Budapest

What a great trip to kick off 2012! Buda and Pest are on opposite sides of the Danube River. It wasn’t until 1873, with the constructions of the Chain Bridge, that the two cities became one. It then became one of the fastest developing European countries. They also have the fastest escalators I’ve ever been on. Seriously, these escalators are no joke!

We arrived Friday evening and checked into the Marriott. It's a gorgeous hotel right on the Danube River. We had a room on the 6th floor with a beautiful view of the river and the Citadel. It was such a treat to wake up to a sunrise behind this view in the morning!

One of the things I loved about this trip was that we didn't have an itinerary to follow. We had researched what we wanted to do but didn't have an actual schedule that we had to stick to. We decided to start by strolling through the Pest side and taking a look at some of the sights. Our first stop was the Grand Synagogue, Europe's largest Synagogue and museum. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go inside since it had closed for the day. Inside is the Wallenberg Memorial Park, built on top of a mass grave from the 1940s. We continued on to St. Steven's Basilica, commemorating the first Christian king of Hungary. We lucked out and entered the church during a concert. The music was really beautiful to match the decor of the church.

Our next stop was the Opera. We entered the lobby but decided not to pay for a tour. Instead, we bought a short book on Budapest. We continued our journey to the Parliament. This building is massive! And really pretty. We both agreed that we wanted to take a tour the following day. We later learned that this is the third largest Parliament building in the world. Student discount gets you 50% off!

Touring during winter really has its advantages....we strolled along the Danube back towards the Chain Bridge and it seemed like we had the whole city to ourselves. The "Shoes on the Danube" is pretty cool. It consists of 60 pairs of metal shoes set in concrete along the embankment commemorating Hungarian Jews killed in 1944-1945.

Tummies grumbling, we chose a boat-turned-restaurant on the river for some fine dining. The meal was delicious....goulash soup, almond encrusted chicken stuffed with feta and basil and a "Hungarian trilogy" plate consisting of three traditional Hungarian foods. Too full for dessert, we walked off our meal over the Chain Bridge and up the hill to The Castle District. The night-time views are really pretty, especially of the Parliament building. Budapest does a wonderful job of lighting up its landmarks at night time....it's possible that we enjoyed them even more at night. We returned to the Marriott for some drinks on the waterfront and called it a night.

The Budapest Marriott is great and the best part is the buffet breakfast! I was so excited for omelets and the variety of pastries....and everything else. Looking across the river to the castle while dining didn’t hurt either. Our first destination of the morning was the House of Terror. This building used to house the secret police of the Nazis and the state police of the Communist regime. Today, it commemorates the victims of these two parties. Unfortunately, the museum was closed for the weekend due to maintenance.

A bit disappointed but still in high spirits, we continued on to Heroes' Square. In the middle of the large square are the Millennium Monument and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Behind this square is the City Park where we were delighted to see an outdoor skating rink and what looked like a castle. It was, indeed, a castle...the Vajdahunyad Castle. It was originally built of cardboard and wood for the 1896 World Expo. It was built of stone at the end of the expo. Across the street is the Széchenyi Baths, an attraction we knew we were going to do the following day. We checked it out a bit so that we knew what to expect in the morning.

We made our way back to Parliament to buy tickets for an English tour. We killed the hour before the start of the tour with a Kürtőskalács, a circular cake with cinnamon and sugar, and a beer at an outdoor street bar. The tour of the Parliament building was really cool, though we only saw a few of the 691 rooms. There are also 27 gates, 10 courtyards and 29 stairways. The two wings are mirror images...we toured part of the north wing, the Lord's Chamber, used today as the session floor of Parliament. We were able to see the Hungarian Crown Jewels, guarded by soldiers that stand still on either side, only moving every 5 minutes to change the position of their sword. The crown is one the oldest in Europe and was used to crown every Hungarian king...something like 900 years. An interesting thing we saw were built-in cigar holders on the window sills. They are each numbered so that, when smoking was permitted, men would know which cigar was there.

Next up, the castle district during daylight hours. We rode the Funicular Railway, the world's second cable railway, up the hill. The castle now houses museums and offices and is no longer used as a residence. Just around the corner is the Matthias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion. The Roof of the church is beautiful. We were 10 minutes too late to view the inside. The foundation of the Fisherman's Bastion is a part of the former medieval fortified defensive wall. Though it never served defensive purposes, it did serve as the home to a huge fish and grocery market in the Middle Ages. It's really pretty and provides a great viewpoint to look over the city.

The one event that we did plan for and reserve was a wine tasting at Faust Winery. It's located underground of the Castle District inside of the caves. There's a vast system of natural caves….the ambiance was great! We were one of five small tables, it was extremely intimate. Our sommelier was really nice and informative. We ended up staying for 3 hours! We did the short "Curiosities of Hungary," 2 red wines and 3 white wines with a callback at the end. It also included Hungarian scones, which were really good. In addition, we ordered a cheese plate and a sausage plate which were the icing on the cake. We finished the evening with Brandy Salinkas. We really enjoyed our time there and highly recommend it!

Our final stop for the night was to meet up with one of Bryan's coworkers and her friend, who works at the Budapest Marriott and we had met the previous night at the bar. We went to the Hard Rock and had a really good time...lots of laughs.

Our last morning, we got up early and headed, again, for the Marriott breakfast....another satisfying meal. We were really excited for the Széchenyi baths! This bathhouse was built in the beginning of the 1900s and is one of the largest bath complexes in Europe. It has the hottest thermal spring in the city. It contains 3 outdoor pools and about 20 indoor pools, each with varying temperatures and mineral content.

We shared a cabin and changed into our bathing suits. I was able to schedule an immediate massage. I absolutely LOVE massages and this was one of the best I've had. It was labeled "Revitalizing and Relaxation" massage...I was so incredibly relaxed afterwards, Bryan asked if I had fallen asleep (I have never, nor will I ever, fall asleep during such a pleasurable experience). Bryan was kind enough to stake out and test all of the baths while I was melting away, so he had a great plan of attack ready for us when I was finished. Our first bath was the outdoor bath. We lucked out with clear, sunny skies. The walks between the pool and inside were a bit frigid! Next was a really hot "Jacuzzi" followed by a cooler, but warm, larger bath. After relaxing in those we headed to a "whirlpool" oval-shaped bath...the jets create a circular current that's really fun to play in. After that we headed to the "medicinal bath" where we remained floating in a state of relaxation until it was time to leave. We truly enjoyed this experience!

We really enjoyed this trip and the city and would visit again in the future. Three days were plenty but four would be nice. The weather called for two days of rain/snow but we only encountered about 20 minutes...the weather was clear, albeit a bit chilly.

Dave's Visit

Dedicated to Susan.

For those of you that don't know Dave, he is my and Bryan's best friend. Dave and Bryan were fraternity brothers and played intramural sports together. Dave and I share the same crazy, lovable fraternity big brother. We've been friends since the day we were introduced. Dave has lived in Chicago for nearly 4 years now. We usually get together 3 times per year, including our annual Ohio State football games in Columbus. 2011 lacked a presence of Dave in our lives and he was so kind as to fly himself over to good ole Munich to play with us. And so our adventures begin....

Day 1: Introduction
Dave arrives at the Munich Airport. Munich Airport has a brewery and a biergarten, Airbrau. Dave experiences his first beer in Germany. Now that I think it about, I wish we would have kept track of how many beers Dave consumed throughout this trip. I can tell you, though, that it's a lot. We headed home and let Dave settle in, and have a beer. Bryan made a fantastic lunch of leberkase semmel and spatzl. We then we headed to Augustinerkeller. Here, Dave experienced his first mas bier and pretzel. From there, we headed to Karlsplatz for outdoor ice skating. From ice skating, we headed to an Irish pub for some live music. We all thoroughly enjoyed the bassist of the band. It was a good night.

(At Augustiner)

Day 2: Munich Day turns Drinking Day
We enjoy taking our guests of Munich on a ‘Jenn and Bryan walking tour.’ We walk along the river and pass some cool buildings then turn in towards the city. We take them to the Viktualienmarkt, an outdoor market, to enjoy some quick, delicious German food. We introduced Dave to a pork sandwich with a layer of fried skin (I don’t know the German name of it) and schnitzel. I need to upload the video of Dave in heaven, describing his fondness for this meal. Our next stop was to look at lederhosen for Dave. Some Germans I have spoken to are amused by how much Americans love lederhosen and dirndls. I'm guilty, I love my dirndls. Yes, plural, I now have two....today was the day I purchased my second one. Bryan and I had both made previous purchases in this store. There is an associate that we absolutely love. He's a short, large, gay man and he's hysterical. He is on the face of all the advertising and he's a great deal of fun. I think he loves his job mostly because he gets to touch so many men’s’ booties.

Back to my story...it's common to be served Prosecco while shopping. We were served 5 bottles. Daniel, the associate we love, kept them coming, and we weren't going to be impolite by refusing. Three hours later, I had purchased a new dirndl, Dave had purchased his lederhosen and Bryan a new shirt. Oh, and I got a free hat! To be fair, I had been wanting a new dirndl. We forced ourselves out of the store, promising to return later to pick up our merchandise. Dave was really cold so we stopped at a store to get him a scarf. An hour later, he emerged with a scarf and 5 dress shirts (they were a great deal, though!) Finally, we're off to Hofbräuhaus. The place was packed but we found a seat and ordered a round of mas biers and obatzda with pretzel. We split one more mas, trying to keep it under control, and then headed back to the shop pick up our purchases. Daniel opened yet another bottle of Prosecco. Thank goodness our next stop was home. However, that sort of backfired when we drunk-Skyped the whole world upon returning.

(Pork sandwich and schnitzel)

Day 3: Disneyworld
Füssen is home to two castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Our friend, Christoph, lives in Füssen and offered to take us around....what a great guy! We toured the city and played in the snow while waiting for our reservation at the castle. Neuschwanstein is massive! I've heard reviews from some people that it was a bit disappointing. I didn't think so but I see their reasoning. The castle is a bit away from the train station; therefore, you must take a bus to the ticket office. You are given a group number and reservation number for your tour of the castle which may not be immediately. There is a guided tour in English that takes about 30 minutes. It's a huge castle so some could expect to be inside for a quite a while. However, due to the fact that the castle is incomplete and Ludwig II only lived here for under a year, there isn't a whole lot to see. It’s still incredible, especially the outside. After finishing up the tour, we headed up to Hohenschwangau for a private tour given by Christoph (he works there). Although this castle is much smaller than Neuschwanstein, we still enjoyed it. It’s interesting since the family actually lived there and it has a history. Christoph was also a great guide. We were also really happy that it snowed…the scenery was so beautiful. We’ll most likely be returning in the summer.

(Neuschwanstein Castle)

Day 4: We're not drinking (much)
This day was New Year's Eve and we were all exhausted from three non-stop days. We decide to sleep in and have brunch, then take Dave to Löwenbräu Keller for a beer. Bryan would then head to work and Dave and I would get some errands accomplished and get ready for the night. The day didn't quite work out that way. Our friend, Lynn, was visiting Munich from the States. We hadn't seen her yet so she planned to meet up at Löwenbräu. One beer turned into 3 for me and 4-5 for Dave as well as an extended time at Löwenbräu. We were rushed getting back to our apartment to get ready and finish other tasks we’d procrastinated on, and finally headed out to my friend's apartment for dinner and drinks. We were those rude people showing up just as dinner started but I don't think anyone really cared. We had fondue, which I love, and it didn't disappoint. We all hung out for a bit after dinner then headed to one of the bridges to watch the fireworks. My big mistake was taking a roadie which consisted of rum. Whoops. After that, we headed to BMW Welt (BMW World) for a celebration. When Dave and I decided it was time to go, we headed to the U-Bahn to get home. We weren’t paying attention and guess who got onto the wrong train? Yep. We headed away from the city. The next train back wasn't for another 45 minutes so we cabbed it all the way back. We managed to make it home about an hour and a half before it was time to get up for the next day's adventure. At least we made it home before Bryan did...he only had an hour of sleep.

(At Löwenbräu)

Day 5: Dave's hurting. We carry on.
I wake up to Bryan pouting...Dave is too hungover to execute our mission for the day. I don't like seeing Bryan sad, so I rally the troops and head out the door to catch the train to Garmisch to watch the ski jump competition. I've never been on such an uncomfortable train before...it was so hot! Poor Dave had to sit in between the cars to cool down. We finally arrived a little while before the start of the competition, so what else would we do but grab a beer across the way and watch the practice runs. Bryan and I felt fine, just tired, but poor Dave was having a rough time getting the beer down...I think partial blame goes to Domi for the shots he and Dave had taken the night before. Dave mans up and finishes the beer (we’re good friends so we helped him out a bit) and headed to the competition. It was so great! The skiers go so fast and far and the crowd was a good time too. At the end of the day we were all glad we fought the urge of laziness. Mission accomplished.

(Dave hurting and not too fond of his beer)

Day 6: Failed Attempts
I took a "personal morning" this day to recover from near exhaustion and to let the boys have a morning to themselves. Bryan took Dave out to Gauting, where we play baseball/softball. I was going to meet them afterwards in Starnberg for snacks and beer on the lake. My timing was off (fail #1) and I was going to miss the train. Disappointed, I decided I'd meet them back in the city. It ended up working out for me since the restaurant we were planning on going to was closed when the boys arrived (fail #2). We met back in the city and Dave got another pork sandwich from Viktualienmarkt (addict) and we headed to Schneider Weiss Bräuhaus. This was my first experience, although Bryan and I had been wanting to go, and it's now one of my favorite. The beer is delicious! This also marks the beginning of coaster flipping. In short, it’s like flip cup but you catch the coaster before it lands on the table. The table of children adjacent to us thought this was a fabulous way to entertain themselves. You're welcome parents.

To the main event: OSU v UF Gator Bowl game. We head up to the sports bar at the Marriott that Bryan works at to view the game. We're pumped, decked out in our OSU attire and ready to eat some American bar food. The bar doesn't get the channel (Fail #3). We're a bit discouraged but won't let this get our spirits down. We decide to grab some frozen pizzas and stream it at our house. Normally, we can stream whatever sporting event we want, but today is not our day. After many failed (#4 plus some) attempts and 30 minutes, we finally got the game on. The Buckeyes ended up losing, but at least the pizza was good.

(At Schneider Weiss in his Buckeye shirt)

Day 7: Put on your drinking uniforms
I had a private English lesson in the morning so the boys spent the morning at Dachau. We met up in the afternoon at the Isar River to enjoy some snacks and beer. Since Dave had purchased his lederhosen, we had to let him sport it. Now is also probably a good place to point out that we had an overall mission to visit 7 Bräuhauser in Munich. We had previously visited five...Airbrau, Augustiner, Hofbräuhaus, Löwenbräu, Schneider Weiss. Next up was Hacker-Pschorr Bräuhaus. Coaster drinking games begin. Nothing’s getting too serious but we start making up different rules for different games. I believe Bryan holds the record for flipping and catching a stack of 28 coasters at one time. Dave was a close second. I had no chance. We only stayed for a beer and walked it off across the Oktoberfest field to Paulaner Bräuhaus. We ordered our beers and Obatzda, and then things started to get serious. We all started off well in our new game of Flip-Coasters. I quickly fell behind the boys, though. To speed up the story, Bryan has won and Dave and I are competing for runner-up. Dave was ahead by a good amount...maybe 5-6 coasters, nearing the winning limit (I think it may have been 15 coasters). But I don’t go down without fight. I pulled off the most epic comeback and beat Dave. That’s right, Dave, I BEAT YOU!

(Dave in complete disbelief that he lost)

I think the story is only great for the three of us, but once you play, you’ll understand. Plus, we are three very competitive people.


Day 8: There's a Palace in the City?
We’ve visited Schloss Nymphenburg, which is in the Munich area, but we didn’t realize there is a big-ass palace (sorry, no other way to put it) smack in the middle of Munich city center. Well, we knew it was there, we just didn’t know how big it actually is. It’s called the Residenz and it’s great. Interesting fact: This was the Wittelsbach’s family palace who ruled Bavaria for nearly 700 years…the longest continuously ruling family in European history. The palace spans the styles of four different centuries. I don’t know how many rooms there are, but it’s a lot…at least 150. One could easily get lost inside. There’s a theatre, huge antiquarium, a church, galleries and so many other rooms. We also explored the Treasury, which was cool.

Afterwards, we went to Ratskeller under the large Gothic building famous in Munich. I can’t wait to go back for a real meal, as I only had a cup of soup. Just around the corner, we hit up Schneider Weiss once more. Although the Christmas Markets were already gone, there was one spot still serving Glühwein outdoors so we stopped for a night cap on our way home. Since it was Dave’s last night, we headed home early to get him packed up and ready for his flight in the morning. To all our Munich friends, if you’re reading this, we’re sorry…but we had an amazing Taco Night. Tacos with all the fixings and loaded nachos mmmmm! It was a great way to end an amazing week.

(The boys getting warm by the fire before ordering some Glühwein)

We really enjoyed having Dave here and are very appreciative that he took the time off of work and saved up his money to come see us. Anyone else planning on coming to Munich to visit us…this is a glimpse of what may be in store for you. Thankfully, Dave plans on coming back for Oktoberfest and he’ll get to experience the biergartens, as they’re obviously closed in winter.

Happy New Year

I am the worst Blogger.

With new years, come new resolutions, and I'm jumping on the bandwagon. I've told myself I'm going to keep up my blog and blog at least once per month. I have no idea if anyone actually reads this but I figure it's a good way to make myself journal and keep friends updated if they do. So here we go....

2011 was an incredible year! Together, we managed to visit 7 countries and what we feel are considered some of “Europe’s top attractions.”

February: Prague, Czech Republic
March: Rome, Naples/Sorrento/Capri/Pompeii, Italy
April: Zermatt, Switzerland
May: Zurich, Switzerland
June: (Jenn to Amsterdam with her brother)
   Vienna, Austria
July: Paris, Rouen and Etratret, France
   (Jenn solo to the USA)
August: Berlin, Germany
September: Dublin, Gallway, Killarney, Blarney
          and Cork, Ireland
   Oktoberfest (not really travel but a great    
    experience)
October: Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre and
         Venice, Italy
November: Regensburg, Germany
December: Rothenburg, Nürnberg, Füssen and Garmisch, Germany

Needless to say, I have a lot of catching up to do on my blogs for our travel experiences. We had such an amazing 2011 that I'm not sure we'll top it. We won't be getting engaged this year, so that may be the deciding factor. However, we have big plans for this year for seeing many countries and we're pretty excited about it! I would say that 2013 may be a letdown after these two years, but we'll be getting married so it will contend for best year ever too.

The question we're asked most is, "What is your favorite place you've visited so far?" That is a terribly difficult question to answer. Actually, it's impossible. So I will provide as brief as possible of a highlight:

-Prague was surprisingly beautiful; inexpensive; the Castle Cathedral was beautiful; it was our first trip.

-Rome, well, it's Rome; standing in front of and inside of the massive Coliseum and Roman Forum thinking about their history and the fact that they're 2000 years old; we could have spent days in the Vatican Museum.

-Naples/Capri/Sorrento/Pompeii: the pizza of Naples (I literally had it for every meal); the views of Sorrento and Capri; Pompeii's excavations and massiveness; Mt. Vesuvius.

-Zermatt was an amazing ski trip, we had so much fun and the town is adorable; Bryan's proposal, of course!

-Zurich was a relaxing trip of wondering the streets and shopping; lunch by the lake was beautiful.

-I think Amsterdam is adorable and I love the architecture; the trip was made even better that I was joined by my brother; the nightlife was great and we met really nice people; returning with Bryan in February.

-Vienna was beautiful; the Shonbrunn Palace was massive and beautiful with wonderful views; drinks overlooking the city; my family!

-Paris was even better than I expected, I really enjoyed the architecture; the views from the top of Notre Dame; croissants and wine.

-Rouen was such a peaceful portion of the trip; relaxing, ping pong, croissants and wine.

-Etratret was breathtaking; trying mussels for the first time and loving them; Bryan's mom and stepdad for all of France!

-We timed Berlin to meet up with our friend Brooks, definite highlight; the chocolate store; beach bar in between the water and the Berlin wall; the sights.

-Ireland as a whole was a great trip; Bryan’s dad joined us!; great beer; Bryan got to play golf; randomly staying in the same room as friends from UCF that we didn’t know were in Europe; everything was great...too much to keep this short, the Paddy Wagon tour contributed to this; seeing our friends Cristen and Marc in Dublin.

-I was completely blown away by Florence! What a great city; Statue of David; overlooking the city at Piazzale Michelangelo.

-The tower of Pisa in Pisa.

-Cinque Terre could possibly be my favorite spot in Italy; the 5 villages were all beautiful; hiking.

-Getting lost in Venice; sitting at San Giorgio looking across to Venice; St. Mark’s Basilica.

-Regensburg is a historical town; Thanksgiving with friends.

-Rothenburg was a very "German" city; the city wall; Christmas markets.

-Nürnberg had wonderful Christmas markets; very enjoyable to walk around; eating all of the food.

-Füssen was made even better by having a personal tour by our friend, Christoph; such a fun trip and the castles were great; Dave was here.

-Garmisch was holding a ski jump competition; Dave was here.


As for our day-to-day lives....Bryan is still working at Marriott. The family I was previously with hired an Au Pair. It's extremely cost effective if you have a spare room and don't mind someone living in your house. I still babysit for them quite often on the weekends. I'm now employed by another family, working during the week and occasional babysitting on weekends. They are a German-Austrian family with two girls, 6 and 8. Both girls attended a bi-lingual kindergarten and speak English. They hired me to ensure the girls keep their English and, of course, to take care of them. I really like my new family and it's going very well. I'm still teaching my adult English class and private tutoring.

As for the future, we're planning on returning to the States mid-November of this year. We are excited to spend the holidays with our families. I'm also looking forward to a warm, Florida winter. I know this year is going to fly by...we're already down to 10 months remaining in Munich. We haven't decided where we're going to settle or what we're going to do as occupations. For now, we're living in the present and enjoying Europe as much as possible!

June Update

It’s long overdue but I finally have an update on our lives. May was terribly busy moving into a temporary apartment and scrambling to find a place to live. June and July were full of adventures with our families and working to make up for it. Happily, we found a permanent “home.” We’re living in a two bedroom apartment with a kitchen and bathroom…an actual apartment to ourselves, finally! Although, we did love our first room with the kitchenette and shared bathroom. And the rent was great! We’re paying a bit more than originally planned but let’s face it, we live in Munich…not the cheapest city we could have chosen. We were spoiled our first 3 months here with such low rent. But every penny is worth our new apartment. Our favorite spot is out on the balcony! It has recently received a makeover, compliments of my wonderful mom, and is even more enjoyable! We live in the vicinity of Giesing, if you want to Google the area. We were extremely spoiled with the convenience of the U-Bahn being located right outside our first two apartments. Our apartment now is little farther away from the center of city but we love the location. By “farther,” I mean 5 stops by underground rail to Central Station. On foot, there are two U-Bahn stations less than 10 minutes away. By bike, it’s about 3 minutes. We are also only a few bus stops away from the main East Station. Our apartment complex is sort of hidden right off of the main road. It’s very quiet and our balcony is given privacy by a large tree. Our building is only 3 stories, we are on the second. We have access to a community washer and dryer in the basement. We also have a storage unit in the basement which is nice so we don’t cramp up our apartment with suitcases and other rarely used items. Our apartment came partially furnished so instead of traveling in May, we spent the money on some necessities and the large deposit required.

Another plus of our location is that I’m really close to my main job as a nanny. I ride my bike a few minutes and then take a 15 minutes bus ride that drops me directly adjacent to their house. The bus comes every 10 or 20 minutes depending on the time of day. On that note…job update. I’m still employed as an English Trainer by two different firms-Knowledge Point and Sphairo’s-as required by law in Germany. As of now, my schedule only allows me to take on one class per week for Knowledge point. I try to substitute classes whenever possible. My class right now consists of 4 business professionals wanting to improve their English. I really enjoy them! For Sphairo’s, I work weekly holiday camps for children. I’ve worked 3 different camps so far and will have 2 more this summer. The hardest part about teaching children is that I don’t speak any German. It is said that this is preferred when teaching a foreign language, but I find it difficult and annoying. With older kids, it’s usually ok because they have 4-5 years of English. But younger kids don’t have the attention span for me to mime what I’m trying to say…and I don’t have the patience at the end of the day.

I’m also nannying, which is my main source of income. The family lives on the Isar River across from the English Garden in a great area of the city. The kids are 3, 5 and 8….two boys and one girl. They have British accents, as their mom is from London. Their dad is German. The two older ones attend an International School where English and German are spoken. The little one is in a German-speaking nursery part-time a few days a week. He will be attending preschool in September. All the kids are bilingual but English is mostly spoken at home. I have been working 2-5 days per week, 8-15 hour shifts. However, next month I will become the primary nanny since the other one has taken a job in Switzerland. I will work 5 days per week, 5-15 hour shifts. I also spend nights over sometimes when both parents are out of town. Some of the days are really long but can fly by with the kids’ jam-packed schedules. I’m responsible for tidying up after them, kids’ laundry, cooking, homework, drop-off/pick-up at school, taking them to lessons and afterschool activities and grocery shopping. Needless to say, it’s good practice for the future. I’ve said it before I worked with this family but I don’t know how parents get it all done on top of working. The kids are really adorable though, when they behave. It’s a great job due to the flexibility. I don’t have a set schedule that ties me down. I have plenty of time to travel and the mom is really flexible if something comes up. It was really great to be able to take off 11 days when my mom and brother came to Europe and another 10 this past week when we travelled to France. As long as I plan ahead, I can take any dates I need off. I don’t have a specific amount of “vacation time.” So although my days are usually long and stressful, the time off to travel makes it worth it.

Bryan is still at Marriott. He “passed” his probationary period and they extended his contract. He usually works evenings/nights, including some weekends. Sometimes he’ll have short shifts from about 4pm-10pm but other times he won’t get home anywhere from 1-6am depending on the event. As far as I know, he likes it. He also gets a good work out setting up and taking down for events. He gets to eat at work which is a major bonus. Sometimes, I even benefit when he brings home special treats for me. That part of his job I really like! He has the typical German holiday (vacation) schedule. I believe he has 30 days. To Americans, that’s a ton but with the amount of traveling we have done and plan on doing in the next years, we have to keep this in mind. Overall, everything is going well on the work front.

Softball and baseball is coming to a close. With work and the amount of traveling we have done this summer, I wasn’t able to participate as much as I had hoped. But I’ve met some really great people and plan to play indoor softball in the winter. Bryan is away this weekend in Regensburg for a baseball tournament. I have the kids this weekend. Since the baseball team did not qualify for the playoffs, the foreign players will be leaving in the next few weeks. It’s sad for us since some of our friends are leaving. I’ve also had two other American friends head back to the States.

However, I’ll be coming home in four days! I arrive into PBI on Wednesday night and will depart on Saturday, August 6. I’m so excited to see my family, friends and my dogs!!! I plan on being in Palm Beach Gardens Wednesday the 20^th through Sunday 24^th. On Monday, I will head to the Keys for mini lobster season until Friday. I then plan on being in Palm Beach until I depart on the 6^th. I’m looking forward to The Gardens Mall and all of the food I’ve been missing for 6 months. Unfortunately, Bryan will remain in Munich to work. Hopefully next year we’ll be able to plan a trip together.

I hope to see many of you on my trip home. We absolutely love living in Munich and all of the traveling we have been able to do but sometimes miss our friends and family back in the USA. I hope to post about our travels to Amsterdam, Vienna and France soon. It’s been so hectic lately that I haven’t made the time.

Zurich

Back to Switzerland we go! Bryan had a training seminar in Zurich for work so we decided to make a quick trip out of it. We had passed through Zurich before but hadn’t seen much but the train station. We’ve had a busy month which didn’t allow us to “prepare” for the trip but we decided to relax and not book our day up or to be on any time constraints. It ended up being the perfect plan and a great city to do so.

We are complete budget travelers. So when Bryan, imagine this, sweet-talked his way into an upgrade at the Marriott, we were stoked. Although we did stay at a nice place in Zermatt, we haven’t stayed in a luxury hotel since our move to Europe. No complaints there, as we usually don’t spend any time in our accommodations except to sleep. It was so nice to have, not one, but two flat screen TVs with 5 English channels and a big, fluffy, king-size bed! It’s the little things in life sometimes. Our room was on the top floor in an Executive Suite. This meant not only great views of the city but access to the Executive Lounge!

We both wanted to relax before a night on the town and decided to take advantage of the free food and beverage at “The Lounge” to hold us over. Some American couldn’t quite figure out how to open the bottled beer (it’s like a pop top that you have to break the seal on) so we offered some assistance. This nice southern gentleman asked to join our table, which we obliged. As an expat, we’ve found it’s nice to talk to Americans and hear the stories and insights of their travels. It’s also nice to discuss the different cultural experiences through the eyes of someone that’s native to the same culture as us. This wonderful gentlemen and his wife, who soon joined us, were from Tennessee. Well, the hours rolled by and we abandoned our plans to explore Zurich by night. After 7 or 8 eight beers each we decide to call it a night in fear of ruining our sightseeing the next day. We had such an unexpected, fun time with this lovely and hysterical couple at The Lounge…the best part being that we saved ourselves a 150 Franc bar tab! Way to go Bryan for scoring an upgrade.

The next morning, The Lounge also provided a complimentary (as is everything) breakfast buffet. Amazing! The eggs were perfect, American bacon as well as European delights like sweet-filled croissants. Perfect way to start our full day in Zurich! (If you haven’t noticed, I try to fully describe the food we encounter throughout our travels because it’s simply delicious and I love food in a non-gluttonous way.) So with no plans in mind we headed out towards the city. As you’ll notice in the Facebook pictures, I have no idea where, specifically, we were taking pictures as there are no captions like in my other albums. Usually I’m aware of sights and monuments, but this trip we opted for total relaxation and spontaneity. As mentioned, Zurich provided the perfect opportunity for this with plenty of shops, cute streets and architecture, and beautiful views of the water and mountains.

We started by walking towards the main station to Bahnhofstrasse. It’s a mile of shops and restaurants that lead to the lake. We noticed  5 H&M’s and can’t imagine how they fill them all. There were adorable, over priced boutiques that were fun to look around in. Surprisingly, there weren’t an over-abundance of tacky souvenir shops. We knew the prices in Switzerland were going to be high but I was disappointed in the price of chocolate….completely ridiculous. I was also disheartened when we didn’t find the “Florentine” chocolate we had discovered in Zermatt. Maybe it’s a local thing native to Zermatt. I’m sure if you venture farther away from the water and main streets that prices decrease.

A great little place we stumbled upon, though I’m sure it’s mentioned in guidebooks, is “Lindenhof.” It’s an elevated park with great views of the river below. There’s also the St. Peter-Kirche with Europe’s largest clock face. At the end of Bahnhofstrasse, the horizon opens up to views of the lake with the Alps in the background.  I’m not sure if it’s a seasonal or permanent occurrence, but there was a carnival taking place at the waterfront. It was fun to walk around and Bryan won me a prize J.

We crossed over the bridge to the other side of the river and enjoyed a waterfront lunch. Along the east side of the lake is Zürichhorn, a park the offers peaceful shady spots to relax in. We walked back towards our hotel on the east side of the river and explored the small streets with even more shops and cafes.

As is true for any vacation, the weather really made our day. It was sunny but cool and perfect for walking around outdoors. We really didn’t do much other than meander through the streets and stop at whatever shops we were interested in. We spent time enjoying the views and each other’s company.  Bryan and I spent the last hour of our day just sitting in a park people watching and enjoying the outdoors. I don’t have many suggestions for Zurich other than to ensure you plan a trip when the weather is good for being outdoors and taking in the scenery. I can’t imagine needing more than a day or two in the city. Overall, we had a nice, relaxing getaway and really enjoyed Zurich.

Zermatt

(I apologize for the formatting of this post, I couldn't do anything to change it. I'm not very computer or internet savvy.)

Zermatt was so much fun! Bryan and I had been wanting to take a ski/snowboarding trip to the Alps and what better excuse to splurge than for my birthday? Now that we have the train system down, even though we had another delay, getting there was a breeze. However, to get up to Zermatt, the Eurail pass is not valid and you must pay for an additional ticket. Having a Eurail pass does get you 25% off so it comes out to €20 each per train ride. We saw amazing views of the countryside, mountains and lakes on the ride there. We got in relatively early and had a full evening to explore the town and eat some dinner. We found a great hotel that had full amenities such as a Jacuzzi and steam room/sauna and included a buffet breakfast. There were also a few hostels but Bryan treated me to a nice, private hotel room. The hotel was also in prime location. It was a 5 minute walk from the train station and right on the bridge that connected to another popular street. Our room had views of the mountain and we could hear the river with our window open, which was very relaxing. Stepping outside our door was a great view of the Matterhorn as well as the bus stop which took us straight to the ski lifts. We would both recommend this hotel. http://www.antika.ch/

We booked our rentals online at Matterhorn Sport - http://www.matterhornsport.ch/winter/english.html. Booking online we received a 25% discount and the prices were very reasonable. They had three locations, one of which was 3 minutes from our hotel. The one thing we found to be very expensive was food. Even a pizza was 20 Francs. We found a really cute restaurant/pub called The Brown Cow that had American hot dogs and hamburgers at reasonable prices. Some people may not want American food when vacationing in Europe, but since we live in Munich now it sounded amazing. Bryan got a gorgonzola, garlic and onion burger and I got a classic cheeseburger with onions. Both were served with big delicious fries that came with ketchup and pommes sauce, a popular dipping sauce for fries which is basically mayonnaise. Mix the two together and you've got magic! The local Cardinal beer was good and reminded us of Heineken.

I was so excited to go skiing that I woke up an hour before our alarm clock, which for me is very rare. I haven't been skiing since early 2009 when Bryan and I went to Breckenridge. The previous year, Bryan and I went to North Carolina for spring break, our first vacation together, and he taught me how to snowboard. I had never been out West to the mountains and I was excited to snowboard again in Colorado. I got sick the morning before we left so snowboarding wasn't too much fun since I didn't have the energy to turn back and forth on the board. The first day I had already decided to switch my board in for skis. The next day I was hit on the mountain but thankfully not seriously injured. I was now terrified of skiing though. For the rest of trip I would ski so slow and pause and wait for other skiers/boarders to pass....which can take a while. Bryan, of course, was patient but it wasn't our best experience.

For our trip to Zermatt I told myself to suck it up and show Bryan that I am actually good at skiing, as well as prove to myself that I'm not a pansy. We had so much fun! I only fell 4 times all day, of which only one was a legit fall. I was thankful for my helmet on that one...safety first! The first part of our day we skied on the Gornergrat  Mountain. It was Monday and overcast so it wasn't busy, which I was very happy about. I was a little bit nervous at first being that we were so high up. The first run was great so we headed back up the mountain to do it again. All of the sudden clouds came rolling in and we couldn't see 10 feet in front of us. The trail markings were small, thin poles so it was hard to know if we were going the right way. We took our time and made it down. Once we were safe, we actually realized that we had a good time...the visibility made it challenging but fun. Thankfully, we didn't realize until later that some of the trails ran along the edge of cliffs.

The visibility was much better over on the Matterhorn Mountain. We took a lift all the way up to the top which was along the Italian border. The views were incredible! We had so much fun on the runs that we stayed until the end of the day. We had such a wonderful day and I didn't think it could get any better. The temperature was a cool enough that we weren't hot but we weren't freezing even when the wind came at the top of the mountain. Towards the end of the day, the skies cleared up and we had beautiful views of the Matterhorn, which was massive. We stopped at Popperla Bar for a beer which had a cozy indoor pub and relaxing outside patio with a fun atmosphere and good music. The wellness center amenities came in handy and were great for our muscles. Even though we were exhausted, Bryan wanted to treat me a nice meal, which he had promised.

I was really excited to have fondue, being that Switzerland is known for its cheese. We ate at an adorable restaurant, the Walliserkanne. The cheese and herb fondue was amazing, as was the pasta. I think I managed to eat a pound of melted cheese by myself…I just couldn't stop eating it. We had a romantic stroll after dinner, enjoying the weather and the stars. The details are private but Bryan asked me to marry him. It was so romantic and very "us." Needless to say, I said yes!

The weather couldn't have been more beautiful the next day. The skies were clear and sunny. We were disappointed that the tram to the very top of the mountain was closed due to high winds but it gave us the opportunity to ski the trails from the previous day but with visibility. In the middle of the Gornergrat Mountain is an igloo bar. They have a full bar, music and lounge chairs. We felt like we were on a cruise in the middle of the Alps. By the time we made it back over to Matterhorn Mountain the tram to the top had opened. Since it was later in the day and the higher trails had been closed for most of the day, there weren't many people on the mountain any more. The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking! It is the highest reachable point in Europe and we could see the peaks of Switzerland, Italy and France. We even had the entire viewing deck to ourselves. Traveling in the off seasons is great!

We hit Popperla Bar once again for some delicious Guinness. They also had live music inside. Although exhausted at the end of the day, I was pleasantly surprised that our muscles weren't sore. I was expecting to be in total pain on the way back to Munich. We walked through town looking for souvenirs and chocolate. We got this incredible chocolate bark. One was milk chocolate with caramel and the other called "florentine," chocolate with caramel covered almond slices. We also got a Corn Flake chocolate cluster. All of it equally amazing. We hit up the The Brown Cow again for the chicken and egg BLT club sandwich I was torn between the other night we were there. Bryan was craving the chili dog which had the perfect amount of chili and onions. We didn't realize it until our food was served, but we had chosen prime seating for the viewing of the Real Madrid/Trottenham Champion's League Playoffs. What made it even better were the Spaniards sitting behind us cheering and cursing the whole time.

We absolutely loved Zermatt. The town is so quaint and peaceful. Everything was within walking distance. It is also an electric city, so there were not typical cars. All of the taxis and buses were like suped up golf carts. The views atop the mountains are so pretty. We thought the trails were great and were a perfect mixture of challenge of ease for me. Even without Bryan's proposal, I'd say this was one of the best vacations we've taken.

Turn That Frown Up-Side-Down

“…but then i realized that it's not just here. it's life i think. life presents us with so many chances to turn our day around or to even turn our life around, but most people either stop looking or never see those opportunities.”

My friend Julie has been in the Peace Corps in Namibia, Africa for 19 months. I love catching up with her and hearing about her life. She’s probably one of the coolest people I know (must run in the family) and love to hear her insights, thoughts and funny stories. The quote above is from a recent email session we had and it kind of hit home for me. Today was one of those days and it made me think of her. J 

We’ll start this story two weeks ago. It was Thursday (I remember because it was St. Patrick’s Day) and raining. I went to the gym before I had to tutor some kids in English. If you’ve read my previous blog, you know that it’s a 20 minute walk from the train station to the gym. Bryan had to work so he took the bike and I walked. I get out of the gym and it’s raining. No bueno. Or I guess I should say "nicht gut." Thankfully, I brought my umbrella and managed to stay somewhat dry. I also had to walk from the train station in Starnberg (where my tutoring session takes place) to my clients’ home…about a 10 minute walk. But this wasn’t Florida rain. It was cold, chilling rain and I didn’t like it one bit. In total I walked in the cold rain for 40 minutes this day.

Needless to say, I got sick. If you know me well, you know that I have a terrible immune system. If I don’t sleep enough, not only do I get cranky, but I get sick. Walking in the freezing rain will apparently do the trick the as well. Last week, I’m finally starting to feel like myself again…I’m so close to feeling 100%. But the weather isn’t finished with me yet. It proceeds to rain last weekend for our outdoor softball practice. (I mention outdoor because up until last week, practices have been held indoors.) Again, this rain is cold and chilling. The stupid bike had broken the day before on my way to the train station from the gym (in the rain) so I had to walk 20 minutes from the train station to the field. Two days in a row I’ve battled this rain. I thought maybe these German kids were soft and we’d be practicing inside. My hopes were crushed when I saw we were practicing outside. After practice, we were lucky enough to get to work on the field…in the rain. (Side note: City of Palm Beach Gardens Parks Department-I love you. We’ve always had the nicest, well-maintained fields year round. Our Gauting softball/baseball teams have to manage our own fields. Not that I mind, I just took for granted having the city ensure that public fields are taken field of.)

I’m not that big of baby when it comes to rain, being from Florida, rain is nothing out of the ordinary. But usually I have my wonderful car to get into and take me straight home. Or, I have spare clothes in my trunk including a bathing suit and towel. Not in Germany, my friends. I have an hour train ride back into the city-wet or dry. That day, I was wet and cold.

It takes a couple days to really hit me, then BAM! Wednesday comes around and I start blowing my nose constantly all day. Wednesday night I have a terrible headache and think it may just be from my crazy week (job update later). Thursday it fully sets in. Welcome into my head, sinus infection. I’ve had a few sinus infections before so I knew right away what it was. But I don’t remember my head ever hurting this much. It feels like someone is chiseling away in my head and face. My neck is achy and I’m completely fatigued. Bending over causes so much pain in my head and I’ve probably gone through a box of tissues and two rolls of toilet paper blowing my nose the past 4 days. I got some medicine from the pharmacy but I have my doubts about it. I’m so desperate I would have visited the UCF Health Clinic for a ZPAC.  

I’m sure you’re all thrilled with story of how I been sick for two weeks and the details of it’s cause. It does lead up to this point in time, I just had to set up the background to inform you of my misfortunes. I’ve basically been worthless the past two days. I slept for 7 hours during the day yesterday. I’ve barely seen Bryan because he’s working way too much (says me) and getting home too late. So I’m kind of irritable and annoyed at life. We are leaving for Switzerland tomorrow morning to celebrate my mid-20’s crisis of turning a quarter of a century. We return Wednesday night and have to move apartments that night. So I have to have our current apartment packed up before we head out tomorrow. (I’m actually excited about the move.) On top of my self-pity, our cell phone  decided yesterday not to turn on.

If it were up to us, we wouldn’t even have a phone. We’ve been here for 2 months and still only have one for the both of us. Back in the States, I felt like my life was going to fall apart if I accidentally left my phone when running out of the house or when my lovely BlackBerry decided not to work, which happened quite often. Here, I want nothing to do with the thing unless it’s imperative I get in touch with someone….which is rare. But with the current job situation it’s kind of necessary to be accessible via cell (“handy” is a cell phone in German). Don’t you just love how it’s taking forever to get the point? Procrastination at its best J

Bryan has to work…again….today. We slept pretty late since he’s only been getting a few hours a night due to work and I have minimum energy right now. I’m super annoyed that I’m sick and missing my friend Tini’s birthday bbq today. I’m trying to be responsible and get better for our trip tomorrow. But I have to take care of the cell phone situation today which I’m really dreading. Although a lot of people in Munich speak great English…it sort of depends. The store I need to go to in order to complain is similar to a CVS I guess. It’s not a place you expect employees to speak English. I still can’t manage a sentence in German, let alone explain that my phone isn’t working. Genius that I am, I Google Translate my explanation, right it down and pray that it makes enough sense to convey my problem.

To further complicate my life and make me even less willing to run this errand, my transportation pass has expire. Last month they checked our passes the first two days of the month like...well, I guess the phrase I was thinking in my mind wouldn’t be appropriate to write since I’m in Germany. But yeah, I don’t feel like getting fined 40 Euros. So now I have to find an alternative way to get the store. I have yet to see the transportation monitors (I don’t know what to call them) check anyone’s passes on the bus, so I find a closer DM (the store I have to go to) that I can get to by bus instead of subway.  Perfect, it’s on the other side of Oktoberfest Park and I’m familiar with the area.

Holy crap, it’s AMAZING outside! Beautiful! If I could choose any weather to have year-round for the rest of my life, today would be it. It was probably 70+ without a cloud in the sky. I could have gotten away with shorts or a dress. The sun was beaming but there was a cool breeze to keep you from sweating. It looked pretty from the window but I had no idea how great it actually was. I wore flip flops! I don’t know if anyone thinks that’s as amazing as I do, but it’s the first time in 2 months I’ve been able to wear them. I will choose flip flops over any other type of shoe out there. I wear flip flops to bars/nights out when I can get away with it. I will probably even wear flip flops with my wedding dress. I’m now so upset but in a happy type of way that I’m not enjoying Tini’s bbq outside or having a picnic with Bryan. I want so badly to call Bryan’s boss and tell him there’s been emergency and have him enjoy this day with me. So now, this stupid, inconvenient errand has turned into the best part of my day. Had it not been for the phone, I wouldn’t have left the apartment today.

I take two quick bus rides to my destination without a hitch. I hand over my written German sentences to an employee and she says “new phone?” Sweet! Yes, I want a new phone! I hand her my receipt (I totally get points for keeping it from 2 months ago) and she hands me a brand new phone. Not only was it so quick and easy to take care of the problem…I’m pretty sure all the pre-paid minutes get reloaded! When we originally bought the phone, it’s a packaged deal that it automatically comes with X amount money preloaded on it. In the two months we’ve been here, we haven’t had to reload it. Since we’ll be activating a brand new phone, we’ll probably get another 2-3 months out of the new phone without having to buy more. I’m not even concerned about having a new phone number because less than 10 people actually have it.

I’m so happy about the turn-around of this day that I decided to treat myself to a picnic. I’m fully aware of the McDonald’s in the vicinity and treat myself to a Happy Meal since that is my mood. The burger tastes just like the ones from home, the fries had the perfect combo of crisp and salt and the Fanta here is amazing (better than at home.) I ordered it to go and found a bench in Oktoberfest Park to sit at and enjoy my food. What is that in the distance? Some type of festival? Then I hear a seal bark. It’s the circus!

Now, I’m normally not a circus fan. They are great and all but I can’t remember the last one I’ve been to. I think it’s before that auditorium in West Palm became the biggest Jehovah’s Witness Congregation in Florida. But I just finished reading “Water for Elephants” yesterday which has to do with the circus. You’ve probably seen the preview of it with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, if it's not already showing in the States. So since I literally just finished the book, I was oddly excited about it. I decided to take advantage of the weather and walk home. The circus tent was in the direction of my walk home across the park…it was meant to be. There were 3 adorable seals I got to see. Other than that, there wasn’t anything else going on but it made me really me happy.

So I realized on my walk home how days of being sick and annoyed at life were short lived. My belief that everything happens for a reason has just concreted itself more into my life. My outing used up all my energy and I still have a lot I want to accomplish before the night is over but I have such a better attitude. All because I had to leave the apartment against my will and enjoy the weather in flip flops.

On that note, I hope everyone has a great weekend!