1) My gladiator sandals: I’m milking this whole “When we were in Europe…” intro to conversations for as long as I can (and feeling like an expiration date is approaching), so let me just say, when we were in Europe, I fell in love with and had to buy this pair of sandals. The sandals worn on the feet of European women? Yeah, YOU CAN’T FIND ‘EM HERE. Believe me, I’ve tried. I could have bought and filled another suitcase with all the shoes I fell in love with there, but it feels special having come home with this one pair. Which I hope I can wear for the next 10 years to continue the streak of nonchalantly being all, “Oh, these? Well, you know, I bought them in Paris.”And BTW, if European women are still rocking gladiator sandals, well, I figure I’ve got at least three more years’ worth of mileage on the trend here in the states. Right?

2) Inception: Nick and I saw this film on a double date this week and IT BLEW MY MIND. No really, I felt like I had to pick up the bits that were left after we saw it. It was THAT confusing, that complex, but also, that amazing. We talked/argued/talked and argued some more for about an hour post-viewing on all the loop holes that make up this film, but I love Christopher Nolan and love slipping into a movie where I have to think for a change. Which, I can assure you, doesn’t happen much with a viewing of, say, Eclipse. Unless I’m thinking of how much I’d like to see Edward with his shirt off for a change.

3) Frommer’s Day by Day guidebooks: If you’ve ever traveled with me, you know I don’t leave the house without one of these guides (which happen to fit oh so nicely in a pocket of a ShootSac). All the smart phones in the world can’t replicate the simplicity of a well-made pocket guide and I think Frommer’s are the best (full disclosure here: I occasionally do a bit of copyediting for the company). Check to see if the next city you visit has one in stock and I promise it’ll be the best $13 you spend the whole trip! (Unless you’re in Europe, in which case, it will be that hazelnut gelato you had in Rome).

4) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series: I won’t be able to think of this vacation without thinking of how I devoured the three books in this series in all the downtime we had in airports, train stations and hotels along the way. I’m not usually up for books heavy on violence and crime, but curiosity got to me with these novels by Stieg Larsson and I’m so glad it did. I just couldn’t put ‘em down. If you’re looking for a fast-paced read with one of the most intriguing heroines in contemporary fiction, I highly recommend.

5) Nutella: One more time before I become a giant pain-in-the-you-know-what with this, but when we were in Europe (cringe), Nick and I developed a unhealthy obsession with Nutella. They love this spread over there the way we Americans love our peanut butter. But you know what? NUTELLA IS SOOO MUCH BETTER. Since we’ve been back, Nick and I have put this stuff on croissants, bagels, toast, waffles, bananas …basically anything edible in our kitchen. As he stood there with the jar, Nick paused mid-lick to ask the (very good) question of “How come it took us so long to discover this goodness?!!” To which I couldn’t help but agree. It’s seriously that yummy. Don’t believe me? Grab a slice of bread and give it a try.

There was something about this city that grabbed hold of me and made me fall in love. In a MAJOR way. You know how, when you’re a kid, you picture a place in your mind? And then you get there and you’re like, “Oh, hello, not quite what I was expecting…”

London was EXACTLY what I was expecting. All red double decker buses and black cabs and white row houses. And pubs. And parks. And the Underground. Oh my GOODNESS do I love the way public transit in London is not just a mode of transportation. It IS London. The heart and veins of this city.

There was a look, a feel to London that struck a chord with me. To say we had a good time there would be a slight understatement. We saw a lot, did a lot and left wore out, but we made the most of it. So yeah, I could be London. I just might, you know, every now and then raid the refrigerators of Paris and Rome

It’s PURE luck we got this close to the guards at Buckingham Palace. It’s a total crap shoot knowing where to stand with the bajillion other tourists who join you for a glimpse of these fellas, but we were close enough to one of the gates that we scored with this view! Talk about pomp…A visit to the Tower of London was a definite must. Our Beefeater (on the left) was bit moody as far as tour guides go, but I’m pretty sure it was all an act . For those not in the know: The Tower is the place you can see the Crown Jewels. But apparently, not take pictures of them (though they were awesome). It’s also where you learn a LOT about Henry VIII—oohhh what a devil he was. (Confession: Nick and I may add The Tudors to our Netflix queue after this trip…I just said “queue”…am I still in London? Next thing you know, my cell will become my mobile )

Red buses and black cabs. They are everywhere. And yes, they are exactly as you imagine them. Drivers on the right side and all Tower Bridge (not to be confused with London Bridge. Which is not, contrary to popular belief, falling down). The City of London (aka The Financial District). That big tall building on the right? That’s the Gherkin. You better believe I had to name drop that one the whole trip. Like, wherever we were, I was all “Look, Nick, we can still see the Gherkin!” Cool in architecture AND in name. One of our favorite places to visit was St. Paul’s Cathedral. A gorgeous church and a fixture to London’s skyline. We actually climbed to the tippy top of that dome and the view left me breathless (not to mention clutching the sides of the wall—comfortable with heights, I am not). And this shot of Nick? Paying homage to all the outdoor cafes where we’d grab a bite or a latte on this trip. Collectively, it’s these moments that might be my favorite part of this whole vacation.

Months ago, I saw a segment on “CBS Sunday Morning” about a public art project where pianos were set up in London for anyone to come play. I was giddy to discover—by way of finding this gentleman banging away on the instrument set up off the Millennium Bridge—that it was still going on. Cool right?

View of St. John’s Cathedral from Millenium Bridge, outside of the Tate Modern. Isn’t the sky UNREAL? I was expecting London to be 100 percent overcast but we got nothing but blue skies. And perfect 75 degree weather. Which, apparently was a bit too warm for some in this country. We overheard a guy on the tube telling his companion (in this proper British voice, mind you), “You must get an electric fan. You shouldn’t tolerate this insufferable heat one more minute.” Obviously this person had never been to Rome. Or Indiana. I loved spotting British-isms. Like “Give Way” instead of “Yield.” For some reason, that’s just more polite to me   BTW: That’s Nick walking into our hotel, Base2Stay, in Kensington on the left. Loved that hotel. Loved that neighborhood.We also loved the British Museum. By far one of the coolest museums I’ve ever been to. Want to get up close and personal with the Rosetta Stone, mummies and the Lindow Man? Here’s the place to do it. Ridiculously cool interior too.

I can cross “Seeing a musical in London’s West End” off the proverbial bucket list We took a day trip outside of the city and hit up Warwick Castle. There were mannequins and kids in uniforms on school field trips and a ridiculous amount of tacky tourist garb, but you know what? Seeing a castle was the one thing Nick asked we do on this trip. And being here made my husband happy. Which, in turn, made me happy. The English countryside and the grounds of Oxford University. Both so so pretty. Where Oxford students and Harry Potter (at least, for the first two films) eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner Back in London. An afternoon in Hyde Park. Perfection. A spot of tea? Well, when you’re in Britain, how could you not?! And a tour of Harrod’s is a must on the London list as well. This place BLEW OUR MINDS. The food halls alone will put you in a coma, but if that’s not enough, a tour of the lavish goods you can buy on the rest of this luxury store’s floors ought to do it. And finally, I have to give a shout-out to my British friend and fellow photographer, Emma Biskupski. Emma found my Web site and blog thanks to ShowIt creator David Jay (thankyouDavidJay!!!!) and shortly before we left for this trip, she sent me THE COOLEST CARE PACKAGE EVER. We worked out a meet-up and Nick and I spent our last night in London at a pub with Emma, sharing a few pints and getting to know one another better. I couldn’t think of a better way for this leg of our trip to come to an end! On to Paris next!!!

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

This monthly self-portrait project has been a lesson in letting go of feeling weird about putting myself in front of the camera and instead embracing what I’m trying to do with this project and it’s document in some way each month of this particular year of my life. Doing it all with the idea in my head that some day, my children might look at these photos and study them the way I do when I’m fortunate enough to come across an old snapshot of my parents in their 20s. And with that goal in mind, someday if that hypothetical teenager of ours decides to give me eye roll to let me know just what a dork I am (and let’s face, it’s gonna happen), I fully intend to march into his or her room, pull out this photo and share about that one time Nick and I packed our bags and went to Europe. And how we fell in love with Paris. And how, dang it all, WE WERE COOL ONCE TOO. SEE, I HAVE PROOF.

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

I feel like I lived another year of my life in those 17 days. We saw sights I’d dreamed about seeing since I was a kid. We ate food so sinfully good I think I’m going to have to do P90X TWICE a day to make up for all the calories I consumed. We endured travel snafus of the sort that I thought we’d never actually GET to Europe and that have now left me telling everyone I know, “Hey, yeah, if you want to make your flight NEVER FLY DELTA AIRLINES.”

But all in all, it was amazing. Yet, when you’re away from your home long enough, you start to crave the normalcy of your daily life. You miss your own bed. You realize how much you take stuff for granted, even if it’s as simple as having a stocked fridge and a faucet with a never-ending supply of water. And friends who speak English.

So here’s to beating my vacation hangover (I didn’t think jetlag would still leave me this tired) and getting back into the swing of things with gusto.

It feels SO good to be home and I can’t wait to share photos of our travels with you all. Oh, and by the way, I realized that the only shots I got of Nick and I on the trip? Yeah, taken with the fish eye or the iPhone. So excuse the Go-Go Gadget Arms, ‘kay?

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

And I could tell Stacy was a lot of fun. And a very pretty girl. And then I showed up and I was all, “WHOA. YOU. ARE. GORGEOUS.” Seriously, Internet, don’t you agree?

I feel like Stacy looks like someone famous in this photo but I can’t put my finger on who. Anybody want to offer up suggestions?Stacy’s mom had one request: That I photograph the back of her daughter’s beautiful dress. To which I said, “I think we can do that!”  

I looked at this image right after I took it on my camera’s LCD screen and squealed. Stacy just looks SO happy and relaxed here, doesn’t she? (and her eyes are really that blue!) After shooting at the Botanical Gardens, we headed over to Fort Wayne’s Grand Wayne Center and it was SO nice to shoot here. IN AIR CONDITIONING. We had the place to ourselves, Stacy was super relaxed at this point and this next series of images? Well, I think they speak for themselves Stacy’s necklace was a family heirloom. I love when brides make their accessories personal like that. (I had a broach with a “G” on it on my bouquet that was in honor of my great-grandmother who just so happens to be my namesake!)

FAVORITE!! Pretty enough for a wedding magazine. That’s ALL Stacy, by the way…not trying to toot my own horn here!Tyra may have wore this phrase out, but I can’t help it: “Stacy, YOU LOOK FIERCE!”Stacy, I’m sorry I couldn’t photograph your wedding day. If you looked a tenth as pretty as you did during our afternoon together, well, I know you wowed every one of your guests and that new hubby of yours too!

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.

And it is everything I thought it would be.

It’s more.

She and her husband grew up with Nick and when they moved to Europe two years ago, I hung on every word of Erin’s adventures as she blogged along the way. A few months ago we had the brilliant idea to interview one another — she’d ask lots of photo questions in her Q&A with me, I’d ask about living the kind of dream that involves packing up what you own, moving to a foreign land, and then seeing as much of it as you can. Carpe diem, I say!

From this Q and A below and Erin’s BEAUTIFUL imagery, I think you can see why her friendship is so special (and why I love living vicariously through these two…when I emailed her these questions her response back was something along the lines of, “I promise I’ll get to them …we just have to get back from Machu Picchu first!”) Erin and Erik, your zest for life and passion to see the world is inspiring … thank you so much for being guest bloggers!

Q: Explain for me a little bit about how the opportunity arose for you and Erik to move to Europe?

A: Living and working abroad has been a dream of mine for years and I’ve been enchanted with far-off places for longer than I can remember. Thankfully my best travel buddy, my sweet husband Erik, has a very adventurous spirit and a love for travel that closely matches mine. We schemed for a long time about making it happen; I had the language skill set that could take us to South America or select countries in Europe, Erik had the relevant work experience that could land us almost anywhere. However, when new jobs weren’t an option we decided to ‘work the inside’. Erik had been with his company for about 4 years and we proposed the idea that he work from the European office located in Basel, Switzerland for a while. After some convincing they finally accepted our offer – and here we are; more than one year in and loving every second. [Gail's note: Erik works for Cannondale Bikes; he's a designer -- cool right?!]

Switzerland, Wintertime

Montalcino, Italy

Q: Were you both big travelers before you left? Was it hard to make a move like that?

A: According to my mom, I was practically born on a plane. She was a flight attendant for the first few years of my life which allowed my dad and I to tag along at leisure and there began my love of all things travel. I caught the international bug when I first visited Europe on a school trip; I completely fell in love with Paris, London, Madrid and knew someday I wanted to not just visit the continent again, but to live there and be immersed in its everyday life. My first experience living abroad came when I spent a semester attending university in Santiago, Chile. It was one of the best experiences of my life! Mine and Erik’s travel adventures began early in our relationship which, I believe, has helped make our transition into Swiss life together so seamless. He visited me in Chile where we spent two weeks exploring its southern tail. A year later we spent the summer living with Erik’s college roommate in Krakow, Poland, which remains one of my all-time favorite cities in the world. Our honeymoon and first years married included trips to various international and domestic locations. Traveling is so important to both of us that in our nine years together we’ve chosen to live frugally so we can make travel a priority.

Village in FranceSpiez, Switzerland

Q: What’s been the biggest adjustment to life in Europe?

A: The biggest one has to be the language; or, rather, the lack there of. I majored in Spanish at university which gave me a basic introduction to other romance languages. But High German (what we learn in class and the language in which all German speaking Swiss schools are taught) and Swiss German (what is spoken on the streets and in homes here in Switzerland)? Oh man, talk about two doozies of a language – they are completely different and we’re doing our best to learn both. I’ve come a long way from my first weeks here when I couldn’t read street signs or ask for help in the grocery store, but I’ve still got a long road ahead of me! The second biggest adjustment was transitioning from 4 wheel transportation to 2 wheel. We sold our car before moving to Switzerland and each invested in a good city bike – I LOVE my bike! The third biggest adjustment has been finding my way in what we’ve nicknamed the sSk – small Swiss kitchen. A refrigerator fit for a college dorm room, a tiny one-sided sink, and a single 1’ x 1’ square of counter space – that, ironically, I’m using much more than I ever did in the States. I shudder at the times that I complained my US kitchen was small!

Italy

Q: What kind of advice could you give someone going to Europe? (hint: me!) hehe

A: My advice would be to take your time – don’t try to fit too much in! I used to be a go, go, go traveler—MUST.SEE.EVERYTHING—planning my outings to a T and then finding a way to work in every monument in each of the 7 -odd cities I’d visit on any given trip. However, the more I travel (or maybe the older I get?) the better I’m understanding that visiting a new destination isn’t just about hitting up as many locales as possible or checking off every guidebook recommendation – though I do love a good Lonely Planet! Looking back, I think Erik and I have had our best travels when we’ve spent at least a few days in one place. We enjoy walking off the beaten path, talking to locals to find their idea of the best restaurant or café, making time to sit on a park bench and appreciate the differences we see in scenery, clothing and language unique to each destination.

Swiss town in the AlpsBasel, Switzerland (YES, THIS IS WHERE THEY LIVE!!!?!!)Thanks again, SO MUCH Erin, for opening your world to both myself and my blog followers!!!

See more of Gail’s work at www.gailwernerphoto.com. Become a fan of Gail’s work on Facebook. Follow Gail on Twitter.