Enchanted Sedona

While staying in Phoenix, my Canadian Family and me went to Sedona for a day to check out the Red Rock formations and take tons of pictures (ok, and to check out every single jewelry story down main street...) Sedona is absolutely breathtaking!

Panoramashot - check! 

I could probably upload about a hundret pictures here, just to show you all the amazing rock formations we found around the little town. Apparently, it's also know for its Energy field, or something other supernatural, so there are all these psychics and tarot people and funky little shops in town called "the vortex" or "crystals" or whatnot... plus, Sedona had a great art scene, so if you're interested in any of that, make sure you check it out if you're ever in Arizona! As I said, we preferred jewelry stores and souvenir shops :)

Red Rock Surfing

My family has visited this little town many times before, so they took me to some of the best lookouts and altough it was a little overcast that day, I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. They also took me to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a very old church built into the side of the rock, like it belongs there (that's where the panorama shot was taken. Sorry for the accidental headshot of the tourist there...) I think I could have taken a couple of hundret more photographs that day...

Many of these rock formations have names, but unfortunately, I don't know any of them. Also, the weird spots on my camera are back, apparently...

On our way out of town, we found a trail head and stopped to check it out and capture the evening sun lighting up the rocks. Enjoy the pictures ;)

Arizona Sunset

We thought it was a rather adorable name...

Prickly Love 

My family away from home *love you*

Amazing Arizona - Part 1

Arizona - the desert state, the high oven of the United States and, of course, the Grand Canyon State... I flew over it once, but I never actually had it on my list of places I have to visit. It's just too hot for me... but then I found this conference in New Mexico and it collided with my *Canadian family's* annual trip to AZ, so I thought "why not?" and booked a flight to Phoenix. Boy was I in for a treat! I mean, seriously people, if this isn't the Wild West I don't know what is...

Welcome to the Wild West!

The temperatures were rather cozy in the upper 20s (Celcius that is - about 85°F), which is kinda high for February, but it's a dry heat, so it wasn't as unbearably hot as I had imagined. Still, I don't think I could visit this state during the summer months... We stayed in the camper at a ranch that belongs to one of my family's friends down in Arizona, a Canadian who fled the norther cold one day and settled in the desert instead. This is what caught my eye when I first arrived:

Giant Cactus anyone?!?

And yes, of course there were horses everywhere :) The main part of our trip to Phoenix was spending time at the annual Arabian Horse show in Scottsdale, where we saw many beautiful horses and I learnd about the different disciplines and rules for shows like side saddle or hunter seat. Hopefully, Randy will start here next year, and who knows, maybe I'll be back too :)

All the pretty horses...

We also checked out some of the Frontier towns in and around Phoenix. They were heaven for Roz and me; I think we went into every single store and bought tons of gifts and souvenirs for everybody :) I realize that it's all made up for the tourists, but I just completely fell in love with this one town just north of Phoenix: Cave Creek! It's just so adorable!!!

Shopping mall - Cave Creek style

Plus they have an amazing Mexican restaurant there with a little pond in the outdoor seating area and the best Mexican Food I ever had! So, if you're ever in Phoenix, check out Cave Creek and try to get a table at El Encanto!

The gang and our shopping bags in front of El Encanto :)

Thanks for an amazing time in Phoenix guys! I will always remember my first adventure into the Wild West!

New York, New York!

As some of you might recall, I never actually made it to NYC while I was in Boston. I thought I should probably change that at some point, and since I happened to win tickets for the Global Citizen Festival in NYC's Central Park, I decided to take the bus to the Big Apple! Better later than never ;)

The infamous skyline of New York City

The good thing about going to New York was I have friends there. Since I had two tickets for the Global Citizen Festival, I asked my good friend Joseph to join me. Unfortunately, he had to cancel last minute because he had to work :( but he sent me a friend of his with the words "He's cool, you'll like him" and luckily he was right :) I practically ran from the bus stop to the apartment I was staying at (first time trying out airbnb and everything worked out pretty well), then back to the city to meet Jon somewhere along Central Park and then off to the festival.
So, here I was once again all alone and about to meet a total stranger - call me crazy, but I actually enjoy living like this :D He was waiting for me at the eastern entrance of the Park and we immediately hit it off and easily fell into a long conversation about life, experiences, travel and, yes, horses :) Unfortunately my tardiness meant we missed Stevie Wonder (bummer) and somehow we also sort of missed The Kings of Leon (we heard the music, but they wouldn't let us actually enter the festival grounds for some reason), but luckily we made it in time to see Alicia Keys take the stage. Yes people, Alicia Keys, live and Open Air in Central Park!!!! Need I say more?!?

Singing along to "New York" with thousands of people in Central Park - incredible!

The last act was John Mayer. I still can't believe I was actually there :) And to think I almost spent hundrets of Euros on a plane ticket to London to see John Mayer there a couple of weeks earlier... Open air in Central Park actually topps the O2 in London.

Afterwards, we had Burgers at one of New York's favorites: Shake Shack! I'm a fan now :)

The fries alone are worth waiting in line!

The next day I finally met with Joseph and he tried to make me love NYC by showing me all the best spots. Yes, ok, seeing the skyline from Williamsburg was pretty cool. And you really are a great tour guide Joseph :)

Best tour guide in town!

We did touristy stuff, like visiting the Brooklyn Bridge and taking the ferry to Staten Island, but Joseph also took me to his University (Columbia - gorgeous!) and we enjoyed the sun in some of the lesser known parks in the city, like the highline (you should definitely check it out, that's a pretty cool park/green area in the middle of the city!) and Washingt Square Park next to NYU. And we tried as many local specialties as possible (the pizza was great!) I was lucky enough to have three days of blue skies and sunshine to accompany me on this short city trip, but I was a little intimidated by all the skyscrapers (and the windy valleys in between!) Also, I think it's weird to wander through a foreign city and constantly think "Oh yeah, I've seen this before" (damn you film industry! ;) ) Here's the ultimate tourist *proof* pic of me in NYC:

Time Square - full of crazy people :)

So, yes, I was there and I did all the touristy stuff, but I still can't understand all the fuzz... Maybe this city is simply too big for me, I don't know... I feel like I've been there and I've done the whole *places to see* tour, but I don't necessarily have to go back there - sorry NYC fans out there. This travel girl still prefers beantown ;) and Upstate New York of course!

Back to Boston - 10 months later

After a couple of days in upstate New York, I took a bus through the night and arrived back in Boston the next morning :) I couldn't wait to spend a few days at my favorite house in all of Savin Hill! Also, I finally had the chance to see an NHL game, although it was still pre-season, but who cares? GO BRUINS! :D

Blond Boston Bruins Selfie ;)

I was also invited to join Maureen on one of the Gravestones tours *scary* and I have to say, I had a lot of fun wandering through downtown Boston at dusk :) Though it's weird to be one of the guests when you know the tour guide and driver...

Check out the Ghosts and Gravestones Tours!

And yes, you guessed it, there was also one of those *did that just happen* moments waiting for me while I was visiting Beantown: one morning, Maureen came home and said "We're gonna go to a gala tonigh!" Oh, and it wasn't just any Gala; it was a Gala filled with free food from the best Restaurants in the Bosten Area!!! *Foodie Heaven* Apart from enjoying the ridiculously delicious food samples, they also served free Wine and I got to meet the Govenor and the Boston P.D. comissioner and some of Boston's best ball players :) Oh yeah, definitely a *did that just happen* moment :D

"Hello Govenor!"

Oh how I love Boston... and Maureen! Girl, you're the best! Say hi to the kids for me!

State Parks, Graffiti and the Origin of Hamburgers :)

Hello Folks :)

I've decided to pick up this blog again and include some of my more recent adventures in the West.

Our first stop is New York State. Back in September 2013, I decided to visit some friends and explore the Empire State. My adventure started with my rental car at JFK Airport. Picking up a rental in Rush Hour and trying to get to upstate? NOT a good idea! Well, at least now I know that my nerves can handle the stress....

I spent my first night in Binghampton at yet another couchsurfer's house (thanks again Marc!) before I finally started exploring what upstate had to offer. After visiting Albany and Syracuse in 2012, I knew that the landscape up there is rather beautiful, but I was anxious to finally check out some of those state parks! So my first stop was Watkins Glen just south of the Finger Lakes. Well, what can I say? See for yourself:

The walk is about two miles long and takes you along the water. It is fascinating to see how the water made its way through the stone and shaped the Glen. Of course, I was especially lucky to have picked such a gorgeous day! :)

I then drove along the Finger Lakes (beautiful scenery with lots of local wineries to visit!!!) to Rochester to visit yet another couchsurfer. He showed me some of Rochester's graffiti Art scene at an old water reservoir and an abandoned subway tunnel. Here are some examples:

this is my favorite - it reminded me of Native American Art

The Subway Tunnel

some close-ups

Almost missed this one!

I spent a couple of days in Rochester and enjoyed the mixture of small town and upstate landscape as well as the pancakes in one of the diners ;) (I wanna say it was Jay's Diner, but I'm not sure...) I especially enjoyed the old wooden home with the beautiful front porch! I want a front porch...

And, of course, there was also a funny, *did that just happen* kind of story :) So, as some of you might know, I love Hamburg. Most beautiful city ever. And I'm German, and this always seems to come up at some point... So, I'm in Rochester, and my couchsurfer's roommate and I are talking and he brings up Hamburg, New York which is right next to Buffalo. So, of course, I tell him I used to live in Hamburg in Germany and that I love this city more than anything else and so on. He replies with "Do you know the story of the Hamburger?" and I go "Yeah, of course I do, I used to tell it on my city tour bus. Two guys from Hamburg invented the Hamburger in America and they called it Hamburger because that's what they are: people from Hamburg" and the roommate goes "Yeah, but do you know where that happened?" and he goes on to tell me the entire story about how two guys from Hamburg were selling hot dogs at a festival in Hamburg, New York, but they ran out of sausages, so they had to come up with something else, and all they could get from the butcher were patties, so they made Hamburgers! And, yep, he even had a pin from that fair for me :D I love my life!