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!

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!

Trips in June 2010-June 2011

This summer we have traveled to the Alsatian region of France (one of my favorite areas and also where some of my family are from!), Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and London.  This Fall, we are going to be traveling to Budapest, Hungary and in December we're spending a week in Morocco.
A long weekend trip to Madrid in May.  We're heading to Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Denmark and Latvia this coming summer too!!  We will be heading back to Africa for Christmas, to Egypt!  What a year in travel!

Trips in June 2009- June 2010

Our second year in Germany, we traveled to six new countries and also visited some new cities.  We went to Naples, Italy and drove the Amalfi Coast all the way to Paestum, which has some of the best Greek ruins.  We also took a drive to Lake Constance.  The micro-country of Liechtenstein was also part of the long weekend trip.  We spent Thanksgiving in Krakow, Poland and for the second Thanksgiving in a row, explored Concentration Camps.  At Christmas time, we packed up our Mini complete with our two dogs and drove all over Northern Italy, spending Christmas day in Sienna.  We also spent some days in the micro-country of San Marino.  For my 30th Birthday, we were in Paris.  For the long weekend in February, Porto, Portugal was where we went.  This is the place where Port Wine is made and we spent the entire long weekend, tasting this yummy wine.  We bought a lot and shipped it to our home in Germany..so come visit and taste some Port Wine.  In April, we spent two weeks in Turkey, spending the second week trapped due to the Volcanic Eruption in Iceland.  For Memorial Day weekend, we took another driving trip.  This time to Bruges, Belgium as well as a night in Luxembourg.



Krakow, Poland

Trips in June 2008- June 2009

When we moved to Germany, my personal goal was to visit 12 countries in our first 12 months.  I met my goal!  That first year we traveled to Germany (of course!), Poland, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Greece, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, Czech Republic, and Switzerland.  



Dubrovnik, Croatia



Paddington Station, London



Santorini, Greece

Hotel Info

I'm going to try to remember to always add our hotel info in this post in case anyone is interested in doing a trip we've already done.  I'll also include a little write up of the hotel.  As an FYI- We are budget travelers.  I chose hotels based on location and reviews.  None of these hotels are going to be amazing looking, but ALL will be safe, clean, and have a great location.  How much time are you spending in your room anyway??

AUSTRIA

Best Western Hotel Leipziger Hof, Innsbruck

Allows dogs, within walking distance to downtown

BELGIUM

Hotel Cordoeanier, Bruges

Fantastic little B&B.  No parking, but great location and a great Trappist Beer Bar right next door.

FRANCE

Hotel Prince, Paris

Great location, Rue Cler neighborhood.  Close to Metro.

Diana Dauphine, Strasbourg

Close enough to downtown.  Has private parking garage.

Hotel De La Couronne, Riquewihr 

Sweet little place right downtown.  Has parking spaces.

GERMANY

Hotel Bella Vista, Constance

Includes a bus pass with room to get downtown.  Parking and dogs.

Motel One München Sendlinger Tor, Munich

Within walking distance of downtown

Hotel Forsthaus, Oberau

Great little hotel owned by German and American couple.  Allows dogs and is close to Garmisch (by car only).
Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Mosel Region
Nice hotel, within walking distance of some wine tasting places.
Hotel Roemerhof, Baden-Baden
Great location, allows dogs (5 euro each) and has private parking (11 euro a day)

GREAT BRITAIN

Shaftesbury Premier London Notting Hill, London

Super small room, but a nice location.  Close to metro.

HUNGARY

Gozsdu Court, Budapest


Fantastic!  We had a studio apartment complete with kitchenette and living room.  Great location!  Parking and pets are welcome.  There are a couple little cafes for breakfast options.

ITALY

Hotel Bogart 2, Milan

Within walking distance of train to get downtown.  Private parking area.  Allows dogs.

La Meta Alghero Casa Per Ferie, Sardinia

Great location across from both beach and bus stop.  Buses however do not always run.  Parking available.

Hotel Firenze, Venice

Fantastic location right in St.Mark's Square.  Allows dogs.


Hotel Montecarlo, Rome
Great location, 5 min. walk to metro.

LITHUANIA
Vilnius Rent, http://www.booking.com/hotel/lt/vilniusrent.html
Awesome apartment right in the old town!

LUXEMBOURG

Mercure Luxembourg Centre

NETHERLANDS

Bed and Breakfast Durderdam, Amsterdam

http://www.bbdurgerdam.nl/frans.html

We rented the yellow vacation house.  Free parking, about a 5 min. drive from a lovely grocery and the park and ride.  Parking/tram tickets 8 euro per car..not per person..awesome deal!  One separate bedroom (inside a sauna, but perfect for baby or a child), loft space for two people, and a double bed on main floor.  

MOROCCO

Riad Zitouna, Fes

Awesome, awesome, awesome!  The best hotel ever!  If you stay here, definitely stay for dinner.  It's cheap and probably the most amazing food ever!  It's not heated in the winter months, so bring along an extra sweater for dinner.  We used the Airport Shuttle service, and although it's more pricey than just getting a taxi yourself, it's worth it in my mind.  They meet you at the gate to the medina and save you the walk lugging your suitcase.  

POLAND

Ibis Krakow Centrum, Krakow

Great location, within walking distance.

PORTUGAL

Pensao do Norte, Porto

Great location, within walking distance of downtown and Hop On Bus stop.  Although we wouldn't recommend doing the Hop On in this city.  Not necessary.

SAN MARINO

Hotel Titano

Super nice hotel.  Allows dogs and is a great location.


SCOTLAND
Edinburgh- Airdenair Guest House- about a 10 min. bus ride from city center.  Great location, nice B&B.  Awesome breakfast!

SPAIN

Catalonia Mirador des Port, Mahon, Menorca

If you have a scooter, than it's a great location.  Otherwise, it's a bit of a walk.


N.H. Brenton, Madrid
About a 5-10 walk to nearest metro.  Nice hotel and comfy rooms.  


Bahia Blanca, La Palma, 1, 35130 Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
Great resort.  All apartments have ocean view, kitchenette area, patio, AC.  A quick walk to beach and downtown area..cheap taxis to that area if you're feeling lazy.  :)

SWITZERLAND

ETAP Hotel Luzern City, Luzern

Within walking distance of downtown.  Has parking and allows dogs.

TURKEY

SiDE Hotel and Pension, Istanbul

Can't say enough about this pension.  Stay on the pension side.  They take only cash, but it is super cheap and a great location.  Roof top deck!

Restaurants

This post is a work in progress.  But I thought it could be helpful to those of you planning trips to these places.  Most of these places I had been to way before I started this blog, thus the limited amount of restaurants, but as I remember their names and as we continue to travel, the post will grow!


AUSTRIA
Salzburg- St. Peter Stiftskeller- so amazing!  Great fish!  Be sure to get the salzburger nockerl, no matter where you eat!   

BELGIUM

FRANCE

Paris- Le Souffle- Each course is a souffle dish!
Paris-Restaurant L'Ardoise- WOW!
Reims- Brasserie du Boulingrin- awesome French food!!
Epernay- La Cave a Champagne- amazing!!

GERMANY

Fellbach- El Mero Mexicano- The best Mexican I've had in Germany so far..
Baden-Baden- Le Provence- Great food, nice setting, romantic

GREAT BRITAIN

HUNGARY
Budapest- Chocolate Bar- A-mazing!

ITALY
Milan- Mozzarella Bar- Need I say more??

LITHUANIA

Vilnius-Medininkai- This restaurant is fantastic!  It's right in the old town.  This is the street address-  Aušros Vartų gatvė 8 

Vilnius-Radisson Blu Astorija Hotel Restaurant.  I know it's in a radisson, but we had a lovely French meal at this restaurant.  Would recommend if you're in the mood for French or at least in the mood for Mussels like I was.

NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam-  Pancake Bakery- amazing!  We had the apple/bacon.  Not to miss!!

POLAND
Krakow- Miod Malina (Honey Raspberry)- The tastiest pirogies!  We got the sampler!

PORTUGAL

SAN MARINO
SCOTLAND
Edinburgh- The Outsider- I think we had the most amazing food at this place.  I had the mussels and the rhubarb dessert.  I would go back in a second!
Edinburgh- Mum's- Awesome homemade sausages, even vegetarian.  Great milk shakes!
Edinburgh- The Dog's- I had the veggie haggis and while it wasn't my favorite meal, I would go back and try something else.  The dessert, honeycomb parfait, was a bit of heaven I didn't want to share!  AMAZING!

SPAIN
Madrid- Toma Jamon, C/Cava Baja 10- has the best jamon!!

SWITZERLAND
Zurich- Sprüngli confectioner- So this is not a restaurant- but a must stop for Luxeumburgerli's.  :)

TURKEY

Istanbul- Doy-Doy- Great prices for great Turkish cuisine.