Hamburg, Germany

In late August we traveled to Hamburg, Germany, with a group of friends to explore the city and experience its famous nightlife.  We took a boat tour, visited the Beatles’ Museum (my favorite band got their start in Hamburg!), and went on a five bar pub crawl (we were out until 4am!).

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, the third largest port in Europe, and home to the St. Pauli quarter, a world famous red light district that’s the largest in Europe.  There was a huge contrast between the area surrounding Hamburg’s elegant Rathaus, which is full of fancy shops and cute cafes, and the Reeperbahn, home to countless strip clubs, brothels, and bars.  We also stumbled upon a giant fair and a wine festival, and our (crazy) friends stayed out at the clubs until 6 am so they could be at Hamburg’s renowned fischmarkt when it opened Sunday morning.  Hamburg is definitely an interesting city! 

 

Chris & Lily's visit (& the Wiesbaden Wein Woche 2011)

August is wine fest season in Germany, and because Wiesbaden’s wine fest is the best there is (in our unbiased opinion), Chris and Lily decided it was worth making a transatlantic flight for. Chris lived in Mainz in 2006 (and still refers to it as “heaven”) so he was also itching to show Lily all of his favorite places in his former city. He had to pack so much into one day in Mainz that we ended up going to two different places for lunch and then to his favorite brewery for dinner.

While Marissa and I were working during the day, Chris and Lily did some exploring on their own and then met us at the Wiesbaden wine fest at night. Apparently three nights of wine fest wasn’t enough because Chris also wanted to do a wine tasting while he was here. We all went to Allendorf to sample some wine and were lucky enough to have a private wine tasting with the owner. On Chris and Lily’s last day we took a break from the vino and did some hiking at Felsenmeer, a nature park of huge granite boulders stretching up the side of a mountain.

And of course we had to take them to Paulaner before they left for one last authentic German meal. We had so much fun hanging out with Chris and Lily and are so happy they came to visit!

Baltic Cruise!

At the end of June we took an 11 day Princess cruise through the Baltic with Alicesara and Brandon and two of their friends from Maryland, Rich and Morya.  We left from Copenhagen, Denmark, and sailed to Warnemünde, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; Tallinn, Estonia; Arhus, Denmark; Oslo, Norway; and then back to Copenhagen.Cold, rainy weather is not uncommon in Scandinavia, even in the summer, but we lucked out with plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the 70s and 80s.  We ate dessert multiple times a day, feasted on four course dinners every night; attended two wine tastings, a culinary demonstration, and a galley tour; spent evenings at the piano bar; and lounged by the pool and in the hot tub.  I was also lucky enough to spend a very memorable 31st birthday with great friends!Our two favorite stops were St. Petersburg and Tallinn.  We took a two day guided tour in Russia, where we visited lots of sites including Peterhof Palace and the very impressive Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.  We also took a relaxing river cruise and ate traditional Russian food for lunch both days (which we do not recommend!) while watching performances by Russian dancers and singers.In Tallinn, we took a walking tour with a local college student.  We learned a lot about the city and happened to be there during the Estonian Song Festival (which happens every five years).  The Old Town of Tallinn is really beautiful and well preserved, with old, uneven cobblestone lining the streets.

Warnemünde is a cute fishing town with a beach and lots of biergartens, and Copenhagen was full of colorful buildings, boats, and pretty canals.  We really enjoyed the Vasa Museum in Stockholm and Frogner Park in Oslo.

Dan and I had a great time on our first cruise together and can’t wait to do another!

Trip to the States

In June we took a two week trip back to the States stopping in Columbia, Philadelphia, Erie, and Buffalo.  We hit up all of our favorite restaurants in Maryland (we got Vietnamese twice in two days!), and I shopped until I dropped (literally, from jet lag) with my friend, Liz.  The humidity and 105 degree weather were rough but it was still good to be back. 

We had a great time in Philly for Chris & Lily’s wedding.  We saw lots of friends we hadn’t seen in years, enjoyed delicious Philly cheese steaks at the rehearsal dinner, and really enjoyed seeing two great friends celebrate a very special moment in their lives.  The wedding was beautiful, the food was phenomenal, and the dancing was non-stop!The highlight of our time in Erie was a very relaxing two days at Don and Rita’s lake house on Lake Chautauqua.  The whole family was there.  We ate a lot, did a wine tasting at a local wine cellar, took a couple of boat rides, went tubing and kayaking, and played with the kiddos. So much fun!

Dan and I hadn’t seen Chelsea and Ryan in a full year, since they visited us in Germany last spring, so we were super excited for Buffalo.  Mom planned an awesome picnic at Niagara Falls where we also did the Maid of the Mist and other activities that involved multiple layers of ponchos!  Cori and Leo had their wedding ceremony on a Navy cruiser, the USS Little Rock, and we got to see family from Colorado, Hawaii, and California.  The bride was stunning, and it was quite the celebration!  Our trip went way too fast but we’re so glad we got to spend time with family and friends and enjoy some of the comforts of home!

Bonnie, Kristin & Liz’s visit!

Two days after my parents left we got a new set of visitors!  My college friends Bonnie, Kristin, and Liz came to visit after spending a week in Paris and Bruges.  They were anxious to see where Dan and I have been living for the past two years so I showed them around Wiesbaden and took them to some of my favorite restaurants.  We checked out the Saturday market, visited the park, wandered the pedestrian zone, and climbed to the top of Neroberg for great views of the city.  On Saturday night the Lesters joined us for dessert, drinks, and board games at our place.  We had lots of fun catching up and spending time together.  I’m so happy I got to see my girls!

   

Mom & Dad’s visit – Germany, Belgium & Andalucía, Spain!

My parents came to visit for eleven days in early May.  They weren’t able to visit last year so this trip was long overdue, and we were excited!  We spent the first weekend exploring cute Mosel River towns, shopping and sampling goodies at the Wiesbaden Saturday market, and baking together.  We also went to Oppenheim with some friends from work for a cathedral tour, a tour of the town’s underground network of cellar tunnels, and a wine tasting.  We even got to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom which we haven’t been able to do in quite some time.

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While Dan and I worked for a couple of days, Mom and Dad took the train to Brussels, Belgium, and explored the land of chocolate and beer.  They enjoyed Belgian waffles, saw the famous Mannekin Pis, and did lots of chocolate shopping for me (thank you!!).

Upon their return we set off for the Andalucía region of Southern Spain.  We spent two full days in Sevilla, touring the cathedral and the Alcázar (a beautiful old Moorish palace), strolling along the River Guadalquivir and through the Santa Cruz district (a maze of narrow lanes and whitewashed houses) and trying our hardest to find good Spanish tapas (not so easy!).  We relaxed and cooled down with a pitcher of sangria or two (it was 85 and sunny the entire trip!) and saw an authentic flamenco show.       

Next we headed to Ronda, a White Hill Town in Andalucía and the birthplace of modern bullfighting.  Ronda has a spectacular gorge-straddling setting with beautiful panoramic views.  We wandered the busy pedestrian shopping streets and visited the oldest bullring in Spain.   

Our trip coincided with Alicesara and Brandon’s trip to the same area, and they graciously invited us to stay in their timeshare in Marbella with them on our last night.  Mom and Dad dipped their toes in the Mediterranean, and we relaxed with the Lesters at the resort pool before we enjoyed an awesome home cooked meal on their balcony.

We had a great time with my parents and are so glad we were able to experience some new and exciting places with them.  Thanks so much for visiting, Mom and Dad!

Our First Visitors of 2011!

Two of my good friends from college, Matt and Beckie, came to visit us for a weekend in mid-April.  They are living in London at the moment and decided to take a road trip through Germany, stopping in Wiesbaden along the way.  We hadn’t seen Matt and Beckie since our wedding almost three years ago so we had a lot of catching up to do!

We took them for a traditional German meal at Weihenstephaner, enjoyed a wine tasting in Rüdesheim, spent a couple of hours relaxing and watching castles go by on a Rhine River cruise, and gave them a little tour of Wiesbaden.  It was so great to see them.  Thanks for visiting, Matt and Beckie!

St. Anton, Austria

Dan and I took our second Frankfurt Ski Club trip of the year the first weekend of April.  This time we headed to St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria, a world famous ski resort in the Tyrolean Alps.  After a week or so of gorgeous spring weather in Wiesbaden, I thought we were completely nuts for heading towards snow and cold temperatures.  Unfortunately for the skiers (but lucky for me), it was just as beautiful in Austria!  This meant less-than-ideal conditions for skiing and snowboarding, and it also meant that I should have packed t-shirts instead of snow boots and hand warmers!

I spent the mornings at the local gym and wandering around the pedestrian zone while Dan snowboarded on what little snow St. Anton had.  We then met up with the rest of the ski club at the Krazy Kanguruh, an après ski bar in the mountains with a sun terrace and a great view. 

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Perhaps the craziest thing to happen all weekend came around 7pm on Friday evening when we realized we had missed the last bus down the mountain and into town after dancing the afternoon away at the bar.  Not a problem for most, who can just ski down, but as far as I could see I was stuck!  My attempt to sled down on Dan’s snowboard failed horribly; I only made it about 10 feet before I went flying off.   So after lots of protesting from me, Dan threw me over his shoulder and snowboarded the rest of the way down while I screamed and laughed and prayed he didn’t fall.  Fortunately, Dan has some serious skills (and strength and coordination and balance), and we made it down in one piece.  I was completely terrified but now I know why Dan loves to snowboard so much – what a rush!!  Dan was met with applause at the bottom, and it was well deserved!

On our last day we went up to Valluga, the highest point in the Arlberg region.  The view was incredible, nothing but snow-capped mountains in every direction.  We could even see the highest point in Germany from there.

We had a great trip and hope to go back next year when the weather is colder and the snow is deeper!