Our Travels...Munich&Oktoberfest

Heyyyy Guys! 

Just arrived home this morning from Munich where we spent the weekend. We headed there from France because for the next 3 weeks there is a huge fair and cultural celebration called Oktoberfest that takes place in Munich. They celebrate Bavarian culture and lots and lots of beer drinking! It's a world renowned festival so we thought we would take this opportunity to check it out because we probably would never go otherwise. The costumes were so much fun to look at, women all wearing the traditional drindl and men wearing leather shorts with leather suspenders and woolen knee socks. The atmosphere was fun and most people were pretty friendly.

 

The Saturday was pouring rain all day. It did ruin the mood for the morning, because we waited outside exhibition tents for nearly 2 hours and weren't able to get in anywhere. It's a lot like the Exhibition at the CNE on steroids and with more drinking. 

taking shelter from the rain

We made the best of the day by going back into the city, changing our wet clothes and getting some traditional German fare including pretzels, half chicken and schnitzel. We attended one of the post-Oktoberfest parties Saturday night and had a good laugh dancing to German music and house. 

Sunday, we had a crazy turn of events. Not only did the sun come out and make for a lovely day -- but we found out that our host, whose apartment we were renting for the 2 nights we were in Munich, is actually a big shot in Munich - having worked with Michael Jackson and been his close friend for close to a decade.

 If you don't believe me, look up this name: Teddy Laskis - there are photos and articles everywhere confirming his connection with the pop legend. So, being as resourceful as we are, we emailed Teddy for advice on how to get into the exhibition tents since he is  VIP (the tents are the place to be and be seen for Oktoberfest, that's where all the action including live bands and beer drinking takes place -- but tickets and reservations are made a year in advance at minimum). By some stroke of fate he invited us to meet him for brunch at a 5 star hotel to an exclusive event, where we were able to watch the Bavarian parade from a viewing deck, and eat an amazing meal! Thanks to his generosity we had an amazing view of the city and festivities as well as getting 4 passes to one of the beer tents for later that day!!! I guess I had a horseshoe lying around somewhere and we ended up thoroughly enjoying the rest of Oktoberfest and our time in Munich!

German is still impossible to understand though! What a weird language -- I didn't pick up a single thing except "danka shen" which means thank you very much. 

ps. also visited the BMW factory and Museum - shoutout to my zio Rob who I thought would appreciate these pics

the 4 cylinder building

Our Travels...Barcelona

Hey everyone!
Sorry I haven't updated this thing in a while, the last two weeks have just been pretty hectic for us with starting 8 am classes and the construction that has been going on in the building! We didn't have water for almost 2 days!! That's Europe for you. We also had a creepy construction worker who kept asking us to go out with him. Thank goodness that's over lol. But it's not all bad - we took off to Barcelona to avoid the construction over the weekend -- lucky girls!

We saw so much of the city in just 3  short days - we arrived in the afternoon on Saturday so we went to see the beach and relax. 

But the next morning we were up bright and early, Spanish coffee's in hand ready to board our tour bus. We signed up for a hop-on-off tour so that we could see everything Barcelona had to offer in one day. Since its such a huge city it was easier to take transportation than try and walk the whole thing in one day. There were so many beautiful stops and monuments but the most famous include Park Guell, the architecture of Antonio Gaudi, and the Sagrada Famiglia. Other highlights of the trip were La Boqueria food market, the Olympic stadium, and our tram ride up the hills of Montjuic to see the castle at the peak. 

Catalunya Museum of National Art

The Famous Mosaic Lizard at Park Guell

The atmosphere in Barcelona really is amazing and I can see why so many people travel to this city. Everything is a little mid eccentric, and everyone has AMAZING design taste. I loved every single little shop, bookstore, and cafe that we came across. The people really have an eye for design and they harmonize the old architecture with retro and ecclectic styles that feel a bit vintage and homey yet have a modern day feel .  

La Sagrada Famiglia Church - still being completed 130 years after initial point of construction funded by anonymous donors 

Also, I was incredibly impressed by the food. Everything that we ate in Barcelona was fantastic, and way cheaper than in France. Apparently Tapas are a Spanish traditional dish so I gave them a try for the first time ever and they were DELICIOUS! I also had a fresh seafood paella for dinner one night with black squid ink and red wine sangria to accompany. 

All in alll Barcelona sent me home full and full-filled ;)!
  

A Specialty Meat Shop with Various types of Serrano Ham laid out for Sampling - YUM!

 From top left: Fried Potatoes with Fried Egg ontop and Spicy Sausage; Sundried Tomato/Eggplant/Stuffed Artichokes; Homdemade Hamburer with Fois Gras ontop; Delicious Tomato Bread (Simliar to Bruschetta)

  

Leaning over the Edge of the Castle at the top of Montjuic

Watching a Fashion Shoot at the Peak of the hill in Park Guell

Exploring...Lyon: The Nightlife

Finally! A night out!

(To be fair, Cass and I have gone out ourselves a few times but it's been more casual) So we got together with the girls and decided that we needed to go out and shake our rumps!!! 

The best pass time in France, and probably my favorite of all the French rituals we've learned so far, is how they spend their evenings. Everyone heads to the riverside in huge groups, with bottles of wine, cheese and grapes, spreads out a table cloth and just sits by the river drinking and talking. It really is a sight to be seen, the boardwalk and surrounding grassy areas fill up with students, couples, even middle aged adults all socializing. It's such a nice way to get out and meet people and just enjoy the outdoors - it's like nothing we've seen at home. 

We decided to join the party so we grabbed a bottle of Rose and headed to the water! It was such a nice experience and we'll definitely do it again.

When we had finished we decided to head into one of the boats docked right against the boardwalk. There are a few boats that park themselves there and turn into clubs and bars at night. We had such a fun night! They play mostly English music - but we were some of the only people who knew the words! Besides being on a boat it was pretty much the same as any Toronto club. 

work it girls

Exploring...Lyon: Parc de la Tete D'or

Park Day!

Its been beautiful weather in Lyon all weekend, so we decided to rent the city bikes (they're just like the Bixi bikes in downtown Toronto) and take a ride over to Parc de la Tete D'or - 300 acres of lush green grass, paths, and lakes and a zoo!! 

entrance to the park

We were so excited when we got there because the ONLYLYON monument had been placed in the park! It moves around the city and I hadn't seen it yet. We got a little carried away with the pictures. 

Everybody pick a letter!

The zoo was cool, it was all outdoor, open concept. We were separated from the lion by just a small moat. It was so cool to watch him strut around - this one looked so regal! I think it was his mane- reminds me of Simba from the Lion King

Lions here there and everywhere!

giraffes and what we mistaked for caribou -- they're actually bulls.

Our day riding around was really nice, put a smile on my face to just be out in the sun having fun. Our new friends are Meghan and Kelsey, they're Canadians like us!

Just stop and smell the roses!

Exploring...Lyon: The Ruins

A bit of history...

the arch is still intact from at least 1000 years ago!

In Lyon there are two main hills, Fourviere and Croix-Rousse. The pretty castle that was in the earlier posts is at the top of Fourviere. On the same hill there is also a ancient Roman amphitheater which has been well preserved; I haven't seen that yet. At the foot of the hill is a newer basilica, with the Roman ruins from the original basilica sitting in the shadow of it. The sight was cool and kind of eerie when I took it in. 

On the other hill, there are also other ancient ruins of an older amphitheater and the old silk making quarter - where "canuts" french silk makers used to live and work. So yesterday, the girls and I (we made some new friends) went to the top of Croix-Rousse to check out the sights and see a bit of history. 

Ruins at Croix-Rousse; apparently the ones at Fourviere are way better

I also saw the ruins in Fourviere - La Amitheatre Romain

The silk museum was cool but what I really would like to do is go back and visit again to see the workshop functioning. It was closed when we went this time, but I really want to see how its handmade. Maybe if you're all well behaved I'll bring you a nice scarf from here! LOL

spools of thread 

embroidered silk

We happened to be really lucky and also stumbled upon a huge market up there, which only arrives TWICE in the entire year. Such a fluke that it happened to be there the day we decided to go up. I bought some more artwork and these amazing vintage postcards with pictures of Paris and Lyon from the 1900s. They still have the writing preserved on them, from one person writing to another! Soo interesting and different. 

All in all a very interesting day! It's nice to be able to see history right in front of you in a tangible way instead of just reading about it. And all the exhibits and sights here are free admission. Nothing is really walled off, no velvet ropes you can go right up to everything, touch it, look at it. It makes for sooo much more of an experience!

more to come! 
love al 

Exploring...Lyon: The Market

Hey everyone, 
Hope you've been enjoying following me along on this journey so far! This weekend we decided not to travel anywhere, and stay here in Lyon to do some exploring. I am so lucky to be here and I am in a wonderful city. There is so much to see and do, but at the same time it's not a fast paced place. We just take our time doing everything and try and appreciate every moment. I guess that's how all of Europe is, while at home I find it so easy to just rush through the day without appreciating my surroundings or stopping to take anything in. 



Most days, we head to the market to do grocery shopping. Our fridge is small so we can't fit more than 2 days worth of food in it at any time. On the weekend the markets are bigger, and I took this opportunity to bring my camera with me and get some good shots of everything. This weekend the market was the biggest and the busiest we've ever seen it. There are two markets side by side, a huge book market and then the produce market.

this one's for you Luke

Cheese - yum! 

Its nice to see that everything is fresh and brought directly from the farm to the market - so you know it's real organic, and you're always eating what's in season. We tried those rotisserie chickens that are in the background of the photo above -- they're pretty good we get one at least once a week.

people browsing and various food stands

They also sell a lot of flowers in France -- this is one ladies stand but it looks nicer in person, it was hard to get a good shot. Their sunflowers here are so nice!

 
 We tried some of the dried sausage - so many varieties. It's delicious!

A pastry shop in Croix-Rousse - they had macaroons at the very end too but they didn't make it in the photo

Man making Crepes right on the street

shopping in the market at Croix-Rousse