missdanagump

Roma:  Day 2 I literally woke up today and said this "things aren't going to go how we want them to today". Little did I know.   We pre bought vatican tickets online, and in doing this you can jump the line here as well.  This was awesome, as by 9:00 am the line was around the block.  Once our appearance was approved, we were granted entrance to the Vatican.  Our first stop, the museums.   The wealth of the catholic church is sickening yet impressive.  The museum itself is so massive there is no way to get through it all in even 2 days yet alone a morning.  Rick steves didn't have an audio tour to help us find the "good stuff"so we just breezed through it.  Lots of statues, Egyptian pieces, tapestries, pieces of ... read more

The extent of my French ran out at "trois", and so the name of this blog is the next foreign language I could speak, Spanish.... At a complete loss of words, instead of just speaking English to the waiters, or shop owners, I instead, choose to speak Spanish... This happened more times than I can tell you. Whatever the logic is, I don't know, but I always received a very puzzled look from whomever I am speaking to. So, if the mission of my stay in France was to leave liking red wine, mission accomplished. In fact, before I write any more, I am going to have another glass. Tonight, we are headed to Rome. I am looking forward to this, as it has only been 55 degrees here every single day. It has also rained, ... read more

Day 2: Iceland  I woke up yesterday morning to a day with a lot of promise.  No real set plans, other than to spend the night in Reykjavik.  We had a rental car, a beautiful, sunny day, and Iceland to explore.  We browsed the guide book and decided to hit a large waterfall destination, along with a few geysers.  We would leave Isafjordur and head further north and west, seeing the remainder of the fjords we weren't able to see on our way up.  Then we would head south back to reykjavik, cutting east to see the geysers.  This route proved to be very circuitous and slow, and though I love rocks, even I have seen enough glacially carved inlets to last me a while.  The waterfall was called dynajandi and was absolutely breath taking, just ... read more

What it is about Stewart and Jen, I don't know, but since we met them, they have somehow been a catalyst to ensure Justin and I have amazing summer vacations. Last summer it was our drive around the United States, largely for the purpose of attending their wedding in California. While most of our friends took an airplane there, Justin and I opted for a more leisurely mode of transportation...the automobile. While last summer it was radio blaring, windows down kind of fun, this trip will be entirely different. In fact, the automobile will be our most rare form of transportation for the next 2.5 weeks. Instead, we will be walking, training (railing?) and flying. None of which involve the radio blaring... What it will involve is spending 1 week with Jen and Stewart touring Iceland ... read more

July 21, 2010 On our drive to Vegas, we stopped by Joshua Tree National Park. That place is just weird. The rocks are weirdly shaped, the trees are weirdly shaped and the place is desolate. So much of this country is desolate, it is rather unbelievable. Joshua Tree was cool in a sense that it was interesting to look at. It wasn’t cool in a temperature sense at all. In fact, it was so hot, I wouldn’t even let my mom out of the car to take pictures. She had to do it through the windshield so none of the air conditioning left the car. The place was a desert, with weird rocks and weird trees, I wouldn’t go back, but I’m glad I saw it. The coolest part was that I got to see San ... read more