Tag: Vacation

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Toledo Part II

Here is a quick update with a few more photos from Toledo. We summed it up pretty good in the previous post about what we did, but here are a few photos from the ride around the city. The train station in town is very impressive. All of its windows are stained glass and much of the inside is decorated with detailed colorful tiles and woodwork. We are currently in Granada and the last photo of this post is from the train ride from Madrid to Granada. Time provided I will be posting a blog update about Granada in the next day or two.

An update on the health of the family. Steve and Jon are both getting better with antibiotics. The girls in the family think that they might be catching it too but only time will tell. Right now we are all trying to get lots of sleep in between sights.

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Spain 2010 – Barcelona

W made it to Barcelona, Spain after only 7-8 hours of various delays in both Chicago and Zurich, Switzerland. The delays were mostly due with the volcanic ash clouds that are continuing to hamper air traffic across Europe. We got in to Barcelona at about 8pm on Tuesday and after being up for nearly 24 hours everyone was tired so we got a quick sandwich and called it a night.

Today we went and visited Sagrada Familia a very famous church that has been under construction for over 128 years and is not expected to be complete till 2026 if ever. It as was amazing even in its unfinished state. We also visited a very active open air food market and the Olympic site which held the summer games in 1992.

Expect more lightly processed photos along with blog updates as the trip continues as we are able to find time and an internet connection.

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Italian Vacation Update #3

Our Italian holiday continues. On Tuesday, an Italian National holiday, as we were coming down the curvy mountain road we had a tire go flat. Luckily we had a spare donut and in no time were on the road. The journey took a little longer because we drove on slower B roads but we made it to Montepulciano, a hill town.

In Montepulciano we stumbled into an old copper craftsman. He made everything out of copper and was so charming. We bought a heavy beautiful copper frying pan and are very excited to try it out. The town is very, very hilly which made it good exercise but the climbs were worth it for the amazing views of the Tuscan countryside.

The churches, basilicas, and duomos in the country are very impressive. We have seen many treasured relics as well as burial sites of many famous Italians such as Dante, Marconi, Galileo, Michelangelo, assorted popes, and others.

Although we weren’t in Siena for long, we still saw a lot of beautiful things! We stayed in a hotel connected to a sanctuary and run by nuns. The view was amazing. We spent some time at the Piazza del Campo, where the famous Palio horse race takes place. We went to the Duomo here as well which was beautiful and unique.

In Florence, or Firenze as the locals call it, Jon climbed about 450 steps up to take photos at the top of the Duomo. It was a tough climb but worth it. In the Accademia museum we saw the famous David sculpture by Michelangelo as well as many other famous unfinished works by Michelangelo.


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Italian Vacation Update #1

Here are a few photos from some of the sights that we have seen while in Rome. They are rough photos and so far I have taken about 800 photos just in Rome. The photos below are from the Vatican, Spanish Steps, and the Coliseum. Rome was very hot but here in Umbria it is much cooler, windy and a bit of rain. We are also loving the plentiful wine and fantastic food in the country. Keep checking the blog here and as we have time and internet access I will try and make a few blog posts with photos.



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Vacation in the Desert, Las Vegas, Nevada July 2008

I recently got back from a family vacation in Las Vegas. For me this vacation was extra special because it was over my 21st birthday. We flew out on my birthday and upon arriving we checked into our hotel (Ti). We had some great food over the 4 days we were there, amazing Mexican at Isla, some good Vietnamese noodle soup, Thai food at The Lotus of Siam, Some great sandwiches at Canters deli in Ti.

Gambling was interesting. I am not really a big card player and stayed away from the tables so I would leave with some money. However I found the slot machines fun. Nickel slots were great. You could put in a dollar and play for a while. The first day I put in a dollar and my mom and I played. I cashed out at $5 because we went to eat dinner. Little did I know I should have stopped here and not played anymore for the trip. I ended up spending that $5 playing slots for quite a while. Over all I ended up $-4. Not too bad because my mom ended up winning a fairly significant sum from nickel slots. Over all the family came out in positive territory.

Shows in Vegas are great. If I ever go back to Vegas I will definitely go see some more shows. We saw Wayne Brady. He had a comedy/variety show that was great. Everyone was laughing and he would pull people up on stage and base that act on the answers they provided. It was a lot of fun and a good value for the money.

Hoover Dam was really neat. Despite temps that were well into the triple digits it was fun. We were able to go down inside the dam to see some of the huge pipes that feed the massive hydroelectric generators. I was also able to take some of the best panoramic photos that I have ever taken of the dam and Lake Mead.

Below you will find many photos from the trip. Mostly the photos are of Hoover Dam and of the Strip on the flight home. Be sure to check out the gallery for more photos. Enjoy.


Las Vegas 2008 Gallery

Hoover Dam Panoramic

Lake from the Dam Panoramic

Lake Mead Panoramic

Lake Mead HDR

Inside Hoover Dam

Hotel Ti

The Strip from the air

The Strip from the air

Downtown Las Vegas

Show Girl Fun