March 15th - London

We woke up, sadly, I'm really just not feeling well. The pillow is down and I think I'm allergic to something else as well, maybe the cover. It's different here in Europe because they only have a bottom fitted sheet, they don't have the flat sheet on top.  

We went to our cafe, but we got it to go so that we could get to the London eye (it's a Ferris wheel that takes 30 min to go around). We needed to get there at open cus we had the Stonehenge tour at 11. Sadly, we got in line and ran out of time to go up and still get to our tour on time. So that was a huge waste! 

We got to the hotel that was the meeting place for the tour. We were there a few minutes early and sat on the floor since there weren't any chairs...and then we got yelled at for it lol. Apparently you can't sit down at nice hotels ha. 

In the tour, we got to go to bath. It's the village with the discovered Roman baths. It was so pretty!! It's the only hot spring in all of Great Britain. I really enjoyed the tour of this! It's just amazing how everything was created and how well things stand. This was created by 76 A.D. That's insane!!! 

Next we went to Stonehenge. It was amazing. Some of those stones weigh as much as two adult African elephants. It's crazy how they could lift it up and creat the circle without any pulleys or cranes! They have guards that stand by there all day and all night to make sure the idiots don't mess up the stones by carving in them and such. There's teenagers that try to break in during the middle of the night. Also there are people who try to do weird rituals there and they get kicked out. The Druids are still around and allowed to do their rituals but they have to call ahead and schedule it. I didn't quite understand what they do but they do wear the traditional dress when they go there. 

On the way back, we stopped in the village of Lacock. This is where some Harry potter was filmed and other English movies. They're not allowed to have modern technology visible from the fronts of the houses so it's the most old English town there is. Really cool!  We also saw the old thatcher roofs where the saying eavesdropping comes from. That was interesting!! Also, a village has to have a pub in order to be considered a village lol. 

We got home very late and ended up packing until after 1 am. So tired!

March 14th - London

We needed to find a place for breakfast since our apt wasn't affiliated with any hotels. After walking around in almost a circle, we found a little cafe. It was amazing, the pastries were so good. We decided we would come here for breakfast the rest of the time in London! 

We walked until we found the hop in hop off stop. It wasn't as hard as in Amsterdam to find for sure! London is gorgeous. It went over mostly what we saw already though in the night your so it was a little redundant. We ended up having to switch between three buses cus of driver switch and an issue with the bus. 

We stopped and saw the Westminster Abbey where William and Kate got married. It was really cool to be there and remembering the pictures. Then we walked to buckingham palace. We took some cool pictures there and watched the guards. 

Mom , Mc and I had a tea party to attend so we left the boys to go onto the Winston Churchill war house. The tea party was lovely. We had sandwiches, champagne, desserts, and tea. I had the UK fresh mint tea. We felt so out of place here since we didn't know a lot of the stuff like the strainer to go over your cup so you didn't get loose leaf teas in your cup. It was a lot of fun and good laughs!

Then we went shopping on Oxford street. Always fun. They had every store ever there. Mostly everything was expensive since h&m, so we went there! Then there was a second h&m down the street, so we went there to check if they had the maxi dress I wanted. It was the grand opening that day which was really cool! We got our photo taken at the photo booth! We also went to Nike right after to get Derek his Manchester United soccer gear. Got him the sweatpants, polo shirt and a scarf. I also got him a lebron shirt. Surprised him good for sure!! 

Then we went back to the London Hilton on park lane to go to trader Vic's for dinner. We had a social living deal and the food was just okay. Probably won't go back there! 

March 13th - Amsterdam to London

We had to travel back to Brussels to get to to the channel to go to London. I didn't mind since we were able to get another Belgium waffle ;) 

Our train ended up being cancelled so we had to get the next one. The wait was annoying for sure! You couldn't even really tell that we went in the ocean! 

We got into London and got a taxi to our apt. It was a nice apt! Two bedroom two bath and also had two beds in the living room. I came to find out later that the shower was a little wonky in our bathroom though. 

We dropped off our luggage quickly as a taxi was waiting for us outside. We went on the night tour of London. It was really pretty was but it was a long day so I was glad when it was over and we went home! 

March 12th - Brussels to Amsterdam

Oh it's been hell this morning so far. We were delayed 2.5 hours because of the snow. Damn you snow!!! We had to take trains to get the train station cus the taxis refused to pick us up. Then the train we were on wasn't going anymore so we had to switch to another train. Then we didn't have our same seats cus it was multiple trains on one. Apparently Paris is closed down so it's good we got out of there! I guess we were the last train out to Brussels, the rest were canceled. Crazy! 

We finally made it to Amsterdam! The streets are tiny.  The houses are small width wise but all tall. We found out the reason why is they used to pay taxes per the width of the house. There are canals everywhere and tons of house boats. 

We took a taxi to the hotel and then had to walk to our apt we were staying in. It was across a canal and down the street. The apt was nice but the shower was held up by nails. Awkward!! 

We left and went to find the hop on hop off. It was an irritating time cus we couldn't find it. Then we got on the wrong bus and had to wait again. Once we finally got on it, it was nice to see the sites. I wasn't as impressed as I was with the other countries though, only with the canals. 

We got off at a shopping area and ate. Mc needed to go shopping and of course H&M was there again. I under up getting a little nightie that was so soft!! 

We then hopped on the tram to go to Anne franks house. It was really interesting being there after going Dachau. Put things into perspective even more. The bookcase was original and that was the coolest part to me. It was sad that you couldn't take any photos though cus that would have been cool to have. 

We went back towards our hotel and got dessert at a seafood restaurant. We got the chefs special which was French toast with ice cream and whip cream. OMG so good. Wish it was bigger though, obvi!! I have been loving eating all the desserts here. 

Mom and mc wanted to go back to the hotel and we went out to the red light district. It was interesting for sure. All the ladies trying to lure the men in. It must be weird to be in their positions selling themselves. I felt really awkward looking at them and they would make eye contact and shake their body side to side. There tons of sex shops, strip clubs that I think we're more than just usual stripping. I chose a bar to go in and it was really nice. Tons of different random stuff all over. We also stopped by the bulldog coffee shop to see what the hype was about. They had pictures of a bunch of celebrities that have been there. Very interesting of a night! 

March 11th - Paris to Brussels

We got up early today to catch our train. It's a good thing that I can back track the way we came. No one ever believes me but I'm obvi the best with directions :) We took the M4 to the station. It was SO cold at the station!! We had to just wait until they posted the train platform number. We found out that retard means late in French! 

The train ride was only a couple hours so it wasn't too bad at all. Once we got it, like usual there was a freak out. We found our way finally and got to the taxis. We had to take two taxis with all of our luggage! Ha!

Once we got to the hotel, holy hell, we're on the top floor with no elevators. Awesome! So we went up 5 floors. Rough.

We had to go find our way around to catch the train to the central to catch the hop on hop off. What's interesting is that Belgium credit cards have chips on that so they don't slide. So we couldn't get the tickets. Then what's even more interesting is that places only can give you 5 euro in change at a time! Thank god we had enough change after the 5 in change!!

It was snowing pretty badly at this point so we went to a bar to get a beer and go to the water closet (bathroom). The beer was amazing! I haven't drank so many beers before this trip. 

We found the hop on hop off. Have I mentioned it's the best way to see a city in a short time? It's also one fee for the ticket so it's easier to get around.  I ended up falling asleep an would wake up at stops to take pictures. I am getting wiped out for sure! 

We got off at the manekenpis fountain. It's what my mom wanted to see while we're there. It's a dude holding his dick pissing. Lol. After pictures, we got waffles. There are little waffle shops everywhere. They blew my freaking mind so damn good!!! The one we tried as the sugar pearl one, its heavier. I had nutella, strawberries, and whip cream. It was so much fun. We went into a souvenir shop and got my shot glass. 

Walking, we found the waffle factory. You know I had to get another one, lol. They had waffle sandwiches. I had the one with bacon and cheese. Then I had another Nutella and strawberries. I know it's believable that I ate it all myself, but I shared it with Derek :) 

We walked to the shopping area. I got two pairs of flats. Super cute and only 12.99 euro each! I met the boys at the bar. The opening was super cute and almost Harry potter like haha. We had a couple beers and mom and mc met us there. Then we went to a Danish bar that was actually sold to some Bangladesh family. We thought it was funny. We got drinks and fries, lol. Mc had her first drink, a Piña colada. Mom asked them to make a baileys milkshake haha. Everywhere here doesn't understand why she orders baileys and a glass of milk haha. 

We got another waffle for our walk home, haha. I wish I had a bigger stomach so I could eat waffles every minute of the day haha. 

Got home and packed :( another country down. 

March 10th - Paris

We woke up in the morning to eat breakfast and go to the louvre. The louvre was awesome. I wish we had more time to go through everything. There was just so much to see! The painting were amazing. We got to see Mona Lisa. It's funny cus we kept saying that all the paintings were probably just copies since we saw the Mona Lisa in Italy when we went three years ago. 

After the Louvre, we went to Norte Dame. It was really pretty. I'm still amazed at how they constructed all of the buildings! It's just insane to me without any modern pulleys and equipment. 

After we went to the Arc De Triomphe and that was my favorite. We had to climb up 280 stairs to get the top. It was hilarious cus I had to stop and the old people passed us haha. The view when we finally got up to the top was breathe taking. All the photos were so pretty!!! 

We went to a cafe for a beer and warmth. I got the hot dog and it was really good. It's more like two sausages on a baguette with cheese on it. After we went back to the hotel and took a nap. 

When we woke up, we went to Gusto's Italia. It was the cheapest dinner and the second best I think. The pasta was the best I have ever had and it was just arrabbiata penne! Oh so good! 

March 9th - Paris

Today we got breakfast at the hotel our apt is owned by. And oh man was it the best breakfast we have had. Everything was so delicious. Except for the hot chocolate, it was like dark chocolate or something!! The chocolate croissant was by far the best thing ever. The eggs were really good melt in your mouth as well. I can wait for breakfast again tomorrow!!

We got a late start today. Go figure. Took us a long time to find the hop on hop off bus but we did get some awesome pics of the Eiffel Tower though! It's gorgeous here for sure. The French are not as rude here as we experienced in Monaco. 

I loved seeing the sites on the bus. It's gorgeous. Everything has so much history and passion here. It's crazy to think how old everything is compared to things in America! The pictures I took were awesome. I'm pretty proud, lol!!! 

After the bus we went and stood in line for the Eiffel Tower. Man was that a pain in the ass. It took so long and I was getting seriously pissed off at the wait when we had reservation tickets! We finally got into the lift and started going up. Breathe taking and definitely worth it! The panaroma pics we took were so cool. It was a million times better than the Empire State. 

We went back to the hotel to do some laundry since we have a washer and dryer in our apt. It's a pain in the ass hardcore. It's small and in French lol. It took us a while to figure it out! 

We went to dinner at a small local place. It was freaking amazing. The hospitality, the food, the ambiance, the wine. Oh the wine and food. It was glorious. We had a bottle of Pinot noir that was incredible and probably the best wine I've ever had. It was an expensive dinner to say the least but so worth it!!! I highly recommend Le Florimond whenever you come to Paris!! 

March 8th - Interlaken to Paris

We got breakfast at the hotel again, yay more yogurt!!! I also took advantage and had some bread with butter since you have to pay for bread everywhere! 

We left and went to interlaken ost to catch our train to Paris. We ended up getting there a hour early. After we got on, the first stop of interlaken west. Awesome. Nothing like catching a train to go back to where you just were!!! We stopped in basal, Switzerland and changed trains to go to Paris. The ride to Paris wasn't as pretty, so I slept a bit ;) 

When we got into Paris, the station was incredibly busy. Not to mention there are armed men with huge guns. We finally found the M14 bus that we needed but didn't have tickets. So mom went to go get the tickets and then the armed men told us we needed to leave. They closed it off with flagging tape and made us leave. So there we were fresh into Paris and we lost mom. We finally found her and then her and dad left us with the luggage to figure out the tickets. They were gone for over a hour. They finally came back and we had figured out the trains. Apparently they were trying to catch someone since they told mom that it wasn't safe. They opened the M14 back up and we were able to get to our stop. These people were helping us and taking our luggage to help us through. It was really weird. They ended up following us mostly home but dad stood back so they knew we knew we were being followed. Did I mention it was raining too?!? Awesome! 

We got to our hotel, which is actually an apt. The heat was off so it was cold. It's small too. There's two Murphy wall beds that Derek and I are sleeping on. We changed and went to the cafe central down the street. The food was great and it was a quaint little place. The service is interesting, you have to ask for your bill. I guess it's considered rude if they just bring you the bill without you asking.

We then walked to the Eiffel Tower. Holy shit was it crazy to see it in person!!  It's gorgeous lite at night!! It sparkles every hour for five minutes! We then got a boat ride after taking a bunch of pictures. It was cool to see Paris at night but I couldn't wait to see it during the day time. The boat ride was romantic though even with a bunch of Asians taking pics with their peace signs everywhere lol. 

On the way home, we went to a souvenir shop. Then mom thought we were getting followed but we weren't. So we were just walking while she was freaking her shit out. They ended duo being just some people drinking walking around. It was a Friday night! 

March 7th - Interlaken

We woke up to eat breakfast downstairs. They had bread, hard croissants, cereal, the best local yogurt ever, Nutella, sandwich meat and cheese. The yogurt was seriously the best ever!! 

We walked to the train station and started our trek to the top of Europe Jungfraujoch. The first was a train to interlaken ost. Then we had to change to get the next one to grinderwald. Next we had to change trains again to get towards the top of the mountain. Changed trains AGAIN, but before we did, we got a beer and some hashbrowns. This was our final train up to the top. 

The train ride up was amazing. The views of the town and the mountains were something I will never forget. Just gorgeous!!! I can't believe how much the roofs can hold. The snow on them were at least a few feet high!! 

When we arrived, there was an hour tour to walk. The sphinx, LOOK UP SECOND ONE, and then Jungfraujoch. The first was a little look out where you could go outside. It was snowing! Then you went to another and it had one of the coolest snow globes ever. It was huge and made out of wood. The Swiss are known for their wood making skills also. It also showed a memorial of the people who passed away while making all the train tunnels in the beginning of the 1900's. Lastly, we went through the ice palace. It was super awesome. Everything was ice including the floor! There were ice sculptures and a tunnel. I was glad when we got out of though cus it was getting quiet cold! 

Finally we went outside another time which was where we had a snow fight. It was still snowing so we played around throwing it. I didn't know that with it so fresh you couldn't make snowballs! 

We went down the mountain and ate at a restaurant right at the station in grindlewald. The soup was delicious. It was a Swiss kind. Kind of like a potato and split pea. We also tried a cheese pasta with bacon and a few potatoes in it. It was just as good as the kasespatzle from germany! I had the hash browns with bacon. It also has a fried egg on top. Also had some ice cream, of course :)

Got the train back to interlaken west and packed up our stuff! 

March 6th - Munich to Interlaken

We woke up before 5 am to get ready to leave. It was sad leaving Germany.  We didn't have enough time there. We missed the hop on hop off tour which I think would have sufficed me. I wish I would have seen more the city and learned more info about it all. 

We got to the train station and go some food and beer. No, we didn't pop it at 6 am even though we were thinking about since you can drink in public. I bet you if the states were so taboo about drinking, we wouldn't have a binge drinking problem! We were taking the pipe beer back home to keep the bottles :) 

We got on the train (not without mom freaking out of course) and settled into our seats. Oh wait, we found out they're the wrong seats. Awesome. We were actually supposed to be in first class. We had to move all of our luggage through 3 carts. How embarrassing lol. Once we found our seats, we relaxed. Derek and I watched 3 ninjas. God I love that movie!!! The country side was gorgeous though so I kept going back and forth between looking at the iPad and outside. 

Our next train was 50 min late. It was freezing!! Our train finally came and we arrived in interlaken. The train ride there was amazing. The views were gorgeous!! The pictures really don't do justice for it. The air was so clean and the water tastes great! 

The hotel was good but I miss the hotel in Germany. This one is not even and the floor was so noisy in the room. The pillow sucked too, ha. 

We walked around town a bit and shopped. Got my second shot glass of the trip! We also had a piece of chocolate each. We were disappointed actually in it :( Mom and mckenna had attitude sickness. Mom walked around in a circle. It was like she was drunk haha. Then we went to the recommended restaurant by our hotel for Swiss fondue. And boy did that shit smell horrible and taste horrible :( so much for that!!! Derek and my mom got the hash browns with meat in it. It's a staple here and basically a breakfast bowl. Super good! 

After we went back to the hotel and crashed! 

March 5th - Munich

We had breakfast downstairs again. Yum pretzels! We left to get to marienplatz where the glockenspiel is. That's where the tour starts for Dachau. We took a train ride there then we had to take a bus to memorial. Our tour guide was funny but so knowledgable! We were able to stop at the cafe first where we got a couple of different ice creams that were good. My cinnamon roll wasn't that good though! 

The concentration camp was eerie to be in. The thoughts of what happened there where sick. To know that people would just vanish and never been found again or heard of sucks. Everything that the nazis did was psychologically damaging such as giving them a shelf on their bed but they didn't have any belongings to put on it. They were stripped of their clothes, giving uniforms with a number on it and a colored triangle. The color depended on the "crime" they were sent there for. This is how many people found out "why" they were arrested. They did a lot of manual labor like digging holes and filling them back again, building walls and knocking them down in the same day. It was to weaken them and mess with their minds. They were fed bread and water soup with some veggies in it. Not always was the bread good, sometimes they would bake it with shit in it like sawdust. The officers made everything a joke and sadistic to have pleasure from it. You only survived by not standing out. 

We walked through the whole camp and ended up at the ovens and the gas chamber. It was so weird to walk into the chamber. They were told that they were going to take a shower, so they would take their clothes off before going in. What is disrespectful is that the general public has taken every "shower head" off the ceiling which was low except for one. How sad is that?!?! 

The thing I kept thinking the entire time was how brilliant the nazi party was. What could have they actually done for the world if they used their minds for good instead of evil?!? Everything was an action and a reaction but it almost like they planned it all out beforehand. 

It's so sad how the living conditions worsened and how we will never know how many people actually lost their lives at each of the concentration camps.  The interesting part is that all of the school kids come to learn about the shame they have as a country. Those words were interesting to hear since 

After coming back into Munich, we went shopping a little bit to get the rest of the souvenirs we needed. Had dinner and went home early to pack and sleep. We leave early to go to Switzerland in the morning!!  

March 4th - Munich

Woke up a little late to cure jetlag. Had breakfast downstairs at the hotel. The bed was so comfy and we love the staff! They're so helpful and nice. Sebastian was in traditional dress which was fun to see! The breakfast was mainly breads. Pretzels are a staple here for breakfast and anytime during the day really. I love them with Nutella :) the eggs, they eat raw...so weird!!! Mom wanted to go see the glockenspiel. The guide last night told us that it's boring and overrated. Mom said we needed to get there at 10:30 cus it got busy. What a freaking joke. Barely anyone was there and it was so lame haha. The grand finale was a owl that made some noises. We had some time still so we went shopping at pimkie. I got a high low skirt. 

We got picked up nearby by a taxi to drive us to Wacker headquarters which is one of our larger vendors. We got a free lunch and a private tour of the warehouse. I chose a meal that is german with no english translation. It was really good. Had vegetables and the "pasta" portion was a bread dough like thing.  It was fairly interesting seeing everything go together and learning about the apprenticeships. He also told us a little bit about Germany as well. 

We got the taxi back by city center and went to dinner at a really nice restaurant. I got my cordon blue veal  with roasted potatoes and it was amazing. The apple strudel here was the better than last night!

We went shopping at H&M afterwards while the boys got a beer at paulaners. Got a cute dress and shirt! Went home and crashed!! It was so nice to sleep more. Jetlag sucks!

Pics will be later as I'm not wasting time with that again, haha

March 3rd -Munich

We got into Munich and took the train towards the hotel. We lost the Munich folder. Thank god mom saved the address in her phone so we went to the hotel. Took a little nap when we got there. Went to kurgarden beer garden for dinner. Had the kasespatzle (cheesy pasta with fried onions) and apple strudel. The vanilla ice cream here is amazing! After the train from Laim to the center train station, we got some caffeine at Starbucks. Outside, we waited for the beer challenge to start. Learned that you can drink beer anywhere except for the trains!!  You can just close it by putting your thumb over the bottle. A couple years ago they had a huge nye party on the trains and damaged 8 trains!!! We took the train to paulaner beerhole. I had their wheat beer which is called the breakfast beer. They have beer all throughout the day here because its considered a food. After we went to the hofbrauhaus. The beer wasn't that good but the atmosphere was crazy. Bulgarian traditional dress, liters of beer, loud noise with a band. It was where the nazis declared their party upstairs. The swasika was painted on the top of the ceiling but after the nazi party stopped, they painted them to look disguised but still can make it out since it was part of history. Lastly we went to Augustine which has the best beer! Very tasty. They have what's called the popes beer. It's the ex-popes favorite beer and he only drinks that beer. I got an ice cream sundae here which was heavenly! We also learned that beer was originally created for the monks and their fasting. It was liquid so they could drink it but still had nutrients in it!! After, we went to another little bar for a bit for a free beer and jäger shot. Then we got a taxi home. Not too bad to spend the first night in Munich drunk with your husband and dad!  

I'll add the photos later since I'm having issues right now!

Holy SHIT

We leave TODAY! Omg, I'm so stoked, I can't believe that it's finally here after almost  a year and a half of planning and saving.  This is ridic! I miss Chewy already :(  So we're on our way to Philly first and then we will leave from there to get to Munich! I've got my sleeping pills, hehe!  Next time we talk, we'll be in a different part of the world, so crazy!

Food Poisoning

Yup, Derek and I got it.  It was straight up damn awful!  I haven't called out of work in forever. Actually, I made it to work for 3 hours and then peaced out.  No more chipotle for a long time! They were SUPER nice on the phone when I reported it.  They even called me the next day to see how I was! So needless to say, we were out of commission on wed and then last night was spend trying to get stuff together for the trip.  Nothing much ended up getting done though.  Derek has today off so he'll pack and clean the house since we did laundry last night.  I just have to verify what I'm bringing and pack some more up.  Holy hell, I can't believe that we leave TOMORROW!