This past weekend we took an amazing trip with some wonderful friends to the land down south, Patagonia.  We saw penguins, played with sea lions, swam through a sunken ship and watched the whales and elephant seals. The scenery was gorgeous and the creatures were even better!

Click the image to view the slide show.

We spent our summer in Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. After spending so much time in Europe it felt so crazy to be back in North America. Everything was so familiar! We could go to the supermarket and the shelves were lined with things like peanut butter and blueberry muffins. We could speak to everyone we encountered in English and everything just seemed to operate like home.  We spent the summer outdoors as much as possible, enjoying visits from old friends, new friends and family.

Click the image to view the slide show.

Since we’ve been away for a few years now, our trips to the US are starting to feel like mini-vacations. It’s kind of strange, but we are getting the chance to see things we overlooked or didn’t know about in the past. Also, we had the chance to spend some wonderful time with family and friends who we’re always missing while we’re away.

Click the image to view the slide show.

Okay, so we’ve been engaged for quite a while. But, we’ve just gotten around to posting our engagement pictures! We had them done in Amsterdam by a great photographer named Maarten Schuth. We think he did a pretty amazing job!

Click the image to view the slide show.

We just had an amazing whirlwind stop in The Netherlands and Belgium. We spent just over a month in Holland’s capital city of Amsterdam and we can’t believe it flew by so quickly. We also got the chance to visit our neighbor to the south, Belgium. Check out the photos for more!

Click the image to view the slide show.

Wow, what a great city! After learning our lesson that northern Europe isn’t quite the right place to spend the winter, we finally were able to get out and enjoy ourselves the last month and a half or so we were in Berlin. We’re so happy we did.  The weather turned instantly to spring and we were out exploring everyday. There is a lot of history to Berlin, too much to include it all here. However, we have put together a quasi-Rick Steves-walk, we hope you enjoy!

Click the image to view the slide show.

This weekend we took a few extra days to explore our neighboring areas. We hadn’t done much outside of Berlin until now so we took full advantage and saw a ton. We went to Potsdam and saw palaces, to Leipzig for the symphony, to Dresden and saw an amazing rebuild and the VW Phaeton factory, to the Saxon Switzerland National Park for the sandstone mountains then to Gorlitz, a tiny city with great architecture. It was definitely a whirlwind, but well worth it!

Click the image to view the slide show.

We just returned from an amazing weekend in Poland. We have some friends who live there and offered to show us Krakow, so we jumped at the chance. We spent Saturday wandering through the old town and enjoying “Something the Best” everywhere we went, from the food to the drinks to the company.  It was an amazing time.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to Auschwitz, located about an hour west of Krakow.  It’s hard to describe the experience, but we both felt it was something we needed to see.  While there are no word to describe its impact, the story must be told.

Click the image to view the slide show.

This weekend, we took advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday and took our first trip to Africa, to the Kingdom of Morocco. We started in Tangier, the port city then headed south to Fes, the spiritual capital.  As a third-world country, we saw many people living in extreme poverty. Actually, most we saw were living that way.  But, by talking to the Moroccans and seeing how they live we quickly learned one of their favorite sayings “we’re rich in our hearts” is true.  They are amazingly kind, welcoming and gracious.  We had an incredible time and are very thankful for the chance we had to go. To see some of what we saw, click through the street below.

Click the image to view the slide show.

Our last weekend in the Czech Repulic we had saved for a trip to Cesky Krumlov.  A tiny little town in the south, it has been magically preserved and while there isn’t much to see in way of sites, you could spend weeks just enjoying the atmosphere. The river that bends so drastically it forms an almost island for the town square, is overlooked by a huge castle with gorgeous views of the countryside.  Take a look below:

Click the image to visit the slide show.