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Through out our time of traveling, we’ve noticed different countries display their warnings in many ways.  It was actually quite amusing so it became a hobby of ours to take photos of ANY silly sign we came across (whether warning or not).

A place that speaks Colin’s language…

gotta love the picture of the man drowning…

I don’t know about you, but “SAFE” is the first word that crosses my mind.

Ok… so who’s idea was this?  or is Microsoft that desperate…

This is one of my favorite signs because it says so much in one little picture.  But really, what on earth can you do to prevent this?

By Colin and Andre’a Feldhaus

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So, I’ve had this idea for a blog post for some time now… our year 2009 in review… in pictures… only pictures (well, with titles as well).  I thought it would be fun and a little different, so here it goes.

2009’s most random moment:  Zorbing

This is an activity found in New Zealand where you roll down a hill in a big giant ball with a little water in it.  Pretty much it’s like being in a hamster ball.

2009’s most disgusting:  eating a grasshopper!

2009’s most scary moment:  Bungee jumping

2009’s most nerdy moment:  the odometer

I will admit that I love it when there are many of the same numbers in a row on my odometer.

2009’s biggest accomplishment: the Rimu Nelson Lakes Hike

This was a 3 day hike in the mountains of New Zealand.  We climbed up to 1700 meters with a 30lb backpack on! WHEW! You should check out Active New Zealand, they really have some great tours going.

2009’s most hilarious moment:  the human castles in Spain

Ok, the human castles themselves are miraculous, but how can you not laugh at this picture?

2009’s most crooked building… that we saw:  Germany

2009’s coldest day EVER!… ok not really, but it was pretty cold:  South Island of New Zealand

Yes, that water coming out of the faucet is really frozen.

The most south we’ve ever been in 2009 (or ever):  Southern most tip of New Zealand

2009’s most confused moment:  trying to do a video project in Spain, when you can’t speak Spanish… and they can’t speak english!

2009’s best architecture:  the Sangrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain by Gaudi

2009’s all around most memorable moment:  straight up trading our NZ van for an iphone!

Definitely will NEVER forget this moment!  Thanks Jeremy!  Colin never parts from it!

by colin and Andre’a Feldhaus

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Parc Guell is a place I think one could easily stay all day. It is enormous to begin with, but there are so many fun and cool things to experience as you walk around. At the entrance, there are two houses… and personally i think they look like gigantic gingerbread houses. How fun is that!

I think I’ll just post the rest of the pictures. It’s hard to explain the amazing architecture, beautiful lookouts, and just the peacefulness that was there.

There were a couple of awesome lookouts where we got some good photos.

And the Gaudi cathedral from afar… you can really see all the construction from this angle.

And just another cute moment captured.

By:  Colin and Andre’a Feldhaus

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When we returned to Spain after our little side trip to Germany, we only had 3 full days left.  We had to finish up our video project along with getting to Barcelona at least one more time!  Some of our amazing new friends Jordi and Laura volunteered to take us to Barcelona.  Thanks a ton you guys!!  So, this trip we had two main stops… go inside the Gaudi cathedral (the Sagrada Familia)  and to visit the Gaudi park (Park Güell).  This blog will only focus on the cathedral.

To see some pictures of the oustide, click here to view a previous post…

Since we got there fairly early and there wasn’t a line to go up one of the towers, we decided to do that first.  So up the elevator we went.  There were some amazing views from the top of both the cathedral and Barcelona.

This is me and Laura

and her husband Jordi and son David!

Then we took the spiral staircase down – which was seriously the coolest staircase EVER!  (And if you tilt your head slightly to the right… you just might be able to see the very bottom!)

On the way down, we found another lookout… and look what we found!  They actually had a service going on – who knew?!?!

By the time we got back down to the bottom floor, there was a line that had formed to go up the tower.  We were extremely glad we did that first and didn’t have to wait.  Next, we walked through the inside.  It is highly under construction, but still breathtaking.  Words cannot even begin to describe how miraculous the cathedral is.  So much thought and effort went into the planning of every little detail… and then to construct it all!  WOW!  We did watch a short film on the history and making of the Sagrada Familia and found out that it’s only around 50% complete.  They’ve had their fair share of problems (like Gaudi dying unexpectedly, and a war breaking out and destroying part of the cathedral), but when it’s finished, it will be a stunning piece of art.

The inside of the cathedral was made to symbolize the inside of a forrest – pretty clever!

the original plans…

This is a picture of part of the back of the cathedral.  I love the architecture, but what’s even cooler is you can see where the building project stopped… and much later, continued.  The color differences between the two are neat to look at.

By:  Colin and Andre’a Feldhaus

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Well, I guess we need to catch up and finish some blogs.  Here are a few more photos from our time Germany.

Colin found a new friend

Here are a couple pictures of Tom’s parents, Walter and Irmgard.  They are truly great people and Walter is an amazing cook!  I could probably learn a thing or two if i just shadowed him around in the kitchen.  And Irmgard is just like another mother.  All she cared about was making sure we ate enough (dinner and dessert!) and were as comfortable as possible.  It was great to finally meet them and hope to see them again!

just a silly one

and one more goodbye photo with Svenja

By Colin and Andre’a Feldhaus

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While we were in Germany…

This is a slideshow of our friends Tom and Svenja.  We were actually in Germany the beginning of December and Svenja’s due date was the 24th!  What a great time to get some maternity photos done!  These two are so much fun and I’ve never laughed so hard during a shoot ever!  I will also brag on Svenja a bit…  I have never seen a more happy pregnant mom-to-be!  She laughed and giggled the whole week we were with them.  Not only that, she never once complained or whined about anything!  I would imagine after all the sightseeing and walking we did, she would have mentioned she was ready to go home.  But nothing of the sort came out of her mouth… and with as much as we did, you know she was exhausted… because I sure was!  But all we heard was more laughing and giggling.  She is an amazing person and an excellent example of how I want to be.  So meet our two hosts and German tour guides, Tom and Svenja!

This was one of the coolest little towns ever!  It has amazing architecture, beautiful scenery, and an awesome all year round Christmas store.  It is a very small town, but on the weekends it’s so packed because everyone comes in to shop.  Tom’s parents used to live in Monschau and we got to drive by their old house.  Anyway, here are some photos…

This was just a cool looking old building.

Along the river they had all these fun buildings!  A lot of the buildings are actually a bit tilted and the lines and colors are fabulous.

A close up of one of the tilted buildings.

colin and andre’a feldhaus

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One day, Svenya took us to an old Roman town that has some ruins.  She hadn’t been there since elementary school so it was even a little new for her.  It was pretty rainy when we arrived, but stuck it out anyway.  This first building is an old temple.

Here is a wall inside of the temple.

Then we decided to walk to the museum since it was inside and we could warm up a bit.  They had some fun things to try on.  First they had a saddle you could sit on and a shield to pick up.  Colin looked like a true warrior, but i was struggling just to pick up the shield!

Next, we came across some helmets sitting on a stand with a button to hear a story.  We probably pushed the button 6 times between the 3 of us, before a lady who worked their told us you had to put the helmet on to hear the story.  So Colin tried on the silver one.  Sure enough there were speakers inside where he could hear a story about the old Roman soldiers.  Since there was another helmet, i thought i’d try that one on.  Let me just say… the gold helmet was at least twice as heavy as the silver one.  I could barely keep my head straight!  Any slight movement on my part and the weight of the helmet would sway my head.  I had to keep my hand close to my head at all times just in case the helmet took over!  It was quite funny.

Colin taking a self portrait of himself.

By the time we finished in the museum, it had stopped raining!  So we walked over to the old amphitheater or coliseum.

By Colin and Andre’a Feldhaus

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This cathedral was beautiful from the outside, but even more spectacular from the inside.

Then Colin and I decided to climb the tower of the cathedral. It was quite a hike up there – i think the sign said 533 steps. It probably wasn’t a great idea to do this after we ate a big lunch, but we made it and the views from the top were breathtaking.

some graffiti at the top… colin thought it looked cool.

the tallest steeple

You can see the Christmas Market below.

This is a very zoomed in picture of the lookout platform at the top.

the beautiful inside!

By Colin and Andre’a Feldhaus

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Walter (Tom’s dad) and Marcus (Tom’s brother) took us to another city called Köln.  (The weather was great so we must have eaten all our food!!)  This city has about 1 million people and has a very old and famous cathedral.  We walked around the Christmas Market, ate lunch, and then went inside the cathedral.  Here are some pictures of the christmas market.

mmmmm, waffles!  My favorite breakfast… but here they’re a snack food.  Either way they are delicious!

By Colin and Andre’a Feldhaus

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