Home!

We are so glad to be home. And we're enjoying this beautiful Franklin weather. Thanks for cooling things down before we got home! We were worried when we looked at weather.com and saw that Franklin was still in the 80s. We were just trudging through snow a couple of days ago!

Okay, here are some remaining pictures of our trip.

Dan got this note from a 6 year old. Note that she didn't include me in the picture.

We frosted about 1 ton of cookies at Dan and Denise's house. I'm holding up my favorite butterfly and Dan's holding up his favorite moose. True works of art.

Oh yes, we did. We went on the Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg, Austria. It was fantastic. Especially the singing! Dan told me that he wasn't embarrassed by me, but I have my doubts.

If you've seen Sound of Music, you'll recognize this as the Captain's Palace. Actually, they only used the outside of this palace. The views of the inside are a completely different house in a different location. (We couldn't go in because it's being used as a girls' music school now.)

A view of the mountain from the captain's palace. "The hills are alive..."

The abbey! "How do you solve a problem like Maria?"

"The hills fill my heart with the sound of music..."

Where Captain and Maria got married (in the movie). The wedding scene was actually filmed in 3 different locations. This was one of them.

Another good cup of coffee we got in the Munich train station.

Dan's camera broke in Salzburg, so we took this with someone else's camera, and somehow the snow turned out to be purple. Don't worry - the snow in Europe is white, too.

Yet another fantastic cappuccino - at Dan's favorite coffee shop in Garmisch: Aran.

Blowing kisses...

My mom took pictures of my niece Harper blowing me kisses. She's only 16 months old, but I like to think that she misses her Aunt Jules.

Dan's attempts at making me feel tall...

In Vicenza underneath a very short awning

In Sicily next to a Cinquecento

Back to Germany: Ansbach (and Rothenburg)

We miss Italy, but it is good to be back in Germany (even though the cold and rainy season has hit hard and we're in a bit of shock!).

We had a good weekend in Ansbach. On Sunday, Dan played at a couple of chapel services, at an Awanas event, and a fundraising event for the youth.

Just a 45 minute train ride from Ansbach is Rothenburg, a beautiful ancient walled town. You can't visit Rothenburg without going to the Kathe Wohlfahrt shop. Ahhh, I'm so glad to be getting some of my Christmas shopping done here!

Last stop in Italy: Vicenza

Dan played at a chapel service in Vicenza last week. We took a day trip to Verona, where Romeo and Juliet was based. We stopped by Soave, a medieval walled city known for it's Amarone wine (4 grapes, partially dried and then squeezed).

Verona had just held a festival, and these grapes were part of the decor. Pretty cool!

In Verona

Lee and Jessica Clark with their two boys, Thomas and Sam. Dan knows them from Charleston. We liked them so much that we stayed with them a few extra days.

Jessica and me in front of the Coffele winery.

Juliet's balcony!

Pistachio gelato, of course.

Under the Tuscan Sun

We spent a couple of days in Tuscany between our time in Sigonella and Vicenza.

After seeing a Tuscan sunset, I understand the meaning of the title, Under the Tuscan Sun. I wasn't crazy about the movie (and never read the book), but...

I'm in love with Tuscany.

Here's why.

Gorgeous sunset that turned everything orange

Downtown Florence

More downtown

Introducing Jessica, the girl who just might be able to compete with me in a game of Dan Meyers trivia. Dan and Jessica have been good friends for years (probably because they have the same personality). She's lived in Italy for 9 years working with military youth. She is fantastic and we had a blast spending a few days with her.

Quite possibly the best coffee in the world - melt in your mouth deliciousness. And a lot less expensive than Starbucks.

Dan and I found our inner child on a playground.

Sigonella, Sicily

I'm way behind. We've not had a lot of access to internet lately, so I have a lot of catching up to do! Traveling from place to place has been a privilege and we've met a lot of wonderful people. But I'll let you in on a secret: we are both looking forward to being home! Only 2 weeks left, and we fly back to Nashville. It's pretty unbelievable, actually.

We had a good week in Sicily. It's quite different from Northern Italy in many areas (landscape, people, weather) and you might say that it's quite it's own culture. But like the rest of Italy, it has a fascinating history and some pretty remarkable scenery. Here are a few pictures:

Dan did some music during a PWOC family dinner event.

A view of the Mediterranean coast from a town called Taormina.

We went to see Greek ruins in Agrigento.

Dan did a house concert for this lovely group of people.

Tomorrow I'll catch you up on our time in Tuscany (perhaps my favorite spot in Europe)!

My Sicilian Haircut

Here are a couple of pictures of my new do. I went in with the intention of doing something drastic, so I said 3 inches. Maybe he heard 6? Anyway, I do like it. It's just going to take a little getting used to -- especially since I can't put it in a ponytail! And in case you're wondering, Dan loves it. He's wanted me to do this for a while.

Right after the cut -- excuse my goofy expression. I think I must be in shock mode.

The next day -- a little more natural