I procrastinated working on my dissertation by going to Munich, Vienna, and Salzburg.

A nice view of Munich from the top of St. Peter's church.

The fairy tale castle Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. It rained the whole day we were there which made it pretty with the mist and clouds.

The view from the Neuschwanstein of a nearby castle and village.

So pretty

Another view where you can see the lake.

Salzburg's main shopping street.

The house where Mozart was born.

A convent founded in the 700's. This is where the real Maria von Trapp was a novice nun. Still a working nunnery today.

This made me laugh. There was a whole tour group being taken around. Gob would have been so proud.

A view of Salzburg from the fort.

One of the villas by the river.

This is the bridge the kids dance in The Sound of Music

The lake and house used in parts of the Sound of Music. Salzburg gets 2 million tourists a year, 300,000 of which come just for the Sound of Music sights.

One of the two gazebos used in the film with my cute guide. There's another gazebo that is bigger and open so the film crew could fit. This was actually on the set in California, but when people started coming to see the gazebo they shipped it over.

The lake district. The nearby mountains are where the opening and closing shots were filmed.

The Marabel Gardens where part of Do Re Mi was filmed

A garden in Vienna. Out of all the cities I've been in, without a doubt, Vienna is the most beautiful.

The cemetery where I went to find all the famous composers. It was lovely

It took forever, but we finally found the musicians corner. Beethoven is buried there along with Strauss, Brahms, Schubert, and Mozart.

The old-fashioned stove in my hotel room

Schonbrunn Palace. It was here that a 5 year old Mozart played for the Queen Maria Teresa and then jumped on her lap and hugged her.

The back of the palace and the gardens.

The city of Vienna.

I went to Disneyland Paris for my birthday. Such fun! I only have one question: who designs a park that includes Captain Eo, but not Splash Mountain?

I've never seen a hotel so packed! It took forever to check in.

It was the 20 year anniversary for Disneyland Paris.

With friends Sara and Addison. Big Thunder Mountain is behind us. It was closed:(

I've never seen any Robin Hood characters before. Seeing the Sheriff of Nottingham was very exciting. Friar Tuck was also there.

Our hotel: Newport Beach Hotel

Day 2: ready to live the dream!

An actual French Gaston! He was very flirtatious

Aladdin was not nearly as funny or charming as Gaston

Evil Queen

I've never seen a Jack Sparrow before. He was pretty entertaining to watch interact with the kids.

We saved the best for last: Mickey! We waited until it was my actual birthday to see him. I know I'm an adult, but I still like when Mickey is so excited to see me and gives me a hug.

Yesterday I went to Great Missenden which is where Roald Dalh lived for the last 30 years of his life and wrote many of his novels.

It's a charming little village with cute houses located in Buckinghamshire which is 40 minutes NW of London.

Yup, I ate at the Twit Cafe which has a fun menu.

I had the Swishwiffler. Very tasty.

I also had a piece of the Bogtotter's Cake and then felt really sick.

Roald Dahl's helmet from when he was a pilot in the RAF during WWII.

He worked with a lot of people including Roosevelt, Hemingway, and Walt Disney.

The inside of his writing hut where he wrote most of his novels. It was moved to the museum from his house. His widow still lives there, so no one is allowed to visit.

Johnny Depp's coat from the movie. The stick is actually filled with candy which you can only see if you're really close.

This is a replica of his desk so children can sit in it. The museum is actually geared for ages 8-12, but that didn't stop me from going. Although I was the only adult not accompanied by a small person.

More of the little village.

When the children enter the museum, they're given a pencil and little book to write stories and ideas. Many of them leave their pencils, notes, and stories at his grave along with pennies. A note had blown away so I put it back. It said: "Dear Mr. Dahl, thank you for your inspiration and I wish you were here with me now." One of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

I went for a walk in the woods by the village which was his inspiration for stories like Fantastic Mr. Fox and Danny the Champion of the World.

Pretty woods

On Saturday May 25, I went to Canterbury and Dover. They're both charming towns.

Canterbury: The old medieval wall still surrounds the city and is in surprisingly good condition.

Canterbury Cathedral: This is one of the altars in the cathedral. Creepy and cool.

Canterbury Cathedral: Like thousands of pilgrims, I too have now been to the great cathedral. Of course, it didn't look like this when they went. I felt like I should have been quoting Canterbury Tales when I was there.

Canterbury Cathedral: This marks the spot where Thomas Becket was killed.

Canterbury Cathedral: If there was any doubt, they've made it clear, this is where he died.

Canterbury Cathedral: This candle was a memorial to the martyred saint and was there from his death in the 1100's until Henry VIII made them take it away in the 1500's. Now it's back.

Canterbury Cathedral: This is the altar where St. Thomas's bones were kept. Pilgrims would kneel at its base and pray to the saint. Of course the bones were destroyed by Henry VIII during the Dissolution, but the alter is still there.

Canterbury Cathedral: The tunic, gloves, and shield of The Black Prince.

Dover Castle: The keep was built by Henry II and the the castle was continually built and used all the way until WWII when it was used as a shelter and hospital.

Dover Castle: The Great Hall. They've added furnishings and decorations so tourists can feel like they're stepping back in time. I bet a lot of schools go on field trips there.

Dover Castle: Huzzah! I'm the king, with my friend Sara. What this doesn't show is to the left, there was a creepy hologram with actors in costume talking about the "court gossip." It was disturbing.

Dover Castle: The view from the top of the keep. The grounds are extensive with lots of buildings that had been added over the years.

Dover Castle: A nice view of the White Cliffs of Dover from the castle. You can also see France across the Chanel. It must have been scary during WWII to see how close the German army was. Dover was a huge base because they had to be ready for invasion and lots of bombings. They built tunnels below the castle to shelter people from the town.