City of Lights

yep, you guessed it -- More Catch Up. September, a gorgeous month over here, brought us a second visit from the grandparents and with it a five-day, grown up only adventure to Paris. Admittedly, I felt a bit guilty leaving Grandma and GP to fend for themselves in a foreign country where they couldn't speak the language with two high-energy grandsons, but with the closest hospital programmed into the GPS and the names and contact numbers of every neighbor within shouting distance, well, I went anyway, figuring they'd have plenty of time to regroup once they got back stateside. I'm still not sure I got all the stories of what happened those few days we were away, but everyone was in good spirits with all limbs and digits attached when D and I got home, so the rest we'll chalk up to my boys and the old folks making memories together.

As you might recall, we tried to go to Paris earlier in the year and were foiled by illness. I had been as a highschooler and had already seen the highpoints: the Eiffel tower -- before you had to wait in line for two hours, the Mona Lisa -- before she was behind a thick pane of glass, MonteMarte -- before it was completely tourist trappy, Notre Dame, etc, etc, etc. But Paris was the top of D's gotta go list and as we'd already done so many of the things at the top of mine (and it's only a 5 hour drive) off we went. I didn't expect to love Paris, but love it I did, and we're already planning a quick trip back with the kids so that C can see the Eiffel tower and eat the best street-side crepes known to man.

We tried to take advantage of the fact that we were traveling light (no kids and no kid gear)and ride the train, but as we planned this trip last minute, it cost several hundred euro more for round trip train tickets than it did to pay for gas, tolls, and parking. We parked at the Charles De Gaul Airport and took the Metro into the city. We stayed in the Latin quarter, and I loved the Latin Quarter. Most of the tourist sites we wanted to visit were in other sections of the city, so we got a taste of those quarters as we were sightseeing, but the energy in the Latin Quarter is fun. Markets, bakeries, eateries aplenty, grocery stores, even a Starbucks or two within a short walk of our hotel, so when we were done for the day and wanted to grab a late dinner, we didn't have to puzzle over where, we simply had to grab the Metro back to our hotel and then wander for a block or two until we found something we liked.

Paris was fun for us for an altogether unexpected reason: we felt more at "home" in Paris than we have since we got here last year. D had taken enough French that his language skills were passable, but as September is still a busy tourist month, we heard more English around us than anything else. Parisians have a reputation for being pushy and rude, and not at all friendly, but let me tell you, compared to the austere personality that is de-facto around these parts, those Parisians, at least the ones we encountered, are down right vivacious and congenial.

Each evening one museum stayed open late, so we tended to get going by 10 or 11 AM, grabbing a pastry and coffee as we walked to the train, sightsee until 4 or 5 (snacking from street vendors when we needed to refuel), zipping back to the hotel to rest/shower/change and then go to a late attraction: a museum, a seine river cruise, etc, then back to the Latin quarter to eat a real dinner.

The first evening we climbed the Eiffel tower.

The next day we started at Notre Dame, buying our Museum pass (a MUST for any sightseeing visit) and then after marveling at the cathedral, ducked into the small Archaeological museum next door. Each trip we take, there's a surprise--something we happen upon that isn't in all the books, but turns out to be a really cool experience. In Paris it was the Archaeological Crypt museum. The museum is 1 story underground, and is built over an existing archaeological dig of Roman-era ruins. The larger "story" behind the museum is to trace Paris's growth and development from Roman times through the age of the Cathedral next door (a long time, mind you, as it took close two 2 centuries to build that Cathedral next door). I'm not schooled in artifact discovery/preservation and maybe the whole museum is nothing more than a good show, you know like Disney World or Vegas--a Baudrillard-esque simulation of the "real thing" manipulated to be more real than the thing itslef, but still....what a cool idea. Bring the museum to the artifacts, rather than the artifacts to the museum.

Then, we meandered more of the area around Notre Dame, and stopped into avery famous English-language bookstore. Funny Story: I had been trying to get a copy of the book my book club was reading that month. I didn't know much about the book, hadn't looked it up, had heard it was rather controversial, but whatever. So I asked in Shakespeare and Company if they had the book, lo and behold they did. So I bought it. As the man's ringing me up, he asks if I want him to stamp the book. Sure, I say, thinking to myself -- oh cool, what an awesome souvenir. Fast forward to the next week when we're home and I start reading said book....It is hands down, the most horrid, awful, book I've ever encountered (now think about who I am and my background and all the varied things I've read over my life) and that's no small feat. Puke in my mouth, kind of disgusting. Couldn't even bring myself to finish it, even using my survive grad school technique reading the first and last sentences of each paragraph. It's the type of book I'd be horrified if C plucked it off the bookshelf one day and started thumbing through it. But yep I bought it and had it stamped at the famous Shakespeare and Company so now I feel compelled to keep it. That'll teach me to pay more attention (**Note, I"m purposefully not naming the book, because it's so not worth it, but I also don't want search engine hits on it either. Said book, however, was a European bestseller, which leads to whole'nother, rather interesting line of inquiry, but I won't go there now). Anyhow, after my quick duck into the bookstore, we toured palaceSainte Chapelle.

.That evening we tackled the Louvre -- Rick Steves tells you about a way you can use your museum pass to avoid the crowded security lines at the Louvre, but in doing so, you sacrifice your chance to walk through the famous glass pyramid. However, the lines were close to nonexistent at night, so we went through the grand entrance, rather than through servants quarter. We're not big museum people. We want to see the things we need to see. And although you could spend a whole day in the Louvre, we're the type happy enough with a couple hours. We dutifully made the rounds, seeing the couple of Michaelangelo sculptures, the Delacroix paintings (which we'd funny enough already seen at a traveling exhibit in Philly), Winged Victory, Venus de Milo,and of course, Mona Lisa, the grand dame herself. Then we wandered the bustling evening square outside the Louvre and back towards "home" where we ate the best Sushi I've ever had. Maybe it's just 'cause we haven't had sushi in a while --absence makes the heart grow fonder at all -- but still.

Day Three was our Museum day: We began the day atop the Arc de Triomph, wandered the length of Avenue des Champs-Élysées to the Place de la Concorde. Then we, almost unknowingly, wandered into my favorite museum and favorite "artsy" moment of the trip. We popped into the Orangerie Museum, only because it was covered by our Museum pass, it was right in front of us, and I needed to use the facilities. Yes, I knew the Waterlilies were there, but I've already spent over an hour of my life in the impressionist wing of the Met in New York with a monet-obsessed buddy, so really, how many Monets does one need to see in one lifetime.

I stand corrected. The waterlilies are breathtaking. Not sure I realized they were mural size (admittedly, art appreciation wasn't my favorite class in college). The entire museum probably had only ten people in it and the Waterlilies are its only major work, but definitely one of Paris's gems, hidden in plain sight. Then we mosied a few blocks to the Orsay, home of the late 18th century artwork. To me, the building was more impressive than the art, converted train station and all, but again, not the artsy type.

That evening, a thoroughly enjoyable dinner at Cafe Du Marche and a lovely stroll through the famous Rue Cler neighborhood back to the Seine for an evening boat ride, one of the highlights of the weekend.

Day Four: We caught the train out to Versailles. I've spent the last twenty years wanting to go to Versailles. Mythologized as the place is I expected..... well, more. The Gardens were impressive and the fountains were running so that was nice, but the palace itself, a tad underwhelming. Again, it was great to see it in a "put a name with a face" kind of way but..... We spent the first three hours, exploring the gardens and the Queen's private residence, and I felt badly we didn't save more time for the palace, but turns out I needn't have worried. We spent thirty minutes in line at security and ,maybe, 45 minutees walking the palace and we had seen enough. If you go: Buy tickets ahead of time. The palace is include in the popular museum pass and you buy garden tickets at the garden gates, and that way you don't have to wait in the ginormous Versaille ticket line.

That evening we braved the craziness and went to Montemart. Some Paris visitors say they don't like the atmosphere in the Latin Quarter because it's just too touristy at every turn. Well, I think Montmarte is the most touristy place in all of Paris. Don't get me wrong, 2o years back it was still touristy, but I remember it as festival/artsy touristy. Now, it's just South of the Border touristy or Panama City Beach at Spring Break touristy with tacky souvenir shop after tacky souvenir shop. Maybe the difference is just me, but I'd be willing to bet it's not all me. But, Montmarte is grand for its stunning views of the city and the church is lovely, so go see them at least.

. Day Five: We spent the last morning in Paris in the Paris sewers. The sidebar picture is me doing my best Jean Valjean carrying Marius impression. D, having worked before in a sewer plant, was rather fascinated by it. Me, not so much. Too stinky. I've always been disappointed that I didn't buy a copy of Canterbury Tales the day I ended up at the Cantebury Cathedral (and I'm not sure we'll make a trip back to Canterbury simply for me to buy said book), but I certainly wouldn't make the same mistake in the Paris Sewers. I hustled through to the gift shop at the end, ready to plunk down my euro for an overpriced copy of Les Miserables but alas, they weren't selling one. Inconceivable. After our sewer tour, strolled the Marais neighborhood (home to the 18th century Parisian intelligentsia, lingered in Place des Vosges, and then walked through the adjoining Jewish quarter to the Holocaust memorial. Then we hopped the train back to the Latin quarter, quick ducked into the Pantheon to see Foucault's Pendulum and then back to the hotel to collect our luggage and out to the airport to collect the car.

In the end, my impression of Paris is that it's a friendly, beautiful city with architectural treasures hidden on every street corner. Beautiful churches and facades that in other cities would become centerpieces, pass without comment, simply because they find themselves in Paris, home to so many more famous monuments. We're already planning a trip back, as close as it is. So stay tuned for Paris, part deux.

You take the high road

More Catch Up......

In August the family Mc spent an incredible ten days in Scotland -- Edinburgh, The Isle of Skye, Inverness, and back to Edinburgh. Scotland has been on my must see list, ever since I discovered the Gabaldon Outlander series, back in our Tallahassee days. Having been there and done that, I think I must go back--and often. Mc... is Scottish in origin. As it's a name I inherited, I didn't go all gaga for clan roots and stuff, but still, the entire country is steeped in a profound sense of history.

We flew into Edinburgh, spent three nights in a rented flat in the northern suburb of Leith, a quiet residential neighborhood in a well-loved, but safe apartment that the landlord was kind enough to stock with rolls and milk and OJ, knowing we had wee ones and our flight didn't land until 10:30 PM and we'd be at least midnight getting from the airport.

We rented a car and D did a good job driving on the "wrong" side of the road:never once went the wrong way around a roundabout! He had a tendency to hug the left curb a little closely, a natural sense we suspect. As an American driver, you're used to being on the left side of the road, so you tend to put yourself there. Later in the week, when we meandered some of those steep highland passes, I found myself often repeating "close on the left, close on the left", but all in all, the driving was a non-issue (not that I wanted to drive, at all, mind you).

Edinburgh was busy and very crowded the days we were there. It was the Edinburgh Festival and the famous Military Tattoo. Kidless, we would have found last minute tickets to the Tattoo, but with the youngins in tow contented ourselves with photographing the parade grounds as we walked through Edinburgh castle.

Our first day in Edinburgh we walked the length of the Royal Mile, parking at Holyrood Palace meandering our way to the Castle and then back down. C was worn out from the trip, so spent most of the afternoon asleep in the stroller and missed the castle entirely. But never fear,there were many more castles to come. Fortunately, I had purchased a new, more comfortable, travel-friendly baby carrier for this trip, suspecting just such an occurrence. (Baby in fact spent nearly the entire trip tucked in my coat in his new carrier. Either we were places that were not stroller friendly or we were walking long distances and big brother needed to ride.)

Our second full day in Edinburgh we started the morning at the Royal Yacht Britannia, decommissioned in 1996 and now a Edinburgh-area tourist attraction. It was a fun outing. C got his own audio tour guide and kept himself busy looking for the next number in the guide, shouting gleefully when he found it. Supposedly his guide was geared for kids, not sure he listened to much of it though. The picture to the right is a picture of the officer's bar, but note the audio guide sitting on the bar. Yep, that's right, C set his down and walked off to find more numbers, leaving it on the bar. So we toured this section of the boat twice, backward and forward, once I realized we were down one audio guide.

After the boat tour and a quick lunch, we stopped by a local botanical garden, just in time to catch a free festival event--circus acrobats giving a short teaser performance, hoping to entice you into buying tickets for their main event later that evening. We went because we thought C would enjoy the performance and so that we could say we attended a festival event. From what we can tell the festival is simply weeks of performances. The Royal Mile is jam packed with ticket sellers, trying to convince you to attend their shows. With another day in Edinburgh we likely would have found a kid show to take the boys to, but as it was we made do with our abbreviated garden circus. After a quick nap at the apartment, we spent the evening strolling the "new" section of Edinburgh, beneath the Royal Mile. Had to eat at McDonalds that evening because none of the local pubs would allow us inside with children under 18. (Well, that and sometimes fast food is just easier. As I've said before my kiddos are awesome travelers, but at the end of a jam-packed day, there are just some battles not worth fighting)

In the end I enjoyed the Highlands far more than I did Edinburgh, but if I ever go back to Edinburgh, I definitely won't go during festival season. SOooooo crowded. Hard at times to navigate the stroller. We had to wait 45 minutes for a table at a burger joint at lunch. But I'm glad to say I was there and I can now place all the famous Edinburgh landmarks I encounter in books.

The next morning we loaded up our car and headed out on the Highlands portion of our adventure. Our final destination that evening was the Isle of Skye--one of the most remote, but also most beautiful areas of the Highlands. The Isle of Skye is the only place in Scotland that a significant percentage of the population still speaks Gaelic. On Skye, in fact, Scottish kids can go to school in Gaelic all the way through university. We had reservations on a 16:00 ferry and knew we wanted to stop at Stirling Castle along the way. Stirling Castle was an important site in both of the Jacobite risings, but was also important in William Wallace's (Braveheart) story centuries before. We got an early enough start to get to the Castle by about 10 -- good thing too as the crowds when we left were astounding. (Same thing at Britannia, btw. We got there when they opened,but by the time we left --sardine city!)

C and Scottish castles are a good fit. German castles (at least in this region) are small and compact with a designated route to explore, often in cramped quarters. Scottish castles (at least the three we saw)are large and expansive with lots of room for little feet to climb and romp. D and I half-listened to audio guides while we followed C around the ramparts and into tunnels. He thought the prison cells were quite the thing and enjoyed testing out his balancing skills along the castle's walls. We could have easily spent another hour or so at Stirling but had to hit the road in order to make our 4:00 ferry. The road we drove en route to the ferry, lowlands to highlands, was a scenic route full of postcard views (the pictures don't do it justice), but it's also the route that parallel's the Hogwart's Express on it's journey from Kings Cross Station 9 and 3/4 to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!

We made it to the ferry on time, had what I thought was a rather rough crossing, but a cuppa tea later, emerged onto the beautiful and breathtaking Isle of Skye. Skye has the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen, and I've spent a good deal of time in both the Rocky and Smokey mountains, not to mention a wee bit of time driving through the Alps. The Scottish Highlands is indeed God's Country. If you're going to the Highlands for the views, go to Skye (The Inverness area was nice, but the panoramas didn't compare at all to the Skye landscape). If you go: be warned that there's not a lot to do in Skye other than to drive and look, hike and marvel. There are one or two inn's on the island, a multitude of B&B's and a few hostels and while many of them are I'm sure, very nice, there's obviously no such thing on Skye as luxury accommodations. We stayed at a rustic "bothy", much like a camping cabin with a kitchen, bath and bunkhouse. We rented the 6 bed bunk-house for just us, so it was private and while I, personally, tried not to look too hard in the corners and crevices for fear of mold and cockroaches, C and his daddy thoroughly enjoyed the rustic adventure. (And B, bless his heart, has pack n play, will travel).

We spent two nights on Skye. The first night, arrived just before dinner and ate in one of the two local pubs (Here you could bring in kids, but only until 9PM). NO high chair, NO milk, NO juice, but the boys survived on boiled potatoes and fanta, while D and I had the most spectacular local catch--some kind of white fish and YUMMY! Skye is rather sparsely populated, but it boasts a town of decent size, Portree, and that's where we started the next morning, with a cooked breakfast in a local cafe (Haven't had scrambled eggs out since we left the States, so this cooked breakfast was in itself, quite a treat.) Then, we left Portree to embark on Rick Steves' recommended driving tour of the Island. We spent about 6 hours looping the Isle, stopping to ogle at waterfalls and walk out onto rock outcroppings. we wasted an hour at a little snack shack, that had the most varied menu I'd ever seen at a snack shack, everything from panini sandwiches to pasta primavera and fish and chips, but what they don't tell you on the menu is that it takes 45 minutes to get a grilled ham and cheese, but it was, no kidding, the ONLY place to grab grub for miles, so we lingered and let C run off some energy on the hills.
After lunch, we made a quick pit stop at the only public restrooms north of Portree (our starting point). Really Steves puts them in his guide book so you don't miss them. Holes in the wall, literally, but clean and with soap, so who's complaining. We encountered Castle Donvegan, cliffside ruins of Clan McLeod, not an official historic site, but only partially fenced off without a "no Trespassing" sign anywhere nearby. The boys had fallen asleep in the back of the car at this point, however, so D went exploring while I supervised naptime along the side of the road (D later reports that the climb was too steep for little legs, so it's just as well). Then, we headed back to our bothy, stopping to admire the cliffs to the sea as well as an example of the close-to-extinct croft system that used to drive the Scottish economy. Crofting is the Scottish version of tenant farming or sharecropping. Legend has it, btw, that the Isle of Skye is where Bonnie Prince Charlie came ashore during the 1745 Jacobite rising and where he escaped from after the clans' defeat at Culloden.

Our bothy was not in the main town on Skye, we were in Portnalong, not more than a village, really, but a village that also houses the only distillery on the island. Our last morning on Skye, D toured the Talisker distillery while the boys and I played for an hour or so at the local playground. Kids under eight weren't allowed inside. Then it was off, over the relatively new and picturesque Skye bridge, past the Eilean Donan castle (as seen in Highlander, the Movie) to Urquhart Castle on the shore of the Loch Ness and into Inverness for the rest of our stay.

We skipped the "official" Loch Ness tourist traps, but C had a marvelous time looking for Nessie as we climbed the castle walls. The picture to the right is C in the Loch Ness.

Inverness: 4 Nights at a lovely townhouse just outside the city itself. Rick Steves warned there's not a lot to do in Inverness itself, and he's right but there is a lot to do nearby.

Day One we rewarded C for being such a trooper with a day at an amusement park. It was actually more like Bouncy House City, ala Monkey Joes, but he went nonstop for 5 hours. D liked it too because they had a grown up ropes course, rappelling, and a flume ride he and C went on together. The front half of the park is the play area and the back half is nature trails. So, B and I wandered the nature trails and then had a long lunch in the cafe that had free wifi while I checked email and goofed around online.

Day Two we made it to Culloden -- a very very kid friendly museum, btw. There's a self-paced indoor part, that takes about 30 minute to go through, showing a timeline of events, both from the British and Jacobite perspectives. A movie that's too violent for the munchkins, so skip it with the under 10 crowd, but dress up trunks with soldiers uniforms and hands on rifles and bullets. Then you pick up a GPS and head out to the moor. The GPS, talks to you automatically based on where you are on the moor. The moor is huge and flat and C, in his yellow raincoat, could go anywhere and we could still spot him. (Likewise he could still spot me in my green raincoat). He took a siesta on a rock for 20 minutes when he got tired, and simply wandered the paths the rest of the time.

Day Three: we shopped in down town Inverness, bought a cashmere scarf for myself, cute litte hats for the boys, a signed copy of Book 3 of the Outlander series in a Scottish Borders. (We meandered forever in that same Borders, the first English language bookstore we'd encountered in forever, spent an hour in the kids section, thumbed all the travel guides, read the backs of the best sellers, drank the coffee). Next it was off to the honest-to-goodness mall. Then, strolling the river walk by the River Ness and sampling the local Chinese food for dinner. After dinner, headed to Clava Cairns, a prehistoric cluster of rock formations, just a block or two from our apartment.

There was one other family at the site(a Spanish family) and C had good fun talking to them, using his minimal Dora/Diego, mommy-prompted Spanish. C and their daughter chased each other around the rocks for a while, playing hide and seek among the ruins and C, of course, had to gather a stone on the ground (not one form the ruins) to bring home with us to add to his collection.

The next morning we loaded up to begin the drive back to Edinburgh to catch our evening flight home. We had enough time en route to stop one place, and decided on Pitlochry, a completely *charming* village full of boutique shops and Scottish souvenirs. I wanted to bring home a kid-sized set of bagpipes on clearance in one store, but D wouldn't hear of it (or rather I think he was afraid he'd hear nothing but them, once we got back). D kept up with the boys while I shopped, then we strolled over to the river and followed the river to the dam and its accompanying fish ladder, bribing C the whole time with the promise of ice cream and playground time. "If you're too tired to walk to the fish ladder, then you're too tired to have ice cream or play on the playground" He quickly found his second wind.

As we made it to the playground, I used my last diaper for B. So I dashed off to the closest grocery store while the boys played. Of course at this small-town grocery the smallest package of diapers I could by was a 64 pack and I really only needed 2, maybe 3, to get us home, which left us in the parking lot stuffing an entire package of diapers into our already over packed luggage.

In the end, we took the high road and the low road. We found the banks of Loch Lomond and they, as well as the rest of Scotland, are very bonny indeed!

One year ago today

One year ago today we stepped off a plane in Brussels, jet-lagged and exhausted. Last summer, when we found out we were headed to Deutschland, I wrote this, as we were beginning to make lists of all the things we wanted to see and do while we were here. I'm happy to report, we've done all of this, and more.

It's been a good year: Nurnberg, Rothenburg, Trier, the Mosel Valley, Bruges, Keukenhof, Salzburg, Polish pottery, Scotland, and Paris and D's made it to Italy, Greece, and Norway... Not to mention all the many "local" places we've gotten to explore.


I think my favorite local haunt, to date, is Satzvey Castle (although Monschau is a very close second), while my favorite trip is too hard to decide. I've loved them all.

What's left on the list: Bavaria, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Ireland, Krakow, Spain and Gibraltar, Normandy, Switzerland, Nove pottery, Venice, Vienna, and so so much more.

stay tuned........

more bis bis

more treasures from the .bis bis

carved wood sideboard and matching wall shelf -- 42 Euro
(p)leather? loveseat -- 35 Euro.

It's a good thing we went with the used furniture to add more living room seating, because B has recently discoverd crayons, pens, dryerase markers, pencils and anything else he can get his hands on. Note: all of the above come off tile with relative ease

oh, and a Chicco backpack/stroller combo for 4 Euro, not that I need another kid transport vehicle, but it was still in its packaging so for 4 Euro, you know it was coming home with me.

LOVE me some bis bis!

Catchin Up: Poland

In early August, a friend and I took a long weekend trip to Boleslawiec, Poland (pronounced bo-leh-swav-ee-ets). Boleslawiec is just over the German border, about an 8 hour drive, and is the home of Polish Pottery. To Americans living in Germany, Pottery trips are mythic. Most Americans here for any length of time eventually make a Polish and an Italian pottery run. Boleslawiec is a popular girl's trip but in the winter time it could be a nice family trip as there's skiing nearby (so daddy keeps the munchkins while I shop and vice versa while he skis). Boleslawiec isn't very large, but they have a lovely restored downtown area that reminded me a lot of a smaller, less touristy, Prague. The pottery shops are on the other side of town, however, and we spent three solid days looking at pottery, and only found the downtown section by accident one evening when we were looking for a place to eat.

When it comes to Polish pottery, turns out I'm a traditionalist and like the peacock pattern best (In fact I almost bought the exact same peacock casserole dish twice, and did buy a vase and a coffee mug in peacock for myself and an apple baker and a teapot in peacock for BINGO gifts).

I didn't do tons of buying -- a half dozen pieces for me , a few gifts, and some prizes for our local women's group, and by the time you factor in gas and hotel and dining out, not sure I saved that much money (Prices in Boleslawiec are 1/2 to 1/3 the retail prices). But Boleslawiec is a cool trip because you have to drive through regular old Poland to get there. You see more of the old country than you ever would jetting in and out of Krakow as a tourist. There are two main highways that connect Germany to the Boleslawiec region of Poland. One is new, one is not. We drove in on the old highway with its cold-war era border crossing still in tact. It was creepy, creepier than any of the cold-war era monuments preserved in Berlin. Berlin, much like any Eastern European metropolis, has modernized and grown up around it's communist past, preserving pockets of it within the modern city. But the old border crossing into Boleslawiec is surrounded by nothing but forest with the old building looming large and ominous. Adding to the experience, once you cross the border, the highway conditions deteriorate rapidly. On the German side--modern smooth, well kept roads. On the Polish side--old, bumpy, potholed roads. (This was not the case on the new highway coming out of Boleslawiec: perfect interstate and a modern, only minimally staffed border crossing that looks like any toll station. Poland is now part of the EU so there's no stopping at the border).

We spent most of our time dashing between the Boleslawiec stores where all the clerks spoke English (as did all the wait staff and hoteliers, btw), but one morning we went out to Osieczni, a neighboring village, looking for a factory store recommended by our hotel. We never did find the recommended factory store, but we happened accross a different, family run factory store. It was definitely more factory than store. The factory took over the top two levels of the family's home. They spoke no English, stopped their work to show us around, and took us into the storeroom to look for things to buy. They were very excited to see us, however, and simply wrote down the prices of anything we were looking at.

We arrived in Boleslawiec late Thursday evening and left Sunday morning, and keeping a steady pace had enough time to cover all the shopping bases. Another day would have allowed for a little more leisurely browsing, or better yet, an afternoon to take one of the day trips our hotel recommended. Super glad I went. Not addicted to the pottery, so likely won't go back, but it is a lush green forrested region of natural beauty and the small taste of uncommercialized Poland we happened into in Osieczni, was as close to an "authentic" experience as we out-of-towners often get.

for more on the region, check out our hotel's website

It's a non-holiday

So according to my yahoo news ticker, Germany is spending the day remembering and celebrating. Apparently today is an important holiday. 20 years ago today "The Wall" came down. Thing is..... I've been out and about today and have seen no one remembering or celebrating.

The Berlin Wall (along with the OK city bombing, 9/11, and the Challenger explosion) is one of my "Kennedy" moments. I wasn't even a blink in anyone's eye when Kennedy was shot, but 20 years ago today I was a sophomore in highschool, moving from class to class watching live news coverage of the wall coming down on the then new streaming cable into the classroom technology**.

Maybe the boys and I will go walk the farmroads this afternoon and poll the local population and see if they knew they were witnessing history in the making. Doesn't seem like many of them will actually remember precisely what they were doing 20 years ago today.

I'm thinking the day might better be called... "if you're not in former East Germany, nobody cares" day.

**For what it's worth...the Berlin Wall and the US men's hockey team's bid to make it to the gold medal game at the 1992 Winter Olympics were the only live news events shown in my four years of highschool (and the hockey game wasn't shown in every class, only AP European History, presumably the teacher was a fan.)

hey, hey, Cinderella

Went to a ball this weekend. In a real Castle, just like all those fairytales. What a good time and what a fabulous setting!

Local Treasures

We've been taking advantage of all the nice weather recently, taking to the bike trails for afternoon rides. Most often our destinations are local playgrounds where C can frolic and feed the ducks. My favorite is one just up the road in Gangelt tucked beneath the trees with a few walking paths that meander by a river. His favorite is one a little further afield in Niederbusch with a life size chess set and zip line that zooms him accross the mud pit below.

The boys and I had a lovely morning last week exploring new bits of Geilenkirchen. Found some swans in the central park and then after window shopping for a bit stopped into Cafe Schleypen - a highly recommended spot for yummies that we'd yet to try. C loved the case full of cakes he got to choose from. I loved the outside courtyard he could romp around in as we all three shared the homemade goodie.

Later, we lit off to the blueberry field to meet up with friends and U-Pick some incredible morsels. However, upicking German style is a lot different than our honor pay, overgrown, blueberry lot stateside. Here, the bushes are in precisely manicured rows and upon arrival you're assigned a bush, told to pick only that bush, and kindly asked to keep your children from wandering around to pick other bushes. Here too, blueberry picking must be an all day affair as we saw lots of locals with their lawn chairs and coolers, camped out amid the rows of berries.

next up.... Valkenburg
coming soon....POLAND and POTTERY
around the bend..... Scotland

WildPark Gangelt

Explored a local treasure recently, taking the boys to WildPark Gangelt -- part playground, part nature trails, part zoo. C 'tis the perfect age for it, by the time we leave here he will have outgrown it. Not a huge place, and that's part of its appeal. It's small enough that he can walk it an hour, still leaving plenty of time for playgrounds and picnics.

His favorite part was the beehive, where the queen was marked with a read dot. "Don't worry" he said, "the Bees aren't so scary"

Opeanyear 'round, I think we might just have to snag an annual pass.....

Baby Book Time-- the first year

At One Year....
He's a skinny little dude. 19.8 pounds (8th percentile, up from 5th percentile at 9months) and 30.11 inches (65th percentile, up from 22nd percentile at 9 months). Not walking yet, but doesn't like to sit still, not even to sit in his highchair to eat. Meals, more often than not, are little tidbits eaten on the go, but as he keeps growing, must be getting enough.


For his birthday we had some friends over to try out Daddy's new grill and the kids decorated cupcakes. I put strawberries all over B's as strawberries and watermelon are two of his favorite foods.

His newest trick is giving five and although he makes lots of sounds, the only sound that functions as a word (signifying a specific meaning) is cawya, which you guessed it, is his word for big brother. Big Brother is awful sweet to him. When B's in his crib, fussing to get out, I tend to talk to him as I walk up the stairs to get him, "Don't worry, baby, momma's coming". Anytime B's awake and begins fussing, C dashes off to wherever B's penned in, hollering to him along the way, "Don't worry, baby, Cawya's coming"

there's no escaping it....

We've got a pretty grand Netherlands-based, Goodwill-like chain over here. The Bis Bis. There are 4 within a short drive and a few weeks back we scouted them all looking for a dining room table. The Dutch love the modern, clean lines of IKEA furniture. Even expensive furniture showrooms are stocked with more expensive IKEAesque items. The result, the Bis Bis are filled with older furniture for pennies.

For example:
Our dining room table and 4 chairs (solid dark wood, with two leaves that pop up to comfortably seat 6 if not 8) -- 85euro

old secretary desks -- 60euro

old phone desks (for those of you in the know, like the one grandma and popo always kept in the kitchen in NC) 35euro

whole wall china cabinets 175euro

original singer sewing tables 50euro

AND, they'll deliver (although we have recently met neighbors with a pick up truck).

The Bis Bis has become our favorite place to wander, even though as of yet we've only bought the table and chairs. We went back today to pick up a fan [it's hot here this week] and a beer pilsner or two and unfortunately got skunked on both those counts, but 'twas still a fun outing, EXCEPT for the fact that while shopping we had to listen to most of Michael Jackson's Bad CD.

so, like I said in the title -- there's just no escaping it.

Mill Day....

Once a year, all of the old-fashioned German Windmills are open to the public. There are 5 or 6 in our county, so on Muhle day, which happened to be one of the most beautiful days we've had all year, we took to our bikes, met up with some friends, and made a windmill circuit.

We started in Breberen; continued on to Waldfeucht, got lost so skipped Kirchoven and ended up inHaaren

Total, we cyclced 32km (about 20miles) and were gone about 6 hours. One mill had a grill set up where we could refuel on Brots and Kartoffelsalat and another had Kuche and Kaffee for sale. C started out on his trail-a-bike and did just fine until it was time start home from Haaren. He'd had a lot of sun, and his allergies were bothering him, so he and B took naps on the way home in the pull-behind kid cart, affectionately known in our house as "the cave". However, said cave was behind my bike, not daddy's, since daddy's better with C on the trail-a-bike. Lemme tell you pulling 20lb of kid is a lot different than pulling 70lb of kid, especially up hill!

Mills in this region typically ground grain, rather than moving water the way we learned of windmills back in elementary school. The Haaren mill is actually a working mill and a local farmer buys the milled flour to mix in with his feed. I really can't believe they let the public into the mills - it was crowded, the spaces were cramped, and no safety barricades between the visitors and the milling mechanisms, not to mention the ladder-steep stairs we had to climb to get up the mills. Our friends had an 18month old with them, so between theirs and ours, the mommas spent a lot of time holding collars to be sure curious little minds didn't get a little to close to the spinning gears.

All in all good fun, one of the cooler "local" things we've done, and we'll definitely put next year's "Mill Day" on our calendar!

Raindrops on Roses.....

Stunning mountain views, excellent (if cheesy) city tours, kid-friendly biergartens, street vendors, castles with waterguns, playgrounds, and famous gazebos ..... just a few of my favorite things about Salzburg.

The hills were most definitely alive. This was the view from our apartment balcony, not a bad way to enjoy a morning coffee or an evening glass of wine. Our apartment was just on the city outskirts, about a 10 minute drive from the center of town. Well stocked with enough space for each kiddo to have his own room and an easy walk from a number of food choices, including a biergarten with an awesome playground-- a great place to eat dinner our first night in town and let C burn off some steam from the long car ride.

We spent two full days touring the city and started with the Fraulein Maria Sound of Music Tour. There's no better way to see the city, even dodging raindrops as we were. Early in the travel season, it was only our family, so we essentially had a private tour. 3+ hours biking about 9 miles in total and stopping at all the famous movie sights. Our guide, a Sound of Music devotee and a local university music student (originally from Finland)also pointed out other local sights and was a wealth of information about Salzburg in general. We rode by the gardens and statues and markets the children and Maria explored in their do-re-mi outings; saw the Salzburg concert hall, the Convent, the houses used for filming, and THE "16 going on 17" gazebo. Eldest hung in gamely on a trail-a-bike and even got to take a break at a local playground, while baby just took it all in hugging momma's back strapped into a baby seat.

It rained on us at the end of tour, so we quick changed the kids' clothes and then found a Rick Steve's recommended biergarten for lunch -- great place with lots of space for the boys in a little local neighborhood with the local brew. After lunch it was back to our flat for a nap and then a funiculur ride up to the top of the Salzburg fortress (So we could see the fortress and the view, and so C could ride the crazy, mountain-skirting elevator/train). In another life we'd've caught a conert, up at the top, but with the little ones the ride and walk around was the way to go.

Saturday -- day two-- we started the morning with a self guided walking tour, courtesy of Rick Steves, learning more about the non Sound of Music Salzburg sights. C collected rocks as we walked (it's become a bit of a thing for him to pick up rocks wherever we go. It started this winter in Nurnberg and you know I totally encourage it a) because it keeps him busy, and b) because it reminds me of that awesome scene at then end of With Honors), stopped for icecream more than he should have, and played in the fountains as we poked our heads into churches, cemetaries and old government buildings. After our tour grabbed a quick lunch at a burger shop, strolled the shopping district, and then gave the kiddos a few hours off back at the flat.

For dinner, (after getting C some playground time in a fabulous park ) we grabbed some street food while walking between the main squares (and yes C got yet another ice cream -- I think icecream might be his special travel reward)

There's a parking garage in this mountain, one of the more creative ways I've seen to preserve a city's natural landscape. So cool, I had to take a number of pictures of it.

The next AM, we loaded up the car and headed on our way, C waving g'bye to the mountains as we passed them, when it finally dawned on him, "Mommy, there's snow up there."

The actual SOM mountains were filmed across the German border in Bavaria, to get the "green" look the director wanted, but the mountains surrounding Salzburg were gorgeous. We didn't make it to Eagle's Nest (one of Hitler's compounds just across the German border, known for the road Hitler had built to connect it to the town below, and didn't get into the Bavaria region at all, but as we still want to hit Munich and Garmish, we'll be back!

Planning a European vacation..... go to Salzburg!
(here's a cool link to good fun in the Antwerp train station a few months back. Although Salzburg natives claim to have never actually seen the Sound Of Music, at least some Europeans have!)

I'm Humored....

New posts coming soon on Salzburg and our mega cycle Windmill Adventure, but in the meantime, I gave someone directions to my house this AM and they humored me. WARNING: don't drive across the field! :-)

Make your first left after the church, onto a road that has no name, but there's a white sign that says "Baustellen Ausfart" (You'll pass the church on your right and then a bus stop on your left after the church. The road you turn on is after the bus stop on your left and across the street from a little wishing well type thing.) It looks like kind of like you're on a farm road. Keep going to the end. Turn right when you dead end into the horse pen. (IOW, don't keep driving across the field). Make your next right and that's my road.

Ahhhhhhh, village life (in a world that I don't think has ever considered zoning laws)

from "In Bruges" to "Sound of Music"

On our way to Salzburg, Austria for the long weekend. It's about a 8 hour drive, so we left this afternoon after work and drove part way. My kids, awesome travelers that they are, are tucked into their beds and since I am without the TIVO for the evening thought it'd be a good time to take a look back....

Back in March, we left the bitty ones home with daddy and went on a grownup day to Bruges. What an awesome little city. The weather was cold and rainy, but Bruges itself... charming! I can't wait to go back when the weather's nicer. The kids and I can stroll, get some waffles, maybe even take a boat ride while daddy climbs the Bruges belfry, (which I did. The pic below is the view). And, just for the record the Colin Farell movie, In Bruges, totally inaccurate; there's no way one can fall (or be pushed?) out of that tower. But 'tis still a fun movie to watch before and after going to Bruges so you can place all the landmarks that go by.

speaking of watching movies for landmarks --- made eldest watch Sound of Music this weekend. I've been humming Do, Re, Mi ever since. "mommy", he says, "I don't want to sing Do, Re, Mi anymore" Can you tell who this weekend is really for? Anyway, back to Bruges.....

We took a city bus tour, which was nice because it drove us up by the windmills, which we wouldn't have gotten to on our own. I climbed the Belfry and then we simply meandered the squares, stopped at cafes for coffee and waffles, ducked into the brewery and strolled through the old convent, before making our way back to the charter bus for the ride home.

Bruges is the kind of city I like, the kind of city that's small enough to walk thoroughly, small enough to be charming in its whole, (at least in its whole historic district) rather than in parts. Lots of folks come to Europe for London, Paris and Rome. Not me. My money is on Florence, Prague, Cambridge, and now Bruges. I'm hopeful Salzburg will have the same, love to wander it, feel to it. And even if it doesn't.... it does have the Faulein Maria's Sound of Music tour, so what's not to love?

They say the "Hills are Alive" -- check back in a day or two and I'll let you know.
So long, Farewll, Aufwiedersehen, Goodnight!

Tiptoe through the Tulips

We made it to the world famous Keukenhof Gardens this weekend. We did it as a day trip, yet forgot to factor in the Mc Family travel rule while in Europe: There will always be a traffic jam. *EVERY* single road trip we've taken since we've been here, short or long, has been lengthened significantly by a traffic jam. The trip to Keukenhof, which should've taken 2.5 hours, took closer to 5. Thank goodness the other two couples we were meeting (who had our tickets and who had gone up the night before) didn't mind waiting and thank goodness my kids are phenomenal travelers. Oldest is skilled at entertaining himself with road games and can alternate between holding youngest's bottle for him and giving him toys. Baby sleeps better in the car than almost anywhere else and if C gets too antsy I simply pop in the German CD. He doesn't like the CD series that teaches you actual phrases and sentences, but he listens with rapt attention to the one that simply goes over words: we've got the days of the week, months of the years, numbers and colors just about mastered.

The gardens themselves were beautiful. This year's theme was New York, NY. That part was a little over-hyped. Supposedly you could see the Statue of Liberty drawn out with different colored flowers, and maybe you could from a helicopter, but the viewing platform provided by the park wasn't tall enough to really make anything out. If we go again, we'll pack a picnic lunch. They didn't care if you brought your own food and their food was not so good, overpriced, and shut down at 4 in the afternoon. We actually ate stand waffles for lunch and for dinner (C was in heaven). They had a petting zoo and two playgrounds for the kids. C actually thought we were going to the zoo, and he just had to look at some flowers first.


I'm not sure we'll go back every year, but I'm glad to have gone and would certainly encourage anyone who was ever in the area during the spring time to make the effort to get to Keukenhof.

fountain FUN in Maastricht

he's "all boy" as they say


I didn't have any extra clothes for the big boy and 'twas too cold just to stay wet, so he ended wearing momma's cout for the afternoon


played too hard, had to take a snooze

baby book substitute

Maybe I'll start him his own blog, but for now, this'll have to do.
At 9 months, he's moved from 1% on the weight chart to 5%. He's got two teeth, is mastering the mechanics of crawling, and loves to eat finger food, but only if it's mama's fingers doing the feeding. (I tend to hold those slimy foods for him, things like pears that he just can't manage to pick up off the tray, and lo and behold if it didn't take the kid all of about 2 seconds to figure out it was far easier to put mama's finger in his mouth than hassle with it himself).

He has the best fun with big brother; he'll cackle and laugh for the rest of us, but downright guffaws when C comes along. Their favorite game is the scream game. The rules are such: C screams, B screams, C screams, B screams.... pattern continues 'till I tell C to move on. B, of course, misses that directive, keeps screaming, and the whole game starts over again. (*Note* this game is good F-U-N when in the car).

Don't leave home without it (AKA --our weekend in the Mosel)

'Tis a dreary day today and eldest is engrossed in a Geman DVD grandma left behind, youngest is napping, and I've just about had my fill of housework for the day, so a good time to start catching up a bit, I think.

Those of you who know me well know I went on a bit of a stroller spree when expecting baby. C is a stolling kiddo. Still often prefers to ride than walk... So, I cajoled grandpa into getting us this not-quite-a-double stroller. It has been a sanity saver. C can walk when he likes, he can sit when he likes, he can even nap on the jump seat, as evidenced during a recent all day outing to Maastricht when after frolicking in the fountain, snug and dry wrapped in mamma's coat, he and baby explored the city in their dreams while the rest of us strolled the city and found the old roman gate. (Picture Forthcoming -- I can't get to the server at the moment)

We've only been here a short time and the Joovy's gone on all our major outings, EXCEPT, our jaunt down to the Mosel a month or so back when Grandma and GP were visiting. See, space that trip was at a premium. The five of us filled the car's cabin and the only place for stuff was the trunk. I made the executive decision to take a different, smaller-fold stroller, and simply make C suck-it-up and walk.

I chose poorly. This is what happened in Trier. C booted baby to the Bjorn and this after the rest of us had already endured two hours of whining moaning and feet-dragging from our bored/tired preschooler. Had I found space in the car for the Joovy, our entire day in Trier would have been more enjoyable. C could have chilled on the jumpseat where he is far more easily entertained with games of "I spy", "count the statues", etc.

Live and Learn

While in the Mosel we visited Trier and Cochem. Both lovely towns. I especially liked Trier. Good fun wandering all the ruins tucked between market squares, outdoor cafes and modern shopping districts. Trier is unique to Germany because it boasts preserved ruins from several architectural eras -- Roman, Gothic, and so on. It's a one stop-shop that city.

Cochem's claim to fame is it's Reichsburg castle which sits high on a hill overlooking the city below. Cochem is small, easily covered in an afternoon and full of quaint, narrow cobble-stoned streets fun to meander. Also, a riverwalk, nice to enjoy if the weather's pleasant. We did not tour the mustard mill, but did stop in to buy some of the good stuff. We came home with a garlic mustard and a cayenne mustard. Can't put French's on all these German sausages can we?