A Refreshing, Relaxing and Revitalizing Summer Break

I know it's been a long time since I posted so I need to catch up on the last year.  When the school year ended in Riyadh I was in much need of a break.  I decided to take the whole summer off (including some unpaid leave time) so that I could come back for another year of chaos and lawlessness known as my job.  I decided to make a stop in Munich, Germany to visit my cousin, Nate, and also to see Munich exactly 10 years after I finished my missionary service there.  I had a hard time keeping myself from jumping in the rivers and running through the trees after almost a year of being covered head to toe in stuffy, dusty Riyadh.  It was so nice to be around mountains and colors again.

 Nate suggested some day trips to Mittenwald and Salzburg while he finished his work week (he is also an English teacher) so I went off to find some hills that were alive.

 

 On the weekend Nate organized a cheap ride to Vienna - a city I have been near and passed by a few times in my life but never quite made it there.  It was fun to see how musical the city is especially after teaching in a setting where any kind of music and dancing are not allowed.

Notice the shape of the flowers.

 I guess powdered wigs are becoming the fashion again . . . .

 Nate and I went on a musical walking tour and visited the birth places and resting places of some famous composers.  We played 'guess this composer' with Nate's music collection.

 We also took time to see Shonbrunn Palace - the summer residence of the Hapsburgs.

 I have to admit, though, that I was really excited to eat my favorite German foods.  So it was also a gastronomical tour of Schnitzel with noodles and warm Apfel Struedel. 

  These were a few of my favorite things . . . .

Since we were just a  hop skip and a short bus ride away, we decided to pop over into Slovakia since neither of us had ever been there. 

Bratislava was like an older, quainter version of Vienna.  I tried to get a jumping picture but just ended up with a running picture.  Oh well.  From there I took the train back to Munich to catch my flight while Nate went on to Hungary.  It was a wonderful stopover to break up the journey back home.

 When I got to Salt Lake I spent as much time as I could either with family or in the outdoors.  We had a lot of reunions and it was so nice to catch up with everyone.

I re-hiked all my favorite hikes in Utah.

Towards the end of the summer all of my siblings and I went up to Yellowstone. 

 I imagined how it was to live in the old American West.

 We also drove through Grand Teton National Park on the way home.

 By the end of the summer I was feeling recharged and refreshed enough to go back to the dry heat and dust of Riyadh.  On my last hike I sprained my ankle and although it was painful, it was a blessing in disguise to have a reason to sit down and rest after a fun summer of running around the mountains.