What I Ate in Cologne

I love doing a What I Ate Wednesday post after I travel. It is so fun to document what I ate...I love trying to find unique, yet tasty treats. My trip to Cologne was a blast and boy did I find some tasty treats!

First night...we were exhausted after the frazzle of train travel and finding our way to our place and settling in so we walked for about an hour trying to find something but our minds were blown that so many places had only German menu's and my daughter is quite fluent in Dutch as am I when it comes to menu's but don't let people fool you when they say Dutch and German are close because they are two completely different languages...so we settled on a little Hard Rock action. We were served by another American who wanted to know all about Amsterdam hehe

I started with a glass of wine and the kiddo had some sort of fruity concoction.

Dinner was supposed to take a while because there was a group of 43 there (a school group it looked like) but our dinner came like 5 minutes after our drinks...I wasn't prepared, but we ate anyway hehe The burger was delicious. Service was prompt, highly recommend, especially if you are having difficulties with menus or people not speaking much English and your brain needs a break.

Day two...started off with Coffee Bean and Tea leaf. We saw this walking around the first night and this was our absolute favorite corporate coffee place when we lived in Southern California. So, naturally we had to get the hook up with a creme brulee latte and a blue berry muffin.

Lunch prior to the chocolate museum was curry wurst....this place is just outside the chocolate museum, I am sure it is strategically placed because you need to have some fuel to power through chocolate!

Post chocolate museum fuel. This is in the Chocolate Grand Cafe. There are amazing views of the Rhine from here, lots of seating...even some outdoor. The service was very prompt and the food was amazing.

That cake, doesn't quite compare to the one at the Louvre, but it was a very, very close second!

After a ton of shopping and even heading back to our hotel we needed to eat. We tried desperately to find a good looking menu on our side of the city, but pretty much no one spoke English in the little neighbourhood we were in....that, and by the time we were ready to eat a soccer football game was starting and we were just a couple streets from the stadium, so back over the bridge we went (with our exhausted legs) and decided pasta was in order. So, Nudlehaus it was...I can't find a website, but it is right behind Museum Ludwig, which is behind the Cathedral.

This place is just your run of the mill pasta place, much like an Olive Garden but doesn't pretend to be fancy. ha! We felt very welcome and it was full of tourists from all over the globe. I had a glass of wine and the lasagna. It was good and filled the belly. 

Final day...we were so tired this particular morning. We wanted something different for breakfast but wasn't quite sure what. We googled traditional German breakfasts but came up short. Seems like the Germans typically have just bread of some kind for breakfast, so we hiked it back to the Coffee Bean and Tea leaf for another tasty latte and split a muffin.

After that we made our way to the zoo and tried their cafe, it wasn't horribly overpriced and was pretty good. Of course we got curry wurst and chips again.

Post zoo and lots of walking we went back to the shopping district and grabbed some Dunkin' and took it to the Cathedral steps for a pic-nic. It was fantastic! 

After Dunkin' we walked the Rhine for a while enjoying the architecture and all the people. There was a guy out there blowing big bubbles and he had bubble stuff for rent, people were renting it, it was very cute. After that we went to Bruehaus Sion.

This place has been around for a very long time and was extremely busy. I am not sure if that is just because of Oktoberfest or if it is always that busy. We got the last available unreserved table at 5:30pm so keep that in mind if you go. They do take reservations so I would definitely reserve a table as you may not get lucky like we did.

The inside is beautifully decorated with these candelabras and stained glass.

The food is typical German fare. I wanted to get one dish with black pudding, but looked up black pudding and decided against it. I just couldn't eat straight up blood lol so I went with my husband's suggestion of the pork belly. I couldn't eat it all, but it was good...especially if you are a fat lover it would be good...I spent too much time trying to peel off the fat haha

In case you are wondering pork belly is basically what we call a ham hock...what we'd traditionally use to make a split pea soup, they've turned in to an entire meal.

Post dinner we wanted dessert. The kiddo was craving ice cream so we found a cute cafe with a fire place so we'd be warm as we ate our ice cream! ha!

These larger than normal martini glass desserts were extremely popular throughout Cologne, so naturally we each got one of these. It came with four truffels and three scoops of ice cream, I made it through two truffels and the chocolate scoop. It was extremely filling. I highly recommend getting one when you go to Cologne as they are quite a treat and as I said, very popular!

That is it for what I ate in Cologne, make sure you stop by Peas and Crayons and The Big Man's World for the rest of the party! :)

What I Ate In Berlin

During the kiddo's May Vacation we were in Berlin for three nights...we had a wonderful time and really tried to find some fun places to eat.

So, I want to share that with you today...

The first day we flew in and immediately went to a more local area of town and found some dinner we started with wine for me and bread. The kiddo of course had a cola. 

I had a veggie bake with feta cheese.

The kiddo had a broccoli and potato au gratin with mozzarella.

The restaurant was really cute...and the service was great! It was called Havana Club.

Saw this in the restaurant, thinking of making something similar but with the cities we've lived.

We walked around quite a bit more and this was the area of town where the East Side Gallery is located. Come back for more on that tomorrow. 

Once we returned to our hotel we sat in the bar and enjoy hot cocoa and Irish coffee....I forgot to take a photo.

The next morning we got up early to get an early start. We found a cute little cafe to have breakfast at....

I forget the name, but the service wasn't spectacular and they only took cash. The croissant was amazing...my biggest complain was the butter had been refrigerated so it was too hard. Otherwise delicious!

After that we moved on to some sight seeing and after going to the German History Museum (more on that tomorrow) we crossed a bridge and found a great Italian place with a table right on the Spree River!

The teenager felt it was hilarious how my wine, same price as her coke was so much larger! 

We both had this pomodoro with extra cheese. So yummy! Only complaint I have was when I went to pay with my card they said their card reader wasn't working. I was pretty upset because I had to go fine an ATM to get cash out. Later after talking to a server here in Amsterdam that was from Germany he said never give in and go get cash, if I would have just said it is my only payment method I won't get cash they would have found a working machine. I'd wished I'd have thought of that because it was a huge hassle to find a bank machine.

After that we walked around quite a bit more and as we got tired we decided a snack was in order at Faussbender and Rausch.

The view, nothing spectacular...loved the flags on the otherside.

The inside...it was really nice. But this place is definitely only useful for dessert. Their menu is not very large and the food wasn't really appealing. The table of late 20-something's next to us felt the same way, they were very disappointed.

Our drinks finally came I had one with rum, the kids had one with ice cream!

They each came with these amazing solid chocolate pieces!

We wandered around quite a bit more picking up souvenirs and post cards, we were a little peckish by 8 but didn't want to spend a ton a sit down meal so we opted for McDonalds which had a great outdoor balcony! We got this chicken box with chicken wings and nuggets. Was really good surprisingly. Was a nice treat!

Once we got back to the hotel we munch on one or two of our chocolates we bought. 

The next morning we knew we had a lot of ground to cover so we were up at 7 and out the door by 8. We went to a chain of coffee shops called Einstein Cafe.

The kid got the most epic Apple Tart. I will give you this one important travel tip: if you are in Europe, get and Apple tart with vanillaijs. You'll thank me, then once you leave Europe you'll hate me because you will always crave it. You're welcome.

After this we headed to the Topography of Terror and the Holocaust Monument. We then circled around for some curry wurst.

Absolutely delicious! When in Germany make sure you try it!

After the curry wurst we walked-A LOT! I mean-a LOT! We walked the hour round trip to the Victory Column and back. At this point it was beginning to rain so we ducked in to the Berlin Mall. We decided to grab a snack at another of those Einstein's Cafe. The cake was amazing, he white layer was cream cheese! So yum!

After the cake we went to rest in the hotel for a while and decided to take another very, very long walk to Museum Island for some dinner. It was really the only area with places open past six with a nice selection.

I had wine the kiddo had a great mock-tail with pineapple, grenadine, and cream. It was tasty!

We each had spaghetti of some sort.

On the walk home a storm blew in and we got soaked! The kiddo was super sweet and lent me her jacket so my leather one didn't get soaked and ruined. We laughed about it and enjoyed the walk despite the rain, thank goodness it was warm out!

After showering we decided we wanted to go down to the bar for some dessert and drinks.

The cake we got was just like the cake we had at the Louvre last year only fudged instead of chocolate chunks. Most German cream is terrible though, they don't sweeten it! I think that is because it is meant to be eaten with the sweet food, but I prefer to eat it alone. 

The drinks were super tasty though. The kiddos was similar to what she had pineapple juice and grenadine. But not cream this time. Mine was an Irish coffee-of course!

The next morning it was finally our day to leave. We walked to the station from our hotel, it was only about 30 minutes and we were able to see most of the sights again :)

The Dunkin Donuts chain is also in Germany so we loaded up on coffee and half a dozen donuts for breakfast/to bring home to the hubby.

We each only ate once since we knew we were going to be sitting for 6 hours and wouldn't be able to burn it off.

Before we left the station we picked up some food for lunch and some mindless snacking ;) because every good road trip needs that!

We each got these amazing Asiago pretzels. I picked up a wine spritzer.

For our mindless snacking we got Haribos Gummy Bears-because ya know, Germany! :)

We had a wonderful time and some wonderful eats. A little too much sugar, but that's ok, we make concessions for vacation. We've already gone back to our normal dietary habits. 

Travel tips:

Carry a water bottle, we drank at least two of those a day, each. But, this being Germany, much like the Netherlands make sure you have lots of 50 cent pieces on you to use the bathroom! 

Carry cash. We came upon a lot of legitimate places-food and souvenir-that only took cash. But be careful because pick pockets are everywhere!

If you lost don't be afraid to ask a police officer for directions. If you have a city map that is even better. The officer we asked directions from didn't speak excellent English, but he got us where we needed to go. There is a high police presence in the tourist area so don't be afraid to ask them for help if you need it, they were very friendly. 

P.S. Today I am linking up over at Peas and Crayons...come join the rest of the par-tay! :)

Wednesday's mostly healthy eats!

Happy Hump Day!!! I gave myself a scare and actually thought today was Thursday and that I missed my ladies lunch with some friends. Thank goodness I was reminded it was only Wednesday and I could proceed with my day sans freakout! ha!

These eats aren't from one day specifically, some are all from the same day, but then I forget about it and will remember other days, so here is a compilation of my eats from the last week.

Everyday this happens. It is the best for helping with digestion.

Morning coffee while planning trips for the year.

I have a nespresso so I do something similar to a red eye. I brew one lungo capsule, one espresso capsule then I warm about a quarter cup of almond milk. I sweeten it with a little stevia but am moving away from that after what I have here is gone.

Breakfast, it was so good! I've been doing a quarter cup of oats, almost half a cup of water, a tablespoon of coconut oil, a tablespoon of peanut butter, a tsp of cinnamon, half teaspoon vanilla, and some frozen blueberries.

After breakfast was over hubby got home and brought me this surprise...

You have no idea how ecstatic I was! My favorite seasoning and macaroni and cheese! I have made macaroni and cheese since we moved to Europe but some days you just want a box of it...for me not often these days, but there are some days I miss that convenience. It has been nearly a year since I've had it so am waiting for a day to enjoy it...it will be a special day for sure! haha

After hubby dropped his stuff off I rode down to work with him and we got hot chocolate. 

I walked him to work then took a sunny stroll by the canals and enjoyed watching everyone work on their house boats!

Lunch was water and leftover red pepper pasta with spinach and a cheesy croissant.

Snack yesterday was banana slices with peanut butter, chia seeds, and agave. It doesn't look very pretty but it sure was tasty!

Sunday we at out for dinner and I had this super yummy Chow Mein. Couldn't eat it all but I sure gave it a jolly good try!

Finally, dessert last night was this amazing Raspberry Oat bar from Oh She Glows. It tastes like an old school nutri-grain bar! Full of fiber it was soooooooo tasty I recommend you make them stat!

So that is it for me this week, what is one food you haven't had in a long time that you really want now?

P.S. I'm linking up with Jenn over at Peas and Crayons, come join the party!