Copenhagen: Day 1

The biggest mistake I made on this Europe trip was choosing to go to Copenhagen... In the winter. Copenhagen looks like it is a beautiful town, and it really was but with my feet wet and freezing I was in no mood to see it! On Christmas, I dragged myself out to see the town and after about an hour in 15 degree weather, I was past my pushing point! I don't remember names of places, so it will basically be looking at pictures Brent took!

A Church Right by our Hostel.

Brent thought this was so funny. Every time we passed it he would laugh and make a comment. The funny thing to me is it was a milk billboard... Needless to say, we stayed away from milk just to be safe!

A statue next to the canal.

The frozen Canal. A lot of birds had found a place to make home! It looked really peaceful, and freezing.

This is a Castle now turned museum.

Another church, that we went inside.

AS we were inside people started to show up for Christmas Mass, as we were bundling up to leave it started... I was tempted to stay but we just snuck out. I don't think to many people noticed!

These are the Navy Housing (or used to be). They are really cute house! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a ton of them all lined up in a row!

Another Church outside the Citadel.

These are the Palace Guards. In Copenhagen there are four Palaces, each built in a different time, but all identical.

Here is a shot of the middle of the Palace Octagon! Literally, it was an octagon and each of the four palaces were built around a different wall!

This is Brent's Favorite pictures in all of Europe! It is really pretty.

The spire in the background is spiraling to represent the Ascension into heaven. Well the Architect built it and then realized if two people were to sword fight up the spire, they would have to be left handed, no right handed. Since that is rare he considered his spiral a failure and killed himself!

This is a Coat of Arms that was inside the Justice, Legislative, and Executive building in Copenhagen. Copenhagen is the only city in the world where the three branches share a building!

Just so everyone understands how cold it was our wate froze solid while we were out there.

In total we probably walked around 10-12 kilometers. Honestly, the walking wasn't bad. The walking in deep snow, slipping and sliding, with freezing cold feet made it a miserable day. Brent and I had both had better Christmas's and at this point were ready to be home!

Ferney-Voltaire

After a wonderful day of exploring Annecy, Brent and I were excited to spend a quiet day around the hotel. Instead of going back into Geneva we spent most of the day in our hotel room catching up on everything and mapping out what we wanted to do in Copenhagen.

We did, however, get out to see the town we were staying in, Ferney-Voltaire.

This was a charming little poster we saw!

The only church we saw in the town! It was pretty cute. It was closed, but we enjoyed it anyway!

The one noteable thing in Ferney- Voltaire is a Chateau. We hiked up to the Chateau. This hill was actually really steep. Brent is always surprised when I make it to the top with no complaints... how much of a wuss does he think I am?

The Chateau turned out to be closed (like everything else in the town!). It was really pretty and we wished we could have gotten a better look!


On the way back down we stopped by the Cemetery. This one was really neat. Since it was on a hill everything looked much more dramatic!


The saddest thing we found was a child grave yard. We have seen a ton of graveyards and have managed to never visit one. It was really sad.

Brent did find his grave stone! It is very cool!

I also found mine. I really want mine to have a little place for a garden built in! I really really enjoyed it!

We had a great time just taking it easy! We were only out for a couple of hours but in reality it was just what we wanted for the day! A great time exploring a little town, and a nice way to say goodbye to Geneva and France!

Awful Start to AMAZING Annecy

FIRST ANNECY POST!!! THERE ARE 7 IN TOTAL BUT THEY GO IN ORDER THIS TIME! CHECK THEM ALL OUT!

Geneva ended rough. Running around a city you don't know is rough, but we figured out how to get to the bus station to catch our 7:40 am bus. So at 5:30 the alarm went off. We got up, got dressed, grabbed the camera, tickets and our lunch for the day. We walked the 25 minutes (we had to walk fast:( ) to catch our bus, once we got to our bus stop we discovered that stop was closed for a street market. We sprinted to the next closest bus stop and luckily, made it!

We took the bus 25 minutes to the main train station, just missed the tram we were suppose to catch but got on the next one, which was fine. When we got off the tram, we couldn't find the train station. We asked around and were told it was only a block away. I am pretty used to these type of hiccups now so it isn't to bothersome.

We were told we would catch the bus to Annecy, France, at the smaller train station in Geneva. Turns out the "smaller" one really meant deserted one. We tried to find someone to ask where we caught the bus but we couldn't find anyone. Brent told me to stay where I was and he would go try and find someone. I am used to this, he will usually jog about a block and come right back, but this time he left and 5 minutes passed and it was 7:40 no bus and no Brent. The ten minutes passed and I started to get worried that the bus would arrive and Brent wouldn't be back. Then 15 minutes passed and I was just scared there was no Brent, forget the bus! At this point I started yelling his name, like a crazy person. Another 5 minutes and I started to get little panicked. Did I mention Brent had all the money, passports and EVERYTHING with him. After 25 minutes alone in a dark foreign country I started to cry, trying to not look to crazy while I yelled for him. I was absolutely terrified. I had no idea what to do, or what I should have done if the bus arrived or how I would call my mom if Brent didn't turn up.

Just then a train pulls into the station and who hops off but Brent. I guess he had jumped on to ask for help, but the doors shut behind him and he had to ride it a stop before he could get back on another one to come back.

Needless to say, I was happy he was back, but was in no mood to even look at him. Less than 5 minutes after he got back, the bus arrived. It was 40 minutes late. It was a miracle because we were still able to catch the bus despite the international incident!

This picture is me on the bus still not being in a very photogenic mood.

Luckily, the day got better from there!

Enchanting Annecy

#6 ANNECY POST

As I mentioned, Annecy was full of very picturesque views. Seriously, this is what you see in picture books except it is real, and all over the place, and not dirty! Here are some of my favorite pictures that were taken.

The Canal looking out to the lake.

Brent overlooking the rooftops as we were walking down from the chateau.

From the top of the hill next to the bascillica. A wonderful view of the swiss alps!

Brent and the swiss alps!

A wonderful little cove right of the main street!

A Swan, oh did I mention they have wild swans here? They were EVERYWHERE! At one point I looked in a canal and saw three swan butts because they were all diving for food!

The Canal that goes straight through town.

The Prison all lit up at night!

It was such a wonderful day. Everywhere I looked made me feel like I was in a magical place, or in a movie! It was such a wonderful experience!

French Food

#3 ANNECY POST

Do you ever wak up knowing, today is going to be an eating day. No matter what you would like to do with your day, you will always want to eat more! Well that was our day in Annecy for me! Luckily, Brent was more than willing to accommodate me!

it started with a chocolate covered bear shaped marshmallow.
For Lunch we bought some sweet Bread and Caprius de deux. This cheese was recommended to us by Cade, our native french man. It was delicious, and we saved it for dinner the next night too!


Then we had to try a french pastry. This one was heaven. I couldn't pick out all the different flavors but I didn't have to! It was to wonderful to describe. I would love it if I tasted nothing else but that for a very long while!

Later we had dinner of Kebabs. We keep trying to match the ones we at one in Greece, but it just hasn't happened. I think we will need to make a return trip just to have the Kebab-y goodness again. They had a French Fry Spear. I refused to use my hands, because in france you use your French Fry spear to eat your french fries!

Later we caved and got two more pastries. The one on the right was our only mistake. It was pure, rich painfully thick chocolate. We both left with a stomach ache.

We had a lot of food. We did share everything, so we weren't eating to terribly, but we should have had two pastries less and a few fruits more. France is a wonderful place to eat, and although I do not like to splurge often, this one really was a great time!

Annecy: The Lake and Prison

#2 ANNECY POST

The bus ride to Annecy was 1 hour and twenty minutes. Since I had been crying, I was in a daze, which Brent let me sleep off. I was actually worried about visiting Annecy because it is a pretty small town for spending 11 hours, which is how long we had until our bus home left.

It was suppose to be raining all day, but this is the weather we got! This is the lake with the mountains in the background!
I like to relax while Brent spends time trying to get the perfect "artsy" shot. When we are short on time I get worried but the whole day was just about relaxing!


Brent on the pier with a small island from the lake. I think the mist added so much to this morning view!

The gorgeous canal. There are two canal's that go through the town.

This is a view of the lake, through the archway.

The most famous item in Annecy is the Prison in the Canal. How gorgeous is this? I absolutely love, it! This town is totally picturesque.

Annecy was starting out as a really fun, relaxing day. We didn't have to much planned and it seemed to be okay!

Bascillica and Chateau

#4 ANNECY POST

After exploring the Prison and the Lake, we climb a huge hill to visit the Bascillica. How perfect is this picture? What I really enjoyed about this day trip, is the lack of rush. Brent and I would just sit and talk for 15-20 minutes whenever we wanted to!

The inside was beautful. I am pretty sure that there was some sort of service going on, but if you turn of the flash and lay low you can get some pretty good pictures anyway!

Another monumental church interior. I love how each spire is different!
While we were climbing down.

This is the Chateau. We got there right as it was closing for its 12:00-2:00 pm break.

We didn't make it back up the hill, but it was an interior decorating exhibit inside, so we weren't missing out on to much!

The Chateau from the bottom of the hill! I love how it looks like it is coming out of the roof tops.
The Basilica and the Chateau were both beautiful and well kept. We were starting to really really enjoy France.

Annecy Church and Cemetary

#5 ANNECY POST

On street level of Anncey there was another church.

This was painted on the wall next to the cross. Brent and I both have no idea what it is suppose me mean or symbolize! Any ideas?

This is the church. I love all the warm colors. Since it was in the 40's outside, a nice warm (looking) interior really lifted our spirits.

After the Church we headed over to the cemetary. This is my chosen grave. I love the simplistic lines.

This is the grave I told Brent would get if he dies now, mainly because plank of wood would be all we could afford after all of Europe!

This is Brent's chosen grave!

Why is there a little door on this one? Does a dog live in here also?

After the Cemetary, we began looking for a spoon, and a pen. At the Little Christmas market, I found a little Bracelet for my sister!

I can not explain how much of a wonderful day this was!