Trips in June 2012-June 2013

This school year has been a bit slower for trips..
We celebrated Olivia's college graduation in Berlin in August.  We went to Prague again in September and headed to Lake Titisee, Germany for October's long weekend.  Thanksgiving was spent in Garmisch and we stayed close to home for Elsie's first Christmas.  Vienna, Austria in February and the Netherlands for Spring Break were two new places for us!  We loved them both!  This summer we will head to Paris again and then on to Normandy!

Drinking lots of coffee in Vienna, Austria

For the February long weekend, Brian, Elsie and I flew to Vienna.  Vienna was lovely!  We had the best coffee in some of the fanciest coffee shops.  Elsie enjoyed herself and was the perfect little lady eating her banana off fine china.  Unfortunately, Brian got the flu while we were away.  So Elsie and I spent a day sightseeing on our own.  We headed to the National Museum, a great place for a toddler.  And of course more coffee breaks for mommy!  :)  Elsie enjoyed cruising around in her stroller and I enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city.  Vienna was a perfect trip for a long weekend!

Berlin with a Baby!

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever!  We have done some traveling, but to repeat destinations.  We went back to Paris in January and then I had our baby in March.  We traveled to America, but no offense, that donesn't need a blog post.  :)  Since we've returned to Germany, we headed back to Nuremburg and Prague and also hit up Berlin, which was a first.  So, here goes..
Berlin was one of those places that we just had to visit while we lived in Germany.  We didn't feel like we could leave here, never having been.  So we flew up for a few days along with my sister, Olivia, who had just graduted college.  Happy Graduation!  Our hotel was in a great location, within walking distance to the up and coming part of Berlin.  Tons of restaurants and a quick walk to the sites.  We enjoyed just walking around, taking a slower pace now when traveling, and taking in all the sights and people that we probably would have missed had we not been with our little Elsie.  We took out the stroller and carrier most days so she could have a little variety and I had a place to change diapers, keep the diaper bag and my all important water bottle safe.  We spent a day at the Berlin Zoo, which is wonderful.  Although everyone agreed that Stuttgart's Zoo is better.  We also spent some time at the KaDeWe, similar to Harrod's in London.  All in all, it was a nice trip away and the first European trip with Elsie.

Thanksgiving at the beach!

We spent turkey day on the beach off the coast of Africa in the Canary Islands.  We had a great time!  Great weather, great food, and a great find of an apartment by yours truly!  This picture is of the pool area at our place.  We spent the days at the beach and then the later afternoons early evenings enjoying the warm pool water.  We played mini golf one night after dinner and enjoyed a nice walk along the ocean every night back up to our resort.  I highly recommend visiting if you want nothing to do besides beaching it!  :)

Our Favorite Trips and Cities

Many people ask us what our favorite trip has been.  I have favorite trips and then favorite cities.  I've shared them here in case you're interested...it's hard to narrow it down!
Favorite Cities
1. Paris, France- it's so romantic and I love the eiffel tower and French food
2. London, GB- love the different areas and seeing and hearing English is really nice too!
3. Krakow, Poland- so much to do, cheap shopping, and yummy food!
4. Vilnius, Lithuania- not touristy, quaint and romantic, super cheap to travel there
5. Venice, Italy- love Venice as it's so different and lovely!
Favorite Trips
1. Istanbul, Turkey April 2010- This was my first experience with middle eastern food, culture, people, etc.  Fascinating place!
2. Fez, Morocco Dec. 2010- Fez is unlike anywhere I have ever been.  Magical!
3. Two week long driving trip around Northern Italy Dec. 2009- The driving in Italy is an experience itself.  We visited so many cities on this trip packed into the MINI with the two dogs.  Fun!
4. Greek Isles Aug.2008- Lovely trip, lovely places, love Greece!
5.  Scandinavian/Russian Cruise July 2011- I had always wanted to go on this cruise.  Very cool to visit Russia and I loved Finland especially.

Trips in June 2011-June 2012

Because I arrived here in June of 2008, I typically plan our trips from June to June.  We started the traveling season this year with a Scandinavian cruise to Latvia, Denmark, Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.  In August, we drove down to Italy to celebrate our 4th anniversary in the Cinque Terre Region.  The Fall brought trips to Edinburgh, Scotland; Nancy, France; and Vilnius, Lithuania.  We'll be spending Thanksgiving in the Canary Islands and Christmas in Egypt.  For the second time, I'll ring in a birthday in Paris, France.  Right now, trips for Feb-June 2012 are still in the early planning stages.  Our baby is due in April, so I'm not quite sure where we'll go once we're a party of three.  We are planning a trip to the States in late June..will this be the baby's first trip?  Who knows!  As it is, our lucky little fetus will have been to at least seven different countries traveling in the comfort of my growing belly!  Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, and Normandy are all relatively close by cities that are high on my list to visit.  Trips to Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Southern Ireland are also on my list..so little time, so much to see!

Lithuania? Why not!

Vilnius, Lithuania.  I found a cheap flight here for Veteran's Day Weekend and asked Brian what he thought.  He was up for it, so after finding an apartment to rent, we were all set.  After being in Vilnius for about 3 hours, we had declared it to be on both of our top 5 favorite cities list.  We had originally decided to take the train to another city in Lithuania, but after falling so hard for Vilnius, we cancelled that hotel room and decided to spend the whole time in this quaint, romantic city.  We had our own apartment, right downtown in the old city center.  It was a perfect location and for 30 Euros a night, I couldn't have found a better deal!!  We spent the days shopping, eating, walking around.  

Ducking into cathedrals and just getting lost (Brian of course knew right where we were!) in the windy neighborhoods.  Vilnius was like what we expected Prague to be, but better.  It had parts of what we loved about Kraków as well.  The old town, the weaving streets, the old worldliness to it all.  All in all, Vilnius is now one of our top favorites.  If you have the chance to visit this city, please do!  If you fly into Kaunas (whcih was the other city we were going to stay in), you can just take the Airport Shuttle bus to Vilnius.  It takes about 1.5 hours and cost about 8 Euros per person.  Don't bother going downtown, just go right from the airport.  We went to dinner at some great restaurants, so check out the Trip Planner section before you go.