The Long and Winding Road

Hi friends. I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to follow our blog, and maybe even read the posts (wishful thinking)? This was the experience of a lifetime, and despite having our downs along with our ups, we learned so much about the world, traveling, and each other.

We learned a new level of patience, and (especially for me) a new ability to roll with the punches. We learned that, for a couple that hardly fights at all, spending 24 hours a day/7 days a week/2 months together is bound to breed a little tension. We learned to love baguettes. So many baguettes. And Chorizo. And cheese (Okay, we already loved cheese). We learned the hand brake on an incline trick the hard way. We learned about sweet vermouth, Belgian beer, and Italian wine.We learned how cheap it is to drink in Europe. We learned when to stick to, and when to bend the budget. We learned that I shouldn't undergo intensely emotional experiences before riding a bike. We learned about Kings, Queens, Emperors and Empires. We learned that summer is the rainy season in the North. We learned that we have a lot to learn.

If anyone decides to take the plunge and put together a trip like ours at some point, we are always here for advice and recommendations. It wasn't always easy, and it was almost never cheap, but it was worth every minute and every dollar. I think part of the reason it took us so long to finish this documentation was a desire for it never to end. Now it has, and we will never be the same in all the best ways. 

Take Me Home, Country Roads

[ By Michael ]
To the place I belong, California, Pacific shore-a, take me home, skyway roads. And just like that we were home. Well, not actually just like that; no, there was a bit of Europe bidding us to stay in our final hours of the year’s centerpiece (figurativelyand literally). Our last few days in Paris were spent resting, organizing, washing, preparing and searching for the best crepe offering in town. In our final Parisian hour, having gorged ourselves on crepes and direly scouring the city for all of the speculoospasta available, the sky went boom! and suddenly rain. What a wet mess it was getting out of central Paris as throngs of people stood huddled beneath every overhang and in every subway terminal as the European sky bawled and bellowed at our impending departure.

Depart we did, however, on a long, restless journey that saw us subway it to a bus depot, bus it to a cargo train, train it (in the bus) beneath the English channel, bus it to London Victoria, bus it to Gatwick, plane it to NYC via Reykjavik, train it to New York only to hit a travel wall.

Between London Victoria and Gatwick, we were provided with approximately six hours of London sightseeing, which after a necessary nap on the Victoria Station floor, was nearer to three hours. We set out into The Smoke (which was hardly smoky at all) and took on Monday morning London. As I had never been there, Ali found it pertinent to see the sights worth seeing within three hours. Out from Victoria Station, we headed North up Buckingham Palace Road, hung out at the fountain, observed the guards, headed East beneath the canopy of The Mall to Trafalgar Square, hung out with the lion statues, observed the double-decker busses, headed South down Whitehall to Parliament, walked out onto Westminster Bridge and spent some time taking in the Eye , Parliament and its Big crown, headed West across Westminster Abbey, down Victoria St and back to the coach station just in time to catch our bus to Gatwick, leaving London peacefully intact, sunny and beautiful. Again, leaving London peacefully intact.

Our sleepless 9 hour return flight took us through Reykjavik to Newark, on the NYC bound train, to a subway station only to find the service stopped. Detouring through Brooklyn, after three hours back to our lodging near Wall Street, we immediately laid down for a long nap. Upon waking; London was burning. We had missed the riots by six hours! We’re going to go with fortuitous.

NYC was dazzling as always as we sought out the Belgian food we couldn’t afford in Brugge and continued our beer odyssey. We visited Wall Street the day of a 400 point drop to witness the disheveled, disheartened brokers peeling out of there like withered petals falling from a dead stem. Many people were there to apparently witness the same melodrama. We walked around the WTC Site, saw the progress they have finally made on the structure, made a gift drop and started a long, painful journey to Newark that was littered with station closures, line shutdowns, reroutes through public transportation systems we didn’t even know existed, overpriced cab fare and oh, an opened sky of cascading, summer showers. NYC, it would appear, didn’t care to see us go either. Were we ready? Probably not, but we boarded our flight to Orange County anyway and ended the best Summer Vacation of our lives. Europe 2011 – 9 Countries, 26 cities, 2 people, 1 love.

 

Beer, Beer, Beer

After a short drive from Aachen, we finally arrived at our last unique destination of the trip. We pulled up to our B&B just inside the old city, arguably our best lodging deal of the trip. It was far from fancy, but we had our own room, free parking (an incredible luxury after two months of parking pains), light breakfast in the morning, and a short walk to the main square. 

We went seeking food the first night, only to get our first taste of how bat crazy expensive Brugge is. Given we were at our last stop, money was tight. I mean tight. Had to eat at Subway tight. But this minor setback couldn't detract from the preserved medieval beauty down every stone street. I was sold. We wandered over small canals and found a tiny hole-in-the-wall bar, apparently a local joint judging by the looks we got when we walked in. This ended up being our most fortuitous decision. The owner/barkeep was cold at first, but opened up when he realized we we actually knew a little bit about beer. After an informative conversation and three extremely strong and extremely delicious beers, he handed us a book called Around Bruges in 80 Beers, which features his and many other establishments paired with the 80 best beers they offer. This became our bible. 

While food was shockingly expensive, beer was quite the opposite. We spent the next 3 days following our little map of bars and beers all over the city, occasionally stopping to refuel with street food. We saw corners of the city we probably never would have, beer tasted under windmills, befriended English beer connoisseurs and bartenders in an underground bar,  and learned that "have a few beers" is an American phrase not to be applied in Belgium on a half-full stomach. 

On our way out of town we stopped through Oostend on the northern coast, hence the beach walk photo, but unfortunately it wasn't much to talk about. Brugge was a perfect way to end our epic journey. We spent all of our three days there just enjoying their true local culture away from the crowded tourist spots and main squares. I was in awe of everything about this place, and in the end it gave every other place we'd been a run for its money. 

The Richest Man in Babylon

We had one night to kill before heading to Brugge, and no clue what to do with it, so we followed a piece of parental advice and headed back into Deutschland to the little city of Aachen. It's the country's western-most city and sits right where Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany meet. Considering it was the favored residence of Charlemagne, we figured it couldn't be half bad. We booked a chain hotel last minute and made it before dark. 

We were a little outside the old city, but I don't think anything in Aachen was out of walking reach so it was an easy stroll into town to find food for our empty bellies. We'd had a long day of driving so we stopped in a small liquor store to buy a liter bottle of Franziskaner for each of us, which the clerk happily opened at the register so we could drink them on the walk (sigh... Europe). Upon finding a build your own baked potato shop, I knew that if Michael had anything to do with it, we'd found dinner. We comfort fooded out and wandered the cobble stone streets to find an ice cream sundae like only the Germans can do. 

We woke up early thanks to a much appreciated hotel bed, got all packed up, and headed out to explore the city and Charlemagne's cathedral. We had an amazing breakfast right under the gothic building, and headed in to look around. We found the most ornate, intricate, gilded interior we'd see yet (if not an arguable tie with the abbey outside Munich). We stood staring up in awe for a long while, and then continued to wander the city until it was time to go. At first we were confused why the King of the Franks would choose such a small capital with no major body of water in sight, but little Aachen has definitely been added to our must return list.