EURO TRIP 2015 | Day 7: My Birth Place

For 25 years I've been hearing about the place I was born.  My parents have told countless stories of their life in Germany- where they lived, their military lifestyle, the friends who became family, the travels they went on.  I've heard about all of this anxiously waiting for the day I could experience it for myself and fully visualize their stories.  Although this part of the trip is not as "touristy" as the rest, it was some of my favorite.

My parents started dating in high school, and a few years later when my dad was graduating from West Point and my mom from Rutgers, they put Germany at the top of their list of places to get stationed.  My parents got married in August 1987 and left for Germany in September.  Nearly three years later, in April of 1990, I was born.

Throughout their time in Germany my dad worked at the United States Military base in Hanau- not too far outside of Frankfurt.  My dad showed us the base, which has since become something else but the buildings are the same.  He showed us the buildings he and his friends that we know worked in and where the tanks were kept and re-told stories of working on the base.  My parents told us about how my mom and her friend used to drive around the bank truck for the soldiers to gather their checks and exchange money.

We then walked through the town of Hanau and to the Marktplatz, which is a market in the center of town where they sell tons of fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc.  They also have food stands/trucks.  In the center of the Marktplatz is a statue of the Grimm Brothers, who are famous for writing folk and fairy tales.

After visiting Hanau we headed to Hammersbach, which is the town my parents lived in and the born where I was born.  This was very surreal.  The town is like most German towns with houses pretty close together, narrow roads, and separated from the next with lots of fields and meadows.  Up the street from their old house was an arch that was symbolic of the town.

There is a bar/restaurant that my parents and their friends constantly talk about.  They spent many nights there and always brought their visitors.  They tried to take us there and once we arrived realized that it isn't the same.  The outside looked the same, the inside had a few changes, but the ownership and menu and overall feel (they said) had changed.  They were so upset!

In all, it was a wonderful day exploring the town my parents lived in and where I came into the world.  It was such a unique thing for me and I loved it!!

EURO TRIP 2015 | Day 5: Heidelberg, Germany

Heidelberg was the first town we explored in Germany.  Its adorable buildings, pedestrian-only and cobblestone streets lined with shops and restaurants, located right on the river with a castle over looking the town is exactly what you would picture when you think of places in Germany.  Heidelberg was ridiculously cute.

We took the tram up to the castle to explore and then continued up to the top of the small mountain.  We had delicious goulash soup and pretzels overlooking Heidelberg.

When we ventured back down the mountain we headed to the Marktplatz, which was adorable.  It's like a town square with lots of tables that belonged to the different restaurants lining the street.  We shopped and explored the streets before dipping into the cutest German bar in town.  They had a Beir Garten out back but we decided to sit at the wood bar and admire the atmosphere of such a traditional place.

We then continued to walk around, grabbed a few snacks and headed to the bridge to get a different view of the town, castle, and bridge entrance.

That night we headed a few miles outside of Heidelberg and on our way to Frankfort to a restaurant my mom and dad had found while living in Germany called Die Kartoffel.  This place was tucked in another cute town of Ladenberg.  At this place they bring your meat to you on a hot stone and you let it cook to your liking.  One of the most delicious steaks I've ever had.  I enjoyed the fact that you could cook different pieces differently- from rare to well-done by the amount of time you left it on the stone.  And the variety of sauces they gave you were delicious too, although the steak certainly didn't need it because it was already so rich in flavor.

I really enjoyed touring Heidelberg.  There is nothing like the rich culture, atmosphere and character you'll find in a German town.  Up next, touring the area my parents lived and the place I was born.  This part of the trip was really special and so incredible!

EURO TRIP 2015 | Day 4: A Day in Brussels

After France we made our way up to Belgium for a quick stop in Brussels before continuing on to Germany.  I wasn't expecting to love Brussels as much as I did and really wish we had more than just one day here.  The waffles, chocolate and beer is enough to make you want to stay forever, but also the adorable Grand Place and beautiful shops make it a city you can't help but fall in love with at first sight.  That's exactly what happened, well once we actually got there.
Like I mentioned before, we drove everywhere on this trip.  So as we were driving into the city, we hit some places that were definitely not touristy.  My mom's immediate response was, "I'm not impressed with Brussels!"  I told her that if someone's first glimpse of Philadelphia was South Philly, they wouldn't be impressed either and that she needed to chill for a second and give it a chance.  Sure enough, once we hit the heart of the city, she loved it!  We all did! Brussels was a sweet, sweet surprise.

When we arrived we immediately looked for delicious waffles and figured we couldn't go wrong at the Waffle Factory.  These were literally the best waffles ever, as to be expected.  We each had sandwich-like waffles varying with lunch meats, cheeses, spinach and vegetables.  Seriously, delicious.

We headed down the street and into the heart of Brussels- the Grand Place.  I've said it before and you'll hear me say it throughout my posts about this trip- I love the "pedestrian only" areas of these cities.  The areas that are lined with beautiful buildings and shops on cobblestone streets that you can literally walk in the middle of because there are no cars, people (and sometimes dogs or horse carriages) only.  It's so charming.

Since we had conquered the waffles, both for lunch and dessert, it was time to find the chocolate and beer.  Right there in the Grand Place is the most delicious chocolate I have ever had in my entire life.  It may sound dramatic and cliché but it's the truth.  Neuhaus chocolate is heaven on earth.  We each bought a few pieces to enjoy and immediately regretted not buying more.  My sister, Kaylee, literally savored every single bite of her chocolate and it was almost annoying how slow she ate it.  Probably because I wished I still had some too.  The chocolate was that good.
We continued to explore the city before heading to Delirium Cafe for Belgium Beers.  Delirium Cafe is located in the center of a big pedestrian-only area with tons of restaurants and shops near by, not far from the Grand Place.  The outdoor seating of these restaurants pretty much back into one another, leaving a small path for people to pass by.  Delirium Cafe has an "old pub" feel to it.  It has a huge bar with lots of wood seating.  We tried a dark, a light and a cherry beer- all delicious and noticeably high in alcohol content.



We had a wonderful day in Brussels. I loved getting a feel for this cute, quaint city and would definitely make it a stop on another trip! Now, off to Germany.

EURO TRIP 2015 | Day 3: French Champagne Country

We started the day at the Louve in Paris before heading to the Champagne Country in Epernay, France.

Driving through the countryside of France was absolutely beautiful.  Once in the area of Epernay you could see the miles and miles of grapes being grown with a few small towns in the center of the valleys.  When we reached Epernay where countless Champagne factories reside, we stopped at a small, personal factory before heading to the heart of town where the bigger, more well-known ones are.  In this situation you literally ring the bell at the person's gate and ask to taste their champagne.  This man was the nicest.  It was a little difficult to communicate since his English was lacking and my sisters barely passed high school French.  It was fun to see his small operation and then compare it to the bigger ones later.

The Moet Factory is currently under renovations (which we knew before our trip) so we couldn't tour there, but we did tour the Mercier factory which was less than 2 miles away from there.  The streets are literally lined with different champagne places- you could go and take your pick of which to visit.  It was fun to see how the Champagne was made and to go down into the cellars.  We learned the story and history of Mercier through the tour.  They explained how he built a ginormous barrel to present at a fair and spread the word about his champagne.  The best part, of course, was tasting all the champagne.  We tried three different kinds- a Brut, Brut Reserve, and Brut Rosé, which are all made from 3 different  grapes and three different combinations of said grapes.

You can't go to France and not have delicious champagne.

EURO TRIP 2015 | Day 2: The Eiffel Tower

One of my favorite things about exploring a new-to-me city is seeing the iconic things up close and in person. The Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building, the Hollywood sign, Big Ben and Tower Bridge, and now the Eiffel Tower.  Sure, seeing these things in pictures is great but actually being there and getting to make it a part of your own experience and journey is something that really excites me.

We got up early Monday morning (May 18th) and headed straight to the Eiffel Tower.  When we got off the Metro and looked to our right, there she was, a few blocks away and through some trees.  It was almost like the slight glimpse I had gotten the day before through our adventures, but I could tell that I was much closer.  I was so excited I started walking faster and faster until I could see the whole thing- top to bottom with nothing obstructing my view.  I think I've only ever felt smaller when standing beside the ocean (name that song).  I love how the Eiffel Tower is located across the street from the river and that it's surrounded by grass and trees making you feel like you're in a park.

We first waited in line for tickets to the top.  We didn't have to wait that long, which was great.  We took the elevator to the 2nd level and looked at the amazing views of Paris from there before venturing to the tippy top!!  The weather on this day was a little overcast and had a chance of rain, but luckily it held out.  It was really windy up there though on the west side, and not as much from the east side.  It's amazing how far you can see up there.  I feel like I could see the whole entire city and I loved that- seeing how far it spread.


On the way down we stopped to see if there was any availability to have lunch in the tower and lucky for us, there was!!! I was so excited about this.  I had tried to get reservations, but they were booked and then tried again that morning and she said to check back for availability later in the day.  I think we got lucky and went there at an off time, because there was plenty of room in the restaurant at that time.  The meal was great and it was just so much fun to be sitting in there and admiring the views.

When we ventured back down to the bottom we went out to the lawn to really admire and get a full view of the Eiffel Tower.  This is where we took an even more absurd amount of pictures.  We sat in the grass and took it all in for a while before venturing across the bridge for different views.

At this point we headed to see the love lock bridge, which was actually a little disappointing since it was all boarded up and filled with graffiti.  There were only a few sections of the bridge where you could still see the locks.  This makes more sense now since two weeks later the bridge is literally being torn down.  I can't believe it.

We then headed to a really cute and quaint part of the city located outside of the St. Michael stop on the Metro.  The streets had shops and restaurants with adorable outdoor seating, like you'd see in movies with scenes in Paris.  We wound up finding restaurants like this everywhere throughout this vacation and I absolutely loved it.  We sat outside at a cute little place at the corner of a cobblestone and pedestrian only street.  We had a wonderful cheese fondue and wine, because Paris! It was simply amazing, so delicious.  While we were eating the anticipated rain started, but thankfully didn't last long allowing us to make our way back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up and sparkle.

By the time we made it back, the rain continued to be on and off a bit, but I didn't mind because the sky turned a gorgeous blue and the Eiffel Tower lit up and sparkling is even more magical than I could have imagined.  We stood there in awe for a long time and then order the most delicious crepes I've ever tasted from the stand on the corner next to the carousel.  I don't know what made these crepes better than all the others (probably the loads of Nutella), but my goodness, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.

When the rain really started to pick up again, that's when we headed back to the hotel. What a day admiring the Eiffel Tower. She's really a beaut!