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  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 86

    Amsterdam, Netherlands (Day 1 & 2)

    October 30, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    What we did
    - It’s really hard for us to type this through our tear soaked phone screens. Sitting here at the Amsterdam airport on a gloomy morning waiting to go back to the real world, we keep talking about how crazy it is that we were able to do so much over the last three months. Absolutely incredible trip with a lifetime of memories together, and with so many of our favorite people. We’ll cut the cheesy sad talk at that, but wow was going on this adventure the best decision ever. 16 countries across 87 days in the EU!
    - Our journey from Bruges to Amsterdam was our most troublesome.. we had such luck throughout the three months with no delays and no lost items ...well save for the last train. Our 6:45am - 10:30am train ended up being 6:45am - 1:30pm after repeated delays trying to cross the border into the Netherlands. Still not really sure what happened, but we had trains get turned around before finally getting transferred to one that made it. Along the way we unfortunately donated some airpods to the train seat cushion.
    - Once in town we checked in and walked through the canals. Amsterdam is awesome! Guess we’ve said that for most every destination. We stopped at an unreal brunch place along the canal (2:30pm brunch, yup). Amsterdam is known for their all day brunches, so we figured we had to make the most of it!
    - After brunch we walked around for a while and attempted to do the Anne Frank house, but again it had been booked up months earlier. Instead, we decided to book a last minute canal ride! It ended up starting to pour, but fortunately the boat was covered. It was a great hour tour up and down the canals with wine, Heineken, and some local cheese!
    - After the boat we grabbed ramen for dinner and then walked the red light district.. what a wild place. 10 minutes of avoiding eye contact with the window women was sufficient for us!
    - We then headed over to hang at a tourist hotspot, Barney's Uptown Coffeehouse, for a while. Great time hanging! We love Amsterdam so far.
    - Slept in and Trent went for an enjoyable jog along the canals while Steph got ready. Headed out for another round of brunch! This one even better than the last, even with the hour plus wait! We ordered a Bloody Mary and mimosa to celebrate the trip. We called Helen/Brian to talk through the next few days of bittersweet plans for returning home…
    - It started raining so we headed over to do the Heineken factory for a tour and tasting! Extremely commercial, but it was a good time and nice to have some beers. Heineken here tastes way better than the skunked imports we have in the states.
    - It was absolutely pouring when we got out so we stopped by Apple for a pre-flight airpods re-up and then grabbed one last cone of curry ketchup and mayo street fries!
    - Went back to Barney's Uptown Coffeehouse! Great time hanging again. When we were about to leave a super friendly Aussie couple sat down and started talking with us. We had entertaining but disjointed conversations as the accents and environment led us to probably only understand 75% of what each other was saying. We then successfully talked our way out of going out to dinner with them and said our goodbyes.
    - With it starting to get late, we grabbed a quick dinner at the cafe down the street from our hotel. There were a couple of extremely drunk dutchman attempting to box/fight in the restaurant which made for great entertainment.
    - Off to packing and some Netflix and bed for our morning wake up to fly home.
    - Grabbed one last breakfast at the hotel and headed to the airport.
    - As said in the opening paragraph, absolutely the trip of a lifetime with memories we’ll cherish forever. Thanks for tuning in folks! Penguins squad signing off.

    What we ate:
    - Greenwoods for delicious brunch when we got in! This was the first brunch place in Amsterdam and practice makes perfect. Great assortment of eggs, pancakes potatoes and meats with Pumpkin Spice Latte and smoothies to top it off.
    - 1st Dinner at Ramen - Ya…. The ramen in Berlin was incredible and all others have been baaaaad. Some weird broth and noodles, but hey it filled the stomachs.
    - 2nd brunch at Bakers and Roasters. Another big hit! Amsterdam is known for brunch and sheesh it was good. Trent got a breakfast burrito and Steph got blueberry pancakes with a side of eggs.
    - Snack of fries with curry ketchup and mayo at Vlaams Fritehaus.
    - Dinner at IL Panorama. Burger for Trent and Spaghetti Bolognese for Steph.

    Fun facts:
    - The Dutch East India trading company made this country unimaginably wealthy for its size. Each house along the canal had a top floor that was just entirely full of spices pillaged from colonies. At the time, a shot glass full of pepper cost around $1000 in today's money.
    - The 1st gay men legally married in Amsterdam did so right by the hotel we stayed at, but did it on April 1st “fools day” as a cover for anyone who may have a problem with it.
    - All the houses in Amsterdam are leaning in some way as they are built on sand and wood beams that causes them to settle weird. Some of the most angled houses even sell for a premium due to the novelty. The entire region is 4 meters under sea level so they are very invested in fighting climate change.
    - Each of the canal houses has a hook on top of the structure that was used to haul spices and goods into the merchant houses back in the day. They are still used today to help locals move furniture into the houses because the staircases are too narrow. This sometimes has disastrous results depending on your roping/lifting capabilities…    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 84

    Bruges, Belgium

    October 28, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    What we did:
    - Known as the “Venice of the North!” Bruges is a city that is a cleaner, nicer, prettier, with better gastronomy, more quaint and overall just a far more pleasant version than Venice. Yes that’s a run-on sentence with bad punctuation but it serves a point. It’s honestly offensive to Bruges to even put the two in the same sentence. This place rocks.
    - After being a bit delayed from our financial disputes, we got in around 2 and quickly checked into to our nice hotel. So refreshing to be back in hotels after our run of sub-par AirBnbs!
    - Having been on an eating bender the last few weeks we needed something green so grabbed some delicious Poke and headed out.
    - Bruges is the land of chocolate so we stopped into three chocolatiers along our wanderings, each time getting sucked in for more. Man it is good! Similar to our Swiss chocolate but delicious nonetheless.
    - We walked around the meandering streets that crisscross the canals where we were admiring the beautiful greeneries, picturesque willows and unique buildings/architecture. Place is cool! Was spitting rain and a bit windy so surely a fall day, but rewarded with a few rainbows. Steph went here when she studied abroad and it lived up again.
    - Sufficiently full of chocolate and feeling like we saw the sights, we found a brewery to try some of the famous Belgium beers. Hung there for a while and decided it was time for some dinner!
    - We dropped our haul of chocolate back at the hotel and went to a bumping hotspot for dinner. Need to live up the last few nights of our trip! Great beers, wine, steak and conversation made for an awesome night!
    - RIP Matthew Perry. Friends was a big deal for Steph and the first show we binged together (hooking Trent) so had to do him the honor of watching an episode when we got back. Laughed at the “The One with the Embryos” episode before calling it a night.
    - Bruges was awesome! On to Amsterdam early AM.

    Where we ate:
    - Lunch of poke at Hawaiin Poke on the main square. Very fresh ingredients!
    - Dinner at Da Republique. Split a delicious steak, pile of Papas Fritas with Mayo and some veggies. Belgium beers and merlots to accompany.
    - Chocolate spots were: Chocolatier Dumon, and ale Comptoire de Mathilde, and Chocolat de Julie

    Fun facts:
    - There are more than 80 bridges is Bruges.
    - There are hundreds of chocolate shops in Bruges, but not all of them actually sell chocolate that is FROM Bruges. Rest assured we did our research and only got the best!    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 83

    Brussels, Belgium

    October 27, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    What we did:
    - Woke up at 5:45 to catch our train… really feeling the 1:30am bedtime and drinks with Sarah. We stumble into our cab and took the smooth hour and a half train into Brussels. Luckily we could check in, so took a two hour nap!
    - Sufficiently refreshed we headed to enjoy the endless playground of food that is Belgium. Started off with coffees from “Oriental des Caffes” while we waited in line for the notorious Belgium street fries. This coffee shop had beans from all over the world and is likely on our list of best coffee of the trip. After an hour in line, we got our fries and believe it or not - it was worth it! They chopped the potatoes and fried them in front of you and then gave them to you in a cone with our choice of curry ketchup and Mayo topping. We ate them in the famous square of the Grand Place and enjoyed the cool architecture and ornate buildings.
    - We wandered the streets for a while - Brussells is so charming and underrated! Great little streets filled with food, bars and unique buildings. Saw the peeing boy (“Manneken Piss”) that our Prague guide said was voted the #2 most overrated thing in Europe (and man do we agree). How is that little statue so well known?
    - We then stopped for Liege waffles! Hubbada hubbada 🤤 these things are unlike any waffle we've ever had. Dense and packed with flavor, you don’t even need any toppings. Kentucky needs to import these things and slap some fried chicken on them. Now that would be a delicacy!
    - We then hit a museum (shocking right?!) called the Parlamentarium that shows the history of the EU, how countries were added, and explains how it functions today. For geopolitical nerds like us it was pretty interesting.
    - As with anytime we do something touristy or educational, we somehow found ourselves drinking afterwards again. But hey Belgium beers are notorious! It’s called getting cultured. Steph got warm apple juice so guess credit to her for no booze. We sat at a fun outdoor beer garden spot called Woodpeckers in the main park. The park was full of colored trees and the crisp air made it a perfect autumn evening. Nice to enjoy our favorite season before we head back to the Chicago tundra.
    - We then grabbed dinner to tick off our Moules Frites (Mussels and fries) at a historical place in the center of town. Very good and enjoyable!
    - Now that we’re basically Europeans, we had to tune into the championship for the Rugby World cup between South Africa and New Zealand. It was hosted in Paris, so the last week in France really got us into it. We tried to hit two bars that were standing room only. Steph being perfect armpit level does not correlate well with standing in bars, so we headed back to the hotel to watch! Better decision for our livers anyway. We watched Rugby 101 youtube videos while listening to the French announcers getting all excited. Rugby is confusing as hell to watch, but we picked up on it by the end and loved the nonstop action.
    - Crashed around midnight and woke up to grab more waffles for brunch! Again so delicious 🙌
    - On the way back we realized both our credit cards had been compromised that morning. Steph had a $1500 apple charge and $250 United charge….. our guess is the sketchy DHL pop-up we mailed our wedding contract from in Paris did it. Chase quickly fixed it and canceled the card. Trent on the other hand had $3500 in charges from Marriott… turns out there was a computer glitch and he had booked 5 rooms for four nights in Munich. While planning Oktoberfest he had blocked some rooms (for the wrong month nonetheless 🤷‍♂️) that we ended up obviously canceling. The computer cancelled the rooms but then rebooked 5 more. The panic at potentially being out $3500 to no fault of our own receded after talking to Marriott and getting it resolved. Whew! On to Bruges! With all of our money safe and sound

    What we ate:
    - Friteria Tabora for the fries noted above. The hour long line was worth it!
    - Le Roi de La Gaufre for Leiges waffles! Best waffles we’ve ever had
    - Dinner at Chez Leon for Mussels and Fries! A famous spot since the 1800’s for mussels, it ran the risk of being touristy but was actually delicious! Had lobster bisque and fresh smoked salmon as well 🔥🔥🔥
    - Maison Dandoy for breakfast waffles! Tried both the “Liege” and “Brussels” style Belgium waffles, and the Liege waffles won by a mile.

    Fun facts:
    - Brussels is HQ for the EU and Nato
    - The name ‘French’ fries in the US is actually a misnomer. During World War I, American soldiers stationed in Belgium believed they were actually in France due to a geographical mistake and local’s speaking French. So when they brought them back home they called them “French Fries”. Having enjoyed frites in both France and Belgium, we voted Belgium by a mile.
    - There are two types of Belgium waffles. The “Brussels” one is square, lighter, crispy, airier and less flavor. Really meant to have toppings. The “Liege” is softer, thicker, oval shaped and rich in flavor. You only need powdered sugar.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 82

    Paris, France (Day 4)

    October 26, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    What we did:
    - Woke up around 8am for our trek to Versailles! Stopped for breakfast at another delicious Boulangerie and then hopped on the metro. Our train transfer required a walk past the Eiffel tower so nice to see it during the day… way more ugly and unimpressive though compared to the dazzle at night.
    - Our connecting train was cancelled due to French strikes so we ended up taxiing. We spent about two hours at Versailles wandering the ornate indoors and impressive hall of mirrors before enjoying the massive garden.
    - We headed back to Paris to print and mail our signed wedding contract! After a few failed attempts we found a print spot. Then the only DHL was a sketchy pop-up selling “used” iphones… $60 later we received a valid tracking number but time will tell if the contract makes it. (As of this writing, Steph’s credit card was hacked for $1500 at Apple. Coincidence? We think not. The contract is 5 days late, but at least allegedly in Milwaukee).
    - We then headed to a TikTok famous cafe to celebrate our contract signing with arguably the best hot chocolate we’ve ever had!
    - We showered and then went to Sarah’s apartment for pre-dinner apps and wine! Her place is HUGE! Super old but very nice and great to meet her roommates. Trent’s family Christmas at her parents house always included apps that we nicknamed “cheesies in the parlor”. Sarah put on a “cheesies in the parlor” to make the family proud! It was a delicious spread of cheeses and French bread. Wine to top if off of course!
    - We then went to a vibey and happening seafood restaurant for a great three hour dinner. Good food, drinks, and conversation! So great to learn about Sarah’s experiences and time abroad. Living abroad in a city like Paris has her maturity and awareness so much higher than when what ours was when we were pounding drinks in Kilroys every night.
    - Walked down the Canal St. Martin on the way home and called it a night around 1:30. Paris you were good to us!

    What we ate:
    - Boulangerie Mamiche for croissants and sammies in the 10th arrondissement
    - Lunch on the train home of French sandwiches at “Madeline”
    - Hot chocolate and croissants at Carrette
    - Great spread at Sarah’s apartment of French bread, cheese and grapes. Amazing work and even more impressive for a college student
    - Dinner with Sarah at Le Comptoir General. Delicious smoked salmon apps and seared scallops for all. Cocktails and white wine to top it off!

    Fun facts:
    - During the French Revolution, Versailles was absolutely ransacked. After that it was never used as a residence again and instead was turned into a museum for French pride.
    - The garden is the largest palace garden in the world and was prioritized by Louis X
    - Sarah told us that it's been hard to meet Parisians (note: she has a great crew from all over the world) because their hometown arrondissement is a massive deal. They all go to a college in their local arrondissement so they live at home during that time, and therefore only ever hangout with the kids they went through grade school with. Kind of like the private school vibe down south but to a much higher extent.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 81

    Paris, France (Day 3)

    October 25, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    What we did:
    - Slept in, of course, because why not. Our vacation days are sadly dwindling. Europe doesn’t do breakfast so we found another delicious American brunch spot and plotted our day!
    - After brunch we headed off on our tourist journey. We took the metro across town and started at the “Arc de Triomph”. Cool to see how large the roundabout is with the offshoots across Paris from it, but at the end of the day it is just a stone gate so we moved on fairly quickly
    - Walked down the Champs-Elysees strip of stores and parks. Then made it to the massive “Jardin des Tuileres” where we wandered through the gorgeous park. Perfect fall time for the leaves changing.
    - We then came up to the Louvre! Like all the other touristy things, tickets were booked out months ago so we didn’t stand a chance against the throngs of people. But let’s be honest, didn’t actually want to go in anyway so this just made us not feel guilty.
    - Continued our walk through the famous fashion house district where Trent scarfed down a pile of pastries and a sandwiches. Steph was unsurprisingly still full from brunch.
    - We then found Sarah’s recommended macaroon store, “Lauderée” and got an assortment of the French delicacy. Steph was unsurprisingly hungry again since desert was in the picture! We took them over to the park and tasted the variety of flavors. Way better than the dry ones in the US, but still pretty overrated
    - Walked along the Seine and called Sally to catch up before their Cabo trip! We loved the views - Paris is cool - we’ve decided.
    - Walked over to Notre Dame and were pleasantly surprised to see how much was still there. There is a massive construction process to rebuild it all by the 24’ olympics.
    - Sufficiently cultured, we headed to grab drinks at a cool cafe in the 3rd arrondissement!
    - Given France’s imperialist past with Vietnam, there is a huge presence of great Vietnamese food so we then headed up to the 11th to enjoy delicious Pho. Probably the best we’ve tried other than what we had when we were visiting Vietnam.
    - Determined to inadvertently walk through the entirety of Paris in a day, we headed up to Montmartre for drinks. Walked by the Moulin Rouge and got Steph her French Crème Brûlée before calling it a night.
    - Awesome day in Paris! Went through 8 of the 17 arrondissements. Guess we needed that calorie burn

    Where we ate:
    - Holybelly in the 10th for breakfast! Steph got pancakes, halloumi and sausage while Trent got eggs benedict, smoked salmon and potatoes. Great cafe créme as well!
    - Trent had French sammy and croissants for lunch at Yannick Martin bakery
    - Absolutely delicious Pho and spring rolls at Dong Houng
    - Crème Brûlée At Café des Deux Moulins in Montmartre

    Fun facts:
    - The Mona Lisa is voted the #1 most overrated thing in Europe
    - We learned that cappuccinos aren’t really a thing in France. They sell them but they are pretty bad. To get as close to a cappuccino as possible you have to order “cafe creme”.
    - The Arc de Triomphe is actually for the tomb of an unknown soldier from WW1 and every single day they relight a fire there
    - Notre Dame fire was likely started by a cigarette. They had a crazy elaborate process over the years to clean it up, stabilize it and rebuild for the olympics
    - Café des Deux Moulins is famous for it’s key scene in Amelie    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 80

    Paris, France (Days 1 & 2)

    October 24, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    What we did:
    - Got into Paris around 5pm. Great audible to take the train instead of drive. We checked into our hotel in the trendy 10th arrondissement - nice place and no bed bugs either!! Nice to be in this area as it's around all the local haunts.
    - Walked over to grab Ramen for dinner and enjoyed a nice chill dinner. But we are in Paris so before calling it a night we needed some street Crepes! We tried to get to two places that we’re a 20ish minute walk from us and once we were close it started getting fairly sketchy…. So we called it and just headed back to the hotel. Fortunately we stumbled upon one right near us that just wasn’t on Google - the banana nutella street crepes were amazing!
    - Woke up to meet Trent’s cousin Sarah who’s a senior at the American university in Paris! Turns out the hotel we booked was one block away from her apartment - what are the odds in such a sprawling city as Paris?!
    - We enjoyed croissants and coffee from a local boulangerie as we caught our train out to the town of Reims in Champagne! So great to catch up with Sarah on the way.
    - Once in Reims we walked through the town and saw the famous Notre Dame church. We had time before our first tasting so we grabbed some drinks and then hit another boulangerie for sammies. French bread always hits>>>
    - We taxi’d to the first stop at the notorious Veuve Clicquot. Was an hour and half tour of the caves and tasting of 5 champagnes. Definitely pretty commercial but we really enjoyed the whole experience. Heavy pours too!
    - Afterwards we took an Uber about 20 mins into the countryside to the Mailly champagne house. It was raining but we were still able to see the rows of gorgeous colored vineyards. Wine country in the fall is beautiful as each vine takes on it’s own color. Sarah said that visiting the Champagne region is her equivalent to a Pumpkin Patch - must be nice to be a local Parisian!
    - Mailly was awesome as we had a 1:1 with the tour lady for about an hour. Super interesting to hear about the differences in how champagne is bottled as compared to still wine. Mailly is also a collective where all the farmers in the village produce the grapes and combined in the house. Great comparison to the commercialization of Veuve.
    - Grabbed a beer at “Hemingway’s” in town for an hour and caught the train home. So fun to see Sarah and find out about her life living in Paris!
    - Sarah went home to study (not sure how in the Champagne fog) while we regrouped and went to a local Cafe for burgers! Man the French know how to make a burger.
    - Then we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower! Right as we got off the train we hit the viewpoint to see it do it’s hourly twinkle. Honestly pretty cool given we voted it is likely the most famous man-made thing on earth.
    - Walked around the park for an hour and a half, but it was getting cold and it was a long day so called a cab back. We immediately fell asleep when the heads hit the pillows. Great day!

    What we ate:
    - Yamanashi Ramen for dinner. Honestly not great and turns out the guy comes around with a QR code to give him a 5 star rating - no wonder it got so many 5 star reviews on Google...
    - Croissants from Du Pain et des ídeas in the 10th arrondissement
    - Delicious sandwiches for lunch at Le Four a Bois.
    - Burgers and spicy cauliflower at La Banquette Marais cafe in the 10th arrondissement!

    Fun facts:
    - Under the town of Reims there are 250 km of caves that all the champagne houses use to store and age their champagne. During WW2 the French hid out in these caves. Even though the Germans knew about it, they couldn’t figure out how to get down there so this saved many lives.
    - Veuve actually exports 90% of it’s champagne to the US and Japan. So it’s actually a commercialized producer that the locals don’t like as much. After tasting Mailly we agreed it’s overrated!    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 79

    Dijon, France

    October 23, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    What we did:
    - Got up early to get on the road for a quick stop in Dijon on our way to Paris! Stopped at Chateau Marsannay for our last wine tasting in Burgundy! Stopped at a Boulangerie on the way to get some croissants and coffee for breakfast. Boulangerie rock. Every item we have had at a Boulangerie has been so fresh and mouthwateringly good and always costs us less than 5 euro. America, what are we doing wrong here!?
    - Chateau Marsannay was another huge estate that produces many wines. We had a private tour with one of the wine makers - definitely our favorite tour! She was very knowledgeable and clarified a lot of questions for us. She also had us try SEVEN wines (don’t worry our trusty driver Trent poured half his tastings out). All incredibly delicious!
    - We drove into Dijon and walked around for a bit before realizing we were going to miss lunch because everything was shutting down for the afternoon. Found a quick wok place to grab carry out and set on a bench in the square to people watch and admire the French architecture.
    - We then stopped in a mustard store because…dijon mustard duh. Tried a bunch of original as well as more creative dijon mustards like truffle and bourbon flavors. We then looked to driving to Paris and what was originally only supposed to be a 2.5 hour drive looked to be about 4 hours, putting us in Paris at night in insane traffic. So we pulled an audible and dropped off the rental car and hopped on a train to Paris with 10 minutes to spare! Definitely the right plan because it only took us 1.5 hours to get to the city of lights!
    - It was pouring rain when we got into the train station so we took a cab to the hotel before heading out to dinner for some Ramen on a cold rainy night!

    What we ate:
    - Croissants and coffee at a French Boulangerie.
    - Fried rice and noodle bowls at Aida Healthy Noodle in Dijon.

    Fun facts:
    - The Grand Cru wines are from plots of land with soil that is very mineral heavy and rocky where the roots don’t grow very deep. They say it’s because these plants have to be incredibly strong to thrive in rocky soils that they produce the best grapes, and therefore the best wine!
    - Wine tourism isn’t a huge “thing” in Burgundy in the sense that you can book an on-site winery tour and tasting at the vineyard. In Napa you can do this at most wineries, in Burgundy and Beaujolais they are few and far between. Most of the small towns will have tasting rooms where you can taste wines from the different local vineyards instead of going onsite for tours/tastings.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 78

    Beaune, France

    October 22, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    What we did:
    - Woke up in Beaune and strolled through the downtown square for a bit before stopping in a cafe for breakfast. We then headed to the car to drive to Pommard for our first Burgundy wine tasting!
    - Chateau de Pommard had huge grounds, a very grand estate and house, and beautiful gardens. We had a private tour and tried 5 different wines. This winery in particular had its own classifications and did not go by the standard Burgundy wine classifications which was odd and very confusing. However, all 5 burgundy red wines were delicious! At this point, we felt pretty confident that we liked the Burgundy wines better than the Beaujolais wines.
    -We walked around the grounds a bit after our tasting and explored the town of Meursault down the way. We stopped in a Patisserie and got an assortment of French pastries and coffee. Delicious!
    - We then stopped at our last winery of the day, Domaine Guillame Baduel. Another private tour with a family run vineyard. We were with an older French man who was super nice and very helpful. He was the one who finally described the wine classifications in a way that was easy to digest (see fun facts below). We tried two white wines and two red wines in the downstairs wine cellar. We asked a lot of questions and he had answers to all of them! Great wine and great teacher.
    - We headed back to Beaune to spend some time in town on our last night there. We grabbed a drink at Bar 66 and Ale Vintage before heading over to Brasserie Lazard Carnot for a great French dinner!

    What we ate:
    - Croissants, quiche, and coffees at Les Baltardises.
    - Pastries and sandwiches at a Boulangerie in Meursault.
    - Brasserie Lazard Carnot: Trent got the steak frites and Steph got the most amazing French burger! We split another lava cake for dessert. Tres magnifique!

    Fun facts:
    - Burgundy primarily grows two different grapes, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The soil can vary drastically by mere meters throughout the region. That is why there are 4 classifications for Burgundy wines. The lowest tier is Region meaning that if you buy a bottle of wine that says “Burgundy” or “Bourgogne” this is the lowest classification of Burgundy wine based on the soil/land that grapes were grown from. The second tier is Village, meaning in order to buy wines from the second tier it will not say “Burgundy” on the bottle, just the village - making it increasingly difficult for consumer recognition in the states if you are unaware of the classification system and are unable to decipher different villages in the region! The next tier is Premier Cru. In this case this is best wine that most consumers will purchase due to the value and price point. These bottles will include the village and the words “Premier Cru” to classify the wine. The highest tier is Grand Cru and most bottles go for thousands of euro! Most people who don’t understand the classification will end up buying the lowest classification, Region, because it say “Burgundy” on the bottle and is the cheapest.
    - As of this part of the trip, Trent had adopted some of Stephs lingo and is using “lovely” to describe all of the French scenery.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 77

    Beaujolais, France

    October 21, 2023 in France

    What we did:
    - Arrived to the Lyon airport VERY early after walking through a very dark, dirty, and rainy Venice at 4am to catch our flight. We got our rental car and were quickly on the road! The French countryside is beautiful with quaint little towns and Medieval villages. We stopped in Val d’Oingt for some coffees and pastries. Known as one of the most beautiful towns in France, we definitely felt like we stepped into a quiet little French town straight out of a movie (especially after leaving the chaos of Italy). We tried our best French to order coffees and stopped at a local Boulangerie. Amazing croissants and quiche!
    - We then drove to the small Medieval village named Ternand. We walked around the town, read up on the history provided by various signs, and hopped back in the car.
    - We drove through beautiful rolling vineyards and hills, the vines and trees all starting to change for the fall. We made a little pit stop in the town of Chiroubles for a quick bite of local French cheeses and meats before heading to our first Beaujolais tasting!
    - Our first tasting was at Christophe Savoy where we learned the basics about the Beaujolais and Burgundy wine regions. We tried 4 different of varieties of red Beaujolais wines - all delicious! Beaujolais wines are a little lighter and fruitier which we figured out isn’t necessarily Trent's favorite kind of wine. He liked the wines that were deeper and more full bodied.
    - We then drove to our next tasting 10 minutes away. The directions were hard to figure out since it was a family run winery run out of their family home. Eventually Matthew, the son, flagged us down and we started on our private tour! Super interesting as the estate has been passed down and run by the family for multiple generations. Matthew is young and will takeover the business and was telling us about some of the new farming strategies and experimentation he is doing with the wine making process and how it paired well with his parents’ and grandparents’ wealth of experience. We tried one white wine, one rose, and three red ones. They also had the sweetest dog named Poppy running around - so cute! Overall super friendly guy, and since it was such a small tour he was happy to answer any and all questions we had. And we had a lot of them!
    - We drove the rest of the way to the town of Beaune where we were staying the next few nights. Again, a beautifully and picturesque French countryside town! We headed to the central square and grabbed some dinner before going to bed early for more wine tasting the next day!

    What we ate:
    - Croissants, quiches, and coffees in Val d’Oingt at Votre Boulangerie
    - Variety of French cheeses and meats at Cafe de Beaujolais
    - Dinner at TOMA Bar a Vin. Trent got a pulled pork sandwich and Steph got beef Bourgogne. Topped it off with some burgundy wine and a molten lava cake! The pastries in France are unmatched. Our waiter had us try essential French Grappa as an after dinner digestive. Steph thought it was gross but Trent kind of liked it.

    Fun facts:
    - Beaujolais is much more regulated than the Burgundy wine region. The “Grande Cru” classification for Beaujolais has been closed for the last 8 years. Meaning that there can be no additional Grande Cru Beaujolais wines other than the ones that already exist. Classifications are all dependent on the soil and plot of land and must meet numerous criteria in order to sell the wine with the classification. Beaujolais wines in particular are capped at producing a maximum amount of wine every year and cannot exceed a specific amount based on the land that is owned and produces grapes.
    - Climate change is impacting these wine regions heavily. Harvesting Beaujolais grapes used to take place in October, but in recent years most harvests have taken place in early September.
    - Most of the wine producers in these regions are organic and focus on organic farming. There is a huge push in the industry for organic wines.
    - The Beaujolais region produces Gamay grapes.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 77

    Venice, Italy

    October 21, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    What we did -
    - Our couple hour train got into Venice around 2pm and we were greeted with our first strike of the trip! Lucky to have avoided them so far, it turns out this time the Venice boat taxi’s were striking all weekend. Sooooo we had a super fun 40 minute walk with our backpacks/suitcases through the densely crowded mid-day Venice streets, light spitting rain and 10+ stair covered bridges. That’s one way to see the city! Soaked in sweat/rain when we got to our Air BnB, we showered and regrouped for a bit. Also kicked off our last laundry batch of the trip 🥺
    - We were huuuungry so headed over to a pizza joint nearby. Venice is notorious for not having good food (bummer after Rome and Florence) so we figured pizza was easy. Service was pretty awful but pizza was solid!
    - After 2.5 hour dinner we headed out on the town! It was pouring rain so a bit difficult, but still fun to walk along the canals and bridges. Such a unique city! Pretty dirty and beaten up though. Steph had been before and wasn’t a huge fan for this reason, but since we were so close Trent pushed to see it. This is a city at the top of the “will be impacted by global warming” list so had to see it before it goes under water.
    - We found a cool wine bar, “Retro Wine Bar” which had 1930’s speakeasy vibes. Trent’s now a big wine guy after Tuscany so he enjoyed Steph trying to get him to understand all the Italian wine regions and taste some local ones.
    - Headed home and finished up the last two episodes of the Beckham documentary! Definitely recommend. 2am by the time we went to bed though... not sure how we always do this
    - Slept in until 11am… vacation is the best! Headed over to a cafe for cappuccinos and croissants. By 12:30 when we got there all the croissants were gone and all they had available was pizza… too many damn early birds stealing our worms. We thought this was Italy? Time’s supposed to be an imaginary concept.
    - The sun was out so we wandered around for a few hours just enjoying the famous sights and canals. Despite the crowds, dirtiness, bad food and gangs of pigeons, it is a charming and unique city. We debated doing the touristy gondola ride but at $100 a pop we opted to save our sheckles.
    - A whole swath of the main tourist area was underwater and you could see more water just bubbling up from the drains. Hoards of tourists were buying plastic coverings for their shoes and just wading through it. Some were even sitting at cafe’s with water calf-deep, just enjoying food and drinks. We’d always heard of this so pretty crazy to actually see. Sufficiently grossed out by the dirty water, we opted for dry land and headed to a wine bar for a few drinks.
    - Post drinks we headed to the harbour and saw our favorite sunset of the trip. The insane colors over the harbour with the storm clouds booming in the distance was incredible. Venice looked real nice in this moment 🙌
    - With an early early flight we headed back to the Airbnb, grabbed a takeout pasta dinner and crashed early.
    - Woke up at 3:50am… so pretty close to the time we went to bed the day before. The night before we realized that due to the strike and it being a sunday morning in Italy, no transit was available! Soooo 40 minutes back across Venice it was to catch a mainland bus. Parents time to put on your blinders and skip this paragraph - walking through the dark, empty rat filled alleyways at 4am is not advisable. We we’re ready to get mugged at each meandering dark alleyway turn. Fortunately the rattle of our suitcases scared away most rats and all the drunks were too drunk to pay any mind to us. Not the kinda thing they teach you to do in Travel 101. Thank you striking boat taxis. But hey we made it to our bus and flight safe and sound!
    - Venice you will likely end up as our lowest rated location on the trip, sorry not sorry. Absolutely worth seeing in a lifetime, but no need for more than 24/36hrs! Steph thinks not worth seeing at all - go see Bruges or Amsterdam for a similar vibe but a way better time.

    Where we ate -
    - 1st dinner at 1000 gourmet. Two pizzas and a salad!
    - Breakfast/lunch pizza at Farini cafe
    - Cichetti’s” at La Barrique wine bar. These are little pieces of bread with various toppings. We enjoyed the really good assorted meats, but had to plug our nose on some of the fish based ones
    - 2nd Dinner of takeout at “We love Italy - Fresh pasta to go”. You read that name right. It’s a counter serve pasta place that was honestly delicious.
    - Taramisu from Farini for desert

    Fun facts:
    - Venice has always banned coal ovens for pizza due to fire risk so they were known for not having pizza. Recent electric stove technology has allowed them to actually cook it now
    - All the blogs said restaurants in Venice know almost all customers will never come back so they don’t really care about providing good service or food.
    - The Black Gondola industry is super regulated. Each location is mandated to charge the same price, go for the same 30 minute duration, wear the striped outfit and all are limited to specific regional trips. Kinda nice as this could easily be an industry to swindle unknowing tourists. However it’s still 80 euro a ride…    Read more

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