one hundred {thousand} M I L E S

And we have driven every one of them. We hit six digits on our last Europe trip- our trip to Prague. 

Just over 50,000 miles driven in Europe. While we didn't see everything we wanted to see, we covered a good part of this phenomenal part of the world.

prague and the C Z E C H republic

March was definitely madness in our house. April started out at a fast, furious pace as well.

As I type this, there are five Bavarian men working like crazy.

Screeching rolls of tape, a dialect of German I can not understand and crumpling  packing paper are the sounds that fill the rooms of our emptying house.  

The real packing started the last Tuesday. We were allowed to ship 500 pounds ahead of our household goods shipment.

Towels, sheets, pillows, dishes, scooters and of course, Legos are all en route to KS.

The real fun started this past Friday as the majority of our household items were boxed and snugly placed onto crates headed for Haysville, Kansas.

This afternoon, we will be left with only the dust and mess from almost three years in our Mackenbach home as they plan to finish up and sign off on our shipment in the next few hours.

Great friends have welcomed us into their home for three nights until we can move into temporary housing on base.

Wednesday, we will ship our van. Thursday, we will move on base. We fly out April 22nd.

Opting not to spend the weekend in a half-filled house waiting to be cleaned, we took off Saturday for our last quick trip.

Our destination was the {huge} city of Prague in the Czech Republic. In just twenty four house, we were we able to peek at another beautiful city while checking another country off our list.

Planning to drive and come home in a day, we took the advice of friends and drove the bulk of the trip (four hours) to Grafenwohr, Germany where we stayed in Army Lodging for the night. It was great advice as we did not have to wake up at the crack of dawn and all got a good night’s sleep.

Our plan for Prague did not go quite as anticipated. We are actually just fine with that.

Prague is not a driver-friendly city.

It is also a big city. You have to be careful where you park with gangs and theft a huge problem. We saw several cars with boots attached for those parking illegally. The rules are strict, the language a barrier. We are not big-city people to start with and noted how grateful we were to be on the same track.

On top of those factors, our Coleman was on day two of an ear infection that landed us in the ER between the hours of one and four {am} the night before. On a good day, he’s not thrilled to walk. Today, we decided to not even pick that battle.

Rather than pay more than $30 for safe underground parking to fight kids in a city they did not want to be in, we did what we like to call a drive-by tour. Jim's superior big-city driving skills were put to the test with busses backing up in front of us and trams coming from every direction. 

All in all, we survived.

I think we caught a little of the beauty, but were once again happy to get out of the craziness of another big European city and back into Germany.

a quick V I S I T from our KS friends

We were so excited to start December off with a quick visit from our Kansas friends {and neighbors} Steve and Tammy.

Oh, we have missed them!

We have really missed living across the street from such wonderful neighbors.
We loved watching as they worked on projects together as we worked on our own projects.

We really just want to be like them when we grow up.
Funny thing is how much Jim and Steve are alike.
Almost identical in a lot of ways.

Unable to get any time off work, our weekend together was quick but still wonderful.

We started off meeting them in Rothenburg ob der Tauber for the Christmas market and nightwatchman tour- a very cool way to learn a little bit about this walled city.

It was the first and only snow we have seen this winter and SUPER cold. We think they brought a little Kansas wind with them... brrr.

It was so nice to see them. I think we are even more homesick now.
Our countdown to get back to Kansas continues...

L I G H T S would be nice

Polish pottery is very popular among military and civilian wives who live in Germany. You see it everywhere. With cobalt as the traditional color, I did not initially fall in love with it.

While having dinner with friends, or walking past it in the mall, I always thought it was nice, but I could maybe live without it. It was a lot of blue and we just don't have a lot of blue in our house.

Until this summer.
We now have some blue.
I'm also now in love with it.

I'm not sure we can ever have too much blue now.

I don't know if it is better or not that I waited three years to decided I wanted our own collection.

In July, we had friends over for dinner. They were moving back to the states and I knew she knew how to shop and buy polish pottery.

I threw out the idea of going on a shopping trip to Poland that week before she left so she could teach me how to shop and where to go.

We convinced the husbands we needed to go and within a couple of days we were on the road.

Along with another friend, we left at 2:00am on a Friday morning.

The drive to Boleslawiec, Poland, the polish pottery capital, is about six and a half hours.

Our plan worked perfectly with one quick stop {by the policja} along the way.
We had crossed into Poland and noticed the police in front of us on the highway.

Not knowing the speed limit, I decided to just keep going slow behind them. You can't speed if you are following the police, right? We were going really slow.

Within a minute or two, they held their lollipop STOP sign out the window for us to pull over.

Seriously, I had no idea what I did. It definitely was not for speeding this time.

They {two of them} came to my driver's side window.

My heart was beating a little fast, but I knew we were fine.

One of them knew a few words in English, so we spoke mostly broken German between us. Crazy, I know.

We figured out we did not have our headlights on. In Poland, it is law to have them on twenty-four hours a day.

Oops.

He said I was flashing them on and off. All we could figure is that I had them on auto and they must have been turning on and off. I'm still not convinced.

I gave him everything I had and we waited in the van.

Where we pulled over, there was a chain fence with a padlock.

Michelle {our pottery expert who just forgot about the lights... we were so excited to shop} let me know we were NOT going in that gate- no matter what.

We couldn't stop laughing.

This is not always a good thing when you are trying to sweet talk your way out of a ticket. This is not the first time to have this happen to me. In Poland, when you receive a ticket you are required to pay on the spot. They will take you to an ATM to get the money if you don't have it. They are serious.

A few minutes later, they motioned for me to come over to their car.
What police does that?
Polish police, obviously.

I had given him my international license, military id, germany driver's license, passport and our car registration. He asked which was my license and if I was a soldier.

Nope, not a soldier but I let him know my man was a mighty fine one. I'm not sure if they understood what I was saying, but they didn't ask me any more questions.

He wrote down one of the numbers from one of the ID's and let us on our way.  
Before leaving, I did ask what the speed limit was and reassured him the lights would stay on.
Lesson learned. Welcome to Poland.

Running in to no fewer than a dozen more police that day kept us on our toes.
They were out in full force, but we didn't let that ruin our day of shopping.

We shopped all day without another person in any of the 10-15 stores that we visited. It was amazing and overwhelming at the same time. In the states, the prices are outrageous. In Germany, on base they are maybe not as high but still very expensive.

Not only are the prices better in Poland, the experience is unlike any other.
We finished up when the last shop closed at 6:00 and headed back to Germany.

Driving into Mackenbach right at 2:00am, it was exactly a twenty-four hour trip.
This weekend, Jim and I decided at the last minute to make a quick trip back.

We had a fabulous time.
This time, we decided to spend the night.
And, he kept the lights on.

our F O U R country day

It was supposed to be a quick day trip to antique shop in Tongeren, Belgium.
This could probably be a five-part series on how not to travel.
Instead, I am putting it in one to maybe paint the picture of how long a day it was...

We got up early. It felt really early especially staying up the night before watching a Highland Scotties football game online.

Ty had to work, so we decided to take the little guys plus the dog.
Ugh.

Oh, well.

It was supposed to be under three hours and looked like a straight shot on the map. With Jim in Alabama, he took our GPS. 

I borrowed a GPS from a friend with only the German maps. I knew this, but thought after looking at the corner of Germany to our intended destination in Tongeren that I could get us there- no problem- using a real map.

That was my first mistake. I should have known it was not going to be a straight shot.
Nothing in Europe is a straight shot. I know better.

The drive was pleasant until we left Germany and knew we might be a little off track. We kept driving {past our expected ETA} then noticed a sign welcoming us to the NETHERLANDS.

Oops.

We were only planning on Belgium, not another country.
No biggie- it was another check on the list- our {first} bonus country. 

After several other wrong turns, a gas-station stop to ask a Dutch attendant for help, no TONGEREN signs and driving in circles, we got back on track and actually made it to the flea market. Problem was we were there with less than an hour left in the market. I think we might have even had less than a half hour.
Our two-and-a-half-hour trip was now probably up to almost five {or more} hours one way.

The littles were not happy.

Everyone was hungry- including the tante. I had to keep reminding them {all} that surely we would stop at the first McDonalds that we found.

We decided I could come back any time- mom and Marine needed to get out and shop.

We found a parking lot at a grocery store and carefully backed in to the itty-bitty space. Coleman, Caden, Lady and I slowly made our way up to the market to find something to eat. 
Food always helps everyone when we are traveling.

We found a nice Belgian waffle place which helped almost everyone.
Mom and Marine found some really cool treasures in spite of power shopping.

We made our way back to the car and ran into even more troubles getting out of the parking lot. The arm of the exit went up and down before I could drive out.

Of course, it would not work again and we were stuck in front of a long line of cars trying to leave the parking lot.

This is Europe- most things are somewhat difficult especially with a language barrier.
Finally, an impatient man behind us got out of his car and swiped his card to free us.

We were on our way.

No more than five minutes down the road, we heard a loud clang. Realizing Lady's metal water dish was left on top of the van and was now bouncing down the old Belgian road was the least of our concerns.

It was good for a laugh.

Oh, our fun was not over.

Getting back into Germany proved to be even more difficult.
I did not think that was possible.

Gas on the economy is extremely expensive- at least double the price we pay for our rationed gas which about $4.10 a gallon. We can get our rationed gas at Esso stations in Germany.

I thought we had plenty of gas to make it to our planned lunch stop: Bastogne, Belgium. Why not throw some history into a trip we were already taking?

We would buy a little gas on the economy to get us to Germany, then fill up at an Esso.

What we did not know was that Bastogne {a major WWII city} was super small in the middle of no where.

We passed up an exit thinking there had to be a city center. Lunch would be good. We would have gas and be on our way.

It didn't work that way. We buzzed past Bastogne.

No lunch. No gas.

We were in the middle of no where and took a chance taking the next exit.

No gas there either and the gas light was now on.

I'm known for getting low on gas, but even I was a little nervous at this point. I am not sure I have ever driven with the light on for so long.

Remember, at this point- we were still in Belgium with no GPS.

All we could do was try to go in the right direction.

Plus, it was a Sunday- everything was closed.

At a small cafe, we stopped and asked some ancient Belgian Opa's where to get gas. They pointed us down the road. At this point, even I was worried we would run out of gas.

The grandma, the aunt, two littles, the dog and I headed down the road.
Ahh, we found the gas station. We made it, or so we thought.

We waited our time in line, the pulled up to the pump. Without an attendant, it was sort of like a pay at the pump if there is such a thing over here.

There was one machine at the end. We watched a man in front of us fill up after several attempts at getting his card to work.

I noticed from his license plate that he was from Bitburg- an army base Germany.
Another American who spoke English, what a relief.

We asked if he would wait until we made sure our card would work before he left. He graciously stayed with us to watch our card {or any of our five cards between Mom, Marine and I} would work.

None worked.

By this time, the line to pay was backing up. We still had no gas- you have to pay ahead. They were impatient {more french-like than german} and getting restless.

One lady told us to get to the back of the line. He calmly said we were not getting in back.

We tried to use his card, which would not work either- in spite of the fact that he had just used it to fill up.

A woman behind us agreed to use her card, we would pay her cash. Hers did not work either. Unbelievable.

She said there was another gas station down the road, we could follow her if we wanted to. Of course, we were already coasting on fumes, but we had no choice.

We finally made it to the second gas station where Marine's card worked just fine. We pumped and were on our way with directions to what we thought was a McDonalds just down the road.

Not so.

Not only did we not find a McDonalds, we found nothing but a beautiful cathedral. Yes, the boys were thrilled when I pointed it out to them.

Hungry, tired and kinda lost- we kept on.

At least we had gas.

About this time, we saw a sign welcoming us to LUXEMBOURG and call from Ty asking where we were. We were supposed to be picking him up from work. He was more than a little surprised when I instead told him we were trying to get back into Germany.

"You're not in Germany?" was his reply.
Nope.

Adding Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany- it wasn't a four-star day, but  a four-country day. 

I told Ty to get a taxi home, we would eventually make it back.

Following the signs and the map, we did make it to Germany and eventually home.

We had Ty order and bring home food from our Burgerstube down the road.

A McDonalds or any other fast-food restaurant was no where to be found.
No Sonic in every small-town village over here- that's for sure.

Seriously, this is Europe. 

I couldn't make their entire trip so easy. This was my life for the first year we lived here!

Our schnitzel and flamkuchen was delicious.

We were exhausted and relieved to be home.

I think Caden might perhaps be scarred.
He did let me know more than a few times if I had gotten gas when he told me to {back in Belgium} that this would have never happened.

He is his daddy's boy and his brother's {Justin} clone.

I don't think when I go back to Tongeren that anything I might say can convince them to go.
I'll take my man instead- he missed out on this party.

Always an adventure.
Always.

BEAUTIFUL Cochem and Eltz

A year and a half ago, we went as a family to Burg Eltz- possibly my favorite castle. 

At the end of that blog post {link above}, I said I would happily repeat a visit to this castle. 

I was delighted to take my mom and tante Marine. 

Even better, this time it was sans kids which made it the perfect day to take the tour.  

 

From Burg Eltz, we drove less than an hour to Cochem Castle.
The castle is beautiful,but the view of the Mosel River is my favorite part of going to Cochem.

We walked.
We shopped.
We ate.
Repeat.

I am obsessed with window boxes and the flowers here.
Flowers growing up from the smallest crack in the sidewalk amaze me.
{**click on picture to enlarge}

I was drawn to this window box in the above right corner. I then noticed an even more beautiful picture of the elderly woman next door standing at the window looking out.

This is typical and common. 

I still love it.

In our village, we have an older man who most afternoons can be seen standing in the window just watching the cars go down the roads in Mackenbach.

After a year of waving, he finally started waving back as we round the corner .
Now, we wave every chance we have.

rustic C A B I N

From Rothenburg, it was down to Garmisch.

Hotel rooms were booked, but lucky for us- they had a rustic cabin open. For the boys, it was better than a hotel room.

The boys could still swim at the hotel and feel like we were camping. Only we had clean sheets and modern conveniences including a refrigerator, TV with DVD player and Wi-Fi Internet.

Marine had the great idea of starting a fire and cooking hot dogs. The boys were thrilled to not only cook, but to play with fire. It did not matter to them that it was pouring rain. They were so happy.

As she mentioned to Coleman that she sometimes has good ideas, Coleman innocently let her know that "she did have one good idea."

Oh, Coleman.

The hot dogs were really  good. s'mores were delicious. 

Everyone was happy.

It didn't even matter that it was raining.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

My plan this week is to rewind back to August from here and pick up documenting our travels to Bavaria.

If you come to Germany, you have to make it to Bavaria.

We think it is one of the most beautiful regions in the world.

Our first stop on the way south was in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, just over two hours from our house. 
What a charming, delightful city.

They say if you want a sample of life in the Middle Ages, go to Rothenburg {on the river Tauber}, whose origins date back to the 12th century.

Little has changed since the early times for this city surrounded by the city walls.

It was nice to walk on the cobblestone streets, check out some of the shops and watch the people. Ice cream is always a must.

As with ALL of Bavaria, the window boxes were absolutely stunning.
Oh, I love window boxes.

One of the stops we did make was at the Handwerkhaus, or the Old Rothenburg Craftsmans's House.

According to their Web site, time seems to have passed by without a trace at the house at Stadtgraben No. 26. 

The house stands in the center of Rothenburg's old town and looks as if it has been conjured up straight from the Middle Ages.  

This historic protected building dates back to 1270 and has housed a variety of artisan businesses. 

Later the house was occupied by a hermit, who was against to technical and cultural innovation. 

It is thanks to him that this medieval jewel has survived to show us how artisans lived and worked. From the ground floor to the attic, every room is an impressive experience. 

We loved it.

 

I love handing over the camera and seeing what surprises I have when I get it back from the boys.
It is amazing how taking a few pictures seems to entertain them all.

up N O R T H

It was a quick weekend, but we were able to check another country off our list of places to see. Friday night, we drove about an hour to Frankfurt-Hahn- the small airport we were departing from with a final destination of  Stockholm, Sweden.

We took off at 9:15pm and arrived in Stockholm about 11:15- a quick two-hour flight north. It might sound crazy to visit Scandinavia in March. We figured- why not?  Ty was good with the boys and we were also blessed with friends who invited them over to hang and have dinner. So nice.

The airport we were flying into is about an hour's drive from downtown Stockholm. Catching an early flight home on Sunday morning {7:00}, we figured it might be easiest to stay close to the airport.

We booked a room at a hotel that said it was a short walk to the airport. We did not expect it to be right across the street. I had forgotten the name of the hotel we booked, but did not think it was the Connect.

We decided to walk in and ask where "our" hotel was only to discover we were actually booked there.

It could not have worked out better.
We got settled in and ready to get up early for a full Saturday downtown.

I usually kick into super planning mode before we take a trip. Being sick last week, it was all I could do to make it through each day. Needless to say, I did not plan as I would normally have planned.

Lesson learned- it's ok to go with the flow. It's ok to learn as you go. It's ok to not plan out every last second and every detail.

What we did not realize {and we should have living in Europe for two years} is that the bus schedule was cut short being Saturday. The bus we wanted to take downtown would take us down at 10:00am, and the last trip back to the airport was at 3:30. That did not leave us too much time to sight see.

The girl at the hotel did not have any options to offer us. The girl at the bus window was very helpful coming up with a plan b and even went a step further by printing out the city bus schedule for us.

Instead, we decided to take a different coach bus back to the next town, then a city bus to the airport/our hotel. It worked out and we had plenty of time to see what we wanted to see while in the Capital of Sweden and also the Capital of Scandinavia.

If I had to pick one word to describe our first impression of Stockholm, it would {maybe} be grand. It is one of the most beautiful cities- built on 14 islands connected by 57 bridges. The architecture, the colors, the water.

It snowed and was cold, but it was still amazing. We soaked it all up!

B O L Z A N O , Italy

This was Jim, Justin and Coleman’s favorite day: our trip to Italy. Just a two-hour drive from our hotel, we couldn’t pass up the chance to peek into a new country.

Bolzano, Italy was our destination.

I can't believe how central and close we are located to so many countries.

We are working really hard to take in as much as we can especially in the short times that we have Justin home.

The weather was perfect- sunny, clear and cool but not too cold.

The drive was beyond beautiful even being the middle of January. To get to Bolzano, we drove straight down from Germany through the Alps and Austria across the border into Italy.

The mountains are truly magnificent. A little snow was a bonus. The scattered houses, castle ruins, vineyards and churches make the landscape a treat for the eyes.

Bolzano is the largest city in the region, but we were still able to navigate our way downtown without a problem. Jim stays calm and collected while he drives even in thick traffic with crazy roads and drivers. I love that about him.

No one even honked at us on this trip- a really good thing in a country known for crazy drivers and dented vehicles.
We found a parking lot and headed down the road toward the middle of town.

Right around the corner was this house with this sign. It says: In this house was Wolfgang Amadaus Mozart on December 23, 1769. You never know when you’ll find a famous house.

Our first stop was at a hole-in-the wall for an authentic Italian lunch. It was the first place we saw that was open and were lucky enough to get a seat.

More than a dozen people were turned away as they filled up fast for the lunch hour.

We really got lucky- it was a great stop.

We tried the bruschetta and pizza. Amazing.

We were already loving Italy. 

Oh, we are definitely going back.

a little S K A T I N G

The boys love ice skating and begged to go back to the Olympic rink for an afternoon.

 With the Germans on holiday this trip, it was a little crowded. Last year, we had the whole rink to ourselves- it was really nice. This time was still fun minus the sore feet and bruised knees.  

Caden and Ty were last to come off the ice- they especially loved it.

I can't seem to get enough pictures of all four boys together.

Rüdesheim M A R K E T

Rüdesheim had its first documentary mention in 1074 according to Wikipedia.
I love these old villages.
Rüdesheim is absolutely beautiful. Nestled right along the river, it is another postcard-perfect setting.

Cobblestone streets.
Old buildings with drawings on the side.
Character.

After getting off the ferry, we quickly parked and headed out to walk around the market. Going with friends makes it so much more fun- the kids all get along. The parents all get along.

Over here, our friends are our family- we love them.
Fun times to get us through the holidays living so far away.

The food is always wonderful- the best reason to go in the first place.

Everyone is happy. It is a festive time in Germany.

For this one, we tried the brats {you can never go wrong with a German brat}, potato cakes {you can never go wrong with German potatoes}, fresh {hot} crepes, currywurst along with full mugs of hot cider and hot chocolate.

Here, you pay a deposit on the first mug you buy, then you can get it filled as you walk around. It's a nice way to keep warm. Everyone is spun up on sugar by the time we leave.

We made it out just as it started to sprinkle.
More great memories.