Like a waterfall in slow motion, Part One
3 years ago
Friday, August 20, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Post-Europe observations.
I have now been home from Germany for two whole weeks and yet, all I ever posted were the first two days. Why? It's a complicated combination of factors including no internet in our hotels, laziness, exhaustion and having too many other fun things to do while there.
Now that I'm home, I have successfully processed all photos into a printed hard-back photo album and have proceeded to begin helping my daughter adjust back to life with her boring parents, instead of fabulous grandparents who doted upon her daily and took her all over the county to exciting parks, zoos and other attractions we locals somehow manage to miss.
I can share a few observations of our time in Germany however, now that I've had time to reflect:
1) Germany is a beautiful country with a complicated history, not unlike our own.
2) Everything smells and tastes better when you're on vacation.
3) We are not "traveling" types, we are "go somewhere and people-watch types." While we were happy to see all we saw, we both agreed we tried to squeeze far too much in and would have just been as happy in a tiny town in Bavaria for the whole trip.
4) Never, ever doubt your instinct to bring your rain coat on a trip. Even in July. You will regret leaving your rain coat. You will regret it most when you are in the mountains and find yourself in the middle of a torrential downpour where your "rain resistant" wind breaker starts sticking to your skin, through your shirt.
5) It turns out, even though I once studied there as an impoverished student and only got around via trains, I do not know how to drive on the autobahn from one German city to a town in Austria. Even if my husband asks me if he should "turn left or right," I won't know the answer because I never drove in Europe, nor did I ever stay in a hotel.
6) It is in fact possible to take 2.5 hours to drive to a location 5 miles away ; especially if you don't understand the map or the directions being given to you by the locals. Things can also get muddy when there are two versions of the street you are trying to find. For example, if you are trying to find "Eppelheimer street" it's helpful if you know that there is "Eppelheimer street, and there is also "OLD Eppelheimer street," and the one you want is the OLD one. Very key.
7) I get very cranky in car museums, car factories and car showrooms, especially when I haven't eaten for several hours. This is something I never knew about myself.
8) 220km/hour= 136mph. In case you weren't sure, that's very fast. I can't tell you however, what the scenery looks like @ 220km/hr, as I was in the fetal position on the floor.
9) After 10 years, I still remembered enough German to order food and drinks (especially drinks) buy things and ask basic questions of salespeople, understand most road signs and successfully navigate from Frankfurt through the Alps and back. It may have taken longer than it would other, more prepared folk, but we did it.
10) Even if there was some tension on the road and auto museum, it's hard to stay cranky for long when you're on a two week European vacation with your husband.
Now that I'm home, I have successfully processed all photos into a printed hard-back photo album and have proceeded to begin helping my daughter adjust back to life with her boring parents, instead of fabulous grandparents who doted upon her daily and took her all over the county to exciting parks, zoos and other attractions we locals somehow manage to miss.
I can share a few observations of our time in Germany however, now that I've had time to reflect:
1) Germany is a beautiful country with a complicated history, not unlike our own.
2) Everything smells and tastes better when you're on vacation.
3) We are not "traveling" types, we are "go somewhere and people-watch types." While we were happy to see all we saw, we both agreed we tried to squeeze far too much in and would have just been as happy in a tiny town in Bavaria for the whole trip.
4) Never, ever doubt your instinct to bring your rain coat on a trip. Even in July. You will regret leaving your rain coat. You will regret it most when you are in the mountains and find yourself in the middle of a torrential downpour where your "rain resistant" wind breaker starts sticking to your skin, through your shirt.
5) It turns out, even though I once studied there as an impoverished student and only got around via trains, I do not know how to drive on the autobahn from one German city to a town in Austria. Even if my husband asks me if he should "turn left or right," I won't know the answer because I never drove in Europe, nor did I ever stay in a hotel.
6) It is in fact possible to take 2.5 hours to drive to a location 5 miles away ; especially if you don't understand the map or the directions being given to you by the locals. Things can also get muddy when there are two versions of the street you are trying to find. For example, if you are trying to find "Eppelheimer street" it's helpful if you know that there is "Eppelheimer street, and there is also "OLD Eppelheimer street," and the one you want is the OLD one. Very key.
7) I get very cranky in car museums, car factories and car showrooms, especially when I haven't eaten for several hours. This is something I never knew about myself.
8) 220km/hour= 136mph. In case you weren't sure, that's very fast. I can't tell you however, what the scenery looks like @ 220km/hr, as I was in the fetal position on the floor.
9) After 10 years, I still remembered enough German to order food and drinks (especially drinks) buy things and ask basic questions of salespeople, understand most road signs and successfully navigate from Frankfurt through the Alps and back. It may have taken longer than it would other, more prepared folk, but we did it.
10) Even if there was some tension on the road and auto museum, it's hard to stay cranky for long when you're on a two week European vacation with your husband.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Heidelberg, Day 2.
Today we awoke to a cloudy, windy morning. We immediately got in the rental car to return it to the company, as we no longer had any need for it.
This small feat turned into a two hour adventure, as the map provided to us was substantially incorrect and our ability to navigate the bad directions in “New town, Heidelberg” with all the one-way streets, round-abouts and “do not turn” areas.
We finally made it just in time for the clouds to open with a torrential thunder/lightening storm including rain droplets the size of dimes. We called for a cab (and by we, I mean the nice man behind the counter @ the rental agency,) and rode back to our hotel where we promptly grabbed our jackets and set out for lunch; Kayaking was out of the question due to the weather.
We spent the afternoon wandering the streets of “Old Town,“ where Bryan discovered a soccer field made of Gummy Bears
And I remembered how much I love this place.
This evening, we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a dinner downtown. Bryan began the evening with his most favorite beer, Kostritzer, and promptly gave me a history of the beer and where it is made. (Kosritz, Northern Germany, for those curious.)
I had only a Diet Coke, as I was fighting a raging headache.
Bryan ordered more beer,
and after the Tylenol and caffeine kicked in, I was able to enjoy my meal and have a lovely glass of local wine.
After dinner, we walked some more and took some shots of the castle and bridge by night.
Tomorrow we will leave our hotel and go to the reunion in Moore Haus, where I lived in 1999-2000 as a Pepperdine student.
This small feat turned into a two hour adventure, as the map provided to us was substantially incorrect and our ability to navigate the bad directions in “New town, Heidelberg” with all the one-way streets, round-abouts and “do not turn” areas.
We finally made it just in time for the clouds to open with a torrential thunder/lightening storm including rain droplets the size of dimes. We called for a cab (and by we, I mean the nice man behind the counter @ the rental agency,) and rode back to our hotel where we promptly grabbed our jackets and set out for lunch; Kayaking was out of the question due to the weather.
We spent the afternoon wandering the streets of “Old Town,“ where Bryan discovered a soccer field made of Gummy Bears
And I remembered how much I love this place.
This evening, we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a dinner downtown. Bryan began the evening with his most favorite beer, Kostritzer, and promptly gave me a history of the beer and where it is made. (Kosritz, Northern Germany, for those curious.)
I had only a Diet Coke, as I was fighting a raging headache.Bryan ordered more beer,
and after the Tylenol and caffeine kicked in, I was able to enjoy my meal and have a lovely glass of local wine.
After dinner, we walked some more and took some shots of the castle and bridge by night.
Tomorrow we will leave our hotel and go to the reunion in Moore Haus, where I lived in 1999-2000 as a Pepperdine student.
Friday, July 16, 2010
We made it!
After a 15 hour flight, we arrived in Germany @ 7am today, local time. We had been awake since 4am Pacific time, yesterday, having had only a 2-hour nap prior to our departure. Needless to say, we were a bit tired upon arrival.
Upon arrival, we found our rental car and began the short trek south with Bryan @ the wheel, and me in the navigator's chair, hoping I would remember the language I spoke 10 years ago. We made it in good time and found our way to our hotel where we immediately crashed. What was supposed to be a one hour nap quickly morphed into 3. However, after having been up for the previous 24+hours, we felt a mid-day sleep completely acceptable.
We awoke to the sound of engines revving, and determined there was an event happening on the river. We soon discovered we were so wrong, and my husband became oh so happy. It turns out, this afternoon began the Historic Heidelberg classic car show, and it was happening right outside our room!
Bryan found more than a few cars that made him drool, including this Porche:
We then found our way to some lunch, did a little shopping, as I soon discovered I was gravely mistaken in my "Europeans don't wear shorts and therefore I won't wear shorts" philosophy. We wandered the streets some more, enjoyed dinner @ a local pub where we sat for several hours and watched the people go by. Bryan is already trying to conjur up a way for us to move here.
Here are a few more photos for your enjoyment:
"Heidelberg Schloss" (aka- the Heidelberg Castle)
"Die Hauptstrasse" aka, Main Street
My Man in my favorite place
I am happy to report that although I did not have the skills in German to purchase a pre-paid Sim card for our cell phone @ the phone store, I was able to navigate from Frankfurt to Heidlberg and do all of our food ordering and purchasing without speaking English. I'm hoping it will improve with each day we are here.
We are thinking about kayaking tomorrow...stay tuned.
Bis Dann!
Upon arrival, we found our rental car and began the short trek south with Bryan @ the wheel, and me in the navigator's chair, hoping I would remember the language I spoke 10 years ago. We made it in good time and found our way to our hotel where we immediately crashed. What was supposed to be a one hour nap quickly morphed into 3. However, after having been up for the previous 24+hours, we felt a mid-day sleep completely acceptable.
We awoke to the sound of engines revving, and determined there was an event happening on the river. We soon discovered we were so wrong, and my husband became oh so happy. It turns out, this afternoon began the Historic Heidelberg classic car show, and it was happening right outside our room!
Bryan found more than a few cars that made him drool, including this Porche:
We then found our way to some lunch, did a little shopping, as I soon discovered I was gravely mistaken in my "Europeans don't wear shorts and therefore I won't wear shorts" philosophy. We wandered the streets some more, enjoyed dinner @ a local pub where we sat for several hours and watched the people go by. Bryan is already trying to conjur up a way for us to move here.
Here are a few more photos for your enjoyment:
"Heidelberg Schloss" (aka- the Heidelberg Castle)
"Die Hauptstrasse" aka, Main Street
My Man in my favorite place
I am happy to report that although I did not have the skills in German to purchase a pre-paid Sim card for our cell phone @ the phone store, I was able to navigate from Frankfurt to Heidlberg and do all of our food ordering and purchasing without speaking English. I'm hoping it will improve with each day we are here.
We are thinking about kayaking tomorrow...stay tuned.
Bis Dann!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
T-36 hours
Less than 36 hours to departure. My daughter is displeased that she is being left behind and is subsequently making us suffer her wrath. As a result, I will have an upset stomach and will not be able to sleep until we are somewhere over the Atlantic. Avoiding me is advised.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Counting down the days, and being punished for every one.
In 2 and a half 5 days, Bryan and I will be headed to Germany for my reunion and our anniversary. In the meantime, our daughter is going to make sure we suffer for our leaving her. (She will be in perfect hands, under the loving watch of Bryan's parents who are graciously flying in to stay with her.)
She is contrary, angry, emotional, and then wants to be held, snuggling against our chest, being the absolute sweetest little girl one could ever imagine.
She knows we are leaving, and with every passing hour she becomes more and more dramatic. Tonight, she declared "Mommy, I don't want you to leave me! And then said she didn't want to eat dinner. I offered her some food anyway; she declined. 20 minutes later, I said, "I'm going to make dinner soon, what sounds yummy to you?" She said "I don't want to eat dinner, I not hungwy."
She continued to refuse any food or beverage for the remainder of the evening. I was not about to get into a power struggle over dinner; she was more than welcome to skip it, but then there would be no eating later.
At 6:30, she was being especially clingy, and I held her on the couch, tickling her back, playing with her hair. Much of the time, she was sucking her thumb and lying on my lap. She kept saying "Mommy, I don't want you to leave me." To which I would respond that I would be coming back, and then we would talk about all the fun things she is going to do with her grandparents.
Things soon deteriorated; we tried skyping with my aunt @ 6:45, but she was so rude and contrary, I logged off and declared bedtime.
I carried her up the stairs as she sucked her thumb and argued she wasn't tired.
Once in her room, I pulled off her socks and pants, and began putting on her jammies, it was only then that she cried she was hungry. I told her it was too late, she made a choice to not eat and she would have to wait and eat in the morning.
The ensuing meltdown ranks in the top 10 ever. Screaming, thrashing, crying, sobbing, pleading for her Daddy (he's @ work.) This went on for nearly 30 minutes until she finally stopped and started gently and pathetically saying "I want my Mommy."
I walked in, gave her a hug, kissed her and told her she needed to go to sleep. She argued she didn't want to go to sleep. I told her "I know you think you don't want to go to sleep, but sometimes we have to do things even when we don't want to, and you are very tired and have had a very hard night."
She then said "But I want to be nice now, Mommy, I want to go downstairs because I am being nice."
I thanked her for being nice, told her it was bedtime, stroked her hair and said goodnight.
She began crying again, only this time saying "Mommy, don't LEAVE ME, MOMMY! I Want my Mommy!"
It's been a great night. I can't wait for what tomorrow will bring.
She is contrary, angry, emotional, and then wants to be held, snuggling against our chest, being the absolute sweetest little girl one could ever imagine.
She knows we are leaving, and with every passing hour she becomes more and more dramatic. Tonight, she declared "Mommy, I don't want you to leave me! And then said she didn't want to eat dinner. I offered her some food anyway; she declined. 20 minutes later, I said, "I'm going to make dinner soon, what sounds yummy to you?" She said "I don't want to eat dinner, I not hungwy."
She continued to refuse any food or beverage for the remainder of the evening. I was not about to get into a power struggle over dinner; she was more than welcome to skip it, but then there would be no eating later.
At 6:30, she was being especially clingy, and I held her on the couch, tickling her back, playing with her hair. Much of the time, she was sucking her thumb and lying on my lap. She kept saying "Mommy, I don't want you to leave me." To which I would respond that I would be coming back, and then we would talk about all the fun things she is going to do with her grandparents.
Things soon deteriorated; we tried skyping with my aunt @ 6:45, but she was so rude and contrary, I logged off and declared bedtime.
I carried her up the stairs as she sucked her thumb and argued she wasn't tired.
Once in her room, I pulled off her socks and pants, and began putting on her jammies, it was only then that she cried she was hungry. I told her it was too late, she made a choice to not eat and she would have to wait and eat in the morning.
The ensuing meltdown ranks in the top 10 ever. Screaming, thrashing, crying, sobbing, pleading for her Daddy (he's @ work.) This went on for nearly 30 minutes until she finally stopped and started gently and pathetically saying "I want my Mommy."
I walked in, gave her a hug, kissed her and told her she needed to go to sleep. She argued she didn't want to go to sleep. I told her "I know you think you don't want to go to sleep, but sometimes we have to do things even when we don't want to, and you are very tired and have had a very hard night."
She then said "But I want to be nice now, Mommy, I want to go downstairs because I am being nice."
I thanked her for being nice, told her it was bedtime, stroked her hair and said goodnight.
She began crying again, only this time saying "Mommy, don't LEAVE ME, MOMMY! I Want my Mommy!"
It's been a great night. I can't wait for what tomorrow will bring.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Leavin' on a Jet Plane
In exactly one week, Bryan and I will get on a plane and fly over the big blue ocean. Destination: Germany.
Frequently asked questions:
Why are we going?
It's my 10-year reunion for my college study-abroad program.
Where are we going?
Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
How long will we be there?
14 days
Why so long?
Because it's Europe! How often do you get to go to Europe?
Have we ever been there before?
Ummm....yes. Bryan however, has not.
Do we speak German?
I do. Him, not so much.
Why aren't we taking our daughter?
Because she's 3 and we couldn't justify the expense; plus Bryan wanted a vacation sans child; we haven't had a vacation just the two of us since we were married. Yes, he has big plans for this trip.
Who is watching her?
Her "Momo and Popo" aka, Bryan's parents.
What do you plan to do while there.
See lots of castles and drink lots of beer. Oh, and Bryan is insisting on a tour of the BMW museum.
I'll be bringing my laptop, so stay tuned for picts and stories.
In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful picture of our first location:
Frequently asked questions:
Why are we going?
It's my 10-year reunion for my college study-abroad program.
Where are we going?
Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
How long will we be there?
14 days
Why so long?
Because it's Europe! How often do you get to go to Europe?
Have we ever been there before?
Ummm....yes. Bryan however, has not.
Do we speak German?
I do. Him, not so much.
Why aren't we taking our daughter?
Because she's 3 and we couldn't justify the expense; plus Bryan wanted a vacation sans child; we haven't had a vacation just the two of us since we were married. Yes, he has big plans for this trip.
Who is watching her?
Her "Momo and Popo" aka, Bryan's parents.
What do you plan to do while there.
See lots of castles and drink lots of beer. Oh, and Bryan is insisting on a tour of the BMW museum.
I'll be bringing my laptop, so stay tuned for picts and stories.
In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful picture of our first location:
Saturday, June 19, 2010
"Bad Dog" continued....
Hi Sweetie-
Thank you for making me breakfast. I'm sure it was good. I wanted to get Evie to day care just in case Sears was here at 8:01. I was going to eat it when I got home, but found that Porita had already indulged. Somehow she managed to get the coffee cup off the counter without breaking or chipping it, remove the foil which was flattened out, and I found the coffee cup right side up, empty in the middle of the family room floor. She is now currently in exile in the garage. Thought you might find this funny.
Have a good day!
Love you.
Thank you for making me breakfast. I'm sure it was good. I wanted to get Evie to day care just in case Sears was here at 8:01. I was going to eat it when I got home, but found that Porita had already indulged. Somehow she managed to get the coffee cup off the counter without breaking or chipping it, remove the foil which was flattened out, and I found the coffee cup right side up, empty in the middle of the family room floor. She is now currently in exile in the garage. Thought you might find this funny.
Have a good day!
Love you.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Bad Dog....
This is what happens when your dog gets herself stuck in the laundry / mud room and has anxiety about being trapped. She chews up not one but two door handles and the molding around one door! She has damaged the one door knob so bad, that she punctured the metal and now the locking mechanism will not even turn!
This is the day after she ate a pair of pants!!!
This is the day after she ate a pair of pants!!!
Friday, June 11, 2010
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