After a long night train, we arrived bright and early in Krakow ready to explore a city full of history. For once on this trip, we planned on venturing away from the city to explore the infamous WW2 concentration camp, Auschwitz. We set a full day aside for the somber depressing walk through the one of the world’s most tragic events in history, thinking we were fully prepared to handle the emotions we knew would arise. But first, we had a day to spare and time to burn before we could check into our hotel.
We boarded a train and took a short 20 minute ride to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. I guess I knew what a salt mine was. I knew I’d be underground, and I knew there would be some walking. What I didn’t know was that we would be trekking down over a thousand feet deep into the ground through a labyrinth of dark tunnels filled with marvelous carvings made from the surrounding salt deposits. A thousand feet! Just think, that’s about the height of New York’s Chrysler Building. I had no idea I was capable of walking that much. I also didn’t know I would feel a slight sense of panic when I realized that there was a thousand feet of dirt between me and fresh air. However, the wondrous surrounding salt statues and beautiful sparkling caverns kept my mind occupied. And my love for salt (seriously, I really love salt!) was brought to a new appreciation, especially when we walked into the huge Salt Cathedral made completely from salt down to the beautiful chandeliers.
The salt mines took a lot of energy out of us, especially since my body was busy producing another human. So we spent the rest of the day relaxing in an underground pub eating pirogis (Polish dumplings) and preparing for our morning trip to Auschwitz.
The following morning, we loaded up in a decently comfortable van and took a two hour drive out of the city. Our guide prepared us for the trip by playing a documentary in the van. The documentary did the trick. There was no laughing, no friendly banter between guests, no jittering from anticipation. It was solemn and quiet when we pulled up the foggy barbed wired camp. I could feel my chest tightening, knowing what my hormones were about to put me through.
Turns out, the weather also helped set the mood. It was a dreary, drizzling, foggy day. As we walked slowly through the camp, we could feel the presence of suffering, pain, and sadness. It took over me like being dunked in ice water. I did my best to keep my emotions in check. But I broke, many times. And as I tried to hide the tears running down my cheaks, I realized, I wasn’t the only one struggling to keep it together.
You might be wondering why we would spend our much needed vacation in such a depression place. The truth is, I welcomed it. I needed a dose of compassion for human kind. I needed to be reminded what we are capable of. For those of us that have been blessed with cushiony, plush, lives, sometimes it can be easy to forget about the suffering others must endure. Some perspective will bring you back to realty quickly.
By the time we arrived back in Krakow, my emotions had drained me of energy. So, Jason and I sat down to a quiet dinner and discussed how we felt about the experience. It was very different from our average conversations where we would recap the adventures of the day. In a way, the sentiment was so deep that it brought us closer to have shared the moment together.
The next day, we brushed the sad emotions aside and headed out to see what made Krakow such a delightful city. We spent the day touring churches and castles, eating the local street food, and strolling the town square. We ended the night with a romantic ride in a horse-drawn carriage before saying our goodbyes to the beautiful city.
Through all the sad history Poland has endured, we were still able to experience the wonder and amazement this magical city contained. I like to think we left Poland as better, more mature people, ready to make a difference in the world our child would grow up in. We slept that night on the cramped train dreaming of a world in which our future child would never have to experience such pain.
Well, yeah, it is quite golden. But I would like to rename it “the Tourist City”, because it is also packed. Packed with young 20-somethings looking for a cheap, loud, European party. And then there was me, very pregnant me. However, I was still able to find the charm the city had to offer, and this city had plenty of it (that is once you could see past the half price shot bars and the loud bass music blaring from every corner).
We arrived mid-afternoon. After a long debate, we decided to make the trek with our packs across town to our hotel. It was only a 30 minute walk after all. However, we didn’t realize that this 30 minute walk meant winding ourselves through tiny streets packed with lots and lots of people. This was our first view of the Golden City. And even though the sun was setting during our walk, it was hard to see the shimmering gold streets through the mass of people. Still, the architecture definitely had my eye, and my anticipation of getting back out with my camera on my neck was growing.
Once we did get back out with the cameras, we spent two long days walking to church after church after church. We would stop for some good food here and there, some hot chocolate occasionally, and of course some Czech beer (for Jason). We also strolled the Charles Bridge and wondered through the Jewish cemetery. And we even waited in the rain for what felt like a long time just to see the tick tock of the famous astronomical clock. But the best part of the trip was our long night walk along the Danube hand in hand as we dreamed of what our future had in store. It was quite romantic. But the romance was quickly lost as we came across two statues of men peeing on each other. (I spared you those pictures. I’m sorry, and you’re welcome.)
Before we headed back to the station to catch our night train to Poland, we found a traditional pub to rest in. They had around 300 different beers for Jason to try and some excellent Czech food for me. It was a perfect end to a rather good trip. Prague proved to have a personalty of its own even through its touristy, gimmicky side. And once we saw through that touristy, gimmicky side, we were able to see the streets shine in gold after all.
The political environment in Europe has been quite tense. Sense the attacks in Paris, the whole world has been on edge. Two days before we boarded our flight, the US issued a worldwide travel warning. So, that along with pregnancy hormones raging through my body, I was a little nervous. But nevertheless, we boarded up, slept the long 8 hours, and arrived in Frankfurt, Germany on Thanksgiving morning ready to explore.
Frankfurt was a short stop on our list. We only had the afternoon before we needed to catch a train to Munich that night. But Frankfurt ended up being one of our favorite cities. We started out the trip by what would become our main theme: walking, walking, and more walking. We walked to a quaint restaurant and had a wonderful German dinner. This place was perfect for Jason because they brewed their own beer and perfect for me because they had potatoes and gravy. And I needed that. It wouldn’t quite replace the Thanksgiving turkey that I craved, but it was still wonderful. We missed our family, but it was nice spending the holiday with just the two of us too (well three of us if you included the bun in the oven). It made us realize, we were our own little family now.
We spent the rest of the day wondering the city, taking in the architecture and local culture. We found ourselves climbing a bell tower that ended up being much taller than we thought it was, 329 steps to be exact. It was a bit much for my pregnant body. However, the views at the top proved worth the climb.
And even though my feet ached and I was tired and cranky, afterwards we walked some more until it was time to board our train to Munich that night. The high speed train was a perfect spot to relax and catch up on some zzzz’s. When we arrived in Munich we headed straight to the hotel ready to start the next day.
I’d like to say we really got a good view of Munich and took the city for all it could offer. But, my pregnant body had other plans, mainly sleeping. So, after wasting half the day sleeping in and enjoying a large German breakfast, we finally headed out to explore. And we walked… and walked… and walked… We found time to stop in the famous Hofbräuhaus for lunch. We walked in to exactly what I had pictured in my beer garden dreams, a huge room full of long tables, noisy guests, a nice polka band, and a rich aroma of German foods. At this point it hit me hard that I couldn’t drink. No German beer? Seriously? However, the conversations we had with the local Germans dressed in full lederhosen attire made up for the lack in drinking. We chatted as much as their broken English and our non-existent German would allow. They tried to convince me that beer was good for the baby. Don’t worry I didn’t fall into the temptation. Then our new friends offered some snuff to Jason. He accepted hesitantly, and then quickly became a fan. We said our goodbyes to our new local friends with one last “Proust”, and off we went for more walking.
We were lucky enough to be in town for the grand opening of the Christmas Market. We caught the end of the Mayor’s speech and listened to the band play while the large Christmas tree lit up. The market was open for business. And the people came, oh did they come. We shopped, drank mulled wine and hot cider, and ate sausages. Then we shopped some more.
And as the night went on, we saw the charm the city really had to offer. Germany is a beautiful country with supreme hospitality and a relaxed atmosphere that invites you to stay forever.
As we near our next big trip, Jason and I are going a bit stir crazy here in Texas. Yes, we do love it here, and we stay quite busy doing Texan-y things, like going to the rodeo and watching football. But nothing can quite replace the rush we get when we experience a complete different culture from our own. And that wanderlust in us has us looking back on our past adventures in envy. So, today I am thinking about our exploration of Istanbul, the city of charm.
After our 8 days at sea, it was nice to wind down on land. Ok, wind down? Maybe, not. Istanbul is not really a city you wind down in. But either way, we were on land. And we had two days to see the city. Two days is a very aggressive timeline. But if you know me, you know that I can see a lot in two days.
We started our tour of Istanbul at the famous Grand Bazaar. The title of the Grand Bazaar should have prepared me for what we were up against. But the word “Grand” doesn’t really capture the essence of this bazaar. Perhaps it should be called “Colossal, paralyzing, in-your-face” Bazaar. Because that is how I felt from the moment I walked in. And I LOVED it. Yeah, I was scared to death to look any shop giver in the eye out of fear of being talked into buying a rug. And yeah, being chased down the aisle because you ignored aggressive shop owners was also uncomfortable. But looking past the aggressiveness of it all, I was astounded by the never ending stimuli that continued to catch my senses. The colors of the lamps, scarfs, and beads… The aromas of the exotic spices… The taste samples of the Turkish delight… Oh My! Yes, maybe it was a bit of sensory overload. Still, Jason and I let ourselves get caught up in it all. And we left with a good amount of trinkets to take home.
Our next stop was at the Basilica Cistern, the largest of several ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city. The semi-long wait to get down into the cistern was worth every minute. The moment you walk into the cool underground you feel an eerie sense of being pulled into a dark underworld. However, the mass of touristy people in all directions brings you back to reality quickly.
The next morning we woke at sunrise to try to beat the crowds for Istanbul’s main attractions, the mosques. And despite the unexpected downpour, we headed out wrapped in rain gear to the
Hagia Sofia. After some creative deals with street tour guides, we were the first guests to walk through the Hagia Sophia doors that day. Our early rise paid off. The former mosque and former Christian church was undergoing restorations while we were there. However, we still were knocked breathless at our first gaze up to the iconic dome.
Then, we strolled across the square to the Blue Mosque and waited in a line that seemed to last an eternity. The reward of seeing the millions of blue tiles filling the mosque was good enough to pay off the wait. However, we were crowded into the small room with many other people forcing us to snap a few photos and leave quickly to get fresh air.
We spent the rest of the day walking around the city soaking in the local culture and ended the night with a wonderful dinner in a rooftop bar overlooking both beautiful mosques.
Istanbul definitely has that charm I expected from an old Turkish city. At the same time, it had that bustling big city feel you’d expect out of one of the largest cities in the world. Every corner presented something new. Every alley was a mini adventure. Every shop and bistro was packed full of culture. It was a wanderlust’s dream getaway, and the memory of every bit of it has me begging for more: more culture, more charm, and more adventure.
As the weather continues to get hotter and the days continue to get longer, I find myself daydreaming about my next adventure. Sadly, our next scheduled trip isn’t until November. What was I thinking when I decided to skip this year’s summer vaca so that we could spend the holidays in Europe? I must have been crazy thinking that I could last that long in between travels! Now, all I have is my memories of last year’s summer vacation spent in the perfect mild weather of the Mediterranean Sea to feed my wanderlust.
When Jason told me that his number one bucket list country was Turkey, I thought to myself, why? OK, maybe not to myself. Maybe, very openly and rather bluntly. “Turkey, how boring! What about Paris?! What about Rome?!” But he quickly made me feel pretty sheltered and naïve. And all it took was a few Google image searches of Istanbul and the Mediterranean Sea. It was time for this small town country girl to step outside her comfort zone and experience something completely different.
So, after convincing our family that visiting Turkey was perfectly safe, we packed up and headed on a non-stop flight to Istanbul. And one more short flight and bumpy bus ride later brought us to the coastal village of Fethiye staring into the pure blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
We had just enough time to explore Fethiye’s famous tombs before our sail boat left the docks. These 2,400 year old tombs were carved into the mountainside by the Lycians. These were the first of the many tombs we saw scattered throughout the Turkish coastline. As we gazed up at the massive rock structures, we couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe and amazement. Plus, the view of the city with the blue sea backdrop was breathtaking.
We could have stayed up here all day, but we had a boat to catch. So we walked the small curvy roads towards the coast until we found the docks. And excitingly, we boarded our boat ready to meet our new boat mates. We had 8 days at sea ahead of us. Which was a little nerve-racking as we had no idea if we would get along with the other 12 people on the boat. However, it didn’t take long for that worry to go away. We had an amazing group of people from Australia, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, and of course the US.
After introductions and learning the house rules, we began our sail. We spent the night anchored in a quiet cove where we swam in the Mediterranean water for the first time. Then, we had a delicious fish dinner on the boat and a night of drinking games to wrap up our first day at sea. That night, we were rocked to sleep in our cabins by the soft ocean waves while we dreamt of our adventures to come.
Those dreams were interrupted by the sound of the boat’s motor at first light that morning. I rolled onto my side to ignore the loud hum, and for a second, I thought I would go back to sleep. Then the boat started to move, and as it gained speed causing it to rock heavily, I quickly learned I was not going to sleep any longer. So, I stumbled my way to the deck and found a resting spot at the back of the boat. Soon everyone else joined, all looking quite green. The captain brought us loaves of bread, which seem to help with the sea sickness, and we all loaded up on Dramamine, which seemed to help a little more. And after a few heaves over the side of the deck, we all started to question how exciting our adventure at sea would actually be. However, despite the sea sickness, we still were in awe at the beauty that surrounded us. Eventually, we came to stop and had a wonderful Turkish breakfast which was perfect for refueling our now empty bellies. Then another short ride later, we arrived at Butterfly Valley, our first stop on the coastline tour.
Butterfly Valley is exactly what the name claims. A huge valley in which butterflies migrate to every year. Unfortunately, we were not visiting during butterfly season. However, that did not diminish the spine tingling views. As we neared the valley masked by a layer of morning fog I felt like we were about to step foot into Jurassic Park.
Once ashore, we took a short beautiful hike into the valley where we found a small waterfall. We climbed up the waterfall and were rewarded with an amazing view of the valley and sea. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend in this one location. So, we all reluctantly re-boarded the boat and started back at sea once more, this time better prepared for the oncoming sea sickness.
Our next stop was Gemiler Island, also known as St. Nicholas Island. Yes, Santa Clause himself. The island contains the ruins of five Byzantine churches. We spent our afternoon trekking through the ruins. Every corner we turned brought something new and exciting.
We spent the night anchored outside Gemiler Island. We had a pretty easy night as everyone was still feeling a little queasy from the first day of sailing. We settled in our cabins for a much needed good night’s rest. That was the idea anyhow. Mother Nature had other plans. I woke up that night with the boat heavily rocking back and forth. I could hear the hard rain hitting the deck above and the loud roars of thunder. I wondered if we were safe. Surely the captain and crew would let us know if we in danger, right? As the boat creaked from the heavy rocking, I feared it would rip apart. But there was nothing I could do, other than curl up and try to think of better things. Eventually the storm passed and the boat survived. And once again I was awoken by the loud hum of the motor at first light. I made my way to the deck and found my wet seat. A few minutes later, we were off to sea.
That day we were awarded with a walk through the village of Kas. It was nice to get our feet on solid ground for a bit. Then, we spent the clear night under that stars enjoying life.
The next morning, we started our day in a small village called Ucagiz. It seemed like nothing more than a fishing village, until we wandered across these tombs.
After a few hours of exploring, we boarded back up and rode by the Sunken City, which sounded a lot more interesting than it actually was. Then, we arrived at Kaleko, where we explored a crusaders castle dated back to the 4th century B.C.
For the night, we headed to a nice cozy cove area. We found a pirate cave to explore and then spent the rest of the evening swimming. That night the boys headed to shore for a crazy bonfire, and the girls stayed on the boat and slept under the stars, slumber party style.
The next morning, we stayed in the cove and spent the day swimming and kayaking around the cove. That night we got all dolled up and went to a small pirate bar hidden in the cove. We spent the night dancing with all the other travelers sailing in the area.
For the last couple days, we sailed back in the open sea stopping at a nice beach here and there. When we arrived back in Fethiye, we spent our last night together in a hookah bar knowing that we would most likely never see each other again. That is the bittersweet part of traveling. You meet amazing people and get to know them closely for a very fleeting moment. Then you part ways and go back to your own corner of the world. Sure, you exchange emails and become Facebook friends. But as the days pass you realize that the people you met on that trip are quite different then the people you see in your Facebook news feed. But then again, you never know when our paths may cross again.
In about a week, Jason and I are hosting our wedding reception. “But wait? Aren’t you already married?”, you may be thinking. Yes, we were married last August. After we became engaged, there was a lot of debate on where the wedding should be and how much we should spend. As most of you married people know, the conversations started to cause a lot of stress. So ultimately, we decided to elope. And where better to elope than the number one spot on a photographer’s bucket list, Iceland…
When Iceland came to my mind, it wouldn’t leave. I couldn’t stop thinking about eloping to this magical place. It became my obsession. The idea took over, and it became our mission to make it came true. So, we packed our bags last August and flew to Iceland for a short 5 days in which we traveled the island and said our vows. These photos tell that story.
We began our weddingmoon by renting a car and touring the Golden Circle. In the span of one day (we were on a tight schedule here!), we saw Þingvellir National Park, the geyser, Strokkur, and Gullfoss, the “Gold Waterfall”.
On day two, we had to change our plans. Hurricane Cristobal was scheduled to make landfall in Southern Iceland on our wedding day. We had planned to get married by Skogafoss, “Forest Falls”, but our priest called that morning to tell us we needed to make changes. He had already lined up a small Icelandic church for us so the wedding could move on. However, I was concerned about the photos. So, we changed our itinerary completely and decided to head to Skogar early to take our wedding photos the day before the wedding. This turned out to be a wonderful decision as the day was absolutely beautiful. We took photos by Skogafoss and on the beaches of Vik.
The next morning, Hurricane Cristobal made landfall as promised. The wind and rain (and apparently an erupted volcano) couldn’t stop us though. Both of our nerves were on edge, but we woke up early and re-dressed regardless.
Then, we headed to the small quaint church down the road. Now, I cannot express to you how small this church actually was. You may have been able to fit 20 people in it, in a tight squeeze. We arrived at the church pretty wet from the rain. And thankfully, our photographer and our priest, also was able to make it regardless of the high winds. So, we walked down the very short aisle, and what happened in one amazing blur, Jason and I became one.
These photos were taken by the wonderful Auður. If you ever plan on traveling to Iceland, please check out her website for amazing Iceland travel advice!
I cannot describe how deep the emotions and personal the ceremony was for us. We definitely missed our friends and family there to witness the ceremony. However, there is something about eloping that made the experience so much more personal than I could have imagined.
On cloud nine, we decided to celebrate by driving out to Jökulsárlón. Jökulsárlón is a glacial lagoon where large broken hunks of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier can be seen. The ice has a rich blue tint that seems unbelievable until you see it for yourself.
And after making multiple roadside stops every time we saw something interesting, we made our way to our honeymoon suite at Hotel Ranga, where our room was filled with rose petals, champagne, snacks, and chocolate covered strawberries. We tucked ourselves in for a romantic wedding night thinking the day couldn’t get any more perfect. But we were wrong once again. A midnight phone call from the Hotel Ranga staff led to us rushing outside in our pjs to catch a glimpse at the aurora borealis, who decided to make its appearance despite the extreme hurricane cloud cover. The night was complete.
And if our trip would have ended here, it would have been perfect. But we still had one more full day in Iceland and we didn’t intend on wasting it. So we woke early that morning and drove to Kerið, a volcanic crater lake, and then back to Reykjavik for a stop at the Blue Lagoon, where we relaxed in volcanic mineral water.
And after eating fermented shark that night, our trip was officially complete.
Now, 8 months later, we are celebrating that glorious day in the small Skogar church with our friends and family. Time for the dancing, time for the cake, and time for the toast to us from those closest to us. Yes, eloping was the best decision we ever made. But celebrating that elopement with our people is the second best.
Here is a short video of this magical trip. Enjoy!
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