Category Archive

Germany

This German castle is what fantasy dreams are made of

I know y’all love some good fantasy real estate. So while this isn’t something you can buy (not that most of it is!), it IS something we all can ogle with glee. If you happen to find yourself in Wierschem, Germany add Eltz Castle (Burg Eltz) to your list to step right back in time.

What the Germans can teach us about embracing negativity

I didn’t realize until years after I moved back to the States, but the German outlook suits my personal view of life much better than the American one. I admire their unapologetic skill in taking the bad with the good. That means that negativity is not only normal, but totally healthy from their perspective!

How to make soft pretzels, Austrian-style

Brezeln (aka pretzels) are not particularly difficult to make, but they do require precision. The most enjoyable part of the pretzels is forming them. A man in a pub showed me how to do it, and I have tried to recreate it with photographs…

Our hipster city trip to Berlin

Berlin is a city of hipsters: especially in the neighborhood of Kreuzberg, which was right around the corner from our hotel. You almost can’t take a step without tripping over an artisan coffee bar, a craft beer pub or a vegan snack bar. It was amazing. We ate out every night, rarely spent more than € 40 for the two of us, and ate GREAT food. It was fabulous dahling.

Our Trans-Siberian trip: Traveling from Beijing to Paris, by train

I have wanted to do the Trans-Siberian trip for ten years, so it was well and truly time! We started in Beijing, China and did the Trans-Siberian Railway. So we travelled by train through Mongolia and Russia, then went to Finland, Denmark, Germany, and France, flying back to Australia from Paris.

Take a virtual trip around the world with this open-ended, world-traveling honeymoon

We both LOVE to travel, over the course of our relationship we’ve gone on a number of international hosteling/backpacking trips together. We’d been joking about going around the world, but when we found out that Alex would be getting laid off the same week that Sara would finish grad school it seemed like the perfect opportunity to actually do it!

Make real German homemade Glühwein from this secret family recipe

Glühwein (mulled wine) is really popular in Germany at Christmas. You get it in every Christmas Market and a lot of people make their own at home. Glühwein is a hot drink traditionally made of red wine, tea, spices and sugar. So if you want to try it, I show you how.

Language barriers, boredom, and giant floating heads: My experience as an expat in Austria

In the fall of 2012, my husband surprised me with news: his graduate adviser proposed an opportunity for him to live and work for six months in Austria as part of his PhD research. o without school obligations or kids, we took the plunge to move to Europe for six months. Two to three weeks, one Bar exam, and one packed up apartment later, we were in Chicago to pick up our visas, then we took our flight to Vienna.