Girls' Trip to Chicago!

We arrived home from Munich around 10:45 pm and the next day Michelle and Jill picked me up at 10:00 am to head to Chicago for a girls' trip!

Us girls had planned this trip prior to Ken and me deciding to go to Germany.  I never imagined having such fun in a 10 day span in the dead of winter.

Chardonnay on the plane? Yes please!

We had so much fun laughing and telling stories on the plane.  Seriously, we all had tears from laughing more than once and this was only an hour flight.  Isn't that what girl friends are for?

Once we arrived in Chicago we found that we were missing a piece of luggage.  Michelle's luggage to be exact.  Southwest was unsure as to where it was, so we set out to check into our hotel and then get Michelle a winter coat to brave the cold.

Christmas carolers in the Palmer House Hotel

When one of your besties is a mom, she brings snacks!  We were teasing Jill about all of her snacks but we did enjoy them like a boss.

We found Michelle a coat and then made our way to my favorite Chicago restaurant, The Purple Pig, for an early dinner.  We ate a wonderful dinner complete with some sparkling rose and left with very full tummies.  We were still missing Michelle's bag that is named Black Betty.  No folks, you cannot make this stuff up.

Downtown Chicago lit up for the season

Jill, me, and Michelle on Michigan Ave.  Michelle is sporting her new coat and Uggs courtesy of SW Airlines and a borrowed scarf from Jill.  

We stopped back by our hotel and checked in with Southwest and there was no update on Black Betty.  We decided to go ahead and make our way to the Chriskindlmarkt that was just a few blocks from our hotel.  

Michelle wearing borrowed clothes and making the best of the situation knowing she has no clean underwear for the morning.

We arrived to the Christmas Market and the first order of business was to get some gluhwein, obviously.

Cheers!!!

I love these girls

These two were excited to try their first ever gluhwein

I was pretty excited that my first day home from Germany included gluhwein!

In in the interest of full disclosure, Michelle did not love the gluhwein.  I promised her that we would still be friends.

After enjoying the market for a bit, it was time for it to close.  As we walked back to our hotel, I told Michelle that it was time to face the fact that she most likely would not have clean underwear in the morning.  We decided to stop off at Target that was by our hotel.

I wish I could explain the shenanigans that took place in Target.  I think this picture sums up things well.

This happened.  I was trying to help Michelle pick out underwear.  She was not amused.  

Michelle was coming to grips that Black Betty might be lost forever.  Jill was loading up on more snacks and I was along for the ride.

This might be the funniest picture of the entire trip.  There was so much laughter that took place that I was expecting to be thrown out of Target at any moment.  This was such a good summary of our time in Target.

At this point, we had already had four bottles of wine, so we figured the best way to end the evening was at the hotel bar drinking some sparkling rose.  After all, Black Betty was still missing.

Drowning Michelle's sorrows about having nothing of her own for the next day.

While at the bar we got a call from SW Airlines that Black Betty had been found and she would arrive around 1:30 am.  Excitement rang out in the entire bar!  Black Betty had been found!

Black Betty has been found!  Bottoms up!!!

Since a celebration was in order, Michelle ordered another bottle of wine and we celebrated.  We ended up closing the hotel bar down while waiting on Black Betty to arrive.  We finally decided it was time to go upstairs and stopped off for a picture of the beautiful tree in the lobby.

The Palmer House Hotel Christmas Tree

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it.  It was 2:00 am and we are on the elevator with all of Michelle's new Target items and all of Jill's snacks.

Once we arrived to the room, we realized we were missing a scarf.  Back down to the hotel bar we went, only to realize we were missing another scarf that was not known to be missing until we found it under the Christmas Tree.  We were officially a hot mess and all dying laughing.  The original missing scarf was never found and back upstairs we went.  

Thank goodness Black Betty arrived fashionably late and Michelle picked her up in the morning while we were all sleeping off our too many bottles of wine.

The next day started with some deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's, which in my humble opinion, is the best Chicago style pizza out there.

Come to mama

It was at Lou Malnati's that it some how came out that I have never had a hard boiled egg or watched the movie Top Gun.  Our waiter promptly asked me if I was even from the USA and if he could take me out to feed me hard boiled eggs while watching Top Gun on repeat.  Seriously, judge away everyone! 

Wearing her own clothes and feeling sassy, oh so sassy!

We spent the rest of the day walking around downtown Chicago and shopping around.  We did stop off at the Hancock building to enjoy a cocktail in the Signature Lounge.  The best views are from the Ladies' Room, in my humble opinion.

Bathroom with a view in the Hancock Tower

We had a little unfinished business at the Christmas Market and made our way back to enjoy a little German festivities.

Christmas marketing in the States

Three blondes enjoying the Christkindlmarkt

After all the Christmas Market fun, we decided we were all desperately wanting bar food.  Fried pickles to be exact.  We found a local bar that served fried pickles and Michelle called ahead to confirm if they were spears or chips.  Not kidding.  We were hoping for chips and chips they were.  We walked to the bar in the spitting snow weather and all had tears streaming down our faces from laughing about the fried pickles.  Seriously, we were dying over the pickles.  I certainly love anyone that can make me almost pee my pants all over pickles.

We enjoyed our fried pickle chips and other bar food and called it an early night drinking sparkling rose back in our hotel room.  

I am a firm believer that everyone needs time away with girl friends that can make them laugh until they cry.  I am certainly blessed with some of the best and cannot wait for our next adventure!

Christmas in Chicago with some of the best girl friends out there!

Christmas in Germany: Day 7...Munich...

Tuesday was our last full day in Munich.  I am not going to lie, I was pretty sad that our trip was winding down, but we were determined to make the best of our last day in our favorite city.

The day started with a run and I decided to run to Englischer Garten Park to enjoy the scenery.  On my way I stopped for a few pictures.

Englischer Garten Park

Hofgarten, just outside of Englischer Garten Park

After breakfast we kind of dilly dallied around the hotel before heading out for the day.  We decided to walk over to the Viktualienmarkt to do a little shopping.  We loved this area of Munich on our trip in 2016 and did not want to miss out on a quick visit.

 Viktualienmarkt with the May pole and shoppers bundled up.

 Viktualienmarkt

Such a fun little market complete with all kinds of food items

We bought some sweet peppers that were filled with cream cheese.  We had tried these in Vienna last year and loved them.  I have since recreated them at home.  They are delicious!  We also stopped for lunch at the Fisch Witte market.  They had heaters and seats set up outside.  We stopped and enjoyed a wonderful fish pasta lunch.  

After lunch we wandered around Munich a bit.  We really did not do a whole lot on this day besides take in the atmosphere of the city, which was the perfect way to spend our last day.

Munich Christmas Market stalls in the Marienplatz

One of my favorite pictures from the market

We wandered over to the stalls that we loved so much from our first night of the trip.  I really wanted to try a Krampus drink since I had tried the Saint Nicholas on our first night.  

Specialty drinks at one of the market stalls.  I liked the Nikolaus better than the Krampus.

The Christmas pyramid looked beautiful during this time of day

Enjoying my Krampus

Taking in all of the Chritmas magic

We wandered back through the Marienplatz and stopped off for some candied pecans.  The candied pecans might be my favorite treat of the entire market.  They smell amazing and taste even better.

The beautiful Marienplatz

I really liked the stalls with all of the twinkle lights

After visiting the market, we decided to stop off at Augustiner for a drink and some goulash.  

This was no doubt Ken's favorite stop of the day.  He loves some Augustiner dunkel!

We debated about what to do with the rest of our evening and decided that we would walk back to Englischer Garten Park to enjoy the market atmosphere in the evening.  

The market looked beautiful at night

One of the many market stalls

Everyone was in a very festive mood

We enjoyed a lot of gluhwein and closed down the market.  We walked back towards our hotel and stopped off at Augustiner to get one last beer and a little apple strudel.  

This apple strudel was divine.  I tried to share it with Ken, but he insisted I have it all to myself.  

We walked back to our hotel with full hearts over the adventures from the last few days.  We woke up the next morning and started the long journey back to Kansas City.  

I wish I could put into words how magical of a trip this was.  When we returned home I told Ken that I wish there was a proper way to explain all the fun we had when people ask about the trip, but there were so many moments that were magical with just the atmosphere that it is impossible to put into words.

This was such an unexpected trip and I am so grateful for all of the memories we were able to make.  After finishing off my first year as an ICU nurse, I can certainly say that I do not take getting to do things like this for granted.  After the things I have witnessed this past year, I am so grateful for every moment I get to spend with Ken.  If I can offer you one take away I want it to be just take the trip!  If you are on the fence about doing something you want to do, just do it!  You will not regret it, I promise.  

Alas, thanks for reading about our latest travel adventures!

Full hearts and empty gluhwein mugs in Munich, Germany - December 12, 2017

Christmas in Germany: Day 6...Bamberg...

For the most part, Ken and I have had fairly decent luck with traveling.  Sure, the first time we went to Europe we had small flight issues and then there was the time in 2016 that we missed a connection, but we have always considered ourselves pretty lucky with things when we were actually in Europe.  I guess all good things must come to an end, right?  Enter Bamberg, Germany.

We woke up on Monday, had breakfast, I ran, and we made our way to the train station.  Upon arrival we realized that our train was delayed by 40 minutes.  We had never experienced such a thing before so we took it in stride.  We figured we were originally going to get to Bamberg at 11:40 and now it would be 12:30, no worries.  Ha, ha, boy we were wrong.

Ken had grabbed a sandwich for lunch and when we realized the delay, he suggested I grab something.  Thank goodness he did.  I grabbed a chocolate croissant that was so delicious, by the way, and I preceded to get it all over my face while eating it.  It was that good.

Our train was delayed more than 40 minutes and quite honestly, I lost track.  We boarded and were on our way.  Since neither of us really speak German, we try to observe and stay on high alert to hear any announcements in English.  There was an announcement that was happening in German and we kept hearing Bamberg and we kept giving each other the thumbs up, knowing we headed to Bamberg.

After the train stopped in Nuernberg, we heard a German announcement and Bamberg was stated.  Since our tickets said we had a direct train to Bamberg, we assumed that Bamberg was the next stop.  Ha, we assumed.

Once the conductor came by, he kindly informed us that this train was not going to Bamberg.  I smiled and politely told him that our tickets indeed stated that we were on the correct train and that it was direct to Bamberg.  He frowned and told me that with the delays that the trains were messed up and the train was no longer going to Bamberg.  It was in that moment that Ken and I realized that the announcement was telling us to get off in Nuernberg and go to Bamberg via Nuernberg.

This was the first time we have ever had an issue with trains and announcements not being in English.  The conductor told us to just get off at the next stop and take the train to Nuernberg and then to Bamberg.  Simple enough, right?  Well, he failed to mention that the next stop was over an hour away.

Clearly, this was news to us since we were thinking it would be like 15 minutes.  Once we finally arrived, we got off, regrouped and boarded the train like a boss.

Fulda, Germany, an unexpected stop on the way to Bamberg.  

Once on the train, we went straight to the bar cart.  I mean if anyone knows how to make lemonade out of lemons it is the Jackson's.  Plus, what else solves the blues besides a cocktail?

In the middle of nowhere in Germany

We finally arrived to Nuernberg and the trains were a disaster.  Apparently, there were several delays there.  We boarded a train that was on a track that should have been to Bamberg, but alas, it was not.  We only figured this out after looking on GPS and seeing we were heading in the opposite direction.  Yeah, bad travel day.

Obviously, we got off at the first stop possible to head back to Nuernberg.

Us in Schwabach, Germany, which is some place I never thought I would be.

At one point Ken mentioned just going back to Munich.  We being so stubborn, I insisted we continue on to Bamberg.  It was in this moment we dubbed it to be the unicorn city.  Did it really exist?  

We continued on and were finally on the train to Bamberg.  Sadly, the sun was setting so my hopes of seeing Bamberg in the daylight were gone.  Finally, we got off the train and were in Bamberg.  It was 5:40 pm, only 6 hours late.  Seriously, I cannot make this stuff up.

We had a whole plan of a walking brewery tour and then stopping by the Christmas Market.  Clearly we had to prioritize since we had 9:30 pm train tickets back to Munich.  We started walking to the first brewery and went in and had a seat.  We were starving and were delighted to see we could order some dinner.

We ordered biers first thing and a man sat down next to us.  He started speaking German to us and we kindly responded that we did not speak German.  He spoke a little English and we ended up speaking to him the rest of our time at the brewery.

Biers at Spezial Brau in Bamberg.  A smoked dunkel for Ken and a smoked weiss bier for me.  Bamberg is famous for its smoked biers.

Me with our new friend Wolfgang.

Wolfgang was so kind and asked us to write in his journal our thoughts on Germany.  He also gave me a business card where he signed his name and also drew me a flower.  He was so sweet.  

After we left Spezial Brau, we made our way to Brauerei to try a Marzen.  On the way, we found the Bamberg Christmas Market, so we stopped for a little gluhwein and to shop around.

The stalls at the Bamberg Christmas Market

Yummy treats as far as the eye could see!

We ended up leaving with a Christmas ornament and another nutcracker.  The market was not busy at all on a Monday evening.  We also came home with a mug that was in the shape of a boot. We brought home a mug from each city and they are something that will always make me smile when I see them.

Drinking gluhwein in Bamberg

The breweries in Bamberg were a lot different than the ones in Munich.  It is difficult to explain, but they were just different.  Ken was super excited to try a Marzen at the next one.  On our way to the brewery, I was so disappointed that we were not seeing Bamberg in the daylight.  The old town looked adorable.

One of the beautiful buildings in old town Bamberg.  Try to picture it in the daylight.

Ken enjoying his Marzen

Having fun in Bamberg despite all of the travel issues.

Ken bidding the brewery farewell.  Mark my word, we will see Bamberg in the daylight at some point.

The Christmas Market stalls in old town

We stopped off at another brewery, that I forgot the name of.  It was not our favorite by any means.  It was so bizarre in fact.  I walked outside to a covered area and there was a group of men standing there and one of them farted the loudest fart I have heard outside of the hospital.  Yeah, it was awkward.  Plus, there were staring oddly at me.  Ken enjoyed his bier and we left.  It was very odd.

Ken enjoying bier in Bamberg

We walked back to the train station, got a bier and some wine for the train ride home and ended up on some random train to Munich.  Everything was so delayed that the conductor did not even come by to check our tickets.  

It was by far the worst travel day we had ever had, but we took it all in stride and enjoyed our time together.  It was vacation after all!!  I would have preferred to actually get to see Bamberg, but alas, it was not meant to be.  

Up next, our last full day in Munich!