Hallo from Amsterdam!

We had an uneventful flight, like most these days, and Schipol is a great airport…tulips and cheese for sale around the whole main concourse.  The big Mercedes van (which we love as it fit us all with extra room to spare) took us to the Renaissance Hotel.  We stayed at the same location in the fall so it was a familiar site.  After getting settled, out the door we walked to find an Italian cafe.  It’s chiller here but still not as cold as we anticipated when we packed.  Cory has to lead a four hour training tomorrow so he had some work to do before bedtime.  He amazes me with his dedication and ability to adapt to his constantly changing work.  We went to bed early this evening which was needed as Cory had an early flight to Madrid the next morning.

So, this past Monday was unchartered territory.  Cory flew to Spain to work (only for two days) but I was in a foreign country with my two babies by myself.  I was anxious about it, but am proud to say I think I ended up rocking it!  We settled into our morning like any other at the hotel lounge for breakfast.  We met the sweetest (grandparent) couple from the states and Bea and Teddy proceeded to talk their ears off for the next three breakfasts!  We didn’t try public transit here in the fall as we rented bikes instead.  So we taxied to Vondelpark to our familiar playground at Groot Melkhuis.  Bea couldn’t wait to get on their zip line!  Especially since Cory was out of town, it was so nice to have familiarity of this park.  I also let them dig in the sand since I’ll be doing laundry again in a couple of days.  Why not!  Of course, when we got home their shoes were FULL of sand!  We stopped at KinderKook Kafe for lunch based on a recommendation and it was adorable with toys and an outside play area too.  I did manage to navigate us home on the trolley.  Bea needed her own transit card which made her feel so big!  We stayed close to the hotel for supper after naps and had a low key evening.  We have two beds at this hotel so Bea has her own.  I decided to sleep with her since Cory was out of town.  When she waked up the next morning, she said “you slept with me!  That’s the best surprise ever!”

It rained most of Tuesday and the wind was howling which made pushing a make-shift double stroller with 75 lbs in it quite challenging!  The NEMO Science Museum was today’s agenda and Bea loves a science museum!  As we walked in, a lady gave me a ticket she had already purchased which was so nice!  The kids had a blast touching one of everything including playing with bubbles, building things, then Teddy dumped a bucket of water out on his legs.  I saw it coming but couldn’t stop it!  We grabbed lunch there before catching the bus back to the hotel.  I’m getting quite confident trying out the different public transports this go around.  Now Cory’s back!!!  He met us for supper at Het Karbeel, an interesting fondu place then it was laundry time for me again.

It’s Hump Day!  Cory trained to Rotterdam while we bused to the zoo.  However, we didn’t make it as it started pouring as we walked the final bit.  We got soaked!  Sometimes you have to change gears; we did just that with a trip to the bakery for a cookie and jelly beans.  We had a relaxing rest of the day playing in the room.  Teddy and I slept while Bea watched a movie.  Cory met us for supper at an Indonesian restaurant called Aneka Rasa.  Hands down my favorite place we’ve eaten thus far!

Anywhere you go, there are always errands to be run.  We’ve made diaper runs already this week but this day was to PostNL.  We bought a couple books and we already finished a couple too, so we shipped a box home to lighten our load.  It also included light fleeces that we thought we’d need but never even put on.  I’m not complaining as I like summer weather!  It has rained almost every day and this day was no exception.  As we say though, we won’t melt!  We toured the Royal Palace and they were the most kid-friendly with a scavenger hunt and a separate child audio guide!  They had a blast listening to young King Louis tell about palace life and finding stickers to match his questions.  Nicely done, Royal Palace!  On our walk for a pancake lunch, we found the tiniest dog named Lily who was helping in a cute boutique.  The kids have gotten their animal fix (aside from the zoo) in Amsterdam as we’ve also encountered two cats in restaurants as well.  We enjoyed our Pancakes at a familiar restaurant from when we visited in the fall (Lucien’s).  We have also decided lunch is the better time for treats so we did it up with ice cream and mini pancakes with Nutella of course.  Cory had a work dinner tonight, so we ate “supper” in the lounge.  Everyone is so helpful when I have the kids by myself.  They even got toys from a Renaissance employee. So very kind!

Our official vacation (where Cory isn’t working) started on Friday.  We couldn’t wait to have him all to ourselves for 10 days!  We packed it all up, grabbed a quick breakfast and taxied to the airport.  Then things slowed down; it took 40 minutes at the ticket counter to fix a mix up with our James Minton’s as they hadn’t put a middle initial on either boarding pass.  So we had to kindly ask to pass people in line at customs; thank goodness for the sweet Asian ladies who allowed us.  Then we proceed to run (even Bea) to our gate.  I wasn’t expecting to get any exercise that morning! Luckily, we made it!

Next stop (after a layover…which was supposed to be 55 minute but became 5+ hours in Bucharest…but who’s counting) Athens!

Groot Melkhuis 

Rained out the zoo

Royal Palace

Dessert time!

Hallo!

We headed back to Germany on Wednesday but a new city for Millie and the kids…Berlin!  We immediately remembered why we love Germany as soon as our taxi picked us up at the airport with two boosters for the kids.  When you “go with daddy,” you get to stay in nice hotels, so on to the Westin Grand we go!  We walked to supper and were again reminded of our love for Germany.  The restaurant, Lowenbrau, had a kids’ play area with tons of toys.  New toys are the best!

On Thursday, the kids and I ventured out on the bus and tram which was so easy as I didn’t have to fold up the stroller for either of these means of transportation.  This was a huge upgrade verses having to fold it up and carry it up and down stairs in London and Paris.  We had fun at a kids’ museum where Bea and Teddy got to play in an indoor climbing area with other kids.  This was a hit! However, the highlight of the day came at night when we met Cory’s colleague and his family for dinner at their favorite Bier Garten.  Bea and Teddy had the most fun playing with their three kids.  Bea especially felt so big playing as their kids are 9, 11 and 13.

Another bonus to traveling with Cory is the breakfast included.  We make the most of it every morning!  Teddy eats as much eggs as possible which doesn’t happen at home since Bea is allergic.  Bea enjoys the cereal spreads.  For whatever reason we hardly eat cereal at home.  Of course, we all love the crepes/waffles/toast with Nutella.  I know you can get it at home but it wouldn’t be a treat if you ate it everyday.

Friday’s adventure was to the Zoo Berlin.  Since Berlin was divided for so long, it has two zoos and two of many other things.  We chose the closer one that we could bus to easily.  A zoo is always fun but this one was challenging for me.  They were doing a lot of construction so navigating to find certain animals (i.e. at scheduled feeding times) became let’s just see what animal is in front of us instead.  We did have two highlights when we watched a lioness play with her bamboo pole and when Teddy played with a Mandrill or Rafiki as he called him.

We also met Ampelmann in Berlin.  He is what you call the walk sign for pedestrians here.  He is very different looking to your normal walk sign so the kids had fun watching Ampelmann.  Cory took us to a riverside cafe for supper to start our weekend.  We witnessed a street performer cranking an old timey organ instrument.  I felt like he needed a monkey sidekick!  Since we’re in a suite in this city, Cory and I enjoyed watching a movie comfortably from our room (instead of the bathroom).

On our last full day in Berlin, we were tourists seeing the sites.  This city has beautiful architecture which was great as we don’t last long in most tourist museums yet with our two.  We also saw a section of the Berlin Wall.  It seemed fitting to read personal stories about the wall’s history while the dark clouds were above and the rain came down.

To round out our time here, we were so fortunate enough to meet back up with the Spindeldrehers.  Their family has provided all the wonderful recommendations of what we did there.  As I mentioned their kids are older and as dinner wound down, the Spindeldreher kids took Bea and Teddy outside to play and we had a 20 min double date.  It was the best!  They were just lovely and Bea was smitten with their two girls!  We hope to return the hospitality someday.

Next stop Amsterdam!

United Buddy Bear at our hotel

Lowenbrau

“Rafiki”

Just another Friday night dinner on the river 
Ampelmann 

Charlotte, a great mom, wife and hostess

On Friday night (May 26), we made it to Paris and Ubered to the super fancy Hilton Paris Opera.  When we arrived, the trouble started. Cory booked the room through his corporate travel site (and chose the “family fun” rate), but the receptionist told us we’d have to book two rooms to accommodate the four of us.  Cory said cancel our room but she said we’d still be charged…Cory would have none of that, so we demanded the manager.  Oh mercy!  The manager agreed to cancel the room free of charge and we began collecting our stuff to head to the nearest Marriott, but as we were leaving, the manager told us he could accommodate us in one room.  Ok then!  He also gave our kiddos stuffed koalas.  He really turned a bad experience to good with wonderful service!  Bea had a roll away bed and there was room on the floor for Teddy’s tent….perfect!  He sleeps in a Kidco Peapod Plus for consistency on our travels.  We had a late supper at a nearby cafe before much needed baths and 11pm bedtime!  When in Paris!

We have a long weekend without Cory working (since it’s Memorial Day in the states and a bank holiday in France) so we’re pumped to have him walk around the city with us.  We found the Rallye of Princesses; a bunch of old foreign cars with two ladies driving 1800km to the south of France as we walked toward the Jardin De Tuileries.  There we found a playground and a carousel!  It was a gorgeous but hot so we drank a lot of water.  Lunch at Cafe Saint Germaine for some rose wine, cheese, charcuterie and ice cream.  What more can you ask for!  We’re still catching up on jet lag and have ulterior motives for the evening so we all took a three hour nap!  We went to Gusto Italia for amazing spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli and pizzas!  Then the reason for our late evening was to see the Eiffel Tower light up at sunset.  And you have to enjoy a Nutella crepe from a park cafe while you wait, right?!  As Bea said, it “sparkles!”  It was a beautiful sight as this is my third time to Paris but I’d never seen it in lights…eyes were a bit damp with the wonder of it all.  It was so worth another late bedtime!

We had a surprise for the kids on Sunday… Disneyland Paris!  We had to switch hotels first but after doing that we headed on the hour train (city and suburb ones) ride east.  Disney Paris isn’t near as big as Disney World which was nice since we didn’t get there til 11am.  Since we had just been to Orlando, we could just enjoy rides and leisurely walk around instead of hustling from place to place.  Here the Fast pass systems works the old school way…i.e. one at a time that you get at the ride.  We chose our one FP for Peter Pan’s Ride which ended up being our next to last ride of the day.  Of course we had to ride It’s a Small World.  We went on only one faster ride Casey Jones railroad to which Teddy kept saying “this is so fun!”  Bea showed Teddy all about the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.  Bea said her favorite part of the day was the Peter pan ride and when Wendy (the character) “flew by” us.  Every ride/experience we went on Teddy found the animals and said that was his favorite part!  It was a super fun but super hot and sticky day.  The weather has continued to be beautiful but way warmer than we anticipated!  Side note, we left our passports in our room’s safe at the Hilton earlier that morning.  However the Hilton had them brought to our new hotel for us!  They went above and beyond after the initial issue.  We are so used to a Marriott though as it felt like home when we got settled especially since Cory has status.  We got a junior suite which means two rooms…bonus!

Before Cory went back to work, I decided to do some laundry.  While I did laundry, Cory took the kids to Jardin de Luxembourg to play.  He found an adorable playground (that you had to pay to use).  Then I met them at Huitrerie Regis for an oysters, prawns, salami and rose wine lunch outside.  Tonight, we met up with family who are also traveling right now.  My cousin Jeffrey and his wife a Rachel went on a 444 around the world trip in 2005-06 and now they’re sharing the fun with their two boys, Miles and Graham.  We also met up with Rachel’s brother, Ted, his wife Lila and their oldest daughter Grace Ann.  Our meeting place was Roland Garros, the French Open.  We went to the US Open in 2009 so we’re two for four on grand slams now!  The kids were so excited to see their cousins and have some close in age buddies!  It was so fun to be there and cheer on our Americans.

Cory headed back to work on Tuesday so the kids and I joined our family for the day.  We took the train but it is harder to navigate than London.  In Europe everyone uses a pin with their credit card but our (American) credit cards doesn’t support one. It adds extra challenge to things which the French certainly don’t appreciate.  I figured it out and met up with everyone but not before the kids were offered a Chupa Chupa (lollipop) by a sweet old man.  People love candy here and even more so to give it to children.  Bea and Teddy surely don’t mind!  Thank goodness for extra help as we made our way to the Palace of Versailles.  It was magnificent to see the vast creativity of multiple kings!  The lush green grounds were also beautiful!  Bea really enjoyed the audio guide!  Mostly it was just so fun to be with everyone especially for Bea and Teddy to run around with their cousins.  Cory met us for supper as we soaked up family time before we all parted ways the next day.

Travel days take more time than you would expect.  So Wednesday morning, we let the kids play in the room while we packed up.  I had to gather all our clean laundry that has been hung all over our two room suite.  On to the airport where our flight was delayed.  Then we had a small clothing issue where we had to clean it in the bathroom sink.  Thank goodness for Dyson dryers!  Then another minor crisis appeared…As it turns out, Cory (6’5″) literally couldn’t sit with his knees in front of him on the Alitalia plane seat…knees to tailbone exceed the seat depth by a good 3 inches.  Thankfully, they were able to let him move to an exit row, but not before a number of passengers had a good laugh at the giant guy trying to wedge into a seat…tall really is the demographic no one cares about!  I, on the other hand, will never have that problem!

Next stop Berlin!

Cafe Saint Germaine 

Sparkly Eiffel Tower

Disneyland Paris

Jardin de Luxembourg

Roland Garros

Palace of Versailles

Family dinner

Here we go!

Saturday, May 20…today was the day we headed out for six weeks in Europe…thanks to Daddy (again)!  We had family in town so they ate breakfast with us and took us to the airport.  We fly a lot but it’s always fun with you get an unexpected treat.  The pilots on our first leg let Bea and Teddy sit in the captain’s chair and try in her hat!  They certainly enjoyed themselves; thanks Delta!  When we arrived, we went into ready mode for a long plane.  This means to get full tummies and hangs kiddos into pjs.  This is normally the schedule but we were bitten once before when someone fell asleep before “getting ready” for bed.  Again thanks to Delta, we go to the lounge to use big clean bathrooms for our transition.  Next stop…London!  It was an uneventful flight.  We at two and two and as I guessed Teddy fell asleep pretty quickly and slept a good five-ish hours.  The rest of us got some descent sleep.  We we landed it was 6:30am and the kiddos were raring to go!  Customs was easy and we got our bags and Uber quickly.  Luckily, Cory had asked for an early check in so we were able to get in our room and take a little nap.  The kids had a harder time getting to sleep than the adults but eventually we all slept a couple hours.  We decided to have a relaxing afternoon by taking the Tube to Kensington Gardens to run around.  We took Cory to the Princess Diana Memorial playground this time and her Memorial Fountain.  It was a beautiful day with full sunshine!  This has been the coldest day yet though at a high of 62.  We planned for that to be the norm for the first two weeks; but, it’s been much warmer!  Monday morning came around and Cory headed off to work.  The kids and I slept in and barely caught breakfast before it was over in the hotel.  I always know we need to ease into things after such a big time zone change so we hopped on our first red double decker bus to the V&A Museum that was close.  After naps for all 3 of us, we met Cory for supper at Theo’s Simple Italian down the street from the hotel.  It was an amazingly, delicious Italian restaurant!  Funny enough, I also put out a fire from a table of two ladies nearby who had caught their menu on fire!

On Tuesday, Cory joined us for breakfast before we set out on the Tube to the London Transport Museum.  On Tuesdays they have a “Songs and Stories” time which was so fun!  Their favorite part was a song about the “big red bus”, “mini” and “underground”.  The Museum was perfect for the kiddos!

On day 4 in London, we hit none other than the ZSL London Zoo.  We go to a lot of zoos as our little boy loves animals.  Luckily, it wasn’t very busy (aside from some school kids) which is always nice.  They have a new lion exhibit which was excellent as well as butterfly exhibit.  We also watched the feeding of Huntington penguins and the tigers.  We can almost not walk by a carousel without riding it so we did on the zoo.  The funny part is that the music playing while we rode was Winter Wonderland. Hahaha

Our last full day in London we decided to act like locals.  After breakfast, we ran errands.  I knew Kensington was a nice area but I didn’t realize how nice.  On our way to our Tube stop, we passed a Maserati, Bentley, Lamborghini all in one block….parked on the street!  Whew!  First and last stops were for the kiddos…Paddington station to see Paddington Bear (again) and the London Eye!  We rode it on our last trip but it was such a hit with kids.  People have been so helpful all day long with carrying the stroller up stairs or escalators when there wasn’t a lift while I hold Bea and Teddy’s hands.  After we got off the Eye a nice lady helped but this time by grabbing Teddy’s hand.  She was harmful; however, she walked with such briskness pulling Teddy, that I thought she could run off with Teddy.  It scared me to death!  We had a little discussion about what to do if someone tries to take you after that.  Mercy, it makes my heart start racing as I write just thinking about it again!

On Friday, we knew we needed to run a bit before traveling that afternoon so we got our wiggles out at a playground in Hyde Park.  It was one of the few “no sand” playgrounds we’ve found!  While they played I called four second-hand bookshops (as I had found out that the books I was looking for were no longer in print) and finally found them.  So before heading back to the hotel to pack, we went to Marchpane Bookshop.  We have our Eurostar to Paris at four o’clock so we were under the wire to get it all done this morning.  As we waited for our Uber ride heading to the Chunnel (preferred by Dell to taxi), Bea asked “is it a black car?”  Oh mercy!  We do a lot of travel with Daddy!  The Chunnel ride was much more fun this time as it wasn’t 11pm at night and the countryside is beautiful!

See you next time London!

Detroit to London

Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground

London Transport Museum

Zoological London Zoo

Paddington Bear

London Eye overlooking Big Ben and Parliament 

The reason we get to travel!

When Daddy gets to play too…

Cory had an early morning call so we met him for our tour but not without transportation comedy.  We got on (what I thought was right) the bus but it ended before our stop.  So we hailed a taxi! Seems like the story of my life.  Today we rode a ferry to the Statue of Liberty!  It was so windy and cold at the top outside, but really neat seeing a 360 degree view!  Next we took another ferry to Ellis Island.  Teddy pulled his toboggan over his eyes and said “no” before closing his eyes for a nap.  He missed all of Ellis Island!  It was incredible how much history was there!

It’s restaurant week here in NYC so we found a fun Italian restaurant to enjoy tonight..Chazz Palminteri Ristorante where we saw the actor/owner at the bar.  It was an amazingly, relaxed evening with delicious food!  Bea and Teddy were so well behaved.Thanks kiddos!

Most days, single room travel is ok, but other days start way too early because of it.  It was an early Saturday morning for us when Teddy waked up and talked Bea into unzipping his tent!  Oh well!  We had cartoon Saturday (morning) before bundling up for the day ahead.  Lots of layers are key today with coats, hats and gloves on top!  The reason….ice skating in Bryant Park!  The kids couldn’t be more excited, especially Bea!  We got skate aids to help them on the ice which Bea immediately took to; Teddy not so much.  Bea eventually wanted the aid gone and she did quite well for a first time skater!  Next of course was hot chocolate and beers at the Winter Village.  Bea also played ‘Guess Who’ for the first time.  Teddy had spotted the carousel earlier, while watching the zamboni clean the ice, so we rode it.  Why not, right?

Our last full day in the city took us to Time Square for brunch at Un Deux Trois before the theatre.  We were all so excited to see The Lion King!  When the opening number started, I had tears in my eyes.  I was so happy to show Teddy all these animals, both kiddos their first Broadway play and feel close to my daddy as he loved the theatre so very much!  It was amazing!  Bea sat completely still and wide eyed during the entire performance!  Teddy talked the whole way through about all the animals he got to see!  At the end, we asked everyone’s favorite part; here’s what we said:

Bea’s was little and big Nala; Teddy’s Simba; Cory’s Scar; mine Rafiki.  We patronized the delicious Indian restaurant Darbar again.  Somehow, it was even better (if that’s possible) for tonight’s supper!

It was an amazing trip!!  We are so very fortunate to travel with Cory!

Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island (Teddy is asleep under his hat!)

Ready to Ice Skate

Then Lollipop Time

We passed this same lion every day so we had to let Teddy take a picture with it.

The Lion King

What happens while Daddy works…

We finally settled in NYC after two wild days and the kids must’ve needed extra sleep as they didn’t wake til almost 10am!  Grand Central Station was our first stop (close to our hotel) and it is such a beautiful, old building with such character and history inside.  We saw soldiers (like at the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe) for protection.  Teddy, of course, saw animals painted on ceiling.  I told the kids about the giant FAO Swartz store we were going to see then found out it closed!  So I took them to a cute, little toy store called Kidding Around in Grand Central stead.  They each could pick out a small toy which was great entertainment at the lunch table.  We ate at The Park; an adorable restaurant where we ate in a covered area but trees were all around and birds chirped.  What a fun atmosphere!  The waitress gave Bea bread to feed the birds which she loved!  Next I pushed through so much wind to an indoor playroom at The Field House at Chelsea Pier.  I was the only mom amidst a nanny and two dads. Ha  After naps, Cory met us for supper at Zengo, an Asian/Latin fusion restaurant..yum!

When Cory works late, he tries to have breakfast with us which he did the next day.  Bonus to this was he helped us buy our tickets and get on our first Subway ride.  It’s always great to have an extra hand when you try something new for the first time while also wrangling two kids.  We rode the same first leg as him then we went opposite directions.  All was going smoothly until the train didn’t stop where we planned to get off!  We got off a couple stops later (once it finally stopped) and back tracked on the train.  Of course our stop didn’t have an elevator so sweet Bea held Teddy’s hand walking up the stairs while I carried the stroller behind them….in the rain.  The result was the Children’s Museum of Manhattan; a super fun museum with highlights of Zanzibar, Japan, Dora the Explorer and a play area.  They did so well sticking together as I requested!  Next was lunch at a true NY deli called Artie’s Delicatessen.  I had the tallest salami sandwich I’ve ever seen and Bea enjoyed the pickles.  Back in the rain we go to get on the Subway.  Unfortunately, we went down (steps only) the wrong direction to the train.  Agh!  So back up we went and a nice lady held Bea’s hand on the steps back up.  So we went across the street to the correct stairs and finally got on our train.  We got off too early so we hailed a taxi for the rest of our journey to a friend’s house.  We spent the afternoon/evening with her, her daughter and son.  She is a good friend of my sister’s and was a true delight to be around!  The kids had a wonderful time playing and relaxing in their home for the evening instead of being stuck at a dinner table or in our hotel room.  She even cooked us all supper too!  We took the bus home but not without Teddy getting his foot stuck between the seat and a pole.  Oh mercy!

We hit the pavement on Wednesday to the Central Park Zoo.  I bought tickets online so we just walked right up to the entrance and headed in.  We were just in time to see the sea lions feeding.  We all enjoyed this and the sun was shining bright!  We saw penguins, a grizzly bear, snow monkeys, lots of rainforest birds, etc.  It’s a small zoo but so fun!  We also fed the alpacas and goats.  And listened to the Delacorte Clock chime and dance.  Teddy loved those animals too!  We were on our own again tonight so we got a walkable recommendation for supper at Bareburger.  As Bea observed, “we’re the only kids here!” Ha  It was quite relaxed though and a fun time with them!  The walk to and from felt so good; I miss doing that after (almost) each meal like we did in Chicago.  As we got ready for bed, Cory text that he would be back soon.  They were so glad to hug his neck as they hadn’t seen him since breakfast yesterday. 😉

Thursday’s adventures started at breakfast with Cory again before heading back to the American Natural History Museum.  We had a big time seeing all the (stuffed) animals, a huge blue whale (Bea’s favorite), giant squid, walrus, polar bear (Teddy’s favorite), dinosaurs and Teddy Roosevelt.  It’s a huge Museum that we couldn’t possibly see in a morning.  We tried to take the Subway home but Google showed two trains (on my phone) come and go but no actual train, we left.  I had had enough and Teddy was melting.  It was so bad that someone else helped me carry the stroller while I wrangled Teddy.  Yellow taxi for the save! For supper, we took the Subway (with all the daily commuters and was it ever packed) to Mighty Quinn’s BBQ (seen on Burgers, Brew and Que).  It didn’t disappoint with delicious brisket, ribs, mac and cheese and baked beans.  On our way home Teddy finally got to ride the subway not in the stroller! 😉

NYC part 2 is next!

Time Square

Grand Central Station

First Subway ride

Cutest lunch dates

Sweet Siblings in the Subway

Central Park Zoo

American Museum of Natural History

On Saturday, January 20, we had the craziest travel day to date!  First, I forgot our vet closed at noon and Cory took the girls (aka our dog and cat) to be boarded at 12:15!  So he had to bring them back home as I scrambled to get our pet sitter to take care of them that evening, the next morning and drive them to the vet the next afternoon.  We should’ve known what might be coming after that (now small) fiasco.  We drove to Atlanta to ride the Amtrak.  (We drove as we were told that the train wasn’t running from Birmingham.)  We grabbed supper and changed the kiddos into pjs before heading to the station.  It was much smaller than I would’ve imagined.  When we arrived, we were told the train was 4 hours delayed because of tornadoes in Mississippi.  Oh mercy!  We get checked in and settled in.  Then we waited and waited and waited!  After further delays and much crankiness by all four of us (kids never closed their eyes), we asked about a refund.  They said yes; so, we took it and ran!  At this point it was past midnight so Cory got us a room by the airport.  However it didn’t end without another small issue….the kids’ suitcase broke on the way into the hotel!  After booking flights to Laguardia for the next day, we got to bed close to 1am.

Everyone slept in the next morning which was nice but we ended up with not enough time.  I got the kids ready while Cory drove to Walmart to buy a new suitcase.  Then after a hurried breakfast, I repacked their bag.  We left our car at the hotel and rode their shuttle to the airport, but we cut ourselves way close.  When we got to the airport, we had less than 45 minutes before our flight left!  Thanks to Cory’s status on Delta, some nice employers, TSA pre-check and the closest terminal possible, we made it on the plane.  Whew!  The kids were a dream on the flight (as usual).  However the craziness wasn’t quite over yet.  We decided to take the bus into the city since it was safer than riding in cabs with no car seats.  The unfortunate part is that what should’ve been a 25 minute ride turned over 2 hours on the bus!  The only good part is that sweet Teddy took a great nap while we rode!  Bless him!  We got checked in and headed straight to supper at Darbar (Indian cuisine that was amazing!)  We decided we had to take Bea and Teddy to see Time Square too so we walked over.  Bea was amazed at all the lights and screens!  It is so fun to see old things from their perspective!  What a treat!  We decided to keep the kids on CST so it made evenings less hectic plus you can sleep longer in a dark hotel room. 😉

….a little over a week later, we headed home.  Cory grabbed us breakfast downstairs while I packed us all up.  Then in search for a lovey we couldn’t find, Cory kinked his back!  We were supposed to take a bus back to the airport but Cory couldn’t move any
further.  We got an Uber instead.  We got all checked in and went to the Delta lounge.  Cory moved somehow and heard a click that he thinks was a rib going back in place.  Hallelujah!  It made the flight and drive home (since we’re coming back to Atlanta) much better!  It’s always bittersweet heading home!

Waiting on the Amtrak Train

On the Airplane instead 

Bus into the City

Hallo,

We saved the best for last!  The Autobahn took us (part of the way) to Switzerland.  However, before we could get there we drove through and ate lunch in Austria and also drove through Liechtenstein…two extra countries we weren’t expecting to pass through!  I think you can truly count Austria as we ate lunch there…at Macca’s. Ha  We found the most beautiful scenery by a lake in Austria.  Cory got out, while Bea and Teddy were asleep, to capture it on camera.

The drives have been extra fun as you can hear sweet conversations from the back seat and games of ‘I Spy’!  We’ve also had many jam sessions including the kids hearing the song we danced to at our wedding.  Bea listened intently!  This time with them was priceless!

The scenery just continued to get more beautiful as we drove….sunshine on the mountains, fall colors, green grass, snow and lots and lots of tunnels through the mountains.  That was probably Bea and Teddy’s favorite part! Ha

As the snow continued to fall harder we realized we needed to purchase gloves to play in the snow instead of the cotton ones we had.  Then our next stop was the best of all….to see Jess!  So our international family vacations always include a Schaer!  Jess is the older daughter of the family I lived with when I went to Australia.  I hadn’t seen her in 5 years and I all but jumped out of the car to hug her neck!  Yes, it was snowing; and no, I didn’t have on a coat!  It was so great to see her again!

Jess lives in Lauterbrunnen but we stayed up the mountain in Murren which is only accessible via cable car.  It’s a car free town so we took a quick ride on the cable car and a train ride then we walked to our apartment.  The town has 350 people that live there permanently and one family is the Sigrists….Jess’ boyfriend’s family.  He’s not even in the country right now and his family opened their home to us for dinner that evening.  They also let us stay in one of their rental apartments during our visit.  We are so grateful!  After the kids went to bed, Jess joined us at our apartment for a chat and it was just like old times being in her bedroom in Australia 12 years ago!

Speaking of sleeping, in every hotel we’ve stayed in since we left Frankfurt, we have had twin beds pushed together to make a king.  You also only receive a blanket/duvet (no top sheet) and (flat) euro shams as pillows.  It’s not wrong; it’s just really different.

We woke up the next morning with lots of snow on the ground!  We had the most relaxing morning just playing with Jess indoors.  We walked to a delicious Swiss lunch (at the only restaurant open right now); Teddy really enjoyed his crocodile and lion shaped chicken.  We toured the town’s  two streets.  Since it’s off season, we were the only ones in the street so we had a snow ball fight of course!  Freida and Charlie Sigrist had us over for dinner again tonight!  Bea and Teddy have made themselves at home by enjoying their sons’ old Legos.  Again, Cory and I loved our late evening chat with Jess!

Thursday we went down the cable car and drove to Thun for lunch and walk around (in the rain) this cute town.  Tonight Freida fixed us a fondu meal.  The Swiss way is cheese and bread with hot tea as an added digestive.  We have more than enjoyed our time in Murren!

Freida even made us breakfast on Friday where we had her homemade bread and tried quince (fruit) jelly.  Yum!  Then we couldn’t leave without a proper play in the snow!  Jess built a snowman and Teddy quickly knocked it down.  Boys!  Bea had the best time; Teddy did too when he wasn’t cold.  He’ll have to learn to keep his gloves on better next time!

All good things must come to an end though.  After warming, cleaning and packing up, we borrowed a sled to pull our suitcase, Bea and Teddy to the train station since it was snowing and the ground was covered too.  Then the short train and cable car rides back down the mountain.  Teddy especially loved all these modes of transportation!

Then we had to say bye to Jess. 😦  Our visit was so wonderful; it was truly like we hadn’t missed a beat since the last time we saw her.  I teared up driving away just thinking how fortunate I was to meet the Schaer’s all those years ago!

We thought our adventures were over there.  As we drove to Dijon, France (to spend the night before driving in to Paris the next day for our flight home), Google took us on some back roads.  This would’ve been fine if it hadn’t been snowing buckets!  Thank you Cory for knowing how to drive in such crazy weather!

Thanks for letting us share our European adventures with you!

Love,
Cory, Millie, Bea and Teddy

International Macca’s have balloons!

Walking down one of the Mürren streets

Eating breakfast while watching it snow

They love Jess!

Riding the train

Time to play in the snow

Daddy the pack mule with Frieda pushing the stroller

Hallo wieder (again)!

We’re in our station wagon on our way to the German countryside!  We’re following the Romantic Road through Bavaria and our first stop is Wurzburg.  We toured the Residentz which was the home of the Prince-Bishops starting in the mid-18th century.  It was massive upon first sight and had beautiful rooms with large tapestries and paintings including a large stairwell area with four large ceiling frescos depicting the Europeans, Asians, Africans and (the savage) Americans.  We had lunch a delicious Bavarian style restaurant while watching a bright blue sky over the original prince-bishops home (450 years older than the Residentz) on a beautiful hill with vineyards all around it and the Old Main Bridge decorated with statues of some 12 saints.  It was so picturesque!  That was just the beginning of the unbelievable scenery we were about to see!

Continuing on the Romantic Road to Rothenburg ob der Tauber…the cutest German town we saw!  It’s one of the towns that built a wall around their city in the 13th century and went dormant in the 1600s due to the various plagues and war-wrought poverty…and that preserved its history weirdly enough.  We stayed up later tonight to experience the Night Watchman’s Tour.  He told fun stories about the town’s history and exactly how this little town managed to stay safe during WWII.  A US General had always wanted to see this picturesque town in person after growing up with a painting of the town in his home that his mom had acquired in a visit to the town many years before.  We stayed at the cutest boutique hotel (with only stairs!) ha  Wouldn’t you know it at the hotel, we ran into another Aggie…about 52 years Cory’s senior and a retired Air Force General!  He and Cory had a lovely chat later on that day while the kids (and I) napped.

We took in Rothenburg by walking part of the old city wall.  Cory would not have been a great wall watcher as he had to constantly duck to keep from hitting his head on the low beams.  Bea also practiced her bow shooting out the narrow openings in the wall.  The view of the town from here though was absolutely stunning!  The cutest half timber houses with colorful flowers in their flower boxes!  Again Bea had her playground radar on and found one.  However it was raining.  We said their bottoms would get wet.  Bea said, “we can play on the playground because Momma’s got Oxiclean!”  We walked the cobblestone streets and enjoyed the Christmas and toy shops.  We ate at Zurholl which served very authentic Bavarian food and the foundation of the building dates back to 900.  We tried schnellenballen, a delicious German pastry for dessert….yum!

The next day we drove on through Dinkelsbuhl then to Nordlingen; two quaint towns on the route.  We stopped in Nordlingen for lunch and went into St. George Church.  We took a minute to pray at the altar.  It was a really sweet moment with our family!  Bea and Teddy have sung so many play school songs while in Europe.  Bea is normally skipping while she sings!  They have mostly sung Joshua fought the battle at Jericho song (Bea learned recently at play school) and The BIBLE (Teddy recently learned).

On to Augsburg this evening where we stayed in a fancy hotel where Napoleon (and other famous people) once stayed.  We found yummy German food for supper while we played Uno.  We have really used this trip, not only for seeing new places, for family time.

On Monday, we woke up to snow….lots of it and big flakes!  This is Teddy’s first time to see snow!  Bea was giddy!  This is also the first snow of the season here!  We drove in the snow to Linderhof Castle then received a private tour!  Yes, you read that correctly!  There is something to be said for traveling off-peak season.  You might miss a few things but definitely not the crowds!  It snowed chunks again!

Next stop, Neuschwanstein Castle… except we messed up the timing (summer vs winter hours) and missed getting to buy tickets for that day.  Luckily our hotel was only 7 minutes away in Fussen!  We woke up early Tuesday morning and took a carriage ride (all by ourselves) up to Neuschwanstein!  It was so beautiful covered in fresh, white snow!  Merida, aka Princess Bea, took lots of pictures in front of her castle!  I wore my grandmother’s pink pashmina as this was her favorite castle!

On a side note, this country loves candy!  King Ludwig did so much that most of his teeth were gone by the age of 30 from eating too much!  Bea and Teddy have been offered more candy (and desserts unsolicited) here.  They sure have enjoyed it all!

Love,
Cory, Millie, Bea & Teddy

Residents in Wurzburg

View from lunch in Wurzburg

City wall in Tothenburg o.d.t.

Schnellenballen dessert

So excited to see the snow!

Linderhof Castle

On carriage ride up to Neuschwanstein Castle

A princess and her daddy at her castle

Zoo and beautiful fall colors

Many of these hugs end in tackles

Kid utensils