Travel & Adventure – Home here and there

Solo trip to Germany into the past

Image of the little harbour at the Weser side arm in Nienburg, Germany under a blue sky, small boats an the water and trees on the shore. — Nienburg/Weser harbor

It’s already been a week since I got back from a quick solo trip to Germany. A couple of months ago it was announced that there was a 30 year highschool reunion in the works. This year the timing actually worked in my favor and so I headed on a little Germany trip by myself. To make good use of my time I squeezed in a couple of “side trips”.

I started by meeting up with my dad near Munich to visit my sister and her husband. Even though it was already end of August it felt like summer and we spend the evenings hanging out in the beer garden at our hotel. There was lots of good food there. Since it was too hot to spend much time outside we went on one outing to the Bucheim Museum. It’s right at the edge of Lake Starnberg in a park-like setting and it was a lot of fun.

Various images from the Buchheim Museum. Top left shows a painting of trees, top right shows a mirror surrounded by a relief of a woman holding it. Bottom left shows a seating area with pictures on the walls.Bottom right shows lake Starnberg from a terrace at the museum building. — Pictures from the Buchheim Museum at Lake Starnberg

Besides the collection of expressionist paintings it also had an exhibition about Paul Maar. He is an illustrator of children’s books and almost everyone in Germany knows his drawings. His most famous one is the book about the Sams. It’s a character that shows up one day at the house of Mr. Taschenbier (Bag Beer – don’t even ask). It has red hair and blue dots on his face. For every dot (seven) Mr. Taschenbier can make a wish… Sorry, I am getting off topic a little.

4 pictures of the Paul Maar exhibit a th the Buchheim Museum. Top left shows an illustration of a machine. Top right shows animal marionettes. Bottom left shoes an illustration of a family with long ears and green hair. Bottom right shows a cartoon of the Sams with an opening in the face to take pictures. — Paul Maar exhibit

On another day we went on a walk near the lake early in the morning to skip the heat, visiting the spot where Ludwig II of Bavaria was found dead. He is pretty famous because he had the Neuschwanstein Castle build, the one that Disney used as inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle.

A cross at the edge of Lake Starnberg. — Cross to commemorate the location where the body of Ludwig II was found at Lake Starnberg

On my 4th day in Germany I got on the plane to Hannover in Northern Germany. Germany is not that big but it would have taken me all day to take the train there. The German train system is also not the most reliable these days so this was the safer bet. My parents in law were nice enough to let me borrow a car from the so I could drive to Nienburg where the high school reunion happened.

I stayed with a good friend from school I lost touch with over the years. It was really nice hanging out with her after so many years. Life sometimes is a weird thing. We could not even remember why exactly we lost touch or how it happened but I think it was partly we moved to different places after school and I was in a new relationship and our interests and friends groups drifted apart. She’s a school teacher now and volunteers at a printing museum where they also have classes for kids. It sounds like she enjoys it a lot and the place is awesome. She gave me a little tour before I headed off to the high school meet-up.

Top left shows the view out a window looking out on a garden. Top right shows a ferry across the Weser river. Bottom left shows printings of different fonts. Bottom right shows a table in a printing workshop. — Good times near Nienburg/Weser

The re-union itself started out with us going on a dragon boat outing on the river that flows through Nienburg, the Weser. I had never done that before and it was really fun. One of my friends who I usually see when I visit Germany also came and it was good to catch up but most of the others I had not seen for 25 years. I talked with some I had almost never talked to in school. We all grew up in the years since I suppose. There were no major surprises. Many became lawyers, teachers or doctors. We will see if it takes 25 years again before I get to ho next time. My aunt and uncle still live in the area but other then that I don’t have any ties to the place anymore other then my memories since my dad sold the house. It still oddly feels like home – especially the wide open fields in the area but I also realized in the past years that I would not want to move back there. Visiting feels good though.

Before getting on the train to Frankfurt (where my brother and dad live and from where I was leaving), I hung out with my parents in law a bit. The time felt so short on this visit that I did not even get in touch with anyone else. I hope to see my other friends the next time around. The train ride went smoothly luckily even with a 40 minutes delay but it was fine. I kind of like riding the train. It’s more comfortable then the plane or the car and you can read while the scenery passes you by.

Visiting my brother now is almost like visiting a second childhood home. His family always has room for us and we usually pick up where we left of even if there is a year in between. My dad lives really close and he came over to hang out with us in the backyard.

All in all it was a really relaxing trip despite all the going back and forth. It still feels foreign to travel by myself and not have the kids with me but it make things so much easier if you only have to take care of your own needs and plans. Luckily they are at an age now where they can clearly state what they need/want and my husband took care of the rest. There were also no schedule change surprises this year what made the start of the school year way more pleasant.

Does your high school have re-unions? Would you go? I was talking with my colleagues and most of them said they did not know about this custom. Lots of years at my school do it every 5 years and the school invites back after 25 and 40 years I think. Granted that our grades are much smaller than here. My graduating class had about 60 students whereas my daughter’s will have about 350. Another thing I am curious about: are you still friends with people from school? I have one friend I talk to throughout the year and we stay in touch but most of my other friends are from later in life.

Back to reality check-in

Picture of a mural on a house wall. There is gnomes in the forest (one taken away by an alien ship) and on the right a face of a man smiling. — Mural in Eureka, California where we stayed one night during our vacation

I am still learning how much time I do have to actually write a post. During vacation? Not so much time. Especially not if I don’t plan everything out in detail. Hey, at least I booked all the stays on the trip and had not to scramble to find one on the day of or the day before. I know some people like that or would just go camping. Very early in our relationship I told my now husband it would stress me out to no end if I would not know where to sleep at night (he would not mind so much at least back in the day – now he just lets me do what I want). At least some of the nights we spend researching and planning what we would do the following day. The route was planned out but everything else was still up in the air.

Last weekend was spend doing laundry and getting the kids ready for school. It is now back to work and school for everyone. It feels a little easier now with the kids in high school and middle school. My son did really well last year in middle school so I am less anxious having to be on top of him most of the time. I would not have thought that he would be this independent and responsible when he was in elementary and I am so proud of both of them. Last year the start was a little rough I think mostly due to the fact that I felt a little traumatized by my own high school experience. The school system in Germany is very different and they split up the kids in different tracks after 4th or 6th grade. I was the only one in my close friend group that ended up going to Gymnasium. It’s the school that goes up to grade 13 and prepares you to study at a University. Needless to say I felt a little lost at first. But it turned out better than I expected for my daughter.

Talking about school systems: is it an American thing that it seems like the first two/three weeks of school are kind of a trial period for classes? With the course system there seems to be always so much shift that they might end up with a completely different set of classes and teachers by the time this period is over. Last year my sons classes changed after the three weeks what really sucked. It was still the same classes but mostly new teachers who of course already set ground rules etc. It was due to 100 kids more than expected showed up on the first day and they had to adjust class sizes.
In our high school it is even more interesting since you can end up with a completely different set of class topics (intentionally or unintentionally). When school starts and they get their schedule they can submit change requests of they want to not do a class or change a class. Sometimes they end up in classes they did not sign up for. E.g. my daughter has”Introduction to Law” instead of the requested “Psychology” – we will see how that plays out. Some friends got switched in the middle of the night the day before school started or there are kids who don’t have a schedule yet when the head to school the day of.
Needless to say this whole system of courses starting with high school is completely new to me. I started courses in 11th grade and I had to pick two majors in 12th grade and make sure I cover all required courses to graduate but not before that.
I guess the course system is the same in the whole US? But also the soft schedules in the first two weeks? I always wonder if it would not be better to get the schedule figured out starting two weeks before school starts or is there a method to the madness I am not aware of?

Beach at low tide with view of sea gulls, the ocean and a small mountain in the distance. — Beach in Seaside Oregon

I will leave you with a picture of my vacation before I sign off for today. It already calms me a little just to look at it. I hope it does the same for you.

December happenings

The best thing, that happened so far this week, was that my Secret Santa package arrived. Who knows me, knows that I love surprises, and I honestly already forgot about it. I am thankful that San from the in between is mine organized this again.

Other than that life has been busy with work, getting ready for Christmas including sending out cards, wrapping presents, putting things on various piles to take along on our trip to see family in Germany and in general just make it through the last week of school. I can tell my kids need the break. There is one more concert for each child and then we can breath for two weeks. The only thing left to decide is if we take an Uber to the airport, park there or take public transit (I think it is coming down to Uber since parking for two weeks is not cheap either) and if we are doing a pre-christmas gift exchange at home or if we wait. I kind of like the idea of doing it before. That way I don’t have to pack any of our own presents (except a special one that the kids can use on the way). There will be enough things to bring back as is.
I maybe should be making a list of things I want to buy when we are there. I am curious, is there anything you would think a typical souvenir you would bring back with you? For us it’s mostly sweets (the Haribo selection at the supermarkets is insane), tea (herbal and fruit teas mostly), vitamin tablets that dissolve in water (I never understood why in Germany they sell for one Euro for a role of 20, whereas here you can pay $1 for one serving), mustard and maybe some salad dressing powder. The days where we brought back tooth paste and dried sauce packages are over mostly. I always found it interesting that my SIL will buy tooth paste in the US ever since she spend a year as an Au-pair in the country.

How are you doing with your holiday preparations or are you already right in the middle of it?

The Way Home

To day was our last day in Las Vegas. It was even not really a day in Las Vegas as we were heading back after breakfast. We made a short photo stop at the Seven Magic Mountains what some of you might remember from our trip last year. It’s not much of a detour and it’s a long drive back to the Bay Area so any time spend outside the car is good. It’s easy parking and a short walk to the sculptures.

There was some traffic due to an accident but luckily no dust storm this time.

The kids downloaded movies while we were listening to music and I made some progress on my knitting (a hat for my FIL for Christmas). Knitting is fine but I can’t read or I get car sick. I would love to listen to audio books or a podcast but we can’t seem to all agree on something – sigh.

Bakersfield is our halfway stop today. We were able to use Marriott points for both stays this time what made for a very affordable trip in that regard. Also: Bakersfield has an ALDI what got me very excited. It’s not quite the same as a German ALDI but I was happy enough shopping there. They had a lot of Christmas goodies I know and love from Germany like Gluehwein, Spekulatius cookies, Chocolate covered Gingerbread, Schogette chocolate and cinnamon stars. We also bought some more responsible snacks like cheese, humus, pita bread, crackers and yogurt.

Hopefully the drive tomorrow is equally uneventful and we make it home early enough so that I can do some grocery shopping for the week.

Hoover Dam

At least part of my family always feels the urge to do something during vacations. To spend a day just hanging out is not a vacation day apparently. Since the only thing my daughter asked for during the whole trip was a visit to her favorite bookstore in Las Vegas (The Writer’s Block) and a shopping stop at Fergusons, we started with that.
The Writer’s Block is a small independent bookstore with a cafe area in the front. It’s a little cramped and has lots of decorations hanging from the ceiling like marionettes, mobiles and bird houses. There is even a bunny. I love it.
Fergusons is a shopping area filled with little artsy shops and a cafe. It has a cool truck sculpture at the entrance and the building used to be a hotel back in the day. It’s a quick visit and parking is easy in both locations.

Next we headed out of the city to visit Hoover Dam. It’s about an hour east of the city and in my opinion worth the drive. We have been a couple of times already but the size of the dam always leaves me breathless. First time we went in 2007 when we did a roadtrip through the National Parks and after that when the kids were maybe 4 and 6. Make sure you get of the highway in time or you end up driving over the very impressive Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. Especially my husband was very concerned about it since he is not fond of heights. Right before you get to the dam there is a parking lot that leads to a pedestrian access up to the bridge. No-one wanted to come along and I did not want to go alone so this is left for another day. I imagine the view of the dam and the Colorado river being quite magnificent. Parking in the garage is $10. You can also buy your tickets for the dam online and I was a little concerned that we would not get in because it would only let me buy tickets for the following day but it turned out not to be a problem as we were able to buy tickets onsite. Just the visitor center is $10 for an adult and if you add a short movie and dam tour (what is 1 hour total) it is $15. There is also a longer tour but it was already booked out for the day.
The movie talks a bit about the history of the dam and the tour takes you a couple stories down inside the dam itself.

You get to see one of the pipes which carries the water to the turbines and the turbines on the Nevada side. Afterwards you get to explore the visitor center on your own and walk around the dam outside.

It actually sits right at the border of Nevada and Arizona and the time zone line. There is one tower with a clock on the Nevada side and one with a clock that shows an hour later on the Arizona side. The kids were very impressed.

Water levels in Lake Mead are pretty low currently. It was already low in 2007 when I visited the first time but it is even lower now. I still remember how surprised I was that the color difference in the rock surface is so obvious.

Another thing that always surprises me is how openly proud American’s are of their achievements. I don’t mean this in a bad way. It’s just that Germans tend to be more critical of themselves. You definitely leave realizing what an architectural marvel and great achievement the dam was. I love the resources that are so often provided through American sights and parks. I found the kids facts quite interesting myself and there is a whole learning package I only discovered after the fact.

View of the Colorado river and the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

In the end we all had a really good dam day (with lots of dam jokes). I was almost a little sad driving back to Las Vegas. I love roadtrips and was ready to head further but that has to wait until the next vacation.

How do you feel about roadtrips? Any places you visited multiple times?

Questions answered round 2

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

Today we drove halfway to Las Vegas (visiting our good friends). Nothing much happened. The drive on I-5 from the Bay Area is pretty boring but it is the fastest. It was raining most of the way anyway so not much to do outside. The upside: there were clouds! Do you like clouds as much as I do?
But now back to answering questions.

On day one of NaBloPoMo I did a little introduction round and asked if you had questions. You can still fill out the form if you like. This is the second round of answers on this. You can find round one here and one about why I live in the US in more detail here.

What’s your favorite book?
If you would have asked me in High-school I would have answered “Siddharta” by Herman Hesse. We read it in school and it really got my teenage brain thinking. Honestly I don’t remember much now. Later came Harry Potter. I think that is the one book I would like to be able to read again for the first time.I also like the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and am contemplating re-reading it. I just don’t have that much time to read, sigh. A little magic is always good and I enjoyed the “Rivers of London” books from Ben Aaronovitch. My taste is a bit all over the place and there is not one specific book I can’t live without. I do prefer fantasy, historic fiction or YA but I am not too picky. I wish I had more time to read but I do listen to books whenever I can.
Do you have a book you think I should try? Any special one you can’t imagine life without?

What is a hobby you do?
This is probably already answered when you followed along. I do like to do things with my hands – no matter if it is pottery, knitting, crochet, sewing, drawing, painting, gardening, baking. How can you pick just one?

What role does blogging play in your life?
I am a little sad to say not a very big one unless it is November. My family wants to stay out of it so I am trying to stay vague about them as much as possible but it is hard as they are always on my mind. I love the community that came with it and I was hoping to keep up after last November. It proved really hard. I missed everyone and was still checking in occasionally but mostly followed quietly along. I am doing the #project365 on Instagram where I try to post a picture every day what I enjoyed. I don’t do it for the followers but for the connections and for myself. Being an introvert is not easy sometimes and working and family and other hobbies and friends – something got to give. It gets easier as the kids get older – at least mostly.

And last but not least: How do you find parenting? What’s it like to be a parent to tweens and teenagers?
I love my kids dearly but I sometimes find it challenging to balance them and myself. There is quite a few things I don’t do right now because it would take time away from parenting. I am sure I am not alone with that? Honestly my kids make it mostly easy. They turned into very responsible tweens/teenagers. I don’t think I can credit myself for all of it. My husband and I make a good team and they had an awesome aftercare in elementary school. The teachers there were kind and helped them keep their homework organized. I think it really carried over. The emotionally ups and downs are harder. I see more of myself in my daughter what is good and bad. It brought up quite a few insecurities I had when I was growing up. I would say so far so good. I keep checking in with them every day and make it a point to know who their friends are. Try to get them to bring them home. I volunteered quite a bit in the lower grades and am glad I know most of the parents and the other kids they hang out with. The very big drama passed us by so far and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays this way.
It feels like social media and the pandemic really elevated all the usual issues that were already around during my time like eating disorders and other instabilities brought it to a whole new level and it’s heart breaking to hear about.
The hardest thing for me really is that my mom passed away a couple of years ago and I can’t ask her for advice or how it was when I was growing up.

One last thing outstanding: Christmas in Germany
I will get back to that in December when we are there.

Travel day to Germany

View from the plane

One reason I was reluctant to sign up for NaBloPoMo was that I already knew I would be traveling to Germany for a week. My dad is getting ready to move out of my childhood home and his home for over 50 years and I promised I help a bit. So the next days will be filled with sorting, deciding what will be packed to go with him, Sorting through the last remaining things I want to keep and saying good bye to my home town (more on this to come in another post).

Solo travel feels very special to me as I usually never get to do it these days. It involves quite a bit of planning ahead since I am the family organizer. I keep telling myself they will manage without me.

Back to travel day: Bags were packed the day before so everything was ready to go besides the last chargers and some food in case the airline falls short.
I left the house at 10am to be driven to the Bart station. Luckily the next train went straight to SFO so I did not have to change. I got there at 11:30am and only had to drop of my checked bags. Isn’t it amazing you can do most everything online now? It’s a nightmare for my 80 year old dad but I do appreciate not having to stay in line for an hour (or longer) to check in. By noon I was through security and went on a search for some lunch. At SFO we somehow always end up at the domestic terminal for that even flying internationally. Boarding started on time at 1:50pm. The flight was supposed to leave at 2:40pm but to no big surprise it took a little longer as we were still waiting for some passengers.

The flight itself was pretty uneventful. I am not very hopeful about food on United flights but this time the chicken curry was edible. I always wonder why they even bother with the roles as I think they are pretty disgusting (sorry). The flight to Munich takes about 10 hours and I spend my time knitting, reading,watching movies and writing back and forth with my family about a lost ID card I was sure I saw in the living room the day before. Unfortunately sleep was a short hour or so. Arrival in Munich was at ~9:50am the following day (Nov. 3rd) and everything worked like a charm. Passport control was a breeze, the new gate was posted and it was not to far and after another hour sleep on the plane to Hannover we touched down at 12:55pm. The bag was collected and my dad picked me up from the airport, hurray.

The drive to my hometown Wietzen takes another hour and we stopped for a late lunch on the way.

Jaegerschnitzel mit Pommes (Schnitzel with a mushroom gravy and fries)

We were back in the door at around 3:40pm German and currently 7:40am West Coast time. If my calculation is correct it was 21 hours, 40 minutes this time with no special surprises.

I did take a quick nap because 2 hours of sleep and fell asleep again on the couch after dinner. Wish me luck I can sleep tonight because I don’t handle jetlag very well. Any advice on that? Maybe there is something I have not tried yet but mostly I go with the flow these days.

Do you often get to travel solo and do you manage to pack light?

Any advice on how to deal with saying goodbye to your childhood home?

Back again

Countryside It really was wishful thinking that I would have more time during the summer. We are already back in the US for three weeks now and the kids both started school on Monday. The four weeks in Germany flew by. We spend good times with family and old friends. After being disappointed at the time I made piece with the fact that I could not see everyone I wanted to see but am glad for the people in my life I got to visit. Germany still and probably always will feel like coming home. Life in general seems to be quieter and simpler, but that might only be because we are usually on vacation there.

There was a lot of driving back and forth – from the North to the middle, to the South, to Switzerland, to the middle and then back to the North. We saw a lot, enjoyed good food and great company and packed up memories that will last for a while.

But I also have to say that after four weeks I was starting to look forward to coming back. Not having to pack up suitcases for three all the time and having my own bed and a day to day routine seemed very appealing and it is in some way.

Oh the jet lag again

We made it! Four weeks in Germany await. But as usual before we can really get started we need to get over the jet lag – sigh. For the first couple of days it is an annoying companion. By myself it would be okay but with little kids it can get a little tricky. When a four or five year old is sitting next to you at 3am in the morning ready to play there is almost no arguing. At some point in the last years I decided to just go with the flow and get as much sunlight and outside activity as possible. It never took longer than five days to adjust anyway (even though that can seem like an eternity). I learned not to schedule to many activities in the first days and not to expect to much.

How do you deal with the jet lag? Do you have any secrets how to get over it faster? I would be interested to know.

Travelling kids

UnaccompaniedMinors As I mentioned in my last post my “big” girl went ahead to Germany as an unaccompanied minor to spend three weeks with the grandparents by herself. I miss her like crazy but she has a great time as far as I can tell from our daily phone calls (best start to my day).

She is only seven and if she would not have requested to do this we probably would have waited another year or two. During my initial research I learned that most airlines take kids as young as five years as unaccompanied minors. I can’t imagine my son already flying alone but it depends on the kid I guess. Before we bought her ticket we talked a lot about the process of flying by herself – what happens when, what to do during the flight, who waited for her at the other end, etc. She had so many questions for us and would only stop if she was satisfied with the answer. That made me a bit more at ease and convinced me that she would be fine by herself on the long trip. We opted to get her a direct flight and have grandma make the trip to the airport a bit farther away from their home. On the way back she will be flying with me and her brother.

I found this document from the U.S. Department of Transportation helpful. It has general information and tips you might want to think about.

When I decided about which airline to pick I went with the one I felt would be most reliable. We have flown back and forth across the Atlantic quite a bit in the last couple of years and even though tickets from Lufthansa tend to be more expensive it was still the most pleasant flight experience with the least hiccups.
For all airlines you have to pay an extra fee (ranging between $50-$150 for one trip) and the airline makes sure that the kids are looked after.

When I called the ticket hotline to make the reservation (required at Lufthansa) they told me that someone would take her to the gate after check-in. Luckily I also inquired at the San Francisco Lufthansa counter and there they told me that I would be able to get a gate pass and accompany her to the gate. I had to wait until the flight is in the air anyway. During check in she got her little travel pouch and in went all the required documents: boarding pass, passport, the special service form with the flight information and personal information who would pick her up – I also had her immunization record and a consent letter from us. For Germany we probably would not need this but the online information was a bit confusing to me and I determined it easier than a call to the embassy. I was not able to check her in online but since we were early she was able to pick one of the six seats assigned for the unaccompanied minors and get her window seat. The woman at check-in was super nice and was asking immediately if she wanted to speak English or German. She had stories about her own children making the trip back to Europe a couple of times and assured us that she would be well taken care of and not let out of sight. We both were anxiously waiting for boarding to start – she because, she was so excited and could not wait to start her journey and I, because I was nervous to let her go. The unaccompanied minor kids got to board first and were escorted by airline personnel on the plane where the flight attendants took over. On the other side someone from the airline picked her up again and went with her through baggage claim and customs before she got handed over to her grandma (who had to show her photo ID with the right address first).

One day after I bought the ticket there was an article in a big German newspaper the FAZ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) about kids who are flying alone with Lufthansa. It is in German but if you know the language it might be interesting.

It all went really well and her little brother already said that next year he wants to go as well – we will see. For us it is an excellent alternative to summer camps. I am happy that she gets to spend more time with her grandparents and gets to know them better. The best advice I have: let them have a say in it and let them lead the way – at least for us that worked perfectly.

Tell me, would you send your kids on travels by themselves or would you rather wait?