Europe-2009

Europe - Germany

By this time we had worked in Anniston long enough that we actually earned vacation time. This was rare for us because we never stayed in one placed long enough to earn vacation time from a company. Understandably, we used the vacation time as soon as it was available and before something changed.

We had already planned our two week vacation prior to my father's ICU incident. My father was barely out of the ICU and in his normal hospital room when I was scheduled to leave for Europe. We discussed not going, and even called the travel agency to search for options. With my father being out of the ICU and in a normal room, my family urged me to go and told me dad would be upset when he realized I missed my trip because of him. He always says, there is nothing you can do; the doctors are doing it! I understand this but it didn't make leaving my family easy. I was still having mixed emotions while waiting for our flight in Atlanta. I knew I was going to Europe but I was so torn inside. Despite my tears and fears we were on our way to Europe.

We flew into Frankfurt, Germany and stayed the first night there. Everything we needed for our 2 week vacation was in our backpacks and we had no plans. Well, we had a loose agenda and we knew we needed to end up in Amsterdam in time to catch our flight back home. Our only real plan was to do whatever we wanted.

Our first meal in Frankfurt was authentic German food and I had no clue what I ordered. Luckily Butch was stationed in Germany when he was active duty so this was helpful and he knew what was good and helped me order in German.

Everything is a bit different in Germany and I loved seeing it all for the first time.

Can you pronounce that?

Love it. You could read it enough to order something. :)

Downtown Frankfurt

Everything in Europe was gorgeous.

Europe so old and full of character.

We didn't hang out in Frankfurt very long. We quickly hopped the Ice Train to Munich, Germany to do more sight seeing. Anyone who has been on a train or subway would think it's simple enough. It normally is... until you try to read a map and it's in another language! It was pretty crazy trying to figure things out. After finding some nice English speaking people we made it to our first stop in Munich where we had drinks at the Hofbräuhaus. This place was so neat. The building was beautiful with hand painted, high vaulted ceilings and intricate details that are normal for this area. The architecture is amazing in Europe. There was live music all over the place and the Hofbräuhaus was no exception. We enjoyed the music, watched the scenery, and tasted the German food.

Drinking some broosky at the Hofbräuhaus

For those of you who don't know, Burton is my Maiden name. I noticed these cigarette hanging out of someone's back pocket and it then became my mission to find these cigarettes to buy for my family. I searched everywhere and finally found them in the train station. I think these are the coolest cigarettes ever!

The coolest cigs ever. :)

Next on our journey we visited the BMW Museum in Munich. There isn't a lot to say about this one. It was fun and we enjoyed ourselves checking out all the BMW cars and motorcycles but nothing exciting happened.

The BMW Museum

One of my main goals while in Germany was to visit the castles, so we found a tour that took us on three stops in one day, two of which were castles. We got lucky and landed perfect seats on the top level of the double deck bus right against the window so we had full view of the landscape while traveling to and from the castles.

First stop on the tour was the smaller of the two castles called the Schloss Linderhof. Linderhof, in comparison to other palaces, has a rather private atmosphere. In fact, there are only four rooms that have a real function. The palace is surrounded by formal gardens that are subdivided into five sections that are decorated with allegoric sculptures of the continents, the seasons and the elements. The building was designed in the style of the second rococo-period. Between 1863 and 1886 a total of 8,460,937 marks was spent constructing Linderhof.

There was no photography permitted inside the castle but I managed to snap a few when no one was looking. :) You can view the photos in the album at the end of this section.

This was stolen from the web site listed above so you can see the real beauty of the castle.

It is impossible to put into words the beauty within the castle. I've never seen anything in the US that is comparable.

Getting a view from afar.

Next on the trip was Oberammergau. Have you ever heard of the Passion Play? This is the city of the original Passion Play. The town's residents vowed that if God spared them from the effects of the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would produce a play every ten years thereafter for all time depicting the life and death of Jesus. The death rate among adults rose from one in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633. The adult death rate slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633. The villagers believed they were spared after they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634. The most recent season of 102 performances took place from Saturday 15 May until Sunday 3 October 2010. You can read all about the Passion Play at the link above.

Our tour bus was running behind so when we arrived in Oberammergau they gave us a time to be back on the bus and we all made a mad dash through the town. We literally ran through the town trying to snap photos as we went. We were on a serious mission to find a nutcracker for Butch's mother and we did. We found the perfect nutcracker, purchased it and RAN back to the bus. It was nuts and it was a fun part of the trip that we'll never forget.

The streets in the town were like something you would expect to see in a fairy tail book. Everything was hand painted and the streets were laid by hand. The people of the town were washing their sidewalks and cleaning their storefronts. It was clear to see that they took pride in their town.

The buildings were all so pretty.

Hand painted murals were everywhere.

See how clean the street is and notice the hand laid sidewalks. At time the road looked like the sidewalk does here.

Beautiful flowers and art were everywhere.

Last but not least on the all day tour was the Neuschwanstein Castle. This my friends was the Big Daddy of castles that I had been reading about and I was so super excited to see this castle. The Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the most visited castles in Germany.

The castle is located in Bavaria, near the town of Fussen. It was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, also known as the “Fairytale King”. The journey to the castle was even exciting because you could see the enormity of the castle from the distance and it built anticipation as you arrived.

The Neuschwanstein Castle  really looks like a fairytale castle. Neuschwanstein is a castle of the paradox. It was built in the 19th century in Bavaria, in a time when castles no longer had strategical and defensive purposes. While Neuschwanstein's look is that of a medieval castle, it was equipped inside with state of the art technology at that time. For example on every floor of the castle there were toilets with automatic flushing system, as well as an air heating system for the whole castle. Water was supplied by a nearby spring situated at only 200 meters above the castle.

This fairytale look of the Neuschwanstein castle inspired Walt Disney to create the Magic Kingdom. Today, Neuschwanstein is the most visited castle in Germany, and one of the most popular tourist destination in the world. Every year over 1.300.000 people crosses its gate.

The construction of the Neuschwanstein castle began in 1869, and originally it was projected to last three years. But Ludwig II wanted the castle to be perfect, so the immense building was not finished even at Ludwig's death in 1886.

Taken while bouncing in my tour bus seat.

After arriving at the castle you still weren't "there" because the tour buses could not make it up the mountain to the castle. Below is how most people made it up the mountain. We chose to walk so we could check out the scenery. We did a LOT of walking during our two weeks in Europe. We also did a lot of eating so it all worked out.

Your ride awaits.

Walking up to the castle.

A view from within the castle. Photos were prohibited so I didn't get many opportunities to take photos while in the castle.

The view from within the castle. Breathtaking.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES FROM THE TOUR

Our wonderful day trip was over and we were exhausted. This was a lot to see and do in one day. I'm fairly certain I remember sleeping late the following day. Speaking of sleeping...

We stayed in several really cool hotels/motels in Germany. Several of the places we stayed at were very old and had unique characteristics. Trying to find a place to sleep without prior reservations proved difficult on more than one occasion. Butch refused to sleep in a hostel and share a bathroom with a stranger. He adamantly claimed his Army days were over and he wasn't bunking with a stranger. haha.

I distinctly remember one hotel that told us about the one room they had left for the night but it was beyond the elevator. I was thinking, whatever, I have legs! So, we checked it out. We took the elevator as far as your could, walked two flights of stairs, went through a hall way, into another room, up one more flight of stairs and there was this crazy little room stashed away in the attic with vaulted ceilings that required you to hunch over to enter the room. It was NUTS. We did not stay in this room. When we went downstairs to tell them no thanks they magically had a new room for us. Apparently, the dumb American tourists get first dibs on the crappy attic room. :) For whatever reason I didn't take photos of this place. I suspect because I was exhausted. We did a lot of walking and traveling during the days and we were often lugging our backpacks to our next location.


Our time in Germany was short lived as we were so anxious to get to the Netherlands. So, off we went to Amsterdam. We chose the speed train that's known as the  Ice Train and the trip was still 7 hours long. We got really lucky and found an empty cabin so we quickly claimed it and turned it into our personal pad for the next 7 hours. We came prepared with never before seen DVDs and this kept us busy for most of the trip.

On the train, headed to Amsterdam

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Europe - Amsterdam

Amsterdam was immediately everything we had hoped it to be. We quickly found a hotel and began living like college students. The first 5 days of our expedition was spent in Germany and during this time we checked in and out of hotels almost daily so we both agreed it was time to pick a place and stay put. We spent the remaining 9 days in the Crown Plaza located in Amsterdam City Centre. This hotel was very modern, extremely beautiful, and conveniently located to everything.

One of the first things we noticed when exiting the Amsterdam train station was a huge parking garage full of bicycles. The European culture is far more active than our culture. Many people do not own their own transportation. Rather, they ride bicycles or walk to the train station to get where they need to be. Bicycles have their own lanes in Amsterdam and not just a tiny little bike lane like here in the States. The cyclist truly had their own road system. This was so impressive to me. We also saw a lot of people riding 2 people per bike. They would balance one another on the handle bars like it was nothing. I'm certain their obesity rate is far lower than ours.

A parking garage for bicycles. Crazy!

Thousands of bicycles.

They were everywhere!

The road system designed specifically for the bicycles. Not just bike "lanes" but their own roads.

We saw the red light district, girls and all. Yep. There were really girls standing in the windows waiting for a paying customer. It really isn't as bad as you think and it's easy to avoid these areas if you need to. Surprisingly, we saw children throughout the red light district during the day. The "ladies" still worked during the day but the district wasn't as rowdy as it was after the sun went down. It just blew my mind to see children walking by the dancing ladies in their windows, sex museums and smoke shops like it was nothing. I don't have any pictures of the working ladies but I did snap a few pictures of the smoke shops.

We did a lot of people watching and drank plenty of coffee. Real coffee, not the coffee from the type of coffeeshop above! The weather was really nice when we were there. It was perfect during the day and cool in the evening. The selection of street cafes and places to eat was endless. We really enjoyed just spending time together and taking in the culture while watching the locals go about their days.

Watching some people. :)

Writing about all of this makes me want to be back in Amsterdam so badly.

Anyone need to use the bathroom? Just help yourself, right here on the street, with no doors. Just go ahead and get it all out.

I guess the ladies are just out of luck.

After seeing Hanky Panky Tattoo on the street and checking into their reputation we decided it was appropriate to "mark" our vacation with tattoos. The way I see it, I only have one life to life and I will most likely never been in Amsterdam again so it was now or never. Butch's tattoo took a LONG time and it was extremely painful when they started tattooing the letters in the bend of his leg. He powered through and ended up with a really awesome tattoo. Europe was a special time for Butch and I and these tattoos have a lot of meaning for us. Both of the tattoos are unique and we had the artist draw them specifically for us. They are symbolic of our relationship and we've never told anyone what the initials mean. We are just cool like that.

Not the greatest photo. The light was horrible inside the shop and Butch was having a hard time with the camera.

We took it outside in the natural light to get a good photos of Butch's new ink.

CLICK FOR MORE TATTOO PHOTOS

The day after getting inked we felt we needed a little sophistication so we visited two art galleries. First stop was the Rijksmuseum. Don't worry, I can't pronounce it either. I called it the ra-jika-jika museum. While visiting the ra-jika-jika museum we saw a lot of impressive, famous art pieces. One of the most famous and well known pieces we saw was Night Watch by Rembrandt. You can take a little tour yourself by clicking this link Tour Link. It was such an honor to see these masterpieces. The talent within the painting is astounding.

This was the only picture I was allowed to take.

Neither of us are big fans of art nor do we follow the arts. The only artist I've ever really known is Van Gogh. Who doesn't know about Van Gogh? I was super excited to visit the Van Gogh Museum because I would actually recognize some of the paintings. The museum was very impressing but we didn't stay long. We aren't the type to sit around and discuss art. It was more of a been there, done that type of thing.

There was no photography allowed within the museums and I didn't try taking any photos because the guards don't play when it comes to the security of such fantastic, original art pieces.

We attempted to visit the Ann Franke House but the line was two streets long, stretched around the building, and neither of us were interested in waiting in line for half the day.

Next on the list we visited the Heineken Brewery. As you might guess, there was a lot of beer here. We tasted a lot of FREE Heineken and the tour was really neat. We saw the brewery, learned how the beer is actually brewed and ordered snazzy Heineken Bottles with our names on the front.

Learning about the process.

Nifty set up.

Check out his rolled up shorts. His tattoo was healing and he had grease all over the back of his leg.

Chilin in the Heineken lounge.

The list of possible Amsterdam tours is almost endless. It's insane how many tours and museums you can visit in one city. Check it out List of Tours

CLICK TO SEE PICS FROM THE HEINEKEN TOUR

We traveled by train to Haarlem, Netherlands to visited the Corrie Ten Boom Museum. As a small girl my Aunt Licia was fortunate enough to hear Ms. Boom speak personally about the experiences she had while her family was providing refuge for those hunted by the Nazi. My aunt requested that we visit the museum for her as she will likely never go. It was fun knowing that I was there for my Aunt and we really enjoyed ourselves.

A little back story for the Ten Boom family...The Ten boom family were devoted Christians who dedicated their lives in service to their fellow man. During the Second World War, the Ten Boom home became a refuge, a hiding place, for fugitive hunted by the Nazis. By protecting these people, Casper and his daughters, Corrie and Betsie, risked their lives. Their faith led them to hide Jews, students who refused to cooperate with the Nazis, and members of the Dutch underground resistance movement. Please click the link in the previous paragraph if you're interested in learning more about the Ten Boom Family.

Above their family watch shop is the actual home of the Ten Boom family where many Jews were saved from the Nazis.

We also stopped by the beach just to say we visited the beach in Netherlands, Europe. It was very cold but it was a neat experience.

Haarlem Beaches

The boardwalk at the beach.

Downtown Haarlem.

CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS OF HAARLEM

There are plenty of side stories that I haven't included but this portion of the blog is getting far too lengthy. I believe I hit most of the high points for our trip. This was truly a trip of a lifetime. We live a very blessed life and this trip will not soon be forgotten.

Back in the states. It felt GREAT to be home.

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G-ma Betty

Our two week vacation was all the fun time that 2009 was willing to allow. My cousin had already passed away, we almost lost my father after his surgery went horribly wrong, and then in October 2009 my Grandmother was hit head on by a drunk driver.

I remember receiving the call and I was told that she had been hit by a drunk driver, had visibly broken bones, but she was conscious and being admitted to the ICU. We had just went through this with my father and I was devastated that my Grandmother was now being admitted to the ICU. The drunk driver was admitted and released the same night. For some reason, the offenders never seem to get hurt.

It was truly a miracle that she is still alive.

The collision happened in the middle of a bridge. Thankfully, no one went over the bridge.

In true G-ma Betty form she was worried about her new glasses that got knocked off during impact. She needed her glasses!

My mother had returned to work in Anniston, Alabama but my father was still in Tupelo recovering from his ordeal. It was only about 15 minutes after I received the call and my mother was on my door step waiting to leave for Mississippi. We had woken that day at 4:30 am, worked a 10 hour day and now we were off to Memphis, TN, where my grandmother was being transferred. Her injuries required surgical specialists so she was immediately transported from Tupelo, MS to Memphis, TN. We stopped for Red Bull, snacks, gas and we were on our way. It was nice that we had each other for company during the trip.

We finally made it to the ICU in Memphis, TN where we waited for tests to conclude the extent of her injuries. It seemed like forever as we once again sat in the hospital waiting on doctors to tell us about our loved one. The answers finally came and we were told that she had 13 cracked ribs, a severely broken (crushed) right ankle, brain contusion, a punctured lung, both legs were broken, and her right arm. The extend of her injuries were astounding.

And so it began, the sleeping in the waiting room, eating out of the vending machine, showering whenever possible, and waiting for answers. At 72 years old we were fearful for her life as she underwent multiple surgeries and was placed on life support to assist her breathing. The doctors warned that being removed from the ventilator was a high risk situation. At her age she might not have the strength to breath on her own as it was extremely painful with her broken ribs and punctured lung.

If you've ever been through this type of thing then I'm sure you've seen how strong the human spirit is and how much fight we have deep inside of us. I'm hear to tell you, my Grandmother is topping the charts as she overwhelmed us with her spirit, strength and attitude while she fought for her life.  I know many other people who could not, and would not, have fought as hard as she did in order to still be here.

Her communications were extremely limited with all the tubes down her throat and she was having a hard time trying to tell us what she needed so we quickly bought a marker board. The very first thing she wrote on the board was "Bring Balloons." G-ma Betty is a Clown for Christ and has been clowning as far back as I can remember. She is "Bubbles the Clown" and this is very fitting because she is bubbly! In the middle of fighting for her life she needed balloons to cheer the place up. Hilarious.

G-ma writing her first message.

And it says... bring balloons!

When she was finally released from the hospital in Memphis, TN she was transferred to a Nursing Home near our home town in Mississippi. The next few months were filled with therapy, special treatments and hard work. With a lot of dedication she was able to walk again and is now getting along pretty well. Currently, as I type this, she is in Oklahoma visiting family. Grandma has always been a traveler. In fact, the night she was hit by the drunk driver she was driving to pick up last minute travel items for a big trip she was about to take. She lives life to the fullest and thankfully, she is still doing that today.

That man's horrible decision to drive drunk forever changed my Grandmother's quality of life. She is still able to walk but not without a great deal of pain. The man who hit her is currently serving his time in jail where he regularly receives letters from my Grandmother. Yep, I'm serious. My Grandmother is pen-pals with the man who almost took her life. She encourages him to change his life and most importantly to form a relationship with God. I can't explain in words the amount of admiration and respect I have for this great woman. I love you G-ma.

MORE PHOTOS OF G-MA'S RECOVERY ________________________________________________________________________________

The Proposal

In the Midst of all this heartache came one of the best days of my life. On October 19, 2009, Butch asked me to be his wife while standing on Mt. Cheaha near Anniston, Alabama. After 4 1/2 years of dating he finally asked and I couldn't have been more happy.

Apparently he had asked my father a few weeks prior but with all the craziness happening with my grandmother he couldn't find the right timing. It happened on a day I never expected. It wasn't a special occasion, and nothing fancy was going on. We were spending the day together however we wanted. We had been to eat, went shopping and then he asked if I wanted to go to Mt. Cheaha to check out a neat trail he found.

Before heading to Mt. Cheaha we stopped by Target for some basic shopping. When we finished he told me he had to use the bathroom and ran back inside while I got the truck. I didn't think anything of it and we were quickly on our way.

When we arrived on top of Mt. Cheaha we went searching for this magical trail that he had told me about. Little did I know, this trail didn't exist. This was his trick to make sure I was willing to go with him. He couldn't find a pretty spot, and there was no trail so we crossed the road to a lookout. He was pointing at a supposed bonsai tree and showing me something to distract me. When I turned around he was on one knee, began proclaiming his love for me and asked me to be his wife. I was a teary mess as soon as I turned around. I cried and hugged him and obviously said YES!

Seconds after saying yes and hugging he was insistent to know if I loved the ring. Of course my immediate and automatic answer was yes but I couldn't quite decide what type of ring he had picked out for me and what was going on with it. After closer inspection I discovered that it was fake! Remember before when he ran back into Target? This is when he purchased my fake proposal ring. HA! Classic Butch. Everything about the whole experience was perfect. It was Butch style. He did everything his way and it was completely unique.

We made all the appropriate phone calls and I will never forget calling my mother. She was asleep during the middle of the day because she was still in MS helping with my grandma. When I told her the news she was SO EXCITED and began crying. She was so happy and good news is just what we needed with everything else going on.

Butch proposed with the fake ring so that we could go pick out rings together. He wanted me to have exactly what I was happy with. (so thoughtful) We quickly found ourselves at the jewelery store and a few weeks later we set the date. We were to be married in April 11, 2010.

My beautiful fake ring. It's still in the safe. This flower was given to me by an onlooker who saw the proposal. She was on her honeymoon and loved that she was able to watch the proposal.

BLING, BLING... Here comes the bride! :)

The beautiful view on top of the mountain where he proposed.

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Aunt Carol

During 2009 we first lost my cousin, David, then we almost lost my Father, then my Grandmother was hit by a drunk driver, then in December 2009, my Aunt Carol passed away unexpectedly in her sleep. 2009 was filled with exciting new purchases, a huge trip of a lifetime to Europe, and relentless family tragedy.

The phone call informing me about my Aunt Carol was my breaking point. I remember saying, not again, not again and completely loosing it while Butch held me tight. My Aunt Carol was a huge part of our family and a large part of my childhood. Loosing her was, and is, incredibly difficult.

Thankfully, Aunt Carol and Uncle Larry came to visit us in Mississippi a few months before while my Father was in the ICU. During her visit she celebrated her 50th birthday with us. We were all fortunate to be able to spend this last visit with her. Of course, at the time, we had no idea this would be our last visit with her but I am forever grateful for this time with her. Rest in Peace Aunt Carol.

We spent Christmas 2009 in Mississippi with my family in Mississippi and prayed for a easier 2010 filled with happiness and NO family tragedies or deaths.

Incredibly Thankful for this time with my Aunt Carol and so happy Butch had the opportunity to meet her. This is one of my favorite pictures ever. I also just noticed that Butch and I are both wearing Amsterdam t-shirts.

MORE PHOTOS OF AUNT CAROL'S PARTY 

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Miles Traveled

We didn't add many states to the list during 2008-2009 because we lived primarily in Anniston, AL during this time. Below is a list of all the places we've lived so far during our journey. 13 locations in approximately four years; 2005-2009

• College Station, TX
• Alexandria, VA
• Bucroe Beach, VA
• Avondale, AZ
• Sidney, NE
• Jacksonville, FL
• Denver, CO
• Elkton, MD
• Seneca Falls, NY
• Culebra, PR
• Belcamp, MD
• Savannah, GA
• Anniston, AL