Since I was lazy with every blogging much about the actual wedding and with pics, I'll share a few more today-- good reminder of the best day of my life!
9.26.2010
We made it!
Well, we survived 1 year of marriage....now just a bunch more to go! Since we just got back from Europe, we really didn't plan anything for this weekend or today to celebrate-- we were just going to go to the Botanical Gardens later today to walk around there. I did find it amusing when I woke up this morning to rain- just brought back the memories of dealing with the rain last year and looks like we may not be going to the gardens today!
Since I was lazy with every blogging much about the actual wedding and with pics, I'll share a few more today-- good reminder of the best day of my life!
Since I was lazy with every blogging much about the actual wedding and with pics, I'll share a few more today-- good reminder of the best day of my life!
9.24.2010
Europe Day 1- 9.4
We awoke bright and early and lugged our suitcases to the metro stop a few blocks away. It was around 7am and I noticed downtown seemed more bustling than usual. Then I realized there was an unusual amount of gold/black and some sparse blue/orange and realize that people are tailgating for the IL-Mizzou game!!!! I actually got really sad that we were missing it, but kept saying-- we are on our way to EUROPE...it will be okay!
Here's some pics waiting at the airport and playing our newest travel past-time thanks to our relative's honeymoon gift from last year. It's a scratch-off book to play Yahtzee and we are hooked on this when travelling!
We arrived in Toronto and had about an 8 hour layover. We met up with Dustin's relatives and it was great to catch up with them, especially since his cousin just had a baby this summer. He was very good, chunky, and cute...not much more you could ask for! (From left, Me, Dustin, his cousin Megan with baby Matthew, Megan's husband Shane, Aunt Wendy, cousin Tommy)
As a further bonus of our Canadian stop, I scored a Columbia coat for $25 which came in handy for the chilly, rainy days we encountered! you'll see that in many photos to come. Unfortunately I did NOT get this hat, but was in love with it and made Dustin take my picture in it....and this will remind me to drop hints closer to xmas that this would make a great gift!
Our flight left at 9pm for Europe and we had taken some Tylenol PM to help knock us out. However, we got on the plane and we had our own personal tvs with movies to pick from, so was hard to try to force ourselves to sleep over watching numerous movies! It was also free beer and wine...and we were in coach! But we each did get a few hours of sleep off and on.
Here's some pics waiting at the airport and playing our newest travel past-time thanks to our relative's honeymoon gift from last year. It's a scratch-off book to play Yahtzee and we are hooked on this when travelling!
We arrived in Toronto and had about an 8 hour layover. We met up with Dustin's relatives and it was great to catch up with them, especially since his cousin just had a baby this summer. He was very good, chunky, and cute...not much more you could ask for! (From left, Me, Dustin, his cousin Megan with baby Matthew, Megan's husband Shane, Aunt Wendy, cousin Tommy)
As a further bonus of our Canadian stop, I scored a Columbia coat for $25 which came in handy for the chilly, rainy days we encountered! you'll see that in many photos to come. Unfortunately I did NOT get this hat, but was in love with it and made Dustin take my picture in it....and this will remind me to drop hints closer to xmas that this would make a great gift!
Our flight left at 9pm for Europe and we had taken some Tylenol PM to help knock us out. However, we got on the plane and we had our own personal tvs with movies to pick from, so was hard to try to force ourselves to sleep over watching numerous movies! It was also free beer and wine...and we were in coach! But we each did get a few hours of sleep off and on.
9.21.2010
We survived Europe!
Hi, we made it back from our WONDERFUL trip! I'm planning on many postings with trip details and pictures...but those will have to happen at a later time. For now, I just wanted to say that we had such a great time and it really all was perfect!
Here are some tips for any other travellers to Europe or just some odd things that I wanted to capture so I remember:
1. Know how many days to pack for (Dustin miscalculated that we would be gone 10 days instead of 16, so realized on about Day 8 that he was nearly out of clothes). So we bought some socks and just had to do some laundry!
2. The Garmin was a HUGE help-- if you are driving in Europe, do not attempt it without GPS. The road names are way too hard to pronounce, half of the time the road has 5 different names so the one on the street sign may not match your directions. It was even helpful walking around at times to try and locate an ATM, train station, etc.
3. If you are not an adventurous eater (like myself), ask before being seated at a restaurant if they have an english version. Once or twice we got up and left (After we had sat down) cause they did not have english and we couldn't make out anything.
4. Always have a good chunk of cash on you. Many places will take credit cards, but we had numerous instances where they didn't take it if less than $30, which was some of our meals or purchases. Also, because most US credit cards do not have this chip in them, many machines did not like our cards.
5. And sometimes in restaurants, they took credit cards, but once they saw Dustin had plenty of cash on him then they'd change their mind and say no, we want that cash. So then we learned to not pull out his money clip when we went to pay!
6. Water is expensive and scarce....our water bottle we brought from home was a lifesaver! We filled that up every day and was so nice to have with us as we walked around all day.
7. In France, definitely look on the menu or ask for their house wine by the carafe. It is waaaay cheaper and tasted fine. Sometimes it was hard to find on the menu, or wouldn't be on the menu and then we'd see a random sign hanging up after we had ordered.
8. The prices on a menu already include taxes and tip (unless you want to give a little extra for great service- which was hard to come by). So a meal may look fairly expensive at first, but once you get the bill at the end of the night it really was the same or cheaper than a US meal since it already accounted for that.
9. When finished with your meal, you must ask the server for your bill when ready. I think they'd let you sit there for days if you don't ask!
10. We had brought a lot of US cash with us-- our debit cards worked fine and it was MUCH easier to withdraw money that way. We only exchanged cash 1 time because the other times it was a pain to find a bank that was open and that didn't have an absurd fee.
11. TONS of people smoke and since smoking was banned indoors at restaurants, it was impossible to ever sit outside and have a nice meal because the tables are really close together and at least 6 of your nearest neighbors will be puffing away.
12. Rick Steves book was a lifesaver and HUGE help-- my biggest advice is to definitely use him for Paris and areas he has quite a bit of info for. We used it for all sorts of reference- what metro tickets do we buy? what restaurants are good in the area? what place is good for some drinks? do we tip here? what are the hours of such-and-such?
12a. My one recommendation to others using Rick Steves is that we sometimes found his maps or directions a little difficult to follow on his walks. The maps he provides just show main streets and not all the sidestreets. So I'd recommend taking the map you are using for that city (that hopefully is more detailed), highlight the route or sites on that map and use it.
13. For some trains, you need your ticket when you exit....even though you used it to go through a turny-thing to board the train with it. I had to search for 5 minutes through my pockets and purse to find what I did with mine the first time!
14. Interesting tidbit we learned-- when people rent apartments in Europe they take EVERYTHING when they move out, including all light fixtures, appliances, the sink, closet racks, etc.
In a nutshell, that sums up my overall recommendations or info we learned! I'll leave you with this pic of our cute little rental- the mini cooper convertible, which we were too stupid to ever figure out how to get the roof down :(
Here are some tips for any other travellers to Europe or just some odd things that I wanted to capture so I remember:
1. Know how many days to pack for (Dustin miscalculated that we would be gone 10 days instead of 16, so realized on about Day 8 that he was nearly out of clothes). So we bought some socks and just had to do some laundry!
2. The Garmin was a HUGE help-- if you are driving in Europe, do not attempt it without GPS. The road names are way too hard to pronounce, half of the time the road has 5 different names so the one on the street sign may not match your directions. It was even helpful walking around at times to try and locate an ATM, train station, etc.
3. If you are not an adventurous eater (like myself), ask before being seated at a restaurant if they have an english version. Once or twice we got up and left (After we had sat down) cause they did not have english and we couldn't make out anything.
4. Always have a good chunk of cash on you. Many places will take credit cards, but we had numerous instances where they didn't take it if less than $30, which was some of our meals or purchases. Also, because most US credit cards do not have this chip in them, many machines did not like our cards.
5. And sometimes in restaurants, they took credit cards, but once they saw Dustin had plenty of cash on him then they'd change their mind and say no, we want that cash. So then we learned to not pull out his money clip when we went to pay!
6. Water is expensive and scarce....our water bottle we brought from home was a lifesaver! We filled that up every day and was so nice to have with us as we walked around all day.
7. In France, definitely look on the menu or ask for their house wine by the carafe. It is waaaay cheaper and tasted fine. Sometimes it was hard to find on the menu, or wouldn't be on the menu and then we'd see a random sign hanging up after we had ordered.
8. The prices on a menu already include taxes and tip (unless you want to give a little extra for great service- which was hard to come by). So a meal may look fairly expensive at first, but once you get the bill at the end of the night it really was the same or cheaper than a US meal since it already accounted for that.
9. When finished with your meal, you must ask the server for your bill when ready. I think they'd let you sit there for days if you don't ask!
10. We had brought a lot of US cash with us-- our debit cards worked fine and it was MUCH easier to withdraw money that way. We only exchanged cash 1 time because the other times it was a pain to find a bank that was open and that didn't have an absurd fee.
11. TONS of people smoke and since smoking was banned indoors at restaurants, it was impossible to ever sit outside and have a nice meal because the tables are really close together and at least 6 of your nearest neighbors will be puffing away.
12. Rick Steves book was a lifesaver and HUGE help-- my biggest advice is to definitely use him for Paris and areas he has quite a bit of info for. We used it for all sorts of reference- what metro tickets do we buy? what restaurants are good in the area? what place is good for some drinks? do we tip here? what are the hours of such-and-such?
12a. My one recommendation to others using Rick Steves is that we sometimes found his maps or directions a little difficult to follow on his walks. The maps he provides just show main streets and not all the sidestreets. So I'd recommend taking the map you are using for that city (that hopefully is more detailed), highlight the route or sites on that map and use it.
13. For some trains, you need your ticket when you exit....even though you used it to go through a turny-thing to board the train with it. I had to search for 5 minutes through my pockets and purse to find what I did with mine the first time!
14. Interesting tidbit we learned-- when people rent apartments in Europe they take EVERYTHING when they move out, including all light fixtures, appliances, the sink, closet racks, etc.
In a nutshell, that sums up my overall recommendations or info we learned! I'll leave you with this pic of our cute little rental- the mini cooper convertible, which we were too stupid to ever figure out how to get the roof down :(
9.03.2010
9.02.10
Ok, had to get one more post in cause wanted to capture this in my blog! So yesterday's date....I never would have picked up on how awesome it was had my mom not pointed it out and then I did see platered over the entertainment shows that night...and I had to look at the date like 5 times before I figured it out! Some fan I am! Anyways, still swear by this is the best show ever and it will be impossible for anything to ever top it! Of course I'm talking about Beverly Hills 90210!
Anyone remember the episode when Brenda and Kelly go to paris and order food...start eating and commenting how chewy the food is. Finally I think Brenda looks it up in her dictionary or book and realizes they are eating brains! Needless to say they immediately spit it out. Funny thing is as soon as Dustin was insistant on going to Paris-- I'm like, I'm scared of the food there cause Brenda and Kelly ate brains accidentally! Dustin- who is brenda and kelly? Amy- duh, on 90210! Dustin- roll eyes and walk away. Seriously though, I'm super skeptical of food there now.
So last weekend we were playing a trivia game and had a 90210 question (easy cause I've seen this episode no less than 10 times cause had it recorded on my trusty vcr tape!): Steve Sanders exchanges this item for the address of a party?
The answer- Egg! "I want to exchange an egg. Maybe you didn't hear me right- I...want...to....exchange....this....egg!"
I always think it's funny how dorky they all look in the beginning....hard to imagine that this was "cool" back in the day!
Anyone remember the episode when Brenda and Kelly go to paris and order food...start eating and commenting how chewy the food is. Finally I think Brenda looks it up in her dictionary or book and realizes they are eating brains! Needless to say they immediately spit it out. Funny thing is as soon as Dustin was insistant on going to Paris-- I'm like, I'm scared of the food there cause Brenda and Kelly ate brains accidentally! Dustin- who is brenda and kelly? Amy- duh, on 90210! Dustin- roll eyes and walk away. Seriously though, I'm super skeptical of food there now.
So last weekend we were playing a trivia game and had a 90210 question (easy cause I've seen this episode no less than 10 times cause had it recorded on my trusty vcr tape!): Steve Sanders exchanges this item for the address of a party?
The answer- Egg! "I want to exchange an egg. Maybe you didn't hear me right- I...want...to....exchange....this....egg!"
I always think it's funny how dorky they all look in the beginning....hard to imagine that this was "cool" back in the day!
9.01.2010
au revoir (aka good-bye!)
Well, I can NOT believe that our vacation is right around the corner, but hopefully we have things pretty well lined up! It's doubtful I'll do any postings over there....so will be over 2 weeks probably before I have an update and awesome pics!I've read and re-read and re-read again Rick Steves and Fodor's for our destinations. We pretty much know what we want to accomplish in each city-- must-do items vs. will do if we have time cause you never know what else you will stumble on! I've shared my lists below of what my to-do items are, so maybe these will help someone else out...
Things to do ahead of time (besides all the usual planning and research):
- Call credit card and banks to let them know you'll be overseas (otherwise they can shut off your card usage)
- Buy European map for our Garmin and input our hotels/destinations
- Download rick steves tours
- Photocopy passports and important docs
- Get any prescriptions
- Charge up all batteries
- Withdraw cash
- Check-in for airlines online 24 hrs before
- Determine if any of your hotels take cash only-- what large sums of money will you need?
- Print all email confirmations for your bookings
- Look into cell/data plans and determine if you want to pay to use your phone overseas
- Contact post office to hold your mail
Items to pack other than the obvious clothes and toiletries:
- Umbrella
- Jacket
- Water Bottle (to bring with us each day and refill)
- Headphones and mp3 player (for our audio tours)
- Cork Screw/Bottle Opener (or could try the shoe method!)
- Pack photocopies of important docs, but also leave at home
- Band-aids (hopefully won't need cause won't get blisters!)
- Medications- prescriptions, advil, chasers, etc.
- Ear plugs and sleep mask
- Inflatable pillow
- Day packback for touring
- Small container of woolite in case need to do some laundry in the sink
- Electrical outlet converter
- Garmin- w/ car plug and wall plug
- Padlock
- Small pack of tissues or wet wipes (supposedly in case toilets don't have it)
- Pocket hand sanitizer
- Shout wipes or tide-to-go
Some good rules of thumbs (per my buddy rick)-- pack dark colors cause they will not show the dirt. Do not pack something if it only can be worn with 1 other item-- you want to bring lots of interchangable options. Plan to wear each article 3 times (this I'm not really sure about-- pants or skirts are the only things I think I could wear 3 times!). If you run out of clothes, you can always buy something over there or wash a few things in the sink and hang to dry.
Things to do ahead of time (besides all the usual planning and research):
- Call credit card and banks to let them know you'll be overseas (otherwise they can shut off your card usage)
- Buy European map for our Garmin and input our hotels/destinations
- Download rick steves tours
- Photocopy passports and important docs
- Get any prescriptions
- Charge up all batteries
- Withdraw cash
- Check-in for airlines online 24 hrs before
- Determine if any of your hotels take cash only-- what large sums of money will you need?
- Print all email confirmations for your bookings
- Look into cell/data plans and determine if you want to pay to use your phone overseas
- Contact post office to hold your mail
Items to pack other than the obvious clothes and toiletries:
- Umbrella
- Jacket
- Water Bottle (to bring with us each day and refill)
- Headphones and mp3 player (for our audio tours)
- Cork Screw/Bottle Opener (or could try the shoe method!)
- Pack photocopies of important docs, but also leave at home
- Band-aids (hopefully won't need cause won't get blisters!)
- Medications- prescriptions, advil, chasers, etc.
- Ear plugs and sleep mask
- Inflatable pillow
- Day packback for touring
- Small container of woolite in case need to do some laundry in the sink
- Electrical outlet converter
- Garmin- w/ car plug and wall plug
- Padlock
- Small pack of tissues or wet wipes (supposedly in case toilets don't have it)
- Pocket hand sanitizer
- Shout wipes or tide-to-go
Some good rules of thumbs (per my buddy rick)-- pack dark colors cause they will not show the dirt. Do not pack something if it only can be worn with 1 other item-- you want to bring lots of interchangable options. Plan to wear each article 3 times (this I'm not really sure about-- pants or skirts are the only things I think I could wear 3 times!). If you run out of clothes, you can always buy something over there or wash a few things in the sink and hang to dry.
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