Another Video!

Michael flying!

PICTURES, PICTURES, AND MORE PICTURES

FINALLY MORE PICTURES (sorry, reverse order). The most recent are at the top. We even got a short video posted at the end. We love you all. Dont know the next time we will get pictures posted....so enjoy!!

Close up of The Bone Chapel in Hallstatt, Austria.

The Bone Chapel in Hallstatt. They dig up the bodies after 10 years and paint the skulls and add them to the chapel to conserve grave space.

The beautiful town of Hallstatt, Austria from the water.

The other side of town from the water.

Taylor in the boat we rented.

Michael relaxing on the bow of the boat.

The view of the town from our front porch.

Also from the front porch. PS - Michael took this picture! Amazingly beautiful.

Us after our 1000 foot hike to the salt mine of Hallstatt.

Michael and Taylor dressed to enter the salt mine of Hallstatt....burr.

Michael and Taylor in town square of Krakow, Poland.

Us at the entrance of Berkenau Camp (Auschwitz II) during our tour.

Guard shack in Berkenau Camp.

Sleeping barracks for the prisoners of Berkenau Camp. Housed over 1000 women.

Auschwitz I electric barbed wire fence line.

Us by the river in Prague, Czech Republic.

Us with Mr. Jansky (Martina's dad) in his backyard. He was a wonderful tour guide and host.

Michael and Mr. Jansky walking up the trail toward the German-Czech border.

Us over the 150 foot gorge in Mittenwald, Germany

The lovely place we stayed in Mittenwald (on the left).

Us by the river in Zurich, Switzerland.

Us by the lake in Como, Italy.




We finally got a video posted. This is Taylor taking off while paragliding in Interlaken, Switzerland.

Austria....A.K.A. - Heaven

Well we have much to say but at 1 euro for 15 minitues we may not be saying much of it now. We had a sobering time in Krakow, Poland during our tour of Auschwitz.

We are now in Hallstatt, Austria. This may in fact be the most beautiful place I have ever been. We have many pictures we are excited about posting but due to the increased amount to use the internet here, we will have to wait. We visited the salt mine and bone chapel today. We also spent some time on the beautiful lake when we rented a boat. We officially hiked a MOUNTAIN (defined as over 1,000 feet). I was huffing and puffing but I made it. Im sure I will sleep well tonight. Speaking of, the pension we are staying in is beautiful with a beautiful view as well. I dont think I will want to leave here when it comes time in a few days.

SHOUT OUT:

Mayfair Family - I have not forgotten you. I think of you lots. Tell everyone hello for me. Thanks for all your wonderful comments. Im glad you are reading the blog. Good luck on all those 5 year old check ups right before school starts :)

Melissa - I love you and Im so glad you got my postcard

Jenni - Miss you bunches. Cant wait to see you and catch up. Give your mom a big hug for me.

Keith and Maria - We have lots of good tips for you! You have got to do this!!

All the grandparents - WE LOVE YOU!

Everyone - Thanks for reading. Michael and I really enjoy all the comments and encouraging notes along the way. It helps with the homesickness.

Well, time is running out. We are about half way through our trip here and are excited about Italy and Greece ahead of us.

Farewell, til next post.

Taylor

Just Czeching In

Well, we've been in the Czech Republic since late afternoon Wednesday. We arrived in Cheb, the station of our last train change and had just boarded our last train to Fratiskovy Lazne when a somewhat familiar face entered the train. He looked at us a little funny, we looked at him a little funny, then he said, "USA?"! It was Martina's dad, Zdenek! He had come to find us at one stop earlier than planned, but it was more than ok for us being able to get off the train and head in his car straight back to their home. We had a wonderful time with Mr. Jansky during our day and a half with him. He took us around his city and told us about its history, mostly pertaining to World War II. He also took us into the forest near his parent's weekend house. We walked a good 30 min. in the woods towards the German/Czech border. As we walked, believe it or not, we picked and ate wild blueberries and raspberries! The mushrooms in the forest were also edible as we saw one older man carrying a basket around collecting them. As we crossed over into Germany, in the middle of the woods, we found ourselves being dusted with pesticide from a German helicopter!! I'm glad it wasn't the fourties or it might have been something closer to Agent Orange. Luckily is was only solid particles and not liquid pesticide and we have yet to have any side effects. Nevertheless, we turned around and went home. We left Frantiskovy Lazne last night and now we are in Prague. Tonight we take the night train to Krakow, Poland for our Auschwitz tour tomorrow. We are both trying to mentally prepare ourselves for what we are about to see.

Michael

HALLO from Germany

Well we made it to Mittenwald. There are not many Americans here at all. It is a very small town where mostly Germans vacation. We arrived at the very small train station on Sunday afternoon to a light sprinkle of rain. As we ran for cover with our small umbrellas it began to hail!!! Yeah, no kidding. It got harder and harder. I got pelted by a marble size piece of hail and have a bruise on one of my arms. Crazy! Anyway, the place we are staying is absolutely beautiful. It has been very rainy and cold since we have been here. We took a long hike yesterday (longer than either of us expected). We got to eat at a bier garten (which really isnt anzthing like you imagine). Although they do drink beer pretty much all the time. Even though I cant read the menu most of the time we have gotten very lucky and eaten very well here in Mittenwald. We were eating lunch today and all of the sudden cotton eyed joe started playing....except it was some German guy singing it!! Ha. They play a lot of American music here which is nice. The place we are staying is basically someones house that they rent rooms. We have a beautiful patio with a yard, flowers, and it is right next to a beautifully blue river. The bed is amazingly comfortable and the shower is one of the best, praise the Lord.

Sorry, no more pictures at this time, hopefully in the next few days. We head to the Czech Republic tomorrow.

SOME THINGS WE NOTICED-

The Germans blow their nose all of the time

There is fire wood EVERYWHERE

There are lots of ways to crack a boiled egg

Water in Europe is more expensive than coke and alcohol


SHOUT OUTS-

Caiti - sorry we havent gotten to talk. I miss you tons! Read In Case Of Need in like 24 hours.

Nicole - thanks for the encouraging comment :)

Lauren - congrats on Chicago, cant wait to talk to you about it.

Dad - finished the Shack. LOVED IT. Michael is reading it now. It really changed the way I think about a lot of things.

Mom - Im sleeping and eating great. Miss you tons.

Michaels Family - thanks for all the wonderful comments on the blog. We cant wait to see you and show you all the pictures. PS - Michael says you all have to go paragliding (that means you too Monica and Christina)

Abuela - we are getting some great picture paintings! Cant wait to show you all of them

Mawmaw and Pawpaw - sorry I missed you when I tried to call. We love you.

Jack and Judy - hate that we missed seeing you. We love you.

Random notes:

Well, we headed to Lake Como, Italy yesterday. We were suppose to take the Bernina Express today but unfortunately things didnt work out. So we headed to Zurich, Switzerland a bit early. Tomorrow we are off to Mittenwald, Germany.



FOR FUN: Things we learned



* There are a million different ways to flush a toilet in Europe

* Horse is a regular on the menu in Switzerland (the "so hungry I could eat a horse" jokes were rampant)

* Most of the time I cant tell whether it is me or someone else that is smelling......

* Bikini in Spanish is a grilled cheese

* Switzerland is so expensive that even the Whopper cost 11 dollars

* The Swiss kez board drives me crayz!

It's a rainy day in the alps

The beautiful glacial water of Interlaken

The first day in Interlaken

Well, it is raining on our second and last day in Interlaken. We were hopeing to go rafting today but decided that the weather just want good for it. I swear it had nothing to do with the ice cold freezing glacier water that we would be rafting in :) Anyway, we made the most of the day and had some authentic swiss cheese and swiss chocolate fondue for lunch. We ate at this resturaunt that must be hundreds of years old. It was wonderful. Now, Michael is napping the the room to the sound of swiss rain, and I am blogging while waiting on laundry to finish. YES...laundry facilities. Praise the Lord. And just another note.....this place has the best european shower I have found :)

Well, tomorrow we are off to Como, Italy. So hopefully we will write again there. I continue to try with little success on many computers to post pictures and still can not. Hopefully more luck later.

Much Love,
Taylor

PS - thank you everyone for your comments. We love hearing from you!

WE CAN FLY!!!!!!!

Michael says, "What the heck..."

Michael in the air

Taylor and Robi, her guide, above the beautiful river

Michael and Bruno over Interlaken

So we did it! We went PARAGLIDING!!!! The most amazing thing we have every done. It took my breath away! There is truly no way to decribe it so I am trying to post some pictures they took during the flight.

Tomorrow we will trz to go rafting in freeying cold glacier water. The water is a beautiful color blue. It is verz nice weather here. I think we will also trz to rent kayaks for the lake.

The plan is to staz on track even though we will loose two days here in Interlaken. It will actuallz turn out for the best because even though the swiss frank and the dollar are almost 1 to 1 ration. This town is very expensive!

Looks like once again the pictures are not going to upload for me. I am terriblz sorrz but will continue to try....

PS - the swiss kez board has the z and y swapped. sorrz.

Tazlor :)

WOW! We did it!

Michael's thoughts on BARFcelona

Well... as much of a chance as we gave this city, it seemed to fail us time and again. The first night went semi-well. We couldn't find our place to stay and we looked like lost tourists on the street. This was obvious because as we stood there staring at our map, the guy that owned the place where we stayed approached us and said, "Zabala?". Our place was quite the hole in the wall but it sufficed. Of course no AC, but it luckily had a fan in the room. Thank God for ear plugs because as we were right downtown it was VERY loud all night. Our bathroom was shared and down the hall. The water was either boiling hot or ice cold. The trick was to catch it in transition. Now for the major issue of the weekend: The second night here, our "last" night, we were getting off a very crowded metro. This middle-aged lady was standing in the doorway as we were trying to get out. She was really in the way and kept bumping into me, simply annoying...ha. She took my passport, driver's license, credit cards and 270 dollars cash. Pick-pocketed. Losing the cash was bad but we had train tickets to leave Spain the next day. That's not possible without a passport. I was furious. One selfish person could disrupt our entire trip like that. We immediately called Germàn in Valencia. Believe it or not, he was at the American Consulate of Valencia's house. He put her on the phone with me. Thez are all good friends apparently. She told me exactly how to get a new passport. We begged and pleaded at the train station and got a "special case" exchange of train tickets resulting in 50 Euros extra instead of 150. Well, you might say that it could have been worse. Well now that you mention it...it kinda was. We wanted to make the most of our time in Barcelona so we headed to the beach, through the marina. There was poop in the marina! Literally! Sewage! En espanol: caca en la agua! Needless to say we didn't swim at the beach.

Noted:
1. A bikini in Spain is simply a grilled cheese.
2. An American bikini in Spain hasn't a top!

Sorry for the negativity, but gotta vent.

Michael

Adios Barcelona.....HELLO SWITZERLAND

I like Switzerland already. We took a beautiful train ride after our very long night train. We just arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland and I would love to describe how beautiful it is however my time is limited at this moment. New credit cards just arrived (I say that as we wipe the sweat from our foreheads). I dont know if I mentioned in the last post but obviously we were successful getting Michael and new passport Monday morning. We have plans to go white water rafting in the glacier river of the alps tomorrow morning and paragliding from the top of the alps tomorrow afternoon. Ha, please pray for me :) I will try once again to post a few pictures later.

Much love
Michael and Taylor

PRAISE THE LORD

Well, for whatever reason, God had plans for us to stay in Barcelona a few more days. We have grown to really not like the city at all, unfortunately. Yesterday we spent about 10 hours running place to place to get things worked out. It looked hopeless. We had Michael´s passport, a debit card, credit card, and 150 euros stolen from us saturday night. Michael´s family we stayed within in Valencia is a dentist and has many connections. When we left there they offered for us to call anywhere in Europe if we needed any help. So after cancelling all our cards and calling family we called them. Guess whose house they were having dinner at.......THE AMERICAN CONSULATE HERSELF!!! Michael spoke with her directly. She advised us to stay in Barcelona because monday morning we could get a passport in a day rather than 4 days in Valencia. She told us where the consulate was in Barcelona and everything we needed to get a new passport. We waited about 2 hours at the train station to change our night train tickets to switzerland because we could not leave spain without a new passport for michael. A very nice many helped us and we change our tickets with a little paperwork for him but no problem at all for us. We actually will be here in Barcelona until tuesday night because the next train traveling to where we are going does not leave until then. Blah. Michael´s parents wired us some money because we were conserving cash to be able to afford Michael´s new passport monday morning. So instead of crackers we got to eat on sunday. The man renting a room to us has allowed us to stay 2 extra nights. Our banks have been fabulous and are overnight shipping new cards to us in Europe. Praise the LORD for how He has looked our for us. We are still thankful that we physically were not threatened but only our belongings.

After all of this had happened and we were feeling so thankful, we were trying to figure out why God obviously had plans for us to be in Barcelona for a few extra days. On our way back to the room we passed a guy sitting on the sidewalk on top of a backpacker´s backpack kind of like ours. He had a cardboard sign that read in english ´I GOT ROBBED AND NEED HELP´. I broke down. I cried and cried. He looked just like me earlier in the day when things looked so hopeless. We stopped and gave him at least enough money to make a call or get some food. We were talking about how hard it would be if you were alone and this happened. You have to have valid ID to receive money from wire transfer, you have to have money to get a valid emergency passport. You also have to have money to make a phone call or get on the internet, and all that time you need money to eat. To get to the nearest embassy you must travel to the country capital, Madrid. So you can see how crazy it is. We are thankful for each other and for family.

Well my time is almost up so I must be going. Everyone know that we are well, and things are looking up. We thank God for eachother and family and are looking forward to getting out of Barcelona and onto Switzerland!!

LOVE
MICHAEL AND TAYLOR

Tourist Victims

Well, we are the victims of the ever so common pick pocketer. We are stuck in Barcelona for now trying to get a new passport for Michael. All of our cards have been canceled so we are learning a lot about money transfers and western unions. Ha. We are having trouble getting a new train to switzerland so it looks like we will be spending 1 and a half days instead of 4 in interlaken. please pray for plans to go smoothly.

Michael and Taylor

Another stop on our journey across euope.

We have made it to Barcelona, Spain. It is currently raining so we are taking this time to catch up with family and friends. I am still not successful at uploading pictures but will continue to try at our next stop in Switzerland. Here is our brief update, since we are being charged for our internet time:

ON OUR WAY: We began our journey at 8am central time on the 8th. My parents drove us to Atlanta where we boarded our plane to Philly at 230 pm eastern time. We were delayed in 1 hour in ATL, ran to our plane in Philly, only to sit on the runway and wait for two hours while they changed a tire. We then made the 7 hour plane ride to Madrid. Where we missed our train to Valencia because we were late to arrive.

VALENCIA: We finally arrived in Valencia, Spain on the evening of the 9th. We met michael´s family, (his uncle´s sister in law and husband) Claudia and German. We stayed with them and they gave us an wonderful tour of there city. They were so hospitable. We ate well and saw many sites.

BARCELONA: We left Valencia yesterday evening after a sad parting with Claudia and German. We arrived late in Barcelona and made our way to the apartment we are renting. It was very very difficult to find and we found ourselves standing on the street corner looking at our map when a man walked up to us and said ¨Zabala?¨ Michael and I were very confused. The man renting the apartment to us had been looking for us to arrive. It really made me aware of how touristy we look. Anyway we spent the day at the beach and on las rambla (the famous street). We also took a cable car ride which had a beautiful view of the city. Now we are about to go see a fountain show and are hoping the weather works out for us. Tomorrow we will see Gaudi´s work and then take a night train to Switzerland.

My time is about to run out so adios for now.

Adios!

Michael and Taylor

Hola from Spain

Valencia, Spain at The City of Arts and Sciences

We are well and having so much fun. After a long long journey and several delays across the atlantic we made it to Spain on Wednesday. We have been staying with some of Michael´s family (Claudia and German). They have been so kind and shown us around the city. We stepped into the Mediteranean Ocean yesterday. I have many pictures and will try to post later. We will head to Barcelona tonight. I hope to have a more complete update later. All is well.

Much Love

Michael and Taylor

Long Overdue Update...

We'll since I last wrote, as you could assume, we have been crazy busy. We have been trying to make time to see friends and family. We went to Georgia to spend some time with Michael's Grandparents and their new beloved pet, Molly. Michael and I finished work up on Thursday July 3rd and spent most of the day on the 4th preparing for the much anticipated yard sale. The turn out was outstanding despite some summer showers. We sold almost everything and the rest we dropped off at Salvation Army. We banked a good bit of cash too which will help tremendously with our trip.

I said my goodbye to Mayfair and have cherished my time there. I made some wonderful friends how truely helped ease my way into the real world of nursing :)

Michael and his mom spent two hours last week packing the car to see if everything would fit for California. AND IT DID!!! Can you believe it!? I hardly did. We look like the Beverly Hill Billies but I guess that is appropriate :)

Anyway, I promised an itenerary so here it comes:

July 8th - Flying from ATL to Madrid, Spain

July 9th - Arrive in Madrid and travel by train to Valencia, Spain to meet some of Michael's Family

July 10th - Day in Valencia, Spain with Michael's Aunt's Sister (yeah, it's confusing)

July 11th - Day in Valencia, Spain and travel late by train to Barcelona

July 12th - Day in Barcelona, Spain

July 13th - Day in Barcelona, Spain then night train to Geneva, Switzerland

July 14th - Take the Golden Pass Rail from Geneva to Interlaken, Switzerland

July 15th - Day in Interlaken, Switzerland

July 16th - Day in Interlaken, Switzerland

July 17th - Day in Interlaken, Switzerland

July 18th - Day in Interlaken, Switzerland then travel to Lake Como, Italy

July 19th - Take the Bernina Express Rail to Zurich, Switzerland

July 20th - Travel to Mittenwald, Germany in South Germany (Bavaria)

July 21st - Day in and around Mittenwald, Germany

July 22nd - Day in Mittenwald, Germany

July 23rd- Travel from Mittenwald through Munich to Frantiskovy Lazne, Czech Republic to meet the parents of a friend of ours (Martina)

July 24th - Spend the day with Martina's Parents in Frantiskovy Lazne, Czech Republic then onto Prague in the afternoon

July 25th - Day in Prague, Czech Republic then night train to Krakow, Poland

July 26th - Day in Krakow and touring Auschwitz Concentration Camp then night train to Vienna, Austria

July 27th - Travel from Vienna to Hallstatt, Austria

July 28th - Day in Hallstatt, Austria

July 29th - Day in Hallstatt, Austria

July 30th - Travel from Hallstatt, Austria to Venice, Italy

July 31st - Day in Venice, Italy

August 1st - Travel from Venice through Florence and onto Vernazza, Italy in the Chinqe Terre

August 2nd - Day in Vernazza, Italy

August 3rd - Day in Vernazza, Italy

August 4th - Travel from Vernazza to San Gimignano, Italy (the hill towns of Tuscany)

August 5th - Day in San Gimignano

August 6th - Day in San Gimignano

August 7th - Travel from San Gimignano to Ariccia, Italy (where I lived when I studied abroad in Summer 2005)

August 8th - Day in Ariccia, Italy

August 9th - Day in Ariccia, Italy

August 10th - Travel from Ariccia to Pompeii (Guided Day tour of Pompeii) then travel Positano on the Amalfi Coast of Italy

August 11th - Day in Positano, Italy

August 12th - Travel from Positano by ferry to Capri Island for the day

August 13th - Travel from Positano to Bari, Italy to catch the night ferry to Patras, Greece

August 14th - Arrive in Greece and travel from port at Patra to Nafplion, Greece

August 15th - Day in Nafplion, Greece

August 16th - Day in Nafplion, Greece

August 17th - Day in Nafplion, Greece and surrounding Greek Isles

August 18th - Travel to Athens, Greece spend day sight seeing

August 19th - Traveling to Sweet Home Alabama

So yeah, I know it probably makes you sick. It is almost like a dream still. It doesn't feel real at all. I am amazed that God has blessed us and these last six months living at home with my parents has paid off in many ways, special time with family before the big move across country and also a way to save money that is the only way we are able to take this trip. So THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!!

Now I assure you that this is only tentative because we must allow for all the memories that are made through trip craziness. But we are flexible and are sure that it will be an amazing experience either way if we make the trains we need to make or not.

Spending time with Keith and Maria (our attempt to burn the backyard up)

My favorite patient at Mayfair

The lovely Mayfair Nurses

Michael with his grandparents (Jack and Mary) and Molly also

My post may be significantly shorter while we are on our trip and I do not know the frequency to which I will be able to post. I am also unsure of how the photo uploading will work so you may just have to bear with me a bit.
We love you all and are so excited to take this journey. Please pray for our safety.
Much Love
Michael and Taylor