It's Amazing!

Oh my goodness, what a wonderful day!  We went on a family excursion Sunday and took a cruise on the Rhein River.  First of all it's no small feat to get two teenage boys up, showered, dressed, and in the car by 7 am on a day they could be sleeping in. Then it's a drive to a town called Koblenz along the Rhein River where we caught the ship.  Of course, true to form, Connor's first question as soon as we sat down was "When do we eat?" So, after a nice breakfast on the ship, we headed out to the front of the ship to watch the "Romantic" Rhein river go by.  It wasn't long before castle after castle went by. 

It seemed like every time I put my camera down for a minute, there was another picture I wanted to take.   Not only were the castles amazing the way the vineyards scaled the mountain sides fascinated me, I kept trying to figure out how they cultivate the steep mountain sides.  I guess that's a question for another trip :) 

On the advise of the guide on the ship, we got off at the town of Bacharach to eat lunch and explore the medieval town known for it's wine.  We saw a building that was built in 1368 (I think it's an inn that is still in use!).  For us as American's we can't imagine something that old still standing!! After our time in Bacharach we hopped back on the ship for our return ride home.  We had a wonderful day together as a family and acquired some more wonderful memories of our time here in Germany. 

As always, until next time God Bless!

Istanbul

Istanbul, Turkey

Yep that's right!  I went to Istanbul!!! Can you believe it? Neither can I.  I was sure I'd never leave the United States and now I've visited some incredible places.  I also never left my family for a "girls" trip before moving to Germany either. (I'm just experiencing so many new things). Added Bonus, I came home to a clean house! Woot Woot !!!

What an experience.  It's not a long flight from Düsseldorf, but it was like stepping into a new world. I've seen some of the most beautiful European Cathedrals, but the sights in Istanbul are breathtaking too. I often fell behind our tour group getting caught up in trying to capture the feel of Istanbul with pictures.  I finally decided I can't do it justice.

We had an amazing tour guide, Omar, who was so full of knowledge and was so accommodating, we had a wonderful day touring.  The first night we decided to explore down by the Bosphorus It was a hazy day, but the fisherman and their "friends" were still busy.

We ended the trip with Dinner show at the Galata Tower. It was a fun way to end the trip but I think the best part was the view from the tower.   I have to thank all my friends who were on the trip with me for making it such a fun experience.  I also want to thank those friends who organized the trip.  It is definitely one to remember.

I'm glad to be home with my family, and I have some wonderful memories from my few days in Istanbul, but I'm also excited for the next adventure to begin, wherever that may be!

Until next time, God's Blessings to you all

Schön Frühling! What a beautiful day here in Germany.  The weather was warm and all the restaurants are starting to put out their tables for open air dinning.  We spent a lovely afternoon walking around Kaiserswerth and walked around Schloß Kalkum. It was built in the Baroque style in the 19th Century.  The park like grounds are a wonderful place to relax and enjoy a beautiful spring day!

There is a moat  around the castle which the many ducks enjoy. I enjoyed watching the ducks! After a leisurely walk into town, we joined the rest of Kaiserswerth who were sitting in the open air restaurants and biergartens to enjoy a cold beer before returning home.  

Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that I'm living in Germany.  How cool is it to walk to your local castle for a relaxing afternoon!  

We just spent a weekend in Brussels Belgium! It was fun and interesting. One of the must see sights in Brussels is Manniken Pis. He wears a different outfit everyday. People from all over the world send him outfits and they change his clothes daily. He probably has a bigger wardrobe than I do !

Of course when you have teenage boys, the best way to experience a new country is to eat your way through it.  My friends with girls don't quite understand the importance of this, but from what I can gather is that you don't truly get the whole experience unless you eat the local food. The Belgium Waffles were delicious as were the Belgium chocolates.  There were long lines in both stores. All three of my boys enjoyed the waffles.

Whenever we visit a city we try and take a Hop on Hop off bus.  Usually that is the best way to see the main attractions of a city and you have the opportunity to get off at an interesting stop and then get back on the bus and continue the sight-seeing tour.  This time the Hop on Hop off took us to the Atomium.  This was built in 1958 as part of the World's Fair.  There is a restaurant at the top.  However, you have to drop 41 Euro to get there!  The stairs go to the other globes which house museums.  We didn't spend the time or the money going up the Atomium, but did stop to have a snack.

Of course when you are in Belgium you have to get beer. We did!  The Belgium's are also known for their beer making.  It is one of the oldest industries in Belgium.  There is a museum in one of the Guild houses in the Grand Place. The building with the gold horse on top is the beer museum.  Be careful when drinking Belgium beer though as the alcohol content is higher than most!

Now with all the wonderful sightseeing things out of the way, the real reason we visited Brussels, was to watch our oldest son perform with the AMIS (Association for Music in International Schools) Mixed Honor Choir.  This is a choir that he had to audition for and only 5 students at his school were selected.  There were 30 countries represented on stage all brought together to share one night of beautiful music.  The choir also performed with the Honor Orchestra.  I spent the whole evening with chills the music was so beautiful! Next year they will go through the process again of auditioning and being selected. Then they will meet in Dubi to share their incredible talent there. 

Ok, now for the reason we will not be nominated for the parents of the year award. On the way back from this uplifting concert, our GPS routed us through the red-light district of Brussels!  Who knew there was a red light district! I knew about the one in Amsterdam, which we managed to avoid there, but we had never heard of one in Brussels.  So, there we were driving with a teenage boy in the back seat!  Good luck telling him not to look! 

Overall, it was a nice weekend full of new experiences.  Some wonderful, some educational, and some eye opening.  Good or bad, happy or frustrating, we feel blessed to be able to have these experiences as a family.  Memories that will definitely last us a lifetime.

God Bless!

A Day in the Netherlands

Saturday we decided to drive to the Netherlands.  It's not as far as you may think. About a 30 minute drive and you're in another country! We normally go on Sunday's for the shopping as all the stores in Germany are closed on Sunday.  A nice concept unless you run out of milk on Saturday night, or you need supplies for a last minute school project.  After we made the rounds of our favorite stores, we decided to drive a little further into the Netherlands and do some exploring.  We didn't drive far before we saw windmills along the roadside.

A few minutes later we were in a beautiful town named Weert.  There is a big beautiful church and interesting buildings along with shopping and flower markets.  When the bells of the church ring you can hear them throughout the town.  What a beautiful sound! When the bells weren't ringing there was an organ grinder playing music along the street.

We ended our tour at a cozy coffee shop!  What a wonderful family day!  

I'm starting this blog for a couple of reasons.  The first is to chronicle our time in Germany and all the experiences we are lucky enough to have while we are expats here. The second is that we have a way to let our family members know what we are up too.


There is a large expat community here in Kaiserswerth, the town we live in. Some of us are new and some have been around for awhile.  Our typical conversations are "have you been able to find..." "Do you have a Dr. for..." We help each other out and lift each other up when we have our homesick moments. I have made new and amazing friends that I wouldn't have made if we had stayed in Illinois.  They have enriched my life and I wouldn't have missed meeting them for anything. 


I will have to add pictures later of our experiences we've had, but I just want to reflect for a moment on how our lives have changed in the 7 months we've been here.  We've been fortunate enough to travel to some of the places I've always dreamed of visiting and I have a list of places yet to visit. I have learned that I'm a chicken when driving in a big city with narrow streets.  I prefer to take the train. There are so many things I have enjoyed experiencing here in Germany. Some of these things are the architecture and history. Florence Nightingale studied her nursing here in Kaiserswerth! The castles are amazing, the Cathedral in Cologne is incredible. The beer is the best and I enjoy eating outside when the weather is good.  The food and vegetables are very fresh.  There are fields of flowers you can walk though and cut blooms for a few Euro all summer. You can walk, ride the train or your bike almost anywhere you need to go. They love dogs and dogs are welcomed almost everywhere.  It is not uncommon to eat dinner in a restaurant with several dogs laying under tables (they are very well behaved dogs!). 


There are things I find challenging here as well.  Although the German people are very good about speaking English, I feel the need to learn the language. Even my German friends tell me it's a difficult language to learn. I have a personal goal to have a real conversation with a family friend back home in Albuquerque at some point (it maybe years though). Grocery shopping can be a challenge since I don't understand what everything is. It's difficult, if not impossible, to find what we American's think are necessities like all purpose flour, cheddar cheese, Jiff peanut butter, and good steaks. Making Dr.'s appointments over the phone can be stressful as well as trying to talk to home maintenance men.  I was at the grocery store the other day with my son and a sweet older lady was trying to have a conversation with him, when he politely told her he didn't speak German, she turned to me! I had to tell her in very poor German that I didn't speak German either.  Apparently, she thought that if she repeated it enough times slowly, I'd eventually understand.  That was a frustrating moment. Shopping for anything can actually be overwhelming. At home I had certain stores I went to for certain items.  Here either I can't find the items, or don't know where to look. 


We experienced our first Weihnachten in Germany along with the Weihnachtenmarkts including Gluewein. There are Weihnactenmarkts in almost every town. Some are bigger than others. Some are held at castles. We have also experienced Karnival here in Dusseldorf.  Wow, that's a party! 


It is now ski week for the boys at school.  We have decided not to travel anywhere this week, as we will be heading to Belgium next week to watch our oldest son perform with the school Honor Choir.  I'm looking to visiting yet another country. So, by the time we get back from Belgium we will have visited: Germany, Holland, Netherlands, Italy, France, Luxembourg, and Belgium. I have been shopping for pottery in Poland! What an amazing experience this has been so far, even if it is frustrating at times.  


Until next time, God Bless