Kevin didn’t have the greatest experience last time he was in Paris.  He was a bit hesitant to end our trip there, but certain scheduling conflicts required it to be so.  I was excited to go simply because I had never been.  Both of us, however, were blown away…and can’t wait to go back.

The Eiffel Tower.

Getting to Paris, though, was more of an adventure than we bargained for. Read more »

Roma. Food, fountains, ruins, and plazas.

Rome is busy, beautiful, overwhelming, and relaxing all at the same time.  We stayed at Casa Franci, a B&B in San Pietro outside the Vatican, and it was as though we had our own little corner of local paradise.  We had views outside our window of St. Peter’s Basilica, next door was a fabulous pasticceria where no one spoke English and a lot of pointing commenced, and around the corner we had an amazing anniversary dinner at I Quattro Mori. (One question: meat or fish?)

The view outside our B&B.

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While the American knee-jerk reaction may be to say, “Gesundheit!”, Neuschwanstein is not in fact the sound one makes when sneezing.  It is, however, a breathtaking detour that I highly recommend while in Bavaria.

Neuschwanstein

For Americans, Neuschwanstein is probably best known as Walt Disney’s inspiration for Cinderella’s castle. (Ok, so maybe a lot of Americans don’t know that…) For Germans, Neuschwanstein is the still-unfinished castle of King Ludwig II, the “Mad King” as he is sometimes referred. Read more »

“The HIIIIILLLLSSSS are aliiiiiiivvvve.  With the soooouuuuunnndd of MUUUUSSSSIIIIICCCCC!”

Ok, so we weren’t in Austria, but the magnificent vistas of Switzerland are just as inspiring.

Train station for Pilatus at Alpnachstad.

We had one day in Lucerne, Switzerland.  My favorite adventure there, by far, was our time on Pilatus, a breathtaking mountain escape a short train ride from Lucerne.  We “climbed” the mountain via the steepest cogwheel railway in the world, which starts at Alpnachstad.  Being a bit afraid of heights and getting vertigo at the most inopportune times (the close cousin to my claustrophobia), I was slightly hesitant to take any transportation labeled “the steepest” anything, but I mustered all my perseverance and focused on taking in the sights.

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Although Kevin and I have traveled often, together and separately, this was our first experience tackling such a huge endeavor.  We learned a lot about each other, and we learned a lot about traveling, especially traveling with a backpack.  As promised, we kept a list of helpful dos and don’ts:

1. On a tight budget?  Some things are worth paying for! Kevin is 6’2″ and the thought of being cramped in economy class for 8+ hours almost made him physically sick. Read more »

Please realize that on a trip like this, it’s hard to pick favorites; however, Amsterdam was by far our favorite city. No, not for the drugs, sex, and Van Gogh, but for the incredibly beautiful architecture, unique history, canals, squares, country lanes, and people! Wonderful, kind, delightful people.

It also helped that most of the Dutch speak English…

The door to our B&B on the right. Then up 4 flights of twisty, steep stairs.

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London is calling….  For me, London will always be calling.  I can’t see to be able to spend enough time in the city to do everything I want.  However, this time around, we had some wonderful surprises.

Because we slept in a bit longer than intended, we decided to flip our schedule for our first full day in London, meaning we finally wandered to St. Paul’s Cathedral around 4:15.  Best thing ever.

St. Paul's from the Millennium Bridge

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While I’m planning on a few future posts about our European Extravaganza, I feel a quick digression for Father’s Day is rather appropriate here.

Being married is all about give and take.  I guess sometimes I take more than I give, but one of the things Kevin and I really try to equally divide is the holidays between our families so that we actually get to spend quality time with at least one of our families, as opposed to the chicken-with-your-head-cut-off run around that plague so many young couples.  So, each year we spend Mother’s Day with one family and Father’s Day with the other family, switching families the following year.   Read more »

As long as we’ve been married, Kevin and I have dreamed of going to Europe together. (Although, to put that statement in perspective, we’ve only been married 3 years, so it’s not like we spent a decade pining or anything.)  Separately, we cherish grand memories – me of Great Britain with my big sis, Kevin of a high school European tour and six weeks living in The Hague as a participant of Let’s Start Talking.  But he had been so many places I hadn’t, and let’s face it–I was green with envy, and I’m a hopeless romantic to boot. So what could be better than a European holiday with the love of your life?  We decided that Europe had to be added the the marriage bucket list. Read more »

When I first started this post – in July – I was awash in the doldrums of post-graduation, pre-employment angst. Yeesh.  Some drama never changes for a girl, eh?  But I’m past that now, so I deleted my previous ramblings and will now regale you Read more »