Travels in Deutschland

Muenchen...otherwise known as Munich...

2009-03-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

So, Munich. Everyone knows about Munich. It is VERY touristy. The locals HATE tourists (non-Catholic ones especially), though, so don't expect any friendly Germans here...I mean, even less friendly then usual..ha!

We started out, as usual, at another campground. The funny thing about this particular campground is there was a surfing competition going on. Yes, surfing. You can see in one of the pics. http://troesterfamily.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4975

It was pretty cool to watch. The kids really enjoyed it. It was also pretty funny to see some of the surfers looking, well, like surfers...bleach blonde hair, sometimes dreds...it's weird to see that removed from, say, California!

Anyway, the first thing we did was go to the Munich Zoo. We actually biked there. It started off raining that day and so the first stop at the zoo, the petting area, was incredibly disgusting. The kids didn't really notice, but I sure did!

The zoo was interesting. Especially the pelicans they dyed pink and labeled "flamingos". Yeah. There were also a lot of frisky monkeys. This, of course, proved to be very interesting to Katie. Kai told her they were playing doctor, which I am not sure was the best thing to say...but she just kept going around saying, look, they are playing doctor! I mean it was really really gross. Pretty much monkey porn. Monkeys are just GROSS. They are either doing "that" or fighting.

The zoo is where Ben said his first real sentence, too. Katie wanted to go on a horsey ride and Ben said, "I ride neigh neigh, too, Mommy!". Up until this point it was one or two words here and there...it's funny but Ben's language explosion was in Germany! So, of course we had to let him ride the "neigh neigh"! He LOVED it and said, YEEHAW the whole way around. TOO CUTE!

Oh, it was also in Munich that I discovered "ethnic" cuisine, such as Chinese and Italian is NOT causal fare as it is here. We tried to get Chinese to find it was reservation only and then at the Italian pizza place we ended up at they were VERY formal and none to happy to see people with kids. Apparently in Germany people just don't eat out...and if they do they don't bring the kids. It was a pretty uncomfortable experience...after that we ate at the campground snack bar, which was actually pretty good.

Now, Munich proper. I mean, really, it is nothing special. It is SO touristy you just feel like you are at a theme park. We walked around, but there's not much to do and I had already been there once...pretty much once is all you need to get the gist. There are WAY better places in Germany, I can tell you that...like the town I mentioned in my last post!

And, yes, that is a beer vending machine you see in the last photo!

Stranberg

2009-02-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

We stopped in this town on our way to Munich. We were looking for something to do, and came across a sign for a water park. We were all about the water parks while in Germany. However, we did need to eat first, so we got out the bikes and off we went.

The town was cute, like most German towns. A little more modern then some we had seen, probably b/c this was West Germany.

Trying to find food was always interesting. I have mentioned before how German cuisine doesn't really vary, so really it is about finding a place that looks nice, over finding a place with food you want.

We biked around the town for a while, and came across a really nice playground. What I do remember about this playground was a British family who was sitting near us. ENGLISH SPEAKERS! They had a daughter, probably around 2 or 3, that I tried to force Katie to play with since she refused to speak German. The little girl was a bit too young to really engage in play, though, I guess, and Katie wasn't really into me trying to force her to play with a particular child anyhow.

I also stood close enough to these people that they could hear me speaking, b/c I was really craving conversation...with anyone...other then Kai. Didn't happen, though...ah well.

After a little playtime we headed to the water park, and chose to eat there. The water park was very cool. It was waterfront, so you had the option of using the lake for swimming, as well as the kiddie area and inside pools. I am telling you, this is something I wish would catch on in America...these water parks things. They are AWESOME! Not super huge, so you can pretty much put one anywhere, but so great to have around! The kids had a lot of fun.

As you can tell from the pics, the kids are looking pretty chub-a-rific at this point. That's what a diet of carbs and sprite will do to you...

After leaving the water park we took to the bikes again and pedaled to the church in the pics. There is a story about it, which I forget, so I will ask Kai and update the post.

I should also add that this town was pretty well to do. Kai told me that a lot of German celebrities had homes there, and on our bike ride to the church we passed A LOT of gated homes, and even saw a television station filming at one. Pretty cool. The lake adjoining this town was beautiful, too. It would be a great place to retire...if we were rich...ha!

Um, yeah

2009-02-07T08:10:00.000-08:00

Kai has been lazy with the picture posting. To give you an idea of how slow we are with things, in July 2004 we moved to NC and videotaped our journey down. Kai is still working on editing and putting together a watchable video of that. So, clearly, things that happened in 2008...well...maybe they will be completed by the time the kids enter college....MAYBE.

Oh, the hops...

2008-09-03T05:24:00.000-07:00

So, Kai did put up a series of pics from the hops region we visited. I don't know much about hops, so I really have not a lot to say about it.

We did stop at a hop museum, but I stayed in the RV with the kids while Kai went on the tour. The best pic is the one of the breastfeeding mother that pretty much says if you don't drink beer your boobs and baby will be unhappy. Love that.

After the tour we ate lunch at the museum restaurant. As usual, they didn't have too much variety, so I ended up with a salad (I was craving a vegetable at this point anyway) and the kids had some schnitzel we told them was chicken nuggets. I am telling you, German cuisine just does not have much variety...

And really that is about it for the hops part of it. I am sure Kai could go on and on about it, but I just have no clue, nor do I really care...haha.

Neuschwanenstein

2008-09-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

Kai finally put more pics on the website, so I figured I would update here.

This campground was probably the best one we stayed at. They had a gorgeous lake, albeit too cold for me to go in, and really cool showers for the kids. Yes, that's important!

It was pretty cool and rainy the couple days we spent here, but there were some breaks of sun. We were able to take a few good bike rides, and rode to the castle on the first day. It took us 2 days to actually visit the castle. Why you ask? Because even though we planned it out really well, time wise, we missed our tour on the first day. We blame it on the busses going to the castle. You can walk up, but not with 2 young kids. We were told a bus would come to get us and we would arrive in plenty of time. Didn't happen.

We did attempt to get there...waited in the pouring rain for the bus, but when we finally reached the top of the hill (and got stampeded by people trying to get on the bus, at whom Kai had to scream in order for us to disembark!)we realized there was no way we could get inside in time. The bus drops you off at a point where you still have to walk 15 mins to get to the actual castle. Yeah.

I was NOT a happy camper. This was one place I really wanted to see and I was pretty po'd we didn't make it that first day. Thankfully Kai allowed us to go back the next day, which is big since we had to rebuy tickets and Kai is pretty, uh, frugal.

We ended up driving the RV and parking the next day, just to make sure we gave ourselves enough time. It still caused me a lot of anxiety, though, b/c Kai bought tickets for an early tour and I wasn't convinced we would make it in time...again. THANKFULLY, we did. It was nice and sunny the day we went, too, so that was better then the day before at least.

Now, for those of you who don't know, this is the castle Disney used as inspiration for Cinderella's castle. It is pretty famous around the world. I do have to admit, although it was beautiful, I was expecting something bigger. I don't know why. Not that it isn't big, but for some reason I thought it would be this imposing figure on the landscape...nonetheless it was still very cool.

Kind Ludwig, who built the castle, died before it was finished, and it still sits unfinished, so we didn't get to see as much castle as I had hoped. The inside was gorgeous, though, and I tried to imagine, while walking through the halls, what it was like to live during this age and to live in a castle...

The castle is themed after songs by Wagner, a close friend of the king. We weren't allowed to take pics inside, unfortunately, but the depictions on the walls and all the carvings and such were pretty breathtaking. Or maybe I am just a sucker for a castle.

Katie loved it, too, and was convinced a real, live princess lived there. It was cute.

After the tour Kai and Ben went to a bridge they have in order to see the castle from the other side. Katie was done by this point, though, so I stayed back with her at the bus depot. I do regret not going to the bridge a bit, though, especially after viewing Kai's photos and seeing how awesome it looked from that side, but I took one for the team. I am sure we will be back one day, when the kids are actually old enough to remember!

I figure if I ever had to live in Germany, this would be the perfect town. It is small and quaint and in the shadow of a castle. Doesn't get much better then that.

A link to the pics

2008-08-25T12:33:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to the Germany pics, since they are not on this blog...

PHOTOS

A few interesting facts about Germany

2008-08-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

1) Every man, woman, and child are required to own a pair of Crocs. Seriously folks, never in my life have I seen more of these shoes in one place. I didn't know know they were such an international sensation.

2) socks must be worn with sandals. This, to me, defeats the purpose of sandals. Why not just wear sneakers year round, then? I don't remember seeing one person, young or old, wear sandals with bare feet. It weirded me out.

3) Germans do not coddle their children. I think they push them out and then say, hey kid, you're on your own. Well, not really, but I did notice that kids did things a lot younger then you see in the US. Parents let their tiny toddlers play alone on playgrounds, didn't give much attention when their children started crying, and they even let their kindergarten aged children walk to school...ALONE. Also, we saw a lot of young kids, I am talking maybe 3, on bikes without training wheels. I never once actually saw a training wheel. I think they mostly use these balance type bikes over there, which are just bikes with no pedals, and so the kids learn early on how to stay on the bike and then don't need years of training wheel help. German children def seemed to grow up quicker then those over here.

4) No one goes out to eat. And if they do, their children do not come! Kai told me people just don't eat out in Germany. I attribute this to the lack of chain restaurants and the fact that all places pretty much have the same menu. Sausage and potatoes. Also, places that are super informal over here, like chinese places and pizzerias, are FANCY in Germany. We found this out the hard way when we stopped to eat at a pizzeria thinking it would be like it is over here. Not so much. And the waitress was none to pleased to have us there and, being German, made that known.

5) which leads me to the next observations. One that even Kai agrees with. Germans can be pretty rude. They don't try to mask their true feelings, have no sense of personal space and will push you into a wall if they want to, and just aren't socially friendly in general. We almost got caught in a stampede while trying to get off a bus over there b/c no one waited for us to get off before they got on...this caused Kai to scream out (in English?) STOP PUSHING!!!!

6) Germans need to wear more clothes...when it comes to swimming. I was pretty traumatized by one guy in a "bathing suit" at a campground we were at. The best I can explain it is it looked like a french cut speedo...with very thin fabric...and the guy was playing badmitton...not cool, not cool. Thankfully most of the kids and young people wear suits like you see here, so this too small bathing suit phenomenon should be on it's way out. Leave something to the imagination, folks. And that goes for the ladies, too!

7) you always hear how "everyone" speaks English in Europe. Well, they don't speak it voluntarily...trust me, it isn't as easy as people make out. I don't think I could get along without Kai. Even the dr we had to see for Katie didn't speak a word of it.

I know it seems like I am complaining a lot, which I am, but there were things I liked. I liked being able to bike everywhere, I loved all the sight seeing we did, since there really are some gorgeous parts of the country and lots to see, and I loved all the cute, city centers. And the fact that there are REALLY nice public pools everywhere! But, it is different over there, and I am just very American!

I guess I should finally begin posting...

2008-08-24T20:40:00.001-07:00

Now that Kai is putting up pics on the website, I have decided to use those to job my memory and post about our vacation. Let's being, shall we?

1st set of pics: Cleary this begins with us leaving for the airport. We flew out of Boston, with a layover in London. I insisted on having a layover in an English speaking country. Yes, I AM that American.

We ended up taking an air "limo" (and by limo, I mean van) from my dad's house, b/c it is closer to the airport. When Kai checked online he read that it would be significantly more expensive to take it from our house, so off to my dad's we went. Come to find out it really would have only cost us $10 more, but in the end I was glad we took it from Beford, as opposed to Pepperell. More on that later.

I must say, Ben was not a fan of the van. The second we tried to load him up he freaked. Apparently he thought we were sending him away with some crazy old guy, b/c he was NOT happy. Thankfully, after the van set off, he calmed down. I, on the other hand, did not.

The driver looked like this nice, calm, chubby old man. Santa without a beard, if you will. My first impression of him was way off. Now, he was nice. That wasn't the issue. The death ride to the airport was the problem. He brought this van within centimeters of other cars, in rush hour, on rte 2...he swerved in and out of traffic and I, be the type who can barely walk without feeling ill, became terribly carsick. I spent the whole ride willing myself not to throw up and praying we would make our flight in one piece.

I was never so happy to see the airport. The ride there took away all my anxiety about the actual flight.

Actually, it isn't the flight I was anxious about. It never is. It is having to go through security. It really is a crapshoot whether or not you are going to get through easily, or be taken aside...whether you get a friendly rent-a-cop or one with a stick up his/her butt. When you are traveling with children and a ton of stuff, being pulled over and screamed at to make sure your 3yo stays on the particular line they want her on, b/c she might just be a suicide bomber, kinda sours the whole airport experience. (Do you hear me RDU?!?!)

We were lucky, though, and made it through without incident and walked off to our gate. It was of course the last gate in the airport, but that is typical for us. We spent a while trying to keep the kids occupied while waiting to board, but when that time finally came I was pleasantly surprised. Why? Because there were TELEVISIONS on the back of each seat. I didn't know this beforehand, and was ecstatic to see them when we got to our seats. That meant I didn't have to stretch the small amount of children's toys/coloring material I had bought. Even though it was an overnight flight I didn't expect much sleeping.

When we finally took off the tv came in handy. Even Ben watched some of Horton Hears a Who, and Katie watched every kid thing they had. Ben ended up sleeping a good part of the trip, which I attribute to him being a good sleeper in general. When we traveled to Germany when Katie was 15 mo she didn't sleep, but at the time she didn't sleep at home either.

This trip she slept a little, but at least she is 4 1/2 so she can understand the need to keep seated and I was able to ply her with snack and, um, sprite.

It took us 6 hrs to get to Heathrow, 6 more hours to get to our gate at Heathrow, and then 1 1/2 hrs to get to Berlin. Heathrow is too big. I don't care to take a shuttle to our next gate, and it was freaking driving on the WRONG side of the road and thinking we were about to crash. And, on top of that, I didn't see one celebrity. Total. Letdown.

The trip to Berlin did not provide us with a tv, but at least it was quicker and the kids did sleep most of it.

Now, to everyone out there thinking of going to Germany, don't fly to Berlin. The airport sucks. I was super air sick for most of the flight and immediately sought out the bathroom once we landed. Well, when you get off the plane you get off into this restricted area that closes once the plane is emtpy...so I was hurried out of the bathroom by Kai and some psycho airport worker...not cool. There is another reason I didn't like the airport, but we won't address that til my blog post about our trip home.

Needless to say both kids were happy to be off the plane. Too bad we had to take a slow ride back to Kai's town. Yes, folks, Germany is home to the Audobahn, but Kai's family aren't Audoban people, I guess...it was slow going. I ended up sleeping most of the ride back since I was exhausted, but it was slow nonetheless. Twice I have been to this country, and never have I gone over 80 kph...not cool.

Once we got to Kai's parent's house the kids were excited to take a dip in their pool. That responsibily fell on Kai, as the pool was cold, and I wasn't in the mood for a dip. I don't adjust well to time change...or foreign countries...

So, we spent a day with his family and then that Sunday we went to a nearby indoor water park. This is something I love about Germany...you can't walk 5 ft without slamming into an indoor "spa"...something the US needs to catch onto.

The trip to the water park caused a bit of controversy as Kai's mother has been at a residential treatment program due to sleep issues since having surgery in April, and we didn't get home before she left. But that falls on Kai, not me. Although in their minds it might have been my fault...who knows!

The kids had fun at the water park, though, and it was nice to get out and do something. It is hard when you go anywhere that isn't babyproofed (my parent's don't have babyproofed homes, either) and it is SO much work and hassle trying to make sure the kids don't destroy something, so getting out is always good.

The last few pics are at a park/playground near Kai's house. We biked there since that is just what you do in Germany. We did get caught in a downpour on the way home, but what can ya do. His parents let us borrow bikes and got us a trailer for the kids for our RV expedition, which came in very handy. I think being able to ride the bikes so much helped me not gain 100lbs since our diet for the month mostly consisted of carbs, carbs, and more carbs...

Anywho, that about explains the story of picture set #1. I am tired so tomorrow I shall continue on with set #2.

Goodnight!

I swear

2008-08-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

I will eventually update our trip blog...I just need to find TIME and look at the pics to refresh my memory once Kai finishes going through them...in case anyone is actually reading this...lol.

Stranger in a Strage Land

2008-08-01T14:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to lie...I am not a world traveler, nor do I have aspirations to ever be one. I don't feel the need to travel across Europe or Asia...I don't even care if I ever see Canada (yes, I am the ONE American never to cross our Northern boarder), that's just not me. Sure, I wouldn't mind a nice, tropical vacation somewhere, and I would love to visit Australia, but that's about it.

Most of the reason for me not being a huge fan of traveling is b/c traveling is not a huge fan of me. It doesn't matter where I go, I end up sick, can't sleep, the food doesn't agree with me...my body reacts negatively to it. This is something I might have passed on to my kids, since they both got sick last summer when we went to NC and we had our little issues this trip as well, but more on that later.

I am also not big on being in a place where I don't understand the language. We have had Rosetta Stone software for a while now, but haven't gotten a microphone needed to use it, so I, once again, was lost. It is not a feeling I enjoy...having no clue what is being said all around you...feel awkward when a stranger tries to talk to me and I am like, duh, sorry...

But, alas, my extended family resides in Germany, so, like it or not, I had to leave the comfort of home and fly across the Atlantic.

I did force myself to be calm for the trip over. I worked overtime to suppress my anxieties and it worked, more or less. I even made it through security without having a major panic attack...which is pretty big for me. We had our layover in London and completed our final leg to Germany and it was all uneventful and I didn't freak out.

I did get super air sick and spent 6 hrs willing myself not to puke in the airplane bathroom (entirely too small and as if I am going to actually puke at my seat in one of those bags), but that was the worst of it.

My FIL and SIL picked us up at the airport and we made the almost 2 hr journey back to their house from Berlin. It shouldn't be a 2 hr journey, especially on an autobaun with NO speed limit, but I think we cruised a cool 50-55mph the whole way...I slept for most if it, though.

So, we got to the house, got settled, and my air sickness eventually went away. This allowed me to indulge in a yummy treat I discovered on my first trip...the Doner. A delectable Turkish treat, which is kinda like a Gyro, but different. SO good. Something I had really been looking forward to since leaving Germany last time...lol. If Kai and I opened a Doner stand here, I think we would do very well. Too bad we aren't those type of people...who, you know, do stuff.

Now, Germans, or at least Kai's family (but I suspect most Germans), are way more formal then Americans. Every meal we had to eat together...and there was a little problem one afternoon when I fed the kids some pretzels and offended a family member who thought we were having tea without telling them. The kids are expected to act a certain way and people don't speak as freely (aka jokingly, sarcastically, etc)...I am not saying it's bad, it's just different. I am very laid back and come from a laid back family...it made it hard b/c I wanted to connect with his sister, but wasn't sure what was appropriate to ask about. I know she has a boyfriend, but I didn't get the vibe from her that she wanted to sit and gossip, ya know...anywho, it was just very different...

After a few days with them we began our 2 week RV adventure...and that is where our real adventure begins...

Days away

2008-07-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we are two days away from leaving. Today is packing day. Yes, this probably should have been done earlier, but Kai and I are both procrastinators. I am starting to freak out, though, b/c there is a ton left to do and not much time! I have laid aside piles of clothes for Kai to inspect (he needs to make sure I don't pack the kitchen sink, I guess) and am still in the throws of laundry...ugh.

We also have to find time to scrub down the house before we leave. Two reasons. 1)no one wants to come home to a mess and 2) my sister and her boyfriend are house/cat sitting for us, and we can't expect them to live in squaller.

Cleaning is probably the most daunting task. I am hoping Kai will take a floor. We shall see.

I am just ready to go already. The build up and anxiety (mostly about the airport/flight) is killing me.

We did find out that our wireless card will work in Germany, so all we have to do is fine some hot spots while over there so I can blog. I really want to chronicle our trip for friends and for myself.

Anywho, back to packing and cleaning...fun times, fun times.

The countdown

2008-06-19T13:44:00.001-07:00

We leave for Germany in 19 days. I plan to blog about our journey here. I hopefully will have enough internet access to make this happen. We shall see.