Below is our blog from our first big vacation. I've tried to post a bunch of pictures, but we took many, many more. I'm trying to upload them to ofoto.com. If you're interested in seeing more pix, just e-mail me, and I'll send you the links.
Day 1: Brussels to Heidelberg
We left on Saturday for our first stop, in Heidelberg, Germany. We stopped at a rest station along the way and had our first German sausage. The bathrooms were spectacularly clean, and you had to buy a 50 cent ticket to enter the turnstile to the bathrooms. Worth every penny! The kids did great (and did so throughout the trip).
TJ enjoyed (putting it mildly) driving on the autobahn. I'm not sure how fast we were going (though I know it was fast), but the rules of the road in Germany are very orderly, and people follow them, so we never felt unsafe. The scenery was beautiful, and Jack was enamored with the big, modern windmills.
We arrived in Heidelberg early enough to do a little sightseeing. Our hotel (the Molkenkur) was high up on a hillside and had a beautiful view of the city. The hotel had a nice path weaving down the hill to the town, and we had a nice walk down. We got down and walked around a beautiful castle, walked by the river and, blissfully, found Starbucks. Tons of shops and restaurants, and even more gelato shops.
We had a nice 2 bedroom room, so the kids slept in one room and we slept in the other, giving me plenty of opportunity to watch Jurassic Park in German. The hotel was hosting a wedding reception, and we fell asleep to some great 80s tunes.
Day 2: Heidelberg to Fussen, Germany
We woke up on Sunday, had a nice breakfast (standard European breakfasts: bread, spreads, soft-boiled eggs, meats and cheeses, yogurt, muesli, and dark coffee). The kids were up pretty early because of the sun, but I guess that way, we get a quicker start to the day.
We started the drive to Fussen, where we were meeting up with the Wordens. Amelia was so excited to see Maggie. TJ again loved the Germany driving. We averaged about 160km per hour but no matter how fast he went (200km max) there was always someone going faster, much faster. To put it in US terms, at 100 MPH, we would be passed by cars going easily 150. WOW! We arrived in Fussen around lunchtime. Fussen is a quaint little town -- a lot of tourism based on the Neuschwanstein and Schwangau castles close by.
Our kids were thrilled to see Maggie and Tommy after lunch, and it was great to see John and Deb. We had a great German dinner, with ice cream after. The girls stayed up way past bedtimes, playing with Amelia's ponies.
Day 3: Fussen -- the Castles
The day started off very early. T.J. and I woke up at 6 a.m. to the sound of singing. We looked out the window and saw a procession led by a priest and followed by about 20 people. They were just walking down the street, singing. Even though it was super-early, it was a nice way to wake up.
We had tickets with the Wordens to go see the castles. We had great weather, and had a beautiful tour of Schwangau. Then we had a quick lunch (but not quick enough) and took a horse and carriage ride to Neuschwanstein. The ride was nice (especially because it was quite a long -- and steep -- walk), until one of the horses got a serious case of gas, followed by him taking care of business.
The castles were both spectacular, though Amelia was disappointed that the princesses were all gone. We all had a great Italian dinner, followed by more ice cream, and more playing with ponies. The kids were all fascinated with all the fountains in town, and we found one that the kids found especially appealing. Unfortunately, Jack chose to stick his foot in it, and then got upset that his foot was wet.
Day 4: Fussen to Salzburg, Austria
Another day of autobahn driving, so T.J. was excited. It was sad to say goodbye to the Wordens. We headed off to Salzburg -- with a stop in Munich for lunch. We got there a little after 11 a.m., which gave us some time to walk around before the Glockenspiel went off at noon. For lunch, we went to the Famous Hofbrau Beer Hall for some sausages (I had German meat loaf, which was essentially a small meatloaf-shaped hot dog -- but it was actually very good!) and giant pretzels.
T.J. tried more German beer, while I had a mix of beer and lemonade which, again, I thought was quite tasty. I was convinced to spend 20 euros (don't tell T.J. it was that much!) on a Hofbrau Horse for Amelia. It's very cute, and it even came dressed in lederhosen (sp?).
After lunch, we headed back to the car for a quick trip to Dachau (Nazi Concentration Camp) for me to run around to the memorial site. Since Dachau is just a Munich suburb, I found it hard to not go. It was, of course, a very sobering visit. T.J. stayed with the kids while they napped, and I did literally run around the whole site. I would have liked to have stayed longer to have learned more, but we were running short on time, and we wanted to get to Salzburg.
Off we went again. Shortly after getting on the highway (still technically in Munich), we came to a standstill. Completely. Totally. And it started to rain. So we sat and sat and sat and wondered what was going on (of course, we understand nothing on the radio so didn't even bother). Engines off, people getting out of their cars, men running wildly to the trees while the women crossed their legs.
One fellow traveler got out of his car and started juggling.
So it's around 4, and it's a 1.5-hour drive to Salzburg. We have to check in to the hotel by 7, or they start charging fees. They don't let you check in past 10.
Then it's 5 p.m. And 6. Natives are restless, but surprisingly patient. Luckily I have some granola bars and chips and water and juice, but nothing of the dinner variety. T.J. offers the couple behind us some granola bars, and they give us some bananas. We find out that there was a truck on fire a few kilometers ahead, and they closed the highway.
Poor Amelia has to use the potty, but of course it's raining. We finally convince her to get in one of Jack's diapers, and she did so, but she wasn't convinced. She was afraid the diaper would leak all over her seat. She finally took advantage of the diaper, and thankfully hasn't made mention of it again!
We've called the hotel already to tell them we're stuck and will be late and promise to call with updates. 7 comes, then 8. Finally around 8:45 or so, things start moving. We make a frantic call to the hotel, saying that we would be there by 10:30, and they agree to wait.
So after all that time, we finally make headway. The kids really did great, and the DVD player held its battery for most of the trip. I was really proud of the kids.
We're about 30 minutes outside Salzburg, it's 10pm and the kids are exhausted. Amelia starts to nod off, Jack tries but wakes up screaming. Which wakes Mia up, and she starts screaming. They both stop crying, nod off, and start the whole racket again 5 minutes later. Meanwhile, it was pouring down rain, pitch dark and we were driving through the mountain highways of Austria. If the trip to Fussen was T. J.'s all time best driving experience, this was easily the worst. It was a long, long drive, but we finally made it.
We got to our room around 11, and then the kids were wide awake, of course. But we all crashed hard and had a good night of sleep, happy to be out of Munich!
Day 5: Salzburg
We all slept late, after our big day the night before. We had another great breakfast and then headed out for some sightseeing (we were actually staying in a town about 10 minutes from Salzburg. We were supposed to go on Fraulein Maria's Bicycle Tour of all the Sound of Music hotspots. Unfortunately, we were running late, and I thought the tour met at a different spot than it actually did. So instead we walked around, found more fountains, and walked through a beautiful Mirabell Gardens.
We took a horse and carriage ride through town, and then we took another cog train up to the castle. On our way to the cog train, there was a stand with a bunch of different kinds of pretzels -- cinnamon sugar, bacon and cheese, regular. So very tasty! The castle was beautiful -- fun to imagine what it must've been like hundreds of years ago.
In the afternoon, we headed off to the Salzburg zoo. It was truly the most scenic zoo I've ever been to, with the mountains and snow in the background. The zoo itself was right up against a hillside, and it was really neat. HOWEVER, I totally understand why there are so many reports of animals killing zoo goers in Europe. The barriers are minimal, and in many cases, you could touch the animals if you really wanted too. Some children were picking long weeds and feeding the capybaras ("Mom, why can't I feed them? Those children are..."). Even by the lions, there was a posted sign warning of getting, uh, sprayed. Note in the picture below of Amelia on the right, and the lion on the left.
Day 6: Salzburg to Lucerne, Switzerland
Another travel day. It was a holiday so nothing was open. We stopped at Innsbruck for lunch and had a hard time finding something that was open. We finally stopped at a place in town where everyone else seemed to be eating. There wasn't much to do, so we didn't linger long.
We traveled through many tunnels, and between them and the rainy weather, we didn't get to enjoy the scenery much. But we arrived safely in Lucerne, and the children were delighted to see that our hotel had a playground and ponies and goats to pet. Success!
Day 7: Lucerne
We walked around the city, and got our obligatory Starbucks. We had an enjoyable boat ride, and we even sat across from three young folks from Fairfax.
We had also gone to see the lion monument and the nearby glacier park (Jack was thrilled to see all the big rocks).
We drove to Zug in the afternoon and took another funicular ride. It was a beautiful view, and we had a wonderful dinner (I had fondue that was fantastic).
Day 8: Interlaken
We drove to Interlaken for the day. We kept seeing parachutists floating around -- the kids were fascinated. More walking around town, and another funicular ride. There was a big slide that the kids loved and a few other bits of playground equipment.
We had another great dinner (more fondue for me!) and a few more Starbucks for good measure. It's not even the Starbucks iteself that I wanted -- just the takeaway coffee that I miss.
Amelia insisted on buying a cow bell (why do all the Swiss cows and goats wear bells?) for Stripey the Zebra, since she forgot to bring him on the trip. She chose not to bring him, but then she spent the last 3 days of the trip constantly asking when she would see Stripey.
Jack woke up with another case of pinkeye. (Seriously, does ANYONE know how to get rid of this? I've been washing hands and using hand sanitizer on everyone like crazy, but I can't seem to kill the bacteria.)
Then Jack woke up around 10 that night with croup. Then around 2 am spiked a fever. Luckily, I came prepared with meds. Jack was as happy as can be, but he sounded like a beached seal, poor guy. At least we were getting ready to head home!
Day 9: Lucerne to Brussels
We had a long day of driving ahead of us, but it went smoothly. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch (only because it was convenient, not because we craved it) and then passed through Strasbourg, France (where the Neunreiters are from). We also drove through Luxembourg (our motto: Where the country is short but the lines are long). There were 2 rest areas, and the lines for gas were 5 or 6 deep. The parking lot held a few hundred cars, probably, and it was PACKED. Apparently they have cheap cigarettes and booze there.
All in all, we logged 2500 km and 7 countries without ever showing a passport.
Returning Home
We had a great visit, but we were ready to get home. But have you ever been away from home and thought, "Man, I just can't wait to get home where all the food is normal and everyone speaks English?" That was the hard part about returning. It's good to be home, but I still would like more English and more recognizable food. A road trip just isn't a road trip without a big bag of Cheetos.
New Things I Miss
Shredded cheddar cheese. You don't know how much you miss it until you slice open a knuckle after hand grating it....
Instant mashed potatoes. I actually found some and made them for dinner the other night. They were awfully yellow and not especially tasty. Can't hold a candle to Wal-Mart's Loaded Instant Mashed Potatoes.
Other Things
The sun is coming up earlier and earlier -- it's light outside around 5 now, and it's still dusky at 10 at night.
I have become a Belgian biker. Jack and I are doing bike rides to market in the morning. I have a basket for the front of my bike (and plan to get saddlebags for the back) and fill it with flowers and food. Jack has been enjoying it, and I've enjoyed riding. I even took a ride the other night at 9:15 at night when it was still perfectly light.
The neighbors got a trampoline and set it up right on the other side of our fence. So all day long, Amelia is begging me to go let her jump. Sigh. I foresee disaster. She has also discovered the joy of asking "Why" after everything I tell her. So we had a 10-minute conversation in the car the other day, and everything was "why? why?" I better become really smart, really fast.
And I put both the kids on antibiotic eye drops after Jack came down with the last Pinkeye round last Saturday. They finished their course on Thursday -- yay! But, then, I got it on Friday. SERIOUSLY. I need help.
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