Italy & France

We met Sarah & Devin in Florence and started our Prius journey through Italia and into France. It was so much fun having friends from home here to hang out with. Plus, Sarah has been to Europe several times and Devin speaks fluent French so we had some experienced travelers to help us out. I felt really confident in Italy since Italian is so close to Portuguese and I think it's my favorite country in Europe so far. Mainly because I understood what was going on. They are pretty bastardly drivers though. The tolls in Italy are also outrageous so I think we'll take a train next time or just fly in. I have some plans for the Amalfi coast. Here are some pictures from our trip...

Florence, Italy

Siena, Italy

Cinque Terre, Italy

Group shot! Stranger in the background.

Lemonade on the top of a mountain!

Halfway on our first hike. I was fueled by the thousands of carbs I ate in Italy.

Cinque Terre, Italy

Devin & Sarah

I loved all the colors. 

This bird stared right into my soul.

Terrifying and magnificent all at the same time.

He couldn't maintain the stare.

Maybe my favorite shot from the trip.

One of the Cinque Terre cities.

Nice, France

Flower market in Nice. It was nice ;)

French soap! 

I just sent my measurements to France ya'll!!! (quote from Bridesmaids)

The French Riviera...don't come here to lay out.

Until now, I'd only heard about the French Riviera from a Paula Abdul song.

Sarah looking oh so French in her cute shirt and glasses!

Nice, France

Les French Kiss!

A super rich hotel we tried to sneak into to see a museum. We did not succeed.

Nederland

It's warming up so travel season has begun! I've always been in love with tulips so naturally I couldn't wait to get to Holland and see rows and rows of flowers. I really wanted to ride a bike wearing wooden clogs, traditional milk maid attire, with a basket full of flowers through every field in Holland but no one else was really into it so we walked around the Keukenhof instead. Boring, I know, but I had a great time and loved the Netherlands.
I know it's cliche, but the second we crossed the border we saw about 8 people riding bikes. No one had wooden clogs on but I found it entertaining. Holland is the land of bicycles and rascals. I'm serious. There is at least one rascal for every 6 bicycles on the road.
We stayed with some friends in Brunssom and saw the tulips, went to a cheese farm, bought a lot of cheese, went to Amsterdam, the Rijks Museum, the Heineken Brewery and walked all over the city. It was beautiful and I loved it and can't wait to go back.

Tulips!

Amsterdam

The Milk Maid

Windmill!

Amsterdam

More tulips!

The Keukenhof

Rembrant at the Rijks Museum

Canal in Amsterdam

Normal Life Post

So I know I'm in Germany and am supposed to do nothing but travel to enchanted countries every weekend, but let me justify this boring, lackluster post. It has not reached 30 degrees Fahrenheit in over 3 weeks. It's in the neighborhood of 3.2 degrees every morning and approximately 9 degrees at night. The high reaching 29 around 2 o'clock everyday.
I can't and I won't leave my house in these conditions. I don't know if I've ever been this cold. My mom said I've been in colder weather, but personally I think she's lying.
I've read travel books recommending a winter European vacation if you want to beat the crowds and now I can never trust another book again. They claim that Europe has mild winters and boast of the ease in which you will get around. Mild compared to Russia and yes, easier because only the idiots who were tricked by these books (I being one) are out traveling in this weather.
What I am trying to say is that I have done nothing exciting in January and I'm sorry for wasting my time in Europe. I have been taking 2 classes, playing racquetball, indoor wall climbing, feeding my newly found online addictions, pornterest and instagram (I'm not as addicted to that one) and sleeping on the couch because Corey is in Poland right now.
I wish I could hibernate during winter. I really love sleeping and I really hate winter so I would love to capitalize on those two some year. One thing I am proud of is sticking to my vows of getting a house with a garage. Our lovely home has a garage and my sweet little car (who also hates the cold) is happily parked inside. It's European size so I have to climb out the car window but it's worth it. Haha. Not that bad but it's pretty effing small.

Himmler's Castle

Wewelsburg Castle, as it was called before Heinrich Himmler took it over in 1933, has a very dark past. It was built in the early 1600's as a second residence for the Prince Bishops of Paderborn. It is a Renaissance castle and is rumored to have been used to interrogate and torture witches during the 17th century. There is a lot of mystery and speculation associated with the castle, but we went there because of Heinrich Himmler.
Himmler was the head of the dreaded SS and Hitler's personal bodyguard. He was a terrible person who performed some of the most heinous acts during WWII. He set up Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp and was at the head of all camps throughout the war. He also oversaw the "Final Solution" which was the Nazi attempt to exterminate all Jewish people throughout Europe.
After reading a lot about Heinrich Himmler, I've come to the conclusion that he was probably a huge effing nerd growing up and got made fun of a lot, which cultivated him into the kind of person who could torture and kill millions of innocent people. He picked Wewelsburg Castle so he could have a secret hang out for the SS and do weird occult Nazi rituals. He had a crypt with 12 seats so he could have his own Knights of the Round Table. NERD ALERT! He was really into psychics, reincarnation (although I don't know what he was expecting to be reborn as after the reign of indescribable terror he lead during his life), astrology and German mythology. I really don't know how he became second in power in The Third Reich.
The castle has 2 museums and tours. One is 3 euro and is really about the castle's history before Himmler. It's also only in German so not very educational for me. The other tour is strictly about the castle being used as the secret headquarters for the SS and is very interesting and some of it is in English.

West Tower

Entrance to the courtyard

Aaron & Corey

Me & Corey

The courtyard. Wewelsburg is the only 3 sided castle in Germany.

Door to interior tower

Almost set

Getting settled in a new country always has its challenges. Luckily, most people and places speak English here so while it's been frustrating, I can't imagine how much more difficult it has to be everywhere else. Today we got our internet installed and that pretty much puts the final touch on our home. All of our stuff has been delivered. It's scattered around the closetless house, but once we make a trip to Ikea, I'm sure it'll be a little more organized. It's been tough downsizing the kitchen, but we're almost there.
We didn't have to work for about 9 days so we took the chance to drive around a little (Prius #1 has arrived) and we had fun seeing a few nearby places. 

Atomium in Brussels, Belgium 

Lorraine Cemetery in St. Avold, France
http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/lo.php

Metz, France

Trier, Germany

Trier, Germany

Porta Nigra in Trier, Germany

Le Funambule Waffles in Brussels

Ausfahrt means Exit

I've been in Germany for a week now and I'm really liking it. So many new things to see, weird words to learn and confusing toilets to flush. I got my German driver's license but my car hasn't arrived yet, however, I'm a little nervous to drive. I'm not always sure who has the right of way here.
Corey isn't here yet so I've been house hunting alone which is a little stressful. It's hit and miss with houses here. I'm holding out for some of that floor heating though.
I had my first schnitzel and I'm just wondering how much weight I'm going to gain here. That schnitz is good! Also, it's winter so I need something to keep me warm.
I haven't done much except sleep, look for houses and other various "getting settled" type of activities, so I have no pictures or stories. Hopefully my next post will be a picture of me relaxing in my house on my furniture that I've missed so much for the past 5 months. Please let it be that.
PS. You're all still invited, but definitely don't visit in the winter.

Vacation Food

Due to Thanksgiving Dinner, we didn't eat out much but I had to get some good Mexican food while I was in Arizona, so we went to Mi Nidito last night. I get all my restaurant suggestions from Man v. Food so lucky for us they came to Tucson. We got to Mi Nidito knowing it wasn't in the nicest part of South Tucson but became very aware when armed security escorted us from the parking lot to the restaurant...
Man v. Food wasn't even the biggest thing to hit Mi Nidito. Mother effing Bill Clinton ya'll! And Hillary and a bunch of other random celebrities love this restaurant. We all got different dishes and shared and it was all delicious. I'm not going to say it was the best Mexican I've ever had, but it definitely hit the spot. Plus, eating with an armed Mexican next to you, always makes the food taste better :)

My Little Nest

The President's Plate