Bella Roma Day 2

Wednesday morning came fast, especially since we didn't go to bed till quite late. Myra left early for a day trip for work and Michael and I slept in. When we got up, we headed straight out the door after of course changing to go across the street to a little cafe called, "Friends Cafe" where we got some coffee and croissants. It was good and fast so we could come back and take showers and pack up for the day and get on our way.

We started our "sightseeing" by walking from Myra's place to the Spanish steps which is about a 10-15 minute walk. When we got there we sat on the steps for a while watching the world go by.

Spanish Steps

After the Spanish Steps we walked around alot and found lunch at a cute little cafe. We ate outside under heated lamps, but the wind started to blow and it got quite cold. When we left we had the intention to go to the Pantheon, but since we just went the "general direction" and weren't really looking at a map to get there, we ended up by the river close to Vatican City, so went there instead. When we got there I had to use the restroom and Michael was convinced he remembered there being a restroom hidden on a wall on close to the entrance I wasn't so sure about this, but as we started walking underneath the columns it all came back to me and I knew he was right and there it was, a hidden and empty restroom! We sat on the steps in the square for a long time. The sun was out and I was in heaven. It was so warm I even rolled up my sleeves and helped my body make lots of vitamin D!

Michael Crossing Over the Bridge

Tiber River

St. Peters Square and Cathedral

I LOVE this picture.
Michael and the two nuns.

I'm in green, sunbathing

We decided we would try to go to the Pantheon again, so after reading a map we were on our way and this time made it there. It was about a 45 minute walk or so, but as Myra will attest to, we can out walk anybody in fact in Paris in 2002, she gave Michel the nickname "Walking Nazi'. The Pantheon was just as huge as I remember. It is such an amazing building and to think that the building that is there now has been standing there since 125AD blows my mind.

Pantheon
Can you find Michael? He is hard to miss ;)

It was starting to get later and later and we needed to meet Myra back at the apartment at 7:00. We knew we had a long trek back home so we got some Gelato for the road and headed back. Our plan was to go to the Spanish Steps and then from there back to Myra's house, until we saw signs for the Trevi Fountain (which is relatively close to the Spanish Steps) so, made a detour to go there instead. We spent a few days on our first trip sitting by the fountain eating lunch. When we were here in 2002 the fountain area seemed so empty, there were usually only about 20 other people there with us. It was the end of February on that trip also, so I don't know why this time, there were so many more people. We didn't sit on the steps in front of the fountain but on the wall to the side of it. I found a little corner that I fit in perfectly and Michael stood and researched the map to find the best way home. This time, we made it all the way home with no stops. We were gone from 11:00am til 6:00pm. It was a lovely day of walking around the incredible city, taking it all in and enjoying ourselves.

Coffee Flavored Gelato

Trevi Fountain

This is look like when I walk for 6 hours. Tired!

In the evening the three of us went to the grocery store to stock up on food for the party that was happening the next night at Myra's place. We loaded our backpacks down with 12 bottle of Procceco and tons of food. We also got some pasta, bread, and pesto for dinner along with a jar of instant coffee so we didn't have to run out the door so fast the next morning, breakfast for the morning and a toothbrush for me because mine is sitting in our cabinet in the bathroom in Lyngby. oops. We ate our food, drank some wine from Macedonia and had a lovely evening.

Cooking Ravioli stuffed with Ricotta and Spinach

Bella Roma Day 1

So, its a YES on the I'll be blogging from Italy!

We had an early flight yesterday morning and woke up at the dreadful hour of 4:30. Thankfully we got to drink lots of coffee in the SAS lounge at the airport before we left. The aircraft we were suppose to be on was taken out of service a few months ago because of a couple crashes that had happened. SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) is leasing out planes and crews from other airlines until they can get a full fleet again. Because of this they gave everyone on the plane free food and drinks. That was a nice treat.

We arrived in Rome about 12:30 where we had a man holding up our names on a sign waiting for us. Originally Myra was going to be out of town when we got here so we arranged for a driver to pick us up at the airport to take us to the Embassy to get Myra's keys, then back to Myra's house. (Myra works at the Embassy) But as it turned out, she wasn't out of town after all, but we kept the car anyways. It was a beautiful fancy black Mercedes and the driver was quite nice.

We got to Myra's building and couldn't believe the door that we had to go through. I'll get a picture of it later, but it is HUGE! I had forgotten how grandiose everything is in Rome. Her flat is really big as well and the ceilings are 24 feet. WOW!

Michael looking out of the huge window

Eating Area

We got settled in while Myra went back to work and actully had to take a little 30 minute nap because we were both exhausted from waking up so early. Then we went walking around for about 2 hours to see nothing in particular and stayed North of the city where all the "attractions" are located. I took zero pictures on our walk, can you believe it? We came back and met Myra back at her place and we all walked L'Enotec Antica, which is Myras favorite Enoteca. An enoteca is pretty much a wine bar. It was a nice walk that took about 15 minutes and walked us right down the Spanish Steps.

Apparently Myra is quite popular in this place as all the waiters knew her. They gave us a table in the back which was nice and we drank wine and ate cheese and bread. It was a nice way to spend our first night in Rome.

The Enoteca Wall

Having fun

Myra ordered an Apple Cake and I made her stop eating it so I could take a picture.
It still looks pretty yummy though some of it is missing!

After we were all done we asked our amazing waiter for the bill and instead he brought us three glasses of Limoncello,which is a lemon liquor that tastes divine, on the house. When we asked him for the brand of Limoncello he not only wrote it down for me, he brought the bottle to the table and poured the rest of the bottle in our three glasses. Nice guy huh?

All of us with our second free glasses of Limoncello and the waiter that gave it to us.

As we were leaving, Myra had to say hello to a couple of her other bartender friends and as soon as one of them saw her, he poured a glass of what I think was Prosecco, then upon him seeing her with guests, poured Michael and I each a glass as well. So we made it out of there purchasing two glasses of wine each and getting three more glasses each on the house. Not too bad. It quickly became our favorite Enoteca in all of Rome, and I'll go ahead publicize them. If you find yourself in Rome looking for a great Enoteca....try L'Enotec Antica!!

Myras Buddy

Myra and Michael at the Bar

The Bar

We finally got out of there about 10:30 and caught a cab home. We chatted for a bit and then we crashed. I couldn't believe that Michael and I managed to stay up so late with only a 30 minute nap in the afternoon!

Around the World in 5 Weeks

We bought tickets about and hour ago to visit HOME!! :o)

Michael will have to be in Dallas for work for about a week and a half and I'm tagging along. From Dallas we will spend some time in Lubbock, El Paso and Austin. We don't have dates for each city yet, but we will be in Texas from February 28th - March 19th. When we get back to Denmark we will spend about a week and Michael will head to Tokyo for a few days for work and I'll stay put.

Now here is the crazy part. We leave tomorrow for a week in Rome, Tuscany and Pescia and come home where we will have an evening and one full day before leaving again. YIKES!

Not sure if I'll be blogging from Italy yet or not, but check in to see :o)

Beware the Slugs!

Yesterday we went "The Irish Rover" in Copenhagen with the Texas clan and Fran (The Brazilian from Christmas) for some Guinness's. While there we started discussing about the "slugs' in Denmark that come out in the spring and summer. I told them we had a video of some of them and that when we got home I'd upload it for them, so I did, and they laughed and I figured, as long as it was uploaded, I would share it here as well.

So I now present to you, disgusting Danish Slugs.

Goodbye Winter Blues!

This has been our 3rd Danish winter, and it has been, by FAR the hardest winter yet. Back in December I started to have all sorts of very uncharacteristic things going on with me. Naturally, I had lost a lot of energy because of the lack of sun and along with that came a bunch of other things. Out of nowhere doing easy tasks like doing my hair or makeup became very difficult and VERY stressful. I would actually have to stop and breathe because I would get so irritated that I just COULDN'T do it. Denmark was becoming my enemy because I was agitated that there was no sun, it was so dark, there were so many low thick clouds, everything cost so damn much, the taxes were ridiculous, Danish seemed impossible, and the people all seemed so rude. (Which they can be, but they don't mean to be! There is no word for "please" in the Danish Language!!). There is a LONG list of stuff that was going on with me ranging from social withdrawal to a strange strong craving for bread and carbs. My symptoms were strongest around Christmas through the very start of January and then they cooled off, a lot, but they were still very much there, just not as extreme.

My number 1 priority in life above all things is my health. For me personally, I couldn't be the wife, daughter, sister or friend that I am without it. There is a huge story behind why we are both this way, but I'll save that for another time. (Please save all comments telling me that health is a stupid 1st priority to yourself. thanks.)

So several weeks ago I went to the doctor to make sure there was nothing physically wrong with me, though I had a suspicion I knew what it was and as it turns out, I was right. (Don't get your hopes up, I'm not pregnant) The doctor was incredible. He was so nice and young too and made me feel very comfortable talking about all of this, which wasn't easy for me to do, because I don't open up easily on such a personal level to people, especially someone I just met. We talked for a little while and after deciding I was most likely suffering from a mild case of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) he wanted to do some blood work on me as he suspected I was low on vitamin D as that is a common symptom of SAD. A week after that first appointment I was feeling even a little better, maybe I just needed to get it off my back to a Doc? I went back for my blood test results find out I was EXTREMELY deficient in vitamin D. They also tested my liver to make sure my body was processing the vitamin D I was getting, properly. Which it was. GOOD. :) And everything else they tested me for was great. YEA! Not surprisingly the deficiency was due to the lack of sun. The doctor told me that he could test anyone on the street and they would be low on vitamin D as this is very common. He gave me two prescriptions. One was for vitamin D pills to take twice a day and the other was for an injection. Yup, I got a prescription for an injection. That was a big difference from the states!! I had to go to the pharmacy and order my injection, then they called a week later to say it was in. I picked it up and made another doctor appointment which was for today. This morning I made my merry way back to the doctor with my injection in hand for him to stick it in my ass and give me a big 'ol dose of vitamin D. Before he did, we talked some more. I told him I have been feeling SO much better in the past two weeks. This is probably because of the newly found sun and my vitamin D pills. He told me that I didn't REALLY NEED the shot if I was feeling better, but HE really felt I needed to have it because I had one of the lowest levels of vitamin D he had seen all season. WOW! I was all for that, plus I paid 360DKK ($70) for it, so I better be getting it!! ;o) He mentioned to me that it was quite rare for someone with light skin to be as deficient as I was. I do have dark skinned blood as half of it is Mexican, but as for my actual skin color, I'm without a doubt as Michael call me, "The Whitest Mexican".

Vitamin D Injections

I go back in a month to get more blood work done and hopefully, those Vitamin D levels will have gone WAY up. If they haven't, I'll get another shot. I was also advised to start taking vitamin D pills next winter around November to hopefully avoid this again. I agreed wholeheartedly.
Like I said this is our 3rd Danish winter, and this is the first time I have ever experienced this and it really caught me off guard. Thankfully, in the past couple weeks I have started to feel really good again and like my old self. I have a month and a half of vitamin D pills left, and that should get me to spring as a happy person and by then, it will be sunny sunny sunny! Denmark and I are starting to patch things up and we are slowly becoming friends again, but we are taking it slow.

Happy 28th Hubby!

By the title I'm sure you can guess that today, is Michaels' birthday.
I welcome his birthday just as much as he does.
I love spoiling him rotten and it is the start of the 7 months a year where he stops making fun of me for being SOOOO old. ;o)

I know I posted this picture last year, but its too cute to not post again.

Michael in 1980

Happy Birthday Hubby!!

I dag er det Michael's fødselsdag

Hurra hurra hurra
Han sikkert sig en gave får
som han har ønsket sig i år
og dejlig chokolade med kager til!

The Most Beautiful Thing in the World

Blue Skies and Sun!
It's about damn time.

Danish Classes

On Tuesday we were informed that we will be starting our 3rd and final set of classes next week. This set of classes is the shortest in our series. This means, we only have 6 weeks of class left. Since it is a private class that consists of Michael, myself and our teacher, we won't miss 2 weeks while we are in Rome, they will simply be pushed back. Our projected end date is April 1st.

Danish is a very difficult language, (My Russian classes in college were about 10 times easier than Danish.) but we are right on track to where we want to be. Our main goal was simply to understand the language through listening and reading. Speaking it was our second priority and finally writing, which was placed at a very low priority.

In the 1 year of classes we have a good grasp with the language and when I need it, I use it and more importantly I'm understood. So here's to a good final 6 weeks of Danish class!

This is one of the rooms we are in every Tuesday morning from 9 - 11. It also happens to be one of the conference rooms in the building that Texas Instruments Lyngby is located.
However, TI never uses these rooms because they have their own!

My Fave Picture

This is my favorite picture that Michael took in Germany but for some reason he decided not to post it on his previous post, so I'll share it here. It reminded me so much of Tallinn, Estonia. I loved the way the roofs of the houses look so teeny tiny next to the church.

See Michael's post below for more! :)

Trip to Germany

Hi all! Some of you may remember me as that guy who posted one time about the crazy double yolked eggs. Thats right, after months of hibernation I am finally making my SECOND POST!! It wasn't really an option, I recently took a trip to Germany for work and was asked to take some pictures while I was there. Nichole and I had been to Germany before, but I was going to Munich which we hadn't seen. I fell for the trap and took pictures like I was supposed to. When Nichole saw all of the pictures that I took she decided that I could write a blog post about my trip. I have protested and procrastinated for a few weeks now (my trip started January 22nd) but eventually she won (was there ever an doubt?).

I didn't actually make it to Munich while I was gone but instead spent my time in Freising, which is just outside Munich. I spent two full days at work and was able to spend a little time wandering around the town to see what all was there. It was a small town with a pretty typical town center and main street.



There were several churches scattered through the town. The biggest seemed to be the one located up on a hill in the middle of the town. I went up the hill to get a closer look.


While on the hill I got a view of the city. It was nice to be up high and to be able to get a nice panoramic overview of the area.


I also took some walks through the town. While walking around I stumbled into some park areas that reminded me a lot of Denmark. Here we have a lot of areas that are very 'foresty' on the outskirts of the towns, in central Copenhagen there are some large parks that are nice to walk through too.


It was a good trip. I got a lot done and I got to see a nice small German town. Originally we had planned for Nichole to come with me but when we found the time for the trip and checked the ticket prices we were amazed by how expensive they were. At the time tickets to Freising were around $800 (4000DKK for our Danish readers). Too much for a short trip!