HAMMY AND WIFE

Homage to Winter, Spring and Summer 2011

2011-08-06T12:53:00.003-04:00

I (Linz) was talking to mom recently, and she informed me that people still read our blog and look for updates, so...I thought I would indulge those of you who still check with an update!! This has been a busy year for us. We have been involved with a church plant now for a year and Ryan is leading worship when he's here, which has been really great! Ryan has been jet-setting all over the world with his job and I've gotten to go to a couple of fun places myself. Ryan has been to Bangkok, Thailand - Angkor Wat, Cambodia - Baghdad, Iraq - Moscow, Russia - Sarajevo, Bosnia/Herzegovina and I've been to Miami, FL - Bangkok, Thailand. Most recently, we went on vacation to visit Ryan's sister Jennifer and and her bf TJ in CA and then went to Vegas. THEN...to top it all off, we celebrated our five year anniversary!...does that mean we are getting old? :)

Let's start with Cambodia and Bangkok

Ryan took a weekend trip to Cambodia to visit the ancient temples.

Angkor Wat Temples in Cambodia - This temple was built in the 1100s as a religious center for Hinduism, but later became dedicated to Buddha.

This is Ta Prohm. The trees have used the temple walls to spread their roots, they are called silk cotton trees. Pretty awesome!

Things you should know about Thailand. You can't drink the water, Bangkok is a large, dirty city, the

Thai revere the Royal Family, the food is amazing, and it is hot hot hot. While I was there, it averaged 95 with 90% humidity...you know what that means, right? It = not cute. Though my hair remained frizzy, face shiny, and clothes drenched with sweat, I had an amazing time in Bangkok and so did Ryan. We went at different times of the year. Ryan went back in February and I went in July. July is the beginning of the rainy season and like clockwork, it rained at 6pm every day. This is not your average drizzle either, it rained so hard that an umbrella was useless...the rain just poured through the umbrella. I have a new appreciation for Thai food as I ate Thai food for almost every meal for 2.5 weeks. It is spicier than I thought, but delicious! The Thai people are very petite on average. I felt like a blonde giant most often....and despite the fact that they have the cutest clothes I've ever seen, I could not wear them because of my large size. That's right, an XL shirt was merely a belly shirt on me. I bought tea instead :) My first attempt at bargaining, you bargain for goods in Thailand, was terrible. I was eyeing some magnets, so the little lady said, "100 baht" and I said, "how about 70 baht?" She got in my face and was saying something about how she was eating and how she needed to eat and something something that I couldn't understand. I looked at her with that, "I know you are not yelling at me in face look," and promptly walked away....I was so upset that I went and got a 1 hour massage for $10. You should also know that I saw those same magnets for 50 baht at the weekend market...maybe she was having a really bad day?

Royal Palace -Bangkok, Thailand

Wat Pho-Thailand's largest reclining Buddha

Temple of the Dawn

This temple is covered in mosaic tile and by far one of the most amazing things I saw in Thailand. As you can see from the picture on the left, the sky is a bit gray. Well, I was on a small boat sitting on the river , which was very icky, when I took this photo. The boat was rocking fiercely and I was certain we weren't going to make it across and I was going to be thrown into this river and contract all kinds of weird diseases...but that did not happen and we made it across! Phew!

The Bridge over the River Kwai
This is the famous bridge from WWII that POWs from ally forces and US troops repaired. They lived in grass huts and wore sack clothes. Had little to eat, and many young POWs died while here from disease and living conditions.

It's a Jungle out there!
Ryan and I both went to Chonburi and went zip lining through the jungle and it was amazing!! The course is so high, that you can't even see the ground! The longest stretch was 300m long and buddy did I scream - exciting and terrifying all at the same time. As the only girl in the group, they thought it appropriate to pick on me. One of their practical jokes resulted in my getting stuck in the middle...just dangling on a wire in the middle of the jungle...meh! The best part was watching one of our guides monkey it across the wire and retrieve me...very impressive! I only saw one monkey and lots of very poisonous spiders! They were giant! Their legs actually had meat on them....I'm glad we didn't get too close.

ELEPHANTS and Waterfalls!
I went on an elephant ride, and I've discovered that I just should not ride animals. Every time I do...I cry, so maybe my lot in life is not riding any type of animal...regardless of whether or not they are part of the working class of animals. I later found out that the Thais do not approve of these elephant "farms," and I thought I was going to a nature park where you adopt an elephant- you know feed and water it, learn how to take care of it...instead I went to an elephant park...it makes me sad that I contributed to something so terrible. I did tell the travel office that they should not send people there...
If you look closely, you'll see that I'm wearing a lovely hat. It was made by the elephant handler from leaves and flowers...very cute, yes? I must say that the best part was feeding the elephant bananas and visiting with the babies! Possibly one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

After we visited the elephants, we went to Erawan Falls. We did a little hiking up the waterfall and then swam with those fish that kiss you. Now, I was terrified to jump in until a 13-yr-old jumped in...then I didn't want to look like a big sissy and I jumped in. These fish do like to say "hello," and some of them were over a foot long, which was scary, but I did it!!!

I will close out Bangkok with this picture. This girl had rigged a bicycle to be a squid cart. Yes, those little pink things you see hanging from the metal contraption on the side are dried whole squids...they smell horrid! But they were sold everywhere! Deeeelicious...

MOSCOW
Ryan visited Moscow and quite an adventure!

Tsar Bell in the Kremlin....it broke

Tsar Cannon within the Kremlin

Crazy bird lady in front of Russian State "Lenin" Library

The Bolshoi Theatre, famous for ballets and operas. Went to an opera here...understood nothing.

Statue of Peter the Great (this thing is HUGE...standing 165 feet tall)

Entrance to Gorky Park

Red Square (little known fact, it is called red square because the word for red in Russian is "krasnaya," which also means beautiful. when it was named Red Square it was for the beauty of St. Basil's cathedral. So it has absolutely nothing to do with communism)

The Kremlin

St. Basil's

Cathedral of Christ the Savior


Tank during Victory Day parade in Moscow to celebrate victory in WWII	(In soviet Russia, tank drives you!)

Small ~~communist~~ boy with Russian flag during V-Day parade


Lubyanka, former HQS of the KGB

BELGRADE Next stop on Ryan's big adventure was an unexpected trip to Belgrade...


Random bombed building in Belgrade, where I was stuck when traveling from Moscow to Sarajevo. Too long of a story to write here, but it was no fun...

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA/HERZEGOVIN


Old Town in Sarajevo

these are known as "Sarajevo Roses," concrete stars created by mortar shells during the Bosnian War. they were later filled in with the red resin to symbolize the deaths cause by the mortars.

eternal flame in Sarajevo, memorial to the Bosnian victims of WWII

Latin Bridge in Sarajevo, where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated to start WWI

typical mosque in Sarajevo

THERE ARE NO PICS OF IRAQ....obviously

MIAMI
I went to Miami for two weeks to get some training from another admin down there. A really great opportunity! My first week I was inland, but my second week, I stayed on Miami Beach and it was heaven. Every day after work, I would just sit on the beach and enjoy the sunset. One weekend my new friend Vanessa went with me to Key Largo. We went snorkeling in the middle of the ocean. I did see barracudas, which got very close to me, but thankfully that had no interest in eating me! I have never snorkeled and Ryan tried to get me to go on our honeymoon, but after that British guy yelled out sea snake! (poisonous btw) I couldn't work up the nerve...until Miami. The water was so clear and beautiful. If you look at the pic, you can see the ocean floor 50 ft below. The reefs were purple and lime green and the fish were every color and size. If you stay still, a whole school of fish will swim right up to you and make you part of their clan....really amazing. Unfortunately, there were thousands of baby jelly fish, so I did get stung quite a bit...totally worth it though!After our adventure, we sat on a patio at Sundowners, watched the sunset, ate fresh seafood, sipped Mai Thais and enjoyed live music.

Monterey Bay

Vacation to the West Coast

We visited Jennifer and TJ in LA, and we all rented a car and drove up Route 1 to San Francisco. The drive up the coast was beautiful. We winded along the coastline with views of cliffs dropping off into the ocean. We stopped in Monterey, which seems to be the resting place for very rich retired folks on the west coast. The fisherman's wharf is lined with with restaurants all claiming to have the best clam chowder. The best part was that each restaurant let you try a sample of their chowder for free.

Route 1

Big seal dude

We visited the Randolph Hearst Castle, but didn't do the tour. It is basically a really humongous house that a whole town could live in, with 200,00 acres of land. Hearst was a famous newspaper mogul who ended up owning 28 newspapers in his lifetime, and Mark Twain was one his writers! Near his home is a seal nesting place, so we went there and saw this big guy! He was giant!

Smaller, less threatening female seals

While in Monterey, we drove on the famous 17-mile drive. The PGA plays on the golf course we drove along side. Here you will see pebble beach, bird sanctuaries and the famous lone cypress.

Pebble Beach

Us and the lone cypress tree....

Babadadahhhhh

On to San Francisco
I could live here...the city is small and clean and the row houses are really beautiful and I couldn't stop singing the Full House theme song in my head...i did not torture everyone by singing it the whole time, though secretly I wanted to scream it out! Thankfully at one point, Jennifer had to sing it out loud, which made me happy.
We rented go carts one day and drove around the city for a few hours. The navigation in these things was messed up, so both carts went on interesting, stressful side routes. Most notably, we did not die while driving these things surrounded by regular sized vehicles. Chloe did not like the go carts :( and neither did Jennifer and TJ...they had a super slow cart and their navigation lady took them on a wild goose chase, but thankfully they made it back to the cart place safely.

There she is! The Golden Gate Bridge!


TJ at AT&T park,lift from the legs!

Ryan and I visited Alcatraz, and it was really cool. The buildings are falling apart, because of the harsh weather conditions, but it was amazing to step back into time. It was a guided tour, so we got to hear about the guys that escaped or attempted escape and the lives of the officers and their families that lived on the island. It was amazing to visit the cells occupied by the infamous Al Capone.

Typical inmate cell

The view of the city from Alcatraz is the best. It is a really beautiful cityscape.

After our adventures in the city, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods. Within Muir woods is a small forest of redwood trees. These guys are huge!! They live for something like 800 years and for every 10,000 seeds, only one tree grows. I thought for sure a dinosaur was going to pop out! I have never seen anything like this. I just stared with mouth and eyes wide open for an hour. It was really beautiful.

VEGAS!

Lion Habitat at MGM

We went on the Vegas for the second half of our vacation. We visited the casinos, ate at some buffets, saw a show and slept in late every day! ahhhhhhh.....vacation. It was 104 degrees and the sun sizzled your skin when you walked outside. We stayed in the Venetian-that's the one with the Gondolas. Our hotel was amazing, we really didn't need to leave, bc everything was there that we could ever want. Our hotel had the funny old lady perfume smell though...i'm guessing it's the cleaner or air freshener they use...but it smelled like icky old lady perfume....Ryan didn't notice....Oh! and Ryan won $200! I won nothing...turns out I'm bad luck in a casino. The only reason I say that is Ryan won his $ when I was running back to the room for something or in the bathroom...I don't mind though! I'm glad we left in the positive. We were overwhelmed for most of our Vegas vacation. There are so many things to see, people everywhere, hundreds of places to eat..it was just overwhelming, but we had a great time!

Bellagio Fountains

Eiffel Tower

Caesars

The Venetian!

THE END...

Reston 10K

2010-09-26T18:25:00.002-04:00

I ran my first long race today. I finished 2nd in my age group and finished 28th out of 81 female runners; completing the 10k in 55 minutes!! This race was part of my 1/2 marathon training, so I guess that means I'm an official runner! :)

Running pose...Yeah...I'm a nerd

Havasu Falls

2010-07-11T20:04:00.050-04:00

Prepare yourself. This post is gonna be a doozey. Linz and I just got back from our trip to the Grand Canyon. There were four of us total. Linz and I, our tour guide, and a lady from Deutschland (that would be Germany) who booked at the last minute. Our trip took us to the Havasupai Indian Reservation. To get there, we started at the Haulapai Hilltop and hiked 8 miles to the village of Supai. From there, we had 2 more miles to get to the campground. This isn't your traditional campground. There aren't any marked campsites....you just find a flat area and set camp. They do have composting toilets, which is pretty nice. And there's a fresh spring to get clean water.

Anyway, we have quite a few pictures to post. I tried to narrow it down, but it's pretty much impossible. So you might as well get comfortable. Here we go...

Linz and I before starting the hike down

View of the "trail"

Linz is super-excited
These two stones are called the "Watchers." The Havasupai believe that these stones guard the entrance to their village and that when they fall, the canyon will close up and the tribe will be no more.
This is Emerald Falls (aka New Navajo Falls). It's one of two new waterfalls created after the flood of 2008.
Here's Linz in front of one part of Emerald Falls

Here's me

And here's us

This is Rock Falls, the second falls created after the flood of '08. This is the falls I jumped off of, since it's only roughly 25 feet high. Check out the video below...

This is also the falls where most of the native children would hang out. They don't like having their picture taken, so I had to sneak this one...

And this is Mooney Falls. It is actually taller than Niagara Falls (although obviously not as wide) at around 200 feel tall. We climbed down this section of the canyon...

This gives you a good idea of how tall this waterfall is. You see those tiny dots at the top? That's Linz and the lady from Germany. And I've only captured about 1/4 of the fall in the pic. So....yeah. Pretty big.
Lindsey contemplating existentialism at the top of Mooney Falls
And this begins our descent down

During the descent, we had to go through two caves...
Here's a video of us going through the caves.

This is what we climbed down.
And this is the very end of it.
I was super thirsty afterwards...

The next waterfall we explored was Beaver Falls, which is a cascade.
See that little dot at the bottom of the falls? Yup, that's my head.

Linz and I chilled at Beaver Falls for most of the day, so we set up our hammock over the water.

And one day we found this random waterfall. We liked going over here cause no one else knew about it. It was our own private swimming area.
And here's me jumping off a cliff...

One night, our tour guide, Jon, and I climbed up the canyon wall to explore some caves...

And here's the main attraction....Havasu Falls...

And the view from the top...

And I just like this pic...

And here's the canyon right before the sunrise on our hike out...

This is one of the dogs from the village. He followed us for about 3/4 of the hike out of the canyon.

Linz with her super awesome knife...yeah, it's that really small thing in her right hand.

Here we are after completing the hike out. The last mile or so was nothing but switchbacks up the canyon wall. It was pretty tiring...

Once we left the canyon, we stopped at one of the famous Route 66 diners. I don't know if I was just that hungry, but the burger was one of the best I ever had...

So...in summary, we hiked somewhere around 40 miles, did a little rock climbing/scrambling, descended a waterfall taller than Niagara Falls, and jumped off waterfalls/cliffs. All in all, pretty sweet vacation.

Grand Canyon

2010-07-03T11:00:00.001-04:00

We are hiking the Grand Canyon this week! Pictures soon to come!...please pray that we do not get bitten by snakes or scorpions!

Sandy's Baby Shower

2010-05-24T16:49:00.003-04:00

This past weekend, we celebrated my friend Sandy's baby boy (still a bun in the oven). We don't know his name yet, but we are all very excited to meet him! This shower was a family and friend collaboration and of course I made a diaper cake! I really liked this one.

Me and Sandy

Making virgin Mojitos
Decorated Table

My cake!

I made the flowers out of card stock...my craft of the month!

What we've been up to these past couple of months

2010-04-17T20:46:00.000-04:00

So we have not posted since February and it's probably time. We have been doing all sorts of things since our last post. My dad got married, we celebrated Uncle Terry's (Ryan's side) birthday, we've done some hiking and we had our first housewarming party in our first house for colleagues. So here are some pictures that documented most of those adventures.

Also, you may want to know that what is most exciting is the amount of home repair we've encountered. Our house is truly showing us love by a mysterious leak, broken washing machine and dryer, broken dishwasher, leaking sunroom, bad AC circulation in the upstairs, and then of course you have the normal wear and tear. Ahhhh owning a home is wonderful and terrible all at once. We do not want to know what will be the repair for next month. Does it ever end?!

After the wedding ceremony, my dad with Karen and Jared with Brooke

Uncle Terry and Gabby blowing out the candles.Me and Ryan posing inside a tree at Great Falls National Park.

More Snow

2010-02-11T12:29:00.005-05:00

Ah...what a glorious morning! I awoke to find the sun shining and the snow melting away (albeit very slowly). I then opened up the doors to the sunroom to find the most a-MA-zing thing.......WATER! Water everywhere! Yay! The snow had turned to ice and frozen the gutters and our sunroom leaked throughout the night. Man I love snow.

So yeah, Linz and I spent the morning trying to chip away the ice from the sunroom gutters. Hopefully there isn't any damage. Maybe we just need to recaulk the seams or something. You like that? Recaulk? It totally sounds like I know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, here are two videos from yesterday. Enjoy.

P.S. I hate snow...

Visit to the ER...New York, New York...Hiking with the Guys...and the Blizzard of 2010

2010-02-08T10:01:00.005-05:00

So...this post will be super long cause I have a lot of updates. I could just post a little at a time, but we all know I'm too lazy to do that. I'd post one thing and then never do the rest. So here we go...

I've never been to the ER. At least, never for myself. Well, I found the experience to be......rather uneventful. Nothing like you see on TV. Doctors rushing around screaming, "I need 40 cc's of creamoburoferin, stat!" No gunshot wounds, no severed arms, no one violently convulsing on the floor. But I guess that's what you can expect from the hospital in Reston, VA.

Anyway, you may be asking, "why did you have to go to the emergency room?" Well, funny thing about knives. Don't know if you know this, but they're sharp. Especially brand new knives. Super sharp. Now, I've been collecting knives since I was around seven and Granddaddy bought me my first one at Whitey's Knife Shop inside Happy's Flea Market. Since that time, I've only cut myself maybe three times....never this bad though. I was opening some things I bought in preparation for my hiking trip with some guys from my Bible study (I'll talk about this later), and the knife slipped outta my hand. When I caught it, I accidentally swiped it across my other hand and sliced open my left index finger.

Ouch.

Actually, it was one of those things where it didn't really hurt. I didn't even realize that I had cut it at first...until blood started flowing like a river. Now, I've never had stitches before, so I didn't know if I would require any. I thought maybe I could just bandage it up and it would eventually heal. But then I opened up the wound and realized that I could see about a half inch INTO my finger. It was pretty awesome. So Linz drove me to the ER. As I was saying above, it was dead in there (HAHA....dead! Zing!) I was admitted immediately. However, we were still there for about 2 hours. Kinda ridiculous. Anyway, the doctor was super cool. He put some medicine in my finger that made it swell up to about three times its normal size. I guess it's easier to put in the stitches that way. When he was done, I had eight stitches in my finger. I had them suckers for 2 weeks. You don't realize how much you need that finger until you can't use it. No playing guitar, no video games, and typing up my work papers became next to impossible.

But all is well now. Finger is fully healed, and I'll probably have a wicked cool scar on my finger. Here are some pictures. If you have a weak stomach...look at them anyway. You need to get over it.

This is me after my trip to the ER

And this is my finger without the bandages

See! Not so bad.

And my finger two weeks later when I got the stitches removed...

Now on to New York!

Linz and I went to New York the day after my trip to the ER. We went to visit her best friend Linda and her husband Chris. This was mine and Linz's first time to New York City. We both loved it. I could make this section extremely long...but I'll just post a bunch of pictures...

Linda and Linz

Washington Square Arch

Linz and I in Times Square

Magnolia Bakery!! No doubt that bakery's got all the bomb frostings. I love those cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling! (name that song!)

Yay! 30 Rock! We actually saw Kenan Thompson here...he's a member of SNL and former Nickelodeon star. I was really hoping to see Andy Samberg...oh well.

This is a view of the city from Central Park. Everyone always talks about how dangerous it is in Central Park at night. But we were there at night and saw nothing but a lot of little old ladies walking their dogs. Granted, one old lady tried to shiv me, but unsuccessfully. Old people are so cute...

This is our friend Kat. She was posted with us in Vienna, Austria, and now she lives in NY!

LOOK AT THIS SLICE OF PIZZA!! man i love new york

Ground Zero and the construction of the Freedom Tower

Chris, Linda, and Linz on the ferry to Staten Island

Lady Liberty

New York at night

There's tons more I could post about New York...but we must move on.

The next weekend, I went on a hiking trip with some guys from my Bible study. This was a two-day, 16-mile hike along the Appalachian Trail, and it has been quite a few years since I've done anything that long. So needless to say, it was a struggle. And actually, what made it so bad was my knee. Now, I've always had problems with my right knee. But I guess my left knee was feeling left out, so it decided to give out on me. So, the uphill parts of the hike killed my lungs, and the downhill parts killed my knee. Really a win-win situation.

This was our plan. We took two cars and parked one at the end of the hike and then drove to the beginning. We started at like 2100 on Friday night and hiked about a half mile in to get to the first shelter. We woke up the next morning and set out for the next shelter about 13 miles away. We would actually hike past the place where we parked the second car to get to the next shelter, camp there, and then hike back to the car the next morning. So, 10 miles to the car, 3 miles past it to the next shelter, and then 3 miles back. Unfortunately, I did not make it the whole way. By the time we got to the car, my knee was the size of a grapefruit. Really disappointing, cause despite how out of shape I am, I really wasn't that tired. I could have easily done the remainder of the hike, but God made my knee hurt for a reason I guess. So, I had to cut my trip short. But 10 miles is pretty good. Hopefully my knee will do better next time. Anyway, here are a few pics...

Building our fire at the shelter

Home sweet home...we slept in bivy sacs. If you're claustrophobic, I DO NOT recommend...ugh.

Taking a little break...

Ladson, Me, Andy, and Daniel (making fun of my knee...not very edifying is it?)

And last we have the blizzard of 2010! So, we got 18 inches during the snowstorm in December. That was more snow than we had for the entire 2 years in Vienna. Crazy.

Well, the snow gods, knowing how much I hate snow, decided that 18 inches wasn't enough. I mean it took well over a month for all the snow from the last storm to totally melt away. So this past weekend, we got a little more. I keep reading other blogs, such as my cousin Christopher and his wife Kate's and my sister Nicole's, about how they got like 5 inches and schools have been closed for days. HA! I laugh at your single-digit inches! I mean, we got 18 in December! Anyone want to guess how much we got this past weekend? Keep in mind that Ryan does NOT like snow. Sure, I like to ski and sled and what not. But let's face it, I'm not a kid anymore. I'm gonna have to shovel the snow. And chances are I'm gonna have to go to work (although not today...one of those rare cases where the Gov't actually shut down). So if I don't get to enjoy the snow, it just becomes an inconvenience. Anyway, from Friday to Saturday we got around 26 inches. Let me put that in perspective. I am 70 inches tall. So I'm thinking that if Nicole and the kids were here, we'd probably lose a couple. In other parts of NOVA they got 30-32 inches. And guess what? They're predicting another 6-9 inches on Tuesday. Yeah. Super thrilled about that...

So here are some pictures of the snow (stupid stupid snow).

This is right outside our front door...

This is the parking lot to our cluster. We successfully shoveled out the Xterra so we could actually get out if we needed to.

Our back yard

And here's a little video of the experience...

Hokies vs Wahoos...Hanging with Devon...And ringing in the new year (Bond style)

2010-01-01T13:09:00.000-05:00

So...I think it's pretty well documented that I'm a huge Hokie fan. Grew up 45 minutes down the road from VT and graduated from there in '04. Well, ironically one of my best friends, Randall, is a UVA fan. We're not really sure what happened. He may have been dropped on his head as a child. And that would actually explain a lot more than just his fan allegiance.

Anyway, the Saturday after Thanksgiving was the annual VT/UVA football game. I know what you're thinking, "UVA has a football team? Did they even play this year?" I assure you they do...and they did. Just ask any William & Mary fan! Well, Randall's family has UVA season tickets and they had an extra one. This ticket was originally intended for my good friend Devon, but he was a no show. So I attended my final Hokie game of the season and third since we moved back from Austria.

I'll be honest, the first half made me kind of nervous. We ended the half with only a one-point lead. But as it turns out, we were just toying with the little wahoos. We scored 28 second-half points and also shut them out in the second half.

Now, for those of you who have never been to a game at Scott Stadium, you're not missing much. Have you ever been to a Virginia high school football game? Yeah, that's what it's like. Sad. There's so much more I want to say, but out of respect for Randall and his family, I will not. Here's a few videos from the game I took with my iPhone.

A couple days after Christmas, Linz and I had a chance to spend the day with Devon and his girlfriend Michelle. Devon was one of my groomsman and played guitar in the wedding (he is in fact one of the finest acoustic fingerstyle guitarists I know). Anyway, we hadn't seen Devon since we've been back, so it's been about 2 1/2 years since we got to hang out. We just spent the day at Devon's dad's house catching up. Good times...

Me and Devon

And now for New Years. It's impossible to top a New Years spent in Vienna (here's what we did last year). But this year came pretty close. My bud Rob threw a James Bond-themed New Years Party. All the guys showed up in their spiffiest attire and the ladies came out Bond-girl style. There were casino games like blackjack, craps, and roulette, and we had a DJ in the basement. But perhaps the best thing about the party was the Hokie bowl game. Rob and two of his three roommates are also Hokies, so of course we had the bowl game playing. The Hokies played the University of Tennessee and left no doubt that we were the better team. We punished them 37-14. (Caleb and Chala, you are the only two Tennessee fans that I've met that I don't despise. In fact, I love you both. So again, I will refrain from rubbing it in........too much.)

WHOOHOO!!! GO HOKIES!!! VOLS SUCK!!!!!!!!!

Sorry bout that....had to get it out of my system. Anyway, here are some pics from New Years. Hope yours was a good one.

Linz and I

Rob and I

Me, Linz, Meredith (Rob's sis), and Patrick
New Years was actually Meredith and Patrick's one-year anniversary

Linz and I getting our perverbial "groove" on
(doesn't it look like I'm missing some bottom teeth here? I swear I'm not)

Rob and Frances

First kiss of 2010...yeah, I posted us kissing...get over it.

Art

2009-12-21T12:50:00.001-05:00

Here are a few of my paintings over the past 2 years

Positano, Italy-oil
Wedding gift for Erin

This is my friend Natascha in Vienna
Waterlily at Schoenbrunn-oil

Waterfall I &II-oil
One of these is for Linda

I am now finished with my classes for the semester. I took Drawing I and Design I. Here are some of my class assignments.

Drawing I
Rocking Horse-graphite

Bottles and Vase-graphite

Statue of David-graphite
Classmate I

Joe

Roanoke, VA-ink
Fruit-pencil

Nude sketch-graphite

Final Project-self portrait grid drawing

Design I
Now, if you talked to me at all during the semester, then you would know how much i disliked this class. I have never been so uncomfortable in my life! and I had no idea what I was doing. I managed to do well in the class, but I'm glad it's over.

Collage-project 1

Figure vs. Ground Study
Reflection of Vienna

Texture Rubbing
My favorite is the 4th square on the bottom row...oreo!
Final Project
Symbolic representation of my future career path

Duchess vs the snow

2009-12-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

We got 20-21" in Nova this past weekend. Way more snow than we had in 2 years in Vienna...strange! It was so beautiful and we got a snow day from work on Monday.

Our first hokie games in 3 seasons!

2009-11-14T16:11:00.001-05:00

The Nebraska Game

The Miami Game...it rained the entire day, but it was worth it.

This was Bryce's first hokie football game. Hopefully the next one will be a little dryer.

Halloween

2009-11-01T19:48:00.001-05:00

I just thought this was cute. Duchess helped me hand out candy and she was a huge hit with the trick or treaters!

Goodbyes in Wien, Visit to LA, Visit to Raleigh

2009-11-01T19:21:00.001-05:00

Our last days in Vienna

Us and Matty
Ryan and Caleigh...she already doesn't like him! This is Caleigh when she was tiny...I hear she's much bigger now. 16lbs!

CD cover of the year

Hanging out on the steps of the Rathaus

This is me, Natascha, and the painting I did for her.

Our first visit in the US was to see Jennifer in LA

Krispy Kreme Donuts were a must. They really are better than the ones in VA.

Awww, sibling love
Me and TJ enjoying Donuts...they are cerrrrazy good!We got soaked at Seaworld watching the dolphin show...and even more so on the rapids ride!

Next stop, Raleigh to visit Nicole and the 5 kids

Here we are with the kids and the presents we got them-soccer shirts for the boys, a ballerina picture for Gracie, and bear in Lederhosen for Gaby

Us and Nicole

Update for October

2009-10-24T20:28:00.001-04:00

We have officially moved out of the hotel and are now living in our new home! Yaaay!!

It is a mess, but we are enjoying no longer living in a stinky hotel room. Ryan is working really long hours and I've been busy with work and classes. We'll post some pictures, once we settle in...but that may be a while.

Duchess seems happy with new place. I'm pretty sure she likes it much better than the hotel. There are lots of dogs for her to bark at every time we take a walk, so I think she loves it.

Once we get settled in, we expect visitors!!

My 25th Birthday

2009-09-30T21:20:00.000-04:00

Well my 25th birthday means I can finally rent a car! Yay!!

Today has been quite an adventurous day and many brithday firsts for me.

1-I went to the DMV and renewed my drivers license...in case you weren't aware, the DMV is no place to celebrate a birthday!

2-Ryan and I had our final walk through of our almost house

3-We now own that house!! That's right, we closed on our house. Yaaaay!! We own a house!!! We will start moving in on Oct. 9.

4-Went shoe shopping to replace my shoes that were ruined on their way from Vienna.

5- Ate an amazing meal at Mortons. This was my first experience and holy moly! It was awesome. The steak literally melts in your mouth and they served me crab legs the length of my arm!!! They were scary, but deeelicious.

Needless to say, it was a very memorable birthday.

House Update

2009-09-24T20:36:00.000-04:00

We are one week away from closing on our house! So far things are going smoothly!!

What have we been up to lately?
1) Going to VT games...yup, we were there for the Nebraska game. It was 2 minutes of awesomeness, followed by 56 minutes of crap, and ending in 2 minutes of pure bliss. Why you may ask? Well, if you're asking that, you obviously didn't watch the game. I'll help you out...here's how it ended...

pure awesomeness.
(and we're going to the Miami game also)

2) Buying furniture and piling into our hotel room

3) Ryan working a heck of a lot of overtime

4) Still adjusting to living in the US

5) I've been going to art classes, and i really love it

you know...just the usual...

Photos of the house that is almost ours

2009-09-12T09:37:00.001-04:00

Lovely 70's style facade

L shaped kitchen

Sunken Living Room off of the dining room

Sunroom...this is a nice bonus.

Part of the future Man Cave/Hokie Heaven

Now I'm just hoping that posting these photos hasn't jinxed us in some way! ;)

House Hunting Update

2009-09-07T17:04:00.001-04:00

We put an offer on a townhouse last Sunday, and we found out on Tuesday that they accepted our offer! We had our home inspection on Saturday and the inspector did not find anything seriously wrong. If the contract goes through, then we will close on September 30! (Happy Birthday to me!)

It is a townhouse in Reston. It has 3 bedrooms, and a small basement, but most importantly it has a sun room! We are super excited and will keep our fingers crossed that the contract will go through.

Also, the temp0 died so we had to buy a new car. We just go it on Friday-08 Honda Civic. I pretty much love it!

We are doing well, but we are still adjusting to life in the states. I must admit that I am already tired of living in a hotel...and in Sterling. We are sooo far away from everything. But, if we close on the house on Sept. 30 then we'll move in around Oct. 15, which will be much better.

We hope all of our Wien friends are doing well and we miss you!

My Apologies

2009-09-02T21:41:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! We have lots of photos to load, but we've had some difficulties getting them onto my computer...when we figure out the problem, i'll be sure to post the pictures!

Less than a week

2009-07-15T13:31:00.000-04:00

Well it's official...less than a week left to go. Our 2 years went by quickly!! Today was my last day as the CLO. I leave my job with a great sense of accomplishment, much excitement and only slight sadness. My job was great and extremely challenging in many ways; it really was a great fit for me. Now if only I could find something that fits me as well in VA. I had an interview last week, so we'll see what comes of it. We packed out 2 days ago, so we are living in an empty white walled apartment that is only a fragment of the home that we made for ourselves here. I said several goodbyes today, and have many more to go by next Tuesday. Though saying goodbye will be difficult...more difficult for me than Ryan I think, it is a welcoming change. I am more anxious about moving back to the states than I was about coming out here! I think that's strange. We are excited to visit Jennifer in LA, the Greenes in NC and the rest of our family and friends in VA. We will see you all very soon and we can't wait!

Greek Islands: Samos & Patmos

2009-07-05T03:40:00.000-04:00

The Islands of Greece: Samos and Patmos

We visited three of the Grecian Islands, Samos, Patmos and Santorini (we'll save that one for last). Patmos is the closest island to Turkey, and it is here that St. John was exiled and wrote the Book of Revelation. The island is pretty nice, but it is really windy! We spent two nights on Patmos. We reached the island by ferry after flying from Athens to the one room airport of Samos, which was beautiful. We relaxed on the beach in Samos for a few hours, before catching the ferry. I did some drawing and Ryan did some reading. Here a few pics.

This is someone's back yard!

Here is one of my drawings

Beautiful water!

So after enjoying Samos for a bit, we ventured to the dock, to catch our ferry. After the cars and people were unloaded, we got on. I had envisioned something much smaller than our boat, and the cargo area that we had to walk through smelt like diesel and fish...mmmmm!

View of Samos Bay from the dock
Our boat
Super excited to be on this boat!
One of the many islands we ferried past

One of the bays we stopped at along the way to Patmos

Patmos

We arrived at Patmos freezing, because we did not wear appropriate boat riding clothes.

Our first glimpse of Patmos

The famous St. John's Monastery is on top of the hill

The Bay

We hiked up to the cave where St. John lived and wrote Revelation. This is the building they've built around the cave, which is part of the monastery.

I pretty much love mosaics

This is the entrance to the cave. It is considered a sacred place, so no cameras allowed. Inside, it is a cave with an alter, chairs, and a lot of random gold stuff. There is a rock shelf where John's scribe wrote his account of Revelation, and there are indentations in the rock where John is said to have slept and a place that he put his hand to stand up.

Now, unfortunately we could not take photos any where near the monestary, so we do not have pictures to show you. We did see the skull of St. Thomas, lots of old goblets, paintings and monks!

These are the views as we walked up the mountain to the monastery.

Our hotel! The owner has a restaurant around the corner from William and Mary in VA!

Bye Patmos!

Greece: Delphi Exursion

2009-07-02T06:12:00.000-04:00

The Town of Delphi

Delphi is located on the mountain Parnassus in lower central Greece. It first came on the map in the 15th century BC. For the ancient Greeks, Delphi was literally the center of the world. According to Greek myth, Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth and they met in the sky above Delphi. Impaling into one another with their beaks, they fell to the ground on the very center of the world. The priests from Knossos on Crete brought the cult of Apollo to Delphi in the 8th century BC, which created the Oracle, what Delphi is known for.

Beautiful Mosaic

Church of Delphi

Museum of Delphi
The museum houses thousands of artifacts excavated from ancient Delphi. Most artifacts were extravagant gifts brought by leaders for the Oracle of Delphi.

Socrates

Charioteer of Delphi (470 BC)
It is one of best known and well preserved bronze statues of ancient Greece. The most interesting thing to me about this statue are the eyes, because they look real. He has eyelashes made of copper and eyes made of onyx.

Sphinx of Naxos sitting on an Iconic column (560 BC)
Apparently there were large columns with various statues sitting on top of them throughout Delphi, this is the only one of the statues that survived.

The Archaeological Site of Delphi
It is indescribable to walk along an excavated site knowing that it was once lively and bustling with people over 2500 years ago. These temples and monuments are so beautiful, and I like to imagine what it would have looked like back then. Because of Zeus' eagle experiment, this site became the center of the world for ancient Greeks and the dwelling place for the Greek god Apollo.

What is this Oracle? you may be asking...

The priestess of the oracle at Delphi was known as the Pythia. Apollo spoke through his oracle, who had to be an older woman of blameless life chosen from among the peasants of the area. She sat on a tripod seat over an opening in the earth. When Apollo slew Python, its body fell into this fissure, according to legend, and fumes arose from its decomposing body. Intoxicated by the vapors, the sibyl would fall into a trance, allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. In this state she prophesied. It has been postulated that a gas high in ethylene came out of this opening that is known to produce violent trances, though this theory remains debatable. While in a trance the Pythia "raved" - probably a form of ecstatic speech - and her ravings were "translated" by the priests of the temple into elegant hexameters. People consulted the Delphic oracle on everything from important matters of public policy to personal affairs.

Temple Tholos
This temple was reconstructed, and the whiter stone in the below picture is the newer stuff. This temple is located in the Sanctuary of Athena. All structures in this area were dedicated to Athena. The purpose of this structure is unknown, but it is thought to have housed a spectacular statue.

These stones are what remains of an ancient fitness center. The dirt roads were the racing track.

View of Tholos in the Sanctuary of Athena

Temple of Apollo as seen from the Tholos below

View from Temples

That's my gladiator pose! I'm standing on the stage of an amphitheater.

Temple of Apollo and valley are behind us

Amphitheater and Temple of Apollo

Stadium where they use to hold athletic competitions, including chariot racing.

Below is the Temple of Apollo. It was built three different times, because of earth quakes. Each time it was dedicated to various ancient Greek architects. This building housed some of the most valuable donations given to the oracle.

Treasury of Athens

Delphi was a really great trip. We went with a tour group, but stayed the night and went back to Athens with a different group the next day. The mayor himself drove us to our hotel! According to our second tour guide, he is well loved in Delphi...he also owns half of it! That evening, we got to see real Greek dancing and we even tried it out! We were the youngest people by 35 years dining that night, but it was a lot of fun!!

My newest song - To Vienna

2009-06-19T11:10:00.000-04:00

here's my newest song. i wrote it back in January during one of my trips to Stockholm. yes, i wrote it for Linz. yes, it's a love song...get over it. and blogger is stupid. it won't let me simply upload a song...so i had to create a slideshow. so yeah....enjoy these random pics of Vienna!

oh, and please note that the mix is not really up to par since i uploaded it to blogger.

stupid blogger....

Our Last Adventure: Greece

2009-06-07T04:58:00.000-04:00

First Stop: Athens

I'm not really sure what I thought Athens would be like, but it wasn't quite what I'd expected. The city is extremely large, dirty, and loud. Our hotel was not in the best part of town, so I'm sure that had a little to do with our impression of the city. We buy a painting or drawing from a street artist everywhere we go, but we did not find street artists in Athens. We did, however, find shops with paintings...each shop with the exact same paintings all claiming to be unique...original! They then proceeded to charge absurd amounts of money for a copy! We were highly disappointed in the dishonesty and lack of choice, so we just ended up paying too much for an "original" copy. The people and dirtiness aside, the historical sites were incredible!

We explored the city our first evening in Athens and wondered around. We stumbled upon these steps, so we decided to go up them. The view of the city is beautiful! You can see the monuments, hills, mountains and bay from atop the hill. The light colored buildings seem to go on forever. We enjoyed an hour on the hill and decided to head back to the hotel before dark, since I was a bit scared of venturing into our temporary neighborhood at night. What we didn't know about the hill, was that it was the first location Apostle Paul preached the gospel in Greece! A-ma-zing!

And now the ruins!

This arch was the main entrance to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Construction of this temple began in the 6th century BC. The Athenian tyrants who built the temple had envisioned the building as the greatest temple in the ancient world. It took 400 years to build. It was the largest temple in Greece at the time and housed one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world.

The Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis is a flat topped rock and artifacts from the Neolithic era have been excavated here. The grand marble entrance, the Propylaea, and the Erechtheum (the building with columns that look like women) were built in 400 BC. The hill was once full of temples, sanctuaries, and monuments all dedicated to the Greek gods.

View of the Acropolis from the site where St. Paul first preached the gospel in Athens.

View of the Temple of Olympian Zeus as we walked to the Acropolis
Odeon of Herodes Atticus-theater. It was built in 161 AD by Herodes Atticus and was used for musical performances. There are still performances that take place there.
Theater of Dionysus. When it was first constructed, it could seat 17,000 people! It became the model for all theaters of ancient Greece.
Another view of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus
The Propylaea, main entrance

The Parthenon

It is considered the most important surviving building of Classical Greece. Built in 400 BC, it was used as a treasury. In the 6th century AD, it was converted into a Christian Church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In the 1400's the Ottomans turned it into a mosque and it became a monument in the 1600s. Quite a bit of religious history!

The Erechtheum

Like the Parthenon, it went through a bit of transition over the centuries. It was originally a temple dedicated to Athena.

Temple ruins on the Acropolis
The clean part of Athens with all of the shops and restaurants

The Acropolis at sunset

Ancient Agora of Athens

The Agora was the marketplace and civic center of the ancient city of Athens. It is said that Greek democracy first came to life here at the Agora, which was the heart of Athenian life in Ancient Greece. The buildings of the Agora were destroyed by Persians in 480BC, and later by Romans in 86 BC.

The temple of Hephestsus (or Thesion) is best preserved temple of its time. It is a smaller version of the Parthenon.

Inside view of the Temple
Entrance to what used to be a Gymnasium and Spa

The Christian Temple of the Apostles, 1000AD

View of the Acropolis from the Agora
Ancient Agora Museum

The Pink Elephant

2009-06-03T14:27:00.000-04:00

For Andrea's Baby Shower, I made an elephant diaper cake. They really like elephants, so I'm pretty sure baby girl Hall will also like them!

Gnome Diaper Cake

2009-05-31T15:13:00.000-04:00

I'm getting pretty good at this diaper cake stuff!

Carolyn's Shower
She has these garden gnomes sitting outside of her apartment and she really likes them, so I made her a garden gnome cake!

Uk and Ireland: Part 4

2009-05-15T03:16:00.000-04:00

And finally...England!!

Our last leg of the trip brought us to England. We really only had one day in London and we took a day trip to Stonehenge. One day in London is most definitely not enough time...especially if it is raining...raining a lot. We made due on the slippery sidewalks of London and sloshed through puddles to visit only a few of the must-see places in the city.

First up, Parliament
It really is an incredible building

Westminster Abbey

Benedictine monks first came to the site where the church is located today in the middle of the tenth century. They established a tradition of daily worship which continues to this day.The Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066 and is the final resting place of seventeen monarchs.The present church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is one of the most important Gothic buildings in the country, with the medieval shrine of an Anglo-Saxon saint still at its heart.

Yay guard with funny hat!
These guards are called Foot Guards.

The Original Hard Rock Cafe

Trafalgar Square, our hotel was right near here
Princess Di is memorialized throughout the city

On Westminster Bridge in the rain

"The Eye" Of course we rode it!

The Tower Bridge

The front of Buckingham Palace

The Tower of London

Construction started in the early 1000's by William the Conquerer. Monarchs associated with the tower include King Richard II, Queen Elizabeth and the infamous Henry VIII. We were not allowed to take pictures in the museum that displayed Henry's armor...I must admit that he was one ugly man and ridiculously prideful. His armor is a testament to the latter.

The Boleyn Sisters were executed at this very spot.

Royal BedroomOne of thousands of messages carved into the walls by prisoners.

Ryan with a mock bow that was used to guard the castle.

Parliament at night

The Day Trip through England
Windsor Castle
Windsor is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world and the Official Residence of Her Majesty The Queen. She was there when we were! But we did not see her...sigh...

The Queen's Wing
Changing of the Guards
This ceremony was very long and included the guards that you see, plus a whole military band. They played really random songs, most were modern.
We stopped in Bath, England, which is a world heritage site.

There is a legend that Bath was founded in 860 BC when Prince Bladud, father of King Lear, caught leprosy. He was banned from the court and was forced to look after pigs. The pigs also had a skin disease but after they wallowed in hot mud they were cured. Prince Bladud followed their example and was also cured. Later he became king and founded the city of Bath.

In reality it is not known exactly when the health giving qualities of Bath springs were first noticed. They were certainly known to the Romans who built a temple there around 50 AD. The temple was dedicated to Sul, a Celtic god and Minerva the Roman goddess of healing. They also built a public baths which was supplied by the hot springs.

This is what is left of the Roman Baths. There is not much else to see in Bath, except one of Jane Austin's homes, so we didn't stay there very long.

I really like this bridge because it is lined with shops.

Lastly, we visited Stonehenge.
It is estimated that Stonehenge was built in 2500BC...2500BC! That's a really long time ago! The monument is surrounded by hundreds of graves, which look like small hills. The real purpose of this monument is still unknown today, but the most plausible theory is that it is some type of a calendar. Some of the stones were removed over time, but many of them still remain. It was an amazing and somewhat eerie. I only say that because of the hippy lady who was raising her arms to the sky and twirling around in circles around the monument...it was weird.

The End

Ireland and the UK: Part 3

2009-05-11T02:56:00.000-04:00

We took a day trip from Edinburgh to Loch Ness and stopped at various spots along the way. Scotland is incredibly beautiful, but what made our day, was our fantastic tour guide. He is a retired teacher who's wife told him that he was bored and needed to get a job. So, lucky for us, he took the tour guide job. As he drove, he would point out the most random mounds, hills, shacks and unload the history of that particular site...even if it was hundreds of years ago! We left from Edinburgh at 8am and returned around 8pm. It was a long day, but it was worth it!

King Arthur: I am, and this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my court at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: What? Ridden on a horse?
King Arthur: Yes!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: You're using coconuts!

This is the castle from the opening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The current owner keeps a healthy stock of coconut shells handy...just in case.

This is the first of the Lochs, or lakes, that we came to along our Journey, Loch Awe.

This is some of the terrain we drove through.

A tree growing out of a rock!

The area of Glencoe
The Campbell and MacDonald Feud

The most memorable event between these two families was the massacre at Glencoe in 1692. The Campbell family took advantage of the Highland tradition of hospitality: welcoming Highlanders into your home for feeding them and giving them a place to sleep. The King William sent an order to 100+ troops to march to Glencoe and await orders, under the leadership of Campbells. The MacDonald family opened their home as is customary, but little did they know the intentions were not for tax money, but instead for blood. In the night, almost the entire MacDonald family was murdered. Some managed to escape into the hills that you see us standing in front of below. Since that day, no Campbell has ever been welcomed into the home of a MacDonald...Clachaig Inn, has a sign on its door saying “No Hawkers or Campbells”.

Loch Ness
The lake where Nessie, the Lochness Monster, is said to live. We did not see her, but I'm sure she's there!

These marks are said to be one of Nessie's attempts to run away.

Our boat

Monestary on the lake. A certain monk at this monastery, Father Gregory Brusey, is famous for his sighting of the Loch Ness Monster’s neck while showing the loch to the organist from Westminster Cathedral, Roger Pugh.

Creek with Gold! Not really gold, it's a special type of algae that looks gold when the light hits it.

It is definintely on the top of our list as one of our most favorite days! We can't wait to go back one day.

Ireland and the UK: Part 2

2009-05-07T03:31:00.000-04:00

Once our time in Ireland was over, we caught a flight at 6am from Dublin to Edinburgh. Now, this was probably the closest Ryan and I have ever been to missing a plane. We arrived at the airport with one hour before our plan started boarding...seems like enough time to me, considering it takes us 15 minutes in Vienna. Boy were we wrong! The airport is not organized what-so-ever, so we went to the Aer Lingus check-in counter, stood in line for 4 minutes and decided it was moving too slow. I then went to a kiosk and printed off our tickets, asked some lady if there was a faster line, and she sent us across the airport and down 2 levels. When we arrived there, we had to check-in to the computer, tag our own bags and put them on the conveyor belts...so much for customer service. All of this took longer than it needed to and at this point we probably had 25 minutes before our gate closed. Agh! We raced upstairs to security and low-and-behold there was a line of 200+ people and we just looked at each and said "we are definitely going to miss our flight." (*editor's note: For the sake of honesty and accuracy, I don't think we ACTUALLY said this to each other...it was more or less implied.) We impatiently waited in line, until suddenly something divine happened. An employee picked 20 people to go through the staff security, which was empty and we were part of that 20! Yes!! We ran as hard as we could through the airport and made it to our gate just in time. Whew! That was a very stressful morning!

We arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (*editor's note: I have no idea what Linz is talking about. For the record, I do not have a tail, and there is no bush on it). We had no idea just how incredible Edinburgh would be...it totally kicked Dublin's butt! It is just like walking back in time. The streets are cobblestone, the buildings are stone, the castle is still standing in all of its glory, and you can imagine what it would have been like hundreds of years ago.

Edinburgh Castle
People have been living on Castlehill for the last 7000 years. The first settlement here was during the Bronze Age, 900 BC! The Romans arrived in 78AD and Castle Rock first appeared in the historical record around 600AD. The name Edinburgh comes from the ancient Gaelic "Dun Eidyn" which means 'hill fort on the sloping ridge.'

Edinburgh Castle

View of the City from the Castle

This is the main entrance to the castle. Unfortunately, they were building a temporary stadium for a celebration. Back in the medieval ages, this paved area was just dust and it was the location of executions. Called the Esplanade, it was built up like you see here in 1753, where it has been the site of military spectacles ever since.

Main gate of the Castle

Yes, Ryan is putting his head in a canyon. This is the Mons Meg presented to James II of Scotland in 1497.

Within the castle walls it is basically a little town with a chapel, arms center, monuments and anything you could ever need to survive in case of an attack on the city.

This is David's Tower of the Royal Palace.

The Royal Mile

The Royal mile runs down the East shoulder of this once active volcano and this is what gives the mile it's distinguishable geographical location. The Royal Mile is actually more than a mile by 107 yards. It starts at the Castle entrance and takes you to the gates of Holyrood Palace.

St. Giles Cathedral, 12 century

Holyrood Palace

View of Castle Hill

Along the Royal mile are these tiny alleyways leading off both sides of the road called Closes. Here is just a random Close.

But the most well known close is Mary King's Close. Back in the 17th century, Edinburgh was hit with the plague, and most everyone living on or around Mary King's Close died. As a result, the Close was basically abandoned and no one wanted to live there. To rectify this, the city tore down the tops of all the buildings around the close and built a new neighborhood using the bottom halves of the old buildings as foundation. And today, you can take a tour of the "city beneath the city," which we did. Unfortunately you can't take pictures down there. But it was awesome...one of our favorite parts of Edinburgh.

John Knox's House-He was the leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination

View of the Mile

We just really liked this building

Bakehouse Close....this one led to our hotel!

Random pics of Edinburgh

St. John's Church

Scott Monument-Sir Walter Scott famous Scottish poet and author

Hehe!

(*editor's note: that's TOTALLY not a mannequin...my wife is just a pervert.)

Calton Hill

Head Quarters of Scottish Government with beautiful views of the city

National Monument

The taller mountain top is King Arthur's seat and was once an active volcano. The cliff to the right is Salisbury Crags

Ryan's first taste of haggis...that's right we hate sheep innards...and it was actually pretty darn good.

And now...NAME THAT MOVIE!!

"Do you actually like haggis?"

"No, I think it's repellent in every way. In fact, I think most Scottish cuisine is based on a dare."

There's more to come, so stay tuned...

Ireland and the UK: Part 1

2009-04-29T15:04:00.000-04:00

We started our Ireland/UK adventure in Dublin. The Guinness was flowing and the city was painted green, giving us the promise of good luck. We even saw a leprechaun! This Dublin trip however, was unlike any other that we've taken... because we went with a group of our friends! These are the guys we hang out with most. Unfortunately, our couple from Tennessee couldn't make it, so they were sorely missed. It was an awesome trip and we had our first fish n' chips here!

A bit about Dublin and Ireland:

Dublin was first established in 988 AD by the Vikings, later being captured by the Danes and then by the Anglo-Normans with Henry II in charge. Ireland was ruled by England for most of existence, and mostly gained independence in 1922.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, 1191 AD

Us in front of the cathedral

Lindsey and Andrea

St. Anne's Church, 1720 AD

Happy friends with full bellies

Ryan's magnificent vision of french fry art brought to life

The group in the Temple Bar area

Statue of a woman who revealed too much

First pub in Dublin. We went here one night and heard a live band play some country music. This is the closest we got to hearing live traditional music in a pub.

Liffey River

Statue of James Larkin, who started a workers union and unsuccessfully negotiated with the transport companies, which led to 25,000+ starving people without jobs and 3 fatalities before the workers gave up defeated.

Day trip to the Wicklow mountains and Glendalough, which is an early medieval monastic settlement founded in the 500's, located in a glacial valley. The grounds are filled with graves. As of March 2009, there are only 6 more people who are allowed to be buried here. The graves date back all the way to the 6th century.

Stream in the Wicklow Mountains, Gaby, Ryan and Miguel

This bridge was filmed for a scene in

"P.S. I love you"

Valley overlooking Guinness Lake-the Guinness family owns a lot of land!

and here is our leprechaun!

Trinity College, established by Queen Elizabeth in 1592

Miguel and Kurt learning the 6 steps to pouring the perfect Guinness pint

The girl who poured this beer drew a clover using the tap

Congratulations!!

2009-04-18T19:41:00.000-04:00

Congrats to Randy and Lindsay Sink on the birth of their first baby, Aubrey. We are so excited for your healthy beautiful baby girl and we can't wait to meet her!!

European Vacation

2009-03-21T09:18:00.001-04:00

So, Jennifer has officially departed Vienna. It was a good visit. We laughed. We cried. We saw prostitutes. Magnificent. If you want to read some of her posts, check out this, this, and yes, even this. And now for the official Jennifer, Ryan, and Lindsey vacation video. If'd you'd like a DVD copy, please send me $150. Rub-a-dub-dub....

Jen's in town!

2009-03-14T13:28:00.000-04:00

Ms. Jennifer Hamilton flew all the way from L.A. to come see us! She got here Thursday and will be here until next weekend. We'll be exploring Vienna and going to Belgium and the Netherlands, so stay tuned for some photos!

Embassy Duty - Take 2

2009-03-11T15:38:00.000-04:00

For those who've been reading our blog for a while, you may remember my wonderful experience with Embassy Duty from last year. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, read this => My Week of Embassy Duty.

So...let's take a second to revisit my feelings toward Embassy Duty and the evil duty phone....

stupid rotten duty phone...

But, the most amazing thing happened. I RECEIVED NO CALLS!! Seriously, this never happens. I even called the duty phone myself just to make sure that it was working. The last time someone went through a week of Embassy Duty without getting a call was over a year ago. So, because the phone was so nice to me this past week, I have decided to forgive it. We're cool now.

And my duty week ended at the perfect time. Jennifer will be here tomorrow! Linz is kinda scared about that. Yeah, she believes that God took the same sarcastic, manipulative, sadistic soul and shaped me and Jennifer with it. She truly believes that my sister and I are the same person. But it's totally untrue.....cause I am WAY more smarter then she bee.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll have some pics and stuff to post from her visit, so stay tuned.

Crafty

2009-03-04T14:23:00.001-05:00

At the art show I hosted back in October, I actually got a commission from another diplomat. She asked me to make a jewelry box using a weaving ribbon technique that I have also used to make framed wall art. Here are few pictures!

A country bumpkin style Dirndl

2009-03-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

A little while back I went out with a group of friends and we all wore traditional Austrian clothing...lederhosen for the boys and dirndls for the girls. We went to a club that said 1/2 off if you show up in traditional clothing, but that it ended up not working out. The short of it is that we were just too cool for the boat club. It was still fun to dress up and thanks to Carolyn I had a dirndl to wear! I looked like an Austrian country bumpkin.

Nannie update

2009-02-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

My Nannie is now home with 24 hour family care and 3 days of physical therapy.

Snow angels and Miguel snowmen

2009-02-21T20:24:00.000-05:00

Today was a fantastic day, so I thought I'd tell you about it. We went sledding with a group of friends at a park in Vienna. While going down the first hill, I hit a ramp and landed absurdly hard onto my left cheek, which will undoubtedly leave a mark. All of us were in-fact successful at bruising ourselves, but thankfully no broken bones. We did this for several hours, had some snowball fights with kids and most importantly, built an amazing snowman. He is Miguel #2, because our snowman looked just like our friend Miguel. He had long hair, black eyebrows, and a goatee created by yours truly. We had random Austrians taking photos of our master piece and many admirers. Well worth the effort!

We then went out to eat at Figls, which is our favorite Austrian restaurant and had a great meal. After dinner we went to the McDonald house and played Wii. It was just a super fun day!

It has been snowing every day this week, so it was nice to get out and enjoy it!

Update

2009-02-21T20:23:00.001-05:00

My Nannie is now being fed directly into her intestines and no longer intravenously, which is a big step in the recovery process!

Nannie is going on week 3

2009-02-16T09:58:00.000-05:00

I arrived back in Vienna, Austria today.

My Nannie has been in a private room for a week. She is able to get out of bed, with help, and much pain. Though there are good and bad days, I think that she is making forward progress. On those bad days it would seem the opposite. She has not been feeling well due to medications, which I believe are slowing her progress, but are unfortunately an evil necessity. Due to her age, the healing process is slow, much slower than we all had hoped. Please pray that she does not lose hope. She has come so far to give up now.

Thank you to those of you who have or will pray for her...keep it up!

A Rose for Nannie

2009-02-10T22:03:00.000-05:00

While on the plane I began drawing this rose for my Nannie. The rose is her favorite flower, beautiful yet complicated, just like her. She loved it though those of us who know her well knew the first thing she would say..."Why didn't you add some pink to it?" She is all about pink, but as the days have gone by she has had time to look at it, and she is now ok with its lack of color. I did however put some pink on the frame I gave her, so that suites her well. I'll post a picture of the 2 of us with it framed when she feels beautiful enough for a photo.

"A Rose for Nannie"

Nannie Update

2009-02-07T09:01:00.000-05:00

My Nannie is getting better every day. There was a possiblity that she would need another major surgery that included removing her duodenum (the connecting tube that leads from the stomach to the intestines). She is still leaking bile from her duodenum, which means the patch did not work. The leaking has lessened, but it still present. Please pray that she will heal, because I'm not confident she would make it through such a major surgery after her response to this last one. If the leaking continues to dwindle down, then she will not need another surgery.

We're thinking she'll move into a private room and out of ICU Monday, but we still don't know.

She is in high spirits most days and as feisty as ever. My Nannie is one of the funniest people I know and she doesn't even know it!

Favorite hospital moments with Nannie:
Nurse: banging around outside Nannies room
Nannie: "My Medicare pays for me to be here, and it pays for you to be quiet!"
----
Nurse: "I'm from the old school, and that means I'm going to make you cough no matter what it takes!" (nurse beats on Nannies back)
Nannie: rolls over mad as 10 hornets-"Well, I wish you'd go to the new school!"

Illness and a trip back to Roanoke, VA

2009-02-03T09:58:00.001-05:00

As most of you already know I (Lindsey) am currently in Roanoke, VA. I ventured out here Friday to visit my Nannie who had emergency surgery last Thursday. She had a hole in her stomach, which had been leaking toxins into her body cavity and blood stream for 2 days. She finally went to the emergency room on Thursday where they performed emergency surgery to repair the hole. She is 86-years-old, so the doctor was not sure she would even pull through the surgery. Only by divine intervention did she make it and she is now on the road to recovery. She was placed in intensive care after the surgery and as of today is still there. There is a high risk of pneumonia and a high risk of infection from the many tubes they have going in and out of her body.

My grandmother is a fighter, but there is much work for her to do and pain to endure before she is "out of the woods."

Please keep her in your prayers... As selfish as it may be, I do not want a reason to wear that black dress I so reluctantly packed in my suitcase.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

2009-01-03T06:57:00.000-05:00

New Years in Vienna.....enjoy.

Children Beware...Krampus is on the loose!

2009-01-03T02:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloweeee....er....Christmas! Yeah, I'm a little late on this post...oh well. For those who don't know anything about Austrian Christmas tradition, this is Krampus. He is basically the anit-Santa. He comes out on the night of December 5th and chases down the bad little children and switches them. Here are a few pics from a Krampus parade we went to. We shot a few videos, but blogger doesn't like them...

Here's a Krampus going after a naughty child

It's uncanny really....the similarities between Krampus and Sarah Jessica Parker....

And here's me and Carolyn with our favorite Krampus....he was a sweety...

Christmas Party at the Ambassador's

2008-12-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

Ryan and I were invited to the Ambassador's Residence, along with 250 of our closest friends. The party was fantastic. Mrs. G really knows how to throw a party! Unfortunately, our Ambassador who just arrived in July will be leaving at the end of January. He will certainly be missed, as he is a great leader.

Posing with Ambassador David Gerard di Carlo

Beautiful Swedes!

2008-12-20T17:41:00.001-05:00

I went to Stockholm with Ryan at the beginning of December. The weather was freezing cold, the people where absurdly beautiful, and the Glogg was delicious. Glogg is their version of Gluehwien (Vienna's warm christmas drink). It's a hot juice or wine mixed with lots of spices, almonds, and raisins. That glogg stuff is way better than Gluehwein! There isn't a whole lot to see in Stockholm, so we did a lot of walking. But we did have a real American style date. We ate at Pizza Hut and then went to see a movie! They even had free refills on soda...so that made it even more perfect!

Up first is a video of us drinking Glogg

This is just a shot of the city on our way to the old town

Ryan is posing with a stuffed moose on the main shopping street. This is where you will see nothing but beautiful people...even the men were beautiful! Good genes I guess.

Probably the coolest thing we did in Stockholm was go to the Vasa Museum, which houses a viking ship from the 1600's. It was incredible! You can't actually go inside the ship, but you can get fairly close to it. It was pretty dark in there, so the pictures don't do it justice. If ever you have the chance this is definitely a must see! The museum had mock ups of life on the ship and some old relics they managed to salvage, like the captain's pee pot.

I'm standing on a replica of the middle mast. They had these huge look out discs where the crew would stand to look out over the water.

Here is Ryan with a replica of the canons found on the ship.

The second coolest thing we did was visiting the world's first open-air museum, Skansen. This place was really cool. We saw homes and farms from the sticks of Scandinavia built in the 18th and 19th centuries. They had actual working farms, a school house and many other historical buildings. Here is the website if you want to check out all of the neat stuff they have there.

http://www.skansen.se/pages/?ID=260

Seeing this big guy made my trip worth going! He was so huge!

Ryan was super excited about the horses.

Here is a windmill from the 18th century from some small town in Sweden.

They had glass blowing, which was really neat to watch. It's amazing how they manipulate the glass and luckily it was warm in the shop, so we could thaw out for a bit.

These last two photos are our favorite from the trip. We would make such a cute gnome couple!

Lindsey visits Ryan in Geneva!

2008-12-15T10:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I had to survive in a foreign country without Ryan for 2 whole months! Surprisingly though, it went by pretty quickly and I got to go visit Switzerland and France out of the deal...not a bad deal I must say! Ryan already posted some pics from my visit, but I thought I'd add some more pics and a video!

Home in Divonne, France

We went to an outdoor market in Divonne, which was very interesting. They had all kinds of foods and crafts including de-feathered geese with their heads still attached and churros, which I thought were a Latin American thing...

A chateau, which overlooks the Lake of Geneva

On a peak neighboring Mont Blanc

Beautiful

Video on the mountain top while we are freezing our buns off!!

Visit from Linda and Chris!

2008-12-09T13:58:00.001-05:00

Best Friends forever! 11 years and counting!

Linda and Chris came at the end of September and we had a blast! Unfortunately for Chris, Ryan left at the beginning of October so he had to put up with Linda and my antics for most of their trip. We have a long history of silliness and weirdness that only we share and no one else understands...and that's the way we like it! Chris was a "good egg" as my mom would say and patiently put up with us.

We took a tour of the State Oper, so we got the behind the scenes look. There is a new performance every day, so they have to take down and set up a new stage every day! Pretty impressive when you see what is involved in setting up for a performance. We are standing in a break room where many famous people have stood, like King Francis, and Sigmund Freud. The tour was really great and I have a greater appreciation for the Opera now!

We went to Klosterneuberg and Linda and I just acted like goofs the whole time. First, I didn't take the bus to get there, which is the way I know, so we got a bit lost and it took forever to get there. We finally made it though. While Chris was looking around, we played with the camera and have a bunch of pictures of us looking ridiculous. We amused an older couple with our picture taking, so I'm glad we provided some entertainment!

The cute Dolan couple

Here is Linda in front of the Rathaus~ I think they liked it just as much as Ryan and me!

Linda and Chris in front of the fountain at Schoenbrunn

The arena inside the Spanish Riding School. I haven't been there yet, but Linda said it was really great. They train and show Lipizzaner horses, which do all kinds of amazing "tricks." They include complicated step routines, bowing and so forth. The stable is actually right in the middle of the city and is part of the Imperial Palace.

One heck of a day~My 24th Birthday!

We spent the day in Durnstein (see the blog about my mom and Jared's visit to learn why it is such a cool place) and Melk. In melk is the largest abbey in Austria. It sits on top of a hill and is incredibly beautiful.

Then we had dinner at Tacos Lopez, which is a Mexican restaurant in Vienna...and possibly the only one here! The food was great and they brought out a roman candle!! It was a-mazing!

The boys thought they were being funny by giving us a thumbs up behind our heads, so we have a bunch of pictures with random thumbs...like this one

This thing behind me is currently the tallest Lego tower in the Guinness Book of World Records, which was built in front of the Rathaus! Here is the link that gives you the stats and has pictures of the tower during the day when you can actually see it.

http://gizmodo.com/5059662/460000+brick-lego-tower-breaks-world-record

A big thanks to Linda and Chris for making the trip out here! We had so much fun with you guys!!! Also, Linda I don't have the pictures we took at the Prater, will you send them to me so I can post them?

Mom and Jared come to visit!!

2008-11-25T09:08:00.000-05:00

There was never a dull moment during mom and Jared's visit. I think the first photo sums up the theme of their visit... lots of fun! We were silly, ate lots of good food, and I introduced them to Vienna. One of my favorite things about their visit, was watching their reactions to all things Vienna...mouths open, yet speechless. We walked more than either one would have liked, though we did get to see almost all of the city in the 10 days they were here. Jared loved Vienna so much that he even changed his major to international studies ( I knew you would once you got out here!!).

We took a train ride alone the Danube River and visited a small town called Durnstein. This town is famous because Richard the Lionheart was held captive here 1192-1194 by Duke Leopold and was later set free by Henry IV, the Holy Roman Emperor. The castle and it's walls stand in ruins, as it was destroyed several times. Nonetheless, we had a lot of fun romping around the ruins!

We thought this would be a fun picture...and it was, but...

I got stuck and mom had to help me up, so we are all laughing...at me...

Before we hopped on the train to head back, we had my favoritest soup in the world--pumpkin soup! It is a regional specialty and i love it! Well what we didn't know is that this was no ordinary soup. It turned out to be evil soup, because I had a terrible allergic reaction and within 1 hour, I was decorated with hives! It was definitely not my best look...and it was unpleasant.

Mom and I amuse ourselves by throwing up the peace sign when we take pictures together. We are waiting on our train back into Vienna, notice my skin is normal and not all rashy here!

Jared is decorating our super sized cupcakes. We had some extra batter over and decided to do the "ho-cake" version of cup cakes with the extra--still trying to think of a clever name though...

...apparently I'm super excited!

One day we ventured to Klosterneuberg, which is the largest private winery in Austria, and happens to be a monastery. They got to taste the most delicious apple juice in the world (not exaggerating!), and tour the monastery, which houses one of the most famous religious works in Austria. It is a large alter made of enamel and gold hat details 36 events from the old and new testaments...it is really really beautiful. I don't know the significance of the building behind Jared, but it made for a nice picture!

Mom is scared of ferris wheels, but she always rides them anyway. This ferris wheel has cups that spin, but mom was not interested in the spinning...even though Jared and I tried to convince her to let us...we failed.

Jared in front of Schoenbrunn Palace-summer palace of the Habsburg family

Mom in front of the main fountain at the palace

Cakes from Demel, which was the bakery that empress Sisi loved and I also happen to love!

They are know for their marzipan creations. The horse below is completely edible and made of lots and lots of marzipan!

LAST NIGHT IN GENEVA...WOOHOO!!!!

2008-11-19T14:11:00.000-05:00

So, as you might have guessed, tonight is my last night in Geneva. I'm heading home tomorrow! It's been an interesting 8 weeks. I've worked my butt off at times and just sat on said butt at others. And no, Geneva didn't get anymore interesting after my first 2, and only posts (yes, I know I said there would be one every week...but we all knew that wouldn't happen). Linz came out to visit the first weekend of November, so that was nice. We had a chance to go out to Chamonix, France...which is where Mont Blanc is. Mont Blanc meaning the highest peak of the Alps...not the pen. It was quite amazing, and honestly, was worth the other 7 weeks of boredom here. Actually, I went there twice. I went with Dottie the weekend before Linz came, and then Dottie took me again when Linz came out. You'll see the difference a week can make in the pictures. There was a lot more snow the second weekend. Anyway, here are some pictures of the Alps and a few others from Linz's visit. I would post a little more, but my wireless account here in Geneva is about to expire. I'm afraid I may not even finish this sen

this is a view of the town of Chamonix from the cable car. you have to take two cable cars to get to the top and it takes about half an hour. this was taken the first time I went without Linz.

and here's what it looked like the next weekend...

and here's us...just chillin' in the Alps. no biggy....

i just like this pic

and here's Mont Blanc....4,807 meters up (which is about 15,770 feet)

i have a lot more pictures of the Alps.....but we'll move on. here's m'lady sitting on the shore of Lake Geneva

and this is Jet D'eau (which is "water jet" in French...aren't they clever). it is the most well-known landmark in Geneva. it shoots streams of water 460 feet in the air. you can see it from all over the city....you can even see it when you're flying over Geneva!

and here's us!!!

this is the Red Cross Museum/HQS

and this is the side entrance to the UN. i ate lunch there a couple of times, and this is where i had to enter. food was ok. wasn't really united enough....

and last but not least....

FLAMINGOS!!!!!!!

And I've collected all these thoughts....

2008-11-09T06:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I know I've been slacking. I should be posting about Geneva...and believe me I do have some things to post...but I just don't feel like it right now. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, or maybe when I get home. (I have less than 2 weeks left.) Anyway, Aaron and Jenn have posted this on their respective blogs and I feel I must follow suit. I was going to wait till I got home since I don't have all of my music with me, but what the heck. I have my iPod with me...and granted it only holds about 1/10 of my music collection...but there's still something like 2,000 songs on it. I think that should be enough for this game. So here we go...

Rules:
Step 1: Put your music player on random.
Step 2: Post the first line (or so, some are hard) from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what SONG AND ARTIST the lines come from.
Step 4: Italicize the songs when someone guesses correctly (No lyric hunting! That is cheating!)
Step 5: After doing the 1st 20, listen to one more random song and post it as your title.

1) She turns like the ocean. She tells no emotion. She's been gunning down the fight.
2) She said good day boy. Are you ready to shake? I said I love noise and this life that it makes.
3) I've given up on giving up slowly. I'm blending in so you won't even know me.
4) The guy who put his hands on you has got nothing to do with me.
5) In the throws of young love, Leroy didn't think to think and in the blink of an eye tied the knot not knowing how to not know.
6) Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood.
7) We should get jerseys cause we make a good team.
8) It's getting late. Ma have you seen my mates? Tell me when the boys get here.
9) Desert sky, dream beneath a desert sky.
10) Be my light in this darkened room. I'm on face and I'm calling you.
11) I've never seen you look like this without a reason.
12) Here I am Lord. Take me as I am. Take me in my weakness. I am just a man. (if you get this...God bless you)
13) Don't wanna wait 'til tomorrow. Why put it off another day?
14) Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. (and no...it's not the obvious answer)
15) When it's my moment in the sun, oh how beautiful I'll be.
16) There was this boy, and his name was Jerry. He had a girl, and her name was Sally.
17) Please take me by the hand. It's so cold out tonight.
18) I'm a one-way motorway. I'm the one that drives away then follows you back home.
19) Close the doors, put out the light. You know they won't be home tonight.
20) Come and go now as you please. Your actions write the melodies to the songs that we sing.

and who can guess the blog title song?? i honestly don't see anyone guessing it, but here's a hint...the band is one of my all-time favorites and was featured twice in the above list. in fact, my favorite song lyric comes from the title song:

'Cause sometimes when you're trying to sleep, and all your doubts and your faith don't agree it's cause sometimes the hardest thing to believe is the truth.

Bonne chance!!

Some of our favorite photos of Italy!

2008-10-25T14:57:00.000-04:00

Pantheon Ceiling

Amalfi Coast

Duomo di Amalfi

Alleyway in Rome

Streets of Pompeii

View of the forum and St. Peters

Mouth of Truth

Hat Guy

View from Spanish Steps

King David

Italy...Finally!!!

2008-10-24T18:30:00.001-04:00

I added about 9 posts of Italy, so make sure you see them all!

Italy...The best vacation ever!

2008-10-24T01:26:00.000-04:00

Italy was in fact the best vacation ever! We walked at least 20 miles a day...Ryan is really big on the whole walking thing...me not so much. Though for Rome, I was willing to comply. Rome was more incredible than I could imagine. I still cannot believe those ruins are in such great shape. I was constantly speechless, because just around any corner leading to a piazza, there were different ruins to discover. I hate history, but once you see it in person, it's hard not to like it! Rome was big, dirty, loud and very old! I hope to one day return...unfortunately I threw my coin into the Trevi the wrong way... Oops...that means my return trip to Rome is not guaranteed!

My one wish for Italy was to see an Italian do that o' so famous hand gesture they do when angry...and I saw it! Even the double hand gesture..that was an exciting day! We took almost 1,000 photos in Italy, so I tried to only pick a few-but there are still a bunch of photos. Look at the posts below to see the pics!

Aww...look at the cute little car!

Julius Caesar was assassinated here!

Piazza Navona-we bought our paintings here

Famous statue of King David

Caesar Augustus lived here!

Spanish Steps

Mouth of Truth

Lovely view at the end of our walk from Hell! Needless to say this was a moment of travel tension between me and Ryan

The Forum-Rome, Italy

2008-10-23T00:22:00.000-04:00

The Vatican-Rome, Italy

2008-10-22T23:00:00.000-04:00

Vatican City was so much larger than I thought, and very impressive. Since Ryan and I are not catholic, some things were really strange. For example, people came to St. Peter's cathedral (that big building with a dome on the top in the pics below) and inside there was a line of people who would walk up to this statue of St. Peter and rubbed his foot. His foot has been rubbed so many times that his toes are almost non-existant...creepy that so many people have a Saint foot fetish!!! We ended up eating with a girl who was there for a catholic conference and she explained why they were rubbing all up on Peter...I still don't get it, but whatever...I won't judge. Regardless I think people should leave poor Peter's' foot alone, since when is it ok to touch a statue that should be preserved for future generations? Anyway I'm done with Peter's feet. He was a very special guy for our faith, and it was neat to see the place where his bones are buried and he has a pretty sweet church.

St. Peter's Basilica

Alter in St. Peter's

Famous statue of Mary and Jesus by Michelangelo

Colosseum-Rome, Italy

2008-10-22T22:47:00.000-04:00

The Colosseum was more amazing in person than I could have imagined! It's incredible that something so big was built before modern machinery. They rebuilt a piece of the arena's floor, so you could see what it would look like. It was awesome! All of the paths you see under the floor were the holding areas for the animals.

Pantheon, Rome, Italy

2008-10-22T21:39:00.000-04:00

This building happens to be my favorite in Rome, and I think it's Ryan's favorite too. It emerges from no where when you turn the corner from the small alleyways. It is such an amazing building, especially since it is so well preserved. We stood in a building that was built in the B.C. time frame. Wow! Although we did that several times, it did not seem as real to me anywhere else. We returned to the Pantheon over and over...we never got tired of seeing it. We ate a lunch and dinner at one of the 5 cafes that face it. Greatest meals ever!

Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy

2008-10-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

The Trevi is much newer than most of Rome's well known ruins, but it sure is impressive. There are always hundreds of people crowded in this piazza to get a glimpse of the fountain and toss a coin in. Apparently, you are supposed to throw a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder. I threw it over my right, so I guess I'm not guaranteed a trip back to Rome...but I think we'll figure out a way to get back!

Naples, Italy

2008-10-22T19:27:00.000-04:00

I was a bit nervous to go to Naples because the Mafia is very present there...I learned more about it when I went to my job training from a woman who is posted there. The history of Naples is really interesting, you should check it out sometime. Ruled by many nations over the years and there are many architectural styles to prove it. Recently Naples has had a huge problem getting rid of trash, so it was piling up on the streets. When we were there the problem was much better, but compared to Vienna any city we see seems so dirty.

Piazza del Plebiscito, modeled after the Pantheon

Castel Nuovo, built in the 1200's

This castle was destroyed, besieged and rebuilt several times.

Triumphant Arch entrance added in 1440

Pompeii, Italy

2008-10-22T19:17:00.000-04:00

Pompeii blew my mind. An ancient city that has been preserved because of the volcanic ashes that killed 2,000 people and caused the residents to flee. Words cannot describe the awesomeness of Pompeii. The eruption of mount Vesuvius occurred over 2 days in 79 AD. It was accidentally rediscovered in the mid 1700s and has provided an enormous amount of information about life at the height of the Roman Empire.

Main courtyard there in the center is where they sacrificed animals to the gods. Mt. Vesuvius is in the background.

This is the garden to one of the most beautiful homes in Pompeii. The wall paintings and shrine are originals.

Bakery

Cast of pregnant woman who did not escape

Cast of dog

Amalfi- Amalfi Coast

2008-10-22T16:06:00.000-04:00

There isn't much to say about Amalfi except that the pictures speak for themselves. The drive to the hotel was along the cliffs of the Amalfi coast, which may sound beautiful and romantic, but Ryan and I both got motion sickness and a headache for the remainder of that day. Our second day, we went down to the beach to relax. After walking a million miles in Rome and Pompeii in 90 degree heat, I was ready for a break. We have no pictures of the beach because we didn't want to get sand in our nice new camera...much to our surprise it was a pebble beach. We spent the whole day on the beach, relaxing, playing in the water with little fish that kept kissing my ankles, and collecting a bunch of pebbles to take home. It was pretty much an amazing day. The third and last day, we went down to the town of Amalfi. While we were there a huge storm blew through. That wasn't fun, but risking our lives for a picture of the storm was exciting. I hope to one day go back to the Amalfi Coast and spend a whole week there.

Standing on a pier

View of Amalfi from our hotel

View from hotel

One of the pictures we risked our life for.

The Adventures of Ryan in Geneva - week 2......and a half

2008-10-21T12:09:00.000-04:00

yeah, I know I'm a few days late on my update. sue me. I've been too busy living it up in the city that never sleeps!!!

cause it's dead.....

so...I worked all week, but nothing exciting happened. and as most of you already know, my beloved Hokies lost on Saturday. I stayed up all night just to watch the game (which came on at 2am here) only to have us lose. so that sucked. and as a result, I only got 3 hours of sleep Saturday night.

but on Sunday morning, my supervisor here, Dottie, took me and a couple that just arrived at post to the Chateau de Chillon (castle of Chillon) just outside of Montreux, Switzerland. this was a nice day trip. the castle is situated between Lake Geneva and the Alps...so it's a pretty amazing site...you know, when there isn't fog everywhere. seems like whenever Linz and I (or just I in this case) go somewhere with mountains, the fog follows us. but I still got some good pictures (Dottie let me borrow her camera). here ya go...

taadaa!! it's a castle!!!!!

here's some armor
(whoever wore the suit second from the left had some huge hips)

who wants to guess what this is?
yup, it's a toilet.....just sit on the hole and have at it.
goes right into the lake.....very convenient.

this is where they would shackle bad little boys and girls...
(you paying attention Greene children?)

uh-oh.........
this is where they would hang those same little kids after too many time-outs.
(be thankful you have such a lenient mommy and daddy....you're getting off light)

view to the left of the castle....

and the view to the right.

AND HERE'S ME!!!!!!

many of you may recognize the name of the castle from the famous poem by Lord Byron, "The Prisoner of Chillon." Hmmm? No? No one? Really? Dad? This seems like the kind of useless info you would know. Anyway, the poem was based on a true story about the imprisonment of Francois de Bonivard from 1530 to 1536. they have his story written on the wall in the prison of the castle. because the castle is situated directly on the water, Bonivard could hear the water splash up against the castle wall, and it drove him mad because he thought that he had been imprisoned beneath the lake.....freaky. anyway, here is a pic of where he was held....

he was shackled to that column...

and they placed a plaque on the wall for Lord Byron...
yup, they gave a plaque to the guy who wrote the poem....vice the guy who was actually imprisoned

well, that's all i have this week. stay tuned for more....