South Africa has always been on my travel wish list - thinking of an exotic safari and perhaps some beautiful beaches. After our trip to Kenya, this got put on the back burner, since we had our safari adventure for the year (or perhaps lifetime!)

However, 2 months after my trip to Kenya, my luck self was back on a plane over Africa headed towards South Africa.

To be honest, I did have a stop in Johannesburg (or Joburg as almost everyone calls it), but it wasn't long enough to admire anything other than the terrible traffic and the inside of the airport for 3 hours because of a flight delay.

And while I made it to my hotel at 1 am, with a 5 am wake-up call the next day, my first views of Cape Town were magical. Driving in at night, you can still see the outlines of the mountain looming in the background, and hear the crash of the waves. My hotel, Camps Bay Retreat, had a rope suspension bridge that I had to walk across to get to the room, almost making me feel like I was on a jungle retreat.

Over the next three days, despite a large lack of sleep and very busy work day, I made the most of my time in Cape Town.

The first two days were spent close to "home" at Camps Bay. In my jetlagged state on the first day, I only made it down to the beach, but could have stayed for hours. It was a popular destination in the evening, with everyone from families, to couples, to people with their pups enjoying the beautiful weather (although not the water which is apparently always frigid).

We joined the ranks as we walked along the shore, climbed some rocks for a better view of the beach, then had dinner close by where we could watch the sunset over the water.

The next day was a stop to one of the main attractions in Cape Town - Table Mountain. As I was by myself, I took the cable car up, trying to ignore the heights and grateful that it got us to the top so quickly. I had planned to only stay up to snap a few photos, then head back to the beach, but after seeing the views, I knew it would be more than a pit stop.

I wandered along the front side of the mountain facing the see first, with beautiful views of the ocean, the city, Signal Hill and even Robbin's Island. Then I headed towards the backside of the mountain, with views still beautiful, although less protected by rails, so a tad bit scary for this girl with a fear of heights.


Walking back towards the front, I saw a 'table cloth' beginning to drape one of the mountains closer to the see, a phenomenon which gave the mountain its name. In the distance, was the Cape Point. I was wishing now that I had some good hiking shoes to join the others in heading that direction.  Since I wasn't so prepared, I took a seat (and a selfie) and just enjoyed the views before it was time for me to head back to the hotel for my braiia, a South African bbq feast on my last night in Cape Town.

Sometimes, it's good to remind yourself of how lucky you are and what a great situation you are in.

As an expat, it's easy to get into a routine just like you would in Dallas, or Houston or wherever in the world it is. Work on the weekdays, sleeping in on weekends, laundry, hanging out with friends. Sounds like fun?

But sometimes, as an expat, it's good to get a refresher for yourself on how fantastic your new home is and why you chose to live there.

With this, we've been making an effort to get out and see London! All of the well known tourist sites and some of the less known ones.

A few weekends ago, as the summer wound down to an end, we chose to see one of the most popular tourist sites - Buckingham Palace. As it was the second to last weekend of its opening, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

And while we were out, we went all out. We decided to visit Parliament too.

Bad news - no photos at any (bummer!).

Good news - both were some great places to visit.

First up, the Houses of Parliament.  This building had a whole history I didn't know about! Before becoming a government building, it was actually a royal palace.  Construction began in the 11th century under Edward the Confessor as a palace, so that he could oversee the construction of the nearby Westminster Abbey.  It was used for several centuries, as the true parliament began to unfold under the rule of the Plantagenets (Henry II - Richard III). Disasterously (and despite exclamations of the risks from others), the buildings of Parliament caught fire in 1834.

Westminster Hall - built in 1097 before the palace; one of the only buildings that survived the fire

So, unlike so many other things in London, the Houses of Parliament are relatively new!  Construction of the new palace began in 1840, after the gothic design was chosen from 97 entries from around the world. The successful designer was Charles Barry, with Augustus Pugin lending more of his input on the interior fixtures. While most of the building was done in 1860, the building of Parliament wasn't completely finished until 1870. However, when you walk through, you don't for one minute feel like you're in a building that could be deemed contemporary - it seems like you step back in time, with the vaulted ceilings, ornate tapestries, and paintings that were supposed to rival the Sistine Chapel. You can imagine the good old men, sitting around talking, smoking, alughing and dreaming up big things for England.

Credit

Credit

As a resident of the UK, we have the chance to explore more of Parliament, if we write to our MP for tickets to sit in on session (including talks with the PM) or to climb to the top of Big Ben.

After a snack in the cafe at Parliament (where you can get a cuppa and scones!), we made our way up to Buckingham Palace.

The palace is only open 2 months of the year, while the Queen is out on holiday, or most likely visiting her home in Scotland. When she's away, they open up the State Rooms where visitors would be hosted to all of us who wouldn't have the opportunity otherwise. (Tip - book in advance!! You can also get tickets to tour the gardens, but these sell out early).

The State Dining Rooms Credit

While you have to queue to get in, once you get inside the building, it's a bit of a free-for-all as it is a self-guided tour. You can tell what's most popular as the tourists all push forward to get a peek at something the audio guide points out as important. I would probably have found the whole visit to be less than impressive if it weren't for the Coronation exhibit.

The Blue Drawing Room Credit

 With 60 years on the throne, the palace had a display on to celebrate the affair. Everything from the gowns and jewels worn on the day, to paintings to completed to commemorate the event, to recreations of the dinner table for the feast.  The best part of it (besides the clothes) were all the videos of the coronation itself and the excitement on the streets of London. As the first coronation to be captured on film, it's amazing to see things that can be described, but somehow only truly captured through the video.

After we made it through the rooms spanning 2 floors, we headed out the back, through the gardens to the real London. Perhaps, someday, I'll be back to explore more of Buckingham, and if I'm lucky, outside the State Room tour.

View of Buckingham Palace as we exited

Paul loves surprises. He loves surprises so much, he can't wait the surprise out. So rather than wait until my birthday or Christmas, he tells you about the surprise right away! I can't help but love his excitement about the whole thing.

For our anniversary, we decided to take a weekend trip to celebrate, since we have been in the process of moving countries for the last two years. And, to complicate the thing, we decided Paul would plan it all and it would be to a destination unknown to me!

I loved the idea at first - so much fun and suspense. Then the trip got closer, and I realised, I am not someone good to surprise. I asked lots of questions - what's the weather like, do I need my passport, is it a new country, will it be the beach, city or outdoors? Needless to say, Paul wasn't pleased, but kept the secret underwraps.

So finally, on our anniversary, I come home, having decided we are probably going to Cinque Terra, only to be told we'll be going to Salzburg!

I was excited. A new country and one thing I have been talking about since we moved to Europe - The Sound of Music Tour.

Our trip got off to a rough start after we missed our connecting flight to Salzburg, but we finally made it, just a few more hours later than expected. It was too late to go sightseeing, but we still wandered around the city centre a bit, finally stumbling upon a great little restaraunt for beer, goulash & dumplings.

Getreidegasse Street

 The next day was the main event - The Sound of Music! Paul had arranged this in advance, but rather than taking the typical bus tour, we took the bike tour. It was a great way to see the city, and very easy biking minus the one hill up to the abbey. It also meant we got to get off the bikes and get up closer than you would have in a bus.

Mirabell Gardens with Hohensalzburg Cathedral in the background

St. Peter's Cathedral - they weren't allowed to film SoM here but the producers recreated this cemetery in the studio

It was interesting to learn about how the film was shot, and some odd ways of going about it. For example, they used the front of one house (by the tree lined lane), but the back of another for the river & patio shots. And some things, like the intro scene and tree climbing, weren't even filmed in Salzburg, but the Lake District, which is a bit of a drive away.

The front of the Sound of Music house. It is now a music school

And don't worry, I found a few opportunities to do a sing along.

That night, we enjoyed music of a more classical nature. We took the cable car up to Fortress for a classical music concert. Salzburg is proud to be the birthplace of Mozart, although Mozart much preferred Vienna to his hometown of Salzburg. The concert was in the state room at the top of the fortress and was wonderful - not just Mozart, but several of the classics. We wrapped the night up at a roof top bar overlooking the fortress and river.

The State Room before the orchestra came in

The city from the fortress at nightfall

We decided to spend it at Untersberg, yet another cable car ride up a mountain. This one was quite a bit steeper than I would have preferred, but gave great views of the city. Unfortunately, the mist was rolling in our way up, so we didn't get the best views of the day. The mountain is a popular place to hike and houses all types of interesting natural attractions, including ice caverns.

View from the top of Untersburg

The end of our time in Salzburg came too soon, but we grabbed one last beer and some local food before we had to head back to London.

What to see
- City Centre: it is a classic European city centre, and company enough you can walk.
- Mirabell Palace: this palaces best views are from it's beautifully sculpted gardens.
- Hohensalzburg: hike up, or follow our lead and take the cable car to the top. There may be tours during the day, which are your best bet to get a better history of this fortress. The views can't be beat.
- Hellbrunn Palace: we made it out here to see the Sound of Music pavillion, but didn't have time to go in to see the trick fountains, which are supposed to be quite fun.
- St. Peter's Cathedral: this church has an interesting and beautiful cemetery (which they recreated in the Sound of Music's hollywood set), and some crypts which we didn't make it to. Right by the entrance is Salzburg's oldest bakery.

It's hard to explain Texas to my British friends. How to tell them about our pride in our state, from the size to our history to our weird traditions like mums, high school football and the State Fair?

I told you before about our Euro-trip for Paul's graduation. Three weeks jaunting around on vacation.

Then came my graduation - a slightly less grand scale, due to the fact that Paul was working and low on vacation, plus I had to start beginning of June. Therefore, 4 days in California.

For some reason, California has always held a certain appeal for me - perhaps it's the film industry (as a film major, although perhaps not aficionado), the climate, although I think after my lessons in Istanbul, it's probably the water.  Regardless of why, I was excited for my first time in California.

We stayed in Union Square, in the middle of it all. Perhaps Paul's nightmare with all the shops surrounding it, including a Tiffany's. This was a great place to stay in the city, and gave us easy access to get around to all the sites.

We checked out Fisherman's Wharf to see the famous seals and have some true San Fran fare - clam chowder in the sourdough bread bowl (or chicken noodle soup in my case). The wharf is a fantastic place to walk around and people watch as well.  We walked around to the Ghiradelli shop as well, happy to sample some chocolates and buy some to take back.


We also took the ferry over to Alcatraz and get a tour of the famous prison. You can get an audio guide to tour you around the inside of the building and point out the most famous parts, including the recreation of the prison break-out.  Outside of the prison, it is weird to see the beauty of it now, with some parts in disarray, but having been taken over by flowers or local plants. You also get some great views looking back towards the city.



To break-up the sightseeing, we spent the next day on a trip up to Napa. There are plenty of options for day trips out there (the wine buses), but luckily we knew someone in the area, so we had a ride up there. We checked out several wineries, including Pine Ridge (which is where I found my favourite white wine), Silverado, Cliff Lede (great champagne) and St. Supery, where we got a tour of the wine making process. I wouldn't have called myself a wine fan at the time, although my tastes have since evolved, but even if you aren't a fan of drinking, the views in the area are fantastic.



For our last day in San Fran, we saved the best for last. We had found a tour that took you around to the famous sites from movies throughout the city. Everything from Mrs. Robinson & Full House, to the famous car chase of Bullitt, to Lucas Studios in Presidio. For a  movie major and fan, it was fantastic to get a glimpse of the real life sets.


We spent the rest of the afternoon on bikes, wandering around the city and biking (halfway) across the Golden Gate Bridge. We got a last glimpse of the water and city skyline before heading back to the airport.  There's something about that city that captured my imagination and heart.