For those of you back home who haven't heard, I'm about to take a trip on what may be the most exciting adventure of my life... I'm getting married. On July 31, 2009, Matt and I will be tying the knot! See our website for the full skinny: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/CindyHelmbreck&MattReeve [View Full Entry]

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A: One week of recovery is necessary after returning! Have you ever gone somewhere and simply had one of the greatest times of your life? Maybe you've been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and the party was so vivid that the colorful and chaotic image of people celebrating in the streets is something you'll never forget. Amsterdam is sort of like Mardis Gras, but with a twist. Imagine a modern day city with a 17th century backdrop. Hard to picture, right? Well, try to visualize a loud bustling city buzzing with taxis, tourists, traffic, street musicians, garbage (fro [View Full Entry]

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Since my first week of teaching in Berlin my female American colleagues have raved about a particular spa parlor in Riga, Latvia. I've been told that flights are cheap, and the spa treatments are too. All the girls have told me that come mid-March I'll be ready for Riga, and sure enough they were right! So, a colleague and I booked tickets and we were off for a weekend. Now I'll be honest, my plan was to spend the entire weekend being rubbed, scrubbed, and pampered, but as soon as I caught a glimpse of the beautiful city center, I wanted [View Full Entry]

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My apologies for neglecting my travel blog for SO long! School started to consume me once we really got past the first couple months, and then Matt arrived in October, and of course a girl has to travel (!), so I've been really really busy. My Christmas vacation started last Friday, and for the first time since July I'm not traveling, or running around going crazy with my students. I'm simply enjoying Matt's companionship and kicking back in Berlin for 2 luxurious work-free weeks. Since my last entry I've had the opportunity to travel to 3 different countries: Denmark, Switzerland, and [View Full Entry]

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For a bit of ambiance copy & paste this link... http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/soundof.htm Ahhhh, American Labor Day... the last official weekend of summer. Okay, so I admit that this year's experience wasn't a traditional one for me. No barbecues, no camping, no roasting marshmallows over a roaring flame, but a lot more exciting than any Labor Day I've ever had before. I tackled a cog railway, 2 cable cars and 9,718 feet to the top of the highest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitze! The brilliance of teaching at an American-German school is that I'm fortunate enou [View Full Entry]

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Forgive the long delay in updating my blog... I'd love to give a really good excuse, but I don't have one. I've just been having fun, and feel like I've finally started to settle in. Where to begin? Well, for those of you who haven't heard about the International Berlin Bierfestival, please let me fill you in. 260 breweries + 1,800 beers from about 26 different countries = the craziest weekend you could ever imagine!!! It was insane... I've never seen so much beer in one place in all my life. It consisted of about 2 miles of beer tents and [View Full Entry]

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Guten Tag! Ich liebe Berlin! Yes, I made it... after about 16 hours of traveling, I made it, and I love it. Berlin is fantastic. The food is to die for, the people are lovely, the shopping is excellent, and the sites are incredible. No matter where you look, your bound to see a famous church, building, park, or something historically amazing. Every day that I go exploring I find myself bumping into famous sights that leave me awestruck. Needless to say, I have only lived in Berlin for 1 week and I love it already. So here's the low [View Full Entry]

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Matt & I had a blast driving across the U.S. It took us 3 days to travel from Massachusetts to New York to Pennsylvania to Ohio to Indiana to Wisconsin and then on up to Minnesota! We made a point of spending our first night at The Riverside Inn in Cambridge Springs, PA., which is an Inn built in the early 1800's. Just so happens that my Grandparents met there in the 1930's. We checked in pretty late, but still had time to grab a couple beers at the bar and met some cool locals. The next morning we met up [View Full Entry]

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"Oh my God, it's never going to stop snowing," I said dully. Tammy and I stared out the kitchen-door window and didn't know what to make of all the powdery white stuff that seemed to be dumping effortlessly from the sky. Our front yard looked like it was covered in marshmallow fluff. "We need to make some Irish Coffees and go for a walk in it," I said. Tammy looked at me like I had 10 heads. "You're kidding me, right? I'm not going out in this." The only way to convince her to leave the house during one of these [View Full Entry]

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