A weekend in Chicago

Before we left for Europe, I was navigating airfares as usual (can't stop! won't stop!) and I found some killer fares to Chicago. I jumped on them since I've been aching to visit my BFF Emily for a while and we hadn't gone back since February 2013. This is our last hurrah together for a while, as Alex starts school soon (eek!), but I might have a solo trip or two up my sleeve. We'll see if things pan out. ANYWAYS, the fall season (my favorite time of the year!) is in full swing here in ATL and of course, in Chicago. We took advantage of the lovely weather in the windy city to walk around, eat everything in sight and go apple picking in the 'burbs. We've already been there before so we didn't do any touristy things this time around. It was the best weekend. Coming up next, more Amsterdam and Iceland posts with a few pie-related things in between!

Awesome decor at Beercade — loved this Charlie's Angels wall over one of the bars.

DO //

• All Seasons Orchards for apple picking, pumpkin patch and apple cider donuts
• Beercade  for free pinball games, good selection of beer and some badass decor

EAT //

• Yolk for brunch
• Four Belly for Asian fusion food and delicious ramen
• Kuma's Corner (W Belmont Ave) for metal music and giant burgers
• Giordano's for deep dish pizza and chill atmosphere
• Bang Bang Pie Shop for a slice of pie with a cup of joe

DRINK //

• Hopleaf Bar (awesome beer selection, try the beer mussels!)

These pictures were taken in October 2014

A beer tour in Amsterdam

Oh Amsterdam, how I loved you. After a series of hilarious unfortunate events, like almost taking the wrong train into the city centre, losing my 72-hour tram pass 2 hours after I bought it and our tram taking forever to arrive no matter where we were, we actually got settled into our Airbnb. For a minute. We promptly ran out the door as our beer tour was starting soon. We booked our beer tour with Urban Adventures, which promised to be a small group walking tour with lots of beer history. We thought it would be the perfect way to beat the jet lag and get a quick glimpse of the city on our first day. When we arrived to the meeting place, the tour had already left! All because of our tram being late (again!). I quickly turned on my roaming (ARGH) and called our tour guide, Sean. He was really understanding and told us that they were only a few blocks away. He met us on the sidewalk in front of the pub after giving us directions. PHEW.

Sean was super knowledgeable about the local beer scene, something that made Alex very happy. The beer scene in the city is often overlooked since it has to compete with big companies like Heineken. There are some great places around to drink good craft brews that won't break the bank. We have a pretty exciting beer scene in Atlanta right now with microbreweries popping up everywhere. We have a couple within walking distance of our home! So, we are always looking into new beers and breweries. [If you're interested, our pal Drew has blog where he reviews beers brewed in Atlanta and elsewhere. It's really great.]

Our group consisted of an older couple from Australia and one man traveling on its own. It was a fun group despite the age differences. As previously stated on their site, this is definitely not a bar hop, but you do drink a lot. The tour includes a full pint of beer, of your choice, at each bar. We stopped at three bars and at the last one, we were offered a plate of meat and cheeses. We made the rookie mistake of not eating beforehand, that was fun!

Our first stop was Cafe Belgique. It's the cutest bar. It's a small pub, one of the smallest in Amsterdam actually! They have 8 beers on draft, mostly from Belgium. The decor is a bit quirky, yet stylized. Alex and I got a glass of La Chouffe and it was awesome. So crisp and smooth. Luckily, we can find it in the States!

The next place we stopped by was a brew pub called Bierfabriek, where their specialty is chicken. They also serve other tapas and vegetarian options. The place was set up family style with giant wooden tables and benches. We sat up at the bar and everyone ate peanuts while we waited.

We ended our tour around 10 p.m. when the rest of the folks left. At this point, Sean took us to one last bar before he left for the night. We really enjoyed talking to him about his adventures in Colorado, Atlanta and everything in between. It didn't feel touristy at all being on this tour, which I appreciated immensely. I feel like it's a good way to experience the local scene while sharing some stories and getting to know people over brews.

And of course, we ended our first night with a waffle covered with dulce de leche. So good! Thanks Urban Adventures for the fantastic tour!

Have you ever done a beer tour abroad?

These pictures were taken in August 2014.

Japan's Arashiyama, Pt. 2

We just came back from Iceland and Amsterdam so I will doing a few posts about it in the coming weeks. Well, whenever I finish unpacking and uploading my photos. But, as promised, part deux of our day in Arashiyama. You can find part one of our day here.

After we visited the monkeys at the park, we wandered into town to see the rest of the temples and the famous bamboo forest. But first, we had to stop for some sticky buns.

We walked into the grounds of Tenryuji Temple, but most of the temple was under construction. This is the only photo I was able to take, sadly. It looks so majestic from the outside, so make sure to stop by. It's one of Kyoto's five great zen temples and the largest one in Arashiyama.

After we left the temple a bit disappointed, we tried to figure out how to get to the bamboo forest. The city is easily walkable (and if you want, easy to ride your bike rental around) but for some unknown reason, we had such a hard time finding the bamboo forest. It's almost like we were walking around it forever, but never quite finding it. There weren't any signs pointing toward it and the map we had kept stirring us the wrong way. But after 45 minutes of aimlessly walking around, we finally found it! And of course, as usual, it was right under our noses.

Let's just say it was worth it, as the forest is unlike anything we've seen before. What really stuck with me though was the soft noise of the bamboo moving back and forth, rubbing against its next door neighbor, ever so gently. It was such a peaceful sound. I almost forgot that I was surrounded by rowdy tourists and random kids running around.

After walking along the bamboo forest path for a while, we headed back to the bus stop to grab a bus to the Golden Pavilion. The buses in this area come often and are easy to ride. The drivers were super helpful when it came to transfers and figuring out what bus to get on. As soon as we jumped on the bus though, it started raining. We got soaked as we entered the temple grounds, but luckily we had our ponchos with us. The Golden Pavilion or Kinkaku-ji Temple is a replica of the original temple that, you guessed it, burned down in 1950. After surviving a war where all of the buildings but the Pavilion were burned down, a monk with alleged schizophrenia burned it down and was later caught and imprisoned. The gold leaf exterior has a special purpose as it repels negative thoughts and feelings toward death. You can't go inside, but you can walk around the gorgeous gardens after catching a glimpse of the gold temple.

And that was it for our day trip to Arashiyama. It was one of my favorite stops of our trip. I may or may not have to do with the monkeys :).

In case you missed it, here's part 1 of our day in Arashiyama. These pictures were taken on October 2013.

Japan's Arashiyama, Pt. 1

Long time, no see! Summer has been hectic around these parts, between work, freelance and preparing for our next adventure. But I'm back for one (or maybe two!) more posts before we head to Europe. So here we are, back to Japan! Using Kyoto as a home base, we traveled to nearby cities for day trips. Arashiyama is on the western suburbs of Kyoto, and once on the JR Sagano Line, it takes about 20 minutes to get there. The small city is famous for its bamboo forest, several large temples and MACAQUE MONKEYS (!!). The town has so much charm and we enjoyed walking from the train station to the main part of town, about 10 minutes. The area is perfect for riding bikes, sadly most shops were closed while we were there.

Our first stop, of course, was the Iwatayama Monkey Park. This post is mostly about those furry little dudes so you've been warned! They were number one on my list of things to see.

After being traumatized by the Inari Shrine climb (we had no idea we were basically hiking up a mountain!), we saw the map of the Monkey Park and freaked out. But it ended up being an easy climb.  It was an overcast, but warm day. Over 170 monkeys live in this park. We had a good chuckle when we realized that they put the humans in a cage in order to feed the monkeys. As it should be, probably. There's a small fee for the park that you pay at the entrance.

As we approached the summit, these little dudes were watching us from nearby branches. They roam wild, but are accustomed to humans and interacting with them. They are friendly, but many of the signs warned against looking at them directly in the eye.

We went inside the summit to feed the monkeys. It only costs about 100 yen for a bag of food. We bought three and the monkeys were so glad. They were so funny and curious. Tiny monkey spam!

The view from the mountain is breathtaking! You can see the whole town from above. I could not stop laughing at how silly these monkeys were. They really did not care that we were there.

On our way down the mountain, we found this abandoned playground. Of course we had to get on this awesome slide!

I'm glad we made the monkey park our first stop that day. We were able to explore and watch them do silly things without rushing. Part 2 of our Arashiyama day coming up!

These pictures were taken on October 2013.