5/5/2006 8:43:51 AM

 

Getting There

 

Well, we’re finally on the plane. Yesterday morning we finished packing. I put all the bags in the van and then we commenced to really clean the house. We worked all day. We were pretty tired. By the time we left, the house was really clean. Karl mentioned that with the house this clean, it would be nice to stay a while and enjoy it. All the closets were cleaned out, the bathrooms were sparkling, the kitchen was beautiful. I hope that the Updikes enjoy their stay. I also hope that all the animals are ok. Dallin is worried about Fern, his white chicken. I hope she’s still alive when we get back. Michaela is worried about ‘Goose’, one of the baby goats. Megan (the mom) won’t let it nurse. Hopefully, he’ll do OK. Dallin was funny: Around 3:15 pm, when the bus usually drops them off, he was standing at the window waiting to see the bus and all the kids get off the bus ‘who are suffering’ because they had to go to school. Everyone was pretty ‘wound-up’ most of the day. But they ended up working hard.

I got an e-mail from Heidi Grundl this morning. She has our class reunion planned for next Saturday. She planned one at the Gasthaus just for us former members of Herr Rosenmuller’s 5^th grade class. Then towards the end of our stay, we’ll have another party for families at a local lake. She and Kathrin and Gerti have been working together to get this planned. It’s just so sweet of them.

Oh, around noon, I realized that we should probably get rid of our rooster before we leave. He’s a black Silkie and very sweet, but he crows…and I’m sure the neighbors would rather not have him crowing every morning for the next 6 weeks. So, I called Karl down to the barn and explained that we should probably kill it and bury it. We decided Karl should just break it’s neck. So, I got the little rooster out and was holding him….but I just couldn’t kill him. He was so cute. The thought of ending that little fluffy life just seemed wrong. So, I put it in an animal carrier and drove around looking for a place to either just set him free or find a home for him. I saw a sign for “Eggs”, so I drove up to the house and knocked. I felt pretty silly…what was I going to say? “Hello, I see you have chickens…do you want a cute, black rooster?” Well, I was glad that no one was home. So then, I drove out to Hwy 47 to the place that we had brought a rooster before. I didn’t take it here first, because last time I dropped off a rooster, they didn’t seem too  pleased…but I was desperate. So, I drove up and the lady came out. I started talking. She said, “no English” and started calling for a Jose. So, I just went to the truck, took the rooster and said “You want? He’s pretty! I just don’t want to kill him…here!” So, she took him and walked off. Whew!!

Well, we finally finished cleaning the house around 8:30 PM. We got in the van and drove off. Everyone was SO excited. We stopped at Fred Meyer for allergy meds. They we drove to Krey’s. We got to his house around 10 PM. Lindy was already in bed. So were the kids—but they were’t asleep, so we got to see them. They are such cute kids. The kids slept on the couches. It was fun to visit with Krey for a while. When we get back, they will probably have their baby.

This morning we got up at 5:15 AM. We had cereal. Everyone got dressed and we loaded into the van, along with Krey. We got to the airport at 6:30. It was already bustling. The kids were so excited. Kiana and Kandra stressed a little, because they had brought scissors. But the scissors were small enough, that they let them keep them.

So now everyone’s on the plane. We had a gorgeous view of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier. The kids were giggling with excitement when we took off. I’m sitting next to Kandra and she is thoroughly enjoying herself. She loves the drinks and the snacks and the view out the window. I passed out their journals and they all have been writing. So that’s all for now. We’ll be getting to Atlanta in a few hours. There we switch planes and head to Munich.

 

Saturday, May 06, 2006

 

Day 1

First Day at Bichlhof

It’s almost 6 pm and I am SO tired. Karl gave up and is out cold. It’s been a very long day. Our flight across the Atlantic was pretty good. We all tried to sleep, but it was hard. The in-flight movie was ‘King Kong’. The kids were thrilled, since we haven’t let them watch it yet. After the movie, we all tried to make ourselves comfortable. It was hard. There isn’t much room in those seats. The kids were so excited to finally be crossing the ocean. We got to Munich at 7:45 AM Germany time. After going through customs, we went to claim our luggage—but it never came. Then we heard our name on the loud-speakers. We went to the booth and found out that our luggage didn’t arrive. They said they would send it to the Bichlhof by tomorrow. Oh well…we’ll certainly get tired of wearing these clothes.

So, we went outside and couldn’t see our van. I started to get worried, but after about 10 minutes it showed up. It’s a Mercedes Vito. When I checked for the trailer hitch—I couldn’t find it. There was none. I told the guy. I showed him the print out of the e-mail that promised me a trailer hitch. He felt bad and made some phone calls. He said he might be able to find one, but he couldn’t. He did have a huge Meercedes Sprinter. So he drove us to their rental office. The Sprinters are huge! So, we’re going to keep the Vito until the day we need to pick up our camping trailer.

After that, we tried to drive to the English Garden, to walk around and keep the kids moving…but we got totally lost. I didn’t have my bearings at all. After about thirty minutes, I gave up and we headed towards Miesbach. When we got into Miesbach, I saw some signs for a ‘Flohmarkt’. Since the kids were about to fall asleep again, I thought it would be fun to check out the flee market. I’m so happy we did. It was fun to get out of the car. The flee market had tons of little booths with old Bavarian knick knacks, paintings, all sorts of things. I bought a painting and some prints and a few other things. I wish I had bought more. I don’t know if I’ll have an opportunity like that again. I could have spent hours there and LOTS of money.

But the kids were tired, so we loaded back into the van and headed home. We drove through Parsberg and I showed the kids my old school. Parsberg is as quaint as ever. All of Bavaria is quaint, well-maintained and beautiful. I had forgotten how much I love the Bavarian countryside. The kids were so excited as we finally approached the Bichlhof. The kids immediately recognized it from the many pictures they’ve seen and they were so excited. We drove up and got out…the first person we saw was an 11 year-old boy. He came towards us and said, “Ich bin der Xavier, der Mittlere.” What a cute kid. He brought us to Frau Gasteiger. It was so good to see her. She looks wonderful and healthy. The only change I really noticed was her snow-white hair. It just made me so happy to see her again. I feel like she’s my grandma. Christine and Berndt showed up. Berndt looks so much leaner. They had us sit down with them under the old pear tree and we enjoyed some drinks. They are so down-to-earth and welcoming. It really felt like I had come home. The kids took off with Xavier and explored the farm.

After visiting for a while, we all walked over to the Grundbach to see Franziska. It was so good to see her. Her two oldest are already 15 and 16. We sat down at their patio table and they brought us drinks and cake and candy. Her mom and dad still live with her, and they came…along with all four of her kids. They all speak a very heavy Bavarian dialect. Being my first day back, I’m still not able to jump fully into my old Bavarian. It’s been a few years. I’m still very rusty. After visiting for a while, we walked back to the Bichlhof.

The later it got, the more tired everyone felt. Karl was nauseous from fatigue. He lay down. The rest of the kids wanted to, but I didn’t let them. Instead, they played Nintendo with Xavier. It’s funny how kids from all cultures have video games in common. They had fun telling each other about games they each liked. It was fun to see Dallin try so hard with his German. It’s nice that Xavier doesn’t speak much English. Dallin really has to push himself to communicate. He always inserts English words into the sentence—if he doesn’t know the German word. But he says the English word in a German accent, as if that would help others understand.

I realized that we didn’t have any food in our apartment and remembered that German stores close early and are not open at all on Sunday (which is nice). So, I took Michaela and we drove to a small grocery store in Miesbach. We were a little lost as to what to do. First we had to insert a Euro into the shopping cart to unlock it from the others. It was fun to shop for all the fun German food. I’m so glad we had the Euros that the Bairs gave us, since we haven’t been able to make it to a bank to exchange money. We also weren’t sure about the check out process…do we bag the food? Do they? Where were the bags? I realized that you had to buy the plastic bags to take the groceries home with, so we just loaded the individual items back into the cart and took them out to the car.

When we got home, Christine had dinner ready for us. She had Leberkäs and bread with Wurst and salad. It was delicious. Afterwards we had ice cream and went into the TV room and watched the DVD that we brought. They enjoyed the slide show. There were a few cute pictures of Bernt when he was younger.

After that, we all came upstairs and crawled into bed. I am so tired I can hardly write. The kids crashed as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

 

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Day 2

Church in Rosenheim/Visit Schönwald Family

Well, it felt good to have slept, but the bed was quite hard. I felt yucky and gross and wished I could put on fresh clothes. I hoped our luggage would come before we had to leave for church, but it didn’t—so we just wore our clothes from yesterday. Yuck.  I borrowed shampoo from Christine and was able to take a shower. It felt heavenly. It’s been a while. We had a yummy breakfast with rye bread, cheese and jam. Berndt showed me how to get the fresh milk out of the spigot on the big milk tank.

We left for church, dressed in jeans J. I thought I knew how to get there, and I think I had a good idea, but we were also trying to use the car’s navigation system and it kept telling us to go a different way. We literally drove around in circles. We finally found the church, but we were an hour late J.

We walked into church and ran into Sister Schmulius. Then we saw Berndt Schönwald and then Bro Duhme. We got the kids to their classes and then went in for Sunday school. There I kept seeing more people that I recognized. Karolina Döring came to say hello. During Sacrament meeting, we all sat on the back row. The bishopric member introduced us. I finally recognized him as a Kainz.

It was a neat experience to sit there and see so many of the faces from my childhood. As Bro. Hörner blessed the sacrament, his voice brought back so many memories. These sweet people have taught me so much. They were my first primary teachers. This was where I was baptized. My first church memories were formed here. This is where my testimony was born, among these humble German people. It was a neat experience to be sitting there 25 years later.

After church, Angelika Schönwald invited us over to their house for dinner. It was a pretty drive. They have 2 whole basement rooms full of Playmobils. Kandra and Dallin played there for a while. Then all the kids played on the trampoline. We sat in the garden and talked with Karoline (who had stopped by to say hi). After a while dinner was served. It was quiche and lots of bread, wurst and cheese. It was delicious.

After dinner, we sat and talked with Angelika and Berndt. She gave us tons of info about fun vacation places in Italy and other places. Then we watched the video that we brought. It was fun for them. They were so kind to us and such wonderful hosts. Then we drove home.

As we drove up to the Bichlhof, there was all our luggage. It had been delivered while we were gone. Thank goodness! We then walked over to Franziskas. They had company, so we took a walk behind her house. It was a gorgeous day, though rather cold. Franziska’s youngest, Klausi, walked with us. He just turned 6 today (that’s why Franziska had all the company). He was so cute. He talked non-stop in his thick little Bavarian accent. He told me the funniest things, about how he knew all about rocks and how they were formed by molecules and bacteria..and that sometimes they sprout into trees and how the funny little men on the moon really like swaying around on the moon and how you just shouldn’t touch poisonous things and how he thought we talked funny, but how his problem seemed to be that he just couldn’t understand African…what a funny boy.

We walked back to the Bichlhof and relaxed. The kids hung out with Xavier a little more. We relaxed and I made soup for dinner. Right now it’s almost 10:30 and the kids just fell asleep. I’m exhausted. Still not sure what we’re going to do tomorrow…how fun that we can just get up in the morning and decide whether we want to go to Salzburg or see the Ludwig castles or check out Munich or Legoland or whatever….Wow, how fun that we’re finally here!!

 

Monday, May 08, 2006

Day 3

Salzburg

We woke up to a beautiful morning. The sun was shining through the little round attic window and it was warm. I took Kiana down to the stall and showed her how to get our milk for breakfast. Dallin came  bursting into the room about 6:30 am shouting: “Hurry, Michaela and Kiana, they’re still milking the cows…come see!” I guess he had been in the stall since 5:30 am watching Berndt do the morning chores. By the time Karl and I were ready to go, the kids were out riding bikes down the road.

So we loaded everyone up and drove to Salzburg—it’s under an hour away. We got there, found a parking place and walked over to the old city center. We stopped an walked into the big Salzburg cathedral. The kids were blown away. They had never seen a cathedral…and the one in Salzburg is very impressive. The organ was very cool. It had a huge organ at the back and four smaller organs up above the four corners in the center of the cathedral. I wish we could hear someone play.

We hiked up to the big castle (Festung Hohensalzburg). It’s quite a hike. The kids loved every minute. This was their first castle ever. And it’s such a cool castle. They loved seeing where the drawbridge had been and different parts of the castle. There were some cool museums inside the central part of the castle. The coolest part was the arch bishop’s living quarters. It has some very ornate woodwork and I think it would have been a very nice place to live.

We ate our picnic lunch up on the castle. The view over Salzburg was gorgeous. We then headed down into the city. We wandered through the cemetery with the big tombstones. I think it was the same cemetery where the Van Trap family hid from the Nazis in ‘The Sound of Music’.

When we came out of the cemetery, I noticed one of those photo places that take old-fashioned pictures. The prices seemed reasonable, so I checked it out. The girls really wanted to do it…so we did. Ben didn’t want to do it, but I think he liked the spiffy military costume that he wore. It was fun and I think it will be a fun memory for them.

As we were heading back to the car, we stumbled on the coolest Easter Egg store. It literally had 100’s of thousands of hand-painted, blown-out Easter Eggs. It was truly amazing. We got back to the car and drove over to ‘Hellbrun’ to see the trick fountains and the castle. Even though I’d been there several times, it was the first time I’d actually toured the castle. It was very interesting. The trick fountains were cool, of course. The kids loved it! Dallin volunteered to sit at the big banquet table and got a wet bottomJ. After the tour, we walked around the gardens. The kids played at the playground a while, then we headed over to the ‘Sound of Music’ castle and lake. It’s the exterior of the house where the Van Traps lived in the movie. We took a nice photo of our family, with the lake and house in the background and then headed home.

We finally figured out the car’s navigation system. We’re very proud of ourselves. Dallin wanted to know if we would get a ticket if we didn’t obey the navigation lady. At first we were always going the opposite direction that she told us to go. Now that we’ve figured her out (and she is actually taking us to the places we want to go), we usually obey her.

When we got home, Frau Gasteiger helped me start a load of wash. Then I sat down with her and helped her translate David Carson’s obituary. I didn’t even know he had passed away. It was fun to sit and chat with Dieta. The Stube is such a comfortable room and it holds so many memories.

We had Wiener and bread and cheese for dinner. It’s so nice to have our own kitchen and our own space. This is such a nice set up. We can just relax in the evenings and spend time together.

 

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

 

Day 4

Munich: Deutsches Museum & Fussgängerzone

 

We slept until 9:00 this morning. I was glad that the kids really got to sleep. Dallin mentioned that he hasn’t had any dreams since he’s been here because he sleeps so hard. Well, we thought we’d go up into the mountains today, but it was cold and rainy, so we decided to go into Munich instead.

On the way to Munich, se stopped by the Schönwalds and picked up Karl’s sweatshirt. Angelika is just SO sweet. She wanted to know if we needed anything for our big trip, so she’s going to bring a bunch of sleeping bags to church on Sunday. She is SO sweet. She also gave us a big plate of pancakes with Nutella in them. It was a perfect snack for the kids, since they were getting hungry. What a sweet family.

Well, we got to the Deutsches Museum around 2:00. Since the kids didn’t have any idea of what to expect, they were VERY impressed. It’s a very huge museum of science and technology. The first part was filled with boats and water crafts, submarines and everything water. Then there was a huge airplane section and then space exploration. There was a whole chemistry wing that showed atoms and the history of science with an alchemists lab and experiments and so much more. There was bridge building and world architecture, telescopes and holograms, There was also several rooms filled with old music instruments. We took some photos of some cool organs for Corina.

After the museum, we drove into the ‘Altstadt’ and parked in a parking garage. We walked by the Frauenkirche. They were having mass, so we couldn’t really check it out. Then we walked to the Rathaus. We went up on the tower and looked at Munich from above. It was awesome. Then we walked down the Fussgängerzone. We went into the Kaufhof and bought some baby books for Bina. We crossed Karlsplatz under the street. The kids were amazed at how many shops and stores were underground. We bought some bread at a bakery down there. Then I showed the kids the hotel that I lived in while I did my college internship. We then walked down to the Konigshof (the hotel that I worked in). We walked in the main entrance (all 7 of us). The hotel employees gave us some funny looks. We walked up the big staircase, walked around upstairs and then walked out. We turned some heads as we left. Oh well, at least the kids got to see where I worked.

The kids liked all the lions that were everywhere in the city. They had lions painted by all sorts of different artists. They were all over the place. The kids thought they had to touch each one, so they were darting here and there, trying to be the first person to touch each lion.

Well, we got home around 8 pm. Dallin immediately went looking for Xavier. And as soon as Xavier heard us, he came running. He’s such a sweet boy. We had a late dinner and the kids have been sitting here for the last ½ hour, writing in their journals. They’ve been very good about their journal writing. Dad called. Valentin brought the phone up to us. It was fun to tell dad about all the fun we’ve been having. We’re all excited to see them in a few weeks.

 

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

 

Day 5

Open-air Farmhouse Museum/Linderhof/ Neuschwanstein

 

We got up a little earlier today. We were able to get out the door by ten o’clock and drove to the Glentleiten Freilichtmuseum. I think it’s the same one I went to on a class field trip when I was younger. I remembered REALLY liking it…and now I see why. It was very cool. They brought old farmhouses from the entire area and reconstructed them to form a very quaint old Bavarian village. Some of the farm buildings were built in the 1600’s.  The doorways and ceilings in some of the buildings were very low. Karl kept bumping his head against the ceiling beams. He ended up with a very sore head. The entire museum area was incredibly charming. There were real cows and animals in some of the stalls. They had some of the cutest chicken housings: one of them was under the bench in the Stube. The little kitchen gardens and the different fencing styles were interesting, too. They had a whole area that showed several different “Almhütten”. The whole experience really gave the kids a good understanding of the local history and I think it helped them to understand the Bavarian culture a little more.

After leaving the open-air museum, we headed over to Ludwig’s Linderhof castle. By now it was 3:30. We took the tour of the palace. The kids liked it. Ben thinks that Ludwig was a weird, crazy guy—which he was. They were very impressed by the table that drops down to the kitchen.

The kids ran around the gardens for a while, then we toured the Grotto. I had never been in the grotto before, even though I think I’ve been to Linderhof at least 2 other times. The kids liked it.

From there we drove for about an hour over the mountains. We passed Plansee (which is gorgeous because it sits at the feet of some beautiful mountains) and headed to Neuschwanstein. We got there around 6 PM…too late to get tickets. We were too tired to hike all the way up to Neuschwanstein. We went up to Hohenschwangau, but it was already closed. We took some pictures of both castles and continued home.

We got home around 8:30 and were all hungry and exhausted. I heated up some of the frozen pizzas I had bought on Saturday. The kids ate and crawled into bed. Right now the kids are lying in their beds, finishing their journals. Kandra is singing the Wagner theme that they played in the grotto for us. The kids know it from Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.

 

Thursday, May 11, 2006

 

Day 6

Wendelstein/Bichlhof

 

Lately we’ve been so tired in the morning. I think it’s because our days have been so packed with activity. This morning we took it easy. The kids got up and went outside to play. It was a gorgeous morning. I walked around the house taking pictures. Then I sat out on the kitchen patio area with Frau Gasteiger. We just talked and talked. After a while, Karl joined us. It was so fun just to sit and visit with her. The kids had run down to the pond, so I walked down to them and took some pictures. While I was doing that, Karl uploaded some of our photos onto our internet page.

After a while, we got packed up and headed towards the Wendelstein. It’s a big mountain close by. Xavier didn’t have school today, so he came along. He was so excited to come with us. He talked non-stop in the car. He’s such a sweet kid. We got to the cable car/tram station and bought the tickets. I told the guy we needed a family ticket plus one child. He was sweet and said, “I guess if you have that many kids we can just count that other one as yours, too.” Five kids is a lot in Germany.

The ride up to Wendelstein was cool. We swayed way over the many alpine meadows and the little Almhütten (the huts where the herders live in the summer). When we got to the top tram station, Xavier showed us around. The view was amazing. There was still a very steep 20 minute climb up to the top peak. When I told the kids that we were going up to the top, Xavier looked concerned. He said he was a little afraid of heights. I asked if he wanted to go or stay there, but he said he wanted to try it. About ½ way up, I could see that he was visibly struggling. There really were steep drop offs. I took him back down and he stayed by the restaurant, and I ran up to the top to meet the others. The view from the very top was breathtaking. I even found the Bichlhof, although it was very hazy. You could see so many, many mountain peaks. It was a neat experience for the kids to be so high on a mountain.

When we got back home, Dallin and some of the others really wanted to swim in the pond. They ran down to the pond. Karl, Ben and I followed with our cameras. By the time we got down there, our four kids were shivering on the bank while Xavier was swimming like a little river otter. I told the kids, that if I was going to come all the way down here to take pictures, that they needed to swim in the water. So, they did. But it was painful (apparently the water was very cold).

It’s 8:30 now and the kids have eaten dinner (which consisted of Wiener, bread, and Dampfnudeln) and are now outside riding bikes. Frau Gasteiger said it took her back a few years when a bunch of blond Price kids were running all around. It is so fun to be here. I feel like I have to pinch myself to make sure that it isn’t all a dream. This place is so much a part of me and I have so many fond memories here. I’m so glad we get to take our time and really enjoy it.

 

Friday, May 12, 2006

 

Day 7

Schliersbergbahn/Parsberg Frühlingsfest

 

I got up and finally went running. It’s been a long time since I’ve run…over a week. It felt good to move. And I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more beautiful run. I ran up to Niklasreuth and took the road to the west. I kind of got lost. There are so many little back roads, but each one was prettier than the last. Each little farmhouse had it’s own personality. As I ran by each little farm, I wanted to meet the family and learn about the history of that little farmstead. You could just tell that there was a rich history that went back hundreds of years. I thoroughly enjoyed the run. I think I ended up running about 6 miles and by the end, my knee started bothering me. But, wow, it was really one of the most unforgettable runs I’ve ever had. I tried very hard to burn each little scene in my memory, so I wouldn’t for get it.

When I got back, the kids were finishing breakfast. I showered and got ready and we finally got ready to drive to Schliersee. On the way, we saw a little flee market. I got some kids’ books for the Hughes and for Bina. We got to Schliersee around noon. We took the tram to the top. The view from the Schliersalm is really breathtaking. It’s a quaint little town nestled up against an alpine lake surrounded by stunning mountains. It’s just beautiful. We ate our picnic lunch.

After a while, we went over and got our sleds and rode down the alpine slide. It was very fun. Kandra rode with me. It’s a pretty steep slide and you can get going very fast. It was fun to see the kids enjoying themselves. I had been wanting to take my kids down that slide for years. It’s one of the things I always imagined us doing, if we came here.

We then did some shopping in Miesbach. We got some more food and some other things. Then we headed to Parsberg for the school Frühlingsfest (a spring festival). It was very cute. It reminded me so much of the school performances that I was a part of when I went to that school. In fact, the first song they sang, Jetzt kimmt des scheh Frühjahr, was one of the songs I sang at our fifth grade performance. They did poetry, dancing, art, etc. The kids put up a maypole and did a ribbon dance. It was a very authentic cultural experience for the kids. The only problem was that the program was 2 hours long, the sun was hot and we didn’t have seats (they were all taken). By the end, the kids were ready to go. I did buy them a Limo and some cake afterwards. Later I found out that Herr Kohl and Frau Bahner were there. I’m kicking myself for not finding them and saying Hello. Herr Kohl was the principal when I was a student and Frau Bahner was Krey’s teacher.

When we got home, the kids went outside and rode the bikes around. They love riding bikes. Karl and I sat out front on the benches and chatted with Frau Gasteiger. It was such a beautiful evening. The apple orchard is in full bloom. This really is a beautiful place. At 7:30pm Michaela and I rode bikes over to Franziska’s farm—across the street. We sat in her kitchen for a while a just talked. I have so many memories of sitting in that kitchen. Her parents live with them. They all share the kitchen, the parents sleep downstairs and they have the whole upstairs to themselves. It’s amazing how many of these families live together with several generations. It’s really ideal.

We showed Franziska and her mom and kids our DVD. They loved it. It was fun to share the photos of both of us when we were little. We sure spent a lot of time playing together. While we were watching the DVD, Franziska’s youngest, 6-year-old Klausi literally fell in love with Michaela. He kept telling his mom that he ‘really’ liked Michaela. He gave her little kisses on her cheek and wanted to pick her flowers. It was pretty funny.

Ben and Dallin went rock-climbing with Berndt, Vali, &  Xavier. They said that it was fun. I’m glad Ben got to do something with Vali. They hadn’t really had an opportunity to get to know each other yet. Vali seems like such a nice kid.

 

Saturday, May 13, 2006

 

Day 8

Bichl / Castle Ruins / Class Reunion

 

I was tired this morning. The kids were already up by the time I rolled out of bed. It’s another beautiful day. We took the computer downstairs and went on-line to check e-mail. Vali was in the kitchen eating breakfast alone, so I sent him up to play some video games with the others. I think he really wanted to be included, but didn’t know how to invite himself. When I came back up into the apartment, they were all happily playing together. It’s good to see the kids really pushing themselves with their German.

We decided to go looking for old castle ruins. I checked on the internet and on the map and found 3 that were fairly close: Burg Falkenstein, Burg Kirnstein and Burg Katzenstein. We hiked up the first one: it was the largest, but most of it was privately owned. There were sheep grazing in the courtyard. It was cool, but the kids wanted to explore more. We hiked back to the car and drove to the next one. Kirnstein was quite a hike and it wasn’t very big…it was just the ruins of a big tower. The kids hiked around it. Dallin found a bloated, dead frog and that seemed to interest the kids more than the tower J. So, we drove to Katzenstein. We couldn’t find it at first. I asked an old farmer (who was missing many teeth). He told us to go back to the creek and look for a path. We did, and we found a very small pathway leading into the woods. We followed it a little and came across the ruins of a small castle. It was pretty cool, because it was a little like we discovered it ourselves. It’s off the beaten path and well hidden. The kids tried to figure out what it used to be like. We took a few photos and went back to the car.

On the way home, we stopped in Grub to ask Frau Gründl when Heidi would be around. She was SO thrilled to see us that she about ate us up J. She wanted to see each of the kids and had so much to say about each one. She was SO impressed that they spoke German. She hugged me and said just seeing me made her want to cry, because it brought back the old times. I have good memories of watching her fuss over me and Heidi when I was at Heidi’s to play.

Then we went back to the Bichlhof. Dallin was so happy to finally be home. The kids all went outside and played together. They are having so much fun here. We relaxed for a while. Then around 6:00, Heidi came. How fun to see her! Heidi is so sweet and thoughtful. She and Franziska were my very best friends. She brought us two cakes: a chocolate/nut cake and a fresh strawberry torte.

Karl and I drove with Heidi to the Gaststätte near Au for our class reunion. As we got out of the car, a guy came up and asked if this was the reunion…it was Michael Tiefenbacher. I didn’t recognize him at all. He had been with us through the 4^th grade. Then Herr Rosenmüller arrived. Wow! He still looks so good. He was such a fun teacher. I think it’s because of him, that we all stayed in contact. We all have very good memories of being in his class. We went inside and then more people started coming. Lili Kaiser, Karli Popp, Christine Impler, Luise Schöpfer, Andrea Kirchenberger, Gerti Eckl, Regina Schwarz, Martin Fichtner, Andreas Gschendtner, Martin Göttenof, Hubert Heiß, Kathrin Bichler and even Frau Kalteis, my 1^st and 2^nd grade teacher. I was so amazed to see her. I greeted her and admitted that I may have been a handful in class (frech). She said in her thick Bavarian accent: I hob’s ma imma dacht, woits oba net sagn.”  Everyone looked so good, really good—they all seemed happy and healthy. Almost everyone was married with kids. Everyone was very happy to see each other. It was so fun to listen in on the many lively conversations going on. The Bavarian was very thick and I really had to concentrate to follow everything. Karl was such a good sport. He couldn’t understand everything, but he jumped in when he could. Gertraud Peljack showed up a little later. She looked great. We’re going to visit her on Monday. Regina Juffinger showed up last. She had just driven in from Berlin today. It seems like she’s had a rough life. She’s been divorced and just seemed a little hard and synical. She and Martin Fichtner lighted up their cigarettes and smoked away the evening.

We talked until late in the night. We all ordered food. We had the Spargel or asparagus. It was VERY yummy. It was very fun to learn about what everyone is up to. Kathrin has her parents’ farm and is doing all of that with 4 young kids. She’s so jolly. The other person who was just so fun to see was Martin Göttenof. He has such a infectious smile. Martin, Hubert and Heidi and I did so much together. We had our little club on the school bus. I was sad that Anderl Hafner wasn’t there. It was amazing that out of our entire class, only 4 people didn’t show up. But we might see some of them in June, when we have the family class reunion. It’s so nice that everyone is willing to get together. It was also so nice of Gerti and Heidi to go to all the trouble of planning these get-to-gethers.

Around midnight, Karl started nudging me, but everything was still going strong. I didn’t want to leave and be the party pooper. But around quarter to one, I finally said that we probably needed to get back. Heidi paid for our food. So sweet. She dropped us off at home around 1 am. The kids were all asleep. It seems they did OK putting themselves to bed.

 

Sunday, May 14, 2006

 

Day 9

Church in Rosenheim/Mother’s Day

 

It was raining this morning. We got up early and got ready for church. It was nice to have our church clothes this time. We got to church and the kids went to their separate classes. I really enjoyed Relief Society. Ruth Schönwald taught the lesson. She’s an amazing person. After R.S., Angelika bustled me out to their car and loaded a bunch of blankets and sleeping bags into our car for us to use on our trip. She is just so thoughtful and does everything she can to make us comfortable. When you’re around her, you can just feel her love. She’s just an incredible woman.

Everyone met together for Sunday School for the Mother’s Day program. It was very nice. This mother and daughter sang a beautiful song. They shared poetry and thoughts and songs. The Primary sang—all 8 of them—that included our three girls. The whole program was well done. At the end, the primary kids (including our girls) helped pass out roses to the mothers.

In sacrament meeting, Angelika and Bro. Duhme were the main speakers. They both gave excellent talks. Being at church today was a great way to celebrate Mother’s Day. After church I hunted down some of the old-timers and took their pictures.

We drove home and Karl fixed a very nice Weisswurst, Rotkohl, and potato dinner. Afterwards I took a nap. It felt good to relax. Then Frau Gasteiger invited us down for cake. I think I’m eating too much. We sat with her in the kitchen, talked and ate up her cake. She told us some very interesting stories about her childhood and how she had to leave her home in Schlesien (now Poland) and flee to the south. She started out on a tractor with a wagon. When it ran out of gas, she finished the trip on her bike. And that’s how she ended up in Bavaria. She made the whole trek all be herself and it took her 8 weeks.

We’re having a very relaxing Sunday evening on the farm. Dallin helped feed the cows and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Kandra and Jakob had a fun picnic behind the barn. Now they’re riding bikes. Michaela and Xavier are sitting next to me playing Uno. The others are just hanging out. Sweet Karl is doing the dishes.

The kids are pretty nervous about going to school tomorrow. I hope it’s a good experience for them. Kandra is especially nervous. I think we’ll only have her go one day.

 

Monday, May 15, 2006

 

Day 10

Kids go to school/Visit Büglers

 

The kids were pretty wound up this morning. Ben was bugging everyone. He was acting out a little because he was so nervous about going to school. He left with Vali around 6:45. The bus picked them up at Grub at 7:00. He was very nervous.

We took the rest of  the kids to Parsberg. The twins went into the 4^th grade with Thomas Hellebrand (Franziska’s son). Frau Schelle was their teacher. Dallin went into the 3^rd grade with Frau Baumgarten, the principal. Kandra went to the first grade. She was very scared. I sat with her before school started and started up a conversation with some of the girls. They were cute. I got to know their names and tried to help ease Kandra into the conversation. But she was terrified. I stayed for a while and then I slipped out.

Karl and I ran to the grocery store and got some food. I was worried about Kandra. We drove back to school, and I checked in on her. When she saw me, her little lip started quivering and tears came into her eyes. I decided to take her out of class. She was very relieved to be back with mom and dad.

We spent the rest of the morning in and around Miesbach. We found the “Handy Insel” (the mobile phone store) and I got a prepaid card for 25 Euros that actually works. I also went to the bank. I’m not sure we’re getting a very good exchange rate by using our card to get money.

We drove home and I worked on entering items into Quicken. We’ve spent a lot of money so far. The kids came home from school on the bus and were actually excited about their experience. Ben got home an hour later and also enjoyed himself. He said it was much better than he expected.

We relaxed for a while and then we drove over to Gertraud Bügler’s house. She received us very warmly. She lives in a little subdivision near Miesbach. She has 3 kids: Elisabeth (6), Sebastian (4) and Korbinian (1 ½). She fed us cake and gave us drinks. Her mom also stopped by to say hi. I still remember her mom.  When her husband, Jürgen, got home, we had dinner: Weisswurst and Brezen. We visited for a while and then we left. Our kids were not behaving so well. I was disappointed to see them fight with each other. We had a talk with them in the van on the way home.

On the way home we stopped by Vali’s “Tracht” dance practice. We drove down this little road and there on our right was a large shed with a bunch of kids in Lederhosen and Dirndls standing around. Inside, a bunch of kids were practicing their dances. One boy was playing his harmonica while the others danced and twirled. It was so authentic and picturesque. We got to see Vali do one dance with his group. Then Judith Hellebrand did a dance with her group. Franziska’s girls are just so pretty.

So, now we’re sitting here writing in our journals. The kids have a lot to write. They had a big day. All of them are going to school tomorrow, too, except Kandra. She’s too scared.

 

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

 

Day 11

Kids go to school/Visit Hungers

 

We all got up early today. Everyone except Kandra went to school. The kids took the bus from Grub. Ben left 20 minutes before the others with Vali and Xavier. Everyone seemed OK with going to school again. They weren’t nervous, like yesterday. Kandra slept in. As soon as the kids left, I went running. It was a cloudy, wet day. I ran towards Niklasreuth, but I was very tired today. My legs felt like lead. I only ran about 3 miles. Franziska passed me in her car towards the end of my run and gave me a lift. It was fun to see her.

While the kids were in school, we just relaxed in the apartment. I played some games with Kandra. We did some laundry and cleaned up. Karl went on the internet and we uploaded some more photos. Kandra went outside and rode the bike. I was reading a book next to the open window. Every time she rode her bike around the front of the house, I could hear her singing. She was very happy to be home and not in school.

The kids were in good spirits when they got home. They apparently had a good day. The girls had religion and thought it was very interesting. Dallin’s class even went into the church. They had lots to tell about. Ben said that his class had a free period and that the students had a great chalk fight.

Karl and I spent the afternoon reviewing our trip budget. So far, so good. It’s nice to know that I figured out what most things would cost. That way, we’re able to relax a little more and feel OK about doing fun things.

Around 5 pm we drove down to Kiefersfelden to visit the Hungers. We drove through a huge thunderstorm. It was pretty cool. The Hungers were warm and welcoming. They were happy to see us. Rudi is such a relaxed, content guy. Gerlinda is just sweet. They have a beautiful home. We sat and talked for a while. They they served us a delicious dinner of Leberkas, potato salad, green salad and bread. It was very good. The kids then went and played board games with Gerlinda. Karl and I sat and talked with Rudi for a while. Then they fed us an awesome Quark cake and ice cream. The kids have been completely spoiled with all this yummy food.

 

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

 

Day 12

Bichlhof/Saltmines/Celtic Museum

 

When I woke up (about 8 am), Dallin was already back from helping milk the cows. He LOVES helping in the stall. The kids played Nintendo and relaxed. After a rocky start and talking to several of them, they finally really started getting along well. We really had no plans for the day, but then I suggested we drive down to Salzburg and do the tour of the Saltmines. Everyone was game.

We drove to Hallein to the Salzwerke. It was expensive, but worth it. First everyone put on the white salt mining clothes. Then we walked over to the little train (you straddle the bench) and rode it deep into the mountain. We got off the train and our guide took us through lots of different shafts and showed us lots of things about how salt was and is mined. The kids loved the wooden slides that take you down to the next level of the mine. We also rode a boat across an underground salt lake. They had some modern art stuff displayed during the boat ride, which was kind of dumb.

After finishing our salt mine tour, we walked through the Celtic village. The kids liked seeing how the Celts lived. It was all pretty interesting. The Celts were the first people to mine salt in that area.

Then we drove into Hallein and went to the Celtic Museum. It was very modern, but very interesting. They had all the Celtic artifacts on display. It was neat to see the actual items that these people used 500 years before Christ was born.

I also wanted to see the Stille Nacht museum. I asked about and was told that it closed in a half hour, so we left the the Celtic Museum and ran across the city to the place where Franz Gruber lived and died. It was a small little museum, but it was neat to learn more about the person who composed the music for Silent Night. We were the only people in the museum. The sweet lady and the counter sat and told us all this neat stuff about Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr (the guy who wrote the text of the song). She liked the kids and gave them each a piece of candy.

Then we drove home. We’ve been packing up tonight and trying to get things ready for our big trip tomorrow.

 

Thursday, May 18, 2006

 

Day 13

Trade Van/Pick up Camper/Playmobil Fun Park

 

We got up early and packed up the rest of the van. We vacuumed and cleaned the apartment. We said our goodbyes and finally drove off. We got to the car rental place in Munich to exchange vans (since we need one with a trailer hitch)…sadly they did not have another Vito for us. We had to take the Sprinter…it’s huge. It’s like driving around in a delivery truck AND it’s a stick shift AND it doesn’t have a Navigation system. We were all so disappointed.

Well, we drove up to Markt Indersdorf and found the camping trailer place. (We really could have used our Navi lady.) It took over an hour to do all the paperwork and go over everything in the trailer. I really like the trailer that we ended up with. It has a table at each end AND it has a small little fold down bunk bed over the front table.

We hitched up our trailer and drove off. Driving was a little stressful for Karl. Our van is so huge and then we’re also towing a trailer and we’re driving through these little towns on narrow, curvy roads and we have a stick shift. Yuck. We slowly headed north towards Nuremberg.

We arrived at the Playmobil Funpark just after three. The kids were jumping for joy as we pulled in. I must say, that place is incredibly awesome. It cost our family 49 Euros, but it was worth every cent! It was like being a little Playmobil figure in a Playmobil world. There was the Knight’s Castle area with a huge castle, you could climb up all the towers, you could sit on the throne, find secret passages underneath the castle, lock yourself in the prison, climb the outside walls, pull water up out of a real well. It was just so fun.

From there we went over into the Farm and the Wild West area. You could milk water out of the cows. They had a saloon with an old piano and bottles you could knock over with tennis balls. They had a whole gold mine area. Then we went over to the huge climbing area. It was this huge net. They kids were at the top in an instant. It was fun to see Ben totally being a kid and totally having a blast with his siblings.

When it rained, we went to the inside climbing area. Also incredibly cool. Ropes and bridges were everywhere. Underneath was this cool light up maze thing. They kids played, while Karl and I ordered some food, then we all had a little to eat.

Then we went to see the pirate area. Wow! It was SO cool. You could take your own little raft over to the pirate ship and board it. The ship was awesome. The kids LOVED the rafts. Then we ran over to the Aztek ruins—also very cool. Then to the Adventure/Jungle area with the tree houses. The kids enjoyed fishing for little tiny playmobil fishies and stuff in the clams. Karl and I climbed all over the tree houses, too. It was fun. The best part about it was that everyone was so thoroughly enjoying themselves and having so much fun. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the kids having so much pure fun. The rest of the time—until it closed at 7:00, we just went from area to area exploring and playing more. We found more cool things. As you leave, they have a cool area where you can see all their current toys and software. It’s very cool.

Well, I am very glad that we had the Playmobil Fun Park on our itinerary. I don’t think the kids will ever forget the fun they had today. Dallin was in 2^nd heaven. He was totally amazed at how much money “those guys” have to build a place like that.

We drove a little over an hour to Rothenburg. We found our campground. It’s called Tauber Idyll and is in this very cute little village next to Rothenburg called Detwang. It was a little tricky drivng the camping trailer down the little narrow streets to the campground. When we got there, we had to have the campground owner help us a little to back into our spot and get the trailer unhitched. It also took us a while to get ready to sleep. We actually are able to sleep all 7 of us on beds. How nice that we can all be together. The twins slept (squished) in the little fold-down bunk. The boys and Kandra slept on the bigger double bed and Karl and I on the other.

 

Friday, May 19, 2006

 

Day 14

Rothenburg/Rhine

 

We got up and ate and sort of moved into the trailer. We all unpacked our suitcases and stored the stuff in the different cubbies. That way we don’t have to go to the van to get stuff out of our suitcases.

We drove up to Rothenburg and entered through one of the gates in the city wall. Rothenburg is really such a cool medieval town. We went St. Jakob’s cathedral first. The kids really liked it. They sat and let me read the history to them. It was fun to be in the same cathedral that they had seen featured on the Rick Steves travel video. I think watching those videos made the kids enjoy some of these sights a little more…it’s called anticipation.

Then we walked to the city square. We went in the Kathe Wollfahrt Christmas store. It is very fun and magical. But by the time we got through the winding store, we couldn’t find Michaela. Kiana and I went through the store several times looking for her. I even had her paged. Karl was waiting with the others at the entrance. We were all starting to get a little worried. I told Karl, we’d wait here and he should look outside a little. A little while later, I saw him coming back with a sobbing Michaela. She thought we had left the store and forgotten her. So she went out into the city looking for us. She was distraught. Poor thing…that was a scary experience. We went over the rule that you stay where you are if you are lost.

After that we went through a cool museum about Rothenburg’s history. Then we climbed to the top of the Rathaus Turm. VERY cool. The stairway wound up and up to the top of the tower. The old wooden stairs themselves were 400 years old and were so steep. In the states, stairs like that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. It was cool that they let you go up the old stairs. The view from the top was really awesome. It was very windy.

Then we went to the Torture museum. It was interesting and gruesome. We walked around the city a little more. Checked e-mail for free in the tourist office. We got a very nice update from the Hanzels and the Updikes about life at home. I didn’t have much time to reply, cause we had to hurry back to the campground to check out before two.

We hitched up and drove to St. Goar. It took us about 3 to 4 hours. All the driving is taking a little longer than I estimated, because we’re driving a lot slower with the trailer than I thought we would. We had a lovely drive up the Rhine valley. We found a campground directly across form the Loreley in St. Goar. It’s a beautiful setting. Dallin had a lot of fun waving at the big tourist boats as they drove by. Well, it’s late and we have a full day planned for tomorrow.

 

Saturday, May 20, 2006

 

Day 15

Burg Rheinfels/Burg Eltz/Drive to Brussels

 

We got up pretty early, ate breakfast and loaded in the van and drove into St. Goar. We left the trailer at the campground. We did a little shopping and got some things on our shopping list, like a broom for the trailer, trash bags, and food. From there we headed up to the Eltz castle ruin.

The ‘Burg Eltz’ was an awesome ruin to explore. We ran around doing a self-guided tour for a while. It was fun. It was such a huge castle. You could go almost anywhere you wanted.  There were passageways, chambers, towers, a well, and cool, dark passageways or tunnels in the lower parts of the castle. We wish we had had flashlights. It was fun to run through the tunnels and think about the people who used the tunnels centuries ago. They also had a museum where you could see pictures and a model of what the castle used to look like. There were also incredible views of the Rhine from the top clock tower. The kids and Karl almost got lost in some of the tunnels. The whole experience was pretty adventurous. The kids really enjoyed it.

We then spent an hour driving to ‘Burg Eltz’. It took us longer because a bridge was closed and we had to drive down stream to the next bridge. Karl was stressed because we ended up on some pretty narrow town roads. When I was planning the trip, I decided that we had to see Eltz castle because it was Rick Steve’s favorite.

Well, Rick did not let us down. ‘Burg Eltz’ was AWESOME. It was the most incredible castle I’ve ever been in. It’s a gorgeous castle in a gorgeous setting. In its entire history, it was never destroyed. In fact, it has been in the same family for 32 generations and is still privately owned. All the artifacts were original to the house. Everything was in such pristine condition, that you could imagine exactly what it was like to have lived in the castle in the 15^th century. It was so awesome. We took an English guided tour. The kids were in awe. There were beautiful tapestries, gorgeous beds, painted walls and ceilings, bear skin rugs (with bear heads attached), richly carved furniture, cool floor tiles, gorgeous mantle pieces and even very comfy looking bathrooms.

When we left, the kids each decided they would spend their souvenir money on swords. Ben spent 32 Euros on a 3 foot long sword. The other kids got slightly smaller swords. They really like their swords. Those will be pretty fun souvenirs.

We spent the rest of the day driving to Belgium. It was extremely windy for our entire drive. We probably spent double the gas by driving against such a strong head wind. We’re staying at a campground northwest of Belgium. I’m so glad we’re in a trailer and not a tent, especially since there’s quite a rain storm raging outside. We’re nice and snug in our little trailer. The kids played UNO while I made dinner. They all got along nicely. We had canned chicken soup and dumplings. Now everyone is sleeping. I’d better get to bed, too. Tomorrow is church.

 

Sunday, May 21, 2006

 

Day 16

Church in Brussels/Bruge /Dunkirk

 

Well, we slept in a little and then got ready for church. We decided that since church would be in French, we’d only go to Sacrament meeting. So, we drove all the way downtown Brussels (we left our trailer at the campground). It was a crazy drive and we got lost a few times. But we finally found a city building that had our church’s name. I tried the door, but it was locked. There was a doorbell that said “Ring for genealogy center”. We figured we just got the genealogy center, so we piled back into the car not knowing what to do, since it was the only address I had. But I decided to go back and ring the bell, just in case I could get more info—so I did. A guy answered the door. It turns out it was a church. They lock the doors to discourage theft while in their meetings. A nice man explained that we were welcome to join them, but that there was an international ward on the north side of Brussels, in Grimbergen. What irony! Our campground was in Grimbergen and we had just fought all that yucky traffic to make it down town. Well, I asked the kids what they wanted to do and they said they’d rather go to the international (English speaking) ward in Grimbergen. So we piled back into the car and drove to the other building. The international ward was just starting. The kids went to primary, the boys to Priesthood and I went to Relief Society. It was a wonderful lesson taught by an African sister about relying on the Lord. The Spirit was strong and I could tell that the ladies in the room were neat people. One of them was a diplomat (probably for the EU), she told of an interesting experience of when her 6 year old son got to shake the President’s and the First Lady’s hands.

We ducked out of church as soon as the Sacrament was over. I’m so glad we took the time to go to church. I needed a spiritual renewal. We haven’t been so good at doing our family scripture reading every day. We’ve also been slacking on our personal scriptures and prayers. It’s good to be reminded of what really matters. There was a lot we could have done in Brussels if we hadn’t gone to church, but I explained to the kids that this entire trip was a gift from our Heavenly Father and that we would be very ungrateful if we did not honor and thank him by worshiping him on Sunday.

On the way home from church, we drove up to the Atomium and took some pictures. Then we headed back to the campground, hitched up and drove to Bruges. It’s supposed to be one of the quaintest Belgium cities.

We drove into Bruges and found bus parking lot near the old city. We took a city bus into the center of town. It dropped us off in the market square. A kind old English tourist had given me his old map of the city. In the market square, I asked a Flemish woman for help. I told her that my family had 1 ½ hours to experience the city and asked her what she would recommend. She took my map and drew a route for us to walk. Her advice was very good. Bruges is absolutely charming. We really enjoyed our stroll. I didn’t know that there were so many canals in Bruges. There are also hundreds of chocolate shops lining almost every street. I gave in and bought a chocolate bar and it was good.

We got back to the car around 6:30. Dallin was tired and hungry. We got everyone snacks and then started driving toward Dunkirk. It rained very hard. The kids were a little antsy. When we finally got to our campground, just south of Dunkirk, in Grand-Forte-Philippe, the gate was closed. I called through the gate to a man. Karl started asking him in French if the campground was closed. He didn’t speak much French, but said that the owner was gone. So we asked him if he spoke English. His English was a little better. But I noticed he used a German word. It turns out he was German and then we really understood each other.

He said we could probably open the gate and drive in. The owner would be back in the morning and we could pay him then. We did and set up camp. I made the kids dinner. Outside there was another huge rainstorm. It made us very happy to have such a nice cozy trailer. After dinner, the rain stopped and a big rainbow appeared. I had everyone put on their rain gear and head out to the beach. I had noticed some bunkers earlier. We walked way out onto the beach. The kids thought the WWII bunkers were pretty cool. There were some big concrete bunkers, but they were fenced off and some cows were living in them. The ones out closer to the ocean were metallic. It really gave you a sense for what it would have been like to have to attack that beach. I hope that whenever the kids learn more about WWII, that they remember that they walked on one of the battlegrounds. It was cool to be that close to history.

The kids watched Willow on the laptop. They enjoyed being able to relax a little. The water isn’t working in this campground. That’s very frustrating, because I would really like a shower. Well, it it’s midnight and tomorrow is another very busy day.

 

Monday, May 22, 2006

 

Day  17

Ferry Crossing/Getting Lost in Dartford/Arriving at Fettermans

 

Well, we woke up at the Dunkirk campground. The owner was still not there, so we dropped some money in the mailbox on our way out. We made it to the ferry terminal on time and waited in line for quite a while. We finally got onto the ferry. We crossed with Norfolk Lines. They seem to cater to trucks, which is probably why they gave us a good deal on crossing with a big camping trailer.

Once we parked the car, we got to go up to the upper decks and relax. I was thinking it would be a very fast crossing—like 50 minutes. So I told the kids not to bring a ton of stuff. That was a mistake. It took 3 ½ hours and the kids were bored stiff. It was also a rough crossing. It was very windy and I felt a little nauseous. The kids were pretty well behaved considering how bored they were.

When we got back down to the cars to drive out, we (and the people in front of us) noticed that our car was bumped up against them. There was no damage, but apparently Karl forgot to put on the parking break. I’m glad that nothing worse happened.

We drove off the ferry and Karl was very stressed about the driving on the left side thing. It’s very confusing. It doesn’t help when you’re completely lost and pulling a huge trailer. The plan was to drive up to Dover castle and see it while in town. We drove up the windy road to the ticket booth. They informed us that because of the weather, half the castle was closed and she said that we were probably to large to drive through the stone gate. So, we decided to scrap the plan and got on the freeway (motorway) and drove towards the Fettermans. It was a very blustery/rainy/stormy day.

As we were passing by Dartford near London, we realized that we had to cross a toll tunnel and that we didn’t have any money. So we took the exit and started looking for a bank. We got completely lost. There were so many little narrow one-way streets. Karl was so stressed driving our huge caravan. We finally pulled into a truck shipping yard to turn around. I had Karl just stay there, while jumped out and ran down the street looking for a bank. I found one and then I found a Mc Donalds. By the time I got back to the family, Karl was very anxious to get going. Some man had told him that he needed to be off the property in 5 minutes. Well, after some more stress and wrong turns, we finally made it onto the freeway (motorway). We felt better because everyone had a cheeseburger and apple pie in their tummies and I had 200 pounds in my wallet.

We arrived at the Fettermans around 5:30 pm…after stopping to ask many people where they lived. It was so good to finally arrive. It was fun to see familiar faces. The Fetterman kids ran out to the van to see our brood. They had been looking forward to seeing our kids. We combined our kitchens (mostly Fetterman kitchen) and had a big dinner with just about everything on the table.

After dinner we had an elaborate Family Home Evening. I’ve been lazy with our Family Home Evenings. We do them OK, but we haven’t been very good assigning different things each week. Often I’m the one always doing the lesson. Seeing the Fetterman’s FHE was a good incentive to do better when we get back to the states.

Our whole family slept in the trailer. I stayed up late talking to Michael and Beth. They’ve been so sweet to let us stay. It feels nice to be in a real home. All the kids, except for Dallin have a special Fetterman friend. But Dallin hangs with the big boys or the dog.

 

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

 

Day 18

Fettermans/Cambridge/Wimpole

 

We got up and had breakfast. The Fetterman kids all got off to school. They wear uniforms. The four kids go to 3 different schools with different starting times. Once they left, we sort of tidied up and made our plans for the day.

I ran to the local grocerty store (Morrisons) and got some food. I picked up pizzas for dinner. Then we loaded up in the van and drove into Cambridge. Because parking is so difficult in the city AND because our beast of a van doesn’t fit in parking garages, Beth suggested we park in a shopping center and walk into town. It was a long walk, but a nice way to see the city. We walked over to the Cam River and took the ‘Punting Tour” on the Cam. Our ‘punter’ explained a lot of the history of the colleges at Cambridge. It was interesting to understand how the colleges work. We really don’t have an equivalent system in the states. The colleges are sort of like fraternities and dorms and social support system. There is a lot of competition among the different colleges. The different colleges own different parts of the city and different buildings. Some of them are quite ornate.

After our boat ride, we wandered around the city a little and then headed back to the car. We left Cambridge and drove to Wimpole. Driving is not easy here. Very few roads are labled. There are many one-way roads and dead ends.

We got to Wimpole with very little time to really check the whole place out. Wimpole is a large estate with a very large house (Wimple Hall). The grounds were expansive. We enjoyed touring the home. It was interesting for the kids to see such a grand house. It was owned by Rudyard Kipling’s daughter at one point. It had a very grand dining room and many, many other rooms. The servants quarters downstairs were very interesting, too. They had a bell system, with separate bells that rang from each room upstairs.

After touring the house, we walked around the grounds a little and then walked back to the car. We drove back to the Fettermans and cooked the pizzas I had bought. Everyone ate and was happy to be back with the Fettermans. Michael took Ben and Aaron to church for Young Mens. Deborah and the twins rode their bikes to the grocery store, bought candy and had a party in the tent in the back yard. They all slept out there. They even hooked up the laptop and watched a movie. Kandra and Adriana slept in the office. The boys all slept in Aaron’s room. We sat and visited with Beth and Michael. It was a nice evening.

 

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

 

Day 19

London

 

The Fettermans suggested we take the train into London instead of drive. We had a lazy morning and then packed our things. Michael led us with his car to the train station in Cambridge. That was so nice of him. The roads are rather confusing. We got to the train station and had a very difficult time finding a parking place. Everything was full. I finally saw a spot that might work. We were a little stressed, since our train was about to leave. I helped Karl shimmy the van into a very interesting spot and then we ran to the train station. We made our train and were happy to have all the driving stress behind us.

The train took almost an hour to get into London. It was a nice low-stress way to travel. We got off the train at King’s Cross. It’s the same train station where Harry Potter was filmed. They’ve even put up a sign that says Platform 9 ¾ with a luggage cart that is cut off ½ way so it looks like it’s being pushed into the wall.

We made our way to the underground trains. It took us a while to figure out what we were doing. We knew that we wanted to make it to Westminister Abbey. Once we got there, we were still lost and didn’t have our bearings, but we did find the Thames and there were the boat tour booths. We at a snack on the steps, walked around a little and then got on the boat. It took us up and down the Thames in about an hour. It was very interesting and it was a nice way to see some of the very famous London sights.

After our boat tour, we needed to find a bank. We asked around and finally found one. We decided not to go into the Westminister Abbey, because it was a little pricey. We went back into the underground station and took the subway over to the Tower Bridge. That’s the bridge that people think is the London Bridge. It was interesting to go up and walk across. It was interesting to learn about the history of the bridge. We then toured the engine rooms and saw how the mechanics of the draw bridge worked.

After that we walked by London Tower (which should be called London Castle). The kids wanted to go in, but we were out of time. It looked pretty cool. We then got back on the Tube (underground railway) and took it across town to the Natural History Museum. Wow! What an impressive building that was!! Everyone gasped as we walked up to it. It was actually built to be a museum and you can see plants and animals portrayed everywhere in the architecture. I would have liked to spend much more time just admiring the building…but we also wanted to go inside. The inside of the building was also very impressive. The great entrance hall was breathtaking.

We had less than an hour to see the exhibits. We literally ran through the museum. The first part we went to was the dinosaur section. Very cool!! They had a very cool animatronic T-Rex. It made scary dinosaur sounds, which scared Kandra quite a bit. She was noticeably disturbed by the dinosaur and wanted to leave that area as quickly as possible.

The rest of the museum (that we saw) was very impressive. After a long and tiring day, the kids had been complaining, whining and tired…but the museum really revived everyone. They were running from exhibit to exhibit shouting excitedly about each one. It was nice to see them really enjoying themselves.

After that we took the tube back to King’s Cross. The kids were hungry, exhausted and edgy. Everyone’s legs were tired. We got cheeseburgers at the trainstation and finally got seated on our train back to Cambridge. It was nice to sit and relax for the ride home. We were happy to see that nobody had towed our beast. The kids all went to bed (not to sleep…because they all stayed up talking with their Fetterman buddies), Karl, Beth and I sat around her kitchen table and talked while eating crackers and cheese. Beth had done laundry for us while we were away. That was just so nice of her.

 

Thursday, May 25, 2006

 

Day 20

Leeds Castle/Drive to Dover

 

We spent the morning packing up and getting ready to go. I ran to the store with the girls and filled up gas. We left around 9:30. We took a wrong turn and ended up driving around Cambridge. It’s always frazzeling to get lost. It took us a while to figure out where we were, and then it took a while to back track to the motorway.

We got to Leeds castle around 1:30 or 2:00. It was a beautiful day…the best weather we’ve had yet. The kids loved the castle. As you walked to the castle, you pass the ‘duckery’ with all sorts of interesting water birds. We toured the castle. It was very nice. Most of it had been renovated as living quarters in the 1920’s by Lady Bailie. So, you really couldn’t get a glimpse back into Henry VIII’s time. The library was gorgeous. After touring the castle we had ice cream cones and then walked through the Aviary. They a ton of parrots, McCaws, Toucans and other jungle birds. Then we went over to the cool hedge maze. The kids REALLY liked the maze. When you finally get to the center you can walk down underground into a grotto and through a cave that takes you out of the maze.

We finished the maze just in time for a falconry demonstration. It was fun to see the birds up close. The guy had them land very close to us a few times. After that we walked back to the car. When we got there we realized that Dallin had left his jacket somewhere…oh well, I hope it doesn’t get too cold for the rest of the trip.

We drove to our Dover campground. It had closed at 5:30, so we had to park in the late arrivals area. We all took showers and had dinner. The fog rolled in and now it’s raining.

 

Friday, May 26, 2006

 

Day 21

Ferry to Dunkirk/Drive to Paris

 

Today was a travel day. We got up early and drove down into Dover. Since it was our second time doing the ‘ferry thing’, we weren’t as confused and it went very smoothly. I took two Dramamine pills before we boarded the ferry. After parking (and remembering the emergency break), we went up to the passenger decks. This ship was so much bigger and nicer than the last one. We found a nice seat right next to a kiddie play area. I gave everyone some sandwiches for lunch. I was sitting there talking to Ben and Dallin, when suddenly I got dead tired. My eyes started watering and I just couldn’t keep my eye lids open. The Dramamine had had quite the effect on me. I felt like I passed out. It was all I could do to lay down on the bench and I was out. I slept through the whole 2 ½ hour ferry ride. How funny.

We spent the rest of the day driving to Paris. Karl needed gas and we spent some stressful minutes driving through small towns, looking for gas, hoping we wouldn’t run out and doing some U-turns (and stopping traffic both ways) before finding our gas. It was nice to get back on the freeway.

We arrived at the Paris campground around 7:30. It’s spendy ($50/night) but nice. Dinner wasn’t exciting, but it sufficed. We’re all tired.

 

Saturday, May 27, 2006

 

Day 22

Paris/Louvre/Notre Dame

 

I got up before the reset and got dressed and ready for the day. I told everyone to get up and then I took the van and went in search of a grocery store. The lady at the campground reception told me vaguely where it should be. It was very hard to find a parking place and then it was quite a trick to try and parallel park our beast. The store didn’t open until 9:00. I approached a French family and asked them where a bank was. They were so nice. The mom ran across the street and inquired at a hotel. They spoke very little English, but they were able to show me the way. I found the bank and withdrew 300 Euros, then I walked to the grocery store. While waiting for it to open, a very cute little old French lady started talking to me. I tried to explain that I didn’t speak much French, but she just kept on talking. I think she told me that her grandparents were German and that her people moved to Switzerland and France or something like that.

I got my shopping done and headed back to the campground. When I got there, Karl was fixing a leaky water tube. He seemed pretty stressed. We at breakfast and then we drove into Paris. I decided to drive because Karl was stressed out about driving in the big city. We drove around quite a bit looking for a parking place. We finally found one, but the maximum time allowed for parking was 2 hours. We decided to risk it.

We walked over to the Louvre. The kids got to see the Mona Lisa. We wandered through the museum. They were pretty impressed by the gigantic French and Italian paintings. There were a lot of nudes and the kids were a little bothered by that. We then went down into the basement and checked out the foundation of the original castle that used to stand in that place. The kids were bumbed that a ‘dumb’ palace had replaced the ‘cool’ castle. It seems like we are all castle fans.

Everyone was running out of steam and needed food, so we went back up to the outside and sat by the fountains and ate lunch. While they ate, I ran back to the car and put another 2 hours on the parking meter.

Then we decided to walk over to the Notre Dame. It looked close on the map, but Paris is big. We walked by all the little shops along the Seine. The girls bought Eifel tower key chains. We got to the Notre Dame and got in line to get in. Paris was really a madhouse today. There were so many tourists. Notre Dame really is a cool cathedral. The kids really liked it. We walked around the entire cathedral. There was a lot to admire.

Then we walked behind the cathedral to the French Holocaust victim memorial. It was a solemn place and amazing to think that each of the 200,000 lights displayed was a French person who died in a concentration camp. There was an inscription above the door that read: Forgive, but never forget.

The kids really wanted to go up on the Notre Dame tower. The line was almost an hour long. While they stood in line, I ran back to the car to extend the parking time. It was a long run and it was warm and muggy. It took me about 40 minutes. When I got back, it was our turn to go up to the tower. There over 400 steps going up to the top of the tower. The view was impressive and it was neat to see all the gargoyles up close. You could even go in the bell tower and see the old bell. That was also pretty cool.

After that we walked slowly back to the Louvre, stopping to buy a few things at the shops. We only had ½ hour before it closed. We checked out some statures and some other things. Then we walked back to the car. Everyone was very tired. We stopped by the grocery store again on the way back to the campground.

We made dinner and everyone took a shower. The showers are not extremely nice.

I worked on entering Quicken most of the night while Karl made dinner. Karl and I decided that we will have church in the trailer tomorrow, since I didn’t have enough information about when and where the Paris wards meet. Also, I think it will be nice to have an English service, so that they can understand. We got to bed late.

 

Sunday, May 28, 2006

 

Day 23

Paris/Eiffel Tower/Napoleon’s Tomb

 

            We finally got to sleep in. It felt great. Everyone needed the rest. We’ve really been pushing ourselves on this trip. After getting ready and eating breakfast, we had a church meeting in the trailer. It lasted about an hour. Kiana picked and led the songs, the boys said opening and closing prayers. Kandra read a scripture. Karl read a conference address and I taught a lesson out of the New Era on ‘choices’. Michaela, Dallin and Kandra bore their testimonies. It was a nice little lesson.

We’ve been working with the kids on recognizing selfish, prideful, ‘hard-hearted’ behavior. We’ve been challenging them to soften their hearts, especially when dealing with siblings. We’re living in tight quarters and there are times when everyone seems to bug and be offended by everyone else. I hope that today’s little church service helped the kids to understand that they are responsible for their own attitudes, thoughts and actions…and ultimately their own happiness.

            Well, we finally loaded up in the van and drove to the Eiffel tower. Because it was Sunday, there was more parking AND it was all free. We walked over to the tower. Dallin was SO excited, he was hard to contain. We waited in line to go up for over an hour. It was a beautiful day. We finally got to go up to the second level. From there the view is pretty good. Then we took the second elevator up to the top. Now, that was cool! All the kids were VERY impressed. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed the spectacular view. We could see the Louvre and the Notre Dame.

By the time we got back to the bottom, it was almost 4:00 pm. We decided to drive over to the dome church where Napoleon’s tomb is kept. First we checked out the military museum, since it was covered in our ticket. What a great surprise! It was really awesome. They had so many cool swords, shields and armor. They had armor that had belonged to kings and lots of old weapons from the 12^th and 13^th centuries. It was cool to see swords that had dings and marks from being used in battles. It kind of made it more real.

            Then we walked over to the domed church that held Napoleons tomb. WOW! That was very impressive. The kids were amazed. It was very awesome! We had a couple audio tours recordings. The kids enjoyed walking around and listening to the information on the recording. The French must really esteem Napoleon, to have given him this resting place.

 

Monday, May 29, 2006

 

Day 24

Versailles Attempt/Paris Campground

 

            We had a nice relaxing morning. We loaded into the van and drove to Versailles. We parked the van and walked up to the ticket window…and saw that the palace is actually closed on Mondays. Oh, everyone was so disappointed. We walked around the grounds a little, but it was cold and windy and we were so bumbed about not being able to see the inside. Karl and I tried to figure out how we could possible get up early tomorrow morning and swing by to see it.

            I’ve been so frustrated about my phone not working. We found a cell phone store in Versailles, but it didn’t open until 2 pm. It was about 11:30, so we had some time on our hands and absolutely no plans for the day…since Versailles was closed. So we just wandered around the city. We stopped at a bakery and tried some pasteries. Then we wandered down and found the post office. We bought some stamps and sent some postcards. We still had some time, the kids were getting tired, so we decided to sit down at a “creperie”, a place that cells crepes. We ordered 3 different kinds and shared. Finally, the cell phone store was opened. After talking to them for a while (with Karl’s help), we figured out that there was really nothing to do. It would not be worth while to buy another SIM card and there was no way to make my present card work. I was frustrated, first because Versailles was closed and second because we had waited all that time for that store to open, and it was useless. I also felt bad because, if I had followed my original plan and gone to church in Versailles yesterday instead of going to Paris, it would have worked out. Oh well.

            We drove back to camp. The kids played in the campground. They played hide-and-seek and really enjoyed playing and relaxing. I did a load of laundry. We really needed clean clothes. I also made some long distance phone calls on the internet machine in the campground lobby. I took the younger 4 with me and walked to the grocery store. We got some food and I let the kids buy treats. It was fun walking through one of the Parisan neighborhoods and crossing over the Seine and just seeing regular life in Paris. I think that shopping and doing other ‘business’ stuff in a foreign country can be just as entertaining and educational as seeing the ‘great’ sights. It’s fun to see how things are done differently in each country.

            Karl took a nap. He’s feeling a little stressed. He sometimes has a harder time dealing with new and strange situations. So far, I’ve done most of the driving in Paris, because it doesn’t stress me out as much…although it is a tad crazy.

Our lazy afternoon ended up being a welcome break in our busy schedule. The kids have been playing so nicely. It’s so nice to see Ben really bonding with his brother and sisters.  After dinner (Raviolis), the kids watched ‘Raiders of the Lost Arc’, then we went to bed.

 

Tuesday, May 30 2006

 

Day 25

Versailles/Drive to Switzerland/Oma & Opa at the Biehlersee

 

Well, we got up and hitched up the trailer and drove to Versailles. The kids didn’t know where we were going, because we didn’t want to say anything, in case it didn’t work out. When we got to Versailles, they were pretty excited that they were going to get to see the palace after all. The only problem was trying to park our van and trailer. We found a space on a very narrow street and tried to parallel park. It was very crazy. We ended stopping traffic and could just not get the beast parked. When the trailer was in place, then the van was sticking out in the street blocking cars or the opposite. We finally gave up, drove into another street and found a great place to park.

We bought tickets and did the ‘C’ tour, which was smaller and shorter, first. We got to see some of the less famous rooms. They were interesting. Then we went on the ‘B’ tour with all the throngs of tourists. It was like swimming in a river of sardines. But the kids really liked seeing all of the ‘very’ stately rooms. They thought it was funny that anyone would need so many ‘drawing rooms’. The ‘hall of mirrors’ was partly under construction, which was a little disappointing. They thought that Louis XIV looked like a very fat, spoiled rotten man…which he probably was.

As soon as we finished the tour, we ran to the van and took off. It was about 11:30 am and it was my goal to try and make it to the Biehlersee in Switzerland before too late and we had had a good 8 hours of driving ahead of us.

The drive across France went fairly smoothly. The roads were nice. Karl’s  back was hurting, so I drove a good part of the stretch. The French country side was beautiful. We saw quaint villages nestled up against hillsides; we saw castles and castle ruins and old churches. Most of the country side was rolling hills. As we got closer to the border, we saw more forests.

As we were driving through Basel, my phone rang! It was dad. They were in Zurich and it looked like we would be arriving at the campground about the same time. We took a wrong turn in Biel and ended up driving back up into the hills towards France—whoops. As we drove through Switzerland, Dallin was so excited to see Oma and Opa, he was about to pop. When we finally got to our campground in Erlach, it was closed. No one was there. It didn’t even look like a normal campground. All the trailers looked like permanent fixtures that are rented out.

We waited about 10 minutes and then Oma and Opa arrived. Everyone was so excited to see them. It’s such a fun thing to see mom and dad in Switzerland. We drove around looking for another campground. We finally found one in Le Landeron. It was also closed, but there was a good place to park out in front of the campground. So, we set up camp (I even found a place to plug in so we had electricity). We stayed up late talking to mom and dad. Dad loves the little VW camper they rented. We got to bed very late.

 

Wednesday, May 31 2006

 

Day 26

Biehlersee/Le Landeron/Lüschertz/Interlaaken/Wattenwil

 

We got up around 8:00 and ready to go by 9:30. We talked to the owner of the campground to see if we could keep the trailer there while we drove around during the morning. At first he wasn’t so willing. I was glad that Karl was able to talk to him in French. He finally understood and allowed it.

We drove over to the cute old walled city we had seen the night before. It’s called Le Landeron. It was so extremely picturesque and quaint. The town was in the shape of a wreath. All the houses were connected and there was square in the middle. All the houses were painted different colors. It was an ancient little town.

After walking around Le Landeron, we drove over to Lüschertz. That’s the town where Grandma Krey’s mother was born. Mom read the kids some of her Grandma’s journal entries about the house and what life was like for them in Lüschertz. The house was vacant because it’s apparently for sale. That was nice, because we were able to walk all over take lots of pictures. We peered in the windows.

The sawmill building was next to the house. As we were looking at the building (which is now a boat shop), a man approaches and wanted to know what we were doing. We told him about how mom’s grandma used to live here and he warmed up to us and we ended up talking to him for quite a while. He told us how he rented the shop and when it sold, he’d have to find a different profession. After talking a while, he wanted to know if we wanted to go on a boat ride out to the St. Petersinsel. At first we said that we had stuff to do, but he asked again, and we figured…why not? So, we all piled into his boat and we drove across the lake to the island. It was a beautiful day. It was fun to know that my great grandmother also went out on this lake and spent time on the island. The island has one hotel and one farm. The hotel was cool because it was built on top of some old Roman ruins. We sat in the courtyard of the hotel/Gasthof and had some drinks and talked to Andreas von Bergen (that was our new friend’s name). He was such a nice guy. After the drinks, we got back in the boat and drove back to Lüschertz.

After saying goodbye to our new friend, we drove back to the campground, picked up our trailer and drove to Interlaken. We drove for about an hour. We found a nice campground and set up camp. The scenery here is breathtaking. We are right at the foot of some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. We can see the Jungfrau, the Eiger and the Mönch right from our campsite.

With the camper dropped off, we all (Oma & Opa included) piled into our big beast and drove off in search of more ancestor towns. We headed towards Wattenwil. On the way we drove through Aeschi. One of our ancestors (Suzanne ?) was born in Aeschi. It was such a beautiful little town way up on the mountain. We saw a bunch of little Alms up on the mountain that looked like Heidi and her grandpa could live there.

When we got to Wattenwil, we found the church and the school. It’s probably the same school that Marie Zimmerman went to. I saw a man walking across the street and I approached him and asked him if there was an old graveyard anywhere and explained to him that we had ancestors in this town. He explained that in Switzerland, they re-use the gravesite after 20 years, so there really aren’t many old grave yards. We went to the graveyard anyways and found lots of tombstones with many of the names from mom’s pedigree charts. We saw lots names like Zimmerman, Kunzi, Krebs, etc.

Everyone was hungry. We went to the town Gasthof. When we got inside, we were a little disappointed. I was hoping for a nice authentic Swiss experience. It turned out that it was also a pizzeria and didn’t seem at all authentic. The prices were extremely high…like 26 Francs for a plate. We ended up doing the only affordable thing. The nine of us split 4 small pizzas and then we left.

On the way home we drove through Spiez. It’s right on Lake Thun. We also had some ancestors from Spiez. It’s fun to get an idea of what life was like for them. They really sacrificed a lot to join the gospel. They left a beautiful place in order to come to America.

I had everyone write in their journals when we got back. The kids are all behind, but they’re really trying hard to get caught up. There is just so much to write about every day. The girls slept in mom and dad’s camper.

 

Thursday, June 01, 2006

 

Day 27

Interlaken/Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen/Trümmelfälle (Waterfalls)

 

When I opened the door to the trailer this morning, I was blown away be the beautiful view. The mountain peaks above us were shining in the morning sun and were glistening because of all the new snow that fell on them last night. We took showers and got breakfast going. We didn’t leave camp until around 10:30.

We drove to the train station to inquire about train tickets up to the Jungfrau Joch. While dad and I were in the station, the others went across the street to a grocery store and got food. We drove up to Grindelwald. By now, clouds were covering up the highest peaks. It was still beautiful. We drove up past Grindelwald until we reached snow. Dad stopped the van and we all got out and had some lunch, while the kids had snowball fight. We took in the scenery and reminded the kids to take in the scenery.

We drove to the Grindelwald train station and checked on the weather at the top. Apparently it was foggy and snowy at the top, which meant it would not be worth it for us to buy train tickets to go to the top. It’s not worth $200 to look at fog. I was a little sad. It would have been a very neat experience for the kids to go up. It would have been an experience that they would never have forgotten.

We then drove up the other valley to Lauterbrunnen. The valley is breathtaking. Shear rock cliffs on either side with waterfalls that cascade over the side into the valley. Dad had to stop and check out some parachuting business and ask them about paramotors. He talked to the group of kids who were going skydiving for quite a while. Finally mom had to go get him and he hustled back. We drove further up the valley and stopped at the Trümmelfälle. It was the same place Karl and I had gone to with Angie 12 years ago. It’s a place where you can take an elevator and some stairs into a mountain to see all these huge waterfalls inside the mountain. The noise is deafening. The kids thought it was pretty cool.  It was amazing to see how the water had carved it’s way deep into the mountain.

Afterwards we drove up the valley a little further and took lots of pictures. Then it started raining and we headed back to camp. Mom and dad left to go out to dinner with dad’s friend Klaus Honig. The kids played in the campground playground for a while. It’s been so wonderful to see Ben really enjoying his siblings. They’ve been playing together so nicely and really getting along. Seeing Ben come out of his ‘teenage shell’ has been one of the highlights of this trip.

Karl made us a nice Wiener, Kraut, Potato, and bread dinner. Right now, Karl and Ben are reading books,  The others are playing Uno. It’s raining pretty hard outside. We’re about to play Myst (our favorite family computer game) and then go to bed.

 

Friday, June 2, 2006

 

Day 28

Drive to Luzern/See Emmental/Boat on Vierstättersee

 

We didn’t get going right away. The kids went out and played on the playground as soon as they woke up Mom & Dad took the girls and drove into Spiez. The other kids played on the playground and Karl and I relaxed. Dallin and Kandra played “Myst”. They were pretty cute. When mom and dad got back, we hitched up and drove the long (scenic) way to Luzern. Mom wanted to drive through the Emmenthal (particularly Langenau), so that we could see another area where some of our ancestors lived. 

We stopped in Thun, because the castle was so cool looking. We found a place to park and walked up to the castle. It was a cool-looking castle. It had white walls and a very neat well in the middle. On the way back to the car, mom stopped at an antique shop. I saw some small cowbells. I’m excited to put them on the goats.

It was a very pretty drive. Lots of very picturesque little villages with cute farm houses. I liked the architecture of the farms. We did some grocery shopping on the way. It took us all day to make the drive. When we got into Luzern, I traded places with mom. Mom and Karl drove the kids and the trailer to the campground and dad and I headed to the train station to get the ‘Junior Passes’ for the kids.

Then we went to the campground, picked everyone up and drove into Luzern to get on the ‘Rundfahrt’ boat. It was a classy dinner boat. We didn’t order a dinner, but just sat at the table. The cruise took you all around the Vierstattersee. It was very beautiful. The kids got a little board. They were also a little hungry, but there was no way we were going to pay the prices they expected to get them food. The cruise lasted 2 hours. Karl was famished. On the way home, I jumped out of the car and got him 2 hamburgers at McDonalds. We all got to bed too late.

 

Saturday, June 3, 2006

 

Day 29

Jungfraujoch

            I got up kind of early and tried to call Angie again. No answer. I asked the lady at the campground reception if there was an internet café anywhere near. She told me about one in the next town. So I took the car. When it finally opened, I was able to check e-mail. No news from Angie. I sent her an e-mail begging her to call. I’m so sad that we’ve been unable to make contact.

            When I got back to the campground, we all got ready for the day. The showers were great. Then we all loaded into the van and headed back to Interlaken (this time we went the fast way). It was a very pretty drive. Today was the day that the weather was supposed to clear up. It still seemed cloudy up at the peaks of the mountains. We decided to at least take the train from Grindelwald up to the Kleine Scheidegg. It’s a beautiful, very scenic drive. The kids really enjoyed the train ride. It goes up the mountain at a very steep incline. The views were breath taking.

            When we got to Kleine Scheidegg, it was cloudy, but we heard that the weather was good up at the Jungfraujoch. Because the tickets cost so much, we thought of just having Karl take the kids up to the top, while the rest of us waited. Mom, dad and I had already seen the top. The kids were free with their ‘Junior Pass’. But then we decided that I should go to. Mom and dad took the train back down to Grindelwald.

            I’m glad we decided that we would all go. It was a spectacular experience. Most of the train ride up to the top is in a tunnel. When we got to the top, the weather was clear and the view was absolutely stunning. The kids were very impressed. We walked outside onto the view area. We took lots of pictures. It’s amazing to be so far up in the mountains, with the peaks all around you. Ben was very impressed by the glacier. It stretches out like a large wide river.

            Then we walked back inside to see the ‘Ice Palace’. It’s a bunch of tunnels and caves carved into the glacier ice, with lots of cool ice carvings to look at. The kids thought it was pretty cool to be inside a glacier. You could see layers in the glacier ice all around  you. There was a group of Japanese tourists that thought the girls looked pretty cute in their matching green coats. They asked to take pictures of them.

            We ate our sack lunch in the cafeteria and then headed up to the high observation tower. Once again, the view was breath taking. Then we headed back down and walked out onto the glacier. It was pretty cold, but the kids thought it was very cool to be walking on a glacier.

            The train ride back down was gorgeous. Mom and dad picked us up in Lauterbrunnen and then we drove back to Luzern. We tried Angie a few more times. No luck. I’m so sad that we haven’t gotten a hold of her.

            We had a nice relaxing evening. The kids walked out onto the board walk that runs through some adjacent wet lands with Oma and Opa.  I stayed up late doing laundry and making plans for tomorrow. It turns out that the Gotthard Pass into Italy is closed. That means we have to find another route. The campground lady said that the other pass (St. Bernadino) would be like a parking lot tomorrow with all the German vacationers. I was worried because I didn’t want to be stuck in the alps for hours and hours. So I decided that we needed to leave first thing in the morning to make it over the pass. That means we miss church.

 

                   Sunday, June 04, 2006

 

Day 30

Drive to La Spezia, Italy

 

            We got up early and got everything packed up. Our goal was to try and leave by 8:00. We actually got on the road by 8:30. It ended up being a pretty expensive campground: 91 Francs for 2 nights. I was anxious to get on the road, because of the forecast of terrible traffic. I was sure that the road over the alps would be a literal parking lot and that we would be sitting in traffic most of the day.

            It was a cloudy rainy day and the traffic ended up being quite light. I was surprised how well the drive over the pass went. Dad and Karl drove the van and trailer and mom and I were in their camper van. It was fun to spend some time with mom. I feel bad that we didn’t go to church, but we spent a lot of time reading scriptures on the first leg of our trip.

            It was amazing to see the landscape slowly change from Swiss Alpine, to more Italian Alpine, to Italian Hilly to Italian Mediterranean. The temperature also changed. All of the sudden we were all quite hot in our jeans and everyone wanted to change into shorts. We drove along the coast for quite a while. It was amazing how the road went straight through all the coastal hills: bridge, tunnel, bridge, tunnel. It was really cool. It was also fun to see all the little Italian villages nestled up on the hills and down in the valleys.

            We got to our campground in Sarzana (near La Spezia) around 5:00. The campground name is Iron Gate. The kids wanted to swim, but I wanted to at least keep some part of the Sabbath and asked them to reconsider. We actually had almost forgotten that today was Karl’s birthday. So after a Ravioli dinner, we had a little birthday celebration over at the Café. It was fun. Everyone said something nice about Karl. We need to still get him a gift. Karl is 39 today and he got to spend his birthday on the Italian Riviera.

           

Monday, June 05, 2006

 

Day 31

Lerici/Cinque Terre

 

            We all slept in a little this morning. It felt good. Around 10:30 we all piled into the van. Dad drove. First we headed to a little town, Lerici, which looked like it had a cool castle overlooking the ocean. We got to the town and parked (they didn’t let large vans into the town). We had to take a bus into town (free of charge). It was a quaint town. We walked over to the castle, but it was closed. We walked around a little and then tried to take the bus back to the van, but it dropped us somewhere different, so we had to walk a ways.

            Then we drove into La Spezia. We drove around and around until we found the main train station. We got train tickets for everyone to go to the Cinque Terre. They were very reasonable (5 Euros for adults and 2.80 for kids for the whole day). Dad parked the van (apparently he did a great job parallel parking in a tight space).

            We got on the train and missed our first stop Monterosso (whoops). But we got off at the second city, Vernazza. It was very cute and quaint. The buildings seem to grow up out of the rocks. They are all sorts of different colors. The streets are incredibly narrow and windy. Little stairs wind up tiny little alleys. We ate our lunch in the upper square and then wandered down to the main square. The small main square looks out on the ocean. There were rocky pools below the square and people were swimming. We walked on a small path around the point of the jetty and took some more pictures of the town. It really is pretty.

            Then we went back and forth on whether we should take the train or walk to the next town, Corniglia. We finally decided to walk. The day was getting hot, but it was a nice walk. It took us about 40 minutes. We didn’t go into Corniglia, but instead hopped on the train and drove to the last town, Riomaggiore, because the kids wanted to swim. It was a very cute town. The little beaches looked so inviting. We ended up paying 12 Euros to rent an umbrella and two chairs. Mom and dad also got one. The kids ran and got changed in the little changing cabins. I also got changed. It was hot outside and the water looked nice. It was pretty cold, though. The beach was rocky and it hurt your feet to walk…in fact, the rocks really encouraged swimming—anything to get your feet off the rocks.

            It was fun to float in that crystal blue water and enjoy the beautiful sights of the town. The kids were enjoying themselves, too. Dad and mom came in and swam for a while. Karl almost made it in, but, of course, it was a little too cold for him. The kids still wanted to go swimming in the camp ground pool. They had been begging all day long. I guess swimming in the ocean on the Italian Riviera wasn’t good enough for them…they wanted a swimming pool. So, we needed to think about heading back to the campground.

            We all changed back into our street clothes. Dad was in his changing room and he couldn’t get it unlocked. He told me he was stuck, so I tried to find the key. We found a key that fit, but it still wouldn’t turn the lock. We were late for our train and Dallin was crying (because he might not get to swim in the pool). Mom went to try and get the guy in charge, but neither the guy nor his son wanted to come. They didn’t understand that someone was actually locked inside. They kept telling her that if it’s locked, she should use a different changing room. She finally convinced them to come. By the time they got there, dad had already began unscrewing the front panel from the inside. They guys to a ladder and undid the whole roof section and dad crawled out on the room. They whole incident was very humorous. As soon as dad was out of his prison, we all ran to the station and barely made the train. We stopped at the first city, Riomaggiore, and walked around. Very cute. We walked up to a church and then out to a view point. Then all 9 of us ran to make the next train to La Spezia. On the way back to our campground, we stopped at a Lidl and got some food.

            The pool was no longer open, so the kids didn’t get to swim. But they were pretty good about it. Everyone took showers and got to bed late.

 

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

 

Day 32

Pisa/Florence

 

            Well, we got an early start, said our goodbyes to mom and dad and were out of the campground by 8:30. It’s been very fun to spend all that time with mom and dad. I’m happy they decided to join us.

            We got on the freeway and drove towards Pisa. It took almost an hour. We drove around the city a while before we figured out where the tower was (oh, do we miss our navigation system). We could not find a place to park a van and camper, so I decided (since I’ve seen the leaning tower before) that the Karl and the kids should jump out of the car, take a look at the tower while I drove around the block and then I’d pick them back up. So, everyone jumped out, and I proceded to drive around the block (at least that’s what I thought I was doing).

            I ended up really lost. I kept trying to turn right, just to find one-way streets and dead-end roads. I was really lost. I had no idea where I was. I just knew that I was getting further and further away from my family. It’s not fun driving a huge van with a huge trailer around any city. It’s especially hard in a crazy European city with narrow streets and crazy Italian drivers.

            Well, I took a wrong turn and my heart sunk, because the street ahead of me looked very narrow. There was a truck parked in the street and it looked like a dead-end. There were already lots of cars behind me and I could tell I was in bad situation. I crept forward and was not able to make it around the truck, so I just sat there. People were honking at me. One little Italian woman came up to me to see why I wasn’t moving. I pointed to the truck. She nodded. The truck moved,  and the only way out of my situation was to get through the little parking lot in the little plaza. I could see that this was going to be impossible. Everyone was honking at me. Little Italian ladies were gathering on the side of the street to see why this crazy (German—judging from my license plate) lady had driving a huge camping trailer into their little neighborhood. As I inched around the corner, I saw that it was impossible: I could not make the corner without scraping multiple parked cars. I was muttering prayers underneath my breath and was close to crying. The same little Italian woman approached me again and wanted to know the problem. I showed her that I was stuck. She told me “Pizza too ancient city for big caravan”. The cars were still honking and I just wanted to find my family and get out of that city.

            I finally had an idea. I put on the break, jumped out of the car and undid the trailer hitch. Then I drove the van around the corner. Then walked back to the trailer and with the help of several other Italians, pushed the trailer around the corner. Then I hitched back up and was out of there. Oh what a relief. I said numerous ‘thank you’ prayers.

            I was still desperately lost and didn’t know where I was. After driving up and down streets, I finally found a place I could pull off the road. I said a little prayer, looked up and saw an ‘information’ sign. I ran across the street and into the building and told the guy “I’m very lost. Have big caravan. Family at leaning tower. Must find. Please, help.” He pointed me in the right direction.

            By the time I picked up Karl and the others, it had been almost an hour. They had been very worried and I had been very stressed. We were glad to be back together again and to be back on the road. That was a very frazzling experience.

            It took us at least an 1 ½ hours to get to Florence. I thought that our campground was just south of Florence, but it ended up being further a way than I thought. We drove through a little city and then out onto some windy country roads. I thought we’d never find it, but finally around one of the bends was the campground. We pulled up and tried to check in, but they were just closing for their afternoon siesta. So, we had to park outside the campground. We unhooked our trailer and drove into Florence.

            Still frazzeled from this morning’s Pisa adventure, we were a little stressed driving around Florence trying to find a place to park. We finally found a spot and got out and started walking towards the Academia to see Michelangelo’s David. I figured that if we only see one thing in Florence, it needs to be David. To celebrate our successful parking job, we got everyone ‘gelato’ cones. Yum.  Banana flavor was delicious. On the way, we stopped and checked out a beautiful cathedral. It was gorgeous. I’ve never seen an exterior painted so beautifully. It was amazing. We also went inside the church. The dome had gorgeous paintings as well.

            We finally got to the Academia and got into the line. The line lasted just over an hour (it rained) and then we got to go inside. They had some gorgeous art collections on display. Many were from the middle ages. The colors were very vibrant. There were lots of Virgin Mary paintings that showed the baby Jesus nursing on one breast. Some of them were quite funny looking…at least the kids thought so.

            Then we walked into the large hall to see David. The statue is bigger than you expect it to be. He really is stunning. I really liked his face and his hands. They had a cool little 3-D computer and you could look at different details of the statue. It was cool to see the real statue. I can’t remember if I’ve seen it before, but it was definitely worth the wait. It’s quite a striking statue.

            After leaving the Academia, we walked back through the square and stopped by that gorgeous cathedral and took some more pictures. Everyone was starving, so we stopped and bought one kilogram of pizza. It was enough to give everyone a good sized piece. The pizza was pretty good. We walked back to the river, where we could see the cool bridge with all the shops on it and then we ran back to the car to get there before our parking ticket ran out.

            The drive back to the campground was very pretty. We were more relaxed than we were on our drive into Florence and so we enjoyed the drive much more. Tuscany is beautiful! We got to see the “Florence essentials” in one afternoon. We got back to our campground, set up camp, met a very nice older English gentleman, who helped us push our trailer into our spot. We were all exhausted.

 

Wednesday, May 07, 2006

 

Day 33

Drive to Rome/ Happy Camping Pool/ Coliseum/ Vittoriano/ Trevi Fountain/ Spanish Steps/ Missing Train/ Taxi ride

 

            We got up relatively early and started our drive towards Rome. I enjoyed driving through Tuscany. It’s beautiful country. I kept telling the kids to say: “Ahh, Tuscany”. I just wanted them to remember that this was Tuscany and that it was pretty. The closer we got to Rome, the warmer it got. Our drive was pretty uneventful (which was very nice).

            We arrived at our campground (Happy Camping Village) at 1:00. The kids SO wanted to get in the pool. We decided that we were too beat to try and go into Rome right away, so we all got in our bathing suits and jumped into the pool. This is a beautiful campground. The pool is gorgeous, the flowers are gorgeous, it has nice bathrooms, a nice store & restaurant, I’d say it’s my favorite campground so far. The flowers are all so fragrant. There’s lots of honeysuckle. The swim felt wonderful. We all needed a break. The kids really enjoyed the pool.

            Then I drove into the next town and did some much needed grocery shopping. I actually found some foot ointment for Dallin’s stinky feet!! Huray! When I got back, we all got ready and went down to get on the 5:00 shuttle bus to the train station. The train station was a pretty scary place. We took the train into Rome, switched to the subway and arrived at the Coloseum. Wow! You walk out of the subway station and it’s right in front of you. It’s huge. The kids were so excited. We ran over to it. They were an hour from closing. There was no line, so we went in. It cost us a bundle. Kids from the EU are free, but American kids pay full price (11 Euros). So it cost our family 77 Euros to get in…what a jip. But I guess it was worth it because the Coliseum was very cool. We had it almost completely to ourselves. It was so cool to realize that we were walking in the very same places as thousands of Romans (even Roman emperors) walked 2000 years ago. You could still see places where some of the original marble floor was still intact. I guess all the seats were made of marble and the exterior was all white, too. It must have been an amazing thing to enter that place in its heyday.

            Then we walked over to the Forum. It had just closed, so we were disappointed. I never really understood what the Roman forum was. It’s huge. There is a huge area in the center of Rome that is all ruins and excavated buildings from ancient Rome. The kids really want to come back to see it up close tomorrow.

            We did the ‘Caesar Shuffle’ and walked towards the Spanish steps. We were blown away as we walked around the corner and saw the front of the Vittoriano. It was such an amazing building! Dallin just gasped: “I love Rome”. The statues were so huge. The building is white. We saw that there were two soldiers next to two fires. I guess that was the ‘unnamed soldier’s tomb’.

            We walked up the main road to the Trevi Fountain. There, we bought two Rome guide books. One was more of a kid’s book, with cool overlays. It showed current photos of Rome and then the overlay showed how the places used to look. We then walked over to the Spanish steps. We bought pizza at the place that Renee Johnson recommended. It was good and we were starving. We sat on the Spanish steps while we ate.

At nine, we meandered over to the Metro station. There were just closing the gate and saying that this was the last train. I couldn’t believe that a huge city like Rome would stop running their trains at 9 pm. We tried to buy tickets, but they just waved us on and told us to hurry. We ran down the stairs and jumped on the train. As it stopped at the next stop, I realized we had made a huge mistake: We got on the train going the wrong direction. Now we were even further away from the main train station and there were absolutely no more metro trains running. We ran up to the street and thought that our only option was to run ½ way across the city to get to the North Train station. But I saw a bunch of taxis. I hailed one and we all piled into it. He got upset and pointed to all the kids and said “Impossibla”. In other words, there was no way he would allow 7 people into his little Taxi. So I jumped out with Ben and Kiana and sent the rest with that guy. We hailed a second Taxi and followed them. We made it to the train station in time to catch the train. We got there just before the very last shuttle bus takes us back to the campground. Oh, were we ever happy to get back home. Ben’s comment was: “Let’s not do that again.”

 

Thursday, June 08, 2006

 

Day 34

Vatican/ Sistine Chapel and Museums/ St. Peters Dome/ Roman Forum

 

            We got up early and made it on the 8:30 shuttle to the train station. The train took a while because it was rush hour. We took the subway to the Vatican and hurried to find the entrance. When we saw the line, we were blown away. It was huge and it wrapped around blocks. We finally reached the end. I was a little worried that they wouldn’t let us in with shorts. So I ran back up to the front of the line and asked. They said not to worry. So we stood in line for about an hour and a half. The line went faster than I expected.

            Inside, we looked at a bunch of the museums. They had a cool Egyptian collection. The kids got to see a real Egyptian mummy in a sarcophagus. We walked through long hallways with beautiful paintings and tapestries. Then we finally reached the Sistine chapel. It was much smaller than I expected. I always thought that those famous paintings were on the ceiling of a huge cathedral. The Sistine chapel is just that, a chapel. It’s not that huge. But the paintings were indeed spectacular. Michelangelo was so very gifted. You can tell that he had a deep love for his God. It was neat to see the original paintings.

            We then walked out and went to the cafeteria and ate our sack lunch. Then we found out that you can get to St. Peter’s dome out of the “group exit” from the chapel. So we walked back out the group exit and landed in the line to go to the top of St. Peters dome. The line didn’t take too long. We got our tickets and climbed up hundreds and hundreds of stairs and ended up on the inside of the great dome, looking down into the cathedral. It was pretty cool. We walked around and admired the gorgeous mosaics and paintings and how high up we were. We thought that was it, but then we saw another door way with another staircase that spiraled up and up. The further up it went, the more slanted it became. It actually went between the dome roof and the inside ceiling of the dome. It was pretty cool that they had a stair way up there. We ended up on the roof of the dome with a spectacular view of Rome.

            We then descended all the steps and ended up in the cathedral itself. It is massive and amazing. It’s really huge. We spent a lot of time gazing at the different pictures and sculptures. It really was cool. We could have spent much more time in there, but we really wanted to see a little more of Rome, so we left and got on the Metro and headed over to the Coliseum again, so we could check out the Forum.

            The Forum was very cool. The kids were ooing and ahing about everything. That cool book with overlays was fun to use. It helped us to picture what this place really looked like a long time ago. It’s neat to think that we were walking on a road that was used 2000 years ago.

            We wanted to look at the Palentino (the ruins where the wealthy Romans lived), but the kids were SO tired and REALLY hoping to get back to the campground before the pool closed. Everyone was tired. It was almost 5:30 and we had been on the go since 8:30 without a rest. So, we started back to the metro station. It was obviously rush hour and each car was absolutely packed. We squished on to one of the cars and finally made it back to the North Trainstaion. It was a stinky, sweaty smelling ride. When we got on the regular train, there were also no places to sit, so we stood the whole way home. The kids were so stressed because the shuttle to the campground comes at 6:30. Our train arrived at 6:40. If we missed the shuttle, then we wouldn’t be able to swim because the next one wouldn’t come until after the cool closed. They were so dejected when we got to the train station and there was no shuttle. We sat down to wait an hour for the next shuttle…but then it showed up…it was running late. The kids were so happy.

            As soon as we got back to the campground, we all jumped in the pool. It felt so good on our hot, tired feet and bodies. Even Karl jumped in. Then everyone took showers. We had dinner and then everyone wrote in their journals. It’s been a nice day. Poor Kandra is two weeks behind in her journal. She keeps asking me what we did on a certain day. When I explain it to her, she says, “I don’t remember that”. I think a lot of this trip will be a blur for her.

 

Friday, June 09, 2006

 

Day 35

Drive to Venice/ Relax

 

            Well, we had a nice relaxing morning. We got hitched up and had a long uneventful drive to Venice. It took all day. The kids listened to the “The Last Battle”. The middle three colored scenes from Narnia books. Kandra slept for a while. We arrived at our campground at 5:00. It’s a nice campground called “Alba d’Oro”. It has a pool, so as soon as we were parked, the kids changed and jumped in the pool. They played together very nicely. Karl and I relaxed on the side of the pool.

            We just ate dinner and now the kids want to watch a movie. I’m going to head down to the ‘internet point’ to check e-mail.

 

Saturday, June 10, 2006

 

Day 36

Venice/ Pool

 

            We got up and made it onto the 9:00 shuttle bus. The bus dropped us right in Venice. We just started walking. I forgot our map at the campground, so we had to buy one (4 Euros). Then we just started walking. Venice is such a fun city to walk around. Every street is different and fun. You never know where each turn will take you. Sometimes you walk down a tiny little alley and you think it will be a dead-end, but it dumps you in a little plaza. There are so many little churches and cathedrals everywhere you turn. We poked our heads into most of them. They were beautiful.

            We finally made our way to St. Mark’s square. We got In line to see the San Marco’s basilica. It was amazing. The entire ceiling sparkled like gold. It was beautiful. Then we sat on the steps in the square, near one of the orchestras, and ate our picnic lunch. The kids chased pigeons for a while. Some of the pigeons got a little too friendly. Several started perching on the kids’ heads.

            We decided to head over to another very cool looking cathedral. It took us a long time to get there because it was on the other side of a large canal. When we finally got there, we saw that it was closed until 3 pm. Bummer. So we walked back towards St. Mark’s square. The kids were hot and tired so we got them all Gelato. Yum. We got to the square and everyone was hungry and had to use the toilet. The only free toilets around were at Mc Donalds. So we got everyone a 1 Euro hamburger.

            After that we just meandered through the city. I wanted to go over to Murano to see the glass blowing factories, but we didn’t do it. We sort of got lost and I didn’t have enough information on how much it would cost or how long it would take. The kids will have to do that themselves when they come back to Venice another time.

            We got a little lost making our way back to the bus parking lot. There are so many picturesque little alleys, canals and bridges. The houses are so many different colors. Some windows have laundry hanging out to dry. Some have pretty geraniums. We stopped at the shop near the Rialto bridge and got the little clock that the kids had picked out for Bina. It’s a bear clock with a bee pendulum. The kids thought it was fitting for Bina (Biene) Bear. Kiana can’t wait to see Bina again.

            We caught the 5:30 shuttle back to the campground (the shuttle is actually a big tourist bus). As soon as we got back, everyone except Karl jumped in the pool. It felt good. Most of us got showers. This campground is OK. It has way too many American students. It seems like a party campground. It’s also quite noisy because of the big airport next door. I like the European ‘family’ campgrounds a little better.

            Now the kids are getting ready for bed. They want me to finish my journal, because they want to watch Star Wars. Tonight is our last night in the trailer. The kids are excited to see the Bichlhof tomorrow evening.

 

Sunday, June 11, 2006

 

Day 37

Drive from Venice to Bichlhof

 

            We got up and packed up and left the campground around 9:30. Everyone was excited to get back to the Bichlhof. We had a long drive. The kids did very well. The countryside was beautiful. We passed near the Gardasee and then headed up towards Innsbruck. It was interesting to see our surroundings slowly change from Italian to German. As our surroundings got more German, the kids got more excited to get home.

The kids listened to “Farmer Boy”.  Everyone got along pretty well. It was a long drive. We got to the Bichlhof around 4:30. The kids jumped out before we even stopped the car. Karl and I parked the trailer and then started cleaning it out. It took us quite a while to get the whole thing cleaned out. We also cleaned out the van. Christine gave us some food for dinner. She is so sweet.

After dinner, I cleaned the trailer some more. The kids played outside. Ben was inside with us. Then the kids watched Asterix with Xavier. Finally it was bedtime. The kids were tired. But everyone was happy to have their own beds.

 

Monday, June 12, 2006

 

Day 38

Return Camping Trailer/ Munich/ Grill Party with Gasteigers

 

It felt good to wake up at the Bichlhof. When I got up, some of the kids were already playing on the Nintendo. We had breakfast and then Karl, Michaela, Ben and I left to go return the trailer. Kiana, Dallin and Kandra stayed at the Bichlhof. Christine said that would be fine and they didn’t want to get in the car again after driving all day yesterday…plus Xavier and Jacob would have been said if everyone left again.

We drove to Markt Indersdorf to drop off the trailer. I was happy that the scratches on the side were pre-existing, but I was quite upset that I had missed wiping one of the kitchen shelves and fridge. That oversight cost me 100 Euros in cleaning fees. I was quite irked that he charged the entire fee. He claimed that he would have to have the entire thing cleaned. Well, I’m glad to be rid of the trailer and the responsibility.

We then drove into Dachau. One reason we brought Ben and Michaela with us was because they were the ones that wanted to see the concentration camp in Dachau. When we got there, we found out that it is closed on Mondays, so we couldn’t see it. That was a little disappointing.

We drove into Munich. We had a few hours to kill until we needed to pick mom and dad up from the train station (they had dropped their rental car off in Nuremburg and then took the train to Munich). We decided to see the Englischer Garten. We parked by the Chinese Tower and then slowly walked towards the ‘Fussgaengerzone’.

The kids were thrilled that we decided to stop at a Biergarten and have some lunch. They felt quite priviledged. We don’t often treat our kids to eating out, so they were very happy. After eating we walked down the Fussgaengerzone. I was looking for stores to buy books and videos. I found some nice things. I got several videos and a few gifts.

We met mom and dad in front of the Hauptbahnhof right by the Excellsior hotel where I lived during my internship. We walked with them all they way back to the Englischer Garten where we had parked our car. It was a long walk, but fun.

We stopped at a grocery store on the way back to get Wurst and fruit for the bbq tonight. When we got here, Karl and I helped Christine prepare some food for our BBQ.

We had a wonderful evening and a wonderful dinner out in front of the Bichlhof. Berndt grilled and we ate and talked. The weather was gorgeous. The view was gorgeous. The food was excellent. The company was wonderful. We stayed outside and talked until it was dark. The kids played with the ‘Swedish fire’. The Swedish fire was cool. They made a fire in an upright log with a little chimney cut into it. It was a very nice evening.

 

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

 

Day 39

Bichlhof/ Shopping/ Breitenstein/ Eat out with Frau Gasteiger & Christine

 

We sort of had a lazy morning. Dad worked at his computer at the kitchen table, figuring out his trip finances. Around 10:00 mom and I went shopping. We brought Ben and Michaela with us. The others wanted to stay at the Bichlhof. We had several things to do, but didn’t end up getting much done at all. We drove into Rosenheim, but got a little lost, because we didn’t have a map. But we did find a Walmart (surprisingly enough). We went in and got some gifts for Krey and Lindy’s new baby. They had some nice German things. We also went to the electronics section looking for German DVD’s. We found a bunch of very cheap German computer games. Ben was thrilled. I also got some chocolate and some other things.

Then we drove to Brannenburg to find the ‘Trachten’ shop that Christine told us about. We found it, but it was closed for lunch…what a bummer. So we headed back home.

We decided that we had to do something very Bavarian for mom and dad’s last day in Germany, so around 2:00 we drove to the base of the Breitenstein and did some wandering in the mountains. It was a very pretty day. The trail was quite steep. The kids ran ahead. I tried to keep up with them, so that they wouldn’t get lost. Mom, dad and Karl were further back. Everything was so beautiful. The past went through alpine meadows. We even walked through a cow pasture. The cows were grazing and had bells around their necks. I love the sound of cowbells in the mountains. The birds were singing and there were wildflowers everywhere. I love the smells of alpine meadows.

We hiked up to an alm hut. Most everyone stopped, but dad and I and a few of the kids climbed up higher in hopes of getting a glimpse of the Bichlhof, but we gave up and we all hiked back down the mountain. When we got back to our car, we went into the little Gasthof and ordered drinks. They had two cute Oberhasley goats, a doe and a buck. The girls were quite smitten with the goats.

When we got home, mom and dad helped us take photos for our Christmas card picture. We also took some for mom and dad. According to the kids, picture taking lasted way too long. They were excited to watch one of our new German DVD’s ‘Brother Bear’ with Xavier and Jakob.

Frau Gasteiger, Christine, mom and dad, Karl and I drove down Kamaten and ate at the Weingast Gasthof. It was fun to sit and talk. Christine is so sweet and it was fun to sit and listen to Frau Gasteiger. Her mind is like a steel trap. She knows her European history backward and forward. She can also tell you almost every detail about the local history.

When we got home, Christine served us (and all the kids) ice cream in the Stube. The World Cup soccer game was playing. We all half-watched and half-talked and just enjoyed each other’s company. We took the kids up to bed around 10:30. Mom and dad stayed down in the Stube and talked to Frau Gasteiger.

 

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

 

Day 40

Mom & dad to Airport/ Legoland/ Ulm Cathedral

 

I got up at 6:00 and we started getting ready. Mom and dad got all packed up to leave. They said their goodbyes to the Gasteigers and we left around 8 am. First we drove to the Munich airport and dropped off mom and dad. It was a fun experience to spend time with them in Europe. I’m glad mom was able to show us so many places where our ancestors lived in Switzerland. It was also very fun to spend a few days with them on the Bichlhof. It helped to bring back even more memories with them here.

We got to Legoland (Guenzburg) around 10:45 am. The tickets ended up being even pricier than I had estimated…since I had gone off a 2005 webpage and the 2006 prices are apparently quite a bit higher. I guess we’ll be ok. I need to spend some more time figuring out exactly what we’ve spent the last few weeks and determine whether we’re under or over budget.

            Legoland was fun, despite the high price. The kids enjoyed the roller coasters. These were the first roller coasters they have ever been on…amazing. They weren’t huge, but they were fun. It wasn’t too crowded, so everyone was able to get on the rides without too much waiting. It was a very hot day and we all got a little sunburned (I forgot our sunblock at home).

            The younger four kids did the Legoland driving school and got their drivers license. They really enjoyed that. It was fun to see Kandra driving her little Lego car, taking everything so seriously. She did not want to make any traffic mistakes. Ben found a cool Bionicle ride, where you program your own ride onto a computer chip. He did it 4 or 5 times. We also saw a very cool Lego 4-D movie. The kids thought it was cool. Towards the end of the day, we did the water slide ride and then we spent some time looking at all the very cool miniature Lego creations. They had whole cities like Venice, Berlin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, etc. It was very fun.

            By 5:30 we were all beat. The hot sun and walking all day really wore us out. But we still decided we needed to drive into Ulm to see the cathedral. It was about ½ hour away. We got there a little after 6. The tower was closed, but we were still able to go into the cathedral and take a look. It was truly awe inspiring. It is so high. Everyone gasped when we entered the church. It was so beautiful.

            We had the awesome luck of arriving minutes before an organ tour. We bought the tickets (the kids were free) and followed the Ulm Dom Organist up the windy stairs to the organ. He spent an hour going over the details of how an organ works. He showed us the different types of pipes and where are located. That organ has 9000 pipes. He asked the kids lots of questions. I think he was very impressed with how attentive and interested they were in everything he was talking about. He ended his ‘tour’ with a beautiful piece by Mozart. It was very cool to listen to the organ in that very huge cathedral. Corina will be pleased that we got to hear an organ played in a cathedral. The kids are excited to report to her on their experience.

            Right now we’re driving home. I’m typing in the car. We just stopped at a rest stop and got everyone a burger from Burger King. We don’t have our CD player with us, so the kids are a little antsy because we don’t have a book on tape. Hopefully, we’ll be home before 11 pm.

 

Thursday, June 15, 2006

 

Day 41

Heidi’s House

 

            We had a nice relaxing morning. We slept in a little. The kids went out and played. I went outside for a while and watched Kandra and Jakob playing. They are so cute together. Some of the kids played Nintendo. Karl worked on the computer organizing photos.

            Around 12:30 we drove over to Heidi’s place in Gmund. She gave us directions, but we still got lost. We ended up on the top of some hill on a dead-end road. We called her and finally arrived at her place. She lives with her boyfriend, Toni Hager. They live in Toni’s family’s farmhouse which now belongs to him. It’s an old farm…about 300 years old. It’s a beautiful home in a beautiful setting.

            When we got there, Heidi was working on dinner (lunch). Toni seems like such a nice guy. They gave us a tour of their place. It’s just gorgeous. Toni did all the extensive woodwork himself. She announced that they have a wedding date. They’re going to have their civil marriage in July (just 2 ½ weeks away). She showed me the fabric she bought for her wedding dress. It’s going to be a traditional dirndl-type dress, but very classy. When Heidi does something, she does it well. They plan on having their church wedding next Spring, after the baby arrives. It’s fun to see how excited they are.

            We ate dinner out front. It was a warm day, but she had some canopies providing shade. What a fabulous meal. The appetizer was a yummy soup with cheese dumplings. The kids loved it. The main meal was Spaetzle with an incredible chicken, mushroom sauce with peppers. She also had a cucumber salad and a green salad. Everything was amazing. She is an amazing cook, like her mother.

            After dinner, they showed us around the rest of the farm. It’s a much smaller farm than the Bichlhof. There is only space in the stall for about 10 cows. They don’t have any right now, though. Toni has a very cool wood workshop with some huge machines. No wonder he can do all that woodwork. They are currently working on another  building on the property. It’s serving as a storage shed now (if you can call that huge, 3-story cinderblock structure a shed). Later it will become an apartment that they’ll be able to rent out, so that they can get an income.

            I think that the Germans have a much better sense of family history then we do in the states. For one thing, many generations of the same family often live in the same house. People don’t move around so much like they do in the states. When the parents get old, their house is passed on to one of their children. Often the parents live with them until they die. It’s cool to think that Toni’s farm is almost 400 years old and that for about ½ that time, it’s been in his family. Everywhere you go, you are reminded of the people that lived there before. It really binds the generations together.

            We drove down to the Tegernsee and the kids played at a playground (with a cool zipline), while we sat on the benches and played. Then we drove back up to their place and Heidi insisted on feeding us supper (Brotzeit) too. I ate way too much. The kids were amazed at how much they got to eat. Then we said our goodbyes and left. We had been there over 8 hours. They were such gracious hosts. Heidi is such a sweetheart.

 

Friday, June 16, 2006

 

Day 42

Shopping/ Alexandra Keil/ Thunderstorm

 

            I got up early and left the house before 9:00. Today was my last day to really get most of my last “Europe errands” taken care of. I stopped by Franziska’s on the way out and invited her to the party tomorrow. I really want to see her again before we leave. Somehow we haven’t done too much together. Then I drove to Frauenried (such a cute little town) and stopped by Irmgard Gasteigers (Franz’s wife) and got a big box to pack up my painting (from the fleemarket). Then I headed into Miesbach. First I stopped by the farm supply store and got some cowbells (I got them for our goats). Then I walked down to the post office and sent a whole box of Milka chocolate to the Fettermans as a thank you for being such gracious hosts while we were in England.

            After that I stopped by a few more stores. Since I hadn’t yet found a scarf for Grandma, I quickly drove back down to Brannenburg to check out the Trachten shops. I didn’t find exactly what mom had described, but I found a very pretty scarf. It was pricey (70 Euros), but I got it anyway.

            Then I drove home. We kind of cleaned up a little. Karl had already made lunch for everyone. Alexandra arrived around 1:00 pm. I guess I hadn’t realized that she had all girls. Five little girls: Maria (9), Janna (8), Ameli (6), Sarah (3), and Sarena (1). They are just adorable. They’re all blonde and blue-eyed. Alex seems like such a good little mommy. She adores her kids and is so patient with them. We had lunch out front on the Gasteiger’s patio furniture. It was fun to just sit and talk. We showed her the video we had made. She stayed until 6:00. It was nice that we had no other plans today.

            After Alex left, I went on line for a while and checked e-mail. Karl made a yummy Bavarian meal with Leberkaes and sausages. After dinner, a huge Thunderstorm rolled in. It was cool to see the dark clouds get closer and closer and watch the lightning and hear the thunder. It was pretty intense for a while, but beautiful. The kids played computer tonight with Xavier and Jakob. We all just relaxed while the rain thundered on the roof. Now it’s late and everyone is asleep. I should go to.

 

Saturday, June 17, 2006

 

Day 43

Shopping/ Flohmarkt/ Class Reunion

 

            Kiana and I left early in hopes of getting to the flee market in Schliersee. It was really raining…dumping. We got all the way to Schliersee and found out that the flee market wasn’t until tomorrow. That was kind of a bummer. So we drove into Rosenheim. First we looked for the Media Markt. It’s right next to the LDS church building in Rosenheim. There just happened to be a flee market going on right in the main parking lot. What luck!! We got some stoneware, pictures, children’s books and a game. Media Markt was huge. We got some computer games and the Sissi boxed set. Then we went to Walmart and got some Germany shirts and hats for Karl. We also got some food for the class party this afternoon.

            When I got home, Karl was playing Monopoly with Michaela, Ben, Xavier and Valentin. They looked like they were having a lot of fun. I’m glad that Vali comes in and spends time with us. He and Ben haven’t really done stuff by themselves, but they do enjoy doing stuff together with the group.

            Right before we had to leave for the class reunion, Brigitte (the wife of the family that is living in our old apartment) came up and invited us to come and see the apartment. It was fun for the kids to walk through our old place. I showed them the different rooms. The view from the balcony is so beautiful. It was fun to stand in my old bedroom. It brings back a lot of memories. The pear tree still grows right next to the window. I remember climbing out my window and down the tree.

            Then we hurried and drove to the class reunion. It was held near Effenstätt in the Grünberghof Spielstadl. We actually went to the wrong place first and then realized where everyone was. The Spielstadl is a barn that’s been converted into a play place,  but a very ‘barny’ play place. In one room, you could jump down into the hay. In another corner there were a bunch of small straw bales for building things. It’s a cute idea. They had a little stage and a tube that you could crawl across. It made me wonder if we could do something similar at home. It was a very nice set up.

            Not everyone showed up at this reunion. Gerti Eckl with her daughter; Kathrin Bichler with 3 of her 4 kids; Andrea Kirchberger and her 12 year old boy; Lili Kaiser and her 3 daughters;  Karli Popp, his wife Alex and their two little boys, Marlies Estner, Heidi Gründl and Toni and Herr Rosenmüller. It was fun to see everyone with their kids. Karli is such a cute daddy. He has a little 4 month old who looks just like him and is also named Karli. His wife seems like such a sweetheart. Kathrin’s kids are adorable. Their names are Korbinian, Maria, Johannes, and ? (now I forget). Gerti’s little daughter, Sophie, looks just like her. Sophie and Kandra played so nicely together. I was glad to see the kids interact. The twins were good about getting games going with the other kids. They played tag and hide-and-go seek. Dallin hung with Korbinian a little.

            We sat and talked for a while. It was nice to see everyone again. I felt like I spent more quality time with each of my old friends today. Heidi is so cute with all her questions and stress about her upcoming baby. The food was yummy. Everyone brought desserts and snacks. As we said our goodbyes, Heidi gave me a goodbye gift. It consisted of several nice Bavarian mats, a Bavarian dictionary and some of the soup things that we admired at her house and a big chocolate bar.

            Right before we left, Korbinian rode up on his bike and told us we should follow him to his house, because his dad was home and he wanted to meet us. So we followed him over to Halmannseck. It brought back a lot of memories to see that farm again. I remember playing there with Kathrin after school. It’s such a nice place. It’s seems like a little piece of heaven. They had a little black and white pony grazing in the front yard. Then they had a little lamb that was bottle fed and followed everyone around. They had about 50 rabbits, half of them were babies. Kiana, of course, was so thrilled. They had chickens and even two adorable goats. They even keep bees. That was interesting to see. On top of all of that, Kathrin and her parents run the dairy while her husband works as a printer. I’m amazed at what she accomplishes. Her husband, Franz, was very sweet. We enjoyed talking to them. They are such nice, nice people.

I’m going to miss being around them when we go back to the states. I’m simply going to miss the whole ‘Bauernhof’ atmosphere. It’s very carefree and relaxed compared to the stressed-out lives we lead in the states. They really know how to relax and enjoy life. On nice days, you see everyone out on their terrace or garden eating cake or grilling every single evening. They work hard and then they relax with gusto.

When we got back, we turned on the TV and watched the soccer game with the US against Italy. It was a good game. Vali, Karl, Michaela, Ben and Xavier finished their Monopoly game. Vali won.

 

Sunday, June 18, 2006

 

Day 44

Church in Rosenheim/ Dinner at Franziska’s/ Packing

 

We slept in a little, but only made it to church 10 minutes late. It was nice to see everyone. The Relief Society lesson was very good. I am so impressed with the faith and strength that the German members have. They are so few, yet their testimonies of the gospel are so strong. It’s humbling to be with them. Berndt Schönwald taught Sunday School. He had some very interesting insights. After church, we said our goodbyes and then headed home.

When we got home we thawed out the stuffed peppers that the Fischers had sent with mom and dad. They had gone to so much trouble, so that we could eat them. They actually were very yummy. Then we started the huge job of packing everything. We had a lot to do. We got quite a bit packed. Dallin and the twins left to go help with Stallarbeit. They really wanted to help with the cows tonight, since it would be their last time.

            On our way to Franziska’s, we walked down to the stall to get them. They were so cute in their stall coats and rubber boots. They actually helped Berndt and Christine a lot. They did a lot of poop shoveling.

            We walked over to Franziska’s around 5:30. Franziska had just finished working in the stall and we sat and talked in her kitchen. The kids admired the kittens and the bunnies. We went upstairs into their living room. I admired one of the cute Bavarian paintings on her wall. We also went up to her attic to see the view of the valley.

            The whole family, even Franziska’s mother joined us for dinner on the porch. Franziska had made a bunch of pizza’s. For dessert, we had ice cream with fruit. Everything was delicious. It was such a nice evening. I’m so glad we had the chance to spend some more time together. If we hadn’t gotten together today, I would have had felt badly. As we said our goodbyes, Franziska almost started crying. She brought me a wrapped gift. When I got home and opened it, it turned out to be the painting I had admired on her wall…she wanted me to have it because I liked it. What a sweetie. She really was one of my best childhood friends. We played together almost every day. It’s nice to keep up old friendships like that.

            When we got back to the Bichl, dad called. Mom and dad wanted to know how things were going. Then, later,  Krey called and talked to Frau Gasteiger and to me. Then we took a walk down to the forest. I showed Karl and the kids where I used to play in the stream. It’s such a beautiful forest. Ben said that it reminded him of the ‘fairy tale’ forests—like in Snow White and other stories. It really is beautiful.

            Then we walked back to the Bichl and packed and packed. I went downstairs to say goodbye to Frau Gasteiger. She wouldn’t be awake tomorrow morning. She doesn’t like goodbyes much. She is so wonderful. I’ll miss her. The kids went to bed and Karl and I packed and cleaned until 1:30 am.

 

Monday, June 19, 2006

 

Day 45

Fly Back to Oregon

 

Well, I can’t believe it’s over. This is the last day of ‘trip of a life time’.  We got up at 5:30 (after sleeping 4 hours) and got dressed. We packed up the van, took the sheets off the beds, and cleaned up some more. Then we said our goodbyes to Berndt, Christine, Vali, Xavier & Jakob.  We drove away from the Bichlhof around 7:45. It was hard to think that we were really leaving beautiful Bavaria behind. I think a part of my heart will always be at the Bichlhof. It always hurts to leave it behind.

            We got to the airport at 8:00 and the car rental guy was there waiting for us. It went just like clockwork. He checked out the van and drove off. Our flight was delayed an hour, so we spent about 2 hours waiting in the terminal.

            Our flight to Alanta was nice. We took the Tylenol PMs that mom gave us and I think everyone was able to fall asleep for 2 or 3 hours. The flight lasted 10 hours. We changed planes in Atlanta and had to go through customs. It actually wasn’t that bad. We all had a burger while waiting for our next flight. The flight from Atlanta to Portland was crowded and we were tired. Krey met us at the Portland Airport. I drove him to his car (about 10 minutes away) and then returned to pick up the others. The alarm on my cell phone went off, which meant it was 5:45 am in Germany (I set it to wake us up this morning). That means we’ve been up for 24 hours and it was still the same day. We finally got home around 10 pm. It was dark. The kids were SO excited. They were just about bursting as we drove up our drive way. Everyone screamed when they saw Samson standing at the house, wagging his tail. They all piled out of the van as soon as we stopped and hugged Sam. Then they all ran down to the barns to see the animals. Dallin was a little sad about his missing chickens, but he was happy that the Hughes gave him one of theirs. The other animals look great. The horses are in the orchard pasture. The grass is so tall everywhere. Our place looks like a jungle.

            It was nice to walk into the house. It just sparkled. How sweet of Amy and Curtis to leave it so beautiful. I hated to put our suitcases down, since it was so nice. It felt good to be in our home again. The kids were happy to be in their own home, too. Everything looks so good. I feel so blessed to have had this incredible opportunity and to be home, safe and sound. It feels almost miraculous. We were all so exhausted and excited to fall asleep in our own beds.