We sang that song the entire trip so I thought it would be a fitting title for this entry :) Sorry it's taken SOOOO long for me to post this! Between my new job and the holidays there hasn't been much time for blogging...but I'm getting caught up now :) So we were very excited about our Istanbul trip but even after reading about it in preparation for the trip, we still didn't expect what we found there. First of all, let me start by pointing out that part of Istanbul is actually in Europe while the other half is in Asia. Even so, we (for some reason) were expecting it to be much more like Morocco was (even though Morocco is in Africa) than a large European city (maybe because Turkey is 98% Muslim and ... read more

About 30 minutes outside of Munich, on my way home, was Dachau Concentration Camp so I decided to stop and visit. Parking was 3 Euros and entrance to the memorial site was free. I got there right as they were opening at 9am and was the first one there so it was quiet and pretty cold out since it was still early. Many of the buildings were torn down after the concentration camp was closed but they left several up, such as 2 barracks buildings where the prisoners were housed, the bunker, where the special prisoners were kept and where everyone was inprocessed, and the incinerator and the gas chamber "showers" still remain as well. They've reconstructed the beds that the prisoners slept in and I believe put new flooring in too. You can see just ... read more

We had a four day weekend this weekend but Matt ended up having to work Saturday and Sunday, right in the middle of it, so it kind of ruined our chances of going anyplace outside of Germany. So, we decided to take advantage of the day off and go on a day trip. Trier is near the French border and has changed hands between Germany and France many times throughout history. It also has, I believe, the most Roman ruins of any town in Germany. Trier is a small town but makes a great day trip and is fun to walk around. Porta Nigra (Latin for 'Black Gate') gets its name because of the pollution that has turned the stones black over time. It's a 2nd century Roman gate and the stones are only held together ... read more

Okay, so we've all heard of Venice before...supposed to have streets made of water and all that? It doesn't matter what you've read or the pictures you've seen on the internet, Venice is absolutely incredible. We arrived at Treviso Airport on Friday, August 31st and took the bus into Venice. The bus took us to Piazzale Roma, which is pretty much the only place to park in Venice. Once you leave there all you see is boats and walkers...there are no cars, bicycles, or mopeds in the rest of Venice. We each bought a vaporetto pass for our stay and that was our main mode of transportation for the rest of the weekend. The vaporetto is the water bus...they're huge boats that serve as Venice's public transportation system. Right now there are only three bridges that ... read more

Let me just say this...Alghero was gorgeous...but this was probably the worst vacation we've ever had. Not because of anything in the town itself (except maybe our icky apartment) but it was just a bad vacation. We went with another couple, Mike and Maria. Mike works with Matt and Maria and I have gotten to be pretty good friends since we moved here. We planned this trip pretty last minute and, after we booked our flight, we discovered that this weekend was the height of high season in Italy because it was a public holiday. It's like trying to find a last-minute hotel in Daytona on Memorial Day weekend. So, we pretty much took whatever we could find that we could afford and I found an apartment that slept 4 right in town in Alghero. They ... read more