Bratwurst and Beer in Hamburg, Germany

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Zollkanal

Surprisingly, there wasn’t a direct train from Amsterdam to Hamburg but it was still an easy journey with only one connection. Soon enough, we were pulling into the center of Hamburg with our hotel, Kieler Hof, only a couple blocks away. Thankfully, the hotel was cheaper than Amsterdam so we planned to go out for dinner. After we completed some much needed laundry, we set out to explore the area and get food.

We found a pedestrian street lined with stores and full of people enjoying the beautiful eventing. We stopped at a fast food stand called MöGrill which Sara saw online. We ordered a currywurst because it seemed to be the most prominent thing on the menu. It was basically a sliced bratwurst covered in a curry flavored sauce that tasted fine but we were glad we only ordered one to split.

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Dinner at Gröninger Braukeller

I was excited to try some local German Continue reading →

Wandering the Streets of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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The train from Brussels was quick so before I knew it we were easing into Amsterdam Central Station. I love how the trains are so efficient and with our Eurail Pass we arrive right in the city center.  We had ended up booking a room at the Amstel Botel which was on the other side of the river from the station. Their website mentioned a free ferry transfer from the train station which Sara and I expected was run by the hotel. As we exited the station towards the river, we saw what looked like a public ferry in the final stages of boarding and the signage made it seem like it was going towards our destination. We jumped onboard and hoped that we weren’t supposed to have a ticket. A few minutes later, we neared a dock and cruised past an old decommissioned submarine. In fact, we were surrounded by interesting and antique ships! This was an awesome city so far and we’d only just arrived.

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Our hotel, Amstel Botel at NDSM pier

The Amstel Botel looked like a large houseboat. It was permanently attached to the dock and didn’t look like it would fare well if it tried to set sail. Our room was near the waterline and we could listen to the waves lap against the side of the boat. Several times, we looked out the window and saw several Continue reading →

Starting our European Adventure in Brussels, Belgium

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FullSizeRender8As we passed under the English Channel on a train from England to Belgium, I started to read about the Eurail passes we previously purchased. Though our research about traveling in Europe, many different resources led to the same conclusion: a Eurail pass is the best way to get around. The pass allows us to ride almost any long distance train in Europe (excluding England, Scotland and Albania) for usually no additional cost. There are many different options for passes, but Sara and I chose a three month unlimited pass. The writer at Seat 61 has a great description of the different passes and was helpful with our decision making. The unlimited Eurail Global Pass was our best option because we’ll travel in Europe for three months and we don’t want to be limited in the number travel days. For us, the hardest part was coordinating receipt of the passes. We purchased them back in May and had them shipped to Sara’s parents who received the certified package. Then Sara’s mom brought the passes to us when we saw her in Africa. Continue reading →

A Countryside Escape to Hastings, England

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Breakfast at Regency Cafe in London

Despite how tired I was after having a fun weekend in Glasgow, it was very hard to sleep in the uncomfortable seats on the overnight Megabus. Tiredly arriving in London, our first goal was to find coffee and breakfast. My brother in law, Todd, is our personal London guide because he has several extended visits under his belt. He had emailed us a list of pubs and a breakfast place we couldn’t miss. Being 7:30am, we headed to the breakfast place, Regency Cafe, which was just a few blocks from the Victoria Station. Walking in felt like a throwback to the 1960s. It was a cute little neighborhood place where the set breakfast needed to be ordered just right at the counter (thankfully Todd gave us a heads up). Everything was delicious. The large portions in the typical English breakfast was the perfect thing to recover from a rough night of sleeping and a weekend of drinking.

After a filling breakfast and wandering around a few blocks looking for a Continue reading →