During a short trip to NYC, Central Park was the place I was most excited to see. Perhaps it’s because of the countless movies that have been filmed here, but it just seems so quintessentially New York to me. We went on a freezing cold day so it was almost vacant and I loved getting to explore it in it’s quiet state. I can imagine living in this huge bustling city, this park would be such a welcome relief for the residents. I’d seen these archways in countless movies and pictures and they are just as beautiful in person.

I went back through our images from Italy 3 years ago and found so many new ones that I had never posted but now love. That’s the fun thing about photographs, the ones that really jump out at you change as time goes by..

Ahh the last day of vacation, always bittersweet. We hiked probably our longest hike this day, though we didn’t realize it would be as long as it was We hiked up to the Lake Agnes teahouse above Lake Louise and sat and had some lovely tea and breads up there. There’s no electricity, the workers live there, and have to hike in all the supplies. Pretty awesome! We then heard rumor that there was yet another teahouse even higher on the plain of 6 glaciers, so we thought, why not? It was quite a hike but it was even more beautiful at the 2nd teahouse where we ate our weight in food The hike down was brutal on the knees and the changing pressure managed to stop up my ears (I had a lovely little cold) for the next 2 days. The sunset was beautiful again that night…we just could not have asked for a more pleasant time and hope to go back again someday!

picnic by the shore – photo by Joel

This day was unanimously everyone’s favorite day of the trip. The weather was absolutely amazing, as it had been every day and the hike didn’t kick our butts in the way the other ones did – aka it was mostly flat We drove part of the Icefields Parkway which is one of the most beautiful drives basically in the world – we saw a bear feasting on the plentiful buffalo berries (he totally ignored us) and we hiked, skipped rocks and dipped our toes in glorious clear aqua lake.  We also had dinner at what was one of my favorite restaurants of the trip – Truffle Pigs in Yoho National Park (my favorite park) This is one of those days that I hope to look back on when I’m old and sitting in my rocking chair and remember it with a smile…

In my short lifetime thus far, I feel that I’ve been blessed to see some incredibly magical places in this world. Venice, Paris, the Lauterbrunnen valley, Tuscany…but stepping off the bus into the early morning mist of Lake O’Hara has to be one of the most magical. We had heard about this place for awhile, but found out you had to reserve a seat on the bus to take you up the 11km access road, SIX MONTHS in advance. And only 40 people a day can be at the lake. So, exactly 6 months in advance we called, and called, and called. According to my phone records we hit redial 1900 times until we finally got through. THAT is how hard it is to get to this place. There are some insanely dedicated hikers in the world! The area around the lake is all carefully protected and is even home to rare mountain orchids – it’s like stepping into a fairy tale with the mossy ground and mushrooms and waterfalls and the clearest emerald lake you’ve ever seen. One of my knees was giving me a rough go of it from all the hiking the day before but we weren’t going to miss out on this so up we went for several miles into more beautiful alpine views. We had lunch and took a nap by the lake and contemplated how cold we would be if we went for a swim – hypothermic was the conclusion.

We had planned to stay in Yoho National Park in the town of Field, but there was a mixup with our guesthouse so we ended up back in Banff at our original hotel which we LOVE – the Caribou Lodge. Almost every morning and night we would go out driving on the little roads, looking for wildlife. It was high season for berries, so grizzlies were being spotted EVERYWHERE and Brandon & Joel were determined to see one. So out we went for an hour drive and while we never did see a grizzly on this trip, we did see this majestic male elk. He was huge! It’s so fun in Canada to find wildlife because once you do – every car behind you stops to see what animals are around. When we were doing a photoshoot in a field, a guy stopped quickly, jumped out of the car and ran up to us asking where the animals were that we were photographing. Sorry, just people this time!

O000 Canada – our 2nd home and beautiful land…

Seriously, this is my 4th trip to this lovely land and I think it was my favorite thus far. Traveling with awesome friends definitely contributed to the favoriteness though. I could venture back here every year and likely never tire of it. On day 1 we took it easy, just strolled around Lake Louise in the quite cool of the evening then had dinner in town. Day 2 we had one of our big hikes planned at Moraine Lake – Larch Valley and Sentinal Pass. It’s about 12km and worth every step. We had lunch in the alpine meadow (you know, the kind where you want to bust out with “the hills are alive…with the sound of music…” ) before completing the 2nd half of the hike. As much as your huff and puff and your little heart works its hardest going up hill – I think we all agreed we’d take that any day over going downhill. It’s KILLER on the knees! The weather was amazing and we could not have asked for a prettier day/week!

Beautiful Lake Louise

Switzerland. EXACTLY how you expect it to be. Perfectly prim, punctual and peaceful. We stayed in the village of Murren in the Bernese Oberland region, perched 1/2 a mile straight above the valley below. Straight down. This place was almost unbelievable in it’s beauty. I read after we returned that The Lauterbrunnen valley was the model for J. R. R. Tolkien’s sketches and watercolours of the fictitious valley of Rivendell in Lord of the Rings.  Everything here is so fresh smelling and the waterfalls are just beautiful. We even took a drink from the stream, ridiculously fresh and minerally tasting. mmmmm. We decided to just head on down the hike into Lauterbrunnen valley, and head down, and down, and down and down and down until our feet say NO more down but we have to because we can’t go back up.  We hiked part way up the other side towards Wengen and stopped in a farmers pasture for our lunch. One of the most wonderful things about this area is the constant ringing of the bells that the cows and sheep all wear around their necks – it’s really like living in Heidi. Next we took another gondola up to Gimmelwald – THE most charming village ever to be created, it’s almost like it wasn’t even real, just a movie set. We met a sweet couple who invited us to share their patio view at their bed and breakfast so we sat and chatted with them for a few hours before expolring the rest of the town. Saw the cutest baby jumping goats, got shocked by the electric fence, and headed back to Murren for diner at a Rick Steves recommended place  – so cute and of course expensive and fattening,  just very cozy and dated and wonderful. If ever in Switzerland, I highly recommend a day visit here, and if you’re big into hiking, a few days. It’s just magical…

And thus ends our pictorial journey through our visit to Europe 2011. Planning on taking a year off from European travels in 2012 and stay stateside to see some of the beauty here in the States – though if someone wanted us back there for another wedding I wouldn’t object to strongly Christy and I, both being only children and both a WEE bit headstrong, had our doubts about how we’d get along as travel buddies, but it went off without a hitch and the hubbies may get left at home to hold down the fort more often!

by Christy

by Christy

by Christy

by Christy

Unlike Ireland, my first impression of Paris was very much how I anticipated Paris to be. And after walking over 20 miles in one day exploring the city, I came to find that it was 10x more opulent than I ever expected it to be. Somehow in the back of my head I thought you’d wander around, see some old buildings, then some new mixed in, then a few more old. We literally did not see ANY new buildings (except from the distant view from the hill of Montmarte), and if we did elsewhere, they were incredibly well disguised. AND contrary to popular belief, all the Parisians we talked to were super helpful and quite friendly, or at least not at all snobby. Our hotel room was itty bitty but the price was perfect and it was quite well located – Grand Hotel Leveque. We only had an evening and a day here, but for me – it was enough. I am a small town traveler, big cities are not my style though Paris is 100% not to be missed and I would absolutely go back to explore more of the insides of all the beautiful buildings we passed – and to eat more food, definitely more food

Christy snagged this one out the window – love it!

Ireland – what to say about you. You were both exactly what I expected and NOTHING like I expected, all in the same moment and feeling. Christy and I saw only the southwest region of the country, no Dublin, no major cities really at all to speak of, so I think our Irish experience was a different one but beautiful in every sense. We arrived in Shannon, picked up our rental car and began the terrors of driving on the wrong side of the road for the next three hours, with a major case of jet lag. Christy drove and she’d be the first to admit, was not a fan of it. We drove and drove and drove some more, stopping in a charming little town, Adare, to walk around and snap our first pictures. As we continued our drive on roads that are no wider than driveways (complete with squeals of terror every time a truck or tour bus would pass us) we began to notice the countryside. Now it was a completely sunny day and not at all Irish feeling. We passed palm trees (oh yes, PALM TREES grow here) and pastel colored stucco houses, and were not entirely sure if we had accidentally landed in Jamaica. As we drove towards our final destination of Dingle – the coast came into view and was beautifully rugged and just stunning, but still feeling decidedly un-Irish. We checked in to our hotel, the Lantern Townhouse (highly recommend) and then wandered about town looking for a place to eat. Made it back to our hotel only to find out we had been locked out and hadn’t brought our key to get back in. I was out taking pictures by the bay so Christy was standing there all by herself trying to get the number to call the guy. Super embarrassing when he arrived and had to let us in…sorry, stupid Americans. The next day we got up early, had a yummy breakfast in the hotel and began driving the countryside (I drove from here on out) It was rainy and windy and cloudy and perfectly Irish. We had classical music playing on the radio as we drove by old stone walls, cows, sheep, and horses. We turned down yet another tiny road and found the most beautiful pastoral scene with two beautiful horses and the sun peaking through the clouds behind the hills. Took a few pictures here before heading back into town for lunch. Christy talked me into going to the Half Door restaurant (not sure why I needed to be talked into it) because it was AMAZING. Looking back it was my favorite meal of the trip. A tiny kitschy and cozy little restaurant. We started to drive out to Slea Head peninsula and found the most beautiful land ever made. The waves were just huge, winds blowing at gale force (60+mph) and it was perfect. We found a tiny place to pull off and got out to explore, bouncing along the peat and heather (ground cover, not people’s names…) We spent a good hour + out in the wind and wilds, sitting on the craggy rocks and watching the waves crash. We were sitting in the farthest western point in Europe, next stop over – Boston! After thinking the keys had fallen out of my pocket and were lost in the wild Irish countryside never to be found again and we’d be locked out of our car and stuck out there forever, I found them and we drove back safely, winding along the incredibly, unbelievably narrow roads. We ate at a great, homey little place and meandered back to the hotel. We were flying to London the next day so got going early and took the long road back to the Shannon airport, stopping in Askeaton for lunch and to see the ruins. Next stop – London and the English countryside!

Such a peaceful spot – tourists and all.