I'm Back! And Where Have I Been?

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've posted here in this little blog of mine. I have definitely neglected it over the past month or so. And I'm so sorry for anyone out there who reads it and has been looking forward to posts. I don't have a good explanation on why I have been absent. Honestly, I have been preoccupied with work, life and just plain tired at times. I think about my blog often but most days I don't have the energy to edit photos and write. I also think I'm not good at planning my time well. I tend to plan to write or do errands but end up distracted with other things. I'm continously working on that. I also made a trip back to the U.S. to visit my mom earlier this month so I got side tracked with that as well. But have no fear...I am going to make it a priority to keep up with writing posts! I only have a few weeks left of work until school gets out (I work as a teachers aide, if you didn't know already) and I should definitely have more time and energy to write then. Until school gets out, I will still be working on new posts. Look out for posts about Prague, Garmisch (Bavarian Alps), and a concentration camp visit as well. We have a big trip to Croatia coming up soon also and we're really looking forward to that! Again, I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately. I hope you understand and continue to come back to read about our adventures! Thank you so much for reading my blog and sticking with me! :)

London, England: Part II

Our second day in London was one of the busiest days I've experienced so far abroad but it was also one of the best. We fit in so much stuff in one day and I was pretty impressed with how much we were able to see.  Our morning and afternoon consisted of us strolling along the River Thames, riding the London Eye and seeing iconic Buckingham Palace. [Beware: This post contains LOTS of photos!]

We also visited the famous Kings Cross Station from the Harry Potter movies and Stephanie took a photo at "Platform 9 ¾", flying scarf and all. While there, we ate a late lunch at a unique pub, The Parcel Yard, where we were able to indulge in some delicious beer and fish and chips.

After our late lunch, we decided to head on over to Oxford Circus, a popular shopping district in London. Little did we know that this specific weekend was a huge shopping weekend, similar to Black Friday back home in the U.S. When we we got off the tube, we were confronted with tightly packed crowds and limited walking space. If you didn't know already, I loathe crowds so I was a bit stressed dealing with all those people but the streets were adorned with shimmering Christmas decorations that hung from the buildings above, so that made it a bit more enjoyable ;). Later on in the night, we met up with one of Stephanie's friends who was studying broad in London. He showed us Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, the West End and Soho, where we eventually ate a late dinner at an American themed restaurant called The Diner. 

The next day was Sunday and since my flight left in the afternoon, we decided to get up early and squeeze in a visit to Abbey Road. If you didn't know already, The Beatles recorded almost all of their albums at the Abbey Road studios and the famous 1969 Abbey Road album cover was shot right down the street from the studio. Stephanie is a huge Beatles fan and we both really wanted to visit the notorious street and cross the iconic crosswalk featured on that cover. We even took photos crossing the street "imitating" the album cover! 

Shortly after our visit to Abbey Road, I had to head off to the airport for my flight home to Germany. I have to admit, I loved London way more than I thought I would. My weekend there was so short but I enjoyed it immensely, despite my mishap in the beginning. There is so much to see and do in London and I can't wait to go back someday so I can explore some more!

Have you visited London? What was your favorite attraction/memory?

London, England (And the Important Lesson I Learned): Part I

Oh, London. Where do I begin? Back in November, my friend Stephanie and I made plans to meet up in London over Thanksgiving weekend. It was the last time I would see Stephanie before her study abroad program ended and flew back to the states so it only seemed right that we both meet up one last time in one of the most marvelous cities in the world. But first, we have to start with the story of my little mishap that happened in the beginning of my journey to London...

The night before my flight, I packed and made sure I placed my passport in my bag so I wouldn't forget it. It was my first international flight since I had moved to Germany four months prior and I wanted to be prepared, as would anyone flying internationally. Early in the morning the next day, I was gathering my belongings and decided to make a last minute photocopy of my passport because I've been told it's a good idea to carry a copy with you while abroad (so you don't risk your original passport being stolen while sightseeing). So I took my photocopy, popped it in my bag and was off to the airport. 

Nick dropped me off at the airport a little over an hour before my flight, I checked in and then headed towards security. As I was walking, I reached in my bag so I could take my passport out and then I realized....I DIDN'T HAVE MY PASSPORT! Yep. I made that photocopy earlier and forgot to put my passport back in my bag! When I realized I didn't have my passport, my heart sank and I literally wanted to scream "Noooooooooooooo!" in the airport. My first thought was that I wasn't going to be able to go to London. I was mad at myself because I forgot my passport but I was also mad because I thought I was going to let Stephanie down and not make my flight.

I called Nick and told him what had happened and to come back and pick me up. While I was waiting for Nick to arrive, I spent my time at the airline ticket counter trying to figure out how I could get on another flight later in the day. I was pretty much out of luck. My only option was to buy a new ticket. An expensive ticket. So, that's what I did. I bought a new ticket, Nick drove me back home (an hour away), grabbed my passport and drove back to the airport to catch my new flight. I was originally supposed to arrive in London at noon but with my new flight I was set to arrive at 6:00pm. A bit of a bummer since I missed a half day of exploring but I was happy to at least get a flight. Lesson learned!

After landing at Heathrow and navigating the tube by myself (yay!), I finally made it to our hostel. We stayed at the Astor Queenway Hostel, located near Hyde Park. It was the first time I had ever stayed at a hostel so I was a little apprehensive about it but it turned out to be a pretty good experience. Shortly after I arrived, Stephanie checked in and we set out to find some dinner and explore a little bit of London at night.

Stay tuned for Part II of my London adventure!

Pottenstein: Teufelshöhle

Hey everyone! Sorry I've neglected my blog for the past three weeks. I don't really have a great excuse except that I was in a funk and didn't have much motivation. But I'm back with a new post about our day trip exploring Tuefelshöhle, also known as The Devil's Cave.

Back in October, Nick and I decided to go back to Pottenstein with some of his friends to explore the Devil's Cave since we weren't able to see it last time we visited. Before we went to the Devil's Cave, we stopped at a restaurant in Pottenstein called Gasthof Schüttersmühle, better known as Steak on a Stone. The restaurant is pretty popular with the soldiers in our area because of their famous meal that features a sampler of diverse meats including ostrich, bison, kangaroo and alligator that you cook on a hot stone. They also have other "normal" meat options as well. Nick had been talking about how he was dying to eat at the restaurant so we decided to get lunch there. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food so I played it safe and ordered salmon but Nick ordered the sampler featuring the variety of meats. The kangaroo and bison were his favorites! 

After lunch, we headed to the cave and arrived just in time for the next tour to begin. Score! The Devil's Cave is a cave that features an array of limestone formations and is believed to be over 300,000 years old! Isn't that just crazy to even imagine? Inside the cave you can listen to a voice recording in German and English that explains the history of the cave and the details of the areas you walk through. One of the amazing things we saw inside the cave was a skeleton of a bear. I'm not sure how old the skeleton is but I'm sure it's quite old since everything else in the cave is ancient. The cave was extremely dark and we were allowed to take photos, but unfortunately flash wasn't allowed. Photos were taken with my iPhone so I apologize for the grainy quality.

I found our visit to Teufelshöhle to be interesting and exciting. I had never visited a cave before and to see such fascinating limestone formations and learn about the history of the cave was very intriguing to me. If you have a hard time walking long distances or are claustrophobic then you might not enjoy this cave but if you aren't, I would definitely check it out if you ever visit Bavaria!