BootsnAll Travel Network
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What's this all about?

We took off for a year (which turned into 15 months) to travel the world. This blog was started as a place to keep family and friends updated on our plans and where we were. Now, we are moving to Europe, so the blog will be about our new experiences, travels, and life as expats for the first time!

Kalifornien

August 27th, 2012

We recently had some visitors from California to our little corner of the world.  Two different groups of friends from So Cal happened to be visiting the same week, so we took off and did a little sightseeing with them both.  It was great to get together and catch up on what’s been happening in all of our busy lives! We spent a little time in Austria on the Grossglocker road, visited an ice cave (so cool – literally and figuratively!) and ended up in Innsbruck.  One of the best things about the mountains here is that they all have “huts” which serve up great food with a view.  Here’s a typical dish called Gröstl with a backdrop of the city.

From there we struck out on our own for few days in the Zillertal to do some hiking.  The weather only cooperated for one day, but I made the best of it and got some relaxation in too.

Finally we got Zurich and met up with our other friends.  Switzerland never disappoints with the sights, and our side trip to Luzern reminded me how beautiful that city is.  Thanks to our friends for visiting and letting us share their holiday with them!

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Under the Tuscan Sun (or Over the Tuscan Hills)

July 25th, 2012

We’ve been enjoying the summer and I’m once again behind on blogging.  Eric spent a month in Korea on a trip for work, but as soon as he got back we hit the road and spent a long weekend in Tuscany.  The region had everything we’ve heard about – lovely villas, great food and wine, and lots of sunshine.  It also has some seriously steep hills which I didn’t expect.  When we were in the Piedmont region a few years ago, everyone told us it was “just like Tuscany.”  Based on the small rolling hills there, we planned a bike ride through the countryside in Tuscany. It turned out to be a bit more like a stage of the Giro than the casual pedal through the vineyards that I had imagined. Once again I was reminded about why we travel.  You can read and hear about a place, but it’s never quite the same as experiencing it first hand.

After the sufferfest on the bike, as least I could comfort myself with some amazing Chianti Reserva and Steak Florentine – two things that also just have to be tasted to be understood.

One the way home, we decided to take a detour to visit one of the smallest countries in Europe, San Marino.  It turned out that there is no direct highway to get there from where we were staying, so we ended up spending hours on tiny winding roads crossing over the middle of Italy.  This drive falls into the category of things that might be better not experienced in person.  San Marino was worth the drive, however.  It’s not much more than some castle towers and a small town perched on the top of a peak, but it’s dramatic and the views are great.  Plus we got to add another country to our “been there” list.

The beautiful, but tiny San Marino:

Posted in Italy, Living Abroad, Travel | 1 Comment »

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Political Party

June 26th, 2012

In my last blog I mentioned that I’d write about Copenhagen.  Even though a lot of time and other activities have passed, it was a cool trip that deserves at least a few lines.

I thought Copenhagen had an interesting and very different feel from other central European cities.  The first thing you notice are the bikes.  They are absolutely everywhere – parked on the sidewalks and being ridden through their own special traffic lanes.  I’ve never seen so many and that includes in Asia.

The city is very spread out, and the subway/trains didn’t seem to get close enough to the things we wanted to see.  We did what everyone else does and rented bikes. It turned out to be an amazing way to see the sights and get a good sense of how the locals get around.  We saw all the recommended attractions – the Little Mermaid, the palaces, the canals and waterfront.  However, our last day was May 1, so we had got to do something a little different.

May 1 is Labor Day in many countries and it’s quite a big holiday in socialist Denmark.  We checked out the rally, expecting it to be a somewhat boring political affair, especially since we don’t understand Danish.  It turned out to be a huge, strange festival in a large open park.  Everywhere you looked there were different political groups and unions with stands handing out literature about their causes.  But in between were booths selling beer & hot dogs.  There were also a few big stages where politicians came out to give speeches.  However, interspersed with them were popular local bands who played to thousands of cheering people having picnics on the grass.  It was a weird combination of politics and tailgating, but overall a very pleasant day.

Here’s the stage where the communist band rocked out.  Having grown up during the Cold War, it blew my mind.

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Low Carb(on) Diet

May 11th, 2012

We’re back from a long weekend in Copenhagen that I’ll write about later.  We also made a side trip to Malmo and Helsingborg in Sweden.  It was just a day trip, so we didn’t have a lot of time to stop for a long lunch.  Instead, we just popped into a fastfood place for a quick burger-fries-coke combo.  The burger itself was one of the better ones I’ve had in Europe, but came with a side order of guilt. Check out the menu below.  They don’t list the nutritional values of the food, instead it’s the carbon footprint!  I suppose my ‘original’ was better for the environment than Eric’s ‘Grand de Luxe,’ but we’re both going to have to do some walking to make up for both the calories and the CO2.

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Der Chef is not a cook.

May 7th, 2012

Der Chef is actually “the boss.”  Der Koch is “the cook.”  Thus ends the language lesson for today.

If you asked my new friends in Austria how well I speak German, they will probably say it’s getting much better.  If you ask me, it’s still pretty awful.  I constantly forget words mid-sentence, and my grammar degrades the longer I talk.  I have to ask people to repeat things all the time. It can be frustrating, but the only way to get better is to practice every single day.  Anyway, what could ever keep me from talking?

I’m taking a more structured class offered at Eric’s workplace, as well as using Rosetta Stone.  I’ve also been taking a really interesting “Culinary German Class.” It’s basically a conversation class, but most adults aren’t particularly comfortable just sitting around trying to speak in a language they don’t quite understand. Instead, we learn to cook a local dish and the conversation just flows around the preparation and eating afterward.  It’s a fun way to practice German and I’m picking up quite a few cooking tips too.

On of the unique foods in Carinthia (Kärnten in German, it’s the “state” that we live in) is Reindling.  It’s a bread that is made with cinnamon, raisins, and a lot of butter.  It’s served mostly at Easter as a cake, but also in the summer with Kirchtag soup.  The combination of sweet bread with the salty, heavily seasoned soup is surprisingly good.  It’s actually not that complicated to make, but I think most people here have their own little tricks, including adding rum to it!  We made one in class and I decided to try my own at home.  Just like with speaking, I need more practice.  It tasted a little better than it looked, but here are the results.

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