PARIS and NYE 2012

This year we chose beautiful PARIS as our NYE destination.  We chose our restaurant reservations carefully (its PARIS - there is so much good food!) and made sure to do all our sightseeing prior to Jan 1.  It was a great trip, and even better that we got to spend part of the weekend with some of our good friends from Germany.

As soon as we got into town, we did a quick walking tour of the Ile de la Cite and checked out Sainte Chapelle.  I don't think we've ever seen such beautiful stained glass windows. 

We knew it would be a busy weekend in Paris, but had no clue it would be absolutely CRAZY.  We took ol' Rick's advice and went to the Louvre on Friday evening before our late dinner reservations.

Rick says the Louvre is open late on Friday evenings so its a great time to check out the art without the crowds.  Well, apparently that is not always the case...   There were people everywhere!  We had to b-line to the Mona Lisa, view it momentarily and find that we couldn't get anywhere near it, and leave pretty quickly afterward because people smelled so awful!  It was as if everyone had arrived in Paris in Friday, decided not to shower, and chose to go see the Mona Lisa and lift their arms up to take a picture of her.  Gross.  We did the Louvre in no more than 15 minutes, most of which was walking, and waiting in line at the restroom.

We felt much better when we got out into the fresh air, and grabbed some wine at this tiny restaurant where we sat with a view of the kitchen, and enjoyed descriptions of each course of our delicious meal from the chef himself.

The next day we toured the Musee D'Orsay and Orangerie - loved both- and then met up with friends to hike the stairs up to the Sacre Couer.   After, we enjoyed desserts and the most decadent hot chocolate at Angelina's Tea Room.  It was a great day.  In spite of the rainy weather (what else can you really expect from Paris in the winter?) it wasn't too cold, so sight seeing was pretty easy.

Midway up to the Sacre Coeur

Colin daintily holding his hot chocolate at Angelina's Tea Room

For New Years' Eve, we spent some time sipping champagne and wine with our friends in our hotel, enjoying our view of the Eiffel Tower.  And then we walked to the Champs Elysees to count down till midnight.  The scene was not as crazy as it could have been, but it was fun and festive and even the Paris police seemed to be in good spirits, telling us to just keep our bottle of champagne in our bag, but no need to stop the drinking! 

We had a great time partying it up with Margaret and Brandon just steps away from the Arc de Triomphe!

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On New Years' Day, Colin and I went to a very crowded Mass at Notre Dame, grabbed some delicious falafels in the Latin Quarter, and then headed to the Eiffel Tower before having a great quiet dinner together in the Rue Cler neighborhood near Les Invalides.  We took one final walk down the Champs Elysees to see the Arc de Triomphe, and called it a night.  2011 was so good to us, and we are very excited for what 2012 may have in store.

Colin is standing outside Les Invalides - which houses the Army Museum and Napoleon's tomb

Happy New Year 2012 from the Cavanaugh's!

(belated) Frohe Weihnachten 2011!

 

Christmas in Germany is surrounded by all sorts of fun.  It means gluhwein, Christmas marketing and delicious German festival food. 

This Christmas, we enjoyed the base's holiday party with friends, and went to the Christmas markets in Aachen and Cologne.  We spent a wonderful Christmas eve with some of our friends, and then celebrated our own Christmas fondue dinner together.  I was really sad this year when we had to take down our tree and all the pretty ornaments we are collecting from the markets!  Some pics below of the various festivities.

Base Christmas Party - basically just a good excuse to get dressed up and have a fun dinner with friends!

Aachen Christmas Market

Cologne Christmas Market

Cologne has 5 different Christmas Markets - this is the Altes Markt - the old fashioned one

We love our Gluhwein!

Angel Christmas Market

Colin loves Christmas Market snacks... its really the best German food there is.

Amazing setting for the main market underneath the Dom

Christmas at home

Yes, we had a bit of a Charlie Brown tree.  Its all we could find, and we loved it!

We don't need to get the Kleine Maus any gifts because she enjoys wrapping so much.

Treats for our neighbors... this year, we received so many goodies from them we didn't know what to do with it all!

At least we know this much in German!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Eating our Way through Florence

And I am behind on my posts again...  so this one dates back to mid December when Colin and I took a very quick trip to Florence when we noticed that RyanAir flights to Bologna were at 10 euros each way.  Amazing!  

Although I've returned to Florence once after studying abroad there in college, I've ALWAYS wanted to return there with Colin so he could enjoy the city I love so much.  It was really fun for me to show him around to my old apartment, favorite restaurants, views, gelato, etc.   He was a really good sport listening to me recount old college memories. 

Our first stop was the Academia to gawk at Michelangelo's David.  Then on to the San Lorenzo market and the Mercato Centrale for some quick shopping, before an early "lunch number one".  When I studied in Florence, I took a vegetarian cooking class during which our teacher took us into the central market to test cheeses, olive oils and other foods, and showed us a place to buy her favorite Ribollita Soup.  Just a hole in the wall stop in the central market, I crave soup from this deli like its no one's business sometimes.  Its just a bread mashed veggie soup with some olive oil.  Colin and I enjoyed some together with some glasses of house chianti before continuing our Florence tour.

Colin was under the pretext that this marketing would lead to food.  He is getting a little tired of my love for market shopping, but always is a good sport about it.

Adding to the International Bracelet Collection

Admiring the displays in the Mercato Centrale... look at all that garlic!

We had to wait for the Ribollita Soup to be ready, so we did some cheese tasting at one of the little shops

The shop was tiny with wall to wall and floor to ceiling racks of wine and olive oils

Colin ordering our soup like a pro... its a bit like the Soup Nazi in the Seinfeld episode, you really have to be assertive and know what you want for the servers to notice you!

Yummmmm

Next up, we saw the Duomo and Baptisery, and checked out Piazza della Repubblica.  Florence was decorated beautifully with different Christmas light variations on each street, and many of the streets meet at Piazza della Repubblica, making it especially beautiful at this time of year.   Our next destination was "lunch number 2", a sandwich from Antico Noe.  Colin was really starting to like Florence.

Ghiberti's bronze doors

Its always so hard to get a perfect pic in front of the Duomo - it is just so big!

Lunch Number Two - paninis at Antico Noe

Happy traveler

Next up we went over to Santa Croce to see the tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo, as well as the small bit of St. Francis' tunic.  We were pleased to get to enjoy Florence's own Christmas market - not too unlike the ones we go to in Germany.  Then we saw Piazza della Signoria (my favorite) and toured the Uffizi.

Christmas Market outside Santa Croce

Standing in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria

Piazza della Signoria

Glimpse of the Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi

Then, we crossed the Ponte Vecchio to see the outside of Pitti Palace.  And since we were in the neighborhood, I couldn't resist taking Colin to my old stomping grounds.  As we walked down the street I used to live on, I showed him the pay phone from which I used to call him very late at night (no skype back then!) and the little shops from which my roommates and I used to buy our various groceries.  He got some fresh focaccia bread from my old neighborhood bakery, and then we had to get some gelato from my favorite gelato place.  A total dream come true!  The gelato, for the record, is still the best, and still only 1euro per scoop.

 

We enjoyed our gelato with this view of the Ponte Vecchio

Then we bought some Chianti and went up to Piazza Michelangelo to catch the view of Florence at sunset.  We enjoyed our leftover sandwiches and wine while sitting on the steps and taking in the beautiful view.  As I've sat on those same steps with some of my best college friends, as well as my parents and sister when we visited my sister during her study abroad in Florence, it felt like I'd come full circle to be able to share it with Colin.

After the sun went down we had to go get ready for our final foodie destination - a late dinner reservation at La Giostra.  I think this sealed the deal for Colin.  From the complimentary appetizer plate with a glass of Prosecco, to the pear pecorino ravioli and steak with a balsamic reduction, ending with some limoncello, we were beyond stuffed when we finished dinner at midnight.

Maybe it was the limoncello after the wine, but we were suddenly inspired to hit up some of the bars I used to go to in college.  That proved to be extremely entertaining for us - watching the crazy college students partying was great fun... even though were were the oldest people in the bar!

Our next day, after feeling like we'd conquered Florence in just 24 hours, we took it easy.  We went to
Mass in the Duomo, checked out the Baptisery, shopped the organic market by Santo Spirito, and ate lunch at a delicious restaurant on the Santo Spirito square.  We soaked up more views of the Ponte Vecchio with some more gelato, and basically just treasured the sunny-not-to-cold weather before heading back to Germany.

Ceiling of the Baptisery

Market in Santo Spirito Square

We marveled at these ENORMOUS rounds of cheese

More gelato, more Ponte Vecchio

One of our quickest trips, it is one that will always stand out in my memory as being one of the best little vacations for Colin and me.  Even when we thought the adventure was over, we had to ride this petite train to the check in gate at the Bologna airport.  Oh Italy!

Ciao for now, Firenze!