Snow in London!!!!

The past couple days London has seen more snow than it has in the last 3 years. They have never really received snow up until 3 years ago...so I heard on the news. Everyone I knows that is from here says that this will be the coldest winter yet. Great!...don't they know I HATE being cold? I am in for a long winter. Luckily we will be returning home for over 2 weeks in December so we will escape some of it. They have shut down airports and cancelled Train services. Our friends here had to cancel their trip to Brussels this weekend due to weather conditions. It is similar to the South though...when it snows a little the city goes ballistic. Here are some pictures of what we have been experiencing in good ole London.

The Cotwolds for our 3 year Anniversary!

Tony (attempted to surprise me) took me to The Cotswolds for our 3 year anniversary and it was such a great relaxing weekend. London can be very loud and busy that it was nice to sleep without hearing a siren going off in the middle of the night or trying to fight our way onto the tube. The Cotswolds is out in the countryside of England and is a vacation spot for alot of Londoners. We stayed at a cute bed and breakfast and walked through a couple quaint little towns. The only recommendation I would give is to definitely rent a car if you go. There are 7 or 8 little towns to see and we were very limited.

Our cute Bed and Breakfast!

 
















Tony walking the streets of one of the little towns in The Cotswolds.

Nuremberg, Munich (Octoberfest), Starnberg, Garmisch, and Innsbruck!

We decided to take a Germany/Austria trip for Tony's 30th birthday celebration! As my parents started in Istanbul, Turkey they eventually met Tony and I in Nuremberg to start our Germany trip. We stayed 1 night here and took a stroll around their castle and had a nice lunch at the Bratwursthausle (aka the sausage house). We ate an assortment of sausages and big soft pretzels. This was a short stay but had a great time in Nuremberg, Germany.

NUREMBERG

Nuremberg Castle!

Tony turning the lucky ring!

Bratwursthausle ("sausage house")

Large pretzels...yummy!

Dinner in Nuremberg...Happy 30th Birthday Tony!

After Nuremberg, we headed on the train over to Munich for Octoberfest. We stayed in a cute little town outside of Munich called Starnberg. It was a 20-30 mins train ride into Munich. It sits on a beautiful lake and is also known to be a top summer vacation spot for Germans.

STARNBERG

We spent a day in Munich for Octoberfest and went into one of the 14 tents which holds 150,000 people per tent. It is located on the so called Thereisienwiese, a flat area in the Munich quarter. There is live music, everyone dressed in lederhosens, lots of sausage and pretzels, and of coarse lots of German beer. This was quite the experience.

OCTOBERFEST

One of the 14 tents at Octoberfest!

This is the tent we went with...Hofbrauhaus!

The big beers they serve...its the only size!

Tony with our waitress...she could carry 7-8 beers by herself at one time.

Tony with his hat he bargained for...spent about 2 hours!

Hat didn't quite fit my head!

MUNICH

Stopped at the Hofbrauhaus after roaming the streets...Tony wanted to buy these for Octoberfest (its a good thing they were too expensive). Turns out everywhere we saw these in stores they were 150 + Euro. Would have made a great picture though.

People should know that Tony and I love a good bet. It always end up being if I win I get to go shopping and if he wins then I don't..haha. This trip Tony bet me that if I ate an entire spoonful of Sauerkraut that I could go on a shopping trip here. Since it is hard for me to turn down shopping....I decided after 15 long minutes of holding the spoon near my mouth and taking deep breathes that I would DO IT!

Probably the grossest thing I have EVER tasted in my life. It almost didn't stay down. I WON! My mom and dad were so proud! Ha. NEVER AGAIN!

The next day we decided to take a day trip and head to Garmisch, Germany and then take the train to Innsbruck, Austria. Both places had breath taking views! Garmisch is famously known to sit at the foot of the highest mountain in Germnay called Zugspitze. They had the World Olympics here in 1936 and we could still see all buildings built for the olympics and a ski jump that was still in place. The best part is their Cogwheel train that took about an hour and a half to get to the top. The views were amazing but it was a bit cold at the top. If we had worn warmer clothes maybe we would have played in the snow a bit. This was a great choice by my parents whom have been before. Thanks mom and dad!

Here we go...off to Garmisch and Innsbruck on the morning train!

Tony pointing to the top which we went to on the cogwheel train.

We got a preview of what we would experience at the top of the mountain.

Half way to the top...beautiful views!

The Cogwheel train!

It was really cold...those are rain jackets too not coats!

INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA


This city is one of the most beautiful city centers I have been to with the Alps surrounding it from all ends. We did not stay but a half of a day but it was worth the trip. I bet it is beautiful during the Christmas holidays!

We want to thank my parents for making this trip so special for Tony's big 30th birthday. We had so much fun and can not wait for you to come back to see us!