Christian & the Snake

One day we were walking along the cliffs that over looked the ocean. Christian, the brother right after me, we now know has nine lives. He took off running into the bushes, for one reason and one only, to do exactly the opposite of what my parents told him to do. I watched my brother's head pop up from the bushes every time he took a step. It did not take long till my older brother Stefan ran out into the bushes too. Seconds after Stefan joined Chris, Stefan's face went pale and he started screaming"SNAKE, snake!"

And with having said that he took off, hurtling over the bushes. Christian was frozen and starred at the bushes out in the distance. You could see his eyes follow what was coming toward him, as he was looking straight down he unfroze and ran. I am sure I was sopost to care and be concerned, and I was, but watching him run faster then anyone i have ever seen, jumping over the bushes only made me laugh. As we walked back from out long walk and Christian ,clentched onto my Mom and still trembelling, there it was, a huge, long, black snake, dead on the street.

Christian had to have his room checked every night for snakes and we never walked through the bushes again.

Spain

Oh, Spain. Right before my family moved to Germany, my german Grandparents retired to Cadiz, on the coast of Spain. That have us a reason to visit spain every year to every other year.
At first we tried driving. Learn from our mistake, and DO NOT drive. It takes two very long long days, especially when you are in the car with three hungry, growing brothers.
Flying is the way to go.
Spain is mostly always warm not matter what season, so we can spend as much time outside as possible. When we are in Spain all my siblings and I want to do, is lay on the beach, get a good tan and swim in the ocean. the only thing that keeps us from doing that every day is levanta, a wind blowing over from Africa, which kicks up the sand and tears your skin up/off. We tried it once and obviously it was a very bad idea.
Not only do you have to watch out for the insane winds, but also the animals. There is a very VERY good reason that they have signs to keep out of the bushes along the coast and pretty much anywhere else. Their bushes are infested with snakes, poison snakes and lizard. My brother had to learn the hard way.

Switzerland

Switzerland is comparable to Austria. It has the same feeling and atmosphere. A big difference is the accent. Even though it is "german" that they are speaking, I do not understand one word they are saying. Switzerland is famous for its chocolate and yes it is very good!
I stayed in switzerland for a day and a half. My family and I were on a Europe trip. At the same time my boyfriend flew over from America, with his family, to do their own Europe trip. We had not seen each other for almost a month and spent every other day skyping telling each other about our adventures and what we got to see that day.
My family and I were on our drive back to germany, when my Dad got a phone call. Without telling us anything my dad turned the car around on the most winding road I have ever been on,  and started heading back. We all had no idea what was going on, and he would not tell us.
As i studied the map I noticed we were heading to Interlacken. What were we going to do there. As we pulled up into the prettiest village/ town that I have ever seen and drove around, I noticed the name of the hotel up to my right. Victoria Jungfrau Hotel. NO.. that is where Chris was staying tonight.
And sure enough before I could even process that information, there he was standing there. I couldn't think and before I knew it I jumped out of our, still running, car and into his arms.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out taking pictures, eating and telling stories.
This is the only fairy tale moment I have had in my life, thanks to my Dad. And I will never forget it.

Austria

I was only in Austria briefly, but never the less it was breath taking and the food was amazing. If you go there you have to try Kaiserschmarrn, it is a traditional Austrian breakfast, SO good!
Besides the food though, Austria has amazing small antik villages with big farms. Beautiful crystal clear lakes are hidden between the towering mountains.
Different villages are know for different things, so if you decide to visit, take time to stop at these villages and go window shopping.
I love everything about Austria, from the strange dialekt to the food to the beautiful senery.

London

Getting lost in London for a day, may sound crazy or not worth it, but trust me it is!
My dad suprised me with a ticket to London the day before my birthrday. The plan was to leave at three in the morning fly to London, take a car to the train station, take a train into the city, get on another bus and exore what London has to offer. Every girls dream!
By the time we actually were in the city, it was nine o'clock. I learned quickly to spend a long time looking across the street (both ways), before crossing opr just running as fast as I could and hope for the best. Because they drive on the wrong/other side of the road it makes it feel like pure chaose.   We grabbed chololate muffins and jumped on one of the traditional

Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City used to be a vacation destination for me and my family, when we still lived in Germany.
Every year or every other year my family and I would fly over to visit my mom's side of the family.
We would spend our time with our cousins, Aunts, Uncles and our Grandma. When we visited in the Summer we would go four-wheeling swimming at Pine-view, visit Antelope Island and go shopping.
In the winter we would spend more time next to the fire place at my grandmas, doing puzzles, reading books, making snowmen and snowmobiling.
These Trips were always the most family oriented and we always had a blast.

Italy

This last Summer I flew over to Germany, where I spent a couple of days and then continued on my journey to the Alps in Italy. My parents and my little sister and brother all jumped in the car and drove for about thirteen hours over the most impressing landscapes I have ever seen (hawaii being the only exception). After the long drive we finally arrived at a beautiful hotel that over looked the valley and their small village.
This trip was more different then anything I have done before. Every day we would get up and have breakfast (eggs and dark dry bread). Then we would hike all day long. I love hiking, don't get me wrong, but hours and hours on end in unpredictable mountain weather.. not so fun!
I know with out those hikes I would not have seen the moss covered forests, the Falcons nest, hold a owl and get caught in a mountain down pour.
We then drove on to a place a half an hour away from Venice.  I was shocked... the residential areas of Italy were dreary and depressing, not nearly as pretty as the Alps. But Venice made up for everything. Venice was my kind of place. No matter where you turned, every thing looked like a piece of art. I can hardly discribe what it looks like, so here are a couple pictures to show you.

Hawaii

Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of visiting Hawaii. Years passed and my dream remained the same and sure enough my dream came true.
2004 - My entire family flew from Germany to Salt Lake City,  for our Christmas break. A few days after our arrival my dad and I got back in a plane and flew to paradise.
As I stepped out of the plane the tropical , sweet sticky air hit me, this was it.
We stayed with my fathers mother, who lived on the coast of Maui.
We spent our week soaking up the sun, swimming on the beach and for the most part.. driving around the entire Island.(not exactly how I wanted to spend my time there)
Maui has the coolest tropical forest, hidden beaches amazing snorkeling and diving. I can only recommend Hawaii and urge you not to spend your time in a car, like I did.

Belgium

My family and I loved traveling to Belgium. Not only to eat there their stroke waffles, chocolate and delicious licorice, but to stay at a lace called Center Parks. At Center Parks you stay in bungalows ride to your desired destinations with a bike. This Park provides a huge Jungle dome, it is amazing. It has exotic shrubs, trees, flowers and birds covering in from top to bottom. To give the dome the real jungle feeling they even have Splashing waterfalls, wobbling rope bridges, bamboo huts and even Tropical temperatures. We would spend every waking hour running through the jungle and enjoying the limitless boundaries.   
As if the jungle dome weren't enough, they also have swimming paradise dome. This dome provides white water rafting, wave pools, water caves and the coolest thing ever, a snorkeling pool. You can swim with sharks and exotic fish. It took me a while to figure out that there was a plexiglass window separating us. 
They also provided many other activities, such as four wheel ridding, boat rides, fishing and zip line rides. 
That was one of my favorite vacations/ trips I have been on. 

All around the World

I am Jessica. I want this blog to be about the places I have traveled to and all of the adventures I have had at those places. I have seen a lot, but know that I still have plenty to see.
I grew up in Germany, which made the traveling very easy. I could take a train in any direction and end up in a different country with a different language and a different unique culture.  I could actually go and see the places I would read about in my history books. What more could a girl wish for!