Russell visits - Worms and Paris

So, the day after we returned from Turkey we had the great delight of picking up Clark and MJ's 13 year old cousin Russell from Colorado.  He came to visit us for 5 weeks while his mother, Tasha (Mayland's first cousin) had a stem cell transplant to cure her Leukemia.  It was one of those God moments when we just knew that this is where he was meant to be.

Our first adventure was to head to Worms, Germany and learn about the reformation and the role of Martin Luther.  Russell was too jet lagged to really take in very much, it was a good way to keep him awake and moving, while getting a little taste for the amount of history that just exudes from every town here.  We were also delighted to learn more about the knight Franz von Sickingen, of the castle that Burg Nanstein, that sits atop the opposite hill from us, and that he helped Luther in providing protection.  Of course his motivations were not religious or noble.  Rather he was hoping that by providing assistance he would maintain his status of knight and in control of his little fiefdom.

Worms, Germany

Worms, Germany

The next weekend we took off to Paris to enjoy some art and a climb up the Eiffel tower.

Turkey for Fall Break

We had a 2 part adventure, well, actually a 3 part adventure for the kids.  Clark and MJ were not allowed to take their electronics with them on this trip ... the downside they complained...the upside, boy were they nicer to be with.  I had not realized before just how much I argued with them about getting off the Nintendo.  This was a million times nicer to be with them without them being plugged in.  For the most part, they were significantly more interested and attentive to the stuff around them because they didn't have an electronic distraction.

This was our first trip as a formal tour, and while I was hesitant about spending the money, I must admit that in the long run, I was very grateful I had arranged for the tour.  After the plane ride, we landed in Kayseri and then headed to Urgup and our cave hotel in the Cappadocia region photos.  

Day 1 was full of unique rock formations - think of the badlands mixed with arches national park.  

The people in that area built their homes inside the rocks/mountains for thousands of years.  Today, many of the caves are eroding due to so much use, but it is still a fascinating journey to go into the communities, churches, castles, and homes built into the side of the rock faces.  It was done for obvious reasons in that it provided warmth in winter and cool and summer.  It also provides a sense of always being gritty for the cave dwellers, not something I really relished past day 2.

Day 2 we went on a hot air balloon ride.  MJ was not happy about the 4am wake-up call to be there by 5am, but once she was in the balloon all of the cranky seemed to just float away.  It was spectacular watching the balloons take off in the dark and then the sunrise over the mountains.  We discovered that they had lots of squash, but they only eat the seeds of the squash.  They also have a lot of apricots, if you are an apricot fan, this is a vacation destination!

Our guide also took us to a ruin where the Roman baths were able to be seen, but the best part was the old church there with the mosaic floor.  It was really spectacular.  

On day 3 we flew to Istanbul (link to photos here). It rained that evening so we only saw the local St. Mary's catholic church and the Galata tower, with a great view of most of the sights we would be seeing over the next couple of days.

Clark and Craig

Day 4 would be packed!!  I try to describe most of the things that we saw in the description of the photos.  The two most important and memorable sights were the Hagia Sophia and the Dolmabahçe Palace.  The Hagia Sophia because of the juxtaposition of the Christian religion with the Muslim religion.  I must admit that while I grew up Quaker and the plain meeting house is still where I feel most comfortable, there was something very disturbing about seeing how the Muslim religious leaders would just cover up the Christan imagery with plaster to remove the human likenesses that had been created in the mosaics on the walls of the cathedral.  It gave me an insight as to how the Native Americans must have felt when the "white" man came in and desecrated their holy places.  It is one of those eye-opening moments of "do unto others."  So, while the Hagia Sophia made me more aware of being kinder toward others, the Dolmabahçe Palace was just overwhelming.  I was not allowed to take photos inside and maybe that is a good thing, because I think I would have taken a thousand.  It has more crystals than you can imagine.  Honestly, do a google images search for Dolmabahçe Palace and prepare to be awed.  It rivals Versailles in the ornateness of the decorations and the views.   There is actually a staircase where the banisters are made of Baccarat crystal.  No kids are riding that banister!

Day 5 was really special, my friend Craig Street whom I worked with at UPenn back in the day, was able to join us.   Fortunately, the day would be a little bit slower with just a Mosque and the Topkapi Palace so we had ample opportunity to visit.  I do wish we had the chance to see the Harem at the Topkapi, instead is a museum where you only see the crown jewels of the sultans.  The palace is not open to the public, just a few exterior buildings.  That evening we left the kids with a babysitter at the hotel and enjoyed a dinner cruise and show along the Bosporus Strait.
Our last day was my absolute favorite, no tour guide, just us and the other couple on the tour and we decided to go to the Archeology museum.  Now that was AMAZING!!  Actually saw items that dated back to ancient Egypt.  I still can't decide if my favorite exhibit was the mummy, Greek statues, or the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great!  It took me a long time to decrease the number of photos in that album.  I truly believe that what made it really special was that Clark has come to realize the true wonder of seeing items that have been made by man's hands more than 5000 years ago.  He is no longer bored in these places but has developed an appreciation for history.  I'm still waiting for this to happen with MJ, but fortunately, there were plenty of kittens at the museum to provide her with ample distractions.
My closing thoughts on Turkey, I have to say that I enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells (food too) of the country.  I did not enjoy the treatment of women.  The culture just accepts that women are not equal.  Many of the bathrooms were just holes in the ground covered by plastic that we had to squat over.  The smells there were not pleasant and yet Clark commented twice on how nice the men's bathrooms were.  The mosques don't allow women to wash or worship with the men.  They are sequestered for their washing (before prayers every worshipper must wash their hands, face, and feet) in a building that is a distance, while the men wash right at the mosque.  The men also have a huge space for worship while the women are cordoned off to the back if they are even allowed in.  On numerous occasions, the men would not acknowledge me but looked to the other males in the group to provide payment, or just hand over a bag I was carrying.  So, while the women show more skin in Istanbul they are not treated as equals in any real tangible way.  Although I have no interest in perpetuating their societal norms I would not ever go to travel there on my own.
Photos from Cappadocia - 111 photos
Photos from Istanbul - 253 photos

Switzerland with Grandma and Papa

Happy 45th anniversary Cindy and Rich Reilly!!!!!
8 day Grand Tour of Switzerland ...Photos

July 24th we boarded the train in Landstuhl and headed to Basel Germany/Switzerland and then on to Zurich, Switzerland for our first night.  Day 2 we took the train to Lucerne and enjoyed the beautiful lake and swans.  On day 3 we had our excursion to Mount Titlis (3020 m/10,000 ft).  To get up to Mount Titlis we took a train to Engelberg and then a gondola up to the Trübsee, followed by another gondola, followed by the rotating gondola which took us to the very top allowing us to walk around on the glaciers.  Day 4 we headed to St. Moritz, it was a beautiful train ride and we were fortunate to find a great playground where the kids could get rid of their energy.  The downside is that Sean started feeling sick, fever ... he thought altitude sickness here.  Our 5th day was on the Glacier Express, the slowest express train from St. Moritz to Zermatt.  Everyone was sure that they would need their electronics to get through the 8 hour train ride, but the scenery and food turned out to be all of the entertainment that was needed ... even the kids couldn't believe how beautiful the trip was.  Sean was still not well, but he didn't seem as sick as he was the day before.  Day 6 was spent in Zermatt.  Everyone, except Sean, took the cogwheel train to Gornergrat, for a panoramic view of the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and other snow-capped peaks rising to above 4000 m/13'000 ft.  Sean spent the day in bed with fevers and a horrible tonsil infection.  Grandma and Papa headed down the mountain on the train while Mayland, Clark and MJ hiked 1/2 way down the mountain.  We saw the Matterhorn peak, which had been cloud covered, and the rare and elusive Das Alpenmurmeltier (gophers of the Switzerland alps).  Day 7 was a trip to Geneva.  
A couple of observations about Switzerland ... it is clean, very, very clean.  It is full of water fountains that are there for people to fill up their water bottles.  There are more stores to buy watches then there are in the rest of the world put together.  Ok, so maybe the last statement is not true, but it sure does seem like it.  The mountains provide a cool refuge from the heat.  One can go sledding in July on glaciers.  While Luther may have put his 95 Theses on the door of the church at Worms in 1517; the men who would follow in his footsteps would almost all be in Switzerland.  Switzerland is a country made up of mostly immigrants.  There are 4 national languages spoken in Switzerland: German, French, Italian and Romansh.  

Grandma and Papa visit (Germany)

Gate of Reichsberg Castle in the background

excavating Roman Baths

We had an adventure packed summer.  I can honestly say I did not hear my kids say "I'm bored" in the 6 weeks they had off from school.  The day that I dropped Amy and the boys off at the Frankfurt airport, is the day that I picked-up Mom and Dad Reilly.  A good thing, because the kids didn't have a chance to miss their friends with Grandma and Papa coming in.  Our first few days we spent here in Landstuhl, but Clark and MJ really wanted to show them Trier and Cochem (remember the castle that MJ had nicknamed "the Pumpkin Castle".  So, while Sean worked in the ICU we hoped on the train and enjoyed a day of wandering around Trier.
This trip we discovered a couple of new things ... the Roman bridge (Römerbrücke) which is the oldest standing bridge in the country.  The pillars are from the 2nd century.  The surface has been done twice since then in the 16th and 18th centuries and yes, cars do drive across it.  We found another site being excavated with Roman baths.  This was not for royalty, so it is clear that the Romans believed in being clean.  Turns out they had 3 bath locations in the city.  Near the bridge are two old treadwheel cranes, one being the Gothic "Old Crane" from 1413, and the other the 1774 Baroque crane.  Both used human energy to power them and from just looking at them from a distance, you can't tell them apart.  Technology was not changing rapidly.  Our last piece of excitement was finding out that we could actually tour the Porta Nigra, so we went inside of the gate and found out it had actually been turned into a cathedral around 1035; however, in 1804  Napoleon ordered that the Porta Nigra be converted back to its Roman form.
After a day in Trier we took the train to Cochem and visited MJ's favorite castle and did some shopping.  It was wonderful.  The kids really enjoy sharing their favorite places with visitors.  Clark especially likes to provide translation and guide services.  After Cochem we returned to Landstuhl where the kids had a few days to just be with Grandma and Papa before we left on our next trip ... Switzerland!

July – Magsig Family visit

We were so very fortunate that Amy and her three boys were able to make the long journey to Germany to spend a little over 2 weeks visiting us.  We aligned their vacation to coincide with Clark and MJ’s last day of school.  So, right after I walked the two of them to school for their last day of 5^th and 2^nd grade, respectively, I hoped in the car to head to Frankfurt to pick-up 4 very weary but dear friends.  I have never seen 5 kids so happy to see each other, all of the weary jet lag dropped away as they dove into Lego’s, talking, trampolining, more talking and laughing!  After a few days of recovery we decided it was time to experience a bare-foot path (Barfußpfad) – mud, multiple textures to walk on, freezing water and lots more laughter.  During the walk I thought my feet were being tortured, but afterward, they felt like they had been massaged for an hour, it was GREAT! 

Next trip was off to Cologne (Köln) to see the cathedral, 1248, with the remains of the Three Wise Men.  Of course, when Amy and I read there was a chocolate museum, well, you know where we spent the rest of the day – learning about the making and eating of chocolate.  Everything was in German and English and were very fortunate to learn that for centuries people have known about the health benefits of chocolate.  This was our first night of staying in a youth hostile and while it was nice, it didn’t come close to the one we stayed at in Koblenz (down the Rhine River).  Wow!  The hostel was in the fortress at the intersection of the Mosel and Rhine Rivers.  Amy and I, with jackets and wine, spent the evening gazing at the scenery while the 5 kids explored the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.  Much to the delight of the boys, they had barely explored ¼ of the Fortress as we started to really explore it the following day.  What I had thought would be a couple of hours, turned into all day!  It was spectacular.  Some type of a fortress has been at that site since 1000 BC.  The present fortress is Europe’s second largest preserved fortress, built between 1817 and 1828 in its present-day design.  Despite a few rain showers we had a great time. 

Our next city to explore was Heidelberg.  We walked all through the city, saw the University, practiced jumping off a log in a synchronized manner (was a total failure but tons of fun), got caught in a little rain storm at a play ground, and then explored the castle.  Thought we were going to do so much more, but the castle captured the imaginations of the kids and then our rumbling tummy’s decided we needed to dine at the castle restaurant.  Really, how often does one get to dine at a castle? 

Off to Trier, this time with Sean.  Oh, my, we had gladiator battles at the coliseum, played hide and seek in the ancient Roman baths, found out that the basilica was actually the throne room and not a church for Constantine.  We took a little train tour (think trolley made to look like a train) of the city to rest our weary feet and then went to see the church and cathedral (Dom).  Remember that Trier’s Dom is the oldest cathedral in Germany?  It was the building that captured Paul, he is 7, and he was entranced.  He took my hand to lead me around this church and express his ever increasing amazement.  Miss. Mayland – did you see the organ, ceiling, walls, bones, alter, chapel, and just well, Miss Mayland, did you see that?  And he pointed to all sorts of things with utter wide-eyes and wonderment.  I could not believe that of all of the sites we had seen this would be the one to capture the heart of the youngest child.  Now, remember when we were young and we would go into building that impressed us, and seemed bigger than life, but when we returned as an adult they somehow had lost their grandeur, size or whatever it was that had made such a deep impression upon us; I honestly believe that if he ever has the chance to come back, this place will hold the same awe and wonder as it did when he was 7; and it will most definitely not feel any smaller!

Our final adventure took us to the Black Forest.  We borrowed a friend’s mini-van and enjoyed the views of the mountains and forests.  There is a black forest road that reminds me of the 101 in CA (only without the ocean views) – winding road through little towns, mountains and places to stop to take short or long walks.  An alpine slide was the highlight of the trip, thank you Amy for suggesting we go.  Of course, the weather made it all the more memorable, because it was July and were wearing fleeces under rain coats trying to protect ourselves from the sleet that was coming down in the 40 degree weather, yup, you read that correctly, July 14 was in the 40’s – down right COLD!  But once we were on the slide, think drive it yourself rollercoaster, but all downhill and curvy.  After we were down the sun came out and we had a great day exploring Germany’s highest waterfall (NOT Niagara falls here) in Triberg and then Cuckoo clock shopping.  It is about a 3.5 hour drive from Triberg back to our house, and we left around 4:00pm.  We had easy driving until we were out of the black forest area and approaching the autobahn when once again we rediscovered the hideousness of traffic and road repairs.  After an hour of detour it was clear we were all starving.  The closest place to go for food was Strasbourg, France.  I figured I would easily find a crêperie, French fast food.  The boys thought it would be awesome to eat French food in France so I set out on the search, only to discover that the only ones were in the downtown area and would just delay us too much.  So, Sean and I secretly discussed the idea of stopping at McDonald’s … well, just as you are aghast to read such a thing, the kids were even more aghast to pull into a McDonald’s at which point James announced “Really, we drove all through Germany and into France to eat French food and we are eating at MCDONALDS?!?!?!?!?”  I think we heard that about 20 times through and after dinner.  I think it will make a great title for his “what I did on summer break” essay for back to school.
The link to the full photo album (well, selected photos from over 500 taken)

A lot has happened since the last time I posted.

May 26 – 28 was a spontaneous trip to Brussels, Belgium.  Sean called me on Thursday and told me had the long weekend so I made a reservation at a hotel, discovered that the train was not convenient so this was our first trip of more than 1 hour where we drove.  I didn’t enjoy driving nearly as much as the train.  Did you know that they do construction on roads and there are traffic jams (Stuab), detours and generally loads of cars?  I had forgotten, and was not thrilled with the reminder.  Also, parking spaces in Europe are ½ the size as the US, so parking a US sized Volvo in a Smart car sized parking space it NOT fun!  Search images "Daimler's Smart car".

Once the car was parked, we explored Brussels on foot and it was beautiful, amazing and delicious!  We never did have the great French fries (invented in Brussels) but we made up for that in chocolate and waffles.  The statue of a small boy peeing known as “ Manneken Pis” is from 1619 and they have hundreds of outfits (on display in a museum) for him to wear.  There is a King of Belgium, Albert II, was “in residence” on the day we saw the palace, the flag was flying.  We went to the comic strip museum and found out that Tintin and the Smurfs are Belgian.  Clark was the only one who could read the original comic strips, as they were in French.  But we still enjoyed the drawings.  The architecture is amazing; one of the city gates had a museum in it and MJ and Clark tried on knight’s armor.  My favorite was an archeological dig at the Coudenberg, former Palace of Brussels.  The palace was there in the 12^th century until destroyed by fire in 1731, and the remains were used as the foundation for the present palace.  Brussles was also a leading maker of tapestries, now they are a leading seller of them, but no longer make a lot of them.  This was our first trip with Sean using his new iPhone app Triposo.  You can find his comments at: http://www.triposo.com/logs/sean.reilly.963871/trip/Brussels/443

Here is the link to the photos from that trip.

1 year later ... change ... it is good!

Just a quick note to let you know that ... Clark passed 5th grade and moved up to 6th in the same school.  This will be the first time that he will be in the same school for 2 full years in a row.  MJ passed 2nd grade and she too is staying in the same school with the same classmates.  They both started school this week and already are back in the swing of things.  This year the first day of school did not cause the same level of anxiety in any one of us!  It was also great going shopping for books, I had translators.

Sean is still enjoying his time working in the ICU here at Landstuhl.  He is the director of education for the medical students, residents and fellows who come to train in the Trauma department (48 people can actually come each year and close to 75 want to come).  He took over this position in the spring and quickly realized it was A LOT of work.  So, he asked Mayland, who happened to do this type of work at UPenn for 12 years, if she would be willing to help out.  "Of course".  Well, helping out has turned into a volunteer position through the Red Cross.  It was quickly recognized by the command of the hospital that actually having someone administer all of the medical education activities for physicians-in-training would be advantageous and provide accountability.  So, now, she is volunteer working as the graduate medical education consultant (GME) until a position description can be written (done), approved (30 Aug) and filled (maybe by the volunteer?).  This actually, translates into working almost 40 hours per week to get this up and running.  It  has been fun though, getting back into that area.  It is very rewarding to help facilitate the training of the next generation of military physicians in this very unique setting.
The only down-side is that this could interfere with some of the traveling, a reality that Mayland is working very hard to prevent.  

Need to start planning our fall trip and then Christmas (Spain/Morocco is looking pretty inviting).  Finishing up the photo albums to post for you to see our summer adventures.  We miss you all and hope you decide to come visit!

May 18 – 20 Braunschweig, Germany – The Lion City

In front of the Cathedral

We had originally planned on making this trip to visit with a classmate of mine from Westtown; however, it seemed that at the last minute we realized that there had been miscommunication and our day of arrival was his day of departure … Auf Wiedersehen Chuck and maybe next year. Sean was not able to go with us either as he was working in the ICU, so this was the first long weekend trip that I made with the kids here in Germany.

1/2 timbered house

Braunschweig, you might ask, well, at least you are wondering it with a name … for about a month people would ask where I was going and my response was, “some city about 1.5 hours west of Berlin.” Turns out that this was a major city between the 13^th – 18^th centuries known for its wealth due to a thriving trading network; which means it was also a seat of political power and cultural. Prior to WWII it had over 5,000 ½ timbered homes dating from the 14^th thru 16^th centuries and now it has about 800 left after the 42 bombings by the RAF. 26% of the population was killed and only 20% of the buildings in the city center that stood prior to the war were still standing without damage. So, this is a city with pockets of history surrounded by modern buildings.
What sticks out most in my memory is that on the train ride in we saw a lake, no photo – darn, with at least 100 swans on it and then as we walked from the train station to the hotel we passed bunnies all over the place. They were so cute, and MJ was even cuter trying to go up to them and pet them. It was definitely the start of a very nice weekend.

Paddle boating down the river

So, Clark and MJ had off school on Friday, so we had headed up on Thursday night. On Friday we headed to the tourist information center, picked-up a map, 3 mp3 players for a 3 hour tour of the city. MJ managed to listen for an hour before she decided that the story was just not that interesting and she could make up a better story on her own. Clark and I got over 2 hours and the last 5 sites were a long walk. We decided that lunch was much more enticing than paying the extra money to keep the players, so we found a comfortable bench, sat down and listened to the last few pieces before turning them and heading to lunch. Ok, I really need to brag here, my kids had already walked over 5 miles in just one morning! Not many other people have kids that can go that long and stay focused on the history of a city. That afternoon we headed over to some parks and just enjoyed the sites of the city.
While walking along the river which encircles the town, we came across a place that rented boats, so on Friday evening we rented a swan paddle boat and enjoyed our time on the river. Saturday afternoon we rented a canoe for the other ½ of the river.

Happy RIZZI House, sculpture done by NY artist Rizzi

designed by the New York artist, James Rizzi, designed by the New York artist, James Rizzi, The great part about the city was the history, shopping and boating. The downside was that we never found a really good restaurant; honestly, our little town of Landstuhl has more great restaurants. It was a fun weekend and amazing to see how the city had come back from such terrible destruction.
Clark’s take on Braunschweig – It was a lot of fun. I really liked the chance that we got to go on a paddle boat and canoe all in one weekend.
MJ really liked trying to pet the bunnies in the park.
The complete set of photos if you are interested.

Spring Break, April 2012

Our last adventure saw us returning to Paris, only this time we were able to visit with Mayland's friend, Giselle and her family, for the weekend and then off to Edinburgh to see Mayland's friend Loura and her family.  The whole photo album of that trip is here.

all solid chocolate

We did do a little sight-seeing - Up to La Defense for the Grand Arch, which was really to make our way to the BEST artisanal chocolatier in Paris Remi Henry, Atelier-Boutique à Courbevoie; 53 rue des Etudiants; 92400 Courbevoie - oh, my gosh - they even made dark chocolate with beer centers - Mayland has finally found a beer she likes.  The egg pictured here is 300 Euros and 6kg of chocolate.  It turns out that France is losing it's turtle population and they are now encouraging people to adopt them in order to keep the population up; so we were delighted to find a dark and milk chocolate turtle to give to the kids - turns out they are hollow, but full of little chocolates.  Such a special treat!

drawing of Clark & MJ

Saturday we headed to Montmartre - for the Sacré-Coeur and then down to Moulin Rouge (that was a walk I would not want to take with teenagers, oh, my!  Very grateful that my two kids were so engrossed in their conversation about Pokémon that they did not realize the types of shops they were walking next to).  I was grateful that Moulin Rouge was easier to explain than the other places they had ignored.

After lunch, we made our way back up the hill to the art area and had a portrait done of Clark and MJ.  It came out really well and now we have two drawings of them from Montmartre from 2007 and 2011.  We also found an original oil painting that we fell in love with - landscape of Normandy.  I feel another trip coming on!

Saturday night was a mini-reunion of Westtonians - Joe Augustine, Giselle Delsol Wackernie and Mayland Reilly - our kids got along well and it was a lot of fun!  Thank you Giselle for hosting!  Francis, Giselle's husband made an amazing BBQ meal - from sausages to grilled zucchini and tomatoes.  It was amazing.

MJ and Morgane, Giselle’s daughter got along so well.  They are both smiling beauties who love “little” things – oh, my gosh these two girls love “Littlest Pet Shop“, My Little Pony, little PLAYMOBIL characters and anything else girlish and little.  When we went to the flea market on Sunday afternoon those two bargained shopped for little animal figures.

Sunday we headed out to a local market, they have everything you can imagine from books to rabbits and pre marinated seafood.  The vegetables are so fresh and we picked up the makings for a vegetable soup.  Every meal had fresh bread and except breakfast there was wine.  After each meal we enjoyed the cheese course.  I think that has become my new favorite way to get the calcium in my diet, much tastier than milk!

Train station Darlington England

Monday off to Edinburgh.  We left super early, arrived at the train station with more than 40 minutes before our train left and decided to eat lunch.  It did not occur to me that when leaving Paris on the train we would have to go through customs, as we don't go through customs to get from Germany to France.  We ended up missing our train by 1 minute.  Well, I can't say enough good things about the Eurostar customer service.  They didn't even blink an eye, just put us on the next train, found 4 seats together and wished us bon voyage.  Mayland spent the hour waiting for the next train arranging for new tickets to Edinburgh for Tuesday instead of Monday because the price to change the tickets was NOT reasonable within the UK.  Found a hotel next to the Thames, thank you priority club points, and set us up for a night in London.  After an Argentinean steak dinner, which was highly recommended by the hotel, we took a short walk to see the London Eye and Big Ben.  Prices in London are higher than ever because of the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games this summer.  So, we think that exploring London will happen in 2013! We did come in and out of Kings Cross station; but never found platform 9 3/4.  The train ride to London from Paris is so cool.  The train travels under the English Tunnel and the entire ride is 2.5 hours with almost 30 minutes in the tunnel. 

Our trip to Edinburgh held yet another surprise.  First, Mayland was pleased to learn the train went through Darlington, England - her mother's maiden name, Darlington; so a lot of family history there.  Interestingly, in Darlington we learned that we were switching trains in New Castle from the electric train to a diesel because of the snow?!?  

The scenery was stunning with the hills, ocean and snow on the ground.  Edinburgh was warm enough that no snow had stuck and the temps rose into the 50's making in comfortable to walk around.  Our “hostess with the mostest” here was Loura Brooks class of '87 from Westtown.  She is an art historian and actually kept Clark and MJ enthralled at the art museums.  When your guide shows you firework farting dragons you know this is going to be a great trip to the art museum!

Her partner John and their daughter Sarah are wonderful.  Sarah a very mature 12 year old still managed to have fun with our two very immature 11 and 8 year old.  Despite their maturity level their love of dragons gave them a lot in common allowing the grown-ups to talk into the wee hours of the morning.

Elephant collection at Elephants cafe

We loved Edinburgh - the castle is stunning and the center of the city.  Clark was thrilled to learn that the first Harry Potter novel was penned there.  The castle inspired Hogwarts, the Greyfriers grave yard gave the book many of the names including Longbottom, McGonagall and the ever famous Tom Riddle.  We even had the chance to eat cake at the Elephants Cafe where JK Rowling drafted the first book.  I can understand the inspiration. 

The best part is that the city was hosting the international science fair and in different museums there were booths set up with interactive science experiments.  When we were tired of history we could switch to science.  Wonderful for all!

We flew home on Ryan Air, not a horrible experience as the plane was not full and given the hour of the night Mayland had splurged and spent the extra 10 Euros to reserve seats at the front of the plane.  The total flight home with reservations was a whopping $150 for all 4 of us.  

Christmas in Paris Day 3: the Louvre

Clark and MJ truly shocked us with their enthusiasm to go to the Louvre.  Clark was particularly excited as he had just finished reading “The Da Vinci Code.”  He found the book fascinating and was so excited to see the real Mona Lisa.  While it was really tempting for Sean and I to plan the entire day in the museum we decided it would be best to pick 2 “must sees” in the museum and plan the visit around those.  For Clark it was the Mona Lisa, for me Venus de Milo and Sean wanted to see ancient sculptures (very easy to accommodate it turns out).  So, we were off.  If you go to Paris, get the museum pass at the tourist information center.  The line for the Louvre tickets by 10am (late start after a late night) was over 2 hours long and then once you get the ticket you had to stand in line with the other ticket holders.  That museum pass was awesome, by the time we finished our Starbuck’s coffee we were inside.

You are allowed to take photos in the Louvre,which is great, because that way you can just see the pictures instead of me writingabout all of the great works of art that we saw.  Clark and MJ were actually really good about how long it took to get through.  MJ, my little art lover, was the first one to tire.  After lots of statues (about 1.5 hours) she decided she was tired of white and wanted to some color, so we headed over to the paintings with the last ones on the list being the Mona Lisa and the Coronation of Napoleon.  We did let the kids listen to the Rick Steves description on the coronation of Napoleon and they finally understood, fully, what a megalomaniac he really was.  The painting shows the Pope who was there to crown him, giving his blessing while sitting down because Napoleon actually crowned himself; although the painting shows him crowning the queen.  For the complete story and history of this double coronation see the Louvre description, it is fascinating! 

The kids also spent a lot of time getting used to seeing all of the body parts on display, especially the statues by Michelangelo.  It was rather amusing when Clark asked me "why don't they just put an apron on him?"  I think that by the end of the day they were a little desensitized although they still questioned the wisdom of nudes, we didn't hear about it constantly.  

After dinner we decided we needed to get a crepes and the best ones were near Notre Dame, so we enjoyed the cathedral at night with all of the lights.  Clark pointed out the plaque in the square that is the central point of Paris, he learned about this reading the Da Vinci Code (a few nuggets of truth to be gleaned from that book).

Christmas in Paris Day 2

Dec. 25

I had worried that the day would not be special or something the kids would remember because we brought NO presents, not even our stockings.  Instead it was going to just be a day spent together.  It surpassed all expectations I had when I planned this trip.  We had been told about the American Cathedral in Paris – this cathedral is protestant and we went to the early service for the traditional hymns, a change from our normal praise and worship style of music. 

The service was beautiful and the music very comforting.  Afterward we took a tour of the church.  One very special lady was on the tour, the wife of the late President of the American University – started in the basement of that church.  The other unique story I will always remember is the one about the organist / music director, Edmund Pendelton.  He was the only person left at the church during WWII to keep the services going.  At one point the Nazis came looking to arrest his and he climbed up into the pipes of the organ, pulled up the ladder, and watched as they searched for him.  What a story! 

After our tour of the church we were off for lunch on at 58 meters up … on the first level of the Eifel tower!  The day itself was actually a little cloudy; however, the lunch was wonderful and the ice skating was great!  Both Clark and MJ loved ice skating, thought it was much better than roller skating.  Within 10 minutes MJ had the basic walking motion down and Clark was ready to be on his own in 20 minutes.  It was awesome!  We were just on that first level for over 4 hours. 

As we left the Eifel tower they lit it up and we were able to look back on it over the Christmas market and just be amazed. 

After dinner, we went back into Paris to take in the lights along the Champs Elysees; which traditionally were draped in white lights.  This year they had decided to do a very modern look, not exactly what we were expecting, but the shopping, eating, riding roller-coasters and sliding down the big slides.  It was a late, but memorable night.  A genuine reminder that it is not about the material gifts we give, but the love that is given and shared.  There is no greater love than that given to us by our Lord God and He shared it in abundance with our family that day.  For the rest of the photos from Dec. 25

Christmas in Paris

Dec. 23-24

We actually celebrated Christmas, the gift opening part on Sean’s birthday.  The next day, Dec. 23, we got on the train to spend a week in Paris.  The train ride itself was amazing.  It is normally a 5 hour drive without stopping to get from our place to Paris; however, the high speed train had us there in 2.5 hours.  The absolute fastest I have ever traveled on land. 

After picking-up our subway and museum passes we headed out to Joe’s house, a Westtown classmate, to find out about taking care of Chiedel, their whippet, while they took a vacation in Italy.  It was great to see Joe and meet his wife and 2 sons.  Chiedel, their dog was very easy to take care of and it was a great exchange.

Our first day for sight-seeing was on Christmas Eve.  We had planned a half a day walking tour of the original city of Paris, located on the island in the middle of the Seine River.  The morning was spectacular and after getting our Starbucks coffee next door to the Louvre we headed out of the New Bridge (Pont Neuf), which is the oldest bridge in Paris.  All along the way Sean read to us about the history and events that were significant.  We saw the park where the Grand Master of the Knights Templar was burned at the steak on Friday the 13^th thus it become a day known for “bad luck”.  Then we headed to Place Dauphine followed by Le Concierge, which is now the Palais de Justice

Le Concierge: this was the original palace of Paris (1284-1314) before the Louvre was built.  In 1391 it became the first prison of Paris and would hold it’s most famous prisoner Marie-Antoinette.  Her original cell was turned into a chapel; however, they have recreated her cell and it offers a true juxtaposition of her room at Versailles.  The grand ballroom area was turned into an art gallery and they had an interesting modern art of animals display at the time.  MJ found the art fascinating and the rest of us found the history intriguing.  We really need to find an art lover to wander around with MJ because she is definitely out numbered when it comes to where we want to spend our time.  After a leisurely and delicious lunch …

Notre Dame: the line for getting in seemed really long; however, it was actually really short compared to the length of the line we would see every time we came that way again.  It is magnificent and inspiring.  We really didn’t think about the fact that it was Christmas Eve and that we were entering around 4pm.  We did however, take it ALL in … looked at every alcove, talked with the kids about all of the saints, treasures, and rituals that go into Notre Dame.  Visitors are only to go in one direction and as we came around from the back to start walking up the left side, we noticed that the lights were dimming on the manger scene and the organ and choir were warming up.  As we came around the corner I was surprised to see that every seat had been taken, the lights were on, the organ was playing and the choir was singing “O Come All Faithful” (Latin).  We just stood there, watching the processional of the catholic hierarchy coming down the center isle with a “Baby Jesus” in their arms.  It was amazing.  It was incredibly moving and I stood there with the tears rolling down my checks as I felt the presence of the Lord moving through me.  Even amongst rituals, foreign languages and thousands of people God can still find us, touch us and remind us that it is love and relationship that are all that really matter.  I was in the right place with the right people to celebrate and fully remember why we celebrate the birth Christ.

We finally left Notre Dame and realized that while we had seen only a couple of things on the list of "must do’s" of Paris, we had truly taken in Paris at Christmas.  This link will take you to all of the photos from Dec. 24.

Baden-Baden, Germany

My mother came to visit for a few weeks starting in November and leaving December 14. Unfortunately we have discovered that this is not a great time for company. The days are short with little sunshine, the kids are in school and don’t get the Thanksgiving holiday because Germans don’t celebrate the American Thanksgiving. Plus it is a very, very busy time of year for a doctor in the ICU.
I had done a lot of research on Christmas markets in the area and really wanted to go to a little town in the Black Forest; however, we didn’t have enough time and with the weather being cold and rainy we decided we would go to Baden-Baden, also in the Black Forest, which would provide us with public transportation instead of driving in nasty rain. So, we hoped on a train on Fri., Dec. 3. Upon our arrival we decided to not navigate the public transit while trying to find our hotel – so we paid about 22€ for a taxi to take 5 people about 5km; we did navigate the public transit for the trip back to the train station.
Fortunately our hotel was right near the bus station and also a walking path into the old town. The rain had finally slowed down to a mere drizzle (think Seattle) and we were bundled appropriately for the walk into town. They did have a children’s cookie baking tent so the kids got to make roll out Christmas cookies. I find this to be the perfect solution to making our own sugar cookies, they make just the amount they are interested in and I don’t have to do the rest . They also have “stained glass windows” of the Christmas story done by children in the local schools – some of them were really beautiful
Baden-Baden is famous for their baths which means the richest people in the country/world come there and the shopping is geared toward that crowd. I saw boutiques in the town that are normally in Paris and 5^th Ave NY, NY. Some of the most beautiful and odd window shopping I have ever done! The diamond encrusted dog stroller was the topper. The actual Christmas market was medium – large sized. They did not have the hand-carved items from the black forest that I was hoping to find, but they had some really cool toys, alpaca wool items and great food.
Some of the more interesting parts of the city are focused around the hot springs they have there. They have a hall which is presently used as the TI (tourist information) center that was once a place where pharmacies could come set up and utilize the hot water running into the building. MJ was shocked at how warm it was, as was Sean …
 
The water is  cooled from 68°C (154.4°F) to between 30-40°C (98-105°F) depending on the bath. The thermal water was discovered and being used for “health” purposes over 2000 years ago and the Roman bath ruins are limited because the present day baths are built in the same places.
The 2^nd oldest item in the town was a small church with an “Ölbergruppe” from the 15^th cent. It was great for a moment of reflection and remembering what is truly important in our lives.
We also saw some of the most decorated buildings there that we had seen in all of Germany:
  Plus the bicycling Santas!  It was a fun weekend and I’m really glad we went, but next time we will head there in the spring or summer so we can enjoy the gardens, castles (2) and cathedrals.