All good things must come to and end...

We're on our way home! Sitting in the Heathrow Airport at the moment, the dreaded Terminal 5, no less (crossing our fingers our luggage follows us). We've just spent about two weeks with Stephanie's family - first visiting her dad's relatives in Normandie, then off to Brittany to visit her mom's side. It was great to see familiar faces and have home-cooked meals again!

Our trip was everything we could ask for and so much more. It has been...exhausting yet exhilirating; so short yet so very long; frustrating yet eye-opening; stressful yet relaxing; travelled so far yet barely explored the rest of the world. We're excited to be coming home, yet dreading the thought of going back to reality. Sadly, we can't stay in la-la land forever.

We kept joking that we might just kill each other along the way but how many people can stand being around just one other person 24/7 for 4 months? But we've survived and have truly tested our marriage for the better. Not too bad for being newlyweds. ;)

Traveling truly gives you another perspective on life and the memories we'll keep forever can't be replaced.

**update**
We finally made it home and we have our luggage with us!

Amsterdam

The bad weather followed us from Brussels to Amsterdam and sadly it rained for almost the entire 4 days. Again, Steven had previously been to the city so he was familiar with almost everything except for the Anne Frank house - the line was too long each time he tried to visit.

The sun finally did show it's face one afternoon we rented our yellow bikes and rode around town, up and down the little streets and canals.















Bicycles are absolutely everywhere in Amsterdam, some of them even have nifty contraptions for carrying other people or large items.







And everyone has heard about the Red Light District in Amsterdam - it was just interesting to see the red curtains and lights mixed in with other restaurants, coffee shops, apartments, etc. No big deal, right?

Photography, obviously, is not allowed near the windows so this is the best we could do. And, judging by what we saw in the middle of the day, it's probably best we couldn't take photos as it wasn't pretty. :/

We did manage to make it over to the Anne Frank Museum on our last day and toured the house where her and her family hid for so many years. It was difficult to understand how 8 people could live in such a small space and never leave, much less see the sun, but that is the power of the museum. Pictures were not allowed, although there isn't much to see inside as all of the furniture was removed by the Nazis and never replaced. There was one quote at the end of the museum we thought was moving:

"Anne Frank has become a symbol for the millions of Jews whose lives were cut short and whose potential was never realized. It is hard to fathom six million Jews being murdered by the Nazis, but Anne Frank has made it easier for people today to comprehend the concept of one Jew being killed six million times."

Brussels

We didn't have much time in Brussels after spending the entire day traveling from Prague. Let's just say the 5 hours in the Budapest airport lounge was not the most interesting;(

After checking into our hotel, we wandered down the alley with tons of restaurants all offering the same thing - moules frites (mussels and fries). Brussels isn't known for too many things, but moules frites and beer are two things so we weren't going to question it.

This is basically what moules frites looks like - a huge bowl of mussels and another huge bowl of fries are brought out and there you have it.

By the time we finished with dinner, it was well close to 11pm so we called it a day and went to sleep.

We woke up the next morning and walked through the Grand Place, the main square:

Then over to see the statue of the Manneken-Pis (aka the Pissing Boy):

And we had to try a Belgian waffle to compare and make sure it tasted ok. It tasted just fine, albeit quite messy when chocolate and whipped cream is added.

And staying with the food theme, we wanted to pick up a box of chocolates for Stephanie's aunt and uncle who we were visiting in a few days. There were so many chocolate stores, fortunately we asked the hotel for a recommendation and were not disappointed. We picked up a few pieces for us while we were at it.

With about an hour to spare before catching our train, we walked over to the Tintin museum. We didn't have enough time to go into the museum, but they had a big gift store that we checked out and this Deux Chevaux (literally translated meaning "two horses") in the courtyard of the museum. Stephanie's dad used to drive one when he was younger and it always reminds her of him.

We picked up our luggage from the hotel and barely made it to the train station before it started pouring rain.

Prague

A little behind on blogging, but better late than never.

We spent 5 nights in Prague, probably a few days too many but it was nice to take our time and walk the city. Since Steven had previously been to Prague, he played tour guide for Stephanie.

The main square:

On the hour, hoards of tourists gather in the main square to watch the astronomical clock on the Old Town Hall Tower - two small trap doors open above the clock and small figurines representing Christ and disciples go around in a circle. Not extremely impressive but considering it was constructed in the 15th century, we'll say it's noteworthy.

Goulash is a must in any central European country and Steven definitely had his fill, accompanied by typical dumplings.

We also enjoyed some hot chocolate and these cinnamon bun things - a welcomed treat since it was about 50 degrees outside. BRRRRRR!

After a few days of walking around the city, we figured we should take a day trip and explore another part of the Czech Republic. Karlovy Vary, a cute town known for its hot springs, was a short bus ride away and seemed like a good choice.

The town has about 20 mineral springs and everyone carries these funny-looking porcelain cups sipping mineral water. We each took a small sip with our hands and decided people were nuts for consuming such large quantities of something that tasted and smelled like rotten eggs. But it's a good marketing ploy and whoever thought of it is laughing all the way to the bank.

One of the small springs:

The largest spring:

The suckers, err, tourists, with their cups:

The Grand Pupp Hotel, located in Karlovy Vary, was used in the James Bond film, Casino Royale:



Another interesting tidbit...Karlovy translates to Karlsbad in German and the California city of Carlsbad is named after this city in the Czech Republic.

We ended our visit to Karlovy Vary with a traditional wafer - it looks, and tastes, like cardboard.

Back in Prague, we spent our last day visiting the famous Prague Castle. But first, we had to walk over the Charles Bridge. Fortunately, it's a pedestrian-only bridge - it would be a mess to try and maneuver around massive crowds with cars and trucks.

View of the castle in the background - please note it took 7 tries to take this picture.

We hiked to the top of the hill and finally arrived at the castle. Probably the most notable part of the castle is the cathedral so inside we went to admire the stained glass.

And we had to climb the 287 steps to the top to admire the view of the city:

We walked back down the steps and hobbled back to our hotel with our jelly legs.

Vienna

Vienna was next on our "European Vacation" and even though we spent 3 nights, we really don't have too many updates. Can you tell we're ready to come home???

Vienna, like most cities in Europe, is great for walking so basically we did just that. We walked. And then we walked some more. We walked past some museums, momentarily thought about going in, then decided to just keep going. The city has a huge art collection and is well-known for operas, neither of which we're huge fans of so we decided to pass. Maybe next time we'll bring our fancy clothes and check out a concert. Maybe. ;)

In the meantime, we couldn't go to Austria and not get a grown-up hot dog and beer at a stand! Do not be fooled, this was no ordinary baseball hot dog - crusty french bread, dijon mustard, and a good Austrian sausage, it hit the spot. Add some beer and we have a happy Steven.

Besides eating schnitzel and sausages, we did actually see a few things in Vienna. The Stephansdom Cathedral, in Stephansplatz Square, is one of Vienna's most famous attractions.

We took an elevator ride (stairs were not even an option) to the top of one of the towers for a view of the city:

We walked over to the Naschmarkt, a huge market full of anything and everything one could think of buying. One side of the market is dedicated to fresh produce, cheese, olives, spices, etc. while the other side is mainly restaurants. We grabbed a bite to eat while enjoying people-watching, other favorite pastime these days.

A few other pictures we took along the way:

Parliament building:

Rathaus, Vienna's city hall:

One-man band - wish we would have hired him for the wedding.

We ventured out of the city on our last morning and went to Schonbrunn Palace, an enormous palace with exquisite gardens. The emporer wanted to model his palace after Versailles in Paris, he did a pretty good job.

Hofburg Imperial Palace was our final stop in Vienna. With multiple buildings housing numerous residences (including the current President of Austria), several museums, chapels, etc. this place is huge!

There was a small entrance to the Treasury where all of the beautiful jewels are currently stored. Surprisingly, our non-flash pictures didn't turn out too badly.

And no trip to Vienna would be complete without a piece of Sacher-torte from the infamous Sacher Cafe. Athough this little piece of cake cost a small fortune, we can say we've been and we've tasted. Now if only we could get our little hands on the secret recipe...(the fancy drink was Steven's hot chocolate with chocolate liquor poured on top).