Schloss Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau.

we visited a village called Hohenschwangau, in Bavaria during our road trip. that little village holds Neuschwanstein Castle(the white castle), a home built by Ludwig II. you know, just a place to go on holiday. the village also holds his childhood home, Hohenschwangau Castle(the brown castle). what a place to grow up! oh, the life of the elite. but anyway, we could not get enough of the views!

and a little church in the field below the castle^^^

rheinfelden, germany & switzerland.

 the view from sacrament meeting. & we could hear bells from a nearby church. ^^^

 church & bank combo.^^^

 family fondue lunch. jonas' sister, brother-in-law and nephew. our niece(Lani) was sleeping.^^^

 the bridge from germany to switzerland in rheinfelden(one of the most charming little cities)^^^

wouldn't it be a dream to live in one of those apartments on the rhein river? um, yes!^^^

hi love!^^^

family walk^^^

gorgeous church in rheinfelden^^^

one of the swiss drinking fountains. they are all over that country and they are all unique and beautiful. one of my favorite things about switzerland^^^

told ya, great little city!^^^

attached to a building^^^

love you, rheinfelden!

the autobahn- mercedes style.

 germany has the BEST strawberries ever^^

 diesel ^^^

jonas and i rented a car to drive from the southern germany area/ switzerland to a castle, munich and then hamburg. we really wanted to see more of his home country. we only had two choices for automatic cars- so of course, the mercedes c- class was the car we drove! we drove through mountains with tiny towns on their side, we even drove through a little town in Austria! it was breathtaking, definitely the most beautiful drive i have ever experienced. as we got closer to hamburg, there was more farmland & a little rain, of course. the autobahn has no speed limits when you are not driving near ramps or through construction. jonas went over 240 km/ hr, i believe. my hands were sweating! but that mercedes was a smooth ride!

zurich, switzerland. our first stop.

at SDF about to leave on our adventure. the airport can be such an exciting place. we had time for a little dinner too..then our plane ride over the atlantic..it was uncomfortable and exhausting, but that's ok !  :

 

view from Renaissance Hotel in Zurich. the way over to the hotel from the airport was stressful.. it took us some time to figure out what we were doing. but it is a lovely hotel. very fancy, thanks priceline! :

she is located in the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Central Station):

everyone raves about this ice cream, and the praise is well deserved:

planters are all over the windows in zurich. why are they so amazing?!

the cobblestone streets in old town. so lovely.:

bridges, lakes, old buildings and GERMAN. oh my :)

i adore zurich. it is one of the most beautiful(and expensive) cities around.:

the locals jumping into the water on a hot, hot day:

swans on the lake. alps in the back. my heart was bursting:

we took a photo here while we were dating:

zurich was great(of course). we walked and walked and walked some more. we sure have missed hearing the German language and all the beauty. it was overwhelming. i sure did miss the lifestyle, the food, the bahn(trains) and all. they even had a bike parking lot..i thought those were only in heavily populated asian cities. i thought it was pretty cool. 

thanks zurich, we really enjoyed our time!

missing hamburg & my husband.

 i spent some time in euroland this week (which was lovely). my man is from hamburg, germany, where we met, dated, prepared for our marriage and lived in our first apartment. we parted ways in that city because i only had so many days off and jonas needed additional time in his hometown. it left me feeling quite displaced. i don't want to get into too many details about my feelings on this matter, but i have been crying since i left & even started crying when some coworkers simply asked about my trip. it was very embarrassing but i do not see how it could have been helped. leaving hamburg and jonas was tough. the thought of our apartment without him is so painful. i know it sounds silly, considering he comes home at the end of the week. however, when i moved back to kentucky from germany, it was without jonas and i left him in that same airport, not knowing when i would see him again. leaving him this time reminded me of the last in that airport. plus, hamburg will always be another home for me. i won't get started on my guilt over jonas living here instead of his hamburg, but oh, it is intense. at least i get jonas back in a few days. too bad he can't take hamburg with him :(

summer days.

                                                              ^^Shakespeare in the park.

                    ^^lunch at Saul Good with my grandma and sister. it was the best company :)

                                  ^^ on the wall from a trip to Game On with friends and family

                                 ^^little lola..she says "mom, lysa calls me rhoda!" because i do.

                  ^^ the tree littered. i like when these dry up and crunch when you step on them.

 ^^third street. after the rain walk.

^^yes.

^^double order of pad thai, please.

^^had to renew the color again. i'm obsessed.

^^walking in the heat, i found a giant broccoli! 

^^ husband's hands cooling off in a fountain.

 ^^university of louisville campus.

^^not my favorite flower, but i thought these looked nice.

 ^^i fell in love with that red door.

^^so green and vibrant.

^^i have time to photograph trains.