Posts about our experiences while being American expats in Germany.
Only one year after packing up our lives in Boston, US to move to Nuremberg, Germany we have checked quite a bit off of our bucket list so far. Now if anyone knows us, they know that we LOVE trying new foods, new restaurants, new drinks, new food markets... can you see a trend here? So I thought the next best "Year in Review" post should be all about our favorite restaurants, bars and food markets.
As of February 16th 2016, we have hit our 1 year German-iversary! And with this big milestone, I am hoping to write a few blog posts reviewing some of our favorite moments. (favorite travel destinations, favorite restaurants, etc).
But for today, I'm going to start with some of our learning experiences.
So it has officially been two months of us living in Germany. Quite a few things have happened in those two months! We have bought a new car (a speedy little VW Golf), and I've learned how to drive a manual (ehh... i'm still learning), found an apartment in Nuremberg, been to IKEA about 4 times (each at least 6 hour trips), put together countless amounts of IKEA furniture, received all of our belongings from the boat shipment, and officially moved into our apartment (separate blog post to follow about that experience!).
And you'd figure within those two months of "settling in", things would start to feel a bit more normal as Americans living in Germany, but there are still funny things that surprise us every day. So I wanted to do a follow up of "My first impressions of our first week in Germany", with some more interesting oddities that we've come across.
Finding an apartment in Germany of course, was not as simple as we expected. This past year we spent countless hours watching "International House Hunters" in hopes to prepare us for this experience. We promised ourselves we would not be "that" couple... you know the one who has a huge house in Texas and wants an apartment in the middle of Paris, and is appalled that their budget can only afford a studio apartment? We went into this apartment search with a little bit of knowledge of what to expect, but of course there were some interesting learnings.
For our last weekend in the US before we moved our lives to Germany, we wanted to spend it in Boston.
We stayed in the beautiful Langham Hotel, which was perfect because we were able to walk around the entire city with ease. We only planned one night in Boston, expecting to fly out Sunday, Feb 15, but due to Boston's crazy snow our flight was cancelled and we had another free day to roam the city!
Here is a collection of some of our DIY projects that went into our gorgeous wedding at the Bourne Mansion in Long Island.
Andrew and I had been dating for two amazing years when he proposed. Under cafe lights in our newly renovated backyard we were dancing to the music of an antique record player that Andrew just gave me as a gift. On bended knee, he proposed and made me the happiest I've ever been in my life.
When we shared the news with our family and friends, the first thing they would ask is "Have you set the date??". Are you kidding me? How fast do people set dates for their wedding?
Andrew and I have been living in Germany for just about two years. And within those two years we have almost mastered the grocery shopping.
Can't find the cinnamon? Look for zimt. It's April and you're craving Kale? Be patient, it'll be back in 6 months. Need Patron Tequila? Pick it up the next time you're going through the airport dutyfree shop.
But there are just some things... that you'd rather buy from the comfort of a Target, stop & shop or Trader Joes. (or it is just 1/4 the price to buy it in the US).