The Shwits

Battambang, Cambodia

Battambang was one of my favorite days from our entire trip.

Battambang is both a province and a city located about 3 hours west of Siem Reap. Additionally, Battambang city is the third largest city in Cambodia in terms of population size, but this isn’t what necessarily drove me to want to visit. When planning the trip, I found the Battambang Dream Bungalows and that was that. I needed to stay there. Luckily, there were no protests from the rest of the crew.

We traveled there by bus using the company Mekong Express. I would highly recommend them for getting around Cambodia if that is of interest to anyone. All the busses/vans we took with them were clean, you could book ahead online and reserve your seat, there was a bathroom break halfway, and they gave you a bottle of water for the journey. And despite a few mishaps which were out of their control (more on that later), they were more reliable and had nicer staff than the other company were forced to use later on.

“Small-bladder Sis” was excited for the bathroom break.

We arrived in Battambang city at night and had to take a tuk-tuk about 8km outside of the city to reach the bungalows. 2 tuk-tuks, 6 people, and luggage made for a squishy yet entertaining ride.

Despite our heavy load, the scooter managed to make it to the bungalows and we were greeted by the owners. We came here with no real plans; during dinner, the owner asked if we would like information about a tour the next day so we jumped at the opportunity! As I said at the start, this ended up being one of everyone’s favorite days from our entire trip.

The next morning we woke up to beautiful views of the rice paddies and the non-stop party music from a nearby wedding. I say non-stop because it started at 3am and went for a literal 24 hours. Apparently, wealthy Cambodians have a 3 DAY long party. Your average person, only one full day. Anyway, two tuk-tuks came to pick us up and off we go! First stop… bamboo sticky rice! Shane was thrilled.

View over the rice paddies from bungalow property.

Since we told our guide we had sticky rice before we only stopped for a quick snack and went on to our next stop: rice paper! This was insanely cool and just really makes you appreciate the hard work that goes into food preparation. It’s so easy to be detached from where food comes from, but when you see a chicken outside that is probably someone’s dinner, or in the case of the rice paper, you realize someone sat for hours to make these, it really starts to put things into perspective.

Rice paper is made by first soaking the rice overnight in water, then it’s ground and the water filtered out through a cloth. The remaining mixture is put in small batches on a heated plate, covered with a metal lid to cook (long enough to get one going on the 2nd hot plate), then it’s removed and draped over the wooden (rotating) sticks. The 2nd person lays out the rice paper to dry on the bamboo sheet and when it’s full it goes into the sun for a few hours. Then, ta-daaa! Rice paper for delicious spring rolls (for example)!

We were also able to see how rice wine was made. Long story short, a lot of rice, heat, fermentation, wine! But don’t let “wine” fool you, this is no wine. This is 80 proof rice liquor, and to sweeten the deal it’s seasoned with cobra.

Yes, like the snake (poor buddy).

But, when in ~~Rome~~ Cambodia, right?!

Can’t say the cobra wine will become a staple in our house, but I think I (oddly enough) liked it a little better than the mango version.

Mango (right) and cobra (left) rice wine.

Now that we’ve been properly liquored up, it was time to head to the famous Bamboo Train! I had done some internet stalking before the trip, so I knew exactly what the Bamboo Train looked like and I was THRILLED to try it! As for everyone else, I’m not sure they really knew what to expect.

I mean, did you expect the Bamboo Train to be a bamboo platform with a motor on the back?

A quick history:

Back during French colonial times, a national railway system was built, but it was shut down during the Khmer Rouge. In the 1980s, after the civil war ended, the people of Cambodia used what was left of the tracks and spare abandoned parts from the war to create the Bamboo Train. It provided a quick way for locals to travel between villages through the countryside. I say quick because this bad boy can go up to 50 km/h (30mph)!

What’s this like, you ask? Click here to see for yourself!

As you might notice, there’s only one track but it goes in both directions! Soooo, what happens if you run into someone on your way? Everyone gets off one train, it’s taken apart, the 2nd train passes, the first train is put back together, and off you go again!

Shane and Terry assisted in the dismantling.

I will warn, even though our guide insisted that this train was “used by the locals!” it was certainly a tourist trap. Once upon a time it was used by the locals, but the only people we saw on the train were clearly tourists, and the train stops in a small village full of shops with t-shirts, drinks, and small children trying to sell you things. We came home with a lot of bracelets…

Is it touristy? Definitely.

Is it worth the $5 round trip ticket? Hell yeah!

So grab a beer before you board and enjoy the ride!

Next up, lunch! Yes, all this happened before lunch. It was a busy day. We requested somewhere local and authentic for lunch so our drivers took us to a lovely spot on the river, which also happened to back up to our after-lunch destination: Banan Temple.

Banan Temple was cool, but what I remember most about Banan Temple was the stairs… 376 to be exact.

After the temple we went to our final destination, which was actually a 2 part event and probably the most impactful; partly due to history and partly due to nature.

Part 1: The Killing Cave

Yes, it’s exactly as the name suggests.

I don’t know if this was for immaturity and lack of caring about history or if this isn’t really taught in American schools, but I honestly don’t remember learning about the Khmer Rouge. None of us did. (Any high school history teachers want to comment?). My parents certainly remember it since they lived through it in the news, but we were very much nieve.

In case you’re like us and know very little – the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia between 1975 – 1979. The communist movement came to Cambodia, similar to Vietnam, as they tried to free themselves of French colonization. In 1975 the communist regime, the Khmer Rouge, and their leader, Pol Pot, took over Phnom Penh (the capital) to officially begin their reign.

In an effort to make a ‘classless’ society, almost everyone from the city was sent out to the agricultural areas to work where if people didn’t die from the journey, they died from the hard labor, poor living conditions, and starvation.

Additionally, to make this “ideal” society, they stripped away all freedoms. No school, no gatherings, no religions, if you can think of it – it was most likely taken away. On top of it, all educated people were killed. Doctors, teachers, if you wore glasses – all were murdered. All in all, approximately 2 million people were killed during this 4-year time frame.

Which brings us to the killing cave.

There are many killing caves and killing fields, where mass murders took place, all throughout the country. This one, Phnom Sampeau, is located about 11km (7mi) outside of Battambang city. You had to visit with a guide, and as it turns out, our guide (and tuk-tuk driver) lived through the Khmer Rouge regime. He was separated from his parents at the age of 5 and never saw them again.

The picture above can’t even do it justice, but this was a deep cave. Here, men and women were brought to the opening of the cave at the top and hit in the back of the neck to push them through the hole and into the cave. If you were lucky, you died from the blow to the neck or from the fall. If you were unlucky, you survived the fall but had no escape. Our guide told us how people who survived the fall would essentially lay there, waiting to die while other bodies fell on top of them.

Absolutely unspeakable and completely unimaginable.

And while this wasn’t the most upbeat part of our day, it was certainly worthwhile to visit and necessary to learn. It really helps you understand the country as it is today.

Not the killing cave, but another nearby with a better hight perspective.

Part 2: The Bats!

Nearby to the killing cave is yet another cave, but with a little nicer story. This particular cave houses over 3 million bats! Every night about sunset the bats fly out to forage. This has become such a spectacle, that tourists and locals alike grab a drink and a snack, and line the streets to watch the bats leave the cave. It takes over an hour, by the way, for the cave to completely empty.

Naturally, we followed suit!

Better cover your beer or you might get an unexpected treat…

This was probably one of the coolest natural phenomenon (can I call it that?) that I’ve ever seen.

And with that, our tour of Battambang was complete! The day was long and jam-packed but worth every second.

With our fantastic tour guides / tuk-tuk drivers!

Next stop on the trip (and our final stop as a group of 6)… Phnom Penh!

Tot ziens,

Whitney

Kompong Khleang, Cambodia

Our time to Siem Reap wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, the Tonle Sap!

Using Siem Reap as home base, we were able to take a half day tour of one of the floating villages located on the Tonle Sap lake. It sounds obvious, but one thing Shane and I try our best to do when we travel is to support the local economy. We try to stay in hotels, eat at restaurants, and use guides from the local community to make sure that our tourism dollars are actually supporting the place we’re visiting. Of course, this can’t always be done – lack of reliable information, budgets, etc. – but, generally speaking, finding a local tour guide is easy to do.

Accessible from Siem Reap, there are 4 main floating villages. In doing tour research, I found out that the closest village, Chong Kneas, is basically a tourist trap and essentially none of your money goes back to the locals. Scratch that one off the list.

I ended up settling on the furthest village (~55km; 35mi), Kompong Khleang, because of a “Community First” tour I found online. I really liked it because a person who actually lives (or in our case, grew up in) the village is the one who gives the tour, and all the money paid goes back into the village itself – to the school, to their clean water project, and of course to pay the guides. I also especially liked it because the tour included stops for snacks. Boy, do I love snacks!

So, as I mentioned before, our guide grew up in Kompong Khleang and he was eager to take us to his village. We were picked up at the hotel in the morning and headed off to our first stop – bamboo sticky rice!

Rice, beans, sugar, coconut & coconut milk mixed together and is placed inside a piece of bamboo. It’s cooked over a wood fire for a few hours and presto-chango! A warm delicious treat! To get the rice back out, you kind of squish the bamboo with your hands and then you can peel it like a banana.

Our next snack stop was more than just eating snacks. We actually got to see how the snacks were made! We tried doughnuts (see Sis pic above), ginger cakes – which tasted exactly nothing like ginger – and ice cream cones made from rice and sesame seeds.

Terry trying his hand at ginger cakes. Ginger cakes because they LOOK like ginger, not taste like it!

Time-lapse ice cream cone making (nonstop from 6am – 2pm every day.) Thanks for the video, Sis!

Now that we were sufficiently sugared up, we made our way to the lake. As I mentioned before, the Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. We happened to be there during the dry season (Nov. – May). During this time the lake is about 3000 sq. km (1150 sq. miles) and only about 2m (6.5ft) deep. During the rainy season the lake grows. I mean REALLY grows – to 10,000 sq. km (3850 sq. miles) and a max depth around 14m (45ft.).

Kompong Khleang is actually a stilted village. In the dry season you can see this, but in the wet season when the lake swells, the houses appear to float. Despite being stilted, we needed a boat to get around. So, we hopped in and headed to the Bridge of Life school, which is supported by the tour.

I would just like to take a moment to discuss this boat. Now, don’t get me wrong, never did we feel unsafe on the boat, but when you start noticing how said boat functions you can’t help but laugh and be amazed all at the same time. If you look at the above picture, straight down the middle to the back. That container? The fuel. The rudders? Connected with rope. Gas pedal like a foot pump. Hey, it got us from A to B and back again, but we were definitely not expecting it!

Anyway, back to the Bridge of Life school. We arrived when school was in session so we got to watch the last few minutes of school with the cutest kindergarten-aged kids in their matching school uniforms sing their closing day songs. Out of respect for the kids and their families, we didn’t take pictures of them, but I can show you their one-roomed schoolhouse precariously perched on stilts with floorboards I wasn’t entirely sure would hold all 6 of us adults.

Do you want to know what’s really cool? In America, we have school busses. In Kompong Khleang they have school BOATS! The kids who live further away are picked up and taken home in a school-boat! This really serves two purposes – it assures the kids will make it to school and it allows the parents to not lose income by taking time off to bring the kids.

On top of having school boats, this school is extra adorable. Ya know why? See the ramp going up to the school? One side has slats, for walking up. The other side is smooth, and it’s hard to tell in the picture, but the wood is extra smooth – shiny even. It’s for the kids to slide down when they leave! We got to watch this happen and they all loved it!

Outside of teaching, the school does other things for the community as well. They have a sewing school (a useful trade) in the front of the building as well as their own water filter to provide free clean drinking water (and encourage reusing water bottles).

After the school, we walked around the village for a little bit then it was back on the boat for some more touring!

Kompong Khleang Village. During the wet season this would all be under water.

I touched the lake!
Titanic. Obvi.

We passed truly floating villages on our tour.

After a few hours on the lake, we headed back to land and back to Siem Reap. Since we were home by early afternoon, we spent a happy afternoon by the pool and followed it up with the night market and infamous Pub Street!

And with that, our quick time in Siem Reap was up.

Next up, Battambang!

Tot Ziens,

Whitney

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Well, we’ve checked another continent off the world travel list!

Hello Asia!

We’re freshly home from our month of travel in Cambodia and Vietnam! Hard to believe that we were able to travel for a month – this was by far our longest trip. Also hard to believe it’s already over! I’ve decided to channel my inner travel blogger and split up the posts by location.

First up, Siem Reap!

But before we get there, I would like to acknowledge the fact that I checked off one of my lifetime bucket list items: flying on a double-decker plane!

Now, I’ll be honest. We didn’t really get to take advantage of the double-decker action on account of you need to be rich and were in that ‘economy saver’ section. But I did see the stairs that went up to the business and first class SUITES (yes, first class gets a suite and a shower) and we had to go up *count ’em* 4 STEPS to get to the bathroom, so that’ll do. I was also thrilled to get to fly Emirates since they are constantly rated as one of the top airlines in the world, and their flight attendants are just so so beautiful! Shane was thrilled because it was the first time when economy legroom was a non-issue. They were a little stingy on the airplane booze, but I guess that’s what you get when the airline’s country of origin (UAE) isn’t a fan of alcohol.

And that concludes my professional review of Emirates Airlines. (hah)

So! We flew from Amsterdam to Dubai, then Dubai to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. From there, we needed to take an overnight bus to Siem Reap, where we would be meeting up with the rest of the group. For posterity & clarity I’ve mapped out our trip, and will be adding it progressively!

Now, having just landed in a new country with basically no sleep we decided that we would forgo public transportation to the bus station and opted for a cab instead. Walk up to the cab, show him the address and the bus company name. “Ok! ok! I know!” he says.

He did not know. We were dropped off at a market about 20 min walking distance from where we actually needed to be. Solid start. So, we start walking. Luckily we picked up a SIM card at the airport…

We’re walking, we’re chatting, there appears to be no bus stop in sight. Then, out of the blackness came!…

The sketchiest bus stop I’ve encountered (thus far – there were others, more on that later). A quick text to the group chat with the above photo – “uhh, we’re here. Hope we see you in 6-8 hours!”

And what did you learn when you’re a kid?

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

It ended up being an AWESOME experience and made us wish we were able to take advantage of overnight busses more on the trip! The bus itself was very nice. As you boarded you were asked to take your shoes off (to keep it clean) and given a bag to store them. Everyone had a bunk with a cubby at the end for storage. There were power outlets, free WiFi, a blanket, pillow, and bottle of water. Of course, it’s not luxury sleeping but it was only $15 per person for our “hotel” and transport. Giant Ibis, ya did good!

We reached Siem Reap around 5am and luckily our fantastic hotel let us check in as soon as we arrived!

Our first breakfast of Cambodia, for a whopping $3!

Now, funny story on the way to the hotel. As we would come to find out, tuk-tuk drivers are EVERYWHERE and very persistent. It makes sense, it’s their lively-hood, but as a Westerner who isn’t used to being haggled, it can feel pretty aggressive at 5am on limited sleep. We managed to walk out of the bus station with minimal “no thank you”, but about halfway to the hotel, we were stopped by a tuk-tuk driver asking where we were going, and if we wanted a ride.

I can’t possibly imagine why he would think we might want a ride…

In these situations, I love to defer all conversation to Shane. I mean, yay strong independent woman and all, but I am a sucker and a terrible negotiator. So, the guy asks if we want a ride, and when we say no he says “Are you planning to see Angkor Wat?”. Well, yes. “Do you have a driver?” We’ve been there for all of 10 min, so that was a no. After some more back and forth (“We’re meeting up with more people so we can’t decide now!”), we’ve given this random tuk-tuk driver our hotel name and a time to meet that evening to discuss tours. (Sorry Dad, didn’t tell you that part when we were there on purpose! lol) We decided if he showed up, we would hear him out.

Turns out, he did show up and he gave us a great deal and a GREAT tour of Angkor Wat! He is a tuk-tuk driver, but working on becoming a certified tour guide. *Faith in people restored*

As you can see, we started out this trip as a group of 6: me & Shane, my sister (Sis) & Terry, and Michelle & Steve (friends from grad school). I have to say, I am beyond proud of us for making this trip happen. Shane & I had always known we wanted to take a big trip after he submitted his Ph.D. thesis, and Sis and Terry had independently been planning for their year of travel, but the group idea was born over a year ago when we met up with Michelle & Steve in Venice. SEA 2018 started as a great idea, became an anthem, and turned into a (long-awaited) reality! So, the first day was spent anxiously waiting for the whole group to arrive!

At least I could wait by a nice pool.

Partial reunification and the first beer of Cambodia!

First up on the agenda,

Sunrise at Angkor Wat!

Up at 4am, out the door and in the tuk-tuk with a packed breakfast by 4:30am with a one-track mind for the Angkor Wat ticket office. A lot of online research suggested to get your tickets the night before to maximize the chances of you getting the best sunrise spot, but ticketing here is quite strict! You have to be physically present to buy the ticket because they take a webcam photo of you and add it to your pass. Since everyone was arriving at different times the night before, we weren’t able to do this. It didn’t matter because our driver was on it, and made sure we were the first in line!

Now, don’t get me wrong, the sunrise was beautiful. But all I had heard before we came was how sunrise at Angkor Wat was ‘life-changing’ and ‘top 5 things the’ve ever seen’. I just didn’t have that feeling. Perhaps it was too built-up beforehand. Perhaps it was the hoards of people enjoying this spiritual sunrise with me. If I were to do it again, I would skip the sunrise, or at least skip the sunrise over the main viewing area and head to a less occupied area of the temple.

Which brings me to my second point, call it naivety (and poor googling) but I (and I think the others as well) didn’t realize that Angkor Wat is just one of 50 temples in the region. Your pass (with your picture) gets you into all of these. And, Angkor Wat itself is huge! You could easily spend half a day just walking around this complex. We spent only about an hour here, and then headed on for 2nd breakfast and our next temple.

Now side-note. See this lovely monk down here. You can be blessed by this monk. Sis and I wanted to be blessed by the monk and we MISERABLY failed. Long story short, don’t be an asshole – take off your shoes if you step on any mats or you will get some serious dirty looks from a monk….

Ya live ya learn I guess. It was so physically painfully awkward (and we felt terribly guilty) that we didn’t make that mistake twice!

Next up,

Angkor Thom & Bayon Temple

Angkor Thom is the largest complex inside the Angkor archeological park, and the Bayon Temple is located inside it. I knew I was going to like it just from the entrance…

Honestly, I liked Angkor Thom better than Angkor Wat and that’s probably due to all the faces! They are so striking and definitley the first thing you notice as you walk up.

Temples, temples everywhere…

I’m not going to lie. After this, the temples start to get a little blurry. With so much to see it’s hard to keep them straight! So, please enjoy the following pictures of “the pyramid one”, “the Laura Croft Tomb-raider one” (which was actually in the movie, if you’re a fan!), and “the one we saw after lunch”. I apologize, temples, for not properly documenting your names.

Sis and TB were SO excited! WOW!

Remember our tuk-tuk driver? The one I said who was working towards becoming a certified tour guide? For our final stop of the day, he took us to a surprise location, a location he said really meant a lot to him.

We ended up at the main Buddhist Pagoda in Siem Reap!

As it turns out, our tuk-tuk driver (who I’m just realizing we forgot to get a picture with!) was a monk for 2 years. But, alas, he fell in love! So, he decided to not be a monk anymore and got married instead. Regardless, his time as a monk meant a lot to him, and he was very eager to share his knowledge about Buddhism and various aspects of the pagoda. In Cambodia, 90% of the population is Buddhist and most want to become a monk (men and women). In a country racked with poverty (more on that later), to become a monk means that your day to day life is free – you’re given a place to live and food to eat. And, of course, the monks give back to their communities and make personal sacrifices; it’s a highly respected and coveted position.

So remember the monk that Sis and I offended with our shoes? Well, everyone else who (successfully) went to him for a blessing received a bracelet, in which he tied on your arm. Steve and Michelle went together, Michelle’s bracelet was on her left arm, Steve’s on his right. Later in the day, we saw another pagoda with monks performing blessings. Terry and Shane went together to be blessed since Sis and I was too humiliated to try again. As we were watching, we noticed that they were all just cracking up! We, of course, had no idea why. Shane came out with a bracelet on his right arm, and Terry on his left.

Well, it turns out, the bracelets have a meaning! I mean, of course they have meaning – for good luck or good health, etc – but when the monks give you the bracelet, as we learned from our tuk-tuk driver, the men get it on their right arm, and the women on the left.

Therefore, the women who blessed Shane and Terry assumed they were a couple, since Shane got a bracelet on his right arm and Terry on his left. Now if that’s not brother-in-law bonding then I don’t know what is!

The pagoda where Shane & Terry cemented their relationship.

And with that, our tour and first 24 hours in Cambodia was complete!

Next up, the floating village of Kompong Khleang!

Tot ziens,

Whitney

Düsseldorf, Germany

I’m not even sure how this happened, but believe it or not, this is our 5th holiday season living in Europe!

Since we have a pretty major trip coming up in less than 2 weeks (!!) we decided to stay relatively close to home for the Christmas market this year. Düsseldorf is only about 3 hours driving from Groningen, so we rented a car and got outta dodge for the night!

Car snacks – Germany style! …that was a good lookin’ (and tastin’ strudel)

We’ve actually been to the Düsseldorf market before. We swung through for the day during our 2015 market trip, but since we were only there for a few hours it felt unfinished.

We couldn’t properly sample all the glühwein ya know?

Well, it’s a good thing we went back because the quality of the glühwein here was actually quite variable! Didn’t stop us from drinking it. Just simply making note…

This particular stand, for instance, wasn’t high on the flavor list…

Anyway, the market was festive (as usual) but we did kind of screw up a little.

Mistake #1 was eating a late lunch at a really delicious German brewery that apparently has been in existence since 1834. This in itself was not the mistake – the beer was flowing and the food was DELICIOUS. The mistake was the time in which we ate; we were so completely satisfied that we forgot to eat any curryworst! #firstworldproblems

Mistake #2 also involves a marzipan potato, or the lack thereof. See, my husband here could eat his weight in marzipan. Last year, when we were in Berlin, we found a stand that sold marzipan potatoes which were essentially a fist-sized ball of marzipan rolled in cinnamon. Someone was very much looking forward to another marzipan potato, and we FORGOT TO LOOK!

We did find a gluten-free cannoli stand though, which halfway made up for it.

Mistake #3 – no mug! One of the best parts of the markets are the mugs! Each market in the city has it’s own unique shape and design. You pay a deposit for the mugs upfront, and then you can either return them and get your money back, or keep them for a nice souvenir! This year we kept doubting if this mug was THE mug, and came home with nothing. There was one particularly cute one in the shape of a snowman. Shoulda, woulda, coulda…

A giant hashbrown you dip in apple sauce. Sounds odd, but I highly recommend it.

He wasn’t sure what he bought. Turns out it was chocolate covered marshmellows!

Ok, ok, ok – I really have nothing to complain about. We feel whole-heartedly lucky that we are able to do this every year, had a great time, and even ended up with a wooden winter “Meatball egg”!

And on that note, I will say goodbye until 2019! As I mentioned before, we are leaving in about two weeks for our “Shane-wrote-a-thesis-and-almost-has-a-Phd-graduation-trip” to Cambodia and Vietnam! We will be traveling for about a month, and meeting up with my sis & her boyfriend (who are there for 6 months!), and some other friends along the way. So, come January we will have lots to share!

Until then, thanks for another festive season, Germany, and Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to all!

Tot ziens,

Whitney

Tübingen, Germany

Hello all!

I’m a little behind on sharing pictures, but Shane and I spent our 2nd anniversary weekend in the cutest German town, Tübingen.

Shane ended up coming to Tübingen for some work-related things, so we decided to turn it into a long, celebratory weekend. And it was double celebratory, ya know why?

SHANE SUBMITTED HIS THESIS!!!!

This is the face of a guy who wrote a 200+ page document and TURNED THAT SH*T IN!

This also happens to be the view from our Airbnb!

So, what’s next? The thesis goes to a reading committee that was selected by him and his boss. After about 6 weeks, he will get a notification if his thesis has been approved or not and from there he can pick a date for his public defense. More than likely, for logistical reasons, this won’t be until March. So for now, it’s waiting for approval and looking for post-doc jobs!

Anyway, back to Tübingen!

The city (relative term) is pretty small, only ~80,000 people with a student population of ~20,000. Because of the students, it didn’t really have that “small town” feel. This was probably slightly embellished by the international food and wine festival that was in town.

If it involves food and wine you know we’re there. Here is the part of the story where I proceed to document all the delicious things we ate and drank.

First up, this tiny little pastry from France (according to the flag on the table). No clue what it was called, but it was filled with Nutella so you know you can’t go wrong.

Have to follow up the sweet with a savory, right?! Here is where the meat cone comes in. You know when you’re at the fair, and you walk by the nut stand. And they have all those different types of nuts covered in cinnamon and other magical flavors. This was that but in dried meat form. A cone of various mini-dried meats! They also had a cheese version, but since I’m trying to acknowledge the fact that I am, indeed, lactose intolerant to a degree we (sadly) did not get one.

As I’m here writing this and going through pictures, I realized that it’s a good thing I’m not a food blogger on account of the fact that I ate most things and THEN thought ‘oh! I should have taken a picture!’. So – not pictured, the bratwurst, the spätzel, the pretzel, the extra meat cone (or three?)….

And don’t worry. No trip to Germany is complete without a big ‘ole beer.

Ok, so we did actually walk around the city and look at stuff while we were here too. And we checked out their bouldering gym, so it wasn’t all eating and drinking.

A tree-lined path on a small island in the Neckar River.

And a trip to Tübingen wouldn’t be complete without a stroll through the castle. Yep! The city has a castle that is now used partly for academic buildings and is home to a small museum in honor of Friedrich Miescher who discovered DNA while working at the university!

So, if you’re ever in the Stuttgart area it is well worth the ~45 min south for a weekend in Tübingen. We were thrilled to spend some time with elevation changes! You forget how flat the Netherlands is until you leave…

Tot ziens,

Whitney

Montpellier, France

I have had a serious case of the travel bug lately.

It’s holiday season here in the Netherlands (aka: vacation season, for all the Americans in the room). It starts around May, when there are a lot of public holidays, and peaks in August. People at work are literally going on their 2nd round of summer holiday and I’m just impatiently waiting – our turn will come.

Case in point – a long weekend spent in beautiful Montpellier, France!

Shane spent the beginning of the week here for a conference, and I was able to join him when it ended.

One might ask, “What are the things you loved most about Montpellier?”

Well, let me tell you.

Gelato. Everywhere. Even though it’s not Italy.

I lived my best gelato life. I even remembered my lactose pills this time! (hahaaa)

“It doesn’t matter where you go, you always end up somewhere you know.” – Shane

(he’s quite the poet, huh?)

Arc de Triomphe (and no, we’re not in Paris!)

You “wibble wobbled” down the cutest streets.

(wibble wobble: the act of wandering aimlessly until you “end up somwhere you know”.)

Fun fact. Wibbel wobbeling is basically required here because google maps doesn’t work with the public transportation. The tram system is great!… once you figure it out. Which I was not so successful at when I arrived by myself at ~11pm on Wednesday.

Open Google maps. Suggests to walk. Get on tram anyway. Blue dot goes away from city center. Phone battery hits 15%. Shane is in city center. Panicked. Got off in {what felt like} the middle of nowhere. Got back on. Went back to where I came from. Dropped pin. Waited for Shane. Walked 25 min home anyway.

Turns out, tram line went in a circle – should have stayed on in EITHER DIRECTION. Facepalm.

Luckily for us, our Airbnb was in city center. No Google maps, only wibbel wobbeling, required.

gptempdownload — The view from our AirBnb.

There was no shortage of delicious food and rosé.

For instance, the delectable delights found at a restaurant called Playfood. Shane found this place before I arrived, and could not wait to go because of the concept: similar to tapas, small, sharable portions with a variety of flavors (desserts also!). You had “the crab one” and “the zucchini one” and the “I-don’t-know-what-I’m-eating-but-you-better-try-this-before-it’s-gone one”. It was also the type of restaurant where you literally couldn’t have sat inside if you wanted to because all 6 tables for the whole restaurant were outside and the owner was your watier. I always find these places so charming!

We also decided to expand our eating, drinking, and wibble wobbeling to a new location.

Montpellier is in very close proximity to the beach.

Which can also be accessed by public transportation…without Google maps (Google itself was helpful, just no maps). But we managed, and somehow only paid half of the price we expected for the bus ticket!

We went down the path of least resistance considering we didn’t really have much to go on for directions. The beach we where we ended up was nice, but certainly not the best beach I’ve been to. Lots of places to eat and drink, which was good, and souvenir shops. For those at home, it kind of reminded me of a Myrtle Beach-type beach with clearer water, if I was going to make a comparison.

beach 1 — Paradon me, I forgot to take off my white bodysuit before I got in the water…

And lastly, more of a bonus really…

Picasso exhibit at the Musée Fabre!

I will admit I did a pretty poor job at doing any planning before we came. Not that we generally plan every moment of our time somewhere, but we at least have looked up a few priority viewing items. Lucky for us, advertisements for this exhibit were everywhere, and we were happy to have been able to go.

All in all, it was a lovely change of pace from Groningen and work for both Shane and I. (Yes – still working on that thesis. Things always take so much longer than anticipated.)

So, until next time, Montpellier!

Tot ziens,

Whitney

A Harry Potter Weekend in London

It’s the blog who lived!

All thanks to my good friend Harry and his cursed child.

You may (or may not) have noticed that things have been pretty quiet around here. Shane has been feverishly writing and trying to wrap up this Ph.D. thesis. He’s in the phase now that I like to call “edit purgatory,” but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s getting brighter. Hopefully, within the next month to month and a half, there will be some good news to report!

While Shane’s been working his a** off, I’ve been doing important things, too, ya know. Like making sure I know how my friends on Jersey Shore enjoyed their family vacation, and fully investing myself into the career of our beloved American princess – pardon me, Duchess of Sussex – Meghan Markel. This could have potentially come in handy last weekend because we headed to London to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

In case you don’t know – I love Harry Potter. Last summer, my sister, mom, and I did a pretty serious HP tour of London and Scotland. We weren’t able to see the play, though; tickets just weren’t available.

I bought these tickets in February 2017. So, after our travel drought (darn you, thesis!) and the long and much-anticipated wait, I was itching to get out of Groningen for a weekend!

We arrived pretty late on Friday, so we didn’t really do much. This time, we stayed near St. James Park in a hub – by Premier Inn. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this hotel (it’s advertised as a budget hotel that emphasizes technology), but it was great! The rooms are small, but it reminded me of what (I assume) it would be like to live in a tiny house – clever storage and layout – the bed was comfy, it was across the street from the tube, and (most importantly) there was free coffee. All in all, it was a win.

Anyway, the next morning, we were up bright and early to find a good ‘ole English breakfast! And we won the breakfast lottery thanks to this gem.

It was the English equivalent of a hole-in-the-wall American diner – delicious & cheap. Dutch breakfast just doesn’t do it for me…

The play didn’t start until the afternoon, so we had all morning to do something new in London. Our intention was to visit the Churchill War Rooms, but we severely underestimated the line for this museum (mostly due to online ticket sales and the size of the museum itself), so we abandoned ship and ended up walking around St. James Park and down to Buckingham Palace.

You may notice all the barricades in the background. They were clearly setting up for something in the future. Little did I know that in only two short days, the entire royal family would be out on that balcony for a flyover celebrating 100 years of the Royal Airforce. I always seem to be just a bit too early or just a bit too late for these types of things…

We did get to see some of the Guards up close, though, as they marched down the street. I (naturally) ran to the road for an up-close view.

Shane felt just fine staying where he was. (hah)

We continued our pre-show wanderings and ended up at the Wellington Arch.

Shane noticed you could go up, and a trip surely isn’t complete without dragging him up a few flights of steps for a nice view. He might complain (especially when there’s an elevator available), but it’s always worth it. We even got lucky and saw the Royal Calvary coming through for the changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace.

And, of course, there’s always time for a pint!

To top off the weekend, it was Pride Day AND England was playing in the World Cup. It’s safe to say the city felt quite festive and was super busy! We were in the play for most of the England match, but we were out for the very end…. not that we could see anything. You definitely weren’t getting into a pub, and there were crowds watching TVs through the windows.

And, when England won… chaos! In a fun way.

Now, for the crème de la crème: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

Unfortunately, I can’t say much. JK Rowling sent a personalized email after the show asking to #keepthesecrets. And what JK asks, JK receives. What I can tell you is that this story is supposed to be the 8th of the series and picks up where the books left off – Harry sending his 2nd child, Albus Severus, off to Hogwarts on Sept. 1st, 2017 (which is also why Sis & I lived the dream last year and went to King’s Cross station on Sep. 1st). I can also tell you that the magic in the show was fantastic. It really felt like the world of Harry Potter, and if you’re a fan and have the chance to see it, then do it!

I’ll be honest, it’s a long play; Part 1 and 2 are ~2.5h each. It really doesn’t feel like it, though. Shane was also happy because they served ice cream at the intermission.

We had a few hours in the morning on Sunday before we flew home, so we headed to the British Museum. Fun fact: it’s free. Another fun fact: if you go to the back entrance, you avoid the long lines in the front! This was quite by accident, but thanks, Google Maps!

We eventually made it to the front of the building.

We only had about an hour and a half before we needed to start heading to the airport, but conveniently enough, the museum was prepared for this! And let’s be real, the average person’s attention span for looking at old stuff is probably only about 1.5 – 2 hours anyway.

So we hit the highlights, the Rosetta Stone, an Easter Island man, and we took our time through the Egypt section just because we like Egypt.

All in all, I love Harry Potter. I love London. And we’re already looking for an excuse to go back!

And keep those fingers crossed and positive thoughts coming – hopefully, in the next post, I’ll be reporting a submitted thesis. 😉

Tot ziens,

Whitney

Keukenhof & Koningsdag

We are just rockin’ and rollin’ on our Netherlands bucket list this year!

A few weeks ago, we finally made it to the renowned Keukenhof gardens! We were lucky to have some family visiting the Netherlands, so we met up in Amsterdam and headed about 30 min south to Lisse, where the gardens are located.

Good side – it was the first warm weekend of the year!

Bad side – it was the first warm weekend of the year.

While we did get to wear short sleeves, most of the tulips weren’t in bloom yet because the weather here has been quite cold this spring. It was only a few weeks ago that the canals froze over, so we were kind of anticipating this.

We were able to see some ‘early bloomers’. We learned on this trip that there are early, middle and late blooming tulips. The Keukenhof keeps their gardens blooming through the entire season by strategically planting the bulbs, like the example below. In this way, about the time the early bloomers are dying, the middle ones are blooming, and so on.

Although the fields were mostly green, the greenhouse in the center of the park was in full bloom! There were literally hundreds of types of tulips in here. I had no idea so many existed.

Next up, something just as colorful…

Koningsdag 2018!

And this year was particularly special because the King came to Groningen! I was BEYOND excited. In case you didn’t know, we don’t have kings and queens in America (something about a Revolutionary War? *joke*). So when I heard there was a chance to see King Willem Alexander and the royal family up close and personal I knew we were going. PLUS – I love a good parade.

Quick recap – Koningsdag, or King’s Day, celebrates the birthday of the King. I would say it’s the Dutch version of the 4th of July: everyone is super patriotic and there is a lot of beer consumed.

Also fun fact – King’s day is celebrated on April 27th, which is indeed the King’s birthday, but this was not always the case. His mother, (former) Queen Beatrix was born on January 31st, but that’s a terrible day to have an outdoor party in Holland. To remedy this, she kept the birthday of her mother, (former) Queen Juliana who was born on April 30th. So, considering the eldest daughter of King Willem was born in December, it will be interesting to see if she adopts the birthday of her father.

Maybe you don’t at all find that interesting. I’ll move on to pictures now.

Bright and early Koningsdag morning Shane and I headed to the parade route to get a good spot! Thanks to Shane, we ended up with a spot on the fence. And, I would say it worked out well for us.

Unfortunately, we were ONE person off from shaking hands with him. Just my luck. We were able to shake hands with all the princesses though, so pretty much that means the future queen and I are besties now.

Princess Ariane.
Queen Maxima in red.

The rest of the day was reserved for the Vrijemarkt (aka – free market, one giant yard sale) and free music in the city center.

Keukenhof Gardens – CHECK!

(basically) Meet the King – CHECK!

Let’s see what else we can do this year…

Tot ziens,