Happy Friday! I am SO happy it's the weekend. I've been feeling so crazy busy and tired since getting back from my trip and am really looking forward to relaxing and resting up a bit over the next few days. Today's post is about my eats while in Austria. Let me start by saying that one of the reasons I love California is because it's so easy to be a vegetarian here. Both areas I've lived in in this state, San Diego and now the Bay Area, are wonderful for a girl like me who is into healthy, meat-free living and real food. I can go down the street to a farm and pick up some fruit & veggies, and mostly every restaurant has at least one thing that's vegetarian. I anticipated the cuisine of Germany & Austria to be dominated by meat, but what I found there was that nearly every ... [Read More]
travel
The World’s Largest Ice Cave: Austria’s Eisriesenwelt
One of the few things I had planned on doing ahead of time while we were in Austria was seeing Eisriesenwelt - which translates to "World of Giants Ices" in German - the largest ice cave in the whole world. The cave is 26 miles long, so you can nearly run a marathon in the cave if it weren't for, ya know, all of the slippery ice and freezing temperatures in there. (source of images) The ice cave is located in Werfen, a town not a far distance from where we were staying in St. Johann, but it was quite the trip getting there (which is half the fun might I add!) that went as follows: Walking from our hotel to the train station --> train ride --> walked to a bus stop, but not before walking completely into town to figure out what we were doing --> hiking --> cable car --> ... [Read More]
A Natural Wonder: Austria’s Liechtenstein Gorge
Hi friends! After many hours of travel, I arrived back in the good ole USA last night. My trip was amazing, and as usual when I go on trips, I’ve caught the travel bug and am plotting my next 5 excursions! ;-) Here’s a look at the route we took once in Europe: Last year my hubby and I bought a timeshare. Since we've experienced some buyers’ remorse from the moment we bought it, and since we’ve been paying it without seeing anything up front, we wanted to be sure to use it for the first time during this vacation. I checked out my timeshare options with only about 6 weeks notice, and this is how Austria became a big part of our vacation. To be honest, I didn’t know too much about Austria until planning this trip, but once I started to learn more about the country, I knew it’d be an ... [Read More]
Exploring Cologne, Germany
While planning this vacation, a lot of thought and research went into figuring out just where to visit. Once I decided that we’d spend some days in Austria after being in Amsterdam, I knew that I wanted to see Germany in between the two. After doing some reading and Googling, I decided that we’d visit the city of Cologne. After a couple of hours on the train, we stepped out in Cologne and immediately saw what the city is most known for – the massive gothic Roman Catholic cathedral known as Kölner Dom. The church is the most visited landmark in all of Europe, with an estimated 20,000 people visiting it daily. It was certainly a site to see, especially if you’re into churches and their architecture. Afterwards, Adam and I were reading online about the history of the church, ... [Read More]
Amsterdam’s House of Bols
Since I've been to Amsterdam a couple of times before, I've already experienced some of the big attractions in the city (including the Anne Frank House, which I've gone to and cried at twice). This time around, I wanted to see something new. In my online research, I wound up discovering the House of Bols. Established in Amsterdam in 1575, Bols is the world's oldest spirit brand. They make 38 liqueurs, including a Dutch spirit Genever. The interactive tour at House of Bols includes learning about the history of the brand and exploring different ways to test your senses...plus you get to choose a cocktail at the end. :) I thought it sounded like a fun activity, and it totally wound up being just that! House of Bols is located about 2 miles from my hotel, so I decided to let my iPhone ... [Read More]
Snapshots of Amsterdam 2013
Hallo! When I woke up from my nap in my comfy hotel bed yesterday to the sound of rain, I thought Bummer! I wanted to walk around the city and explore a bit, but didn't particularly feel like walking around cold in the rain. After a few minutes of groggily debating, I forced myself up out of bed, grabbed my camera and went outside. After all, it's not every day I'm in Amsterdam! First, I found a fresh juice stand and ordered an all-natural fruity juice to pep me up a bit... The fresh air and juice made me feel so much better, and I'm so happy that I got up instead of pulling over the covers - The rain stopped and it wound up being really nice outside, and I had a good time getting lost a bit walking around the city and soaking it all up. Here are some shots I snapped from around ... [Read More]
