Edmonds, WA, Europe, and a Puget Sound Backdrop

14 Apr 2012 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: , ,

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 April 14, 2012

Where did I see many sights of France, Ireland and Italy all in one day for free  ?

At the Rick Steves’ European Travel Festival in Edmonds, Washington.  Rick (we are on first name basis now) was in Europe but the co-authors of his guide books gave the presentations. It was wonderful – entertaining, interesting, informative and packed with fellow travel lovers.  Edmonds is a charming community about 30 minutes north of Seattle. I also enjoyed walking around town in today’s sunshine to see the  tulip and crab apple trees  blooming, plus the daffodils, tulips and lavender, to name a few.  Rick Steves’ Travel Store is a four block walk to the banks of  Puget Sound, where I vegged  afterwards to soak up the atmosphere. What beautiful country and a great day!

  I’m in Seattle and the surrounding area for  the next week for various fun  outings……  but you’ll have to tune in  to find out just what I am up to – there is so much to do here that its difficult to decide!

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My first whale sighting!

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Fancy roundabout in the middle of town.

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Beautiful murals in Edmonds.

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Rick’s travel store.

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Ferries are everywhere.

MEETING RICK STEVES!!!!

13 Mar 2012 1 Comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags:

2

March 13, 2012

 This past weekend, my friend Laura and I went to Kansas City, Missouri to listen to Rick Steves  speak about travel.

 

Now, I love traveling !    I also love  Rick Steves Travel Guide Books and his Television Travel Show.  Rick’s Travel  Books truly are  a complete guide  for  anyone  traveling in Europe on their own.   So this was my chance to see Rick in person. But I also really wanted to meet him face to face.  The plan?  Make sure Laura and I stood out in the crowd.  So with perserverance ,  along with wearing our custom  “I Love Traveling with Rick Steves” T- shirts  – it  paid off!!!  We got to meet and talk with Rick, have our guide books signed and have a photo op with him! What a thrill to meet Rick and see for ourselves what a friendly, engaging and entertaining person he is.

 

Then to top it all off, Rick also took photos of the three  of us with his own iphone and  Rick included a  photo of the three of us  in his USA Road Trip Blog, Day 10 and writing ” two women drove four hours from St. Louis for my Kansas City talk and wore T-shirts declaring their love for traveling “through the back door” with my guidebooks”.

 

To read more about Rick Steves USA Road Trip, log into Facebook and “search” for Rick Steves, then Rick Steves USA Road Trip. Or click on  this link:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/rick-steves/day-10-breadbasket-byways/101506042…

Also, it’s on Rick Steves Website:

http://blog.ricksteves.com/?p=7145

 

We also met, Keith,  his  Road Trip driver and also a  Rick Steves Tour Director. Keith was also friendly and told us how great it was like to work with Rick. I told him to keep an eye out for  my resume…..

 

 

 

Handshake

BONITA SPRINGS, FLORIDA Jan. 2012

12 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: ,

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A side trip or what I like to refer to as  a vacation on vacation…..

While spending the month of January in Florida, I took a couple of days and went a little further south to Bonita Springs.  I stayed at a great resort across the street  from my favorite beach for sea shell collecting.   I was in heaven. An added plus: the resort’s owner  had a friendly little dog who would come sit at my door. Upon opening the  door, he would come in, lay on the floor and watch tv with us.   Photos from in and around the area.

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My Prize Finds!

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The Resort Dog – Snope Dog

Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Florida

06 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: ,

January 2012 in Florida continued…..

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Cinderella’s Castle by Night

Our second family day in Orlando was spent at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.  The Magic Kingdom was still out decked out in its Christmas finest which was  fun to see.  After dark, Cinderella’s castle was lit up  with sparkling icicles.  Main street  was decorated with a huge Christmas tree and life-sized Nutcrackers, and  garland, wreaths, lights, etc, etc – what can I say – nobody can beat Disney no matter what your age.  The parades were fantasic and  eventhough many of the rides were the same as 20 years ago when I first took my kids, the park looked brand spanking new and the rides were still fun , entertaining and, yes, nostalgic.  It was a great two days visiting the theme parks with the kids.

Enjoy the Magic….

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Mickey and Minnie in their Chistmas Best!

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Cinderella’s Castle by Day

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The only alligator I saw this trip.

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Souvenier Hand Blown Cinderella’s Carriage for Sale $2500.

UNIVERSAL’S ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE, FLORIDA

05 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags:

January 2012 in Florida.….

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What  better place to escape the Midwest’s blustery January days than Florida?  Even though very wonderful – there was a strange side effect to being there.  Having lived in the Midwest all my life, I couldn’t help but to feel a little out of sorts every time I’d look at the calendar, see that it said January and yet it was 75 degrees outside and I was weaing a t-shrt and shorts. Somehow, I managed to deal with it.   : )

I was also happy to have all of my kids come to visit.  But what do you do to entertain  five grown children? Well, you all jump in the car(s) and head to the city of Orlando  and visit Universal’s Islands of Adventure and then take a walk down memory lane and visit Disney’s Magic Kingdom of course!  The photos in this posting are from Islands of Adventure where Harry Potters’s Wizarding World was a big hit ( although VERY crowded)  but my favorite was Dr Seuss’ Landing and Toon Lagoon.

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The Lost Continent

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The World of Harry Potter

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You’re a mean one….

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Who doesn’t love Horton the Elephant and the Cat in the Hat?

The Comical Side of the Christmas Market Travels

20 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags:

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There is always  a comical side to traveling – those photos I snap that are strange, unexplainable, don’t seem to fit in anywhere else or are just funny.   Such as Santa standing here at the stand that sells the Gluhwein – or Mulled Wine as we in the US call it.   Or how about…..

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New Style of Sleigh?Pickle Art in Austria

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Sandwich in McDonalds

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Art Display in Munich

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German Hot Tub????

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Grim Reaper Tree

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Teddy Bears drink in Germany?

Last Day in Munich, Germany

15 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Well after hours spent on planes and in airports, I am back home now – but I can’t let the postings of this European Christmas Markets Trip go unfinished…thus….

My last day in Munich.  A day just to wonder, explore and shop and make sure I don’t  miss  something  I would regret. Munich is a beautiful , busy city, fun to stroll  and surprisingly, I didn’t get lost. I could always look up and recognize a church steeple or the city hall in the distance to ground myself.   Even more delightfully surprising, I stumbled upon two more Christmas Markets that I hadn’t seen before.  I also searched out two churches that  I wanted to see and I went through the Residenz , the palace where the Wittelsbachs resided, the ruling family of Bavaria for 700 years. That tour was 80 rooms. I logged 8 miles on my pedometer this day ( most of it in this palace I believe) – my record for the trip.

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Asam Church, Baroque style built in 1740.

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St Cajetan’s Church, built in 1690

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.The Residenz Festival Banquet Hall, 200 could dine here.

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The last of my Christmas Markets. : (

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Christmas Markets at the Sendlinger City Gate, built in 1318.

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I love the Gingerbread cookies!

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German  Nativity Pyramids

Day Trip to Mad King Ludwig’s Herrenchiemsee Castle

14 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: ,

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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Our last day trip  and we had blue skies and sun, though still a bit  chilly. First a train ride from Munich to Priem a Chiemsee, then catch a boat ride  to the island  and a 20 minute pleasant  walk to the  Herrenchiemsee Castle.  The setting was beautiful –snow topped mountains suround most of the crystal clear lake and resorts and homes dot the lakeside.

Mad Ludwig  loved to build his castles and this one  was just as grand and ornate as the others. But, as the story goes, he ran out of money and died mysteriously, so it was never finished. The rooms that were completed were ……an optical sensory overload  I’d say – but this was also the castle of a King.  Herrenchiemsee was inspired by the Palace at Versailles, including the Hall of Mirrors.  This Hall,  can be described, but  can never be fully imagined until you see it with your own eyes.  Ludwig also had a “tub” that took 8 hours to fill if he wanted to bathe and a dining table that could be lowered to the kitchen below to be set and then raised back up to him so he would not have to see the servants. It did take about 30 minutes for the lowering and raising each time so I guess he ate a lot of cold food.

Photos were not allowed inside the castle but Internet is the next best thing.

http://www.herren-chiemsee.de/englisch/n_palace/index.htm

The day was an adventure!

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The Depot

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Sure, I understand the boat schedule…

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Chiemsee Lake

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Misletoe in the Trees

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View along the Way

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Detail at the top of the Castle

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photo copied off the internet

Nurnberg 2011 Christmas Markets

13 Dec 2011 2 Comments

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: ,

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Another Santa Dog!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

This is probably my last official 2011 Christmas Market posting, as our trip is nearing an end and our last days are planned with other activities.  But Nurnberg’s Christmas Market is known as the biggest, oldest  and best of them all.  I will agree, it was terrific.  It was huge with 180 stalls, a wide variety of items for sale,   lots of yummy food and an over abundance of  the same mulled wine whose aroma fills the air. Since we went early in the day, I  did miss the decorated lights at night time, but  it was also definitely nicer to browse when it was less crowded. Of course, I also had no problem finding  a few things to purchase also.  Which means I will have to decide which of my clothes I will pitch  to make it all fit in my suitcase…….

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The Mulled Wines – smells good but its really sweet!

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Nurnberg has a Katie Store too!!!

 

 

 

Day Trip To Nurnberg, Germany

13 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: , ,

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Holy Ghost Hospital

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Nurnberg, Germany  is a city you have to see.   While I love to travel and love everywhere I go,  for a daytrip, especially  for strolling at this time of year, this is one of the coolest cities.   The Old Town is beautiful and has  lots of interesting buildings, a river that runs through it, bridges and tidbits that will catch your eye, including 3 miles of a wall surrounding  it that you can walk..   It is a photographer’s dream.   Now, if it would  have been a little warmer ( it was freezing),  a little less crowded, and had I more time,  I think my photos could have turned out better, but, until you can see this city with your own eyes, I’ll post for you my best and you’ll just have to take my word for it – don’t miss this city.

 BTW, this is also the same city, that the famous Nurnberg Trials  took place after WWII, but we didn’t have the time to see that side of the city this trip. 

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Does this building look like it has a face?

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St. Lawrence Church

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The church’s choir pews. 

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Ho Ho Ho, See if you can spot me at the Markets,,,,

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