Where in the world is...Strasbourg, France?

Maybe this one was a bit too difficult...there is no winner this month.  I am so sad!  We did have some good guesses though, one of which was Amsterdam.  That however was not it...No, the photo was taken in Strasbourg, France!

This photogenic town is just over the German border and is filled with things to do!  From tree lined canals begging you to take their picture, to the historic La Petite France neighborhood you won't be bored in Strasbourg, however you may want to be aware when ordering sausage salads.

Where in the world...

Okay, it's been a few weeks since we have had this little competition, and I have picked a difficult one.  I think that I will now hold the "Where in the World" competition on the first Friday of the month, and there will be prizes involved!!  The first "follower" to answer correctly with both the city and the country, wins 1 months 125x125 ad space!  And for those of you who don't have a blog to advertise, there will be a little something in it for you as well!  Remember,  you must answer on Blog, not FB or Twitter, and the answer will be posted on Sunday...So get to guessing!

And a special shout out to Chantal over at Scattered Seashells who is a new sponsor on "It's About Taking the Journey!"

Take a minute to smell the tulips!

One of my favorite Spring day trips that we have taken while living in Dusseldorf is just a few hours into The Netherlands to Keukenhof Gardens!  Open this year from March 21st-May 20th, this 32 hectare garden is the "most photographed place in the world!" It doesn't just have tulips either...there are over 7 million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths all in bloom at the same time!  Take a peak at the flowers in bloom and make sure you stop and smell the tulips at the Keukenhof Gardens if you get the chance!

Oh and you must try the ham and mustard sandwich, it is to die for!!

Where is your favorite Spring day trip?

If You Could Go Anywhere...

Photo courtesy of Thinkstock

Happy Earth Day!

Remember to take care of our planet, it's the only one we've got!

If you could go anywhere on Earth, where would it be?  

Would it be one of these "nearly extinct" destinations?

I think that I would have to go to The Arctic!

Fairy pools, Whisky and Sheep...

After Inverness we ventured to the Isle of Skye.  It seemed as if we were driving to the end of the world, and a world away from the rest of Scotland as we drove onto this island.  I wondered to myself if I could still hold onto the ROCK STAR status that I had achieved?  Gone were the city views and endless forests, before us we only saw bright blue water, green fields, black rocks and more sheep then I have ever in my life seen.

The Isle of Skye is a big island and there is not much between villages...aside from amazing scenery and gorgeous hikes!  One such hike is to the fairy pools...

I was a bit disappointed that the grass wasn't a bit greener and could only imagine how amazing this hike would be in the summer.  I really didn't need to worry though because the boys thoroughly enjoyed climbing over rocks and exploring the pools, at one point even asking to get in!

The next stop on our day and not far from the fairy pools was a whisky tour at the Talisker Whisky Distillery..  On the way to take our tour we met the Isle's locals and were very confused as to why they were all following a red truck...

Yes, those are sheep and every single one of those little white dots is following the feed truck.  And, the narrow little road that the feed truck is on, is the narrow little road that gets us to our whisky tour...what to do?  Well, of course we carried on...

The locals weren't too thrilled that we were disrupting their dinner, however they did let us by.

This distillery is located at the edge of Loch Harport and is the only distillery on the Isle of Skye.  We took a very informative hour long tour that even the kids enjoyed...my oldest due to the fact that he thought he would get a tasting at the end...hey, who am I to tell him otherwise; it kept him quiet.  At the end of the tour, the adults did get to taste this "peet" tasting whisky.  I however had to pass as it took me back to the days when my grandma used to give me honey and whisky for my cough...maybe she was trying to keep me quiet???

After a long day of exploring the Isle, we headed off to our Bed & Breakfast Carters Rest.  As this was the end of our holiday, we were really looking for somewhere to relax, and "chill" out before heading back to Dusseldorf.  Well, we found it here.  Julie and Steve Carter, the owners of this amazing B&B did everything they could to make us feel welcome.  They helped us with ideas of what to see on our way in, made the little expats feel right at home, and even woke up early on our departure day to make us yet another amazing home cooked breakfast!  I have to say, there is nothing better than free range eggs straight from your backyard, and Julie knows how to cook them!

We enjoyed as much as we could on this island in the short amount of time that we had.  We hiked, explored the rugged terrain and coastline, and enjoyed beautiful sunsets.

Thank you Isle of Skye, Inverness and Edinburgh as well as all of the tours and hosts that gave me my ROCK STAR status with my family!  And thank you for all of the memories....we will be back!

I feel a long way from home...

Once again I sit in front of my television, a half a world away, and watch as my country reels from a horrible attack.  A horrific man went into a movie theater last summer and shot people as they simply watched a movie.  In December, a psychotic individual locked a school door behind him and massacred innocent children and teachers.  And now this;  Runners attempting to reach the finish line after months of training.  Simply spending a spring day doing what they loved doing, and their loved ones supporting them, affected forever!

I tell my children that there is bad in the world.  Bad things do happen, there are bad people, but there are also really, really good people.  The people who have opened their homes to the displaced runners, the people who carried bloodied individuals, that they had never even met, to safety.  The police and first responders who at no point thought of their own safety but went directly into the "line of fire" to help the victims.  And the medical personnel who have described it as the "worst carnage" they have ever seen, for treating and comforting the victims.

Since 9-11, the people of the U.S. have grown a bit tougher, a bit more aware of what's happening around us and we will get through this just as we have in the past.  We will teach our children that they "can make more light" in this world, and that no terrorist either foreign or domestic can maim that light, or the light in our hearts.  For I believe the people with "light" in their hearts, outnumber the people with "darkness" in theirs!

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Boston!

Searching for the Loch Ness Monster!

Our next adventure on my ROCK STAR tour of Scotland was Inverness.  I was convinced that this would be the "best part" of our holiday.  That is until the lady at a boutique in St. Andrews informed me, in front of everyone in my family,  that Inverness was a granite jungle and that we would hate it!  Great, thanks a bunch for that comment lady.  Maybe her Mom hadn't told her "if you have nothing nice to say..."  Oh well, she would not put a damper on this trip;  the sun was shining and as of then, I was still holding onto my ROCK STAR status!

So, off we went.  For this portion of our trip I had us staying at an amazing country house complete with fishing ponds, grounds for hiking and the "piece de resistance" a hot tub...Oh no, I forgot the swimsuits!!  That didn't stop the boys!  Boxer shorts, swimsuits, what's the difference?

For our first outing we were hunting for a glimpse of "Nessie" on the famous Loch Ness!  It was a sunny but cool day when we headed out on the Jacobite cruise for a tour of the Loch and exploration of the Loch's Urquhart Castle.  It was a perfect combination of time exploring the Loch and time running through the castle ruins and burning some energy.  And although we never did spot "Nessie", we had an amazing day; the weather also co-operated and made for some great pictures!

The next day was ALL BOY, for we were going fly fishing!  I have to tell you, at this point my thoughts were of having a really good mani/pedi and even possibly a massage.  Wonder if they would notice if I snuck out?

"Mom, aren't you excited?" the little Expat asked me about 1,000 times that morning.

"Soooo excited honey!" I replied about 1,000 times!

"We are going to catch dinner, you just wait."  the older Expat informed me.

I hate to burst my kids bubble, but I had heard this many a times before, and every time we went fishing we ended up eating McDonald's!

But, thanks to the kind folks at the location we were staying, connecting us with David Mateer , after 4 hours of fly fishing...both of the little Expats caught not one, but two gorgeous rainbow trout.  We indeed would have fish for dinner!

Inverness in my opinion was in no way like the boutique lady explained.  This gorgeous part of the Scottish Highlands was full of hiking, gorgeous scenery around every corner, and the promise of Spring...

Next stop on the ROCK STAR tour...The Isle of Skye!