rb-abroad

[rb-abroad]

A wannabe Dutchie’s ultimate guide to AMSTERDAM!

It’s finally here y’all, my FINAL POST for the trip! I had to go out with a bang and create the ultimate guide to Amsterdam, my absolute almost favorite city in the universe (LA wins out only because all my people are here... maybe we can all just move?)

I’ve spent A TON of time in Amsterdam over the past 2 years and have completely fallen in love with it. From the charming architecture to the charming people to biking around to the art to the food to the excellent beer selection, it has everything you could ever want in a metropolitan city. Without further ado, here are ALL my recommendations by category for this wonderful place, in order from most necessary to-do’s to deep cuts/only-do-if-you’re-nearby:

FOOD

Luckily the Dutch like to eat, just like me :)

Pancakes! Amsterdam

Gotta start it off here with a classic - we all know that the Dutch make some mean pancakes. This mini-chain serves up some of the best poffertjes (the tiny, puffed-up pancakes!) as well as the large, thin pancakes with fun toppings. There are a handful of locations around town but I’d recommend going to the big one next to the Anne Frank House if you want to sit down right away.

Moeders

Another classic restaurant staple near the centrum with traditional Dutch food (think meats, stews, veggies, potatoes, real light stuff :P). Get the “Rijstafel,” which means the kitchen will just send out various dishes of their choice. You will be SO FULL afterwards but you will also be so happy. “Moeders” means “Mothers” in Dutch, so plastered all over the restaurant are pictures of moms that customers have brought in over the years. So fun!

Winkel 43

LITERALLY THE BEST APPLE PIE IN THE WHOLE WORLD. IF YOU DON’T GO HERE WHILE YOU’RE IN AMSTERDAM I’M NOT SURE WE CAN BE FRIENDS ANYMORE. I WANT THIS AS MY BIRTHDAY CAKE EVERY YEAR FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. GET YOUR SLICE WITH WHIPPED CREAM, DON’T BE DAFT.

^ Me every time I eat this pie

Albert Cuyp Market - Stroopwafels!

This multi-block street market is an Amsterdam must-see! They have all kinds of food, clothing, and other goods, but be sure to stop for a fresh stroopwafel (a very famous Dutch delicacy) at the cart pictured below (it HAS to be this one!!). I’m partial to the original over the chocolate-dipped, but they are both delicious. Once you have a fresh stroopwafel you just can’t go back!

Got this pic of the website for you guys. UR welcome.

Foodhallen

This place is basically Grand Central Market on steroids. A converted train depot, or as one Dutch lady charmingly called it “the place where trains go to sleep,” this spot on the west side of the city is a huge upscale food court with all kinds of fun things - sushi, Mexican, Asian food, oysters, bitterballen, you name it. It’s a fun and festive place to go with a group because everyone can just order what they want. It gets pretty crowded on weekend nights so get there on the early side! 

La Perla Pizzeria

I didn’t think I would find some of the best pizza outside of Italy in Amsterdam, but that’s 100% my verdict on La Perla. In the adorable Jordaan neighborhood, this place can get pretty poppin’ in the evenings, especially the small terrace out front when the weather is nice. The bar is fun to sit at, but the pizzas are pretty large and things can get a bit crowded, so I’d recommend waiting for a table. Pair your pizza with a nice Aperol spritz in the summertime or a delicious bottle of red in the wintertime and you are set, my friend!

Van Stapele Koekmakerij

Shout-out to my girl Eleni who first told me about this place. This is a teeny-tiny shop in the Spui that sells the most delicious cookies you’ve ever had. Brave the line and get a tin of at least 6 to bring home, because it is absolutely worth it. They even give you directions for how to freeze and reheat them at home! But be sure to eat AT LEAST one fresh outta the oven :) It’s always a happy occasions when these cookies are involved. 

La Vallade

Ugh, this is Karel and my FAVORITE restaurant in all of Amsterdam! It’s a bit of a trek, unless you are staying on the east side of the city (aka Amsterdam Oost). La Vallade’s offerings are different every night (and Monday’s are vegetarian), and they make you a 5-course pre-fixe menu every night for like, 40 or 45 euros. It’s so cozy, cute, and delicious. If you are celebrating a special occasion or just feel like eating really well, definitely check this place out. 

The Cottage

Probably not easy to get to if you’re not in Amsterdam Oost, but The Cottage is hands down my favorite brunch spot in Amsterdam. It’s an English-style cafe-restaurant with simply the best scones, really great egg dishes, pot pies, you name it. They also serve this excellent cider called Black Fox, which you should definitely try (I’m not really a cider person and I LOVE it). 

Kantjil & De Tijger

Really good Indonesian food in the Spui. I never ate at the actual restaurant because they have a fantastic take-out window in the back. This place hits. the. spot.

De Laatste Kruimel

De Laatste Kruimel (or in English, “The Last Crumb”) is a small and adorable cafe pretty close to Dam Square and the Spui. They sell really delicious quiche, sandwiches, and pastries, and they have a cute and tiny patio in the back that sits right on a canal! You can’t get much more picturesque than that.  

Fou Fow Ramen

A very solid ramen spot in the centrum that is great for when you want something warm and delicious. I think my fam ate there 3x in a week once. 

Cafe Panache

On the west side and down the street from the Foodhallen, this upscale restaurant looks like it belongs in LA with the artisanal birdcage decor and impossibly beautiful people. Good for cocktails and special occasion dinners. 

Coffee & Coconuts

A big Australian-style cafe in De Pijp that serves great coffee and food. This is a solid place to get some work done or just cozy up with a book! They serve dinner too, but it’s quite expensive for what it is in my opinion.

Pluk

This place feels like Anthropologie if it were a very small Dutch cafe. There are two locations in the 9 streets, and they are good for sitting to read/work with a coffee or to have some soup/salad/pastries. It can get pretty crowded though, so prepare to wait a bit for a table.  

Bar Bukowski

In Amsterdam Oost, this spot is a tasty cafe by day (great for brunch/lunch) and a poppin’ bar by night! Excellent neighborhood spot with great cocktails, bitterballen, and other fun bar foods. Check it out if you’re nearby!

Omelegg

A solid bfast option with multiple locations if you’re into eggs and omelettes. Their OJ is also amazing.

DRINK

There are sooo many great beer spots and cocktail bars in Amsterdam. Read on for the best!

Brouwerij t’Ij

One of Amsterdam’s local breweries and my absolute favorite! You can find their beers in most local bars and cafes, but I’d highly recommend going to their actual brewery for the full experience. It operates right under an old windmill and has tons of outdoor seating with delicious beers on tap and bar snacks. My favorite beer of them all is the Zatte; it’s a tripel and quite alcoholic but SO so good. You can also get a flight if you’re really indecisive like me. Try it for yourself!

Waterkant

If you want to drink beer on a canal, look no further than Waterkant. It’s located discretely behind a gas station, but once you get to the entrance it’s this lively little bar with plenty of picnic tables right on the water. You can get food and drinks there, so just get yourself a pitcher and some bitterballen and hang out!

Tales & Spirits

My favorite cozy cocktail bar in the city! Each cocktail has a very fun and creative story behind it, and they’re all just delicious. If you’re indecisive, go with the old fashioned. Yuuuuum.

The Pulitzer Hotel Bar

My close-second favorite cocktail bar is in the back of the Pulitzer hotel. It’s super chic and has amazing drinks. The hotel itself is gorgeous too. My mom practically lives here when she visits and we just pretend we are guests of the hotel ;) A must-do for sure!

They called this drink the Valley of Ashes because they had an all Gatsby-themed menu at the time. So good!

Tripel

Your traditional Dutch brown cafe with tons of seating and great beer. You can also order your beer in a horn-shaped glass, so why not!

Wynand Fockink

It has a very silly name, but this place is awesome! It’s an extremely old liqueur and genever (traditional Dutch liquor) tasting room where they fill your glasses so full that you are supposed to take a sip while it’s on the table before lifting your glass (a la Zamboni). Super fun!

So creepy but you get the idea!

Andaz Hotel Bar

The fancy Amsterdam hotels definitely know how to make a mean cocktail, and the Andaz is no exception. They are known to get super extra and light rosemary on fire and collect the smoke and then infuse your bourbon with that smoke, but that’s part of the fun! Drink here if you’re prepared to drop 20 euro on a beverage.

JD William’s Whiskey Bar

If you’re into whiskey, this is a really fun whiskey bar! Hang on the couch and enjoy :)

THINGS TO DO

Of course there is so much more to do in Amsterdam than just eat and drink! Here are a few of my favorites:

See a comedy show at Boom Chicago

I mean, duh, this goes without saying! You can’t catch Karel onstage anymore (waaah!), but all of his other cast mates are still there and so funny, talented, and ridiculously good-looking! ;) My personal favorite shows are the fully-improvised ones, which you can catch on Saturday and Sunday nights. 

Wander around the canals & the Nine Streets

The best way to soak up the beauty of Amsterdam is to just walk around and get lost in the canals! I highly recommend the Nine Streets and surrounding canals because there are a ton of cute shops, cafes, and restaurants to see too. If you prefer more organized wandering, I’d recommend taking Sandemann’s New Europe free walking tour - it’s awesome and you get to learn a ton of the city’s history as well!

Go on a boat ride through the canals!

My favorite boat company is Dam Boat Guys because they are fun people and take out small groups onto the water. You can also rent your own boat if you’re feeling extra adventurous!

Rent bikes, even if it’s just to ride through Vondelpark

I’m not going to lie, when I came to Amsterdam the first time I was TERRIFIED of biking around. But once you do it, it makes it SO easy to get from A to B, it’s a lot less scary than it looks, and it’s an overall magical experience! If you have sub-average bike skills, I’d recommend renting a bike at the local Macbike and ride around Vondelpark (Amsterdam’s biggest park) for an hour or two. It’s quintessentially Dutch to bike, so you must do it!

^ My biker gang :P

Museum it up!

Amsterdam is well-known for it’s incredible selection of museums. My personal favorite is the Van Gogh museum, but other excellent ones include the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam’s louvre, check out the Dutch Masters hall with the famous Nightwatch painting for sure!), the Foam museum (very cool photography museum), and the Stedelijk museum (modern art). 

Anne Frank Haus

It’s sad as hell but you just gotta do it. Such a powerfully moving experience. Go to Winkel 43 right after because you earned that apple pie and coffee. It’ll help you introspect and then cheer you back up again.

Go to the Pure Markt on Sundays

Pure Markt is a huge farmers-market-like event held every Sunday throughout most of the year. It rotates to a different local park every month, and it features tons of delicious local food vendors. The ABSOLUTE highlight is the oyster man; he is an incredibly charming Amsterdam icon and located right next to the champagne cart, so it’s an experience of perfection. A close second is Madame Coco’s coconut macaroons... man, I miss those things. 

Will brave Pure Markt for oysters rain or shine

See the tulip gardens at the Keukenhof (springtime only!)

This massive garden has so many beautiful tulips! It’s only open approx. March-May but definitely worth a visit if you’re in town during that time. I took Cindyl and she loved it too!

Go to Drovers Dog monthly pub trivia

The first Monday of every month, an Australian-owned pub called Drovers Dog hosts trivia, and it’s SO FUN! They have a very cheap Monday night burger special every week (and that burger is THE BEST in all of Amsterdam), so you can come to eat, drink, AND play. 

OMG THAT’S IT Y’ALL! There are sooo many more spots I love, so if you have any more questions or want to go super deep with more recommendations in particular neighborhoods, please hit me up! I am always more than happy to talk about beautiful Amsterdam.

To anyone out there who’s actually been reading this blog, thanks for following along! I hope these tips and recommendations have helped or will help you in your future travels. I hope I have inspired someone out there to take on the world and get out of your comfort zone. I believe it’s simply one of the best things you can do!

Dank je wel & tot ziens!

[rb-abroad]

BONUS - Tips for your own globe trot!

Hi y’all! Before I wrap this blog up, I wanted to do a short post on some of the tips and tricks I learned along my travels and share some of the less-than-perfect instances and straight-up epic fails of my trip. On social media, we are usually sharing our best, most idyllic moments, and YES this trip was the most wonderful and dreamy experience, BUT there were some hiccups along the way that I would like to share in hopes that all of you planning your next getaway can learn a thing or two!

Understand (CLEARLY!) the terms of your travel abilities as a US citizen / what your travel visa allows. Before I left the US, I had some trouble finding the end-all-be-all source that clearly explained how long I was allowed to stay abroad without a student or work visa. If you’re planning an extended trip to Europe, here’s a quick summary: There is a group of European countries called the Schengen Area (get the list of the 26 here) that do not have passport control at their mutual borders. This means it’s suuuper easy to get in and out of these countries (who doesn’t love skipping customs?), but it also means that you cannot stay any longer than 90 days (combined) during a 180-day period. For example, my time spent in England and Ireland did not count toward my 90 days, but the time I spent in every other country on my trip did count. I extended my stay in London just so I could comply with these rules and literally left Holland on my 90th day. Also, DO NOT OVERSTAY!!! If you overstay even 3 days over your allotted 90, you could be subject to an entry ban for one year or more! That would be the worst, so just don’t do it! Thank god for the sage advice I got from my ex-pat gal pals Lizz and Kaylee (and the Dutch Consulate was super helpful, too!), otherwise I’d probably be banned from Europe and consequently would hate myself :)

Use Hopper and Google Flights to find good travel deals, but be sure to enter your passport info on the airline’s site once you book. This is less of a problem for Google Flights and moreso a piece of Hopper advice. My family had a hell of a time getting over to Amsterdam on our way out from the US because our flight from LAX to London was super delayed and we missed our connection to Amsterdam. We booked through Hopper and got a sweet deal, but we didn’t realize that it really helps improve your experience to write your passport info in your airline reservation profile after you book. Since our online profile was blank (aka, we did not go to AA.com and enter in our passport info after booking), the airline was not able to automatically re-book us on a new flight out to Amsterdam, and therefore I spent nearly THREE HOURS on the phone with Hopper and AA trying to sort new flights for us. It was a logistical nightmare, so just trust me on this and please enter your passport info in your airline profile.

Buy travel + health insurance. Luckily I didn’t have to use mine, but it definitely gave me peace of mind. For example, just tooootally hypothetically speaking, you might be biking around Amsterdam one day, and you just tooootally hypothetically might get hit by a car. And then you’ll hypothetically get up, and you’ll be completely fine minus a bruise and a scrape, and everyone around you will be so nice and make sure you’re ok and sit with you until you feel calm enough to get back on your bike because you don’t have data and you can’t call your boyfriend, but what if you weren’t so lucky and you actually got seriously hurt and couldn’t go to Germany the next day??? That would have been unbelievably awful. Anyway, that’s just a totally hypothetical story, Mom and Dad...

If you’re visiting a US Embassy anywhere, DO NOT bring electronics with you! You can bring in your phone, but that’s it. Don’t make the same mistake I did and bring literally ALL THE ELECTRONICS to your embassy appointment when it clearly states on your appointment confirmation NOT. TO. BRING. ELECTRONICS. They won’t let you in and you’ll have to reschedule your appointment for another date. I’m still rolling my eyes at myself. 

Download Google Maps and star your favorite places. My brother taught me this trick, and it’s a life-saver. When you go on the Google Maps app, search for the city you’re going to (e.g. Paris, France), tap the banner that pops up on the bottom of your screen, and click “Download.” This saves the map to your phone so you can access it offline/on airplane mode! You can also star/save your favorite places or places you want to visit when you have data/wifi and access those offline as well. 

Pack light when possible. If you’re country-hopping via train or you’re carrying on for your flight, pack as lightly as you can. There’s a lot of overhead lifting involved on planes and trains, so lightweight, versatile clothes and essentials only, ladies! The allowed airplane carry-on size is a bit smaller in Europe than in the US, so just keep that in mind so the flight attendants don’t glare at you (silly American!) as you try to stuff your roller bag into the overhead compartment. 

Having some data and minutes is never a bad thing. If you download your Google Maps and plan all your outings in advance / when you have internet, you can definitely get by. But I can’t tell you how many times I was SO GRATEFUL that I could use my phone to call a cab in a pinch, double check whether something was actually open before trekking all the way over there, or just navigate public transit and get from A to B much easier. Something to consider... 

Look up the rules for train & bus tickets/transit and abide by them! Getting written up for not instantly punching your bus ticket sucks. Thinking you can use your London Oyster Card to get to other cities in England is just plain dumb. Look up the rules! Better safe than sorry!

Make friends with locals whenever possible. Don’t be shy! I’ve found it just makes your experience in a city that much better. The world is a friendly place and people are generally nice!

Be zen when sh*t doesn’t go your way. It’s a basic concept, but it’s worth stating. You will probably miss flights, trains will be late, your AirBnB host won’t show up when (s)he’s supposed to... but you just gotta roll with the punches. It’s part of the fun (?) of travel!

Now go out and globe trot with confidence, my friends!

[rb-abroad]

Positano (+ Naples bonus stop)

Ah, almost 3 months after the fact, I have finally gotten around to writing about the last stop on my Euro trip! I still need to make a huge post about Amsterdam, but I’ll get there! First, Positano:

Maddie, Mac and I took the train from Florence to Naples, where we built in a few hours to stop over and experience some Neapolitan pizza :P 

L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele - home of the pizza to end all pizzas. I can’t even describe how good this pizza was. I’m still dreaming about it. I would go back to Naples again just to have this pizza and bounce. Made famous by its rather-long mention in Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, this place lives up to its major hype. Thin YET doughy crust?! Didn’t know it was possible. Double mozzarella? Yes please. I’d probably marry this pizza if I could (sorry Karel).

After we worshipped our pizzas, we headed to Positano by car and checked into our Airbnb. We stayed in a super cute guest house up on the hill where a local bus would stop once every hour and take people down to the town at sea level. Even though it was a bit of a trek and we would pray that the bus would arrive at its scheduled time every hour, staying further up on the hill was a nice change of pace and much more affordable than staying seaside!

Once settled, our first stop into town was the famous Franco’s Bar, which ended up becoming our temporary home over the next couple days. It is the cutest, most vacation-y beach bar with THE BEST cocktails, made by our new bartender bestie named Carmine (well, we were besties in our minds). As a bonus, the bar has an incredible view of the town and the ocean (I took way too many pics). Our favorite beverages were the Dolce Vida and Carmine’s dirty martini. YUUUUM!

La Dolce Vida <3

The best dirty martini in the game

After a good number of drinks, we had dinner just up the street at Ristorante Bruno, which was pretty solid but mostly great for its location and outdoor seating. We were graced by the presence of a beautiful sunset, some seafood pasta, and a local street-performing band, who played “Despacito” per our request (thanks guys).

On day 2, we took a day trip to Capri! There are many ways to get to Capri from Positano, but we chose to take a small private boat with 8 other guests, which was 100% the way to go. Everyone on board was super nice, especially an older couple from New Zealand who were so cute and friendly and living their best lives. 

On our way to the island, we stopped into a couple small grottos and got to swim in some very blue water!

Made it!

We had about 4 hours on the island, so we first hiked up the hill (’twas quite a hike indeed) and had lunch (and Aperol Spritz, of course) with a view at Ristorante Panorama. 

Next, we wandered about the town a bit, got gelato, and hung out on the beach.

On the boat ride back, we saw a ton of jellyfish and were too afraid to swim :X but the views from the water were beautiful and we got back to Positano just in time for sunset.

We had dinner back in Positano at this cute lil restaurant called La Taverna Del Leone. If you can believe it, I started getting a bit tired of pizza and pasta so I went for some vegetables and fresh fish. It was really good! Then I think we went back to Franco’s for more beverages... classic ;)

For our last day in Italy, we went down what felt like a bajillion stairs to have a nice pizza breakfast on a secluded beach just down from our Airbnb. After breakfast, we took a boat over to the center of town and went to another small beach, where we laid out all day on beach chairs, read books and mags, drank more spritzes, and relaxed. So lovely!

Bfast view :)

Bfast pizza :))

For our final dinner, we went to Chez Black, a Positano institution right off the beach in the center of town. We finally tried limoncello! And then to top it all off, we went back to Franco’s for one last Dolce Vida ;)

And that was it for Positano and Italy as a whole! One of my favorite European countries for sure - Italy has it all. This blog is almost finished, wow! Just a few more posts left... bear with me people ;) Ciao for now!

[rb-abroad]

Florence

Magical Florence!!! So many fun stories to tell. Off we go!

We arrived in Florence in the afternoon and headed almost immediately to say hello to David at the Accademia. No words!

Then we had our dessert before dinner at La Strega Nocciola (aka more gelato, duh, and definitely worth checking out for its unique flavors and excellent taste!) and had our first of many visits to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore / the famous Duomo! I took way too many pictures of this building because it is just so unbelievably gorgeous.

We had dinner at the local-recommended Acquacotta, which is famous for its massive Florentine steaks. Our steak definitely lived up to its reputation, and the pasta was quite tasty too!

The next morning, we headed straight to our Uffizi Gallery reservation to check out the incredible art and sculptures. Then we wandered around the city in the rain (!!!) before settling in for some pizza at Pizzeria O'Vesuvio. I gotta say, I definitely judged the crap outta this place when we first arrived (it was a weird beach-y surf / sports bar vibe), but the pizza was DELICIOUS. Maddie and Mac had ricotta-stuffed crust on their pizzas, which was actually life-changing (the pizza envy was real). 

Ponte Vecchio!

I <3 U PIZZA!

Whilst digesting our pizza, we checked out the new Gucci Garden museum, which was so rad! Whether you are a fashionista like Mac and Maddie or you’re not, like me!, there are so many cool things to see here, from the clothes to the decor and architecture to the massive luggage collection!!! And if you say you’re a student, you can see it fo freeee! Everybody wins. I really thought I took more pics here, but I guess I was too mesmerized. Anyway, you gotta visit it for yourself!

Just a small segment of Gucci luggage throughout the years! Be still, my globetrotting heart.

After getting our fill of the Gucci Garden exhibit, we stopped for coffee at the adorable La Ménagère, a cafe / retail store that could have been Anthropologie’s Italian cousin. So cute!

We kept the beverage train rolling for a pre-dinner drink on the rooftop of the Westin Excelsior hotel, which is right on the water and serving up gorgeous views, Aperol spritz (duh), and free bites with your cocktail purchase! This free food with drink situation seems to be a thing in Italy, and it rules.

I mean, you can make this sh*t up.

Next, we headed to dinner across the bridge at Il Santo Bevitore per my brother’s recommendation. The place was upscale yet cozy and the food was soooo good. I had a very spicy pasta, which I loved, followed by creme brulee and delicious biscotti with dessert wine.

The next morning, we had some thoroughly-missed scrambled eggs (yummm) and then headed to the southern part of the city for our Airbnb pasta-making class!

I can’t recommend this Airbnb pasta-making class enough (link here)! Our host Francesca was the absolute sweetest to invite the three of us into her home and teach us how to make tagliatelle, panzanella salad, and a berry crostata. She also had an outrageously fluffy and adorable golden retriever named FIGARO, which was a huge plus. Francesca is a photographer, so she captured some very cool action shots of us while we made our food!

After preparing the food, we got to sit in Francesca’s yard, drink some wine, and hang out with Figaro. Once it was time to eat, we were SO excited! And let me tell you, the food was TASTY! There’s nothing quite like fresh pasta. One of my favorite meals in Italy for sure!

Mac + Figaro = <3

Rare footage of Maddie petting a dog!! Actually not that rare, all dogs seem to love her :P

JUST LOOK @ HIM

Yep so the pasta-making was a HUGE highlight. After our meal, we went to the Boboli Gardens to walk around and take some glamour shots ;)

Other honorable mentions of the day include drinks on the rooftop at La Terrazza Continentale (on the pricey side but lovely views) and walking through the Mercato Centrale indoor market (an Italian version of Grand Central Market in LA). Oh, and we got gelato AGAIN at Gelateria Edoardo by the Duomo. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. 

Now for dinner - we asked our Airbnb pasta expert Francesca where we should eat that night, and without hesitation she said Teatro del Sale (translation: Theater of Salt). I’m still not completely sure how we managed to get into this place, but if you can figure out how to do it I would HIGHLY recommend it. Basically it’s a super local, members-only restaurant / club where you have to reserve a table in advance (wish I could tell you how but I have no idea tbh, the website is really hard to navigate), and for 40 EU you get ALL YOU CAN EAT/DRINK dinner, dessert, and wine, as well as a show! We rolled up right as the place opened and although we had figured out how to become members online, we couldn’t figure out the reservation piece and initially got turned away. Then about 60 seconds later, the nice lady at the check-in desk clearly felt bad for us (or was fearful of a bad Google review!), brought us back inside, and let us sit at a makeshift table in the front of the theater. Thank you, kind lady!!

I can’t even begin to describe the crazy experience that followed. The chef is supposed to be one of the very best in Italy, and each night he just cooks up a bunch of assorted dishes - whatever he wants - and serves them to the guests. When we walked in, there was a huge table already set with a ton of appetizers, but the staff told us not to get too carried away with them, and for good reason. Here’s how the dinner portion of the evening went: Someone in the kitchen comes up to the server window and yells (quite loudly) ATTENZIONE!!!!!!! The entire room (easily 100 people) falls silent. The person at the window very quickly recites what the next dish is (all in Italian obviously), which to us just sounded like, “[italian italian italian].... RIGATONI!!!” People from all around the room spring out of their chairs and bolt across the room to grab a small plate of said dish, because once it’s gone, it’s gone! True insanity ensues and it’s hilariously and appropriately high-stakes. Once the dish is completely gone, the process repeats itself several times (there had to be 7-10 dishes) and is followed by dessert. SO. MUCH. FOOD. The lighting was not great in the theater, but here are a couple food pics because duh:

After dinner, the tables were removed and chairs were set up across the room for the entertainment portion of the evening. We got to see a one-woman show by Maria Cassi (she and her husband, the chef, created the concept of this place together), which was, you guessed it, COMPLETELY IN ITALIAN. It was seriously amazing. We wished that we understood something, anything!, because the people in the audience were CRACKING UP like it was the absolute funniest thing they have ever seen! Despite us knowing very little about what was happening plot-wise, this lady was an incredibly expressive and dynamic performer and super enjoyable to watch. It was a really interesting experience to just see how much we could infer from her performance and body language. The whole evening was this unique opportunity to act as a fly on the wall in this super local, authentically Florentine environment, and we loved every minute of it. We hadn’t and probably will never again see anything like it! 

And that’s a wrap on Florence, another city I can’t wait to revisit soon. Next and final Italian stop - Positano!

[rb-abroad]

Cortona

I am so excited to tell you guys about Cortona, the #1 place during my 3-month vacation where I was like, “Wow. I feel like I’m on vacation.” Cortona is a small hilltop town on the edge of Tuscany, right next to Montepulciano. It was remote. It was gorgeous. It was rainy. We were never not drinking great wine. It was PARADISE.

We arrived there by train from Rome. This was the moment we realized just how sleepy and remote this town really was. Like the metropolitan ladies we are, we figured we could easily hail a cab right at the train station and be on our merry 20-minute way to the B&B, but this was definitely not the case! For those of you considering a trip to Cortona or really anywhere in the Italian countryside, know that you need to plan ALL your cabs/cars at least an hour in advance (or have a phone with minutes so you can call cabs at your leisure). After an emergency phone call, we hopped in a cab and drove straight to our B&B.

If you’re venturing into Tuscan wine country AT ALL, do yourself a favor and book at least one night at Villa Loggio. It’s an absolutely adorable boutique bed and breakfast that started out as a winery/vineyard and evolved into the ultimate vacation experience! There are only a handful of rooms, it’s really quiet, the staff (and their doggies!) are so friendly, the property is beautiful, and best of all, the wine is AMAZING. Some of the best we had in Italy for sure. We left with a few bottles...

When we first got to Villa Loggio, we had scheduled a wine-tasting lunch + winery tour that was simply AMAZING. 3 courses, unlimited wine, gorgeous view, and it was ridiculously affordable!

First course

Second course

And dessert!

After our meal, we got a quick tour of the winemaking facilities.

Then we played with the really cute hotel doggos. Apparently they were “Dutch Pheasant Hunting Dogs,” and there were three of them! This one is named Timco (but at first we thought his name was Stinko :P):

Besties <3

Later in the evening, we went to dinner in the center of Cortona (and had to call a cab a few hours in advance of course). It was kind of a weird rainy day, but the town still looked beautiful! We walked around a bit and found an incredible wine room with tastings and an exhaustive selection (Enoteca Molesini). The weirdest/coolest thing about it was that there were not one but TWO Americans working there - one from Texas and one from (I think) Florida! Just picture the randomest, most remote spot in Italy and then running into local ex-pats... it was pretty wild. 

After wine we had some dinner that was really so lack-luster and almost gross that I’m not even going to share any more deets. WORST MEAL IN ITALY lololol! Then it started pouring rain and just when we thought our cab had forgotten about us, it showed up and took us back to our hotel.

We had one morning at Villa Loggio, and it was so much fun. Breakfast is included with your stay, and the spread was delicious! Our absolute favorite part was the cute lil egg cozies, and obviously we named each one of them.

Egg cozy in its natural habitat

Meet da squad: Paulo (mine), the Duchess of Loggio (Mac’s), and Barnaby (Maddie’s)

Quite possibly one of my favorite pics of Mac

It was pouring rain for most of the morning, so after breakfast the only logical activity was to... do more wine tasting! I can’t overstate how AMAZING Villa Loggio’s wine is. We sat on the patio once the rain stopped and enjoyed the gloomy view. 

Next, the doggos showed us around the property and participated in our photo shoot.

Big floof

Medium floof

And that’s it for Cortona! Such a beautiful place. I can’t wait to go back and drink more wine. Next stop, Florence!

[rb-abroad]

Rome

For my last adventure outside of Amsterdam, I met up with my roomies and best gal pals Maddie and Mackenzie in Italy! We spent our first 3 days out of 10 in Rome, and boy was it amah-zing. Here’s the breakdown:

On Day One, Mac and I arrived fairly early and had a chill jetlag-friendly morning and afternoon. After a late breakfast, we hung out around the Piazza del Popolo and had our first (of many) Aperol Spritzes. It basically changed our lives :P

The fanciest iced coffee

That #spritzlife

Next, we headed back to the hotel to relax and meet up with Maddie, who booked us all a room at the very chic and cool Villa Laetitia. Owned by Anna Fendi, the property is beautiful and has incredible sketches from famous designers all over the walls. We stayed in the Karl Lagerfeld room, which was super cool, and got free bfast every morning! If you want a boutique hotel experience somewhere less touristy/off the beaten path but still close enough to walk or use public transit, Villa Laetitia is a great choice. 

Oh hay, Karl

Once we finally confirmed that the taxi driver found Maddie and she wasn’t TAKEN (phew), the three of us went out for a pre-dinner drink at Settembrini, which was down the street from the hotel. It was so beautiful out and a perfect night to sit on the terrace and take selfies ;)

Cute building on the walk over

After drinks, we crossed the street for dinner at Cacio e Pepe, which was seemingly a very local spot but the food was just okay (...for Italy). However, we did highly enjoy the 8-Euro liter of house wine.

Carbonara obvi

The next day, we woke up early and headed straight to the Vatican for a guided tour. It was super crowded (it was a Saturday, after all), so having someone guide us through the whole thing was really great. The tour included the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica, and although I had seen all of these spots back in college, I’m so happy I got to experience it all again. Absolutely worth coming back again and again! I took too many pictures of ceilings, and the truth is very few of these pics do it justice - you just gotta see it yourself. 

Inside the Vatican 

Outside St. Peter’s Basilica

St. Peter’s Square

After our tour, we walked over the bridge and into the city center for the first time. Luckily for us, we had many Rome spirit guides with killer recommendations. The first was for the best Roman-style pizza at Pizzeria Da Baffetto, and it definitely was worth the hype (thanks Ari!!). This is a must-eat!

A random cute alleyway - Rome is full of them!

Sausage, shroom, n onion delight *heart eyes*

After lunch, we moseyed around a bit more and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening festivities (there were a lot of them). In search of some rooftop views, we had pre-dinner cocktails at the Roof Garden of Les Etoiles. Just stunning!

Next, we had dinner in the back of Roscioli, which was so cute and suuuuper tasty. We had some of the best Italian wine on the whole trip AND delicious pasta. Doesn’t get much better than that!

If you see this bottle on a menu, just get it. 

The fanciest caprese I ever did see

Delicious pasta #1

Delicious pasta #2

Let me be clear - if you go to Rome and you don’t pay a visit to Giolitti, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. I think it’s one of the oldest (if not the oldest) gelateria in Rome, and it is downright amazing. We definitely went more than once. Gelato in hand, we headed to Trevi Fountain and lived our basic tourist dreams <3

Hazelnut and chocolate chip gelato with WHIPPED CREAM OMG

There she is!

We finished off the night getting drinks at Bar del Fico, which was very lively/cute/easy-going, and at the Jerry Thomas Speakeasy, which was super cool inside and worth checking out if you love a fancy cocktail, but it’s definitely on the pricey side and we had to have a reservation. 

For our final day in Rome, we started out on a free walking tour! We started at the Spanish Steps and saw many cool sights along the way. 

Look at how cute my fwends are!

  It me

We stopped by the Pantheon and it was soooo cool! There was a service going on while we were there, so I’ll have to go inside next time. 

Toward the end of the tour, we stopped in the Church of St. Ignazio di Loyola. It was SO cool - the inside was beautifully decorated, and the paintings on the walls and ceilings were incredible. The roof of the church is flat, but it was painted to make it look like it’s curved (there’s no dome)! 

How cool is that?!

We ended our tour with one more look at dat Trevi Fountain. 

Our next stop was lunch at Osteria di Fortunada, where I literally had the best pasta in my entire life (leave it to my friend Denny to tell us where to eat)! I had the gnocchi with ragu sauce and honestly I’m still dreaming about it... I can’t even begin to describe how good it was. The restaurant itself was pretty small and you have to get there during an off-hour or right when it opens to snag a table. They even had an old lady on display making the pasta by hand! If you don’t go to this place while you’re in Rome, we can’t be friends anymore.

There she is, the love of my life. 

How cute is this espresso mug??

Next we hauled over to the Colosseum and took a whole bunch of pics!

And then we went back to Giolitti.....

For our last dinner, we went into the Trastevere area for dinner at Cave Canem, which was a local recommendation. The pizza was just okay (again, for Italy), but we had a lovely time sitting outside on the terrace!

And that was it for Rome! We LOVED it. The food was amazing. The sights, unparalleled. The time of year was perfect, it was pretty hot but it was riiiight before all the other tourists would arrive for the summer, which was just happened to work out in our favor (so go in May, y’all!). This is a place that I could never get tired of visiting. Next stop, Tuscany!

[rb-abroad]

Dublin & Howth

Sarah and I spent a couple days in Dublin, and we absolutely loved it! We could have spent a full week there, so we are hoping to go back soon. Here’s a play-by-play of our short stay, including our incredible day trip to Howth!

We arrived in Dublin in the evening and happened to get THE NICEST taxi driver to take us from the airport to our Airbnb. This was the first example we saw about how friendly and wonderful the Irish people are - the stereotype is true y’all! He gave us some excellent recommendations for both Dublin and Howth, which you will see later on.

After checking into our Airbnb, we met up with our friend Chloe who recently moved to Dublin. She took us to The Church for dinner and drinks, which is, you guessed it, an old church converted into a bar/restaurant! The inside was really beautiful, but unfortunately the only picture that turned out was this one of my stew :P

After dinner, we walked into the center of town via the beautiful Ha’penny Bridge (it used to cost a ha’penny to cross it!).

Ha’penny Bridge

View from the bridge

Sarah, Chloe, and me!

Sista sista <3

Once we crossed the bridge, we went to Merchant’s Arch tavern in the Temple Bar area. It didn’t seem too touristy for that area, which was a plus, and they had really great live music! This is where I ordered my first Guinness of the trip and realized... Guinness is WAY better in Ireland than in the states! It’s like night and day and D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

A perfect pour!

We did not go in here because we didn’t want to hang out with college-aged tourists, but it sure is cute from the outside!

The next day, Sarah and I had a tasty breakfast at Brendan’s Cafe (recommended by our taxi driver the day before and SO good) and walked into town for our free walking tour via Sandeman’s New Europe. We started at the Dublin Castle and the Dubh Linn Garden and saw many more beautiful sights along the way. The town center is so charming!

MMMM full breakfast :)

Dublin Castle

Dubh Linn Garden

Next, we went into Powerscourt Centre for some lunch at The Pepper Pot Cafe, which was sooo tasty and so cute! All of the architecture and decor inside Powerscourt was very cool - definitely worth a wander-round. And be sure to get the Victoria Sponge cake, delicious! 

After our lunch, we walked over to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the famous Trinity College Library. Both were so beautiful and worth checking out! We didn’t end up reserving a time slot for the Book of Kells exhibit, but waiting in the no-appointment line didn’t take too long. 

Next, Sarah was an incredible sport and indulged me in a visit to the Guinness Factory. As one would expect, it’s definitely more of a “theme-park” experience than an authentic brewery tour, but they had SO many great types of Guinness in the tasting rooms, and we had a lot of fun at the gift shop too ;)

My favorite time!

MMM such a good flight!

After a few beers, we had dinner at Ireland’s oldest pub, The Brazen Head. The place was so cute and lively. There were even children inside! We had delicious fish & chips and an unexpectedly tasty veggie burger... and more beer ;)

Sarah made a fwend

The next morning, we grabbed early coffee and pastries at Brother Hubbard (so cute, wish we could have sat down for a full breakfast!) and headed onto a bus for our day trip to Howth! Howth is a beautiful, quaint peninsula town just 30 minutes outside of Dublin, so if you are looking to see some countryside and you love a good beach town, Howth is the place for you! We booked a tour through Sandeman’s New Europe (pretty cheap and worth every penny) and absolutely loved it.

The day trip was essentially one big trek looping around the whole peninsula. On the way up, we passed the Howth Castle, learned about Howth’s history, and heard various legends behind the property. Most notably, we learned about this baaaaad bitch named Grace O’Malley. She was basically a highly-educated, aristocratic pirate who taught the a-hole Baron Howth a lesson back in the 1500s, and then the Baron retaliated by kidnapping her kids. Grace sailed straight to London to confront Queen Elizabeth I about it, and then the two women became besties and life-long pen pals because they were badass and powerful and educated (they both spoke Latin n stuff).  She also basically married rich dudes for their money/possessions and divorced them and then got to keep all their stuff (divorce laws in the 1500s were pretty sketch apparently). Seriously someone needs to make her biopic stat and I should probably dress up as her for Halloween this year. Anyway, here are some pics from the castle grounds...

We continued uphill on the path and took in some amazing views from the top. There was so much greenery and so many pretty flowers in bloom!

Rhododendron flowers!

Leprechaun trees!

I love those yellow flowers!

We kept following the loop back down the other side of the peninsula and saw some more gorgeous ocean views.

A Leprechaun’s house! :P

Look @ this cutie

After our hike, we earned some ice cream (obvi) and had dinner at the delectable Octopussy Tapas Bar. So cute and the scallops were insaaaaane!

Then we headed back into Dublin and got drinks at the Black Sheep microbrewery. They had a huge variety of beer (and Sarah ordered a porter! What?!?!) and also JACK GLEESON WAS THERE AKA JOFFREY FROM GAME OF THRONES and I was sweating and freaking out it was soo cool because I hate him but I love GoT and whaaaat he is so famous!

Look @ that serious beer tho

And that’s Dublin! One of my sleeper favorite cities for sure. I can’t wait to go back and explore more of Ireland soon. Next stop, Italy!!

[rb-abroad]

London

I went to London for the first time on this trip, and what an incredible city it is! I spent about a week and a half there, partly with my sis (the best!!) feat. an Else cameo (also the best!!), partly by myself. This was my first time ever traveling alone, and I really enjoyed it. Because I spoke the language and was very familiar with the culture, London was the perfect way for me to dip my toe into solo travels. Now with this under my belt, I’m itching to go somewhere solo EVEN MORE DIFFERENT, perhaps try out my Spanish? :O But now I’m getting ahead of myself... Anyway, since I spent quite a bit of time in London, I’m going to list out my highlights and favorite things to do instead of going day by day. Here it goes!

FOOD

Obviously I’m going to start with this category... ok the food in London is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. You are really spoilt for choice here, but luckily I was armed with some fantastic recommendations from my pals (shoutout to Ari, Courtney, Rhys, Simon, and all the other cool people I’m forgetting to mention!). In no particular order, here are some of my absolute favorite places to eat in London:

Dishoom

If you’re a fan of Indian food, do yourself a favor and treat yo’self to a meal at Dishoom. The food is incredible and the decor is super cool (I went to the Shoreditch location). Try their signature House Black Daal and Dishoom IPA!

Flat Iron

BEST. STEAK. I’VE. EVER. HAD. And so affordable! I’d be lying if I said I didn’t go twice :X Get the flat iron steak with fries (duh) and live your damn life.

^drooling just looking @ this

Borough Market

A no-brainer! I got the scotch eggs from Scotchtails and a cream-filled donut from Bread Ahead. Sarah got some veggie Ethiopian food that was also amazing.

Breakfast Club

Tasty 24-7 breakfast spot with a fun diner vibe! I got the traditional English breakfast but they have lots of American-style bfast options (read: pancakes, avo toast, etc. etc.).

Monty’s Deli

Didn’t think I’d find incredible deli food in London, but I sure did! Monty’s has their own brick and mortar in Shoreditch (conveniently and dangerously located across the street from my Airbnb) and also a stand at Spitalfields market. I got the turkey sandwich and latkes and my mind was BLOWN.

Look at that gorgeous pickle tho

Still dreaming bout these beauties...

The Approach Tavern

Sunday roasts are a thing in England, and even though our Sunday weather was approx. 80F, we did the damn thing. If you’re in the Bethnal Green area, be sure to check out The Approach. Their roast (and salmon) was insanely delicious, they have a good beer selection, and the tavern was so cute and friendly! They had dogs, name that tune, outdoor seating... everything you could want!

TRADE

Your classic trendy, tasty, ‘Gram-able brunch spot, located in Shoreditch.

Granger and Co

Your classic trendy, tasty, ‘Gram-able brunch spot, located in Notting Hill. Make sure to stroll around the neighborhood after - it’s so cute!

Sonita’s at Camden Market

We know that London has some incredible Indian food, so I died and went to heaven at the Sonita’s stand at Camden market. I had 3 different curries in one lil box and I never wanted it to end. They use healthy and high-quality ingredients, so even though you are quite full afterwards, you don’t hate yourself!

CookDaily

Vegan asian fusion. The pad thai was off tha chain!

Beigel Bake

Last and most ratchet.... OMG BEIGEL BAKE. Open 24 hours and serving up pastrami bagel realness, this place is perfect for the post-pub drunchies or to bring you back to life the morning after a big night out. Cash only and cheap AF!

DRINK

It should be no surprise that booze culture in London is REAL. From craft beer to wine to one-of-a-kind cocktails, this city has it all. 

Callooh Callay

An absolutely adorable cocktail bar in Shoreditch with incredible drinks and decor. Sit at the bar and befriend the bartender :) A must-do!

Satan’s Whiskers

Not only does this place have an awesome name, it’s also decorated with crazy taxidermy and has a super inventive cocktail menu. Great for a pre-dinner drink in Bethnal Green!

Dandelyan

Swanky AF cocktail bar along the Thames River Walk and inside the Mondrian Hotel. Would recommend if you’re in the area. 

Gordon’s Wine Bar

An incredible 19th-century wine bar that makes you feel like you’re drinking in a cave. So cool!!

Veeno

I did an Airbnb experience for a food and wine pairing here, and it was really fun! I ended up being the only person who signed up (lol) so I got allll this food to myself! 

Airbnb East London Pub Crawl

On my last night, I signed up for a pub crawl through Airbnb (link HERE) and had the best time! As a solo (female) traveler, it was a great opportunity to meet other people and feel comfortable and safe going out at night. We went to so many great craft beer spots, and I’d recommend them all -  Mother Kelly’s, Redchurch Brewery, Old Street Brewery & Taproom, The King’s Arms, and Kill the Cat. 

THINGS TO DO

Of course there is more to do than just eat and drink! Here are some of my favorite things I did in London:

Shakespeare’s Globe Theater

If you are into live theater, you GOTTA see a show at the Globe. I’d recommend getting the groundlings tickets online or by lining up at the theater the day of the show (90 mins before or something like that). They are only 8 pounds a piece and you get to stand right in front of the stage! Sarah and I saw Twelfth Night together and then I went back by myself for Hamlet. They switched a lot of gender roles in both productions and that was really, really cool (Hamlet has so many great male roles and they were pretty much all played by women... yaaaaaas!). Cannot recommend this enough!

Waitin’ in line!

The magnificent Globe

Second row standing for Twelfth Night!!!

The Ferryman on the West End

THE FERRYMAN WAS AMAZING. See it now. We were in the nosebleeds and still had a great time. Also, they serve ice cream in the theater during intermission - what else do you need?

Tate Modern

I LOVE the fact that the museums in London are free. They are pretty massive and intimidating and it’s not easy to get all the way through the big ones in one visit. I had a few spare hours and popped into the Tate Modern, which I loved. I saw a special exhibit about political art and then one of the permanent exhibitions. Absolutely worth a visit!

The British Museum

Another massively daunting museum, but the sheer variety of things to see is pretty incredible. Luckily the museum guide has some suggested self-guided tours based on how much time you have to spend inside. If you go to one museum in London, this should be it.

Thames River walk

If you want to get your steps in, take a walk along the Thames River. You can hit many iconic stops along the way, such as Big Ben, the Tate Modern, the Globe, London Bridge, Borough Market, which brings me to my next recommendation...

The Markets!

There are sooo many amazing open-air markets in London with delicious food and unique shopping. My favorites were Borough Market, Spitalfields Market, and Camden Market, but there are many more!

Brick Lane

A super cool street and market that has many shops & thrift stores, lots of food, street art, street musicians, and CURRYYYY! Very fun to stroll around on the weekends; it’ll be packed!

High Tea

OK technically this is a food thing, but it’s really more of an activity/experience. There are a lot of options out there for high tea, but we found a fun and cheap(ish) one at B Bakery near the West End. Super cute!

Harrods

It was so fun to wander around inside this famous, humungous department store! My favorite part of course was the food court area, but I’d also recommend the tea room for an afternoon pick-me-up.

Just strollin’

You can’t go wrong just walking around!! 

Selfie as you stroll ;)

Day trip to Brighton

Brighton is super easy to get to by train for the day (just don’t be an idiot like me and try to use your Oyster Card to get there... buy a separate ticket!). Spend the day sitting on the beach, eating incredible seafood (get the mussels!!) at Regency Restaurant, strolling along the pier, getting chocolate-wasted at  Choccywoccydoodah (the place is just as wild as its name suggests), and checking out the Asian-inspired architecture and garden at the Royal Pavillon. Brighton also has a really cool performance art scene with its own fringe festival, which I would love to check out next time. 

Just a happy lil sea creature!

Died and went to mussel heaven

The interior of Choccywoccydoodah... these are all completely made out of chocolate!

Dangerous lemon cake :O

And that’s the London wrap-up! Here’s a bonus picture of our Airbnb host’s dog Ray. She is a true queen. Ok bye!

[rb-abroad]

Munich

Final stop of the Else-Rachel extravaganza was Munich! Let’s get into it:

Day One was a rainy one, so we did as the Germans do... pub crawl ;)

We started a little outside the city center at the Augustiner-Keller, where we had many beers and some delicious strudel! Then we went to the world-famous Hofbrauhaus. This is a must see for sure! We sat down at a very long table with some fellow travelers from Australia got to hear some live German music, which totally completed the experience. Then we wandered around a bit more and had dinner at Wirsthaus Maximilian, where we had delicious... wait for it... schnitzel! Duh! 

Strudel from the Augustiner-Keller

Hofbrauhaus band!

Please sir, may I have some more?

Schnitzel from Maximilian - yum!

Day Two was filled with beautiful weather, walking, and sight-seeing!

We started our morning with a free walking tour of the city and learned more about Munich’s history. After WWII, the city was restored to nearly its exact same state, with very few memorials dedicated to the Holocaust and/or those who died in the war. Our guide told us that the city has received some criticism for this lack of acknowledgement, especially since Munich was where Hitler first rose to power. Learning all of this really magnified my appreciation for Berlin, which has done a remarkable job of remembering its triumphant past and its dark moments in history. Anyway, here are some pics from the tour!

The Glockenspiel in Marienplatz!

Max Joseph Platz and the Residenztheater

The Munich Maypole! In Germany, cities used to advertise available jobs on their maypoles and put up new ones every year. 

Juliette Capulet statue - you can grab her boob for some good luck in love :O

St. Peter’s Church feat. cannonball stuck in the wall (see top righthand corner of the big window)

Odeonsplatz

After the tour, we grabbed a quick sausage and beer and made a split-second decision to go on yet ANOTHER walking tour called the Third Reich tour. This one was all about the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Munich and Germany as a whole. It was a much more somber tour but a very interesting one. We actually saw a lot of the same sights as we did on the first tour but learned more details about their darker historical moments (e.g. Hitler used to organize political speeches and meetings on the top floor of the Hofbrauhaus... NOOOO!). We learned a ton and had lots to reflect upon. 

Luuuunch :)

One of Munich’s few WWII memorials, which is dedicated to the women who lost the men in their lives to the war and the Holocaust 

Odeonsplatz - an old square where the Nazis used to organize, but now all political activity is forbidden to take place here

We needed to sit in the park and chill for a bit after that information overload...

Later that evening, we went to the old-school Haxnbauer for some pork knuckle, potato dumplings, and sauerkraut - yuuum! Our no-nonsense waitress could tell we were tipsy tourists (woops), so she basically just ordered for us. We were NOT sorry!

Pork knuckles from the window

Before we knew it, our FINAL DAY of the trip had arrived!!! NOOOOOO. Luckily, it was one for the books and my favorite day in Munich.

We spent the whole day in various parts of the English Garden, which is basically Munich’s Central Park. Our first stop was the Chinese Tower in the middle of the garden, which was surrounded by tables and incredible food stalls. We had a balanced breakfast of weisswurst, halb henchen (half a chicken!), and big-ass beers. We stayed near the Chinese Tower for a long while people/dog-watching and taking in the scenery. If we lived in Munich, we probably would have lived at the Chinese Tower. 

MMMM bfast

This chicken was soooo gewdddd

Next, we strolled around the park some more and sought out ice cream (where are the pics?!?! ugghhh) before heading to the famous surf spot in the park! Surfers from all over come to this manmade river where the water rushes out into a never-ending wave. It’s really hard to explain, you’ll just have to check out the video on my Insta post! 

For our very last stop, we went back to one of our fave outdoor beer gardens called the Victuals Market, which has over 100 stalls selling food and other goodies. We threw back one last German beer and pretzel and then scurried to the airport. Unfortunately, we made our flight :P If you are big into drinking beer, eating German food, and hanging outside, Munich is your spot! Just make sure to go when the weather is nice; the sunny days reaaally transformed our experience.

And that was it for our 2-week trip through Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic. Else was the most excellent travel companion and I can’t wait to venture somewhere new with her soon. I still have one month’s worth of adventures to catch you all up on, so keep on reading for more soon! Auf wiedersehen!

[rb-abroad]

Salzburg

 Next stop - Salzburg!

This place is gorgeous. Let me show you!

Day One was lovely. First stop - beer. We got a little lost along the way, but it did mean we caught some beautiful views of the Fortress Hohensalzburg and the surrounding hills (some real Sound of Music sh*t right here). 

Once we found the entrance to the Restaurant Stieglkeller, we sat on the porch with our brews for a look at the beautiful city. 

Then we walked back down the hill and past a few cool sights, like St. Peter’s Cemetery and the Salzburg Cathedral, and continued over the river to the Mirabell Gardens.

The church where Else’s grandparents got married!  :O

Mirabell Gardens

Sound of Music city up in here!

After all the walking, it was time to try the famous Sacher Torte! This delicious chocolate cake originated from Vienna but is offered at all Hotel Sacher locations and is SO. GOOD. 

Inside Cafe Sacher - so cute!

YUM. 

Then we walked around some more and had a great photo shoot with Else and some pickle statues. 

Mozart’s Birthhouse

Cool scooter bruh

YES.

For dinner, we had MORE GREAT SCHNITZEL at Alter Fuchs, which also happened to have delicious pretzels and great fox decor. Then we went to a tucked-away bar specializing in Belgian beer that was truly amazing! It was called Alchemist Belge; they had a crazy-good selection there and the best classic rock playlist! We met some local Salzburg people there who took us to a few other more dive-y spots, and we ended up staying out til FOUR AM. Whoa. So Euro. So un-Rachel. But it was a great time!  

Check these cool foxes!

We took the extras to go! :P

S.C.H.N.I.T.Z.E.L. <3

^ Some Echo Park shit right here :P

On our last day in Salzburg, we SLEPT. IN. and sought sustenance at the famous Cafe Tomaselli. It’s Austria’s oldest Viennese coffee house and a favorite among locals and tourists alike! Just look how beautifully they serve their coffee!

So fancy!

After brunch, we went to the Salzburg Museum to visit a special exhibit about the museum’s role in spreading Nazi propaganda during Hitler’s rise to power and WWII. It was NOT lighthearted but incredibly interesting. Next, we went on a short hike through the forest hills, and I guess I didn’t take any pictures of that because I was too busy sweating out all the carbs from the two weeks prior?

For our last hurrah in Salzburg, we visited the Augustiner Brewery, a former monastery that was converted into a brewhouse in the 1500s. The place is HUGE, serves tons of food, and of course serves very large beers. A must see!

And that was it for our short Salzburg stay! What a beautiful little town. Definitely one of my favorite stops along the German-Austrian-Czech tour. Final stop - Munich!

[rb-abroad]

Vienna

Hi Folks! Ok I am SO far behind on blogging, so I’m doing my best to combine posts and fire them off quickly before I forget ALL THE AMAZING STUFF I did!

After leaving Prague, Else and I took the train to Vienna and checked into our Airbnb. We had a couple hours to kill before our dinner reservation, so we looked for a nearby bar and somehow stumbled upon THE CUTEST little place called Cafe Azul. I don’t have any pics or vids or details on what the deal was, but we just so happened to show up during a weekly (?) ballroom dancing class at the bar (we think it was swing dance? Jitterbug? The world may never know). It. Was. The. Best! 

Then it was time for the Tafelspitz. Oh man. It was ridiculously good, and Plachutta is known to have the best! Tafelspitz is a traditional Austrian dish that consists of boiled veal or beef, delicious broth w/ vegetables, bone marrow, and is served with hash-brown-like potatoes, fancy applesauce, and horseradish. First of all, the portions were HUGE. I think Else and I easily spent 2 hours just eating this thing. Second of all, it’s one of the most delicious things we ate on the trip. Somehow, despite the food coma, we managed to roll ourselves home after dinner and PTFO’d.

The set-up

BONE MARROW! 

Delicious soup

The next day, we did a free walking tour of the city and learned more about its history. Then we frolicked about some more, checked out the food stalls at the Naschmarkt, and admired some cool buildings! 

Stephansdom

St. Augustine’s Church

Famous horses from the Spanish Riding School!

Next we walked to the Ottakringer area for a tour of the Ottakringer Brewery! Ottakringer is Austria’s largest privately-owned beer company, and you can find it all over the country (especially Vienna). And after the tour, you get to sample UNLIMITED beer for 30 minutes. Challenge accepted. 

The following day was jam-packed. We had a lovely breakfast at the famous Cafe Landtmann (coffee goals) and then strolled through the ridiculously beautiful Austrian National Library. It was Beauty-and-the-Beast perfection.

Cafe Landtmann

National Library **crying**

Mozart’s Requiem!

Old-school globe

Next we went to the Schonbrunn Palace to tour the imperial rooms, the garden, and learn how to make strudel!

YAAAS

There she is!

After our strudel, we headed back into the city center to eat some more! Figlmuller is known to serve the best schnitzel in Vienna, and it. did. not. disappoint. Then ice cream, obviously. 

Schnitzel heaven

Ice cream heaven

OK here’s our hottest non-food-related Vienna tip: If you line up at the Vienna State Opera House 90 minutes before the show starts on any given night, you can get standing room tickets for the very top of the house for FOUR. EURO. I cannot recommend this enough! Else and I lined up for the evening performance of Turandot, and although it was hard to see what was happening on stage at times, it was so worth it! Just make sure that once you get inside you go straight up to the standing room seats and reserve your spot on the railing with a jacket or scarf before you wander around the opera house (which was beautiful). That way, you can get proper standing spots with subtitle screens and not be passageway floor goblins like we were!

Floor goblins unite!

Decent view from the opera house balcony

And that’s it for Vienna! Incredible food, incredible architecture, practically-free opera - no complaints! Next stop, Salzburg.

[rb-abroad]

Prague

The next stop on the Else-Rachel Eurotrip extravaganza was Prague! 

We arrived in the evening, and after checking in to our Airbnb, we ventured out for some Czech food and drank. And boy, did we learn all about it!

 Our first stop was a tiny butcher shop called Nase Maso, where we sampled some beef tartare (one of the local specialties!) and the best meatloaf I’ve ever had. YUM! Then we took the party to a nearby pub called Lokal. We met some Prague locals there who taught us all about the various Czech beers, liquors, and delicacies. For example, we learned that it’s quite common to have A LOT of foam on top of your beer pours; in fact, there is a special type of pour called Milko that is mostly foam and approx. an ounce of beer! You’re supposed to chug the whole thing at once, which was impossible for us (like trying to chug a cloud?), but it did taste good. We also tried a Czech liquor that tasted like eggnog but better... man, was it dangerous. Then, to top off the whole experience, we tried another local specialty, FRIED CHEESE. Think mozzarella sticks but with a greater cheese to fried ratio. It’s not NOT delicious. 

MEATLOAF MAGIC (and rye bread and pickle magic too)

A standard beer pour in Prague that would be quite an offensive American pour

My eggnog frenemy :P

THE CHEESE

Our Czech expert and new friend Kris!

The next morning, we kicked off our day with another free walking tour. We started in the old town square and saw many cool sights and beautiful architecture along the way.

Old Town Square

The Estates Theater, where Mozart’s Don Giovanni premiered (also in Amadeus!)

Opera house

The Jewish quarter

After our tour, we crossed the Charles Bridge and took in some beautiful views! Then, we went to lunch for more traditional Czech food and stopped by the Lennon wall. 

Lennon Wall

My new album cover

Our next stop was the Prague Castle! We took a quick uphill walk and then wandered around the grounds for a while. The castle itself is quite interesting because it took years and years (centuries probably?) to build, and therefore it has a variety of architectural types, sometimes even on the same building! This was also the spot for some scenic views and many a photograph of the city below.

After our “hike,” surely we deserved some ice cream from Angelato. So tasty and very friendly staff who let you try a whole bunch of their fun flavors! 

Then we did a bit more climbing toward a hilltop beer garden called Letná Zahradní just in time for sunset. Beautiful!

And those were the highlights! My assessment of Prague... I’m really glad that I went, as I’ve been hearing about how beautiful it is for a long time. I was kind of shocked by how touristy it was, but then again we spent a lot of our time in the city center and around the big landmarks. The Czech people were great and their food is delicious (hello tartare, potato dumplings, lots of perfectly cooked meat, and obviously beer). This trip to Prague also made me really want to go further southeast to Budapest, which we probably should have done on this trip, but hey, I guess you gotta leave stuff on your list unchecked so you have a reason to come back! Prague marked the halfway point for our Central Europe trip, and there was so much more fun to be had. Next stop, Austria!

[rb-abroad]

Berlin

Onto the recap of our next stop: Berlin! Hands down my favorite new city I’ve been to so far. Between the international feel, fascinating history, delicious food (and beer), and vibrant local life, Berlin definitely won me over. There is still so much that I want to come back and do, but here are some highlights from our quick stay:

On our first day, we took a tour of the beautiful Reichstag building. This is where the German parliament currently sits, so we learned all about the history of German government and of the building itself. The Reichstag’s most recent renovations includes a huge glass dome at the top of the building where you can look into the debate room from above and also see beautiful panoramic views of the city. Very cool!

The beautiful outside!

Preserved graffiti from Soviet soldiers after they seized the Reichstag in WWII

The debate room

Inside the dome

After our tour, we stopped for a selfie with the Brandenburg Gate and then walked east to Kreuzberg, which is where the cool people go... so that’s obviously where we went. It’s very easy to see just walking through the city how there are many different neighborhoods with different vibes, just like LA or SF! We stayed in Mitte, which is the financial/business district and where a lot of the historical buildings remain. Just walking 5-10 minutes outside of that area, you start to feel the eclectic characteristics of the East Berlin neighborhoods. It’s so mind-blowing to think that less than 30 years ago these neighborhoods were completely cut off from the rest of Berlin. Now, they are super vibrant, up-and-coming, and quite the place to be (read: Instagrammable and hipster).

BERLIIIIIINNNNN!!!

For dinner in Kreuzberg, you MUST check out Max und Moritz for some delicious German food. This place is an institution - established in 1902, it has stayed open through 2 world wars and also communism. It’s no surprise though, because the food is incredible. Else got schnitzel and I got a tasty beef dish with potato dumplings, cabbage, apples, and a red wine raisin sauce. And then of course there was beer and strudel. YUM.  

We are the beer cheers-ing emoji in real life!

The goods

Ugh, all this bloggin’ makes me hungry.

For our next day in the city, we went on a free walking tour with Sandeman’s. Our tour guide Susan was literally the best of the whole trip and did such an amazing job recapping Berlin’s complicated history and speaking to the significance behind the numerous monuments from WWII and the Allied occupation. My favorite monument of the whole tour was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a huge Holocaust memorial and museum with 2,711 columns of different sizes that form what seems like a never-ending maze. It is a huge display and a very powerful experience to walk through. I didn’t get the chance to see the museum portion, but it is definitely at the top of my list for when I come back to Berlin someday. We also saw the location of Hitler’s bunker, which has minimal signage, has since been filled with sand, and now has a parking lot built on top of it. It’s totally, perfectly mundane. Well played, Berlin.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Entering the memorial

Outlines of where the Berlin Wall used to be can be found all over the city

Checkpoint Charlie (immigration/stopping point between the US and Soviet-occupied areas of Berlin)

After our walking tour, we ventured east again to rent bikes (yay!!!) and explore more of the city. While looking for a book store, we stumbled upon an adorable outdoor market that had INCREDIBLE MEXICAN FOOD! Now I know what you are thinking - Mexican food? In Germany? Rachel, aren’t you a SoCal native and therefore a Mexican food snob? The answer is yes, but my judgey ass was proved wrong. It just so happens that the people running Tacombi recently moved there from Ensenada. And the tacos were booooomb! After tacos, Else and I kicked off our important quest of getting ice cream in every city moving forward. Our mutual admiration for ice cream really worked out well for us on this trip. Vanille & Marille (aka Vanilla and Apricot) was our first ice cream stop of the trip, and it was SO GOOD. 

How cute is their truck?!

I <3 U TACOS

Vanille & Marille - try the charcoal cone because it looks cool!

Next, we biked over to the East Side Gallery, where remains of the Berlin Wall are covered in vibrant street art. It’s beautiful to stroll along the art and the riverbank, which was fully poppin’ on that sunny spring day. 

To wrap up the evening, we camped out with many delicious beers on the Hops & Barley patio, where we met some very nice locals and traded travel tips. I don’t have any pics really because we were having too much fun. Sorry bye!

My best Berlin tip is to make sure you are in the city on a Sunday so you can go to the Mauerpark Flea Market! This place is like if SF’s Dolores Park and LA’s Melrose Trading Post (but WAY BIGGER and WAY BETTER) had a baby. Before hitting the park, we had delicious coffee and pastries at Bonanza Coffee Heroes, which I would recommend checking out if you are in the area. Then, we walked over to the flea market. Mauerpark is huge and on Sunday’s, it’s filled with hundreds of stalls with delicious food, drinks, and a wide variety of beautiful handmade trinkets. You can mosey around the stalls all day, and then once you get tired from shopping (which is me always), you can just hang out on the hill with some beer and snacks until you are ready to get back into it! One of the highlights of our park chillin’ experience was when a kind stranger offered to open our beer bottles with her teeth (because we forgot our bottle opener) and DID IT like A CHAMP! I could never because I have serious dental-related paranoia, but mad respect to her for being resourceful AF. After some beer and much deliberation about what exactly we wanted to buy, Else and I went back into the flea market and left with some very cool and quintessentially Berliner stuff. Most importantly, we now know how to wear fanny packs like true Europeans ;) After shopping, we hung out in the famous Prater Beer Garden for a bit and then went back to the park for some more chillin’ on the hill, because the weather was beautiful and it was still poppin’ into the evening!

(Full disclosure this meal was actually from Distrikt Coffee but it was pretty so I had to post it. Also very good.)   

Prater Beer Garden

And those are the Berlin highlights! Like I said at the beginning of my post, this is my favorite new city discovery so far and I can’t wait to come back. There is so much to see and do and the city is SO HUGE that it’s sometimes difficult to grasp; however, by biking all over the city, meeting lots of nice locals, and finding a balance of traditional and trendy spots, I feel like we got a good sense of what it’s like to be a Berliner... and I gotta say it ain’t bad! 

[rb-abroad]

Hamburg

Hello friends! I just got back from a two-week trip through Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic with my pal Else. We really whooped it up, drank lots of beer, ate lots of schnitzel, and saw a lot of cool stuff. I will kick off the play-by-play with a recap of our first stop: Hamburg!

DAY ONE

We arrived fairly early in Hamburg, and despite getting very little sleep the night before, we were ready to take on the city! We arrived just in time for some beautiful weather and spent all morning (with our luggage) strolling around the docks. Unfortunately the fish market was closed, which is supposed to be cool and y’all should check it out if you’re in town, but we did walk up the Dockland steps (WITH OUR LUGGAGE! We are really buff so don’t mess w/ us) to soak up the sun and take in some incredible views of the harbor. 

Dockland steps

View from the top!

Next, we had delicious lobster soup and vino at BistrOcean, which basically tasted like liquid butter w/ chunks of lobster in it... in other words, it was heavenly. 

After checking into our Airbnb and dropping our bags, we went to the Hamburger Dom, a HUMUNGOUS fair in the middle of the city. We didn’t realize how truly massive it was until we were like “yeah, let’s do a quick loop to check it out,” and then didn’t make our way back around for about an hour. After that we figured that we reeaaallly deserved at least 2 pastries and 2 rides, which is precisely what we got. 

Tasty apple turnover doughnut thingy

Traditional quarkballchen (kind of like a sugary popover, but with more lumps!) 

Of course there was a poffertjes stand! But we did not partake... this is Germany!!!

Next, we ventured to what became one of our favorite spots of the entire trip: Altes Madchen. This brewhouse offers a wide variety of delicious beers, bar food, and the cutest mermaid tale tasting flight you ever did see! We spent many hours at the bar and had the best time trying all the different beers while doing some excellent people-watching. 

For our first dinner out, schnitzel was a MUST! We read some great reviews about a place called Erika’s Eck, but like almost every European establishment, there were quite a few complaints about the staff being rude to non-German speakers. To that we said, IDGAF! I’d rather be judged for being American than have sub-par schnitzel! After standing around nervously for what seemed like an eternity, Else expertly greeted the hostess in German and then was like... we don’t speak German, but can we get a table for two? The lady obliged (YES!!!) and proceeded to be perfectly civil toward us the whole evening. See, people of Google Reviews, you just gotta learn some key phrases to show that you are at least trying, and then locals won’t hate you! And the schnitzel was a truly delicious end to a perfect first day.

Miss u, schnitzel <3

DAY TWO

Our last day in Hamburg was action-packed! We kicked it off with a free walking tour by Robin and the Tourguides, which I would highly recommend. We strolled around the city for a few hours, saw many key landmarks, and learned all about Hamburg’s history. This city has been through the ringer! Between having 1/3 of the city destroyed in the Great Fire of 1842 and being heavily bombed in WWII, Hamburg is a city that has always reinvented itself despite numerous challenges. Some of the buildings were preserved and rebuilt over the years to reflect the original architecture, but much of the city has a more modern architectural style. Below are some of my favorite pics from the walking tour:

Rathaus (Townhall)

St. Nikolai WWII Memorial

St. Michael’s Church

On our walking tour, we learned about a majestic Hamburg pastry called the Franzbrotchen. It was created for Napoleon’s Hamburg-based soldiers because they missed their croissants from back home (same, guys, same). The result is what you would get if a croissant and a cinnamon roll had a baby, and it is absolutely delightful. We were able to get one at Elbgold Rostkaffe, an excellent cafe that just so happened to be right next door to our fave place Altes Madchen.... guess we had to go back for some more beer!

To wrap up our flawless stay in Hamburg, we had wine and pizzas that were bigger than our heads at the famous Luigi’s. I think we waited about 2.5 hours for our table, which is absolutely insane, but I think that was an abnormal occurrence and we just happened to go on a night where the waitlist was royally messed up. Still, totally worth it, and they give you free champagne while you wait (so we had a lot of champagne)!

So to summarize our Hamburg experience, I would say it was a hit! The city itself is super walkable, friendly, filled with great food, and has a neighborhood-y/small-city charm that some of the big, sprawling cities we visited later on lacked. If you’re looking for a place to pass through on your way to Berlin or other cities in northern/central Europe, Hamburg is the perfect place!

[rb-abroad]

Our great French adventure part II - The Dordogne region

Ok, on to part II of my France post! We spent about a week in the Dordogne region, starting from Bordeaux with our rental car and circling through some of the most charming French towns. Exploring this region is perfect for anyone who loves wine, incredible bistro food (this place is chock-full of Michelin-recommended restaurants), and frolicking through fairytale villages. 

A couple key things to note if you are planning on visiting this region: First of all, a lot of the businesses and attractions here are open on a seasonal basis only. Luckily some places started opening up in late March, but quite a few weren’t up and running yet! I’m sure these cities are completely swarming with tourists during the summer months, but if you visit in April and May, it should be a little less crowded and most businesses will be open. Even though we missed out on some places due to the time of year, we basically had these cities all to ourselves, which was a totally unique experience in its own right! Another key recommendation is to learn as much French as you can before your trip. We got lucky with prevalent English speakers in Paris and Bordeaux, but we definitely used more French while traveling in the Dordogne than ever before. And our French was prettyyyy bad. Having said that, we got by OK and some people spoke bits of English, but if you are trying to learn some French, this trip is the perfect inspiration! Also, driving from place to place is really your best option for getting around; therefore, pony up and make sure you have data for Google Maps (and a patient navigator in the passenger seat). The “roads” there were sometimes, uh, interesting...

Anyway, enough typing and let’s get into some PICS!

HIGHLIGHTS: PERIGUEUX & BRANTOME

Perigueux was our first stop in the Dordogne and definitely one of my favorite cities in the region. We drove about 1.5 hours out of Bordeaux and made it in time for their awesome farmers market. They have everything from meat to produce to baked goods, so definitely check it out if you can. Before our dinner, we soaked up some much-needed sun as we walked around the city (which is GORGEOUS btw) and stopped for wine and apps at Le Chai Bordin. Although our French is very crappy (see above), the man running the shop was able to give us some great recommendations, and the cheese and charcuterie was some of the best we had!

(Photo cred on the above is Karel. New side-hustle perhaps?)

OK SO THEN DINNER. OMG. We headed to L’Essentiel for what had to be our most favorite meal of the whole trip (which is saying something b/c we ate constantly and extremely well). If for nothing else, you guys need to go to Perigueux just to eat here. The restaurant is absolutely fantastic and has one Michelin star, which makes me wonder what kind of crazy standards exist for the 3-star restaurants! I’ll have to save up some money over the next few years and let you guys know ;) Anyway, our five-course meal was ridiculously good, and Karel had to roll me back down the hill afterwards. The menu was completely in French so we didn’t fully know what we ate, but it doesn’t even matter cuz it was delish AF. My best guesses are below. Not pictured: this strange yet drool-worthy cheese & chocolate mousse appetizer and a cheese plate (duh!).

Entree: poached egg, pastry filled w/ veal and topped with potato goodness and pea puree 

Plat: Fish of the day with black rice and butternut squash puree

Dessert: chocolate heaven with pistachio ice cream 

Cool so now I’m hungry. Anyway, the next day we passed through a small town called Brantome on our way to Sarlat. Brantome was small and charming but mostly closed, so we walked around a bit, snapped some pics, had a snack, and moved on to Sarlat. 

HIGHLIGHTS: SARLAT, BRIVE, AND DOMME

We stayed in Sarlat for the majority of our trip, which was perfect because it was very central to most other towns. We also had a great house all to ourselves! We enjoyed our outdoor patio and actually cooked a meal or two.

One of the towns still most representative of 14th-century France, Sarlat was built around a Catholic abbey and is still largely preserved. Being from America where nothing is even close to this old, it was such a trip walking around this place! Apparently the town has been in quite a few movies because it simply looks that cool. 

Karel and the abbey, lookin’ regal

Making friends w/ geese

^ My new album cover

The city is known for its foie gras (which we felt guilty for eating, but holy sh*t it was delicious) and also its huge Sarlat farmers market, which takes up most of the city’s streets every Saturday. We had a blast wandering from stall to stall and gathering items for breakfast and dinner! We also happened to stumble upon what has to be the most Dutch establishment in all of the Dordogne - a pancake house (posing as a ‘creperie’... yeah, okay) called Les Tulipes. I gotta say though, some of the best poffertjes I’ve ever had!

Foie gras three ways :X

Our farmers market pride and joy!

Majestic poffertjes

During our stay we took a day trip to Brive, which is famous for its walnut liquor! We dropped by the town’s Distillerie Denoix to sample some of their many delicious products. We left with a small bottle of the walnut liquor; it was too good to pass up! You can sip it as a dessert or put it on ice cream, on pancakes, in a milkshake... the stuff is dangerous. We also had a delicious meal in Brive at En Cuisine, which I would highly recommend. 

Liquor barrels!

Soooo much to sample at Denoix

The city of Domme is also in easy driving distance, which I would highly recommend seeing. It’s a small town and you really only need a couple hours to mosey around, take in the beautiful views of the valley, and have some delicious bistro food at Cabanoix et Chataigne!! 

Karel for scale!

One tasty chocolate cake w/ fun accessories (that creme anglaise was to dieeee for)

When you are checking out Domme, be sure to stop by Castlenaud, this beautiful medieval castle that’s been around since the 1200s (destroyed and rebuilt many times of course, but still!). It also happens to be one of the oldest medieval weaponry museums, and wandering around the place made us feel like we were in GoT. Check out these crazy trebuchets!

Karel for scale again

Another photo-worthy pit-stop is La Roque Gageac, a tiny town built into the cliffs. Something about the rocks and plant life made it feel almost tropical, or like we were approaching some Bond villain’s hidden lair. Idk man, but it was very cool!

HIGHLIGHTS: ROCAMADOUR, MARTEL, AND BERGERAC

If you’re lookin’ for more little towns built into the rocks, check out Rocamadour! It is also known for its goat cheese, and you can actually visit a local goat farm if you’re in town during tourist season. It’s delicious! Jog over to Martel for lunch at Saveur des Halles and you can taste it there, along with many other delicious things :)

View of Rocamadour

Martel

Cute window box in Martel

Cute doggo in Martel

Maybe the best soup ever

Seafood-lover’s paradise!

Dat cheeeeese!

And FINALLY, make sure to pass through Bergerac if just to take a tour of the beautiful Chateau Panisseau winery. We happened to get a private tour with a delightful guide who taught us all about the winemaking process and gave quite generous pours ;) 

I live here now.

New vines for the season, just starting to grow!

Old-school grape press!

Oak barrels used for aging many wines, not just Chardonnay! Our guide def gave California chards some shade for being so damn oaky... I can’t say I disagree tho :X

OK WOW y’all made it to the end of this post? I’m very impressed. I barely made it myself. As a reward, here are some bonus pics of Karel and I being very photogenic at Castlenaud. K bye!!! Til next time!

[rb-abroad]

Our great French adventure - Paris & Bordeaux

Are you ready for this?? Here goes part one of my multi-part posts about our trip to France. WARNING: There will too many food photos. All we did was eat. Sorry bout it? 

PARIS

On Day 1, we took the train to Paris and then got settled into our Airbnb in Le Marais. We loved staying here! So many accessible Metro lines, very walkable, and of course, lots of incredible food in the surrounding area :P In desperate need of coffee and treats, we walked down the street from our apartment and BEHOLD - this magical, magical bakery Aux Merveilleux presented itself to us. I don’t even know how to pronounce it. What I do know is that these glorious half-mousse-half-meringue treats were GODDAMN DELICIOUS. I would be lying if I told you we didn’t go back for more on day two.

This was the place....

... and these were the treats!

Then we ventured out for delicious falafel and drinks at our favorite cocktail bar in France, Candelaria. It’s secretly located in the back of a hole-in-the-wall taco joint!

Day two was one for the books! First of all, we woke up to a beautiful Paris blanketed in snow. Literally everything was even more photogenic than before.

Then we hopped on the metro to meet up for our first Airbnb experience. If you want to have a unique local experience in a city you already know well or if you’re just up for adventure in general, I would highly recommend trying one of these! We took a cooking class with a local chef, during which we had a delicious and pastry-filled breakfast from Panifica (would highly recommend any pastry), learned how to make our own butter AND french financiers, and made some new friends from Spain and India. To top it all off, this lady had the most baller apartment with a rooftop view of the Sacre Coeur. Incredible!

^ We made these!

Then we decided it would be a good idea to go see the gardens of Versailles in below-freezing temps. My recommendation would be to visit in Spring or Summer instead if you can. We froze our asses off, but on the bright side we def got some very Bon Iver-y photos.

For dinner we went to another one of our favorite spots, Les Enfants Perdus. We had many delicious plates, but the highlight has been and always will be the creme brûlée trio. You can’t go wrong with the steak either!

The next morning, we went right back to eating and had delicious brunch at Holybelly. The pancakes were sooo tasty! Then we moseyed through Montmartre to take some pics and try the best Madeleines in the city (and yes, they were amazing at Pastry Gilles Marchal). Then off to Bordeaux!

BORDEAUX

We spent 2 nights in Bordeaux on the front and back end of our Dordogne trip. Once we checked into our Airbnb, we tried some local wines at Aux Quatre Coins du Vin. They had so many self-serve tasting stations that you could sample from as well as cheese/charcuterie platters. The staff was so helpful and spoke great English, which became a huge relief as we started venturing into these smaller towns and villages. That evening we also walked around a bit and took pics of the beautiful sunset!

My biggest Bordeaux tip has to be this incredible restaurant called Symbiose. Every Tuesday they offer a set 5-course menu with wine pairings, and it’s different every single week. We were lucky enough to go two Tuesdays in a row, and they were both absolutely to die for / some of our favorite meals of the whole trip. It’s a little more fresh/asian fusion-y than your typical French bistro fare, and the cocktails were very fun and inventive as well. Make sure to email them for a rez next time you’re in Bordeaux on a Tuesday (if you’re there on a different day of the week, at least check out the hidden bar in the back); you’ll be glad you did! Here are a few of the beautiful and tasty dishes we sampled over the course of our two dinners there.

A magical dumpling/veggie dish

A magical pulpo dish

A magical fish dish

The next morning, we rented a car and started our driving tour through the Dordogne region. More to come in my next post!

[rb-abroad]

*~BrugesBabes~*

Hi all, 

Here are some highlights from my trip to Belgium with the fam + Karel (aka, The BrugesBabes). Enjoy!

BRUSSELS

We spent an unexpected night in Brussels but made the most of it! Highlights included drinking Belgian beer and camping out in a cafe (feat. the breakfast below) for approx. 3 hours because we had THIRTEEN bags of luggage and therefore couldn’t really do anything after we were kicked out of our Airbnb :X

^ We each got our own frying pan filled with goodness!

Real live footage of Cindyl orchestrating the perfect ‘gram 

GHENT

Ghent was so cute & quaint! The architecture is so charming, with canal houses reminiscent of Amsterdam and casual castles just chilling in the middle of the town. Our first priority was, of course, to seek out the classic Belgian treats, such as chocolate and beer (check out Het Waterhuis for a cozy pub experience and a wide variety of delish Belgian beers); we also had unexpected delicious pizza at Otomat, which to our surprise, served our favorite Dutch beer from Amsterdam’s Brouwerij ‘t Ij! Definitely worth a visit for the creative pizza toppings alone. 

Which is cuter, this candy trolley or Karel?!

Selfieeeeee

^ The beer house I mentioned earlier!

View from the canals

Casual cathedral...

... and the most low-key castle.

BRUGGE (aka Bruges but I’m practicing my Dutch)

Bruges is just ridiculous. All you have to do is walk around the beautiful canals to stumble upon the cutest of chocolate shops, the most photogenic lil bridges & passageways, and WAFFLES. 

So sweet!

Hello, beautiful!

While in Bruges, we took a lovely tour of the Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan, where delicious Belgian beer is made. We learned all about the beer-making process, experienced breathtaking views of the city by rooftop, and enjoyed a few brewskis (duh). 

The Brugse Zot is delicious, and I’m pretty sure you can find it stateside!

And that just about covers it! If you have the time to stop through Belgium while in Europe (perhaps as you are passing through France and Holland), I’d highly recommend it! Bruges should be priority #1, followed by Ghent. We had a great time and I’m sure you would too! Next stop - France!