Pretty as a Picture

The view from the Neuschwanstein Castle was breathtaking. It was freezing cold and you could feel the temperature drop by the minute, so we headed back down the hill. By the time we got down to the car, it was 12 degrees below zero. When we had left it was only 7 below.

Neuschwanstein Castle

We arrived in Munich on Saturday, the last stop in our adventure through Germany. We attended a little German ward on Sunday morning where we were warmly welcomed. We even recognized a few words that are similar to Dutch. After church we took a drive to Fussen and saw the Neuschwanstein Castle. It is beautiful and is probably the most photographed castle in the world. Even Walt Disney used it as inspiration when he designed the castles in the Disney parks. Too bad the story behind it is strange, but the castle is amazing.

Amazing pictures of Prague

This is the Prague Castle from far away.

This is the medieval astronomical clock that is famous in Prague. It was impossible for me to even see how it can tell the current time, but it supposedly tells much more--the seasons, the time of the setting of the sun, the day, month and year. At the top of the hour, twelve apostles move through the windows at the top and the four statues representing vanity, greed, infidelity, and death, begin to move. The skeleton, representing death turns over the hourglass as to represent how time is running out for everyone. It was interesting.

A Surprising Highlight of Prague

When the Czech Republic was under communist rule, they were completely cut off from anything having to do with western civilization--including toys. As communism took a back seat, they were completely obsessed and satiated with toys. They have a toy and Barbie museum displaying every Barbie that was ever created and toys from way back. We couldn't believe all the cases full of every kind of Barbie.

Notice the Rosie Barbie right there in the front center? And the Wizard of Oz characters.

But the most amazing Barbie I saw in the whole place . . .

A BYU Barbie! How did it get there? Really, think about it. Clear across the world where I doubt many people have heard of BYU. Pretty interesting.

Beautiful Prague

Eric standing by one of the castle guards.

We tried to get Ashley to stand by them and fulfill her dream of making

them laugh, but she chickened out.

All it would take is a little "knock, knock. . . ."

Freezing outside of the Prague Castle.

Our hotel room. Nice!

Prague at night!

A Sad Commemoration

Our trip through Germany would not be complete without taking a few moments to commemorate the millions who died in the concentration camps. There are actually thousands of concentration and extermination camps throughout Europe--Germany, France, Austria, Poland, and even Belgium. We visited Sachsenhausen in Northern Germany.

This is where many of the people were brought to be killed. One of the rooms was a gas chamber. It was mostly destroyed during World War II.

This is the road that all the captives had to walk down to enter the camp. It is long and sad.

This is the entrance into the camp.

Are we still in Germany?

As we drove through what was once East Germany, the buildings looked different. They definitely had a Russian/Prussian look to them.

The Gate in Chocolate

Lest we think that Belgium is the only place for chocolate, consider the following--

The Brandenburg Gate in chocolate!

Yum!

Checkpoint Charlie

Here are pictures at Checkpoint Charlie. This was the only place where foreigners and members of the Allied forces were allowed into East Germany. This is also one of the places where many East Germans tried, some successfully, to escape.

The Berlin Wall

There is only a small (in comparison) section of the Berlin Wall that remains standing, and it is protected, of course, to preserve history. You can see where people have chipped away at the wall to keep a piece for themselves.

These double bricks mark the path throughout Berlin where the wall once stood. It is amazing! Some of the bricks even wind through buildings that were built after the wall came down. It was thought-provoking to see this in person.

Jewish Holocaust Memorial

Just down the street from Brandenburg Gate is a memorial to the Jews who were killed in the holocaust. There is no "rhyme or reason" to the memorial except it is very "disorienting" once you walk down into it. That in itself is symbolic, I think.

Christmas in Berlin

Brandenburg Gate

This is one of the main symbols of Berlin and one of the most famous European landmarks. It is full of history and is where President Reagan made his famous speech for Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall. As we stood outside the gate--on the once Soviet side--you could almost imagine what it must have been like for those East Germans to finally be able to walk through into West Germany and see family and friends they had not seen for years--and be free.

Is that Curry you're wearing?

My dryer broke a 10 days ago. Even though my dryer is slow and inefficient, I miss it. Where do I dry laundry for seven people? Well, in the kitchen until this morning when I went to put on clean clothes and they spelled like the curry shrimp dinner we had the night before.



From now on, laundry will dry somewhere else. I don't know where yet, but somewhere else for sure!

Deutschland Christmas - Day 3 & 4

We cautiously set out on day 3, praying & hoping for no mishaps. After all, just because we were traveling the Grimm Bro.'s fairy-tale road, it was not necessary for things to be "grim". Everything went fine. Whew! Here are some pictures from along the way.

Rapunzel's castle where she let her hair down. Really.

Here is the woods that Little Red Riding Hood walked through to get to her grandmother's house. Can you see the wolf anywhere???

Have you heard of The Pied Piper of Hamelin? It is a fairly disturbing fairy tale. See here. You can follow the steps of the pied piper marked out by these mice stamped all over the city of Hameln.
(No, I didn't spell it wroong.)


Here is a little German town. We loved the tudor houses everywhere.

A picture in Steinau. The problem with touring Germany in the winter--it was dark by 5 p.m.

Here we are at the Grimm Brothers Museum by the Frog King. Where'd he go? Maybe he's hiding behind Tyler with Caleb.
The city of Bremen was our final destination on the fairy-tale road. It is famous for the Bremen Town Musicians and there was a statue in the centrum and references to it all over town. We saw another Christmas market here, too.

The end.

(of fairy-tale road)

Deutschland Christmas - Day 2

Destination - Hanau, Germany

FYI:

Did you know that in Belgium, Diesel is marked with a bright orange sticker?

Did you know that in Germany they aren't?

Did you know that Diesel pump nozzles are larger than regular pump nozzles so that you cannot put diesel into your unleaded gas tank by mistake?

Did you know there is no such safety precaution for unleaded?

(Except the orange sticker, of course, which doesn't exist in Germany.)

Do you know what happens if you accidentally put unleaded into your diesel tank?

Hey, Caleb doesn't seem to mind--he's got bubble tape.

We set out early for the Fairy-Tale Road which starts in Hanau where the Grimm brothers were born. They are famous for their collection of stories--Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, etc. We didn't make it too far. After the incident, Eric left with the tow truck and the kids and I were left with the gps (that didn't know where the heck we were), to try to get to the centrum (zentrum in German). We walked in circles--only one time until we realized we were--and then ditched the gps and went out on our own. Did I mention we were in a foreign country? Not, just Belgium, either. German is close to Dutch, but we were pretty lost. Finally, in my best immitation of German--okay English--I asked a smart-looking vrouw where the zentrum was. (See, I used one German word.) She pointed us in a direction and we started that way, all the time getting more nervous how Eric was ever going to find us.

We found an amazing Christmas market in the zentrum--complete with food and even a ferris wheel. The kids begged and I figured, "Why not". We bought tokens and hopped on. As we were rising high in the air, Ashley noticed Eric walking around. We got his attention and were happily reunited. Miracle! We spent the next 4 hours eating bratwurst, pretzels and other german creations and looking at all the fun things. We even saw the statue of the Grimm Brothers--which was why we came to Hanau in the first place.

Our Deutschland Christmas - Day 1

Destination - Frankfurt, Germany.

Highlight - seeing the temple.

Lowlight - losing Brandon's Nintendo SP on the side of the freeway

while Caleb went potty.

Highlights of Phase 2

About 3 years ago, Eric and I realized we were in Phase 2--or the launching cycle. Once in a while I remember, longingly, how it felt to cuddle a tiny baby and. . . feel a tinge of sadness. Even with all those sleepless nights, sore feedings, tired mornings, it really went by too fast.

But, there are some great things about phase 2. One of them happened when Ryan came home for Christmas. Wasn't it just a few short years ago that we were the ones heading for home on Christmas? Now we are the home they are coming to. There is nothing like the feeling you get when you have been away from a loved one for such a long time (4 months) and then you know you will be seeing them again. It's what gives you that holiday feeling that is similar to a taste--so distinct and almost indescribable.


Ryan left us as a teenager and came back as a man--a very curly haired, fuzzy-chinned man. We hardly recognized him at the airport. I asked him why he didn't get his hair cut at college and his response--"I heard that they don't know how to cut hair very good there." What? Need I remind him how much I know about cutting hair. He was so happy with his new style, we cleaned it up a bit and made him promise to get it cut--at least a few times this semester.

It was great having Ryan here with us. I even enjoyed doing his laundry again. In fact, I was amazed at all the new t-shirts he had from running 5k's at school. They will make a very nice t-shirt quilt--someday. Ryan did great at school and loves his karate class. He is majoring in mathematics and wants to be a dentist. Seeing him leave 2 weeks later--not a fun part of phase 2.

The Search is Over

I woke up one morning, bound and determined to find it. It had to be somewhere. I had looked in almost every store I knew, without success. "How can Belgium survive without these", I wondered. But, in my dismay, it could not be found. It was on my mind constantly--how to get one. It was all I wanted for Christmas this year!

Then, just as the obsession of finding it passed and my mind was no longer pre-occupied by it's absence, I found it. Sitting there on the shelf, that was definitely not its own, among the Christmas lights and tinsel (of all things), like a little angel herself had plucked it from oblivion and dropped it right in front of my eyes. I think I screeched with excitement as I snatched it up and ran to the check-out line. My Christmas shopping was over.

Finally, I can unclog the shower drain!!!!!

(And it worked wonders!)