Touring Baltimore

Baltimore

It was time to move to the next stage of our trip - a few days in Baltimore to celebrate Tuugi and Puje's wedding, two dear friends that I met last year in Mongolia.

We had been especially looking forward to this part of our trip, catching up with old friends, and being part of a very special occaision!

After grabbing a few Rueben sandwiches from Murray's and a second breakfast at a nearby french cafe, Le Grainne Cafe, we caught the bus down to Baltimore (Thurs, 8 Aug), and found our way to Rose and Brian's beautiful farmstyle house (another great find on Airbnb). 

Somehow we stubbled on a local eating institution, the Papermoon Diner, which was both over the top, weird and wonderful all at the same time. I felt like we'd ended up on Toy Story!

Papermoon Cafe, Baltimore

On Friday, 9 Aug, after a short run to wake us up, we met up with Tuugi and Puje for a tour of Baltimore. We piled into their car along with Solongo and her mother and a mixture of English and Mongolian flooded the space with excited chatter - there was so much to catch up on, and it was great to see all our friends again. I had missed hearing spoken Mongolian, and was instantly transported back to last year, and our car trips together on our way to hiking on the weekends.

Tuugi and Puje took us to all the local hotspots. Federal Hill overlooking the harbour,  Fort McHenry where the battle over Baltimore inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, the city's Basilica (the first cathedral in America). We checked out the global headquarters of Under Armour and caught the commuter ferry across to Fell's point for a delicious bakery lunch. Everything was amazingly seamless...we'd get dropped off in one location, walk to the next with Tuugi telling us all about the history and interesting detail, and amazingly Puje would appear at the end with the cars ready to go. What a team!

The Baltimore Basilica

We ended the day with a pre-wedding group dinner, at the Olive Garden American-Italian restaurant in Columbia, where we met many of the other guests who had travelled to the wedding. So much fun to meet Tuugi and Puje's friends and family, who are all so engaging and interesting to speak with. It felt very special to be part of this Mongolian community that had gathered in Baltimore.