Glad you're home did you bring me anything?

I'm having trouble believing we've been back from our trip almost a week already. I have yet to put my travel story together but I have had some time to look through the photos and unpack everything.

This is good news for some of you because I BROUGHT PRESENTS!!!

For Beads, a chocolate fountain from Brussells, Belgium

For Angel a little dragon made from coloured crystal from the Swarovski Crystal gallery in Innsbruck, Austria...

LiVEwIre - I'm sorry dear but I couldn't help thinking of you when I saw these - Cuckoo Clocks. They're everywhere, hundreds of them! LOL!

Anne, since you missed taking one of these yourself, here's a front view of the Chateau at Fontainebleau:

Unfortunately we didn't go far enough South to get to Tuscany, Spookie but here's one from northern Italy:

You should go sometime - it's really pretty!

Of course I couldn't go all that way and not bring something back for my favourite cousin, so Delboy I thought you might appreciate a pint or two...

That was taken in Berchtesgaden in Germany.

Jason I looked for an interesting headstone for you but we didn't spend a whole lot of time in cemetaries. Instead, this monument from Sainte Mere Eglise in Normandy is in memory of those who died liberating the town in the D-Day landings.

When I write my 'memoirs' of the trip I'll talk more about it. The place moved me more than you can imagine.

Kyknoord, this is the view from the top of the mountain:

...A mountain in the Alps, that is - the one where the Eagles Nest is perched.

And for you, Buddess, an old friend says hello from a beerfest in Austria:

And I think that's about as much as one blog post can handle.

~T
xxx

I'm back and ... I'm back!

Hello my little bloggers and bloggesses, you can rest easy now I'm back home safe and sound, filled with stories and experiences the sort of which will be told around campfires for generations to come... (??!)

Our phone line is connected at last but it's just regular dial-up for a while so we're still not up to full blogging speed. Better than nothing, but methinks the photos will be a bit slow in being published.

Here's a little teaser for you though.

I call it "Terri's View of Europe from the back of the Blackbird"

Postcard from Munich

Hi guys! I'm in an internet café in Munich, just checking my bank balance and stuff so thought I'd drop u a quick hello.

Hello!

We've been riding long and hard, the Autobahns are amazing but it's a little disconcerting to have Audi station wagons passing us when WE're doing 260 km/h!
Seen lots of pretty places but also been rained on a LOT the last couple of days.

It's hubby's birthday today so stop by and say Happy Birthday to Bosbefok if u get a chance.
Eish, they have all the keys on the keyboard all switched around here in Germany, typing this is not so easy hehe!

OK gotta go now. We're off to Salzburg in a while. Pray for some sunshine for us OK? I'd swap all my strappy dresses for another warm top quite happily right now.

Seeya in just over a week! Anne, we'll see you in Fontainebleu :-)

Terri & Bosbefok
xxx

going places

Tomorrow Hubby and I start a journey of around 3800 kilometers (over 2300 miles) in 2 weeks on a motorcycle.
My mother's first question: "Where are you going to pack 2 weeks' worth of clothing on a motorbike?"
Good point. Well last night I packed my side pannier and Hey Presto! It pretty much all fitted. My little strappy summer shift dresses each take up less space than my deodorant. Not that I'm planning to wear dresses on the bike - we'll be wearing our proper bike suits for the actual riding (I'm sure we'll smell just great by the time the 2 weeks is up). The dresses are for the evenings - watching sunsets in the Alps and such like.

So, 3800km to go - and that's not counting the drive from Dublin to Rosslare harbour to catch the ferry either, which is another
couple of hundred km's or so.
What the hell are we thinking??!
Ah, I remember now. It was one of Hubby's lifelong dreams, to 'do' Europe by bike. And I agreed why? Because I want to take pretty pictures of different places. Sound reasons to embark on such a journey, I'm sure you'll agree.

So anyway, my little corner of Blogland will be rather quiet for the next couple of weeks (and possibly a bit longer because I suspect it may take some time to type up all my adventures and sort through the photos to find the best stuff to Show And Tell you guys).

Seeya in a couple of weeks!

~T
xxxx

looking up

Oh look, Terri's been taking photos of the sky again.

It seems to be that time of year when we get all 4 seasons in one day, a few times over. What can I say? It makes for interesting skies.

As for this next one, I promised my friend Beads a picture of a rainbow, so...

Two for one!
I could persuade you that I was looking for the silver lining... or the pot o' gold for that matter.
Yep, that's what it was. I took a photo of the Leprachaun guarding the pot o'gold but unfortunately Leprachauns, like vampires, don't show up in photographs (and before you tell me it's mirrors, not photographs that vampires don't show up in well Hah! Have you ever seen a photo of a vampire? Didn't think so!)

a break in the storm

Sometimes life gets so busy we forget
to stop and enjoy the moment.
Last weekend I stopped,
looked around,
listened to the sounds
of my new home,
smelled the scents of my new neighbourhood
and allowed myself to rest.

I highly recommend it. Not only does it allow one to pull oneself towards oneself a bit, it also apparently provides great photo opportunities :)

We still have no sign of when we'll be getting a phone line at home btw. Not that it'll matter for the next couple of weeks because on Saturday we leave for our bike trip around Europe. It still doesn't have a title, but maybe it'll become apparent while we're on the road. The route is all mapped out though, and the bike has been given the once-over, and Cinderella is off to her aunt for the duration tomorrow (yeah, right, I'm gonna leave a 15-year old by herself for 2 weeks!) so it's all systems go.

When I get back I promise tales of adventure and photos galore (whether you like it or not mwahahahaha!).

Right now though, it's time for me to 'clock in' here at work.