#Dusseldorf #Cologne

Our most recent trip, August 12-14, was spent visiting our Denver friends- Brit and David- in Dusseldorf, Germany.  It was so nice to see them again, especially since they head back to the states in November after their time in Germany. We had a great weekend exploring Dusseldorf and Germany and saw a lot of wildlife and even a bit of the rare German sun!

#Friday
We got in to Dusseldorf quite late on Friday night, but decided to hit the town hot spots.  This included a window that sold shots of the local liquor- #Killepitsch. It was definitely an experience.  After that we visited a local Beer House that only sold one kind of beer- so I used the center piece for our #cheers pic.  That was the end of our first exciting night in Dusseldorf.

 

#Saturday #Cologne
On Saturday morning our gracious hosts made us an amazing breakfast, and off we went to Cologne for the day.  Cologne has a beautiful cathedral and a chocolate museum, so basically the most amazing place ever.  We started by visiting the free Cologne Cathedral and let Rick Steeves provide us with all the facts about the old- REALLY old- cathedral.  As far as cathedrals go it was beautiful.  After the cathedral we ate lunch at a local beer house, Fru, pictured below, and at our weight in healthy German food-obviously! Next stop, the chocolate museum.  My only complaint- it needed more free samples :).  It was actually pretty interesting and to be honest I have never given too much thought to where chocolate actually comes from.  There was a cool antique vending machine where we bought a chocolate bar just because it was cute.  After the museum we caught the train back to Dusseldorf and ate dinner on the water at a #SCRUMPTIOUS restaurant with an even better view.  After a walk down the Rhine and a beautiful sunset our night was complete.

 

#Sunday
Sunday morning started with a most delicious breakfast at a local spot and I got to try local Johannes berries (see photo) which look very suspicious and were quite tart. We then started our journey to the deer park.  Now you might recognize the deer below, as they were featured on David and Brit’s episode of HGTV International House Hunters.  They were pretty stinkin’ adorable, and it was hard for me to not put up EVERY picture I took.  The park also had wild boars, raccoons, wild cats, and ferrets (HAH!).  We only fed our apples and carrots to the deer- SO CUTE! All of the animals in this park are definitely well-fed, and it was so cool to see some of their antlers.  We then went to lunch on the Rhine for our last bit of German health-food and on our way back to the flat we saw the cutest black swan and her babes- SO FLUFFY! Okay, so you know I love animals, but they were cute.  Next stop, airport.

A huge THANK YOU goes out to the Steuvens who were amazing hosts and we had to much fun seeing them again.  We had a lovely time exploring Dusseldorf and Cologne.  Next stop, #Iceland with the VandeBunte crew! WOOHOO!!!!

Peace and Blessings,

#thevandebuntes

#Rome #Florence

In the beginning of August we did an extended weekend trip to Rome with a day trip to Florence in the middle.  It was especially great because our friend Andrea was out from Denver so we got to see her and spend some time exploring Rome together.  Turns out the rumors are true and Rome is #HOT in August.  Thank goodness we spent most of our time inside museums and sites and were able to avoid the sun most of the time, and even managed to leave without a sunburn. We got in on Wednesday night and returned to London on Sunday.

#Thursday
Thursday morning we got a tasty cappuccino and some chocolate croissants from Sant Eustachio before setting off to explore.  We started by seeing the Piazza Navona and then the Pantheon.  The history here is incredible.  To think that the Pantheon has been around since 126 AD is unbelievable.  It’s free to go in so we had ourselves a quick wander and enjoyed the massive dome.  Next up we saw the Trevi Fountain for the first time of many on this trip.  It’s beautiful, and even more beautiful at night with the lights.  For lunch we found a little place for pasta and then went to see some of the ruins, the Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum.  We also walked to see the Vatican but Luke and I were planning on revisiting all of these places later in our trip so we didn’t focus too much on all those sites this day.  For dinner we had a scrumptious meat plate and shared some smaller dishes and then returned to the Trevi Fountain to see it all lit up.  It was #BEAUTIFUL!

#Friday
On Friday morning we said our goodbyes to Andrea and then set off to tour the Vatican.  It was pretty impressive and we got to see the Sistene Chapel ( sorry, #nophotosallowed).  It was smaller than I expected, but still an amazing piece of art.  It was another beautiful day and we enjoyed seeings the gardens around the Vatican and St. Peters’ Basilica.  After our tour we grabbed lunch at a GLUTEN FREE restaurant, Voglia di Pizza and it was delicious.  Well, it was basically amazing because I got to eat pizza and some of Luke’s GF calzone.  It was my first calzone in years.  Even though it’s basically like pizza, it’s really so much better. After lunch we did our free walking tour, which pretty much reviewed the sites we had already seen, but with a much more interesting narration.  Unfortunately the Spanish Steps were closed for refurbishment, but we could at least still see them.  One of the best parts of Rome were the fountains located all over the city where you could refill your water bottles for free.  Below you can see a picture of me fillin’ up at the local watering hole.  For dinner we ate #morepizza at a restaurant right in front of the Pantheon and enjoyed people watching and wine while the sunset.

#Saturday #FlorenceDayTrip
On Saturday we took a train from #Rome to #Florence for the day.  Florence is mainly known for it’s art collections from Michelangelo and Donatello (NOT the #TMNT). While in Florence we started by visiting the The Museo dell’Opera.  The first four pictures below show some of the beauty within this museum (original door from the Cathedral with stories of Jesus’ life, statue of John the Baptist, and Donatello’s Mary Magdalene, a bunch of statues).  We then at lunch at San Lorenzo market-a huge indoor market where Luke got some fresh, homemade pasta and I had some not-so-authentic chicken and veggies.   After lunch we visited the Duomo and climbed a million stairs to the top for some pretty #windy and #spectacular views.  The inside of the Duomo isn’t the most exciting, but we managed to snap a few pictures on our way up the dome.  After all that hiking, it’s only natural that we rewarded ourselves with some gelato.  For some reason they gave me a free peach…who knows, but it was delicious! Next stop was the Academia Gallery that houses Michelangelo’s David statue.  It was a pretty small museum, but going to see David was totally worth it.  #Incredible. After our time in the gallery we went to explore the bridge, which is the popular view in Florence.  We ate dinner at a restaurant that had a spectacular view of the bridge, enjoyed the sunset, and took the train back to Rome.

#Sunday
On our last day in #Rome we started by enjoying some yummy cappuccinos and a quick breakfast before heading over to the Colosseum.  Turns out that entrance to the main sites in Rome are free on the first Sunday of every month, which is great, but also meant that the lines were nice and long.  We ended up getting a tour guide, which was a great purchase as we got to skip the lines, and had a guide for the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. The Colosseum was #amazing.  It’s somewhere that I’ve always wanted to see, and it was incredible- so huge with so much history! We enjoyed exploring the site and attempted to take some pictures, but it was just oh so sunny.  #RomeProblems.  After the Colosseum we had time for a lunch break before our next tour, so we grabbed a pitcher of smoothie to cool off and then had a quick bite to eat.  After lunch we did the tour of Palatine Hill and were able to hear some history about the local ruins.  The sheer size of some of those buildings was beyond impressive- Only 2 stories of 5 are still visible and it’s unbelievable to think it was that big.  After wandering the ruins we did one last stop at Piazza Venezia and climbed up, up, up for some views but were unable to make it to the tippy top as it required paying.  We then picked up our bags, grabbed a Coke and hopped the train back to the airport.

 

Rome was fantastic.  Hot, sunny, and full of delicious wine, beautiful sites and good times.  Our next adventure was visiting our friends David and Brit Steuven in #Dusseldorf.

Peace and Blessings,

#thevandebuntes

#AnniversaryTrip #Venice

The start of July (yes, I know it is August) was a busy one indeed.  My job was particularly crazy as we were running our Summer School for the 150 new trainees starting in September while also having our inspection.  This lovely inspection is how the quality of every school/teacher training programme is monitored. Essentially a team of inspectors came in, observed some of our trainee teachers and then interviewed some of our trainee teachers, mentors, managing mentors and our team and then left with a bunch of notes.  The whole experience was quite interesting and I learned a lot, for sure.  The best part is they get to come back sometime (anytime) during our first term in the fall for Phase 2 of our inspection.  After Phase 2 they give us a rating (Outstanding, of course) and that essentially decides when they return for their next inspection.  These ratings are everything; published everywhere and highly regarded in the education sector.  Like I said, I’m learning a lot.

Anyways, all that was happening the first week of July, but the amazing Luke planned a surprise trip to Venice for our five year anniversary- he is seriously the best. It was exactly what I needed after working insane hours and being quite stressed- even though it was just a week and his busy season lasts at least a month every year…

As usual, we hopped a flight Friday night and off we went. Friday isn’t even going to get it’s own section (or hashtag) as it consisted of riding the train to the airport, getting to Venice and walking a mile from the airport to our hotel. #airportpicture

#Saturday #5years #Anniversary #070916
On Saturday we woke up, ate a quick breakfast at our hotel and set off on our journey to the heart of Venice.  We caught a bus and then took a nice long walk to our hotel- I just could not get over the canals during this walk.  Each one was uniquely beautiful and I couldn’t help but take a million pictures.    We got to our hotel, dropped off our weekend duffels and set off to explore the city.  To sum it up, we ate a lot of #gelato and #pizza and saw a ton of beautiful sites.  Somehow I have still not learned my lesson to cover up when visiting churches, so I had the opportunity to purchase some lovely paper scarves to tie around myself while we visited St. Mark’s Basilica. The church itself was simply breathtaking, but you will just have to believe us as we were not allowed to take photos. We also did a tour of The Doge’s Palace, or “Palazzo Ducale” in Italian, which was ornately decorated (see the gold decor below).

The highlight of the day was definitely the INCREDIBLE restaurant that Luke found for dinner. To say it was cute is an understatement.  When we got there, they served us an appetiser and a drink in the alley while we waited for our table, once seated we got round two of free food.  The absolute best part of it all- they totally accommodated being #glutenfree.  I got my own bread, a delicious ravioli, tiramisu and my own little after-dinner biscuit. We were #stuffed.  After dinner we found a lovely little gondola to take us cruisin around the canals.  It was #expensive but totally worth it.  It was the best date a girl could ask for. #GoLuke

#Sunday
On Sunday we woke up and set off for our…drum roll please….. FREE WALKING TOUR! It was definitely one of the better ones, and not just because had a stop that entailed #gelatoforbreakfast.  We had yet another beautiful day of sun and heat and very much enjoyed hearing some of the history of the city.  After the tour we had #pizza for lunch, walked all along the water and grabbed a drink with a view. We also took a short (5 minute max) boat ride across one of the canals because why walk across a bridge when you don’t have to? Later in the afternoon we took a #boattaxi back to the airport and caught our plane back to reality. This was a truly wonderful trip.  Maybe it’s because it was a celebration, maybe it’s because the weather was great, or maybe it’s just because it was freakin’ VENICE.  No matter the reason, it was amazing.

Next up on the #BlogCatchUpAdventure is CROATIA! Stay tuned to hear about #Split #Dubrovnik #Zadar#MostarBosnia. Anddddd later this week, we head to #Dusseldorf to meet up with the Stuevens. Woot.

Peace and Blessings,

#thevandebuntes