June 26, 2015

Nymphenburg Castle in Munich

June 26, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

We had Sunday morning before Katlyn and Chelsea needed to board their train for Vienna. Since it's a Sunday, in Germany, most things except for places like museums and gardens are closed. There are two palaces in Munich that are popular for tourists to visit: The Residenz and Schloss Nymphenburg. Both look interesting and neither Aaron nor I had been to either on before, so we were game for whichever they choose. They looked at both and decided they wanted to visit Schloss Nymphenburg.

June 23, 2015

Saturday Morning Markets

June 23, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

We have been pretty busy this year already - from dog sledding in Sweden to diving in Iceland, spending time with my grandparents and my sister, visiting Paris with friends - we decided that we needed a couple of weekends at home to regroup. Whenever we are home on a Saturday morning, there is one thing that I always like to do: go to the market. Each Saturday, no matter the weather, farmers, butchers, chicken keepers, and flower growers come from all over the region to sell their produce, meat, eggs, cheese, and flowers. The produce is always super fresh and the quality is fantastic. Not to mention, I love that I am supporting local farmers and am able to eat locally and seasonally.

June 19, 2015

A Visit to Eagle's Nest

June 19, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

One place that Aaron and I wanted to visit while we were over here, and other place that was on our bucket list, was Eagle's Nest, Hitler's mountaintop house. We figured it would be perfect to go there with my sister and show her some of the most beautiful Germany countryside ever. After we finished up at Neuschwanstein, we got back in the car and headed towards Berchtesgaden, a national park in the south eastern most part of Germany, right on the border with Austria. We stayed the night in a small Gasthaus (which are quickly becoming our favorite types of places to stay in Europe) that looked out at the mountains. It was stunning.

June 16, 2015

Schloss Neuschwanstein, aka Sleeping Beauty's Castle

June 16, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

A couple weeks ago, my sister and her friend Chelsea decided to visit us in Germany! It had been months since the last time I saw here and I was so excited. Over the years, we went from living with each other, to seeing each other only a couple times a year (she was in New York for school, I was in the UP), to seeing each other about once a week when we lived in Michigan (she would come over and do laundry). So when we moved to Germany last summer, it was definitely hard to say good bye. We had finally out grown our sibling rivalry and become friends. That's why when she said she was coming to visit for a week, I was stoked!

June 11, 2015

Sightseeing in Paris

June 11, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

While in Paris, we had a pretty big list of places we wanted to see. Sarah and Scott had done some excellent research on what to see, so we just tagged along :) Thankfully, Justine and Andrew knew exactly how to get from sight to sight, so we didn't get lost. Not sure if you know this or not, but Paris is HUGE. Like, absolutely massive. Mind-boggling giant. And there are people everywhere. So many people. I guess that's to be expected for a city founded in the 3rd century B.C. that is over 40 square miles and has a population of 2.2 million (not counting the thousands of tourists).

June 08, 2015

Underground Paris: The Catacombs

June 08, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

I'm a sucker for history and hidden things in a city. We like to see the big sights, but we also take great joy in exploring the lesser known parts of cities when we travel. One of the things I really wanted to do with our time in Paris was make a visit to the catacombs. While not secret by any means, climbing underground for a few hours, exploring tunnels bored hundreds of years ago and now filled with bones, definitely has the air of feeling secret, hidden, and definitely eerie (what can be more hidden than something underground with limited access?!). The catacombs were the first stop of many on our days of sightseeing in Paris.

June 02, 2015

Champagne Tasting in the French Countryside

June 02, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

For the last long weekend in May, Aaron and I headed to Paris, France to meet up with some friends from the States who were there on vacation. There were two other couples - Justine and Andrew had been to Paris a number of times before, but it was the first time for Sarah and Scott (and us too!). I have to say, I didn't do a ton of planning for this trip other than organizing train tickets and a place to sleep, I let the seasoned Paris travelers manage most of it :) It was actually quite relaxing and I understand now why Aaron usually doesn't do much with the planning. Extra bonus was that we got to check yet another item off our Bucket List - taste Champagne in Champagne!