Our Travel Blog: Jenn and Conrad in Europe

Ok, it's been a while...

2008-11-23T09:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, so since we're a good 8 months behind since we last posted anything substantial, we're going to go with the hopes of the whole 'a picture is worth a thousand words' thing really working here. So, without further ado, here's a whole bunch of pictures from our travels dating back to this past May through October--enjoy!

Below are photos from our travels in and around Dublin, Ireland back in May. Those immediately below are from our day spent right in central Dublin. There are pictures of famous O'Connell Street, St Patrick's Cathedral, the Molly Malone statue, Ha' Penny Bridge, Temple Bar, The Book of Kells in Trinity College, and of course our lovely Guinesses from the Guiness Brewery itself.
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Another day, we took a trip to a famous Irish stud farm and gardens, which were about 20 mins outside of Dublin (and closer to our hotel, which was more in the countryside):

And on our last day in Ireland, we took a tour which led us about an hour to two outside of Dublin, where we stopped at the Avoca handweavers village (where they specially weave wool blankets, scarves, etc.). They also had some tasty treats at their kitchen...the strawberries and fresh whipped cream was delicious!

On that same tour, we also stopped at an old Celtic village and now burial ground:

In May, we also went to Amsterdam...two of our favorite things to do there, visiting the Van Gogh Museum and going on a canal tour:

In June, my Mama and Papa visited and we took them to all the tourist must-sees in London and in Paris:

Here's a few snaps from my trips to Oslo, Norway and Brussels, Belgium back in June. Unfortunately they were both in and out work trips, but we had two lovely dinners with the teams there. To sum it up, they were each aout seafood and beer, respectively : )

In August, I had another work trip to Zurich, Switzerland...LOVED the pot after pot of fondue we had at a dinner while there:

Later that month, Conrad and I took a little day trip to Richmond to stroll through the park and along the river there:

My cousin Louie and his wife Marlene and friend Mike also visited us in London:

Conrad's dad, Jeff, also visited with us in August:

In early September, we went to Greece for our friend Libby's birthday--we can't wait to get back there!:

In October, I had a few more work trips, this time to Helsinki Finland and to Prague Czech Republic (my 2nd time in the latter, so less pictures from there):

Wow!

2008-08-02T04:53:00.000-07:00

This summer is just flying by! We can't believe our last post was back in May. We've been quite busy since: we actually were in Amsterdam and Dublin in May, my Mama and Papa and friend Abby all visited in June, and then it was to the East Coast for my sister Erica's pre-wedding festivities. We'll get respective pictures up soon--in the meanwhile, we hope everyone's having a great summer. xoxo, Jenn and Conrad

Dobrý den!

2008-05-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

That's 'hello' in Czech...we were in Prague about 3 weeks ago and really enjoyed our stay. We traveled again with our friends Libby and Scott and I think we all agreed that Prague was one of the more unique cities we've all traveled to so far. There was just enough to see and do, but not too many touristy things, so that you felt like you could really experience the culture.

We started off our first day there again just exploring, venturing into a hidden lunch spot that served great local food, walking through Old Town and across Charles Bridge and just relaxing in a pub with some Budweiser Budvar (yes, that's a different Bud than we're all familiar with!) before we had to get ready for dinner.

Now dinner that night...this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We went to one of the top five restaurants in Prague called The Santa Klara and had an incredible experience. The restaurant is built within the hillsides of a vineyard and it's been rumored that Brangelina were even there a few months back. ;)

The next day we went to Prague Castle and the area around it...including St. Nicholas church, the views from its tower, the castle itself, Golden Lane (a renovated street where iron workers used to reside), and relaxing in the castle courtyard.

The last day we were there we just hung out in Old Town Square again having lunch in beer tent and hunting around for some souvenirs--bohemian crystal, nesting dolls, and marionettes are quite popular there--we ended up with a crystal bowl and one nesting doll designed with traditional local colors and symbols.

Was a nice way to end the trip (before I had to travel straight to Munich for work, and Conrad had to wait in the airport for 7 hours because all BA flights were really delayed due to the snow in London that day!)...

Easter in Venice

2008-05-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

Well this posting is long overdue, so we'll make this short and sweet. We spent Easter in Venice-it was Conrad's first time there and my second (I had been before with my best girlfriends in college one Spring Break). We traveled there with our friends Libby and Scott. Below is a picture of the four of us sharing a boat ride from the airport to our apartment, a view of The Rialto Bridge from our boat ride, as well as a lit up gondola we passed by on our way to dinner that night:

The next day we woke up to explore the rest of the city. The apartment we were staying in wasn't too far from The Rialto Bridge so we crossed that every day, going in and out of nearly every store in it, catching the view of the Grand Canal from it quite often, as well as hitting up the Rialto food market now and again.

We made it to St Mark's Square later that day and then Murano Island the next day to check out the blown glass for which it's famous:

Then on Easter Sunday we managed to take a gondola ride through some smaller canals and into the Grand Canal, and ended the evening (and the trip pretty much) with bellinis at Harry's Bar followed by a lovely dinner at Cipriani's Fortuny restaurant.

Another great trip!

Oui oui!

2008-03-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

After a very quick trip by train (from London, it's only a little over a 2 hour journey), we were ready to enjoy our weekend in Paris. Our hotel was conveniently located close to the Eiffel Tower and really within walking distance of most other main attractions as well. We took it easy on Friday night after we got in and took a nice little stroll to see the tower lit up at night, and then called it an early one so we could get a head start on Saturday.

We woke up, had some wonderful quiches for breakfast at a cafe nearby our hotel, and headed straight to the Louvre from there. We probably could've spent all day (or weekend) there, but limited our time to seeing the most famous pieces and then moved on after about 2 1/2 hours or so.

Below: Conrad and I in front of the Louvre Pyramid, and The Wedding Feast at Cana

Below: Venus de Milo, and The Mona Lisa (sorry for the glare; it's encased)

Two warriors (no, Conrad isn't one of them ;)): Athena and Marcus Aurelius

My favorite sculpture there, Winged Victory.

We then headed for a walk down The Seine and to see Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame. (We also managed to stop off at a cafe along our walk, and had some awesome steak tartare with pomme frites!)

We then spent the rest of the afternoon doing a little bit of window shopping, as we made our way back to our hotel to get ready for dinner at a restaurant that a former co-worker of mine had recommended, L'Ambassade d'Auvergne. I wish we had some pictures of the food we had there because it was all so amazing from the cheese and mash side dish to the spectacular chocolate mousse dessert, but I can leave you with one image instead...

Conrad, the chef, who was so inspired by the mousse we had in Paris that he ran home after work one day this past week to make a batch himself:

We planned to go out to a popular bar, Buddha Bar, after dinner but since we could barely move we just headed straight back to the hotel so we could again get another early start on the day (on Sunday).

Unfortunately we didn't have as clear and sunny of a day on Sunday as we did on Saturday, and this was the day we chose to go to the top of The Eiffel Tower, but I guess in reality it didn't matter too much--everything looks ant size no matter what. I'm really glad we went to Paris this time of year as well because the lines for attractions were not bad at all, ie. we were in line for maybe a total of 15 mins to get all the way to the top of the tower.

We then made our way over to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees, where we stopped for a nice midday meal (of oysters, champagne, and creme brulee!), as well as some browsing in the HQ Louis Vitton store. :)

With only a few hours left in the day, we headed to N. Paris by taxi up to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur (which are on the highest hilltop in all of Paris) before we had to head back to our hotel to collect our bags.

Below: Centre of Montmartre where artists famouly collect to sketch, and Sacre-Coeur, the Catholic basilica at the top of the hill

Below: View of central Paris from the hilltop, and the famous Moulin Rouge (at the bottom of the hill)

Again, another great trip! I can't wait to go back and go on a riverboat lunch or dinner cruise along The Seine next time, and perhaps spend a few more days there than we did this time (just so my feet don't feel like they're about to fall off the next day!). We're off to Venice for Easter, so come back and visit shortly after that for more pictures and details...au revoir!

A Wicked Weekend...

2008-02-25T03:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I sound a bit like my family that lives in New England, but I guess this has double meaning here:

We went to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and had a fabulous time! I can't get the song "Popular" out of my head now, though. That was now the 3rd great show we've seen (we saw both Spamalot and Avenue Q previously) since we've been over here--would recommend them all, though probably not Ave Q with young kids?!

The weather was great this weekend (and has been for the past few weekends actually), and even feels a bit like Spring already today. We've been trying to get back in shape by playing tennis with our friends, Libby and Scott, every Sunday but somehow I think the activity is offset by the awesome Sunday Roasts (which usually consists of either roast beef or pork, potatoes, veggies, and yorkshire pudding) we have immediately after playing! Oh well, I love them--they remind me going to my grandparents for family dinners nearly every Sunday when we were very young. Might have to reinstate that tradition when we move back to the US...the only problem would be getting everyone in the same spot all at once! ;)

Carnival in Cologne!

2008-02-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

We barely made our flight there due to rush hour traffic in London, but thank goodness we made it to Cologne in the end last weekend! We went to visit Conrad's friend Christina, her boyfriend Rob, and Christina's family (who Conrad was an exchange student with in high school, as was Christina with Conrad's family in Gig Harbor, WA). It just so happened to also be Carnival there this past week, so we got to partake in all the festivities with everyone.

This was our first view out of the train station--the Koln Dome--pretty impressive to say the least! We went straight out to a few bars as soon as we got into town. Below the Koln Dome picture, is Conrad with (from R to L) Christina, her mom Heike, and sister Sarah:

Heike with Snow White (yes, that is a man!), and C with Rob in full outfitted pirates garb (beer-drinking parrot included). It's a shame we didn't get a picture of the kebabs we had late-night--SO good!

(Top) The gang in costume before Saturday night's parade. (Bottom) Fire throwers at the same parade.

Conrad and I in costume. They weren't too elaborate, but at least I got to use my mask from Carnival in Venice that I bought years ago!

More interesting characters in costume (some of them anyway?) at the parade:

Outside and inside (at least one of the beautiful stained-glass windows) of The Koln Dome during the day when we made our way there again Sunday:

(Top) Conrad in front of the most amazing donut store downtown--the best Berliners (jelly donuts) ever! (Bottom) Us in our Carnival hats (hey, don't knock them; it was freezing and they kept us VERY warm!):

We had a really fun weekend and it was really nice getting to know Conrad's friends and exchange family in Germany better! We're off to Paris at the end of the month, so come back in early March to view pictures and details from that trip...

Go GIANTS!!!

2008-02-07T05:10:00.000-08:00

I STILL cannot believe it! We're (and yes, I will say 'we' :) ) XLII SB Champs! Conrad and I got back from spending the weekend in Cologne, Germany with some friends at 10pm on Sunday and then made it back to our flat just in time for the start of the game. We were troopers and lasted all the way through (ok, we fell asleep for a few mins in the 3rd qtr) to see a couple of AMAZING plays in the 4th qtr. I always knew Eli had it in him! ;)

Think it will be a while till Brady shows his face in NY again; maybe Giselle will have to make some trips up to Boston now instead.

Our first football match!

2008-02-07T02:42:00.000-08:00

So, we finally made it to watch our first football (soccer) match here in England a few weeks back. Our friends Libby and Scott were able to get their hands on some tickets for us for the Carling Cup where Chelsea was playing Everton at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea's stadium). It was a great game, with Chelsea (our team) pulling ahead to win in the last minute of the match!

New Year's in Mallorca

2008-01-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone (albeit a bit late now)...after we came back from the US for Christmas, we flew to Mallorca, Spain and spent a week there. We stayed in a very small beach town called Cala Pi, which was about 30 mins SE of the capital city of Palma. We spent a good amount of time in Cala Pi because we couldn't resist a restaurant there called Cas Busco. We did get to explore the rest of the island in other coastal and mountain towns as well, though.

This was the view from our hotel room balcony, and Conrad about to hop in our tiny little Fiat we had all week long. :)

Prehistoric site remains near Cali Pi:

The Palma Cathedral fountain-side, and a view inside of how ornately it was decorated for holiday worshipping:

Conrad and I outside of Bellver Castle, waterfront-side. Bellver Castle, which sits NW of downtown Palma, once served as the city's fortress:

View from the terraced mountains in the NW of the island, and cross atop a mountain right outside one of the monasteries we visited closer to Cali Pi.

Our favorite restaurant...

where we celebrated on NYE. Conrad ate all of his 12 grapes (a Spanish tradition, apparently) before the stroke of midnight, and I made good use of some of the many props they were handing out.

And most importantly, this was by far the best paella we ever had!

We had a great time and are looking forward to upcoming trips we have planned to 1) Cologne, Germany to celebrate Carnival there with Conrad's high school exchange student 2) Paris and 3) Prague in the next coming months!

Final, Updated Contact Info, Etc.

2008-01-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

Jenn Work: +44 (0)207 803 2373
Jenn Cell: +44 (0)788 148 4648
jenniferwideberg@hotmail.com

Conrad Cell: +44 (0)751 536 5403
conradtallariti@hotmail.com

Both Home (this is through Vonage, and runs through our broadband so we were able to get a US #): 253 238 9310

Here are some good sites to use when figuring out when/how to call us (if needed), as well as the world currency converter site if/when you come to visit:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/dialing.html
http://www.xe.com/

Happy Holidays!!

2007-12-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

Well, everyone has been asking for snapshots of our place, so here you go. Have to say, we don't really live in a very quintessential English building...it's a newer high rise, but it's comfy and spacious and become our home for the time being. Take a peek if you like...

We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! Conrad is headed back to the Seattle area (Gig Harbor) to spend Christmas with his family, and I'm headed to NY/NJ to spend the holiday with mine. We're then off to Mallorca, Spain together for New Year so can't wait for that.

If anyone has international dialing access, my UK mobile is +44 788 148 4648 and Conrad's is +44 751 536 5403, and we'll have those on us while at home. Hope I get to meet up with many of you in NYC on the 26th or 27th possibly, and I'll also be sending good vibes cross-country for the Seahawks this Sunday since Conrad's going to the game.

Here's to a great 2008--hope everyone is happy and healthy in the New Year!

Thanksgiving weekend spent in Bath, England

2007-12-20T03:38:00.000-08:00

We didn't have a traditional Thanksgiving this year, but still had a great time. Here are some pix of our trip--enjoy!

This is the lovely B&B we stayed in (not too far from where Jane Austen spent many years actually):

We were about a five minute walk from the center of town and got a nice view of the Pulteney Bridge on our walk in each day. It happens to only be 1 of 4 in the world left that actually has shops within the bridge (1 other is the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, but not sure what the other two are?!). We couldn't ever miss the beautiful architecture of Bath Abbey either!

Heading further into town, we found the oldest house in Bath left standing (which is the home of the famous Sally Lunn Bun--which of course we sampled, and its coffee house), along with Lord Nelson's house, and the Jane Austen historic center.

One of our favorite parts of the trip was of course going into the Roman Baths on Saturday...

where we did cure all that was ailing us with that fine-tasting fresh water straight from the pumps and felt like a king and queen by the time we were done! ;)

And on Sunday, before we took off for Stonehenge, we found a great, hidden (to us, anyway) cafe where of course Mr. Sweet Tooth ordered hot chocolate and chocolate cake for breakfast!

Then it was off for the hour drive to Stonehenge to walk around in a circle for an hour and then drive back immediately after. Definitely worth seeing; just wish we could've gotten a bit closer, I guess.

A very relaxing, much needed weekend-getaway! We would definitely go back again with any visitors--hint, hint.

The Best Food Market EVER!

2007-11-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we went to Borough Market, located just by the London Bridge. What a great market! I have to say, it combined all the best aspects of Pike Place Market and every other farmers market I've ever been to, as well. It had everything you can think of and we either it sampled it there or took some home with us to do so.

Below: C at one of the market entrances, posing next to some fresh game (of which we ate later in a venison sandwich...mmmm), smiling eating some £1 creme caramel, and of course a stand selling bangers.

Below: cheese glorious cheese!, every kind of delicious stuffed Spanish olive you could imagine, more treats (truffles, baklava, etc), and one of the many great flower stands which I can never resist.

Another reason to come visit. ;)

Football (American) in London

2007-11-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

Well the Giants faired better in the game here in London vs the Dolphins (even though it wasn't a pretty one), than they did last night against the Cowboys. Even though it wasn't a fabulous football game, we had a really good time with Anne and Brian at Wembley, as well as throughout the rest of the week during their visit here. Here are a few pictures--enjoy!

Below: A beautiful snapshot of Big Ben lit up on a Saturday evening along the Thames, AND Me, Conrad, Anne and Brian on a Thames river cruise that same night (it was actually a Dolphins cruise, but don't tell anyone!)

Below: After the cruise, we hit up a Halloween party at Anne and Brian's hotel...so did some guy dressed as Borat, AND Conrad fueling up before the game started.

Below: Giants and Dolphins (and US and UK) flags flown at Wembley during the game, AND Anne and I at the game. (The two guys behind us were Aussies who I think after watching the game still thought that Australian Rules Football was cooler.)

Definitely a great time...see, the rest of you should come visit too! :)

New phone number

2007-11-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

Hi all--

Our old US cell phone (# +1 206.304.9191) is no longer in use. We're going to try and get a US number through Vonage for our home landline, but probably won't have that for a while. In the meantime, you can reach us at +44 0788 148 4648.

Thanks!

Gutten Tag!

2007-10-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we finally found some time within the past two weeks to update this... as you saw in the previous post, we found a place to live, but sorting out other details has been let's say a bit of a challenge (ie. it taking 3 weeks to set up a bank account and turn on a phone line at home).

BUT...we did get to relax during a recent trip to Munich and Salzburg two weekends ago to celebrate Conrad's bday. We flew into Salzburg that Saturday morning and then drove two hours to Munich to hit up the last weekend of Oktoberfest there--we had a great time just hanging out downtown and then exploring the different beer gardens nearby for the rest of the day--I even managed to get swarmed by some friendly Germans. :)

We then drove back to the Salzburg area (to be more specific, to a small mountain village named Hinterthal) and spent the next two days there. The fresh mountain air was so refreshing and we really enjoyed our stay at the retreat there. On Sunday, we went to a castle, which is right up Conrad's alley so we nearly spent all day there. The name of it was Hohenwerfen Castle and it was most recently (well only a few hundred years back anyway) used as a falconry hunting ground (and before that, it was used as a fortress to protect Catholic bishops in the area from invading Protestants). Here are some views from our hotel and of the castle itself:

We watched a fighting reenactment as well as their bird show, Conrad got to try on a bit of knight's armor and play with some weapons, we enjoyed a great lunch (nothing better than tons of schnitzel and spaetzle!), and we then went on a stunning tour of the castle:

We then drove back to our hotel and decided to go on a group torch-lit hike led by one of their guides...it was a nice way to work off all the spaetzle and beer from earlier in the day!

Then finally on Monday (Conrad's birthday), we spent the entire day in downtown Salzburg. As soon as we arrived around lunchtime, we were starved so we grabbed some brats (and cheese of course!). I'm not sure which food we enjoyed best during our stay--spaetzle or brats?!

We then cruised around downtown exploring the main shopping street Getreidegasse (including Mozart's birthplace/Geburtshaus), followed by a tour that took us around the greater downtown area to further view the beautiful scenery (like at the Mirabellgarten or the Altstadt, the entire view of downtown with the fortress guarding over it) and architecture (like Leopold's Castle, which is unfortunately owned by Harvard now--boo!) that surrounded the city. Some of you may find a few of these pictures to remind you of a classic movie--The Sound of Music!

We then ended the day getting Conrad a special birthday cake--a Sacher torte, an original-type from the Hotel Sacher, and heading off to dinner at the oldest existing wine bar in Salzburg. Unfortunately we don't have pix from either of those, but we'll leave you with one we took on our way to both of those places--sure you'll enjoy it. :) Auf Wiedersehen! More to come soon...

We found a flat!

2007-10-04T01:59:00.000-07:00

We'll be moving in here this weekend:

334 Queenstown Road
Flat 310
London SW8 4NP
UK

It's in a neighborhood called Battersea, just south of the River (and Chelsea). We're right next to the park and plenty of cute shops, restaurants, and pubs. Should be nice to have a permanent place to live over the next 2 years!

We're off to Munich this weekend for Oktoberfest and to celebrate Conrad's birthday! Pix to come shortly after...

I'm old(er)!

2007-09-24T04:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, well obviously there are reasons why 1) I'm not a sports journalist and 2) why I don't bet on sports. USA killed England 3-0--go USA! ;)

On to more exciting news! We had a great weekend this past one. It was my birthday on Friday the 21st and it was a great one! My team and I left work around 1pm and went to lunch w/ MSN at The Bleeding Heart (a great French restaurant)--needless to say, I did not go back to work and went straight home from there. Then, Conrad gave me an awesome Chelsea zip-up (to wear to a game we're going to on the 10th) and we went to see Spamalot in the West end (it was hilarious!). On Saturday we made our way to Islington, which is a part of London a bit north of where we're staying, to have dinner with some friends (we made through our friend Mark in Seattle) and on Sunday we went to the Chelsea/Kensington area to have lunch with my friend Cat from school. Conrad and I were happy to see both the Giants and Seahawks win yesterday, and he's off hunting for flats today and I'm on a conference call at work as I type this. :)

Check out some of the pix we posted--they're all pretty self explanatory. We're currently staying in corporate housing in Holborn, which is right between Covent Garden and Bloomsbury, so we're really in the thick of things and love it. Last weekend we walked for miles and miles along the river, so hence getting to see many other sites already.

We need to find a flat by this weekend, but more posts will follow shortly after that. Hope everyone is well!

Women's World Cup

2007-09-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Not many of you probably care about this (or even know that the Women's World Cup is going on right now, perhaps), BUT here are my future predictions:

--Germany, England, the US, and N Korea are all through to the quarters. Sad to say it, but I think the US is going to be beat by England in the quarters. I'm not a traitor already; just think Kelly Smith is that good (maybe I should have played with her at Seton Hall!). It could ultimately come to which keeper plays best, though, as all keepers in the tournament have not been playing that great. Oh, Germany is going to beat N Korea quite easily.

--Group C and D games have been postponed due to weather, but my best guess is that China, Brazil, Norway, and Canada all go through to the quarters.

--Final prediction: England vs. Brazil in the finals (Brazil wins 2-1).*

It's too bad about the timing of the World Cup...it seemed to have a bigger presence about 8 years ago when it was held in the US and they had names like Mia Hamm to advertise (along w/ Brandi Chastain taking off her shirt). With the games being held in China, viewers throughout the rest of the world have to view live games mid-day. Even re-televised games are competing with baseball and American football in the US, and certainly The Rugby World Cup, cricket, and football championships throughout the rest of the world. Perhaps FIFA and the hosting country of China should've researched why the Women's World Cup was such a hit in 1999 beforehand. We should be much further with the women's game by now and not struggling for viewership.

*Oh, and my prediction for the final is an honest one, though, I do hope that England wins. The women get no credit here (their team has a good chance at winning, and I have not found one game in a pub so far, as all have been dominated by Rugby World Cup games, cricket, and Premier League games).

We've landed!

2007-09-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

Well, Conrad and I arrived in London Thursday afternoon and have been enjoying every minute since. Our feet are a bit sore from all the exploring we've already done, but other than that, things are fantastic!!

I started my new job today (Monday Sep 17) and everyone has been very welcoming--we had beers at lunch already! :)

So, stay tuned...more details and new pix to be added soon...we'll attempt to update this every other week or so to clue everyone in on all of our adventures...