Category Archives: Trip Reports

Disappointing Breakfast Menu Items At McDonald’s In Germany

Food, Trip Reports,

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During our trip to Germany (back in September) we visited Berlin before heading to Munich for Oktoberfest, the main reason for our trip. (I’ve been a bit behind on posting about our experience at Oktoberfest but plan to write about it soon.)

While this wasn’t my first trip to Germany, I still had to stop by McDonald’s to see if there were any locally insprired menu items. I know I definitely ate there but don’t recall eating anything out of the ordinary.

We first visited  a McDonald’s for a late snack. It was getting late and we didn’t want to first go in search of a restaurant. Nothing special on the menu caught my eye but I did see that there were some interesting breakfast options to try another time.

A couple of days later, our destination for breakfast was McDonald’s. The photo above shows “Your New Breakfast At McDonald’s” so we went ahead and ordered one of each item.

Continue reading Disappointing Breakfast Menu Items At McDonald’s In Germany →

Flashback Friday: The Best Places To See Amazing Street Art

Flashback Friday, Trip Reports, , , , , ,

FlashbackFriEarlier in the month I wrote about Finding Banksy In Coney Island. The controversial graffiti artists took up “residency” in NYC for one month and was leaving his mark all over the city.

I only had the opportunity to see one of his pieces in person. I tried to see a couple of others but they were already covered up (so that they could be preserved) by the time I stopped by.

After following Banksy’s residency (mainly) online, it made me think about graffiti and a post that I wrote about street art back in the middle of 2012. I thought it would make for a fun post to re-share for this week’s Flashback Friday.

Here is the post:

  • The Best Places To See Amazing Street Art

Continue reading Flashback Friday: The Best Places To See Amazing Street Art →

Recap Of Our Visit To Berlin

Travel with kids, Trip Reports,

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Our trip to Germany started off with a visit to Berlin. We had 3 days there, and probably could have used another day or two to get an even better feel for the city.

Being that it was after the peak summer travel season I expected the city to be relatively quiet but there seemed to be tourists everywhere. Since Berlin is such a big city, with its sites spread out, this wasn’t an issue at all.

Getting around was very easy. We took the trains all over the city and also did a ton of walking.  The trains are pretty simple to figure out (especially when we had wifi to use googlemaps) but buying a train ticket could be a real pain. Machines, which were cash only would not accept our brand new Euros a couple of times. Luckily we were able to buy train tickets at second hotel we stayed in- Radisson Blu Berlin, right from the concierge desk.

Here are some of the things we did:

  • Visited various Berlin Wall segments/ sites
  • Brandenburg Gate
  • Took in some views from the top of the Reichstag
  • Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
  • Pergamon Museum
  • Jewish Museum Berlin
  • DDR Museum  Continue reading Recap Of Our Visit To Berlin →

Flashback Friday: Our First Time Flying Southwest Airlines- I’m Impressed

Flashback Friday, Trip Reports, ,

FlashbackFriLast week’s Flashback post was related to Southwest Airlines so I figured it was best to follow up with one about our first time flying with them.

Many people would rather not step foot on Southwest but Kim and I feel quite differently about the airline. We find them to be a bit quirky and different in the way that things are done… and we like that!

Since writing about our first trip on Southwest, we’ve flown with them 3-4 more times. We’ve had positive experiences and find them to be a great option for domestic flights.

Here is the post:

  • Our First Time Flying Southwest Airlines- I’m Impressed

This post was originally published on January 14, 2013

Flashback Friday: The Oddest Checked Luggage I’ve Ever Seen

Flashback Friday, Trip Reports, , ,

FlashbackFriA couple of weeks back I posted about a museum featuring medical oddities and this week I want to share a different kind of odd post from the past for Flashback Friday.

I can’t recall seeing anything odd ever get checked at the airport up til our trip to Louisville and Nashville last December. At the counter next to ours, a man was trying to check two 50 pound dumbbells!

Here is the post:

  • The Oddest Checked Luggage I’ve Ever Seen

This post was originally published on December 29, 2012 Continue reading Flashback Friday: The Oddest Checked Luggage I’ve Ever Seen →

What We Did During An 8 Hour Layover In Frankfurt

Trip Reports, ,

We’re heading to Germany in a couple of hours. Here is a post about one way we got prepared for Oktoberfest while still on another trip.

On the way home from the Balkans we had an eight-hour layover in Frankfurt. We planned to head into the city to kill a little time since neither of us had every been to the city before.

Kim and I did some reading about Frankfurt and neither of us came up with much to do. We figured at worst we could just wander around the city center and grab something to eat before heading back to the airport for our flight home.

Soon after, we came up with a plan- the perfect way to make good use of our time rather than just wander around.

Continue reading What We Did During An 8 Hour Layover In Frankfurt →

The Balkans Trip Recap- Day 15: Tirana, Albania

Trip Reports

balkansOur last day of our trip to the Balkans was spent checking out Albania’s capital- Tirana.

While the city doesn’t have what I’d call must-see sites, we enjoyed the time we spent checking it out. Our original plan was to visit a couple of museums  but timing was not on our side. We happened to be there on a Monday when most of the museums were closed.

There were a bunch of things that we had planned to visit, so we took our time walking around and seeing them.

Here is what we saw:

  • Piramida- (previously a museum dedicated to the former dictator)
  • The Mosaic on top of the National History Museum
  • Climbed up the Clock Tower
  • Searched for Soviet style statues behind the art museum
  • Checked out The Block 

IMG_6697 Continue reading The Balkans Trip Recap- Day 15: Tirana, Albania →

The Balkans Trip Recap- Day 14: Durres & Kruja, Albania

Trip Reports

balkansDay 14 of our trip brought us to a few different cities/ towns where we got to see some very interesting and ancient sites. We also stopped at a restaurant (Hotel Panorama in Kruja) which had amazing views and some pretty solid food too. Lucas loved the restaurant due to all of the taxidermy animals, some of which we decided to play with. At first I was worried that Lucas would break something but there were other kids also checking out the restaurant’s collection so I figured it was ok for us too. The staff didn’t mind and we had a lot of fun.

IMG_6484Here are some of the places we visited:

  • Durres Amphitheater
  • Kruja Old Bazaar & Fortress
  • George Bush statue in Fushe Kruja

IMG_6478 Continue reading The Balkans Trip Recap- Day 14: Durres & Kruja, Albania →

The Balkans Trip Recap- Day 13: Apollonia & Berat, Albania

Trip Reports

balkansWith just a few days left to our trip to the Balkans, it was nice to have a day filled with some great sight-seeing but not so much driving. We left Vlora after breakfast and drove about a half hour to our first stop, the ruins of an ancient Greek city of which very little has been uncovered. After our visit we drove around an hour to our next and final stop of the day, Berat whose old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008.

While visiting both of these sites were really great, another highlight of our day occurred during lunch. A family was seated close to us and with them was their daugher, about a month or two younger than Lucas. Lucas decided to go over to say hi and he had a blast playing with her for the next hour or so!

Here are the places we visited:

  • Apollonia Archaeological Park
  • A fun lunch for Lucas
  • Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

IMG_6271 Continue reading The Balkans Trip Recap- Day 13: Apollonia & Berat, Albania →

The Balkans Trip Recap- Day 12: Driving Along the Albanian Riviera

Trip Reports

balkansWhile driving along the coast we started off the day by visiting a place that seems to be around in just about every area in the Balkans- a castle/ fort. After a quick visit we drove further along, passing lots of beaches before settling on one to stop at for a few hours. From there we drove through the mountains, seeing some amazing views of the coast before getting to our destination for the evening.

Here are some of the things we did:

  • Castle of Ali Pasha
  • Dhermi Beach
  • Llogara Pass Viewing Area
  • Night time in Vlora

IMG_6126 Continue reading The Balkans Trip Recap- Day 12: Driving Along the Albanian Riviera →