A wonderful Saturday spent with family.....

Today we went with my Aunt Sophie, Uncle Ted, my second cousins Julia and Matthew for a fabulous day of exploration and family bonding.  Julia and Matthew are my cousin Bea's kids.  They are around the same ages as my kids.  When the four of them got together- there was no separating them.  It was like they were long lost friends who just started where they left off.  Matthew and Christopher were inseperable and Julia was such a sweet "older" sister to Olivia- taking her by hand and giving her ballet lessons.

Our trip began with a visit to Ogrodzieniec Castle.  Ogrodzieniec Castle at the highest point of the Krakow Upland- 500 meters (1640 feet).  The castle lies on what is known as “The Trail of the Eagles’ Nests” Szlak Orlich Gniazd in polish, named after a chain of 25 medieval castles which were built high on tall rocks between Czestochowa and Katowice. The castles date mostly to the 14th century and they were built to protect Krakow as well as important trading routes against  foreign invaders. Today there are only ruins but so much fun to visit. 

It was pretty cool walking around the ruins. There was a lot of stairs so I only made it up to the first section since my lovely boot had a hard time manuvering on the stone paths and stairs.  The kids, on the other hand, couldn't wait to climb up to the highest point.  Their reward (thanks to my Uncle Ted!!!) was a ride on the zipline from the highest point in the castle to the other side of the valley- WHAT A BLAST! Christopher, Matthew, and Julia were thrilled.  Olivia was still too small to try it (doesn't mean she didn't want to).  Now I know for a FACT that my kids will want a zipline installed in our backyard. ( John start figuring this out!)

Christopher ziplining!!!!!

Yup- that's him way up that high.....

After this fun adventure, Uncle Ted (a big kid himself which I love!) took the older kids to a go-cart place where they proceeded to race around like crazy in total happiness.  The ending of the day was at my babcia's house for some early birthday cake and presents for Olivia (her birthday is tomorrow).

Uncle Ted and the kids

Aunt Sophie with Christopher (who apparently has a mouthful of birthday cake)

When it was time to leave- it took all we had to pry the kids away from each other.  They just had such a wonderful time bonding with their cousins.  I also had a fabulous time with my Aunt and Uncle and my second cousins....Thank you to my Aunt and Uncle for such an amazing day!! (AND THE DELICIOUS DINNER!)

POLAND.....

A few months ago I decided it would be easier for all involved if I just bought some plane tickets from Bonn/Koln, Germany(where Adam and Ute live)  to Katowice, Poland.  Europe has just as many "Economy" airlines as we do.  So I did some internet research (which I love BTW) and found one called WIZZ.  It's colors are purple and pink AND they fly to Poland from Germany cheap- like $50 per person .  Well then....I was sold....let's be honest the purple airplane was pretty cool looking too!  It was not until AFTER I bought the tickets did I start asking my relatives in Europe if they ever heard of WIZZ airlines.....uhmmmm- APPARENTLY NOT!  Oh that didn't raise my anxiety level-not ONE bit....

The day of the flight came and I figured- "Well, what is the worst that could happen?" (No answer needed here).  I was very pleasantly surprised.  The airline was just fine and the flight was an hour and 20 minutes with no issues.  The kids actually said to me "That's it?  The flight is over?" (oh my little world travelers). 

We arrived safe and sound to my Aunt Teresa and Uncle Richard's house in Zabrze.  Zabrze, Poland (and specifically Gliwice, Poland is were I was born and lived till I was around 5 years old) The kids were so elated to see Katie (my cousin- the one who spent the summer with us last year).  When asked if they thought Poland looked different than Germany they answered- "No- we can't understand any of them" (heheheeh).

The following morning my cousin Katie drove us to my grandmother's house.  If you don't know this about me already- I simply ADORE my grandmother.  She is such a special person in my life and such a huge influence in who I am and who I strive to be.  I couldn't wait for her to see Christopher again (last time she saw him he was 2.5 years old) and meet Olivia for the first time.
((SIDEBAR: At this point in our journey the children have met sooo many aunts, uncles, and cousins that they are totally confused with who is whom.  So when I told them we were going to see my Babcia (grandmother in Polish) they assumed it was THEIR babcia (my mom whom they call Babcia in the states).  These poor kids- have no clue who all these no english speaking adults are and how they are all related to them.))

I would have lied if I said that the visit with my grandmother went without a hitch.  Don't get me wrong- I was in HEAVEN being with her.  She got a kick out of the kids and she and I had a wonderful time sitting and talking.  That lasted about 1 HOUR and then my kids started getting stir crazy.  My grandmother lives in a tiny apartment and it was so hot outside we couldn't leave the apartment.  Apparently my children don't care about stories of the "old days" especially in a language they don't understand(shame on them!!! or maybe shame on me??? :))  So instead of me just sitting in awe and listening to stories of my dad's childhood and my grandmother's life my day went sort of like this:

"Chris stop RUNNING"

"Olivia don't keep playing with that door- it's not an accordion!"

"Christoper that is not a TOY"

"Olivia stop running in and out of the bathroom just to see the light turn on by itself!"

"YES- this IS dinner and you will eat it and you will LIKE IT!"

"No- you can't play on the balcony"

Needless to say- I am going back to see her on Friday- this time BY MYSELF.  I am leaving the kids in the care of my cousin Katie (thank you sooo much Katie!!!) and I am going to take the train and then the bus to see her.  I will get to spend the whole day listening to her stories and just being around this woman I have called my "mama-babcia" (mommy-grandma) since I was 2.5 years old.  I can't WAIT!!!

ADAM & UTE (the adventure part 3 of 3)....Castles and Geysers....

I have to say- my cousin Adam and his lovely wife Ute are great at coming up with some interesting and exciting things to do.  What I love the most is that they both understand that kids need activities that are "kid geared".  This means they know that a museum tour of 2 hours through the history of a castle is not going to keep their attention nor is it relevant for them.  They also get that kids like the "wow" factor of a place.  They are going to make FABULOUS parents!!!

Today we went to the BURG ELTZ .  This castle is more than 800 years old (again- I am in awe and amazed).  Of course they are doing major reconstruction to preserve the building while we were there but it was still unreal to walk on stones and touch walls that have been around for so long- times like these make me feel soooo insignificant in the big picture.

My children, of course, had a whole different view.  Christopher was totally all about the swords and armory and any kind of weapons they had during that time (this is from a kid that was raised in a weapon free household).  Olivia was just amazed by the old bed that had stairs leading up to it- she was dying to climb up into it (yes Olivia- nothing would make mommy happier than you climbing up those old steps and laying down on an 800 year old mattress)

This castle is really amazing because it is in the center of a valley- if I did not have a WONDERFUL big black boot attached to my leg, we could have hiked down to the castle- but alas we were made to ride the shuttle down and then back up.   OH YES PEOPLE- I am STILL bitter about the boot!!!!

Then Adam and Ute outdid themselves again- they took us to our next surprise spot- GEYSIR  ANDERNACH.  Apparently (this is something I have to admit I had NO idea about- Germany not only has volcanoes but geysers!).  YEAH- I KNOW RIGHT???? I FELT LIKE I TOTALLY FAILED GEOGRAPHY/GEOLOGY CLASS WHEN I WAS TOLD THIS.  So we first went to the Geyser Discovery Center where they had these fantastic hands on exhibits perfect for kids explaining how geysers happen.  I mean- it was so good that I even learned some new things about CO2.

 

The second part of the adventure was the boat trip to the geyser.  The geyser lies in landscape of the Rhine Valley on a peninsula called Namedyer Werth, a local nature reserve.  The boat trip takes about 15 minutes when you can enjoy the beauty of the Rhine countryside.

Once we disembarked on the peninsula,  we walked through the nature preserve to the geyser.  Right before it erupted, we could hear the hissing and gurgling sounds.  It was such a cool sight to see- the water rose higher and higher till it reached about 60 meters (196.8 feet) in the air!!! This geyser won the 2009 Guinness Book of Word Records as the highest cold water geyser in the world. When it started going down we were allowed to walk right up to it and even TASTE it!!! (Tasted gross by the way- sooo salty).  The kids had a blast and again Adam and Ute won for the "BEST DAY EVER" in my kids eyes (and mine!).

We got home- exhausted, exhilarated, and hungry.  The kids ate baked pizza and the adults ate lots of unbelievably delicious Greek cheeses and of course yummy wine.  Can I just say that it is damn hard to lose ANY weight here?!!?? I mean really!!! Stop feeding me such delicious food people- oh and of course the wine...mmmmmmm.....

The kids were very sad to say goodbye to Ute and Adam on Tuesday.  At the airport Chris and Olivia were both in total crying mode after they saw Adam leave.  The only saving grace was this awesome kids mini-plane playground right by our gate (why haven't more airports done this???) Our adventure continued with a plane trip to Poland.  I was finally going to see my grandma!!!!!!!  I could not wait!!!!

Tomorrow I shall post our adventure to Poland!

ADAM & UTE (the adventure...part 2 of 3)...WINE COUNTRY...

Adam and Ute took us for a "surprise" day.  We were told that they planned some surprises for all of us and we would have to just go along for the ride.  That sounded like a fun day to me!

We piled into Adam's car and drove through Bonn.  We stopped at Marchenwald (Magic Wood) in the town of Bad Breisig.  It is an enchanted fairytale forest built in the early thirties and is located in a wooded area near the Rhine river.   We walked (Christopher ran of course) along a path that lead to 11 different little "houses" that had a scene out of Grimm's fairy tales.  The kids could press a button that would animate the figures inside and they would tell a part of the story.  So the cool thing about it was that it was TOTALLY CREEPY- the figures were hand painted and wooden with these freaky faces.  I am not sure what was creepier- the fact that the Grimm fairy tales are a bit off anyway or the fact that all the figures (even the princesses had the same deep male voice).  The walk through the woods was nice too!

Our next stop was the the Ahrweiler district of Germany.  The Rhine river forms the eastern border of the district. It is filled with picturesque towns and beautiful mountains.  Ahrweiler is especially well known for its vineyards and wineries. Wine growing and trading has been going on in Ahrweiler for over 1,000 years. The little towns are all surrounded by mountains of vineyards...that's right MOUNTAINS- they grow their grapes on the mountains so literally you are driving through a valley surrounded by vinelands reaching up to the top of these mountains.  It is incredible to see and even more incredible to realized that people have to hand pick the grapes on these steep mountains. 




We went to a restaurant in the middle of one of these vineyards called Forsters Wein and Terrassen.  This restaurant looked so amazing- something out of Dr. Seuss.  The food was DELICIOUS- real delicious German food. I was so delighted just by this journey- but that was not the end of the fabulous surprises yet to come.

Our next stop was at  Mayschoss-Altenahr winery (this was MY surprise! heheehe).  This  winery was started in 1868.  We took the tour into the wine cellar.  It was such an interesting and enlightening tour.  I learned so much about what makes a great wine (and tasted some too :)).  It was so wonderful.  Christopher seemed to absorb the tour as well- now I am fearful that his second grade essay on "What I learned during the summer" is going to be about the details of wine production.  I am amazed- this child can tell you exactly how wine is made from vine to bottle.  Should I worry?  (heheheeheh)  Will there be a parent/teacher conference in my future?

Our last stop was at this extremely long slide for kids.  It was such a wonderful surprise for the kids.  They blasted their way down this slick slide with Adam three times with totally glee.  What a wonderful way to end this day!  Oh but WAIT- there was one more little surprise....the kids were amazed as Adam drove the car onto a ferry to take us across the Rhine River to the next town.

Adam and Ute were so wonderful to give this great day to us.  We were all so exhausted at the end of the day (not too exhausted for some red wine and cheese of course!).

The next day we had a totally new adventure- will blog that tomorrow.