After two years, we’re finally going on our honeymoon. The lovely lady in the picture below married me back in 2015, and due to circumstances and Dad’s health, we waited to go on a honeymoon. We’re very lucky to be able to afford such a grand vacation, and in the time that we waited, we were able to save a little more. Well, last fall, we booked a trip to Europe. For ten days, we’ll be on a different continent. Three days in Amsterdam, three in Paris, and four in Munich. The flight leaves this summer, and I can’t wait to celebrate my marriage to the wonderful Sue!

Walking into the reception
Photo by the excellent Jenn Jackson

This month has been focused on that trip – researching, planning, buying tickets. In Amsterdam, the must visit locations are the Anne Frank Museum and the Van Gogh Museum. Possible events are canal tours or the Westerkerk. I know we will walk around the city to see the architecture and the people. Of course, we’ll do this in all the cities we visit. But next on the to do list for Amsterdam is to plan some restaurants. I’m not sure what the stereotypical food is for the Netherlands, but I’ve been looking at TripAdvisor to get some ideas on local restaurants. Frankly, they all look amazing, and it’s going to be hard to pare down the options. I found a little cafe not far from our hotel that offers an English Tea service that we may have to try.

By Massimo Catarinella (Own work)
[CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

In Paris, our must visits are the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. While it would be nice to go up in the tower, we decided to just see it from the park. Doing a little research, the long wait time to get to the top just didn’t make sense given our short amount of time. However, we are dedicating a day to the Louvre. I added a must visit that is entirely for me. Sue will enjoy it, but this is absolutely for me. We’re going to visit the iconic Shakespeare and Company bookstore. As someone who has taken vacations solely to visit bookstores, this was a must see for me. Of course I will buy something there; I would like to get something by a contemporary French author that isn’t well known here. Or maybe I’ll just get something by Michel Houellebecq. Just between us, I’m as excited for the bookstore as much as for the Eiffel Tower. Beyond that, we don’t have much plans. There are many, many more art museums available. For food, nothing is set yet, but the to do for this weekend is to find a very, very good restaurant and make reservations.

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[CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

Munich is the last city on our itinerary. All that is planned at the moment are beer halls. Sue and I share a passion for craft beers, and thus the beer halls are high on our list. Hofbrau Haus, Paulaner, and Augustiner are on the list. Until Sue retires, we will not be able to visit Oktoberfest. So this is our opportunity to visit these beer halls. Also, Neuschwanstein castle is a possibility as well. But it’s a three hour trip from Munich, which makes it a maybe at the moment. I wanted to attend a FC Bayern match, but it’ll be the off season. There is a lot of planning left on the to do list for Munich. Since it is at the end of the trip, I’m sure there will be a bit of fatigue in the last few days. I’m putting that in the plan as well. If I can find something close by, I’d like to visit a German bookstore. It’s not the most original, but I’d love to get a philosophy or math book that is in the German language.

By Berlinuno (Own work)
[CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

In preparation, we’ve been using Duolingo to learn a little of the languages. I’ve been learning German, and Sue is studying French. We’re not going to be proficient or even decent. But we’d like to try to be polite and use their language. Most likely, we’ll butcher those languages, but we want to try. Only time will tell.

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I’m excited. Sue’s excited. This will be the first time that we’ve flown together; we’ve traveled as a couple but never flown on the same aircraft. It’s going to be fun and interesting. Travel, while fun, is also stressful; so, this is an opportunity for us to learn a lot about our marriage. It’s also fulfills a goal of mine. I’ve wanted to visit Paris since High School, and now I’m getting my chance. Both Sue and I enjoy learning about different cultures, and this is our chance to experience something different. If we’re lucky, it’s just the start of our travels together.

Have you been to any of these cities? If so, what do you recommend?