"seeing the world, one weekend at a time" brendareed's Profile

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Traveling and taking photos...that's what I like to do. And I am in a great place in my life right now where I have the ability to do both...a lot. Currently living in Europe and using this time to see all I can in the time I have. What an amazing place to live in and visit!

I tend to travel in short little bursts – long weekends or overnighters – with longer trips once or twice each year. When I’m not traveling, each weekend I try to get to something new locally – usually a small town or point of interest followed by drinks or a meal at a local restaurant. It may only be a half-day outing. I think we tend to forget the nearby towns – we know we can always get there, but unless we make a point to go, we usually don’t get there. And we miss out on so many good things in the process.

I like highlighters – the kind you mark your school books with. Only with me, I mark up maps and guidebooks! What a pleasure it is after a trip to mark it off in the book! My husband keeps travel maps on his office walls – he puts pins in the places he’s been and the places he wants to see.

History is my favorite – and there is so much history in Europe! Castles, cathedrals, and abbeys…my goal is to see them all! It goes well with hubby's similar goal of breweries and bakeries!

Art is my next favorite – so if I can get to a museum near a castle, I’m a happy girl!

I know many people that don’t take the time to get out and explore. So sad to think of what they are missing. Take the time and just do it! The dust and dishes will not go away – they will wait for you to get back. But the memories you gain from traveling will last a lifetime!

bungy jumping off Kawarau in New Zealand

Born in Paris, I’ve been fortunate to live in some pretty spectacular places – Washington DC, Hawaii, California, England, and now Germany.

I’ve crossed the USA five times, driving from one coast to the other, and two other trips each half-way and back.

I’ve been to all the states, except for three – if you can figure out a way to work Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and North Dakota into one trip, let me know!

Some of my more memorable recent trips have been:
2008 - Alaska
2009 – Thailand
2010 - Maine and the Canadian Maritime
2010 – New Zealand
2011 – Europe (10 countries so far and counting)
2012 - continuing the European tour - in early 2012 we've been to Florence, Rome,
Brussels, and a return to Paris

I enjoy taking photos of my journeys. You see many of these on my Flickr page.

I also like to write and have a blog called Wanderings where I post random thoughts on my travels.

worlds most adorable grandson

When I'm not traveling, I can be found doing things with my family and friends, writing, reading, taking photos or planning my next adventure.

Claim to fame: having the world's most adorable grandson :-)

my top sites visited in 2011

always something interesting to see along the way

2011 was a big travel year for me - we moved back to Europe in January and haven't stopped since we got here. Just about every weekend we are doing something, whether local or a few hours away (and from where we live, there is LOTS to see within just a few hours).

On my blog Wanderings, I've just completed a series of posts listing my top ten sites that I've visited in 2011 (plus five runner ups since I had trouble deciding!). I haven't written tips for all these places yet - although I do hope to get to them all.

Here's my list for 2011:

Runner Ups:
Canterbury Cathedral, England
Bayeaux Tapestry, France
New Orleans, Louisiana
Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
Baptisty in Pisa, Italy

Top Ten:
10. Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Lynchburg, Tennessee
9. Zugspitze/Garmisch, Germany
8. Mont St. Michel, France
7. Sunset at the Sacre Couer, Paris
6. walking around Warsaw, Poland
5. Giverny, France
4. Louvre in Paris
3. Westminster Abbey, London
2. American military cemeteries in Normandy/Luxembourg
1. the Duomo in Siena, Italy

As I look ahead to 2012, we have trips already scheduled for Amsterdam, back to Florence for a 7-day art history course, our anniversary in Rome, and another art history class in Brussels and Paris -- and that's just the first three months :-)

Updated and new pages

Westminster Abbey

I'm fairly new to VT so I'm still adding pages from my travels. Here's a list of new and updated pages from the last few months:

Belgium
weekend in Antwerp
weekend in Brugge
weekend in Brussels
weekend in Ghent

France
weekend in Giverny

Germany
weekend in Dinkelsbühl
weekends in Mainz
weekend in St. Goar

Italy
weekends in Florence
weekends in Rome
weekend in San Gimignano
weekend in Siena

Intro Updated Apr 25, 2012
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Comments (24)

TheWanderingCamel May 19, 2012 at 10:33 AM Report Abuse

Sadly there are many updates needed to my Christchurch page since the earthquakes. So much of this beautiful city has been irreparably damaged and much of what I have written is now a record of what once was and is now no more. Our visit at Easter really brought home to us the scale of the damage that cannot be realized second hand.
Trekki May 19, 2012 at 8:34 AM Report Abuse

Hello hello my dear :-))) Thank you - yesssss... Fantastic! Haha, lost in languages, but that is fine. Found exceptional people and .... interesting ideas :-)))
More later.

Have fun my dear, soon your little baby will be there :-))
toonsarah May 19, 2012 at 4:37 AM Report Abuse

Hi Brenda, and thank you for the lovely comment on my Antarctica page. I don't like the cold myself, but it was really worth it to see such sights, and on board the ship (indoors) we were lovely and warm :-)
CatherineReichardt May 12, 2012 at 7:55 AM Report Abuse

Hi Brenda
Glad to see that you've joined Eddy's fan club too ... I have been enchanted and educated by his posts ever since I discovered them, and consider him to be one of VT's absolute best writers!
Cathy
breughel May 12, 2012 at 6:17 AM Report Abuse

Bonjour Brenda,
Thank you for reading and rating a large number of my reviews on things to see in Paris.
You have seen that I wrote nearly twenty tips on Le Louvre. I thought therefore that I would be considered as an efficient supporter of the Louvre; indeed the director of the Musée du Louvre wrote on the official website: Support the Louvre. “Even a modest donation will help keep the Louvre’s exceptional heritage alive. Thank you for your generosity, a true anchor of support for our projects.”
But I'm still waiting for a free life pass!

Eddy.
christine.j May 11, 2012 at 11:17 PM Report Abuse

Good morning, Brenda. I'm glad you liked my Heidelberg page. If you have the time and visit the Tiefburg, make sure you try the cakes in the café - it's truly the best café in the area here.
anilpradhanshillong May 8, 2012 at 5:19 AM Report Abuse

Hi!
Good reading your blog! Shall do Nos. 1 and 7. Glad you like the dour Tudors! What's your vocabulary like? After lingua franca?
riorich55 Apr 13, 2012 at 8:21 PM Report Abuse

Great tips and very informative. What time did you do the Vatican Tour?
straightedgeXpolice Apr 6, 2012 at 6:00 AM Report Abuse

cute little baby
goodfish Apr 6, 2012 at 5:15 AM Report Abuse

Our Catherine was last year's #1 Rookie! My trip? 5 weeks, 5 days, 4 hours and 17 minutes until we leave. LOL, can you tell how excited I am??? Oh, I need to ask a little Florence question.... will send an email.