Our flight to Germany was so uneventful I almost don't have anything to say about it...which is freaking AWESOME! We have reached a wonderful stage in which the boys are close to self-sufficient in the air, especially since we give them unlimited iPad time while flying....Why yes, we are those parents! And because we are those parents, I actually saw some movies myself from the past year, we all enjoyed our meals and snacks, and we only spilled one cup of Sprite into one tennis shoe and it was dry by the next day! Huzzah! E even ate both his and J's helpings of artichoke salad, because that's just the kind of eater he is!
Upon landing and after getting our rental car (because of a mix-up regarding insurance and what have you, we ended up renting a BMW 3 series, thereby fulfilling one of the items on the husband's bucket list...if he had one of those, which he doesn't, but if he did, driving a BMW in Germany would definitely be on it!), we arrived at our hotel in Frankfurt...and discovered that "hotel" was a generous description! In fact, it was actually a hostel. Oops! But, there were lots of pluses: the kids had bunk beds in our private room, which they loved; the location was perfect, which I loved; there was an Ikea furnished playroom downstairs, which was an added bonus; it was clean and bright and relatively quiet, despite the many youth in the youth hostel; there was free locked parking, which was necessary given the neighborhood...which leads us to the minuses, the biggest of which is that the room was HOT! Apparently, budget hotels in Germany don't typically have air conditioning, which is fine if the windows (all of which open, unexpectedly) catch breezes, which they did in two of our hotels...but not in this one! So we were a little warm for the first two nights until we found out they had fans available and we took two of the three they had available and slept much better and all was good in the room after that!
I'm sure we ate dinner somewhere that night...oh yes, we went to the shopping district of Frankfurt and ate at the Bull and Bear, sausages and huge salads and E had sushi from across the street because he really, really wanted it and what better to follow up artichokes than a California roll? We also visited the Lego store and I had to seriously restrain myself from buying a huge bucket of loose Legos because they had some amazing pieces I have never seen before but I was able to resist! Instead, the boys each got a key chain (E got a Superman mini figure; J got a penguin. Not The Penguin, a cute little penguin made out of Legos. These choices typify their personalities exactly, by the way!) and we picked up some breakfast groceries and played in a park by our car and then came back to our hotel and slept (a little fitfully, given the heat).
The next day, we started our fun vacation in earnest with a visit to the Frankfurt Zoo. I have decided that the secret to vacation success is lowering expectations and knowing your audience. My audience likes animals and misses the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo desperately, and they were in heaven! They got up close (very, very close) to some animals, including a huge tiger and a very interested gorilla and were so excited I couldn't get any shots of them when they weren't moving, so forgive the blurriness!
After they zoo, we went on a ride on the Ebbelwei Express, an electric train that gives you apple wine or apple juice and pretzels as it winds through Frankfurt. It was warm and picturesque and fun and great. E and J passed out on the ride back because they were just worn out, but I'm pretty sure it was a happy sleep!
And then, because things were going so well, we headed to an Easter Market in Wiedbaden where there were very few Easter things but we did get to see street performers, hear live music, play games, and eat sausage!! So a great time was had by all!
Days 1 & 2: complete success!
Upon landing and after getting our rental car (because of a mix-up regarding insurance and what have you, we ended up renting a BMW 3 series, thereby fulfilling one of the items on the husband's bucket list...if he had one of those, which he doesn't, but if he did, driving a BMW in Germany would definitely be on it!), we arrived at our hotel in Frankfurt...and discovered that "hotel" was a generous description! In fact, it was actually a hostel. Oops! But, there were lots of pluses: the kids had bunk beds in our private room, which they loved; the location was perfect, which I loved; there was an Ikea furnished playroom downstairs, which was an added bonus; it was clean and bright and relatively quiet, despite the many youth in the youth hostel; there was free locked parking, which was necessary given the neighborhood...which leads us to the minuses, the biggest of which is that the room was HOT! Apparently, budget hotels in Germany don't typically have air conditioning, which is fine if the windows (all of which open, unexpectedly) catch breezes, which they did in two of our hotels...but not in this one! So we were a little warm for the first two nights until we found out they had fans available and we took two of the three they had available and slept much better and all was good in the room after that!
I'm sure we ate dinner somewhere that night...oh yes, we went to the shopping district of Frankfurt and ate at the Bull and Bear, sausages and huge salads and E had sushi from across the street because he really, really wanted it and what better to follow up artichokes than a California roll? We also visited the Lego store and I had to seriously restrain myself from buying a huge bucket of loose Legos because they had some amazing pieces I have never seen before but I was able to resist! Instead, the boys each got a key chain (E got a Superman mini figure; J got a penguin. Not The Penguin, a cute little penguin made out of Legos. These choices typify their personalities exactly, by the way!) and we picked up some breakfast groceries and played in a park by our car and then came back to our hotel and slept (a little fitfully, given the heat).
The next day, we started our fun vacation in earnest with a visit to the Frankfurt Zoo. I have decided that the secret to vacation success is lowering expectations and knowing your audience. My audience likes animals and misses the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo desperately, and they were in heaven! They got up close (very, very close) to some animals, including a huge tiger and a very interested gorilla and were so excited I couldn't get any shots of them when they weren't moving, so forgive the blurriness!
After they zoo, we went on a ride on the Ebbelwei Express, an electric train that gives you apple wine or apple juice and pretzels as it winds through Frankfurt. It was warm and picturesque and fun and great. E and J passed out on the ride back because they were just worn out, but I'm pretty sure it was a happy sleep!
And then, because things were going so well, we headed to an Easter Market in Wiedbaden where there were very few Easter things but we did get to see street performers, hear live music, play games, and eat sausage!! So a great time was had by all!
Days 1 & 2: complete success!
No comments:
Post a Comment