First trip over the pond!

[cchioda3]

My wife and I just got back from our first trip over seas. Celebrated 5 years of marriage, aka her putting up with me, with the 10 day trip. Ended up spending 3 1/2 days in London, 4 1/2 days near Cologne Germany, and 2 days in Paris before flying back home.

Got to take the direct flight RDU to London which was really convenient. Ended up flying Paris back to Philly then to RDU yesterday but we made it. Only had to wear a stupid face diaper once the whole trip too and that was on the flight from London to Cologne. Germany as a country only required it on their public transportation, but one or two of their states (?) has more strict requirements. But we didn’t go to any of those places.

It was great to cross off a few bucket list places to visit/tour. Don’t think I’d go back to London, we pretty much did all that we would want to do there. Maybe go back to Paris years down the road on account of it being the least time spent on this trip. We pretty much only did a river boat cruise, walked through the Louvre for what seemed like eternity and checked out the Eiffel Tower. I certainly appreciated the art and architecture, but those cities ain’t for me. The Eiffel Tower being the coolest site to check out for sure.

Germany I’ll revisit. That was our main focus for the trip. We have friends that live about 45 min from Cologne. They got married in July and we couldn’t make it for the wedding, so we wanted to spend a few days with them. It was definitely great being in a foreign country for the first time but having friends who are natives that could also speak English help us out. We stayed in a small town near their small town. It was pretty cool to get immersed in German life for those few days instead of just running around sight seeing. Although I do have a few more places in Germany that I would like to check out in the future.

 

[cchioda3]

London:

We stayed in a Sheraton near buckingham palace which was pretty cool. Hotel was nice and worked out to be a good location for all the stuff we did. Took a big bus hop on hop off tour that helped us see most of the sights in London. Conveniently it picked up and dropped off right near the hotel. Got to see the changing of the guards two different days, that was pretty cool. Toured Westminster Abbey too.

Our hotel:



Big Ben, Tower Bridge, London Eye







Buckingham Palace and changing of the guards




I took better pics of the guards but they are on my go pro.

Westminster Abbey










What we learned about London is that there are so many people there (not a shock) but most of those people are not from London. And overall, people there are really rude whether they are from there or not. Just out right ignorant. But we had a lot of fun.

 

[cchioda3]

When we got to Germany, we spent the first night in Cologne before heading off to spend the rest of the time in Wipperfürth. In Cologne we took a self guided tour of the Cologne Cathedral. It was incredible. In our opinion it was way more intricate than Westminster Abbey. At least on the outside. And just so many stained glass windows!















A few pictures of the small town we stayed

 

[cchioda3]

Random few pics of the Louvre to include the Mona Lisa - realized by this point in the trip I wasn’t taking as many pictures.










And of course the Eiffel Tower. We did not know at night it sparkles for 5 minutes on the hour between 8pm-1am. That was really neat. We did go up to the second floor. But not to the summit. If I ever go back I’ll make sure to get to the tip top.

 

[Crazy Carl]

Did you hike one of the cathedral towers? Woof!

 

[Jeppo]

I’ve made countless work-related trips to Cologne. If you can wangle it next time, eat at this place. It’s a very short walk from the Dom. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Haxenhaus
+49 221 2704990

Haxenhaus · Frankenwerft 19, 50667 Köln, Germany

★★★★☆ · German restaurant

goo.gl

 

[NKD]

Awesome!

 

[Crazy Carl]

I’ve made countless work-related trips to Cologne. If you can wangle it next time, eat at this place. It’s a very short walk from the Dom. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Haxenhaus
+49 221 2704990

Haxenhaus · Frankenwerft 19, 50667 Köln, Germany

★★★★☆ · German restaurant

goo.gl

I love a fresh, cold Kölsch.

 

[cchioda3]

Did you hike one of the cathedral towers? Woof!

No we did not. In cologne, we didn’t know you could go up them. For Westminster Abbey, that part wasn’t included with our tour but didn’t know until we got to that part and they wanted more money out of us. Out of spite I turned and walked away. Haha.

 

[cchioda3]

I’ve made countless work-related trips to Cologne. If you can wangle it next time, eat at this place. It’s a very short walk from the Dom. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Haxenhaus
+49 221 2704990

Haxenhaus · Frankenwerft 19, 50667 Köln, Germany

★★★★☆ · German restaurant

goo.gl

I will keep that in mind. I have a running list of places to eat in different cities, this will be added to it. We did eat at Gaffel am Dom right next to the cathedral. It was great!

 

[rdinatal]

I liked being in the UK for two weeks at a time. Got to plan to do all sorts of stuff on the weekends. Week nights was reserved for pubs. There were enough of those so I wasn't bored during the week.

 

[cchioda3]

I liked being in the UK for two weeks at a time. Got to plan to do all sorts of stuff on the weekends. Week nights was reserved for pubs. There were enough of those so I wasn't bored during the week.

So many pubs. We checked some out and of course ate some fish n chips at a pub near the Tower of London. Seems like the most London thing to do is hit different pub’s.

 

[IrishCannon]

The phenomenal thing I learned about Germany is you can pretty much throw a dart at a map, go to it's location, and pretty much guarantee you'll have a good time.

I loved living in Germany before COVID happened. That last year was not wonderful. Can't imagine it was any better stateside either.

 

[cchioda3]

The phenomenal thing I learned about Germany is you can pretty much throw a dart at a map, go to it's location, and pretty much guarantee you'll have a good time.

I loved living in Germany before COVID happened. That last year was not wonderful. Can't imagine it was any better stateside either.

I believe that. I have a friend that is over there for work. Her and her husband love traveling around and checking everything out. They have been there for about 5 years now. We didn’t get to see them when we were there this time but maybe next time. I’m sure covid wasn’t any fun over there. The timing worked out that all the restrictions got lifted mid June, otherwise this trip would have been put off longer. And even more fortunate for us, France lifted their restrictions 8/1 otherwise we were gonna pass on that one too.

 

[rufrdr]

Fantastic trip! I want to do the nostalgia tour of Bavaria, visiting the sites where I was stationed and lived 78-81. We were in Berlin and Postdam in 2017, I couldn't get over how absolutely packed Berlin was. Quite the counter-culture mecca but then Berlin was a weird place from the 20s on anyway.

 

[cchioda3]

Fantastic trip! I want to do the nostalgia tour of Bavaria, visiting the sites where I was stationed and lived 78-81. We were in Berlin and Postdam in 2017, I couldn't get over how absolutely packed Berlin was. Quite the counter-culture mecca but then Berlin was a weird place from the 20s on anyway.

I would like to go to Bavaria. Berlin and Frankfurt were going to be on our short list of places to visit this trip. But we ended up staying in London longer. I’d love to go back over next time during Oktoberfest! I think that would be really great!

 

[rufrdr]

I would like to go to Bavaria. Berlin and Frankfurt were going to be on our short list of places to visit this trip. But we ended up staying in London longer. I’d love to go back over next time during Oktoberfest! I think that would be really great!

Munich and beer, not much better than that. I still have the glass bier stein that got swiped at Octoberfest. Those Amis!

 

[Jeppo]

I will keep that in mind. I have a running list of places to eat in different cities, this will be added to it. We did eat at Gaffel am Dom right next to the cathedral. It was great!

From the photos, it looks like similar food. I stayed at a hotel on the same block as where you ate.

 

[cchioda3]

Munich and beer, not much better than that. I still have the glass bier stein that got swiped at Octoberfest. Those Amis!

That’s what I want to do. Get a really cool stein and bring it back home.

 

[cchioda3]

From the photos, it looks like similar food. I stayed at a hotel on the same block as where you ate.

Their bratwurst and schnitzel were awesome. And I’m sure they ain’t the only place dishing out good food.

 

[Crazy Carl]

Fantastic trip! I want to do the nostalgia tour of Bavaria, visiting the sites where I was stationed and lived 78-81. We were in Berlin and Postdam in 2017, I couldn't get over how absolutely packed Berlin was. Quite the counter-culture mecca but then Berlin was a weird place from the 20s on anyway.

Bavaria will be bittersweet for you, 'cos outside Hohenfels & Graf, I don't believe there are any other kasernes still active. Würzburg & Nürnberg have been closed for years & Munich & Augsburg since the very early '90's.

Felt the same visiting old stomping grounds during my 2nd tour, 9 years later.

 

[Pogue]

I’ll have to show your pics to my wife….cheaper than taking her there and being left with only expensive memories. 🤣

 

[LeeMajors]

It's amazing just as many people there with their noses in their phones as there are here.

 

[rufrdr]

Bavaria will be bittersweet for you, 'cos outside Hohenfels & Graf, I don't believe there are any other kasernes still active. Würzburg & Nürnberg have been closed for years & Munich & Augsburg since the very early '90's.

Felt the same visiting old stomping grounds during my 2nd tour, 9 years later.

Harvey barracks is still sort of there as an industrial park. Larson barracks is probably ploughed under. The American housing area is being used for refugees.

Kinda reminds me of the scene in "The Best Years of Our Lives" when the demobed bombardier visits the B17 scrap yard.

 

[HMP]

Love the pics!
Been to London, as well as parts of Germany (and a few other Euro countries briefly) - it's so good to get out and see these places, see the history.
I love America, but when you can get a drink in a bar that's older than the founding of our nation...well, that's awesome!

Again, thanks for the pics, some great looking stuff.

 

[cchioda3]

Love the pics!
Been to London, as well as parts of Germany (and a few other Euro countries briefly) - it's so good to get out and see these places, see the history.
I love America, but when you can get a drink in a bar that's older than the founding of our nation...well, that's awesome!

Again, thanks for the pics, some great looking stuff.

Glad you liked the pics. That’s what gets me with these places. The history just like that. And the charm. It was really great to finally be able to get over there and see some of it first hand. Would be neat to check out other parts of each country. Really make it feel like I get a real well rounded experience. But time is a real SOB. Seem to never have enough of it.

 

[ronn47]

Love the pics!
Been to London, as well as parts of Germany (and a few other Euro countries briefly) - it's so good to get out and see these places, see the history.
I love America, but when you can get a drink in a bar that's older than the founding of our nation...well, that's awesome!

Again, thanks for the pics, some great looking stuff.

You should see Masada and walk up the Roman ramp.

I've been to Aruba, Cartagena, Colombia, London and Israel.
The walk up the ramp and looking down on the remains of the Roman camps on the Dead Sea side left a mark that none of the others did.

There are so many places I would have liked to have gone.

 

[Tailhunter]

Wow.
Five years got that?
How the heck you gunna top that for say 20 or 35?

 

[Hammer12b]

I’d love to go back to Germany! Cleanest place I’ve ever been! I have trouble getting the wife to leave the country. I barely got her to Cozumel.

 

[HMP]

Another reason to go to Europe lol

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