January 09, 2015

Kissing Stones and Drinking Whiskey

January 09, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

After our night in Limerick, we were on our way to Cork. Conveniently on the way is the Blarney Castle, with the world famous Blarney Stone. You know we had to stop for that! Turns out, it is in the town of Blarney and is much more than a castle with a famous rock. There are grounds, walking paths, and beautiful gardens. I bet in the summer, when it's in full bloom its gorgeous. Alas, we had to make do with the unique beauty, and relatively few tourists, of the winter season.

January 07, 2015

Cliffs of Moher

January 07, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

The next morning came cold, and early. Although we had fun in the pub the night before (read: lots of Smithwicks), we thankfully didn't have a hangover. Which was good because we had a long day of driving ahead of us. We needed to make our way through Galway to the Cliffs of Moher and on to Limerick. Our stay at the B&B of course included breakfast, which was a Full Irish Breakfast. A Full Irish Breakfast includes the following: a fried egg, a rasher (thick, large piece of bacon), fried ham, black pudding, white pudding (both are similar a sausage patty), baked beans ...

January 05, 2015

Boxing Day and Titanic

January 05, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

On Boxing Day (or St. Stephens's day in the Republic of Ireland), many of the shops had reopened and Belfast was a madhouse! People everywhere. And no wonder, Boxing Day sales are much like the after Christmas sales (or even Black Friday) sales in the US. Unfortunately, many of the tourist attractions were still closed, so we explored a little bit of Belfast by foot. One bonus, I was able to pick up a couple things that I can't get in Germany (they had Reese's peanut butter cups! I forgot how good those things are!) for fairly cheap. But, it rained all day, which normally wouldn't have been much of a problem. Unfortunately though, I had a down coat, which isn't the most waterproof of outerwear and I also discovered that the boots I was wearing (and the only shoes I brought with me), had a crack in the sole, meaning

January 04, 2015

Christmas in Ireland

January 04, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

As some of you may know, Aaron and I decided to spend our Christmas holiday in Ireland, Land of my Ancestors, this year. Flights back to the US were really pricey, but flights from Frankfurt to Dublin were incredibly cheap. We jumped at the chance to add another stamp to our passport! And in Ireland, you really do get a stamp when you enter since it isn't part of the Schengen area, although it is part of the EU...

December 25, 2014

Bucket List Item - Mass at the Dom

December 25, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

Another item on our Bucket List was to attend mass at the Dom in Cologne, which we did this weekend. Before we went, I had checked mass times online and Google translate did work so well. They listed four mass times for Sunday morning, a time, which google translated to Church Office, and then weekday mass services. We opted for the 9 AM mass, which was held in one of the small, side chapels. As we were finishing up though, we realized that the rest of the church was full for the 10AM mass, which is held at the main alter. Oops. Nonetheless, it was still beautiful, especially as the rising sun started to stream through the stained glass windows into the mostly dark church.

December 23, 2014

A Weekend in Cologne

December 23, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

This past weekend, we took a quick overnight jaunt up to Cologne. Five years ago, on our Beer and Cathedral Tour of Germany, it was our first stop. When we found out we were moving to Germany, it was pretty clear to both of us that we would have to visit Cologne again. And what better time to do it than during Christmas time with the Weihnachtsmarkt!? As an added bonus, we got to meet up with a fellow AST, her husband and kids!

We decided to take the train this time instead of driving. Aaron did some savvy computering with a coworker

December 21, 2014

Final Tour of Munich

December 21, 2014/ Meghan Oaks

Sunday morning came early and bearing headaches after a night spent at the Hofbrauhaus. Nonetheless, we needed to move, and head home eventually. But, before we did, we went back to the Munich Altstadt for a couple of hours.

Sundays are brunch days in Germany. Everyone and their brother goes out for brunch and if you want to go, but haven't planned ahead and made a reservation, good luck. I had found a place online that looked promising - The Glockenspiel Cafe. It is on the 5th floor of a building