First Month: Sue's Thoughts

Germany, Czech Republic, Italy

Wow! What a whirlwind the first month was. Dave was amazing driving the rental car on the autobahn and through all the twisty, narrow city streets. No grid system anywhere! Just names that we couldn't pronounce that maybe were labeled but likely not. What we learned to do was to plan out the next days drive in the hotel with wifi and take screen shots of the route (plus extra city shots so that when we got lost we would have pics of the surrounding area). Then, when we were driving with no wifi available, we could look at the pics and we had an instant map. We also learned to take screen shots of or hotel confirmation emails, and pics of what the apartment/hostel/hotel looked like since they're often not marked in any way.

Lothar, Sue, Katie, Cooper, and Dave.

For me, the best part of that first month was meeting Lothar and his family in the town where the Freiheit clan lived for a good part of their childhood. Lothar is the son of Lothar Sr., the man that went to school with, and was friends with, Opa and Uncle Herman. I felt awkward phoning him and asking him to show us Hagenau, but it was really important to us to see the area, and we wouldn't have known what to look for without him. It was also awkward because my German speaking skills were going to be put to the test! Eek!

The Elbe in the background.

Well... who knew this would turn out to be such a wonderful experience! Lothar was amazing. I had hoped that he would meet us in Hagenau and show us the house Opa grew up in. Instead, he did so much more! We had late breakfast/early lunch together and then he drove us to a beautiful town called Tangermünde which has a beautiful castle. He told us about the terrible flooding of the Elbe, which the area is still recovering from. We met his girlfriend and watched some traditional dancers in the square outside her flower shop. We were lucky the dancers were there, as the site of the dancing moves every year, and we just happened to hit on the day that they were performing.

Later in the day we went to Hagenau and met Lothar's family. They were so welcoming and kind! Herr and Frau Büst made us dinner. Dave loved the soup so much he asked Lothar to send us the recipe. It was so great to be in their home and to be welcomed so warmly. Sitting there, I'm sure Dave was imagining his dad sitting and chatting in the same room, as an adult, and maybe even as a child.

Elke, Katarina, Lothar, and Dave... Windows to the right were Opa's house.

Lothar Sr. with us.

Elke's husband, Helmut, is in charge of ringing the church bell each night at the same time. He took us up into the ancient church tower and we plugged our ears while he rang the enormous bell. Cooper took the clanger for the smaller bell and Lothar showed him how to clang it after the big bell was rung, in a rythm. They clang the smaller one by hand because the old tower is getting a bit too rickety for both the bells to be swinging at the same time. The key to the tower was a seleton key about a foot long!

I remember Opa and Aunty Grete telling us about their memories of the enormous Linden tree in their front yard that was so big they thought they needed 6 people to get their arms around the trunk. When they visited as adults, they found the tree wasn't as huge as their memories made them believe. We had to pose for a picture with the tree!

A big thank you to Lothar and his family for giving our family these great memories!

I also just want to quickly mention Linnderhoff castle. Everyone knows about Neuschwonstein, which is amazing, but Linderhoff is equally as beautiful, although very small as you can see in the picture below. In a way, I liked it better. You could walk through the gardens, take a great tour of the castle, and visit this amazing grotto with weird stalagmites. I highly recommend it! Instead of staying in Munich (München), we stayed in Füssen, which was easier for us with the rental car than staying in the big city. It was also cheaper and was closer to drive in the morning and you have to get to Neuschwonstein very early because it's so busy. 

I'm sure the next leg of our journey will be equally exciting. Leaving Dave in Rome was so hard. I don't think I let it show! Had to be brave for the kids! : ) 

The grotto!

Our First Month: Cooper's Perspective

Germany, Czech Republic, Italy

Five years ago my mom took a Deferred Salary option at worrk, so she got paid only 75% salary for four years then got paid 100% the fifth year but she didn't have to work. Five years ago it didn't really mean much to me but just a few months before we left I started getting more and more excited. It was also a little scary because all we left with was one way plane tickets, back packs, and a hotel room for one night. I new that I was going to miss everything at home: my grandparents, my friends, my puppy and my dad when he was gone. On the upside, my sister and I got our own ipad minis!!!¡¡¡

Our first stop was Frankfurt. My jet lag was so bad, I fell asleep leaning on my dad waiting for the cross walk light to change to walk. Our second stop was Berlin. The hostel that we stayed in had a tip cup that said "Justin Bieber Assassination Fund". We got to see the Berlin Wall. Our third stop was Stendal. There was a big bell tower just beside the town center and a crazy woman with lipstick on her teeth took us to the top. We could see the whole town! Just outside of Stendal, we took a walk in the forest just off the highway. Katie was freaking out because she thaught she was going to be attacked and eaten by wild boars. The best part of Germany was meeting Lothar and his family, and seeing our Opa's home town.

Opa's house was the two windows on the right.

The funny thing is we didn't stay in Germany then go to Prague. We went to Prague then back to Germany. Prague was beautifull! My mum kept saying it was like being in a fairytale, and it was. The streets (like almost everywhere else we went) had cobble stones, with tonnes of little alley ways, and soooooo many stairs! There was an awesome castle with so much detail, it was insane! I liked the gargoyles. There were lots of guards in blue suits. There was also lots of street performers and horse and buggies.

Our next stop was Füssen were we got to see Neuschwanstein. It was incredibly beautifull! It was the castle that Walt Disney used to design the castle in Disneyland. We found a million tiny frogs on the trails around the castle. In Füssen there were lots of big snails with no shells, so if you go there, watch where you step!

Lake Como was lots of fun because we got to relax and swim a bit. When my sister and I were walking by the beach we caught a newt! In Venice there were lots of gondolas and different water ways. There was lots of Murano glass for sale. We even got to see it made in person! He made a glass vase, a fish and this glass horse...

Rome was amazing!!! We saw the pantheon, the colloseum and ancient ruins. When we went on a tour the tour guide said that the building we were looking at, the Romans called the Wedding Cake. My dad met his friend Steve and we all went out for gelato. One day we went on a walk that was supposed to take us a few ours but then it turned into a seven our walk. My legs were killing me!!!!! But it was worth it.My favourite place was St. Peter's Basilica. It was so big you couldn't get all of it in even six pictures!

La Pieta, by Michelangelo, is in St. Peter''s Basilica

Overall our first month was absolutly amazing! We saw tonnes of cool sites and places. I know I'm going back to some of the places because I put a penny in the Trevi Fountain.                        

<:-)={

Our First Month of Travel: Katie's Perspective

Germany, Czech Republic, Italy

When I first found out that my mom had a year off and we were going to be traviling the globe for nine months, I was exited but also nervous. It was hard to think about being away from my family, friends and puppy for that long. It seemed almost dream like. Even with all that in mind I new it would be the experience of a life time.

Our world tour started in Frankfurt, Germany. We had one hotel booked and figured we would go from there. That way, if we liked one place more than another we could stay for longer. On the first day that we were in Germany it was amazing to see all of the old buildings and statues. At home we only have new buildings and houses so it was quite a shock to me. We rented a car so we could drive to places instead of having to take a bus or a train. On the drives that we took I slept a lot because of the jet lag, but on the occasions that I was awake, the mountains and hills were beautiful. Whenever we drove past a farm there were always behemoth white wind turbines! Lothar (the family friend that we met while we were in Germany) said that for every wind turbine that a farmer had they got about twenty-five thousand dollars from the government.

My favorite thing that I got do do in Germany was when we visited an old church right by our hotel. My mom, brother and I had been looking around admiring all the elaborite decorations surrounding the walls when I noticed a small door in the wall. As we were standing there, wondering where it lead, a quirky lady that had greated us at the door came and opened it. She then gestured for us to come inside so my brother and I followed. We went up a lot of narrow, winding stairs but when we reached the bells at the top it was amazing! Two men were there, getting prepared to ring them. We then walked through a door, behind the bells, that lead us to the room where they had all the gears for the clocks. The lady, Cooper and I all walked up a brick staircase that was so narrow our shoulders rubbed the walls! When we got to the very top the lady opened the windows letting in a refreshing breeze. She yelled down onto the town square, something in German that I didn't know. You could see everything from up there! Germany was beautiful and it would definitely be nice to go back one day.

We went to the Czech Republic next. It was only for a couple of days but we got a lot out of it. In Prague it was like every building was old. All the buildings had intricate designs and statues around them. We went to go see a very old, very beautiful castle that we had to walk up a lot of stairs to get to. The ceilings were painted with detailed pictures. We were not allowed to take any pictures though. In the squares there was always a band playing but my favorite was a band that played jazz. There was an old man who was really good with his saxaphone.

Our travels then took us to Italy where we went to a whole bunch of different places. We started in Lake Como. It was very nice to swim in the lake and to relax a bit after driving and going on so many tours. We stayed at a very nice place that ws right across from the lake. A fountain in the front always shot up long blasts of water and at night they changed colours. There was a really nice gelato place below us and a very good restaurant just to he right of our apartment. We went walking along the beach one day when I spotted a newt. A newt is a very small, very fast little lizard. My brother and I had him cornered by a rock and I had the perfect opportunity to cach him so I did! We have pictures of him in our hands. Lake Como was a very nice place to stay and I am very happy that we did.

After Lake como we went to Venice. A favorite of a lot of people and a favorite of mine. The canals and water ways were beautiful. One thing that we noticed a lot of in Italy is the amountof people that try to sell you stuff! There are people everywhere selling masks, jewelry, purses, and other tourist souvenirs. My favorite thing that we did in Venice was go to the island of Murino and watch a glass blowing demonstration. We had to take a farry to the island, then we walked around to see all the glass things that they make. I bought two pink little flamingos. In the glass blowing demonstration the man made a big glass bowl and then a tiny fish. The oven was super hot and the we could feel the heat radiating off of the glass when he put it near us. He said that if the glass was left out uncooled for more than ten minutes it would shatter because of the heat that it contained. He had to work fast. 

In Venice, I also enjoyed our gondola ride. The gondolier took us through the city at night and it was very beautiful. The only bad thing was that because it was night time we had a hard time finding a gondola that was available. Venice was beautiful and I would love to visit it again one day.

Next came my favorite place, Rome. We were very blessed and got to stay there for ten days! We had plenty of time to see everything. The first thing that we went to see in Rome was the Pantheon. We went to see it  a second time though because the first time they were closing soon so we didn't have much time              to see it. The second time we took a lot of pictures and really enjoyed its beauty... just make sure to get your Gelato after you have seen it, because they don't let you take it inside. Next we went to see wat they call the "wedding cake". The Italians call it that because to them it looks like a wedding cake in stead of a beautiful building. Thank goodness they had an elevator because to get to get to the top there would would have been a lot of stairs! We went to go and see Pompey's portico where Julius Ceaser died. It was really interesting to see the place that he had actually been and had died. Trevi Fountain was gorgeous and I'm hoping that when I threw my penny in my wish to come back comes true. My second favorite place that we went to was the Vatican. I loved learing about Michelangelo and how he painted the ceilings and the messages behind all of them. I was a bit disappointed when we got to the Creation of Man painting because I was expecting it to be huge and cover the whole ceiling but it was only tiny. I was still happy to see the Vatican and to walk where Michelangelo had walked. My favorite place that I went to and the most interesting place was of course the Colosseum. I learned a lot of things about it. Did you know they had secret passages under neath the stage to lower and raise the animals and gladiators? They added the passeges in later, though and the crowd was always amazed at the "magic" of it. I was amazed, too!

All the places that we visited where absolutely exquisite and I am so happy and blessed to be able to go on such an amazing adventure. Although I miss my family and friends very much I am still excited to be going around the globe. Next up, Croatia! 

 

Before the Journey Begins

Sue's Perspective

I am an elementary school principal, for a wonderful school district that provides their employees with the possibility of a deferred salary program. So fantastic! Five years ago I began deferring 25% of my salary. Now, in my fifth year, I get paid the accumulated sum, and I have the year off! My husband, David, has a different employer so he doesn't have the year off, but because of his schedule he is able to take a month off, three times, to join Katie (13), Cooper (12) and me on our adventure.

We are loosely planning the following route: Germany (Frankfurt, Berlin, Stendal, Dresden), Czech Republic (Prague), Germany (Munich), Italy (Lake Como, Venice, Florence, Rome), Croatia, Turkey, France (Paris), Spain (Barcelona, and either J'avea or Marbella), Portugal, Thailand, Fiji, Australia, Hawaii, and then home. This will take about nine months.

If you are planning a similar trip I have a list of steps we took that might help you prep for the trip:

Doctor appointments. We needed to get prescriptions for the duration and to begin organizing shots... we actually went to a travel medical clinic that specialized in immunizations for travel. This cost about $1000 and, ideally you would do well to have two months or more to get them done as some require a week or more between each injection or pill. You may need to keep proof of some of the shots, such as Yellow Fever, depending on what countries you end up visiting, so the specialty clinics really do help.

Dentist appointments. I ended up getting two root canals and two crowns just before leaving. Fortunately the kids had no cavities.

Optometrist appointments. 

Visas. A million years and a million dollars in advance. We ended up without any visas. It used to be that you could travel through Europe, spending 90 days in each country. Now, You can only spend 90 days in the Schengen countries in a six month period (google "Schengen VIsa";"Schengen countries"...). They didn't seem to like that we were simply travelling. It seemed that, had we been working or studying, it would have been easier to get a visa. I can't advise you much here, since I gave up, and simply altered our itinerary to make it work for us.

Passports of course... at least six months to be safe.

A note from my husband saying he consents to me traveling with the kids.

Shots and a home for our dog. Thank you so much Mom and Dad, and Kyla, Tom, and Ming Ming!

Credit Cards and ATM cards. Also, phone your credit card companies to let them know where and when you're travelling; otherwise your card might end up getting frozen.

Traveller's cheques and a small amount of cash.

Photocopies of all important documents (credit cards, travellers cheque numbers, passports, etc.) to leave with someone at home in case of theft or loss. Thanks, again, Mom!

Organizing technology, including converter kits that we bought at the apple store. Also, a kit that allows pictures from the camera to be downloaded onto the iPad, or whatever device you bring. I brought an iPad, the kids each brought a mini-iPad,and Dave brought a camera. No phones from home, but we plan to buy a "pay as you go" phone in Europe. No laptops either.

School work. We are mainly focusing on math and language arts. I am familiar with the curriculum but you may need to become familiar with curriculum websites or you may sign up for Distance Education through your school district.

We bought backpacks and walking shoes through Mountain Equipment Coop. The shoes are fantastic (Katie and I bought Scarpa). We broke them in for a couple of weeks before leaving.

*Use Alberta Health Services for info re Vaccinations or a Private Clinic such as Private Vaccination Clinic in Sherwood Park, Alberta