Albums from the year 2006
Wilco in San Antonio33 photos · Taken October 13, 2006Than and I went to see a Wilco at the Lonestar Pavilion in San Antonio. It was Friday the 13th, but that didn't scare us away from exploring downtown a little before the show!
Austin City Limits 200665 photos · Taken September 16, 2006Than and I joined Kreuter, Sarah, and Ted in three full days of smoldering heat, fun, and really awesome music. I caught Guster, discovered KT Tunstall and the Thievery Corporation, and witnessed the lead singer of the Flaming Lips crowd surf in a bubble over my head (among many, many other things). Others: Iron and Wine, Aimee Mann, the Raconteurs, the Shins, Gnarls Barkley, Van Morrison, Matisyahu (and a bit of Willie Nelson).
Moving to Austin97 photos · Taken August 1, 2006My adventures getting to Austin, and then some. Iowa farms, my first time driving across the Mississippi river, Memphis, Little Rock, the Clinton Library, and of course, Austin.
London70 photos · Taken June 1, 2006Finally, our last stop before heading back home! I won't pretend that we weren't exhausted and traveled-out by now, but we still managed to fill our five days packed full of stuff, including Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guard, Arsenal's old Highbury stadium, St. Paul's, Chinatown, lots of galleries and museums, and of course, Rachel!
Ghent22 photos · Taken May 27, 2006On our train ride back to Brussels from Bruges, we took a quick stop at Ghent, where we mainly walked around and admired sights like the Gravensteen (cool medieval fortress). We went into the St-Baafskathedraal hoping to catch the Mystic Lamb, but unfortunately we missed out.
Bruges43 photos · Taken May 27, 2006Our second day in Belgium was a day trip to Bruges. We spent the first part of the day around the central Markt and Burg before walking around the grounds of the Beguinage. Yes, it was a bit drizzly.
Brussels70 photos · Taken May 26, 2006After being pampered by Than's aunt Pam in Amsterdam for 10 days, we arrived in Brussels with some renewed energy. Memorable stops include the Grand-Place, the Comic Strip museum, the Atomium, the Mannekin Pis, and Belgian waffles (yum yum).
Amsterdam80 photos · Taken May 25, 2006Amsterdam was more like a rest stop for us. After over a month and a half of hard core traveling, we were really, really tired. Thankfully we had Than's aunt Pam, who so graciously pampered and fed us. She lives practically in Chinatown and only a couple of blocks from the red light district, so we were in a prime location. That didn't stop us from sleeping in late everyday, playing futbol with Than's cousin Jaap, and venturing out to the country to see the windmills and experience some horizontal wind (and lots of sand in the eyes and mouth). We still fit in some of the touristy things - the Rembrandt and Ann Frank museums.
Cologne35 photos · Taken May 19, 2006Our last stop in Germany was Cologne and its famous, crazily ornate cathedral. We also visited a chocolate museum (yum yum yum).
Berlin99 photos · Taken May 16, 2006Berlin was one of our favorite stops, mostly because of its recent history and how the city is still re-establishing itself since WWII and the Berlin Wall. We took a "free" walking tour with a very-animated guide, ventured to the 1932 Olympic stadium (where they were prepping for the World Cup), explored the museums, and let it all soak in.
Munich77 photos · Taken May 12, 2006In Munich, I rode a bicycle for the first time in 17 years (via the highly-recommended Mike's Bike Tours) - believe me, I was a bit rusty. Also: ate very yummy food at beer gardens and went swimming in probably the coolest public swimming pool ever.
Dachau18 photos · Taken May 12, 2006While in Munich, we took a day trip to Dachau, the site of the first regular concentration camp established by the Nazis.
Innsbruck39 photos · Taken May 10, 2006In the middle of our train ride from Zell am See to Munich, we stopped by Innsbruck for a few hours. We mainly walked around the city, going atop a couple of towers, visiting a palace, seeing the "Golden Roof", and walking along the river.
Zell am See13 photos · Taken May 9, 2006Than and I had a brilliant idea that we spend a few days in Zell am See, a small town alongside a beautiful lake, for less city and more nature. Unfortunately for us, nice weather did not coincide with our visit. At least we got to meet an old Munich man biking across Europe and eat dinner with a huge group of Germany skiers every night!
Salzburg86 photos · Taken May 8, 2006Salzburg was one of our favorite places of the entire trip. Breathtaking mountains, beautiful river and gardens, a cool castle, and a restaurant that was founded in 803. Plus, Mozart was born there, and of course, "the hills are alive, with the Sound of Music!"
Berchtesgaden10 photos · Taken May 6, 2006We took a quick stop at Berchtesgaden on the way from Vienna to Salzburg, where we go to take a short hike in the woods (alongside a crystal-clear creek).
Vienna59 photos · Taken May 5, 2006We took our first (and only) overnight train to get from Venice to Vienna. Luckily, no one else booked a bed in our 6-bed cabin, so we had it all to ourselves! Highlights were the usual for a European city: cathedrals, palaces, and pretty gardens.
Venice99 photos · Taken May 3, 2006Early May wasn't early enough to beat tourist crowds in Venice, but it was still one of the highlight stops of the entire trip. The water was beautiful, water taxis were fun, and we got to visit almost all the islands. Plus yummy gelato and HUGE pizzas from Pizza al Volo.
Florence50 photos · Taken April 30, 2006As expected, the Duomo and the David were the highlights of Florence. Unfortunately, I managed to get sick while we were here.
Rome197 photos · Taken April 26, 2006Rome was awesome... and just plain overwhelming. The amount of history and the grandness of the sights completely blew me away. The Coliseum, the Pantheon (after which Thomas Jefferson modeled UVA's Rotunda), Vatican City, the Trevi Fountain... We spent six days here, one of our longest stays of the trip, and it wasn't NEARLY enough to see everything we wanted to see. Guess we'll have to go back!
Barcelona136 photos · Taken April 22, 2006Barcelona, with its Gaudi architecture and Catalan history, was our favorite city in Spain.
Toledo51 photos · Taken April 18, 2006While we were in Madrid, we took a day trip to the hilltop town of Toledo, which was an hour's bus ride away. Things were a bit expensive here, but there were some interesting architecture and breathtaking views.
Madrid65 photos · Taken April 18, 2006The overnight bus we took from Lisbon was no fun, but that didn't dampen our Madrid experience. We stayed in our first hostel of the trip, where we roomed with two super nice Californians. The highlight here was definitely the bullfight.
Lisbon156 photos · Taken April 14, 2006Lisbon was probably the city in which we did the most walking. Very hilly walking too. We saw the Sao Jorge castle and the Jeronimos Monastery and explored almost all the sights around.
Porto59 photos · Taken April 11, 2006Our first stop in Portugal was the port city Porto. This was probably where we encountered the most sketchy activities of all the places we went - this included some guy puking in a stairwell. That didn't really bother us, as we were very impressed with the main Sao Bento train station and the Stock Exchange (which was really a government palace).
Salamanca63 photos · Taken April 9, 2006We took a bus from Valladolid to Salamanca, a college city with one of the four oldest universities in Europe (founded 1218). Its famous cathedral is actually two cathedrals built next to each other, the old cathedral and new cathedral (1140 and 1733 respectively). Here we were taken care of (and fed lots) by Nancy, an old high school friend of Than's parents. The Plaza Mayor was extremely beautiful.
Valladolid18 photos · Taken April 6, 2006We stayed only one night in Valladolid, and I admit that we ended up here because it was one of the cheapest Ryanair flights out of London. We still did some exploring, and it being only our second full day in Europe, I was still fascinated by the difference in architecture from the US.
London8 photos · Taken April 5, 2006Our plane landed in the morning at London, and there I took my first steps on European soil. Even though we were extremely tired and jetlagged, we still dropped the British Museum and the British Library.
Baltimore and Meadville55 photos · Taken March 26, 2006Before heading off to Europe for two months, Than and I took a small roadtrip through Baltimore and Meadville, PA to visit Dan (in Baltimore) and Jonathan and Teresa (in Meadville). I got to see my first-ever Great Lake (that would be Eerie) and a whole lot of dead fish. Also: it was very, very cold.
Great Smoky Mountains71 photos · Taken March 12, 2006The last stop of our Florida roadtrip was the Great Smoky Mountains national park, where we camped for a few nights and hiked a pretty icy Appalachian Trail. On our drive back to Virginia, we stopped by Asheville, NC.
Atlanta16 photos · Taken March 9, 2006After Florida we rested in Atlanta, GA, chillin' with Peff, Teela, and John.
Fort DeSoto77 photos · Taken February 27, 2006Using Fred's suggestion, we camped in Fort DeSoto (just southwest of St. Petersburg) for two nights and visited St. Petersburg for a day. The campground was really nice, super windy, and full of racoons.
Sarasota85 photos · Taken February 26, 2006In Sarasota we ventured to the Ringling Museums - the Museum of Art, the Circus Museum, and Ca D'zan (the mansion).
Ocho Rios, Jamaica95 photos · Taken February 23, 2006Ocho Rios was our favorite stop. We signed up for one of the cruise packages, which was a combination of a tour of Prospect Plantation and climbing Dunn's River Falls.
Caribbean Cruise73 photos · Taken February 18, 2006Than had never been on a cruise before, so we booked a week-long cruise on Carnival that departed from Miami and stopped at Cozumel (Mexico), Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios (Jamaica). We enjoyed the beaches at Cozumel and Grand Cayman, where we snorkeled off the shore and saw crazy fish and even a wild stingray. As for the cruise itself, we got lucky and landed a twice-as-big oceanview handicap room and, of course, ate some really, really good food. Ocho Rios pictures are in a separate album.
The Everglades97 photos · Taken February 16, 2006We camped at the Long Pine Key campground in the Everglades National Park for two nights after the Keys. It was really awesome. We saw a ton of wildlife, including a bunch of gators, many species of birds, some crocodiles, some interesting plants, and even manatees. No showers, though.
The Keys62 photos · Taken February 14, 2006After staying in hotels a few nights, we camped in Florida for the first time at the Fiesta Key KOA. We stayed there two nights, taking a day trip to Key West to see Ernest Hemingway's old home, Fort Myers and the beaches. We weren't super impressed with the Keys in general, but it was still a very beautiful place (hey, it was the first time Than saw water that was blue!).
Ft. Lauderdale35 photos · Taken February 13, 2006We left Cape Canaveral early and drove down A1A towards Ft. Lauderdale, where we had booked a Motel 6. Saw some pretty nice (a.k.a. super-wealthy) homes and high rises) along with corresponding nice beaches. We also saw the King Tut exhibit at the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art, but we couldn't take a camera in, so unfortunately no pictures of that.
Cape Canaveral43 photos · Taken February 12, 2006We stayed a night in Cape Canaveral after spending a day in the John F. Kennedy Space Center. We didn't get to see a launch, but it was still pretty cool.
St. Augustine6 photos · Taken February 11, 2006We drove straight from Charleston to St. Augustine, where we ate pizza and walked around for an hour or two. Finding lodging there proved to be extremely difficult though, so we drove down toward Daytona and ended up staying in a pretty... let's say crappy hotel. But it was cool - we got to see the national monument Castillo de San Marcos, albeit in the dark!
Charleston24 photos · Taken February 10, 2006Our second stop was Charleston SC, where we stayed a night with Maddy, Than's cousin.
Chapel Hill15 photos · Taken February 7, 2006Our first stop on the trip was Chapel Hill, NC. We watched UNC lose to Duke, stopped by the Duke campus to check out their fake UVA, and just chilled.
Capitals vs. Maple Leafs18 photos · Taken February 3, 2006On my last day of work at Darden, I got a pair of last minute tickets to an NHL game from Fred, and Than and I got to go to our first pro hockey game ever. It was pretty awesome. Oh, and there are a few random pics in here as well: a bat we found in a garage + some random Darden fun.