A few weeks ago my sister and I were lucky enough to travel through Europe. We have both been before on various occasions but not ever just the two of us. We started in Vienna, Austria (you can read that here), then flew to Florence, Italy to start our trip with our parents. I love traveling because it always teaches me about other people. If you haven’t been to Europe yet I hope you make it there once in your life to taste the authentic food, people watch, and appreciate the preservation of so much history.

I’ll give you the hi lights of the trip.  I can’t get it all because we traveled to SO many cities it would take you and hour to read. First up we were in Florence. Not long after landing in Florence, I found my way to some pizza and wine. Our parents unfortunately couldn’t land because the wind was so strong and all the planes that land there are TEENY. They had to fly back to Rome and take a bus down so Kate and I were on our own for dinner and drinks. We found a cute restaurant (you legit can’t go wrong with any restaurant) after stopping for a glass of wine near the Duomo. Pasta a la bolognese with extra parm and grilled veggies to share + sparkling water always.

My favorite place we went for Gelato the whole time was Gelateria Santa Trinita. We went there after dinner and took a gander at the scenery over the water while eating a massive gelato. Did we really feel like eating that entire cone? Nope, my taste buds got tired like 3/4 of the way through. Did it make me feel like I was in Italy living my best life? Yes. Seriously could not have asked for a more perfect moment.

Thankfully our parents got in around 10 pm, gave us hugs, and sprinted for some food that I’m sure they really needed. We got up bright and early to hop on the train to Rimini, Italy to then drive to San Marino, a tiny little country that our Los Angeles neighbors live in for 3-4 months out of the year. They are from there and it was truly an experience to be able to live like the locals! Thank God someone could order in perfect Italian.

We did all the touristy things for a few hours and then were hangry and told Buddy and Marina that we needed food ASAP. The meal we ate after this photo was nothing short of amazing. We had the traditional 5 course Italian meal with a bread starter, then the pasta round (with the most amazing baked lasagna I’ve ever laid tastebuds on), then the meat and veggies round, then the dessert, then the after dessert alcohol, all while drinking wine and enjoying each others company. Here’s a photo of some of the bread starters and the baked lasagna that really looks like a pile of mush but I SWEAR was unbelievable. I can taste it now just writing about it.

I posted the pasta round on instagram. Here’s the meat and veggie round. I told you- A LOT of food. They don’t mess around. Side note: you also dress your own salads in San Marino and Italy.

We explored a little more and then hit the hay. Kate and I were already adjusted to Europe time but our parents were hitting the wall. The hotel there was LOUD. It’s a lively place and there was a dance performance going on outside our window so we didn’t get a ton of sleep. The next day was my other favorite day besides day 1 of Florence. We drove down to Rimini on a bus that takes you from the top of San Marino straight to the beach for 5 euro!

Let me tell you all the reasons this day was my favorite.

1. No one gives a flying crap what you look like. You could be 95 years old with the saggiest leathery skin and it is the most beautiful thing. You could also be sporting quite a beer belly and a nice little baby speedo and again, no one gives a crap. There were no one pieces. Everyone sits in their skin and just embraces that and WOW, was that refreshing. I felt so empowered to continue on my RD journey that day to teach people how to love themselves.
2. People eat a real 2 hour meals at the beach and they let their tummy stick out after they have eaten. No carrot sticks and hummus here. Here’s some of our glorious fish centered meal that was caught from 20 yards away.

We had several fish courses. 1 grilled, 1 fried, 1 cold plate, a GIANT bowl of pasta and clams, the most amazing focaccia bread I have EVER had that of course, was baked right that second and was piping hot +wine wine wine. We finished the meal with something I liked more than gelato and continued to have once a day for the rest of our time in Italy. This is coffee sorbetto with all the creamy goodness that it looks like it has.

3. The relaxation I experienced there was unlike anything I’ve ever had before (until we went to Santa Margherita). The water is so salty that you float without trying so mom, kate, and I spent hours just floating over the waves and just existing.

After that day we had fresh pizza wine in San Marino and a gelato to share. We headed to our neighbors house and enjoyed some traditional San Marino desserts and dessert wine. The next day we headed back to Florence on the train again!

HAD TO take dad to my gelato place and he loved it! My dad and I are the ice cream lovers in the fam. We spent 3 days in Florence as a family and took one full day of tours from there to Sienna and San Geminciano + a vineyard. In previous family vacations we did a lot of tours but we always ended up needing a vacation after the vacation so this time we kept it to one day and it was perfect.

San Geminciano was home to the CUTEST Italian grandma owned bakery with dozens of hand made cookies to offer. She yelled at me in Italian for not getting enough cookies so I got more, wasn’t mad about it. I tried a bite of probably 7 cookies and shared the rest with Kate and Dad as our morning snack. Can I get an amen for quick carbs?!

Next up was Sienna. Wow was this place something! Here was where I had the best ravioli of the trip outside with wine on a bustling street with the fam. We were there the day before their HUGE horse race so the town was getting ready and they were full of pride with their home district scarfs tied around their necks.

“Weissmuller Family! Assemble!”

Last stop that day was to the Chianti region where they make their famous red wine! We wine tasted and admired the first vineyard Kate and I had ever been to. I’m now determined to visit more. Maybe it’s something about the perfect rows but it felt so calm there.

Another day in Florence after that and then so Santa Margherita we went!

Santa Margherita Ligure would become our next home base for the last 3 days in Italy and it was beautiful. One day we took the train down to the first town in Cinque Terre and explored to then boat over to two more towns before getting so hot and tired we had to come back for a dip in the water.

How stunning is this?! These towns were quaint but also a serious tourist trap. Would recommend but maybe pick 3 towns or split it into 2 days.

I also ate some pretty damn good lasagna while in Cinque Terre that I don’t think I’ll forget!

Santa Margherita was where I found my favorite wine of the trip. Vermentino is a fruity white wine that goes well with all the fishies we ate there and is locally produced. Need to find me some in LA! Santa Margherita is basically a little beach town so there are places you can grab some meatballs or fish on a stick and fruit stands left and right so one day we just ate that. Actually, two days just don’t have the photos of the other day.

Our very last day was truly a dream. We rented these pool chairs at a beautiful hotel on the rocks and over the water that I wish I could re-live. I saved videos so I can look back.

You could hop in the salt water pool or walk over to the ladder down into the open water and again float because it’s so salty! SUCH.A.DREAM. 

Always thankful for my parents who still choose to bring Kate and I on these trips when they could totally leave us at home! That was my first legit break since starting grad school a year and half ago and I didn’t realize how much I appreciated it until I came back to school so ready to rock it. Bye bye burn out! (at least for now!) I wish I could explain more and better for you but no matter what I say nothing will to it justice! I hope you got the chance to follow on IG stories with all those videos!

Long time no talk! It seems like I’ve been gone for months instead of weeks. Time moves slower in Europe to me, anyone else? I had the most wonderful time traveling and I wanted to give you guys the hi-lights of our trip before I start my last, first-day of school!

If you followed along on Instastories you probably have seen a lot of this. My sister Kate and I flew out of LAX together to head to Vienna, Austria, a place we have both wanted to see for many years. My dad’s side of the family is from Graz, Austria, so we wanted to see a little bit of our family history. There we stayed in an air bnb right in the heart of the first district with 2 French hosts, V and O who were great to us.

We arrived at 1 pm in Vienna and my college friend, Sarah, met us at the airport. She moved there to work with her dad after college and it was amazing having a tour guide! She made sure we never got lost and told us what the must-see things were and the must eat foods were. We took general chem, organic chem, and all the bio classes together so needles to say we have seen each other at the best and worst of times.

That day, Sarah took us to see the museum campus and a full walking tour of the first district of Vienna. We ended up in wine country for a light dinner and wine spritzers- they are super popular there.

(This was just a giant German salad with vinegar everything and mixes of potato salads and giant beans- at this point we were just really confused with life because our bodies were dead tired- it looks gross but was actually so dang good)

We went back on the street car and found our way back to the air bnb to fall into the DEEPEST sleep.

We woke up in time for our hosts to serve us breakfast. They served us a carb-heavy breakfast every morning with fresh croissants, baked breads, jams, butter, coffee, and yogurt. That was at 8:30 am and then Kate and I headed out for the day.

Day 2 we went to the Prater , an awesome amusement park just off one of the subway stops. We intended on going there for their giant ferris wheel to see a view of all of Vienna but ended up finding so much more. We didn’t go on the ferris wheel that we thought we wanted to because it was 10 Euro a ticket and it wasn’t that cool so we walked around and found 3 other rides, including another open ferries wheel (the other one was a giant box where you could stand up), to go on that equalled 10 Euro- we were on a budget!

We found a beautiful pathway that goes for miles next to the Prater where we sat and ate lunch and read our books for a few hours. The whole way was lined with trees and we watched people go by like it was our job. This was the only true salad we ate for 2 weeks.

Then we headed back to the first district and found my favorite place of the entire trip, Volksgarten.

This place will forever be burned in my memory. If you know me personally, you will know if I see a rose I’m going to smell that rose and that day I got to smell a whole lot of roses, it was basically a dream come true. The entire perimeter was surrounded and there was a full walkway surrounded by more. It was simply breathtaking.

That night we met Sarah for dinner at the Vienna Film Festival where we got to try all types of foods. The dessert was my favorite since it was true Austrian. This is called Kaiserschmarrn that was served with an apricot jam. Basically a giant pancake broken up with raisins.

Day 3 we had the same breakfast and headed out right after to Schonbruun Palace to beat the crowds. We took public transportation there and paid admission to one of the gardens since we didn’t feel like sitting through a 2 hour tour of the palace and pay for the full pass. Can you tell we are garden people?

The gardens were stunning! After that we got back on the train and headed to St. Stephen’s Cathedral to look at the architecture. By then we were hangry since we had burned through our carb only breakfast in like 2 hours so we found a street vendor to get a Kasekrainer basically a cheese stuffed hot dog. We were both CRAVING one after Sarah gave us a bite of hers the night before at dinner. It was all levels of good. We each had one. They serve it with a slice of rye bread and mustard.

After that we attempted to shop and find some AC but if you have traveled to Europe you know that air conditioning is not something you come by often. We then walked to the Opra House to take a good look at it and find some coffee and sparkling water.

Dinner was at a super cool biergarten and dessert was eaten after a walk down by the Canal.

This dessert is called Esterhazy-schnitte and our Oma (German for grandma) makes an amazing cookie version of this for christmas. When we were little we had a variety of Austrian cookies and cakes at every family gathering but as we get older we don’t see them that often so having this brought so many memories flooding back into our hearts. My Otta, who has since passed, loved cookies and he loved eating the wafer portions of this off with us. Eating this solidified that fact that I’m going to have to learn how to make everything from my Aunt who was taught from my Oma because she can’t make them forever!

Some other random stuff we had were lots of iced espresso (they don’t have ice coffee in Europe really so we saw a sign that advertised an iced espresso with milk and we sprinted). We also drank wine at some little bars and a cool rooftop bar looking over the entire city! Wine is just 3 Euro a glass- sooo yeah, we had a few glasses.

Just like that Austria was done! I only gave you the main attractions because if I included everything this would take you an hour to read which isn’t my intention. My intention is to show you that traveling brought Kate and I lots of smiles and new experiences.We had never traveled in Europe alone together before. We ate what felt good which meant very little veggies, lots of meat, and more sugar than we were used to be hey, when in Rome! I don’t travel to eat like I do at home because then what the heck is the point of traveling. We saw as much as we could in 3 days and with a teeny budget and made it awesome. It felt awesome to get the opportunity to do that since I’m not sure when the next opportunity to travel to Europe will come again! I might be an RD by that point (EEKKK EXCITING).

We woke up on day 4 and headed to Florence to meet our parents! We also almost got an a train so Switzerland instead of the Vienna airport, so there’s that. Next blog post will be Italy and San Marino!