Brandon O'Brien

Friday, August 26, 2022 @ 11:29 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 2

This morning I actually felt pretty refreshed! We were able to get a little sleep last night which really helped get feel better.

We went down to the hotel breakfast around 7:30am and were pretty amazed with the spread. They had a huge assortment of cheeses, meats, pastries, juices and hot breakfast items. We hung out in the breakfast area for a while sipping on coffee and enjoying some relaxing time. The server who was cleaning the room kept coming over to us and talking to us about Dakotah and her grand baby.

After eating, we went back to the room and started packing up. After feeding Dakotah, I went out to get some saline drops for him since his nose seemed really stuffy last night. I think all the dry air on the plane really made it hard for him to breath and fortunately clearing out his nose seemed to really help.

Once we packed up, we met with Scott and Stefanie outside the hotel where they took our bags and parked their car. The plan was to walk around the pedestrian area near the Marienplatz, get Doner kebab for lunch and then try to hit the Oktoberfest grounds. We waited around the Marienplatz for about 20 minutes to see the Glockenspiel do its thing at noon and then got a little sidetracked at the beer garden at the Viktualienmarkt. We also met up with Eric and Emily there before realzing how late it was getting and that we wouldn't really have time to do much else.

We went and got some Doner for lunch near the Hauptbahnhof after checking out the Karlsplatz. The Doner was really good and something I haven't had in years since I was last in Europe.

Eric and Emily went to the train station and got on the train to Miesbach while Scott, Stef, Sam and I went back to their car and drove to Miesbach. We got to see some of the Alps on the way to town. The scenery got really nice with more of an alpine farmland and dairy feel to it as we drove into town.

After checking into the hotel, we showered and got ready for the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was really fun and great to see everyone again. We sat with Allie and Al and had a few beers over the course of the night alongside many typical German food options in the dinner buffet.

We stayed up a lot later than we were planning to, but it was hard to leave the party. It's now about 11:30pm and we really need to get to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day with the wedding planning to go well past midnight.

Teaser photos:

Breakfast at the Mercure hotel in Munich

Viktualienmarkt biergarten

Doner Kebab for lunch

Allie meating Dakotah for the first time

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Tags: europe, germany, miesbach, munich

Posted from: Germany

Monday, August 26, 2013 @ 6:11 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 61

Yesterday I noticed some chalk cliffs to the east of Brighton and I wanted to check them out. Today I ate breakfast, made a sandwich and then set off eastward along the coast. After a couple of miles the shoreline changed and the chalk cliffs made their appearance.

I walked 4.5 miles down to Rottingdean. By now it was really starting to warm up (a high of 79 with humidity in the 90's). I stopped for lunch and ate by the ocean. Between the chalk cliffs reflecting the sun and blocking the wind, it was really hot. I found some stairs that went up above the cliffs and hiked up there all the way back. Up there there was some nice wind and I wasn't getting that reflection from the cliff faces.

Back in Brighton I checked out the Evening Star pub. Last night I went out and had a pint of a beer from a brewery called Dark Star and it was really good. After a little research I found out the brewery started in the basement of the Evening Star.

I tried their Espresso beer and was really impressed. I'll head back later in the week and try some of their other beers.

On the way back to the hostel I bought a few things for dinner (lemon, garlic, asparagus and some red pepper ravioli) then got back and downloaded the latest Breaking Bad and watched it. It was still a little too early to make dinner so I read for a while before the hunger really hit.

For dinner I made the red pepper ravioli with asparagus in a lemon / garlic / butter / olive oil sauce. It came out really good! It was a slightly different play on the shrimp/ravioli I made back in Cardiff but tasted just as good. I really like this combination and it's something I'll make regularly when I'm back home.

I was planning on getting a haircut/beard trim but the place was closed today due to the bank holiday. I'll try again tomorrow.

In other news, I've officially been in Europe for 2 months now. At some points it feels like it's been a long time but at others it feels like time has blown by. I feel like I've already seen and done so much but I know there's so much more left to do before I head home!

Teaser photos:

Chalk cliffs near Brighton

Chalk cliffs near Brighton

Hiking on the cliffs

Brighton and Brighton Pier

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Tags: daily journal, england, brighton

Posted from: England

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 @ 9:00 PM in 2008 Europe Wedding

Today was spent doing more sightseeing around Paris. The highlights today were the Eiffel Tower and Versailles.

We started off the day by walking over to the Eiffel Tower and getting some pics of it from the ground. After that we took the train up to Versailles and spent some time in the museum and the gardens. I remember being extremely overwhelmed with the crowds inside the building and being so relieved when we got out into the gardens and had some space to breathe.

After we got back into Paris proper, we went back to the Eiffel Tower where we took the elevator up to the viewing platform. There was some lady behind us in line that kept bumping into us even though the line wasn't moving. It was pretty annoying and only played into my dislike of crowds, lol. The views from the top of the viewing area were amazing though. You could see the entire city spread out below you.

After the observation deck, we hung around for a little while until dusk and the tower was light up with some bright blue lights. The photos were incredible with the sunset and the blue tower.

This was our last night in Paris. Tomorrow we set off for Munich to meet up with the rest of the wedding gang!

Note: This post was written about 13 years after I went on this trip. Unfortunately I didn't keep a journal so this is pieced together from our itinerary and photos.

Teaser photos:

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Tags: france, paris, eiffel tower, versailles

Posted from: France