a little face lift...

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

Were gettin there! slowly but surely...but were gettin there!

Berlin, Germany

When we started planning this trip Berlin, Germany was not high on my list. I just didn't have interest in going! Little did I know it would be my highlight. We learned so much and were able to experience a little history. I CANNOT even fathom what happened here just a few short years ago!

We fell in love with this Cathedral and this plaza. The dome is the prettiest I have ever seen. We stood admiring this beautiful building and just years ago stood thousands of NAZIS hailing to HITLER in this exact spot.

Berlin is a very new city because it was bombed and destroyed during WWII. However there are still old buildings like the cathedral that survived. If they survived their statues have missing limbs, and black charcoal is all over it.

We loved the old Berlin but also loved the new too! Like sitting here enjoying our Currywurst while listening to locals cheer on Germany during the World Cup!

**********

We were able to see Check Point Charlie

Go through the American Sector


See and touch the Berlin Wall.

We got kicked off the train(apparently our tickets were no good) in the middle of no where. So we waited on the one and only plat form for another train. But we did finally make it to the tiny town we were looking for...

This is what we were trying to get to!

RAVENSBURCK:

WOMENS and CHILDRENS CONCENTRATION CAMP.

It took us 20 minutes to walk from the train stop to the camp. Our walk was gorgeous, green and peaceful. The town was charming and the cobblestone was perfect.

We kept saying over and over how beautiful it was.

Even the outside of the camp was beautiful.

But just behind that building was horror! Pictures can not show what we witnessed and can not feel what we felt.

The bunkers are no longer there but you can still see the imprints in the gravel from all of them.

The shops were still in tact.

These shops were where the women reported to work everyday!

The prison cell.

Yes. You are seeing that correctly. This is where the women/children were burned.

I tried to imagine what these women/mothers were like. I tried to imagine what they were thinking about before they were led to the gas chamber and then burned here. They did nothing wrong yet were treated in the most horrible way.

It was very hard to picture the horrific scene when the surroundings were so gorgeous.

It was hard to believe that something so inhumane took place there! But it did. And it was all done for nothing! Millions of people lost there lives in Holocaust and my heart aches for every single one of them!

My heart was touched here at Ravensburck and I am thankful for the humbling experience.

This world travel was a great one and I am grateful to of had the opportunity to see more of the world!

St. Petersburg, Russia

M o t h e r R u s s i a !

This was our longest stop of the cruise and it still wasn't enough time!! Not even close.

In Russia you can not just get off the boat and go play. You HAVE to be in a tour guided group. If you want that freedom to do as you please, you HAVE to have a Russian Visa. If you go to Russia you HAVE to play by their rules!

Russia was the first place that required a passport check in and out of their country, it was kind of intimidating.
but at least we got another stamp in our passport...

Russia was a once in a life time opportunity.
We were so excited for this stop!!
It would only be natural that I got the flu in the middle of the night!
Rom, Scott and Jen toured the Hermitage Museum for 3 hours in our tour group while I sat in a chair sweating breathing in my nose and out my mouth. I kept telling myself "don't throw up here."

Romney was so sweet to let me hang all over him that day...and I did.
And he wasn't even worried about my germs.

I still wasn't feeling up to eating.

and based on these faces...

I didn't miss much...

so I continued to sip on my water.

After lunch I was starting to feel a little better and started to pep up! I actually remember the Peter Paul Fortress and I absolutely LOVED it! I was diggin the gold!

and I 100% remember how cool the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood was.

After a 17 hour day in Russia with the Flu I was ready to get back on the boat. We are holding up our hands to show that its 11:00pm and time for bed!

Russia was our last stop of our cruise.
But our vacation still has one more stop...
We gotta hurry back to Norway to catch our flight to
BERLIN, GERMANY!

Tallin, Estonia

We recently were told that Disneyland was inspired by ESTONIA. We can see why. It was a fairytale. Everything was so colorful and cheery just like the happiest place on earth. Even the doors were detailed exactly like the doors in Fantasyland. Estonia was my personal favorite stop on the cruise. The chocolate was out of this world, the architecture was beautiful and the company wasn't so bad either.

It was a great day!

These medieval towers welcomed us right in to the old town of Tallin.

...we walked through several fun ally ways...

...to find this tiny chocolate shop that my brother and his wife went to a year ago.
They swore we'd never find it....we did, we conquered and we
LOVED it.
We came across lots of locals dressed up for their festival.
We enjoyed the roasted ginger and pumpkin nuts that we bought from this woman.

WE LOVED our souvenirs!!!!
WOOL WOOL and more WOOL!

...and i cannot get enough of this picture of the boys trying on all the different wool hats...

it makes me belly gut laugh out loud...
Off to St. Petersburg, Russia

Copenhagen, Denmark

Welcome to Denmark!

This was our shortest day on the cruise which was too bad because there was so much to see.

However we saw the changing of the guard at the Palace.

Of course we squeezed in some time to sample a little hot dog.

Then it is only natural that we worked off the hot dog when we jumped 100 times for the "perfect" jumping shot in front of the main cathedral...

...........

We stumbled upon more naked...except she wasn't a statue...
can you find her?

P.S. This is my friend Jenn! Get used to her and her husband Scotts face because you will see them often. They jumped on the same last minute trip to Europe boat too. They were great travel buddies.

We toured this beautiful castle where jewels and crowns are on display.

A trip to Europe is not a trip unless you hike up all the tiny narrow stairs to the top of the main cathedral.

Which we all did and Romney got to open the little doors to the outside!

And it was worth every step up the those 200 something stairs!

Take me back!
Back to the ship were off to Tallin, Estonia!

OSLO, NORWAY

Romney and I were ready for our world travel part 2!
We started in Norway where our cruise would begin!
But before we took off we got the opportunity to play in the city for a day and a half.

So we went to a museum where we saw Viking Ships that were found in the Fjords!

we had just enough time to discover a Norwegian Kabob...delish!

We found an old farming community where this all wooden church sits.

We learned how the Norwegian people once lived on the farms and how things worked.

We heard ghost stories that apparently happened within the dark hallway of this Castle.

We ended our day at the park....
the naked park- its not called the naked park...
but see for your self!

The park is beautiful! All the locals were out playing and eating here.
Where there is grass there is PEOPLE!!!
They live for the summer and soak up the sunshine as long as they can
...and this picture was taken at 9:00pm...

(what on earth is going on to our right????)
Off to Denmark tomorrow!