London at Christmastime

 

London is such an amazing city.  There is so much to see and do- you can’t do it all in one trip.  We saw so much- but there was still so much to see!  I was exciting about this trip as soon as I opened the travel books.  London lived up to my expectations. 

We stayed at an apartment right outside of the city, and that in itself was a great experience.  It was nice to have bedrooms for everyone, a living area to wind down at the end of the day, a kitchen with everything you need to prepare food.  The building was close to a café, restaurant, grocery store, and train station.  It had everything we needed.  For more information about the apartment, click here.

I should start by telling you that we left for London the day that Byron and Patti flew in.  Ben picked them up in Frankfurt and they came to the house, unloaded, reloaded, and then we all drove to Luxembourg City, where we slew out of.  With so much to see in such a short time, there is no time for rest!  We drug them all over, and they were such troopers!

Day 1- We started at Westminster Bridge, with tours of Parliament and Big Ben.  Of course I had to snap a picture of Ben in front of Big Ben.  The girls thought it was great!  Did you know that Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside the tower?  We stopped midway across the bride to take in the London Eye, The City, and the Thames.  We walked to Parliament square, past West Minster Abbey, passing along the Ministry of Defense and #10 Downing Street (home and office of the Prime Minister).  We then stopped to pet the horses at Horse Guard Parade.  Next, we spent several hours wandering the Churchill War Rooms.  The museum includes a tour of several underground rooms which housed the British command center during War World II and also a room focusing on the life of Winston Churchill.  If visiting London, I would highly recommend this museum.   Next, we found ourselves in front of the huge Christmas tree in the middle of Trafalgar Square.  This little walk was a great intro to the city.  We ended teh day at the Londin Christmas Market, right under the eye.  We walked through the booths, drank gluhwein to keep warm, the girls found a carousal to ride, and ate a delicious cinnamon roll. 

Day 2- We began the day at the Tower of London, anxious to see the crown jewels.  Then, we walked around a little bit before heading to Westminster Abbey.  We wanted to be sure to get there before closing, since yesterday we missed going in.  While in Westminster Abbey we listened to an audio guide.  It was very neat to hear what all events took place there.  Then, we did a walk that started at St. Paul's Cathedral (wouldn't ya know we arrived just after they closed early for the day?).  This walk took us through The City.  Beginning at the cathedral, we walked to St. Bride's Church (it's layered steeple supposedly inspired the wedding cake), past Dr. Samuel Johnson's house ( he authored the first English dictionary there) and down a busy boulevard to Twinning's Tea Shop where we bought some consumable souvenirs.  While these things don't make the "must-see" list, we enjoyed a nice walk and some great coffee among the hustle and bustle of the city.

Day 3- Up and going a little earlier this day, we had an important agenda.  We marched over to Buckingham Palace to see the guards.  It was the coldest day yet, and the blowing wind chilled our noses and cheeks as we watched the ceremony take place.  Afterwards, we traveled back to St. Paul's to see the interior.    By now, Ben and I have seen A LOT of A cathedrals throughout Europe.  We are about to the point of saying, "If you've seen one, you've seen them all."  With that being said, this is one that should not be missed.  I was blown away by the grandeur of the place.  I could have sat on the pew bench for the rest of the day.  The cathedral was absolutely amazing!  While Natalie napped and Byron and Patti caught up on the audio commentary, Ben, Avree, and I raced the 500+ steps to the top of the dome for a view worth the hard work.  Once we caught our breath, we were ready for the next stop- Regent Street at night.  Walking down this busy shopping street was a Christmas shopper's paradise.  The streets were dotted with lights, the storefronts decorated up as well.  Piccadilly Circus was very lively, with a fountain turned into snow globe and games and rides scattered about.  We quickly took it in and walked down to our desired destination- M&M World.  With 4 floors of chocolate fun, we probably spent more time and money here than we needed to- but we had a blast doing it! 

Day 4- Dragging a little from the day before, we were moving a little slower than usual.  We decided to start the day with some kid-friendly activities.  For the holiday season, Hyde Park had transformed into a Winter Wonderland.  It was the biggest Christmas market I've seen- rows and rows of huts, food, ice skating,  and rides glore.   Of course we ate some market food.  It didn't take long for the girls to tell us they were ready for a ride.  Avree picked a carousel and Natalie decided to try out a Fun House for the first time (and although she ran into the glass several times, she did find it fun).  After we got out our giggles, we strolled through the remainder of the park and through Kensington Gardens to Kensington Palace.  We didn't have as much time here as we would have liked, so we looked fast.   On display were some of Princess Diana's dresses, and the girls really enjoyed looking at all of their shimmer and sparkle.  We stayed until closing, and then called it a day.  We took the metro back toward our apartment and to our favorite restaurant nearby.

I cannot believe all of the awesome sites that we were able to see in these few days.  London, I hope to see you again!

Big Ben and Parliment

Westminster Abbey

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

View of St. Bride's from St. Paul's Dome

Kensington Palace

Poland Road Trip

We have been back and forth about going to Poland.  It is expensive to get there.  We looked into flying, driving, and taking the train.  There is no cheap way to do it that would work for us.   About ten hours away adds up to several nights in a hotel and gas on the economy, and let’s just face it, it’s not the most kid-friendly trip.  With our time in Germany winding down we had to make a decision. Since this was one place we both were eager to visit, we decided to go for it. 

Our ultimate destination in Poland was Auschwitz, but I decided to break up the drive by stopping in Boleslaweic, Poland to do some pottery shopping and spending a night in Dresden, Germany on the way back.

We left Wednesday morning after Ben played a job In Grafenwoehr.  The girls and I had gone up a few days earlier to get some quality time in with Dan, Kristine, Eva, and Hans.  After lunch at Pizza Hut we began the drive to Poland.  Leaving from Grafenwoehr put us a couple hours closer and so we only had a 4 ½ hr drive this day. 

The town of Boleslaweic is just over the border and famous for its handmade pottery.  I didn’t have much in mind for Polish pottery shopping, just wanted to get a few interesting pieces to have.  We discovered that our GPS was not equipped with the Polish roadways, but luckily I had gathered tips from avid PP shoppers in my research that helped guide our way.  We found the town okay, but had a more difficult time finding our hotel in the dark.  Once there, our bellies were hungry.  We checked in quickly and settled into dinner.  We stayed at the highly recommended Bluebeet Root Hotel, and it did not disappoint.  The room was spacious, the staff was very welcoming and friendly, and the restaurant served delicious food.  The restaurant, located at the hotel, served traditional Polish meals.  Ben ordered goulash with potato pancakes on the side and I ate a chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes. 

As soon as the girls were up we headed out to shop.  The stores were more spread out than I had thought, some even in neighboring villages.  It was fun to see what we could find, kind of like a treasure hunt to find a good bargain or the most interesting piece.  Admittedly we bought more gifts than pieces for ourselves, but we had a lot of fun going in and out of the shops, each one a little different.   When neither we nor our credit card could take anymore, we set out for our next stop-Krakow.  First, we had to stop and get a map.  Once we were sure we were headed in the right direction, we drove the 4 ½ hours there.

Our gas light came on as we entered town.  We drove around town for awhile before stopping at a sketchy gas station out of desperation, grabbing some gas and a local map. Tired and hungry, we pulled into a McDonalds.  The kids were hungry and restless so we decided to stop for dinner before unloading at the hotel.  This was our Thanksgiving meal J.  We really have a lot to be thankful for.  After dinner, we drove the few blocks to the hotel, showered, and settled in for an early night’s rest.  (We stayed at Hotel Batory- clean rooms, decent size, good location, free parking). 

We started off by touring an old salt mine.  The Wieliczka Salt Mine dates back to the 13^th century.  On the tour, we walked 3 km down many steps and through underground corridors, passing by many statues made of salt and a few chapels.  Everything- the walls, steps, and ceiling- is made entirely of salt!  The guide told us we could taste the walls if we wanted. At first I was disgusted by the idea, but about an hour and a half into the tour, we let the girls lick away.   Ewww! 

Wawal Cathedral

Next, we rode back into Krakow and walked around the town.  We hiked to the Wawal Castle.  We wandered the castle grounds, admiring the buildings and took in the city from atop the hill.  It was a great place to let the kids run and climb for a bit.  We wrapped up the evening at their Christmas market in front of the Cloth Hall.  The Sukiennice, or Cloth Hall, is considered the world’s oldest shopping mall.  The hall was lined with booths, each selling various goods and crafts similar to the booths at a Christmas market or maybe evens a flea market.  We were not nearly as interested in what was in the building as much as what was going on outside around the square.  The Krakow Christmas Market was similar to what you would find at a Christmas market in Germany, but with kielbasa rather than bratwurst, pierogi instead of spatzle, and paper cups in place of gluhwein mugs.  We found plenty to keep us content. 

It was finally time to see Auschwitz.  It took us about an hour to travel there from our hotel.  We pulled up to Auschwitz II (Birkenau) first.  With the kids in a stroller, Ipad in hand and headphones to their ears, Ben and I wandered the camp grounds in amazement at how huge of a place it is.  We had previously been to Dachau, a much smaller camp with not much still remaining.  At Birkenau, there were still some barrack rooms standing that you can look it.  It gave us more of an idea of what the grounds were like.  I was also surprised to see that the train tracks run not just up to the gate, but through to the back of the camp.  How awful it must have been!  Next, we went to Auschwitz I, the main camp.  The buildings here were a lot different, huge in size and mostly made of brick.  The camp was a Polish military camp that the Nazis took over.  Most of it was already there; they just added to it.  It was interesting to see the barriers, fences, ditches, courtyards.  Many of the buildings are set up as museums, each with a different theme on what it was like.  We ended by looking in a building that was full of people’s stuff.  I’m talking about a room full of brushes, a hallway of glass filled with people’s shoes, luggage that was left behind- personal items that belonged to people, telling a story of what once was.  Being there was amazing, to see such a piece of our history.  Now that I can check going to Auschwitz off my list, I am good with concentration camps and wondering what it was like.  I have a better understanding than I wanted. 

Memorial at Auschcwitz

Letting it all sink in, we drove to our final destination- Dresden, Germany.  The Christmas market in Dresden is well-known.  The booths were elaborately decorated and the market featured a life-size candle arch, so big that you could walk over it.   We pushed through the crowds as we browsed the stalls, ate food, and drank gluhwein.     While in Dresden we also visited the Zwinger, a palace built in Rococo style.  We parked in front by the street, and weren’t really expecting much.  I must say we were blown away.  The more we saw of the building, the more striking it was.  We meandered through the courtyard and exited the back, which spilled out onto a square lined with beautiful buildings.  Among them were the opera house and a cathedral.  I could have spent the rest of the day sitting on the steps watching time go by.  I was so glad we had decided to take the extra time to go to the palace.  What a treasure it was.  Something else I got to check off my list was seeing the Kunsthofpassage, a building said to play music when it rains.  Although hard to find and debatable about whether or not it would really play music, it still was neat to see.   Alas, it was time for our road trip to end.  5 more hours of driving and we had made it home!

All in all, it was a lot of driving, but totally worth it.  The entire family enjoyed the pottery shopping, we got to experience the Christmas market season in a different country, and we stumbled upon the beauty of Dresden.  We had a great time!

Christmas market in Krakow, Poland- right outside of Cloth Hall

Time to rest up for our next big trips- London & Rome!!!

 

 

 

 

Bruges & Brussels

Shore of the North Sea

For my birthday weekend we visited Bruges and Brussels.  I have heard amazing things about Bruges and wanted to see it for myself.  Bruges is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North."  I hope to make it to Venice on day, but in case I don't, at least I've been to Bruges :)

We left on Saturday morning, made the five hour drive, plus added an extra hour sitting in a stau.  When we finally arrived, we checked into our hotel.  We stayed at this hotel, which was very affordable, located in a quiet, tranquil setting, a few minutes drive to the city center, and features an outdoor heated pool.  We drove to the train station, where parking is only €3.50/all day, and walked from there. 

Markt Square

We toured the city using Rick Steve's self-guided walking tour.  This was a good choice, as all of the "sights to see" were within a 15 minute walk of each other.  The tour began at Markt Square, which is lined with restaurants and is the home of the Bell Tower (Belfort).  From there we headed to Burg Square. This square takes you through several time periods, beginning with the Romanesque Basilica of the Holy Blood, to the Gothic-style City Hall, to the Old Recorder's House built during the Renaissance period, to the 17th century Baroque Provost's House, and finally to the modern-day, newly-built Crowne Plaza.  The Basilica of the Holy Blood was built by a brave crusader to house a few drops of Christ's blood he brought from Jerusalem.  You can read more about the relic of the precious blood here.   The Crowne Plaza Hotel sits atop some old ruins.  We went inside the hotel and into the basement where conferences are held among old brick walls and some artifacts on display.  Next, we meandered along the canal,over a bridge, past some museums, finally reaching the Begijnhof.  The Begijnhof served the purpose of offering housing and work to poor and elderly women, called Beguines, who sought to serve God without having to take the same vows a nun would.  The Begijnhof is made up of living quarters and a small chapel encircling a courtyard, all surrounded by a brick wall.  By the time we reached it the gates were closed for entry,  as were most places, so we headed back toward the train station.   We ended our walk by strolling under the shade of the tress along the path through the park, watching the swans play in the lake called Minnewater, or "Water of Love." 

View from the top of the brewery

Their first Coke

Early the next morning we got in our car and drove about 15 minutes to Zeebrugge, "Brugge by the Sea."  I wanted to see the North Sea, and so we got out of the car and walked closer to take a few pictures.  As we walked the girls and I collected sea shells.  We walked for quite a ways, but never actually reached the water.  The wind was blowing fiercely, which was causing the sand to sting at our legs.   We returned to Bruges, back to the city center, to catch a few places that we didn't get to see due to early closing times.  The first place we stopped at was De Halve Maan Brewery to catch the tour.  We have wanted to tour a brewery and figured Belgium was the place to do it!  The kids were pretty cooperative and enjoyed a nice glass bottle of Coca-Cola afterwards.  Next on the list was the Begijnhof.  Although we saw the grounds yesterday, the gate was not open, so this time we went in and walked the courtyard as well as peeked inside the chapel.  Our final stop in this lovely city was the Church of Our Lady.  Inside this church is the statue Madonna and Child by Michelangelo.  This was carved during the same time David was, out of the same Carrara marble.   Once I checked this off my list of to-do's, we were ready to head to our next destination:  Brussels. 

Begijnhof

 

You probably already know that Brussels is the capital of Belgium.  It is also the capital of the European Nation.  It is a big city, with lots to see.  Trying to save on money, we opted to use public transportation (buses and the Metro) to get around rather than the hop-on/hop-off buses.  Most of the sites are within walking distances, and the few that aren't are easy to reach by bus.  The town is divided into two portions: the Upper Town and the Lower Town.

Grand Place

We began our tour of the Lower Town in the most impressive square I have stood in, Grand Place.  We stood encircled by colorful building such as the Town Hall, King's House, Swan House (where a new bride and groom were waving down at us), the City Museum, and many lace and chocolate shops.   After grabbing a few pralines, we turned down an old shopping mall called Galeries Royales St. Hubert.We walked past the crowded restaurant-row, Church of St. Nicolas, and to the Bourse (stock exchange).  Our final destination was at the well-known Manneken-Pis.  Just as it sounds, the statue is of a little boy peeing, and has become an icon of the town, representing its low-key, laidback attitude. 

The following day was spent exploring the Upper town.  It took us awhile to take the subway to the bus, find the right bus, and get to the top of the hill.  The bus dropped us off at the bottom of Place Royale, a circular square.  A church, several museums, and the tourist info office centered around a statue of Godfrey de Bouillon on a horse.  We first went in to the tourist office to get a map.  Next, we took turns peeking into the  Church of St. Jacques sur Coudenberg.  After that, we grabbed ice cream cones for the kiddos and headed towards the Parc de Bruxelles right across the street, passing by the Royal Palace along the way.  It was here while sitting on a bench that we went from having a very relaxed and enjoyable day to making a mad-dash throughout the bustling city looking for our needle in a haystack.  You see, while the kids were eating their cones we reached for a wipe to clean the drippings off their chins, but our bag (which included our IPad) was nowhere around.  I had left it on a bus- a city bus in Brussels around noon on a Saturday.  We went on a three hour goose chase which took us all over the city, which I will spare you the details.  The point is that AMAZINGLY we got our backpack back, Ipad still zipped in.  Whew- a sigh of relief and we continued our city tour.  We returned to Place Royale, heading this time in a different direction.  We walked downhill past some fancy museums, wishing we had had time to check them out.  We walked through the Notre-Dame du Sablon Church, and then over to a nearby park, Place du Petit Sablon.    This park has 48-statues atop its wrought-iron fence and ten larger statues inside by a waterfall.  Once we rested a bit, we marched over to the Palace of Justice where we found amazing views overlooking the Lower Town.  Then, our tired feet took us to Tour d'Angle, a site known as the "Corner Tower,"  a surviving section of Brussels 13-century wall, which was disappointingly under construction.  Our final stop for the day was Parc du Cinquantenaire.  Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Belgium independence, King Leopold II had a huge monumental arch built at the entrance of the park.  It was quite impressive, maybe even more so than the Brandenburg Gate in size.  On the other side of the gate a festival was happening; we grabbed a bite to eat and a cold drink before heading to the car.  With the exception of a few museums, we were still able to see everything that we wanted to, even though it meant arriving at home at 2 a.m. 

A view of the Notre-Dame du Sablom church from the park

 

Parc du Cinquantenaire

 

To walk a day in wooden shoes

Despite the warnings of the effects of a long, cold winter, we journeyed to The Netherlands to see the tulip fields.  We had planned to go with our friends Matt & Salina from Heidelberg.  I woke up that morning sick to my stomach, so we postponed until the following weekend.
The drive from our house to our hotel in Holland was about four hours. We stopped in The Hauge at an M.C. Escher museum. Not only was his artwork on display, but there were really cool chandeliers hanging from the ceilings in each room.  After the kids  had enough of the museum, we walked down avtreelined path toward th river.  Lastly, we checked ino our hotel.
The following morning was our day in Amsterdam.    Last minute I decided we would first drive to Haarlem to see the Corrie Ten Boom house.  I had only heard of her a few weeks ago from a friend recommending the tour.  I am glad we took the time.  I have since read her book The Hiding Place and am fascinated by her story.  The tour was free, they only asked for donations. It was a small group that gathered at the door. At the right time a volunteer took us in and very passionately told us about the family.  I am so lad that we took time for this.  As for Amsterdam, I could have one without.  If you are in the area and have one time to kill, by all means go and see what it is about.  But if you don't make it there, you're not missing out on much.  I didn't feel like there were any "must-sees."  We took a boat ride to catch the highlights.  I love seeing the water and the kids always have fun with that, but the audio guide wasn't as informative as I was hoping for.  One tidbit I did find interesting was how arrow a few houses were along the canal.  A few were so small that they had to use a hook coming down from the rooftop to hoist their furniture up.  After the canal tour we wandered to a spot on our map called Craft and History experience. I thought that it lunged like one thing I would like to see, o we walked over.  It was a bit of a walk and we were surprised to find that it was a souvenir shop.  At first I was a little is appointed, but once inside I did find it to be worth the walk.  Inside this little store you can watch cheese and chocolate being made, see a wooden shoe shop, take pics in front of a mock-up of the red light district, as well as buy typical Dutch products.  We bought many of our souvenirs here and found the prices to be reasonable. From there we walked past the Nemo, saw a ship at the band played on the year before, to the Delft Blue store, posed in front of the Anne Frank House, and back toward the train station.  This walk covered most of what we saw on the boat tour.  We did not visit the Anne Frank House, as there is not enough time to do it all and I opted for Corrie Ten Boom's rather. If you do decide to visit it is advised to book online ahead of time to avoid wasting time in long lines.
Our third day in Holland, the real interest of our trip was spent between the Zaanse Schans and Kuekenhof Gardens.  Since Keukenhof is open later, we started the day at the Zaanse Schans.  This is an open air museum with a picturesque Dutch countryside, working windmills, and a small village with houses and small shops.  Admission is free, although there are entry fees to go inside a few of the windmills and shops.  To avoid paying the parking fee you cold take the opposite exit around the roundabout ( right instead of left) then turn left and fins a parking place among the businesses.  We went on Sunday so I am not sure is this would be possible to do during the workweek.  You could easily spend the entire day there or just an hour.  We witnessed a wooden shoe being made, sampled local cheeses (and bought some!), walked through a grocer's, enjoyed ice cream among the farm animals, saw cinnamon sticks being crushed at the spice windmill and climbed to the top of the paint windmill, and wandered through the gardens.  Warning: this place is a bit touristy.  While at the shoe shop, we were trying to read the displays and a large crowd came in and filled the room.  We backed away and waited for them to clear, but more and more groups piled in.  We soon realized that was just how it was going to be.  This was the only spot that we felt crowded, and sometimes tourists flock to an area because there are cool things to see!!!  We spent four hours there before heading to the Kukenhof Gardens about a 45 minute drive from there.  Despite the bad reviews, I was not disappointed at all!  Sure, about half of the tulips had yet to bloom, but there were LOTS of flowers still to see.  The grass was so green and there is a small pond which the park lies around.  In addition to the beautiful planned out landscape, there are five pavilions, each featuring a unique flower display.  There is even windmill that you can climb for free (could have saved the small price we paid at ZS) which overlooks the tulip fields.  It's true that the fields lacked a little color, but we all enjoyed the day - Ben chomping on syrupy waffle cookies, Avree shooing in the stroller under the shade of the trees, Natalie doing her fairy dances among the flower beds, and me snapping as many photos as my SD card could hold!  We walked around or five hours, until our feet were screaming that it was time to go home.  If you don't think you will ever make it to Holland to see the tulip fields, let me know.  I have enough pictures to make you feel like you are there!

Questions or comments, go right ahead.
I would also like to leave you with a few links that might be helpful if you are planning to visit:
This is the hotel we stayed at.  It was a decent room with mini fridge, whirlpool bathtub, free parking, and ten min train ride to Amsterdam (parking is free at the train station) http://www.hotelzwanenburg.nl/ENGindex.php
http://www.corrietenboom.com/information.htm
http://www.zaanseschans.nl/
http://www.keukenhof.nl/en/
http://www.crafthistoryexperience.nl/mobile/en/over/

Shout out to Grace Bernhardt for all the travel advice and for answering my many questions, and also to Salina Wallace for venturing on and sharing her experiences.

I don't think it would to comfortable to walk in wooden shoes!
Take care & God Bless,
Staci

Vienna, Now or Never

Trips are about making memories, and we always do.  Sometimes they are good memories, and sometimes we remember them because the experience didn't go as well as anticipated.  Our trip to Vienna was full of lots of windy memories.  I don't think we can ever hear Vienna and not think of the bitter wind that we encountered.

Trying to stay out of the wind, we spent our first day at the Museum of Natural History.  It was not as boring as it sounds.  Natalie and Avree had a blast wandering through the rooms looking at all the gems, dinosaurs, birds, mammals, reptiles, meteorites, ect.  You name it, they had it.

We started of the following day at the Schonbrunn Palace and gardens, the former residence of the Habsburgs, taking a tour of the palace and walking around the gardens as long as we could stand it.  .  Natalie liked hearing about the Habsburgs because Empress Elizabeth was better known as Sisi, which happens to be Natalie's [imaginary] friend's name.  Their Easter market was happening, so we quickly scanned the stalls.  We jumped onto the subway and warmed up until we reached our next destination, the Sisi Museum and tour of the Imperial Gardens.  This was also a residence of the Habsburg's, and we gained even more knowledge of their reign and influence in Austria on this tour.  Putting up with the cold weather long enough, we headed to a restaurant to eat.  The restaurant we dined at was an old cellar and also a hat museum.  I had been so excited to take Natalie, but do too my poor navigation skills, it took us forever to find it and she slept like a rock for the entire meal. 

On our final day in Vienna we wandered around the Ringstrasse seeing seeing the key buildings and taking photos. Some places of interest on our list included: The Rathaus, Opera House, St. Stephen's Cathedral, a famous clock, and another Easter market to name a few. I must take this opportunity to note that the cathedral has a beautiful tile mosaic rooftop and there is a delicious wafer store right across the street called Manner. The weather was cold and windy, and so we welcomed the chance to hop on the subway and ride to the other part of town.  This was by far the coldest day that we were there and the wind was getting through our gloves and socks, making walking outside almost miserable.  Our last stop of the day was at the Wiener Prater, the oldest amusement park in the world.  The kids rode a few smaller rides and then we took a family trip on the giant Ferris wheel, the Wiener Riesenrad is 65 meters high and was featured in an old film. 

My critique on Vienna is this:  While I wouldn't put it on my list of top 20 Must-see cities in Europe, it is definitely worth a few days if you have the time.  There is so much to see and the city is very easy to navigate by public transportation.  I am sure that is is even more delightful when the temperature is warmer and the flowers are in bloom. 

Cologne: The Cathedral, Some Chocolate, and the Rhine

We went to Cologne for a second time.  Last year we unknowingly went over karnival (or fasching).  We saw some really awesome parades, but we didn't get  to see much of the city.  We set off to explore the city a little deeper.  This time our friends Joee and Julie (Layla & Hank too!) went with us.
Show me a city with a body of water and I am already in love.  Cologne is located on both sides of the Rhine River.  It is a very large city, the 4th largest city in Germany, with lots to do.  We began the day by doing a self-walking tour stopping to see some key points: The Cologne cathedral, Heinzelmaennchenbrunnen (fountain) Town Hall, Farina House (where eau de cologne originated), Lindt chocolate factory, and a mustard shop.  The Schokoladenmuseum was better than expected.  It covered the history of chocolate, had a mock environment of where the cocoa bean can grow, and then took you through part of the factory where you could actually see small chocolate bars being made on an assembly line.  The kids loved it, especially the chocolate fountain at the end.  We got a few samples along the way and a slice of chocolate cake to go.  We ended the day at a delicious Brauhaus feasting on delicious food such as bratwurst, Goulash, pommes frites (fries) and of course sampling the local brew.  Dinner was very satisfying and the kids were well behaved; it was a great end to a fun day. 
We started our second day by working off our chocolate samples.  We signed up for a 5K and were very thankful for the nice weather that accompanied us.  One we arrived on site we found out that strollers were not allowed on the run, and as it turns out the muddy trail wouldn't have allowed it anyway.  M being the nice gal that I am opted out and stayed behind with the kiddos while Ben, Joee, and Julie participated.  After the race, we visited the Koeln Triangle.  We took an elevator to the observation deck for an amazing view of the city.  It was a perfect place for picture-taking.  After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we spent the rest of the day at the Odysseum, a science center.  The kids had such a great time exploring.  There were many themed rooms: one with water works and a giant play area, another was focused on stars and planets, one room featured optical illusions, A T-rex dominated the animal room, and there was a kid-sized train right in the center of it all.  In the end all were worn out and we enjoyed a quite ride home. 
The cathedral in Cologne is one of the better ones we have seen. Between the beautiful churches, river, and chocolate, Cologne ranks high on my list of favorite places to visit!

The Koln Dom





Us at the top of the triangle overlooking the city. 
Avree was asleep in the stroller.



Ben, Joee, & Julie at the race



Ben helping the kids use the pulleys to draw water

 

 

High-Stress, Low-Cost Travelling

The best thing about blogging is that you only have to tell the story once! (this is my hope)

Many know that Space-A travel is a benefit to military families,  but not much is actually known about it.  Other than other's experiences, there is not much information about it out there.  I guess what I was looking for was a how-to manual.  Not really getting all of my questions answered, I decided that it is something that must be learned by experience.

Living in Germany is great!  The hardest thing for me is being so far from family.  With commercial flights being so expensive for an oversees flight, I wanted to be able to travel Space-A, which costs little to no money at all!  We decided to use this Christmas break to try our experimental run.
Not really knowing how it was going to work out, we did not tell anyone we were coming.  Your likeliness of catching a free flight is based on two things: your need to get where your going and the date you sign up.  Basically, if there are any available seats on a flight the passenger terminal goes down the list and fills the empty seats.  So you kind of have to wait in line.  A free trip home to spend the holidays with family?  As you can imagine, there is a pretty long line!

Day 1 began at 4:00 in the morning.  Ben, the kids, and I basically rolled out of bed and into the car.  We left the house as if we weren't coming back.  Laundry done, trash out, heat off, ect.  We drove 1 1/2 hrs to a small terminal in Spangdalem only to find out that the flight had been changed and wouldn't be accepting passengers.  This is pretty typical.  Since it was still early and we were packed and ready to go, we decided to go to Ramstein, a much more popular terminal, to see what the wait looked like.  As suspected, it was packed.  We hung out most of the day getting a feel for things.  Once the flight to the states took off, we headed home for some much needed rest.  The following day there were not any flights leaving from Ramstein (only 20 min away) so we drove back up to Spagdalem.  To our surprise we made it out that day!  We boarded a plane destined for Charleston, SC on Sunday, December 16.

We flew on a C-5.  It was pretty roomy, only about half of the seats were filled.  The temperature was a bit warm and we wore earplugs to block out the loudness of teh engine, but for a free flight it was nothing to complain about!  We were so giggly just thinking about what everyone's reaction would be when we just showed up for Christmas!  Even though we were anxious, this was just the beginning of our trip.  Once we landed, grabbed our luggage, fetched the rental car, and loaded up, we were pretty beat.  We thought we were going to get in the car and drive all the way to Texas, but it wasn't long before the adrenaline wore off and jet-lag set in.  We drove for an hour before turning off the road and pulling into a hotel.

It was about ten by the time we were in out PJs and settled in our temporary bed.  A little confused, Avree woke up at one and so we loaded up and took off.  I am sure the clerk at the hotel thought we were crazy for renting our room for just three hours of sleep, especially taking off in the middle of the night!  We had a little set back to our trip.  We had left Avree's favorite blankie, pet-named "This" back at the hotel.  Fearing a long drive with a screaming child, we went back for it (Ok, now the lady really thinks we are nuts!).  This added about an hour to our already-long trip across the country, but Avree quickly fell asleep.  We drove and drove and drove.  With stops it took us right at 24 hrs to get to Patti & Byron's front door.  When we got somewhat close Ben began to text his mom, asking if he could talk to her about something.  He was able to put her off for a bit, and then requested to Skype with her (about midnight her time- oh the things a mother will do for her child!).  Our plan was to call her on Skype from her front porch, but it was cold, the kids were tired, and we were anxious.  So we just ran up and rang the bell.  Patti was lying in bed with her Ipad waiting for Ben's call.  The doorbell rang at 12:30 in the morning, and as any mother would, she began to fear that something was wrong. It wasn't long though until she heard little voices inside her house.  We went to bed around three that night (and the kids rose for the day at 5:30)!

We spent the next day going to Katie's work during her conference, dropping in on Millie at the office, and driving to meet Sarah after school, surprising each of them and bringing them to tears of joy!  We enjoyed a little over a week in Plainview, Texas just visiting, spending time with each other, and watching the cousins play together.  Oh, how much I looked forward to those moments!
If you know Ben you now he is always prompt, early in fact.  Well, not much after Christmas he starting getting anxious about returning home.  He had to be at work on Monday, the 7th.  We watched flights a few days and decided that Texas was just too far away.  The flights are only posted 72 hrs in advance, and that just didn't give us enough notice to pack up and drive all the way to the East Coast.  There hadn't been any flights out of Charleston, so we decided to drive to Baltimore.  Since Indiana was along the way we made plans to stop and stay with family for the night (or however many was needed).  We left for Indiana the morning of Friday, December 28th.  The drive took a little longer than anticipated due to snow (18 hrs).  Once we got on the other side of St. Louis the snow really began to fall.  Also, we took a little "short-cut" down some back roads, and really stared getting nervous about getting stuck.  We prayed a lot.

So, we made a surprise visit to Curt & Tonya's.  We even were able to stay a few days to visit because there were no flights heading to Germany.  We spent the first two days resting, and on the third day I was able to visit with two of my great-aunts and some cousins.  We felt really blessed to be able to see so much of our family in one trip, but I must say we were getting anxious about catching a flight back.  It's a good thing we had so much time to work with.  Finally, we saw a flight posted leaving BWI on January 2.  Wanting to be sure we were ready, we left Sullivan, Indiana and drove the remainder of the way (11 hrs).  We spent the night in a hotel in Baltimore and was at the airport ready for roll call ( this is when they go down the list and call the names of the people who made the cut).  We tried at BWI for two days.  There were so many people needing to get back and so few flights that had gone. And the planes that had room only took 10-20 passengers.  That's only like 3 families! 

Feeling desperate, we decided to drive to Dover (another 2 1/2 hrs) in hopes that there would be less people there.  This is a little risky financially because of the rental car.  If you rent a car and return it to the same place it is only $30-40.  However, if you only drive it one-way and leave it at another location, the cost goes up to about $200.  If we made the flight we wouldn't know it until the last minute, and there would be no time to drop off the car.  So we would have to take a gamble. If we thought there was a chance of making the flight, we would need to drop the car off.  However, if we didn't end up making it, we would need to rent another car to drive back up to Baltimore (another $200).  Add the expense of eating out and hotels and the bill was adding up fast.  Beginning to panic, we started looking at commercial flights.  The first ones we found were around $3,000.  This would be just for Ben.  The girls and I had made arrangements to possibly stay at a friends house until the crowd cleared (without Ben we went down much further on the list). 

As we entered the city of Dover and neared the base, the gate the GPS was taking us into was closed.  When we phoned for directions we were told that the flight for that evening was not going to be taking any passengers.  What to do? What to do?  We had actually carpooled with another family, and so the men discussed it and they decide to go on up to the terminal to see what was up. I am so glad they did because we were filled with good news and hope.  They said that there was a good chance that the flight leaving the next day would take passengers, maybe even as many as 76.  We took a look at the list (it was a much smaller crowd) and it looked as if we had a chance!  Exhausted, we retired for the evening. 

Up the next morning, this flight was going to make us or break us.  We were worn out physically and emotionally and so ready to be home.  When we arrived at the airport terminal there wasn't a big crowd. We expected most people would be waiting at BWI where there were definite seats available.  As it was, the screen was showing 19 tentative seats with a roll call time of 1900.  Around noon we held spots 8,9,10, & 11.  The anticipation was overwhelming.  Each person that walked in the door was a risk to us.  And we needed this flight in order for Ben to be back to work on time.   About 2 hours out the loudspeaker came on and an announcement blared, "We regret to inform you that the flight to Spangdalem will have 0 seats firm."  Everyone's faces grew long and their shoulders sagged.  Well, that's the risk you take.  Entering panic mode, we began looking at our only options: a) get Ben on a commercial flight available or b) take a later flight that day to Rota, Spain and find a way to Germany.  Desperately wanting to get back we began crunching numbers to see if Rota was possible (price of train or plane tickets from Rota to Kaiserslautern).  Just then the loudspeaker made another announcement, "We regret to inform you that the plane destined to Rota, Spain will not be taking any passengers."  You have got to be kidding me!  How is it that no flights are taking people?!  There are tons of people ready to go home, you know!  It took a couple of minutes for them to get things straightened out.  They had made the wrong announcement.  The flight to Rota would have zero passengers, but Spangdalem was back on the map!  We had a good chance of getting home.  Shorty after came another announcement, but this time it brought good news: "We are pleased to announce the flight destined for Spangdalem, Germany will have 76 seats.  The airport erupted with a cheer and some even shed tears of joy.  What an emotional day it had been, but we were ALL going home!

Just wait- They began checking bags, and then afterwards called names again to give some back their luggage.  The number of seats had been reduced to 30!  Whew- I felt bad for those people, but we were still safe.  Oops, now it was back up to 76.  At this point, no one knew what to believe!  As my family waited to go through security, I was so thankful that this would all soon be behind us, as well as felt blessed for the opportunity to take this "free" ride to be able to spend some time with family.  The intercom went off again.  This time they were telling us that the crew had decided to take a break.  I ran up to the desk with questions and found out that this "break" would be a minimum of 8 hrs.  Oh well, it was another night, but we were guaranteed a seat.

For fear that something would change and we would miss it, we decided to spend the night at the airport.  This wasn't as bad as it sounds; there was a small room with a few cribs in it.  It wasn't the most comfortable night of sleep, but at least the kids slept well and we would soon be home in our own beds.  Prior to going to sleep we found out that roll call wouldn't be until 1455.  When we woke up the next morning it had changed to 1755.  I think we actually boarded around 1930.  As soon as we were in the air, we were fast asleep.

We woke just before landing.  A flight member came on the intercom to announce that we were to prepare to land.  And oh, by the way, we were in Ramstein.  While this was better news for most, our car was in Sapngdalem.  (It actually worked out for us too- keep reading)

We waited for a good friend to give us a lift.  Once home, Ben could not locate the car keys.  After rummaging through all the luggage, he concluded that he must have left them in the rental car.  He made a phone call, caught a ride to Spangdalem, and ADAC came and unlocked our car (where the spare key was).  Finally, at 11:30 p.m. we were all home (and so was our car)!

Would I ever do this again?  Crazy, but yes.  Only at a not-so-busy time of the year.  I learned a few things along the way which could help make for a smoother ride.  But, as the military goes, anything can change and it's always a risk!