Quick recap: We got absolutely soaked photographing waterfalls, saw a few iguanas, had a beach all to ourselves, snorkeled in protected waters and ate some delicious food. Photos coming soon!

You know how, most of the time, when you stop to look at birds they scatter or fly away? Well… sometimes they make a beeline right for you.

I actually had to back away from this character because my camera wouldn’t focus that close!

These American Coots were all over the Bahia property and me taking photos of them did nothing to curb their appetite for the clover flowers.

It’s been a crazy year in a lot of ways, so here’s a quick recap of what Eric, Riesling and I have been up to this year…

January—Eric started a new job at Syngenta Biotech and I celebrated the first anniversary of my web design business. Obama was inaugurated and it snowed in NC.

February—We enjoyed many beaches in St Maarten.

March—Visited friends in Berlin and my folks in Florida.

April—I got a new passport, drank some wine in Napa Valley and ate at the world famous French Laundry!

May—We tried three local restaurants for Triangle Restaurant Week,  got a fancy new grill, Eric gained a year and poor Riesling was attacked at the dog park.

June—Went to Seattle to see a friend get married and found some new Washington wineries.

July—Tried some Long Island wine on the 4th, partied with my sister’s friends in Chicago and got a complimentary wine tasting via Twitter.

August—I turned 33, finally got to see The Bean and my little sister got married.

September—Acquired multiple insect bites at one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, celebrated our 8 year anniversary, got completely soaked during our waterfall trip to Asheville and had a much deserved spa day.

October—Celebrated SchOctoberFest, saw U2 in concert, bought a new washing machine, had to rebook our Brussels flight after being stranded overnight in Atlanta and spent some quality time with Ryan and April in a beautiful setting.

November—Ate one of the best meals ever with family, and visited the two closest capital cities in Europe over Thanksgiving.

December—Drove 37 hours to visit family for the holidays and Riesling met her first lizard.

Happy New Year everyone!

Sunday was our last day in Vienna, and we spent most of it on a “day of culture.”  We started the morning by attending mass at Hofmusikkapelle, home of the Vienna Boys Choir. Thanks to the helpful concierge desk at Le Meridian we were able to book tickets earlier in the week and walked past the line of people queued for tickets that morning, the first Sunday of Advent. The cathedral is rather small, the chairs are hard, and most everything is in German, but the singing is beautiful. On some of the songs I enjoyed the men’s choir even more then than the boys choir…

Coming out of the service we noticed that it was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a trip out of the city to Schönbrunner Park.

After hiking around the grounds for a few hours, we discovered another Christmas market where we enjoyed a huge soft pretzel and sissipunch, our favorite warm concoction of the trip: white wine, apple cider, sugar, cinnamon, clove and a dash of rum. Delicious!

hmm, sissipunch :)

After warming up our insides, we took full advantage of our 24-hour metro passes and headed out to photograph another estate, Belvedere Palace.

After the sun went down, we went back to our hotel room to thaw out and pack before heading back to the Schönbrunn Orangerie for a Mozart and Strauss concert. The 90 minute show was performed beautifully by a six-piece ensemble and was punctuated with singing and dancing. This was a bit of a splurge for us and a touch touristy, but it was a great way to experience a little classical music by two composers closely linked to Vienna.

Just a quick hello from Bratislava, Slovakia! We have been taking photos, visiting Christmas markets, drinking some fantastic local wines and watching the sun set over the Danube. More to come… :)

Despite all of the rain on Saturday, we still managed to photograph a few waterfalls (although after the Linville Falls incident, pup remained in the car). Plus, there were some lovely cascades along the Blue Ridge Parkway, so I guess rain does have it’s good points sometimes.

After our second mile-long trek in the damp, we decided to scrap hiking for the rest of the day and hit Jack of the Wood, a brew pub in downtown Asheville. We warmed up with a Green Man porter and ESB which went ever so nicely with the basket of chips with scallion blue cheese dip and ploughman’s lunch. Mmmm. We figured we would retrace our steps on Sunday and hit the waterfalls we missed in some better weather!

Hola! We are back from our whirlwind vacation to Lima and Machu Picchu in Peru just in time to celebrate our eight year wedding anniversary!

It all started with a trip to Hawaii eight years ago…

(Big Island, Hawaii – September 20, 2001 – OMG, how young do we look?)

(Machu Picchu, Peru – September 6, 2009 – OMG, how tired do we look?)

More photos of our recent Peru trip to come!

Our closets are looking a whole lot roomier after a good spring cleaning… these items will be picked up by the VVA sometime today.

Eric’s birthday present this year was a lovely new Weber grill. Folks on both sides pitched in and we can’t wait to get it dirty!  :)

(three hours of assembly by a PhD required)

(with a side burner for sauces and steaming veggies!)

Our first afternoon in Germany was spent in Potsdam walking through Park Sanssouci. The sun came out for a brief few hours, so we’ll use this as visual evidence that the sun does shine in Germany in March. :)

statues at The New Palace

terraced gardens at Palace Sanssouci

Palace Sanssouci

The New Palace, see a large panorama on Flickr

How lovely is this architecture? The park was very charming in late winter, so I can only imagine how lovely it must be in the summer when all the fruit trees and vines are in bloom.