munich

on this trip back home to the states for work & thanksgiving, we did things a little differently by flying lufthansa instead of turkish air.  this was due to a much lower ticket price, and the opportunity to have a one-night layover in munich.  since ben & i had never been, we thought it would be fun (and cut down even further the cost of our tickets).  the layover was made especially easy by checking the majority of our luggage all the way to nyc (they held it for us overnight) and taking only our carry-on with us for our one-night stay.  it ended up being a fun mini-getaway, breaking up our trip and introducing us to a city we plan to re-visit.

we landed in munich at 6pm on a friday, headed to the hotel to drop off our stuff, and heading out on foot to explore the nearby neighborhood.  after a 15 minute walk through a large park (the english gardens), we ended up in a busy section filled with cafes, shops and restaurants.  

we found an authentic looking beer house where we decided to stop for dinner and were served this amazing appetizer on a slab of wood....

weird cheese concoction topped with red onions served with fresh pretzels = amazing

ben was slightly intimidated by his schnitzel but enjoyed it none the less

i opted for the 'sausages on parade,' because with a name like that, how can you not?  the sauerkraut was the best part.

after dinner we walked and walked and walked, ending up back at our hotel and sleeping well after all that hearty food & walking.  the next morning we were greeted to beautiful sunshine when we looked from our hotel room to the city center:

we had about 3 hours to explore the city before heading back to the airport, so we asked a cabbie to drop us off at the city center, which turned out to be city hall.

this was the perfect spot to explore from.  we happened across lots of fun bakeries and shops with plenty of window displays to entice us as we explored munich.

 although, disappointingly, the christmas markets were not yet open, there were still lots of the weekly markets who had already begun to sell their christmas decorations.

the markets were incredible, with so much fresh produce and mouth-watering prepared foods.  as ben said, 'they put our markets to shame. it's why it's called europe:  they're so advanced!'  i'm  not sure what that means, but i'm on board with it.

 zee germans were out in abundance, enjoying their saturday morning coffee and sausages.

we wandered over to the hofbrauhaus, because you have to.

surprisingly, it was already filling up with people out for their first beer of the day (it was 10am).

little shops selling your basic lederhosen were everywhere-- but i especially liked the children's versions.  so cute!

 at 11am we headed back to city hall so as not to miss the once-daily glockenspiel show.  it was unimpressive, but at least we can say we saw it!

afterward with just an hour to spare, we headed back to the market for breakfast.  here we enjoyed the very authentic german breakfast sausage, weisswurst, which comes in a thick white casing & is almost sweet.  it's served with pretzels-- but i opted for the german potato salad because it's delicious.  of course, you can't have it without beer...

alll of the locals seemed to be hanging out here (though most were opting for the liquid breakfast & looked as though they'd be staying for the better part of the day).  we wished we had more time, but will certainly look forward to another trip in the future.

some pictures from the week

this week has been a great one, and it's gone by so quickly!  it's already thursday - a holiday - which i will spend packing & preparing for our trip to the states.  tomorrow afternoon we'll fly to munich, where we'll spend our first night in germany.  on saturday afternoon we will arrive in the us.  it's a work-trip, so our first week will be spent at work, but after that it's family & thanksgiving time!

this week we got to spend a little time with our favorite 1-year old and her folks.  she has a slight obsession going on with tiny chairs, so we couldn't resist getting her this lady bug stool to perch on while reading in her little 'house.'  

 lincoln looks on approvingly

she thought it was kind of cool, for about a minute...

seems to pass her sturdiness test

 but then she showed us what she was REALLY thrilled about:  the box!

it's the perfect fit!

uncle ben zoomed her around in it & the stool was quickly forgotten.  s'aight, we appreciate a girl who knows a good box when she sees it!

weeee!

last night was spent at the marine corps 235th birthday ball with friends tom & lisa.  it was quite an event, beginning with an hour & a half long ceremony honoring the marines.  ben and i both enjoyed learning about their traditions and watching them dole out the birthday cake, first to the honored guest, then to the oldest marine, who then served the youngest marine.

then the party began, and boy did we have fun watching people tear it up on the dance floor!

cheers, marines!

i'll try to post some pictures from munich when we get to the states, but no promises!  

happy thanksgiving to all if i don't post here before then.  enjoy time spent with your family and friends- ben and i are certainly looking forward to time at home with our family.  

pics from my bachelorette!

margot sent me a cd of pictures from the wedding festivities this week & it has been a lot of fun re-living the events that surrounded our happy occasion.  below are some pictures from the bachelorette party... as you can tell we had a great time!  i'll start with these and post more as i get them organized.

our condo at bristol harbour resort, canandaigua, ny

view from our condo

after picking margot up from the rochester airport and checking into our condo for the night, we headed to the spa for an afternoon of relaxation.  sarah, alexa, margot & i shared a lot of laughs over mani's & pedi's.  we then headed back to the condo for a bit of bubbley, to kick off the festivities.

main room of the condo

my gorgeous sister

my bitchin' bachelorette shoes

getting ready for a night o' fun

lydia arrived with her folks- they had taken the long way from albany on rt. 20 and were very glad to get out of the car!

sel, me and lyds

 eric & mary stayed long enough to check out our digs and have a picture with their surrogate daughter (i lived with them my senior year of high school) before heading to auburn for the night.

i love my brights!

margot volunteered for the seemingly simple task of popping the prosecco... but it ended up putting her skills to the test:

hmmm... why is this not opening?

a cork screw seems insufficient

glad she didn't chip a tooth

 about an hour and fifty utensils later, she figured it out (i'm still not sure how).  the rose prosecco was well worth the wait!

leave it to johanna to bring chipendale cupcakes.  they were delicious!

contemplating what fun she'll have

there were lots of fun gifts- though some not suitable for the internet, according to my picture download manager.  sarah provided all of the essential bachelorette accessories, including my sash.

lydia got really creative and found some hunky hand-made pot holders.  love them.

alexa gave me a beautiful handkerchief from belgium, which i wore in the wedding.

after gifts & drinks, we headed out for a two minute walk next door to dinner.

anxious to get our food on

do not mess with us

dinner was fabulous, and with an incredible view.

afterward it was back to the condo for plenty of champagne, supplied by holly & laura who bring the party with them, wherever they go!

champagna

me & jo

cheers!

cupcakes on the back deck- nice face jess

i had no idea alexa was doing this.  dork!

not sure what was being said in this toast but wow, look at my face

at the end of the night, some really nice toasts were given, and i felt very much loved & supported.  thank you ladies for such a special pre-wedding retreat!

lovely ladies!

margot is really, really tall!