My FAVORITE place

Wine Casks in a Montepulciano cellar

Tuscany is the most incredible place I have ever been. If Matt and I could drop everything right now and retire (or if we won the lottery!), I think we would probably move into a villa in the rolling hills of Tuscany. I haven't quite decided if I would want olive trees or grape vineyards as my accoutrement to the rolling hills, so I think I might take both. Inside our villa, we'd host dinner parties, have cooking classes, and entertain all our friends and family. It would just be so splendid.

Last May (2006), Matt and I rented a Ford Focus C-Max Diesel and headed south to Italy for an incredible 2 week vacation. We've both wanted to go to Italy but knew that we couldn't just go for a weekend...we would need over a week. Flying would have been easier and cheaper, but one of the main reasons we wanted to go to Italy was to get lost in the tiny, remote towns throughout the countryside sipping some of the best red wine this world has to offer. A rental car could have done the job, but after sipping all the wines we knew that we would want to bring as many of them home as we possibly could--something an airline would prohibit (we would only be able to bring home as much as we could carry). So, the C-Max became our 'mobile' home for our fantastic journeys through Italy.

Our first stop after crossing through Switzerland was Cinque Terra (or 5 lands). Cinque Terra sits on the north west side of Italy up at the top of the peninsula on the Ligurian Sea. It is made up of 5 different cities (hence the name 5 lands) which vastly contrast one another. Several of the cities offer beautiful beaches and others don't have a beach at all. Regardless of the 5 lands, the region is immensely rich in culture and cuisine. The Ligurian's take credit for creating pesto (the basil and garlic paste that you slather on pasta, crostini, or sandwiches) and focaccia bread (the flat, hand pressed bread that is flavored with anything from fresh herbs to meat and olives) and have a cuisine of incredibly fresh seafood. Matt and I stayed in Cinque Terra for a night and had the opportunity to go pesto and focaccia bread hunting. We ended up finding some of the most delicious pestos and the most delicate and aromatic focaccia in the world. It was amazing. The picture on the left was taken from our room's balcony and the one on the right is of Vernazza, the town we stayed in.

From Cinque Terra, we ventured further south to Pisa and then down to Rome. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was quite underwhelming, as we we expecting to see a HUGE 'tower'. Instead, we found a small 'tower' that was as advertised, leaning. It was neat to see, but we were glad we only stopped for about an hour.

When we arrived in Rome, we fully understood why people tell you not to drive in the city. It is chaotic, littered with little one way streets, and overpopulated with scooters. After finally finding our hotel, an active convent, we took off on foot to discover one of the most historic cities in the world. The convent was a random yet great idea as we wanted to try to be as 'local' as we could and we really enjoyed staying with the sisters.

Rome is so rich in culture and history--it's amazing. From the Colosseum and the Forum to the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and the Vatican, our 4 days there were jam packed with adventure. The Colosseum made both of us want to see the movie, 'The Gladiator,' yet again and it was so surreal to think of all the 'entertainment' that once took place there and of all the important people who once stepped foot inside the stadium. Aside from the Colosseum, we ventured to all the famous Plazas, museums, and ruins that litter the city. In between all the walking and sightseeing, we also managed to find some great food and gelato (we seem to be pretty good at the food hunting!). Roman food isn't our favorite, as the city is better known for its history, however, we did sip delicious red wine and fill up at some of the best hole-in-the-wall local eateries.

From the top, the pictures are of the convent we stayed in, the Forum, the inside of the Colosseum, the Pantheon, a view of the Colosseum from the Forum, and the inside of one of the local dives we found.

After staying in our convent located in the central part of Rome, we drove over to the western side of Rome to the stay at another convent in Vatican City. Although we're not Catholic, we figured that staying at an active convent in the mecca of Catholicism was a once in a lifetime experience. We waited in line for over 2 hours to get inside the Vatican (it was the LONGEST line we have ever and probably will ever stand in) to eventually make it to the Sistine Chapel. The masterpieces painted by Michelangelo are one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring sights the two of us have ever seen. Words can't describe how phenomenal the chapel is, although we both wondered how bad the cricks in Michelangelo's neck must have been. After leaving the Vatican, we headed next door to St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica to see the 'supposed' burial spot of Peter's body. Vatican City, full of Swiss Guards dressed in jester outfits, was a great place, but since we're not Catholic, it was not as 'phenomenal' as everyone else there thought it was. These are pictures of us in St. Peter's Square, a view of St. Peter's Square from the terrace at the top of the dome on the Basilica, pictures of the Sistine Chapel (on the left is Michelangelo's depiction of Creation and the Garden of Eden and on the right is depiction of the Last Judgement) that Matt illegally took, and a picture taken from inside the dome of St. Peter's Basilica looking down into the cathedral.

Since our time in Italy was limited, we decided that we would only venture around the northern parts of Italy and only go as far south as Rome...leaving the rest of Italy for another trip.

So from Rome, we headed east to the town of Civita di Bagnoregio in the Umbrian region. Civita Is a small town that perches on the edge of a cliff where it dominates the wide desolated valley made up of Calanchi (big clay formations). The town's isolation is the result of continuous erosion caused by two streams flowing in the valleys below and by the action of rain and wind: thus it is crumbling away, slowly but inexorably. The ancient town was founded by the Etruscans about 2,500 years ago and was an important city for its position along an ancient road connected to a dense network of trade routes. Today, Civita is an enchanted place, home to only 15 residents (all in their 80s and older) where time seems to have stopped. Across from the Belvedere, linked to the world by a single, narrow bridge 300 meters long, stands Civita, set gently upon its summit, with its tuft of medieval houses. It is known as the 'dying town,' due to the erosion that is slowly destroying what is left of the town. The complete absence of cars makes the atmosphere inside Civita even more unreal and we were grateful that we were able to visit it before it disappears.

After our time in Bagnorigio (we stayed at a great Bed and Breakfast run by a chic 60-something year old Italian woman, Pucci), we jumped back into the car to head to the rolling hills of Tuscany. Tuscany is unlike any other place on earth. It is beautiful, peaceful, and full of spectacular villas that overlook the rolling vineyards. To the left is a picture of the Tuscan hillside.

For our first night in Tuscany, Matt and I stayed in an apartment on an Agriturismo (working farm) in a beautiful Tuscan town. We sipped the farm's wine and olive oil, and managed to buy a few bottles to bring home. It was great. From the Agrituismo, we drove to Montepulciano and Montalcino, the homes of our favorite Italian wines, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. These two cities were breathtaking, not to mention meccas for the wine, olive oil, and cheese lover. I think we purchased the majority of our wine in these two towns and also some great pecorino cheese and a few gallons of olive oil (seriously, gallons). On the right is a picture of the ancient church in Montepulciano and on the bottom left is a picture of the view from Montalcino.

From Montalcino, we headed further north to city of and region of Chianti. Like in the other cities, we sipped our way through the country roads and discovered some delicious Chiantis. Chianti is the other place where we managed to literally pack the C-Max to its full capacity. With the C-Max's tail almost dragging, we made our way to Florence, Italy's home of the arts. While in Florence, we stayed yet again at another convent. It was great and really affordable. This convent actually gave us a double bed instead of two twins, so it was nice to have someone to put my cold feet on at night! During our 3 days in Florence, we were able to see the famous 'David' statue at the Accademia, visit some beautiful museums, see some timeless art, leather, and textiles, and eat more amazing food. The Medici Palace and Duomo were unbelievable as were the Ponte Vecchio and Uffizi Gallery at night. The picture on the left is of the Duomo and the one on the right is of the Uffizi Gallery. I was in heaven with all the beautiful shops and designer clothes...not to mention Italian paper stores and cooking shops. Matt let me buy a pasta machine at one of the cooking shops so that I can make homemade pasta at home. We've already used it and it's wonderful. The pictures on the right are of (the top pic) the Arno River that flows in the middle of Florence and of the Uffizi Gallery. On the left are pictures of the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio.

The highlight of my trip to Italy was the gift Matt arranged for me for my birthday. Before heading down to Italy, Matt signed me up for a private cooking class in a Tuscan villa on the outskirts of Florence. The two of us participated in a day of Italian food preparation (we made homemade pasta, fresh carchofi (artichoke) lasagne, pizza, several different sauces, sea bass, and panna cotta) and had an absolute blast. It was one of the best birthday presents ever (the best was our engagement in 2003!) and Matt did an incredible job with all the planning. If I won the lottery, I would open up a Tuscan cooking school in a heartbeat! Here are pictures of the villa where the cooking class took place and a picture of us with our Italian cooking school chef.

After our days of wine tasting in Tuscany, it was time to head back towards Germany. I couldn't return home without stopping in one of the richest cooking regions of Italy, so Matt was kind enough to let me stop in Bologna for a night. Bologna, located in the Emilia-Romana region, is the home of Bolognase sauce, lasagne, and many 'al forno' Italian dishes. Together, we had a great time searching for the best Bolognase sauce and lasagne in the city. If only we could get paid to do this!

Bologna was fantastic, but it was time to really head home. Luckily, RyanAir (a cheap airline here in Europe) flies into Bologna, so Matt said I am free to return there whenever I want. On the drive out, Matt let us stop in Parma and also Modena. Parma is the home of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and Prosciutto di Parma ham, and Modena is the home of balsamic vinegar. After all the eating we had done in those 14 days, we managed to have room for one of the most amazing meals in Italy. The 4 table reservations-only restaurant called Hosteria Giusti, located behind its butcher shop, served us gourmet Italian food with an amazing homemade Lambrusco wine. It was our most expensive meal in Italy, but well worth it. After the meal, the restaurant even let us take part in a private balsamic vinegar tasting. It was beyond amazing. Matt put his foot down at my idea of purchasing their 30-year old balsamic vinegar--it was only 3 ounces and cost over 100 euro. It was absolutely incredible though. Below is a picture of the dining room of Hosteria Giusti.

If the C-Max wasn't already full enough, we managed to fit about a kilo of aged Parmigiano Reggiano cheese found at a local cheese market in Parma and a few bottles of balsamic vinegar from Modena into the tiny crevices that remained in the car.

Loaded to the limit, Matt and I made our way back to our house in Germany well fed, well versed in olive oil, red wine, and balsamic vinegar, and well travelled. We had a wonderful time together (we had a GPS in the car!) and look forward to returning to Italy as soon as we get another chance. Despite the lack of punctuality the Italian's possess, Italy is a beautiful country filled with beautiful people, breathtaking views, and absolutely delicious food. If you haven't already been, it is a place you have to visit before you die. We guarantee you won't be disappointed (and if you are, just drink some Chianti--it makes everything better).

The Zurich Marathon

Here we are with some of the group after we had eaten a carb-filled pre-race dinner at an Italian restaurant called, "Commi Halle." It was the only place we could find in Zurich that would seat all 33 of us together!

Well, the London Marathon never worked out because none of us got chosen in the marathon registration lottery, so we decided to head to Zurich, Switzerland, for marathon number 2. After Paris, I thought we would be D-O-N-E marathoning, but I was wrong.

For the Zurich Marathon, the squadron decided to run for a cause, and the cause that we chose, Multiple Sclerosis, was close to home. Lenora's (our squadron commander's wife) mom, Terry, was diagnosed almost 20 years ago with MS and has slowly progressed from healthy to wheelchair-dependant. Instead of hating life, Terry has chosen to help raise money for MS research in hopes that someday scientists will find a cure. Both of Lenora's parents are active with the MS Society in California and have a team, "Terry's Tigers" that raise money each year for the MS Walk in Lancaster. The Zurich Marathon happened to take place the same day as the MS Walk, so we couldn't think of a better cause to run 26.2 miles for than MS. Our squadron ended up raising around $2,300 for Terry's Tigers, which we were and still are proud of...so for those of you who donated money on our behalf, thank you for all your generosity in helping us reach this goal.

Zurich is a beautiful city, although it's somewhat tainted in my mind from the marathon! The Friday all 26 of us adults and 7 kiddos arrived and then on Saturday, the weather was sunny and beautiful...but it didn't last long. From sunrise on Sunday to sunset, the skies did nothing but POUR! I was only planning on running a half-marathon because I had hurt my knees training but ended up chugging along and finishing the full. Matt on the other hand was running for time and did an amazing job. He reached his goal of running the marathon in 3:30. He trained really hard and I was so proud of him. Since he finished the marathon about an hour and 20 minutes ahead of me (yeah, i know-I'm slow!), he was standing at the finish line in the rain on the verge of going hypothermic (he was seriously blue) waiting for me. He knew that if he didn't see me waiting for him when he finished that I was being stubborn and out on the course somewhere still running. Well, running I was and the only things that kept me moving were the thought of getting to see Matt at the finish line, the act of receiving my finishers t-shirt and medal, and the idea of a new purse (after Paris, I bought myself a 'congratulations for finishing' present--a new purse, so while running in Zurich I decided to make that present a new marathon tradition--Matt wasn't as excited about it as I was!).

All decked out in our dripping wet Hawk flair (orange running shirts and blue running shorts), 11 of us crossed the finish line and 6 ran the half. Three of the eleven (all members of A-flight... myself included) were only planning on running the half but ended up going the distance and finishing the full. Every inch of the 26.2 miles was filled with wet, agonizing rain and many blistered feet. Without umbrellas, the 8 marathon supporters did a fantastic job cheering us on and it was great to see their faces throughout the course.

Sunday night after the run, we all managed to muster up the energy to go out in Zurich and try to enjoy the city for our last night there. We indulged and bought some Swiss chocolates, found an Irish Pub (weird, we seem to 'find' them in every city we visit), and ate some cheese (the Swiss don't call it 'Swiss cheese'--it's just 'cheese' to them).

The best story from the weekend involved Chewie Murray, one of the three who kept running to finish the full marathon. Since he was only planning on running half, the night before the race he went out with some of the 'marathon supporters' to some clubs and pubs and didn't get back to the hotel until the wee hours of Sunday morning. Still half intoxicated, he managed to get a few hours of sleep and was up with everyone else to catch the tram over to the race starting line. With nothing in his stomach except for the previous night's mai-tais, club sandwich, and pub smoke, Chewie finished the race strong. So our running joke is that if he can run a marathon under those circumstances...anyone can!

Viva Las Vegas

In January 2006, Matt and the squadron flew to Las Vegas, Nevada for Red Flag and WIC Support. Red Flag is a big exercise at Nellis AFB that simulates a war environment for the guys to practice in. There are hundreds of airplanes and several foreign countries that participate in the month long exercise, so the guys love getting to fly with and against all of the other jets. After Red Flag, the guys stayed in Vegas to help the Weapons School by providing air support. Red Flag and WIC Support is a fun TDY for the guys, especially since it's in Vegas. Matt (Goat) has been out to Nellis several times now, but this trip was one of the most fun since my brother, Matt lives there.

Since both of my Matt's were there, I hopped on a plane and flew out to join in on the fun. Goat had just moved into a great house in North Las Vegas in the early fall, so I volunteered my services as lunch maker, dinner preparer, and house keeper so that I could stay at his house. While there, my mom jumped on a Southwest flight and joined us all for a few days--so it was a full house. Matt was able to sneak away from his hotel room for a night or two and carpool into work with Goat, so it was a great time for all of us to catch up and spend some time together (not to mention, get to spend Matt's birthday with him).

Andorra...and no, it's not a type of sweater

(Left to Right: "Crash" Lande, "Yeti" Perkins, Matt, "Chewie" Murray, & "Boose" Kellam) There are more guys in A-Flight--they were just 'lost' on the slopes!

Two weekends after we returned from our New Year's celebration in Finland, Matt and I re-packed our snow clothes and headed for Andorra. Matt really wanted to go on a "Martin Luther The King A-Flight ski trip" somewhere, so we decided to chart new grounds and go somewhere different. And different we found...Andorra. The principality of Andorra is tucked between the borders of Spain and France and is only less than 30 miles in diameter. Since Andorra is so small and there isn't really an airport there, our group of 12 (plus a pregnant wife and a 2-yr old)flew into Barcelona (Spain), rented cars, and drove 2.5 hours north.

We had such an amazing time in Andorra. The weather was perfect (in the 50s and sunny), the slopes we covered in powder, and since only us Americans celebrate MLtheK (no, it's not a typo--it is 'the King!') day--there was virtually no one on the mountains. Other than a few crazy Brits, we never had to share the lifts with anyone else. At lunch, everyone took off their coats, gloves, and hats and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine.

Given that our group was adventurous, we decided to take it upon ourselves to snowboard from border to border, meaning from France to Spain. It was a blast. The ski runs in Andorra allow people to do this, so it was a cool feeling to know that we had been to both borders.

After our first day out on the slopes, we ventured out into the various towns and found some fun markets and wine shops. We purchased 6 to 9 bottles of wine and brought them back to the hotel to conduct an A-flight Spanish wine tasting. The bottles ranged from .99 euro cents up to 20 euro and the tasting/testing was completely blind so no-one knew which bottle was which. It ends up, the .99 euro cent Don Simon BOXED wine won for the best wine. Who would have thought?

Matt and I have decided that Andorra has offered the BEST snowboarding in Europe. It beats the Swiss Alps, the Austrian Alps, the French Alps, and all the various mountains in between. We had a great time hanging out with friends and making fun memories that will last for years to come. We still joke about the Don Simon and A-flight has added it as its secondary mascot!

Our House...

is a very, very, very fine house. With 12 cows in the yard...

Kyllburgerstrasse 1A

Orsfeld, Germany

Driving by on the main street (it's a whole 2-lanes wide), most people around here don't even know that Orsfeld exists. My brother lived in a village 5 minutes past ours and drove by our street (twice each day going to work and back) and never knew Orsfeld ever existed until we moved there. Matt and I like to think of our little farming town as a little secret. It's chock full of locals who have lived here since birth and who will eventually die here, lots of stray cats, and a volatile manure odor in the spring, summer, and fall when the farmers are out spreading the fields with the poo they have collected in their barns. You have to give it to them for being 'organic' though!

On the right is a picture of our street, Kyllburgerstr, covered in snow.

The other 2 winter pictures were taken after a big snow fall in November of 2005. Since then, we have really felt the aftermath of El Nino, as there hasn't been much snowfall due to the uncharacteristically warm weather.

Here's our lovely house

in Germany. We live in a small village called Orsfeld (population 150), about 20 kilometers from base. We don't have a very typical German house, as it's HUGE, has a 2-car garage, and is a stand alone home...we both agree that this house is the largest house the two of us will ever live in for a long while--it's around 3,000 square feet. Most homes here are row houses or old barn homes. As you can see, our house is pretty new. It was built in 2001 and we're the second people to live in it. Despite the 'terra cotta sunrise' hue of the outside, we love everything about our house.

The best part of the house is that there are 2 kitchens. That means 2 stovetops and 2 ovens for me, so I'm in heaven! We live in one of the best houses on the German economy and are so blessed to have been given the opportunity to live in it. We love all the space (except when it's time to clean it) but can't figure out why the Germans haven't figured out that the modern world has invented Air Conditioning!

We live next to our landlord, Herr Begon, a farmer, and his family, which includes lots of dairy cows. Despite all the flies, I love the cows and have named each of them. They let me pet them, so there's always constant entertainment at our house, especially after we mow the lawn.

New Years Celebration in Finland

After coming home for Christmas to see all our family, we had to get back to Germany, as Matt had to fly the week after Christmas. Since we were back in Europe, we decided to spend our New Year's Eve in Finland. We flew from Frankfurt up to Helsinki and then caught another plane up to Oulu, a city that sits on the eastern side of the Baltic Sea. From Oulu, we caught a train up to Kemi, a city at the top of the Baltic Sea. We chose to go so far north because we wanted to venture up to the Arctic Circle and stay in an ice castle.

As advertised, the castle was built of solid ice and packed snow and sat on the Baltic Sea. The castle, located west of Kemi, is only open from January until the beginning of March due to the weather and is one of the most phenomenal sights the two of us have ever seen. Since the construction of the castle is solid ice, we had to bring 'special' cold weather clothing and accessories to sleep in at night. The castle supplied us with sub zero sleeping bags, reindeer skins, and sheepskins for warmth, but we were only allowed to sleep in thermals, socks, gloves, and a hat so that we wouldn't overheat inside the sleeping bag and start to sweat (which would cause us to get hypothermic and freeze). I have NEVER been as cold as I was after getting undressed into just my thermals and jumping into the cold sleeping bag! Did I mention that our beds were made of ice too? Since I can be 'special' at times, Matt sealed me up into the sleeping bag nice and tight and then undressed and sealed himself up into his bag on his bed. Here's a picture of me all sealed up--Matt thought it was funny. The only problem with being sealed up in the bag is that if you had to go to the bathroom during the middle of the night, you would have to un-seal yourself, put on your cold clothes (we were instructed to put our clothes under our sleeping bag on top of the reindeer skins so that our body would keep them warm-ish), tie up your boots, and head outside in the cold to the bathroom. Luckily, I had dehydrated myself enough so that I didn't have to go through any of that 'trauma!' Anyhow, as we fell asleep that night, we were nicely comforted by the thought that if there happened to be a fire while we were there, we wouldn't be burned to death--because there was a fire extinguisher in the hall to fend off the flames...or was it the fact that we were surrounded by ice and snow that gave us the peace of mind?

For dinner that night, the castle provided us with a traditional Finnish dinner. As you can see, the dining room and our table were made of ice as well, so that's why we're fully clothed, gloves and all. Matt thought it was cool that his beer actually got colder as dinner progressed--something that wouldn't happen anywhere else. In honor of Matt's sister, Casey, we had to take this picture of the milk sitting on the dinner table (it's to the right of the wine glasses). It was there when we arrived and remained there throughout dinner and stayed there after we left. We deemed it an exception to the 'milk violation' rule because the temperature inside the dining room was colder than a fridge and the table it sat on was a 6" slab of ice. See, K, we found one place on earth where leaving milk out on the table is semi-okay! The dinner that we were served was REINDEER. Seriously. I had an incredibly hard time trying to eat Rudolph, but Matt had no problems, so he eventually ate mine too. I did take ONE bite for the photo op, so that's why this photo is posted-the bite wasn't in vain after all.

Sleeping in the ice castle was one of the coolest things we have ever and probably will ever do. It was a one in a lifetime experience and we had a blast.

The following morning after our night in the ice castle, we headed to the Baltic Sea to go ice diving. We boarded an ice-breaker ship called, 'The Sampo,' that took us out to the deep waters of the sea. Once there, we had to undress yet again and jump into ice diving suits. Looking like astronauts, we disembarked from the boat and took the plunge into the Baltic. The crew tried to find a 'smaller' suit for me but couldn't find one...so it took me about 20 minutes to go from the bottom of the boat (up a ton of stairs) to the ramp that we had to go down to get to the water in a suit that felt like it was custom made for Goliath. The suit weighed about 15 pounds and was made like footed pajamas, so I kept tripping on the front ends of the feet and ended up waddling like a penguin (each time I picked up my foot to take a step, the footie part would go flying in front of me and my real foot would land on about the calf section of the suit). Matt said watching me was like watching a horrible train wreck...he didn't want to look but just had to stare in amazement. Of course this process was really easy for him because he had a diving suit that fit! Since the water is so cold, the human body becomes buoyant. We could feel the coldness of the water through our suits but it felt cool, not freezing, like the water truly was. We thought the ice castle was cool, but the ice diving was exhilarating! There's nothing else like it in the world.

After our day of ice diving, we headed back to the ice castle to pack our bags and head back to Oulu. We stayed a night in Oulu before venturing back to Helsinki to catch our flight back home. While in Oulu, we found an amazing Indian restaurant (who woulda thought?) and enjoyed the sauna our hotel offered. The Finnish are HUGE sauna (pronounce saow-nah!) fans and sit in them every day. The only thing that we can figure is that it's because it's so cold! Initially, we weren't going to try them out, but the hotel kept nagging us about it--so we gave in. Needless to say, it was a warm and sweaty Finnish experience.

This trip was one of the coldest yet best trips we've ever taken and one that we'll always remember.

Home for the Holidays

Well, we were really fortunate to get to come home for Christmas in 2005. Last Christmas we stayed here in Europe and went to St. Anton, Austria to go snowboarding in the Alps--so the last time we were home for Christmas was after we got married in 2003. On our way home to Texas and then Tennessee for Christmas, we stopped in New York City for a few days.

Matt had never been to NYC, so it was a great opportunity for us to explore the city together. My parents, Chuck and Sherran, flew up to NYC to meet us for a few days as well. We all had a great time in Manhattan visiting China Town, Little Italy, the Upper East and West sides, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, and of course, Central Park. The food was amazing (as always) and we even managed to find a new favorite Vietnamese restaurant. One of the highlights of the trip was getting to see Spamalot on Broadway and also the Radio City Rockettes show. And, of course we didn't leave New York without doing a little shopping too. Here we are in front of the famous Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. The random people around us waiting in line to ice skate kinda mess up the shot, but you can get the gist of the look we were going for!