Ladies Day...Cochem style

So, Mark wanted to head to another aviation museum, which was about a 2 hour drive from Trier. Oh, um, more airplanes? I think the girls and I will sit this one out. Danke. So he left early in the morning, and I had to come up with a plan to keep the girls occupied. With no car. Park? A walk downtown? Come on. We only had a short time left in Germany, let's go for it.

So I decided to take the girls to Cochem. It's a city that we had found (and heard about previously) as we were coming back from the wild animal and them park a few weeks before. It is said to be one of the most romantic cities in Germany. So of course it would make a perfect place to go with my children. Hmmm...I got on the train website and found that it was an hour ride. Okay, we can do that. I printed the tickets and quickly got us all ready for the day.

Now any of you who have traveled know what a feat it is to go somewhere new. Now do it a)in a hurry) b)with a 1 and a 5 year old c)with your "backup" gazing at airplanes 2 hours away d)on a train e)in a language you don't know, just hoping you are on the right train. Needless to say I was thrilled when the girls were cooperating and pretty much willing to sit in their seats on the train and hang out. While I napped. Okay, no nap.

We made it there. To the train station in Cochem. Now what? We just started walking. Okay, I walked while Casey and Maya enjoyed the stroller. And we started towards town. Or what seemed like town. Or where all the action was. Cuz it wasn't at the train station, that's for sure.

We came upon a little craft fair. Cute. And fun to watch the various artisans overcharge all of us tourists. We went for it and made a few purchases. But I just didn't think it was as urgent as Casey did, to bring home a bear carved out of a log. So she settled on a donkey pin. Yeah. Okay.

We wandered around. And of course had ice cream before lunch. Why not. And it kept their mouths occupied for a whole 10 minutes. We were getting hungry for lunch, and we found "Elli's Shnitzel House". Oh, so this would be unique and different German food? Nah. Not so much. But it was tasty. And I only had to force feed one child. Casey loves shnitzel. The other one, not so much. But she was plenty happy with french fries. And that qualified as a meal to me, on my own, just hoping to get through the day without any tantrums. From me or the kids.

We wandered around for a bit. Saw the castle on the hill. Took pictures of the castle on the hill. "Mommy, can we go to the castle?" Me "No". And then I saw a park across the river. But we can go to the park. Yeah. Squeals of joy. Yippee. Oh, you mean we could have just gone to the park back in Trier instead of trapsing to Cochem? Yeah, but then I wouldn't have a blog post and pictures. Geez.

All in all it was a great day. The girls behaved well (yeah, so I plied them with candy and carbs, so?) Mark was super impressed that I was willing (and able) to take them on my own, to Cochem, and survive the day. And I got to hold it over him for a few days. So it was a win for everyone!

Maya on the train


Casey amazed at the goose in it's nest down below


Loved the architecture


Oh how they wanted to go in. Oh how I didn't want them to go in.


Abfall=Garbage Can. Kewl.


Pretty picturesque. Castle on the hill. Not too shabby.


And yes, we DID eat at Ell'is Shnitzel house


Fun day!

Munich.

So, we are home now. And just getting over the jetlag. And figuring out which end is up. And remembering how to use our appliances. So I write these last few posts to finish up our journey. But I can't promise to dazzle ya. Cuz I have 20 minutes until I need to pick up a kid from a birthday party. Back to reality...

We had Munich on our radar as a must visit, even before we left for our trip. So we drove down there and checked it out. It was about a 5 hour drive from Trier. Not too bad. Mark had his sights set on visiting a few museums, including the aviation section of the Deutsches Museum. We were just tagging along to play and explore.

We tried for a few days before the trip to book a hotel in Munich. We kept seeing "No vacancy" on our searches. What the heck? And we weren't willing to spend a lot per night. After all, we were coming to the end of our journey and we didn't need to shell out MORE money. Oy. So we played with the computer for a while and used google maps to find a hotel in a suburb of Munich, called Planegg. There was a train stop right near the hotel, with a 20 minute ride into Munich. We booked 6 nights, because there was a lot there we wanted to do and see.

We got to Planegg and were pleasantly surprised at the area. It was relaxing and suburby. It had some good restaurants and a grocery store next door to the room. And the hotel included breakfast. May I suggest doing this type of thing the next time you are going to a big city. If you can swing it. You get much more for your money. And sometimes being away from the hustle is a good thing. You can clear your head and feel refreshed, ready to start all over again the next day.

Our first morning we took the train into Munichs main square, the Marienplatz. There we saw the famous Glockenspiel Clock. We knew that it chimed at 11 a.m., so we waited. And that baby rang for a good 10 minutes. I swear.

We headed over to the Viktualienmarkt. This is an area with food stalls as far as the eye can see. gorgeous, overpriced food. But it was fun to sample and gather and munch. We eventually sat down at a beer garden (biergarten) and had us a 1/2 liter and some sausages. Go figure. And this would serve to be the theme of our stay in Munich. Beer and sausages. Burp.

That evening we ventured back into town and hit up the Hofbrauhaus http://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/de/bilder/index_en.php?gal=0
This is one of the oldest beer halls in Germany. And we figured it would be over touristy and cheesey. Nope. It was great. The band played the traditional "Get sloshed to Oompah music" music. And the food was pretty good. And the beer was REALLY good.

Our favorite beer hall was one that had childcare. Umm, hello? Dreamy. So we checked the kids in and chose a table nearby (no, not near enough to hear Maya screaming). And we had a good 10 minutes peace before they came looking for us. With Maya in tow. Allright, so it was nice to have Casey in the daycare for an hour or so.

The next day mark too off for the Aviation section of the Doytches (k, I spelled it up top, don't make me do it again) Museum. I took the kidlets to the Aquarium right at the Olympic Park. That was cool to see where they held the Munich Olympics in, er, I think 1972. The kids loved the aquarium too.

We spent a chunk of time at flea markets (FlohMarkt) in Munich. Ya see, we started collecting beer glasses while we were in Germany. Not the big huge ones, but the average sized ones that you get with EVERY beverage there. And they all have the name of whatever concoction you are drinking. And we found about 25 or so. So we replaced our drinking glasses with them at home. So if you come over and grab a glass, don't worry, only thousands of people have drank from it also. No worries.

We even managed to come up with a pair of Lederhosen for Mark and Casey (good dress up stuff) and then a Dirndl dress for Casey and maybe even me too. Halloween should be interesting this year.

We fit in a trip to the zoo and some other stuff too. We were pooped. We had a great stay in Munich. This city is full of things to do and see. And it has a familiarity and friendliness to it that we really liked.


Showing Maya the ropes


Poor kid. Not having ANY fun


The famous Glockenspiel clock up at the top of the picture


Gorgeous colors at the Viktualienmarkt


Oh, uh, paddling a canoe inside a sporting good's store


Ms. Bavaria, complete with her Dirndl dress and beerstein


Gimme a "C"


In front of the Hofbrau Haus. That was fun.


More fun with pretzels


At a beer hall. Eating. Again.


On th train into Munich

An afternoon all by my lonesome

So, it was the day after Easter. And in Germany it's a holiday, along with the Friday before Easter and Easter day, of course. And that meant that everything is CLOSED. Oh, my. I had the kids on Easter, while Mark went to a glider airport and played. I entertained the troops. And come Monday, I was ready for a break. So before I tossed the kids in front of a moving train, Mark ordered me to take the day for myself. And I went for it.

I read about a place in Luxembourg that had a festival every year, on the Monday after Easter, where they sell these clay birds, called Peckvillchen. They are hand painted and you blow on them and they whistle. Okay. Why not. And we hadn't really explored much of the old part of Luxembourg. So, off I went.

Here are some of the views I was greeted with...


Not too shabby.


So I walked around for a bit. Picked through the Pickvillchen and found a special one to bring home. I happened upon a flea market and found a few goodies. Started our beer glass collection. Picked up a few cool ones from beers brewed in Luxembourg. Kewl.

Knowing a had a glorious day to myself, and not having to choose a child friendly restaurant, I had so much fun browsing the restaurants and picking just the right one. I read the prix fix menu board and decided upon one that I thought sounded good. It was in French or Luxembourgish. Either way, I took a stab at it.

Nummy

White asparagus with a warm herb vinaigrette.

Lamb with potato cakes and baked tomatoes


Oh, and I forgot to take a picture of my dessert. A rhubarb tart and a cafe latte. Oh yeah. Oh, and no one was bugging me. Or asking me for something. Or breathing near me. Or looking at me. Yeah, apparently I DID need a day off. Ahhhhhhh.

I wandered around for a bit more and took in the sights. And smiled. And wandered. And rejuvenated my soul. And headed home, ready for Mommyness once again.

Switzerland or Schwiez as they say

So on our way down to Southern Germany to go to EuropaPark we realized, after flipping through a map book, that we were going to be staying about 1 1/2 hours from the border of Switzerland. Huh, we didn't know that we would be so close. Well, we both knew that there is no way we could be so close and not experience another country.

So we found a room in the city that borders Germany and Switzerland. Actually, Weil am Rhine borders Germany, Switzerland and France. Yeah. Cool. And let's just be honest...we picked a bordering German country cuz Switzerland is freaking expensive. Those Swiss Francs don't get you much.

So we had a lovely breakfast as part of the hotel amenities. We have found that this is the case with most of the hotels in Europe. Get the kids stuffed and quiet them down. Not bad. Then we set off for the Alps. That much we knew. Not exactly sure what city. We just started driving. we ended up going via Bern and then we hit Interlaken. Kinda touristy. But the alps are surrounding you. Breathtaking. Then we continued driving and wound our way up and through he Alps. So beautiful.

And we saw cows with bells around their necks. It's really true. We had no idea. We couldn't really figure out what the purpose was for this. I guess you can hear your particular cow escaping and track them down. Yeah, that must be it.

We drove and found a restaurant to stop at. And just because Maya was. napping in the car and we ate while she slept doesn't make us bad parents. It was Mark's idea anyways (yeah right. I know you don't believe that one). And we could see the car. We had an amazing view of the Alps. Amazing setting and great company. Ahhhh. And we fed Maya when she woke up. Stop judging us.

Mark had mentioned that the Pilatus factory was supposed to be in Switzerland. Yeah. Blah blah airplanes. Blah blah. So we were driving down into the valley, sort of back onto the freeway to leave and I saw several signs that related to Pilatus. Not the airplane factory, like a Pilatus train stop and a Pilatus shopping center. Hmmm, plug in Pilatus into the GPS and we came up with the Pilatus Flugzeugwerks pops up. Wait, I know ten words in German and Flugzeug means airplane. That I knew. So we drove around and found the Pilatus Airplane Factory. Mark was giddy. Like a celebrity sighting. I think I may have even heard "Hmmm, I could live in Switzerland."

We had a great day and will savor the memories of Switzerland as a highlight of our trip!



Mark took the girls to the bridge where the 3 countries meet


Ummm, pilot boy in heaven at the Pilatus Factory where baby Pilati are born


Our view from our lunch in the Alps. Bet you can't see we spent $75 for pasta and french fries and apfel strudel. Thanks for not joining the EU Switzerland


Kewl

Bee-yoo-tee-ful


Hello Alps


Glad we made the side trip!

EuropaPark...Pretty darn cool

So we went to EuropaPark for two days. Check it out if you happen to be in Southern Germany with a few days to spare http://www.europapark.de/lang-en/Home/c51.html It is an amusement park that highlights different European countries. Each country has different rides and shops and restuarants. Pretty original concept. I guess it wouldn't really work in the U.S. I mean, Arkansas and Alabama might have some interesting rides. And the restaurants in Minnesota. Well, I doubt a lutefisk snack hut would do so well.

I don't think that much needs to be said about our time there. It was fun. Worth the time and the $. Tantrums were thrown, crappy fried food was eaten, toys were bought. Enjoy the pictures. They say it all...

Stay tuned for the next post where we head to Switzerland, just cuz it was close.


Jolly old England. See Mark in the back?


The mascot Creepy Maus, er, uh Europa Maus


The old shark swallowing the family bit

Boy, the eats in "Scandanavia" sure made me yearn for the simplicity of a corn dog or a funnel cake. Look closely, yes, that's the real deal fish sandwich. Yowza.

Wheeeeeeeeeeee


Lookin' good


Europa Maus's sidekick, Casey


See all the different shows and the different languages they were in. Kewl.


The black taxi ride in "England"



She wanted a dog that looks like our dog Elvis. Oh, and about the hat...

One of the rides. Yup. Fahrt has to do with driving. Something is lost in the translation here...


Pooped from partying

Danke Mama und Papa

Walking in downtown Trier


Waiting for our train to Paris


Girls rule and boys drool



Gramma C supervising the other short people (ha!)



Casey proudly displaying her writing the numbers 1-20 while getting support from me and Gramma


Poppa Jim ropes her into the old "draw a picture on my back" in the name of education. Not cuz he loves his back scratched


Priceless shot of Carolynn Sue and Maya Sue


Took a train to Saarburg and hung out






So I wanted to post some more pics from when my parents came to visit. They are back home now. I am assuming. No, they are. And we were so very fortunate to have them here. We laughed and played and ate. And they watched the kids so we could regain some sanity. Which I have to report is gone again.

I am a lucky girl to have such great parents. I love them lots and I am so glad they are part of my kid's lives. Yippeeeeeeee!

They even fit in a trek to Switzerland on their own. First time in Europe.

Danke Mama und Papa~