Ich bin ein Berliner...and Chinese....and Greek

Coming to Germany after the Czech Republic is a refreshing change with respect to schedules and time. There is truly a clock on every street corner here (pictures to come). To get here from Prague we took a train and got a first class seat reservation...for a car that did not exist. Additionally this train was two hours late. We ended up sitting in second class with a delightful couple from The Netherlands for half the trip. Learned lots I will have to share.

The train from Prague terminated in Dresden. This was news. It was supposed to travel all the way to Berlin. So we got off train 1 onto train 2 which also was short 4 cars to find no seating. We ended up sitting with our luggage shoved between our legs in the restaurant car for the whole trip. Once we arrived in Berlin everything has gone smoothly except for the fact that these people either don't eat out at all or eat out early.

And by early I mean the restaurants are CLOSED at 8 pm. So we have been stuck eating Chinese food and Greek food for dinner the two nights we've been here. Don't get me wrong it all tastes great but I could eat this at home :) Mission today is a real German restaurant. Oh and shoppping at KaDeWe (which is also CLOSED on Sunday!)

Sedlice- The Bone Church

The Middle Ages proved troublesome in many ways. All these wars and plagues were piling up the bodies right and left and filling churchyards. So what is a church to do? DECORATE! This is only a portion of the original number of bones, but over 40,000 people's remains are here in the church...decorating the interior...

i was going to ask what else could go wrong but i didn't want to jinx nmyself!

So 1800 hotels filed bankruptcy and cancelled our reservations one week before our trip. At the top of my to do list when I get home is to file paperwork to get that money back. So I called to hotel direct and booked the nights woohoo!

Except that the idiot reservations person booked them for OCTOBER. Nice. but the people here saw that we had originally tried to get the correct dates and their people booked the wrong dates so we got a hotel for the price I was quoted. Soon I will give you another crazy moment in our trip.

Soon I will post my own video of Sedlec the Bone Church...hope the lighting is ok...no flash and OMG creepy!!

Watch that fine print!

Here I had just posted about Freed's bakery and up pops up a Groupon THIS MORNING for half off bakery goods! Oh dear, God wants me to stay fat.

But alas, after reading the fine print I realized the coupon was only good for certain locations, none of which were near the strip. And if I asked Craig to get a taxi to take me to a bakery I would NEVER hear the end of it, so to prevent WWIII in our marriage I decided not to purchase that Groupon.

Now had the coupon been for the bakery in the Tropicana???? All bets are off ;)

Vegas food post...shocker I know

Was watching Rachel Ray's $40 a day when she hit Vegas and found 2 places I'd like to try.

First, Freed's bakery which does hundred of wedding cakes a week and you can buy sliced of wedding cake any day of the week. It's located in the Tropicana.

Second Sam's Town Fireside Buffet. This is located 6 miles off the strip so it might take Craig some convincing since we are staying ion the hotel with his favorite breakfast buffet this next time (the Monte Carlo), but I'll note it here in case he decides he wants to try something new!

Good Hostess, Good Traveler, Good Friend

When I grow up I want to be Janet. When I travel I am lucky to find myself a souvenir. I am fantastic at finding something I am ASKED for (like Kathryn's mosaic pin in Rome) but if someone tells me to just grab something that reminds me of them they would be lucky to get a plastic version of the Eiffel tower that I grabbed on a layover in France. People i'm on vacation, don't make me THINK.

But Janet? Janet can browse through shops throughout the world and somehow come up with the PERFECT gift in a foreign country without even trying. This year she and her family spent a couple weeks in Italy and France and not only did she send me a postcard from Italy, I receive this days after her return. I'm lucky to mail my BILLS when I return!


My 7 year old took this picture and couldn't for the life of him get it to focus. Regardless you can see the popping colors and size of this "flag" scarf.



Il Palio Di Siena is an annual race through the gorgeous streets of Sienna. Jockeys race for neighborhoods in the city bareback on horses. The one she sent me is from Terziere di Città.

ONDA (Wave) a swimming dolphin wearing a crown. White and blue.


Of course I can't look at a scarf without picturing myself wrapped like Jackie O. Or as Janet says, the Grace Kelly look.


I only hope the gift I come up with for her in Germany will be have as perfect!

Happy Summer! Happy 4th of July

There is no other holiday with such an influx of people wearing Old Navy $5 shirts as the 4th of July. I dropped off my children at camp on Sunday and even my daughter (who is completely clueless to life while spending most of the time in the world that is in her head.) (A world full of sparklies and Pink.) noticed the plethora of flag shirts all over the place. I'm all for America! I'm all for national pride. I'm even all for $5 but I'm not so much about looking like EVERYONE ELSE!

One way not to look like everyone else would be to wear the shirt on vacation. In Europe.

In a word.

DON'T.

There is a tima and place for any piece of clothing and international vacation is just not the place to showcase your bargain t-shirt. It has nothing to do with showing off that you love your country and everything to do with showing off that YOU AREN'T FROM THERE.

I mean granted most of us are going to stick out anyway because Europeans are on average shorter and thinner than most Americans. And frankly when Craig and I (both of German-Czech heritage) travelled to Rome it was given we weren't gonna blend.

(Name the Movie:
Mona Lisa Vito: [Vinny looks at her funny] What?
Vinny Gambini: Nothing. You stick out like a sore thumb around here.
Mona Lisa Vito: Me? What about you?
Vinny Gambini: I fit in better than you. At least I'm wearing cowboy boots.
Mona Lisa Vito: Oh yeah, you blend.)


THE POINT IS while we may not be able to exactly like a native, it is in our best interest to not DRAW attention to ourselves as out of place. People who look out of place are targets.

So for safety sake alone, leave your Flag shirts at home.