Kaua'i, Hawaii Day 1

After another 5 hour plane ride (like 11 wasn't enough?) we finally landed in paradise....we arrived at night so we had no idea what was awaiting us....I tell you, this place is PARADISE!! Thanks to Jan and Megumi for telling us about it! We have definitely found our favorite spot in the world!


Our beach bungalow we are staying at...we have the top floor...it's amazing you can hear the sound of the waves crashing and the lovely sound of wild roosters crowing every morning at 6:00am! A little bit of a drawback but whatever. We are within seconds of the beach...

The view from our balcony in the morning....after roosters and coffee....

Poi'pu beach. The beach where we are staying. We've seen a seal up on the beach and lots of green sea turtles swimming around.

My attempt to test out the underwater camera....better pictures coming soon....here is a little "scary" (according to Christian) spotted moray eel. It's head was the size of my two fingers....


This is how I felt after all of the plane rides, jet lag, roosters on the first day!

Our vacation begins with San Francisco...

Our vacation began with a stop over in San Francisco....was a little cooler than we expected and for sure we learned from the locals that the summer months are not nice ones. Doesn't that figure? Anyway, we used all of the warm clothes we had (not many) and survived the few days we were there. Amazingly enough, the sea lions didn't think too much about the weather, they were swimming away while we were blowing away! We did a lot of sightseeing and went to see the musical "Wicked" one night which was "awesome!"

Pier 39 with the sea lions

Alcatraz...we didn't have enough time to go through it, but took a picture of it anyway...next time

Where's the Golden Gate Bridge in this picture? Unfortunately there was fog...but the bridge is in the background, I promise...

The Japanese Tea Garden in the Golden Gate Park...we even stopped for some green tea to warm us up (even though Christian preferred a beer, I talked him into the tea).

The painted ladies...these houses are in a lot of commercials and movies I guess....so they said?!

Diving and sightseeing in Spain

Christian and I (along with some friends from our diving club) went to the northwestern part of Spain a few weeks ago. I went to dive and Christian went to relax. The region is called Galicia where we were. We ended up diving out of the harbor in Vigo, went to have dinner in Pontevedra and went sightseeing in Santiago de Compostela (where the famous pilgrimage goes through)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela
The diving was good, but very cold!! It was my first time diving in the Atlantic Ocean and it was freeeeezing! I definitely need a dry suit for my next visit. Otherwise, the weather was perfect, the food was great and the bed and breakfast where we stayed was really nice. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera underwater with me, so no nice fish pictures this time!

The bed and breakfast where we stayed on the top of the mountain. It was so peaceful there and Chris and Margaret were such warm hosts.

The view from the bed and breakfast

The streets of Santiago de Compostela

The famous cathedral at Santiago de Compostela

Freiburg is going up to the first league!

Christian's favorite soccer team made it back up the the first league in Germany! He was very excited...so excited that we got tickets on ebay for the last game of the season.

The two Freiburg fans....



After the game the players rode around throwing soccer balls and t-shirts to the fans. The bath tubs were filled with ice cubes and bottles of champagne. It was a hot day and the players were getting into the tubs to cool off.




We even got autographs from the players! That's me on the left...

Edinburgh, Scotland

Well it's been a while since we've updated...We're back now and can't wait to share our travels and pics with you!
In May I went to Edinburgh for work for a Staff Association retreat. We had a good time and really nice weather for Scotland. I went with some friends from work and met some friends that used to live in Heidelberg but now live in Scotland. Unfortunately I missed the whiskey tasting....I know what's Scotland without trying the whiskey....It's just not my thing!

Our hotel

I had to do it...an elevator with a phone in it like the old days! Very cool!

Downtown

This one's for Nik and Doyle! I was thinking of you guys...awhhh...

Moritz, Iain and me in front of Scott Monument

The gang in front of the pub

The view of the ocean



Arthur's seat..we didn't manage to hike up there but it made a nice picture!

The Royal Mile

A view of the castle on the hill

The Edinburgh Castle

The serious guardswoman

Me and the pig....poor guy...

St. Andrews Castle, what's left of it. We went to St. Andrews with Melpi and Jason. It was a really nice day with them. When the sun shines it's a beautiful place.

Posing at the castle

The famous St. Andrews Golf Course. Tiger Woods has played here in the British Open

Another view of the golf course

This one's for you Mom and Jay....I saw this sign and had to take a picture with it! Wanted to get me a jigger full of whiskey! Ha!

Skiing in Garmisch Partenkirchen

We had a wonderful weekend skiing in Garmisch Partenkirchen which is near Munich. The hotel was really nice with excellent food. The sauna and steam bath were also included, which was great considering we were in pain already after the first day! We really lucked out with the weather, it was beautiful with blue, sunny skies the whole weekend. I only fell twice didn't walk away with too many injuries....only a stiff neck and leg muscles! We're looking forward to another skiing weekend in Austria with Christian's family over Easter. Hope you enjoy the pictures!


Our hotel


The view down the street


Christian getting ready to hit the slopes!


The view from the Alpspitz


At the top of the Alpspitz


The Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany


Looking down over Garmisch Partenkirchen


Olympic skiing!


Here's where we go the train to go up the mountain


Christian and the view over Garmisch Partenkirchen


What a great weekend!

Here's a video for your enjoyment and my embarrassment...Christian really wanted it on the blog...you'll see why in a minute.
By the way, the translation for what I say in the video (German: mach kein scheiss = English: cut the crap)