Lazy Sunday musings

Shhhh...don't tell the adoption social worker


Ha!



So, for most of you who have traveled to Europe know that on Sundays most things are closed. Grocery stores, clothing shops, drug stores, and some restaurants. Now when you are traveling for a week or two, this can be a major annoyance, as you don't want one of the precious days you have to be spent wandering around a city that is shut down. But I am finding that I am looking forward to Sundays. It is a nice new feeling not to see one day out of the weekend as a day to GO GO GO. It is a forced slow down. A day to spend with family or friends (oh yeah, I don't have any friends here. Sniff, sniff). A day where it is okay to relax and not hop to the next event or run to the store. It's enough just to ahhhhhh...chill.

So we spent the morning slowly waking up. I cooked up a big old pot of pasta sauce. The whole house smells good and homey. I walked downtown (about a 10 mintute walk) and wandered until I found a bakery that was open. I picked up a loaf of bread for some garlic bread to go with our pasta tonight. And a piece of black forest cake might have snuck it's way into my bag too.

We are looking forward to some naps and even watching some good old American TV. Through something called Slingbox, Mark was able to hook up a system that lets us watch our cable over here (and thanks to Jordan for his help with this). Even all of our recorded shows. So fun and so nice to just veg out without working so hard at figuring out what and where and how.

Mark took the kids to McDonald's to play in an indoor ball pit. We found this the other day. And yes, we incorporate McDonald's into our lives here. Cuz it makes the kids happy and it's nice not to think once in a while. We have had people judge us on our travels "You are in a foreign country and you are eating McDonald's?" You betcha.

Gimme a B

Brugge...

Mo Brugge

Chocolate shop in Brussels

Eating Belgian waffles (with chocolate, whipped cream and strawberries) in Brussels

So, we had a good tantrum from our Spaintastrophe last Wednesday. We took Thursday to get our head back in the game. Then we rallied Moran style and got in the car and headed to Belgium. We had been wanting to see Brussels and I had gotten some advice that the city of Brugge was a favorite.

We drove to Brussels, which is only about 2 1/2 hours from us. Well, the best thing about Brussels was the Belgian waffles. And that was about it. It was very crowded (yes, I know, we were in the touristy area) and kinda dirty. The vibe there was kinda like New York city, with none of the charm. Just our opinion.

We spent the night and headed out early to go and see Brugge. It was about 1 hour from Brussels. It was really great. Unfortunately I don't know the history of it, but I will give you a 5 year old's take on it. "Wow, it's really cool. I like it. Can I get another waffle?" Uh, yeah, so much for the magic. Here is a link to some images of the city. http://www.voyages-photos.fr/belgique/ebelgique1.htm

It was kinda rainy, but we were able to walk around the city a bit and get a feel for Belgium. It is an old city with a lot of character and charm. Kinda what we thought Brussels would be.

Allright, I am tired now and this post doesn't have much spice to it. Apparently trapsing a family through Europe can make ya tired. Who knew?

Tomorrow we plan on sitting on our big fat arses and chillaxing. I am going to make up a big pot of bolognese sauce and we aren't doing anything exciting or advenuturous. Damnit.

Barcelon Shmarcelona

Okay, I am writing this while it is still fresh and raw and bleeding and sizzling and...Okay, this is one of those posts that is embarrassing to admit. One that shows how what looks good on paper doesn't always happen. One that shows that having a checklist might be a good idea. One that...okay, I'm stalling. We missed our flight to Barcelona. Cringe. There, I said it. Typed it. Ugh. It happened. Just a few hours ago. But I knew if I didn't share it now, it would get watered down later. Or I might chicken out and just send some postcards saying Hola, we are having a bueno time herein Barthelona (accent and all). So here goes.

Here's how it went. And then I shall follow with what we learned. And then...okay, stalling again. We woke up at 3 am for our 6:40 flight. The gate check-in closes at 6:10, so we have to get there before that. Are you kidding me, we have PLENTY of time. We have extra time, in fact. The airport (and I use that term loosely) is a 1 hour drive from Trier. So we got on the road around 3:45.

Well, here comes the royal screw up. Yuck. We got about 30 minutes into the drive (picture it"s 4 am now, cold, dark, narrow roads, chatty non-sleeping children. got it?) In my mind I am reviewing our boarding passes that I have efficiently printed out from our home in San Mateo before we left (patting of the back. good job Mandy, you savvy traveler). And what we packed and "OH MY GOSH WE LEFT OUR PASSPORTS BACK AT HOME." Gulp. Dread. Crap. Turn the car around. Do the mental calculations of how much time to drive home and back+turn around and re-drive shitty roads+20 ?'s from 5 year old+not knowing this airport and everything is in a different language=yeah, probably not going to make our flight.

We drive in silence for a bit. Both knowing that Spain might as well be Timbuktu. We ain't gettin' there. No way, no how. Absolutely no way...wait a minute. We can do this. Right? If we drive quickly (thanks Autobahn) we can be back at the airport by 5:45. The gate says it doesn't close until 6:10. Just have to park and walk in and check in. That doesn't take that long, right?

Well, it does. And it did. And we didn't. Sigh. We got there about 5:40. Well, to the entrance to the airport. Our hopes soared (okay, ever the optimist, mine did. Mark probably knew the whole time that there wasn't a snowball's chance in...well, you know the rest). And really, we would have made it if there was any signage, in ANY language, that would have been helpful.

But there wasn't. And I cried. Just a bit. Mark looked deflated. Casey was optimist number 2 "Ahhh, we didn't want to go to Barcelona anyway. Really. Right Mommy?' Oh how I love that girl.

We were directed to the RYANAIR ticket counter where there was still one last glimmer of hope to fly into Doofenshmirtz and connect in Dingleberry and take a train to Gimmeeafrigginbreak. But these would of course all cost $100 gajillion whatevers and with the exchange rate we could have bought ourselves a country slightly smaller than Lichtenstein.

So we trapsed back through the airport, dodging drunken Russian teens whooping it up and probably on their way to Minsk. Getting looks from folks waiting on imaginary flights that they wouldn't possible make, no matter how much they tried.

So how will we celebrate Mark's birthday tomorr0w you ask? Hmmm,,,there's always the train!

Frenchies, food and fun

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

It's nice to have the 5 year old earn her keep and take some pics for us

The old "snow on the tongue" shot

Still not sure how we feel about France. A little burned since our honeymoon in Paris. Grrrr...

Watching the snow fall outside while in the restaurant

Cracking into the creme brulee


We spent the day Sunday driving Julia to see her grandparents. They were staying at a hotel about 40 minutes from Trier. We passed through Luxembourg several times during our drive. Then we dropped her off and explored the area. We drove to France, which was only about 10 minutes away. Stopped at a beautiful park (thank goodness for GPS that works in Europe) which had a playground, a restaurant (kinda weird) and beautiful grounds that we walked around and explored.

We drove around for a while and started getting hungry. Now at home, meaning in your city, this isn't a big deal. But driving in rural France, in the snow (okay, it was light snow, but it adds to the story) and not knowing where things are, or what the heck the signs say and having stressed husband (cuz he has to navigate and listen to me boss him around) and whining kids and me with my blood sugar plummeting. Well, thank goodness we stumbled upon an Italian restaurant. In France. Coming from Germany. Hmmm...

So we went in and sat down and got settled and opened up the menu. Ahhhh, some things I could make it. Okay, that looks like the word for pasta. Oh, and that's got to be pizza. The demanding 5 year old "Mommy, I only want cheese pizza." (and in the back of me head I'm screaming "You will have what I order and you will shut your mouth and you will like it.")

So I apologetically order what I think is a cheese pizza and pasta bolognese. Well, it was, sorta. The pizza was cheese allright. But French cheese. What is this you ask? Brie. A brie pizza. For a 5 year old. Needless to say she politely (yes, after I toldher the old "YOU'REGONNATAKEABITEANDIDON'TWANNAHEARONEMOREWORDABOUTWHATYOULIKEANDWHATYOUDON'LIKE"). And needless to say, she ate the pasta with not another word about the meal. Success...

Tomorrow we leave for Barcelona for 3 nights to celebrate Mark's birthday. I am looking forward to speaking Spanish. At least I know a bit more of this language. A bit more...

Survived the lonnnng flight

Okay, trying to get a post here with all the info in German. Not so easy. We need to find out why our computer thinks it's German now. Oh boy, something else to figure out.

Anyway, here we go...Sorry if this is duplication from pics and info on facebook. Not everyone who will read this is on FB, so bear with me here. And in case ya get bored cuz I am documenting too much, we are trying to do this blog to share our adventure with everyone, as well as to document this for the kids for when they are older and tell us that we never took them anywhere.

I will start with the flying part. Kinda dull. 13 hours of flying, not much to report. Maya slept for about 6-7 hours of it. No tantrums to report. Yessss! Casey was great. Slept, played her video game. Easy cheesey.

We got our car at the Luxembourg airport. Our exchange family parked their cart there and gave us the keys when they arrived at our home. It was great. Then it was about a 20 minute drive to our new home in Trier. On the way we got to experience the infamous Autobahn. Mark realized we were on it and I heard "Okay, HERE WE GO!!" and then he downshifted, and well, let's just say that years of driving a patrol car code 3 helped. Ha! So cool.

We got to the house and we were met by Julia. She is the 20 year old (Julia, Anette, is that correct?) daughter of of the exchange family. She is here, living in a basement apartment, going to school. She has been so great. We are realizing that we are so lucky to have her around (especially when she babysits for us tonight as we go out on a date by ourselves. Yessss!).

Nervicited

Casey say's she is nervous AND excited about the trip (Mark say's the same). So nervicited is the new word.

We have been dreaming, planning, strategizing, doing, and packing for 6 months. It's go time. Today is the day! Our flight leaves at 9 pm. Whew!

I am listening to the rain come down HARD outside my door right now. I figure, the weather in Trier couldn't be much worse than this right no? Hmmm...we shall see.
Casey said goodbye to her classmates. She got some hugs and some puzzled looks as we explained why she will be gone from school for the next 3 months.

We have about an 11 hour flight to Munich, a 2 hour layover, then a short flight to Luxumbourg, then we shall crash. Zzzzzzzzzz...

We re keeping our fingers crossed Maya does well on the flight. I mean, we did fly home with her from Ethiopia and she did do well. We were the ones that were totally crabby and crawling out of our skin to jump off of the plane.

We got to meet the awesome German family that will be staying at our house, and we at their house. Attached is the picture of the girls together. I think that they would have been just as happy to have us adults go together for 3 months so they could hang out. Go figure. Their easy going personalities and go with the flow embrace of all of this has put us at ease and made us even more excited about our adventure.

Okay, so next time I write here it will be all in German. Ha! Yeah right. The language part will be a comedic event in itself.
But I will say...Auf Wiedersehen (gosh I hope I spelled that right)!

Countdown

So we are busily prepping the house for the home exchange. Ohhhhh, now I get why people stay in hotels. Getting our house ready has been the biggest challenge of this adventure. Purge, organize, dump, stuff in a drawer.

It is down to the wire now, as we only have 5 more days until we leave for Germany. Aaaaaakkkk! Oh well. The house can only be so ready.

Casey and I carved out some time today to make going away goody bags for her kindergarten class. She is feeling a bit nervous about leaving her school and wanted to share a treat with her friends from school. In the bags are a blow up globe, balloons with the German flag colors (red, black and yellow), and gummy treats made in Germany. Okay, until I looked t the label and it said Ireland and something about the UK. Huh? Well, the writing on the bag is in German, so that counts, right? We out a notice in them about following our blog and tied a goodbye greeting onto each bag...Auf Wiedersehen (formal goodbye), Tschüss (goodbye) and Bis später (see you later).