Thursday, December 31, 2009

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

To summarize, clarify, and otherwise conclude (updated)

France by far had the best food. Bread, lamb, bread, couscous, bread, crepes, baguettes, cheese, quiche, bread, steak, pizza, duck, bread...I don't think there is such a thing as bad, or even mediocre bread in France.

Switzerland gets the award for the most amazingly picturesque countryside.

London was the most entertaining. There was so much to do, see, watch. And the tour guides themselves were fantastic. All the tours we went on were more like performances than tours.

And to clear up any confusion...

1. This was our 3rd trip to Europe, but our first time to Switzerland and London. We have also been to Belgium, and Luxembourg.

2. Jacob served his mission in Belgium and France.

3. I do not speak French, but I can understand anywhere from 10%-90% of a conversation depending on the topic (I'm really good if food is being discussed), the speed of conversation, and how much Jacob is speaking (I understand his French the best). I was surprised how fast I started picking up phrases this trip.

4. It is because we drive this....

...and this beauty....


...and have a couple of wonderful grandparents...
...that we have been able to manage these international trips.

So we'd like to thank our old run down cars for hanging in there for a little bit longer, and my wonderful parents for making these trips possible.

oh...and the girls loved their vacation too. Theater, picnics, playing in the leaves, non stop attention from Grandma, and Grandpa...what's not to love.


And now it's time for me to stop living in the past...

Post posting addition:

I realized that I didn't post any pictures of the two of us together....so here is our only evidence that we did in fact hang out together in Europe. Also, I forgot to mention that everyone we met was so nice. We, and by that I mean Jacob (remember I don't actually speak French), had a great time talking to all sorts of people...other tourists, restaurant owners, security guards...we met some fascinating people. Europeans, especially the French, seem get a bad rap for being rude to Americans, but we haven't found that to be the case. Aside from a fair number of American jokes from the tour guides in London, everyone was not only nice, but went out of their way to help us when we needed directions or any kind of help.

Last Night

We spent our last day in Europe shopping...we met a guy in the last little shop we were in who was very knowledgeable, well informed, friendly, and well connected...kind of reminded us a mafia guy. He was awesome. He gave us all sorts of advice...business advice, legal advice...he told us about hanging out at the motorcycle classic in South Dakota, and about his business in Florida selling beach wear to tourists. We bought a couple Eiffel Tower trinkets and some mugs from him.


After all of our shopping we were hungry for Moroccan food. This was the restaurant that our French Mafia friend suggested. We had couscous agneau, and a tagine. It was fantastic.


One last look of the Eiffel tower. We have taken this shot on all three of our trips.