A List of Some Old Favorites

Some of our favorites from our honeymoon trip--over 11 years ago, so I'd love to hear from anyone who has been to these spots more recently or knows if they still exist, your suggestions and thoughts...

London:

• Belgo restaurant (great Belgian food and extensive beer list)
• "Double decker" hop on, hop off buses (of course these still exist, and while they might be cheesy, we've done some form of "hop on, hop off" in many cities around the world for orientation and transportation between major spots)
• The Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour"--if you're a Beatles fan-great walking tour
• Sofra-Turkish restaurant
• London theatre-there's so much to choose from, and both of my trips to London have included one or more shows
• High tea-I'm sure there are better (and cheaper) places to go than Harrod's, but I felt like I got the London experience

Amsterdam:

• Walking the streets, checking out the pubs, coffee shops and the red light district
• Canal tours (once again...the hop on, hop off choice)
• Anne Frank house (a really moving experience for someone who read her diary over and over again as a young girl)-the lines get really long so there can be a huge wait
• Joordan neighborhood (the area around Anne Frank's house)
• Indonesian food-I didn't write down the name of the place we tried, but it was our first time having Indonesian, which is quite popular in Amsterdam. Watch out for the spiciness!
• Gommel-a tiny, hole in the wall beer bar (I found on the Internet before the trip) with a huge selection of beer, especially from Belgium

(in between--taking the overnight train w/private accommodations--great way to maximize your time, comfortable and efficient)

Austria:

• The town of Kusfstein-absolutely picturesque and with the great train system, easy access to towns throughout Austria and Germany. We were lucky to have a travel agent who had lived in the area, and made this great suggestion for visiting Oktoberfest without staying in the crowds of Munich.
• Taking the train to Innsbruck-beautiful countryside and a great town to visit
• Apple Strudel, crepes or any other pastry, plus Espresso!
• Hotel Alpenrose in Kufstein-the best innkeeper-he managed to be everywhere and help with translating the menu, giving advice, and making you comfortable all at once. Don't miss the gourmet restaurant in the hotel. Our room looked out on the mountains and the view of grazing livestock from the coziest bed ever.

I can't give too many recommendations in Munich, because we really only spent a little time there, mainly at Oktoberfest. I would recommend you consider going to Oktoberfest with a group and reserving a table inside. We had bad weather most of the time, and learned that the tables are generally reserved so it's hard to get a spot inside. We were lucky to get a couple seats at a large table one evening and found it easy to get past the language barrier when it came to raising a mug. We were really lucky that my husband works for an international company, who happened to have a table for the Munich office and we found them one night. They were so hospitable and we had great fun spending time together, passing around the giant pretzels, sharing chicken and of course toasting with our giant mugs of beer. A great company outing!

Reminiscing Over Travel Journals

I recently found a travel journal I kept on our honeymoon trip (to London, Amsterdam, Austria and Germany) over 11 years ago. I've had fun reading through it and enjoying the memories it brings back. I'm determined to start keeping notes on all of our trips again.

It's great to look back on the places we visited, my descriptions and observations and remember all that we did on the trip. It was like a mini excursion reading through it. A bit of a history lesson at times, too, especially when you realize how technology and globalization has changed things, for good and bad.

Here's a line that really made me laugh, from one evening out at the local bar in Kufstein, Austria:

"One guy was drinking this mix of vodka and Red Bull (some type of soda(?) they have-they called it an energy drink). They called it fire water and he drank quite a bit of it through a tubing system they had set up." Yes, this was prior to the Red Bull invasion of America and its hard to imagine now that I didn't know what an energy drink was. I haven't seen anyone using the tubing mechanism here (it was basically like IV tubing) but now I'm going to have to start calling this combo firewater again. At the same bar, we met a "funny guy from Holland who loved American shows such as Jerry Springer"--I can't imagine the ideas some people must have of life in the U.S.

I got hungry reading all my descriptions of meals, especially the desserts in Austria. Now I'm craving pastries, ice cream and espresso. If I get back to visit these spots, I have my own little guidebook of restaurants and favorite dishes (and it would be curious to see which spots still exist). And, there's some self-awareness in realizing I've always had a "thing" for outdoor/local markets, checking out the local food customs and getting a crepe anywhere I can! Food and people watching--definitely two of my priorities in life.

As I often find with travel, reminiscing about some of the misadventures brings some of the biggest laughs. After a day exploring Innsbruck, we got on the wrong bus in Kufstein and ended up at the end of the line--at the bus depot with the non-English speaking driver. Thankfully, we carried the business card from the hotel and between our couple words of German and the driver's wife's broken English, we managed to explain our situation. They actually gave us a ride back to the hotel on their way (though my guess is that it was out of their way) home. One of our more memorable moments!

I'm going to go through and make a list of some of our favorite spots on the trip. I would love to hear from anyone who has been to them or has other suggestions or feedback from trips to the same cities...