Ladders on the Side

Last day

2011-09-29T12:03:00.001-07:00

It's our last night here in Sweden, and Europe for that matter. Again we continued to relax here at Svedängs Gärd, taking walks, boating, reading, etc. The highlight of my day was wandering deep into the woods. I took my book and read a few pages, but after getting practically eaten alive by mosquitos I decided it was best to keep moving. So instead of reading The Hunger Games, I decided to act it out instead. No, I didn't kill anyone, but I did make a couple of videos to share only with a few select friends whom I know have read the books (and whom I know will forgive my behavior). I'll give you a sneak peek only—see the end of the post.

Tonight we had a feast of leftovers and popcorn and packed our bags up. Tomorrow we have a 23 hour journey home. While I always love coming home, I am sad that September is over and with it our European adventures. But I will say, this month has given me a small taste and I am thirsting for more. I'll be crossing the sea again soon... Goodnight friends.

Here I am quietly enjoying the woods:

And reading The Hunger Games:

Then after I was attacked by hundreds of mosquitos, I got up and took action:

This is all you get to see:

YouTube Video

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Location:Strängnas, Sweden

Winding down

2011-09-28T13:39:00.001-07:00

Not much to report today as it was a quiet day full of relaxations. Reading, writing, eating, a movie on tv, a row to an island in a boat, a long walk and a sit on the dock, deep thoughts, home cooking and now bed. Here's some sights from the day...

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Farm life. Mmm...

2011-09-27T12:24:00.001-07:00

I woke up and looked out the window this morning to find this:

Today was like slowly sipping a cup of hot chocolate, which I did after sitting on the dock and reading my book in the cool, crispy fall air.

We slept in, ate breakfast, wandered around the farm, then went for stroll through the woods. The forest here is so beautiful and different from Colorado. There is thick spongy moss all over the ground. You can go bounding through the landscape and if you fall on your face it's like falling into a pillow. This didn't happen by the way... There are all kinds of mushrooms everywhere too. I wish I was better prepared to identify them and am regretting not listening more closely to my dad when he got a poisonous mushroom book for christmas one year. Good thing I didn't eat any.

Anyway, after my jaunt in the woods I can easily see how Hans Christian Andersen would be inspired here to write imaginative fairy tales here. Maybe tomorrow I'll write a few.

So besides running into town for groceries we've just been relaxing and enjoying the farm. I've been reading the latest adolescent literature hit series, The Hunger Games, and it has me totally captivated. Visiting the woods I imagine the ways I would survive there if I had to. No problem...

Tonight we cooked some pesto pasta with sundries tomatoes, chevre, ciabatta bread with olive oil, and have been searching for a movie on the tele. Lovely times.

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Birds in gardens on islands in Sweden.

2011-09-26T09:21:00.001-07:00

Stockholm continues to be so swede. We spent more time there today strolling the streets and waterways. We had brunch at the same little cafe called Chokoladkoppen and enjoyed (pretty much a whole bowl full of) a mochaccino:

We made our way to an island called Djurgarden where there were parks, nature trails, a carnival area, etc. We rented some bicycles, rode about the island and stopped at a highly recommended place (by lonely planet) called Rosendalgarden, where they had gardens of flowers you could pick, vegetables, and a little market and a cafe. We sat and had tea and cake for a bit. Though we ran into a problem:

YouTube Video

Straight out of Hitchcock's movie! Can you believe their attitudes? Little

Now this evening we head to the farm/bed and breakfast we'll be at for the next few days. Super psyched for naps, walks in the woods, reading, thinking, drawring and being out of a bigger city again.

Well friends, adjo for now, as the swedes say! Couple more photogs:

Pirates!

A pretty cemetery:

Market:

Gardens:

I didn't realize Sweden had a king and queen. The royal palace:

Creepy window display, yet funny:

Raawwrrr!

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It's pretty swede...

2011-09-25T14:48:00.001-07:00

This week the goal is to see how many times we can describe things as being "totally swede." I'm sure it won't get old.

So we've made it to our final destination on this eurp tour, Stockholm! I think Wahli and I are both already loving this place. It feels real good. And we've only had a taste so far. We're staying at a hotel/hostel right at the airport in a revamped old Pan Am Boeing 747. It's quite comfortable! I'm wishing this was what we could fly in when we go back home, and just lie down in bed to sleep the whole way.

Tonight we walked around old town a bit, had dinner then espresso and zert on a patio with comfy chairs, blankets and candles. When we walked in the cafe, the owner started talking a lot in Swedish and we had to stop him and ask him to speak in English. He said, "Oh sorry! You looked very Swedish." We were flattered, seeing as for a month we've felt very much like tourists. It was so swede of him to say...

Tomorrow we get a bit more if the city then head out to the country. Look at this pretty city at night...

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Location:Sigtuna Municipality,Sweden

Ahoy!

2011-09-24T15:03:00.001-07:00

A guy told me and Meghan the other day that Prague was pretty much the same as Vienna. Not sure what he was smoking... There is a very different feel here, and not one I can easily explain. I mean, in Austria they say "guten tag" or "hallo" in greeting, and in Czech they say "ahoy," so that is a vast difference. So much more fun to say "ahoy!" Maybe it's the fact that I can actually navigate this city whereas in Vienna I was so turned around. Either way, I guess it is another beautiful city full of ancient buildings and incredible works of art. I like it a lot. As with all the places we've visited, I want more time here...

Today we saw the famous Charles Bridge, along with thousands of other people. There's loads of tourists here. We shopped for much of the remainder of the day. Great news: I have a new pair of pants! It's so refreshing. Meghan and I are both about ready to ditch all our clothes at the end of this trip! I'm so thankful to have a washing machine at home. And a plethora of clothing and shoes.

Tonight we kicked back and saw a movie in a beautiful old theatre. Midnight in Paris is delightful! It was sweet to see the city again soon after we left it, and it made me want to go back!

Anywhoozles... Tomorrow we head north for our last stop: Sveden! A new country and a new pair of pants, it's all very exciting. Can't believe we have less than a week left. Seems like yesterday we left Colorado, but also so long ago. Ahhh life.

Visuals:

A hot air balloon thingy in the background:

So clever:

Creeper:

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Praha

2011-09-23T12:40:00.001-07:00

Twas a long day of travel from Vienna to Prague, but we made it. Meghan and I both seem to be fighting off sickness. Praying for good health come morning.

That's all really. Except for this...

You don't often see these numbers at home.

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Vienna

2011-09-22T15:57:00.001-07:00

Vienna. I didn't know quite what to expect of this city going in, so it's been delightful to to simply be surprised. Tis beautiful here, like every other place we've visited, but there is an old elegance to it. The buildings are stunning! And even moreso the adorning marble sculptures everywhere. My jaw keeps dropping around every turn.

We spent a few hours at the Haus de Musik, learning all about Vienna's rich music history and about sound itself. This was my favorite part, conducting the orchestra:

YouTube Video

We stumbled upon an awesome organic grocery store (whole foods nerds heaven) and it was refreshing to have some vegetables and lighter foods (and fresh kiwi juice). We've had so much heavy food the past few days. Tomorrow we plan to go back to get a European picnic for our 5 hour train ride!

Tonight we went to a performance at Palais Ausberg where Mozart first performed for the queen circa age six.

The dessert place recommended to us that we'd been planning on visiting was closed. So instead we got big bowls of ramen as we both are feeling strange hints of colds. And of course we're going to bed late and getting up early. Hopefully the emergenCs we slammed will help!

Time to go dream with a soundtrack of classical music. Goodnight.

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High on a hill...

2011-09-21T15:13:00.001-07:00

Well, all my dreams came true. I walked where Julie Andrews walked. Followed her path around the city of Salzburg. Rode a bike down the same roads she did. Sang a song atop a mountain. Hid in a graveyard. Took solace in the abbey. And I married a captain with 7 children. Wait...

But really, we went on the Sound of Music bike tour today and it was the best way to see that beautiful city! Such fun.

I woke Meghan with The song I Have Confidence, followed by much of the whole soundtrack. I know, I know... We met up with the group a short stroll from the hotel (Salzburg is smaller than you'd expect), claimed our cruisers and hit the streets. We saw tons of stuff from the movie, as well as other great and interesting things unique to Salzburg (like Mozart's house). And we got the locals' insider info about the movie—even the flaws, which I'm always fascinated by. If you want to know, then let's you and I watch the movie together and I'll point it all out.

Another girl on the tour was about as geeky as me and we did some nice reminiscing and bonding over the movie. A few visuals? Here you are...

Remember the Von Trapps hiding from the nazis in the cemetery?

The road up to the abbey (yes we even saw some nuns about):

YouTube Video

Still shots were available for reference:

A beautiful view over the city from the abbey, looking out at the Untersberg:

Where Maria and the local urchins fell out of the boat, and one of three houses used to film the Von Trapp residence:

The gazebo! No longer open as the last person to reenact the song was 83 going on 84 and she fell off the bench and broke her hip:

Looking back towards the stairs where Do Re Mi ends:

Standing in Maria's shoes:

YouTube Video

So that was just delightful. I highly recommend the tour whether you're a Sound of Music fan or not. We covered a lot of ground and had a blast! That was the majority of our day, then we caught a train to Vienna and here we are, at a very Viennese-feeling hotel. Tomorrow is a little mystery as of now. An opera will most likely be on the agenda...

PS: There's lots of unicorns around Salzburg to ride as well...

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Let's play catch up!

2011-09-20T13:25:00.001-07:00

Friends, countrymen, etc...

I've felt so disconnected without wifi this week, yet it's also kind of nice to just let it go. It's sad, our reliance on the internets, isn't it?

Anyhoo! Catch up time.

After I last wrote, our time in southern Switzerland continued to be full of adventure, friends, beauty and amazing food. Sebastian planned out a day in which we drove up to a huge dam in the mountains and walked across part of it. Sadly the weather was bad so we didn't get very far and got soaked. But it was still awesome.

We then drove down to the base of a mountain and took a little boat into a cave which contained the largest underground lake in Eurp. It was throughly entertaining, between the cave itself and the tour guide's attempt at English (basically French with "American" pronunciation) and his ramming the boat into the walls because it was his first day on the job. Here's the cave:

And Saturday ended with one of my favorite pastimes, sitting around a pot of fondue with great people to eat, drink and be merry. We have fondue every Christmas eve in my family and it's in my blood so I was quite happy.

On Sunday we went to our hosts' church, then onto some big hot springs at the base of a mountain. It was beautiful! I wish I had pictures but I had to leave my phone in a locker. It was rainy, but you could see the mountains towering above. And in the indoor part they played classical music underwater. I floated on my back for a good 20 minutes straight just listening and relaxing. Mmm.

Dinner with our group of friends followed at a delicious pizza place. Then sadly we said goodbye and went home to bed.

This takes us to yesterday, Monday. We left at 6am and headed north for Germany. We arrived in Munich and found Oktoberfest—you just had to follow the leiderhosen. Yes, all the women wear traditional dresses and heels and the men wear leiderhosen, or traditional leather knicker pants with either socks or just calf warmers! Like a knit knee-high sock but only the top third of it! Here's a sneaky pic, but nowhere near the best garb we saw:

I must say, I love a tall fellow in short pants.

We hit a beer tent (one of soo many and not really a tent but they're actually huge buildings/halls) jam-packed with people. We wandered around awhile looking for a tiny spot to squeeze in at the non-reservation tables, then a German woman told us we should sit with the table of boys behind her who were from New Zealand, so we could speak English together. They warmly welcomed us! We made some fun new friends, drank a ginormous beer and shared a huge pretzel and we sang and stood on the tables and laughed for hours. It was the craziest party I've ever seen. Amazing. I'll put a video at the bottom...

That's Cameron the kiwi in the back there... We left our friends after awhile to get more food and hit the road as we had nowhere booked to stay last night! The bratwurst was maybe one of the best ever:

We drove 15 minutes outside the city and randomly picked a hotel from the gps list. Praise the lawd they had a room available! We were very thankful and ready to sleep.

So today! Tuesday. After a confusing task of returning the rental car, we boarded a train to Salzburg. We sat across from two guys who are on holiday and going to oktoberfest tomorrow for 3 days. We were thankful to not be the ones just flying in and exhausted, though we were entirely sympathetic. We also saw their big rolling bags and were thankful for packing light and mobile!

We stopped at their hotel to see if there was a room but since it was too expensive we used their lobby computer to book another place a block away. Woot! Tomorrow we're going to indulge another of my obsessions and go on a Sound of Music bike tour! Yessssssss! So excited to walk in Julie Andrews footsteps. Tomorrow this will be me:

Here's some good, clean, crazy oktoberfest fun... Gute nacht mein freunds!

YouTube Video

(Notice the guy falling right off the table behind us—our friend from Israel was scary wasted and we were sure he was going to get hurt at some point. Yet, he got right back up after this fall!)

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Coffee and cheese and roots

2011-09-19T05:55:00.001-07:00

(This is saved from a few days ago—sorry for the delay! I'll play catch up on the last couple days very soon!)

I don't believe I've had so much coffee each day as I have in Switzerland. And it's so tasty... It seems as though most people have espresso machines and they'll quickly "take a coffee" several time a day. Meghan and I both have had a couple in the morning, maybe one in the afternoon and one after supper. Mind you—these are just small espressos, so the caffeine is not so powerful as our cups of coffee. Hence the taking a coffee after supper! It makes me want to get a machine at home...

Yesterday we left St Imier and stopped in Sonvilier on our way out. This is the town my grandfather grew up in and left to head to the states. I got to see his house and the restaurant nearby that was run by his mother. We went in to take a coffee and I made several photos (as the say here) at which the owner eyed me suspiciously. Crazy tourist making photos of a tiny mom and pop restaurant!

Now we are in Pully ("Poo-yee"), Switzerland with Meghan's friends Stephanie and Stefan and their cute baby Maeva. Yesterday we had an incredible lunch on a terrace high up in the mountains amidst jingling cows and stunning views of the alps. I had this chevre salad, it still makes my mouth water to look at this:

And lookie here... The view from our walk, looking out over a lake and France beyond it:

Today we're headed somewhere to do something! We're in the dark right now because Stephanie's brother Sebastian has a surprise day planned for us... So we'll see what happens. Tonight we'll have some traditional Swiss fondue! My favesies.

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So long St Imier...

2011-09-15T15:35:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow we leave the lovely St Imier for Pully, Switzerland. It has been such a full, fun and refreshing time here with our good friends the Grossenbachers (Béat, Mady, Magali, Damien & Ludovic—Dimitri is away at school). They have shared so much with us and we're truly thankful. It's been incredible!

Today we drank coffees, had the usual bread with jam or chocolate spread for breakfast, relaxed, caught up on laundry, then walked around town with Magali who just returned home from Kenya today. Meghan and I cooked Mexican food for Magali and Ludovic for supper along with sopapillas for dessert. It seemed to be a hit!

It appears that our trip is now about halfway over. Wah Wahhh... It's going quickly, but we're cherishing each day.

St Imier:

This is interesting... A popular sparkling drink called Rivella. There's different kinds know by color (of the bottle, not the liquid), this is the red. It's made from some kind of byproduct of milk production. So weird, but it's delicious. You'd never guess it came from milk.

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You fill up my senses, like a night in a forest

2011-09-14T15:50:00.001-07:00

I feel as though my senses are awakened here more than at home.

Most likely it is simply due to all the new sights, sounds, smells and tastes. I think everyone needs this refreshment of the senses on a regular basis. We get so stuck in our routines and so dead to the things around us. Friends that come to visit in Colorado often proclaim how beautiful the mountains are, then follow with, "but you probably don't even notice them when you live here." I love the mountains and lovingly admire them often, but people are right: more often than not, I (and we all) overlook what surrounds us.

Take some time today to see, smell, hear, touch and taste something new, or something old. And then think of me and how deep I am and how much you appreciate me. I kid, I kid... (this is what happens when I write a blog late at night)

Here's some things that filled up my senses today...

Chasseral, a high mountain pass, looking down over the valley, and behind was Lake Neuchâtel, but that side was too cloudy for picteurs:

Taking a little train up to the top of the mountain and looking down at St Imier:

Salad and surop drinks in Neuchâtel—all bio (organic):

Overlooking Lake Neuchâtel from the chateau. This city is currently celebrating their millennium! 1000 years. You don't get that where I come from...

5 years ago I would not have touched this. Good thing I like fish now. You take away the head and tail and it's soo delish that fish (sorry, late night again):

THEN! Souffle Flambé! This was quite impressive:

And quite delectable:

And my favorite... These hills are literally alive with the sound of music:

YouTube Video

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Alles wird gut.

2011-09-13T15:17:00.001-07:00

Apparently the subject line means "all will be well." I like this.

Meghan and I are having fun learning a few German words and phrases from Béat in our car ride back to St-Imier from Lucerne. We're trying to prepare for Oktoberfest next week. We keep seeing signs with the word "ausfahrt" along the highway, and each time we giggle like 5 year olds. Turns out it means "exit," which, let's face it, makes sense.

Zurich is a beautiful city. Full of business men and women in suits. We shopped around and were not as surprised by the prices of clothes as the prices of food. A bottle of water cost 5 swiss francs, which is pretty close to the dollar now. We enjoyed some outstanding Swiss muesli, packed with the freshest fruit.

While i like Zurich, Lucerne is more my style. A smaller city on a lake. And even more my style are the smaller towns up in the mountains like Sainte Imier. Here's some pictures of the day...

The streets of Zurich:

The old bridge at Lucerne:

Big 5 franc coin with the Swiss flag hanging above:

Walking with Béat, our wonderful host, in Lucerne:

And now for some arty photos...

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I feel I've come home...

2011-09-12T15:41:00.001-07:00

Oh my... We've arrived in Switzerland.

Ever since I was a wee lass I knew of my Suisse heritage. My dad's dad ventured to the states from a small town in Switzerland called Sonvilier. He was a watchmaker and a skier (so as a lover of the mountains, he settled in Colorado as it reminded him of his home). We had various Swiss items on display in our living room: little hats, decorative wooden plates and cowbells, which I would lovingly play with as a kid. I knew one day I would go to that place and see it for myself. Today's that day!

YouTube Video

I've been absolutely in awe so far. Really, it's breathtaking.

We are staying with family friends the Grossenbachers who are delightful, and have been so very kind and taken us right in. They fed us wine and raclette tonight, which I'd never had before. My friend Sara raved about it in the past and I now see why. It's a special kind of cheese, melted under a lamp. The melted top layer is then scraped off and eaten with potatoes and any other treats you like such as sun dried tomatoes, cornichons, etc. Ah. So good:

3rd helpings...

Hearts.

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Location:Rue du Soleil,Saint-Imier,Switzerland

Flowers and figs

2011-09-11T13:30:00.001-07:00

Relaxations. Today Meghan left early to go visit friends in nearby Nimes ("Neem"), which I learned is the birthplace of denim—de nimes, denim... You get the idea. Anyhoo, I stayed here at Domaine de Valbrillant (b&b) and slept in, had a lazy petite de'jeuner:

(while these guys sat at my feet gazing hopefully at my plate:)

A walk through the countryside followed, then some laundry, a nice chat with some Canadian guests, reading, swimming in the pool and a light lunch in the sun—yogurt with banana, almonds, figs off the poolside tree, tomato from the garden and a bit of olive oil and baguette.

Meghan came back mid-afternoon and we made way for Aix en Provence to stroll the streets and then enjoy a lovely meal on a patio. I couldn't help but partake in this ice cream after dinner. You'll see why:

So, so good. It had pistachio, vanilla bourbon, amaretto and nutella flavors. A flower of delicious.

Walking with this in hand, a couple of french boys said hello to us and Meghan accused me of meeting their eyes again. I assured her they were only interested in my flower. My ice cream flower!

Now beddy bye time. Tomorrow I say hello to my homeland! Or rather, my grandpa's homeland.

Goodnight!

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Blue seas

2011-09-10T13:15:00.001-07:00

Hi friends. It's sleepy time. We got quite a workout today kayaking on the Mediterranean sea in Cassis. It was a perfect day for it too—sunshiny and 80 degrees. Such blue, salty water. A delicious lunch with salad (below) and an incredible pizza with goat cheese and olives. We're right by the border of Italy so it counts as Italian pizza in my heart.

The landscape here is stunning. Again, we see why the French impressionists found so much inspiration here.

Tonight we wandered into the town of Aix en Provence (our b&b is just outside) and found an organic grocery store where, being the whole foods geeks we are, we spent an hour perusing the selection, comparing prices (Meghan) and signage and packaging (me). We brought home yogurt, nuts, muesli and fruit for a change of pace dinner. While bread and cheese is amazing at every meal, it's probably not the best thing for our internals! And now we will head upstairs and rest our little heads and dream of kittens and butterflies and the blue blue water. Zzzzzzz....

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A treasure amidst so many treasures

2011-09-09T16:09:00.001-07:00

Okay so it's real late, but heck, I'm on holiday right? If I were anywhere else I'd probably go to bed and say screw it, but I'm so excited about this place that I had to share. Let me step back and describe the day...

Awake en Paris so early. Painful. But eased by a lovely petite de'jeuner. Cafe au lait, jus de orange, croissant and baguette with butter and jam.

Off to catch the super fast jet train to the south of France. I recall talking to friends before the trip about the glory of the trains—thanks stef and ruthie for your train enthusiasm—it rubbed off on me. LOVE the train! I read my book, drew some things and listened to some particularly French music, drank some cafe and stared out the window. It was delightful. And, oh my, the French countryside is straight out of a dream.

Rented car in Montpellier and braved the European roads. Easy. We had lunch and roamed the streets, visiting Meghan's old apartment and stomping grounds from her time studying there, then pictures of all the ancient Roman structures! Huge aquaducts! I had no idea. I mean I did... I learned all about that in my Latin classes in high school (way to study the unspoken language right? well being a good kid, it was my way of rebelling). Anyway just look at this... The Romans were indeed impressive!

Here I am quietly contemplating the might of the Roman Empire (also 3rd period high school Latin II):

And Meghan contemplating why this was all making her so thirsty:

Next we drove east towards Aix en Provence, hoping to stumble upon our bed and breakfast by some dumb luck—since the address was odd. Well we did, and what a treasure we stumbled upon. This place is straight out of a dream. It's a big old estate, on beautiful grounds with a pool and a garden and tables under sprawling grapevine canopies. We asked the innkeeper where a market was to go fetch some food for a simple dinner. She said it would all be closed by then. She offered us tomatoes from the garden, some baguette, hard boiled eggs and salame. So kind.

We popped open a bottle of hard cider we bought yesterday and had a picnic under the vines. Lovely evening. Mm! I am enjoying each and every moment here.

And a video recap of this bit!

YouTube Video

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Location:Route de Valbrillant,Meyreuil,France

Last day en Paris

2011-09-08T15:23:00.001-07:00

I was obsessed with the movie Moulin Rouge when it came out. Okay I still am from time to time. I know, nerd alert! And today I was at the real thing. Proof:

I made Wahli sit and listen to my favorite song from the soundtrack (Rufus Wainwright's Complainte de la Butte) with me, as we sat and watched the windmill turn round about.

We also visited Mont Martre of course—another Moulin Rouge must-see. It was absolutely beautiful and we could see why artists have flocked there over the years.

This visit to Paris went by way too fast. I will come again though. I mean I've got the train system down! And I know now not to look the Tunisian men in the eye. Good lord...

Anyway, I still need to have a croque monsieur in Paris and I won't get to before we head out demain matin. Twill be a 3 hour train ride to the south of France where we'll pick up a rental car and head to Aix en Provence (the home of Cezanne). Mmm, 80 degrees awaits, or whatever that is in Celsius—I ought to know by now. Too sleepy. Bon nuit Paris...

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So tie tie...

2011-09-07T12:56:00.001-07:00

Exhaustified. I think partially from all the walking and partially from the 1/2 real, 1/2 exaggerated bitterness about my bad luck so far. On the plus side, I'm sure I'll sleep like a baby tonight.

No luck with the debit card. It's gone forever and I've let go. Meghan is now handing out my allowances, and I am so thankful to her for it, and for her patience in treasure hunting for my lost goods. She even got so worked up FOR me that she cried in front of the chapel security guard who wouldn't let us back in to search. What a team player!

Today consisted of hunting, then an incredible lunch of tiny sliders and a green bean, lima bean, romano and pine nut salad next to the Seine.

Then we roamed the Musee D'orsay admiring the work of Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Manet, Rodin, et cetera, et cetera. An entertaining and relaxing street show followed: a guy on clarinet accompanying a guy on roller skates. Dinner at a nice Thai restaurant where I accidentally ate shrimp. Sick. It was good up until I realized the tiny dried things were all over one of the dishes we ordered.

And now to bed! Good night friends and thanks for being friends.

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Tour Eiffel

2011-09-06T14:29:00.001-07:00

Three things, two bad, one good:

1. I lost my debit card and a lot of euros. Tomorrow morning starts with a treasure hunt to find said items. Pray they're where I think they are. I'm such a dumb tourist—or so Meghan keeps telling the French in French, I'm sure of it...

2. The plug converter got overwhelmed when connected with the hair straightener and died. Thus iPhone is soon to die. Treasure hunt also consists of finding technologies.

3. The Eiffel Tower at night is stunning. I nearly peed my pants when the flashing lights came on.

YouTube Video

Also, remember my little iPhone lenses? Best purchase ever for travel photography and packing lightly. Eiffel Tower with just phone:

Eiffel Tower with fisheye lens:

Mmmm, delicious.

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Paris je t'aime

2011-09-06T10:06:00.001-07:00

Oh what it feels like to be 24 again...

Our first full day in Paris. It seems that for most places admittance prices are cheaper if you're 18-25. So we've been vouching for our youth and claiming to be 24. The real liars say they're 25. It's better to go with 24. So I payed half price at Sainte Chapelle after luckily blurting out the right year of my "birth" and Wahli (Meghan) payed full price because she was flustered. So from now on our birth year was 1987. Muahahaha! Okay so we're dishonest, but with the euro being 1.5 dollars, we're feeling okay about it. Ps. We prayed for our salvation in the church amidst the most stunning and beautiful stained glass you've ever seen. See here:

This place was incredible. Thanks to my parents for the recommendation! Inside there was a man who's official job was shushing people. We tried to get a video of this without prevail. Oh well. Here's Wahli instead:

Since, we have been roaming the tourist filled streets around this area. We did see Notre Dame earlier but just from the outside. Beautiful. I'm trying to recall my art history classes for background info and facts to impress Wahli and other Americans but for the most part I'm failing!

We just had a nice salad and wine on a brasserie patio next to some cute boys. No luck there. We did notice though that the men around here all carry bags. And not just big manish messenger bags, but small purse-like bags. Boys of the U.S. don't be scared, you can carry a purse and still be a man. The French are so ahead of us.

Alrighty, off to the Eiffel Tower area to see it at dusk and lit up at night.

One more thing. Sooo many amazing treats here, like macarons. I had a pistachio one today.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Rue Mazarine,Paris,France

Bonjour Paris!

2011-09-05T01:44:00.001-07:00

Great news: we made it to Paris safe and sound with no holdups. Okay, we boarded one train in the wrong direction but corrected it immediately! We're at our teeny tiny little hotel room enjoying the teeny tiny beds and the teeny tiny shower. Despite being a tall girl, I like the downsizing of everything. The U.S. has it all backwards...

Anyhoo, now we will put on our non-tourist clothes and go hit a cafe for some cafe et croissants.

Trying to stay awake...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Rue Philippe de Champagne,Paris,France

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

2011-09-03T18:35:00.001-07:00

I've had it in my head for a couple of years now that I would soon take a sabbatical from work and travel round Europe. I've saved up a bunch of pennies just for it. And well, the time has finally come. I'm astounded at how quickly time passes. I leave in about 12 hours! What?! Yes.

It's been a puzzle to figure out how to pack but I've managed to make it work. This is what I'll be carrying around for the next month:

Not bad.

I'll be attempting to update Ladders on the Side regularly, so stay tuned if you want to follow Meghan and me through our adventures. I'm taking just my iPhone and a few fun new teeny tiny lenses to spice things up, photographically speaking. Here's the cute little guys:

So we'll see what is to come! Tomorrow we head to Paris. Soon I'll be saying bon nuit!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Dream Sampling No. 22

2011-04-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

6.9.10

"Growing clothes out of the ground. You couldn't tell how tall they were before you picked them. You pick it, you buy it. The guy wasn't growing it, but he was a republican."

Dream Sampling No. 21

2011-02-01T13:17:00.001-08:00

Buggar! It's been so long since I've been on here. I am going to persist! Here's a winner from the dream journal:

8.10.09

"Bill Gates was going to use a Control-Alt-Delete on his toilet. Might as well... it's pretty much the same as a PC."

decisions, decisions...

2010-10-10T19:13:00.001-07:00

My nephew's birthday is this week so I decided to make him a drawing. His latest interest, as he's gone through so many in his short 9 years, is hunting. He's never actually been hunting, but is very into the idea. Though he also looooooves animals and wept over the death of my dog several years ago, so I get the feeling if he actually went hunting it would be a traumatizing event. Who knows really... Anyhoo, I drew him an elk and I'm trying to decide whether or not to include a target, either hanging on a chain around the elk's neck or on a stand in the background—encouraging the act of hunting (though I'm not a fan) and adding a slight bit of visual interest and humor—or to leave it out and let him appreciate the beast for the beautiful creature it is. Such a hard decision. I appreciate input...

Sometimes I get bored in meetings

2010-09-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Dream Sampling No. 20

2010-09-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

11.8.09

"Julie Andrews came to live in the Rocky Mountains. I was leaving work one day and a cat walked up to me. I recognized it as the cat she could transfigure into and I said to it, "Are you Dame Julie Andrews, kitty?" It sat back on its hind legs, smiled widely and said in Julie's distinctive voice, "Why yes I am." I asked if she needed help finding her way back up to her house. She accepted the offer, but before we made our way up into the hills, I picked her up, set her in my lap and we talked for hours about our favorite things."

Po'traits

2010-08-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

A birthday portrait of my sister for her birthday... Why the baby deer? Cause it's random and funny, that's all.

I've been starting to do some commissioned portraits/custom illustrations of people. If you know anyone who'd like one, let me know. You can send me a photo of the people you love (or don't love—maybe you want a drawing of your enemy, that's up to you), and I'll draw them and hook you up with the original piece or a print as well as a digital copy. They make good prezzies.

Dream Sampling No. 18

2010-07-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

I tend to do things in my sleep. I've always been a sleep walker, talker, laugher, etc. Sometimes I'll wake up rifling through my bag, or the bookshelf, seeking out something in my dreams that doesn't exist in real life.

On this particular day I awoke with braids in my hair (having fallen asleep without) and no recollection of putting them there. Then apparently I decided to write about it and draw a picture with one eye open, my head on the pillow, next to the book. It makes for a skewed perspective, which I obviously felt necessary to point out at 6am.

1.20.10

Dream Sampling No. 19

2010-07-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

9.10.09

"We all lived in trees and only ever ate sandwiches."

Dream Sampling No. 17

2010-07-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

9.5.09

"Clara had a cupcake shaped like a saloon and she had to share it with Jemaine."

Dream Sampling No. 16

2010-06-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

1.15.09

"In my mom's garden we had a big hill overflowing with wildflowers, and raspberries. I also planted some seeds that grew into a tiny elephant. I picked it out of the ground and just held it and loved it so much."

Dream Quotes

2010-06-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

I usually write down dreams in a story format or short little bursts or thoughts. Some days I wake up with a random song in my head. Some days I'll go back and read the dream book and find quotes—literally short phrases accompanied by quote marks, and relating to nothing. Just a straight up quote. And, I usually can't remember their significance, or remember writing them for that matter. Here's a few I've come across...

"A meanie in a cloak instead of a coat."

"Be sensitive to your heart's contentment."

"...the freedom to go where I must, where I'm called, to know myself, to know the work."

"The next girl in the family shall be called McGlowdie."

"We're hearing an echo."

"We just lost our summertime. It's spring now."

"To hello joy all the rest."

"My phone's not always as pretty in the morning. It escapes."

"They've got neon copper deadlines!"

"Sometimes your life needs accompaniment. You sound better."

"We are Grandma's Herzig decorations."

Dream Sampling No. 15

2010-06-27T22:54:00.001-07:00

Wow, this is a long one. But it intrigued me so I'm including the whole thing...

1.13.09

"Lived in some strange land over a lifetime. People got smaller as they got older. Eventually everything was on floating islands, like boats, because the world became water. My friend and I were the only survivors of an original group in this land. There were other people, but none of my kind. They were always trying to catch us. Why? I don't know what we did. Our names changed as time passed too. They got shorter and people forgot us. Eventually cars were tiny—the size of a kid's big wheel. The police were after me and my friend. The head of police was my family's old butler. Buddie was his name. He didn't really want to catch us, but knew he must. When he finally did after years of chase, we reminisced about how my little sister Olive would have loved the place where Buddie caught up with us—there were waterfalls and so many flowers. Olive had died back in the good years. It was very sad, yet I felt happy remembering her after so long. My friend and I were very agile and acrobatic, and we could get out of any situation. We each had special abilities. I could fly and she could walk through walls. Buddie though, was the only other one of our kind left in the world, and thus the only one that could catch us. I just have overwhelming feelings for the olden days, when we were all together and did extraordinary things. Then my people all disappeared and went away. We got smaller. The world got smaller. The oceans got bigger. I might be watching too much Heroes."

Dream Sampling No. 14

2010-06-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

11.4.08

"Everybody in the world carried around sheets of music, their very own life music. Each person had a continuing song and we'd have to upkeep them, take them everywhere and sing our life songs for one another.

On an unrelated note, I had to fight off a wolf."

Dream Sampling No. 13

2010-06-16T22:26:00.001-07:00

10.11.08

A psychotic squirrel was out to get me. I drove home to my parents' house and it climbed all over the car, waiting to attack me when I got out. I managed to escape, but it chased me to the house. I had to kick it into the bushes a few times, and the 3rd time it climbed right up the plum tree. As I reached the porch, it flew down at my face, but smacked into the glass right as I shut the door.
Take that psycho.

Dream Sampling No. 12

2010-06-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

5.16.10

"I went skydiving again. It was different this time. I could simply hover and float above the clouds until one of the instructors came to take me down (which involved diving headfirst towards the ground and pulling my chute at the last second). While waiting for the instructor, I started playing in the clouds. They were a thin, wispy layer of fluff, like a giant sheet of soft paper floating over the world. I would drag my hand through it, making paths and strokes for the people to see on the ground below. It was my first time drawing in a cloud. It was incredible.

When I got back to the ground, they taught me how to better float, spin and dive. We ate some tomatoes off the vine and everybody took naps. I just laid in the grass and stared up at the sky, because all I wanted to do was get back up there and draw in the clouds."

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

I got to celebrate Mother's Day today with my sister Heidi. She has two kids, represented here by freckled eggs (in reality they're much more mobile than eggs at this point). We ate food, planted flowers, raced paper airplanes, had a dance party and painted our fingernails in shades of neon. Twas a joyful day and I have felt truly grateful for all the moms in my life. Especially my own, who's unfortunately in Kansas. But hey, distance makes the heart grow fonder, eh?

Dream Sampling No. 11

2010-04-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

4.27.10

"I saw the most tiniest hummingbirds. Their wing and tail feathers were so bright and pink that they actually glowed in the dark shade. I tried to take a picture of one really close up, but before I could, it opened its beak really wide (inside were long black, needle point teeth) and it gobbled up my phone. Dang it!"

happy earth day to you

2010-04-20T22:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamt that the earth was my cupcake and I ate it. Sorry humanity, but you were just too tempting.

Okay I didn't really dream that... though this cupcake does make the earth look real tasty. It's actually a little graphic for a free song download my sister is offering for earth day—to download the tunes, click here. Happy Earth Day to you!

Dream Sampling No. 10

2010-04-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

3.18.10

"I got to ride around on a soft, furry humpback whale. It was incredible! I just loved it so much... Granted we flew around a whole foods, which was strange and crowded, but still thrilling. I'd lay with my head down against my whale and we could hear each others' thoughts."

Such a pain in the neck...

2010-04-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

My neck got bent in half somehow this week. I'm not sure how or why it happened. Maybe fighting dragons or swirling around in tornadoes in my dreams. I'd better read back through the dream journal to find an answer to this puzzle... Anyway, I found relief today after visiting my massage therapist, Tenile. She has magic hands—a genetic gift received at birth—and worked some goodness on me and my chronically f-ed up neck. I'm very much looking forward to turning my head again, something I've missed dearly this past week.

Dream Sampling No. 9

2010-03-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

7.19.08

Jason Bateman and I fell in love in Africa. He was there establishing some frozen banana stands and I was starting up an art school for blind kids. He donated so many frozen bananas to the school. The kids could not believe their eyes.

...I've been watching too much Arrested Development.

Dream Sampling No. 8

2010-03-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

4.29.08

Andy was going to give Rach a tattoo around her mid section. It was a saying or proverb about rabbits, along with some bunny illustrations. Rach had a crush on him and liked him too much to stand up for her body. She was too blinded by love to be able to see that a rabbit tattoo would be completely stupid. I had to stand up for her and her mid section and tell Andy, 'no.'

Dream Sampling No. 7

2010-03-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

4.9.08

I went on a run through the forest as the sun was setting. I stopped to rest on a bench, but I had forgotten that a certain type of snake would always try to bite me when I was on that bench, and I'd have to kill it with a plastic sword which happened to be laying around. I had a feeling one of them was my friend, so I said, "Ryan, is that you?" He curled up, protecting his head with his snake body and nodded 'yes.'

I want the road.

2010-03-14T21:25:00.001-07:00

I am itchy. I am feeling the itch. There's something out on the wind calling my name. It's a little whispery song that says, "Annie, get up away from your desk for a little while and play. Come to europe and play. Mkay?"

I think it's time for me to go. But this is what I want: a Europe friend. I was all for venturing out on my own awhile ago, but I've realized over the past months that I want a wonderful soul to share it all with, to look back on the adventure in years to come, to reminisce, and laugh and cry and blow our noses over all the things that are going to happen. But who is that person? Who can swing it, both financially and time-ancially?

Where are you my little friend? My little companion? Who wants to join me with the sticks slung over our shoulders, bandanas tied to the end, full of bread, cheese, toothpaste and a clean shirt?

Come on, let's go...

Dream Sampling No. 6

2010-03-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

8.30.09

"Walking into town from my mountain home. There were lots of riots and fighting going on due to health care and Obama and Michael Jackson. So many people throwing rocks and shooting guns. I was afraid. I almost got shot. I got pissed at someone who threw a rock so I threw one off the back of the truck and it almost hit Michael Jackson. He tried to throw one back and it was an awkward throw. I felt bad and hand signaled him that I was sorry and he did it back. We held up peace signs and pretended to hug and made up. We drove away. His face was sort of black and charcoaled from a fire someone set off. He also looked like a skeleton."

Dream Sampling No. 5

2010-02-14T21:54:00.000-08:00

01.17.10

"After swimming around on my dolphin I stopped at the dock. Someone made an announcement about me and I got emotional. I turned to the group teary-eyed. I told them my eyes were just hurting from the water. Someone held up a mirror and I found a piece of my contact floating around in my eye. Then I found another, and another. And the same was happening in my other eye. It was like my contacts shattered and had been floating around. Soon after, I realized that I was supposed to be blind. I was like the blind girl in Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, except that I rode a dolphin instead of a horse. All of a sudden I was in this movie... and I couldn't see."

Dream Sampling No. 4

2010-01-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

10.12.07

"I drove through a national forest that was mostly on fire. All the animals were running around, trying to get to safety, including dinosaurs. I came to a bridge. One of those huge railroad-track-over-the-canyon types of bridges. The whole thing was on fire. I knew it was the end of the road for me. A long time seemed to pass but I knew it was only minutes. Just when I was about to jump into the river below, with the fire at my heels, a dandelion seed, came floating over to me. A big one. I grabbed ahold of it and floated across to the green hills on the other side. Turns out a tiny dinosaur was hiding in my hood and caught a ride on me. He said thank you and asked to stay. I said sure, if I can name you. He was alright with that, and I named him Hoodwink."

Dream Sampling No. 3

2010-01-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

3.12.07

"I signed up to help the poor by fighting off hunger with sticks. The line was really long but I made it after 3 hours of waiting. They gave me my stick but I wasn't sure what to do with it. I waved it around a few times and stabbed the air like a sword. I don't think it was effective.

Was in Estes with Rach. She had dyed her hair in streaks of red, orange and yellow like some flourescent lioness. I told her she was fierce. She drove our van around town. Damn near tipped us over. I told her to get out and I'd drive. I had some 4 wheeling to do.

I went through this competition with my sisters and won it. We had to do weird things, like plant a seed in a parking garage with some mean animal biting at me. The last task was to run, full speed and dive out a 4th story window without hesitating or knowing what was below. I was the 1st to jump. I wasn't afraid and I knew I'd be okay. It was thrilling and freeing. I soared through the air and landed safely on the ground, surrounded by a garden. My sisters jumped after me and I watched as they floated to the ground beside me."

Dream Sampling No. 2

2009-12-14T19:54:00.000-08:00

02.21.07

"Some zoo animals had escaped during a rainstorm. Frogs, a couple of orangutans, but the best was a koala. At first I was kicking water at him cause I didn't realize what he was. Then he was on the monkey's back and I held out my hand and he climbed up onto me. He could talk. He told me he loved me the most out of everyone. Maybe it was because I'm tall, like a tree. I went to find my fam to show them but it was nearly midnight. The koala peed on my leg through his little pants, but I guess it was okay in all the rain."

tis the season

2009-11-14T20:05:00.000-08:00

I'm lounging at my parents' house while outside snow softly and plentifully falls to the ground. Somehow the snow I love is even more lovely when I'm at home. It's peaceful here. I'm listening to Christmas music. I know, early right? It's not early for me. And if it's snowing then life just isn't right without it. I sit here drawring nutcrackers and rat kings and Clara for the Colorado ballet. Can my night get any better? Mmm...

snow day | sick day

2009-10-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

Doing some drawrings in my new book, well more like old book. Old book turned drawring book. I was sick and dying this weekend, but coming back into the light today, evidenced by the drawring activities. When I'm sick I do nothing but watch movies, sleep and dream some crazy crazy things.

new branch of Ladders: the Dream Samplings

2009-10-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

So a few years ago I started up a new kind of journal. A dream journal. For the past three years I've written in it most mornings (in phases), scrambling for it under my pillow half awake and half out of consciousness. I lay there on my side, one eye open, scribbling side to side as flashes and memories of the night's happenings would come to me. Sometimes it would be complete stories and thoughts, sometimes just a glimpse, an image, a quote, a feeling, etc. Sometimes drawrings accompany if we're lucky... Anyways, this will be the first installment of the Dream Samplings (name is up for consideration) on Ladders. I'll start with some old entries.

Please note: some names may be substituted for obvious reasons.

November 5th, 2007

"In Switz... George, Peter, I and a few others came with me to stay at the family cabin. I was doing yoga and the two guys joined in but tried to turn it into some kind of breakdance session... They just don't get yoga.

Then there were wasps in the recycling that I had to take out I was ushering them out the door 1 by 1 after I took out the recycling screaming. I told my mom you have to tell those wasps you're french, you're a french pastor, so they'll take you seriously and won't think you're a swiss pastor. whaa???

I had to march in a parade with old highschool friends. I am older now and had to come up with my own drums–some little congas I found in the basement. Dressed up silly in an itchy coat. Some whole foods people were there too. All of produce were dressed as firemen. A woman and a daughter there had both seen me drinking once, so they asked me for advice about the daughter drinking during her pregnancy. Odd."

my new career path:

2009-09-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

My second day on the job of painting faces. No, I kid... It's just for kicks. But I sure do have fun doing it, and I think the kids do too, when I don't take too long to do their faces. AND when I make sure to chew gum. I found that this is key in a face painting career. Gum.

Today seemed to be a day filled with sea creatures.

2009-09-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

This is Sniffly Little Ani Face. She loves the rainy fall weather, and today she's stuck inside an office building which seems to have air conditioning being pumped in overhead. It's making Little Ani Face feel all sicky. Office = Cold Prison Cell. She'd much rather be out in the rainy fall weather.

The end and the beginning.

2009-09-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary (aka world),

This is my first blog post besides the header, which let's face it, it feels a little dry, a little void of personality, a little too "office"—but hey i made it while i was at the office so that makes sense. Where one resides will often rub off off on who one thinks they are. Okay, that's only true of me. I have somewhat of a chameleonic personality, like when I hang out with my cool hipster friends I become a cool hipster. When I'm around a mechanic, I find that I can somehow fix automobiles. When I spend time at the office I turn into that kid playing office when they were little, filing things and stapling things, and creating blog headers with filing cabinets on them. Booaring! So needless to say, I will change the header (away from the office!). But just so you know, if you can't tell, that little filing cabinet has a label on it that says "inspirational shit." So at least if it's going to be boring, it's still inspired.

This first entry is putting a lot of pressure on me right now, so I'd better stop. This is it: the end and the beginning. (I'm so deep in the early mornings).

ps. This my anteater that showed up in the mail yesterday. It needs a name.