Day 3: Amsterdam time!

We had to wake up around 4 to head to the airport for our 7 AM flight to Amsterdam on easyjet. Pretty painless process over all and so cheap and efficient!! We were in Amsterdam by 8:30 so we got an early start! We dropped off our bags at the hotel and headed out to breakfast. We ate at Gartine, a cute little cafe in town. It was perfect.

Then, it was time for a canal cruise. It was a nice relaxing way to see the city and I think we both took a little nap. :)

After the cruise it was time for KattenKabinet...a museum about cats!!! So bizarre. It was just someone's house they had turned into a memorial of sorts for their cats. There were even two kitties roaming about we got to pet. Not the best attraction ever, but worth it to see the ridiculousness of it all.

Then we headed out to Foodhallen, a big food hall with lots of vendors to choose from. We ended up with some dim sum, weird fried balls of liquid, and some spring rolls. Oh and a fancy gin and tonic and some beer. This place is great and we'd recommend it to anyone!!!!

Now it was time to check-in and grab a nap. Then around 430 we headed to the Old Amsterdam Cheese store for a wine and cheese tasting. So fun and yummy!

Then we headed to a wonderful Dutch beer bar to taste the local nectar. The eating/drinking continued as we headed to The Pantry for dinner. It was a cute little restaurant decorated with all sorts of Dutch trinkets. We shared some shrimp croquettes and a chicken satay dish.

Then we headed to the Red Light District to take a stroll. We certainly saw a couple of examples of how the district got its name, but there were also lots of great restaurants, bars, and people watching. We ended up at a fun brewery in the district.


Our final stop was a lovely cocktail bar, Poreum. It was the perfect way to end the evening....although Michael did check out a few more beer bars after Alison went to sleep. :)

Day 2: A Rainy Day in Berlin

Today started with a 7 am run to Brandenburg Gate, along the big park and to a cafe for breakfast. We ate our pastries and then headed over to wait for the zoo to open at 9. The zoo wasn't on our original plan, but once Alison found out there were pandas it was a must do!!! And we're so glad we did. Such a great zoo! The animals were active, SO close to you, but also had big enclosures. Very well done. We had fun exploring and could have spent hours there, but we had big plans!!

After we did another 3 mile run back to our hotel through the park, we got cleaned up and headed to our lunch reservation at Tim Raue. At some point this was the #34 restaurant in the world, but it fell to #48 this year. Still amazing though and we enjoyed 6 courses each. So yummy and pretty! Here are just some of the plates we had:

Right before we arrived at Tim Raue, it started raining and rained on and off most of the day. A bit of a  bust, but we survived. After lunch, we headed over to see Checkpoint Charlie and then The Topography of Terror exhibit. Very impressive free exhibit with lots of info on the history of Berlin and what set the stage for the building of the wall.

After that I wanted some German food treasures, so we went to get Spätzle. However, the place I choose was out on holiday once we arrived. :/ We were wet from the rain and tired from the walk, so we went a couple doors down to a brewery (Hops and Barley) and had a nice time just drying off and enjoying the beer (and cider).

To continue my German food checklist, we went on the hunt for schnitzel. We didn't want a big sit down meal, so we found a decent fast food version and split a double portion. Definitely served its purpose. We ate our yummy food overlooking the East Side Gallery and took a rainy stroll down the 1000 meter section of the wall post dinner.

Then, it was off for more food treasures! We had plans to go to a dessert bar, but it was also closed for holiday. :/ Double bummer! But we did make it to a nice craft beer bar on
Michael's list, so that was a win!

Then it was back to our hotel to get a few hours of sleep before our early AM flight to Amsterdam!!

Day 1: Exploring Berlin on little sleep

After over 20 hours of travel we arrived in Berlin around 3PM local time and headed to our sweet hotel.

We were pumped to see our room as each room of the hotel is decorated by a different artist. Check out their website (Arte Luise Kunsthotel) to see some of the cool rooms. This was our room (dirty socks as we'll call it):

After leaving the dirty socks behind, we went out in search of lunch and do a bit of walking around the city. We first went to get Döner Kebabs....a treat Alison ate many times while studying abroad. This was the grown-up version. We waited in line for about 30 minutes for this yummy treasure. Then we had plans of getting pretzels and the store closed in 30 minutes so we walked quickly to the Pretzel Bar while eating our Döner. We arrived and there wasn't a great selection since they were closing so we passed and thought we might go have some schnitzel, but then we decided we weren't hungry enough for that so we headed back to check out some of the sites on our list.

First we checked out the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Really well done. Loved all the different sized blocks.

Then we walked over to the Brandenburg Gate and then to the Reichstag. Then, we walked over to Bebelplatz to see the Book Burning Memorial and then to Berliner Dom. Beautiful sites and it was a great day for a walk.

Alison also got to see her favorite part of Berlin...the East Berlin red/green men!

Then we walked home and stopped at a restaurant on the water to have some German treasures. Currywurst, "meatballs", wine, and beer....just what we needed to get a good night's rest. Went to sleep a bit before 10 and slept till 7. A good first day!!

Our European Adventure Agenda!

Hello loyal blog followers!

We're headed out on a much needed vacay tomorrow and we'll be touring about Europe. Here's our itinerary in case you have any suggestions for us!

Monday: Flight from Austin to Frankfurt (via Houston).
Tuesday: Arrive Frankfurt. Train to Berlin. Chill in Berlin.
Wednesday: Berlin
Thursday: Early flight to Amsterdam. Explore Amsterdam.
Friday: Amsterdam
Saturday: Early bus to The Hague. Explore The Hague and have a bit of beach time.
Sunday: Early bus to Brussels. Explore the city.
Monday: Day trip to Bruges and/or Ghent.
Tuesday: Early train to Luxembourg.
Wednesday: Train to Germany wine country and visit w/ Cathy!
Thursday: Train to Frankfurt...return home

We hope you'll join us on our exciting adventure!