Chicago on Fire

Unfortunately 'Chicago on fire' means gunfire these days. Six people were shot in the 36 hours we where there! So sad! Otherwise, Chicago is a great city, which is why I wanted to take C there. Actually we were total Facebook tourist in the Windy City. We were worn out and sick from our previous travels. We did get some Deep Dish (Lou Malnati's), but that's as adventurous as we were with food. :( ahh boring! Oh well, we were probably safer in the hotel! JK Chi-town, but seriously get it together!

Guess this tourist spot?

In Bruges

or Brugge. I personally prefer the Dutch spelling. Any who, I love this city. Of course, it is beautiful. We stayed at the perfect little bed and breakfast ran by a nice couple. The gentleman of the house cooked us a simple breakfast in the mornings and the couple chatted with us before we departed. I wish I would have taken a pic of their lovely courtyard. The couple takes pictures of all their guests in front of their beautiful red door and puts in a scrapbook - cool idea. I can totally picture C and me living our golden years out like this. When we can no longer travel, we'll let the world come to us.

Our room at the B&B

We also hit the annual snow and ice sculpture exhibition. A must see! They also have a Sand sculpture exhibition in the summer. Gotta hit that too!

That's all ice!

Ice bar

Rome Sweet Rome

When I revisit our trip to Rome, my first memory is the Colosseum romancing me as I step out from the metro station; it was dramatic, unexpected, and truly breath-taking. Secondly, I think of crazy crazy drivers. We did checked off all tourist spots; including Vatican city. 

We walked, ate delicious pizza, drank strong coffee, walked, relaxed at cafe's, and walked. We stayed at this interesting hotel recommended in the Rick Steves guide, surprisingly it wasn't packed full of Americans. We try to travel outside of our comfort zone, while still being comfortable. Speaking of, I think I've mentioned before that major world events seem to always happen while we are traveling. Over the long weekend, terrorists attacked the city of Mumbai, ultimately killing 164 people. The terrorist were barricaded in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel for three days (another reason for us to stay clear of mainstream hotels.)

Rhine river again

A day trip with our friends Chris and Diana to the view the castles of the Rhine River. This time by car and the bonus of it being fall. Fall is my favorite season! A couple of the castles are open for internal viewing. My Chris can explain all the cool history of the castles and how they were used for fortification. We had dinner at a restaurant in one of the castles. Dinner was great unfortunately I can't remember the castle or the name of the restaurant.

red fortress above Tauber

Day trip to Rothenburg! We "walked atop Rothenburg’s city walls and climbed to the top of the town hall for great views and visited the Medieval Crime Museum (Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum)" just as Tripadvisor advised. I really enjoy being surrounded by vast history. I feel a deep connection with Europe. I wonder if this feeling is psychological - based on my education or if genealogical - am I some how connected to this place through the past (don't be close-minded it's possible). It could just be what I'm interested in, but I believe in cause and effect, even if you aren't aware of the cause. Anyway, we didn't take many pictures. We ate at a local restaurant we stumbled upon, Burgerkeller, which turned out to be delicious-I'm not a huge fan of German food, so it was a pleasant surprise. 

Rhine River cruise

Chris is in the States so I took the opportunity to go on the Rhine river cruise with a friend. Chris isn't a huge fan of cruises. Beautiful and all the other superlatives apply, along the river are various castles and vineyards-like a dream. I never want to leave here.

Lorelei

The story of Lorelei: According to German legend, there was a once a beautiful young maiden, named Lorelei, who threw herself headlong into the river in despair over a faithless lover. Upon her death she was transformed into a siren and could from that time on be heard singing on a rock along the Rhine River, near St. Goar. Her hypnotic music lured sailors to death. The legend is based on an echoing rock with that name near Sankt Goarshausen, Germany.

The Paris for Europeans

Someone told me Brussels is the "Paris for Europeans". ewww! I hope not! I was not impressed. It's very possible that my expectations were too high. It was a fun drive there (yes, I took pics of license plates along the way, but I won't bore you this time). The most memorable scene from this trip was Chris getting cursed by a gypsy. Set Scene: We were having coffee at a cafe and this scary lady approached us, asking for money. Well, we assume she asked for money-there was a slight language and odor barrier so we didn't lean in for clarification. So, Chris politely said no. The lady then said something that sounded horrific with squint of hers eyes, upturn of her nose and she even spit a little. I'm pretty sure she cursed our unborn children. No need to be nasty lady, geez!