Dusty and Marlina
  • header2
  • Annabelle_186
  • header13
  • header7
  • header12
  • header10
  • header11
  • header9
  • header8
  • header6
  • header5
  • header4
  • header15
  • header3
  • header1
  • header14
  • Archives

  • Last days in Paris

    June 30, 2006

    Dusty and I returned from Europe just a few nights ago. It was a long day. We left Paris at 2pm there time and got home at 1am our time. We spent almost 20 hours on planes or in airports, we had two layovers.

    Our last days in Paris were wonderful. The first day we went on a historical Paris walk, featuring Ile de la Cité, Notre-Dame, Latin Quarter, and Sainte-Chapelle. In the evening we went to dinner at a great french restuarant, Camillee.

    On day two we toured the Louvre in the morning. We had lunch on the Champs-ELysees. We went on a walk from the Arc de Triomphe downhill along the avenue de Champs-Elysées to the Tuileries Garden. We went to the Eiffel Tower during in the afternoon and enjoyed a cruise down the Seine on a Riverboat in the evening. We had another great dinner on Ile St. Louis, near the Notre-Dame and walked to Notre-Dame to see the lights. The first two days were a little cold but by the third day it was beautiful. I even got to wear a dress. It was nice because I had been wearing the same pair of jeans for a couple of days.

    No Comments | Posted in: France, Travel | Tagged with: , ,

  • Exciting News

    June 28, 2006

    On day three we toured the Orsay Museum in the morning and went to the Rodin museum in the afternoon. We went to the Latin Quarter, where there a lot of cafes and imbisses (fastfood places) to get lunch. We ate by the Seine and watched the riverboats. In the afternoon we visit Napoleon’s Tomb, and went to Rue Cler for a relaxing drink at one of the cafes. Later in the evening we went back to the shops of Rue Cler to pick up food for our picnic. Follow the link to find out more about Rue Cler.

    Rue Cler – traffic-free since 1984 – offers plenty of space for tiny stores and their shops to spill into the street. It’s an ideal environment for this ritual to survive and for you to explore. The street is lined with all the necessary shops (wine, cheese, chocolate, bread) as well as a bank and a post office. If you see anyone in uniform, they’re likely from the Ecole Militaire (military school, Napoleon’s alma mater, two blocks away).

    After rushing to get food before all of the small shops closed for the evening we walked to the Eiffel Tower. We found a great place on the lawn looking up at the Eiffel Tower. We had a nice dinner along with some French wine. Eventually the sun went down and the lights of the Eiffel Tower turned on. It was a perfect night. Ending the wonderful evening, Dusty asked me to marry him and I said YES! It was an amazing ending to a perfect day.

    No Comments | Posted in: Travel | Tagged with: , , , ,

  • Hamburg, Germany

    June 19, 2006

    We arrived in Hamburg, Germany yesterday around 12pm. We are staying in a great area. The Schanzen area is a magnet for the “in” crowd, trendsetters, cafe-goers and Asia food fans. You wouldn’t believe that there are so many shops and places to eat with a first glance but walking a little further and really scoping out the place you can see some wonderful shops.

    We couldn’t check in until almost 4pm so we got a couple of doner kebabs, pommes frites (fries) and Fanta then walked to a near by park. After checking in and taking a short nap, we got on the train and went to the FanFest (World Cup area set up for people to go and watch the game on a big screen). I can almost gaurantee that there were over 50,oo people. It was incredible. After watching some of the game we walked down St. Pauli, a red light district where prostitution is legal. There were all kinds of interesting shops.

    We got back on the train and went down to the City Hall. There we found a fun little area where they were having a light and water show. Today we went on a boat tour of the habor and canals. It was a historical tour and we were told the history of the canals and major habor surrounding Hamburg. The only problem was that it was all in German. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time seeing the city from the water.

    In just a few hours we will be going to a REAL football game. We’ve really been waiting a long time for this. It will be lots of fun. I only have 5 minutes left on the computer so I better get going.

    We’ll be home in a week.

    No Comments | Posted in: Travel | Tagged with: , , ,

  • One Week Until We Leave – Copenhagen

    June 5, 2006

    The summer is well on it’s way now. I’m trying to find things to occupy my time. It’s great being a teacher but I sure do wish I knew more teachers that also have the summer free. Only six days until we get on a flight for Copenhagen. Last night I started packing and finding out that I have no idea what to bring. I’m just afraid of bringing the wrong clothes and forgetting something very important, whatever that be.

    I signed up with a temp agency to see if I could find temp jobs over the summer. I almost had a job for two days last week, they called back and said the “emergency” wasn’t an emergency. I’m suppose to call everyday to check in to see if anything is available. That gets boring fast, believe me.

    Hello, can I talk to someone about temp jobs that might be available. Yes, is there anything available? Yes, I’ll wait. 5 minutes later. Oh, no jobs, I’ll check back tomorrow. Thanks.

    Today was the first day I didn’t call, I was running errands and had a meeting at school. Of course, I got a call and have a two day job assignment. I’ll be stuffing envelopes but hey, it’s something to do and is a little boost in my income. It will also give me something to do so I don’t think about our trip so much.

    Here a picture of Dusty preparing for our trip. We’re almost ready!

    No Comments | Posted in: Travel | Tagged with: , ,

  • Tickets to the World Cup

    April 4, 2006

    As many of you know we are planning a trip to Germany in June. Our original purpose was to go to the World Cup which is in Germany this year (it’s like the Olympics and only happens every 4 years) but our hopes started to dwindle as we found out how difficult it is to get tickets.

    As the official website says, “Millions of football fans the world over are dying to get their hands on them. 3,070,000 of them corresponding to the net capacity of the twelve FIFA World Cup stadiums.”

    Tickets for the matches were sold in phases. It’s a lottery so you put your name in for certain games and then they let you know if you won the lottery. Well, we didn’t win any of the lotteries so we thought we were in trouble. Recently they started selling Re-sale tickets (tickets that people returned). It’s very difficult to get these because you pretty much just have to go to the website and hit refresh looking for tickets to come up. It’s very random and you never know what games and number of tickets will be available.

    Every evening Dusty and I come home, clicking the refresh button on ourlaptopss, waiting for a ticket to come up. We’ve gotten close a few times. Today was like every other. It’s 5pm and we’ve been trying to get tickets since noon. We finally succeeded in getting tickets. Everyone, we WILL be in Germany June 19th. I’ve included a little blurb about the World Cup.

    According to FIFA World Cup official website “No other sporting event captures the world’s imagination like the FIFA World Cup. Ever since the first tentative competition in Uruguay in 1930, FIFA’s flagship has constantly grown in popularity and prestige.

    Today, the FIFA World Cup holds the entire global public under its spell. An accumulated audience of over 37 billion people watched the France 98 tournament, including approximately 1.3 billion for the final alone, while over 2.7 million people flocked to watch the 64 matches in the French stadia.

    After all these years and so many changes, however, the main focus of the FIFA World Cup remains the same – the glistening golden trophy, which is the embodiment of every footballer’s ambition. “

    No Comments | Posted in: Fun Times, Travel | Tagged with: , ,

  • Colorado Springs, Colorado

    August 21, 2005

    After spending a few relaxing days in Vail we drove a couple hours to Colorado Springs to meet Dusty’s family. Dusty’s Aunt, Kristin, plays in the marine band and was able to reserve some cabins at a camping ground. There were almost twenty-five us, either members or friends of the Davidson’s, who stayed in two large cabins. The camp ground was wonderful. It is ran by the marines and meant for their families. It was very beautiful and high in the mountains. In fact, it was so high up in the mountains and so far from civilization that there was no cell phone service.

    Here are some highlights… we went hiking in the woods around the cabins with the kids, paddle boating in the lake, trading off on cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for everyone, white water rafting, cave of the winds, cards, quilting, a trip down the mountain for warm clothes and ice cream, and lots of popcorn.

    During one of the lazy afternoons the kids found some little friends who wanted to come out and play… or at least the kids wanted them to come out and play. They found whatever food they could to get the little critters out of their hiding place.

    No Comments | Posted in: Family, Travel | Tagged with: , , ,

  • Vail, Colorado

    August 20, 2005

    Colorado in the summer. As most of you know I am an instructor and have the summers off. This enables us to spend a lot of time traveling. Here we are in Vail. We stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast. Dusty and I spent three days by ourselves before meeting his family in Colorado Springs for a family reunion. If you are ever thinking of staying in Vail I highly suggest looking into Savory Inn. The gentleman running the place was wonderful and it is also a cooking school so we always had excellent breakfasts. Dusty and I went mountain biking, rafting, and did some site seeing.

    No Comments | Posted in: Travel | Tagged with: , ,
Next Entries »
Return to the Homepage