Paris

We traveled to Paris, France for the weekend of 19 October with Kate and Shaun. Getting from the Charles de Gaulle airport to our hotel Friday night turned out to be quite an adventure. Paris transit employees went on strike on Thursday, protesting a proposed cut in retirement packages. This meant that the metro wasn't running. Additionally, Paris hosted the World Rugby Championships over the weekend. Since the metro wasn't running, and there were at least 60,000 extra people in Paris, the taxi line at the airport was at least 1.5 hours long. So after a 1.5 hour bus ride, we ended up at the Arc d'Triomphe. From there, we caught a taxi to get to the hotel. At this point, we started getting excited to be in Paris and getting closer to our hotel and eating dinner...until the route was overtaken by some hundred roller bladers. That's right, hundreds of roller bladers apparently wind their way through Paris every Friday night between 10:00pm Friday and 1:00 am Saturday!

After starting the day off with delectable French pastries, we spent Saturday morning touring Notre Dame de Paris. In addition to touring the inside of the cathedral, we climbed a few hundred steps to the top of the cathedral to view the Paris skyline as well as see the gargoyles up close! Afterward, we found a boulangerie for a coffee break and croissant snack, and then walked throught La Sainte-Chapelle. The walls of the upper chapel are almost all stained glass and depict the story of the bible. After lunch, we headed into the Louvre where we hit the highlights, the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Code of Hammurabi. We all agreed that we are now officially cultured! Saturday night, we met up with friends of Kate and Shaun for dinner at L'estrapade near the Panthéon for a French meal. Carrie's meal consisted of prune soup, roasted quail with grapes, and chocolate mint crème brûlée. Kurt started with whole sardines, moved on to a cut of beef and finished with 'chocolat du suicide.'

Sunday we climbed to the top of the Arc d'Triomphe and then made our way to the Eiffel tower. Since the lines were long, we didn't go up to the top but did touch the base so that we can say we were really there! We then walked to the Musée d'Orsay where we saw several paintings by Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, and Degas. Luckily, we decided to leave early for the airport because it ended up taking almost 4 hours to get there! Due to the strike, a few of the metro trains weren't running and the trip took longer than normal. That and the fact that the train we took, which normally does go to the airport, turned around about half way there taking us back to where we started. But in the end, we did get to the airport and on our plane...so all's well that ends well!

We had a great time in Paris and are looking forward to going back to see more sights that we didn't have time to see!

Click below to see some of our pictures from the weekend.

Paris

Brugge, Belgium

We took a road trip with Adam and Melanie to Brugge, Belgium over Columbus Day weekend. The roughly 5 hour trip from Mainz went pretty fast and we arrived in Brugge around lunchtime on Saturday. After winding our way through the tiniest cobblestone streets you can imagine, we took advice from Rick Steves and ate at a cute little Italian restaurant called Pili Pili. After lunch, we toured the Halve Mann Brewery, the only brewery still producing beer in Brugge, and enjoyed a Belgian Blonde Ale afterwards. The tour guide was very animated and we enjoyed learning how beer is good for us and how to enjoy a beer, not just guzzle liters down like the Germans. In the late afternoon, we went on a horse-drawn carriage ride around the city. The driver pointed out different sites and some of the meanings behind the architecture. For instance, many of the buildings had angels above every door and window to keep out bad spirits.

Brugge, Belgium

On Sunday, we toured Choco-Story, The Chocolate Museum. The museum was really interesting and we learned a lot about the history of cocoa and it's role through the ages from about 600 B.C. to today. Since the fog hadn't burned off, we made our way to the Diamant (diamond) museum. It was rather unimpressive, although we did get a sample of synthetic diamonds. After lunch, we climbed the 360 steps to the top of the bell tower and were at the top while the bells chimed which was a neat experience. After a boat tour through the canals, we made our way to Brugge's four windmills. They are placed along a canal, and it was a pleasant walk slightly away from the hustle and bustle of town. We also visited Brugge's Church of Our Lady which houses Michelangelo's Madonna and Child sculpture. This sculpture is said to be his only sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime and one of the few outside Italy today.

On Monday, we drove about 30 minutes North to Zeebrugge to see the North Sea.

Zeebrugge, Belgium

On the way home, we stopped in Brussels for lunch. We were very impressed by the architecture in the market square as well as the chocolates!

Brussels, Belgium

Oktoberfest 2007

After a very long drive from Mainz to Munich, we experienced Oktoberfest for the first time with a group of friends. The whole atmosphere was definitely something to experience. Many people were dressed in traditional garb and everyone was having a good time. The fest grounds were huge...42 hectacres (almost 104 acres) and were packed with people, rides, and stands.

We took the U-bahn from our hotel to the fest grounds around 10:00 am and made our way to the Schottenhamel tent. After pushing our way through the crowd to get as close to the doors as possible, we discovered about 30 minutes later that they were overbooked and wouldn't be opening the doors that day. So we pushed our way back through the crowd and ended up at the beer garden outside the Hacker-Festzelt tent. There weren't any available tables so we all split up for a bit in search of beer. Luckily, at this particular tent, they didn't care if you weren't sitting, and they walked around yelling "Bier, Bier, Bier, Bier!" and we just had to follow them get our mass (1 liter) of beer.

Eventually, our group of about 14 people took over a table that some Brits had been occupying. We had it all to ourselves for a bit, but they ended up taking it back from us later on in the afternoon. While at the table, we had a great time laughing with friends and with others that were partying nearby. We saw a lot of cheering, singing, and chanting. We saw people standing on tables, chugging their mass of beer, and eventually passing out... basically we experienced a frat party at a whole new level. It was fantastic!

We had a blast drinking and eating with friends for most of the afternoon and look forward to next year!

Oktoberfest 2007

Documenta

On September 9th, we drove north to Kassel, Germany with Kate and Shaun in a quest to culture ourselves by viewing Documenta. Documenta is "the 'Museum of 100 Days,' that started in 1955 and takes place every five years. The Documenta is one of the world's most important art exhibitions." The entire experience was rather draining, and we didn't get what the vast majority of the modern artists were attempting to convey... mainly because 90% of the works were "Untitled" with no commentary. It's a huge exhibit in multiple buildings around town. We kept going to different places thinking, this building HAS to have the cool stuff in it...but alas! Anyway, it was an experience nonetheless and we got to hang out with friends which is always fun!

Check out our pictures from the day!

documenta

1 year anniversary - in France!!!

Carrie and I just celebrated our first year of marriage together by enjoying the Labor Day weekend in Strasbourg, France. Very cool place just 2km from the German border. It has a neat mix of German and French culture, so you get the best of both. Having studied French in school, it was very cool to hear it spoken by natives in person.

We enjoyed good food on Friday night and just took it easy the first night we got in.

Saturday, we took the boat tour on the river that circles the inner city first thing. Then we spent the whole afternoon walking through the town, enjoying places like "Little France" and touring the smaller cathedrals. That night we caught the light show where they illuminated the Notre Dame (not the Paris one, but still very cool) all coordinated to music.

Sunday was the first Sunday of the month, so all the museums and tours were free. We stood for an hour to see the Astronomical Clock do its thing at noon (technically 12:30). It wasn't really that spectacular, but I guess you have to say you did it. Then we climbed the cathedral tower, then climbed back down. We then walked to the Zoological Museum and the Botanical Gardens. That night we caught the light show again.

Monday, we stopped in Soufflenheim, France, a town know for its pottery and we picked up a few pieces. Pretty neat stuff.

Don't forget to check out the pictures!

1 Year Anniversary

We loved Switzerland so much we went back!

We travelled back to Switzerland with Melanie and Adam August 17-19. This time we camped in Lauterbrunnen at Camping Jungfrau.

Because we really only had Saturday, we tried to cram in a lot. We toured Trummelbach Falls, a set of falls that had cut through the mountain so much that it was like seeing waterfalls inside a cave. For lunch, we stopped in Interlaken, where we enjoyed traditional rosti and had an amazing view of Jungfrau. After lunch, we hiked around Interlaken and found an old castle. Then we drove to Grindelwald, and drove up the mountain to 2000m... the girls freaked out due to the small roads, but the view was amazing. For dinner we had some awesome fondue.

Sunday we packed up camp, hiked up to a waterfall by our campsite, then drove home. On the way out of Switzerland, we stopped in Bern, the capital of Switzerland and had lunch.

It was a quick but amazing trip. Switzerland still ranks as our favorite place to visit. Carrie and I just feel so refreshed after our trips there.

Check out the pictures!

Switzerland Part Deux

Switzerland

Last weekend, we met up with some friends in Hasliberg, Switzerland. The 5 hour trip South was mostly grey until we passed through an incredibly long tunnel in Switzerland. On the other side of the mountain, the sky was bright and clear and there were magnificent mountains to either side of us. Since neither of us have never seen the Rockies, this was our first experience seeing "real" mountains. It was exhilarating! And these were only the foothill of the Alps!

On Sunday morning, we went for a walk along a wanderweg. Basically, we walked out the back of the house and went up...and up...and up. Although the morning was a little foggy, it was still a beautiful walk! In the afternoon, we went to the Aareschlucht Meiringen, or the Gorge of the Aare Meiringen, a gorge carved by glaciers. The water flowing through the gorge was a gorgeous (no pun intended) blue green color and the walk though it was amazing! In the evening, we relaxed on the balcony staring at the mountains in the distance. We were able to see a glacier capping one mountain and enjoyed watching the clouds seem to get caught on the top of the mountains. Later that night, we went to dinner, intending to have fondue, but the small restaurant required a day's notice to prepare it. Maybe we'll get some later this summer when we go back camping with friends!

We've enjoyed every trip we've taken so far, but we've definitely been most impressed with Switzerland. It is incredibly peaceful and majestic and we're looking forward to visiting again!

Click below for our photo album of the trip

Switzerland