August 11, 2015

One Year Later

August 11, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Well folks, it's officially been a year since we boarded a plane in Detroit with a one way ticket to Germany. Aaron and I were both just thinking about last summer and how stressful it was - packing up our lives, selling the our first home together, going on the most amazing two week vacation right before we left, wrapping up loose ends at our jobs, and saying dreaded good byes to family and friends. In all honesty, I can't believe it's been a year. The time has managed to pass both astonishingly fast, and agonizingly slow. I'm not entirely sure how that is possible, but it is. So in celebration of our one year expat-aversary, let's look back on what this year has brought us!

August 07, 2015

Sagrada Familia

August 07, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

We had originally planned to visit Sagrada Familia on Saturday morning. We had purchsed tickets for both the church and a visit to the Nativity tower ahead of time (an absolute MUST if you want to see the inside of the church, and you will after you see the pictures), but with all of our travel issues, it didn't happen. Thankfully, I was able to cancel and get a refund for our old tickets and purchase new tickets for Monday morning, but because it was late, we weren't able to go up in either of the towers. Regardless, this church is still absolutely stunning, both inside and out, and should be one of the things that everyone sees when they visit Barcelona.

August 04, 2015

That One Time Our Travel Went Horribly Wrong

August 04, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

We are quickly running out of places that are within driving distance, and those that are left, we want to leave until later this fall and winter when flying will no longer be an option. But when a good deal on flights to Barcelona popped up a couple of weeks ago, we jumped on it! The flight out was on Friday night after work, returning on Monday evening. Despite excellent planning, I feel that everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. Let's start at the beginning.

July 29, 2015

Berg Rheinfells in Sankt Goar and Bacharach

July 29, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

We disembarked the Vater Rhein riverboat in Sankt Goar. First stop for this preggo lady was lunch. We walked past a restaurant when we noticed it was air conditioned (remember, it was about 106°F this day). I didn't even care what was on the menu. I would have probably eaten blutwurst (blood sausage) smothered in Limburger cheese if that's all they had (ok, probably not), but it was air conditioned. It would give us a chance to sit in cooler air and eat after sweltering on the boat, and before we began the trek up the mountain to Berg Rheinfels. For those that have been to Germany before, or even live here, you know what a rare and precious luxury air conditioning is. No one has it. But in my experience, the weather is never too hot for the Germans.

July 24, 2015

Rhein River Cruise

July 24, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

A couple of weeks ago, we headed out with some friends for Rhein River cruise. This part of Germany is pretty stunning. The Rhein is, and has been, a major transportation route for hundreds of years. It flows from the Alps in Switzerland north to the North Sea, meaning that it is a cheap, efficient way to move goods between the interior of Europe and the coast. It also has a climate perfect for wine! The middle Rhein (roughly between the Frankfurt area and Cologne) is lined with vineyards, castle ruins, small towns, and stunning scenery.

July 17, 2015

Big News!

July 17, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

I feel like I've been slacking on the blog a bit the last couple of weeks. And with our traveling. We have spent most weekends in June and July at home. It feels like I just haven't had the energy to plan weekend trips. At first, we were recovering from our crazy busy April and May, but then July came, and all I wanted to do was sit at home, go to the Saturday markets in Mannheim, binge watch X-Files all day on Sundays, try to stay as cool as possible (we have had incredible heat waves here lately), and do some hobbies around the apartment.

July 14, 2015

City Visit: Trier, Germany - Part 2

July 14, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

During our visit to Trier, we made some additional stops. Again, Trier is a great little city to visit and definitely worth a stop if you're in western Germany. It doesn't warrant much more than a day, but it's a day well spent for sure!

For part 1 of our visit to Trier, click here!