Missing Europe

I can't wait to go back...Ich liebe Deutschland. Ich liebe Mama und Papa.

Back to Work

Well I have obviously been pretty busy this month, and haven't had a whole lot of time to update my blog. I work in the afternoons and in the morning I help around the house, try to get my room back in order, visit friends, plan my wedding, or look for a morning PT job. I definitely haven't forgotten about my blog though! I just don't have a whole lot of interesting things to write about.

I got a raise; don't remember if I said that or not already. Brian is trying to study for his exams which he wants to take in December, but it took so long to form his committee that it might have to be postponed until January or February. The baby kitties missed us very much and we have had a lot of fun playing with them again. We probably need to take them to the vet though, and they need a flea bath. We are dreading both haha.

I got an iPhone and it is fantastic. I'm actually using it right now to type this blog! So far it is definitely the best phone I have ever had. Thank God I am done using that piece of crap Blackberry aka SimError. There are so many cool applications for the iPhone, and a lot of them are free. The kids I tutor love to play flick fishing on my phone, and the baby loves to watch the ABC song on YouTube.

I've had some stress lately, and a lot of anxiety, so I've had a lot of trouble sleeping. I feel like I just can't relax, and I wake up every few hours at night. Hopefully that will get better. I don't have work today because the kids have dentist appointments. I guess that gives me more time to rest, but I'd rather be working.

Well that's all I have to write now, hopefully I will get around to adding pictures from my Europe trip soon.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We're home! I know I have a lot of catching up to do about our last weeks in Germany, and hopefully I will be able to get to that soon! In other news, I borrowed some money from Brian so I could get my iPhone 3GS! Yeah baby! Should be here between Wednesday and Friday.

I go back to work on Tuesday, and I'm also going to be working on Fridays now. I'm trying to get another part time job during the day, but it's not really going anywhere. I've applied to 5 jobs, and gotten no answer. Very disappointing.

We're having a pool party with Brian's friends today at 2pm. Hopefully it gets hotter so we can have a good time in the pool! We're going to make the 7-layer dip everyone loves too.

Oh, and if you haven't used my swagbucks referral link yet, you really should. I've already redeemed my $5 gift certificate to Amazon!

The Quest for Porcelain Dolls

The majority of our visit in Prague was spent looking for Porcelain Dolls. I had read many online reports about their being dolls in Prague, and there were, but there was one small problem. THEY ARE MADE IN CHINA. Only SOME of the dolls have Czech made clothes, but the porcelain bodies and the painted faces are both from China. I was so mad! As a last resort I mentioned to Brian that I wanted to see Karlstejn, a small city 45 minutes outside of Prague purported to have handmade Czech dolls. But because we are crazy, we decided to leave this excursion for the last day of our trip in Prague. You know, before we had to catch a train at 4:40pm to Berlin. And what time did we leave for Karlstejn? 12:10. Yeah, good call. We didn't even know how to get there, where we were going, or how we would get a train back. We just hopped on the train like it was no big deal.

We got to Karlstejn and boy was it hot. Not as hot as Rome was, but still rather uncomfortable. There was this Taxi driver there who said the walk to the Castle was 45 minutes, and we figured we didn't have that time, so we wanted to take a cab. He said 100 crowns, so we got in and as he's handing us the seat belt he says, "Ok, 400 crowns." We were like what, you said 100 crowns? Apparently, it's only 100 crowns per person if the Van is full. So we yelled at him and got out, and he tried to run us down with his van. Ok so not really, but he tried to get us to come back and we told him to shove off. 45 minutes...what a joke. It was a 15 minute walk at best. Yes, we were hot and sweaty, but it didn't cost us an arm and a leg. And we didn't have to be near that crook.

So what do you think happened when we got to Karlstejn? No Czech Porcelain dolls. Just plastic porcelain dolls. So we bought some of those, because at this point I'm thinking, this Czech porcelain doll thing is a myth. Countless people on the internet have lied to me. So, disappointed, hot and grumpy, I headed back to the train station while Brian shopped around some more.

And lo and behold, what should my knight in shining armor come back with, but REAL Czech porcelain dolls. Hot, sweating, and looking like NOT a million bucks, Brian arrived with not one but TWO dolls. Brian would like me to add that he was near death. He said he couldn't decide which one to get me, so he got both. I was so happy, and the dolls are so beautiful. Apparently he found them on the other side of Karlstejn and then ran like he was on the track team to get back to me. It was a good thing he did too, since it was 2:20, and we needed to get back to our hotel room to get our luggage before taking the tram to the station.

Speaking of that, what a disaster. We got to the train station at 4:10, bought some Burger King for lunch (YUCK), and then looked at the departure board for our train to see what gate it was at. I'm sure you can guess what happened next. Our train was not listed. And why? Because we were at the wrong train station. Lord how the train station lady laughed at us. We had 20 minutes to take the metro 3 stops, and then find our gate at the other station. Running to get to our destination like that scene out of Home Alone (minus losing a child), we somehow managed to arrive with 2 minutes to spare. And, as it turned out, that didn't matter. The train was 20 minutes late anyway. SIGH. Such was our overall stay in Prague, full of beauty, magic, and a little inconvenience.

Prague, Engagement Day

Well it's time to stop being lazy and write about our wonderful engagement in Prague, and our subsequent trip to Berlin. I'm having a problem deciding what kind of photo hosting I should use to upload my pictures. I can't stand using blogger anymore because it takes 10-15 minutes just to upload 5 pictures (you can only upload 5 at a time). Picasa is pretty good because you can sync the photos using Picasa 3 on your computer to the web, but the photo frames don't open into larger pictures when you click on them. I'm going to try using photobucket, but that has to load. So I'm going to write first and then add the pictures later!

Since our train to Nuremberg left at 6:00am, we had to get up quite early at 4:50, so Mom could drive us at 5:15. Thank God for Mama. She even made us little sandwiches to eat on the train. She's the best! So we were quite tired on the train. I can't remember if I slept or not. When we got to Nuremberg after 3 hours, we took a double-decker bus. This was awesome, because our EuroRail pass is 1st class, and the bottom of the bus is 1st class only, and no one else was there! Being 1st class also entitled us to one free hot beverage per person. Brian slept a little, and I think I did too.

Arriving in Prague was a bit confusing. We knew which trams we had to take to the hotel, but we didn't know where they were. And unlike Germany or Switzerland, most people do not speak English. After walking around for 10 minutes, a man offered to help us. Though he spoke very little English he did manage to guide us in the right direction. So, we got on the RIGHT tram but in the WRONG direction. It took us about 5 minutes to figure this out before we got off and turned around. Mind you we did all this with luggage, laptop bags, backpacks, and purses. FUN.

So we were a little tired after getting up so early and trying to find our way, but thank goodness the hotel was perfect. Somehow we lucked out and got a room on the backside of the hotel facing a hill, and we had a nice balcony. Very pleasant. So we rested there for a little bit before taking showers and getting ready for what would become our big evening!

Brian wanted to see a park that overlooks the city of Prague, so we took a little train up, much like the one we used in Switzerland. I took some pictures in the flower garden, and then we sat down at a little cafe to drink some cola. Then we went on our trek to find exactly what Brian was looking for. And what a trek it was! No matter where we walked we could not find this view, but finally we got to the Monastery, and the view was behind it. It just took about an hour, so we rested for a long time on a bench that was pretty secluded.

Now, I had pretty much had a "feeling" all day that he was going to propose, since he seemed a little nervous, was looking for a particular spot in the park, and kept looking around to see how many people there were. It was downright hilarious though, when he tried to get the ring out of his pocket because he had put it in his wallet. I had to feign blowing my nose and turning the other way just so he could manage to extract it. So cute. Finally, after waiting for months, he got down on one knee and made a little speech, and then asked me to marry him. I have no idea what he said though haha, I couldn't really think.

So, although Brian couldn't surprise me, I could surprise him. I had secretly slipped off the ring I normally wear on my ring finger, which he gave me for Valentine's day as a sort of promise ring, and had put it in my other hand. He was quite surprised when he went to remove the old ring and found it wasn't there! Hehe. I am much more subtle than my silly boyfriend...er, fiance. :D And then he picked me up and spun me around like the Princess that I am.

We took many pictures, enjoyed the view some more, and marveled in our happiness. Then it was off to a very romantic, EXPENSIVE dinner that was probably the best food I've ever eaten besides at Craftsteak in Las Vegas. I had duck, which I'd never had before, but I loved it. I also had rosemary creme brulee, which was delicious. The restaurant was on the top floor and we sat outside on the terrace surrounded by plants and flowers just under the nearby Castle. It was very romantic and peaceful, AND since it was a Tuesday night, no one was there. We practically had three waiters all to ourselves!

After dinner we concluded our lovely day/night by walking on the Charles Bridge. It was just what a Princess dreams of!

Engaged!

Yes, Brian finally proposed on August 18, 2009. Just wanted to update that really quick, but I don't have any pictures on my computer yet. We are both very happy and are having fun making wedding plans! We are also very tired from all of the traveling we have done, so will probably be pretty lazy in the next few days. Look for a full length blog post sometime soon!

Switzerland, Our Home Away From Home

We knew Switzerland was going to be a special experience for us both, since it was one of the few countries in Europe that Brian hadn't been to. But it was more than special, we really fell in love with the place. Zurich is so beautiful, the lake is so blue, and it's as clean as Disneyland. The only negative comments I can think of is that the people were not always friendly (especially to foreigners), and Zurich was extremely expensive. But beyond that, Brian and I really enjoyed our stay there. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold.

We stayed with a friend Brian had made when he worked at the International Language School back in Santa Barbara. David was so nice, and it worked out perfectly that we could stay with him since he got back from his vacation the same day we got to Zurich. His parents were also on vacation in the Alps, so we weren't imposing on anyone either. We stayed in his brother's old room, which had been converted to a guestroom. As of yet, it is by far the largest room we have slept in. The bed was so comfy, and the room had a door to a patio with a hammock! Perfection.

Anyway, we mostly relaxed our first day, recovering from travel in Rome. We stayed in Zurich from Monday, August 10 until Friday morning, August 21. Here's some of what we did:

We went to a museum about the history of Switzerland


Walking by the Lake, with the many swans.




The Lake flows into a river that runs through the city.


Marveled at the architecture.


Actually went to the Museum (we didn't the first day, only took a picture of the outside), and posed with a woolly mammoth.


Walked down the main shopping street.


Took a 1.5 hour boat ride around the lake.


Had fun with David, our host (OMG is he cute or what!?).






Took the Polybahn to the University.


The view from the University.


Surprised some old friends. That's Martin and Patricia, also from Brian's International School.


Drank my first beer, all by myself.


David's home, where we stayed.


Before we knew it, it was time to leave. David needed to study for his finals next week, and we needed to get home to get the house ready for Mama and Papa. So we said goodbye, but we know we will be back someday. Here are some pictures from our train ride home:



Hard to tell, but that's a waterfall we passed by. Beautiful.


Sigh. I miss it already.

What I Miss Most...

Here's what I miss most about the USA:

1. Free refills. They don't have that here. It's horrible.
2. Ice in your glass.
3. Cheap prices. A small coke is 5 dollars here. Even at McDonald's it is still 3 dollars.
4. Normal washers and dryers. The ones they have in Europe are so confusing.
5. My comfy bed.
6. My car.
7. Hearing people speak a language I understand.

Mama and Papa are coming home tonight, so Brian and I are cleaning house to make it look nice. Toodles!

Rome Trip Day 4

Our last day in Rome! And boy was it a hot one. Things didn't really go quite as planned either...the museum we wanted to see charged 10 euro per person and wouldn't give us a student discount because we were from the US. I guess I'm not really a student anymore anyway...haha. So we ended up doing a lot of random stuff instead.

Walking along the river.


Castle Saint Angelo, which we also didn't go in because it was too expensive.


The Angel Bridge to the Castle.


We ended up at a flea market, and Brian bought me a present!


Saint Cecelia's remains are in her church.


The apse in Saint Maria of Trastevere.


Gelato!


And that was seriously about it. A lot of the pictures we took in churches over the last 4 days need to be edited for contrast because it's just too dark to really see. I'll have to do that some other time. I think we saw about 4 churches per day...so 16 churches in all? So it gets confusing which one is which as well.

Our train left at 8, and we slept in couchettes in a compartment with a nice family from Korea. They got off the train around 4am, and we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland around 8am. That post is next!

Rome Trip Day 3

Day 3, or Saturday August 8th, was designated as our Vatican Day. We were going to do everything in the Vatican that there was to do. We started with Saint Peter's Basilica.

Outside St. Peter's.


Here is a member of the Swiss Guard. They are traditional mercenaries who guard the Pope. And they dress awesome.


Here is Michelangelo's Pietà


Here I am touching St. Peter's feet. I don't know why I look so sad. I was really excited! I think that's my pious Catholic woman face.


The Pope List.


A nice picture of the baldachino and altar where only the Pope may celebrate Mass.


One of the amazing altars in St. Peter's.


Here I am in all my glory.


And here we are in our sweaty glory together!


Then it was time for the Vatican Museums. This is one of the most important museums in the world. It's main claim to fame is the Sistine Chapel.

Unfortunately, you are not allowed to use cameras in this area. Nor were you allowed to use cameras in the crypt where the Popes are laid to rest...

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I took videos with my camera in both places. C'mon people! I'm not shoving out $2K to get to Europe and then not take a photo! But for fear that the Pope's people will hunt me down, I'm not going to post it. Sorry folks.

Anyway, let's continue.

Here are the twin Santa Maria churches in Plaza del Popolo.


Here we are in the gardens above the Plaza.


We hung around here for awhile and walked in the park before heading home for another night of McDonald's. No wonder we haven't lost any weight despite all this walking! Haha.

Rome Trip Day 2

Day 2 was very labor intensive. I'm surprised my feet didn't fall off. Here are some of the amazing things we saw.

The chains St. Peter was bound in, located at San Pietro in Vincoli.


The famous statue of Moses by Michelangelo, also at San Pietro in Vincoli.


Basilica of St. John Lateran. The ceiling was made with the first gold brought back on the ships from America.


One of the many Egyptian obelisks imported to Rome by Emperor Hadrian. Seriously. There's one outside every important church.


Ok, I have to explain this picture. We saw three different types of these people in Rome. One was this guy, one was an Egyptian sarcophagus, and the other was a tin man. Basically they dress up from head to toe, paint their faces, and stand in the same position all day in hopes that you will give them a few coins. I'm poor so I just took pictures.


The Trevi Fountain.


The dome of the Pantheon. And some hooligans.


Outside the Pantheon.


Here is Largo di Torre Argentina, where four temples and Pompey's Theater now stands in ruins. It was on the steps of Pompey's Theater that Julius Caesar was killed.


The Spanish Steps.


Brian at the top of the Steps. Yes, he made me climb.


Here I am eating McDonald's. Next to an ancient Roman wall. In the underground train station. Did I mention that ancient Roman wall is in a McDonald's?


And so concludes Day 2, where we got to sleep in a really nice Hotel with AC that worked. Yay for the small things in life.