Roadtrip during the Pandemic

Face mask ✔

Hand Sanitizer ✔

Roadmap ✔

Let’s Go!

Since the world meet Covid-19 face to face, many people have had to restructure their lives. This looks different from life to life but many include changes in the home, work schedules, education, rescheduling milestones and putting off goals in an effort of doing the right thing. If this season has taught us anything it’s that we all have our own compass to help us navigate this pandemic season.

And with so many health aids now available, booming research findings and time passed- we decided that it was time for us to get off of the couch, back into an adventure and to travel again. The only real question now was “how.” So, we decided to skip the flights and to gas up the Jeep instead.

Starting in our home state of Indiana, we mapped out our trip to see mountains, the country side, sunrises, cities, oceans and beaches. Our route included Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky and then back home in Indiana. Some of these states we’ve been to together before and some brand new.

My overall experience was that of hope. I’m really glad we traveled when we did because we needed a vacation full of fresh perspective and in the process found renewed hope in humanity. This is because at each stop in every state, masks were worn and enforced. I saw extra sanitizing stations and measured spacing for healthy social distancing. I saw local officials and citizens doing their part in helping to reduce the transmission of the virus and that one day we will overcome this pandemic.

Do I think traveling in this season is right for everyone? Not really. Do I think everyone can do it safely while also having fun? Absolutely! As I said above I understand and respect everyone’s individual reasons for their social gathering whether near or far, few people or to the max possible. This season is here to stay for the time being and I think if we all strive to do the right thing while having balance, we can turn this season into one of community and of learning.

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Comment below!

You are loved, Kriss

Eat & Drink Berlin

Jacob and I had tunnel vision for our trip to Germany and that vision was on the food and drinks. Jacob was excited for the traditional German food and beer while I was excited for fresh baked pastries, international food and mugs of strong coffee. Today on the blog I want to share some of our tasty stops along the journey.

— Food —

The beauty of Europe is that most people aren’t originally from the country that they currently live in, they travel often or they grew up in a household whose traditions differ compared to the society around them. So then you get this beautiful melting pot of languages, customs, ethnicities and foods. Jacob and I’s plan of action: eat a different cultures food for each meal.

Along the journey we experienced the following nationalities cuisines: Indian, German, American (tried to wiggle our way out of this one but it is what it is), Mexican, Australian, Turkish and Korean.

Some of my most favorite spots where found in the a.m. Because breakfast. These places also offered my favorite beverage, which is coffee and you can find all of those down below.

^ German Currywurst

Lunches consist of whatever we could find wherever we were at the time. Our overall relationship with food on our trip was adventurous but it was also one of our more stressful moments. I think this is because of all of the options around without fully knowing the extent of the things.

^Turkish Döner

One place we stumbled into eating at was at Potsdamer Platz. It is a glorified mall where the mentality is that its a place where you can live, work, eat and have fun all in one spot on the map. While here we saw their different choices of food but decided to go with the Australian restaurant. I had brunch, no surprise here, while Jacob expanded his love of meat. He ordered a meal that came with three different meats including tandoori chicken, Crocodile and Kangaroo.

Dinners were larger and were where we spent more money on food. The one that stands out the most to me now was our Korean BBQ night. It was Monday night, our dressy date night, and we just randomly picked this spot. We were sat inside in front of a grill and we, I, panicked. I had no clue what I was to do or how to do it. We quickly learned from our awesome waiter and went to cooking. I want to say that this was my favorite because of how interactive it was, how we were able to focus on each other and learn something new.

^Korean BBQ

— Coffee —

On our first morning of the trip we stopped in the Okay Café. We were the very first customers that morning so we got to really take in the beauty of the place, take our time to order, we talked about the day and enjoyed the sound of rain through the open windows.

^Okay Café

Coffee shops and cafes were my sweet spot but also the area where I struggled with German. A lot of the menus in restaurants and coffee shops had English under the German descriptions, but some were vague. I kept ordering the wrong kinds of coffee and kept chasing the craving for a strong cup of coffee. But the best part of this hunt was ending up in many different kinds of shops for coffee.

^Brick Coffee and more

In some I grabbed pastries, pretzels and full breakfasts while taking in the atmospheres and rest. Most of the shops we stopped in were just around the corner from our Airbnb, another amazing part of the experience. You don’t have to walk far before finding another coffee shop that has outdoor seating.

^Myxa Café Berlin

One of our mornings we went to the Brezel Company. We both grabbed a pretzel and a coffee for our breakfast. Americans, more than likely, are used to eating larger breakfasts but something about the simplicity of our breakfast that morning really made me feel good. It was salty from the pretzel and it was slightly sweet from the macchiato.

^Brezel Company Café Neukölln

— Beer —

Beer was the heart and soul of Jacobs drink cravings. He wanted to try as many historically traditional beers as he could but also wanted to learn more about the history and science of beer making in Germany.

In the previous Berlin post I shared how we went on a walking tour of Berlin on the first day of the trip. Towards the end of the tour they let the group know about a beer tour that the company offered. So on Saturday night we joined a 3 hour beer tour of Berlin.

While on the tour we tried 7 different beers, learned how to drink them to get the full flavor, learned about men and women’s roles in the making process and history, visited the oldest breweries in Berlin and got to meet other travelers from around the world.

My favorite part of the tour was… the pretzel, or brezel, with it’s sweet mustard sauce. Like I said before the beer lover in my relationship is definitely Jacob. I loved watching him learning so much, enjoying different brews with their different amount of hops and then scooting over my beer after I got my sip in.

If you are traveling around Europe anytime soon and want to check out this tour company you can find their website here.

In conclusion, Berlin is for food, coffee & beer

Lovers!

Next Week on the Blog! I will be sharing our honeymoon Airbnb home, its neighborhood and about the slow moments of our trip. Please stay tuned and eat a pretzel this month because its national pretzel month!!

-XOKriss