Travel: Cairo, Egypt March 2013

I was invited to a wedding reception of one of my dear friends from University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign.   We were both in the Management Information Systems program and took a wide variety of classes together.  She was also the one that taught me a bit about wine, led me to actually liking cheese (and thinking that it's more than just Kraft singles), and was a big sister to me.  The wedding reception/dinner was in Cairo - of all places - as her fiancé (at the time) is Egyptian and his family lived near Cairo.    Done deal!  Not only will I get to see my friend get wed, I've also never been to Egypt before and it was close enough for me to not have to take too many days off of work during a busy period.

Cairo is a 3.5 hr flight from London.  Not bad if you think about it.  In March when I went it was about 11 degrees Celsius (50ish degrees F) in London - and it was around 40 degrees Celsius (close to 100 F) in Cairo.   A complete and welcomed change.

Plans:
I got in to Cairo on a Friday at 5am.  The plan was to rest, spend some time going to Mosques and a large market in Cairo with the tour guide, my friend, her fiancé, and her family, then have a reception dinner in the evening.  Saturday, her family and I were to go to the Egyptian Museum while my friend went on her honeymoon.  Sunday when her family flew out - I was to go to see the pyramids and go on a camel ride before I had to fly out Sunday afternoon.  Tight timeline but it was amazingly wonderful!

Onto the pictures!

Travel: Athens, Greece April 2013

With my big birthday in April, I had to decide where to go celebrate that I've never been before.  Because I rather like architecture and old artifacts, I ended up choosing to go to Athens, Greece.  I still think that was a great decision and all my friends had fun on the trip!

Accommodation:
We rented a 3 bed 2 bath apartment for the 6-8 of us rotating in and out of Greece at Greek Vacation Homes (http://greekvacationrentals.com).  The area is more local than touristy, walking distance to a myriad of restaurants, clubs, as well as sights like the Acropolis.  It's also a lot easier to experience the joys of being in a different city like walking to the grocery store, making breakfast at home, and feeling a bit more like a local than if we all had gotten a hotel.  The apartment even had a rooftop terrace with Acropolis views and a giant grill to have a BBQ!

Plans:
In terms of itinerary - our loose plans were to visit the Acropolis, Zeus's temple, Archeological museum, and take a day trip to a close by island, and do a wee pic of shopping.  We were only there for about 5 days.

Onto the pictures!

Play: Ice Bar - London

Why would anyone pay money to go and freeze their butts off - you may wonder?  Well - it is a cool experience during the summer when you need a bit of refreshment and the drinks and restaurant there aren't half bad!  At temperatures around 23 Fahrenheit or -5 Celsius, it is not somewhere you want to stay for a long time and get drunk with your buddies - and that's not a problem because you can only go in at set times for up to 45 minutes.  Otherwise, I assume that the ice that makes up the bar, the glasses, and the sculptures will start to melt with the body heat!

I went as part of a larger group for a hen night (UK term for Bachelorette party).  The 3 course dinner and Icebar and dinner deal starts at 29.50 GBP, which is not bad.

They throw a large cape on you with attached gloves so you can pick up your delicious drinks in cups made of ice.

Onto the pictures!

Travel/Eat: Cologne, Germany - Christmas Markets

I happened to have go to Amsterdam back in early December for work.  Like any fun minded traveller, I made sure to book my flights to include a free weekend in order to explore the city some more.  I ended up staying and meeting with a Chicago friend of mine, Stacy, in Amsterdam.  Coincidentally another friend and colleague of ours, Dane, was in flying into town from working in Berlin for the weekend as well.  With such a fun group - what would we do?  Exactly! Christmas markets!

There is not one, not two, not three, but four old Christmas markets in Cologne, Germany. These are located at the Rudolfplatz, Alter Markt, Neumarkt, and the largest/most impressive one by the Cologne Cathedral. It took about a 3.5 hr drive (with some snack and comfort stops) from Amsterdam to Cologne on the highway.  

After a spin around to look for parking we ended up right by the Cathedral (PS: Ladies have special designated parking - it's in places close to get to and well lit for safety).