Pictures of Paris

My mom and I decided we must make a stop in Paris the weekend before we flew back to the USA. It was really hot, and the place was covered with tourists, but we did not let that stop us from having fun. I thought I would post some pictures of the romantic city here:

We did all tourist activities- we visited the Montmarte area, the Sacre Coeur and the Arc of Triomphe, we spent hours at the Louvre, took a boat tour, an open air bus tour, visited the Notre Dame, the Montmarte Cemetery, the Eiffel Tower, and spent some time shopping. 

  

I had to post a picture above of this amazing cheese and meat platter that we ate at a local Parisian bistro- the pate, salami, bresola, and variety of amazing french cheeses were incredible! It was great paired with a glass of French Rose on the nice summer evening- maybe the best cheese plate I have ever had for the money. Below are pictures of our trip to the Louvre museum- which is incredibly amazing. I highly recommend visiting the Louvre- but the beauty and history is almost overwhelming. In order to see everything, it would take at least a week. We did our best to navigate the museum efficiently. I have been before, but this time I really enjoyed Napoleon's Apartments- they are extravagant and the historical furniture is spectacular. 

We had a great time in Paris- I feel really lucky to have been able to spend some quality time with my mom in Europe. Stay tuned- our travels might be over for a bit, but we have plenty of exciting things on the way- a move, a wedding, and many good meals with good friends!

My last few weeks in Germany....

We have been busy since the last time I blogged (sorry it took so long for me to catch up)! Thanks for everyone for all the kind words regarding our engagement.  We have not really been able to start with wedding arrangements because we have so many other things to get together in the next month or so, but stay tuned- who knows? Maybe life will settle down and this will become a wedding blog? Haha

Anyway, have had a few phone interviews and are waiting to see how everything pans out. Most importantly, I cannot wait to get back and see all the wonderful people and celebrate all of the wonderful things that have happened while we are gone!

So- what have we been doing besides job and house hunting? Having fun of course! We celebrated the 4th of July with Nathan’s fellow American brewing students- we had a bbq at his school with hamburgers, french fries and cool ranch Doritos- very American!

Also, my mother arrived a few weeks before my scheduled departure to visit Germany and help me pack up and fly back with me. I did my best to do all of the “tourist” activities as well as show her all German life. It was really great- the weather was perfect to visit all of the local gardens, the open air food market and drink German beers in a biergarten.

We visited both Neuschwanstein Castle in the romantic village of Fussen in southern Bavaria and Nymphenburg Palace located just north of our apartment in Munich. Both were homes to King Ludwig II and Bavarian royalty. I saved these day trips for my mom’s visit- I knew she would be into this kind of thing. Neuschwanstein Castle served as a fortress in the mountains where they lived in the colder months, and Nymphenburg Palace served as their vacation home, surrounded by miles of beautiful gardens, where they lived in the summer. Visiting these places is like stepping into a majestic fairytale. Adorned chairs, beautiful fabrics, and giant works of ancient art are around every corner. One of my favorite parts was the museum of horse drawn carriages and sleds- these things are straight out of a gawdy Disney movie!

On a Friday afternoon when Nathan was out of school, we went to Weihenstephan in Freising. Weihinstephan is the oldest brewery in the world and is also the Brewing Technical School of Munich. This was not only a beautiful place on the top of a hill, but also very special because many of Nathan's professors studied there and take great pride in their alma mater. The campus is covered with beautiful landscaping, the biergarten is lovely and the beer is great! Our visit was a perfect way to kick off my last weekend in Bavaria.

We also made a trip out to the Dachau concentration camp memorial sight. We visited the meaningful monuments and the heartbreaking museum which depicted life in the camp very graphically. Of course this was not as fun as going to the biergartens or castles, but it was an experience we felt would complete our trip to Germany. Dachau concentration camp or Konzentrationslager (in German) was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany, intended to hold political prisoners. It is located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the medieval town of Dachau, outside of Munich. Opened in 1933 by Heinrich Himmler, its original purpose included imprisonment and forced labor of enemies or the dictatorship, and eventually, the imprisonment of Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, ordinary German and Austrian criminals, and foreign nationals from countries which Germany occupied or invaded. Many people died of illness, exhaustion and starvation over the years. It was finally liberated in 1945 after many long years of suffering. The camp itself was shockingly small and simple- especially considering it housed over 32,000 people at one time. When asked about my experience here, it is hard to explain in words. It was just as depressing as one would imagine. Nathan and I have traveled in eastern Europe extensively now, so we are not unfamiliar with the horrific actions of the Nazis and Soviets in the last century and how these counties are still recovering today. I suppose the difference is, after living in Germany for a few months, it is hard to even imagine such terrible things happened there because life today seems so peaceful. It is understandable that the Germans are very fearful of large intrusive government (and the rest of Europe is also fearful of Germany being the most powerful country in the EU). It was a sobering learning experience, but I am really glad we made the trip. 

On our last night, we went with Nathan to buy the best souvenir ever- lederhosen! It was really fun finding him a Bavarian costume that will last forever- and he looks pretty handsome in it haha. We ate my last German meal at Schneider Weisse- a Munich brewery and restaurant that specializes in wheat beers of all varieties. We dined on pork knuckle, fish and cheese spetzel (similar to German mac and cheese). It was a lovely way to spend my last night in Bavaria with two incredibly important people. 

My mom and I then headed to Paris for the weekend and flew out of Frankfurt to Dallas- which deserves an entire blog post in itself. I will work on that in the next few days and post some pictures. I was really emotional leaving Munich- it was a really great place to spend 3 months and was beginning to feel like home. It was a life changing experience and I will value the memories and pictures for a lifetime. I am still in shock that this adventure is over but we will be back!!! Stayed tuned...

A very special day on the Holy Mountain.....

Andechs Abbey is a Benedictine monastery that was built in 1450 on the site of an old castle on the Heiliger Berg or The Holy Mountain. People still make the religious pilgrimage up to the beautiful monastery on the Holy Mountain, and after the long and arduous climb, they naturally feel like quenching their thirst with an Andechser beer, brewed in the monastery’s brewery, which was founded in 1455. Little did I know that this bright Sunday was going to be very special- we were headed there to do more than pray or drink! This brewery is special in itself- it is one of the few that is still run by monks and has developed into a large popular brewery. The brewery, beer garden and restaurant provide funding for the entire monastery. The monks breed their own livestock and make their own cheese, which is served in the restaurant and beer garden. Obviously, Nathan knew what he was doing when he took me to this peaceful place, for it would only be fitting to be able to share a spectacular view, holy beer and farm raised food on the day he asked me to marry him.....and of course, I said yes!

First of all, I feel a little strange sharing the intimate details of our engagement on the internet- for I would love to tell everyone in person. But, being so far away- this is the best way to share our experience with those that we love. (I would love to call everyone I love to share the big news but it is $2.99 a minute so that will have to wait- haha). So here goes: we had been planning on spending the weekend alone together, for Nathan has been going non-stop with school and we have been traveling a lot with friends on the weekends. We had planned on going to Andechs if the weather was nice- and on Sunday we were really lucky to wake up for sunshine after a long week of cold rain. We took the train out to Herrsching- a lovely traditional Bavarian village in the green hills. The day was amazing, we laughed and hugged on the trip out there, admiring the beauty of the landscape and talking about how much we have grown to love the area. We walked up the hill, looked around and sat with a few German families while we shared a holy liter of beer in the sunshine. I knew it was going to be a good day. We then toured the monastery and ornate church. Nathan was acting a little giddy but I just thought he was being cute....

We then went outside to a beautiful overlook of the rolling Bavarian hills and the peaceful village below. I was taking a picture, then looked over and Nathan was on one knee. I was in shock as he pulled out a small wooden box (amazing adorable-perfect for me) and revealed a shiny engagement ring (it was his grandmother's ring- his maternal grandparents spent a long lifetime together until she passed away recently). He asked me to marry him, I said yes and I started crying and we held each other. It was simple and emotional- it was a moment we had both been waiting for a long time. 

We asked an older German couple to take a photo of us, and after an awkward exchange (the crying, hugging and excitement must of really been confusing them- haha) they took a picture. I have never been so surprised and happy. I was totally unprepared physically- make-up less, wearing tennis shoes and an oversized t-shirt, but it made it all the better- for Nathan loves me for me. He told me he had brought the ring along and had it with him on this trip the entire time- and was just waiting for the perfect time to propose. This is almost unbelievable to me- I thought I could not be surprised. haha It was perfect timing- for this experience is ending soon. We are so lucky to have so much to look forward to!

And then we did as expected- celebrate with hugs, kisses, good food and great beer at Andechs and then at the shore of the Bavarian lakes! It was simply a perfect day- I am still so incredibly excited. I had trouble sleeping last night because I kept replaying the events of the day over and over in my head. 

Stayed tuned- my mom is coming to Europe for the first time in 26 years next week and we have so much to celebrate! We love you all and cannot wait to share all of these stories in person very soon!!!