european chronicles- munich

There are so many things to say about this wonderful weekend, but I’ll try to be succinct. Funny story- I originally planned on writing about the whole trip in 1 blog post, and then decided there was too much to say so I would break it into 2-3 postings. Now it is probably going to be at least 7, so I hope you don’t get sick of my voice… because I assume you’re reading these stories in my voice the way I read Mindy Kaling’s book in her voice and “Bossypants” in Tina Fey’s. And there I go not being succinct and getting off topic at the same time!

Staying in a hostel was the best idea ever. Everyone is so friendly and just wants to make new friends and drink together and have a good time. And I know what you’re thinking- “You’re crazy. You are too old for those shenanigans!”  And you are only partially right. Yes, I would have loved to sleep in not-a-bunk bed, and could have gone without the stranger roommates being loud super early.  BUT we lied and told people we were 24, so it didn’t feel pathetic at all! Twenty-four is not too old for a hostel. And we were just being frugal and fun. Don’t judge me.

{you have to appreciate an establishment that gives you free welcome beer- even if it is in weirdly small glasses}

On our first day, we took a very informative and entertaining tour with Oz- an amazing tour guide if you ever make it to Munich.  We got to see most of the city in a few hours and learn a lot about Bavarian history and culture. He explained some of Munich’s role and perspective on the Nazi party and World War 2, but also sprinkled in some more light-hearted anecdotes and stories.  He took us to Marienplatz, got us beer and brats at the Viktualienmarkt, stopped by Hofbräuhaus, and basically just wandered the streets telling us about Munich’s history.  He had a quirky (slightly inappropriate?) sense of humor, so it was super entertaining. He would start rambling about something and then conclude with “so there you have it” and Monica and I would just look at each other confusedly like “there we have what? What is happening?”.

{sites from the tour- Marienplatz, brats, HB Haus- which has stein lockers for the regulars}

When we finished the tour, we hung out with some new friends in the Englischer Garten. We wandered the different areas of the garden looking for a river that is rumored to have surfers (we found the river, but no surfers), and then went to get some beer! We found out throughout the trip (especially here in Munich, but also in Ireland and Scotland) that it is unusual for girls to order pints of beer. It is more appropriate/respectable/genteel (??) for girls to drink cocktails. And if they drink beer, it is definitely from a bottle, not a pint glass. Or heaven forbid, a liter! One of our new friends absolutely could not believe that we actually like beer… It was so odd. Could you imagine their reaction to a tailgate?!   

{lazy afternoon}

{proof that we were there and that we made friends}

That evening we decided to rally for another one of Oz’s tours- a Brats, beer, and Schnapps pub crawl, and then followed that by a night of dancing with some of our new hostel friends.  By this point, Oz was pretty comfortable with us, and a few of us had already spent the whole day together so we all felt like BFFs- which made for some highly entertaining jokes and stories. If I tell you all of them here, I think it will become one of those “you had to be there” situations and you’ll never want to hear me tell a story again. And I have a lot more up my sleeve for Munich… Such a long post!

{schnapps tasting, pork knuckles, and a stag party from liverpool having an ugly shirt contest... the clear winner is "pissy"- unfortunate nickname, amazing diy shirt}

That day was full of fun facts, heavy beer, so much bratwurst, schnapps, more beer, and pork knuckle. Just thinking about this trip makes me gain 10 lbs.

The next day we were really too tired to do much of anything so we wandered the streets and got more food and beer. We climbed one of the towers to see the view of the whole city. It was really beautiful, but climbing a narrow, dark, winding staircase when you’ve slept 3 hours after an entire day and night of drinking was so awful.  Then we wanted to rent bikes to go back to the English Garden, but the rental place was closed and we were le tired. So we got tea and debated our next move- which ended up being naps. 

{gorgeous view from the top of a tower...}

{...but was it worth it?}

That night we thought it would be nice to have a more mellow night. Famous.last.words. We met some guys from Munich who were hilarious- Albert, Alex, and Thomas.  This is the part of the trip where Monica started taking voice memos secretly to capture audio clips of some of our funniest conversations, and the Bavarians did not disappoint. Let me set the scene- We met them at a bar on one side of Munich and then Thomas (who was sadly the 5^th wheel at this point) decided to take us all to a club on the other side of town. We tried to take the bus, but I don’t know why that didn’t work. So most of these quotes happen along the long journey to the club, with Robbie Williams “Without You” playing in the background from Albert’s phone  <all quotes must be read in German accents>:

• “I love Robbie Williams!! He is a gift to the world!” 
• “Lets go to the party bus. It takes us to the next disco”
• “It is not too far. It is just that you are talking all the time. You are dancing, you are talking. This is a problem”… about 2 mins later “Ladies and gentlemen, can we please just hurry up a little bit. Can we?! I want to dance!”        
• On the walk home, I was wearing Alex’s jacket... Monica was freezing and Albert zipped up his jacket on himself and said “I, too, have a warm coat”

Such a hilarious night, but when we had to check out of the hostel the next morning, we felt miserable. At this point, I was feeling too old for hostel living. So we slept in the lounge until we felt somewhat human again.  

{so tragic that we don't have any pictures from this night}

This weekend was kind of the turning point of the adventure. Planning the whole trip had been pretty stressful, especially for Italy, because we had tried to plan every day perfectly and then things would fall apart when we missed a bus or train. And then when we finally made it to our destinations, we were mostly surrounded by couples on their honeymoons. But Munich was totally different… we didn’t plan anything beforehand other than our flight and hostel. And the weekend was so much fun! We met incredible people and made some of the best friends and memories. I know it sounds so cheesy, but it was really refreshing. At this point, I didn’t think any other trip would be able to live up to the Munich weekend, but we managed to maintain the same spontaneous and exciting spirit for the rest of the trip. Sometimes it didn’t work out that well… we got lost a few times and missed reservations, and a flight <that one was rough>, but we weren’t stressed about hardly anything. Nothing could bring us down. Not even bronchitis or my inevitable poverty. 

On that note, I'll leave you with this:

{probably just a parking sign, but it made us happy. if you don't get it, sound it out.
if you still don't get it, we probably shouldn't be friends}

chronicles of my europe trip: italy

Oh man. This post is going to be mostly pictures because… well, because I want to share so many pictures and words cannot properly describe how amazing it was to spend a week in Italy.  

We started at the Amalfi Coast- stayed in Positano with a day trip to Capri and spent 1 night in Naples.

Positano was amazing and charming and beautiful and warm! We stayed at a B&B just above the town so we had an incredible view of the coast. We hiked and went to the beach, bought some shoes and fedoras, drank lemoncello, ate pizza, etc.  Our host at the B&B was hilarious and entertained us for hours.  

{view of positano from the beach}

{view of positano from our b&b}

{watching the sunset from our balcony}

{i lost count of how many buses and trains we missed in italy,
but this specific time led to us taking a cab which then  followed
the bus we missed the whole way up the hill to our b&b}

Capri was touristy but gorgeous. We spent most of the day there, but my favorite parts were on the boat before we even docked at Capri. We got to swim at Faraglioni, the iconic rocks that look like Mermaid Lagoon, and took a tiny boat into the Blue Grotto. 

{our guide for the blue grotto was good at multi-tasking}

{the beautiful blue grotto... people warned us it wasn't worth it, but i love it}

{our boat passed through that tiny tunnel}

{window shopping in capri}

{view of capri on our boat to naples}

Naples was a big mistake. I was pretty sure we were going to be murdered, but we stayed locked in our rental the whole time- behind 5 dead bolts and windows with locked cages, and just in case anything bad happened, our host provided us with about 7 local police numbers. Comforting. 

{funny now, but we were legit terrified}

Then we rented a car and drove through Tuscany- where we stayed on a working dairy farm in Pienza. We got a tour of the whole Pecorino cheese making process and bought some sweet leather goodies.  This was probably my favorite thing we did in Italy. We almost breezed by it because we wanted to see some more towns throughout Tuscany, but I’m so glad we didn't.  Our host didn't speak much English and we don’t know Italian, so we were passing the iPhone with Google translator back and forth, and used a lot of gestures to communicate as best as we could. Our host was a sheep farmer, and the milk from his sheep went across the street to his brother’s farm where they make Pecorino cheese, yogurt, and olive oil. Another brother had a farm nearby, and we got tours of all three. It was so charming and a real glimpse into the family’s day to day life. I felt like we got to participate in something that wasn't super touristy and really appreciated spending time there to soak it in and appreciate the area and people.  And pet horses and play with the dogs, eat cheese, and drink wine. I mean, what could be better?

{i believe this was orvieto... if not, just another adorable tuscan town}

{view}

{this was the house and the archway on the left was the entrance to our room}

{screenshot of our convo with our host}

{the lookouts in the sheep}

{learning how cheese is made}

{so yummy}

{typical tuscan view}

Then made our way to Cinque Terre where we stayed in Manarola. The main hike between all 5 towns was closed because tourists were injured in a mudslide the day before, so we did some other hikes, and explored tre of the cinque terres.  Since the main hike was closed, we didn’t get the typical Cinque Terre experience but I was super soar from our Positano hike, so truth be told, I was ok taking the train.  

{view from our room}

{unbelievable view of manarola}

{this was the one and only trail open for our hike... so narrow!!}

{happy umbrellas}

chronicles of my europe trip: Iceland

Iceland was our first stop on our trip and it was rad. Seriously the coolest place ever.  I didn’t know much about Iceland when we booked the trip- other than they recently had a volcano explode, is very north, Bjork and Sigur Ros are from there, and they’re the bad guys in Mighty Ducks 2. Whoa, guys, there is so much more to Iceland.

We rented a little apartment right in the heart of Reykjavik.  The town is so small and quaint, we just wandered around for 30 mins and practically saw the whole thing. And one of the most popular restaurants is a hot dog stand. And it was good.

{Hallgrimskirkja}

{view of Reykjavik from Hallgrimskirkja}

{window shopping}

{statue of a nordic ship on the coast}

{realized most of these are landscape pics so here is proof we were actually there}

We also did some tours outside of Reyk- We saw waterfalls, volcanoes, hot springs, geysirs, the divide between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, and polar icecaps. I learned a LOT about science. We took shots of Brennivin, Iceland’s signature liquor with a strong taste, high alcohol count, and a dubious reputation. We had a spa day in a lagoon of geothermal seawater. And rode Nordic horses through lava fields. So many other cool things, but I’m trying to be succinct.

{gulfoss waterfall - a lava-tiered waterfall of glacial runoff}

{geysir- the original. as in, the term "geysir" comes from this guy}

{polar ice cap}

{eurasia on the right and north america on the left! the site where the tectonic plates separate}

{blue lagoon geothermal spa}

Fun facts-

1) Iceland has a law prohibiting the import of any horse, so the horses in the country are a pure and unique Nordic breed that has remained unchanged for over 1,000 years.

2) There are only 300,000 people in Iceland and 200,000 of them live in Reykjavik.

3)They eat puffin! I didn’t/couldn’t try it.

{how could you eat one of these cuties?!}

4) They have a list of approved, traditional Icelandic names, and in order for a child to be a citizen, he/she must be named from the approved list. So yes, we met a Bjork AND a Bjorn. We thought we were incredibly lucky but its probably like meeting a “Chris” or “Katie” in the US. No offense if your name is Chris or Katie. Or Bjork or Bjorn. 

long overdue update- chronicles of my europe trip (part 1)

Since it has been 1 billion years since I’ve updated the blog, I’m going to update everyone by telling a long story short in reverse-chronological order. It seems simpler.  Also, I’ve heard writing can be cathartic and my life is sort of in shambles currently. Or something that closely resembles shambles, but is probably perfect little puzzle pieces that I just haven’t figured out yet.

Currently-

I’m practicing my baking as much as I can. So if anyone wants to come visit, I can make some Parisian croissants or pan au chocolat.  I’m working part time at a café in town, but am starting to get anxious to get back to work…  and out of the country a little bit. And I don’t mean “country” like USA, I mean like pastures and farms.  Don’t get me wrong, I love it! Baby farm animals on my commute make me squeal with delight.  But the house is pretty isolated and it makes it tough to get involved in any sort of community.  I was hoping and trying for a move to Portland but have made so many huge changes in my life, that I’m not ready to just leap into another huge decision.  And after an amazing weekend catching up with old friends in LA, I’m sort of considering moving back. Can you believe it?!!?! I can NOT. But it has crossed my mind and now there it is. I just don’t understand how you know what you want to be when you grow up! Am I grown up? Should I have it all figured out? At what age is this confusion no longer appropriate? See what I mean about being in shambles? And now I’m rambling, so before I go all quarter-life crisis panic attack style, let’s go further back in the update.

Sept- Nov

How can I make Parisian croissants for you, you ask? Because I learned how to... IN PARIS! This past summer when I was enjoying funemployment, one of my best friends, Monica, found out she could take some serious time off work and was thinking about traveling. So we made a plan for fall. Ten weeks of traveling to 7 countries, with an apt in Paris as home base. It was the trip of a lifetime. And yes, I did change my “Lives in” Status on Facebook to Paris. We took language classes and I took several baking classes. (Bonjour! Je m’appelle Morgan et j’aime cuire les crosissants et les macarons.). In addition to France, we made it to Iceland, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, and Amsterdam.  

Coming home from the trip was a bit of a shock. I went from hostels and castles to the harsh reality of being broke, living at home, and being unemployed. So now is the time to reminisce… 

Over the next few entries I will continue to write about the trip and share some stories and pictures from each country. Since home base was Paris (when you read it, please pronounce it “pah-rEE”. It will make you feel fancy), I will start with The City of Lights-

We got to do most of the fun things tourists AND Parisians do.  The Louvre, Eifel tower, Pompidou, flea market, cafes, fromageries, boulangeries, patiserries, figured out the metro (the key is to wear Beats headphones and avoid eye contact. Also, don’t get off at Chateau d’Eau), gardens and parks, shopping, macaron picnics… the list goes on. We took language classes at the Alliance Francaise. It was full immersion so there was no English spoken in the classroom… and none of the other students in my class spoke English anyway, so our only common language was the little French we were learning that day at school. There were a lot of quiet recess breaks. And as I mentioned, I also took some baking classes- my favorite things to learn to bake, if I had to narrow them down, were macarons, apple tart, croissants, financiers, and pan au chocolat. Since coming home, I’ve successfully re-made all but the financiers. I just got a baking pan for them so I will finally be able to try it! And a little honest disclaimer- the first batch of croissants was tasty, but not pretty. I’ve since improved my technique. And macarons are little devils to get right, but I’m working on it. I’m not going to claim to be super good at making them just yet, so don’t volunteer me to make them for a wedding shower or whatnot until further notice. Trust me, I will let you know. Probably via Instagram. 

Here are some pics! I took 619 in Paris alone, so this was really difficult for me to edit down. 

{Baguette, Fougasse, Brioche}

{Macaron! I made these... under the supervision of a professional}

{croissants, pan au chocolat, and danish}

{our apt courtyard. so cute!! and a safe haven from our scary neighborhood} 

{Shakespeare and co}

{flower markets everywhere}

{louvre and happy clouds}

{just a jazzy little band playing in the Latin quarter}

{flea market goodies}

{if i ever have shutters, i will carve a heart in them}

{i mean, i can't say i went to paris and not post an Eiffel tower pic}

{view of the rooftops from the Eiffel tower}

{rive gauche}

I'll write again soon with more adventures. I promise.