Sleeping Beauty Castle!

Tom and I decided to take a guided tour out to see Neuschwanstein Castle, and on the way, we stopped at another castle, Linderhof, built by the same King, Ludwig II. I was not looking forward to the trip since it was grey and rainy in Munich, but it was sunny for us! And I may have had a minor meltdown when we pulled into the town and the side of  Neuschwanstein Castle that we saw was covered in scaffolding and I was worried it would all be like that and I would have terrible pictures of something I've wanted to visit for forever!

Waiting for the tour of Lindehof.

I'm sure this is prettier in summer.

Love him.

I honestly wasn't a fan of the first castle. It was small, and since it was modeled after Versailles, it was really over the top. In a small space, that just doesn't work for me- I ended up feeling closed in. The gardens were pretty, but I'm sure they're a thousand times better in the summer when they're green and the fountains are working!

The outside of Lindehof.

At least I got to see snow!

 I did get to take a picture next to a giant swan, so that was exciting. I should really make an album of all the awkward pictures I have next to animals...it's going to be awesome.

I would have gotten closer, but it was staring me down.

On the way to the castle, we stopped in a small town where the houses are painted with biblical and fairy tale scenes. Thankfully, we were able to find a Christmas ornament store there, so we have 2 small ornaments from Germany! We didn't get to take pictures of some of the really cool houses we saw driving in,  but it was a cute little town that would be fun to visit again!

I think Once Upon A Time could be filmed here.

When we got to the town below Neuschwanstein, we had some time for a quick lunch, then we headed up to the castle. We took a bus and then walked up to the "hanging bridge" (to quote my wonderful boyfriend) to take pictures of the castle. I was freaking out about having to go out on a bridge up that high, especially since I thought it was going to be old and scary. Apparently it's quite sturdy, even if it is old, but the boards still shake when people walk past you, which terrified me. Tom was fairly certain I'd cry and have a panic attack, but I did surprisingly well. Not only did we get some great pictures, I walked all the way across the bridge and back just to prove that I could. If that doesn't sound like a big deal to you, you obviously don't know how much I detest heights and that I get freaked out looking over high balconies sometimes.

After I hiked across the bridge and back. So proud and excited!

My Prince Charming. (You knew that was coming).

See that bridge?

That's where we stood. 

We had some time to wait around in the courtyard before our tour started, so we took some pictures, and I amused myself by watching a little girl count the steps from one courtyard to another. When she got stuck on a number I helped her, and I basically became her counting guide. When she finally made it to the bottom, she turned around to ask me what she'd counted to, then ran off to tell her family. Sorry if I freaked them out, but she was so cute, and so serious about it all that I had to help her!

I like making him smile for pictures.

Perfect for a destination wedding right?

Afterwards, we tried to ride back down in a carriage but apparently you need to buy the tickets for it before you go up, so we hiked all the way down. I did make us stop for ice cream when we got to the bottom since I was denied my carriage ride, but I don't think Tom minded. After that, we headed back to Munich to eat more delicious food and drink some more beer. It was such a long day, but I've finally seen the Sleeping Beauty Castle! I can check it off my life list!

Semana Santa Empieza!!

I'm on spring break! I'm currently sitting in my hostel room in Malaga because I left a day earlier then I wanted to. Spain is having a national strike tomorrow, and there's a pretty good chance buses won't be running, and if I missed a bus tomorrow, I couldn't make my flight from Malaga to Munich on Friday. So, I get a bonus free day to hang out in Malaga, but I am missing some school, which is depressing.

I love my kids. Today was apparently the day to ask me questions about the States in 6th grade science/history. They're learning about the history of Spain and today was about the 19th century (government and culture). I shocked them all when I said that we learned about Picasso's Guernica painting since it's an important piece. 2 of the girls LOVE to say hi to me, and today they copied every move I made. It was both hilarious and weird. If I folded my hands, they did. If I crossed my legs, they did. I'm not sure I love being this kind of role model, but they're sweet and they don't mean anything by it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right? One of them wanted to know if people in the States spoke Spanish. When I told her that some did, she wanted to know what people spoke in the UK. The teacher stopped class and made sure everybody remembered where I was from and how far apart the US and the UK are. Apparently I'm the expert on English-speaking culture everywhere! They do love hearing random facts about life here, so I'm hoping I can do a presentation on the States before I leave!

My little kids are just awesome. I'm the rockstar of first and 2nd grades. In Ana's class, we did an Easter egg hunt, and it was hilarious. I hid them all over the room, and they took their little baskets they made and went hunting. They loved seeing where everyone found eggs, and since they had so much fun, we're already planning a pirate one for the Treasure unit! Yay!! I still get told I'm beautiful almost everyday, and it's so sincere every time...they really mean it, so I can't get annoyed with hearing it. I also got kisses blown at me from my first grade art class since I won't see them until after Semana Santa. They're so cute...their teacher is awesome about making a great classroom community, and it shows!

Can't wait to see Tom on Friday! Get ready for an overload of pictures of us in awesome places!

Besos,
Becca

Please let this be a normal fieldtrip...

....With the Friz? No way!

And  yes, I do think of that show every time I go on a field trip. Xplorations camp, you've ruined me with watching episodes at every lunch!

Anyway, I got to take a field trip to the Sierra Nevada with the 6th grade at my school. I was really excited because 1) I got to go someplace new that had snow! 2) I've gotten to know most of the 6th graders between all of my classes and 3) Who doesn't love field trips??

We had to be at the school by 7am, so one of the teachers offered to pick me up at 6:30am. Apparently, Wednesday was the only day I didn't wake up on time. Either my alarm didn't go off, or I slept through it. Waking up late on the one day I needed to be out early sucked. Luckily, I live on the main road to Almeria and the highway, so the bus was able to stop at the bus stop in front of my house and pick me up after it left the school. It was one of the weirdest moments in life, and I am so thankful for the relaxed Spanish culture- none of the teachers minded, they just teased me about it and then it was done.

The Sierra Nevadas were AMAZING. I'm pretty sure we were close to Mulhacen, which is part of the Sierra Nevadas, which are part of the Penibaetic Chain of mountains. It's also the tallest mountain in the Iberian Peninsula, and the 2nd tallest in Spain. The first is in the Balearic Islands. See how well I retained that knowledge from class after getting to put a location to a name?

We started off with snowshoeing through a forest, which was totally fun since I've never snowshoed before, and most of the kids hadn't either. I got to help about half of them put on their snowshoes, and now I know what it's like to be a parent and take your child somewhere with snow gear- a huge hassle to even get them ready to go. But the kids loved getting to be in the snow and it was so much fun to watch them play. Some of them even decided to get me covered in snow, so I've officially been accepted by them.

Afterwards, we headed to go sledding. I'm pretty sure most of the kids had never sledded before, and I'm somewhat of an expert, so I was thrilled that I got to go sledding with some of them. I love getting to be a kid! Watching them wipe out and laugh and have the time of their lives was so funny- these kids were the most excited I've ever seen them.

Once we'd all had our fill, we headed down into the ski resort town to have lunch and then go tubing and ride ski bikes I got to have a hot lunch with the teachers since the school was paying for all of us, which was exactly what I needed. I was so thrilled to go tubing with the kids, since it's my favorite thing about winter next to Christmas and snow angels, and the kids loved having the teachers hang out with them. I also tried the ski bikes, which are bikes without pedals and wheels and with skis instead. I am not a fan. Too much work, but I tried them since the kids wanted me to and they thought it was HILARIOUS. Note: most of my pictures are the kids waiting in line. It's hard to take pictures while tubing, or good action shots from behind a mesh fence.

We finally got home at about 8:30pm, so it was one of the longest teaching days of my life, but so cool. I love getting to experience new things, and a day in the Sierra Nevadas was something I didn't think would be possible. I even got to try new winter sports- now I just need to try snowboarding and I can be well-rounded with my winter sport attempts!

Places I've Been

I feel like I travel a lot, but I actually haven't been to a ton of places. Here's my list for myself to make sure I remember to update it. I'm going to add any place I've been, including before this trip.

• Reynosa, Mexico (Summer 2004)
• Chincha Alta, Perú (Summer 2005)
• Jamaica, Grand Caymen, Cozumel (Dec. 2009?)
• Edinburgh, Scotland (March 2010)
• Sevilla, Spain (Sept. 2011)
• Almería, Spain (Sept. 2011- May 2012)
• Roquetas de Mar, Spain (Sept. 2011- May 2012)
• Jaén, Spain (Oct. 2011)
• Málaga, Spain (Dec. 2012)
• Amsterdam, Netherlands (Dec. 2011)
• Paris, France (Jan. 2012)
• Gibraltar, UK (Jan. 2012?)
• Guadix, Spain (February 2012)
• Lisbon, Portugal (March 2012)
• Munich, Germany (April 2012)
• Salzberg, Austria (April 2012)

I should be adding Morocco to that list, and then hopefully Florence, Madrid, & Barcelona.

Paris in 2 Days

Musee d'Orsay!!

Coolest mall court EVER. Left over from King Louis' court.

Moulin Rouge!!!!

Sacre Couer before my train left!

Sainte Chapelle

More Sainte Chapelle

On the train from the airport!

Eiffel Tower

And again.

Crappy picture of the Arc de Triomphe

Notre Dame!!

These are out of order, but I absolutely loved Paris and getting to see so much history!

Rock of Gibraltar

This may have been one of the coolest trips I've ever been on. Getting to see the Rock of Gibraltar was so surreal since it's a place I'd never thought I'd get to go. That's the best thing about this living abroad experience- getting to travel to places like that. I should probably take more advantage of getting to see tons of places in the US when I get back though.

Anyway, Gibraltar was about a 3 hour bus ride away, bu we did have to get out and walk across the border and through the UK customs. Although Gibraltar is a British territory, they drive on the right like in Spain because there are so many Spaniards that were getting confused otherwise. So that was a cool thing to learn. We took a van tour around the island to see different things, and the first place we went was Europa Point, where we could see Spain, Africa, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It was super windy, and absolutely freezing, but so much fun! I got to share my new knowledge about Ceuta- an autonomous city of Spain that's actually in Africa.

Laura, Lauren, Becca

Rock of Gibraltar!

Europa Point!

Spain, I think.

It really was windy.

Africa!!

Attempting a Titanic moment, but it was too windy.

All the girls in our group.

After our time there, we headed up to the top of Gibraltar to go to St. Michael's Cave. Back in the day, apparently people thought that this cave was a tunnel to Africa because it went down so deep into the rock. The cave now has a small amphitheater in it now, so that was pretty cool to see. I can't imagine what it would be like to watch a show there.

In the cave.

The theater from the stage.

Of course, the highlight of the trip was getting to see the monkeys! Or the apes, I'm not really sure which ones they were. I am actually really, really terrified of big monkeys, so I was both excited about and dreading this part. I really wanted a picture with one, but I wasn't cool with the idea of getting jumped on by a wild monkey. I almost cried when we saw the first group of monkeys outside the cave. There were big ones following people around, and jumping on people, and not getting off. I did love the little baby monkeys, but they were too scared to become friends with people.

monkey family.

As close as I wanted to get at that moment.

Right after it jumped onto my head/shoulder. Note the terror.

Trying to pass it off to another girl. FAIL.

Pulling my hair?

Baby monkey. Ignore the sideways picture please.

After that, we headed down into the city to get some lunch and shop for a bit. We decided to head to a pub for fish and chips. And I got to have a hard cider for the first time in a while. I still love it more than beers since it's not as carbonated and lighter. The fish and chips were delicious, but I like smaller pieces of fish better than one giant piece. We did some shopping, and I got a postcard since I couldn't take much back with me. Then we saw girls with some delicious milkshakes, and Laura and I got our own. Mine was made with a Milky Way bar and it was quite possibly the best thing I've ever had. Dad, can you learn to make it?

Finally, we headed home for a low key night. By the way, to get into, and out of, Gibraltar, you have to drive/walk over the airport runway, which was a weird experience. I felt like a Mythbuster. Overall, I loved this trip, and had the best time with some great friends!