Berlin

Leftover Soviet light signals (only found in East Berlin.)

Brandenburg gate, which was behind the wall until 1989.

Halloween

My sister-in-law wanted to see Halloween Pictures of my niece and nephew.

Yosemite and Half Dome

My long time friend and college roommate Lori Szendre came to visit me and conquer Half Dome. She drove down from SLC, UT and arrived in time to attend the Hollywood Italian Feast sponsored by Jimmy Kimmel and watch him tape a segment of his show.

It was a hard long hike that was awesome. I hated the stairs on quarter dome but the cables gave me a full body workout.

Just one of many adventures this year with Lori.

PS I will post Europe pictures soon.

Norway and now Sweden

Norway was very beautiful and expensive. It was so much fun riding bikes, hiking and walking around town. I loved the fresh air and the beautiful scenery.

I`m in Sweden for the next two nights then off to Denmark and a futball game.

Scandanvia

I´m going to Norway, Sweden and then Denmark. I´m excited to mountain biking and hiking in Norway. Norway and Sweden are suppose to be beautiful but expensive.

I can`t believe that my trip is almost over. I´ve had so much fun visiting new places and meeting new people.

Austria

I really enjoyed Austria and the Alps. I loved my 22 mile bike along the Danube River and the really friendly people.

I would love to go back and spend more time in Salzburg and smaller towns. I hiked from Austria to Germany to visit the castles and had an amaying time.

I only stayed in Munich for one night and their is so much more to see next time. I am in Köln and crusing the Rhine Revier tomorrow.

Then off to Beligum.....for some waffles and fries.

fast fast fast

I'm staying in a different hotel everynight so I won't be able to update as much. I'm in Austria, then up to Germany, Belgium then Paris.....

A day in Prague

I went to the castle square this morning and loved the inside of St Vitus Cathedral. They were having mass in the front of the church and it was nice to hear the organ.

I did the free tour guide of the city, which was awesome. I gave an overview of the city and we walked through old town, new town and the Jewish Quarter. She had a lot of details and history to share.

I've released that as Americans we are very stable. I haven't had a new government (just different presidents), new boundaries, or new currency. Czechs have experienced several different governments within the last 20-40 years. We don't have other countries invading our land and trying to conquer our people. Pearl harbor was attacked but our government was threaten or overthrown.

It started raining tonight and I hope that it stops by the morning. I've had wonderful weather so far, I can't complain to much.

Prague with a stop in Dresden

I left early this morning to catch the train to Prague. I stopped half way in Dresden. Dresden was an amazing city. The city was bombed by the allies in 1945, destroying their palaces, opera houses and churches. They have reconstructed most of the buildings and have done an amazing job with the aesthetics. I've enjoyed the extra leg workout walking on the cobblestone streets.

When I arrived in Prague I was surprised that the train station was closed even though it as only 5:30pm....but it is a Saturday. It took me extra long to figure out how to get a ticket for the metro and to my hotel. I withdrew money from the ATM and then went to McDonalds for coins to buy a ticket (the ticket machines don't accept bills). I made it to my hotel, which is really nice!! (I booked it as a special deal I saw on travelzoo.com; they charged my credit card in June and I was hoping that it is nice.)

I walked around the castle and bridge to get a feel of the city. The castle is gorgeous at night; I love it all lit up!!

Last Day in Berlin

Today the Reichstag opened the Dome for viewing. The view was incredible. You can see most of the city. The Dome was added to the original building and allows viewers to walk up the ramp and look over the shoulders of their parliament members. The capitol of Germany was changed from Bonn to Berlin in 1999.

The victory tower was impressive and had an incredible view of the Brandenberg gate, Reichstag and the TV Tower.

I spent most of the day in Potsdam at the Sanssouci Palace, which was massive. The palace had an amazing garden including water fountains and statues.

I've been enjoying the cheap eating including the bratwursts and the snacks I brought with me.

Walling It

Yesterday I did the wall sites, including Checkpoint Charlie, the Museum and Topography of Terror. Only a small segment of the wall is left, which which was blocked off because of the construction on the Topography of Terror. The wall has lots of holes with rebar showing through. It was amaying learning how quickly the wall went up and the creative ways people used to try to escape.

I also went to Jewish Museum and learned that the Jews have were kicked out of most European countries were persecuted during most of European History. Most of the Jews settled in Eastern and Northern Europe where they were harrassed a lot less.

I took the train out to the Olympic Stadium, which was cool to see.

One my first day I had a currywurst which is like spiced wieners, a ketchup sauce with curry spice.

First Day in Berlin

My spelling is going to be even worst because of the different keyboards, at least I now have an excuse!! I can't upload pictures because there isn't a USB port. I visited the Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, German History Muesum with lots of walking!!

They have cobblestones marking the spot were the wall once stood. It's so bizzare to see the huge difference between the east and west sides of Berlin.

I enjoyed the Memorial to the Murdered Jews with huge column blocks symbolizing all the Jews that were killed. I learned the the Roma's (Gypsy's) along with another group were also targeted. Jews from as far away as Greece were taken to concentration camps.

I'll tour the Reichstag Parilment Building this morning and do a lot of the wall sites including Checkpoint Charlie.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

My carry on and purse are packed and I'm ready to go. No extra baggage on this trip!!

Thank you for all the nice phone calls and messages from friends and family. I'll try to update my blog as much as possible, but no promises.

I'm excited and a little nervous right now. It seems so unreal.

Planning

I finally updated my blog!!!

I'm leaving July 28th to tour Europe for a month!! It's my first time in Europe and I'm excited for my adventure.

Let me know if you have any tips for my trip!!

Berlin
Prague
Vienna
Salzburg
Munich
Rhine Valley
Brugge
Paris
Amsterdam
Copenhagen
Oslo
Bergen
Stockholm
Copenhagen
Berlin

Last Minute Trip to Big Bear

I had a 45 minutes to eat breakfast, pack, and leave.....we had a lot of fun. We went kayaking, hiking, 4 wheeling (in a rental mini-van, we didn't want to ruin our car) with a little mine exploring.

I screamed the loudest ever Monday night. We were roasting marshmellows behind the cabin, Sommer thought she saw shadows and I heard noises. They discovered the raccoon and I wouldn't leave the patio porch (we roasted marshmellows while it was light outside the second night.)

Utah

I went to Utah for my niece's baby blessing. I had a lot of fun using the Salt Lake City Pass with my family. Once they left I was able to go and visit friends and go hiking. Lori and I went near Brighton. It was beautiful and I love that it doesn't get dark until late in UT.

Revlon 5K

My fourth year participating in the Revlon Breast Cancer Run/Walk. It was the first time for my 7 year old niece (almost 8) and she did an awesome job. My sister and niece spent the night at my house.

Half Marathon

I did my first half marathon. I trained with my friend Eva and we started together for the first 3 miles. We planned on running hills during our training but it rained or things came up on those days....I regretted it since it was mostly a trail run up a canyon. Within the first miles I realized that I never want to do a marathon!! I would like to train more and do the half marathon next year.

Dolpins

My friends Eva and Jared recommended that we swim with the dolphins. It was so much fun. We had an awesome doplhin traner, it was just the four od us in our group and we got to do the foot push twice because we are faster swimmers than the other group across the facitlity!!

We brought my underwater camera, took our own pictures and used our masks/snorkels to watch the dolphins underwater!!

Palancar Horsehoe Reef

I was going to wait and post all my pictures in order, then I realized no one cares. I did six different dives, four in Cozumel and two near Tulum and Playa del Carmen. the Palancar Horshoe was my favorite dive. It was really colorful and beautiful similar in Bali.

Dean and Andrea were celebrating their 8th wedding anniversary the following week. I introduced them to each other while we were at BYU. Andrea was one of my freshman roommates!!