Shopping in Europe is Different

The Apothecary on Our Street

When we moved into our apartment in Frankfurt, one of the things that we had to get used to was where to go to buy certain things. In the United States, we are used to large chain stores that carry anything and everything that you need. That isn’t necessarily the same in Europe, at least where we were staying. If you need medicine, you went to the apothecary. If you want fresh meat, you went to the local deli. If you want fresh baked goods, you went to the bakery. During our last few days in Germany, we took some photos of the walk along the sidewalk from our apartment to our favorite restaurant.

Our Apartment Building in Frankfurt
Apothecary Entrance
Our Deli

Another thing that we got used to during our time in Frankfurt was having an aperitif after our meals, something that we don’t see too many people doing here in the States. This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is photos of things that start with the letters AP. Here are some pictures of our apartment building, the apothecary on the corner of our street, and the aperitifs that accompanied our meals.

Aperitifs
Sidewalk Leading to the Opera House
Another Aperitif

Life is a Series of Transitions

Everyone is constantly evolving, growing, and changing. Whether transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, from being a student to working on a career, from working to retirement, or from being a tourist to becoming a traveler. Every phase of life has its own unique challenges and opportunities. It doesn’t matter how young or old you might be, life is always in flux. We are going through our own transitions at the moment and there are days that it invigorates us and other days when the stress seems to wear us down. This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is Tombstones and Cemeteries, which is obviously the ultimate transition. Hopefully we won’t be making that transition for a long time to come, but we do find historic cemeteries to be fascinating to see.

Ancient Cemetery in Ireland
Cemetery in Brasov, Romania
Historic Tombstone in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC
View from the Cemetery in Iceland
Irish Cemetery
Snow Covered Cemetery in Romania
View of Arlington National Cemetery
Path through the Cemetery in Brasov
Frozen Cemetery in Iceland

An Overwhelming, Emotional Experience

When we visited New York City in July of 2015, we went to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Walking through the exhibit was almost surreal. Despite the number of people, it was so quiet that you literally could have heard a pin drop as people walked to each of the displays. The museum is set up so that as you walk through it, you see events in chronological order as they occurred on that fateful day that every American who was alive at that time can remember vividly. At one point, you get to see the remains of one of fire trucks that was crushed in the collapse and your heart can’t help but sink thinking about the first responders that arrived in that vehicle. We have great respect for first responders and the sacrifices that they make. For this week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Fire Trucks, Fire Houses, and Fire Hydrants, we have a couple of photos that we took during our visit to the museum.

One of the Fire Trucks from September 11
People Viewing the Fire Truck in the Museum
Standing in the Museum Entrance

Fire in Colorado Springs is a scary thing as we have had a couple of devastating fires in the area. When a fire broke out in our neighborhood just a few days after the Waldo Canyon Fire burned down hundreds of homes, it was quite unnerving. Thankfully, the fire fighters got it under control quickly.

Trucks on Our Street
Fire Trucks and Hoses