Matt came up and told me that we could go to a “Motorcycle” show…

Oki-Doki, so we took our family to the event and… saw a lot of… Motorcycle stuff!!

Way.. Cool!! Yeah!!

I played with Morgane’s eyes via Photoshop, I know it doesn’t have ANYTHING related to the show…

But... Hey, I am not THAT much into Motorcycle!!

OH and BTW. We did found the PERFECT accessory for his sidecar, can you guess what it is??

I’ll let you know another day! LOL

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Heidelberg Holiday Bazaar

2010-10-07T00:17:00.000-07:00

The MWR in Heidelberg, host a Holiday Bazaar every years and the HCSC help out with all of its organization.

It is a BIG fundraising event for our little organization and is a HUGE success!

So I went around ours tents and took a few pictures of the vendor.

Just for all of future shopper out there.

Check it out, and get yourself in Heidelberg for the next one!

It is worse the trip AND it is for a good cause!

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HCSC Photography Group

2010-10-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

Heidelberg Community and Spouse Club have numerous little groups that we can join.

One of them is the Photo-club. It is more like an “online” group as we talk on Facebook and share pictures. But we sometime, meet-up for some Photo-shoot.

Kim is the “Leader” of the group and is amazing with photo taking,

she is incredible and is truly gifted with ANYTHING Photography related!

One word come to my head when I think of her: SICK, she is just SICK!

You can follow her on her Blog here

Kim’s Blog:Kim Kravitz Photography Heidelberg Germany's Premier Boudoir, High School Senior, Couple, and OpLove photographer

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Photo Shoot

2010-10-01T00:23:00.000-07:00

So my friend Shaunna from : Captivus was in need of some family pictures, so…

I volunteered to do the Photo shoot!

And since she is a funny chickita and her husband is a “smart…” I really had to go and try my best to get a few good pictures! Right?

And believe me… It isn’t easy with that dude!!Anyway… Love what I got at the end. Miss you Shaunna!!

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Haguenau HCSC Day-Tripper

2010-09-28T00:13:00.000-07:00

I have joined a club. The Heidelberg Community and Spouse Club. And belonging to the club also made me part of different small group. One is the "Daytripper" a small group that go to different towns and visit or shop or visit... or shop some more! LOL
So when I saw that every year in Haguenau they had a "Braderie" which is a HUGE market with lots of differents types of goods. I thought it could be perfect for the group. So after talking it over we decided to go.
We were lucky enough to not have any rain. But it was a little chili (well, what do we need to expect for Fall)
It was funny because the Market area wasn't too crowded, and the town on its own, was not at all! So we enjoyed shopping but visiting the town of Haguenau, and it was fun to go out with those ladies.

Ladenburg Cruising

2010-09-22T00:16:00.000-07:00

I know you must be pretty tired aboutme taking trip to Ladenburg. But it is such a pretty town (and only 20 mns from where we are) that I try to go there as often as I can. Here are a few pics that I took while visiting it with Vidhu (Miss Charm's niece)
AND I was able to finally made it "Protestant" church. I have been there several time and it was the first time that I found it open! I was SO happy!!!

One of the thing that I love about this town, is that building that were built in this century do not look out of place next to the old Timber houses. The residents have been able to maintain somekind of balance with the architecture.

Miss Vidhu in the "Catholic" church.

I love the refelctions that the sun made with the colors of the windows.

And as usual September is a great time to visit any town in the area. All the flowers are still blooming and the colors are just gorgeous!!

USO Last Paris Trip

2010-09-11T00:14:00.000-07:00

And voila this is it... No more trip to Paris with the USO! I was glad that my friend Shaunna from Captivus was able to accompany me on that one! It was so much fun to be with a fellow photographer.
This time we went on the South part of Paris. We went to the Eiffel Tower and to the wall of Peace to just make sure we knew where it was going to be!! And to the Montparnasse Cemetery.

We walked most of the time but at the end of our little escapade our feet were screaming for us to just chill. So we took the subway. This is one of the thing that I love about the subway in Paris.

You can be surprise by accordeon player, or singer... and just relax by sitting down while listening to some "traditional" french tune!

We decided after Montparnasse to go to the Jardin du Luxembourg. It was the first time that I took the time to cruise around the Garden. And since it was the end of the summer, we had the change of colors in the trees and still flowers in the garden. It was so pretty!

And then we went back to the Peace Wall to do a project call HUG ME you can find more information about it here

Traveling and visiting Europe

2010-09-07T03:02:00.001-07:00

Every year in Europe you will find the “European Heritage days”. Those days are different in each country but the benefits are normally the same. MOST National Museum is open to the public for FREE!! Yeap you read it right FREE!! Now be careful I didn’t say EVERY museum is FREE. I said MOST NATIONAL museums. So do your homework before you end up going to place that you’ll have to pay. You can Google information of the European Heritage days and you’ll find tone of goodies. I will list below the one that I thought could be of interest. Also based of the fact that we live in Germany and that I tend to only do day trip I kept that in mind. However if you are more adventurous and your purse coin is heavier than mine you can go to this website and click on the country that you are interested to visit:

Council of Europe - Directorate of Culture, Cultural and Natural Heritage-European Heritage Days

Those are some of the official one for different country around Germany: (since I live there) ;-)

Austria: BDA - Bundesdenkmalamt Österreich 26 of September 2010

Belgium: Wallonia: Accueil Les journées du patrimoine 11-12 September 2010

Flanders: Heritage Day Flandres Open Monumentendag Vlaanderen 12 September 2010

Brussels Capital: Monument 18-19 September 2010

Czech Republic: European Heritage Days 11-19 September 2010

France: - Frédéric Mitterrand's Editorial Journées européennes du Patrimoine 2010 18-19 September 2010

Germany: Tag des offenen Denkmals - Programm zum Tag des offenen Denkmals 12 September 2010

Hungary: Kulturális Örökség Napjai A Felemelő Század: A "Nemzeti Styl" - 2010. szeptember 18-19. 18-19 September 2010

Italy: Home-Page Sito web del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali 25-26 September 2010
Luxembourg : Service des Sites et Monuments Nationaux 18-19 September 2010

Netherlands: Summary - Open Monumentendag 11-12 September 2010

Poland: Europejskie dni dziedzictwa 11-12 and 18-19 September 2010

Switzerland: Nationale Informationsstelle für Kulturgüter Erhaltung NIKE : Journée du patrimoine
11-12 September 2010

Hope it can make your visiting a little easier, and hopefully you’ll be able to visit some area or some museum that you might not have enjoyed cause the price was too much! Enjoy!!!

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Heidelberg Castle Illuminations

2010-09-04T03:01:00.000-07:00

Miss Charm has the most beautiful view of Heidelberg. So needless to say that when she invite us to come for grill and view of the Fireworks display. We all jump and say: Oh YEAH!!!

If you haven't had the chance to go to one. There is one every month during the summer months. so check out the Heidelberg city website (tourist office) and you'll find the date.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber Germany

2010-09-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is the picture of the typical medieval german town. If you ever had a vision of what a Traditional German look like, you are seeing Rothenburg!

We went to visit it on the weekend of the "Imperial City Fest". It was a beautiful day to do so.

This view above is the most pictured part in Germany. I thought it was pretty funny on that pictures as you can see lots of people taking the picture of it!

Every year the town of Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber celebrate their "Imperial Festival". It was cool to go and visit this beautiful medieval looking town and seeing the history come to life. Music group, the Royal Riflemen parade.

But they also had tones of peasants showing of what a peasant use to do at the time.

The celebration start on a Friday until the Sunday. The first night they have a Torchlight procession and fireworks with music along the facade of the Town hall mark.

And on Saturday they have another Fireworks in the Tauber Valley.

And just for the beauty of it, you can visit the Franciscan Church and when we did, they just had a wedding celebration the day before. The decoration were still there.

Riding on Tricky

2010-09-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

So Matt decided to go on a ride and for once I agreed to accompany him. First we had to fill up. It was a beautiful evening. The funny part was that his bike got overheated and we had to stop and stay for a while on the side of the road. The nice part was that we had a gorgeous view of the sunset on the Neckar River in Heidelberg.
This is one of the reason we love leaving in Europe. It is so nice to just being able to pop in and go enjoy the view of a beautiful town.

Strasbourg France

2010-08-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

Summer time is the perfect time to go visit Strasbourg. It is a beautiful town with lots of things to see and to do. So when Charmaine's family Pam and Vidhu came to Heidelberg, I took the 3 of them to Strasbourg for some visiting and some shopping. We stopped at a local restaurant and had some nice traditional food. Lots of little shop in the center near the cathedral. And beautiful little house!!!

Strasbourg Cathedral

Needless to say that it was a beautiful and fun day. With beautiful and fun ladies.

It was great. Thanks Charmaine, Pam and Vidhu... we just need to do it again!

Sailing Lesson Drama

2010-08-08T02:59:00.000-07:00

We went to my mother for a week in August, and Damien was to take some Sailing classes. Well he did the first day, and the weather was so bad (wind, waves, rain) that he got scared. They were on a pretty fast sailing boat and the guy that was with him was an instructor decided to race the other boat. So it was a pretty fast first introduction to the water/sailing. It was too bad because he was really looking forward to be learning to sail, guess we'll have to go and visit our friend in Nebraska with the lake house and make him learn on the lake. (so much calm water) So Matt went for the rest of the week, as we couldn't "possibly" ask for our money back (even though they were the one scaring the crap out of him) And he enjoyed it a LOT!! See... All smiley!!

Brittany France

2010-08-07T02:59:00.000-07:00

During our vacation in Brittany we went to the family farm. When I was a little girl, we went on vacation there, and spend a lot of time on this shoreline. The kids had some fun. Playing in the sand, Rafael was very couragious and went in the water on his own, walking all the way to the water up to the top of his arm.

Needless to say that I was kind of worried, but thought that since nothing ever happened with us children during all those years, there were no reason why something will happen to him!!

One evening we went out and took a little time to cruise the sea shore. You can see the town of Quiberon (oh, and I know it is blurry, I didn't have my tripod with me) This is honeysuckle, this remind me so much of my youth. It was always there around the farm, so this is always special when I see and smell those!

USO Paris July

2010-07-03T02:57:00.000-07:00

This visit to Paris was going to be one of my latest visit with the USO tour. So... I did something that I have always wanted to do.

Just cruise.

I enjoyed just checking out Shop windows. Street Vendors, etc...

This one was kind of cool. A Tableware shop diplaying a new Plate design (of Paris monuments) and showing it like you were looking at it from above, but it was in a window (wonder if they used super glue?)

Laduree Store. It is a place where you can go and eat some sweets. The "Macarons" are one of their creation that they are well known for. But apparently it must be pretty good! Look at the line!

Walking around Paris, you can find lots of street performance like this guy. I thought it was kinda cool the way that he stand all day long on the column and be!

This was taken on the "Champs Elysees" not too far from the American Embassy. Did you know that you can't take picture of the Embassy? I was surprised and disapointed, It is such a pretty building, and to be in Paris and seeing the Stars Flowing next to a very old building. Make me want to shoot it. However, I was stopped by a Police officer (yes French) who made sure that I didn't have ANY pictures of the building! Bummer!!! What a party pooper!!

I also went, and that was the place I have been looking to go visit for a while. On the outskirt of Paris, in St. Denis. To go visit the Basilica of Saint Denis (funny because the French call it the "Cathedrale Royale de Saint Denis")
This is the place where most of the French Kings are buried. Nearly every King from the 10th to the 18th Centuries are there.(All but 3 kings are now buried here) Also most Queen were crowned there (King were in Reims)

The last King of France: Louis the XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, his 2 daughters and his sister are buried here since 1806 (Time of Napoleon's exile and the "restored Bourbons" reigns.) The heart of the Dauphin de France (son of Louis XVI) is also there.

Terezin Czech Republic

2010-06-22T02:57:00.000-07:00

Terezin fortress is located N.W of Prague. I didn't go to that outing, because I didn't feel that good that day. So Matt's parents, the kids and himself went there. I am glad to not have gone, because I have issue with place that saw lots of suffering. Damien took all those pictures, and I believe he did a very good job at it! Don't you think so.
Well here is what I learn after they came back from their time in Terezin and also by researching the subject.

Terezin was constructed as a Fortress in the 1780/90 time. It was never fully finished, and in 1940 the Gestapo took over and set up a prison for "Priviledge Jews".

What is being a "Priviledge jews" you may ask, well apparently it was for people who had some kind of education(Artist, Writers, Scientist, Jurists, Diplomats, Musicians...etc...). It was used by the Nazi on their Propaganda and was (probably the only) the camp that was mostly visited by Red Cross. The Barracks of the Fortress were build to house 7000 individual. During the "Working Camp" in 1940-1945 it accomodated over 50000. Some survivors claimed it reached 75000.

Terezin camp was a source of free jewish labor (slave) for the Germans. Prisoners were assigned different tasks: Mining mica, manufaturing boxes or coffins, spraying military uniforms with white dye. According to ex-prisoners, it was also a sorting re-distribution center for clothing items confiscated from Jews. The baggages were taken away and send to Terezin where it would have been sorted out and send out all over Germany for the people who were bombed out.

Married couple were given a single room and were able to stay together in their sleeping quarter. Because Terezin was design to house "Priviledge" Jews, it did have the cultural life that most camp didn't. Jazz ensembles, Chamber Orchestra Groups, education for children etc...They also overcame a lack of water by building water pipe system and water supply system.

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Beautiful Prague Czech Republic

2010-06-21T02:56:00.000-07:00

OH, How I love Prague. For those of you who haven't had the chance to go... GO. Do you planning and GO!! You won't be sorry you did.
One day I told one of my friend who was not sure where to go between Paris and Prague with a visiting friend, that she should go to Prague.
Reasons were: It is smaller, there is less cars, less expensif, and the architecture is beautiful. Every corner you turn there come another gorgeous building or scenery. Just amazing.
I mean, I am French so maybe the fact that it was only my second time in Prague made it so special, but... I doubt it. In order Prague is before Paris in my viewpoint but... Venice is before Prague!

One of the things that I mention earlier is that no matter where you are in Prague you will turn a corner and see something different. The details in the architecture is amazing. I love the colors, the different kind of building. The balcony, the windows, everything is just gorgeous.

Hardware on doors are also amazing

Another part of town that is well known and visited, is the Jewish quarter. It has a sad history. Apparently the Jewish community were ordered in the 13th Century to leave their home and settle in one area ofd Prague. The area was the only place they were allowed to live. Even thought the area changed under a large redevelopment between 1893-1913 most significant building from previous eras were saved.

There is still 6 synagogues remaining, the town hall and the old jewish cemetary which is an amazing site on its own. The old cemetery is amazing. When you walk in it you will just wonder why it look like that. During our visit, I learned that because the Jewish Community were ordered to live in a small part of town, they didn't have the luxury of expending their cemetery. So they used their small graveyard to the fullest. And I mean the FULLEST! The result is somehow poetic. If I may say so. A new Jewish cemetery was build later accross town, it is half empty because obviously the generation it was build for all died in Nazi concentration camp.

Kutna Hora Czech Republic

2010-06-20T02:55:00.000-07:00

While in the Czech Republic in June, we went to Kutna Hora. We stopped at the Cathedral of our Lady to try to find more information about the town, or at least a plan of the town. So we went toward the cathedral and I guess I was kinda of lucky and passed under the radar of the "entrance lady" so I didn't have to pay my entrance.
I was very surprise in Prague about the fact that most of the church/Cathedral and Chapel have entry fees. I mean I understand if you are a huge known church like the Vatican or like that. but even Notre Dame doesn't have a entry fee. WTH?
Well anyway. I thought this church no matter the fact of entry fee, was beautiful. So much light, huge beautiful space and the colors where beautiful!

St. Felix Remains. The Sedlec Ossuary: It is believe to contain the skeletons of 40000 to 70000 people.

Because of the Black Death in the mid 14th century and the Hessian Wars in the early 15th Century the local cemeteray had to be enlarged to make room for the newly deceased. A church was build on the cemetary ground and on the lower level of it, the ossuary was build and the task of exhuming and stacking the bones started.

In 1870 a woodcarver was employed byt the Schwarzenberg family to put the bones in somekind of order. An incredible and macabre artform is the result.

And then there is Saint Barbara Church, one of the most famous Gothic Shurches in Central Europe and is part of the UNESCO world heritage site.

Again a beautiful sight. Just gorgeous ceiling.

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Prague Czech Republic

2010-06-19T02:55:00.000-07:00

In June my mother and father in law rented a house in the Czech Republic. We drove their and meet them at the house. It was great to see them again, and the house was outside of the Prague center but not so far that you couldn't enjoy it. So we settle in the first day and went on our discovery of Prague. From Up hill next to the castle, to down hill next to the river, Prague is just a beautiful city to visit. This is kind of interesting. This giant Metronome was erected in 1991 on a place that use to have a huge monument of Joseph Stalin (who was destroyed in 1962). If you go all the way to the Metronome, there is a Skateboard meeting place, and lots of young people meet there.

Old Town square is a must when you go to Prague. Well it is next to the Astronomical Clock, there is also Tyn Cathedral and St Nicholas Church. This memorial is the statue of Religious reformer Jan hus who was burned at the stake for his belief. (nice he?)
Part of the Charles bridge, this summer wasn't too great because of the fact that they were repaving the bridge, so it was always busy between construction and tourist. but it is one of the most beautiful bridge that I have ever seen. So many beautiful statues and views from the river.
One of the Smallest street in Europe (I think), I mean come on , there is even a light to make sure you can pass, because 2 peoples can't stand next to each other!! How cool is that?
Statue made out of metal keys!!
Prague is also knowned for ball the beer that you can enjoy in their different Beer Garden/Restaurant and Cafe. For more information on the beer in the Czech Republic, check here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Czech_Republic

De blog

Czech Republic

2010-06-18T02:54:00.000-07:00

USO Chateau Haut Koenigsbourg France

2010-06-05T02:53:00.000-07:00

I did a lot of Travel in May of this year, France, Italy, Belgium, France again… It was fun but very every weekend travelling can be a case of being tired for a while for me. I guess I am not 17 or 18 anymore!! LOL

We went to the “Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg : visite de château en Alsace, tourisme en Alsace” in Alsace with the USO. My husband followed with some friends that were visiting from the States. We were lucky to have a beautiful spring day and no rain while visiting. (Gotta love that)

Me and my husband make fun of this place because the German renovated this castle in between 1900 to 1908 (when that region of “France” was German) so the German government pay for the renovation and then first world war happen, and as we know, German lost, France took back that part lost in 1870 and now it is listed in the “French National Monument” (like they had anything to do on the construction/renovation of that castle) But hey I am French I should be proud of all the cool Monument that we take over those surrounding country that don’t deserve it!! Yeah!!! (sight!!)

Anyway, here are some more pictures from the castle. Oh, BTW, if you ever want to go visit. The best time is fall, as you can see in my previous post: Anne's Blog: Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg. Alsace, France The colors are just amazing. I want to try to go there when there is snow on the ground so see if it is as beautiful, but not sure the drive there will be safe enough as it is located on top of a very small mountain/cliff top. And the road doesn’t seem like it is even cleared up in winter! We shall see!

De blog

Paris-Brugges-Amsterdam

2010-06-04T02:54:00.000-07:00

In June we had lots of visitors. 2 of my Scrapbook group ladies from Iowa came to visit me. I went to pick them up at the Zurich Airport. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Zurich, don’t bother, there is NOTHING interesting there, except maybe overprice hotel/restaurant and everything else in between!
Of course I screwed up on the date of arrival. I thought it was arriving on the Tuesday and they were actually arriving on the Wednesday. So I spend 2 days in a town where there is NOTHING to do! LOL!! At least I rested before the craziness.
After a day or two staying in the Heidelberg area we went to the Chateau du haut Koenigsbourg (see the last post for more: http://annejambor.blogspot.com/2010/09/uso-chateau-haut-koenigsbourg-france.html) and after that we drove toward Paris.

First we stopped in Reims only for a short stop to eat and just get some “wakeup” time for me, who was the driver.

We slept not too far from it and then drove to Paris the next day, spend it walking around, taking pictures and just enjoying the nice weather. Then by 3 or so we left for the North of France. Well actually we drove for Bruges in Belgium.

We arrived in Bruges around 6 and then went to eat out. Some of us got a little too much of that nice good Beer that they have in Belgium. (and NO it wasn’t me) after a.. peaceful night (especially when some came back to the hotel totally wasted) ;-) We walked around the beautiful city of Bruges and got some Waffles and other goodies, and in the afternoon, left for Amsterdam.

Arrive early evening, ate at an Irish Pub, and went to visit the “Red District”, Now I am sorry, but I don’t understand the whole big deal around such a place. I mean OK it is legal in Amsterdam to get some hokey pokey and some weed too. BUT, if you ever go to the Red District pay attention and look at it the “HUMAN” way. I was like every other “tourist” at first, I was like, whaoh, nice… that funny!! (it is kind of those creepy exhibition, where they show weird and unnatural stuff, and even though you find it just disgusting, you keep on looking) And then after blocks and blocks of windows shopping for the perfect woman body that might appeal to those guys. I got really sicken to even think of what those girls must endure life. I mean come on… One, they really enjoy it, OR they are stuck in that kind of careers, and I would not like to be in their shoes. It was just humanly depressing. I did take some pictures of the area.

However, my USB Key has been missing since I have saved those file to transfer to my other computer. So… you only have the little Daytime trip. Sorry for those of you who were expecting… something… hot and spicy!

We came back to the hotel and spend the night, and then the next morning we took the Tram to the center of town and went to the Anne Frank’s museum, after Mel and I went to walk around town while Gena and Al went to Van Gogh museum. It was a nice day and after a very LONG day we drove back to home. I was exhausted. But… I wouldn’t have those nice pictures if I haven’t gone right?

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Lazise, Lake Di Garda Italy

2010-05-25T14:30:00.001-07:00

On the morning of the 18th of May, I read that there were a old “XV century Carmelite monastery” that was supposed to be way cool and had a gorgeous view over the lake and all that good stuff that will my HTF super happy! So I drove to Garda small cute town on the North East part of the lake and went to the Tourist office. They were very pleasant and helpful; they gave me a map and said that it was “around” there! AH AH well let me tell you something…. AROUND, mean “couldn’t possibly be found” except maybe by stopping and asking local who only speak Italian...( scusa il mio italiano non è così buono come il mio francese o inglese) I drove and went up and down, looking for some kind of sign. Normally even if it isn’t well indicated on the main road, it get at least one sign as you drove toward the “right” pass. Well, I drove and drove and looked like a stupid lost tourist that I was and NEVER found it. Well actually, I did finally found it, on Bing map, and if it is the building that I think it is… I wasn’t even CLOSE to it. Well I was close, but not on the road that go to it.
Anyway, so since I couldn’t find it. I decided to drive back toward a little town that I saw while going up to Garda.

The town of Lazise, I was impressed by the towers while driving near it, so…. I stopped and parked, and went on a walk around town. I found out that: This fortified town was first mentioned in a document dated 983 AD. The castle was at one time protected by Draw-bridges and heavy gates which you can still find traces of. A very cute little port was apparently a military port.

Next to it you can find the Medieval Church of Saint Nicolo that date from the twelfth century, and where you can see some very cool Fresco that date from this time.

De blog

Second Celebration of my 20th birthday!

2010-05-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

On May 17th 2010, I was celebrating my 20th Birthday for the second time. ;-)

I like BIG number. With it comes: “Experience, Wisdom, Intelligence, Maturity, Responsibility….” Bla bla bla

So now that I am 40 years young. (The new 30 right?) I can think of what that came with it.

Experience: Yes, definitely. I do believe I got that checked out of my bucket list.
Wisdom: Not so much… Or at least I don’t think so! So… Still working on that one!
Intelligence: well, let see, sometime I do believe I got some, and sometime I am definitely not as smarter as a 5th grader. LOL But, I do consider myself “stress sassy” so…. I guess in my own way, I am smart! LOL
Maturity: hmmmmm!!!!! Well obviously with the age comes maturity after all the definition is: mature state: the condition of being ripe, fully aged, or fully grown, especially mentally or emotionally BUT, I will have to say that I still have to checkmark the mentally and emotionally. Oh wait! Maybe not since 40 is the new 30! LOL!
Responsibility: well I think I am pretty responsible. I have 3 kids and cats to take care of, I don’t think they are considered maltreated. So… in that case I am responsible. However, I know that I need to work on that. So still uncheck!

So looking back, out of 5, I only have 1 fully checked one! That is BAD, don’t you think??

Anyhow. Now that I made a fool out of myself and showed the world that I am just a weird silly irresponsible young adult at heart. Let me tell you about my birthday day.

I was in Italy as you could have guess from the previous post, and my friend Miss Charm went to her conference leaving me on my own for the day. You can see what my day was on my previous post: Hills are alive
So on the late afternoon after the conference,
Miss Charm and I went to the little town that I drove through during the day called: Desenzano del Garda. Very cute little Italian town next to the lake. Gorgeous view of the Alps Mountain and the water. Old villas and typical fountains and gelato! Did I mention I LOVE Italy? ;-) So we park the car and walked around.

Took tones of pictures (you know my HTF right) and had a very nice meal looking at the sunset over the lake over the mountains. MAGNIFICO!

The only downside of the day was that I wasn’t with my family. I would have loved to have them with me, but the I thought that once in a while I could go and enjoy one Birthday without them, and since it was in Italy, how could I NOT go?

OH, and I found the PERFECT Villa for retirement! LOVE IT!!!

De blog

Hills are alive

2010-05-25T14:20:00.001-07:00

How fun my last week was…
So as I mentioned in my previous post, I was going to a trip with my friend Miss Charm. Italy was the destination. Hotel was in Castelnuovo Di Garda, not too far from Verona. Hotel was also next to Gardaland, which is similar as Six Flags or something like that (since I have never been to Six Flags or to Gardaland, I am not a very good specialist to tell you about neither one! LOL
Anyway. We left on Sunday morning, drove toward Switzerland where Miss Charm HAD to sing the song! You know the one with The hills are alive with the sound of music

…. Ladi lada!! Well I am sorry to report that Miss Charm, who (don’t get me wrong here) has a beautiful voice, didn’t sound that good. LOL! As soon as we passed the border, here came the sound of music. LOL (which I could totally envision Miss Charm doing exactly what this chick is going to do)

I thought it was so funny!! Anyway… enough singing. So here we are in rainy germany going down in rainy Switzerland, and as soon as we pass the San Bernadino Tunnel.

It was AMAZING how sunshine could change the look of a panorama such as the mountain. Something that was Pretty became Gorgeous. So then after a long ride. We made it to the hotel, and were greeted by a beautiful view of the sunset. Checked in, settled in and went to rest after a long day! The next morning, Miss Charm had her conference to attempt to. So I took off and went on a discovery of the area. I asked the front desk as where I could find some cool site and the young woman said that I should go to see “Salo” “Moniga” “Sirmione” “Lazise” and “Garda”. So I decided to go on the West side of the lake the destination was “Salo”. I took the small road that leaded there. I saw some very beautiful view and discover a little town just before Salo.

San Felice del Benaco. So cute. I parked the car and then walked toward the church. When I grew up, we always use to go visit churches, and I realized that one can always find the most beautiful art in European churches. I wasn’t disappointed with San Felice’s church.
From the outside the church didn’t look so great. But as you stepped inside, it was something completely different. “…should point out the Parish Church of Saints Felice and Adauto, which houses an altar piece by the Brescian painter Romanino in the apse, and also has an isolated bell tower from the Scaligero castle tower of which there remain only a few parts of the wall.Of notable interest also is the Santuario della Madonna del Carmine, built in 1452 in the late gothic style. On the extreme point of the promontory stands the little church of San Fermo from the XV century, built on the ruins of a large Roman villa.”
I went to visit the cemetery since it was just right there. And was surprise to see how small it was and the fact that they didn’t have many tombstones. As you can see in the pictures, most of the graves are on top of each other. Probably to keep the cemetery small and inside the city next to the church, but that is again pure speculation on my part.
Anyway, here are a few of the pics that I took over my little first escapade in the morning/early afternoon. Hope you enjoy them.
Beautiful Panorama over the Lake, just pure beauty.

De blog

In search of Romeo and Juliet, Verona Italy

2010-05-25T14:15:00.000-07:00

On May the 18th after the conference, Miss Charm and I went to Verona. We went on the search of Juliet and Romeo. And let me tell you, they are HARD to find. LOL

We parked in an underground parking not far from the river and walk to the center of the city. (see the olive tree on the pic.. they are ALL over!)

The river view is just amazing. On top of the rock you can admire: Castel San Pietro. Walk over the bridge and started searching for Juliet’s house.

Arrived on the “Piazza dei Signori.” Plaza. And we knew it wasn’t far, of course as usual in Italy, most major plaza have little souvenir shop. So we went around looked around. And look closer on the map and went on…. After a few street: north, west, east, south… whatever direction we were going

We passed under a “roman looking gate”: Porta Borsari. We arrive near the river again!! Hmm?? No not suppose to be there!

So, off we went south and found the big Roman Theater! OK now we are talking. I thought that with that we wouldn’t get lost and would be able to find the road/street and way toward Juliet’s balcony.

At the corner of a street we turn left and saw LOTS of people in front of a gate. So we went to look, and sure enough at the end of the tunnel, Juliet was waving at us (well her spirit at least) FINALLY we found it! Well of course by the time we found it the “gate” was closed and we could only see it from afar and not recite the:

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name!
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
and I'll no longer be a Capulet. “

Oh well… Of course now we are getting hungry and decided to go back to the Piazza delle Erbe and enjoyed a pizza, glass of wine and search for Gorgeous Italian men (sorry, I didn’t see any) Miss Charm saw one, but… nah! He wasn’t really GORGEOUS, just Italian looking dude! LOL! Sorry can’t post the pic, since he might be reading my blog! (Since I am SO popular) LOL

Anyway, after the pizza, we actually tried to find Romeo’s house, and on the first try. We found him. Guess Juliet wasn’t calling for us. LOL
We had a good time and Miss Charm just complimented me today that I take good picture (even with people in it) LOL

De blog

O solé Mio, Venezia Italy

2010-05-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

AWWWW, How I LOVE Venice!! When Miss Charm and I realized that we were only over 1 hour driving distance to our hotel we jumped on the possibility to go and see this GORGEOUS town.
So on our last day in Italy and with the opportunity that Miss Charm’s conference was letting people leave early (before Noon), off we went. With all the excitement we did a few turn around with the car, did take the wrong direction on the bus to Venice and finally ARRIVED!! WHOOHOO!!!
First sight was the water,

the gorgeous blue lagoon color. The Turquoise reflection of the sun on the Terracotta colored wall of the city.

I just continued my love affair with this beautiful city. I still continue loving it!! Oh how I love you Venizia…. You will always be the number 1 for me!
When I first visited Venice in 2000 with my husband, kids and in laws we didn’t stay long enough for my taste. I only had a short time to have an after taste of not enough. Since that first visit I promised myself to come back! Matt on the other side didn’t find it to his taste (oh well, too bad for him, cause I will go back with or without him (sorry Honey!!) ;-)

We took the bus ferry to the “St Marco Plaza” It was super busy, but what to expect in Venice? We asked a few Gondolier how much a ride would be. One of them said 120 euro, we thought: OMG!! And decided to look around. He did chase us and told us that the long ride would be 120 and the short one 80 (just for us) and it was PER PERSON (Just for us as well) AH!! We told him we will keep him in mind but just arrived and wanted to walk around first. I am pretty sure that he was cursing at us as we left him, but oh well! We weren’t ready to pay that much each! ;-)
So off we went to the discovery of Venizia and its gorgeous street and sights! I couldn’t stop taking pictures, I remember of my last visit and I did take tones of pictures and it was on film at the time. (And now that I have a digital)… My “Happy Trigger Finger” was in the “don’t come up again” mode. For those of you who know me and have seen me with my camera, you can picture it right?? LOL!!
We cruised the little street full of shops and while there Miss Charm saw a beautiful Chandelier with Tulips all over. It was gorgeous! (Of course when I need it, I realized that I didn’t take a picture of it) We did investigate on how much the price was going to be. And after the clerk told us to wait while he was getting the “Artist” we were left for a short time un-attempted in a store full of gorgeous glass art. (Are you asking yourself if I had a moment? Yes I did!! I had a moment of … oh boy, what will I be doing with all those if I could just take and go, but I didn’t do anything, I just asked myself! Oh, and the answer was: Not much honey you don’t have the room in your apartment that the army is giving you! LOL) Anyhow… The Artist came. And Extravagant very short man with a very thick and beautiful singing Italian accent, telling us all about his brother who make the glass, and that each peace is unique… blablabla!! LOL Get to the point dude! Well the “Lampadario” was “For us” only 3000Euro (ONLY) I did ask how much it was for someone else. But he didn’t find it funny! Needless to say that since Miss Charm needed 3 of them; she just didn’t get any at all! We went to a little “Trattoria” across from the store and admire while eating a little something those gorgeous lamps. Oh well, maybe when we win the lottery! After making sure that we used the “gabinetto” we started walking again. Crusing from Murano glass display to another admiring every single beautiful window… Oh so “Bellissimo” we did learn something about the Murano Glasses. And here it is for those of you who are planning to go and buy “REAL” Murano Glass. First a little history: “Murano is an island in the lagoon of Venice famous for its glass art. The production of Murano glass is related to its history and popularity and its name is associated with the glass, as if they were synonyms. This union is the result of nearly a millennium of history, during which the master artisans of Murano were able to transform simple sand in one of the highest expressions of art. It is believed the origins of Murano Glass dates back to 9th century Rome, with significant Asian and Muslim influences, as Venice was a major trading port.” The Murano glass are been copied from all over, but specially from China, so beware of copy that are on sale EVERYWHERE in Venice. If you want the real deal, you need to go to store that display a sign that say Consorzio Promovetro Murano That mean the store need to belong to an association of Murano glass and that the items that they sells are made in Murano. So … Watch out for copy that you will pay “molto” money and that aren’t even from Murano! (We didn’t go back to see if the store that we saw the chandelier was on the list of the true Murano Glass, but we don’t recall seeing the sign) OH and if you really want to know where to buy BEFORE getting to Venice. Go to the website: Promovetro - consorzio del vetro artistico di Murano Venezia.

So after our… window shopping time we went to cruise around and asked several Gondolier dude about the Price & Route that they were offering. Until finally we found a guy that was offering it for 140Euro/Long Route (showed us the route) and per Gondola not per person! So we jumped at the opportunity and yes, I know it was expensive, but what a treat! And it was my birthday not so long ago… so…
We boarded our Gondola, and got introduced to our Gondolier “Luca” but we called him “Casanova”

(oh here he is with the Casanova house in the background) and he started the tour. He told us all about the town, and the history and the beauty and everything. He even sang to us “Oh sole Mio” to the delight of Miss Charm who after a while was singing with him. Him in Italian, her in English. Me… LMAO!

After our ride, we asked him about a place to eat. He recommended the “Trattoria Al Vagon” not too far and so we went. We found it and sat. The owner/chef were so nice, it was a family restaurant. Grandpa and his granddaughter were serving while Grandma was in the kitchen cooking, coming out when not busy. Then the mother came to pick up her daughter, (did I mention she was only about 6 years old) but what a cutie, and talking about tones of stuff, of course we couldn’t understand anything. But just a pretty little thing!

OH and here is my futur house. I just LOVE it! (of course this is only a dream, or maybe in another life time my husband will be a Venetian Prince!) LOL

We had a great dinner and while the sun was lowering in the horizon we made our way to the “Ponte di Rialto”.

Have you ever seen a sunset on the Grand Canal? I have and let me tell you, it is just AMAZING! It was just like a dream! The lagoon color change, from a turquoise green to a gold orange pink. It was SO beautiful! But I can let you just see it!!
SEE??? Isn’t it just “Strabiliante! Bellisima, Magnifico” a MUST do on one’s bucket list!
So for me, it is a checkmark next to it. However I will have to go back because I haven’t seen a sunrise yet, and that must be “spettacolare”

As usual, here is a link for the rest of my pics. Hope you enjoy them!

Venice Italy May 2010

USO Brugges

2010-05-22T02:52:00.000-07:00

I traveled last May to Bruges with the USO. I had been chosen to be the guide because of my previous visit (about 25 years ago or more) Needless to say that I didn’t know nothing about Bruges, because the last time that I was there, I was a teenager who didn’t really care about the history of the town I was visiting.

So the only thing that I remembered was the Chocolate (YUMMY chocolate, Belgium chocolate, delicious chocolate…. Chocolate… chocolate!!!!) The Waffles (with NUTELLA) and the French Fries (that are actually traditionally from Belgium (so it should actually be called Belgium Fries.) ;-)

Anyway… We left late or early and arrive in Bruges around 9:30. We met our tour guide (the one that we signed up for to have a little 2 hours tour of the town) and I ended up following an older guy, who spoke English with a HUGE French/Flemish accent and who thought that the only way to tour this beautiful city was to follow him in a Marathon like speed! I was trying to not loose anyone, so I was behind everyone, and making sure that all my group were staying together and following the “Road Runner”

After about 50mn trying to get everybody to follow and arrive by the time that he was finished with his “speech” I got sick of it and for the first time in my entire career of USO Guide, I “lost” it! I asked him if we were running a marathon and told him that even though we only had 2 hours people would probably enjoy it more if we weren’t running in between buildings that had some history attached to it! He apologized and started running again. I turned to my group and mention that maybe we should just give him the speed we were wanted to follow and not give him the free run. So the front runner ended up slowing down and by the same occasion the tour guide as well. I will say that I was so mad that I took revenge on him and didn’t even tell the group to tip him. I thought that for what he gave us, he shouldn’t be encouraged by getting some nice tip from my group. So he wasn’t a very happy camper when we left him (Don’t mess with me dude!!)

Anyway, after a nice meal at a little restaurant that serve some “Moules Frites” (Mussels and Fries) Which is another thing that I remembered about Belgium, we went to cruise around and of course I took tones and tones of pictures (Is that a surprise)
At 3:30 we had a tour by boat which was so fun and even though it was also a little too fast, we enjoyed it a lot. (well I did at least)

Bruges is a small town full of history and beautiful building. I think it is another one of my favorite city/place in Europe. So far I will even put it on my top 5 list. Probably on the 3rd or 4th place. I think I will keep a list one day about why I love those town so much. But for right now… more pictures, just to make sure that you take some time to visit it. I send a few of my friends there and they all agree with me, it is worse the trip and is beautiful. So?? What are you waiting for??

Madonna by Michelangelo