We lived 40 minutes from the French border and Metz was about an hour away. On Saturdays during the summer they have an awesome antique/flea market.

"Holy Cologne" as it was known in the Middle Ages, it is a city with more than 1,000 church spires. The Kolner Dom, a 13th Century cathedral is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. Construction of the Dom started in 1248 but stopped in 1599. Finally, in 1842 construction started again and it was completed in 1880. At the time its spires were the tallest in the world.

In April 2005, we travelled to Holland- one of our favorite trips (okay, we have a lot of favorites). We toured the World Famous Kuekenhof Gardens, visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and spent the night in a delightful coastal town called Noordjik Am See. We were pleasantly suprised to find English spoken every where we went, and very kind people. We are excited about returning to Holland in October with my parents.

If you are going to travel in Europe, you really should include time for Paris. Regardless of how you may feel about the French there is no denying they have a right to be proud of their rich history.

I decided to devote an album just to pictures from Garmisch. Garmisch- Partenkirchen sits at the foot of the German Alps, and is nestled underneath the Zugspitz or the highest point in Germany. The views are amazing- up top or on the ground I'm not sure which is better.

"The hills are alive..." There really is something magical about Salzbug, Austria the birthplace of Mozart and more recently the Von Trap family highlighted in the Disney musical "The Sound of Music." Everytime I visit I feel like running and skipping and breaking out in song. Enjoy. Halstatt is about an hour south of Salzburg in the Lake District. It is an ancient town dating back to Roman times and was known for it salt mines. Don and I only had a few hours here late in the day but we are planning to return this fall with my parents.

In the fall of 2004 I traveled to Oswiecim, Poland to visit Auschwitz as part of a Multicultural Counseling class I was taking for a Masters Program (I've since taken my own "sabatical" but plan to apply to an MSW program once we are settled Stateside). Unfortunately I lost all of my photos in a freak accident (human error, actually). This is a poster our class submitted at a counseling conference a few weeks after the trip. Even though I lost all of my pictures this definitely captures what I remember about the trip. It is a collection of photos and memories from the class. And, if you are interested, my quote wraps around the outside border of the poster.