Oh what the heck! I couldn't wait to post these honeymoon pictures! Last week, Aaron posted a bunch of gorgeous photos onto our photography blog of our Honeymoon in Europe, but today, I'm giving you my side of the photo story, because my side counts too, right?! :)
The wedding was beyond our wildest dreams and we were both still on a high from it when we boarded our plane from Charlotte, NC to Munich, Germany (business class AGAIN - Thank you Vicki)!
Who doesn't love a glass of white wine just before take-off, just to settle the nerves a bit?!
It was an overnight flight, so Aaron woke up to a Blood Mary for breakfast...
I couldn't get enough of the massage function that was built into my seat, or all the up and down, right and left settings that would make my seat back recline, go up or down, and elevate the footrest. YES, there was a footrest! AAahhh, heaven!
We arrived in Germany early in the morning...
...grabbed our bags from the baggage claim, and went straight to the AVIS rental car desk, where we were handed the keys to a GERMAN car that we'd never heard of. We were sooo excited and headed out to the parking lot to find out what our rental car looked like! ... It was a VAN! Seriously?! A Van?! We reserved a compact car, and you give us a VAN?! We were not very pleased to say the least, so, we drug our 3 suitcases BACK to the AVIS counter and asked demanded that they give us something else! They huffed and puffed and said they didn't have any compact cars available. Really?! We stood our ground though and after about 30 minutes, we were handed the keys to a new VW Passat! Yep, much better!
Check out the GPS! AWESOME!
We got right onto the highways and made our way south on Interstate 95 towards Lake Stamberger! Aaron had read that it was a beautiful drive, and it definitely was! We stopped the car and took a little walk along the lake...
...and had lunch at a quaint little bakery, boasting delicious pre-made sandwiches! Bread just doesn't get better than this people!
We continued our drive through the countryside, making our way over to Austria! The towns between Germany and Austria were lush, quaint, charming, and sooo European!
I could totally live here!
Photo credit to Aaron on this one...
Look, it almost looks like OSTEEN!
No European road trip is complete without sugary and aspartame filled drinks, right?!
We spent most of the day driving the scenic routes, stopping for pictures and snacks along the way, and finally made it to Hallstatt, Austria around 6:00pm! We checked into our 15th century guesthouse, right on the lake! (Gasthof Simony)
We were showed to our very small room, dropped our stuff and Aaron headed down to park the car. As I was leaving our room to meet Aaron in the lobby, I noticed that the door to the room next door was open... So, I tapped it open, just a tad, to see if anyone was in there (I can be nosy sometimes) and low and behold, it was vacant! I quickly ran downstairs and very politely asked if it would be okay if we switched rooms! We had 3 suitcases after all and could totally use the extra room! To my delight, Valentine, the darling grandson of the guesthouse owner agreed... and just like that, we were upgraded, for FREE!
I could definitely get used to living somewhere with views like this outside my bedroom door!
The guesthouse had about 15 rooms, all with different views... but Valentine said our room was his favorite in the whole house! I'd agree!
For a reasonable $20 an hour, Aaron and I rented a little boat and boated around Hallstatt Lake!
My guess is that people from Salsburg probably own these little cabins on the lake and come out here on vacation! They were darling and perfectly rustic!
Not sure how much use this diving board actually gets, because the water was FREEZING, but I would have loved to have seen someone taking the plunge!
This beautiful castle was on the opposite side of the lake. I tried doing some research on it, but couldn't find any articles about it online... The mystery castle!
Our guesthouse is just to the left of the yellow hotel (Our room was on the top floor).
Gastof Simony
Our beloved VW Passat!
Gosau Lake, just outside of Hallstatt.
After spending 2 1/2 days in Hallstatt, we headed back to Munich, checked into our modest but charming hotel...
... and took a walk over to Marienplatz, Muncih's main square since 1158!
We splurged a bit and had lunch right inside the Marienplatz building's courtyard. It was pretty cool to think about all the history of such an old place!
Fancy macaroni and cheese! :)
Then it was off to the Hofbräuhaus, Munich's (and maybe the world's) most famous brewpub! It's been around since 1644.
We ate GIANT pretzels...
... and giant beers!
Our morning breakfast in Munich was perfectly German!
So was our first meal on our plane back to Korea! :)
Before we knew it our wedding trip and Honeymoon had come to an end and we were arriving back in Korea!
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
If anything, this trip made us hungry for more traveling and you can bet there will be many more adventures in store for Aaron and I! :)
For more pictures of our honeymoon and days leading up to the wedding,
click here: Aaron Nicholas Photography!
