How to Be the Best Wedding Guest

Between planning my own wedding, and going to 4+ every year since 2008, I consider myself an expert in the field. While the types of weddings are more diverse than ever - loft spaces, Friday or Sunday weddings, private ceremonies with a public reception - certain rules still apply. 

1. If you do not attend, still send a gift or check. The couple wanted you to be a part of their wedding day, that means you are of great importance to them as they move forward with their lives. It is in good taste to send some token, no matter how small, of your well wishes. 

2. Don't be sloppy. While I would think this would be obvious, it is worth mentioning. Weddings are meant to be fun, at least I believe they are. The reception is a fantastic time to let loose, get your dance on, and have a few drinks. However, be a responsible adult. Don't lose total self awareness and control. Being "sloppy" isn't limited to how many adult beverages you throw back. Put a little effort into your attire and look. Girls, don't go beauty pageant crazy, but take some pride in your appearance. Guys, tame your mane and facial hair. Take a shower. Wear a suit, tie and jacket optional depending on dress code.

3. Speaking of dress code, follow it. Abide by what your invitation tells you, look on the couples wedding website before asking dense questions on their Facebook wall. Essentially, be responsible for yourself and your accommodations.

4. Go with the flow. As I said, weddings are getting more unconventional and customized. If the couple integrates something rather unique into the ceremony, go with it. If Great Aunt Myrtle gets schwasted and face plants, go help her up and don't make a big deal of it, and maybe encourage her to read this article before her next wedding. Odds are, something out of the norm will happen on a wedding day, misspoken vows, a trip on a dress, a torrential downpour post ceremony (guilty!). These things only become a big deal if your make them one.

5.  Lastly, have fun. It is a giant party and celebration the the couple's love for each other, so enjoy it! Even if the band is a retro polka band of geriatric gents, go get your polka on. While a wedding gift is mandatory, the best gift you can give the love birds in that moment is creating wonderful memories with them.

Dance on!

Summer Must Haves

Ah, summer. Marvelous, searing hot, Chicago summer. With sunshine, patio drinking, and weddings at their peak, summer is easily my favorite time of year. This is the time I feel most inspired to switch things up and bring some fresh items into my life. 

Phone cases have gone from being a piece of plastic to keep your phone safe, to an accessory you swap to suit your outfit or mood. My old case, though only a few months old was cracked and chipped. I came across Society 6, ordered this case on a whim, and really love the way it looks. I don't drop my phone often, but I do need something for protection when the dog tackles me and knocks it from my hands.

iPhone Case

I have a handbag obsession. Generally, I abide by the philosophy that bigger is better when it comes to purses. Then, along came Kate Spade's summer sale and I changed my mind. While this one is a brilliant coral, and full price, I scored hot pink one at a steal. Either way, I would argue the bag is worth the price, I have used it every day and you can store keys, sunglasses, cards, chapstick and some make up in there easily. I recommend a small card case to maximize space.

Kate Spade Cobble Hill Crossbody

As I mentioned, summer is a time for weddings. The majority of my dresses are from my college days and don't convey the proper vibe. This French Connection dress is perfect for a summer wedding. The shape is maintained through cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing and is comfortable enough to do all of those things with ease. The fabric is soft, leaving you feeling comfortable and not stuffy in the summer heat.

French Connection Dress

Now, onto my favorite category ever: office supplies. Even though I am no longer in school, the back to school section of stores is my favorite. You can find cute notebooks, a variety of pens, and score a fresh planner. I also pour over every item in stationery stores as often as possible. It is my heaven. I ordered some items from Papyrus and really liked this amethyst Le Pen. I am very particular about my pens, they can't bleed through paper, be too thick, or write in a less than uniform fashion. I don't care for most colored pens either, they can look too bright and cheap. The color on this was beautiful and I often find myself making extra detailed lists just to use it more

Amethyst Le Pen 

A personalized notepad it the ultimate splurge in my opinion. I spent hours (not exaggerating) researching which one I wanted to purchase before pulling the trigger. You can order them in bulk to save more, but I only ordered one to ensure I liked it first. The paper is very high quality, no pen bleeding here. You know those lines that transfer onto the following pages because you are pressing too hard? Not a problem. I love making lists and, sometimes, that can become an intense process. I need a paper to stand up to my enthusiasm. The monogram is my favorite, but I would recommend any of the notepads from Tiny Prints. Plus, the personalization makes me feel like I am running a multinational corporation every time I sit down at my desk.

Tiny Prints Solid Monogram Notepad

Happy shopping!!!

Disconnect

My puppy is jealous of my phone. Well, not quite, but she knows that if I am scrolling through my apps, it will result in less belly rubs and kisses for her. Now, I don't see a huge problem with my phone usage around her. I can't be on much or she will chew a hole through the wall while I am not looking. Consequently, emails go unanswered for days and I go through life with my phone on silent should a surprise text message wake her from nap time. 

Many of us aren't present. Mindfulness, presence, and meditation are trigger words and all the rage in the top online articles. I am not trying to jump on the sensational bandwagon here, but the core issues have been a problem for years. About two years ago, my mom and I were getting our nails done at a local salon. We say a mom and her young daughter, maybe five years old, getting pedicures. Initially, it seems like a sweet and fun gesture. One to pamper both of them and make the daughter feel like a real grown up. However, I quickly noticed the mom spent a lot of time on her phone. I am all about productivity and sending some quick check in texts, but this poor girl was sitting there, staring blankly ahead, while her mother missed a crucial bonding opportunity. Even in Germany, I would see moms (and yes, sometimes dads, men are guilty, too!) speed walking along with their strollers. I would venture a good 90% of them were always staring at their phones, not even looking where they were going. People waiting in line, on the train, or the second they sit down at a restaurant, immediately pull out their phones. Like spending one minute taking in your surroundings or just being still would be too painful to bear. Hell, we even had to create laws to get people to stop aimlessly flipping through social media at traffic lights and causing accidents.

My point is, I am guilty too. Tom has called me out on it, he will be just arriving home from work and I will pull out my phone instead of asking about his day. Dahu will want to play, I'll see a notification, and feel compelled to check it right away. That dreaded two minute wait in line at the store or Starbucks, oh man, talk about painful alone time. I go to my phone. 

As a society we need to stop. There are commercials that play into our current culture, they show selfies, selfies of selfies, and Instagramming every meal and flower. Look at yourself, your friends, and your life for real. Not through a lens. See a pretty tree? Stop and look at the damn tree. Pumped about that bitchin omelette? Savor it with your senses, not your iphone. Babies know how to operate ipads with more ease than books. My dog has accidentally liked some Instagram photos. Our generations time on Earth will be remembered as never really experiencing life. Or just "doing it for the likes". This week, commit to spend time off your devices. I know it is unbelievably hard, but you will survive. One, even two hours a day completely tech free could be a huge step in the right direction. Give it a go. We could all use a detox.

Puppy Parents

I was hoping to fill our home and this space with decor, inspiration, and ideas for our place in the city. We have a combination of hand me down furniture, college furniture, and Ikea items mixed with a few new and forever items. Then our furniture chewing, clothes tearing puppy happened.

We have been looking at Rhodesian Ridgebacks for years. Literally, years. While in Germany, I really stepped up my search. Our hearts were set on a Ridgeback, but I was becoming incredibly frustrated as litters were not available in the Midwest and finding a fair priced, reputable pup was unbelievably difficult. Now don't hate, we did explore shelter options, and look at other breeds. But with the direction our life is heading, we are being extremely particular about the people, pets, and things we bring into our home.

Something magical happened once we were back on Chicago soil. We had been home for maybe two weeks and I came across a litter in Michigan born at the end of January. Fast forward through puppy interviews, puppy choosing, and a very exhausting trip to PetSmart for supplies, and we got our perfect little one at the end of March, when she was two days shy of eight weeks.

Some of our supplies, ready for her arrival

Dahu, at just over eight weeks old

Puppies are hard. I am convinced the reason puppies and babies are so ridiculously cute is to keep us interested in caring for them when they keep you up all night, poop on your floor, and spend their days draining every last ounce of sanity from your being. I can deal with kids, I have been every day for the past three+ years (Europe excluded). Puppies, however, are a whole new level of hard. 

Dahu is now just over ten weeks and has been doing stellar at walks in the neighborhood. She knows to sit for her food, she does not know shredding potty pads and newspapers to bits is not good. We love her to death. She is a cuddler, rare for the breed and we are encouraging it as much as we can. She is very smart (and I'm not saying this just because she's mine!) and this makes me all the more excited for her to be of age to attend puppy training classes. Until then, I will spend my days chasing after this ankle biting, hand nipping, face licking love bug. She takes up every spare second I have, but she's worth it. 

Seriously, that face melts me every time

Full disclosure: ANY and ALL new puppy tips are welcome!

St. Patrick's Day in the Windy City

One great thing about coming back is we were able to bring a bit of Europe with us, for a while at least. Some of Tom's colleagues from Germany were traveling to the city for work and we were fortunate enough to have two of them join us for St. Patrick's Day weekend and all of the adventures that entailed!

The Saturday before is always about dying the Chicago River green. It is a mellow, scenic way to kick off the morning. None of the hard party-ers have been partying too hard yet, and if you time it right, you can avoid the body crushing crowds. I made sure to start everyone off on the right foot with a solid meal of bacon, eggs, and toast before we boarded the L around ten am.

We began at the dyeing of the river, where I lost all of those in my charge during a crowded bathroom break. We were soon reunited and I told them all off for deviating from the plan. We survived massive pedestrian street crossings and got a great view of the river.

From the river we followed the masses to the St. Patrick's Day parade. There we weren't able to score the best view. However, we weren't planning on staying that long and our location made for some interesting people watching... The beginning of the parade kicked off with bagpipes and I was able to get a decent view for that part!

I commend, yet am horrified with, the parents who bring their young children out to the parade! They are far more daring than I would be! Post parade we headed to a not too crowded bar before heading back to Lakeview for food and ice cream. While some people in our neighborhood had a much more traumatic St. Patrick's Day, we thoroughly enjoyed a beautiful day in the city!

We're BACK!

Okay, technically we have been back on glorious American soil for over a month now. We spent our first married Valentine's Day flying back to sweet home Chicago. And how did the city prepare for our return? With freezing cold temperatures! I instantly regretted not bringing my heavy duty winter coat and shipping it home instead. 

Two days later, our belongings were delivered from storage. To say this lead to a chaotic scene was an understatement. Boxes were everywhere, so much so we had no space to unpack and the first day was spend moving chaotic piles from one area to the next. Don't get me wrong, I love to clean and organize, like love to clean and organize, but this was too much all at once. 

A week and a half later we finally were unpacked, just in time for our shipped items to arrive. But hey, that was only five boxes. We easily handled that after our initial trauma! All of this packing, unpacking, reorganizing, and purging of our items left me in need of some inspiration, more inspiration than Pinterest could deliver for me. 

Enter: my latest read. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up speaks to my soul. The title itself calms me and leads to hallucinations of the smell of a newly scrubbed floor. 

Moving and resettling in can lead to anxiety and a sense of overwhelm. Just reading the table of contents in this book brings about a feeling of calm. It really speaks to the idea that you are the space which surrounds you. Clutter equals chaos, a lack of cleanliness leads to a lack of mental order. If you're on the look out for a new read, or in need of a kick in the pants for your spring cleaning routine, check out Marie Kondo's book.

That being said, we have a lot coming our way. We've hit the ground running and have been going constantly since we returned. Europe was an experience I loved, it made me a stronger person and more aware of the world, as well as myself. However, it is so unbelievably good to be home.

My European Must See List

I hadn't a clue what I was getting myself into when we packed, shipped, and stored all of our belongings in the days immediately surrounding our wedding back in August. At the very least, I figured, I would get a first hand glimpse at another culture. 

In the grand scheme of things, six months isn't a large period of time. You have enough time to settle in, hardly enough time to get home sick, and daily opportunities to step out of your comfort zone. By two months in I guess I meshed perfectly already, as people were stopping me and asking for directions. This wasn't often successful for either party as German is still not my strong suit...

Regardless, this time has been filled with more than I could have ever begun to imagine. I like to think Tom and I knew each other quite well before moving to Germany. Together eight years, living together for three, totally comfortable around each other; we were fully knowledgeable about one another, weren't we? Oh but travel and ex-pat adjustment will bring you closer than you could ever imagine. Want to test your relationship? Travel constantly, live in close quarters, and be able to communicate only with each other. That will be an adventure in and of itself.

Through all of these experiences, we have built such an extraordinary base of memories and once in a life time opportunities that I simply had to share our top recommendations with you.

Favorite life long dream realized: London, England
London has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. London is also the one city I found hardest to leave. I am actually missing it dearly just thinking back on our four days there.

Things to see:

• Changing of the guard/Buckingham Palace
• Hampton Court Palace: You can spend an entire day there. Behind the golden leaf door at HCP's entrance was where Kate Middleton's wedding dress was made.
• Trafalgar Square: Walk from Buckingham to Trafalgar, it's so peaceful.
• Abbey Road: The iconic Beatles picture location, near St. John's Wood.
• Tower of London: Walk across the Tower Bridge and stroll along the Thames.
• Joe Allen's: Craving American food? Go here. It is also located in the theater district so you can catch a show while coming or going.

Favorite City: Ghent, Belgium
Why Ghent? Because Ghent was a total wildcard. We weren't initially planning on going there, we were thinking Brussels instead. It was on a whim, and a fantastic recommendation from a coworker of Tom's, that we ever heard of Ghent. It embodied everything I love about European cities. Ghent is located on a series of canals and had a very historical, even medieval, feel to it. A person will more than likely never go to Europe solely to visit Ghent, but if you are ever in the proximity, it may change your life.

Things to see:

• Canal tour
• Gravensteen Castle
• Shopping district: Their Zara Home store is heavenly.

Favorite country: Switzerland
Let's lead into this one with a dose of honesty. The one downside of Switzerland is the cost. It is a very expensive country to visit and, I would imagine, live in. I am partial as we honeymooned in Lucerne, but we've visited that city three times in all weather and I love it just as much.

Things to see:

• Lake tour (Lucerne, Switzerland)
• Lion Monument (Lucerne, Switzerland)
• Kapelbrucke (Lucerne, Switzerland)
• Swiss watch shops and chocolate shops

Best things in Germany:

We've done a great deal of traveling in Germany, so I had to give it it's own category.

• Heidelberg Castle: People say it's touristy, but I consider Heidelberg very worth your while. They have a 212,000 liter wine barrel. Argument made.
• Stuttgart Cannstatter Volksfest/Wasen: I have to pay tribute to our beloved Stuttgart. The Wasen is Stuttgart's Oktoberfest, and is far more fun and less touristy (says the tourist).
• Hiking behind Neuschwanstein. The castle tour is cool, but the trails are where it's at.
• Berlin's German History Museum: Easily two to three hours of reasonably priced entertainment. I promise you will learn a few things there, too.
• The Berlin Wall Memorial: There is something about this that really intrigued me.
• New Year's Eve in Stuttgart. People are blowing of fireworks, sparklers, and anything else that can get their hands on for hours. It's crazy, it's fun, and you can drink a great beer while watching.

Best things to eat in each country:

Because good food can make or break a trip.

• Austria: You must try the local wiener schnitzel
• Belgium: hot, fresh street waffle
• England: fish and chips or fresh fish, depending on your preference.
• France: Hot chocolate at a cafe
• Germany: Kase spatzle. The Swabian mac and cheese.
• The Netherlands: Dutch pancakes. Pancakes Amsterdam has huge ones, the best are the ones with whole strips of bacon cooked inside the batter.
• Switzerland: Their pizzas are on point.

Best travel tip:

We didn't have wifi abroad. Before leaving our house or hotel, we loaded the city map in our Google Map app on our phones. I would save locations of restaurants and sites on the map. Also, create a note with a list of back up plans and places with addresses. You can also load the route so it makes remembering trains and buses easier. Second best travel tip: use a backpack, instead of a suitcase, as often as possible. You can easily spend pre-train/airport time touring with a backpack.

Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn is a beautiful palace in Vienna with vast property and seemingly endless gardens. The palace was constructed in the 1600's and opened in the final year of the century. Vienna was our final European vacation, and Schönbrunn was our final palace tour. Luckily, we were not disappointed.

Pictures were not allowed inside, a lot of the items were original and they did not want to put their preservation at risk. We took the self guided audio tour, lasting about an hour, before hitting up the gift shop on our way out.

We walked through the gardens after the palace tour. They were icy and all leaves and flowers had long since gone. All the ice and snow really added to the beauty and mystique of such a grand space.

From the ground level we walked up a snow covered path to get a better look of the grounds. My riding boots gave me a real battle as I hiked up, at times sliding and losing whatever ground I had just gained! The view was fantastic. Beyond the palace, you could see Vienna beautifully on display in the background. 

From Schönbrunn we took the bus back through the city to have a home cooked meal with some friends before heading to the airport. Vienna was a fantastically relaxing weekend. I loved the coffee shops, the cakes, and some of the most beautiful scenery in all of Europe. I even bought some artwork I look forward to framing soon and hanging up at home in Chicago.

Vienna from the Sky

We spent our last official European vacation in Vienna, Austria. Vienna is held in high regard internationally and domestically. Their quality of life, standards of living, and natives such as Freud are literally award winning. Vienna is also exceedingly beautiful, even when covered in ice and snow. We were very fortunate in Vienna and had some friends who planned our weekend and showed us around the city.

Saturday morning we got an early start, eating brunch by the university before walking through the city. We walked through the museum quarter before heading to the Rathausplatz, where their government building is located. There was an expansive winter market set up in the area. The largest, and most intricate, ice rink I have ever seen snaked between trees and along buildings. Behind the pretzel, beer, and hot chocolate stands was an attraction which allowed you to see Vienna from above. My dislike of heights and I were not initially thrilled to get on board, but I went for it.

Votivkirche - Votive Church

Vienna Opera

The view was outstanding and made for some excellent pictures. To recover from such an epic and nerve wracking adventure, we grabbed some drinks afterward. We walked through the shopping strip and I saw THE Julius Meinl. Julius Meinl is my favorite brunch spot back home, there are only two in the States, and it was nice to pay tribute to the original.

We spent our afternoon warming up at Cafe Diglas where we had cake and drinks. I had a mint tea and chocolate truffle cake. While apple strudel is what Vienna is really known for, I had to go with chocolate. The chandelier was my favorite, espresso mugs hung from the lights. While this made me slightly apprehensive the whole thing may fall on me due to the added weight, I want an espresso chandelier of my own.

Post cake, we took the train to dinner where we had schnitzel larger than our faces. Literally. Two people split one order, paired with the local Grüner Veltliner wine. Before calling it a night, we got a round or two of Moscow mules at a local bar with a balcony overlooking the city. We went to bed full and content we managed to fit so much adventure into one day.

Brunch at Chipps

Back in Chicago, brunch is an Olympic sport. A sport I sorely miss and excelled at nearly every weekend. While Germany is overflowing with bakeries and grab and go breakfast sandwiches, this was not filling the pancake and bacon sized hole in my heart. Before leaving Berlin on Sunday morning, we found a brunch restaurant walking distance to our hotel.

Chipps is a well known, and well rated, restaurant not far from Museum Island. The inside space was small, and we were fortunate to get a table! You could easily watch your food being freshly made, a reassuring concept and entertaining to watch.

While I was tempted to order a latte, I decided to live dangerously and order a mint green tea. I was pleasantly surprised when a cup of piping hot green tea arrived stuffed to the brim with fresh mint leaves. I didn't use the honey they brought, but it made for an adorable display! It gave me the genius idea to add fresh mint leaves to my green tea to switch things up. How I failed to think of this myself, I don't know.

Our food was beyond my expectations. Tom ordered french toast and I chose the pancakes.  There is truly an art in cooking such basic dishes and having them turn out so brilliantly. My only complaint was they brought us appropriate, European portions of the amazing brunch options. I wish I had an American sized plate piled high with those pancakes, but it makes you appreciate it all the more! I'm not saying I would totally drive the six hours to Berlin just to brunch at Chipps, but the thought had crossed my mind.

The Wall

History is so easily forgotten and dismissed. Even the historical events occurring within our own lifetime. The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 and demolished from 1989 to 1992. While I was a toddler when the dismantling began, I associate the wall with a much different time period. Until recently, I also failed to fully comprehend the heart break, betrayal, and often times death associated with the division of East and West Berlin while the east was occupied by the Soviet Union.

We took the train out to the Berlin Wall Memorial and were able to walk through a free exhibition detailing its history and the lives of those affected by the division.

We arrived after dark. The shadows projected by the wall's remains created an ominous feeling as we walked along both sides. In the exhibition, we read stories of families and best friends who were eating together one day and hopelessly divided the next. A number of secret escape channels had been created for those in East Berlin to escape to the west, but often those participants were exposed and jailed, or sometimes worse. A number of people were shot trying to escape while their deaths were covered up for years. Family members sometimes didn't live long enough to hear the truth about what occurred to their loved ones. 

Forgetting how free we truly are in our everyday lives is easy to do. Visiting the memorial and seeing the stories, pictures, and videos of those who risked it all to escape or be with those they love serves as a powerful reminder. A reminder for us to never take life and our freedom for granted.

Walking Through Berlin

Our hotel in Berlin was located by Museum Island. While I had researched various hotels in a multitude of locations for days, Tom searched for about five minutes and came up with the perfect one. Go figure. We drove the six hours to Berlin on a Friday afternoon and settled into our hotel. Hangry and unsure of where to go in the area, we ate at the Indian restaurant next door. The food was flavorful and the servings were huge. This created a perfect equation for a full night of sleep before getting off to an early start Saturday morning.

Believe it or not, we enjoyed our first rain free weekend in quite some time. We were able to take advantage of the weather and walk the thirty minutes to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag Building just five minutes beyond that.

Brandenburg Gate

Reichstag Building

From the Reichstag we walked about twenty minutes to the Deutsches Historisches Museum, or the German History Museum. Before going inside, a nearby market caught our eye. As we walked through the tents, we glanced across the river and caught a glimpse of the Berliner Dom, the Berlin Cathedral. The Cathedral wasn't even on our list to see and made for a happy surprise as we realized it was a short walk across the bridge.

Berliner Dom and Fernsehturm

The Fernsehturm, the silver tower you can see beyond the cathedral roof, is a television tower in central Berlin. It is also an iconic landmark, I consider this picture to be quite a two for one view.

We finally made our way into the history museum where they give you a sticker as proof of entry instead of a ticket stub. While this method did not bode well for me, I lost mine halfway through and had to get another, I liked the idea. It seemed more environmentally friendly.

I have, understandably, learned a great deal about European history since arriving here. This museum was particularly awesome. Displays began in the 500's, but there was an animated map to show the shifting country lines throughout the preceding centuries.

"Discord in Marriage"

Art work was featured throughout a number of exhibits and I consider the above piece to be my favorite by far. The marriage piece is humorous and descriptive. I may consider requesting a replica for my own decor.

The museum spanned two floors, I lost my sticker after floor one, and concluded with a glimpse into the lives of East/West Berlin residents. We spent a significant portion of time walking through that display. We left the museum around three and I was beyond starving. I had yet to eat and all of that walking and education was draining me quickly.

Fortunately we were just up the road from a long strip of restaurants. We perused some menu choices before settling on one advertising more traditional German fare.

By now, I like to believe I know my way around a menu. I knew I ordered something with pork, potatoes, and vegetables. I thought it would be a slab of pork with everything else on the side. Then, they brought out the above contraption. I devoured nearly the entire thing, and it tasted like a fusion of Mexican and American style cooking. From the restaurant we took the train out to the Berlin Wall, but that experience is for another post. 

Munich on New Year's Day

Our New Year kicked off with a trip to Munich. Technically, we had been to Munich before, but as participants and eager observers of Oktoberfest. I expected this visit might have a bit more culture. We stayed at the Hotel Cristal, awesome because of it's central location, not awesome due to the amount of wandering we had to do in order to access and escape the parking garage. 

We began exploring the city after we arrived midday. There weren't snow or rainstorms following us throughout the day, for once, but the sidewalks were deathly slippery and lead to me slowing everyone down with my unsure shuffle.

There were remnants of the local Christmas market just outside of Marienplatz. We saw one very unfortunate fellow drop a fresh order of fries, I wanted to cry for his loss but the local pigeons were able to indulge in a serious feast. Going off of a recommendation, we went to Augustiner, a very famous beer hall, for lunch. It is the second largest beer hall in Munich and their beer recipe goes all the way back to the 1300's when the Augustinian monks began crafting it in their monastery.

Baskets of pretzels welcomed us to the table. They were decent, though slightly stale and not free! I ordered a venison goulash and only made it half way through. I forgot how heavy carbs, beer, and meat can be.

After lunch we walked just across the way to St. Michael's church. The inside was beautiful and the sunlight shone through in a magnificent way. From there we walked by the Neues Rathaus. Rathaus means government building, our Rathaus in Stuttgart is nothing special and the ones in Munich, the old and the new, put ours to shame.

Neues Rathaus

Altes Rathaus

Given that is was New Year's Day, museums and other points of interest were closed. Luckily, we were able to take in all of the major sites of the city without having to set foot inside a building. For dinner we ate at a small German style restaurant where I balanced out my lunch with a salad and ice cream. I figured I would need to keep my strength up for the treacherous walk back to the hotel along a large sheet of ice.

I loved the accessibility of Munich. To have all the must sees all in one place with a never ending selection of great food and beer was ideal. 

An Explosive New Year's Eve

How does Stuttgart prefer to bring in a New Year? By blowing up an assortment of fireworks in the city square of Schloßplatz. While many cities admire and enjoy fireworks over the holidays, it is required they are done by professionals to avoid risk of injury. Those in Germany feel no such pressure for an orchestrated, well managed show.

After arriving home from Trier and doing some festive drinking at our apartment, we hopped on the U-Bahn downtown. As we approached Schloßplatz, the crowd went from nonexistent to throngs of people clumped together for warmth, and possibly safety. The four of us set up base under a tree, we figured if something went flying and sparked overhead we would have decent coverage!

The age of the attendees were mostly college through those in their thirties, although to one side of us there was a family of elementary aged children setting off Roman candles as quickly as they could manage! Many of the fireworks were small, items that twirled on the ground, or emitted sparks ten or so feet into the air. However, a number of participants took their firework celebration much more seriously! We had the perfect view of high arcing fireworks exploding over the crowd and lighting up the night. Truth be told, there was one point of concern where a rouge firework shot directly at us and exploded so closely we could feel the warmth on our faces. 

As midnight approached things began going off like crazy. The sky went from clear to overwhelmed with smoke and lights. The crowds were cheering, drinking, and having the best of times as they set their own stash aflame and into the air.

While the exact stroke of midnight was lost in luminous chaos, the ten minutes preceding and after the start of 2015 were filled with intense celebration by everyone in the square. 2015 easily goes down as the most memorable New Year's Eve of all time.

Touring the Oldest City in Germany

Trier is likely the oldest city in Germany and said to be founded in 16 B.C. While I am always up for touring a new city, this visit held a special meeting. Some of Tom's not too distant relatives are from the nearby town of Spies, Germany and we were very interested in seeing the area. Outside of my day visit to Cologne, this was also my first visit to the Rhineland-Palatine area.

We stayed at the Mercure Hotel, directly across from Porta Nigra. Providing us with an immediate view of the medieval Roman gate each time we walked outside. The day of our arrival we gave ourselves a tour of the city.

Electoral Palace

Cathedral of Trier

The most fantastic site was the Electoral Palace. While the palace's main claim to beauty is the surrounding gardens, they were rather lackluster in the winter months. The palace was built in the late 1600's and currently serves as a local government office. Could you imagine if all government offices looked that nice? There certainly are some perks to working in Trier!

Next up was the Cathedral of Trier, the oldest church in the country. Construction began in the 1200's and it still stands to this day. The inside of the cathedral was bare in comparison to many of the plush and gilded churches I have seen throughout Europe, but that is to be expected for a building of that age.

After lunch, drinks, and our walk though the city, we all crashed and took a nap. We wanted to see the city at night, but needed to rest up first.

Porta Nigra

While it was a few days past Christmas, we were fortunate all of the decorations were still up. I love the holidays and the weather was clear and pleasant enough for us to enjoy an evening walk through the city. We ate dinner at Theo, a restaurant right by the Porta Nigra, before returning to our hotel for the evening. The following day was New Year's Eve and we had to get back to Stuttgart to pick up some food and beer for the celebration!

Lucerne: A Winter Wonderland

On our drive home from Geneva, we decided to stop off in Lucerene. Switzerland is a relatively small country and taking Tom's brother and sister to a city we love so much was worth the slight detour. Tom and I honeymooned in Lucerne back in October and quickly found ourselves feeling at ease as we walked along the lake and bought true Swiss chocolates.

The winter snow seemed to be following us throughout Europe. While it was colder than we were used to, the weather made for a picturesque afternoon in the city. We parked by the Palace Luzern, where we stayed on our honeymoon, and walked through the city.

The snowflakes were fluffy and perfect. While I certainly am not a fan of the cold, I braved the temperature and quickly accumulating snow as we strolled through the footpaths and shops. We made our way by the church, the Lion Monument, across the river, and finally found warmth in a fantastic restaurant on the other side.

There's nothing like pumpkin soup to warm you up on a winter day.

After lunch, we crossed the famous Kapellbrücke and meandered into my favorite chocolate shop in the area. We ended our visit with a stroll along the lake front path. Lucerne is beautiful, and one of my favorite places in Europe, regardless of the season.