#vienna

Last stop on the Euro adventure was Vienna. After our one day in Salzburg we took the night train to Vienna (only an hour!) and arrived just in time for dinner. Our stay in Vienna was super special because we stayed with my mom's best friend from junior high/ high school whom she hadn't seen in 26 YEARS! How crazy is that? I'm 26 right now so I can't imagine not having seen a friend for pretty much my entire lifespan. That's a long time. They had kept in touch of course, but this was such a special reunion for the both of them. Best of all, her friend had a daughter exactly my age so the four of us had the best time together. Highlights in Vienna included the amazing castles (and the stories behind them), the cheap hot dogs which were to die for, trying an original Sacher Torte, more tasty beer, and going to the opera together on our last night.

Fun travel tip if you're planning to go to Vienna: you can purchase standing-room only tickets to the opera, day-of, for only 4 euros. This was perfect for us since we weren't down to spend a whole 3 hours at the opera and we didn't want to pay an arm and a leg. I wish SF had something like this! It's so convenient for tourists. We got a good taste of the opera for 20-30 minutes and then spent the rest of the night exploring the enormous opera house.

Our final full day in Europe we drove out to Slovakia (only an hour drive) to explore another country. Why not?! We went to Bratislava which has so much character. The town is teeny, tiny! The restaurants are so hipster, it reminded me a lot of being in SF. We shopped, ate some bomb food, discovered some cute bakeries, and walked all day long. I loved it. I loved our whole trip and what was the best part was not only being able to do all this with my mom but to be able to mix that up with meeting some close family members who I personally had never had the opportunity to meet until now. It was such a blessing. These are people I can't imagine not knowing and I am SO excited for them to come here and tour CA with me guiding them ;)

Top 3 realizations culture shocks:

• You can only get your ice cream in a cone if you get it to go. We tried sitting down after the opera in this ice cream parlor and I really was craving a cone but they wouldn't let me since apparently a cone is more prone to messes so they only give you cups when you're seated. Um... ok.
• On the same note, no ice cream sampling allowed in Vienna. I told our friends about Salt & Straw in the US and how they pretty much beg you to sample everything and they were mind blown!
• There isn't much variety when it comes to food. We stayed in Vienna the longest during our whole trip (about 5 days) and towards the end both my mom and I were really in the mood for some ethnic food. Back home, we both get Japanese or Chinese food at least once a week so going three weeks with nothing was killing us. I finally was able to locate a high rated ramen spot so we went. It was average at best which made us realize how lucky we are in the US for the diversity in food options. Not to mention some of the TOP ethnic cuisine in SF (burritos, ramen, sushi, the works).

                 

   

#paris

Ah Paris. Just writing the name gets me giddy. I want to start off this post by saying that the phrase, "Paris is always a good idea" now has new meaning to me because I was able to actually put that into practice on our trip. We didn't really have plans to hit up Paris on our trip since the journey has been so packed with train trips and city stops, BUT, the day before our flight my mom and I had this moment of smiling and looking to one another and saying, "Should we fit in Paris too?" And oh, am I SO glad we did. The first time I went to Paris I left feeling like this was one of my favorite cities in the world. I loved being able to go back a second time and seeing if this remained true. Did it? Big, fat yes!  Paris is magic. Paris is romantic. It's mysterious, illuminating, and simply draws you in. Every time we got off the metro and walked up the steps we were surrounded with an entirely different landscape. All of course included busy streets, colorful buildings, and most of all - people chillaxing. I know I mentioned this in my last post but it continues to ring true the more of Europe I see and explore. People value their time and well being so much. They close up shop when they feel like it, they sit down for an hour- long coffee break if they're in the mood. Anything goes. The sense of consumerism we have in America is completely blown to pieces in Europe, and it is so refreshing to be a part of. 

What I loved most? The eating of course, come on! Every morning my mom and I were on the hunt for better pastries from the day before. Because it just kept getting better and better. Huge shout out to my friend and fellow food blogger, Shikhalamode for all the amazing suggestions -- we tried almost everything! [i do have to note though that I thought Angelina was way over priced and not amazing food.. That being said, go for the experience! Oh and Strasbourg had better drinking chocolate ;)]. End rant. The food was all amazing. I'm iust glad we did so much walking every day so I'm not going home a fattie. 

The other part of the trip I loved was taking a boat ride tour across the Seine one of the afternoons. The sun finally came out while we were on the water and it was so relaxing after 5 hours of walking to simply bask in the sunlight and admire all the beautiful landmarks across the river.

I cannot wait to come back to Paris. Especially in better weather. That being said, the city was so good to us and I'm left smiling from ear to ear when I think about our time there. 

                        

#strasbourg

And we're back. Next stop on the EuroTour was Strasbourg. I can't even begin to describe how much I love this town. Strasbourg is in Alcace, a region of France that has a lot of German influence so you get a totally different feel here -- worlds apart from Paris. I feel so lucky to have seen such different parts of France, from Paris to Strasbourg to Nice and Cannes... this country never ceases to amaze me with its vibrant character and the "joie de vivre" that is so evident in the inhabitants. When my mom and I arrived in the train station, she turned to me and said, "I feel like I'm at home." This resonated so much with me because I felt the exact same way. We both fell in love with France on our last Europe trip and to feel the same way our second time here was so comforting. Even though it was still freezing, we both got this second wind and had a little night on the town and went exploring after dark. It was so magical. There were swans swimming in the river, moonlight reflecting off the cobble stones, and every café was booming. Truly out of a storybook. I told a friend the first comparison that came to mind to describe Strasbourg was: "Man in the Iron Mask" meets Disneyland. Haha! But truly no better way to explain it. The town is so tiny too that you can get around by foot almost anywhere. One of those places where you want to get lost and just soak in each quarter. I don't think I've ever walked so much in my life! We spent 2.5 days here and just left to take the train off to Paris. Can't wait to come back here. Thank you Strasbourg, you have a piece of my heart.