Berlin: The Hippest City in Europe

Since I arrived in Brussels, everyone has been telling me to go to Berlin. Word is it is the coolest city in Europe ... crazy art, hip bars and clubs, and dirt cheap to boot. I finally had the chance to go this weekend and was super excited to be going with my fabulous friend Kathrin, a born and bred German and woman obsessed with Berlin.

We had a fantastic time. Really fantastic ... we laughed and laughed and laughed all weekend long. Too much fun and too many things happened to relay in this space, so I'll just post some photos with captions to give you a sense.

And we're on the train from the airport to the city center. Check out the stylish seat covers.

I'm just a girl from the Midwest. Pass me a Jagerbomb, please.

Apparently, German girls like their Jagerbombs too!

Mmmm ... schnitzel sandwich.

Brandenburg Gate!

Reichstag! I was hoping to see Angie, but no.

See the line in the road? That's where the Wall was.

The Holocaust Memorial

Two things Germans love ... wurst and emoticons.

Berlin is very cool. My camera died half way through the trip, so I don't have anywhere near as many photos as I'd like to have. We played in Christmas markets, went to some very hip bars, walked all over the place. It definitely deserves the hype ... I can't wait to go back.

Roadtrip in French Wine Country

So Kathy came to visit for a week and we went on a lovely roadtrip to French wine country. We began with a day and night in Champagne (yes, this is my third trip to Champagne ... wouldn't you go as often as you could if you lived in Brussels?) and then we headed south to Burgundy. While it was extremely cold and harvest had passed, it was still a stunning place to visit. After a quick Croque Madame in Dijon, we hopped on the Route Des Grands Crus and toured through some lovely little wine growing villages.

There's Kath in the vineyards!

We visited a cool chateau called Chateau de Clos de Vougeot where we learned about how delicious Burgundy wine ... mostly pinot noirs ... are made. The Chateau is the home of a decades old wine club that meets 17 times a year ... they just happened to be meeting the night we were there and most of the guests in our tiny little hotel were attending the celebration that evening.

Making delicious wine is backbreaking work.

The town we stayed in, Gevrey-Chambertin, could not have been more dead. We had a before dinner glass of wine at the only bar in town (I think it was actually called "Le Wine Bar") and then we had dinner at a gorgeous little bistro where we were the only people there for about 45 minutes, when another pair arrived. And that was it ... no one else. I had a fantastic coq au vin and the woman running the restaurant could not have been sweeter, chatting with us and giving me some good French practice! After dinner, we went home, put on our pajamas and sat by the fire at the inn and drank some wine. It was really a lovely evening.

The best part of the trip though was waking up early on Sunday and going for a run in the vineyards. I got to watch the sunrise over Burgundy ... quite amazing. I can't wait to return when it is warm, the sun is more brilliant and the vines are still full of grapes.

Always happy to be on a wine road ... one of the best things in life!