Gettin' My Fix On....

Back in March I started the 21 Day Fix Program through Beachbody.  I absolutely loved it and felt like it was super easy to to incorporate this kind of meal planning into my everyday life.  I was able to lose 2 pounds and 8 inches in 3 weeks!! I maintained that until we moved to Germany :( 

As much as I love it here, it is so terribly hard to stay on track with my fitness and nutrition goals.  You are constantly on vacation, going to new places with new foods and cuisines, and let's not talk about the delicious wine and beer here.  But the thing I love about this program are the short yet effective 30 minute workouts and the easy to follow meal plan with built in portion control.  It also builds in room for wine and treats 3 times a week.  All things in moderation, right?  Before I did this particular plan, I was eating healthy, juicing, eating raw at times to cleanse, etc, but I realized that I was eating way too many carbohydrates.  Don't get me wrong, carbs are beautiful thing and tasty too, but you have have them in moderation and in balance with other macronutrients like protein and fats. This plan tells you exactly how many portions of each macronutrient you need in a day for you particular height/weight in order to reach your goal.  Super easy and effective in my opinion.  I also incorporate my Shakeology into this plan to get lots of superfoods into my diet.  

I've decided to dive in full force and really DO this again.  I have started and stopped several times since we have arrived, but like I said with constant traveling its so easy to get off track.  I am all about balance in life and as much as I want to be healthy and at my optimum weight, I also want to live my life and enjoy what Europe has to offer.  So for the next 3 weeks I am going to get back at it and be more disciplined!!! 

This isn't the only thing I have been trying to be disciplined with.  I have been making it a point to workout, study my German, and do my daily devotions and Bible study.   So far, I have been able to make sure that each day, I am investing time into each of these things.  

So writing this is my dedication letter to keep me accountable to sticking with the plan!! I will update on recipes, meal ideas, and my stats as I go along with the process!!!  Let's get to it! 

Day Trippin to the Lux

We had a free Saturday and since we finished our binge watch of Dexter, I decided that we should hop in the car and drive to Luxembourg.  I research all of our trips as thoroughly as I can, so the week before I started that process of finding out where to eat and what to see.  Luxembourg is an easy city to stroll, eat, and enjoy the atmosphere.  There are some touristy spots, but in my opinion its not really necessary to see them all.

I made the commitment to take Molly with us on this trip, so that did limit the sites we could enter or not.  Like before, I used the Tripomatic app to map out the sites we wanted to see and what route we were going to take.  The kicker for this trip was we made our way to the Lux without a GPS.  Recently, our charger died and we have a new one in route.  I did google directions ahead of time, and we made it to the city easily, but finding parking was difficult.  We made 3 circles around the city until we finally decided on the Monterey parking lot.  In reality the city is a big circle, so any parking garage would probably work.

We first tried to see the Adolphe Bridge, but it was under construction.  Nearby is the citadel and Notre Dame church.  We made a pit stop at the Golden Bean Coffee shop, which was a great place to stop and grab a cafe au lait.  Shortly up from the Golden Bean was a cute square with people, music, and restaurants.  We found a cute place to sit outside and grab some lunch.  I had my usual goat cheese salad and Ryan had some yummy quiche.

From there we made our way towards the Grund district.  We followed signs, maps, and everything but had trouble finding out how to get down there!  We even hopped some fences, so who knows where we were! We eventually curved around to find the Grand Ducal Palace.  They have a guard outside the Palace that we watched, but since we had Molly did not go in and check it out.

Close by the Palace are the Bock Casemates.  These are the old tunnels and fortifications around the city from centuries ago.  It is pretty cheap to enter and they even have guided tours.

After seeing most of the highlights of the city, we walked around and enjoyed people watching, looking into shops, and finding some yummy pastries.  Two recommended places were Oberweiss and Namur.  I tried both and have to say its a toss up! They were both great in their own ways.

Luxembourg wasn't our favorite city by any means, but it was pretty and fun to eat some yummy French food and get to use my French.  In November, we will be hitting up the American Cemetery there, which is supposed to be full of history.  There is also a place called the Viandon Castle that is supposed to be worth a visit.  If you have a longer day you could probably squeeze both of those attractions into a day trip also.

Amore Italia: Venice, Florence, Sienna, San Gimignano, Chianti, and Pisa

One of our first four day weekends we planned was to Italy.  While this trip for the most part went off without a hitch, it was my first round of planning, and I learned a lot about how to book cheap rooms and how much I should pay for a place.  So the places we stayed at during this trip were not as economical nor as nice as I would have liked.  More on that later!  The point is, you live and learn especially when you are planning monthly trips like this.  We used the Rick Steves: Italy book for maps and information about each city and attraction we were interested.  Sadly, this book doesn't flourish with walking tours, but we did download his free audio tour app and printed the maps.  Those were handy to have during this trip also.

I am a master of the Itinerary.  For each of the trips we have taken, I have a daily agenda, along with all the details of our trip.  I usually email this to myself and print a copy to take with me so that I can refer to it when I need to.  I guess the biggest reason I am so OCD is because in reality we may only get to a place one time, so we have pressure to see the big things and check off bucket list items.  Of course I would love to go back to Tuscany and sip delicious Chianti on a hill overlooking the vineyards, but we just don't know if this is going to happen, hence the jam packed Itinerary:) 

Day 1: Thursday - Fly to Venice

We left Kaiserslautern and ventured up to Frankfurt Hahn Airport.  From here we were able to park in  the P3 lot and walk to the terminal.  A few things to keep in mind when flying RyanAir: print your boarding passes ahead of time or you may be charged up to 70Euro to print them, make sure your liquids are in a quart size bag, make sure your carry on bags are the correct size or they will be checked and charged a 70Euro fee, go to the Visa check line at the airport before heading to your gate.  I was super anxious about our first RyanAir flight, but it worked out great and I am so thankful we have a cheap airline like them to fly all over Europe!  The flight to Venice was a short 1 hour flight and no trouble.  Once we arrived we found a little kiosk near baggage claim and bought two 10 Euro tickets to the Piazza Roma Bus Station in Venice.  This ride was no more than a 40 minute ride into the city.  From here, we walked another 10 minutes to our guesthouse.  The owner was waiting outside and quickly let us in.  We stayed in a 3 bedroom apartment that shared a kitchen and common area.  We had one of the bedrooms and our own bath which was nice!  It was right along one of the canals and super close to the train station.  Overall, we really enjoyed the location of this place.  We got situated and went to bed so we could start our morning off right in Venice!

Day 2: Friday- Venice for the Day 

My friend got me started on this app called Tripomatic.  It is great to plan trips and highlight the places you don't want to forget.  We started out walking toward the Frari Church, one of the oldest and largest churches in Venice.

We decided to get lost along the way and find different side streets, alleys, and waterways.  This is the best way to explore this city, because with each turn it just gets more beautiful!

We made our way to Cafe Del Doge to have a Venetian Cappuccino and snack.  Italians don't usually sit and drink their coffee! They stand at the counter, drink it, and then go on with their day.  From here we met up to the San Polo District and meandered through the streets and shops.  I found some cute handbags for some friends and myself.  I even managed to bargain a few down!

Once you leave this neighborhood, you land right at the Rialto Bridge.  After walking through this part of town, we were starving!! We had plans to find Dal Moro's fresh made pasta.  We found it, we ate it, it was incredible! You have to go there if you want fresh yummy pasta in box with a small bottle of red to go.

When you leave Dal Moro's you are just a minute away from San Marco's Basilica.  We found a canoli place and sat in the square to people watch.  We decided the lines were way to long for the Doge Palace and San Marcos, so we just enjoyed their outer beauty and took a walking break.

After taking a rest we followed the street under the Clock tower to browse more shops and head back toward the Rialto bridge.  We decided that using the water transportation was way too expensive.  It runs about 80 Euro for a 20 minute Gondola ride, and we just could not justify that cost.  We found that you can take the traghetto for about 2 Euro each (a grand canal ferry) to cross the Grand Canal at various spots in Venice.  We found a stop, but it was closed, so our dreams of being on a boat in Venice were shattered.

We spent the rest of the walk back getting lost in different parts of the city and found a bottle of wine to take home and sip on before dinner.  

For dinner, we found a cute mom and pop place near our guesthouse.  It was reasonably priced and super delicious pasta.  After a great dinner, we decided to go back to our apartment and finish our wine and relax before our busy day to Florence.  We packed up, set our alarms, and went to sleep.  

Day 3: Saturday- Florence and Cooking Tour with Walkabout Florence Tours 

We had an early fast train to Florence Maria Saint Novella Train Station at 7:25 that morning.  Our alarm did not go off and we woke at 6:53.  I rushed and washed my hair and we booked it to the train station.  Thankfully our hotel was a 5 minute walk and we made it with time to spare.  I used the train facilities to do my hair, makeup, and eat some breakfast.  It was about a 2 hour train ride and painless, but we also had a time stipulation to meet our Cooking Tour in Florence.  We arrived and booked it to the taxi station and arrived in town for our tour in record time! 

We met up with our guide, Mara, and our amazing tour group.  It was a small group of about 15 people and the perfect size for this kind of tour.  We started out walking through Florence with Mara pointing out various parts of wine and food history and culture still prevalent throughout the city today.  We stopped in some churches and squares that also pertained to food and she explained the history and legends perfectly.  We stopped at some street markets to pick up our veggies for the cooking class and made our way to the Mercato Centrale to buy more ingredients.  We went to the butcher and cheese shop and were able to taste some fresh cheese.  Mara took us to a local Cafe and we all enjoyed a nice Cappuccino to start our morning off right!

After about 2 hours of shopping we a small bus picked us up and took us up into the hills to a farmhouse outside of Florence.  Mara was in charge of the garden and took us to pick fresh herbs, which looked and smelled amazing.  Our chef spoke no English, but she was so full of life and energy.  She made it so fun singing and dancing through the kitchen and showing each of us how to use her special techniques.  The wine was flowing and even the beer during our pizza making time.  During the class we learned how to make bolognese, homemade pasta, roasted pork and potatoes, tiramisu, gelato, and bruschetta.  Once the food was prepared we all sat down at the table and they served us our amazing meal. So much food and wine was consumed and it was delightful!  I highly recommend this tour if you go to Florence.

After the tour, we checked into our hotel and walked the streets of Florence at nighttime.  We walked through the Maria St. Novella square and viewed the church at night.  There was a local wine tasting and cheese shop were we ate some antipasto and drank some Prosecco before heading home and crashing. 

Day 4: Sunday- Florence for the day on our own

This was one of the jam packed days during our trip and because it was Sunday, it made it impossible for us to go inside the Duomo.  I was super disappointed, but maybe we will make it back there again someday.  The day started with our tickets to see the Academia and the David.

This was probably our favorite piece of art in Florence.  The detail and elegance of that sculpture is pretty amazing.  We used our Rick Steves Audio guide and museum map to find our way through the rest of the museum.  From here, we stopped by the Medici church and St Lorenzo church and landed with stunning views of the Duomo.  This church is the prettiest church I have seen in Europe so far.  I love the orange tile roof and the pastel tiles that make up this insanely gorgeous place.  I feel like we circled that city 5 or more times! We walked through Republic Square and found a little sandwich stand and ordered fresh sandwiches and wine.  It was really relaxing sitting outside on the corner people watching and eating some fresh Italian yumminess.  There was some time to kill before our next museum viewing, so we walked over the Porte Vecchio and headed up to Piazzale Michaelangelo for great views of the city.

You definitely need to take the time to explore Florence on the other side of the Bridge.  Its super easy to stay in the touristy places, but I really enjoyed seeing a more local flare on that side of town.  We grabbed some Gelato and Cappuccino at Gelateria Neri and then it was time for the Ufizzi.  We decided again to use the Rick Steves Audio tour for this, but they had moved some exhibits around and it was way to confusing so we gave up on that.  I liked being in the presence of some amazing art, but at the same time it was so crowded and overrun with tourist groups and people.  It was hard to see and appreciate the art.  You really need a good 3 hours here.  In hindsight we wished we would have made time for the Bargello Museum, so try to check that out if you are in Florence.  We walked around the Vecchio Palace square and then decided we needed a snack.  We found a small trattoria and shared a pasta and water.  We met some nice people from New Jersey at the table next to us who were traveling Italy on their retirement time.  I love meeting people along the way when you travel! It's so cool to talk to people from different places and walks of life and get their perspective on life.  Shortly after this we finally took a rest break and showered up before dinner.  Since we had a pretty filling snack, we decided it was a Pizza kind of night! That was a pretty exhausting day, so needless to say, after face timing with family we passed out! One more busy day to go before we headed home.  

Day 5: Monday - Tuscany Tour: Sienna, San Gimignano, Chianti Vineyard, Pisa- Walkabout Florence

This was another tour with Walkabout Florence Tours.  They were so amazing with both tours we did with them, so again BOOK THEM! The meeting point was the taxi area at the Maria Saint Novella Train Station, so we packed up our bags and made the 5 minute walk to the station and found our tour.  Our guide, Olivia, was super knowledgeable and a lot of fun.  Our first stop was in Sienna where we had a 90 minute walking tour and a little free time to grab some Gelato and a Cappuccino.  I really enjoyed this town and the small medieval streets.

Our next stop was lunch at a Chianti vineyard with wine tasting.  I loved the wine and food.  It was so incredible! This was the best part of the entire day, but it was rushed due to the busy itinerary we had for the day.  The owners gave us a tour and I petted some cows while sipping my wine.

 After an amazing lunch of bruschetta, pasta, meats, cheese, desert, and wine, we headed to San Gimingano.  There was a great view point that we found to see most of the city and the hillside.  A famous Gelato place is also there and of course we had to get some.  I decided on the Grapefruit Champagne flavor and it was delish! The time here in this cute village was way too short, but it was still worth it to see some of the city.  After that we headed to our last stop in Pisa.  We took a short train into the city and landed right at the main attraction, the leaning tower.  We were hungry so after some photo ops we found a cute restaurant to eat some pasta.  By the time the food came we had 3 minutes to eat it all.  That was the fastest meal we've had in Europe thus far.  We had to book it back to the meeting point and then find a cab to the airport.  I really liked Pisa and would have liked to go into some of the buildings, but time just didn't allow on this tour.

We had about a 1.5 hour wait for our plane and navigating the airport was super easy.  One short hour flight home, found our car in the parking lot, and we were on our way back to Hochspeyer after a fun, yummy, and busy Italy trip.  

This was a great trip and I would do it again! We flew into Venice, train to Florence, and flew out of Pisa (thanks to Walkabout Tours for landing us in Pisa without us having to pay for transportation :))