#213 The Queen and Dee
01 August 2013 // London, England
While waiting at the Picadilly Circus area, Dee and I went to escape the heat in one of the most touristy shops around. That turned out this gem of a picture.
#214 Return to Potters Bar
02 August 2013 // Potters Bar, England
After living almost a month out of a single backpack, I returned to my base camp- Tim’s place! We also had a lot of catching up to do after his own trip to Northern Sweden.
#215 Branston Pickle
03 August 2013 // Potters Bar, England
Took a diversion from a rainy day in to stock up on more English snacks… Pickle being among my favorite.
#216 Sneaky Bunnies
04 August 2013 // London, England
At Deanna’s farewell dinner in Southall, she, Tim, and I got to play Sneaky Bunnies with five-year-old Joy. It’s a tough game once you land on Grumpy Farmer.
#217 The Backpack Life
05 August 2013 // Potters Bar, England
I spent the majority of July pretty much living only off of the contents of this bag. Now it’s time for round two- three more weeks, but this time with Deanna along for the whole thing.
#219 Amsterdam Icebar
07 August 2013 // Amsterdam, Netherlands
Went with Dee and Catherine to the Icebar- drinks out of ice pint glasses and a very strange 3D movie to boot.
#220 Cheese Tasting in Holland
08 August 2013 // Amsterdam, Netherlands
Deanna and I could have very easily missed this amazing cheese shop hidden in a corner- but we didn’t and we were rewarded with some amazing old goat cheese.
#221 Prague
09 August 2013 // Prague, Czech Republic
Our first day in Prague was a bit rainy, but we still got some amazing views from across the Charles Bridge.
#222 The Astronomical Clock
10 August 2013 // Prague, Czech Republic
One of Prague’s main attractions. Gotta admit, this looks pretty cool. Maybe even a little steampunk.
#223 Hofbrahaus
11 August 2013 // Munich, Germany
My German friends would want me to clarify that 90% of all our beloved German stereotypes come from Bavaria. That said, so does the Hofbrahaus, and it is delicious.
#224 Hiking in the Black Forest
12 August 2013 // Schwarzwald, Germany
Got lost a few times, but even those were rewarded with some really amazing views. The Black Forest is huge!
#225 Deep in Deutschland
13 August 2013 // Schwarzwald, Germany
Along the way to Andrea’s parents house, we stopped by this gorgeous village. Unfortunately, I don’t really remember its name, but it’s somewhere along the Black Forest and it’s awesome.
#226 Mercedes Benz Tour
14 August 2013 // Stuttgart, Germany
Went to Stuttgart to reunite with Bianca and Ines! We also got a neat tour of the Mercedes Benz museum, which had this odd interactive feature.
#227 Into the Swiss Woods
15 August 2013 // Kölliken, Switzerland
Deanna and I went out for a nature walk/bike ride with the kids of her old au pair. These two were a blast to hike and play football with, even though I never understood a word of their Swiss German.
#229 Escaping Zurich
17 August 2013 // Zurich, Switzerland
Unfortunately, I’ll have to go with Zurich as my least favorite European city- namely for being extremely expensive and almost impossible to get out of by bus when we needed to.
#230 Backtracking: Munich
18 August 2013 // Munich, Germany
We were able to make it out of Zurich and that got us back to Munich. Again, however, it was on a Sunday when the city shut down. We did go on a nice walk in the park, though.
#231 Return to Prague
19 August 2013 // Prague, Czech Republic
Our big backtrack to get back towards London took us through another familiar city- Prague. Didn’t mind getting more Czech food at all.
#232 Mannekin Pis
20 August 2013 // Brussels, Belgium
While I was unimpressed by Brussels my first two times in the city, for some reason I had a really good time exploring now, and I admire its quirks so much more.
#233 Brussels From Above
21 August 2013 // Brussels, Belgium
Deanna and I climbed a parking garage to get a good view of the Atominium, and found a great view for the entire city as a whole.
#234 The Pub Hunt
22 August 2013 // London, England
Dee and I wanted to hunt down a proper pub experience for our last full day in London. Unfortunately, none of the pubs served food as well.
#235 Full English Breakfast
23 August 2013 // London, England
Beans, sausages, black pudding- whole deal. Dee and I got breakfast with Tim before we’d have to head back to the USA.
#236 Wall of Spice
24 August 2013 // Ventura, California
Went spice smelling with Matt and Sam in Ventura on our way driving up to Santa Barbara.
#237 The Naughty Pelican
25 August 2013 // Goleta, California
I went to Goleta Pier by myself for some quiet time and while I was there, this huge pelican kept trying to steal bait and practically picked fights with a few groups of kids.
#238 Bo on the Go
26 August 2013 // Fremont, California
This one was pretty excited for mine and Matt’s road trip up north. Nobody told him that he was only going as far as Fremont.
#239 Ethiopian Food with Ryan
27 August 2013 // Oakland, California
Paid Ryan a visit while passing through Oakland for an evening. We had the chance to go out one night for some Ethiopian food.
#240 Avenue of the Giants
28 August 2013 // Ukaiah, California
While driving up to Portland, Matt and I made sure to stop for all the pretty things on the way up, and that meant spending some quality time with the big old Sequoias up the 101
#241 Redwoods State Park
29 August 2013 // Redwoods National Park, California
Just before crossing the California-Oregon border, Matt and I took another pit stop at another State Park- this time, Redwoods, which boasted some amazing nature and some of the freshest air I’ve ever breathed.
#242 Next Adventure Bargain Basement
30 August 2013 // Portland, Oregon
Met up with Menekşe in a store I could’ve spent hours in. Next Adventure was my kind of outdoor supplies shop, and their bargain basement really was full of deals. Plus that backpack wall was pretty awesome.
#243 Sauvie Island
31 August 2013 // Portland, Oregon
Got to spend some time out in the sun on Sauvie Island- beaching with Sonny, Kathleen, and Matt.