Keenan Arrives for the Summer!

5/17/14

Our son, Keenan, got to come to Germany, this past Wednesday, after his College in Montana let out for summer.

Our puppy, Killian, couldn't move to Germany with us in January since they did not have any more room for pets on our flight.  So she stayed with my parents in Montana until Keenan could bring her.

Mike and I drove to Nuremberg to pick them up from the airport, which is only about 50 minutes away.  On our way back, there was an accident on the Autobahn.  Apparently a BMW race parts truck caught on fire and exploded.  Pretty sure that was an expensive accident!  It didn't seem that there were any fatalities though so that is a good thing.

I am so happy to have our son with us for the summer!  Next summer, our daughter Kiylei, will come visit with her boyfriend.  Sooo exciting!

Road Trip to Prosecco, Italy: Part One

5/18/14

My good friend Orienna Fitzpatrick and I were talking about taking a road trip to the wine regions of Italy. Well, of course it sounded like a good idea to us, so we started planning it out.  Although, after I took a good look at my future travel this summer to Spain and Italy, I thought I had better simmer down and wait for a better time.

Orienna and our friend Brooke Farinelli decided they would go ahead with the plan and as they got a little more detailed about what this trip would look like, O realized she had a friend that lived about an hour away from the Prosecco region (in Caneva of Scile, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy), and perhaps her wonderful friend, Emily Kellam, would let us stay with her instead of getting a hotel room.  Well with that kind of savings...of course I was back in!!!

We will leave this Tuesday, May 20th and come back Friday, May 23rd.  We are going to drive and take our time in Salzburg, Austria and Italy.  Emily will be able to join us on our adventures as well! :)  We will alos be visiting a porcelain shop in Italy, which I am pretty excited about since it looks like lace and can be put in the dishwasher, microwave, and oven!

Here is a preview of the area we will be traveling through...

Very excited and more pictures to come!  I will actually post pictures of us ladies as well! *Warning* The pictures may be of slightly intoxicated ladies with large, empty, bottles of Prosecco surrounding us...just sayin...

Cirque du Soleil Quidam in Nuremberg

5/18/14

Our friends Jayde and Nick Antonio had tickets last night to Cirque du Soleil Quidam in Nuremberg, Germany.  Unfortunately, at the last moment they had to fly back to the States and didn't want their tickets to go to waste so my lovely friend, Orienna Fitzpatrick, and I stepped in.  Our friend, Marta Sylvia, also decided to go with us, so we made a girl night of it while Captain Jack and his buddies (to include our son, Keenan, who is visiting from Montana) went to Godzilla at the movie theater in Nuremberg.  The drive to Nuremberg is only about 50 minutes away so it was actually a quick and fun little drive.

The premise behind Quidam is this: "Young Zoѐ is bored; her parents, distant and apathetic ignore her.  Her life has lost all meaning.  Seeking to fill the void of her existence, she slides into an imaginary world - the world of Quidam - where she meets characters who encourage her to free her soul.

Quidam: a nameless passer-by, a solitary figure lingering on a street corner, a person rushing past and swallowed by the crowd.  It could be anyone, anybody.  Someone coming or going at the heart of our anonymous society.  A member of the crowd, one of the silent majority.  The one who cries out, sings and dreams within us all.  This is the "quidam" whom this show allows to speak.  This is the place that beckons - a place for dreaming and genuine relations where all quidams, by proclaiming their individuality, can finally emerge from anonymity."

It was the fifth Cirque I have seen, and while it was wonderful and I am truly happy that I got to see Quidam, it wasn't as visually colorful or spectacular as the others that I've been to.  Still, Cirque in Germany....is still pretty darn amazing!!!

The jump ropers started out fairly normal but ended up having around 20 jumpers all together in an impressively intricate routine.

The clown was called Boom Boom or Pow Pow or something close to that.  He was scary and I don't think I would want to dream of this guy!  Below is a publicity pic that shows him in more detail.

My personal favorite was the ribbon acrobat!  She was amazing and oh so lovely.

She made it look like it was dancing in ribbons.

Then we had a character named, Target, who just did some silly things for the most part but did a little dance with sparklers.

The second most impressive part, in my opinion, was the statue couple.  I'm not sure if that is what they are called but they moved slowly and deliberately and were very beautiful.

I didn't get a picture of the pose I loved the most which was when they made a cross with their bodies.  The woman was upside down on the man's back and they were in a cross form without holding on to each other.  Just suspended by the gravity of their own bodies.  This was impressive too.

Pretty sure Captain Jack and I could do that....never.

The rings were cool too of course.  These were some of the prettiest costumes I thought.  Then we had the had acrobat.  She was very good.  I saw a more impressive version in Ama Luna but this was a good mini show of that.

The group performances were fun too.  It was all pretty fun and I can't wait to do it again soon!

Summer In Italy...

5/1/14

Well the planning is reaching completion for my Italy trip with my sister-in-law, Colleen, and my son, Keenan.  We have decided to drive from Germany to Italy.  Although I would love to be able to see every single thing in Italy, we have limited funds and limited time so we are just going to hit the highlights of each place.

Today I found another bloggers pictures of the place I'm most excited to see.  The Amalfi Coast.  It's on the western coast and we can take a quick boat ride to Capri for around 6 euro!

This is a small portion of the coast going towards Positano.  I can't imagine how amazing this will look up close and personal!

Here is another view from the little buses that take travelers from Sorento to Positano.  And now...Positano!

All I can say is, "God is amazing".  To make beauty like this in the world, of course He is good. :)

*UPDATE* We did not in fact go to Italy for this trip.  We ended up eventually going to Ireland instead, see Ever Evolving Upcoming Plans!  What can I say?  Plans change! :)

Malaga Spain Booked!

4/16/14

So today Amber, Sabrina, and I got together and finalized our plans.  We have chosen Milaga, Spain.  It is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso and we actually will be staying right next door to his old home.  That wasn't why we chose it of course but it sure doesn't hurt!  We felt, after 18+ years of being mother's, we desearved a weekend full of sun, food, and the Alboran Sea.  Apparently our husbands (Captain Jack included) agreed since they fished out the funding for it!  :)

We will leave Friday, May 30th and return Monday, June 2nd.  Our flights cost only 343.68 Euro for all three flights and 194.73 Euro for three nights!  It will cost each of us 179.49 Euro or $248.08.  Not bad for flight and hotel!

I'm hoping my 6 years of Spanish will help me in any way.  Especially since I still can't speak Spanish fluently...wonder what I spent those college dollars on exactly!

Malaga is a seaside town and has an 11th century Moorish Fort called Alcazaba.

That will be some of our history and culture that we will fit in between food and the beach.  :) Not to mention wine and Tapas!

There is also a Roman Theatre which I am sure we will have to go to so we can sing and dance for all to see...or make fun of...whatever!  

And of course we will have to hang out with Pablo Picasso himself when we get the chance.

Hopefully he will loosen up a little and buy us Americans a couple drinks!  :)  We will, after all, be staying right next door to his childhood home.  Which, by the way, is right above a bar.  How convenient!  

I found these pictures from another blogger who recently went to Malaga and gave me some great ideas on how to spend our time.  More to come after the trip!

Upcoming Adventures!

4/16/14

Two of my military wife friends (Amber Infante and Sabrina Hopkins) and I are currently planning a Girl Weekend in Spain for the end of May.  Captain Jack (Mike Fortune, the husband and sidekick) wanted us to wait until my son was here for summer break so he wouldn't starve alone!  I can't wait to explore a new country with two of the sweetest ladies I know!

In June, my sister-in-law, Colleen will be joining me for a pretty extensive Italy tour along with my son, Keenan.  We will be starting out in Milan, head to Venice, then to Florence, Pisa, Rome, Positano, Naples and Pompeii then back to Germany!  Not sure yet if we are going to drive or fly...which ever is less expensive.

We also told Keenan, that he could choose two places in Europe that he would like to visit this summer.  He has a good three months with us so the dates haven't been set yet and locations are still to be determined.  Lucky kid!  He spent all summer last year with one of his best friends, Andrea Dashnea and his beautiful mother Gemma Gallone, in Brindisi Italy.

There will be lots of traveling to blog about this summer!  :)

* UPDATE* So some of this travel happened and some was rearranged.  See Ever Evolving Upcoming Travel Plans.

First Three Months

From February to April 2014

These photos are from Jack's and my travels in our first three months.  I hadn't gotten the hang of everything yet so there are no commentary on where we went and what we did.  I can't even remember the names of all these wonderful sites.  I will go back, take better pictures and blog it the right way while we live here.

Nuremberg: 
We went to Nuremberg many times in the first three months.  We went a couple times just to eat the amazing food and drink smoked beer and a few times to go to the movies.  There is an amazing theater there that reminds us of Washington State's theaters with the leather seats that recline, but Germany's takes it a step further and you can order food and alcohol at theirs.  The 950-year old city of Nuremberg (Nürnberg) is Bavaria’s second largest city and alive with history.

Bamberg:
We went to Bamberg for a long weekend to do the pub crawl.  It was pretty great and Bamberg is famous for their Smoked beer, which we first had in Nuremberg.

Wurzburg:
We went to Wurzburg with our friends Orienna and Cary.  We got to check out the Bishop's Residenze.  It was very beautiful and the gardens were amazing.