Pretending like our honeymoon wasn't over.

When we woke up on our final morning in Europe, I felt a sense of dread...and not just because of the seven-hour flight ahead of us. Our honeymoon was finally coming to a close. The months of planning and anticipation were finally over. Just like our wedding, it was over before it even felt like it started.

But we weren't going to let that fact (or jet lag) bring us down and we spent our final day on vacation crossing another major item off my bucket list on...

Day 12

Boston, Massachusetts

7,516 steps

Highlights: Fenway Park

After another hearty European hotel breakfast, we packed our bags and Wheat pushed me all the way to the Cologne-Bonn airport. Our flight, which was on EuroWings (a subsidiary of Lufthansa), left in the afternoon, so we weren't able to fall asleep at all. Instead, we paid for the unlimited media pass and filled the entire time watching movies on the seatback screens in front of us. How to Be Single, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Burnt later, we arrived in Boston.

Take notes, American hotel breakfasts.

We took the shuttle to our hotel (the same one as our first stay), left our bags, and promptly bought tickets for the Red Sox vs. Rangers game that night. We'll sleep when we die, I guess. Taking an Uber to the game was probably the biggest mistake of our honeymoon. Not only was the traffic horrible, but we also weren't convinced that our driver had an actual driver's license. Nevertheless, we white-knuckled our way to Fenway without incident.

It didn't take long for me to see why everyone feels they must visit Fenway. The atmosphere was electric, the park was packed to the brim, and I kept having flashbacks to The Town every time I went around a corner. We sat in the outfield, which was nice once the sun went down a bit, and I spent the next couple hours snapping countless pictures of the park and the Green Monster. We ate a proper ballpark dinner, finished it off with ice cream, and made friends with the Boston residents next to us. Wheat, of course, made himself Boston's most-hated man and watched the entire Orioles game on his phone.

By happy accident, we attended a pretty great game for Red Sox fans. In the final year of his career, Big Papi David Ortiz hit his 20th home run of the season, which landed right next to us in the stands. It was his second-longest blast of the season. Dude is strong. The Rangers forgot they were playing a baseball game and made three awful errors in the second inning and things got out of hand really quickly. The Red Sox won, 11-6, and I left with all the baseball, sticky summer night, heart-eye emoji feels I could stand.

I honestly cannot think of a better way to welcome someone back to America than a good, old-fashioned baseball rout. Can you? I'll be back soon, Boston. Promise.

Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland!

At this point in our honeymoon, we'd worn all of our clothes at least once, our feet were tired, and I was going through severe Chipotle and Dr. Pepper withdrawal. We were also dreading our flight home and the eventual return to reality. So, in an effort to ignore the fact that our dream trip was quickly coming to a close, we pretended we were professional tourists and dove right in to...

Day 11

 Munich and Cologne, Germany

12,857 steps

Highlights: Nymphenburg Palace, Cologne Cathedral

While researching for our trip, we realized that flying out of Cologne would be much cheaper than flying out of Munich, so we arranged for a train ride to Cologne on the night before our flight back to the States. This was all well and good, but that meant a super short last afternoon in Munich, which we didn't anticipate would be as big a bummer as it was.

Originally, I wanted to take a trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, but that was a two-hour drive from Munich one-way, so that plan was quickly scrapped. Instead, we decided to spend our last afternoon exploring the gorgeous, opulent Nymphenburg Palace, the summer residence of the royal Wittelsbach family. It felt like an appropriate alternative because King Ludwig II, who built Neuschwanstein, was actually born in Nymphenburg Palace.

We kicked off our day with a huge breakfast at the hotel, then left our luggage at the front desk before heading to the palace, which is easily accessible by bus. It was hard to tell how massive the palace was from the main road, but as we walked closer, we began to realize how impressive the building(s) was. The lawn and gardens were meticulously manicured and gorgeous, while the ponds and lakes on the property (complete with countless swans, geese, enormous fish, and even gondolas) were breathtaking.

Our trusty Rick Steves guidebook included a section solely on the palace, so we paid for admission and slowly meandered through the rooms open to the public. Fun note: Descendants of the royal family still live in parts of the palace! The main room, with a painted ceiling that belongs in a museum and chandeliers that would make Sia jealous, was staggering. We spent the majority of our visit in that room, trying to imagine what life must have been like for the royals with so many visitors and lavish parties. We saw the room where Ludwig II was born, Ludwig I's "hall of beauties," and several other impressive spaces before venturing outside.

As part of our admission ticket, we were also able to explore the royal family's mind-boggling carriage collection, which is housed in the southern wing of the palace. Seriously, the decadence in the carriages, sleighs, coaches, and even hearses was astounding. The carriage house (or Marstallmuseum) also included a taxidermy horse, who was one of King Ludwig II's personal favorites. From there, we wandered through the beautiful forested area behind the palace to Amalienburg, the royal family's pink hunting lodge. Again, it was stunning to see the opulence and detail that was used to decorate the building. Between one room decorated in only mirrors and another designated for hunting dogs (with individual houses for them), it was clear to see the family spared no expense when it came to their hobbies.

Hunting dog cubbies - so cute.

At this point, we were running out of time at the palace, so we soaked in our final gorgeous views of the gardens in the back. The grounds of the palace are free for anyone to explore, so I daydreamed about returning one day with a picnic lunch and a blanket. Instagram heaven.

We wanted a quick lunch before hopping on our train to Cologne, so we stopped at a small beer garden across from the palace. I finally ordered a proper wiener schnitzel and, though service was a bit slow, it was the perfect (delicious) way to cap our time in Munich. German food is no joke.

With full bellies, we hurried back to our hotel, picked up our luggage, rushed to the train station, and boarded our nearly five-hour train to Cologne. The ride was actually quite pleasant and provided some gorgeous views of the German countryside. We also had the foresight to download Sisters ahead of time, so we spent a couple of those hours laughing at Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

When we arrived in Cologne, we were immediately greeted by the city's crown jewel - the beautiful cathedral situated right next to the train station. With promises to check it out later, we walked to our hotel for the night, Hotel Cristall. The room, which was definitely the most spacious of our entire trip, came with more gummy bear treats on the pillows and a hilarious Eastern European vibe complete with bizarre decor, a painting of a creepy man in the middle of the room, and bright green lights in the bathroom.

Russian bathroom rave, anyone?

We found dinner at a local Turkish place, then spent the next hour exploring the gorgeous exterior of the cathedral. Like everything else in Germany, it was also under construction, but we were still enthralled by the gothic architecture and dark color. Much of the building was destroyed when Cologne was bombed during World War II, but the twin spires never fell, possibly because they were used as a visual reference by pilots during attacks. Unfortunately, we were not allowed inside, but we did hear beautiful organ music emanating from behind the closed door. On our way back to the hotel, we also spotted the store that gave cologne (as in the fragrance) its name. The first cologne, 4711, was invented in and named after the city in the early 18th century.

I wish we'd had a little more time to explore Cologne, but hey - I'm always looking for reasons to go back.

More huge pretzels, please.

By my count, I've now been out of the country on the Fourth of July four different times. It's a bit of a bummer, as I've only been able to celebrate the holiday American-style on one of those trips (a bar in Panama had a grill-out with hamburgers, hot dogs, and an impressive firework display on the beach). But, if I have the choice between fireworks in America or international adventure, I know what I'm choosing every time. Don't worry - Wheat and I made sure to wear patriotic socks on...

Day 10

Munich, Germany

24,504 steps

Highlights: Marienplatz, Englischer Garten, Olympiapark

We knew we had limited time in Munich, so we wanted to take advantage of our only full day in the city. After a big breakfast at the hotel, we set out with our Rick Steves guidebook in-hand. Our first stop was the Marienplatz, so we could watch the famous glockenspiel do its "show." A few times each day, little figurines emerge from the new city hall tower as the clock chimes and re-enact important scenes from Bavarian history (ex. a wedding, jousting) while tourists pack the square below with cameras at the ready. We stood there for fifteen minutes with our necks craned to watch the characters spin around and I have to admit - it was super overrated. I mean, it was cute in a quaint way, but when it finished, I could sense that the overall sentiment in the square was, "That's it?"

From there, we basically went on a half-day blitz through every church in the city, each with its own unique characteristics. The first stop was St. Peter's, but a service was being held inside, so we quickly moved on to the next stop on the tour: Viktualienmarkt. This market, complete with an impressive maypole in the center, was a European afternoon dream. Locals rushed around, gathering their fresh fruits, verdant veggies, and meat for dinner, and I soaked in the scene wondering what a treat it would be to live within walking distance from such a spot.

Once we'd had our visual fill of the market, we continued along our tour and found ourselves at Asam Church, an impossibly opulent baroque church built in the 18th century. The church, which is very small and extremely narrow, is filled to the brim with frills, paintings, and decorations. I think we could have spent an hour admiring the space from the gated entryway.

Next, our church-exploring extravaganza took us to St. Michael's Church, which boasts yet another stunning interior. This church also features its own crypt (no photos allowed) where several notable members of the royal Wittelsbach family are entombed, including the Mad King Ludwig II (who built the famous Neuschwanstein Castle). Interestingly enough, people still regularly lay flowers at his tomb, despite the fact that he was largely misunderstood during his time.

With its recognizable twin onion dome towers, the last church on our tour, Frauenkirche, is probably the most famous. Like many other buildings we encountered in Germany, the exterior was under construction, but we spent quite a while roaming around the inside of the church. We saw the "Devil's Footprint" in the entryway, gorgeous stained glass windows that were carefully removed and protected by locals during the bombings of WWII, and yet another crypt filled with the tombs of more Wittelsbach family members and other notable Bavarian figures. Other highlights of Frauenkirche include a tomb monument for Louis IV, who served as Holy Roman Emperor, and a plaque commemorating Pope Benedict, who is from nearby Marktl.

From here, we continued on our Rick Steves tour, stopping to see the bizarre Michael Jackson Memorial (also under construction) and eat ice cream outside of the Hofbrauhaus. We read about the rich history of Max-Joseph-Platz, the Residenz (the former residence of the Bavarian royal family), and Odeonsplatz before moving on to Englischer Garten. Interesting story: While Hitler was in power, he required everyone passing by the Odeonsplatz to salute (heil) in honor of his comrades who died during the Beer Hall Putsch, his failed coup attempt years earlier. Those that refused to salute Hitler and the Nazi regime found another way through the area, down a nearby alley, and the path they took is now paved in gold to honor their bravery and resistance.

Englisher Garten was probably my favorite stop of the day. With the exception of the nude old men sunbathing (yikes), I was absolutely enthralled by this gorgeous park and could have easily spent hours meandering around it. Since we were limited on time, we sought out the crazy river surfers who practice daily on the wave created in the Eisbach River. It was amazing to watch them step onto their boards, surf for a bit, then wipe out and resurface further down the river. We even saw a couple of the surfers ride the wave across to the other side just to relay a message to their friends.

At this point, we were getting hungry and tired (hanger is a real thing), so we hired a pedicab driver to take us to the famous Chinese Tower and beer garden in the park. Wheat convinced me to try currywurst, a sliced pork sausage covered in curry ketchup, for lunch and it was honestly one of the best meals I had on our entire trip. The picture of my lunch almost causes me physical pain because I want it so badly. We rested our feet, filled our stomachs, and people-watched before setting off for Olympiapark.

Olympiapark, the Olympic Park constructed for the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, is easily reachable via subway, so being the sports nerds we are, we decided to spend our early evening checking it out. From the observation deck of the Olympic Tower (which is a staggering 956 feet tall), we could see most of Munich, including the nearby BMW plant, the Olympic village where the tragic hostage situation took place in 1972, and even Frauenkirche in the distance. The top of the tower is also home to a random rock 'n roll museum, so we spent several minutes laughing at perusing that. We also made sure to stop by the memorial for the Israeli athletes that were killed during the Munich Games, the swim hall (where Mark Spitz won his seven gold medals), and the massive Olympic Stadium.

Spitz is no Phelps, but I was still pretty excited.

Olympic Village

Can you faintly see Frauenkirche in the center-left distance?

For dinner, we decided to try another famous beer garden, Augustiner-Keller. In contrast to the Hofbrauhaus, this one felt less hokey with slightly less overt tourist appeal and more locals sitting at the communal tables and enjoying massive steins of beer. After picking up our food from the line, we found a spot under the canopy of massive chestnut trees and enjoyed the sticky, summer heat and German music being played by a nearby band. Also, have you ever seen a pretzel larger than your head? My carb-loving soul was in heaven.