T̶w̶o̶ One p̶e̶r̶p̶e̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶t̶s̶ immigrant settling into home country number five.
Tis the season of endless long weekends here in Catholic Bavaria, affording plenty of opportunities for short getaways. So away we got, three days enjoying the cognitive dissonance that is the German-speaking part of Italy.
This trip started, as so many do, with a quick stop in Bressanone for lunch followed by a proper Italian espresso.
Or, um, maybe he did something else?
I added yet more photos to my extensive collection of public toilet shots at The Elephant House, a casual, studenty cafe in Edinburgh’s old town. The back room, with its lovely view of the castle, is supposedly where J. K. Rowling sat to write much of the first couple Harry Potter books.
I was all set to settle in to my summer travel hiatus when an invitation arrived for an interesting-sounding press event in London. I did a quick check of ticket prices (totally affordable, thanks to EasyJet), sent out a couple emails to see if friends would be in town (they would!), and decided to go. I think I’d jump on almost any excuse to go to London these days. I have a huge crush on this city.
We spent most of January in Edinburgh (I know, I’m a little behind on my blogging), so we got a chance to try quite a few of the city’s restaurants. That is, when I wasn’t busy using our apartment’s induction hob or sampling oddly-named desserts from Marks & Spencer. Here are the notable eateries, favorites first.
David Bann quickly became my favorite restaurant in the city
Last week was all about visiting cities which are delightfully grittier than Munich. Not that it’s hard for a place to show more grit than our home city (which could be mistaken for the setting of many fairy tales), but last week’s destinations were particularly satisfying in their lack of polish. Cheers to the Travel Bloggers Unite conference for giving us an excuse to visit Manchester for the first time.
I recently visited Leipzig for the first time in more than 10 years. Back then the city was a mishmosh of decrepit old buildings, hideously ugly GDR-era new buildings, and a lot of construction.
I’ve been to Prague many times, but this last visit was the first time I’d seen it decked out as a winter wonderland, probably one of the city’s best looks.
As I mentioned in the comments of my castle post, tourist attractions in Edinburgh tend to fall into one of two categories: free, and rather overpriced. Travelers on a budget can focus in on the free sights, as there are plenty. I chose to do a lot of both, because I was in Edinburgh for a long time, and because the average price per attraction is still pretty low if you average the free stuff with the expensive stuff. This post covers my favorites of the free sights.
The best Sunday brunch I’ve had in a long time was at the Markthallen am Gleisdreieck. The combination of market stalls, international foods, and live swing music just made me happy.
Read moreSunday brunch in Berlin: Markthallen am Gleisdreieck
One of the only things I knew about Edinburgh before I landed here was that it has a castle. And indeed it does, way up on a hill in the middle of town. I’d heard it can get quite crowded, being Edinburgh’s most popular tourist attraction, but lucky for us that’s not true on a cold, snowy day in January.