So finally, after almost 7 years of being together and equally as long talking about going to Paris together, Justin and I are finally making it a reality. And I hope, I REALLY hope, that I can completely change his mind about Paris. I know he was nonplussed with it when he went during college. Granted, he was really enjoying London and his time in Paris wasn’t even a FULL day, plus he didn’t get to go with me… So, yes, I am hoping he has a better time and enjoys it more this go-round.

One of his coworkers was awesome enough to give him a guidebook to Paris for his birthday, which I have been poring over. I had no idea, for instance, that Paris was founded in 250 BC by Celtic fishermen. I did know that the original settlement of Paris was on the Île de la Cité (thanks to Val!). I didn’t know that there was a ‘ring road’ (Boulevard Périphérique) which set the unofficial boundaries of the city… and on it goes. :)

Needless to say, I am enthusiastically anticipating our vacation. We’re going to be spending part of the trip in Paris and part of the trip with BigP in Zweissimen. I am so looking forward to seeing BigP and spending time in Switzerland in the summer which will be entirely new to me. :)

Here is a starter list for things to see:

Site Seeing

• La Defense – I’ve never been to this monument, just glimpsed it from atop the Arch Du Triomphe. Might be cool to take an elevator up and stroll around this completely different, business district.
• Sacre-Coeur/Montmartre
• Pompidou Center – because I oh-so-love modern art… :/
• Musee D’Orsay
• Louvre
• Eiffel Tour
• some haute cuisine establishment to dine (TBD)
• tour of champagne?
• Versailles?
• Pere Lachaise
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_Cemetery
  • http://www.pere-lachaise.com/perelachaise.php?lang=en
• Catacombs

Camping in Taconic State Park

The Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Justin and I loaded up our two pups and headed north with the intent to camp.  Naturally, we made no campsite reservations what with it being one of the busiest camping days of the year and all.  We hoped to grab a spot at Taconic State Park.  Oddly enough, luck was on our side!  Not only did we receive the last available dog-friendly spot, our neighbors never showed up!  We ended up having a fairly private campsite at the far end of the park near the singular puppy friendly hiking trail. Yay!

Check out our photos and videos >>

View Justin’s video – The Running of the Pups! YouTube | Vimeo

Should you go, this stuff is definitely worth checking out:

• The now abandoned Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center which has been purchased with the intent to transform the property into The Knolls of Dover (I found video and photos inside the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center).
• Rosemary’s Texas Tacos – This woman has bright purple hair and zany makeup!  The tacos were okay, the sweet tea was delicious, and the interior decor was other worldly.  Check out Rosemary’s Myspace for fun images and general insanity.
• Bash Bish Falls State Park – super beautiful falls!  This park was a perfect stop for us because we were able to take the puppies on a little hike before driving all the way back to NYC.  Check out the park’s website or read an article about it if you’re up for it.
• Taconic State Park – of course! It was nice and peaceful, and I expect we’ll head back someday!  Check out the park’s Wikipedia entry. :)

We stopped and got some groceries then came back to Big P’s. I took a nap before we went to dinner at Appaloosa.  It’s a TexMex restaurant and was actually better than lots of places in NY.  I got a chicken enchilada that was primarily cheese – and you know how well the Swiss do cheese.  :)  Val! and I also had a margarita each and they were fantastic – but super tiny for $12 (or $18?) Swiss Francs.  Once again, Big P and Roger refused to let us help with the bill.  It’s really sweet of them.  I told them they would live like Kings in America.  My enchilada (1!!!), for instance, was somewhere between $20-$30.  Crazy town.

We got back to Big P’s and talked about music and listened to different songs/watched videos til nearly 4 AM.  It was so much fun! :) We also talked about our family names and how they’ve changed and where his family originally came from (somewhere in the French speaking area of France).

Today we’re going to Interlaken to be tourists, then sledding with Big P and Roger.  The wind is too strong for skiing (35 M/hr).  More updates to come!

Update: Sledding may be nixed because it is too wet (raining this morning), so we shall see! Tourist time :)

We stopped at a chocolate factory, but it was closed.  Our luck improved quickly, though, as we went to a cheese factory in GRUYERE where they make GRUYERE!!! It was open and Roger bought tours for all of us – super rad!  We learned a lot about how cheese is made.  For instance, cow’s stomach is added to milk to induce coagulation.  I am so going to love sharing that fact with vegetarians.  MUAHAHA!  We also learned that a wheel of cheese weighs about 77 lbs and spends 29 hours inside a salt bath (20% salt to water) before being stored to age.  Once stored, it has to be brushed regularly with a salt water mixture.  We actually saw machines automating this process.  Very interesting!!!  Then Big P and his brother picked out some chocolate to purchase and we got to sample it.  Callister (or something similar) is the name of the manufacturer.  I believe it’s the same company as Nestle.  Tasty stuff! Val! still holds that Lindt is better.  This may require a direct taste comparison!

We continued on to a small, touristy village.  It was beautiful and set atop a mountain that afforded gorgeous views.  Then again, right out Big P’s windows are some amazingly stunning views that we Americans would surely pay millions for.  In this village was none other than the H. R. Giger Museum, where Val! and I were headed 5 yrs ago during our Golden Pass debacle. hahaha  Big P actually came to the museum a couple of years after we met because he was curious about what we were so interested in.  Well, anyone that’s familiar with Giger at all knows he worked on Alien and Species.  They also know he was an absolute pervert, including all sorts of orifices, penetration, and profane positions in his artwork.  I typically find it annoying, but after room after room of the gigantic pieces, I felt a little turned on myself.  Where is a sexy robotic alien when you need one?  Sheesh.  I bought a couple of postcards of one painting that caught my eye – one I intend Justin and I to keep and the other is for Mike (since he loves Giger).

We hit the Giger cafe/bar next door upon exiting the museum.  It is all decked out in Alien/Giger decor.  Very cool.  And yes, we took lots of pics of everything, even though neither of our cameras seem to want to hold on to a charge.  At the cafe, we had coffee and tried one of their local specialties – meringue… they are crunchy.  We call them meringue kisses in the states.  I know this because I have baked them before, but I think they are rarely made or served. In Switzerland they are served with thick cream that isn’t sweet at all. It definitely doesn’t need to be given the sweetness of the meringue.  In short, it is really good together!

On our way back toward Big P’s place, we stopped at this small fondue restaurant on the side of  a mountain that is in the French speaking area of Switzerland (as is Gruyere).  Roger knows the daughter of the owners’ because they play in a band together.  It’s a brass band.  Roger plays percussion and is absolutely passionate about it. Both Big P and Roger are such interesting and nice fellows. The fondue was delicious. (They only eat it with bread, for the most part, and that’s how we had it tonight.) We also had a carafe of house white wine to share amongst us.  Roger ordered a small bit of Schnapps and said it is customary to sometimes dip your bread in the Schnapps then in the fondue.  Val! and I both tried it, but it was overwhelming for us!  At some point, Roger snuck off and paid for our dinner, which was SO nice.  Switzerland is a pricey country, especially when it comes to fondue!  Now they DEFINITELY have to come to America (read: Texas) so we can take them out!

We drove to Gstaad and saw a huge Christmas tree decorated with beautiful white lights and a “Palace” hotel. Apparently Gstaad is really famous for being a place celebrities go (Liz Taylor, Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton, etc.).  Switzerland has strict rules about how your houses can look and how you can decorate.  Big P told us that houses were only allowed to have white lights that outlined the trip of the house… or something.  Roger dropped us off at Big P’s and bid farewell.  We already made plans to try a “Tex Mex” restaurant in a nearby town on Monday night. :)

Val! and I showed Big P some San Antonio pix and talked about the different ways you can order food and drinks in Switzerland vs the USA.Big P has to work at 7:30 so he went to bed around midnight.  Shortly thereafter, Val! was preparing for bed and I got her some Nyquil pills but couldn’t tear them open. She said she would handle it and went into the kitchen.  I didn’t pay much attention, but she evidently tried to cut the packet open with a knife and ended up cutting her finger pretty badly. I heard her gasp and then put her finger under the water start saying, “No. This is bad. This is bad.”  It reminded me of when I fell and hurt my leg at Kaaterskill Falls  and knew right away it was bad and would require stitches

I had to wake up Big P while Val! ran to the bathroom to try to stop the bleeding. After helping Val! put jeans on, Big P drove us to the hospital where Val! had to get 3 stitches in her finger.  The hospital was dark inside so Big P picked up a phone on the wall. A nurse quickly came and let us in, turning on lights as she went.  After checking Val!’s blood pressure and other vitals, she looked at the wound and called the doctor. The cut was deep and you could see the yucky fat stuff like i had on my leg.  It was scary, but the doctor was a nice young lady that spoke English. She also listened to Val!’s lungs and said her bronchitis is gone!!!! yay!!! She told Val she would try to give her a good deal on the ER visit because Val doesn’t have insurance. She also gave her some pain meds for free.

Now we are back at Big P’s and both he and Val! are in bed.  I am on my way to join them!  Good night! :)

Sorry we were such unreliable updaters while we were gone.  The truth of the matter is, internet ain’t free (anywhere really, but especially in Australia).  Most of the places we stayed didn’t have wifi and many didn’t offer LAN connections in the room.  We were lucky enough to pay almost $100 at one place for 3 days worth of internet access.  That’s the last time we updated.  I am sure you understand!  ;)

We were lucky enough to make it to the Yarra Valley and taste some incredible wines. We returned with 9 bottles!  It would’ve probably been ten, but we had to remove one due to weight restrictions when flying out of Tasmania.  No big deal – it seemed to make the gate agent’s day a lot better to have a free bottle of wine.  We did buy three bottles of one fun fizzy sweet wine to share with friends when people come over to be bored to tears by our photos.  Wee!  So yeah, the Yarra Valley was beautiful, fun, and tasty!  It definitely seems like a cool place to spend the weekend as many of the wineries have weekend events and concerts.  One winery we visited had a band shell that can accommodate 10,000 people.  Whoa!  The show that was supposed to happen the Friday before we arrived was canceled due to weather; it was John Cougar Mellencamp.  Crazy!

After the Yarra Valley we drove down the Great Ocean Road.  We’d planned to head out on the Great Ocean Road first, and the Yarra Valley the next day, but sadly, in the night a truck driver perished on the road outside of Geelong – his truck completely incinerated, flames scarring the hillside opposite where it caught fire.  The Great Ocean Road was closed for the whole morning.  That evening we drove through the accident site – everything was pitch black for 20 feet in all directions.  The view from where the fellow died, well, it could’ve been a lot worse.  The area around there was stunning.  Actually, many spots on the road were panoramically perfect.

(That evening was saw a cute light house and beautiful coastline at sunset.  We continued the drive to the area where the 12 Apostles rock formation was located, arriving sometime around 11 PM.  We rolled down our seats (yeah, they were the crank kind – grr) and slept fitfully in the car, having to turn the engine on intermittently when the cold woke us up.  I am pretty sure I was able to spot the Southern Cross – though in that middle-of-nowhere darkness, there was so many stars vying for attention it’s tough to be certain.  We were out of the car by 6:30 AM and on our way to photograph the 12 Apostles at sunrise.
So. Beautiful.  *sigh*

We drove back along the Great Ocean Road, stopping for breakfast at a cute place in Apollo Bay that occupied the second story of a builing along the main street.  It afforded amazing views of the curving bay outside.  In a parking lot across the street, a man practiced tricks on his bike for over an hour!  He was quite good and I had a rather enjoyable time trying to capture his stunts in photos.  They don’t do it justice though.  You really need to see the motion for something like that – especially when it was choreographed like a beautiful dance.  See, I can appreciate art in some forms! :)

We secured a room in Melbourne, quickly showered, and set out again for Phillip “penguin” Island.  After hearing the different ‘penguin encounters’ you could have at the mega-commercial research and preservation facility, we opted for one of the more private and ‘authentic’ options.  Instead of sitting in bleachers on a beach lit up by floodlights with hundreds of other people and lots of screaming kids, we opted to go with a ranger and 4 other people in wind and water proof suits (thankfully provided by the company as it did start raining) to the opposite site of the penninsula (the ranger pronounced it peninshoola) and sit on a dark beach with night vision goggles clutched to our faces and watch little penguins clamber to the dunes.  We then followed some of these penguins along the road back to the facility; many of them have their homes in burrows there.  They were cute, but the best part was how happy Justin was to see the penguins coming up the beach.  He kept pointing them out to me.  I really never see him that excited  so it was well worth the drive, cold, and cash.

The next morning, we flew to Tasmania! The flight in alone was breathtaking.  The water was so clear you could see straight through it down to the rocks below from 1,000+ feet in the air.  The ocean presented myriad shades of blue from the palest sandiest blue to deep sapphire.  The island itself had a mountaineous green landscape remniscient of the Carribbean.  The small towns we glimpsed while flying in were subtley colorful and absolutely adorable.  We both liked Tasmania immediately. It didn’t hurt that we lucked out and stayed at a really nice, comfortable hotel right across from a lovely little harbor.  The day we arrived we were pretty beat from all our going so we just took it easy.  I got my haircut, Justin got a massage, and we both napped before getting ready for a night on the town.  Justin surprised me by ordering a “Taste of Tasmania” from room service which included a selection of Tasmanian cheese and a bottle of wine.  After this, we had a good dinner at an Indian restaurant in an area of town known as Salamanca.  Search for a dance spot mentioned in the Fodor’s guide led us to a pub where music by the Smiths flowed softly out. We ducked inside.  It turned out to be a cozy joint with a roaring fire.  The bar tender, a really pretty gal with freckles, informed me that the club (upstairs) was no longer opened on Wednesday nights.  Oh well. We got into a conversation about travel in which she told me she’d just returned from a year in Central America.  She flew in to Costa Rica and traveled around – starting out by herself and making some friends along the way.  Her boyfriend came and spent the last four months with her.  She quite enjoyed her time there and even went to Nicaragua.  And no, she doesn’t speak any Spanish whatsoever.  I was a bit envious of her guts and lengthy journey.  She seemed like a cool chick.  Upon leaving this pub, we found a bar serving mixed drinks that had a DJ, but also no dancing.  We weren’t here for too long before calling it a night.

The following day, Justin and I were bound for Port Arthur, a penal settlement from the 1800s.  Along the way, we stopped to take some photos and then at a Tasmanian Devil (and other wildlife) park.  Wee!!!  We saw several adorable devils walking around in their enclosures, foraging for food, taking a dip in the water, and basking in the sunlight.  They’re SO adorable.  We also fed more kangaroos.  These were also lazy and lethargic, but not as bad as the others.  It was a much more enjoyable experience.  We ended up being there for quite a while, so our visit to Port Arthur literally consisted of glimpsing it and leaving with out paying the $20/pp entry fee.  You see, we had to make it to Kettering in time to catch the 6:30 ferry to Bruny Island.  We stopped to photograph more cool Ocean rock formations on the way back home – the neatest of which was the tessellated pavement.  Weird stuff!

We arrived at the ferry landing at 6:15 – phew! – crossed to Bruny Island, seeking out food, and then proceeding to the main attraction.  Why did we go to this incredibly remote island off the already somewhat remote island of Tasmania (I mean, come on, only 500,000 people live on the entire island of Tasmania!)?  To see penguins in the wild!!! Well, they were sort of in the wild, if you consider a boardwalk through their burrows “the wild.”  It was ultra cool and we were able to take photos because no one was there to tell us not to (yes, I realize I sound like a bratty little kid by saying that).  Oddly enough, there were also 6 other people viewing the penguins with us this time, but I felt like we were all much more intrepid than the viewers at the last penguin outing.  On the way to our lodging that night (we were stuck on Bruny Island due to the fact that the last ferry leaves at 7PM), we saw lots of penguins and marsupials including kangaroos/wallabies and two brushtail possums!  Man, it seems like all those weird Australian critters ar marsupials.  In our room, there was a small fireplace that we got going and sat around talking about the day and trying to stay warm before turning in for the night under electric blankets.  This trip was much chillier than we had anticipated!

The next day it was rainy on Bruny Island, which dashed our hiking plans, so we head out first thing back to the main land, visiting Australia’s Antarctic Headquarters, the Cadbury factory, and a winery before returning to the airport for our flight out.  That night we arrived out our hotel in Sydney at midnight – argh!  We’d been hoping to fit in one more night out, but it was not to be.  A line of Japanese people with some Caucasians mixed in snaked out the door of the hotel when we arrived.  Apparently a Qantas flight to Narita had been canceled and many of the passengers had been put up at our hotel.  As a result, our room had been upgraded to a gigantic executive suite.  After checking in, Justin and I tried to order room service but were told it would be over an hour before food would arrive.  We gave up and walked to a nearby 7-11, grabbing soup, a slushy, a meatpie (I think is what Justin got) and chips before heading back to the hotel and watching their incredibly informative news program.  We passed out shortly thereafter.

Our flight back to the US the next day was at noon.  It was pretty full so we weren’t sure we would make it on.  We did but our seats were on opposite sides of the aircraft.  Thanks to tons of luck, some passengers were not feeling too well and deplaned, so the flight attendants were able to put Justin and I together – in two middle seats in the middle of the plane.  It was worth it.

We opted out of the second leg on our Qantas flight from LAX to JFK and took a shuttle over to Long Beach to fly to Austin.  Mom and Dad picked us up – the puppies were with them. It was a really nice reunion and we got bubble tea from a delicious place in Austin before heading back the Mom & Dad’s house and forcing them to sit through photos.  Luckily, Sheila and Sharlin had been visiting Nanny and all three came down for a little while.  We watched a video of Brennan, Sheila’s baby -er- fetus (no longer dubbed Peanut).  It looked like a freaky skeleton baby with a beating heart. Yikes!  Good to hear the development is going well, though.  Mom, Dad, Justin and I continued to my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner that night (Tomatillos) where I had one too many margartias (2) and that was that.  The next day we flew back home to a COLD NYC night.

I have made many observations about the people that live here since we’ve been here.  In general, they’re pretty friendly people.  From a physical standpoint, the men are very attractive.  Australia would make great scouting grounds for male models.  The women seem to have larger breasts on average than most Americans but other than that, they are basically the same.  I was told by an Australian on the flight over that I’d notice how dramatically less-fat Australians are than Americans, but I don’t find that to be true.  I found people in Poland to be far less fat than Americans, but Australians seem to be on par.

What is blatantly and oddly obvious is the lack of integration of blacks in the society.  I saw only one black business person since we’ve been here.  We saw some aboriginal children in Sydney that had a white teacher and were doing a tour of the Harbor bridge, but we just haven’t seen any interracial couples or many black people at all.  Aside from one aboriginal man selling his artwork on the street, the only black people we’ve seen have been tourists from Africa dressed in traditional garb and speaking in a tribal language.  From that standpoint, it’s incredibly different from the states.  Perhaps this is because the history of the murder and attempted assimilation of Aborigines in Australia is gruesome and evil.  Also, there aren’t very high numbers of aboriginal people in Australia compared to the rest of the population.  Anyway, it still seems very odd to me.  The only groups that seem to be fairly integrated here are Europeans and Asians.  We’ve seen plenty of Asian-Caucasian couples.

On a less shallow note, most people that have been to America really like it.  The attitudes of those that haven’t visited America are about 50/50 like and dislike.  Those that have been to America’s southern states really like it and commented on the southern hospitality.  Those that haven’t been don’t think they’d like it and don’t want to go.  Most Australians we’ve talked to really want to see NYC.  Most that have been there really like NYC.  I met one girl who worked at the Aquarium that said she liked New York but also visited Chicago and absolutely loved it.  We shared a few moments gushing about how awesome Chicago is.  In general, the people here REALLY want you to like Melbourne.  One fellow at a cafe where we stopped for lunch pummeled us with questions about the US, our lives, and what we thought of Melbourne.  He also asked us of we thought it was strange.   He also wants to move to the USA.

I also got told I had a “cool American accent” by a guy that works in an Australian restaurant here.  I told him that was the first time I’d ever been told that and had actually heard American accents were awful.  His response was that “those people are just idiots.” haha  That works for me, especially since the guy gave me a free espresso and a cookie.  He really wants to move to New York.  It seems like the “American dream” is alive and well for a lot of people here in Australia.

Just watching the news here, America is mentioned a lot, especially with the global recession that began in America.  Here (as in many places, I suppose), America is truly viewed as the most important, powerful country in the world and Americans make headlines in the newspapers as well as on TV.  However, the papers here tend to have a global focus anyway, which I quite enjoy. It’s nice to know what’s happening around the world and not only what pertains to America.  There is news in the papers of so many different countries and random happenings—both good and bad.

People from Melbourne are very proud of their “cafe culture.”  There are little coffee shops with prepared food pretty much everywhere.  Almost every single one of them also serves wine, and most serve mixed drinks as well.  Coffee and wine is served throughout the day and people seem to partake whenever the mood strikes them.  Tons wines from all over Australia are on all the menus… I read, before coming here, that you’d be hard pressed to find wines from outside of Australia for purchase at restaurants.  That’s not far from the truth.  I keep getting confused when I see a wine from “SA” on the menu, then remind myself it stands for South Australia, not South Africa.

Aside from some of the differences here, Australia really feels a lot like the US.  Not much like New York, per se, but a lot like the US in terms of the people, the dining and entertainment options, the cities, the history (or lack thereof), the way it was settled, etc.

As I mentioned, today is the end of our lengthy stint in Melbourne.  Justin and I are taking to the open (Great Ocean) road to see the 12 Apostles – cool rock formations off the coast.  Do a web search!  We’re also heading to the Yarra  Valley which contains over 70 wineries and to Phillip Island to see penguins.  We have 2 days to cover lots of distance and site see before we fly off to Tasmania.  Wish us luck.  The three major points we want to hit are plotted on a map here.

After landing, we took a train from the airport into the main hotel and attraction area and, using our trusty Fodor’s guidebook, were able to secure accommodations at a reasonably priced hotel with spacious rooms.  We showered, changed, and head out immediately.  We spotted the Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge and got some amazing photographs.  It rained off and on throughout the day, but we lucked out, because for the most part the sun shone through the clouds.  We climed a pylon and saw all around Sydney from the same height as the top of the bridge.  There is also a bridge climb you can do, but it is over $100 USD per person so  we won’t be doing that. :)  We ate lunch at a delightful cafe with a beautiful outdoor patio that seemed like it could’ve been plucked straight out of Austin, TX.  Justin and I were intrepid explorers indeed and walked through the contemporary art museum.  Hmmm… modern art.

Our evening concluded with a stroll around the Opera House and wandering some lovely little alley ways.  There was an awesome art installation in one alley that was comprised of lit-up Tetris pieces.  More photos to follow!  Today we’re off to the Taronga Zoo and maybe to some beaches, though it’s way too cold (in my opinion) to swim. :D

Sydney by Michael McDonough

We’re leaving for Sydney, Australia on Friday or Saturday night which probably has us landing on Monday the 24th and returning on Saturday the 6th, though, I am hoping to shift our schedule so we get an extra day or two.  Jet lag, I imagine, will be a bitch.

Thanks to helpful people on Yelp!, I got a big head start planning things to do/places to see/foods to try!  If I had a car reserved, domestic tickets purchased, and places to stay, we’d be all set.  At any rate, I’ve concocted the list below as a result of the lovely suggestions Yelpers have given me.  Justin and I also acquired a Fodor’s Australia guidebook today, so things may be added, if at all possible. :)

My rough trip outline, working with the number of days I have, is below:

• 2 days in Sydney
  Beaches: Bondi (most famous), Coogee and Manly  (start at Coogee then take the trail to Bondi, about 3.5 miles.  Enjoy the walk and stop for food & drinks along the way.  Get a drink at Icebergs, a surf & lifesaving clubhouse near Bondi.)
  Breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel
  Harbor tour: lunch at Doyle’s at Watsons Bay/Taronga Zoo/Aquarium/drink at the Opera
  Surry Hills (up and coming foody neighborhood to check out – maybe stay in this area)


Melbourne by Andrew Hux

• 1 day hiking + climbing in the Blue Mountains (climbing if I can find a guide) – overnight at B&B or camp
• 1 day driving/sightseeing southward – overnight camping or in car
• 1 day @ Phillip’s Island – overnight Melbourne
• 2 days in Melbourne
  Great Ocean Road
  great cafes with Italian coffee
• 1 or 2 days Yarra Valley wine tour – overnight in Yarra Valley?
• 2 days Alice Springs – an Oasis in the Outback (flight required)
• 1 day back to Sydney???
  (Paddington outdoor market if here on a Saturday)
• Depart for home

On the way from Sydney to Melbourbe, I’d like to possibly take the Snowy Mountain highway :) …unless it adds a ridiculous amount of time to the trip, and visit Canberra (the capital) if at all possible.

Also, I’d like to visit the Barossa Valley (if any way at all).  So yeah, not too much to ask for 2 weeks. haha

Foods to try in Australia (aside from the seafood and Asian food which I hear is great):
Pides – turkish pizzas – try one at the nearest kebab place
Laksa – thai coconut noodle soup
Aussie hamburger – same has here but we like ours with beetroot
Meat pies – savory pies

Justin and Vanessa at Castle Wawel in Krakow - Vistula River flowing past

As some of you already know, Justin surprised me with a trip to Poland for our fourth anniversary.  While we did things tourists are typically expected to do, such as visiting Castle Wawel and snapping photos in Rynek Glowny (the grand square) in Krakow, and strolling through Stephansplatz and along the Danube Canal in Vienna, the primariy purpose of our visit was so that I could experience, first hand, the land of my ancestors.

For a time I’ve been working on a family website based on research my great aunt,

Justin at St. Stephen's Cathedral - Stephansplatz, Vienna, Austria

Vanessa in St. Jacobus in Nysa, Poland

What I’ve managed to deduce so far: It’s probably an international flight given how long we’ll be waiting at the airport. It’s not a JetBlue flight, given the attire I am wearing to attempt to get on the plane.  I don’t know if we’re taking the puppies or if someone is watching them – though  am guessing the latter considering it’s possibly a non-JetBlue flight. I’ve also managed to deduce it is not a Caribbean destination after all (I’d originally thought otherwise) as I was told not to packed sandals, hiking, or beach clothes.  This goes entirely against typical Justin and Vanessa vacations – no hiking!? So, I am stumped.  I just hope we make it on the flight.  With only 5 seats open and an unknown number of standby passengers, it’s a gamble at best.

Luckily Justin has a couple of backup plans.  =)

I read this quote a moment ago and it had a strangely peace-inducing effect.  I thought I’d share it with you: “Give each day the chance to become the best one in your life“ – Mark Twain