Let's break bread St. Goar!

Our hotel, Hotel Montag, gave us our first taste of local German cuisine...

I still don't know the name of this soup but, it was SO good! It was a cream based, rice and chicken soup. Very good!

The waiter brought out large bowls of peas and carrots and the entree, pork and spatzle. Also, very good!

German Chocolate Cake!

Yummy!

St. Goar, Germany

St. Goar is small village along the Rhine Valley. This is city is well know for its castles, Riesling wines and the steep hills where the grapes grow....

Narrow winding streets of St. Goar...

Park across the street from our hotel...

View from our hotel...this does not suck!

Castle on a hill...

Let's break bread Amsterdam!

Trip girlfriends at the Anne Frank house...

Throughout the trip I took photos of the local food. I love to eat! and I believe food is an eye into culture and history. In my family it is part of what brings us together and is passed on from one generation to the next keeping our family legacy alive...

Photo of croquettes, french fries and salad. Not the most tasty meal I have ever had. The croquettes were breaded and fried. The inside had a lumpy cheese consistency and tasted like day old food heated up for the day's patrons. Maybe we just picked the wrong restaurant...

P.S. I wasn't really sure what to expect from the cuisine in Amsterdam. But, I soon found out that a lot of meals in eastern Europe are served with fries. Almost every on the menu was served with fries and in addition to ketchup, mayonnaise was also offered...

Anne Frank house

Anne Frank and her family fled to Amsterdam from their Germany home before going into hiding in July 1942 until the family's arrest in August 1944. If you have read The Diary of Anne Frank you will know that Anne Frank was a 13 year-old Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis during World War II. She wrote about her and her family's living situation while in hiding. In 1945, Anne Frank and her sister Margot, died of typhus in a concentration camp one month before the camp's liberation. Anne's father, Otto Frank, was the only member of his family to survive the concentration camp and later went back to their old hiding place to discover Anne had kept a diary. After reading this well-written account of their life in hiding, Otto Frank decided to publish his daughters diary making her dream of becoming an author reality.

Now, the hiding place the Frank's called home is a museum. Since its opening in 1960 thousands of visitors have come to experience the house were Anne Frank lived and wrote of her life in hiding. We were not allowed to take photos inside the house. But, photos cannot explain how small and uncomfortable this living space had to be for the Frank's and the two other families that lived and worked in this small space.

There were a few remarkable characteristics of the house that can only be experienced. Anne did a great job of explaining the make up of the house but until you are there you can only imagine the living situation. I'll do my best to explain...

The day we visited the Anne Frank house was a cold and rainy day. In the photos below we were bundled in jackets wishing we had brought gloves on our trip! We climbed up very narrow and steep stairs to get to the secret annex where the rooms were small with no carpet. The wooden slats that made up the floor creaked under our feet.

The windows in Anne's old room overlooked a canal. These windows were covered with wooden boards and draped with heavy black fabric which helped the family remain undetected by the Nazis's and nosy neighbors. With no heat in the sunless rooms the already cold and rainy day added to the darkness of the cold, damp carpetless rooms. At Otto Frank's request the rooms contained no furniture. There were scale models of what the house looked liked with furniture. However, we got the idea of how little space the families did have when furniture was added....

For more information about the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam please visit their website: www.annefrank.org

If you visit Amsterdam and only have time to go to the museum gift shop there is a ton of literature, posters, photos, etc. in many different languages.

Canal cruise

Typically the boats we saw in the canals look like small fishing boats or they were long and narrow to accommodate boat cruising tourists.







Most of the homes we saw along the canals in Amsterdam were tall narrow multi-story homes. But, the people of Amsterdam also reside along the canals in "boat houses". A few that we saw had very nice garden patios that over looked the canal. Here are a few examples of the boat houses.

Day 4

Besides prostitutes and weed there is a lot of other things to see in Amsterdam...

Bikes are EVERYWHERE in this city. Look closely and you'll see the three story bike parking lot...

Canals of Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Once we crossed over from England into France we drove several hours into Amsterdam. Each day our tour manager would post a "Day sheet". This sheet was posted in the lobby of each hotel we stayed in to remind us of the days events and timelines...

Day 3

First day on the coach!

Ferry to France via...

...the White Cliffs of Dover...

I've seen photos of Dover and never realized that it's a sea port

Let's break bread London!

Our London home...

P.S. Most of the hotels we stayed in did not have wash cloths! If you travel to Europe and require a wash cloth bring your own. Munich was the only city on our tour that had wash cloths.

I just had to get a photo in one of the London phone booths...

My London roomie!

Fish and chips at The Swan pub in London...not so sure about the peas.

P.S. Pubs in London DO NOT wait on you! The menus at this particular pub were on the table and we went to the bar to order our meals. The waitresses do not expect a tip but I'm sure a euro or two is always helpful...

Day 2 photos continued....

St. James park with a peak of Big Ben...

BUCKINGHAM PALACE!

The balcony where Prince William kissed his bride...

Big hat...

Just missed the changing of the guard by 30 min :(

Gate to The Queen's Home...

Day 2 photos

Westminster Abbey...

Big Ben and the House of Parliament...

I wondered into the Whitehall Garden with its unique view of

the London Eye...

Big Ben overlooking the River Thames...

The London Eye...

Day 2

Day 2 was much more eventful.

I arrived at London's Heathrow Airport at 7:45am UTC, after 1 hour and 30 min in the immigration line and another hour to locate my luggage I was finally ready to leave the airport.

I had to take The Tube (London's subway system) towards my hotel. I was afraid I would get lost on The Tube but, it was really easy to navigate my way through The Tube station. (I guess if I can navigate my way through NYC subways I can find my way through The Tube!)

About an hour later I was in Russell Square. Once I got to my hotel and dropped off my luggage I set out to explore the city...

P.S. When I came out of The Tube there was a map of the area that helped me locate the hotel very easier. These maps are all over the city and mainly at or close to Tube stations or bus stops.

Day 1

Day 1 was a llllooonnngggg trip to London.

Here's a run down of Day 1

2:30 am PST - Wake up call

3:00am PST - On the road to LAX from Orange County YAY!

4:00 am PST - I arrive at LAX airport for my 6am flight. Everything goes smoothly until...

1:15 pm CST - I arrive in Chicago from LA (Unexpected gate change... on the other side of the airport. I just barely made my flight)

4:10 pm EST - I arrive in Boston from Chicago and get delayed for an hour because of a thunder storm and I sit down to have a nutritious McDonald's meal (I also remind myself how much I hate Boston)

7:45 am UTC - I finally landed in LONDON.

P.S. London is 7 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time. I was exhausted!

Yep, she's traveling again!

Yep! She’s traveling again!

This year I made a New Year’s Resolution that I ACTUALLY plan to keep: visit a new place somewhere in the world every year until I get sick of traveling or find a place that is so spectacular that I can’t imagine visiting any other place in the world.

Travel is important! I do live in sunny Southern California 5 miles away from the nearest beach. But, nothing beats experiencing a gondola ride in Venice, Italy or dining on a pork knuckle in Munich (I’ll get to that later!). Traveling helps us learn about culture and ideals that are not our own. More importantly it helps us learn about ourselves. That’s why this May I decided to go on an adventure of my own. My friends and family were surprised that I would travel alone. But, after many years of hoping, wishing and prying that I would have the opportunity to experience Europe I decide that this year would be my year.

I hope by writing this blog I can encourage you to go on an adventure of your own. Whether your dream trip is to white water raft in the Blue Ridge Mountains or practice yoga at an ashram in India my message to you is “DO IT!” We can all come up with a thousand reasons NOT to go. But, in reality all you need is a plan, time and a little determination to set foot on a new experience (a good travel agent my help too).

The first thing I did for my trip was RESEARCH. I had a good idea of where I want to go. I got online and started to look for trip details, tour companies and costs. I then called up a travel agent to give me some insight and advice. I finally decided on a Contiki tour called “European Magic”. I chose this 11 day tour for several reasons:

• I would get to meet new people and feel comfortable doing it- Contiki is a tour company catering to 18-35 year olds. There were several people on tour that were also traveling alone so I was in good company. I was able to create new friendships while getting lost in an awe inspiring city that was new to us all.

• I’d never been to Europe- There are a lot of countries and things to see in Europe. I considered visiting one country to explore in-depth. However, getting a sample of several different places was appealing to me. This tour allowed me to go to several countries (8 to be exact!), meet new people and get insight from a tour manager that had experience in each city we visited.

• Language – I speak English… and that’s it! It can be very scary to go to a place that’s unfamiliar. But, add on a language barrier and it can be down-right horrifying! Again, the tour manager was helpful. She gave is city maps and a list of commonly used phrases.

Although tours can seem like a 5th grade field trip there were a lot of advantages. As I’ve mentioned we had a tour manager. She was very knowledgeable about each city and provided us with maps and suggestions on the most popular sites of visit….

• CAUTION: Travel can be contagious and addictive!