Milan

Our engagement trip began with a trip to Milan upon Meg's arrival into Italy to see the 'Last Supper' by Leonardo da Vinci and an opera at La Scala. This was taken just outside of La Scala.

Vienna

The day after we got to Vienna, we woke up late and made our way to the cafe seen above. We did have hotel issues the night we arrived in trying to find the hotel and then finding that the reception was closed and that we had to pick up our key at the bar 2 doors down from the hotel. In the end, our stay at Hotel Levante Laudon was worth it, our swuites there were amazing. At this point in the day, Meg still had no idea that I was going to propose to her later that night.

Newly engaged, Meg and Adam, on March 19, 2006. For the engagement dinner, we went to the Hotel Sacher in Vienna and ate a 6 course meal. During the first course, I asked her to marry me handing to Meg her grandmother's ring. Of everything we did, the only thing that had to be perfect was the proposal, and it was!

As Meg likes to say, "Bling"

Meg looking at a picture she took outside of St. Stephen's.

Meg taking a picture inside the Palais Ferstel in Vienna. I think it's funny that I crouched down right behind her to get this picture of her.

Meg sitting beside the window at Cafe Demel just behing the Hofburg. That was probably our favorite cafe, especially with the cute chocolate store in the entrance with marangue chickens and lots of goodies.

Me in Cafe Central where I had Wiener Schnitzel for the first time. It was good.

The Hofburg, winter palace of the Hapsburgs. This was the last wing to be completed of the expansive complex. Inside it is the Sisi Musuem and emperor apartments, the Spanish riding school, and of course my favorite (not) the strange musuem of old musical instruments and weaponry. I must confess that this picture was taken by Meg because my hands were too shaky.

St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. I really liked this night shot and funny thing is, this was the first one I took too, all the other ones weren't as good.

The night of our second opera, this time a slamdunk! Meg looked beautiful, I wore my new tie that she bought me in Salzburg, and after some cheese fondu, we made our way to the State Opera House in Vienna. The opera was "Un Ballo in Maschera" (A Masked Ball) by Giuseppe Verdi and the best part, the set design was by one of Meg's favorite artists, Emanuele Luzzati! This was a complete surprise for Meg, and she absolutely loved it.

The grand staircase in the State Opera House in Vienna.

Salzburg

Ah Salzburg. We found ourselves on a train our first day that we were officially engaged going from Vienna to Salzburg. We arrived to perfect clear blue skies, much like the rest of our trip through Austria. The lighter hotel on the river behind Meg, the one with the flags on it, is actually another Hotel Sacher, but not the one where I proposed. We actually stayed in the Hotel Auersperg, which had an amazing breakfast.

Me on the same bridge as Meg in Salzburg.

I thought this was a pretty artsy picture for me, so I wanted to share it with everyone. A similar one where the flash went off making the '94' much brighter is on my yahoo pics. I think I like this one better.

Picture of the Hohensalzburg Fortreess from the Mirabella Gardens. This would be an even prettier picture if there was either more snow or more leaves. However, I still think this picture is quite nice.

Fulbright Conferences in Berlin, Germany (3/3-9/2006)

Me in Berlin, Germany for the FAST Conference and the Berlin Seminar, aka, an expenses paid trip to hang out in Berlin for a week with a bunch of other Fulbrighters from around Germany and Europe. Not too shabby. The FAST (Fulbright Academy of Science and Technology) Conference was a technical conference of Fulbrighters covering a wide range of disciplines. I was able to present a poster there and actually won an award for the best looking poster! Go me! The Berlin Seminar gave us a chance to relax, go one some neat tours around Berlin, including the Reichstag (Parliament Building which is actually behind me in the picture), the Jewish Museum, and the Pergamon Museum to name a few, and to get to know other current grantees. Although very cold, Berlin was an awesome city and the conferences were a lot of fun. I'll have to try to make it back there again some day.

These are the mirrors inside the dome of the Reichstage to let light into the chambers below. For more detailed shots, see my Yahoo Photo Album.

There I am at the top of the dome with the German flag flapping outside behind me. If not for the snow that day, I should've been able to see further and taken more pictures than I did. Next time I guess.

View from on top of the Reichstag outside of the dome, obviously.

The Jewish Museum in Berlin. Designed by Daniel Libeskind, it is one of the best museums I have been to in a while, and that's saying something since I'm living in Italy.

A up close shot of one of the walls of the Jewish Museum. The slashes are a nice touch to the overall feel of the museum.

Art Museum in Berlin, though I can't remember the name of it. I decided I needed more pictures of me up on the website, so I threw this one online too.

The cathedral in Berlin with the tv tower in the background. Those red banners to the left were actually Nazi flags for a movie that was being filmed here. That was really strange to just walk through the city and see those flags out in the open.

This is the view from my hotel room. I wish I took pictures of it because it was a real hoot. There was no separate room for the bathroom, just a curtain. On top of that, the toilet door was frosted glass. Modern high class all the way!

Leave it to the Germans to put a capital ontop of a steel column. I wish we had this kind of detailing in the US.

The Pergamon Altar in the, get this, Pergamon Museum. This is a wonderful reconstruction of a Hellenistic Greek altar found by the Germans. A must see while in Berlin.

Lucerne, Switzerland (02/25/2006)

Lucerne, Switzerland. I spent one night here before meeting Mr. Andrews in Zurich for a wintery drive back to Italy. I also happened to be in the city during Carnival, which meant that the streets were covered by marching bands in Halloween costumes to celebrate. I might have to return and give Lucerne another shot in better weather.

The Art Museum in Lucerne, right on the lake and probably the most modern building in the entire city. I had to snag a picture of it.

The covered bridge that I had to cross to reach my hotel from the train station.