cute pjs

Everything is negotiable in Marrakesh

Marrakesh is one of the largest cities in Morocco. For those that don't know, Morocco is located in northwest Africa. Marrakesh is a very old city but there is a lot of new construction going on. Dena and I visited the city with our friend Stacey on March 8th to the 10th. It was an amazing experience. We got lost a few times in the many small back alleys, rode camels and negotiated over carpet prices. We learned quickly that there is no such thing as street signs in the city. Its very easy to get turned around when all of the streets look the same and they never seem to end. But there were always very helpful locals interested in showing you the right way, for a few Dirhams of course.(local currency) If you are a person that likes to haggle for things than Marrakesh is the place for you. You negotiate over cab prices, camel rides, and everything under the sun that they sell in the souqs. The maze of souqs (shops) is never ending. You can buy loads of hand made leather goods, pottery, slippers, lamps, carpets and tons of other things. The sights and smells of everything is overwhelming. Its just an amazing experience that is hard to explain without experiencing it first hand. The main plaza Djemaa el-Fna is where the main show takes place each night. There are people playing music, charming snakes, dancing, giving henna tattoos, shining shoes and loads of food stalls and orange juice carts. Its like a city all in itself. The riad (B&B type place) that we stayed in was about a 3 min walk from the plaza and it was great. The hosts were fantastic and the breakfast was perfect. You had to walk down yet another shady alley to get to it, but once inside it was very relaxing and tranquil.

I would say the highlight of the trip was the camel ride. We took a trip out to an area called Palmiere where there are tons of palm trees. It looks great with the Atlas snow capped mountains in the background. So our cab driver takes us to a location to take some photos and ride some camels. I was on the fence , Dena had no desire but our friend wanted to ride the camels, so we all went for it. Dena was on the first camel, I was on the second and Stacey was on the third. They were all tethered together. Everything was going well until the guide decided to increase the pace to a trot. Dena started to yell "NO, NO, NO" over and over and then from behind me I hear frightening screams. I turned around to see Stacey holding on for dear life hanging half way off the saddle. Luckily she didn't fall and everything was ok but it was a scary moment. We all laughed hysterically about it over dinner that night.

Overall, the trip was great and one that I will never forget. We came home with a few Moroccan rugs, lots of photos and great memories.

I wish I had a better map

We knew that Venice was a city split up by canals but never realized that it had so many small streets that make it hard to navigate. We had a map and I am pretty good at navigating my way through a city but this was a whole new challange. For being a small city, we certainly put some miles on our shoes. Each day I felt like we were mice in a maze trying to find the cheese. Tons of small streets and twists and turns and unmarked streets. It makes for an interesting walk around town. We arrived on Friday afternoon on Oct. 17th and caught the first Vaporetti (water bus) we could get to the stop closest to our B&B. It was not the easiest thing to do since the bus drivers were on and off strike the week we were there. Just our luck. Good thing is we only had to take the water bus when we arrived and when we had to leave. We called our host, Alessandro, and he asked us to meet him in the middle of the Rialto Bridge. It is the most central and biggest bridge in Venice. It is loaded with shops and always crowded with people seeing the sights and taking lost of pictures. We were no exception. Alessandro led us to the B&B that was short walk away. It is a small place and very nice. The only drawback was the bed. I felt like I was lying on the street with the curb as my pillow. So in other words, not real comfortable. But Alessandro was very nice and the breakfast was great. We were able to see all of the major sights we wanted to see. St. Marks Basillica, The Doge's Palace (royal palace), Gallerie Dell'Accademia (art museum), Scuola Grnade Di San Rocco, and a few other churches. I think the Scuola Grnade Di San Rocco was the most impressive thing for me to see. It is a music school and the main room on the first floor is nice but not as impressive as the second floor. The Renaissance painter Tintoretto spent 23 years of his life painting more than 50 works of art on the ceiling and walls. It was just amazing and you can get a pain in your neck from staring up at the ceiling for so long. They have mirrors you can walk around with to help with that. We took a nice romantic gondola ride around some of the other major sights in town for about 45 minutes and it was very relaxing. The food in Venice is amazing. Especially the seafood. Everything is so fresh and delicious. If you want to find a good place to eat, do your research and book in advance. We had a hard time finding a place to eat on Sat. night but finally ended up at the Grand Canal House. We stopped off at Harry's Bar which is a famous bar where Hemmingway use to spend a lot of time. We sampled a few of thier famous Belinni drinks and then went to dinner. The food was fantastic and we ate so much I thought I was going to have to take a gondola ride home. Sunday we did a little bit more sightseeing, grabbed some lunch and then hopped on the Vaporetti to head back to the bus terminal to make our way back to the airport. Venice is an amazing city with lots of sights and great food, architecture and culture. There is definitely nowehre else on earth like it

Alba gu brath! (Scotland forever!)

Nothing quite like returning to the motherland for me and visiting Edinburgh for the weekend. Dena and I flew into Edinburgh late Friday afternoon and hit the ground running. We caught a taxi to the bed and breakfast where we were staying and were greeted by Helen who showed us our room and took our order for breakfast the next morning. There was no time to spare so we dropped our stuff off and headed out. We raced down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which used to be the residence of Mary Queen of Scots and is now the official Scottish residence of the Queen of England. We took a tour of the palace, the Holyrood abbey and the gardens in the back. It was very nice and very green. We then climbed our way to the top of Arthur's Seat. Well, it was not actually Arthur's Seat, which is a huge hill that has a great view of the city. It was a big hill in front of Arthur's Seat that still had a great view of the city. As if that wasn't enough climbing for us, we then headed to Calton Hill and climbed to the top of that for some more great photos. We headed back into town and over to the Scott Monument. Its a monument to honor Sir Walter Scott who was a famous Scottish historical writer and poet. We stopped off at a pub for a pint and then back to home base for a costume change and then out to dinner. Saturday the weather was typical of Scotland. Rainy, cold and very windy. But we bundled up and headed out to the Edinburgh Castle. The Castle is pretty big so we spent a few hours there touring around. We were pretty cold when we left the castle so we popped into the Scotch Whiskey Heritage Center for a wee dram. We took the scotch whiskey tour and sampled 5 different scotches at the end. That's my idea of an educational tour. From there we headed down to the Grassmarket. Its an area with some great pubs and restaurants. We grabbed a bite to eat and then back to the Royal Mile for some sights and shopping. We checked out a kilt weaving factory and picked up a few Clan Young items. We headed back to the B&B but stopped off at the Jolly Judge pub to warm up and rest our feet and of course for a few pints. There was a nice chocolate lab that greeted us at the door with his tail wagging. It was a great local pub with low painted timber ceilings and a great Scottish feel. The next day we had another great breakfast at the B&B and then headed to the airport for our 10:45 flight. We loved Edinburgh and would love to go back sometime. Hopefully it wont take us too long to get back.

Salzburg, Austria - The Hills are Alive!!!

Do a Deer a female deer, Re a drop of golden sunnnnnnnn....Mi a name I call myself....

After a great time in Germany, we went east to Salzburg, Austria to partake in sightseeing that included "The Sound of Music Tour". We had the best time re-living each phase of the movie that many of us have seen multiple times. We went to Leopold's Crown Palace first where many of the scenes took place. We also went to the Gazebo, Entrance Gates of the Abbey (where German troops were searching for the family), Mirabella Gardens, the Do-Re-Mi steps, Dwarf Garden, Hedge covered archway, the church where the Captain and Maria got married in Mondsee. The list goes on... I had best time taking pictures of Madeline and Brian skipping around, tagging each other, etc. in the hedge-covered archway. People were taking turns and Bri felt a little too feminine skipping around in front of a bunch of people. Hilarious. The Mirabella Gardens had the most beautiful bright colors and was so well manicured. I think we spent way too much time in Dwarf garden doing our impersonations of every single statue. Personally, I think we looked like exact replicas we were so good! Our trip to Mondsee, Austria was just breathtaking. As with many Hollywood films, different scenes take place in many locations and at times in a studio even though you think they are outside. Is was about 30 minutes outside of Salzburg. Although the Captain (Baron) and Maria were married in the Abbey where Maria was a novice, it was not large enough for filming the wedding scene - hence the church in Mondsee.

After a day of touring, we built up an appetite and Bri, Mads, Reid and I went to a restaurant in the center of the old town, which was rumored to be the oldest restaurant in Europe. St. Peter was established in 804! All in all, we had an awesome time. This trip was definitely unique and great to share with family that appreciates and understands the movie!

Ziggy Zoggy Ziggy Zoggy Oye Oye Oye

Roll out the barrel, roll out the barrel of fun. I wanted to make it to Oktoberfest last year but we started planning too late. This year, we made it happen. And I am so glad we did. What a great time. Dena and I left Geneva on Thursday afternoon on Sept. 18 and flew to Munich. You may be surprised that Oktoberfest starts in September but I has started the last week in September for a while now but goes on for a few weeks and ends in the month of October. We met Madeline and her boyfriend Reid in the Munich airport and hopped on a train to Germisch. We stayed with family friends the Pratts in Germisch and are so thankful for their great hospitality. Friday we spent time getting to know the town of Germisch, then on Saturday morning we all got dressed up on our traditional German outfits and we all boarded the 9am train for Munich. The Pratts sent us along with some friends of theirs that have been to Oktoberfest a few times before so we would be with some people who knew what they were doing. We arrived at the fairgrounds and made our way to the beer garden where we would stake our claim to 3 tables. We were not able to get into a tent but we still had a great time. The beer started flowing at noon and went on until I cant remember. Beers bigger than your head and bitter beer maids. We had to pace ourselves so we didn't get burned out too early. Oktoberfest is like a huge party and carnival. The brewers from Munich really take pride in their beer and their tents. I had an old German guy question why I was wearing lederhosen and I just responded, why not? There were plenty of different outfits and lots of interesting people there. At some point in the evening we gathered ourselves and made our way back to the train station to head back to Germisch. We could not make it too much of a late night since we had to catch a 9am train the next day to Salzburg. The Pratts picked us up at the train station and were impressed with how well we controlled ourselves. Oktoberfest was the best party I have ever been to and I cant wait to go back again.