Kristi & Mike

Maybe after dinner, we'll go dancing. Maybe we'll try to hit a festival in a Salzburg park. Mike hopes to see a traditional mountain festival, complete with wrestling. (Mike: Yep, sure do.)

Our first stop is Spiez. We'll need to work off all the wedding cake and stretch our traveled bodies. It's also a great way to enjoy the scenery around Lake Thun.

Our main goal for the honeymoon isn't to see a lot of things, but to be together and to relax. We both wanted to take a quiet boat trip. Surrounded by Alps, castles, churches, and tiny towns, every shot of Lake Thun (Toon) is postcard worthy.

Why the heck not? So we love eachother... Horse drawn carriage, foreign streets, summer nights - Maybe this sounds more like my little sister than me - I feel no remorse.

Yep, you heard us, we're getting Euro t-shirt, the most ridiculous ones we can buy. This is probably a gift that Mike's friends will see and think, I would love to donate to this cause!

Is that Rolph and Liesel? No, that's Mike and Kristi enjoying a "few of their favorite things" in Salzburg. Okay, we're tourists. Kristi's idea (and she wrote this one).

We want to keep the pace slow in the afternoons. We like wine, and we love eachother's company. The European street cafes are perfect for strolling in, ordering a glass, and sitting on the patio for a relaxing chat.

To reach Hotel Belvedre in the car-less town of Wengen we must either hike or take gondola 1,000 ft. up from the most beautiful valley in the Alps.

It'll be our last night in Switzerland, and we'll be staying in Zurich. There we'll be able to check in on our foreign bank accounts and a couple successful watch businesses we started some years ago.

You should see this place, Locarno. It's the corner of Switzerland that is Mediterranean. Since were only spending one night here, we thought we'd go grand style.

Salzburg is a magical place. Kristi and I have a great history there. It's a little out of the way from the rest of our travels, but we wanted to get back there together.

In quaint Spiez our balcony overlooks Lake Thun. The view from the balcony will be amazing... So will the view onto the balcony. Kristi just can't seem to convince me away from wearing my "Euro-shorts".

In Spiez our hotel room faces North East and overlooks Lake Thun, which means breakfasts will be out on the balcony.

We'd get up, but... we'll have a hard day ahead of frolicking in meadows. We'll need the energy. And can you fluff my pillow when you bring that tray over here.

In Locarno we'll spend a day strolling in the Southern, even Mediterranean, part of Switzerland. We hope to catch a breakfast on the lake before heading to the beach.

What we eat for breakfast in Wengen is important because we'll have plenty of hikes in front of us.

If you didn't know, this is what you do in Switzerland. We wouldn't want to be contrarians, would we?

I wish this were a picture of veinerschnitzel and beer instead of steak and whatever that is to its right. It was in Salzburg after a meal of veinerschnitzel and beer that I first took Kristi out.

There are only a handful of places to eat up in Wengen. If there's a patio to the north we'll look up to the imposing Mt. Jungfrau; if to the south, we'll look down on the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

Kristi can tell you what Lago Maggiore means, but I think it is Italian for "nice". Our two days in Locarno will be quaint and elegant so if we "splurge" on dining, it'll be here.

It's quaint, so we'll poke around Spiez for dinner spots and see what we find.

Okay, I've never actually been grocery shopping, but Kristi says it is something we will need to do in Europe. Supposedly food doesn't just show up on the table (which is news to me)??? Plus, we don't want to be eating out all the time.

In Spiez we're going to the pool. It overlooks the marina and is heated all year round. We're hoping for grilled cheeses, chicken finger baskets, and slushies. Do they have those in Switzerland?

On our boat ride from Spiez we'll dine afloat Lake Thun. Then we'll wait 15 minutes after eating (mom) so we don't cramp. Then we'll ask about a diving board.

I think the little one on the left is Krisit's.

Yes, we're cheesey - but hey, you're jealous. It's Switzerland so of course this picnic will include all the staples: cheese, chocolates, bread, and wine.

You wouldn't want us to die up there. You'd be really sorry if we didn't get this gift. Besides, it is widely known that one cannot hike without fresh-baked bread, foreign cheese, and great wines.

In the quaint, quintessential Swiss town of Spiez, we'll break the afternoon activity with a (s)pot of tea.

We want to make our house a home, and fill it with storied art surrounding "us" and our life.

The money probably shouldn't go under "shopping" it should probably go under "survival." This will most likely go to necessary costs. Thanks for you generosity.

If you've been to Salzburg, you know why we're going. We're gonna shop, but really we just want to stroll the cobblestone. *NOTE - The purchaser of this gift receives either a complimentary (hers) Salzburg charm or (his) Austrian cap. (Judy and Elaine you are excluded from buying this gift for the sake of receiving a charm.)

Maybe, our Euro shouldn't go under the heading "shopping" but instead "survival". This will most likely go to necessary costs. Thanks for your generosity.

Either we take these up to Wengen and above or we hike out of the 1,000 ft valley. Whoever buys this, thanks.

The rail pass is expensive but necessary (not to mention the rides are spectacular). Thanks, our excursions wouldn't be possible without you.

Before we leave, we'll need to stock up on gadgets and gizmoes a plenty, whose-its and whats-its galore (yes, Mike wrote this one). Kristi is learning to pack lighter, but there is still work to be done.

We were basically robbed by one of the worlds hugest airlines to the tune of hundreds. On top of that they dropped our flight (3 weeks before the wedding) causing us to miss our international connection. On top of that we now have to leave a day early, from a different city, spend a night in New York. Though we didn't get any assistance after near 10 hours of being on the phone, we were offered free condolences from a nice employee in Bombay. I'm not sure that it all evens out, but in all reality I have blessings upon blessings upon blessings. Am I an ungreatful jerk?

It was an idea early on that we wanted our guests to have the opportunity to donate to charity with the money that they would have given to us (or part of that money). The money that is donated here will go in our charity account. So you know, most of that money goes directly towards those in spiritual need (instead of financial, educational, professional, etc - though at any time it may be used for a person or group with any of these other needs as well). Examples of giving include anything from a direct donation to the Apostles of the Interior Life to Kristi and my buying spiritual books for friends learning Christian meditation.

Our marriage's patrons. The great will of God showed itself (in many ways, not the least of which was)through the work of these two amazing saints. We were brought overtly together in Varese, Italy. In our brief return there, we want to gather some St. Joseph and St. Gianna art to put in our home. Prega Per Noi.