Douglas and I have been dreaming of going to one of the most fun festivals in the world “Tomorrowland” in Belgium, but we have not been lucky enough to get tickets when they go on sale and typically sell out within seconds… However this year we decided to make our dream come true and get tickets for the German EDM music festival “Parookaville”.

As always, when we go back to my home country, we wanted to also spend some time with my family and friends and planned not only my friend Julia’s bachelorette party, my best friend Stephi’s wedding dress shopping, champagne-brunch with my girls, a day trip to the breathtaking Ahrtal (a romantic little wine country in Germany) but also a weekendtrip to DC on our long trip to “Deutschland” <3

It all started a few months back when we were looking for flights and Douglas had his typical BIG smile (that he always puts on if he is planning to surprise me) and asked me “Mrs. Manning, would you like to fly first class?”… I started laughing and responded (jokingly) “Of course Sir.” not knowing he already booked the tickets. His smile grew even bigger when he was showing me that we would fly the big A380 in first class with British Airways. I stopped breathing for a second and then thought I was dreaming or Douglas was completely insane now… BUT come to find out that we were able to get these tickets with a companion pass & points and less cash than what we would have spent on a regular economy ticket. I was finally calming down, when he was kissing all over my face, handing me a glass of sparkling wine and toasting to our very first (and most likely once-in-a-lifetime) first-class flight! This man is ALWAYS up to something 🙂

Long story short, we finally packed (carry-on only, as always) for our 10 day trip and boarded the plane to DC. We both had never been (outside of work) and were pretty excited to meet our president, well or at least to wave him from outside the White House tourist viewpoint (haha).

We landed, checked into the Hyatt, and then started our walk through the city… Good thing I always wear my most comfortable shoes (haha, let’s say I prefer glitter over comfort!). Poor Douglas always has to deal with my complaints once I feel my first blister on my big feet.

We walked all the way to Union Market where I had spotted a super cute heart wall that I wanted to take pictures of. And the pictures don’t even show how cute this place was!!!

And a few pictures of bees just because we got a little distracted when we saw hundreds of these “hopping” from flower to flower to get the nectar… These food stands are not very unique to DC, but we thought it was worth the shot (we must have been hungry).For the first night we decided to watch the beautiful pastel sunset at the Washington and Lincoln Memorial.And of course a few tripod-selfies <3

9.9miles and 20,962 steps later, we were ready for bed…!!! We finally got to sleep in for the first time in months without any photoshoots, puppy licking through our faces or other appointments. By the time we did finally get out of bed it was almost lunch time, so we decided to (walk some more and) have pizza for breakfast at “&Pizza“.

The rest of the day was filled with more walking, sightseeing, squirrel pictures and more selfies.

And since there was no local brewery anywhere close we decided to have some German-styled beer (and of course pretzel & meatballs) at “Gordon Biersch Brewery“.And of course we could not miss another sunset – this time at the Jefferson memorial.

On our last morning we decided to finally have actual breakfast (the most important meal of the day) in DC. We found the cutest little cafe/bakery and got us some yummy coffee & breakfast sandwiches.And then my dream came true: Douglas bought us tickets for the historical carousel!!! I was sooo excited, as you can probably tell…

Now it was time to head to the airport and enjoy the incredible BA First Class Lounge with a three-course meal paired with sparkling wine, red wine, and more wine of course… (We will write a different blog post separate about our incredible experience flying first class with British Airways!!! But we would like to thank BA here for the BEST flight experience ever!!!)

Let’s say we had a little bit of fun in the first class… LOLWe finally made it to Germany where my mom was expecting us at the airport! We later met my dad and brother for dinner, drinks, lots of talking & laughter at the beach bar in Leverkusen to end a wonderful first night back home.A bachelorette party, brunch with my big-time missed friends and not enough sleep later, it was time to head to our biggest adventure of the trip yet: Parookaville 2017.

Comfort Camping with beds & electricity, penny parties, sunburns, lots & lots of (temporary) tattoos, many earplugs, looping louie, rain & mud parties, unicorn sparkling wines, another wedding vow renewal, amazing dj’s and fun times with our friends made Parookaville a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we will never forget!

After a goodnights sleep and a nice warm shower back at my parents house, we were ready to visit one of the most beautiful parts of Germany: Das Ahrtal. It’s only about an hour away from my parents (and where I used to live) but I have never made it up there until this summer. It has this cute, romantic architecture in the little villages, breathtaking views, hills filled with vineyards, and of course delicious wine! My parents, Douglas and I were literally in paradise…

We also found the cutest little cafe with specialty crepes & waffles (of course we had to try some)!!!

I think we found another place for one of our vow renewals!!! Just so in love with this place <3

And our last stop “Weingut Deutzerhof” for the best sparkling wine that we have ever had yet!!! Unfortunately they don’t ship to the US, so we will have to visit my parents more often to enjoy the bottles of sparkling at their house (haha).

This was a perfect end to an amazing trip!!! I love and miss my family at all times (and always have you all in my heart!!!) <3