Prague

On January 1^st, our friend Wolf from Dresden was kind enough to drive us across the border to Prague, Czech Republic. We spent a whole day there, walking around and using a combination of Wolf’s knowledge and the Trip Advisor app to explore the city. 

  We went from the beautiful main square, over the famous Charles Bridge, and up to the castle grounds.  The grounds were full of beautiful buildings. We especially loved St. Vitus Cathedral, which dates back to the 14th century. Also on the grounds, we strolled down the ¨Golden Lane¨, which contained many miniature houses. Rachel was glad to find a house that was her size. :) Nobody is sure of the real purpose of these small houses, but most believe that they were used for the Emperor's guards, or for his alchemists who claimed to be able to convert ordinary metals into gold. Being on top of the hill, we had beautiful views of the city, and could try to count all the towers we saw, since Prague is known as ¨the golden city of a hundred towers¨.

We enjoyed walking through the old town, seeing the Jewish cemetery, eating at an underground vegetarian restaurant, and of course, soaking up our last Christmas market of the season in the beautiful square in the center of the city!

Although our time was short, we loved what we saw in the time we had. Prague was the great way to kick off the new year.

East Germany Part 1: Saxon Switzerland/Dresden

                                                                                                                                         (Author: Devin)

After our week in Western Germany, we headed East.  We wanted at some point to spend a bit of time away from the major cities, and had heard of a beautiful area known as “Saxon Switzerland” (in the region of Saxony) that looked ideal for quiet scenery and outdoor hiking and relaxation.  So after catching a very long bus ride to Dresden, we hopped on the train to Bad Schandau, a small mountain town with a cozy place to stay.  It was late when we finally got in, very cold, not another soul for miles – eh, kilometers.  But, how to get to the hotel?  Rachel tried calling, and… nobody spoke English.  Eventually, with frost in our boogers, we managed to use a combination of her semester’s worth of German and awkward hand signals to get a taxi ride. 

A real surprise bonus to our time in Bad Schandau was discovering that Holly, one of Rachel’s college roommates and bridesmaid, so happened to be in Prague with some friends right then.  Being only a two hour drive, she and her seven friends piled into a five-seater and came to meet us!  We had so much fun hiking to waterfalls and amazing viewpoints, getting to reconnect with Holly and hanging out with her incredible friends, who were from ALL over the world.

We then took the train back into Dresden where we stayed with Wolf, an old high school friend of Rachel’s.  He and his whole family were awesome, and it was so fun getting to know them better and seeing the everyday life of an East German family.  They were incredible hosts, and it was a special treat to sit down with them for dinner every night – grandparents included!  Dresden is a fascinating city, and Wolf was obviously very proud of it and extremely informative.  The difference between East and West Germany, with the war history and Communist legacy, and their modern struggle for identity was truly eye-opening and intriguing.  The skyline of the old city as seen from along the river is breathtaking. One of our favorite aspects was the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche). This church was an icon of the city, and was bombed during the war. For forty years, it was left in ruins, until 1994, when they began the 11-year process to rebuild it. Rachel sung a very moving song about this church when she was in high school for a Veteran’s Day concert, and it was surreal for her to actually get to walk through it.  It is astonishing how they rebuilt it using both new stones and ones from the old structure.  Also, a favorite fun fact was that the city’s Catholic Church long ago had to be built literally on the King’s “front lawn” because, although the King was Catholic, the mainly Protestant population didn’t want a Catholic church built on public city ground.

The Frauenkirche at night, you can see the different color of stone mixed in the use.

The skyline of the old town - so beautiful.

A beautiful church along the river.

The real highlight of our time in Dresden was New Year’s Eve.  We had heard that this was a big deal in Germany, but nothing could have prepared us for what happened.  Beginning around 6pm, there were fireworks being set off at random around the neighborhood… and not little ones either.  These things shook the walls!  As the hours rolled on, the entire city became a microwavable popcorn bag at the 2 minute mark, until we finally made our way down to the riverfront around 10pm where every street was totally packed with people lighting off insanely massive fireworks right and left. 360 degrees of what were essentially mortar simulators, not even a speck of silence for a good four or five hours, the city awash in thick smoke; it was quite literally a danger zone!  The storm raged on way past midnight, and in the morning there were huge piles of fireworks and trash in all of the streets.  We had made it out alive. For our last evening spent in Dresden, we can certainly say that we "went out with a bang". 

Christmastime in Germany

                                                                                                                                        (Author: Rachel)

Germany has always been a special place to me. It is the first place I spent a significant amount of time in Europe (not counting the first European tour I did as a teenager.) The semester that I spent there in college was extremely life changing, and it was the first experience that made me begin to desire to actually live in Europe. For years afterwards, I intensely missed Germany, and tried to do everything in my power to get back there! I first visited again about four years later with my parents. Shortly after that visit, I finished my teaching credential program, and immediately began looking for jobs in Germany (which, strangely, is how I ended up in Spain!)

So flash forward to current day…

One of the first important decisions we had to make after getting married was what we were going to do about Christmas! Being with our families for Christmas has always been important to both of us, but having just flown home for the wedding in October, we didn’t feel like we could afford two more trans-Atlantic tickets just a couple of months later. We also had a crazy Fall of still being in different locations more than we would like, and were ready for some quality time together! We decided it made the most sense to do something unique for our first married Christmas.

Christmastime in Germany has been a long dream for both of us. Devin has heard me talk about Christmas in Germany ever since we first started dating (which was right after I returned), so he has had building desire to be there also.

Thankfully, we have close friends who currently live in Wiesbaden. When they invited us to spend Christmas with their families, and offered to let us use their home as our “base”, we knew we had to do it!

The first week, we spent in Western Germany. Of course, the first day there we went to Heidelberg. I always dreamed of being in Heidelberg with the person I loved…but did not imagine it would be a reality just a few years later! The most surreal part was that we got to stay in the same Pension where I lived for a semester. The pension is tucked away on a small side street in the old town, and it was just as I remembered. It was so much fun to share my experience there with Devin, get to show him my room, have him meet the owner of the Pension, and listen to the church bells outside the window together.

We leisurely wandered through the Christmas markets, walked along philosopher’s way, strolled up and down the Haupstrasse, had a few gluhweins to warm up, indulged in some zimtsterne (my favorite Christmas cookie!!), and spent sunrise in the Castle courtyard.  It was so fun to share memories with Devin and relive my experience there again.

Looking at the city from Philosophenweg.

From the top of the Heiligeistkirche

View from the Castle courtyard on a cloudy and windy morning!

The next day, we took a driving tour along the Rhine River to look at all the castles. I had no idea that the river is completely lined with beautiful castles – some restored, and others quite original. At first, we stopped to get out at each one, but when we realized how many there were, we decided to complete the tour as just sightseeing from the car.

Rhine River behind us 

The following days surrounding Christmas, we spent in Stuttgart, a city about two hours south. I had been there before to visit my friend, but it was fun to see it in a different light. We had Christmas dinner with combined families of our friends, and stayed cosy inside the German homes - napped by the fireplace, toured the Stuttgart castle on a rainy day, ate authentic German food (made by a German grandma!), and sang German carols by the Christmas tree. Thankfully, we were able to skype with my family on Christmas morning, so I could watch them open gifts, and we even had a spot at the breakfast table. It was really hard to not be there in person, but technology thankfully let us get as close as possible while still being across the ocean.

This is the famous style of German mug. I purchased one for my grandma years earlier,
and now Devin and I have matching custom ones. We love them!

Our amazing friends, Michel and Julia, who made our Christmas so special.

We struggled to tear ourselves away from this fireplace.

German food at it's finest.

A rainy day to tour the castle of Stuttgart

To wrap up our time in Western Germany, we took a day trip to Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is a city just over the border of Germany, with an interesting mix between French and German architecture. It is a beautiful town, which thankfully still had their Christmas markets set up! We only had a few hours there, but spent them admiring the unique buildings, browsing the markets, and taking in the breathtaking cathedral.

Such beautiful (and delicious!) macaroons

The next day, we set off for Eastern Germany, which I’ll let Devin tell you about in our next post!

Copenhagen

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark              Dates of trip: December 6-9                    Traveler: Rachel

In early December, our school had a three-day weekend for ¨La Constitución¨. Devin was in the States for work at this point, so I took a trip with some girl friends! In usual fashion for December travel, we were seeking out fun Christmas Markets. Christmas markets were one of the biggest reasons I originally wanted to live in Europe. During my semester studying abroad in Germany, I fell in love with festivity and coziness of Christmas markets, and knew that I wanted them to be a part of every Christmas for the rest of my life. :) I had heard all good things about Copenhagen, and they were supposed to have really good Christmas Markets, so two friends and I headed there!

We didn't really consider how far north we were going, and forgot to consider that the length of daylight would be shorter up there. Our flight landed at 3:30... just as the sun was setting! We couldn't believe how early it got dark, but we tried to make the most of the days anyway. Being Barcelona girls spoiled by 60 degrees in December, we knew we would be in for the shock of the cold. We all wore multiple layers every time we stepped outside, so we were prepared to face it (hence why I look like a marshmallow in every picture!)

The city has a beautiful, nordic feel. I am sure it is gorgeous in the summer, but in December, it is definitely a place to admire from indoors, sipping hot beverages (I drank my fair share of chai while there.) Everything was cozy, and given the season and temperature, we were driven inside most of the time. We hit the hot spots - the famous commune - Christiana, the picturesque port - Nyhavn, and the famous theme park/Christmas market - Tivoli Gardens. We also enjoyed leisurely wandering up and down their pedestrian shopping street, which happens to be the longest one in Europe. The last day we were there, it was pouring rain, so we took a boat cruise throughout the canals and to go see the famous little mermaid statue.

The short days really confused our bodies, and we found ourselves being tired much earlier than normal. This provided for a more restful weekend than we expected, but none of us minded going to bed early! Copenhagen is beautiful, and I would love to experience it during a time of year that I could be outside more, but it was a wonderful place to have a Christmassy, wintery weekend.

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Where is the most beautiful place you have been at Christmas time? What are your favorite things to do while traveling to a cold place?

Luxembourg

A couple of weeks after returning from our honeymoon, we had another chance to get away. Thanks to the abundant number of holidays in the Spanish calendar, we had a three day weekend to start off November.

We tossed around many ideas for where to spend this break, unsure of how we would be feeling and settling into life in Barcelona. Since Barcelona does not get much of a Fall, we thought it would be fun to go someplace that we could see some leaves and get to wear heavier jackets. Amidst putting the final touches on wedding planning, deciding where to go for this weekend trip was taking a lot of time.  Two days before the wedding, Rachel needed to stop thinking about it, and was determined to just choose a place and go with it. In a point of exhaustion, while looking at destinations with inexpensive flights, Luxembourg popped up. Although she could not have pointed to Luxembourg on a map, she google image searched it, saw a pretty picture, and pressed "Book Flight." Done.

Luxembourg is a beautiful (tiiiiiny) country, nestled between Germany, France, and Belgium.

We stayed in Luxembourg City, and it was incredibly quiet while we were there (given that Friday was a holiday, so everything was closed, and Sundays everything is closed anyway.) Thankfully, our list of things ¨to-do¨ was not very long. We really just wanted to experience being somewhere new together, and discover it as we go. It was a slow paced trip, but we enjoyed just walking around the city. Luxembourg City is an interesting mix of French, German, and Belgian influence, so we had fun observing ways in which it felt like each of them. We had a little rain, which gave us the opportunity to hibernate, eat soup, and drink coffee. No complaints there! One especially cool part of the city is the Casemats - the old passageways and tunnels used for defending the city, originally dug in 1644. These pictures give you an idea of the the small, but scenic city.

 We took a day trip to a nearby town called Vianden, which had a beautiful castle. The town itself was very small, but we found it had beautiful woods, and we enjoyed a long walk in the colorful leaves.

We had a lovely, quiet weekend. It was refreshing to be somewhere calm, to have some cooler weather, and to not feel rushed in the least. And before we knew it, we were back to the hustle and bustle of Barcelona!

Honeymoon in Tenerife

After the whirlwind of our wedding, we left two days after the wedding and flew to Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands (owned by Spain, but actually closer to Africa.) We originally wanted a more adventurous honeymoon, but after two trans-atlantic flights and the craziness that surrounded the wedding, we were thankful for a relaxing destination.

Couldn't wait to pass out on the long flight. All we could
think about at this point was getting sleep!

We stayed at a timeshare generously lent to us by Rachel's parents, which was right on the coast.

The island is very small, and once we slept for about three days straight, we decided we did want to explore, so we rented a car for one day. We were able to see a lot in just one day of driving.

Los Gigantes 

The terrain surrounding the highest point in Spain, Mount Teide.

The famous drago tree.

Gotta love selfies...the only way to get pictures together when we're the only people for miles around!

Final sunset as we departed this beautiful place.

We highly recommend Tenerife, and would love to go to the other Canary Islands. While we wish we could have seen more, we also enjoyed the change of pace, and left feeling rested, refreshed, and ready for married life in Barcelona.