Greenland from Above

Several years ago we went to East Greenland, which is probably the most sparsely populated place we've ever visited.

Flying from Iceland to the United States gave us an incredible view of Greenland and its icebergs down below. It also has one of the most stunning airport approaches and landings I've ever experienced. Although the water landings in the Maldives are right up there, too!

I've had a lot of the Singapore Airlines flight crew on my tours and I always love them. Some are from Singapore while others are actually from Malaysia. They have so much fun together and talking with the pilots is always so fascinating. They have funny quotes like, "if it ain't Boeing, I ain't going", because the planes are easier to handle.

According to the pilots one of the most difficult airports to land is in Kathmandu, Nepal. It makes sense since it is tucked into the Himalayan valley, but evidently the pilots have to corkscrew the plane both in and out, which is quite dangerous. Our experience at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu was intense, but only due to the most stringent search we've ever experienced.

Isn't it nice to see the world from above? It's quite beautiful and look at all of those icebergs!

The joys of my job

This summer seems to be constantly keeping me on my toes. The good news is that I've been meeting all kinds of hilarious characters from all around the world. The bad news is I haven't had too much time to write here, finishing editing photos from our trip, or have much of a life.

That being said I love my job. I know I've said it before, but the world is filled with so many amazing people. Each day I learn something new about dealing with various cultures, how they interact, and how to manage 20+ people who may speak English as a second language.

All of this has been similar to what I experienced in my German course except on a more global level. Everyone has a story and I love listening to whatever they want to tell me - whether it's their view on the state of the world or customs and their favorite things to do in their home lands.

Some days I can't believe a Midwest American girl like myself has the opportunity to chat with people from Iran, Saudi Arabia, and far away lands. I've been called naïve before, but I do believe in the kindness of strangers and that regardless of religion or political beliefs people can unite as humans. (As a result I loved the book The Kindness of Strangers by Don George. It's great to read if you're sick of doom and gloom.)

Here are some of the people I've met the past few weeks:
- A Turkish couple from Istanbul with the husband having learned his English from American police shows like NCIS and CSI. He would go through his repertoire saying, "Drop your weapon - NOW!" or "I'm going to break the door down." I love that he was trying and laughing hysterically at my reaction.

- A single mother from Brazil who kept asking her son and niece "Do you love me?" She said telling people you love them is essential, even if it meant embarrassing two teenagers.

- A wonderful Saudi family, from Jeddah, who I shared the afternoon laughing with. They also loved to give hugs. At the end of the day the father told me he felt the people we spent the day with were people that he knew better than friends he'd known for a long time. The mother then started to embarrass her teenage daughter by saying "Do you love me?"

- A Greek couple who was concerned about sustainability and believed the world will revert to going local again. They talked about wanting to grow their own food, but not having enough time to do so.

- A couple from Malta that talked about their foods and traditions. Pastizzi pastries filled with peas or ricotta are something I have to try when I visit.

- An Australian woman who swore to me that Louis Vuitton stores have different prices around the globe, although they say they don't. She compares a certain purse in each country she goes to and has seen it differ up to 100€. She said the cheapest place to buy is in Frankfurt. (If you like 'luxury' items I'd recommend Deluxe by Dana Thomas, which I recently read - very fascinating.)

- A young American/Senegalese guy that now worked in Cairo as a children's advocate. He does speaking engagements around the world and had some pretty humbling facts. In 1998 the US spent $8 Billion on cosmetics + Europe spent $11 Billion on ice cream. He reasoned if people purchased from more ethical companies that money could easily give sewage sanitation and clean water to everyone in the world.

- A Canadian film maker that takes photos to create 3D images. He uses a wooden stereoscopic viewer with images he takes on his holidays to combine modern technology with some old fashioned depth perception tricks. Pretty cool!

There were plenty more that I could go on and on about.

I also had my foray into leaving tourists behind. I have honestly dreaded this day and even slightly prided myself on never having it happen. I gave everyone a marked map with the meeting location and time, I announced the meeting point when we passed it, and I waited an extra 15 minutes. Unfortunately there was no sight of the couple. I later found out they chose to stay behind, but didn't inform me, which made me feel marginally better.

The rest of the group tried to keep my spirits up. They were humorous about it too, saying 'maybe they already went to the train station'. Then it was 'maybe they are on the train'... 'maybe they are back in Munich'.

One said on another tour the guide said a 10% loss is acceptable. Then a man said I could now tell people I've left people behind to instill a bit of fear in them. With 18 other people we had to get back to Munich.

Hopefully the rest of my tours this summer will be as much fun as the past few weeks - even despite the rain.

Heat Wave

We are currently having a sweltering heat wave over here. I'm really not one for heat - unless of course I'm lounging on a beautiful beach with crystal clear turquoise water, but the closest I've been to any water ways lately is the Isar here in Munich or the Salzach in Salzburg.

For some reason I think I have a mental block on how miserable Europe can be in the summer - who decided that air conditioning is overrated anyway?

I've also been working nonstop now that the tourist season is in full swing. Some days it's amazing and other days I feel like I am herding cats. None the less it's usually fun to interact with people from other cultures and to have interesting conversations. Yesterday we talked about traditional dishes from our home lands and how people celebrate festive occasions.

I'm convinced I need to make a trip to Malta. I had a tour last month and one of the women actually makes the Air Malta uniforms for the flight crew by hand. This week I had another couple that was affiliated with Air Malta and they were just as delightful as the couple from last month. They both gave me their email addresses to get in touch once I make it over.

Working in the crazy sun can be very exhausting, but last week I came home to flowers, a tiny cake, and a delicious fruit salad courtesy of Stefan and a sweet package with a beautiful and delicious bar of chocolate from a faraway friend.

I also was able to check out the Roman ruins / excavations under the Salzburg Cathedral. They are only open during the months of July and August, so if you are in the area it's definitely worth checking out. (These images definitely do the place justice - just trust me on this one.)

As much as I'd love to update more often sitting anywhere near this inferno of a computer is just not happening. I probably seem like a hermit when I'm not working, because all of our blinds are closed in hopes to keep the sun from heating this place even more.

Back to Work

We're back in Germany now and trying to fight a bit of jet lag. I read that eating a handful of cherries before bed is supposed to help naturally regulate melatonin, so I went with that method.

My tours are back in full effect and a few new stores are popping up around Salzburg. I wanted to see the new movie 'Knight and Day' while I was in Ohio, because it has scenes filmed in Salzburg, but it looks like I'll wait for it to come to DVD.

This past week I noticed they were packing up Jaume Plensa's 'We' sculpture from the Residenz. I'm curious where it's heading.

Gone but not forgotten

This past Monday was Memorial Day in the US. It's a day to remember those that have sacrificed in serving the country, which unfortunately is a very real and harsh reality for many families even today.

I was surprised and delighted to see that General Harry Collins' grave in Salzburg was visited by his military division. He was largely credited in variety of ways with helping Salzburg after World War II and is also responsible for liberating the Dachau concentration camp.

Mirabell Gardens

Lots of rain this week... but even so, the flowers are blooming and growing. The whisteria is looking as if it's straight out of a Bob Ross painting and the ornamental cherry blossoms are falling like confetti.

It's so nice to sit at Mirabell Gardens and enjoy an amazing pastry while being showered with cherry blossom petals. Definitely no complaints from me!

I always try to sample something new when I'm there.

This time I went with something passion fruit + pistachio from from Patisserie-Konditorei Fingerlos. It's was just as delicious as it was beautiful.

Stranded Tourists

Since I interact a lot with tourists and the travel industry, I am always hearing stories about people stuck on their holiday - or seeing it for myself. It's probably fair to say many of those won't be visiting the city they are stuck in again anytime soon, if they are able to help it.

Yesterday, virtually my entire group complained about the hotels inflating their rates. One man was originally paying 125€ / night and they increased the prices to 300€ / night. It's not as if every hotel is overbooked since many vendors couldn't even get to the large builders exhibition.

I checked rates myself - right now a room at the Mandarin Oriental costs as much as, or even less than a Holiday Inn! That is ridiculous.

Truth be told I'm slightly sad I'm not trapped in Iceland. I love that place.

(How do you like the vintage Mount Vesuvius photos? It last erupted in 1944. I'm not sure when these photos are from)

sign of the times

After all of the travels it's back to work. I guess work and travel have become synonymous in my world, but never the less I was able to join tourists on their vacation to Salzburg.

It's been a long time since I visited - September to be exact.

That was right before we left for our trip... when I decided it would be fun to take my husband to work and had a crazy awful group, which included the wandering off guy (who by the way was left at Neuschwanstein the next day), and the entire group showing up to the meeting point a good 15 minutes late, which is impressive since they all had marked maps and weren't traveling together.

We made it to the train with about a minute and a half to spare. Thankfully someone took to pushing the Grandma in her wheel chair through the city or we never would have made it. Stefan ended up schlepping some woman's bag of beers back to the train station so we could make it on time, because she decided they were too heavy. They drank their beers on the train and didn't even offer Stefan one for all of his troubles.

All in a day's work. When working with the public, various cultures, or those with so so English skills that sometimes feign understanding nothing surprises me anymore, but it's also the reason I love what I do.

Today I did get an unexpected surprise - one glaring sign of the times. So many stores have closed.

Yes, there are several new places that have opened, but there are plenty of empty store fronts. I'm not really sure I can complain, because I did only partake in window shopping at a lot of them - the gorgeous rose shop (Gerhard Swarovski Rosentury) with the wedding gown made of fresh flowers - gone.

The egg shop... downsized. Don't worry, it is still there, but now those windows that seemed to go on and on filled with beautiful painstakingly decorated eggs doesn't have the same affect in such a small window.

I try not to make a big deal out of the things that people wouldn't know they are missing, but today was different.

I love seeing how the city changes - the scaffolding comes off the cathedral, when an archeological dig is going on, or where the horse carriages will be moved to accommodate whatever is new, but I am surprised the winter was so harsh to so many stores. I know that's the nature of business and new shops will hopefully fill the vacant spaces, but it's a real bummer that this economic crisis has taken its toll on the independent shops - and beautiful ones at that.

St. Peter's Stiftskeller

Stefan joined me on my final tour before we head out on our big 4 month adventure. It was so nice to have him, because it was a long day. We had some characters including the kind that turn up over 15 minutes late, which required hauling it to the train station - complete with a grandma in a wheel chair. We thankfully were able to catch our train with only a minute or two to spare.

Stefan and I decided to stop at the St. Peter's Stiftskeller for lunch. This is one of the oldest restaurants in all of Europe and dates back to 803! On one of my tours, a few weeks ago, I had a couple who invited me to lunch there, however I had already been invited by another couple to another place, so I had to turn them down. (Bummer!)

After their lunch they were raving about the schnitzels. The woman was telling me she had the veal schnitzel and she was so impressed she was asking about it and they said they have a special schnitzel oven. Most schnitzels are made in a pan with way too much oil, so I try to avoid them... and I don't eat veal, although I will on occasion eat poultry, which they also have.

We both ordered a schnitzel today and I still think mine are better, although these were decent. I think I'm just a sucker for home made food, even if I have to be the cook. I make my own - from scratch, using this schnitzel recipe. If we have a loaf of bread that needs to go I will use that, and if not I use panko (Japanese bread crumbs). We usually eat ours with Heinz curry ketchup instead of making the sauce. You can make them to celebrate your own Oktoberfest at home.

camera zoom

This past week I joined one of our groups down to Neuschwanstein - the fairytale castle that Germany is so well known for. Can you believe it would have costed roughly $280 Million / 200€ Million to build now?

I was able to try out my camera's mega-zoom and was really impressed with the results. This camera is also capable of panoramas (like my Olympus stylus verve), so I included that as well. The photos are scaled down because they were too big to upload!

It appears as though Christo + Jeanne-Claude got ahold of it, but it's just undergoing renovations.

Here's another one of Hohenschwangau - the castle that was the summer home of the Wittelsbach family.

It looks like I'll be able to take a lot of fun photos during our trip.

maps + map tacks

Part of the fun of a trip is the suspense before hand. Then again it gets slightly overwhelming knowing that we are leaving only 2 months from today and have quite a few necessities to take care of.

This weekend we stopped at Kaut-Bullinger, a stationery shop here in Munich, to pick up some map tacks. I'm a visual person, so it helps to mark where we've been and where we are heading.

Every time we think we have our route figured out we seem to change something. Now it appears Star Alliance has changed things. Fortunately their new website is much more user friendly, although curiously the price for our itinerary is now higher - by 400€. Thankfully we already have our quote reserved, so we can use that extra money for other things. Our last changes are going into effect and we'll be booking our tickets this week!!

We're thinking that we might keep our route a secret, although I will say that we will be visiting many of our dream destinations.

If you really enjoy maps and need specialty markers, check out Map Center. I'm already thinking of the myriad of uses for the large assortment they have.

In other map related news, I just illustrated some maps for a historical fiction book that will soon be for sale. I am very excited about that too.

Salzburg in the summer

We have had a dreadfully rainy summer here.

Even so, it's still nice to accompany tourists on their first visit to Salzburg. The city doesn't miss a beat, even when the weather isn't exactly cooperating.

Here are a few details from my most recent trips:

The cathedral is finally finished its facelift and the scaffolding is gone. The printed ads for the radio or of scantily clad women in swimsuits have made way for a refurbished 17th century Baroque façade and the angels crowning the Virgin Mary are once again visible.

Others are still searching for peace. There was an Iranian demonstration that brought tears to my eyes. Seeing the images of Neda Agha-Soltan and simply knowing how many people have been displaced breaks my heart. There's so much violence and struggle for the freedoms that many take for granted.

Fortunately there are small details that offer a bit of hope from the evils people put upon each other. Jaume Plensa has an interesting piece of work in the Residenz courtyard, which is aptly titled 'We'. You may be familiar with his Crown Fountain at the Millennium Park in Chicago.

'We' is made from powder coated steel and has letters and characters from various languages, which he says create building blocks for words and thoughts. I always appreciate how art can often transcend things that language barriers cannot.

I think this piece of work would have been better appreciated in a large open area, where many people would be sure to see it.

At the Residenzplatz were the ever present horses waiting to work. Horses always remind me of Austria, probably because they are present both in Salzburg and, of course, at the Spanish riding school in Vienna.

Mozartplatz

At the Auer Dult I found a fantastic old book about Salzburg. It's given me so much more information to include on my tours that I haven't found anywhere else. The information is probably more exciting for me than my tour groups, because I actually get to see the excavations and changes.

I can always tell if people are interested in the topic by how much their eyes are glazing over or if they wander off to take photos. Often times English is not their mother language or they do not speak English very well, so I'm sure it's exhausting for them to take everything in.

Something new that I learned: During one of the WWII bombings (16 occured from 1944-1945) that destroyed 40% of the city, Mozartplatz was hit, however it also revealed 6 foot thick walls of a Roman temple beneath the ground. There was also an inscription stating 'Here lies happiness, let no evil enter'. This city really has so much history and I wish it came with glass floors.

These are the things I ponder while I admire the little details and enjoy Demel ice cream at Mozartplatz (this time I had raspberry and grapefruit basil). If you go to Salzburg you must try their ice cream - it's nothing short of amazing. The flavors are as intense as the colors, but they are not saccharine or overly sweet. Even my tourists full heartedly agreed that it's delicious.

All of the small things do make Salzburg feel like a city where a musical could burst out on the street at any minute - and not just because of the Sound of Music. The blue skies, the little birds, the open plazas, the colorful flowers, and the charming cafés give it a movie set feeling.

First Tour of the Season

Even though I have been giving tours to Salzburg for nearly two years, I love going back. Not only do I get to meet interesting tourists from all around the world, I also get to appreciate the different restaurants and changing beauty.

The Mirabell Gardens are blooming and absolutely perfect at this time of year. Everyone was out enjoying the flowers and the sun. The reactions of the tourists are priceless. They are intrigued by The Sound of Music, Mozart, and the fact that this is my job.

My other favorite aspect is stopping at Demel for their amazing pastries. Since the weather is warming up they currently have ice cream and sorbets as well, which are very very good. Today I had green apple and blueberry, although I'm sure I'll work my way through their rotation.

If you live in the area you definitely should consider a day trip - just look at those flowers! If you go, be sure to check out my Salzburg Visitor's Guide with all of my favorite places to visit.

Neuschwanstein isn't in Salzburg?

I had an interesting tour in Salzburg today. You're probably thinking to yourself, 'When is it not?' That is the thought that I have whenever I come home and simply laugh as I reflect on my day.

Sometimes I am truly amazed at people and this job, much like teaching, it always leaves me with something new to consider. I have to say they give me material for my future tours, when I give random warnings that I never would imagine happening, until of course they do. It's always something, which makes going to work really exciting for me.

Here is today's new experience:

As we were leaving the train station I turned around to make sure there weren't any stragglers that were getting lost. You would be amazed at how easy it is to lose adults.

It was then that I noticed an Italian woman who I thought had paid for the Neuschwanstein tour. I picked her out of the bunch and asked her if she was sure she was going to Salzburg, 'Yes' was her response. Fair enough, she knows what ticket she bought and where she wanted to spend her day.

On we go... and 2 hours later we arrive in Salzburg. Yes, Salzburg the home of Mozart, that is located in Austria, a completely different country.

I get to the middle of the tour, right in front of Mozart's birth home, when she says, 'What about the castle that I paid to go into?' I tried with everything I had to take a deep breath and then I said, 'You came on the wrong tour'. I asked to see her receipt to verify and sure enough she did.

She still did not seem to entirely grasp that there would be no castle tour, unless she cared to visit the largest fortress in Austria. I demonstrated with my hands 6 inches apart, that Füssen is here, where my left hand is, and Salzburg is here, where my right hand is. Not close to each other at all.

She continued to ask me questions and I was so appreciative when the Italian family chimed in, in Italian, that there in fact, would be no visit to Neuschwanstein today, it was too late and she came on the wrong tour. She really didn't seem too taken aback, especially after I reassured her that we'd get her 9€ castle entry refunded.

Minutes later the older couple from Australia tells me, 'We've been traveling all around Europe, and the Italians are the only people we've encountered that we didn't like.'

I really should have enjoyed my free time with a glühwein or two. I'm definitely not in America anymore when I can drink on the job and it's acceptable. Days like this definitely make me appreciate that.

Instead, I went shopping for my cousins and bought the adorable wooden pens I mentioned last week.

Not all was lost, the Italian woman came back with full shopping bags. I'm sure her husband would have preferred if she went to Neuschwanstein.

My Royal Twin

Today I had a Swedish couple on my tour. After we were walking along one of them stopped and told me that I looked like HRH the Crown Princess Victoria (also from Sweden). I nervously laughed and she said it was a compliment. I commented that my mother in law has also said the same.

I don't think we look that much alike, and I never got stopped while we were in Sweden. I guess it's just a similarity in our face shape and dark features.

For the rest of the tour I noticed they were slyly trying to take photos of me. I hope that I don't end up in the Swedish yellow press.

(image miss maude)

autumn's end

I'm fearing this is the last week before colder temperatures come for good. While I don't mind completely, I will be sad to see the beautiful foliage come to and end... and for the days to get shorter.

I have been very fortunate considering I was able to spend some time in the beautiful Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg. I can't get enough of the horticulture and the colors of the changing leaves. It's really something special.