travel.

since debie and brent are in england i thought i would reminisce about my experience with that great place. i was the first american born in my family, but i got dual citizenship since both my parents were uk citizens at the time, but since then everyone has become american and i still have both. funny how that worked.

well, i have been to england a few times, but most recently was in 2005. we flew in to paris where we met with leslie, michael, thomas and marion and saw all the sights.

* still not sure why there is an australian flag by the eiffel tower.

then we went to england where we spent a few weeks before heading to italy.

*chatsworth house is one of my favorite places on earth - you might recogize it as pemberly from the most recent pride and prejudice movie

italy was awesome - we went to florence, rome, pisa and drove through tuscany. it was crazy to see all these old things that you've seen for years in text books. thats one of the reasons i love travel so much - seeing all the culture and history and looking at how it has evolved into what we have today.

*please note, i took all these photos*vatican city.

*except i didnt take this one, but all the rest i did.

*florence!

we left italy for switzerland, where my dad had a conference in geneva. there is this gigantic water fountain there that is so cool. we also ate at the fanciest restaurant that i have ever been to. an appetizer for one person had three tiers with shrimp surrounding them and whole crabs and lobsters - just on the appetizer!

*i cant even describe how huge this thing is

then we went back to england. i stayed with my auntie marion in eastwood most of the time - we were there for about three months and i was called to be a primary teacher for the cutest little english kids. we went on a few trips to places like liverpool and i spent quite a bit of time with family in york and we went to stonehenge.

* i think it looks super creepy in this photo.

*i went on a hike in derbyshire - this is what i saw. we also crossed a bridge that was built before columbus even sailed to america. thats old.

i also got to go to a ben folds concert in leicester. amazing.

*the man himself. mr ben folds.

my mom, uncle iain and aunt julie and i took the train to edinburgh for the day, which was awesome and then a few weeks later my mom, uncle iain and i drove to dunoon, scotland where my mom was born. it was really cool to see the places where they came from.

*edinburgh castle - please note the pizza hut sign and dumpster to the left (i need to crop these)

*near dunoon - i think you can see ireland in the background.

then paul, patty, lauren, jeremy and tim came across. we all drove down to london for a few days and saw everything down there. one of the best parts was eating here every day. while we were there they announced that the 2012 olympics will be in london, which constituted a fly over by the red arrows (british version of the blue angels). also while we were there were the london train bombings. it was pretty scary, but we didnt really see any of the effects. while we were there they said it was just a power surge on the tube that caused the drama.

*july in england = grey skies.

well, most of the time was just spent living in england, not necessarily touring, just enjoying life and being with family. when we left we flew through milan, where my mom and i stopped to see some of the lovely things.

*the duomo in milan (right outside of here a man threw corn on me and then took my camera while the birds attacked me and then charged me like $10 to get my camera back)

i love to travel (which may be why i majored in it at BYU!) and i hope everyone gets the chance to spend time somewhere different. i really think that when people travel they gain a greater respect and understanding of differences, which could really help the world. one thing i know for sure is that i love europe and i just cant wait to get back! please contact me with all your travel needs - specifically western european travel and especially if you need me to go with you as a guide.