Deutschland Along the Rhine

Brian and I just got back from a quick weekend in Bad Kreuznach and Rudesheim, Germany. This was a very special trip for me especially because Bad Kreuznach is where my mom was born and raised and where she and my dad met and got married. I visited my mom's family there many times growing up but haven't been back in more than 10 years. It was so interesting to see stores that I remember going to back then. Brian and I spent most of our first day just walking around and enjoying a non-touristy German town. We even stopped and had currywurst for lunch (a hot dog in a ketchup/BBQ sauce sprinkled with curry powder) - yum!

After Bad Kreuznach, we continued driving to Rudesheim, Germany, a place known for Riesling wine. No one told us about the car ferry though! We were driving along and all of a sudden, our GPS told us to "board ferry." We hadn't heard that before but soon figured it out and drove onto the boat that would cross the Rhine River from Bingen to Rudesheim.

Rudesheim was beautiful and definitely worth a trip if you are in that area of Germany. There are vineyards everywhere! A highlight of our trip was taking a cable car over the vineyards to the Niederwald Monument. After that, you take a short hike through a beautiful forest and make your way to a chair lift that takes you through the trees to Assmannhausen, a town further down the Rhine. You finish with a ferry back up the Rhine to Rudesheim. All three legs cost 11 Euros total per person - definitely a great price for an AMAZING experience!

When we arrived in Assmannhausen, we stumbled upon an annual street party for the town. We grabbed a table, ordered some Schnitzel and beer, and enjoyed listening to the German DJ spinning the latest German songs! At times, the area was so beautiful and surreal that we almost felt like we were in Epcot!

Our final stop on our way back to the airport was Bingen. We enjoyed the Winter Festival throughout town and then grabbed a Bratwurst and German potato salad for dinner before heading back home.

Here are some photos from our trip. And if you're interested, click on the video below to hear some of the musical highlights of our lunch in Germany. Auf Wiedersehen for now! =)

Grocery Shopping in the UK

So now that Brian and I are really living in the UK, we have finally gotten into a normal grocery shopping schedule. It's funny to see the differences between grocery shopping here and in the States, so we thought we'd share:

1. Reusable bags are definitely a MUST over here. In our local grocery store in Florida, some people were using them and we were really starting to, but over here, you actually feel guilty if you have to request plastic bags (some stores even charge you for them). As a result, we have our Publix green reusable bags that we now take with us every time we shop. Definitely much better for the environment!
2. No bag boys - you bag your own groceries. And let me tell you, I have a whole new respect for the baggers at Publix. It's crazy when all of the groceries are coming toward you and you're trying to keep up! Plus with the reusable bags, you have limited real estate that you can use. I also have new love for my wonderful husband who is actually an AMAZING grocery bagger - he keeps everything so organized and always fits things into the bags perfectly. He usually does that while I am paying. As a result, I now dread going by myself - it's too much pressure! =)
3. Wait your turn! The check-out person will NOT start scanning the next person's groceries until the previous person has paid, put away their wallet, bagged their groceries, put them in the cart, and is walking away. In the States, there were so many times when I had to make sure my stuff didn't get mixed up with someone else's because they were trying to get us through the line so quickly - not the case here from what I can tell (although I really do appreciate it because I'm a slow bagger...) =)
4. And of course, last but not least, the food is different of course... =) I've already mentioned how they have non-refrigerated milk, how the stores don't refrigerate their eggs, and how a decent sugary cereal is hard to find. But it's also just fun to go through the store and see the different types of food. We're eating lamb now and usually at least one Indian meal per week. Plus we usually try one new British recipe a week which has helped us learn new terms for food (like mangetout is a snap pea).

We've been here for a little while now, but grocery shopping is still an experience each time I go. I usually end up having to ask the store people a million questions, especially if I am trying a new recipe. Everyone is really nice though, and with time, I'm sure I'll get to know the store (and the food!) just as well as I did at home... =)

Traveling the Rings of Ireland

This past weekend, Brian and I took a quick flight over to Ireland to travel the famous Ring of Kerry and Ring of Beara. They are routes that take you around the beautiful countryside and coastline of Ireland, giving you tons of opportunities to see amazing "scenic vistas" as we like to call them. =)

Our first day started off rough -we had horrible weather that blocked many of the views on the Ring of Kerry that we were supposed to be seeing. It also made driving VERY difficult! Not only were we driving on the left side of windy roads up and down mountains, but we also lost almost all of our visibility as we climbed higher toward the clouds that were settling in. It wasn't quite the day we were hoping for, but we still ended up seeing some great sights.

The second morning started off similarily, and a couple of hours into the Ring of Beara, we decided to cut our losses and take a shortcut home. Amazingly, though, along that shortcut the sun came out and we finally saw what everyone loved so much about these routes. We had the best day driving around and seeing the country from the high mountains and down to the coasts. We also saw beautiful waterfalls that were so peaceful! One of our favorite parts along this drive too was seeing the random sheep alongside the roads. You would be going 80-100 km/h and all of a sudden, have to break to make sure you didn't accidentally hit one! Here's a video of us driving by them:

So all in all, despite a very rocky start, we ended up having a great time in Ireland. We've included some photos from our trip here.

A 'Miracle' on the Way to Ireland

Brian and I have officially arrived safely in Ireland, BUT we had a rough day today in the airport. It started when we stood in a very long queue to get our passports checked and check-in our bag at the London-Stanstead Airport (very common for flights over here so we need to get used to it)! Then we made it to the plane and chose our seats which happened to be next to a very nice nun. A crew member from the airline then came on board as everyone was finishing boarding to ask if anyone had dropped a Samsonite money wallet. I looked at my husband as he checked to make sure he was still carrying our's (which contained hundreds of Euros CASH), thinking that surely we hadn't lost it. Wouldn't you know, WE HAD!!! Brian had it hooked around his belt, and when he took off his belt for security, he didn't think about it. It must have gotten pretty far with us though because they knew it was someone on our flight - we had no identification whatsoever in the bag. All we could do to claim it was to say exactly how much money was in there. We were so relieved that they found it and got it back to us before our trip. The icing on the cake was when the nun next to us said, "It's a miracle!" =)

(As a side note to this story, Brian believes this was our good karma coming back to us. A few years ago when we were at Epcot, we found a $100 bill on the ground. We picked it up and turned it into a cast member. A lot of people told us we were crazy! Maybe this was our reward for not keeping the money back then...)

After the money fiasco, we were all flustered and Brian then forgot to put on his seat belt and had to be reminded by the flight attendant. Yeah, we were total rookies today... =)

After all of that, we arrived in the tiniest airport we have been to in Kerry, Ireland, where we had to wait FOREVER to get our rental car (OK, more like 30 minutes). We were officially the last ones in the airport. I may have thrown a little bit of a fit with the rental car guy, but in my defense, it had been quite a couple of hours and I was just ready to get in a car and get to our hotel. =) We have a silver Ford Focus again, just like we did when we first arrived in England. Now I just need to try not to hit anything like I did on our Scotland trip two weeks ago!

More to come on the rest of our trip later!

24 Hours? Seriously?

One of the biggest lifestyle adjustments Brian and I had to make when we first moved to the UK was understanding that stores close EARLY!!! We were so spoiled in Orlando where 9 p.m. was a standard closing time, and a lot of stores were even open later than that. I was that girl who would run up to Target at 9:30 p.m. on a random night to pick up something real quick or just to get out of the house. Definitely can't do that anymore...

In town, most of the little shops close by 5 p.m. Gone are the days where we can run errands at night together when Brian gets home - I do all of that stuff during the day. The restaurants are open later though, thank goodness! And on Sunday's, you have a very limited window to get your stuff done - most places are only open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I love being lazy on Sunday's, but usually there isn't time for that!

At first, we got so excited when we saw 2 stores advertising they were open "24 hours". However, I don't think they truly understand the concept of "24 hours" like we do. "24 hours" is being able to run into Wal-Mart at 3 a.m. any day when you desperately need something. Check out the pictures below and judge for yourself... =)

Suffolk Pigs

Not to scare away any potential visitors, but we thought it was time to share pictures of the pigs we have in the Suffolk area of England. =)

As you drive from town to town, it's not unusual to see "pig homes," the structures you see in these pictures, in the fields. (Brian actually informed me that they are called bungalows.) We had never seen such large pigs before moving here. It's just sad to think though that pork is a really popular menu item here... =(

Check out this picture I caught when my friend and I visited the coast. We were on a tiny back road coming home when we saw the pigs right by the side of the road. Of course we both always have our cameras with us (you never know what you are going to see!), and we were able to get some great pictures. Until this day, I had NEVER seen a pig run - very interesting sight! (Of course I am not really in tune with farm-life!)

Road Trip from Scotland to England

Although we could have taken a major motorway on our road trip home from Scotland, we decided it would be more fun to take the backroads and make some stops along the way (I think Brian also suggested this because he knows how much I hate road trips and thought this would help keep me distracted)! =)

As we drove, we saw some of the most 'scenic vistas' we've ever seen! The roads were quite small and windy at times, but that wasn't the worst part. We kept seeing signs for "blind summits," and it wasn't long until we discovered what those were! For those who don't know, it's basically when the road you're on changes elevation pretty quickly, to the point where the car in front of you suddenly disappears until you then make it over the crest of the hill. Our stomachs kept dropping out from us, but luckily neither of us got sick.

We looked for brown signs during the drive which point out historic and other interesting points along the way. We were able to see a really cool bridge, a castle, a house where Mary Queen of Scots lived, and some other really cute towns. Plus, we made a stop on the top of a hill-mountain (couldn't decide which it was) at the border between Scotland and England. It was fun to see the giant rock with one country on each side plus see the flags of both countries.

Here are our favorite pictures from the drive. =)

A Wee Bit o' Edinburgh, Scotland

Brian and I ventured north this past weekend to visit Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was about a 7 1/2 - 8 hour car ride, but the scenic vistas along the way made the drive seem a lot shorter. Seeing as how Brian and I both grew up and have always lived in a place with little to no elevation, we are always amazed to see mountains and giant hills!

We arrived in Scotland on Friday around lunchtime and headed straight to Edinburgh Castle, which seemed more like a giant fort complex. It's always amazing to us to see such history in these places - you can even see the room where Mary Queen of Scots delivered the baby who would become the first King to rule over Scotland and England. The day was really rainy and cold though so after venturing around the city for a little bit after the castle, we sought cover in a restaurant where Brian tried traditional Scottish haggis, which is basically the intestines of a sheep...

On Saturday, we got up early and headed back near the castle to explore the Royal Mile that runs through town. It's supposed to be a good part of town for Scottish culture and shopping, but overall we were pretty disappointed. There were just so many cheesy Scottish souvenir shops, and once you've seen one or two, you've seen them all! We skipped the shopping and focused more on the cultural side of Edinburgh, which included visits to the Musem of Childhood where you got to see toys dating back more than 100 years and a visit to the Holyrood Palace which is the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen when she visits Scotland each year.

Probably our favorite stop though was to the Scottish Whisky Experience. You actually got 'into' a whisky barrel and traveled through the journey of making whisky (very similar to Finding Nemo or other rides like that at Disney, except with alcohol)! We then did a whisky tasting where we decided neither of us is really fond of the substance. The tour ended up with a HUGE collection of rare whisky bottles. Definitely a must-see for anyone visiting Edinburgh!

On the way home, we stayed off the main highway and took the more scenic backroads through Scotland back to England. More on that adventure to come soon... In the meantime, click here to see pictures from our trip to the city of Edinburgh.