Grand USA Tour: Stop #2 Colorado - 02 Wedding Errands

July 22nd

Today Jenny and I ran somewhat dull but important pre-wedding errands.  To amuse myself, and Jenny, I took many photos of the day like I was traveling somewhere exciting. (There are few interior photos because businesses get weirded out when you take photos.)

Denver traffic!  

OOOOOooooo.  AAaaaaaah.

A view of Colorado.

Another view of Colorado.

Jenny and the extremely nondescript Doctor's Office Building!

This hallway really lives up to the building's bland motif.

Jenny at the mall!

Men fixing an escalator.  

Don't you love escalators?  They can never really break, they just become stairs. 

What's a visit to the mall with out getting a Mall Pretzel?  

It's like going to Germany and NOT having a beer....or a pretzel.

The expansive Outlet Mall.

Kay Jewelers say they're open, but the massive chain and padlocks on their door says otherwise.

A view of some of the Outlet Mall.

Lowe's!

Italy has Leroy Merlin which is just....well it's like Lowes, but disappointing.

Kohl's!

The Dollar Tree did not have the things we needed.  

It was the least impressive of the errands so far.

We took a break from errands to play trivia at the Blue Spruce.

Carey makes an appearance.  

Kathryn was also here, but I failed to get a picture of her.  Sorry Kathryn!

Beer sampler!  Woo!

We didn't do so hot at trivia, but it was fun nonetheless.

To the Liquor Store for Champagne! .....and other boozes.

And last, but not least, the grocery store, for....bread?  Something.

This concludes our very exciting adventure of running errands.

Grand USA Tour: Stop #2 Colorado - 01 Renaissance Faire

July 18

Today Jenny and I had a girls' day at the Colorado Renaissance Faire.  We hung out a bit with Liz who was bar tending today.  We also met up with my friend Erin, and some of her friends.  Most of these photos are self-explanatory or I have no idea what's going on anyway.  There will be limited captions.

Parade:

 This lady worked for one of the corset shops.  She had not been able to leave and was very hungry.  We acquired a sausage on a stick for her and she was very...grateful.

 Erin did not like this corset.

This concludes our adventure to the Renaissance Faire.

Grand USA Tour: Stop #1 - Virginia

July 13th

July 13th I spent flying from Naples, Italy to Munich, Germany to Washington D.C.  It was a long trip, but luckily because of my lack of preparation, I was up super late the night before and didn't really have any jet lag issues.

My mom was awesome and arrived to pick me up at the airport with Chickfila.

July 14th

I mostly hung out or ran around town running some errands.  

Going to places that don't exist in Italy, like Kohls and JoAnn Fabric.

Okay, so maybe I've been in Italy too long, but I totally thought this sign said "Wine".  

It is in fact a sign for a church.

I arranged to meet up for dinner with a friend of mine from high school whom I hadn't seen in 10 years.  How crazy is that?  We met in downtown Staunton, which is about 90 min from Winchester.

 A wicked storm descending.

Downtown Staunton:

It was really good to see Sam.  I'm glad we could get together.   

Hopefully it won't be so long next time!

July 15th

My mom has a beautiful garden:

Crazy coneflowers affected by fasciation:

Several family friends came over for dinner since I was in town and we had a lovely time.  

I felt so special that they all had time and wanted to come over to hang out.

July 17th

Today before I left Virginia, I had lunch with my mom (Susan), godmother (Maggie), grandmother (Ruthe), and family friend (Wilma).  They all color coordinated on their own.

This concludes my brief trip to Virginia.

Spain: Day 8 - Valencia City of Arts and Sciences

July 10th

Today we went to explore the City of Arts and Sciences.  It has six parts:  the Hemisfèric (IMAX), the Science Museum, the Oceanogràfic (Aquarium), the Palau de les Artes (Arts Museum), the Umbracle (Gardened Esplanade) , and the Àgora (Event Space).

We went to the Hemisfèric and the Science Museum.

They had an exhibit about Pixar, and that was really cool.  No photos were allowed (sad face).

  There were early sketches and models of characters.

They had a copy of this in the exhibit.  It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  

It kind of makes you question your understanding of physics and the world.

Dan looking sexy in his IMAX headgear.

The movie we saw was about the Universe in general.  It was okay.

IMAX film!

And onto the Science Museum.

#3.  The Larch.

The Larch.

Different types of wood forest.

Things you can make out of wood!

DNA sculpture.

Have you ever seen a Nobel Prize?  Well now you have!   

This is the Nobel Prize awarded to Severo Ochoa and Arthur Kornberg for their discovery of the synthesis of DNA.  Neat, huh?

The Science Museum was kind of underwhelming over all.  I sort of wish we had gone to the aquarium.  Oh, well, such is life.  

This concludes our adventures in Valencia.