Johnson family Vacay week 2

SO as to be continued....
We left Ramersbach Saturday morning and went to the Nürburgring to watch Florian race and afterwards they had their first currywurst! Both enjoyed it. After that we set off towards Münster. The drive was a lot longer than it should have been but we finally got there and the hotel was lovely. There was a cute garden that Dad and I went for a walk in and it seemed that it was kind of secluded in it's own little woods. We ventured into the city center to walk around and get some dinner. It was such a cute little city. There were TONS of bikes everywhere, the public transportation isn't so great so everyone rides a bike! There were bike paths all over and it is a fairly younger town with lots of students. I really enjoyed the one night we were there.

This was the awesome tree tunnel bike path next to the french restaurant we ate at. 

After dinner we walked back to the car and Dad wanted a coffee so he stopped in the Starbucks that was about to close. The guy working noticed he was American and asked where he was from, Dad said Chicagoland and the guy had grown up and graduated high school in Antioch! It's such a small world!

The next morning was my game. Really rough but we pulled off a win by one goal. It was cool that Dad and Katy were able to come. After the game we set off towards Stuttgart. I slept for a while and Katy drove the whole way. It was a beautiful sunny day and the drive was beautiful. 

Katy driving the Benz

The amazing yellow Rapseed fields that were alllll over the place. 

Once we got to Stuttgart we settled in and connected with Iris. Katy and I walked around the area, we stayed in Mohringen which is a little bit outside the city. We found a nice biergarten and had a yummy greek themed dinner and our first south German weißbier. It was a nice night and we sat outside and enjoyed ourselves. 

Katy and our dinner. The swan was the weirdest version of saganaki I've ever had. 

We brought Dad back his first döner and he seemed to really enjoy it. 

The next day was a busy one even though we started off not knowing what to do. Tensions were high as we tried to get the car fixed (the air didn't work) and the Mercedes place in Stuttgart (also the biggest in the world) of course didn't have time for walk-ins. We tried to go to the Frülingsfest but it wasn't open yet so we brought the car back to the hotel and hopped on the train, public transit there is very easy. We went to Königsstraße, the main street in Stuttgart and the garden there was in full bloom with people enjoying the sunshine and nice weather so we did the same. 

After that we got some lunch there and headed to the Willhelma zoo and botanical gardens. We spent the rest of the afternoon there. There were lots of greenhouses, gardens and animals to see and we really enjoyed it until the storm couds started to roll in, at which point we thought we should get ahead of it. 

This botanical garden also has the biggest magnolia tree grove in Europe. We were about a week too late to see them all in full bloom but there were still a few with blossoms to appreciate. 

Katy and I then went again for another solo dinner and stumbled upon a hidden gem for sure. The Wichtel brewery, there are about 5 in Stuttgart we later learned. We had some delicious beers and one of the best pizzas I have ever had. Germany is now in peak spargel (asparagus) season and they mostly only have white asparagus. We got a pizza with spargel, hollandaise, and cheese on it and I almost died it was so good. 

We sat up in the balcony, above the brewing stuff which there are now just for decoration. The real magic happens in the basement. 

The next day we went to the Porsche Museum which Dad was really excited about and it was pretty interesting. I at least got to see tons of cool cars and take lots of photos for Bennet :)

and we got to sit in one. 

Dad was happy about that. 

Before leaving Stuttgart we stopped by the Harley Davidson dealer so dad could buy a shirt...of course. There happened to be a Mercedes dealer next door so we stopped and had them look at the car and of course, we had to take it to the airport and switch cars. Bye Bye Mercedes. 

After that mess we drove to Heike's in Tuttlingen, about an hour. We had some kaffee and kuchen when we got there and then went out on a little adventure to see some of the surroundings. 

We hiked up to this amazing view over this valley and it was really very cool. It made me want to go hiking and camping. 

At the far end there is a church ind monastry, which we also drove to, and some very amazing camp grounds and rock climbing areas. 

This was part of Jakobs weg that crossed through the valley on the monastery grounds. I think before I die I would like to follow parts of it. It seems like a very cool experience. 

That night we had dinner, Heike made some yummy spatzle and Katy Heike and I stayed up for a while chatting and drinking some sekt which was really nice. 

The next day we went to Konstanz and walked around, hung out and had some lunch, and Dad got to step foot into Switzerland so the trip wasn't alllll Germany. 

After that we drove over to Insel Mainau, basically flower island. It's a part of land that sticks out into Lake Constance and is a giant garden that smells amazing and is just about one of the prettiest places I've ever been. We were there in peak tulip season which was perfect and made for some amazing sights. Iv'e never seen so many flowers concentrated in one area. They had all kinds of colors and designs, it was amazing. 

us and Heike and Paul at the entrance. A flower made of flowers...

They had a sequoia walk which was very cool. 

A smetterlinghaus (butterfly house) with lots of pretty flowers as well. 

Some of the tulips. 

View from the highest point, If it were clear out you could see the swiss alps a lot better.

so many flowers, it smelled so good.

me, katy, paul and heike

dad enjoyed the lawn art as well....

After Mainau it was time to say goodbye to Paul and Heike and then we set off to Meersburg via ferry. We drove the car onto the ferry, got out and walked around a little, it was a beautiful day and afternoon. 

On the ferry. 

Once we got to Meersburg we settled into our hotel which was also very nice and had a lovely patio. We walked into the high part of the city then to the low to look for a good place to eat. We had a nice walk along the lake and finally found a place in a kind of secret alley almost. We had some delicious Bodensee fish and Katy and I got some Meersburg wine. 

At dinner

The pretty sunset on the lake. 

We got some ice cream and walked around a little before heading back to the hotel. Katy and I decided to stop at this wine cellar we passed and got a bottle of Meersburg red wine to go (how great). We walked back to the hotel and hung out on the nice patio and chatted until probably too late. We outlasted Dad by about an hour and a half. 

The town is kind of split in half by a hill and there are things on the walk up the hill but there is definitely a high half of the town and a low, lakeside half. This made for some good walking. 

The next day, the rain started. We had made a date with our first au pair, Iris, who came to us when I was 7 months old! She came and picked us up and we went to her town, the next one over, Uhldingen. It's small as well and there is a beautiful church there that she brought us to. After that we stopped by her apartment which was so cute and then went to her mom's for an amazing lunch. Her mom and step dad don't speak English so they were sort of looking to me to translate and it was really hard, especially because her stepdad has a really thick swiss accent which I could barely understand. I think I did okay. The lunch was amazing and we stayed and had some wine as well and Iris's sister, Claudia, (who apparently came to visit her while she was with us) came to see us as well. It was nice that she was so happy to see us even if we didn't remember her. After lunch we went to the city center and there was a Midevil times festival going on, Dad was very interested in that. We hopped on a boat that Iris had arranged and it was sunny for this part of the day which was really great timing, little did we know this would be the last time we would see the sun for a while.... The boat was nice and we got to have some kaffee and kuchen too. 

Katy and I with Iris

The boat leaving Uhldingen. 

After that we went back to Meersburg and Dad and Iris went to go see the castle there but Katy and I stayed back and relaxed. We said bye to Iris and then the rain started. We braved it and walked in the pouring rain down to a little Italian place for some dinner. After that we walked back up and Katy and I went to get a beer and hang out at the bar across the street from our hotel, which must have been the weirdest place in Meersburg but we sat outside and enjoyed hanging out. 

The next day we set off towards Füssen which should have been an amazingly beautiful drive but there were so many clouds and so much rain that it was really a bummer. 

Of course we still stopped a few places to enjoy what the view would have been. The fog did look kind of cool but I would have enjoyed seeing some alps. 

We got to Füssen and went to town and walked around for a while. It was very cute there, if it weren't rainy..... The town was cute and it was so gross and rainy that Dad decided I needed a raincoat and we got one on sale, of course I put it on right away and enjoyed being dry for the rest of the trip. I didn't know I'd be getting so much immediate use out of it. 

We stopped and had some kaffee and then went to the hostel to check in. It was Dad's first hostel experience which was funny, he enjoyed pointing out the "bed wetters" aka little kids running around. Katy and I ventured into town when there was a break in the rain and walked around looking for a place to get something to drink and something to eat. We found a great little place and got some wine and paella that was very good. Of course, we had to steal a fork so we could bring back some for Dad. The next morning we woke up early and the weather was of course, no better. We headed out to the castles and although the weather was awful, there were still a lot of people so it was great that Rick Steves had advised Katy to get tickets. We headed up to Hohenschwangau for our tour which was great. The tour guide was really informative and energetic, lots of jokes. Hihenschwangau was the summer home of the royal family of Bavaria, where Ludwig II grew up. The castle is very fantastical and romantic. It was easy to see where he got his inspiration for Neuschwanstein. 

After that tour we walked back down and then headed up to Neuschwanstein, not a hike for the faint of heart. 

walk down from Hohenschwangau

The walk was long and we sort of all separated since it was steep and rainy and we all kind of just wanted to be at the top. It was a nice challenge for my knees though. Finally we got to the top, ate our snacks we had packed from the breakfast at the hostel and waited for our number for our tour. There were some amazing views from up there. I'm sure it would have been nicer if there were no clouds but the mist gave it a whole different feel I think. 

We got into the castle and had our tour. The inside is really something even though only 13 rooms were finished before Ludwig died. Most of the castle actually never got finished, he had huge plans. He and his psychiatrist went for a walk in the woods and both mysteriously drown in a nearby lake, construction was then put to a stop as he was spending so much of Bavaria's money. Money that now has been probably at least tripled by the tourism the castle brings. After the tour Katy and I walked over to Marienbrücke (Mary's bridge) that has a great view of the castle and surroundings. Dad wanted extra time for the walk down so he didn't join us but it was very cool to see. 

After that we walked down a different way, through the forrest which was very cool and because of allt he rain the waterfalls in there were very beautiful. 

After we met up at the bottom we said bye to the castles and headed out towards Munich!

Johnson family Vacay Week One

Katy and Dad just left Germany today and I was sad to say goodbye. It was really nice to have them here and spend time together, although sometimes it was a little too much. Of course there was fighting and I think we really learned a lot about each other and out relationships with one another. It was also veyr cool to explore with them and show them my life here. It was pretty strange at first to have them here but the kids liked them right away and they seemed to really aprove of the situation I have found myself in here. 

Florian and I went to pick them up in Frankfurt and it was great to see them walk out of the gate. It was so long in the making and it was crazy they were finally here! That first day was just letting them get over the jetlag and seeing Ramersbach which really doesn't take long. We got back and went on a nice walk through the woods, it was a beautiful day. Nina got home and we make schnitzel for dinner, a very great first German meal in my mind. Dad went to sleep early and Katy came over to Mela's for her birthday with me. It was funny to have her there but nice that she got to meet the people I have become friends with here and see how hard it was to be around all the German- of course now I understand most of what's going on but she definitely didn't so it was funny to see that. 

The next day we went to Bonn to get our rental car and Köln in the afternoon. We got a very nice mercedes for a rental car which none of us were expecting but I guess it was the only automatic they had :) We didn't complain. We walked around Bonn for a while and went to Beethoven's House which was interesting. There wasn't too much to see but some cool old instruments with lots of history and just to learn a little more about his life. It's funny to me that it's just kind of tucked away on a little street that without signs you'd have no idea there was a museum inside or any sort of historical significance. 

Katy and I in the garden at Beethoven's house. 

Once we were finished in Bonn we drove up to Köln and saw the Dom, walked up to Neumarkt and I got to get a new English book, always exciting. I got Aleph by Paulo Coelho, hopefully it will bring me back to a path of insightfulness and thoughtfulness about the rest of my life....

Sorry- tangent. 

After that we got some lunch at Nordsee- very fancy, I know. Then walked to the chcolate museum on the river. It's all Lindt chocolate with great samples but we got to learn about how it's made, the culture, the history and the societal implications. There was a lot to learn about chocolate, who knew!

At the museum. To our right there was a giant chocolate fountain that was delicious and behind us is a lovely view of the Rhine :)

After that we walked around down the river and up to the lock bridge near the Dom. 

Dom in the background.

Lock bridge and the Dom. 

That night was the Maibaumstellen in Ahrweiler. This is a very cool thing to me that this region of Germany has very cool traditions of. It's always the last night of April, into the first of Mai. They have the GIANT trees and they mount a pine tree on the top then they have to stand it up using nothing but man power. They start around 4 or 5 and this particular one wasn't standing until around 11:30. Of course they take many breaks for drinking so it isn't a continuous thing. The main trees in the villages are supposed to be for allt he girls of the village. Then later that night the boys go into the woods and get trees and decorate them and stand them up at their girlfriend's houses late in the night. They stay up for all of May. 

Around 9pm

Almost up at around 11. 

I took Katy to Osman's this night and it was gerat fun. She got to hear me speak German and see what a regular night out consists of. It was a great night and I think she had fun. She certainly liked the Waldmeister....

On the way home at about 2am our cab had to stop while a group of maybe 15 guys moved trees out of the street that they had collected to help each other put up their girlfriend's maibaums. 

The next day we had a big family trip to Burg Eltz since it was a holiday and everyone had off work and school. It was Nina, Florian, Liv and Bennet, Anja and Christian and Ian and Aiden and of course Katy Dad and I. We had a full group :)

This was dad and Christian enjoying and bonding over the Mercedes...

This is Burg Eltz, unfortunately my only picture since my camera died. Doesn't really do it justice though.

We had a nice tour in English while everyone went on the German one of course. 

After the tours we all met back up and had a nice little picnic by the river there, I believe it's the Mosel. It wasn't the nicest day but it wasn't raining and we enjoyed the picnic anyway. 

We had a great bar b q in the backyard that night that was awesome until it started drizzling at the end of dinner. Oma and Opa came down and Markus was there as well so we had a very full table and yummy food. That night we had a mini game night and taught Nina and Oma and Opa how to play up and down the river with the chips dad brought for the Schüles. They enjoyed it and hopefully we'll get to play again with the kids soon. 

The next day we went to Remagen and saw the Peace Museum and where there used to be a bridge that played a huge part in World War II. The museum was cool and I had no idea Remagen was such a big deal. I learned a lot and it was very informative. 

After the museum in front of the Rhine

We then walked through town and sat down for a great  lunch on the river. Luckily, the sun came out and dad found his love for German wursts. 

Our last night was the wine tasting I had arranged. We didn't end up having as many people come as I thought but it was a fun night. The guy doing the tasting, Andy, was very knowledgable and gave a great tasting in English for us. We got to sample 3 whites and 3 reds and although it was cold down there, it was really cool that it was down in the wine keller. 

lots of old barrels. 

The next morning, although a rough one, we made our way to the Nürburgring for Florian's race. Anja, the kids and Oma and Opa also came too. 

Dad loved the racing and the track and it was probably one of his favorite parts about the first week. Florian did well and placed third int he rookie category and got a trophy and everything. It was fun to have them there and hang out with the kids and my family. Everyone really got along great which made me fell so much more comfortable here. After the race we headed too to Münster! More on the travel part of the Johnson family vacay to come in the next post!