Vacation Motivation

I had mentioned earlier that my trip was inspirational. The original plan for this post was to give y'all a blow by blow, but the more and more I recapped I realized my favorite moments were pretty much "had to be there." Let me instead explain the nature of my trip to Munich, Oberammergau, Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague.

This family vacation (starring my entire family including significant others) was a 10 day long Catholic Pilgrimage to holy places around Eastern Europe. My parents love to travel around the world to see sacred sites where miraculous things happened according to their faith. I was raised Catholic, but my partner wasn't so we were a little nervous going into the trip. However, going to church for the first time in a grandiose and famous cathedral in Germany has to be more interesting than anything else. The cathedrals and architecture we saw were pretty much what any regular tourist would see, only our group got to see extra chapels behind the scenes with beautiful murals and statues. This was my second time seeing these cities but I think I was able to learn and absorb more this time around. The days consisted of visiting church, celebrating mass, then loads of eating and SHOPPING.

I found it amazing/necessary that many of the places we went to were located approximately 4 blocks from a Louis Vuitton. Our tour bus was not allowed in many of the narrow streets, so walking was mandatory. There was a lot of cardio to even out all the bratwurst and the rest of the local food that got to be way too rich for me. Imagine everything fried and/or drenched in tons of butter and oil - sounds amazing, but it gets old fast. Going to any country with a long, rich history is so visually stimulating. The architecture and cobblestone really add to the experience for Americans (or me anyway) since we don't see classic design as much here. Travel is the best reset button when you are in any sort of slump. Check out some of the pictures from my trip.



1.Beautiful gardens in Salzburg 2.Private chapel in Melk Abbey 3.A mummy 4.A stray cat 5.Try picking this ancient lock/ 6.Modern art meets religious artifacts (a common theme in these parts) 7.The most beautiful library EVER that holds one of Eastern Europe's oldest texts - Beauty and the Beast status 8.A view of the house tops of Salzburg 9.Sweet statues 10.Market finds at the Getreidergasse 11.Red door realness 12.Alphonse Mucha's stained glass window at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague 13.The Astronomical Clock

See the rest here.

- jerome