His take, Her take

Traveling as a couple is quite an experience. There is so much you learn about each other as you are put in situations you wouldn't normally experience in everyday life. We were talking with friends of ours today about this and one of them said to just wait until we travel with kids. Yikes!

Here are some things I {Jenny} learned about Brandon:

We knew we wanted to rent a car for portions of our trip in Europe. But I'll be honest. I was so nervous about Brandon driving around Europe! I was also very curious to see how he would respond to certain things... the language barrier, different cultural norms, a parade of churches and museums, street vendors shoving objects in your face...

I have more faith in him as a competent driver than before. He was awesome on the autobahn and in a baptism by fire in the streets of Florence. There were times when we had to fight across lines of vespas and cars to make a turn and he did it! Round-abouts? No problem! There were times I wanted to hide my eyes when we were on those crazy two-lane freeways with big-rigs on one side and sportscars racing up behind us, but he rocked our sweet little Opel.

I was impressed at how Brandon jumped into each city without much reservation. He was attempting to speak the language and greeting shopkeepers and restaurant staff. His smile and kind greeting was warmly received wherever we went. I loved that! He is such a social learner. He thrives and learns through interpersonal connections. Every place we went, he was trying to start up conversations. I really admire that quality in him as I tend to be more reserved and introverted.

I was also surprised at Brandon's appreciation of the art we enjoyed. It was wonderful to share those art gallery walks with him. I loved how much we connected over art and history. Brandon has such a sense of adventure that I'm not sure I really knew the extent of before this trip. He was up for trying just about anything and taking my long walks... even after he had already experienced a few.

We shared so many wonderful experiences together. As with walking through each new challenge or experience, I love Brandon more now than I did when we married.

Here are some things I {Brandon} learned about Jenny:

In preparing for this trip, I relied on Jenny for a lot of the planning since she had been there before and was familiar with many of the things we were going to encounter. I know she's a planner and I love that about her and that we share that in common, but I was blown away with the level of detail she put into her planning. We didn't waste a moment on our trip and it was all thanks to her.

I was a bit nervous about the language barrier and having to converse in German, Italian, and French along our way. I knew that Jenny spoke French, but I was stunned by how beautifully she spoke it and how well she engaged the native French in all sorts of situations. Restaurants, on the phone, conducting business. Definitely a wow moment seeing her in that element. She is definitely a world traveler and she is in her element exploring this part of the world.

I learned that my wife is a bigger history buff than I realized. As we explored the sites and museums of Normandy, I loved that she was as into finding beaches, buildings, and exhibits as I was and I loved talking about the events and impacts as we drove.

I also discovered Jenny's public transportation persona. She gets incredibly serious, especially on subways and it's pretty intimidating. It's a stone cold forward facing look that says "DON'T mess with me!" It took me several uneasy trips to figure this out and I completely understand it now, considering all of her trips to Europe before this have been as a single woman. I'm glad that I can be there for her now and protect her from the guy in a Napoleonic outfit singing and dancing with a baby doll and the drunken English college students jumping up and down and shouting. Both true events on our trip.

Something my in-laws did not clue me in on before we left was something called a "Jenny-walk." To define it, a "Jenny-walk" starts as a walk to a destination that is "just a few blocks away." You may or may not get to that original destination, but the walk branches out from there until you've found yourself miles from where you started seeing things you never intended. Though we returned exhausted and with sore feet, those walks are now fond memories.

Blaming GPS and other invaluable lessons learned on the art of travel

During our trip to Europe, we learned a lot. We learned more about each other (more on that later) and we learned more about the art of traveling. Here are some of the top lessons we learned:

1. Print and organize copies of all your confirmations for hotels, train tickets, plane tickets, attractions, etc. It is also helpful to print maps of where each hotel is located; this is a great quick reference for you and for a taxi driver.
2. Try to fly in and out of the same airport
3. At that airport, rent a car for touring that you can return to the same airport. Traveling from point A to B with trains, buses, subways... can add up fast. A car rental is helpful if you plan on doing a lot of day trips or moving between several cities.
4. Car rentals in Europe from major airports are not very expensive per day. If you drop the car somewhere else, expect to pay A LOT! That was an expensive novice mistake.
5. There is a fine balance between time and money. An occasional splurge to save time (the car rental, taking a taxi) is often worth it.
6. Take plenty of cash. Budget well and write down purchases down to the last euro to answer the question "What happened to all our money?"
7. Tipping is different in Europe. Service is usually included in your tab and 1-2 euros will suffice for a sit-down tab. If the service is exceptional and the restaurant is on the nicer end, a more generous tip may be appropriate.
8. Sitting down at a restaurant or cafe will usually cost you. Especially at major landmarks and in outdoor areas. We avoided paying a hefty price for gelato by looking at the prices and not being afraid to get up and walk away.
9. Don't be afraid to exercise your NO. Being nice or polite to pushy vendors or people following you will only encourage them to push more. Give a firm, clear NO and people will leave you alone. We had vendors nearly touching us and thrusting flowers in our faces, we became very good at saying NO.
10. Take time to rest and eat. There's nothing worse than a cranky traveling companion.
11. Try to keep a stash of snacks from the grocery store handy. Grocery stores are wonderful spots to get drinks and snacks for a fraction of the cost of those carts by the tourist attractions.
12. Take water bottles to Europe. Fill them up at the hotel and you'll be set for some summer sightseeing. We brought water purification pills, but found our water to be drinkable at every hotel we stayed at.
13. Bring your phone. You never know when you'll need to call a hotel or use wifi to confirm a reservation. Be sure to read your service provider's tips on traveling internationally. Turn off roaming, data, and 3G. If you receive data via mobile service (not wifi), you will be charged $19.98 per MB in most countries. Sign up for global calling and text messaging (this costed about $16 on one of our iphones).
14. There's nothing like a good map. Even if you've been to the city before... *ahem* I have a tendency in being overconfident in cities I've visited before and contributed to a few of our longer exploratory walks/drives... We had many: Florence & Rome airport, London, Normandy, Paris...
15. Speaking of navigation, if you rent a car, get GPS! This will save you time and frustration. That way instead of getting mad at each other, you can blame the maker of the navigation system for coming out with such a shoddy product to get you lost. :)
16. For each destination, make a list with your fellow travelers of the must-see/must-do items and a secondary list. This helps with time prioritization and making sure that everyone is represented in planning daily itineraries.
17. Get out early (there'll be time for naps later). You'll be able to get a jump on the queues and you're likely to see a different city as it wakes up as opposed to the heavily trafficked version.
18. Gaining some familiarity with the language will take you far! People who speak English at popular destinations is very common, but if you are brave and graciously try to speak their language, most people will respect and appreciate the gesture. This is most valuable in France where the French are very proud of their language. At least master "hello", "thank you", and "please". Bonjour, Bon giorno, Gutentag Merci, Grazie, Danke S'il vous plait, Per favore, Bitte
19. For a cheaper meal, search for a spot further away from the attractions without outdoor seating.
20. Be sure to pack: sunscreen, bug spray, bandaids (blisters), clothing detergent, good walking shoes, outlet converter and wattage transformer
21. I cannot stress having good walking shoes enough! If you are lucky to find some that are more subdued or stylish, good for you. Brand shoes scream American, but if your feet aren't aching it won't matter as much. My Rainbow flipflops declared mutiny on my feet and I missed my old Birkenstocks that didn't survive my move to WA.
22. The most important thing: Be patient with the process and each other. In Rome a tour guide told us the rule of 70% in Europe. Things will work out 70% of the time. Accepting this will help you avoid some unnecessary stress. Even with hours and hours of planning, there will still be surprises. Stay on each other's team and work through it together. The more skilled you become at problem-solving together, traveling and, consequently living life, becomes more fun and beautiful.

Europe day 11: Paris

Slept in late. So nice. This trip has been wonderful but exhausting! :)

We started out by finding a small bakery for breakfast. We had a Parisian breakfast which consists of coffee or tea and a croissant or pain au chocolate. It was a tasty but a very light meal compared to our English breakfasts at our previous hotel of cereal, egg, toast, "bacon" (fried ham), tomato, juice, and coffee/tea.

So we walked to admire the garnier opera house and get some Starbucks. The one I used to like moved down the street. It was huge! And very friendly just like at home. :) The decor was quite posh. Painted ceilings, chandeliers, oh Paris. Starbucks is everywhere here by the way.

Then we walked from there to the marais. We passed by some pet stores and couldn't help but look! We miss our little dog a lot. We finally got to a bakery that I love for ham and cheese sandwiches on a baguette. Then we walked to the park behind notre dame to eat. We were starving! I had inadvertently taken Brandon on another " Jenny walk". We decided that my habit of proposing to walk somewhere that "isn't that far" and ends up being a 2-6 mile trek is called a "Jenny walk". Poor Brandon. Poor feet! We eventually headed home for a quick rest. (that is, collapsing into a 2 hour nap)

Our evening was a series of misadventures with another "Jenny walk" from the louvre to the Eiffel tower and back. (to appreciate how far these walks are you have to see a map! It's crazy!) the highlights were walking through the Tuileries garden by fragrant lavender, taking photos of the Eiffel tour and appreciating its massive size, most of the walk, plotting how we'd disable an attacker on the quieter streets, deciding to take the metro to get to the marais area for a 11pm dinner, finding pizza San Antonio for a second night in a row, discovering that egg on pizza is pretty good.

After our trip we'll be posting "awards" and Europe travel tips that we've learned mainly through our errors. :) À tout à l'heure!

Europe day 6: Vatican and off to London!

Rome Walks tour was unbelievable! One of the best tours I've been on. The history and art came to life! Incredible stories told by our guide who is a believer and has a passion for church history. The Sistine chapel had so much more meaning. It was interesting how michaelangelo wanted to convey biblical scenes showing the fallenness-humanness-of mankind to man in crisis to intimacy and connection with God. I didn't realize that michaelangelo had never painted before being told by forceful warrior pope Julius to paint the sistine chapel. And then to paint al fresco (into wet plaster) upside down. Then he was asked to finish designing the basilica. Wow, michaelangelo truly changed art forever. So many more stories I could share... Like what a sick freak (there are other words...) that Nero was. Ew.

Then we battled italian modes of transportation to get to the airport. After our flight and our second train ride of the day, we opted to take a taxi rather than lugging our heavy packs through the tube. Our hotel is very quaint but is comfortable. Nice to crash!

Europe day 3: the longest drive & Florence

We had an incredible dinner tonight! It was a gift, truly incredible! We dined at villa San Michelle in fiesole which overlooks Florence. My favorite parts of the meal were the peach Bellini, florentine steak, wine, cappuccino dessert with cinnamon gelato. Oh and a doppio espresso to counteract the wine because everything before that point was utterly exhausting!

We woke up early and launched out of Salzburg to a salt mine in hallein. It was a really cool tour! It kind of felt like being at Disneyland. We rode a train into the mine then barreled down wood slides until we were 210 meters below the ground! We took the tour with a group of 9 year old Austrian kids on a field trip. We were very intriguing to them--they kept sneaking peeks at us and staring when the guide spoke English to us. So funny! Makes me wonder what assumptions they have about Americans.

Then we started our 720 km drive to Florence. Driving through the alps was unbelievable, but once we encountered the Italian way of driving... We were anxious to be done! :) The drive took 8.5 hours. Then Brandon was rudely introduced to Florence driving. Wow. His take: " it's complete anarchy. There's no rules so make up your own." Especially the scooters...

Thankfully we are safe in our very humid room at the hostel. :)

Europe Countdown

Our upcoming itinerary:

We are so excited for our trip to Europe!!! I can't believe it's finally going to be here after all this talking and planning. I've been to Europe four times before. Yeah, I know... pretty crazy. Each trip was unique and amazing. I am so grateful for those opportunities. The only thing I was missing was the love of my life. One definitely feels the gravity of singleness when you walk around Paris by yourself. The hardest was a candlelit stroll that I took solo around the grounds of the Vaux le Vicomte castle. So this trip will be unique and amazing because my husband is coming with me!!!

It is his first trip and he is so excited! He can't wait to see the Austrian Alps, the historical sights, the city of London, and the beaches of Normandy.

It will be such a great adventure for us... and a test of our ability to work together to solve problems that inevitably come up during vacations.

Here's an overview of our itinerary:

• Arrive in Frankfurt, rent a car
• Night in Heidelberg
• Stop at Rothenberg ob der Tauber
• Night in Salzburg
• Stop at Neuschwanstein
• Night in Florence
• 2 Nights in Rome
• Fly to London
• 3 Nights in London
• Night in Normandy region
• 3 Nights in Paris
• Fly home

Forgive my misspellings... I didn't feel like looking them up. :)