OKTOBERFEST!

While Dustin has been in the states on TDY, I got to go to Oktoberfest! Oh. My. Gosh… AMAZING!  Originally, a guy Dustin works with, Michael, and his wife Rachel were going to go with us. Since Dustin is gone, I went solo with them and then two of our other friends went. We had signed up for an ITT trip with base which pretty much gave us an early morning bus ride to the festival, and then a late night ride back home. Totally worth it, we slept the whole ride there and back. 

Here are some pictures from the day:

We started at the Paulaner Tent, I think there are around 20 tents total.

 Got a table and started downing the beers! 

I think we said "Brost!!" (sp?...'cheers' in German) probably 50 times. So fun!!

I HAD to get a pretzel, and it was delicious!

 

Instead of buying a dirndl (the dress costumes girls wear), I bought a hat with crazy feathers.

Needless to say, I'm in love.

View of the room from our table…sooo big- it was incredible! 

A band started playing at the gazebo after we were there for a few hours.

Rachel bought a selfie stick so we got this awesome photo with the Germn guys we were sitting next to. They spoke very good english! (I felt incompetent that I didn't know German lol) 

This is Rachel and Michael, I had soooo much fun there because of these two! 

After the tent we went on a few rides and got more food!

Once the sun started going down and the neons came on it was so pretty! 

Below is the famous Hofbrauhaus tent!

 Overall, the day was so awesome. ITT offered the exact same trip (bus ride to and from) this weekend and I'm dying to go back buuuuuuuut I won't be. Unfortunately. Until next year!

Also, this officially crosses off #94 on my Bucket List: Attend Oktoberfest in Germany! 

16 down, 84 to go! :)

Labor Day Weekend in Firenze!

For Labor Day Weekend, Dustin and I took the train to Florence! 

We left Saturday morning and stayed two nights at an apartment we rented for the weekend. There was also a bathroom (obviously) and a mini kitchen.

It was the perfect size, and the location was to die for! This is the view from the rooftop terrace right outside our door.

 We were literally a football field away from the Duomo. 

Below is a picture from the front steps of our building.

Right around the corner from our front door step...

 The Cathedral was absolutely breathtaking. The intricate architecture and design was so beautiful, these pictures don't do it near enough justice. 

 Late Saturday afternoon we went to the Galleria dell' Academia, the home of Michelangelo's David!

 

The rest of the evening we relaxed in the Piazza del Duomo, drank wine and then enjoyed a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Cipolla Rossa. We ordered a goat cheese, prosciutto and bruschettta appetizer that was absolutely amazing! The Cathedral and Duomo are just as gorgeous as night as they are during the day.

 Sunday morning we woke up and took the train to Pisa! Before we headed to the train station I had to snap a photo of the Duomo in the rising sun. So beautiful.

Again with the stunning details on the buildings…so absolutely amazing.

 By taking a picture "holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa", I can cross off #6 on my Bucket List!

We stopped and ate some pizza, drank some Prosecco at a Pisa restaurant before catching the train back to Florence. Can't believe I'm married to this stud! ;)

Once we were back, we freshened up and then started the walk to the Giardino di Boboli. 

On the way, we walked across the Ponte Vecchio!

Below is the Palazzo Pitti where you enter the giardino.

View from the Giardino.

We ate dinner on the way back to the apartment and had our first taste of 'bistecca alla fiorentina' or florence steak. The size of this thing was humungous! We ordered it medium and when it came out, it was quite rare but the plate it was on ended up cooking it to perfection right at our table…it was by far one of the best steaks I have ever had!

 After dinner we slowly made our way back to the apartment, not ready for out last night to end. But all vacations have to come to an end sometime! Florence was by far our favorite place in Italy so far, it will be hard to to return before exploring the rest of the country!

4th of July

For 4th of July, Dustin and I drove to Rovinj, Croatia! 

We got there around 7pm on Thursday but days over here in Europe are so long, the sun wasn't even close to setting. So, we checked into our hotel, changed and headed to the downtown area 

to do some walking around and to eat some dinner.

 Once the sun started setting, it was the most breathtaking view ever! The mix of the bell tower, the water, and all the boats being touched by the setting sun was perfect!

 On Friday we got in our swim suits and went to the beach! 

We also rode jet skis but didn't get any pictures.

 I finally got to wear my RWB swimsuit! 

happy 4th of July!

 After a few drinks, we went back to the hotel, showered, and headed to dinner. We ate at a place downtown along the water call Fortuna. It was pretty dang good! I had steak with mushrooms and Dustin had steak medallions. And of course, we had red wine. What's new?

After dinner we walked around some more and found this AWESOME bar on the edge of the water. They have tons of cushions and you literally sit on the rocks, looking out into the sea. It was so romantic with lights in the water so you could see the fishies and pretty music playing in the background. (There is a better picture looking at the bar down below that 

we took on our boat cruise the next night.)

The next day we decided to rent bikes and ride downtown. Once we got there it 

looked like it was ready to rain so we setup camp at an outdoor beer garden. 

Even with the clouds rolling in, Rovinj was beautiful!

 My Vegas friends should be proud, I love trying new beers now 

and haven't had a Coors Light in what seems like forever! :)

After about 20 minutes of rain, the skies cleared and we headed to the beach again! The water there was soooo clear and so refreshing, we really wish we had snorkel gear.

At the bar by the beach, Dustin asked the lady where she recommended we eat dinner. She gave us the name and some horrible directions but after 30 minutes of walking around, we found it! The restaurant was called Tipico and when we walked in, the host told us we could sit down and eat but would have to be done by 8pm (two hours later) because they were completely booked with reservations through the night. We agreed because anywhere that busy has got to be good!

 yes, red wine again… :)

 Man are we glad we were persistent, the food was amazing!

 We started off with caprese and gnocchi. 

 I had chicken with saffron sauce and zucchini risotto.

 Dustin had tuna steak with creamy spinach.

 After the best meal we had all weekend, we walked up to the top of the town to get a closer look at the church and bell tower. It was so pretty, I'm still drooling over our photos!

 After we were done exploring, we walked down to the main bar/restaurant district, grabbed a drink, and walked around some more.

 Around 8:45pm we headed to a boat that had a sunset cruise at 9pm. It was only 10Euro a person for an hour tour. Once we started, it was only us and one other couple on the cruise. They were from the UK and said they had been to Rovinj 7 years earlier and wanted to go on this cruise but it was full so they made sure to take it this time they were in town!

 We got to cruise around the small islands surrounding Rovinj while watching the sunset.

 This is the bar we went to the night before! It was way too cool.

 This is the Mare! She had blue LED lights under the boat so you could see the rocks and fish when the water was shallow enough. Such an amazing adventure!

That was the end of our trip; we woke up the next day and drove home. Overall, we absolutely LOVED Croatia and already talked about going back, even if it is for one night/two days. We can't wait to visit more places so when friends and family visit we will know where all the good spots are!