Tag Archives: Trips

Germany Day 9 – A Busy Day in Munich

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Another late morning as we didn’t get going until 10:45 or so. Our first stop was the medieval market in Odeonsplatz. The market itself wasn’t that big, but it was very nice. Everything is supposed to feel like the middle ages including the workers there being dressed in costume. They also have a really full schedule of events. We watched the magician and then watched the “comedy juggling” group. Even with our limited German, we still very much enjoyed them, even Kyle. By the end of the second show, the knight in armor had arrived. Kyle was impressed, but a little scared. We purchased a couple of items and then grabbed a snack consisting of meat on a skewer with dough wrapped around between the meat and then grilled. It was very tasty.

We were getting a bit cold by this time, so we headed toward Marienplatz and wandered though the department store for a bit. It was very busy. After getting warmed up, we headed to the big toy store on Karlsplatz. Suzanne managed to find something that we had been looking for all week and Kyle picked up another few cars. Kyle was getting antsy by this time, so we hopped the tram back toward our apartment, stopping for a few things at the supermarket as it will be closed tomorrow.

After spending a bit of time hanging out at the apartment relaxing, we headed out to dinner. We wanted to check out an Italian place in the Rick Steves near Isartor, but never did. Instead, we ended up at the Weisses Brauhaus, home of Schneider Weisse. It was very busy, but we were lucky to find a table after a few minutes. (We shared with two other couples. One kept to themselves, but we talked with the other, from Frankfurt.) The food was excellent as was the beer. They had at least five different hefeweizens on tap. My schweienehaxe was much better than Augustiner am Platzl and Suzanne’s saurbraten was equally good. (The total bill for two entrees, one “kids” meal, two beers, two other drinks, and a soup was €42.) We took another walk through the main market and down the main shopping street, catching our tram home at Karlsplatz. For tomorrow, the plan is for me to head out early to visit the Dachau concentration camp memorial (about an hour from our apartment). Suzanne and Kyle will sleep in and spend the morning/early afternoon at the Deutsches Museum’s transportation museum.

Germany Day 8 – Munich Day #1

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It was a late morning. We didn’t have anything time critical, so we simply got up when we awoke. This turned out to be around 9:00. It was probably a good thing to let Kyle sleep until he wanted to get up as he was fairly well behaved today. Once we got going, we hopped the tram and the S-Bahn to the Deutsches Museum. This is a very large science and technology museum. Our first stop was the recreations of the a few types of mines. Kyle really enjoyed this as one of the new DVDs we got for the trip was a Mighty Machines about a salt mine, which one of the recreations was. After the mines, we headed to visit the ship section. Kyle really wanted to see the submarine (U-1 – the first German U-boat). Next we headed to the kids section. Kyle loved playing on the real fire truck. He also loved the water play area until he stepped off the edge and ended up ankle deep in water. This wouldn’t have been a big deal in summer, but given the temperature outside was hovering around 30, it wasn’t good. Amazingly, the area has a clothes dryer in the baby changing room as well as extra clothes. After some drying time for his socks and pants and some time under the bathroom hand dryer for his shoe, we managed to salvage the day. (It helped that Suzanne had packed a pair of tights to be worn as long underwear when we went back outside.)

Once we were finished in the kids section, we headed to their cafe for lunch, which wasn’t bad. Next, we headed to the pharmacy/health section. This was brand new in 2000 when Suzanne and I were there before, but was still pretty good. Kyle really loved being able to walk inside a cell. For our trip, Kyle insisted on brining along his “science” kit, which consists of a magnifying glass, a ruler, a notebook, and a pencil. He used it all inside the cell. After the pharmacy exhibit we did a few more sections, but Kyle was getting tired. (He walked for our whole visit, five hours or so.) Another 20 or so minutes in the play area and it was time to go.

After leaving the museum, we headed to the Praterinsel Christmas market, which is on the island just north of Museuminsel, where the Deutsches Museum is located. Getting there involved a nice walk though a snow filled park. The market itself was very small, maybe five or so stalls and another five or so stands inside a building. After leaving here we ended up heading to the market at the Residenz. This turned out to be in a very nice setting, being in the palace courtyard. They also had a series of stalls depicting various fairy tales/Santa scenes with animated figures ala Disney. The only problem with this market is that was very busy as it was evening. Next we headed down past the Rathaus to the second major department store so Suzanne could look for warmer socks and Kyle could take a turn through the toy department. We then headed off to dinner, deciding to check out Steinheil 16 near the apartment, figuring if it wasn’t good, we could stop by the supermarket. It turned out to work well, though luckily we got the the last free table. Kyle ate the noodles we had brought, but both Suzanne and I had had excellent, and huge, Wienerschnitzels. (Total bill for three drinks and two meals was €30.) Then it was back home as we had to finish our laundry and were hoping to get Kyle to bed at a reasonable hour. For tomorrow, we’re not entirely sure what we have planned. We’ll likely hit the Viktualienmarkt and the Middle-Ages Christmas market. Aside from that, who knows.

Germany Day 7 – Off to Munich

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The alarm went off early again at 8:00. After a quick breakfast, during which Kyle had nothing aside from drinking a cup of hot cocoa, we did our final packing and dragged our luggage through the snow to the train station. (Yes, at points I had to literally drag the suitcase as the snow was piling up and preventing it from rolling.) Once there, many trains were delayed due to the “heavy” snow. (The area did get probably 6+ inches and it was much earlier than normal.) Our train ended up being about 20 minutes late out of Nürnberg and 40 minutes late into Munich. However, we were better off than the earlier train to Munich that was 90 minutes late or the train to Munich that was canceled. It turns out that the reservations I had gotten on Monday were actually for Tues and not today. Oh well. I thought about going out last night, but decided not to as it was only a hour. Luckily, the train was not the least bit crowded and we even got a four-seat place around a table.

Coming into Munich was fine, though I felt bad for people who had connections when they announced we were too late to hold them, including the train to Budapest. After trying one of the tram/strassenbahn stops, we found the one we needed. The tram came quickly and it was a short ride to our stop. We are very happy with our apartment so far. It is clean and good sized. We are just down the street from a good-sized (especially by German standards) supermarket and right next door to a bakery. The view is so-so for us, but Kyle loves it as we are very near a construction site.

After relaxing a bit and having lunch, we headed out to visit the Christmas market. The tram right across from us drops us at Karlsplatz, which is the very beginning of the main pedestrian shopping street. Suzanne and I were here on our first European trip in 2000, but only for a day and half or so and didn’t really see much. (We kept meaning to return during our time in Marburg, but never quite made it.) We walked down here for a bit, arriving at Marienplatz and the main market in front of the old city hall. It’s quite nice and fair sized. (There are several others in town we plan to visit.) We walked through it, grabbing a glühwein and a snack for Kyle while doing so. After hitting the main bookstore, which had a very nice view over the market from their elevator, and the department store, we decided to start thinking about dinner early. A few of the places I had recommendations for were near by, so we decided to check them out and found a couple of promising ones. We walked some more, taking a quick trip through the very quiet Viktualienmarkt, we decided to head for dinner. It was only 5:20 or so, but Kyle was complaining he was hungry. For dinner, we headed up to the Augustiner am Platzl brauhaus, which is kitty-corner to the Hofbrauhaus. The food was decent, though Kyle didn’t like his wiener sausage. (We weren’t surprised, but figured we’d give them a try. He at least ate some of the fries.) I had the schweinehaxe which was pretty good. The service wasn’t great, but the waitress did have another huge table. After dinner, we headed back to the apartment, stopping for a couple of items at the supermarket on the way. Suzanne had to put some laundry in now that we had a washer and dryer and we’re hoping to get Kyle down a little early since he was not happy about having to get up this morning and didn’t get a nap. I think tomorrow we’re going to head to the Deutsches (science) Museum which Suzanne and I really enjoyed in 2000.

Germany Day 6 – Bamberg

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The alarm went off early this morning as we wanted to catch a 9:44 train to Bamberg. Kyle was a bit fussy as we had to wake him up. After a rushed breakfast and walk to the train station, we made it in plenty of time. After a 45 minute ride, we arrived in Bamberg. We decided to walk down to the Christmas market instead of taking the bus. It wasn’t far, but it was cold. The market itself was fairly small. They’re supposed to have several, but only one was running. Kyle got to ride the fire truck on the carousel and I had some warm mead. After the market, we did some shopping and walked through the part of the city south of the river/canal. We were getting cold by this point and were looking for lunch. We had passed a place on the way down that had a promising kids menu, including pasta, but it turned out they were closed for lunch except on Saturday and Sunday. After a brief detour into the department store, we finally found a small pizzeria that was able to make some plain pasta. The pizza was actually pretty decent. Kyle ate virtually all of his lunch, which was good. We detoured back to the market to get a Bamberg Gl?hwein mug and headed back to the station for the 2:30 train back to N?rnberg. Bamberg seemed like it would be a very nice city to visit, but the cold made it less than it would have been.

Back in N?rnberg, Suzanne and Kyle were very cold, so we took advantage of our transit day ticket to take the subway the one stop back to the hotel. (The exit is right next to our hotel.) They decided to stay in as it was snowing quite hard. I went back out to the market, taking the subway as close as I could. The snow was really coming down. It made the market quite nice, but Kyle would have been quite cold and uncomfortable. I took a bunch of photos, but it was hard as the camera was getting damp from the snow. Once it was getting dark, I put the camera away and enjoyed the market along with a N?rnberger wurst and a gl?hwein. I headed back to the hotel, stopping at the train station for dinner. (Okay, I admit it, I got some McDonald’s for Kyle.) After eating dinner in our room, we hung out for the rest of the evening, catching up on photos, the blog, and doing our packing for the trip to Munich tomorrow morning.

Germany Day 5 – A Cold Day in Nürnberg

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We ended up sleeping in this morning, not getting going until 9:30 or so (just in time to catch breakfast, which ends at 10:00). After getting a decent breakfast, we headed out to the Deutsche Bahn (German railroad) museum. Suzanne and I went here in 2002 and thought Kyle would really like it. We weren’t disappointed. He wasn’t too keen on the artifacts, but loved the trains on display and the hands-on section designed for kids. He didn’t want to leave, but it was getting toward 1:00.

After a brief stop at the hotel (which was literally behind and across the street) to put on warmer clothes, we headed out to the altstadt. Unfortunately, today was quite cold. Before really visiting the market, we walked up to the castle and explored the courtyard. Then we headed back down to grab some lunch at the market and visit it bit. Kyle was getting cold by this time, so we headed to the kid’s market so he could visit the Playmobil hut, where they had several Playmobil sets setup in a small and, importantly, heated building. Kyle had some “issues” sharing, so we headed back out to the walk through the entire market, which we hadn’t yet done. Kyle was doing better by this time, but getting cold, so it was back to Playmobil for another 30 minutes or so. By now, it was getting late, so we headed away from the market, stopping at the department store so Kyle could spend some of the money Mary Lou sent and so we could pick up a few groceries. Back at the hotel, I asked for a recommendation for somewhere close by which would be good for kids. They didn’t really have one, so we headed out to a place I had found on TripAdvisor that was back in the Altstadt, thought only about 10 minutes from the hotel. Padelle D’Italia turned out to be very good and quite reasonable (€35 for two drinks, two main meals, one “kids” meal, and one soup). We got a plate of plain spaghetti for Kyle and he actually ate the whole thing. It’s the most he’s eaten since we arrived. He also behaved very well. After grabbing a quick crepe, we headed back to the hotel as Kyle had to have a shower before bed tonight. All in all a very good, though cold, day. Our plan tomorrow is to head to Bamberg, about 45 minutes by train from Nürnberg.

Germany Day 4 – Off to Nürnberg

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Neither Suzanne nor I slept well last night, so the alarm even at 8:30 seemed early. We managed to get nearly everything back into our bags last night, so we had minimal packing to do. Suzanne and Kyle’s suitcase is really heavy, but I can still handle it. (We’re most likely going to have to check a third bag on the way back. Since there’s three of us, it’s still free.) We left the hotel on time and headed back to the Konstablerwache S-Bahn stop for a final time. At the Hauptbahnhof, we grabbed breakfast (another donut for Kyle) and waited for our train. It arrived on time. We were very happy to have made reservations as it was quite busy. I don’t know that we would have gotten seats otherwise. I think we’re going to make reservations for the Nürnberg to Munich train when we arrive even though the trip is only one hour. Kyle even got to watch the engineer for a bit as we are in the first car and there is only a glass partition between the control room and the passenger compartment. All for now (we’re on the train) — will write more later.

(Evening) We arrived in Nürnberg without problem and right one time. After a short detour to purchase reservations for our trip to Munich, we walked to the hotel through the significant snowfall. It wasn’t as close as I thought and between dragging the one suitcase (which kept getting hung up on the snow) and pushing the stroller, it wasn’t all that pleasant. The hotel is decent enough. I wouldn’t call it charming, but it was quite reasonable and was only recenlty built (opened in late September). We decided that Kyle really needed a nap today. (He hadn’t been getting one, and we think this is part of the problem we’ve been having at night.) Suzanne fed him lunch while I went out and got something for us. Back at the hotel, we finally managed to get Kyle to fall asleep. We both followed soon after.

Back up around 3:30, we bundled ourselves up for our trip to the market. While this hotel isn’t as close as when we were here in 2002 (then we were maybe 5 minutes from the main square), it wasn’t a bad walk, maybe 15 minutes or so. It was still snowing quite heavily. The market is as nice as we remember. We walked around, had some glühwein, got Kyle a chocolate covered waffle, and enjoyed ourselves. Nürnberg has a small children’s market in addition to the main one. There are several food stalls, some rides, and a few other places, including, Kyle’s highlight, a place to play (and buy of course) Playmobil.

By this time, Kyle was getting cold and hungry, so we headed out to find dinner. Unfortunately, Kyle is not keen on German food. After checking a couple of places on either side of the Altstadt, we popped in a place that had spätzle and looked decent. The food was good, but Kyle didn’t like the spätzle as it was pan fried. (I ended up eating it and it was quite tasty, even plain.) Luckily, he decided he like my Wienerschnitzel cut into “nuggets”. After a quick stop by Aldi for a few things, we headed back to the hotel. All in all a good day and Kyle was good, even walking most of the way to dinner. Tomorrow we plan to hit the Deutsche Bahn museum, which is right behind our hotel, in the morning and hit the markets again in the afternoon. Hopefully, it won’t take so long to find dinner tomorrow night.

Germany Day 3 – A Visit with the Sotriffers

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The alarm went off early at 7:30 as we had to catch a 9:12 train to Gernsheim to visit with Christoph Sotriffer, my office mate in Marburg, and his family. Kyle did not want to get up, but we had to get going as there is a train only every two hours. We made it to the station in plenty of time to get breakfast from a bakery, even getting a donut for Kyle. The 40 or so minute ride down was fine. Christoph met us at the station with Mathilde, who is seven months younger than Kyle, and Jonathon, who is two and a half. I probably could have found their apartment again as I had been there a couple of times before, but I wasn’t 100% sure.

We had a very nice visit. Kyle enjoyed playing with Mathilde and with Jonathon’s wooden trains. Edith made a delicious brunch. It was great to see them again (and to meet Jonathon and Teresa, who is eight months old). Kyle was unhappy that we had to leave (as we didn’t have such cool toys), but we made a brisk walk back to the station to catch the return train. (We didn’t make it with tons of time. Missing it would have been a pain since, as on the way down, there is a train only every two hours.)

Back in Frankfurt we took the streetcar to the R?merplatz as Kyle had been insisting on riding one. We’re going to be taking one quite a bit in Munich as our apartment is right next to a stop, but Kyle is not known for his patience. We spent a couple of hours walking around the market again. It was much busier today, which we expected, but was still enjoyable. We picked up another Gl?hwien and some sausage for us and a candy cane and popcorn for Kyle. (After eating a handful of popcorn, he decided he wanted cotton candy which we had offered.) We finished by walking up to Hauptwache (a central area on the main pedestrian shopping street) and checked out the decorated windows at Galleria Kaufhof, one of the two main German department stores. The windows at Macy’s in NYC are much nicer. A quick ride on the S-Bahn and bus and we were back at Joanna’s for a final dinner and visit. (Her cooking is very good as it’s somewhat exotic being African based and wonderfully delecious. I think I’m going to try and replicate the cabbage dish she made for us as some point.) Kyle really didn’t want to leave, and, in truth, neither did we, but we had to get back to the hotel to back up for our trip in the morning to N?rnberg (Nuremberg). It was a wonderful weekend in Frankfurt as we got to see several friends from our time in Marburg. The market in Frankfurt is also quite nice. I doubt we would have visited Frankfurt if it hadn’t been for our friends, but we did enjoy it. We’re really looking forward to our few days in N?rnberg, home of one of the largest and most famous Christmas markets.

Germany Day 2 – A Day in Heidelberg

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After a good night sleep, we all awoke much refreshed. I was up early and spent some time downloading photos and doing the day one blog post. (In the bathroom, of course, so I didn’t wake anyone else.) Suzanne got up a bit later and Kyle slept until 8:00 or so. (Since we all went to bed around 9:30, this mean Kyle slept almost 11 hours.) We were a bit rushed, but managed to make it to the Hauptbahnhof (main station) in plenty of time for our 9:45 meeting with Joanna and Job. After grabbing some breakfast (McD’s for Kyle and Suzanne and a bakery for me), we bought our “Happy weekend ticket” (good for up to five people anywhere in the country on slower regional trains for ?37) we hopped aboard the waiting train bound for Heidelberg. This was one of, if not the oldest, train we’ve been on during all of our travels in Germany. I was afraid it would be packed, but it wasn’t so busy.

After the 90 minute train ride, we hopped a packed bus to travel to the altstadt. I had heard the market extended from one of the old town to the other. This was only sort of true. While there were markets in several squares, there were well spaced and the total size wasn’t that great. We did have a nice walk through the city, ate some good market food, collected our Heidelberg Weinachtsmarkt mug, and did a bit of shopping on the side. Kyle also very much wanted to see a castle. While there were couple on the train ride in, he wasn’t very impressed with them, but was awed by the one over Heidelberg. All in all, it was probably worth the ride each way, but I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way. (Also, it was weird hearing so much English spoken. Admittedly, we were speaking English, but … )

Once back in Frankfurt, after a ride during which most of slept to some degree and during which the police showed up in Darmstadt about a passenger incident with the conductors), we made plans to visit with Joanna tomorrow evening for dinner before they went back home. We headed back to our hotel to a restaurant that was supposed to be around the corner and had cheap, decent, Italian. It wasn’t there, but we did find the other location (perhaps they moved?). It wasn’t where I had it on my map but was at the address I had listed. The restaurant (Zimt + Koriander) was pretty good and we were well treated. Three drinks (one beer, one soda, and one juice) and two pastas and a pizza came to ?26.90. Finished with dinner, we headed back to the hotel so Kyle could have a bath and Suzanne could have a shower. Overall, we had a very nice day.

Tomorrow we have plans to visit our friend Christoph and his family about 30 minutes south of here in Frankfurt. Aside from having to catch and early train (9:10) as they have a family event in the afternoon, we very much looking forward to it. We’ll likely hit the market here again tomorrow afternoon and then head to Joanna’s for dinner.

Germany Day 1 – We Made It

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Well, we made it to Germany without any problems. I managed to catch an early train home on Wednesday, so we were able to do most of our packing that night. The only major problem we had is that I managed to leave my camera battery charger in my office in Boston. After some frantic searching, I ended up ordering one from Amazon.de (at an exorbitant cost) and having it shipped to Joanna’s. Thursday wasn’t so hectic. We did have to do a final leaf raking as the last pickup is while we’re gone. It even started to very lightly snow, starting to get is the mood. Aside from the last minute rush, it was pretty calm. Our car arrived a bit early and the trip to the airport was very smooth as there was little traffic.

The airport itself wasn’t so busy. We expected this as we had flown to Florida in 2004 on Thanksgiving Day. Security was non-eventful. At Newark, they’re still using the old procedure and don’t have the new scanners yet, so we didn’t have to deal with them. After grabbing some dinner at the food court, we had a hour or so before boarding. As a Select Plus member of Amtrak’s frequent traveler program (akin to elite status on an airline), I get access to the Continental Presidential lounges. Let me tell you, if you have the ability to access these, do so. It was very nice. One of them in Newark’s terminal C (where we were) even has a small room for families, which we shared with a mother and her son awaiting their flight to India (after an 11 hour layover).

The flight itself took off on time as was maybe 50% full. They actually told people after boarding was done that they could spread out. I don’t think any row was full and most sections (it was a 3-seat–3–3 configuration) had only 1-2 people. I watched Toy Story 3 while Kyle watched some Handy Manny and insisted on watching some of my Toy Story 3 (using one of my headphone pieces to do it). We did learn that we should have brought over the ear headphones for Kyle. At home he tried a set of ear bud ones and they seemed okay (and they pack much smaller), but they kept falling out. We’re hoping to pick up a pair somewhere before we head back. The rest of the flight was fine, though we didn’t sleep. While I don’t normally sleep on a plane, we were shocked that Kyle didn’t either. Both of us were dreading Friday. Other than this, Kyle was quite well behaved on the plane. The lady behind us even complimented us. (At least I think she did. She said something in German that included nice/good.)

Arrival in Frankfurt was uneventful. It was very foggy as we came in. Once we landed I could swear the grass was snow covered, but it was hard to tell as we didn’t have window seats. Turns out I was right. They had they’re first snow Thursday night. We did manage to neglect to get Kyle’s gate checked stroller as we got off the plane. (We boarded a bus and it was raining/snowing at the time.) They ended up delivering it (slightly damp) to baggage claim, so the crisis of a lost stroller was avoided. Immigration and baggage claim was uneventful. One bag was on the carousel when we made it there and the other popped up within a few minutes.

Other than having to wait for a bit for the S-Bahn into town (we just missed the previous one), we had no problems getting to the hotel. (Of course, we know our way around reasonably well as Marburg is an hour northeast of here.) Our hotel (the Best Western Scala) is a few minute walk from one end of the main shopping street and from one of the main S-Bahn stations, so is very convenient. The hotel itself it nice and feels fairly new. We did have to wait 20 or so minutes for our room, but as official check-in isn’t until 3, we didn’t mind if it meant we could get to our room then. (It was about 11 at this point.)

After moving some stuff around, we headed back out. Our first stop was McD’s to get Kyle lunch. The line was quite long and by the time I managed to actually get it, Kyle was nearly asleep. He managed to eat a french fry and a half before falling asleep with the second half in his hand. We figured (and hoped) this would happen, but would have liked him to eat something since he hadn’t eaten much Thursday. While Kyle slept, Suzanne and I headed down the Ziel (the main shopping street) and over to the R?merplatz, site of the Christmas Market. It seems the market has expanded since we were over here. Being back in the atmosphere was great. It wasn’t so busy, despite it being the first day it was open, as it was only mid-afternoon at this point. We toured the whole market, stopping for a Gl?hwein (hot mulled wine — a staple of any Christmas market) and a bratwurst. We then headed back towards the Ziel, stopping in a couple of department stores to (a) pick up a few grocery items (most department stores here have a grocery store in the basement) and (b) (at one) to “preview” the toy department with a sleeping Kyle.

Back at the hotel, we switched a few things and headed back out to meet our friend Katrin (from our time in Marburg) at a cafe about 10 mins from the hotel. We were running a few minutes late, but so was she, so it worked out very well. Kyle woke up just before we arrived, though he was still a bit grumpy. We had a nice conversation over coffee and then wandered around the market for a bit. The lightly falling snow really added to the festive mood. Kyle took a ride on one of the carousels, of course insisting on the one with the bright orange hook-and-ladder firetruck. We then all walked back to the hotel.

After saying our goodbyes to Katrin, we headed back upstairs to grab the stuff to take to Joanna and Job’s. The trip there was also fine aside from my forgetting to take the nice printed transit directions. Luckily I remembered them well enough and had a map to their flat. We had a wonderful visit with them including Joanna’s delicious steak and pepper (?) stew. (She made this for me when I visited on a previous visit.) About 7:30 we were all starting to feel the effects of a night without sleep, so we packed up and headed back to the hotel (about 30 minutes) after making plans to meet at the main train station in the morning and head out to Heidelberg for the day (about 90 minutes from Frankfurt). All in all, it was a pretty good trip over and a first day.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the latest update.