eurojenny

Europe 26 – Warsaw

My flight from Madrid to Copenhagen had a long layover in Warsaw. So I ventured out 🙂 Bought a full-day public transportation pass for like $4. The trains were great!

I visited some memorials. One to the victims of the KLW in WWII. One to those lost in the Warsaw Uprising. And the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier representing many many battles. Poland has been a land of many conflicts.

Just missed the changing of the guard. They were marching away as I approached.

Lovely streets. Clean and colorful 🙂

Found a Carrefour and bought some local candy 🙂

Unicorn well!!

Visited the Marie Sklodowska-Curie museum

Housed in her childhood home. Well rebuilt from what was left of it after the Warsaw Uprising. You can see the plaque in the photo below.

Young Maria

A miniature re-creation of their lab in Paris. Found polonium and radium there!

She loved her daughters and they were very involved in her work. Irene examines her mother’s fingers, burned from handling radioactive material.

Her doctoral thesis and her daughter’s biography of her

Some of her things…desk, dress, radium-infused things including some lab equipment

She became deservedly very famous. Here she is, the only woman among all the great physicists of her day. She didn’t let the expectations of others derail her passion for science. Incredible lady!

Actual video footage!!!

Found a green quiet spot outside of the old city walls and chilled for a bit

Got some incredible grapefruit gelato and wandered. Pope John Paul II was from here

Found a memorial to Copernicus…thanks for figuring out how that we are are the ones orbiting!

Headed back the airport. Had time for dinner…so fish and chips for me! With the craziest chunky tartar sauce 🙂

Europe 26 – Segovia and the Eclipse

Wednesday, 12 August 2026

Since the eclipse wasn’t scheduled to happen until late evening, I contemplated what to do with the rest of my day. I decided that Segovia would be cool and might even be a cool spot to catch the eclipse. So I booked train tickets out.

Unfortunately the train doesn’t get you actually into the town, but requires waiting for one of the 2 buses that heads in. And the one that I happened to get on wasn’t the one that went directly to the Aqueduct. But it was fine…just started my walking day a bit early haha.

This is such a cool thing. Although I guess you can’t actually look right down the water channel like I thought I remembered doing before. I walked all the way around trying to find the back way in hehe. Oh well! Still super neat. On my way around I found people posing with this little devil statue and I don’t know the significance but he’s pretty fun 🙂

Wandered through town…

Found the Cathedral with some incredibly beautiful flowers out front.

Some pretty stunning stained glass

Huge Gothic beast! Incredible!

Love the cupola ceiling in this chapel

They have a basement full of paintings. I liked these two the most. The first because of the fun style…kind of Rubens mixed with anime hehe. And that it’s Joseph’s dream which I don’t think I have ever seen depicted. His part in the story seems to get glossed over. And I like the second because of the tenderness…it’s sweet 🙂

In one of the chapels there was a pair of awesome dragons holding the light fixtures!

Next I climbed around on the old city wall at one of the medieval gates.

Made it to the Alcazar! There were so many people there, probably to view the eclipse. The line to get tickets was SO LONG! I ate my lunch in the line and entertained myself with this awesome old tile map of Spain.

Started the tour in the cellars at the original foundation of the place. Pretty neat

Such a beautiful place!

No wonder it was never sieged…look at that cliff!

This building held the original science laboratory. The chemist Proust, who came up with the law of definite proportions, taught here at the Royal Artillery School.

When I saw this poster about the eclipse, I realized that the website I had consulted before buying train tickets gave me the wrong times and I would be at Chamartin (outside of the totality zone) at eclipse time. All the later trains out were already booked full so I scrapped my plan to view in Segovia, took the bus back to the train station, got a tortilla bocadillo and some fresh squeezed orange juice, and got an earlier train back to Madrid (and they just switched it over and didn’t charge me anything more!) 🙂

Love going 223 km/hr and getting there in just 27 minutes!

On Tuesday evening, I started talking to some nice people on the Metro about the eclipse. They are from Philly but have been living in Barcelona and came to Alcobendas for the eclipse. They weren’t sure where to view from, but maybe just from the roof of their hotel. I offered some glasses to them since they didn’t have any (I brought extras for just such an eventuality). I left them at the front desk since I was planning to view from Segovia. But when I ended up back at my hotel and they hadn’t come get them yet, I just went with them to their hotel and watched from there. It was so amazing! That’s Alex Rodriguez taking the photo, their partner Carolyne in the hat, and their friend Tina who was visiting.

It starts!

As it progresses, the temperature drops and it gets darker and darker…

Totality is incredible! I think everyone should experience it if they can. It’s otherworldly. So blessed to have been there. 🙂

Europe 26 – Madrid (oh, and Chicago)

9-12 August

Sunday Flew to Chicago. Sat in a exit row and had SO MUCH LEG ROOM! Fully strethced out.

Long layover. Took an Uber out to the temple (grounds were closed…sad face) and to church.

It started pouring rain when I was there and the storm caused delays with my flight.

So after Ubering back I sat at the airport for like 5 hours. BOR. ING. But at least I was smart and put my feet up for some of it.

The flight to Madrid was uneventful because I slept through the whole thing! 🙂

Monday Got to Madrid just before noon. Made it to my hotel around 1. Checked in early and got settled. Cranked the AC in my room haha. Did NOT take a nap. I know how this jet lag thing works.

Walked out to the nearby mall and Carrefour (had a bocadillo, bought Maizena Espesante, Nocilla, and some other candy to try/take home). Ate dinner at my hotel from my spoils. Went to sleep by 10.

Tuesday Woke up at 3 am and almost couldn’t go back to sleep but I did it! Slept until 8:30 and I feel great! No jet lag!

Went everywhere today!!! Took a few buses and lots of metro trains. Walked so many kilometers 🙂

Russian Orthodox church

Temple of Debod. Random place for Egyptian ruins, but okay.

Cervantes statue with bronzes of Don Quixote and Pancho. They cooperated for a selfie 🙂

Started to get hot so I put off walking outdoors and went to the Prado.

Murrilo and Velasquez say hey.

Spain is so weird. There are no drinking fountains at the Prado. Their solution is to fill up water bottles in the bathroom. Good thing I brought Propel packets that disguise the taste.

Did a bunch of the museum and then took a break and had lunch at the cafe there. Delicious Spanish food, although the tortilla was too runny for me so I just ate around the outside. 🙂 Talked to Ada while I ate so delightful all around.

Spying on Murrilo and the pretty gardens from the window

Some favs. The not-dark Goya stuff is awesome.

Love this Murillo that features Joseph so prominently and seems so casual and natural.

All the El Greco, but I really love this one. Such expressive eyes.

You can’t convince me that Augustus isn’t gay.

I missed Impressionism so I decided to also visit the Thyssen.

Chagall is my absolute fav. Couple of cool ones that I hadn’t seen.

Beautiful sunflowers.

Not a gambler but I enjoy this cubist piece.

A really fun series of portraits where there are no faces, just silk wraps, hair, and greenery by Ewa Juszkiewicz.

Monet branches out and does roses 🙂

Headed out the the Madrid temple and did baptisms. Everyone was so friendly and helpful and no one looked down on me for not speaking Spanish well. The temple was closing soon so I didn’t get to shower…just had to change super fast to do the confirmations.

Catedral de la Almudena was next. Beautiful building right next to the Palacio Real. Very funky modern-ish stained glass.

Gardens of San Francisco…disappointingly unkempt and surrounded by graffiti…would not recommend.

Walked through lots of cute plazas and small streets. Including one called Calle de Madrid which you would expect to be some major thoroughfare, but was in fact this

Stopped at the Mercado de San Miguel for dinner. Got calamares, tortilla cubes in a cone, and incredible veggie paella.

More great taste moments at Chocolateria San Gines for churros y chocolate!

Ended the day at Puerto del Sol and a quick stop at El Corte Ingles for some magdalenas. Took the metro and a bus back to my hotel. So ready for sleep!

SoCal Haps 2026

27 January Baptisms at the Redlands temple

7-8 February Ada and Rory come visit me and we do some Disney

16 February Kaylie joins me for a soggy Disney Therapy Day

19 February I really needed a rainbow today 🙂

20 February Went to meet some friends in support of Georgia who I love and who got let go from Disney for a lame-o reason

15 March Being on the Imagination Campus softball team was fun…but I always felt like I was letting everyone down

28 March Went to a No Kings rally in Anaheim

8 April Gary took photos of me with a workshop group while they were there 🙂

16 April Presented at NSTA. Dropped by the sales floor and who did I see?

This time we toured the battleship USS Iowa

2 May Had a pineapple upside down sundae for my birthday

Kaylie and the kids sent me cute cards and gifts 🙂

3 May. After the game, we went to Applebees and my friends surprised me with a birthday treat5

5 May Volunteered for a shift at the Yorba Linda temple open house

Had birthday dinner with my friend Stephanie at Cheesecake Factory 🙂

Got a lovely Lego flower set from my kids (I think mostly Ada and Rory haha)

16 May Saw Riverdance at Segerstrom…Wow!

27 May Got to do Disney with Tiff, Brant, and Callie

We had such a great time! Callie is so much fun and Brant is such a great sport and so funny and I LOVE spending time with my cuz.

Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo’d Baby!

29-31 May. Alex came to visit. Gary and Kaylie were there at the same time so we did some Disney together 🙂

Then we did my second and Alex’s first tour of the Iowa 🙂

3 July drove down to the San Diego temple open house (after a long renovation)

It was extremely busy – waited in a very long line to get in

3 July New Soarin. It was pretty cool. Especially the first scene 🙂

It was weirdly not crowded. Special World of Color was so cool

Amazing fireworks! I also worked a pyro shift on the 4th and got to see them shot off from 50 feet away. Hard hat and ear protection and everything. One of the coolest things I have gotten to do…

15 July Did a Cast Preview of the Walt tour and got to see in the apartment again.

25 July Slept on the floor of my empty room after taking all my stuff to storage except my clothes and food. Not sure where I will live down there now and I will miss my roommates so much 😦

All the things in my storage unit

What’s Happening at Home 2026

1 February Groundhog Day! Did our standard eat food and watch the movie thing at HQ

13 March – got to be home for our anniversary (34 years!)

13 March Bad Bad Hats concert with Ada. Very chill and very fun. I love hanging out with my daughter 🙂

1 April Volunteered for a shift at the Lindon temple open house

27 April – I was laid off from my 7-year job at the U. They had a very nice going away party for me with an incredibly rich chocolate cake, games, snacks, and a very thoughtful going away present

20 May – had lunch with an old friend Tay Jones. So nice to see them!

Jul was able to be there and even stand at one point!

21 May Got to do baptisms at the new Lindon temple 🙂

25 May Memorial Day pool party at Gary’s

23 June Steve waits patiently for his colonoscopy

So happy to be there with Ellie, Em, Max, Gary, and Kaylie 🙂

8 July went out to the salt flats with Mars and Eden

When we got there, it was crazy windy. We got back in the car and waited it out.

Much nicer as soon as the sun started to set

11 July did baptisms at the Las Vegas temple on my way down to Cali

2 August After 4 beautiful days at the cabin, I woke up the last morning to the very strong smell of smoke. It was so hazy and there was ash all over everything. We had planned to stay until the afternoon, but I got Alex and Mars up and we took off right away.

Big wildfire just over the mountain. Yikes! I was pretty freaked out.

8 August Alex came over and we had pizza and played Jenga. Off to Madrid the next morning!

Can You Do ALL the Disneyland Attractions in a Day?

The answer is YES, unless it has the audacity to rain 😦

2 January

Also did Rise of the Resistance but didn’t get a photo I guess…

Only missed the island, canoes, Columbia, and Fantasmic (because they were all rained out)

Disney World with Gary Nov 25

20-23 November

Gary had a theme park conference in Orlando so I joined him for a few days at the parks

Stayed at the Port Orleans, which Gary LOVED!

He had left a cookie and sweet note for my arrival 🙂

Went to Epcot the first night (so predictable!) where I had fun with my Magic Band

They updated the Country Bear Jamboree…not too bad really!

Watched the fire-breathing dragon parade and missed Murphy

Went to church and randomly ran into Steve’s friend Andrew!

Had lunch at the Edison before heading back home

Florida Trip with Mars – Oct 25

29 October – 1 November

I had a trip to Disney World with Mars scheduled but they decided that they would rather do something in nature, so we flew to Miami, rented a car, and visited 3 National Parks.