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.