Beginning of European adventures with the Family

First of all, let me say Happy Easter to everyone who reads my little blog! I hope it is full of blessings and remembrance, and not just of chocolate bunnies and peeps. 

I have covered some serious milage (or kilometerage?) in the past few weeks on this little continent. So get ready for a seemingly never-ending onslaught of posts about my jaunts around Europe with my family and a great friend of mine. I am going to do my best to remember stuff and to go in order. Here goes nothing! This first one doesn't have that many pictures...I promise the other ones to come will be more "picture book reader friendly".

So, being the ultra-eager/ awkwardly early person that I am, I arrived at the airport about an hour before I had any hopes of seeing my family entering the passport control area through the glass walls. And seeing as how my sister is a baller and travels with two small children and all of their gear, they were pretty much the last ones off the plane. 

So when they finally arrived and I spotted them through the glass and saw my nephew's smiling face, my niece in her carrier, my dad and stepmom's waves, my sister's organized travel documents in hand, and the desire for German beer and a pretzel in my brother-in-law's eyes; I was so happy!

After getting all settled in with the rental cars and all of that, we were off to begin the tour.

We started by going to Dachau. It's important and terribly sad but not the kind of place you really want to go more than once. My dad had a great comment about it though. "When you see all of this, it kind of makes it hard to believe that there really are boneheads out there who think none of this happened and it was all a hoax." True.

Later that evening we went to the Hofbräuhaus for dinner, a staple for all tourists. As overdone as it may be...I sort of love that place. It's Bavaria at it's most stereotypical and for me...that's a good thing.

As they were super jet lagged, that concluded the events of that day.

The next morning, which just so happened to be Wendy's birthday/St. Patrick's Day, we were off to Nürnberg where we visited a museum that ranks as THE favorite of both Wendy and myself. For those of you who don't know, during Hitler's reign of Germany he called Nürnberg "The most German of German cities." This was the location of his National Socialist rallies. In fact, much of the footage that you see of Hitler giving big speeches in front of thousands of cheering people or people marching around in droves in honor of the Nazi state were filmed there. The Documentation Center Museum features incredible stuff. The exhibit has the name "Fascination and Terror". It's a fitting name, really. If you have ever asked yourself, how could this possibly have happened? Or, how could an entire country get behind such a despicable man and movement? Go there. See it for yourself. It's haunting how much it all seems to make sense when shown from the perspectives of the average non-Jewish German of the time. The brainwashing and fanfare created by such a successful politician is insanely creepy. How convincing lies could be in such a time is astounding. We learn about the Holocaust. We learn about the war. You rarely hear the stories told in this museum, but in my opinion, they are some of the most important ones to understand. Seriously, if you ever get the chance, it is definitely worth the time.

After that, we got back into the cars and headed off for one the parts of the trip I was most excited for. The return. 

Wendy had told me a few weeks before the trip that she had planned for us to go to Regensburg. I almost cried I was so happy. I studied there back in 2009 and have a special place in my heart for the city. To say I was excited is an understatement. It definitely didn't disappoint. It was nice to return to a place I loved and streets I know like the back of my hand (except for how to get to the palace). We walked the bridge, walked by my old apartment, and saw the Dom at twilight. We had a bit of directional/parking trouble before dinner at the restaurant attached to the Thurn and Taxis palace but it worked out eventually when I persuaded the restaurant owner to let us park inside the gate because it was my sister's birthday. They did try to charge us 50 Euros for the "concert" that was going on that night too...but all of that got worked out and we had a nice dinner with yummy food and great beer, of course.

Stay tuned for more...

Things I will miss in Austria pt. 4

This is a two-parter. 


1. Fried Chicken

I used to try to deny I was a southerner, telling anyone who would listen that I was born in Illinois and my family were northerners (read:Yankees) and grew up in the Metro-Atlanta area, thus making me immune to the "country-ness" of Georgia. For all that denial, I have come to understand that it is a part of me like it or not. One of the loveliest things about the south is the availability and quality of fried chicken. I was trying to explain what the "fried chicken" I had in Germany was like today over some proper Sunday Chicken from Cracker Barrel. It was basically pan seared with a baby bit of breading dusting the top of the piece of chicken. Not great. So I will miss this very much while I am away....although I am sure my arteries will not.

2. (which should in all actuality be #1) My beautiful sister Wendy

I love her so much. She may or may not know it but she is the family member I try to please the most. I remember very vividly being a very picky eater as a child. Sometime in middle school or high school that stopped. The reason? Wendy was always an adventurous eater in my mind and I wanted to be like that too. She taught me basic Algebra (for fun) when I was in 3rd grade sitting at the kitchen counter. We both have liked languages and culture from an early age. When it came time to pick an after school activity for Wonderful Wednesdays at Dyer Elementary, I picked french class partially because my cool older sister took french in high school. When I went to Germany in 2009, Wendy was indispensable as a person to bounce travel ideas and plans off of. Again, travel is something we both love and planning is just in our blood. Hers was the opinion I wanted to know after Landers visited in August. I love the nephew she's given me and the niece who we'll get to meet on Friday. She amazes me with her work ethic and how she manages to be good at so many things. Wendy is so patient with Kaiden and insists on doing what is best for him. She is a great mom. She is also the most rational and level-headed person I know but with so much love and humor to go along with it. I am going to miss hanging out at her house with her and complaining about silly/ridiculous things that come up in our daily lives. Although, I am pretty sure I can still do those things on Skype. I know she is having a hard time with me leaving but I never doubt that she is excited for me and proud of me. God has blessed me so much to have her as my sister.

Things I will miss in Austria pt. 1

This little boy. We have so much fun together. I can’t believe I am going to miss his first months of being a big brother to the unborn little girl I already love so much. He is the sweetest little boy I’ve ever met. Talkative, playful, snuggly, and a little obsessive he is.  Ok, maybe a lot obsessive.  Garage doors, waterfalls, fountains, and lights make his 2 ½ year old world go round.  So much so, that he makes sure at bedtime prayers to not only pray for all his loved ones, but also for their garage doors.  I will miss him like crazy. Thank goodness he is a regular Skype pro; I couldn’t live without his smile for months and months.  Thankfully, his stellar mom, whom I will also miss like mad, is bringing him to Europe for a second time along with his new baby sister to visit in the springtime! How impressive is my sister?!?! Seriously. Amazing.