Gobble! Gobble!

I haven't yet made my top-five-coolest-things-we-did-in-Europe list, so I'm not sure which of our ramblings will make the cut. But whenever I do make such a list, our Thanksgiving day adventure in Leiden definitely gets a spot.

Leiden Centrum

Not many Americans in my neck of the woods have heard about the American Thanksgiving service held each year at the St. Pieter's Kerk  in Leiden, sponsored by the organization Overseas Americans Remember.

(*I can't find a good web link to the organization, but they sponsor a half-dozen events a year, all in the Amesterdam or Den Haag area.  In addition to the Thanksgiving service, they organize a MLK breakfst, a Friendship celebration in April, commemorating the date Holland first recognized the USA as an independent nation, a 4th of July celebration, a "Who's Your President" breakfast, the day after election day.)

Why Leiden???  The group of early-American settlers we usually call the Pilgrims lived in Leiden from 1609-1620.  It is from Leiden that they boarded the Speedwell and left for the New World.  The Speedwell wasn't sea worthy, however, and they made land back in Southern England and tried  again this time on the Mayflower.

Our plan for they day was this:  leave early enough to make the 2.5 hour drive to Leiden and be at the church by 11.  Grab a snack. Head to the Pilgrim Museum. Eat Thanksgiving dinner.  Drive home.
If you go, note that parking in Leiden is more than difficult.  There's really no parking at the train station, and very little down town.  There are two lots (one at the Groenoordhallen and one on Haagweg) where parking is plentiful and from where free shuttle buses run to the city centre. The shuttle buses run until 2:00 AM and parking is cheap, by Dutch standards. We paid about 10 euros for the whole day.

St Pieter's Kerk interior

The church service was well attended, with about 400 people. Attendees were mostly Americans and the day   began with a civic service including the presentation of the colors, patriotic songs, and historical readings.  I had forgotten that before he was the nation's second President, John Adams had  been the  ambassador to the Netherlands and that he and his wife, Abigail, had written about their respective visits to Leiden. The letters of Abigail Adams constitute a chapter of my now-irrelevant-opus, so I should have made the connection between Adams and Leiden before she was quoted in the civic part of the service.  If you want to read the letter that Adams wrote  her sister about her visit to Leiden, her travels throughout Holland, and her insight into the importance of the relationship between Holland and  young America, you can see an online version, here .  

While Pilgrim leader John Robinson is buried in St Peter's church, most of today's historians agree it is unlikely that the Pilgrims actually worshiped in the church; they were a fringe religious group in Leiden society, and as such likely held their services in smaller, less official venues. Although, they most certainly were in the church from time to time.

This is Hooglandse Kerk .Can you believe I didn't take a picture of the outside of St. Pieter's Kerk?

After the civic service, there was an interdenominational religious service, consisting mainly of hymns and readings, representing Catholic, Jewish, and various protestant traditions.  There was no sermon to speak of, simply various members of the American community in North Holland, sharing personal Thanksgiving reflections.  (This part of the service was kind of labored-- didn't need to hear quite so many variations on the theme.  One or two would have been plenty.)     Kids were definitely most welcome.  The church is very large, and a number of families with little ones stayed near the back while their restless ones toddled around the narthex.  We sat on one of the less crowded wings, to minimize whatever distractions the kids might throw in.  B watched a movie during most of the service (which clocked in at close to 90 minutes). C was interested in the singing and the musical performances, but he played his DS during many of the readings and reflections.

At the conclusion of the service, they served coffee and cookies and we toured the church, which has an impressive  pipe organ above the altar.  Then we moseyed Leiden, grabbed a quick bite at the local Bagels and Beans, and popped over to the Pilgrim Museum, a very very small museum commemorating the Pilgrims' years in Leiden.  The Pilgrim Museum was very crowded (probably their busiest day of the year), so we didn't stay long.  As the weather was lovely, we meandered some more, over to the Leiden Castle.  Leiden's Castle is really simply a fort, but it offers fabulous panoramic views of the town, is free, and perfectly suited for boisterous little boys to storm and climb.  Who needs playgrounds when there's 12th century ruins around?  After our little legs finished exploring, we meandered some more, over to the train station, in order to grab a train up to Amsterdam to partake in our traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

My littlest turkey

The Holiday Inn in Leiden was offering a traditional Turkey and all the trimmings buffet, but didn't open until 18:30 and we wanted to eat a little earlier so we could still make it home at a decent hour.  The only other establishment google led me to that promised traditioanl Thanksgiving fare was the Hard Rock Cafe in Amsterdam, which turned out to be a fabulous choice as Hard Rock Cafes are usually loud, perfect for masking the loudness we bring with us.  Dinner consisted of corn chowder, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, dressing (stuffing), broccoli, and pumpkin pie.  And it was good.  Not as good as my home made feast would've been, but better than what I was expecting.

While we caught a tram from Amsterdam Central Station to Leidesplein and the Hard Rock, we walked back. Each little square along the way was decorated with lights and  festive with mini markets of Gluhwein and waffles.We found Dam Square  jam packed with people waiting for  the famous De Bijenkorf department store to turn on its lights.

As you might imagine it was a really really long day and the kiddos, whom I often brag about here for being fabulous goers and doers, weren't in their most cooperative state, but 'twas still an unbelievably wonderful experience, even handicapped with whiny munchkins. (Both of whom fell asleep the instant their heads touched their car seats, so at least it was a peaceful drive home).   We were most certainly the only non-North Holland dwellers present in Leiden that day, many were surprised we drove all the way up from Limburg to give thanks, but if you ever find yourself anywhere near Leiden the fourth Thursday in November, make it a point to stop and take in a little trans-atlantic history.

Luxembourg

I'm not sure whether to call Luxembourg the local area or not.  It's within such easy striking distance, it's really day-trippable.  We, however, opted to stay overnight at a nearby air force base offering cheap, family-friendly accommodations and an opportunity to stock up on some American staples.

We spent Saturday morning in Vianden, exploring the most kid-friendly castle we've yet to encounter.  It's not stroller friendly, lots of steps, but my young 2 year old easily walked it.  It's small enough to not bore/tire the kiddos.  And while there are exhibits (armor, knives, tableware), the exhibits are centered in large rooms which makes it easy to run interference and keep the kids from touching anything.  There are occasionally guided tours, more in the summertime, but as we visited in October, we took the self guided route.  Bottom line: it is an invitingly trompable castle, with little boy adventures waiting around every bend, especially if you visit off-season (as evidenced by all the pictures of my boys tromping).  For any local readers  who are now German-castle-skittish, having made the drive to Burg Eltz only to be kicked out because your kid breathed funny, never fear, Vianden is the castle for you.   We've yet to make it  to Bavaria and the Cinderella-esque Neuschwanstein, but Chateau Vianden perched in the Luxembourg hills, though small, is as scenic as we've seen to date.

As an added bonus,  Vianden is a super cute little town, reminiscent of Monschau, but filled with cute antique shops and friendly bistros. Side note: Victor Hugo frequently vacationed in Vianden and just as I couldn't buy a copy of Les Mis in the Paris sewers nor could I buy a copy of it or even Hunchback at the Victor Hugo house in Vianden.  REALLY!?!     Someone needs a new marketing director, for sure. 

Sunday our destination was Luxembourg City. Except..... before we got to sightseeing we had to stop and buy hats and gloves (no easy feat on a Sunday, mind you).  We now have hats and gloves as souvenirs from our trips to Cambridge, Heidelberg, Hamburg and Luxembourg.  You would think after two years I would have figured out just how cold Northern Europe can be, any time of year.  In my defense, that Sunday in Luxembourg City was  barely the middle of  October, and the first  REALLY cold day of the year, so hats and gloves weren't quite on my radar yet.


Once we appropriately bundled ourselves, we set off on the shorter of the two self guided walking tours available from the Visitor Center.  Luxembourg is pretty hilly, with some steep climbs and C was walking that day, so between the cold and being paced by 5 year old legs, we figured shorter was better.  The city has remarkably preserved casements and walls, some dating back as early as 1644, that today surround a lovely park.  Walking the casements provides some really beautiful views of the city.   There's a uniformed guard on duty at the city's Grand Ducal Palace and that's always fun for the boys.   Luxembourg City, unfortunately, is just the latest victim of my "metropolis fatigue".  On a beautiful day it would be a fun place to explore, on a cold and windy one, I could take it or leave it.  Rumor has it, though, that there's a Villeroy and Boch outlet near there, so perhaps Luxembourg City and I will meet again one day soon.

tromping

tromping

and more tromping

any castle that does this.... priceless!

Scandinavian Cities

view of Oslo harbor from our porthole

Our  dash through Northern Europe in August was dubbed a "Capitals" cruise with ports of call at all three Scandinavian Capitals.   It's now two months later and my take on Oslo, Copenhagen, and Stockholm still holds:  I'm glad I visited, but if I'd gone through the hassle and expense to connect the three on my own without the cruise experience thrown in, and if those cities were all I saw of the region, I'd have been disappointed.   Some of that stems from what I fear is metropolis fatigue.  We've crammed alot in over the last 2 years and sometimes one European city really does blend into the next. Now that I've seen the cities, I'm pretty sure Scandinavia's treasures lie in getting out and enjoying the natural beauty--cruising the Fjords in Norway or the Archipelego's in Sweden (two things I would definitely go back to do).

OSLO
Oslo was my favorite of the three cities. We walked from the cruise terminal to the main railway station (the beginning of Rick Steve's walking tour).  We followed Steve's path ducking into churches and pausing in front of monuments to read more about Norwegian history.  We eyed the cafe famous Norwegian playwrite Henrik Ibsen frequented and meandered a sculpture garden dedicated to the works of  Gustav Vigeland.  His most famous work might very well be the screaming baby.  Legend has it he gave his model candy, and then quickly took it away to encourage toddler rage.  Yep, I'd say he got it about right.

Then we popped into the National Art Gallery to see their Munch  collection.  Next, we grabbed a ferry across the bay and toured the Viking Ship Museum, with two remarkably well-preserved, Leif Ericsson era Viking ships.  The ships were likely grave ships, burial sites set adrift in the sea and were rather neat to see up close.  After a quick and expensive lunch (25 USD for a reindeer burger and baked potato), we hit the open-air Norsk folk museum which houses a 12th century Stave Church, the most architecturally unique church I think I've ever seen, but apparently a style common in old Norway.  Also,  lots and lots of sod houses.  The museum has recreated Norwegian village life through the centuries by trucking in restored buildings from elsewhere in Norway and is a great way  to get an overview of  everyday life in Norway from the middle ages all the way up to present times.

I liked Oslo, and while expensive, the Oslo Pass provides a good value including all public transport and museum entrance fees. The city is relatively compact so with only one day to sightsee we could cram alot in.  Not so much with our next stop and least favorite port of the entire cruise (not simply my least favorite of the Scandinavian big three): Copenhagen 

Copenhagen = urban sprawl and sprawl and sprawl.  We used public transit in most of the ports and the Copenhagen system was by far the least user-friendly.  Supposedly you can rent public bikes, picking them up and dropping them off at various points around the city.  Um, yeah. There were never any working bikes available.  BUT we did see numerous blue Copa-bikes chained with private bikes in bike racks.   The public bikes have a unique design and cannot be serviced using regular bike parts, which was supposed to keep people from pedalling off with them.  However, that doesn't take into account how to keep people from monopolizing them until they break.    So, yeah, getting around was a bit difficult.

the Little Mermaid site

View from our table at lunch

The port is right next to the Little Mermaid's  home; however, the famous princess of the deep is currently on loan to Shangahi.  In her place, they have erected a screen, playing a live video stream from Shanghai, a system which really had the potential to be cool.  BUT, the technology stunk and you saw nothing more than a vague, grainy blob, sigh.

Christiana

In between a walking tour of the historical highlights, the most prominent of which was Rosenborg Castle, we did have a lovely traditionally Danish lunch at a local eatery and fun stop into the Ice Bar, so all was not lost.  We also wandered Christiana -- probably the world's most well known commune and Copenhagen's second most popular tourist destination.  Originally Christiana grew up on the grounds of an abandoned military facility.  Homes are ramshackle, without running water or electricity... and there's a waiting list to move in. New residents are voted on by the populace and they are, for the most part, a self-sufficient community, living "free" (complete with the smell of burnt tea bags permeating the air and an awful lot of brownies for sale).  As you leave Christiana there's a sign over your head reminding you that "You are now entering the EU", which pretty much sums up the attitude of Christiana residents to the Danish government.

traditional lunch -- lots of pickled items

I kind of wanted to pop into Tivoli Gardens -- the Danish amusement park that inspired Walt Disney as he created Disney World but we didn't make it to that side of town until late in the afternoon and feared we wouldn't make it back to the boat on time if we lingered too long -- not a good thing, considering both kiddos were on board that day.  My gut thinks they would have waited for us. Otherwise they would have had to take charge of the munchkins.  But, they did not wait for everyone.  We ran into someone in Stockholm (last stop) who had missed the boat in Tallinn (next to last stop) and made his own way to Stockholm in order to catch up.

 Speaking of Stockholm.....

 

Stockholm was fun.  Disney Cruise Line provided transportation from the port to a centralized drop off station, but we walked to the local bus stop and made our own way into town.We started the morning  at the Vasa Museum:  In 1625 King Gustav commissioned a warship to be built. The ship was poorly designed, too top heavy, and sunk within 15 minutes of sailing.  In  the1960s the ship was found, completely in tact, off the coast of Sweden and forms the entirety of the Vasa Museum.  It's a good thing we made it our first stop, because by the time we left 90 minutes later, the tour buses had arrived and the admission lines were huge.

After the VASA, we meandered the old town with our handy Rick Steves walking tour and then back to the boat for an early afternoon boarding time.  We only had a short day in Stockholm and although there was more to see, I don't feel the need to go back just to see it.   As we cruised out of Stockholm to begin making our way back to Dover, we cruised through the island chain known as the Archipelagos.  The scenery was stunning, and I would definitely go back to spend a few days island hopping, especially if we weren't still taking a stroller with us everywhere we go.

Travelling in Scandinavia and the Baltic states, especially moving quickly as we were, is more cumbersome than travelling in other parts of Europe, simply because each country uses its own currency.  We had to change Swedish Krone, Norwegian Krone, and Danish Krone, as well as Russian Rubels, Estonian Kroon and British Pounds.  We obviously had plenty of  Euro in  Germany, and we could have easily used Euro in Estonia because as of January 2011 Estonia is changing to the Euro.  Disney Cruise Line offers a helpful service in that  they will change money on board for you and then let you turn in any unused currency at the same rate you bought it.  Their exchange rates weren't the best, but you weren't paying fees or losing money both directions.  However, they only offered the service to and from US Dollars, and I think we only had 30 USD on hand between us.  So yep, we kept changing that same 30 dollars all week long and then hit an ATM as soon as we found one in each port.   It wasn't all bad, however. I ended up with amber earrings from St Petersburg, a limestone mortar and pestle from Estonia, and yummy snacks from the Stockholm market just 'cause we had money left to burn.

In Stockholm our bus had to pull over to let the marching band through. Happens in Germany all the time.

a great market in Stockholm

beach, pool, little village; beach, pool, historic building; beach, pool ...

heading home tomorrow and the title just about sums up our 10 days in the Algarve.

First things first, though:  I love the tile facades common to the region.  Maybe one day my house'll look as cool as this one from the outside.

This has been the most family friendly place we've ever been, so if you're looking for a sunny take-the-crew destination,  put Algarve on your list. (but stay away in the peak season.  It's busy now and this is the off season so I can't fathom what July and August are like).

Nowhere in Europe have the people been nicer (the locals or the other tourists).   If the boys were teenagers I'd have given them bus fare and turned them loose, with only minimal fretting. 

There's no language barrier whatsoever**, but we are the only Ameicans we encountered this week.  We're clearly not British, so we were often asked where we were from. Then, we watched the less pushy of the small-talkers try to politely figure out why the American family from Florida  flew all the way across the pond to go to the beach.  (The more pushy didn't wonder -- they just asked what brought us Yanks to Algarve).

Before he asked their names or their ages,  C asked every kid he met at the pool if they spoke English, getting odd looks from both the kids and the grownups, what do they speak in America, if not English?  I imagine he's far more aware than any of his kiddie-pool counterparts that there are kids -- lots and lots of them, inf act-- that don't speak English.  Hopefully they didn't think that he was implying that what they were speaking wasn't English. We won't even get into the chuckles he occassioned when he announced across the pool deck, "mommy, I have to go potty." in what is clearly American lexicon.  We have free British satellite TV at the apartment and he's taken to apeing a British accent the last few days, so we'll see how long that lasts once we get home.

** However, even without a language barrier we have had a few "foreigner" moments.  I managed to come home from the store with fabric softener rather than detergent and I sent D to the store to get diapers, instructing him to get a name brand.  After all, in Germany they actually call diapers, Pampers.  He came home with pullups, Huggies pullups, 'cause he didn't recognize any of the other brands.  (Fortuitous discovery: the pullups are actually easier when travelling, 'especially for a mama who never quite mastered the art of the standing diaper change

We spent our entire 10 days in the 80 km stretch between Faro and Portimao, checking out the local beaches or wandering the local villages in the AM, heading back to the pool for the aftenoon, and sometimes venturing out for an evening meal and  sometimes hitting the Mercador (grocery store) on the corner for self catering cooking. 

If you go, our favorite activities....

Historic Faro:  With little ones it was too much to tackle Faro the day we landed, and too much to think about doing it the day we left, but we did go back one AM and I'm super glad we did.  The historic district is gorgeous --white washed buildings and palm trees a plenty.  We climbed the 13th century Faro cathedral (all 68 steps of it, even C did it without complaining). And the boys frolicked on the small observation platform while we took in the gorgeous views of the coast and counted the planes landing at the airport.  We also scored our best family portrait in Europe, to date: no one's eyes are closed, no one's screaming or squinting, everyone looks half-way decent. EXCEPT,  some old British dude is in the corner, just like he was grandpa, tagging along.  We'll either photoshop him out or pretend he actually belongs to us.  

Silves:  Plan to spend the entire AM, at least through lunch.  In addition to excellent countryside views, pretty streets and riverside walks, there's an old Moorish castle there that all 3 of my boys loved to climb and explore.  It's *not* a German-style castle, so there's no tour, no organized plan (not even a tour guide in English).  But it's cheap, picturesque, with a pretty flower garden and a handy cafe inside, and filled with local lore.  Given that I knew the context (we were in an old castle, after all) my undergraduate Spanish was able to get us the gist of the signs,  which were all in Portuguese, but if you've ever been in an old fort before, you too would've gotten the gist regardless of your lnaguage skills.  It's pretty obvious where the dungeons, kitchen's etc are.

Praha D.Roche (at Portimao) was our favorite beach. Lots of access points, pretty views and was enough beach at this time of year that you had lots of room to stretch out.  One book we read said it is the most photographed beach in the region,  and deservedly so.  The strip along the beach is a fun place to stroll. It also has a boardwalk, down on the sand. Portimao's old town (about 2km from the beach) is nothing special, but it has Dona Barco, where I ate the best meal *ever*.  Seafood and Rice it says on the menu.  They brought a huge pot (enough for 2, easy) of thick, tomato-sauce-based seafood chowder, full of shrimp, prawns, mussles, clams, and crab legs.  No silly fillers, like vegetables.  Just plenty of seafood and rice in a delicious sauce..  They also had the best sardines we sampled.  

Sardines:  Don't wriggle your nose.  Try them.  Once you do, you'll eat them, you'll eat alot of them, especially grilled.  Eat the skin, even (do leave the bones, at least the back bone, the little ones are up to you).  Nothing at all like canned sardines or anchovies in your grocer's aisle. 

Other notes:

Albufiera has three main sections: city hall, the strip, and old town.  All three are visited by the tourist train that makes a 40 minute loop connecting the three until 2AM.  (all day passes are 3E, under 6 free).  Most apartments are within walking distance of one of the stops.  The "strip"  is the the Daytona Beach of the area (minus the clam shell ampitheater or a Krispy Creme).  It  feels a little has-been, a little dingy, and if it was all you saw, you'd leave scratching your head as to the area's appeal.   Old Town is pleasant with a pretty beach and is fun to wander.  City Hall is a utilitarian area with a shopping mall, McDonalds, and oodles of snack stands, bakeries, and souvenir shops.

The Villamoura Marina is a fun, more upscale place to people watch.  Most of the boat tours go out of Villamoura.  Of course, we chose to do our boat tour on the one less-than-nice day AND on the day B decided to be as uncooperative as possible.  He was so bad that all the other mamas felt like they needed to tell me stories of when their two-year old did something similar on a plane/boat/train etc.

Altes: skip it.  Tour buses routinely stop there and let everyone off to wander.  It is full of narrow twisty streets and the home to a famous Portugues poet, but there are other villages (Silves, for example) with lots more character.

It's been a great time.  I doubt we'll be back, just 'cause there are so many more places we want to see in our short time here, but we're not the only ones who've enjoyed it. We had a lovely conversation with a Dutch couple one morning on the beach who, unbeknownst to us, watched us have icecream the night before in Albufeira. They were quite smitten with my boys and their antics, especially the little one (my boys can be charming at times) so they struck up a conversation us when were building sand animals the next day.  They have beach-vacationed in Greece, Turkey, Malta and the Canary Islands, and they think Portugal's the best of the lot. Later in the week we met an older British couple, retired RAF, who curiously enough were stationed in the Geilenkirchen area back in the Post WW2, pre-reunification days. They too like the Algarve best of all their sunny holidays. (Although they did have to regale us with tales of how nowhere is as it "used to be")

Anyway, 8 enthusiastic thumbs up.  If you want all-inclusive, go to Turkey, but if you simply want a beach pad, consider Algarve  (and if you're doing Ryan Air from GK, try to make the Maastricht airport work, SOOOOOOOOO much easier than Weeze).

Heidelberg

CSpring in GK means long weekend after long weekend, perfect opportunities for exploring the region or checking out destinations a smidge too far to daytrip. On Easter weekend, we headed south to Heidelberg (about 3hrs from us)

We left Friday morning and stopped in Mannheim as I had read there was an Easter market there. (Most Ostermarkt's ended the week before Easter and we missed them.) I had a bit of trouble finding much info about this supposed Easter Market, so fortunately made back-up plans for our afternoon in Mannheim. When we arrived we found no sign of a market and everything in the downtown square was closed, except for the Starbucks and the McDonalds (which in combination made 3/4 of our crew very happy).

Good Friday was a gorgeous, sunny day, though, so we set off on the 20 minute walk from the downtown shopping district to Luisenpark And then proceeded to spend *5* hours walking and playing our way through the park. The park charges admission (5 euro per Adult) but was totally worth it: Playground after playground, boat rides, cafes, oriental gardens, flower gardens, a small aquarium, a small aviary, a butterfly house, and a plethora of barn animals. My critter-loving kiddos were in heaven. They both really liked seeing the owls and talking to the "Nemos" in the aquarium, and B LOVED the butterfly house (He simply calls them flies).

The butterfly house was too crowded for the stroller, so I strapped him into his carrier, which he doesn't mind. I think it makes him feel like he's more in the middle of everything. I showed him if he held out his arm, a butterfly would land on it. He'd get so excited when the fly landed that he'd, of course, squeal and scare it away, and then would demand "more, more". Fortunately the butterflies obliged, and I'm pretty sure thelocal population enjoyed watching him more than they did the butterflies. I have since potted some flowers outside to hopefully attract some butterflies to our backyard this summer.

We trudged back to our car, rather tired, and managed to make it the 30 minutes down to Heidelberg in time to meet friends for dinner. We stayed at an apartment at the Army Base in Heidelberg. I was disappointed, at first, to not be able to find an apartment in town on Easter weekend, but it turned out to be good as the base has a TGI Fridays like restaurant within walking distance of the hotel where you can get decently priced food, with a varied and somewhat healthy menu, and a game area where the kids can run around. They must have known trouble when they saw it coming, party of 7, with 3 under 5, 'cause they sat us at the table for 12 right next to the arcade games, without us even having to ask :)

Every time we go off somewhere, I marvel at the fact that my kids will sleep in any bed we tell them too --B in a loaner pack in play, shoved into the kitchen, C on a pull out sofa in the living room-- and sleep all night without complaints. B's getting a little harder to take places as he needs to be entertained more now than he has in the past, but by and large they are phenomenal goers. Saturday evening, we ended up strolling down-town Heidelberg, in a light drizzle, looking for a place to eat. A local saw us perusing menus and suggested we stop into the Italian place across the street. So we did. It was a very small pizzeria, with only high tops and barstools, not sure how that would work with B, but it was time to eat, time to get out of the rain, and at least I knew an Italian place would likely be able to give me buttered noodles for my less than adventursome eaters. B took it in stride and sat on his barstool like a champ, sharing pasta and pizza with big brother, while mom and dad got to take in a well-deserved beer, as well as the charm and local color.

Backing up a bit:
Saturday morning, we started the day with a visit to Heidelberg's Castle. We only explored the courtyard and a few ancillary buildings, because like so many other castles in Germany, to actually see the inside of the castle you have to go on a guided tour. (We like Scottish castles much better, b/c you can explore them on your own.) Unfortunately, we were in no mood for a guided tour Saturday AM. I hadn't had enough coffee and was grumpy. We were slightly discombobulated because our plan to find our friends at the top of the castle, didn't quite work out. We couldn't park at the parking lot closest to the castle because our car was too tall, so we had to park further away and therefore had the stroller with us instead of the baby carrier. (Just FYI -- castles and strollers, sooooo not a good fit). *And* turns out we left the camera battery charging back at the hotel room. All things considered, we skipped the guided tour, and just saw what we could on our own. One thing we did see was the largest old wine cask in Germany, approximately 58,000 gallons, fwiw.

After the castle it was 20 minute funicular ride up to the top of the mountain. The cafes at the top were open and they had a wildpark I'm sure the boys would have loved, but it was windy and at least 15 degrees colder up there (and D didn't have a jacket), so we made a quick trip up, judiciously snapped a few pics of the view with our barely-hanging-in-there camera and a caught the next train down. We grabbed heavenly falafel in a local square while C and B chased the birds and climbed in the fountains. C climbs in every fountain he can, water or no. I swear it's a testament to how much these rule-abiding Germans either like cute kids or need our tourist dollars, 'cause I'm amazed we haven't gotten kicked out of anywhere yet for his fountain frolicking. After a brief siesta back at our apartment we meandered downtown Heidelberg, stopping at the student prison, where faculty routinely locked up academic miscreants for 3 days to 3 weeks for anything from poor class performance to pranks --there's an idea--and then, onto the aforementioned pizzeria for dinner.


Sunday we braved the gusty winds and went to nearby Schwetzingen castle, dubbed the "Versailles of Germany". It was lovely. Because we had an especially long, cold winter, only the daffodils and the cherry blossoms were in bloom, but I can imagine what it would be like in full bloom. Again , we only toured the gardens as the only way to get into the castle was on a guided tour (and I'm not sure the lady selling the tickets would have sold our crew tickets for the castle anyway), but the gardens were good fun. Plenty to look at and lots of places for the kids to run, play and climb -- I swear my two can turn just about anything into a playground.

Sunday evening we drove to Dilsberg Castle and walked the very steep hill from the parking lot to the castle itself. (Somehow I always end up carrying B when we have steep climbs?!?!) This castle is really just ruins, but Dilsberg is picturesque and the views were great, if somewhat stormy. The town below in the picture is Neckargemuend and it was our next stop.



Originally, I had planned to stay in Neckargemund, but the apartment I thought I had a line on, wasn't available, but I still insisted we stroll through town. As you can see from the pics, it's full of old, lopsided, half-timbered houses. Apparently, houses were built with wider second stories to lessen the land tax. The house in the picture dates from 1569. (For some perspective, 1569 is just about 50 years before Plymouth Rock, 40 years before Jamestown, and 15 years before the first colony at Roanoke). After our sightseeing, we hungrily headed back to our family friendly watering hole for a late Easter supper. (The only place in Neckargemund we could find open was an ice cream store and we decided it wouldn't be the most prudent choice to stuff our already-tired kids full of sugar)

A fun weekend, and one that fits into my "other" life as well, as Mark Twain spent 9 months living in Heidelberg and writing his second travel Journal A Tramp Abroad. (D wondered why we kept seeing Mark Twain books in all the store windows) I'm currently reading his first travel journal, Innocents Abroad and will get to Tramps soon enough

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!

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?