Romania - May 27-30, 2016

Never in my life did I think I would wake up in Romania. What a surreal trip. Our first trip with friends from London (Anna Steenrod and Mark Reid) and to this day, it’s the one that I talk about the most.

Taking another late Friday night flight, we landed in Bucharest, Romania around midnight and the adventure began. Our first task was finding Anna’s wallet which was left on the plane. The airport lost and found was literally a phone in the wall with no receiver. I snapped this picture because, well, it's hilarious. 

We stayed the evening in an airport hotel to begin our early morning road trip. In attempt to relay all the ‘interesting’ observations of Romania…a few details are needed. Picking up the car, the attendant explained to us where the First Aid Kit and Fire Extinguisher were located. All of us nodding and making jokes, he was very stern. ‘No, you will need these. Police will stop you to search your car.” Low and behold, not 5 minutes down the road, we saw the police searches…police in the middle of the road, busy roads, pulling cars over for searches. Who knew at the time this was foreshadowing for the remainder of our weekend?

Along the way, we stopped off with the rest of the tourist to take some selfies amongst the poppies. (Also the sight of Michael's bee sting...in which his finger was swollen around his wedding ring, so yea, that happened.)

Our 2-3 hour road travel took us to our 1^st castle, Peles castle and it. Was. Stunning. What an amazing day, an amazing view. We took our tourist tour of the castle and grabbed lunch with a view. Walking around the local market we found ourselves at a Painted Monastery. As we lit candles, we took in another breathtaking moment. 

Back in the car we headed towards our 2^nd castle … Dracula’s Castle. The car rides seemed to be one of the best parts of the trips, the stories, the sights. We literally saw a man carrying a log down the street, not a board, a log, observed that most cyclists travel really slow, snails pace through the Romania country side and if we saw one police, we saw 50 in the road…pulling people over and yelling at us to use our head! Just to name a few, the road trips were forever entertaining.

Dracula’s castle was another ridiculous castle, however, was very very crowded. We weaved our way around every turn in the castle, took a few selfies and avoided anxiety with the copious amounts of tour groups.

Back in the car after our 2^nd castle tour, Mark offered to drive which seemed all well and good … until he started driving. Reversing he tells us “Ok guys, I haven’t driven in 9 months…here we go!” Lawd have mercy! Almost immediately I had to switch seats from car sickness. Mark’s driving – An adventure all in itself.

Setting off to Brasov, Romania for the night, Mark driving, Michael navigating and The Peanut Gallery, Anna and myself.

Brasov, Romania – Reminded us all of a small village in town in Spain or Italy. We settled into our Air BnB, grabbed a local dinner of meat, meat and more meat. And tasting the traditional liquor, Palinka , basically gasoline. We headed out for a night cap and I had the most humbling conversation with a young Hungarian lady. She says, “Oh you’re American, we love Americans…you’re so free.” Confused I asked what did she mean? They are free too. Her response: “Yea, but we haven’t always been free. We don’t understand your sense of freedom.” Speechless.

Day 3:

On the road again, we headed to Bucharest to spend Sunday evening. There is a stark difference between Romania countryside and Bucharest. It’s almost as if you walk through Bucharest and can still see the times of communist rule. Buildings are concrete, gray and some even with bullet holes…including our Air Bnb. To this day we laugh about our check-in … walking through the building into a open aired, gray, shot to hell courtyard, up the scariest elevator ride in my life and into our home for the night. I’ll spare all the details, but needless to say, I slept on top of the covers and didn’t take a shower.

Bucharest was surprising in that you could walk along a tree lined street to the largest palace I’ve ever seen in my life ...

To walking along street for street neighborhoods to find the hip bar where we met Mark’s American teacher friends. The hip bar was also a heavy metal karaoke bar upstairs, so there’s that.

We ended the night at one of the best bars we’ve ever been to. Imagine walking behind a deserted building into a multiple level oasis of trees, hammocks, picnic tables, swings … it was out of this world. Take my word for it because we only took mental pictures.

One of our greatest, most eye opening experiences to date. I’d say I can’t wait to go back….but I can.

THE South of France. April 28th - May 1st 2016

I have fallen in love. The South of France outlived any of our expectations. If I said it once, I said it a million times over the weekend...this was by far the prettiest place I've ever seen! Hands down. I must give credit for this trip to our London chiropractor. He recommended the whole trip to us, from what to do, to where to go, to even where to stay. I'm telling y'all...the best way to travel is by recommendations of others.

We flew out early Thursday morning, landed in Nice just in time for lunch and our 1st adventure. We rented a car and needless to say, the rental car led to many adventures through the weekend. We opted for the upgrade because well...we are in the South of France...what better way to see the sea than with a top down?! Hello BMW Convertible. Our first view of Nice was this....I mean...can it get any better?

Look at the color of this water! 

We drove into Nice to grab lunch before adventuring the French countryside. I was co-pilot and Okeefe was a badass driving this car....until...I led us down the narrowest street ever, covered with people enjoying lunch outside. After a minor freakout, we made a circle, narrowly avoiding a family...with a baby (I closed my eyes) and parked that bad boy in a parking garage. After a few deep breaths, we made our way back to the narrow streets and enjoyed our lunch outside....while laughing about others trying to drive down the same street. After lunch, we hiked up to find this view. Again...I mean.

Getting good at these selfies. 

After our quick jaunt around Nice we hit the road. Right in time for rush hour. We hit traffic so decided to make a quick diversion to a side road. (Keep in mind our hotel was about 20-30 minutes away in the lovely town of Mougins.) Being off the interstate, we decided to pull off and let the top down. Except well...it didn't go down. It went halfway down. I'll spare you all the details...but there we were...in the middle of France. Stuck. After about 2 1/2 hours, we made our way back to the airport....long story short and maybe one of the funniest adventures thus far...we were back on the road, car fixed. Because of minor, ahem, I mean major delay, we arrived at our hotel around 9pm. Luckily our hotel had a fantastic French restaurant...putting us to our 1st real test of the French language. Dinner was delicious and we were exhausted.

Day 2: Adventure in Cannes

Day 2 started early with a trip to Cannes and vespa rides! We rented a Vespa for the day, again I was co-pilot. We spent the first few hours laying on the beach because I mean the sun. We missed the sun. After a few coffees beachside we rode stopping along the way to admire the yachts and the views. These views... I couldn't stop admiring. We grabbed a seafood lunch complete with raw mussels (ew..raw mussels are not my jam) and oysters.  

After lunch we hiked up to this church with again amazing views. It was glorious! (I still pinch myself every trip) Making our way back down we took another afternoon ride along the beach, stopping for an afternoon cocktail and loving this time together. After dropping the Vespa...we decided to test this convertible again. Pas bon. No go. No beuno. This car. I can't. 

Our night ended with a traditional French dinner in Mougins. Mougins is a lovely French town tucked away in thick city walls. We felt as if we were looking out at a puzzle scape.

Day 3: Adventure hiking, trip to Antibes ... and more beach side. 

Day 3 started with a morning hike. Getting to this hike was again another adventure in and of itself. Finally finding the trail we took off. Quickly realizing that I'm pretty sure we were hiking over sewer grates, we turned back. We did find a river to walk along on our way back. Okeefe showed off his rock skipping skills which quickly developed into a competition of who could hit a rock....half an hour later, we are are still trying to hit the rock. 

Morning Hike

View from morning exploration 

We cleaned up and headed out to find another beach. Antibes had been recommended to us, a walled city. We decided to come back for dinner and enjoy the beach day. Finding chairs and an umbrella, we settled in...with champagne of course. 

Making our way back to Antibes for dinner, we roamed the city. We learned quickly that the French don't eat dinner until late...really late. So finding a place to grab dinner became challenging. We decided to have a drink in the meantime. We ended up an English Pub (isn't it ironic), but we are so glad we did. We ended up meeting these great new friends that were from South Africa. They all worked on the yachts in Cannes and Nice, so the stories were incredible. The introduced us to a local pizza place and we ended the night with them. This sealed our trip together....our favorite part of traveling is meeting people. 

Day 4: Adventure to Valbonne and Biot 

Our last day we traveled country side. We took a road trip North to Valbonne and West to Biot. In Valbonne we happened upon a French Car Show. It was unreal. The BEST people watching and so many odds and ends for sale. And it was VERY popular. 

We headed to Biot for lunch. Biot is another quaint French town on top of a hill....a very large hill. We parked and hiked our way to the top. It was a beautiful afternoon and Biot was hosting a Sunday market. Perfect. Biot is known for their glass blowing so we grabbed a souvenir. Searching for lunch, we found a street vendor with some of the best food we had on the trip. 

Sunday Lunch - Biot, France

Biot Sunday Market

After a few hours exploring we sadly made our way back to Nice, not wanting to leave one of our favorite weekends. So thankful for this time and opportunity to explore. 

This trip...it's going to be hard to top. But I can guarantee this...we will be back. And...I'm now taking French lessons. Je m'apelle Nini. 

Dublin. March 18-20, 2016

Janie came to visit! Along with all of our London adventures, we  took a trip to Dublin. Was so fun to travel with Janie, basically a laugh a minute. Again, we took an early flight out to start our weekend trip, a quick hour flight and we landed in Dublin. 

You get cosy (s intended) on the RyanAir flights

After checking into our hotel, we headed out to find food. Stumbled upon this great pub, with amazing Fish and Chips. 

Our first stop was Guinness. The Guinness tour is ... well...a bit overwhelming in all honesty. It's like the Disney World of beer. So we played along...snapping photos, playing tourist and even pouring our own pints...the proper Guinness pour. And it was delicious. Probably the best Guinness I've ever had (even though I've only had maybe two in my life, this one included :)) 

Second stop was the Jameson Distillery. Now this was a proper tour. It was led by a tour guide giving all the family history, production and finally a tasting. Although none of us could finish our tastings, we all throughly enjoyed the tour. (And the Irish coffee) To end our day, we went to a great dinner at Green 19. (Recommendation of our cab driver to check out Camden Road vs Tourist Temple)

Sunday was the best day. It was gorgeous weather and we took full advantage. We grabbed a delicious breakfast at 3FE along a canal. We rented bikes and made our way around the city. 

Biker Gang

We went to St. Stephens Park and made our way to Phoenix Park. Both were gorgeous. The Irish were out in full force taking advantage of the weather. 

We wondered around the city making our way to the Dublin Castle, taking in street scenes...performers and garden beauty. Our Sunday was perfect, relaxed and rejuvenating. The weekend ended with another great dinner and a bit of sadness of Janie's trip coming to an end. Nonetheless, we enjoyed all the laughs and cherish the memories. 

My picture won the "Picture Off" 

 

Oh and side note, but something not to be missed about Janie's trip. While in London, we went to a Monet exhibit in which ALL of Monet's lily paintings were together. Words can't describe. It was breathtaking. (And did you know that one of the painting is housed in St. Louis...St. Louis...who knew?!) 

Janie...come back soon!!

Next up...the South of France. Merci! 

Hey y’all! Been a hot minute since my last entry, but summer finally hit London and we’re taking full advantage. So, I took my computer outside amoungst the black cabs, whizzing busses and SUNSHINE to inspire. (Currently sitting in Regent’s Place waiting to teach a Yoga class)

So we’ve been on a few trips … I’ll take a step back, way back. After our quick jaunt to Paris…we went to Ireland. Twice. Cork and Dublin in the same month. Who would’ve thought it?

Cork. March 18-20, 2016

Michael and I took a quick weekend trip to Cork. Michael had been years ago with his Dad and brother so he knew the ropes. We took an early flight out on Friday out of Stanstead. Our first experience with Stanstead Airport. And it was a madhouse. Literally. It was so early, Michael put his sunglasses on and walked through the airport to avoid any contact with all the Duty Free husslers. Nonetheless, a quick hour flight and we landed.

Cork is a really nice quaint town. Along a river, it has lovely bridges, churches, town center, etc. Taking advice from our NY Times 36 hour book (Best Christmas present ever.), we headed up to St. Anne’s Church, rang the bells…of course a Beatles tune, Here Comes the Sun and When the Saints Go Marching In. Grabbed a glass of wine and lunch in the town center. Along the way we found our people...

Top of St. Anne's 

The first afternoon, we found a local brewery (points to 36 hours book) and then stumbled upon a comedy show. The comedy show was hilarious and a great experience. Seriously it was…except it had been a really long day and I, well fell asleep. Several times.

Second day was our favorite day. We found this great cafe next to our hotel...it was my favorite. (I convinced Michael to go twice!) They seriously had the BEST breakfast. 

Irish Breakfast, complete with White and Black Pudding

We rented a car. Renting a car on a weekend in Ireland the day of in and of itself was an experience. And a standard car nonetheless. We were successful and started a trip to the coast, Michael driving on the other side of the car, on the other side of the road. Needless to say we hugged some curbs and those infamous Irish stonewalls. We traveled out to Ballycotton. Y’all. This place was GORGEOUS. Even on a cold, cloudy day. The cliffs. The lighthouse. The towns. Everything was beautiful. We hiked along the cliffs for about an hour, enjoying the sights and soaking it all in.  

Michael hiked down to the water...I did not. He's pointing to me at the top. ;)

Making our way back to town we stopped in a coastal port, Kinsale. Grabbed some Guinness at a local pub and headed back to Cork. A quiet Sunday night watching Rugby to end our weekend adventure. 

Rugby! 

Next up...Dublin! (It's almost like we have this connection to Ireland... ;))