Heidelberg Weihnachtsmarkt

*I apologize for not editing my photos together to create a nicer, more balanced look but I'm pressed on time with other projects at the moment. 

Oh hello, it's been quite a while. I'll update you on the twists and turns in life later, so lets just jump in and get this show on the road shall we?!

I've been to Heidelberg at least 4 times since we've been in Germany and I simply can't get enough. This was the first time that we had the pleasure of experiencing Heidelberg's beautiful Christmas Market and I promise, it won't be the last time.

Heidelberg is already charming but it will lift you instantly into the Holiday spirit! They have 3 separate Christmas Markets. Ice Skating at one market with out of this world potato fritters, which if you're wondering going hand in hand with apple sauce, though if that is not your thing then the garlic sauce would be perfect too. Another at the Castle and another in the middle of the city. I missed the market that sold Dampfnudlen (I think someone lied because I looked all over and my dreams were crushed)...if you've never had one, well...you need to reevaluate your life choices and get one! It's that serious.

There is also a beautiful carousel and boy did my daughter have a blast riding on it! Lots of kid activities at this Market. So come, enjoy your Glühwein and let your kids have fun too. I make it a tradition to get at least one item from every market, this year I found a tent filled with the most gorgeous lights on strings and I nabbed quite a few for my home. No regrets!

While Heidelberg isn't in my top Christmas Markets, it's still a nice trip to make with family - which I did as my mother and my stepfather came out for 2 weeks and spent most of their time hogging my little one! First grandchild + living overseas = lots of time to make up. We had a blast. If you're looking for a fun market, this is one to visit!

Any other Christmas Market mug collectors out there? I MUST get Glühwein at every market and then I keep the mugs for my collection. What Weihnachtsmarkt have you visited and what items do you find that you've loved?

48 Hours in Paris!

Wondering the ins and outs if you only have 48 hours in Paris? Well, fear not. I have you covered, and it's filled with lots of delicious food, romance and many things to keep you entertained!

 Gerelynn Trisl Photography

 Gerelynn Trisl Photography

Gerelynn Trisl Photography

First things first, I do not recommend the Paris Pass, if you will not be there longer than 2 days. It was cheaper to buy all day Metro & Bus combined tickets for my husband and I. Including the tickets we bought at the Louvre. Don't waste your money unless you're going to be there for a much, longer time span.

Gerelynn Trisl Photography

Gerelynn Trisl Photography

 Frenchie to Go: 9, Rue du Nil, 75002 Paris

Metro 3, 4: Sentier, Reaumur Sebastopol

Now, lets get started!

Day 1: If you'd like to dive right in as soon as you get off the train, plane, or car, I'd highly suggest getting lunch at Frenchie to Go. This was a 5 min walk from the Montorgueil district, where we stayed in a lovely place we booked on Airbnb. You could also go to their other location called Frenchie, which is much larger, and more fine in taste, if you get what I mean. If you'd like a hip, cool spot that the locals love to frequent, with ingredients that are fresh, made right in the kitchen with a menu they try to keep farm to table....then look no further. It truly reminded me of little hole in the wall spots that I use to eat at all the time in Charleston.

We ate there, not once, not twice but 3 times on our trip. It was that good. My husband had the pulled pork and said it was the best he had ever had. Tossed in their homemade sauces, with fresh ingredients and bread, what was not to love? I got the lobster roll which was toasted, and the bread was stuffed with lobster, a creamy cheese sauce and a splash of citrus and other flavors. I will say it again, the food was so good. We also tried different things each time and I'll suggest trying : the homemade granola for breakfast, the bacon breakfast muffin, fish and chips, ruben and their delicious donuts, brownie and wild strawberry muffin.

Lively music, food made with a passion for cooking + fresh ingredients...you can't go wrong. I highly recommend picking up his cookbook as well! Lets just say, I have a lot of recipes bookmarked!

 Gerelynn Trisl Photography

After lunch, I'd suggest heading to the Notre Dame or heading to the lock bridge and either looking at the love there over many years or adding your own lock! There is a sign that says to not throw your key into the river - simple solution, make a travel frame and add the key as a piece to remember your trip by. (I'll be posting how to make them, and what you should think of including soon.)

Once you're done, you should roam your way down to Ciel Patisserie, for an out of this world angel food cake! I've had many in my day, but none as fully, airy, and delicious as theirs. It is tiny, so try to get there early if you'd also like to sit down and have them serve you tea! The flavors that stood out to be were: Sakura (Yes, the actual flower), Yuzu - which is a Japanese lemon, it does not have the tartness of lemons I am use to, and it was actually rather sweet with a soft citrus taste, Fruit Rogue - it was a angel food cake soaked in a berry mixture, with currants, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, Vanilla was a bursting with vanilla beans and flavor, and last, but not least, Matcha. All are filled with a delicious cream and filling, whether that is yuzu lemon filling for the yuzu cake, or mixed berry filling for the fruit rogue. You get the point. They have more flavors, but these are the ones I truly, went back a second time for and it was worth it. They can be found at: 3 Rue Monge, 75005 Paris. Easy trip by metro as well!

If you aren't tired by this time I suggest a boat tour, or making your way to the Eiffel! We did a beautiful picnic and had pictures taken. This is the picnic basket we bought for the trip and it was perfect. I'll include the link for anyone interested. - Picnic basket

We did family photos with the amazing Gerelynn Trisl Photography and I have included some of them here. She is the reason I don't have many pictures from this trip, as she followed us around ALL day, and documented everything. She is an amazing person, and takes the most beautiful photos. She is heading state side for anyone interested in booking her!

I'd end the day here with a nice walk, or stroll from the Eiffel and all it's beauty as the sunsets and it lights up, giving off a really romantic vibe.

 Gerelynn Trisl Photography

Gerelynn Trisl Photography

Day: 2: I'd wake up and head straight for EXKI, which is a delicious organic place to eat, with everything made fresh, there that day or stroll down and find a cafe, eat a croissant and enjoy a nice latte with fruit! You cannot go wrong with Cafe Madame, which came as a recommendation from our Host and we truly enjoyed it!

After eating brunch, I'd make my way toward the Louvre. We saved this for the second day, as the first day was filled with lots of sight seeing, stopping by comic book stores, and food places so we wanted a bit of a slower day to relax and take the city in. No need to buy the tickets in advance on a Sunday. We went around 12pm and got in straight away and quickly acquired tickets. For those with children, you can stop by the information desk and receive a free stroller with your ticket. You only have to provide a form of identification. It made this mama happy, as I had been baby wearing my little one since day 1. We spent a good 3 1/2 hours there and still didn't even make it 25% of the way through, but it was worth what we saw and we will be back to attempt to finish it! The highlight for me, personally was seeing the mummy, the Egyptian artifacts, and mummified cats and animals!

Leaving, we decided to try Pierre Hermé. The macarons are to die for, and you'll soon figure out why. It was very different from Laduree. Pierre had very unique and out of this world flavors, that you'd have to see for yourself, and the chocolate....don't even get me started on how creamy it was, my taste buds died and went to heaven.

The macaron flavors we got were: Chocolate Passionfruit, Passionfruit Yogurt/Cream Cheese, Lime Yogurt/Cream Cheese, Rose Yogurt/Cream Cheese, Lemon, 70% Chocolate, Creme Brûlée, and Salted Caramel!

They were some of the best macarons I had ever tested. The rose and Salted Caramel, my husband and I weren't to fond of to say the least but everything else, did not disappoint! We also got to sample some of their chocolate and Chocolate with a passionfruit filling as a blast, even my daughter loved it! We also tried milk chocolate with a salted caramel filling and a few dark chocolates. Conclusion? I'll definitely be back.

And with that, we ended our day with some new comics we had acquired, a few polaroid pictures and getting food to go from Monthai Street Food, which was so good! Exhausted and defeated, we munched on our macarons, ate dinner, played with my little one, showered and hit the bed to catch our train back to Germany in the morning! It was an amazing trip. You don't have to do anything like my list, but for our family of 3, it was perfect for us! What do you have planned to see in Paris? Where are you going next?!

I'd love to hear some highlights of your trips and favorite things you've seen!

Rome - Part 2

Now, that we've went over the Roma Pass, you all should know how we made it to the Vatican + Coliseum and everywhere else. Train. It is super easy to ride the metro. Now, the Roma pass does not cover your ticket for the Vatican as it's pretty much considered it's own 'State' I'd guess, so you'll need to go online and get advance tickets or you could go with a tour for 50 euro. I don't recommend this and I'll tell you why in a moment. Here is a fun fact: things are super expensive in Rome because they pay 75% tax to the Vatican. Can you say, W O W?! (So the tour guide said anyway)

We viewed many churches while we wandered around Rome, but none took my breath away as much as going through The Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica! Now, we did not reserve tickets ahead of time as I had set up a tour through the host of our beautiful studio. I will not recommend the tour. It was about 50 euro, and it was packed with over 30+ other people, not terrible, but the tour guide talked too fast, didn't stop much to explain what was what, didn't give us enough time to look for ourselves and read things and on top of carrying a 20lb baby, that was a huge no! So, me being the rebel I am, I pretty much just ditched her and spent the time I needed reading things, and taking them truly in. It was absolutely beautiful and worth it, I regret nothing haha. The Sistine Chapel is a definite must see, though it's so crowded, I think it took away from the experience for me a bit. The paintings literally looked as if they were going to pop off the wall. Here comes an unpopular opinion: I don't think it's all it's cracked up to be, I honestly thought St. Peter's took the win and dashed away. St. Peter's almost brought tears to my eyes. It was beautiful, the way the light hit everything, seriously could have brought me to my knees...I even got to touch Holy Water! (No, Mom, I didn't burn ha, ha --inside joke--) I highly recommend not passing these up! 

We also hit the Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and many more (I have those photos, it wasn't awe inspiring to me, though the history is very interesting and still worth seeing! I did a romantic photoshoot for my friends there instead of take any actual pictures. Sorry!)

For all the foodies out there, I found so many shops that had truffle oil, delicious olive oil, cheese spreads and sets, chocolate spreads, teas, honey, limecello, pasta noodles ranging from flavored to different flours and the works. Lets say, we almost went over our weight limit for Ryanair because of all the goodies I decided to try to bring back. All in all, I'd do Rome again. Even after 6 wonderful days, there was still a lot I wanted to see! If you do visit, please just go explore! Get lost with a map, find their shopping district (which was awesome and had a MAC store, H&M along with much, much more awesome shopping) and just roam! You'll find many hidden gems, I promise, you won't regret it even with hurt ankles later.  I'm done rambling, now enjoy these photos!

Ciao! Roma, Italy - Part 1

Before flying to Rome, I had butterflies. I'm not a plane person. The person who is talking about how the plane is going to crash and we're all going to die, and oh, that turbulence wasn't turbulence at all, it was the wind telling us we can't fly and down we go. All jokes aside, I don't like it and it makes my stomach flip. Drum roll....I now have a baby and that made matters worse! Everything I could possibly think was flying through my mind, especially her crying. Well, Sicily did amazing, we made it with our friends to Italy with car arrangements made for us by the wonderful woman that let me rent out one of her places through Airbnb.com. This place was in the center of everything, and a corners turn from the Trevi.

We were all in heaven. I highly recommend staying there. Here is a link and if you're interested, I've included the listing for the place: Fontana Di Trevi . Go ahead, see for yourself that I wasn't lying, it's absolutely beautiful. And this was the view from my bedroom window.

Lets move on to the food that will make your tastebuds explode and some attractions. We spent 6 wonderful days in Rome, and I although I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to venture and see everything I wanted, I figure, it's another excuse to come back. (Which I will.) We pretty much dropped our stuff in our rooms and we were gone in a heartbeat. Exploring is the best thing to do and I highly recommend it. Don't take a bunch of buses or taxis, if you must take anything, ride the metro. We rode it everywhere, and walked everywhere. The treasures we found were worth every sore ankle by the end of the night. 

The best value for your money you could invest in: Roma Pass. - If you don't get this, you're spending so much unneeded money it's not even funny. With this beauty, you can ride any public transportation (bus, or metro etc) for 3 days, as many times as you please. You can also enter 2 museums free and you can skip the ticket lines because well, the pass IS your ticket. The tickets by the way, are around 30+ euro each per museum. With the pass being only 34 euro, it's definitely paying for itself and it's well worth it. It includes a map as well, so don't bother buying one! Downfall, it can't be used to get into the Vatican, so you will have to buy the tickets online or you'll wait in a 2 hour line. Ew.

For food, we hit a place called II Pozzo Dei Desideri - the bonus, it was literally right next door to where we were staying. The food was out of this world, and is not a big tourist spot. You'll understand what I mean if you are ever just so hungry and you just pick a place that looks good, until you taste it and it reminds you of Olive Garden. My taste buds exploded and I truly understood what real Italian was after this trip. The olive oil was....I don't even have words, but trust me, if I could describe it, I would. Lets just say 'imported' olive oil from the US is crap compared to what I had.

Ciampini - This was a suggestion from our host. She told us all the best spots that locals went to and I'm so grateful. Here we had a stuffed bread pizza. I'm a truffle mushroom lover, and this pizza was so good, I almost cried. It was filled with potatoes, ham, the freshest mozzarella, pieces of black truffles and just a splash of truffle oil. If there is a meal I could die eating, this would probably have been it.

In the Galleria Mall, we found the biggest pastry place we had laid eyes on and it wasn't just looks either. It was called roma Dagnino palermo. Stop there and at Vanilla Organic for out of this world desserts.

Jolly Pop was a candy store we found that had creme saver gummies and I, being the sweets lover I am, was as jolly as can be. Ha. Ha.

La Grande Bellezza was really on top of our list. If you find yourself willing to wonder and walk a bit from the Metro, please make your way here.

The winner and king on my list is Baccano. I'm all about Moscato, but the wine the waiter brought out was out of this world, and if it wasn't almost 45 euro for the bottle, it would have made it into my suitcase. This place is a little more on the finer end but it is affordable and delicious! Meals were rather nicely sized, bursting with flavor, but dessert made me believe, there must be a food goddess! It was our last sit down meal for our trip so I highly, highly, recommend this place. 

Gelateria Pasticceria had the best gelato, crepes and pastries. It is right near the Trevi and the women are the sweetest and adored my daughter to pieces. I loved the cookies and cream (not like what you'd typically think), rum, vanilla and chocolate chips, mint, tiramisu, and chocolate. We went to this place everyday, 3x a day while we were in Rome. If that doesn't tell you something, I don't know what will.

There were plenty more food places, but while I may have loved the food at those other places as well, these are the ones I want to rave about and make sure others have the chance to enjoy them as well. These photos are just a few from the places mentioned above. 

I highly recommend going to the Trevi when it's dark, and a little after 11:30pm at night. Bring drinks, take photos and just enjoy it. It's almost empty, romantic and you'll get to throw your coin in and make a wish without any interruption! We did the Trevi everyday, only because we could. It truly is a must see, day or night. The Colosseum was another highlight that I found out gave me goosebumps. I am an architecture nut, and I'm a sucker for great building structure. (Hey! I'm from Charleston, SC. Historic downtown and our building has made me this way, okay?!) but the Colosseum blew anything I knew out of the water. You can tell how much care was put into it, how much blood, sweat and tears were dropped there. I highly recommend getting a private tour which is only 18 euro if you also have the Roma Pass! Listening to history all over again and walking through with visual pictures of how they think it looked really helped me bring it all together in my mind. 

I don't want to make this too terribly long, so with Roma Part 2, I'll give you all the details on the Vatican, Roman Forum, Palestine Hill, shops to get the best spices, olive oils, truffle sauces and the definite do's and don'ts.