At least someone is happy to go to school :)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Back to the routine.
We've been back to the work routine for a week now, and I am really missing summer. M, however, could not be happier. She LOVES 1st grade! She never really talked much about kindergarten, but she doesn't stop talking about what she does at school. She especially loves eating lunch at school. I'm all for hot lunch since it makes the morning much easier for everyone. Tomorrow is pizza day and she could not be more elated :)
At least someone is happy to go to school :)
At least someone is happy to go to school :)
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Schuletüte
The time has finally come, the saddest time of the year. Back to school. However for one member of my family, M, it's the best day of the year. She starts first grade tomorrow! I don't know if there is a kid happier to start school. I'm starting the year off with a little brown nosing. What teacher wouldn't love this from a cute brown-eyed girl on the first day of school?!
I think M's going to be really excited when we give her a Schuletüte tomorrow. A Schuletüte is a German tradition for first graders and is a cone that contains candy, toys, and school supplies. My friend Ann shared pictures of this tradition when her daughter was in first grade, and I immediately loved the idea. Photos of kids in Germany shows that the cones are almost as tall as the kid receiving it. We saw these for sale in many of the shops in Germany, but attempting to carry on a pointy cardboard cone probably would not go over so well with the flight attendants. Luckily I have a basket with a leather loop to hook it on her door. It will be a great surprise for her in the morning.
Off for a good night's sleep, it's a school night after all.
I think M's going to be really excited when we give her a Schuletüte tomorrow. A Schuletüte is a German tradition for first graders and is a cone that contains candy, toys, and school supplies. My friend Ann shared pictures of this tradition when her daughter was in first grade, and I immediately loved the idea. Photos of kids in Germany shows that the cones are almost as tall as the kid receiving it. We saw these for sale in many of the shops in Germany, but attempting to carry on a pointy cardboard cone probably would not go over so well with the flight attendants. Luckily I have a basket with a leather loop to hook it on her door. It will be a great surprise for her in the morning.
Off for a good night's sleep, it's a school night after all.
Friday, August 20, 2010
What I learned in Europe
2. People love their dogs. They take their dogs everywhere, even to castles which the dogs cannot enter. I'm not sure what happens to those dogs when it's time for their tour. Maybe the dogs go to the dungeon. They even take them to IKEA and the mall. Seeing them everywhere reminded me that I really am not a fan of dogs.
3. When you see a WC that looks clean, use it. You don't know when another WC will come along. Free ones are great but in a pinch they are worth the 50 cents.
4. Gelato (aka Eis) is amazing. It is never too early in the day for gelato. There are never too many times to have gelato in one day.
5. Driving on the Auto Bahn is a lot of fun for Matt and slightly scary for Holly. Passing the police doing 200km/h is my breaking point.
6. The cliff is really close when driving in the mountains.
7. The Alps. I can't explain in words, or in a bazillion photos this impressive and amazing landform. Clearly the people that live by them are used to them, but it seemed that around every corner we were saying some superlative to describe it. Waterfalls and twisty roads everywhere. I think we have a few hundred pictures of the Alps.
8. Germans are really nice people. Except for the guy at Schloss Linderhof who yelled at us for parking in the wrong spot. At least we think he yelled at us, we don't speak German so we're not quite sure. The only thing we understood was, "believable," which I think meant, "unbelievable." One guy out of millions isn't bad.
9. Clocks in hotel rooms are not guaranteed. I don't know about you, but I need to know the time when I wake up in the middle of the night.
10. Pink and Nickelback have amazing publicists because their music was on the radio all the time. Along with some Phil Collins & Queen. We also saw a David Hasselhoff video on MTV.
11. Dubbed versions of our favorite shows get easier to understand after two weeks. Although they did have QVC; I was close to ordering something :)
12. Acid washed jeans are not dead and apparently the "wrinkled" acid wash are quite popular. It is also socially acceptable for men to wear capris.
13. We'd go back in a heartbeat, preferably when we have enough frequent flier miles for airfare.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
15 hours in London
Our flight from Munich was quick and we were out on the streets of London in no time. A quick stop at the Underground ticket booth and we had our Oyster transportation card in hand. The Piccadilly line took us from Heathrow to Central London and a few more transfers to the Kensington & Chelsea neighborhood.
Our first order of business was dinner at Wagamama and the mall across the street from our hotel had just what we were looking for.
By this time it was almost 8:00 and we were losing daylight. A few more tube transfers and we were facing Big Ben, Parliament, (Name the movie - "Look kids, it's Big Ben and Parliament") River Thames, and the London Eye. The night was so clear that we decided to take a ride. The 30 minute journey atop London was a perfect ending to the vacation. A few blurry photos and we were spent for the night.
I set the alarm for 5:20 so we could be out the door of the hotel by 6:30. I came to an interesting realization, 5:20 London time was 11:20 Chicago time. Crazy. We went a few tube stops to Notting Hill Gate for an amazing breakfast at Pret A Manger. I had "proper" porridge with honey, a yogurt pot, and orange juice. Matt had a pain au raisin, British berries, and coffee. I will remember this breakfast for a long time.
We thought the remainder of the morning would be smooth sailing to Heathrow. Just take the Circle line to the Piccadilly. Well, the Piccadilly had a problem this morning as there was a "fire alert" a few stops away. Great. Matt's quick thinking figured out a work around for the delay and we made it to Heathrow in plenty of time.
The ride home is always longer than you remember. The eight hour flight took forever. We watched Tina Fey's Date Night and Shrek Forever After along with a CSI and How I Met Your Mother. I took two short naps. We flew over Greenland and saw some amazing views of the landform and glaciers. Hopefully the photos below relay how amazing it looks.
We had no issues with customs or the taxi ride home. Half of the laundry is done, and as of 5:30 we are dragging. I think it's PB&J for dinner and then off to bed.
The kiddos come home tomorrow! We.can't.wait.
Our first order of business was dinner at Wagamama and the mall across the street from our hotel had just what we were looking for.
By this time it was almost 8:00 and we were losing daylight. A few more tube transfers and we were facing Big Ben, Parliament, (Name the movie - "Look kids, it's Big Ben and Parliament") River Thames, and the London Eye. The night was so clear that we decided to take a ride. The 30 minute journey atop London was a perfect ending to the vacation. A few blurry photos and we were spent for the night.
We thought the remainder of the morning would be smooth sailing to Heathrow. Just take the Circle line to the Piccadilly. Well, the Piccadilly had a problem this morning as there was a "fire alert" a few stops away. Great. Matt's quick thinking figured out a work around for the delay and we made it to Heathrow in plenty of time.
The ride home is always longer than you remember. The eight hour flight took forever. We watched Tina Fey's Date Night and Shrek Forever After along with a CSI and How I Met Your Mother. I took two short naps. We flew over Greenland and saw some amazing views of the landform and glaciers. Hopefully the photos below relay how amazing it looks.
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| Yeah, that's a glacier in Greenland |
We had no issues with customs or the taxi ride home. Half of the laundry is done, and as of 5:30 we are dragging. I think it's PB&J for dinner and then off to bed.
The kiddos come home tomorrow! We.can't.wait.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
MUC -> LHR -> ORD-> Home!
We are in the home stretch of our vacation, literally. As of now we're in the Munich airport waiting for our flight to London. We'll be there for all of about 15 hours. The early closing times will prohibit us from touring anything, but an Underground pass will keep us busy "window shopping" our favorite sites.
We will also partake in our two favorite London restaurants - Wagamama & Pret A Manger.
We made the most of our half day in Germany; we took the long way around Munich and stopped at the Concentration Camp in Dachau. I snapped a few photos, but there was no way I could take any of the major sections like the barracks and crematorium. They are forever imprinted in my mind and that's all I need. Overall, the presentation was tasteful and a proper memorial.
The wealth of information provided through the different rooms of one of the main SS houses was overwhelming. The long and short was that the SS picked and chose who they didn't like and found ways to make life miserable. We did not realize the number of main and secondary camps scattered through Germany, Austria, and beyond. Thankfully for my kleenex supply there was not an installation showing the personal possessions of the camp prisoners, like I've heard is at Auschwitz.
I suppose we left Munich on a down note, but it was certainly a powerful farewell.
On our way to the airport, Matt had to open it up one more time on the Autobahn. We even passed a Police car along the way.
We're off to London for a few hours! Ta-Ta!
We will also partake in our two favorite London restaurants - Wagamama & Pret A Manger.
We made the most of our half day in Germany; we took the long way around Munich and stopped at the Concentration Camp in Dachau. I snapped a few photos, but there was no way I could take any of the major sections like the barracks and crematorium. They are forever imprinted in my mind and that's all I need. Overall, the presentation was tasteful and a proper memorial.
The wealth of information provided through the different rooms of one of the main SS houses was overwhelming. The long and short was that the SS picked and chose who they didn't like and found ways to make life miserable. We did not realize the number of main and secondary camps scattered through Germany, Austria, and beyond. Thankfully for my kleenex supply there was not an installation showing the personal possessions of the camp prisoners, like I've heard is at Auschwitz.
I suppose we left Munich on a down note, but it was certainly a powerful farewell.
On our way to the airport, Matt had to open it up one more time on the Autobahn. We even passed a Police car along the way.
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| Yes, that's just before he hit 200 km/h |
We're off to London for a few hours! Ta-Ta!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Final day is Salzburg
As our two week vacation comes to a close, we are pooped! We've seen all the churches, palaces, and gardens we can see. With no particular destination in mind we turned off the Sat Nav and drove back toward Salzburg this morning. The funniest signs of today, and I certainly have a lot of funny sign photos, were these along the road during road construction. It's a novel way to let you know how long the construction will last. How do you think these would go over in Chicago?
Last night I realized that we neglected to seek out the Sound of Music gazebo and get a full front shot of the palace while at Schloss Hellbrunn. It was on our way to our undetermined destination so we snapped a few photos.
The Sound of Music was a huge flop in Austrian theatres. Some reports say it only played in theatres for a week! Its current location at Schloss Hellbrunn is not the orignal location. The gazebo was used in the movie for Lisel & Rolf and Maria & Captain Von Trapp. It was origninally located at the private Schloss Leopoldskron but too many tourists wanted to see it; Schloss Hellbrunn is its new home. I suppose becuase the move is not a part of Salzburg pop culture, but the gazebo seems to be unceremoniously shoved in a corner of the gardens. We enjoyed the sunshine of the gardens for a while before the rain started to roll in. We took advantage of Kaffee & Kuchen at our hotel and watched the downpour from our balcony.
Tonight brings packing and an early bedtime. If we can make it work, we are going to attempt to visit Dachau tomorrow before going to the airport in the afternoon. Tomorrow afternoon brings a flight to London for a quick overnight stop before an early Wednesday morning flight home.
I sure miss my kids, Sonic, and Coke with ice and bubbles.
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| Grrr, construction |
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| Ugh, the construction is still happening |
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| Eh, it's not so bad |
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| Hey! It's over in 1 km. I can handle that. |
Last night I realized that we neglected to seek out the Sound of Music gazebo and get a full front shot of the palace while at Schloss Hellbrunn. It was on our way to our undetermined destination so we snapped a few photos.
The Sound of Music was a huge flop in Austrian theatres. Some reports say it only played in theatres for a week! Its current location at Schloss Hellbrunn is not the orignal location. The gazebo was used in the movie for Lisel & Rolf and Maria & Captain Von Trapp. It was origninally located at the private Schloss Leopoldskron but too many tourists wanted to see it; Schloss Hellbrunn is its new home. I suppose becuase the move is not a part of Salzburg pop culture, but the gazebo seems to be unceremoniously shoved in a corner of the gardens. We enjoyed the sunshine of the gardens for a while before the rain started to roll in. We took advantage of Kaffee & Kuchen at our hotel and watched the downpour from our balcony.
Tonight brings packing and an early bedtime. If we can make it work, we are going to attempt to visit Dachau tomorrow before going to the airport in the afternoon. Tomorrow afternoon brings a flight to London for a quick overnight stop before an early Wednesday morning flight home.
I sure miss my kids, Sonic, and Coke with ice and bubbles.
Whatcha talkin' 'bout Weatherman?
Like many days before rain and cool temperatures were in the forecast for today. I was quite concerned when I got up because the wind was whipping the trees and the rain was coming down. After breakfast the clouds parted and we saw blue skies and sunshine. Weatherman, you lie because by the end of the day it was clear blue skies and almost 80 degrees.
We took advantage of the weather while it was presented to us and jumped in the car for Salzburg. We needed to stock up on car provisions and pulled into the market. That's when we remembered that today was Sunday and just about everything is closed. The gas station is the place for snacks and provisions.
The drive from Berchtesgaden to Salzburg was only about 20 minutes. Salzburg is a compact city that is very walkable. The signs hanging outside the shops are made of ornate iron.
We wanted to tour Schloss Mirabelle but it's closed on the weekends so we explored the Mirabelle gardens instead. We saw Mozart's birthplace and some pretty swanky closed shops.
The next spot on the list for today was Schloss Hellbrunn at the outskirts of Salzburg.
This palace was originally meant to be a day palace for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg so no bedrooms were constructed. The gardens of Hellbrunn are filled with trick fountains. We got smart as to where they were along the paths and stayed out of the way. Hellbrunn was an ingenious invention back in the day as no electricity was available to run the trick fountains. They are supplied with "source water," water from its source, and water wheels help make the things move. The funniest fountain was the marble table...
The chairs (except for the boy in green at the head of the table) and the perimeter of the chairs are rigged with a sprayer. The Prince-Archbishop would give the signal and a servant would set off the sprayers. The story goes that it was impolite for anyone to stand up while the Prince-Archbishop was still seated, so they had to sit and endure water being sprayed up their tushes. The kids did a great job demonstrating it for the crowd.
Our final excursion of the day was to Hallstatt. This lake is surrounded by the mountains and is one of the places that will reflect the mountains in the still water. There was a little bit of wind and boat traffic on the lake today so we could not see the perfect reflection but it was pretty darn good. The town was a bit busy and we really didn't want to pay for parking so a short drive to the other end of the lake paid off with free parking and and an empty beach.
Hallstatt was about two hours from Berchtesgaden, and we've trusted our Sat Nav up to this point. Tonight was a bit questionable. She told us to turn right then an immediate left, which was not out of the ordinary. However, the immediate left looked to be a one lane road up a very steep hill. The difference thus far is that we've taken mostly major highways and the AutoBahn We figured, what the heck, go for it. This little road gave us the greatest perspective of the German countryside without hotels and guesthouses - kids playing in the yards and guys in Lederhosen raking the grass.
After dinner we got to Skype with the kids. I think M was more excited than us. She sat with us for about 15 minutes. G was in and out, but we think he was happy to see us. One more day in the Salzburg region before we start our journey home via London.
We took advantage of the weather while it was presented to us and jumped in the car for Salzburg. We needed to stock up on car provisions and pulled into the market. That's when we remembered that today was Sunday and just about everything is closed. The gas station is the place for snacks and provisions.
The drive from Berchtesgaden to Salzburg was only about 20 minutes. Salzburg is a compact city that is very walkable. The signs hanging outside the shops are made of ornate iron.
We wanted to tour Schloss Mirabelle but it's closed on the weekends so we explored the Mirabelle gardens instead. We saw Mozart's birthplace and some pretty swanky closed shops.
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| Salzburg from the Mirabelle Gardens |
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| Maria's fountain from the Sound of Music |
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| Wouldn't the kids look sooo cute?! |
This palace was originally meant to be a day palace for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg so no bedrooms were constructed. The gardens of Hellbrunn are filled with trick fountains. We got smart as to where they were along the paths and stayed out of the way. Hellbrunn was an ingenious invention back in the day as no electricity was available to run the trick fountains. They are supplied with "source water," water from its source, and water wheels help make the things move. The funniest fountain was the marble table...
The chairs (except for the boy in green at the head of the table) and the perimeter of the chairs are rigged with a sprayer. The Prince-Archbishop would give the signal and a servant would set off the sprayers. The story goes that it was impolite for anyone to stand up while the Prince-Archbishop was still seated, so they had to sit and endure water being sprayed up their tushes. The kids did a great job demonstrating it for the crowd.
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| Even the game is a fountain! |
Our final excursion of the day was to Hallstatt. This lake is surrounded by the mountains and is one of the places that will reflect the mountains in the still water. There was a little bit of wind and boat traffic on the lake today so we could not see the perfect reflection but it was pretty darn good. The town was a bit busy and we really didn't want to pay for parking so a short drive to the other end of the lake paid off with free parking and and an empty beach.
Hallstatt was about two hours from Berchtesgaden, and we've trusted our Sat Nav up to this point. Tonight was a bit questionable. She told us to turn right then an immediate left, which was not out of the ordinary. However, the immediate left looked to be a one lane road up a very steep hill. The difference thus far is that we've taken mostly major highways and the AutoBahn We figured, what the heck, go for it. This little road gave us the greatest perspective of the German countryside without hotels and guesthouses - kids playing in the yards and guys in Lederhosen raking the grass.
After dinner we got to Skype with the kids. I think M was more excited than us. She sat with us for about 15 minutes. G was in and out, but we think he was happy to see us. One more day in the Salzburg region before we start our journey home via London.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Salzburg - Day 2
Hightlight of the day - no rain!
We had one more of King Ludwig II's castles to see today - Schloss Herrenchiemsee. This palace is another unfinished palace because King Ludwig pretty much put Bavaria in the poor house trying to build his palaces. Herrenchiemsee was to be the biggest of the palaces being a direct replica of Versailles, but that was not to be for poor Ludwig. Only the middle section of the palace was completed along with quite a few fountains.
Contraband photos!
The main entry hall. The floors and stairs were marble but the walls were a faux plaster mixture to look like marble. The funny thing is that the faux marble cost more than the real thing!
King Ludwig II's blue bedroom and Matt's shirt
This is one Ludwig's porcelain chandeliers. He made sure the mold was shattered after it was made so no one would have one just like it.
On our way back we drove over to Lake Königssee which is a beautiful almost still lake. The boats that move on the lake are either powered by oars or electricity. The lake looks like a sheet of glass, except when the kids thow rocks to wreck it.
The weather was perfect for an afternoon swim and the clouds parted just enough late this evening for us to see that we have two previously unseen mountains outside our window. They made a brief appearance.
I think we are going into Salzburg tomorrow, rain or shine. We are going to do our own Sound of Music tour!
We had one more of King Ludwig II's castles to see today - Schloss Herrenchiemsee. This palace is another unfinished palace because King Ludwig pretty much put Bavaria in the poor house trying to build his palaces. Herrenchiemsee was to be the biggest of the palaces being a direct replica of Versailles, but that was not to be for poor Ludwig. Only the middle section of the palace was completed along with quite a few fountains.
Contraband photos!
The wrong end of the Hall of Mirrors. The other way was spectacular 100 meters long full of candleabras and mirrors.
King Ludwig II's blue bedroom and Matt's shirt
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The weather was perfect for an afternoon swim and the clouds parted just enough late this evening for us to see that we have two previously unseen mountains outside our window. They made a brief appearance.
I think we are going into Salzburg tomorrow, rain or shine. We are going to do our own Sound of Music tour!
Off to Salzburg!
Friday morning brought a departure from Innsbruck and a journey to Salzburg. We have not bought anything other than two refrigerator magnets, but for some reason packing our suitcases was a bit of a challenge. Thankfully we don't have to fit them on an airplane today becuase they'd make us check for their bulging state.
We needed a bit of back home today and stopped at IKEA in Salzburg to find it :) It was a ton of fun to roam the store and have have lunch in the cafe.
For the month of August Salzburg has the Salzburg Festival with concerts all over town. This festival made securing a hotel room difficult. Instead of being near the city center like Munich and Innsbruck we are 10 miles outside Salzburg back to Germany by Berchtesgaden. The place we are staying is a "wellnesshotel" with a spa and heated outdoor pool. I'd like for the weather to clear up so we can at least get some natural vitamin D while swimming with the mountains in the background.
Breakfast has been included in our hotel stays thus far and this place is no different. However, they have a Kaffee & Kuchen (coffee & cake) buffet each afternoon. That's wellness for ya.
The rain started back up at a decent rate so we decided to veg and watch the rain and fog from the balcony. We solved the dinner dilemma by eating downstairs and had a great meal.
Tomorrow looks to be a sunny day and we're going to visit another palace!
We needed a bit of back home today and stopped at IKEA in Salzburg to find it :) It was a ton of fun to roam the store and have have lunch in the cafe.
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| IKEA Salzburg |
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| Happy lunch :) |
Breakfast has been included in our hotel stays thus far and this place is no different. However, they have a Kaffee & Kuchen (coffee & cake) buffet each afternoon. That's wellness for ya.
The rain started back up at a decent rate so we decided to veg and watch the rain and fog from the balcony. We solved the dinner dilemma by eating downstairs and had a great meal.
Tomorrow looks to be a sunny day and we're going to visit another palace!
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