October 16, 2017

Meandering In Munich (Germany Diaries Pt 4)

October 16, 2017/ Lauren

We arrived after our brief Alpine adventure to Munich, staying at Schiller5 Hotel, a rather great and affordable option on a side street across from the main train station in an area that is, frankly, not great. It's just a bit shabby and a bit too modern is a brutally ugly way. But needs (and budgets) must and despite the neighborhood not being utterly idyllic, the hotel itself was really nice and the staff really friendly. So if you're looking for budget, convenience to public transport (which LOL WE WILL GET TO IN A BIT), but without sacrificing quality, then Schiller5 is a good bet.

Anyways, I'm not sure what I expected of fair München. Maybe it was being based in a less historical, kind of iffy neighborhood. Maybe it was that Rothenberg, Heidelberg, and the Alps were so freaking charming and quaint, but I found myself a bit disenchanted with Munich, maybe unfairly so.

October 13, 2017

Afternoon By the Alps (Germany Diaries Pt 3)

October 13, 2017/ Lauren

We departed lovely Rothenberg after a brief overnight and decided to help for the Alps to go look at the very famous Neuwanschtein Castle. My bestie is a big Disney fan, so really, when in Germany...you take the Romantic Road there of course! Maybe it's hyped up marketing, maybe it's cliched, but I liked the drive as we buzzed along surface roads and took a break from the Autobahn.

October 10, 2017

Rummaging Through Rothenberg (Germany Diaries Pt 2)

October 10, 2017/ Lauren

I have longed to go to Rothenberg ob der Tauber for a very long time, mostly due to a single image of a beautifully quaint little yellow house set against what looked to be a village straight out of a storybook.

August 30, 2017

Hello Heidelberg: Part 1 of the Germany Diaries

August 30, 2017/ Lauren

It was, literally, planes, trains, and automobiles for me to get from San Francisco to Heidelberg. After some mixups with Air Berlin where they had eliminated a leg in my outbound itinerary and never actually told me, I changed my routing and instead of landing in Frankfurt and taking an easy train ride or hour-long shuttle, I ended up landing in Dusseldorf and taking 3 train connections without a seat. Fun times!

But getting to Heidelberg was worth it. Once I got to the main station and on the bus taking me the short drive over to the Aldstadt area, I was pleased to find the routing takes you along the Neckar River. Once I got off the bus, I was in love.

July 26, 2016

When In Rome

July 26, 2016/ Lauren

Once, it was the most powerful and important city in the world; before New York, before London, and and anywhere else, Rome was a bonafide powerhouse. From its fabled beginnings as a town formed by two brothers nursed by a she-wolf, this settlement along the Tiber river soon grew into the epicenter of one of the most sprawling empires the world would ever know. Kings gave way to Emperors, a Senate was born, and much of current practices, law, business, and governments to name a few can be tied back to to this place and its people.

As they say, when in Rome.

With the weather hot and this ancient city before us, it was time for Roaming Holiday to finally have a Roman holiday.

July 01, 2016

Visiting Positano

July 01, 2016/ Lauren

John Steinbeck said it best in a 1953 Harper's Bazaar article:

“Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone’. And later in the article, ‘In a few days we became aware of Positano’s greatest commodity – characters.”

As you descend upon this Amalfi Coast town, through winding mountain roads high above the deep blue sea, it feels like stepping out of reality and into a tranquil oasis forged atop hills and spilling out to the volcanic rock beach below. This is not a town for a busy pace, instead you move to its slower ebb and tide and you will find yourself happy to be at the whims of its pace.

June 19, 2016

Via Italia! We've Made It To Italy

June 19, 2016/ Lauren

In the land of art and pasta.

After a long bit of travel to get here, we've made it to our first stop in Italy: Positano. AKA land of OMFG so many stairs.

Make sure to follow me on Instagram for up to date travel Italy photos, @roamingholiday

PS- the jetlag is so real right now, been up since 3:15am trying to go back to sleep. Oh well.

March 12, 2016

Where To Eat: London

March 12, 2016/ Lauren

Spring travel season approaches, and London is a great destination to consider. It's shoulder season still for one, meaning it can be a more affordable time of year to visit, and secondly, it's quite a pretty time as well with flowers and trees in bloom. I imagine Kew Gardens is lovely in springtime.

If this grand city is calling to you, you can check out my post covering my London vacation last autumn that includes a bit of an overview, where I stayed and why it was a convenient home base, getting around the city, and places worth visiting.

But let's talk about food.

February 04, 2016

Favorite Destinations- Edinburgh, Scotland

February 04, 2016/ Lauren

Ah Edinburgh. You old, green, overtly hilly town. You stole my heart utterly and thoroughly nine years ago during that mad August I spent living in you.

December 01, 2015

24 Hours in Paris

December 01, 2015/ Lauren

I've been, admittedly, putting this post off for a month now. Partly because I got very busy at work, and a largely in the wake of the events a few weeks ago in Paris. It felt trivial at the time to post about my brief 24 hour visit from October right after the attacks. But life must go on, and it's important to see the bright spots after dark times.

November 19, 2015

A Day In the Cotswolds

November 19, 2015/ Lauren

A few days into our London trip, I had planned for the boyfriend and myself to go out to the Cotswolds for a day. Our friend Hope had gone a while back and had nothing but great to say about it. As someone who frequently reads historical fiction set in the 19th century and often in country settings much like this, how could I not visit?

November 01, 2015

There's No Place Like London

November 01, 2015/ Lauren

Now that the after effects of jetlag are wearing off and I'm not staring at my ceiling bemoaning that it's 3:30 am, why am I awaaaaakeeeee I can finally get down to business and talk about my trip to London, which was the first proper international vacation my boyfriend and I have actually ever taken.