Rhine River Valley w/ the Knutsons

After the Knowlan's left on Monday we had a normal week.  Saturday morning we left for St. Goar and the Rhine Valley, about an hour west of Frankfurt.  St. Goar was formerly a Roman settlement and the Rhine was and still is an important trade route.  The valley is steep and rocky and dotted all along it are medieval cities and castles.  We stopped at the Frankfurt hotel on the way to drop off carseats as Luke and Courtney (also Chris and Zack) were arriving on Sunday and then got to our hotel around 3pm.  It was a great little family run hotel in the center of town with a cozy room that had a view of the river.  We walked along the river and poked our heads in a couple shops and then returned and had a proper German dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Sankt Goar

View from our hotel room

 Burg Rheinfels

The next morning we took our time getting ready as we waited for our guests to arrive.  We had a nice breakfast at the hotel while we waited and I tried to find some information on the Rhine River cruise with Haaken across the street along the river.  Everyone arrived at about 11am and by the time Luke and Courtney got their car unpacked the boat was at the dock and we climbed aboard.

The day was a bit cold and windy, but the tour was still very nice.  It started in St. Goar and floated about and hour down the river to Bacharach.  Along the way were numerous little towns and castles as well as a lot of barge traffic heading up the river.  The kids were so excited to see each other I don't think they even looked outside the boat.  The adults snapped pictures and caught up.  After about 45 minutes the kids were cold so Carissa and Courtney took them inside and got them some hot chocolate.

Haaken in Heaven

Not paying attention

After arriving in Bacharach we walked through the town a bit and then sat outside and had some lunch.  We were a big group (11 people), probably noisy (being reunited Americans and having 5 young kids) and the waitress seemed a bit annoyed.  The food was good though.  Afterwards we hiked up a set of stairs across from the restaurant to check out what appear to be the ruins of an old cathedral.  Not much to see there but the stairs kept going so we kept climbing and finally arrived at a castle way above the city that is now a hotel. The kids got some ice cream treats from the lobby and then we explored the grounds and took some great pics of the river from above.

Streets of Bacharach

View on the way up

Treats on top 

Castle Hotel

We climbed back down the stairs and then walked through Bacharach to the train station (the boat was one-way).  As usual we were cutting it close and the train arrived while I was trying to purchase the tickets from the machine.  I sent everyone ahead to get on while I frantically tried to get the machine to take my money.  Finally it did and thankfully Carissa was able to get the conductor to wait for me while I ran down the stairs, under the tracks, back up the stairs and down the platform.  What took us and hour by boat took 10 minutes by train, and we were back in St. Goar.

Chris and Zack had to catch an early flight to Rome the next morning so they left for their hotel near the airport.  After they left we walked around town a bit, trying to find something to eat.  Luke and his family were understandably tired and wanted to find something quick and easy, which of course wasn't quick and easy to find.  We checked out a couple different places but ended up eating at an Imbiss (fast food) restaurant, which typically serve Doner (gyros) , pizza, schnitzel, etc.  This place wasn't great.  Bedtime immediately followed.

Monday morning we got up and ate the hotel breakfast, checked out, and then drove up the hill to the top of the town where Burg Rheinfels sits.  Burg Rheinfels is now mostly in ruins, but since it was such a large castle there is still plenty to see.  Our book had a self guided tour which we followed - first through what was left of the rooms of the castle, and then around the wall, battlements and some really cool caves where I believe they stored salt.  Luke scared the bejeezus out of me in there by entering the tunnel from another direction and looking like some large grey (his shirt) animal coming at me.

Burg Rheinfels Ruins 

Descending into the Salt Caves

The tour took a couple hours and now it was about lunchtime.  Instead of getting on the autobahn right away we decided to drive along the river a bit and stop for lunch at a town we had passed on the boat tour - Oberwesel.  Oberwesel turned out to be basically one long street with buildings on either side of it.  Once again we had trouble finding a place to eat and had to settle for another Doner shop.  The food was fine, but took a long time since there was only one woman working.  After lunch we drove down to the cathedral towering over the town, checked it out, and then started the 4 hour drive back to Graf.

Roman Ruins

Tuesday Carissa had to work and Luke and Courtney needed to make some travel arrangements due to Lilly being unable to travel to Croatia because of health concerns.  We spent most of the day figuring out first if we could somehow transfer or reuse their plane tickets and then planning out a new destination, transportation and lodging.  By the time we figured all of that out there wasn't any time for an excursion so Carissa drove Luke and I downtown for a boys night out.

We were planning on going to Nurnberg but I think we were both too lazy so we stayed in Graf.  There aren't a lot of options so we went to the only bar I knew of that anyone went to - Ed's.  Ed's is a soldier bar and we weren't sure what to expect not being soldiers.  Plus, Carissa has seen a lot of patients who have come in missing teeth after a night at Ed's.

We bellied up to the bar and ordered a couple beers.  There were two bartenders, one a heavily tattooed German who spoke English with almost no accent, and a girl from Marinette, Wisconsin, which is right across the bay from our cabin in Door County.  When we got there the place was pretty much empty, but soldiers started filing in and we spent the night talking to the bartenders and soldiers.  Thankfully Luke didn't get lippy and we had a great night.  We ate dinner at the Doner shop next door at about midnight and then walked/ran home (it was freezing).  Oddly enough those gyros tasted fantastic.

Wednesday Lauren got to go to school with Lydia.  Luke, Courtney, Lilly and I drove down to Regensburg for the day.  Another beautiful day.  I basically took them where we had been on previous visits - the cathedral, the bridge, the sausage factory for lunch - see blog back in June)  We left just in time to arrive back home when the kids got home from school.  It was Lilly's 5th birthday, and since Lauren's birthday is two days later we had a little birthday party for the girls (taco night, red velvet cake, and presents).

Thursday Luke, Courtney and their girls packed up and continued on their vacation - first to Prague and then to Paris (not a bad substitute for Croatia).  During the day I did laundry and turned over Hotel Knutson in preparation for our next guests / trip.

Vienna, Austria / Prague with the Knowlans

Our neighbors the Knowlans arrived Monday night around 6:30pm.  Our kids were ecstatic to see their friends.  Elise and Lydia led a quick tour of the house and we all stayed up a bit catching up.

Carissa unfortunately had to work on Tuesday and the girls had school.  I put Haaken in for the whole day (usually he has a half day) and then took the Knowlan's to Amberg for the day.  We wandered up the main street in the center of town, and then circled back to the main square along the wall of the old city.  After a German lunch of goulash and schnitzel, we got back in the car and drove up the hill that looks over the town to the baroque Franciscan monestery Mariahilfberg.  It was a perfect day, high 50s and sunny, so we had a drink on the balcony overlooking the city at the hilltop restaurant and then explored the nearby church.

Amberg Cathedral

 Drinks over looking Amberg

 Hilltop Church and Monastery

Wednesday Maya and Holly went to school with the girls and David and Maria went to Flossenberg concentration camp, while I packed up our stuff for our weekend trip.  After work we picked up Carissa and all drove to Vienna.

Thursday we got up and took the metro in to the center of Vienna.  We started with a walk through the Old Town, starting at the Opera house and then walking down Kartnerstrasse to St. Stephen's Cathedral.  After exploring the cathedral we bought some fried potatoes off the street for a snack and stopped at beautiful baroque St. Peter's Church, the oldest in Vienna.  We then strolled down Kohlmarkt, bought a treat at a fancy candy shop and ended our walk at the Hofsburg Palace.

 Outside the Opera House

 Streets of Vienna

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Confectionary on Kohlmarkt

Hofburg Palace Guards

At this point it was probably about 1pm.  We thought about touring the palace but decided that we shouldn't make the kids wait much longer.  Carissa had read about the Naschmarkt which looked to be a short walk away so headed that direction for some food.  The walk was quite a bit longer than we thought, but we made it and found something to eat.  After the break we walked the length of the market, which is filled will all kinds different ethnic food vendors and then took the metro back to the center of the city.  

On the way to the Naschmarkt

 Naschmarkt

We followed the market up with a tram ride around the city, which according to our guide book made a loop (with one transfer).  We switched trains, and I took a catnap.  When I woke up we appeared to be a ways from the center of the city in a residential area.  Carissa asked a fellow passenger and they informed us that the route had changed since the book was written (2009).  We reached the end of the line and sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do.  I asked the driver if he spoke English, and he curtly replied that he didn't without looking at me.  In broken German I tried to ask him if the train stopped back where we started and he spit out of rapid fire German at me, again without looking, clearly annoyed.  In the end we determined  by using the tram map posted inside that as long as the tram starts up again we'd get back to a stop close to where we started.  It did and we made it back to our original starting point and then took the metro back to the apartment.

That night Carissa, Maria, Elise and Maya went out on the town to the Opera.  They were able to get standing room only tickets for 3 euro each.  They stayed for 3 acts and then went across the street to the famous Hotel Sacher for their Sachertorte (chocolate cake with apricot filling).  Meanwhile David and I had a few brews and watched the Austrian Hockey league playoff semifinals (game went to overtime - a few Minnesotans on each team and the coach for one was Pierre Page the old North Stars coach) while Lydia, Holly and Haaken watched movies.

Girl's Night at the Opera

 

Hotel Sacher

The next day we packed up and drove the cars over to the Hofburg Palace, which we toured.  It has a nice museum that displayed a lot of the royal families possessions, especially their china and silverware which they used frequently for receptions and official gatherings.  We also got to see the Imperial Apartments which were furnished with original furniture used by Franz Joseph I and Elisabeth, who were the last rulers of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, which dissolved at the end of World War I.

Royal China

Following the palace we ate lunch at a fun little German chain restaurant called Vapiano.  They serve Italian pasta made to order.  Afterwards we got in our cars and drove to Prague.

Austria had been rainy the two days we were there and we drove through snow on our way to Prague.  Once we got there the sky cleared up but it was cold and windy.  Our Harley themed apartment was right on Wenceslas Square which was a fun location.  Our apartment, while very big, was not great.  It was so bad in fact, I wrote the following review on Booking.com (where it had scored an 8 out of 10) when we got home:

Pros:  Great location, very large apartment.

Cons:  Beds and pillows were horrible. Some of the sheets were ripped and the comforters weren't clean. Unknown substances splattered on many of the walls, dishes in the kitchen were dirty. Overall the place had very poor cleanliness and we were rather disgusted by it so didn't spend much time in the room.

Thankfully it was cheap and we were busy.  That night we walked all over looking for a restaurant in our guidebook, but gave up and ate in an Irish pub of all places.  We still were able to order some traditional Czech food though.  Of course on the way home we walked right by the one we'd been trying to find.

Saturday we got up and started walking toward the Old Town Square.  Along the way we ran into an outdoor market and browsed.  At the Old Town Square we checked out the astronomical clock and walked through Tyn Church before heading over to the Charles Bridge.

Wenceslas Square

Market browsing

 Old Town Hall

Crepes on the Old Town Square

We'd been pushing the kids pretty hard the past couple days so we had the kids take a nap that afternoon.  That night we took a little tram ride up to the castle and then back to the center of town where we saw the Charles Bridge at night and ate off the street in the Old Town Square.

 Night view from Charles Bridge

Sunday morning we'd planned on visiting the Jewish Quarter but one of our cars got stuck in the crazy parking ramp we'd put the cars in and it took a couple hours for them to get it out.  Once we finally got it out we decided the kids would probably appreciate a little bit of time to play at home before the Knowlan's left for Rome the next day.

Calm Before the Storm

Carissa put in her required 4 month notice at the end of April which means we'll be home around the 1st of July (unless I luck out and get really good job offer then I may leave early). We've had a great time, but now that it's official and we basically know the date we're leaving we do sort of have one eye toward home.  In the meantime, we are going to try and see as many of the things left on our list as we can.

Knowing this, the past week again was pretty laid back.  The weather here has been fantastic, at least for this area.  I think we had sun 5 days in a row, which is definitely a record since we've lived here.  Temps have been in the 40s and 50s which has felt great.  Saturday it actually climbed into the 60s and we took advantage going to the market in Weiden in the morning and then the streets of Amberg in the afternoon.  Both towns were busy with people enjoying the beautiful day.

Amberg Rathaus

Ice Cream in Amberg

Today we did a little spring cleaning in preparation for a welcome string of guests that will be visiting starting tomorrow with our neighbors the Knowlans.  The kids could not be more excited since the Knowlans have two girls the same age as ours and spend a lot of time together back home.  They will be here for a couple days and then Wednesday night we are all leaving for a 4 day weekend in Vienna and Prague.  The Knowlans leave on Monday and will be followed by Luke and Courtney, Chris and Zack, Carissa's parents and finally the Koch's (hopefully) which will bring us to May.  At that point we'll have 6 or 7 weeks to sell all our stuff, pack up, and head home.  Oh yeah, and somewhere in there we're going to need to find jobs and we may take one more trip over Memorial Day weekend.  It will be exhausting but will be a blast.  I'll do my best to keep up on the blog...

Waldsassen, Germany / Fasching

The first week with no basketball was great.  The evenings were much more relaxed and we had time to eat a decent weeknight dinner without a stopwatch for the first time in 3 months.  Since we'd been travelling the past two weekends Friday and Saturday were very low key once again.  Sunday morning, however, we got up early because we were going to church with John and Clarice (John is a contractor from Minnesota).

John and Clarise have lived here for almost two years now and are leaving in April.  They found the church we were going to in a feature in a German tourism magazine.  The church is in the small town of Waldsassen on the border of the Czech Republic.  John had said the church is one of the most beautiful he's seen and it certainly lived up to his billing.

Waldsassen Abbey (built in 1130)

We arrived a little bit early so we had a chance to wander around a bit and then stayed for the service (Roman Catholic).  It was a great service with a lot of music and a fantastic choir.  The big church was pretty much full which surprised me given the size of the town.  I got a little guidebook from the church that I have yet to read, unfortunately, but I cannot understand how a little community like this was able to build such a magnificent church.

There is a sign just off the picture that said "No pictures" so I only took one...

After the service we visited another small church a few miles away in the tiny village of Kappl.  Another interesting little church basically in the middle of a field.

St. Emmeram in Kappl

It was getting close to lunch and Haaken talked us all into going to McDonalds.  Can't remember if I've noted this before but the McDonald's in Germany are very nice and the food seems much fresher.  John and Clarise dropped us off and we had about an hour before we were off to the annual Fasching parade.

In Southern Germany the people recognize and celebrate a 5th season known as Fasching (Carnival) or in some places Fastnacht.  The season starts in on November 11 at 11:11 am and finishes on Ash Wednesday.   This season was spawned by the Roman-Catholic Lenten season, during which no parties or other celebrations were held and people refrained from eating meat, dairy, fats and sugar.  Traditionally, in the days before Lent, all rich food and drink had to be disposed of.  Instead of throwing it all away, communities started holding an annual celebration the weekend before Ash Wednesday in order to consume all the food they had to give up during Lent.

In our area the annual Fasching parade was held on Sunday in Vilseck, which is another German / US Army community about 20 minutes away.  The parade is basically a big costume party.  The parade was led by the mayor of Vilseck and the Grafenwoehr Training Area Commander Colonel Smiley.  Following them was your typical small town parade - local businesses, car dealers, clubs etc. throwing candy to the kids and waving.  One thing that was a bit different was nearly all of the people in the parade were drinking heavily and had portable bars on their floats.  There were a ton of people there  to watch as well, all with alcohol in hand.  This one old lady across the street kept pulling out mini-bar bottles of liquor from her purse and pouring them in her Coke.  Many of the floats had powerful sounds systems playing all kinds of party music.

Donuts before Candy

Pre-Parade Crowd

This guy was spraying the crowd with beer.

Those are mini-kegs under the riders.

The kids dressed up and collected a bagful of candy each over the course of the parade.  It ended in the main square of Vilseck where a few food vendors were set up along with a rock band.  We didn't stay for the after party because it wasn't really a scene for the kiddos.

The kids also had Fasching celebrations at school.  Haaken had his the Thursday before.  When I dropped him off his teachers were all dressed up and they had music playing and were dancing around the room.  It sounds like they had a puppeteer come as well.  Elise and Lydia's school had a Fasching parade on post.  Colonel Smiley and the mayor of Grafenwoehr led the parade followed by a German band and then the kids.  There were no spectators and we just did about a 20 minute loop around the hotel and back.  It seemed sort of odd to me, but the kids had a good time.

Mayor of Grafenwoehr in the background (w/ the sombrero)