Beer and Castles!

In September, we headed to the land of beer and castles! I've always heard a lot of great things about Germany and I persuaded my family it would be fun to make our way to back to Europe. We got a little taste of everything - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.

I think the beer was exceptionally tasty because it was Oktoberfest! Who knew that they actually celebrate that in September...

Short and sweet

My trip to the Virgin Islands was short and sweet.

We snorkeled a little bit, but it was hard to be excited by the fish because the current was pretty strong so we had to pay attention and make sure we could find where our stuff was.

I did go scuba diving and went for my first professional massage. Both were amazing... :)

I was pretty scared while scuba diving because my mask was filled with some water and our instructor didn't  give us very detailed instructions. In fact, our intro to scuba was about 10 minutes long and didn't involve getting in the water... Unusual, I think. Even though I was a swimmer, the sensation of breathing underwater was a little unnerving. We didn't see that much stuff, but we were able to get a lot closer to the coral and we could see small sea-eels at the bottom of the ocean. I would try it again in the Bahamas or Australia for sure.

The massage was heavenly. I think I fell asleep for a few minutes because I was so relaxed... We got complimentary tea, fuzzy robes, and cushy shoes.

I would definitely make it back to the Virgin Islands one day. Wedding destination?

Where I want my wedding pictures taken

So ideally, sometime in the future, I would have so much money that I could fly my entire wedding party to the Virgin Islands and pay for their transportation to Devil's Bay to take professional pictures.

I think it's beautiful. I was so camera happy that we almost didn't make it back to our boat on time!

Getaway

Our living arrangement made St. John's even better. It felt like a villa! With 7 people, we all fit very comfortably. We even had our own private pool and grill. Oh yeah, and we definitely put our blender to good use. We made Pina Coladas whenever we could. I'd say that during the week we polished off 2 bottles of rum and 1 bottle of mixer...between the 3 1/2 drinkers.

1. me
2. my partner in crime, Brittany
3. my dad
3.5. my mom only counts for 1/2.

We pretty much spent our entire vacation lounging around. The only food nearby was the hotel restaurant, so we utilized our kitchen and grill to cook for most of the week - mostly salad and BBQ. There was even a window from the kitchen to the patio. The boys liked the quick service!

typical dinner. NOM.

Virgin Islands

I never thought I would find a beach with softer sand than Hawaii....

The sand is heavenly, the ocean is the perfect temperature, and there's almost no one around. If it's time for a relaxing vacation, St. John's is definitely high on my list.

We arrived to St. John's by ferry and it was well worth the wait. I would stray away from St. Thomas. It has beautiful beaches too, but also a lot more tourists. After all, St. Thomas is a popular port for cruise ships.

Roy's

And of course, on our last day, we made our special stop at Roy's.

Don't get me wrong, I love eating spicy poki and sashimi everyday, but it's nothing compared to Roy's. With their seared ahi tuna, unique fish entrees, and delectable chocolate souffle cake, it's a must. The service is always top-notch and it's a nice way to end a lovely vacation.

Nakalele Blowhole

Melissa always knows where to take us. Another fun spot to see is the Nakalele Blowhole. The blowhole erupts every few minutes, so you can spend a little effort and a lot of time trying to get the perfect picture. This is another area where I'd recommend shoes with decent traction. If you want to get close, you'll need them.