USA and Sweden in Portugal!

On By CandeeIn Europe, PortugalLeave a comment

Portugal 2019/Part 2–

I first met Christina and Sussie in Spain in 2013 when we were walking the Camino de Santiago. We stayed in touch via WhatsApp and Facebook, and I visted them in Sweden in 2018. Now were were meeting in Lisbon, Portugal for five days. We picked Lisbon because none of us had been there before. They were staying at the Jupiter Lisboa Hotel on Avenida da Republica, which was only a mile away from my hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Lisbon/Fontana Park on Vieira da Silva.

We were originally scheduled to arrive within about 20 minutes of each other, but their flight was delayed from Sweden, so I headed to my hotel instead of waiting for them at the airport. When they got to their hotel they weren’t able to check into their room yet, so they did the next best thing–they ordered some wine at the hotel bar. I walked from my hotel to theirs, and it was so great to see them again! There were lots of squeals and ‘hellos!‘ Our reunion was so great apparently, that with all the talking and catching up, we didn’t get a picture (bummer!).

The pictures below show some of the things that I saw along the way from my hotel to theirs–

A Really Big Hand!
  • Tile…Tile…
  • Everywhere!
The Sidewalks Were Interesting, Too!

Goodbye Germany–Hello Portugal!

On By CandeeIn Europe, Germany, PortugalLeave a comment

Portugal 2019/Part 1–

After the Englischhausen progam finished on Friday, we boarded a bus and headed back to the main train station in Frankfurt. After saying goodbye to everyone, Judy (a lady I met on the program) and I headed off to get a coffee and a dessert. We weren’t in any rush because we were both leaving in the morning. I was flying to Portugal, and she was catching a train to Berlin.

I enjoyed having the chance to get to know Judy a bit better. She was one of the Anglo’s in the program, and it’s always hard for the Anglo’s to get to know and spend time with each other during the week, because the primary focus is talking to the students who are there to learn English. However, from our brief time at meals and during our free time in the evenings, I could tell that she was a “good egg!” Judy is originally from Australia, but she now lives in New Zealand, so I guess that makes her a Kwaussie! I’ve heard they have great hiking trails there–so it sound like a trip needs to be planned!

Fancy Apfelstrudel ( I can’t believe that I didn’t get a picture of Judy!)

After coffee, I walked back to the train station and I got on a train bound for the airport. My flight was scheduled at 7:10 a.m., so I thought the best plan was to stay at a hotel near the airport. I used my Hilton points and I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. From the hotel, I was able to walk to the airport, which was so convenient and hassle-free.

I ate dinner at my hotel and I ordered Wiener schnitzel (of course!) Is this just for one person?

I booked Economy Plus tickets on Ryan Air for my flight, and thank goodness that I did. It not only provided priority seating, but it also allowed for priority check-in and boarding. It was crowded and chaotic in the other lines, but the flight left on time (yeah!)

After arriving in Lisbon, I picked up my luggage and headed out to the front of the airport. I needed to figure out how to get a taxi without knowing how to speak Portuguese. It ended up being an easy process and I arrived at my hotel before I knew it.

Once again, I was staying at the Hilton and using my points (yeah!) I stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Lisbon–Fontana Park, and I found the interior of the hotel to be dark, depressing, and a bit creepy…but the hotel staff and breakfast were amazing! Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful, and the breakfast buffet is one of the best I’ve ever had.

I want you to see what I mean by dark and a bit creepy–

My room was the last room at the end of this long, dark hallway. It looks strange, right?
  • My room–
  • I liked this part of the bathroom–
  • I had to crawl over the back of the tub to take a shower!
I liked my room–especially when the blinds were wide open!

I actually liked my room, but I hated the bathtub/shower! To get into the shower, I had to crawl over the back end of the tub and then step into the tub. Of course, I had to reverse the process when I finished showering. I’ve never felt overly concerned about slipping and falling in a hotel shower before, but this set-up made me nervous. The back wall of the tub was a window that looked out over the room, so that was kind of cool! All-in-all, the hotel worked out well (other than the long dark hallways and the weird tub), and my hotel was only about a mile from Christina and Sussie’s hotel.

I’m looking forward to seeing Portugal (and them)!

Englischhausen

On By CandeeIn Europe, GermanyLeave a comment

Part 1

I volunteer for a program called, Englischhausen in Germany. Including this session, I’ve done the program three times in Laubach and one time in southern Germany. I’ve also participated in their sister program, Pueblo Ingles, which is held in Spain.

So—What’s Englischhausen?

Englischhausen is an English immersion program that’s located at various venues across Germany. The program gives participants the opportunity to converse with native English speakers for 70 hours—yes, 70 hours of conversational English over the course of six days!

How Does the Program Work?

There are three rules at Englischhausen—

1. English Only! From the moment that the students arrive until they leave, it’s an English only environment. Even the waitstaff speaks English. We talk, talk, and talk some more!

2. Be on Time! This just helps everything run smoothly.

Group Activities—more talking!

We had just completed the Marshmallow Challenge when the picture above was taken. My team didn’t win, but we sure laughed a lot! Our group included people from Lebanon, New Zealand, Spain, The United States, and Germany.

3. Have Fun! For me, as a volunteer, I feel like I’m attending summer camp for adults. It’s so rewarding to help the participants improve their English, and all of the elements of the program are really enjoyable. In addition to the scheduled 1-to-1 and 2-to-2 chats, there are plenty of opportunities for students to practice their conversational English skills through group activities, meals, presentations, theater (my favorite part), a walking field trip, and a last night party.

Even more talking!

If you’re looking for a volunteer opportunity, or for the chance to improve your English, check out their website: https://www.diverbo.com

The session that I just participated in was held at the Landhotel Waldhaus, which is a lovely hotel nestled in the woods, a short distance outside the city of Laubach. As you can tell from the pictures below, the hotel looks like it was taken straight from the pages of a German fairytale.

Anne & Sarah—Volunteers from the United States and Canada

Englischhausen—Walking Field Trip

On By CandeeIn Europe, GermanyLeave a comment

One of the activities that I always look forward to when I volunteer for Englischhausen is the walking field trip into the town of Laubach. It takes about 15-20 minutes for the group to walk from our hotel to the center of town. Once there, we were given a tour by a local man who has had family living in the Laubach area for over 500 years. With a bit of pride in his voice, he also told us that Laubach is three times older than the United States.

In medieval times poor, sick, and elderly people who could no longer care for themselves could live in this building—an early form of welfare.
  • Listening & learning…
  • Solms Library…
  • Solms Castle–Laubach, Germany

The Solms library holds over 100,000 books and once was the home of one of the original Gutenberg Bibles (gray building pictured above). The bible was sold and is now housed in Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. The profits from the sale were used to replace the roof tiles of the royal buildings.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church (pictured below) dates back to the 12th century.

I love the candy-striped decor of the church–it’s so beautiful and unique!
These houses are located near the front entry of the church–you can’t really tell from this picture, but they are quite narrow.
The Englischhausen Crew–August 2019

It Feels Good to be Back!

On By CandeeIn Europe, Germany, LodgingLeave a comment

My flight from Washington D.C. to Frankfurt was uneventful (which in the world of travel is a good thing!), and I arrived slightly after noon. After getting my suitcase, I easily found the train platforms, and I even managed to buy the right ticket by myself. I say it this way, because in the past, I’ve always had to ask for help. And here’s the funny part—the machine has an ‘English option,’ but even so, I fumble around and made mistakes.

I’m participating in a English course this week and the meet-up for the program is tomorrow at noon at the main train station in Frankfurt. This will be my third time doing the program in Frankfurt, so as soon as I arrived at the main station it felt comfortable and familiar. I even knew exactly where to buy a pretzel!?

One of the benefits of my job is that I get to accumulate (and use) my hotel and airline points. I used my United points to fly to Germany, and I stayed at the Hilton, which is very close to the train station. My room had a great view of the city!

City Folks Just Don’t Get It!

On By CandeeIn Stories from the RoadLeave a comment

Yesterday, I arrived early to the airport for my flight to Frankfurt, Germany. When I got to my gate, I noticed that the only place to charge my phone was at a free-standing podium that didn’t have any seating near it.  I plugged my phone into one of the few remaining available outlets, and sat down next to a woman who was sitting on the floor, surrounded by her luggage, and tethered to the podium by her phone cord.

As you might imagine, we began to chat. I found out that, like me, she was a teacher. She also told me that she was returning from Munich, but because of delays, she had missed her connecting flight to the west coast. She had already been waiting for a long time, and she seemed to enjoy the company. 

Before long, we started swapping travel stories, and we ended up laughing and carrying on like we had known each other for ages. She told me a particularly funny story about a bathroom emergency that she had experienced in Thailand. I know that on the surface, a story about about a bathroom emergency doesn’t sound entertaining, but it was!

At one point, she mentioned that her fiancé was going to pick her up from the airport, so I asked the typical questions: How long have you been engaged? When are you getting married?

I finally asked, “How did you meet each other?”

A funny look crossed her face before she replied, “We met on an online dating site called, Farmers Only.”

Before I could respond, she said, “I’m not a farmer.”

“Is he?”

She shook her head from side-to-side and we both laughed. 

“So you joined because you’re attracted to farmers and wanted to meet one?”

“Yes, something like that.” She laughed again. “It’s for country people, too. Sometimes it’s hard to meet someone when you live in a rural area. Before I met my fiancé, I dated a farmer who I had met on the site, but he was shorter and skinner than me…so that was a real turn off!”

Once again, we were laughing!

Later, I looked up the ‘Farmers Only’ site, and their tagline is—City Folks Just Don’t Get It!

Book #21-Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen

On By CandeeIn Books That I’ve ReadLeave a comment

Ummm….no. I do not recommend this book. It’s rare for me to not like a book, but the author seemed to be suffering from a mid-life crisis as she was writing the book, and we had to suffer along with her. Here’s the gist of her story: She falls in love with the Greek language and she gets her employer, The New Yorker to pay for her to take Greek lessons. As she learns the language, she visits Greece and the Greek Islands several times over the course of many years.

She’s obsessed with Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love, but yet she ping-pongs back-and-forth between telling the reader that she isn’t interested in men, and then bragging about all of the men that had tried to lure her into bed during her travels. At one point, she tells us that she has penis envy, that she doesn’t have penis envy, and then during a break-through session with her therapist, she discovers that she most definitely does suffer from penis envy. She seems uncomfortable with her own body, but then swims naked in the sea–twice.

The book is a complete hodge-podge. It’s almost as if she opened her travel diary and copied every other sentence. The random ideas are stitched together with tales of Greek Gods, a sprinkling of a few Greek words for good measure, and a of course, her fascination with her sexuality.

There were a few bright moments, but overall—UGH!

Who Dat’s Cajun Restaurant— Bald Knob, Arkansas

On By CandeeIn Arkansas, Food, United States, Work TripsLeave a comment

During class on Friday one of my participants told me that there was a local restaurant that I “HAD” to try before leaving the area. I wasn’t flying out until the morning, so I took his recommendation and went to ‘Who Dat’s’ in the nearby town of Bald Knob.

The restaurant was decorated with a wide variety of taxidermy (an Elk was staring down at me) and an assortment of funny signs and pictures—think southern kitsch, and you’ll probably be able to conjure up an accurate image.

To better understand the restaurant and the food it serves, a quote on the menu reads, “All of our recipes are created by a “Real” Cajun Chef. You don’t have to go to Louisiana to get the real deal.” Doug Stelly, the owner and chef, hails from Louisiana. He’s self-taught and has over fifty years of cooking experience.

The menu was huge with many offerings, but I opted for the ‘Bayou Platter’ which included a bit of a everything—gumbo, crawfish étouffée, fried catfish, fried shrimp, frog legs, boiled shrimp, stuffed mushrooms, snow crab legs, AND hush puppies. Even for a Northern girl like me—you ‘gotta’ have hush puppies!

I opted for this platter because of the frog’s legs and the crawfish étouffée. I tried frog leg’s years ago and I wanted to try them again, but I’d never had étouffée, even though I have heard of it.

  • I brought home Cajun Spice for Tyler
  • Yup–that’s a frog leg!

When my meal was brought to the table, I looked at it in stunned silence. There was enough food on the plate for three people! The woman at the next table laughed and said, “It looks good!”

I agreed, “Yes—it does, but I don’t even know where to start!

My meal was excellent and I especially enjoyed the frog’s legs and the hush puppies.

Would I go back? Absolutely!

Surprise—surprise…I couldn’t finish!

Chicken and Dressing

On By CandeeIn Arkansas, Food, North America, Stories from the Road, United States, Work TripsLeave a comment


As a northern girl, one of the traits that I’ve found most delightful when I’ve travel in the the south is the concept of southern hospitality. 

I trained in Searcy, Arkansas this week, and the participants went out of their way to make sure that I felt welcomed. Several of them gave me ideas for things to do or see after work, and many wrote down local restaurants for me to try. All-in-all, they made an effort to make sure that I was okay, and feeling comfortable while visiting their town. 

I’ve had people do similar things for me at other trainings, so I can only describe this as a different feeling. There was an overall feeling of hospitality, rather than hospitality from one or two individuals. 

About mid-week, one of my participants asked me if I knew what dressing was, and if I’d ever had it before.

“You mean stuffing?”

She gave me a ‘bless your heart look,’ and replied in a heavy southern accent, that I swear appeared out of nowhere, “Southern dressing is similar, but it’s not the same thing as stuffing.”

“Oh,” 

“A few of us are going to order take-out for lunch tomorrow, would you like to try it? You really should—it’s good.”

Never one to turn down the opportunity to try something new, I accepted her offer of chicken and dressing with a side of beans and cornbread.

The next day, four of us sat down to eat lunch together.  I looked down at my plate and I saw a big scoop of what looked like stuffing. However, I learned yesterday, that here, at least, it’s called dressing. 

I could have sworn that she has called it chicken and dressing, but I certainly didn’t see any chicken on my plate. 

“Did you say that this was called chicken and dressing?”

“Yes, that’s what we call it,” she said looking over at me with a slight grin.

“Where’s the chicken?”

The ‘bless your heart,’ look washed over her face(again) as she explained, “The chicken is IN the dressing.”

“Oh.”

I enjoyed my meal, but I do have to say that it tasted just like stuffing with chicken in it! Shhh—don’t tell! ?