Dec 2012 Trip - France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic

Dec 15 - 30, 2012. It was a very memorable Trip. Not only I got to revisit my favorite cities Paris and Venice, we also had the chance to explore new places. Christmas markets and food are definitely our most favorite part of the trip. Despite the winter weather and shorter day time, we had such a blast seeing things and trying different food. During the mid trip we met up with my sister, her boyfriend (now fiance') and a great friend in Germany, which only made the trip better :)

  Paris  

Place de la Concorde - night time Christmas market shopping. It was a big Christmas market on Avenue des Champs-Élysées. From afar it was absolutely gorgeous.  In terms of the vendors and the goods they sell, I'd have to say it was a bit disappointing because it felt more like a street fair.

Vendome

Arc de Triomphe @ night 

 

@ Daytime 

La Defense - Business District.  There's a decent Christmas market in the center of the plaza. There was a pretty good one for scented soaps.

Eiffel Tower - We went there at 9. Bought ticket for the highest level and went up there in 40 mins. Maybe it was winter and a bit rainy? The queue was not bad at all. Last time I lined up during the day for over 2 hours.

For the best view of the Eiffel Tower, walk along Pont d'Iéna (northwest) and look back often :)

Pass Jardins du Trocadéro, go up the stairs of Palais de Chaillot and stand in the middle for the best photo spot of the Eiffel Tower.

View of Arc de Triomphe from Eiffel Tower

 

Venice

Always a favorite, I love the famous water town, regardless of how touristy it is. The little hidden local cafes/restaurants are my favorite.  They hide mysteriously in narrow alleys and welcome you with warmth. To get the most out of Venice, go outside of the St. Marco area and walk to (or take the ferry to) other sestieri (Administrative District) like Castello, Dorsoduro and Cannaregio. The local neighborhoods are truly nostalgic and charming.  The map is complex but the entire city is all walkable. 

Christmas lighting along the alley

 

 Misty night @ Ponte Rialto

 

St Marco

 

Along the Grand Canal

 

Facing Ponte Rialto on Grand Canal

 

The only bridge without parapet in Venice in the Costello district (the other one is in Torcello)    

 On Ponte Rialto

 

Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) - It was the bridge that connected the court and the prison, it was the last chance for the prisoner to get the last glance of Venice before losing his/her freedom.  The myth is that if you and your love are on the gondola and kiss when you pass the under the bridge, then you will enjoy lasting love.

 

Gondolas

 

Murano

Find some time to hit the ferry to Murano and see the world famous glass production.  

 

Burano

Unfortunately we got there late and the beautiful and colorful houses looked misty :(

 

              Prague
                  Czech Republic                  

Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square) The Christmas market in Prague is pretty good, there are lots of local eats . Watch out for the food portion, in Prague many vendors weigh the portion of your food (by grams). One time we got a big scoop of gnocchi on a plate and cost us $15!

On the way to Pražský hrad (Prague Castle). The view of the city from the ramp up to the castle is stunning.  Look down often! :)

 Zlatá ulička (Golden Lane) - where the artisans of the castle used to reside. Very little houses (or maybe we've grown much bigger and taller these days?)

St. Vitus Cathedral @ Prague Castle 

 

View of Malá Strana (Lesser Town) You will pass the Karlův most (Charles Bridge) when you walk back from the Castle towards Old Town Square.  Again, stop often, there are a lot of famous statues on the bridge, and the view of the city is picturesque

 Try their local pastry Trdelrjk - It's a sweet roll that's really crispy yet soft.

    Nürnberg     Nuremberg           Bavaria   

The Nurnberger Christmas Market was absolutely our favorite one. The vendors mainly concentrated in the Main market area (Hauptmarkt).  Besides the yummy Nurnberger sausages, the goods that they sell are very traditional and good quality.  We love the fruit cake, gingerbread cookies, nutcrackers, toy smokers and decorations. It was very crowded but festive.  We were there 23rd to 25th, unfortunately things closed early and it was pretty tough to find food at night. There's a very good restaurant named Bratwurst Röslein in the main market

On the way to Nürnberger Burg (Nuremberg Castle)

  Baden-Baden               Baden-     Württemberg  

A world-famous spa town located at the border of France and Germany, on the west side of the Black Forest.  Baden-Baden combines the French and the German cultures.  It was Christmas day when we got there.  A bit quiet but we managed to find the Christmas market open and the Leopoldsplatz is a nice shopping area. We had a very nice local cuisine (deer/fish) for our Christmas dinner. The next day we went to enjoy a spa day at the Caracalla and later that night, celebrated my sister and her boyfriend's engagement. Congrats!

Leopoldsplatz 

Christmas Market 

 

Black Forest Cake! When I was little, I promised myself that I had to try to real Black Forest Cake in Black Forest.  I guess this was it!

 

Strasbourg, Alsace

Strasbourg is a small city bordering Germany. Honestly it is pretty German to me. (the structures etc).  The Alsace  The Petite France has Neolithic style timbered framing houses which is very historical and neat.

 

That is for our trip. We would love to go back to all the places in a heartbeat!

My Hurricane Sandy Travel Experience

Before I share my experience traveling through the storm, I would like to direct your attention to my other blog, which is not travel-related, on information about how to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

http://cattym.blogspot.com/2012/11/please-help-hurricane-sandy-victims.html


The Friday before Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, I was planning to spend my weekend in NYC as usual weekends.  My travel is typically flying out on Friday night and returning Monday morning, then make it to the office right on time.  However, this time the storm did look like my travel was going to be impacted.
After calling American Airlines (AA), they told me that they could not change my entire itinerary because there weren't flights impacted on Friday, and I could only change the Monday return flight.  Therefore I chose the Sunday night return, even though the storm was schedule to hit on Tuesday morning. Following the storm news closely, I realized that they would be shutting down subway services and grounding flights on Monday.  Even though the entire weekend was only cloudy, I knew I could not take a chance against the city plan.

On Sunday, I headed to the airport early, because whenever there's a change on the itinerary over the phone, the check in would be at the agent's desk. Also there would be lots of travelers trying to get on to the earlier flights last minute, which can lengthen the wait. Of course, the line was unusually long, maybe 50 people on the main line.
I was lucky to just qualified for AA gold, which I lined up in a much shorter line.  A gentleman in front of me was very upset that AA had canceled his flight without notice and refused to pay for his cab ride home.  In this situation, it really wasn't the airline's fault.  If you want to be notified for any changes or cancellations to your flights, you would have to opt in with your email/phone #, it's privacy reason that the airlines would not automatically opt you in.  For weather related reason, normally the airlines would not offer meals, transportation, nor free changes to or refunds from the affected flights if your ticket is non-refundable.  Travel insurance should have covered that. Anyway, I was lucky to check in on time (Long line at the TSA checkpoint too, since the TSA agents had to go home before the public transportation shut down) and boarded on time. There were 100+ people on stand by for my flights and I really did feel lucky to change it earlier and avoided the hassle.

My flight took off and landed safely.  On my way back home, the scenes of the streets in NYC before the storms were still very vivid to me.  I kept my prayers for the people in my most beloved city.

Weekend @ St. Louis

Went down to St. Louis for two days, despite the long drive, we loved the city! The Memphis-style BBQ that we had at Pappy's Smokehouse was shockingly good! That smokey and sweet dry rub on a full slab of ribs...YUM! Tried the Jilly's cupcake and had great burgers in Bailey's Range. People were super nice.  Will definitely be back for more :)

Gateway Arch

View of downtown from Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

Gateway Arch

St Louis Cardinals @ Busch Stadium

Mexicali Burger @ Bailey's Range

Carolina's Burger @ Bailey's Range