Chasing My Joy

November 5, 2019

European Adventure – Neuschwanstein Castle and Ehrenberg Castle Ruins

After our time in Switzerland we drove to Fussen, Germany so we could visit Neuschwanstein Castle.

“The Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the most visited castles in Germany and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe.The castle is located in Bavaria, near the town of Fussen. It was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, also known as the “Fairytale King”. See our Neuschwanstein Castle Tour page.King Ludwig was a great admirer and supporter of Richard Wagner, the world-renowned composer. Neuschwanstein Castle was built in his honor and many rooms in the castle’s interior were inspired by Wagner’s characters. The third floor particularly reflects Ludwig’s admiration of Wagner’s operas.The Singers Hall, which occupies the entire fourth floor of Neuschwanstein also contains characters from Wagner’s operas. Neuschwanstein literally means “New Swan Castle” referencing of “the Swan Knight” one of the Wagner’s characters.” – Source

We woke up early and drove to town to look for coffee and breakfast. We then drove just a few minutes to the parking lot for Neuschwanstein. We made the decision to not take the strollers because we weren’t sure what the condition of the trail to the castle was. That was a mistake, we got about a third of the way up the hill and Cannon refused to walk any further. I didn’t think I could make it carrying him all the way so we caught a horse drawn carriage.

It’s a pretty long hike so it was a good choice to catch a ride.

The castle really is like a fairytale.

The castle almost didn’t feel real it was so pretty.

We walked around the castle and up to a bridge, Cannon had found his hiking legs at this point.

There were some amazing views along the way.

We walked around the courtyard but opted not to take the tour of the inside.

My brother had just visited last December and said the tour was boring. I am sure it would be amazing to see the inside but the kids were hungry and tired so we marched back down the hill (Cannon can apparently handle down hill hiking).

We went back to Fussen and found a nice little Indian Restaurant to have lunch.

After lunch we drove back out of Germany to Austria to take care of some boring essentials like groceries and laundry.

The next day we visited the Ehrenberg Castle Ruins. We were really excited to see a real piece of history and explore the ruins.

“Built in 1296, Ehrenberg Castle offers everything you would expect from a medieval castle, defensive walls, tall towers and a lot of history. The gothic castle complex was home to emperors and kings, princes and tzars. True history was written here. For a long period of time, Ehrenberg could lead a peaceful existence. This changed with the outbreak of the religious wars. Ehrenberg was in the center of wartime battles several times. In 1546, the Protestant Schmalkalden occupied the fortress. In 1552, it was taken by the Elector Moritz of Saxony. In 1632 the Swedes stopped in front of its walls. In 1703, Ehrenberg fell into the hands of the Bavarians during the War of the Spanish Succession. From 1716 to 1717, Ehrenberg became the exile of Russian Tsarevich Alexei, who fled from his father, Tsar Peter the Great. Even in the Napoleonic Wars, it played a role. Beginning in 1971, Fridolin Schennach from Reutte took over the condemned ruin and initiated a rescue operation with numerous other idealists. – Source

There was a really cute playground at the base of the hill that the kids enjoyed while we got tickets to ride the tram to the ruin.

Cannon and Emmy enjoyed the ride up.

The ruins were breathtaking and it was fun to think of all of the history that happened there.

We then traveled back to the valley where there was a wonderful Austrian restaurant.

It made me laugh that the beer on the menu was cheeper than the soda.

We had the best time in Bavaria, it was amazing to see the castles. On to Innsbruck, Munich then home!

_____________________________________

European Adventure Posts

EUROPEAN ADVENTURE – NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE AND EHRENBERG CASTLE RUINS

November 4, 2019

EUROPEAN ADVENTURE – Switzerland

In researching for our trip we decided to stay in a small town near Interlaken was where we wanted to visit in Switzerland. We wanted to avoid the big cities and experience the Swiss Alps. We drove in from Rust, Germany to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. The drive wasn’t bad, it was just unfortunate that it was dark and we missed some amazing views along the way!

We made our way into town and found the best little coffee shop.

Even with unfortunate cloud cover and rain it was so enchanting!

We walked through town checking out the sites then made our way to the tram, to get to the train to Murren.

“Mürren is a Swiss mountain village at the foot of the Schilthorn peak, which is accessible by cable car. Featured in a James Bond film, the Piz Gloria revolving restaurant contains the Bond World 007 exhibit and has views of Mont Blanc. Near Mürren is the Lauterbrunnen Valley, with its subterranean, glacial Trümmelbach Falls. Themed trails on the Allmendhubel peak include the Flower Panorama and North Face paths” – Source

We rode up a cable car to get to the train station.

Murren is a cute little town with fantastic views. It would have been incredible without the cloud cover and rain!

We spent some time checking out the town and trying not to get soaked.

Everything was so gorgeous I wish I could see it in the summer and winter as well!

We were planning and so excited to take the kids to this alpine playground we saw online. It looked unreal it was so beautiful. We didn’t end up going because it was raining so much and was cold, we didn’t think it was a good idea to let the kids get completely soaked and then have a long commute back down the mountain.

We had lunch at a cute hotel with fantastic views, the kids had schnitzel while Cory and I shared fondue.

After lunch we traveled back to Lauterbrunnen. The rain had mostly let up and we found another playground to let the kids enjoy.

Walking a little further into the valley we found a tall waterfall that you can hike up behind.

We weren’t sure how far we would make it, the kids had already had a long day but we figured we could turn around at any point.

The hike was steep but fun, then you entered a long dark tunnel into the rock. The the hike got very slippery so I was holding onto Cannon’s hand and trying not to crush it.

Cannon hiked the entire way up and back, which was amazing. Cory also gets a gold star for carrying Emmy up and back.

Again the views were incredible.

After our hike it was time to hit the road, we had castles to explore! We left a little earlier so we got to enjoy driving in the Swiss countryside.

Cory was even generous enough to drive through Lucern to get some coffee and to see the famous Chapel Bridge.

Then it was back to Germany!

_____________________________________

European Adventure Posts

November 4, 2019

EUROPEAN ADVENTURE – Europa Park

We decided to add a theme park to our trip so we would be sure the kids had some time to run around and have some magical fun. Europa Park really hit that spot for us. I was so surprised about how magical and beautiful the park was. Europa park is large and famous for it’s amazing roller coasters so I thought it would be like a Six Flags but it was much more like Disneyland with the theming and trees and decorations.

We stayed in the resort’s RV park which had a cute old west theme. It was a very nice stay with plenty of restaurants, shops and facilities available.

A short walk got us directly to the main gate of the park.

There was no wait to get in and the “main street” entrance was beautifully decorated for fall.

The park is broken up into themed areas based on countries.

The kids had fun just running around the park.

There were lots of cute little boat rides and suspended rides that gave us beautiful views of the park.

Ireland was specifically built for little kids and had a large indoor (multilevel) playhouse and giant slides. We could have stayed there all day!

There was an enchanted forest area that was adorable.

There were even some rides that Cannon could do all on his own. I was nervous that he would jump out but he did great and loved it!

I was most excited about taking Cannon on a ride called “Arthur” it is a very fun ride that Cannon was just barley tall enough for. I was worried that it may be too scary for him but he loved it and so did I!

He actually rode it three times total before we were done.

Given that Cannon had just gotten taller than 40 inches he could do a lot of rides at Emmy couldn’t.

There was still plenty of things for Emmy to enjoy.

The theming is just beautiful.

There was plenty to do all together as well.

Cory and I didn’t get to do many of the big roller coasters but they looked amazing. We agreed that we need to come back when the kids are teens so we can ride everything together.

After two days in the park we still hadn’t done everything but it was time to move on to Switzerland. We had a nice dinner in the park then it was time to get back to the RV and leave Germany.

_____________________________________

European Adventure Posts

November 2, 2019

European Adventure – Travel Day + Nuremberg

After leaving Berlin we had a travel day to get ourselves from Berlin (You can read about our time in Berlin HERE and HERE) to Nuremberg.

Our travel day included an Uber to the train station then lugging all of our things and the kiddos through the station to the lower levels where the high speed trains are.

The train ride went smoothly and we had wonderful Germans who shared our table gave us advice on what to visit during our travels.

When we arrived in Berlin we ate lunch at the train station then grabbed a cab and headed out to where we were picking up our Motorhome.

When we told people we were traveling by RV a few people thought we were crazy. We are so glad we traveled this way rather than renting a car or trying to get around by train. The kids loved having a place they were used to and we loved not having to pack up all the time. We also liked that we could “eat in” more often, eating out gets old when you do it all day for almost three weeks.

The kids had fun checking out the property, playing with the chickens and exploring the RV. Once we were on the road we hit a local grocery store. The kids had done so well being cooped up traveling all day so we didn’t want to ask them to sit still in a restaurant. We found a very cute playground where we could have a picnic.

After dinner we loaded the kids into their carseats (they both fall asleep easily in the car) and drove to Nuremberg.

We found a great place to park overnight just outside the city and settled in for the night.

A quick breakfast then off to catch the train into Nuremberg. I was so excited to see this city, it felt just like I wanted Germany to be.

“Nuremberg, a city in northern Bavaria, is distinguished by medieval architecture such as the fortifications and stone towers of its Altstadt (Old Town). At the northern edge of the Altstadt, surrounded by red-roofed buildings, stands Kaiserburg Castle. The Hauptmarkt (central square) contains the Schöner Brunnen, the gilded “beautiful fountain” with tiers of figures, and Frauenkirche, a 14th-century Gothic church.” – Source

There is way too much to share from our day but it was like a fairytale.

We walked from the train station directly across the street into old town.

We did a ton of walking and checking out the sites. We then found our way to the Hauptmarkt, where the famous Christmas markets are held.

Cannon loved exploring Schöner Brunnen, a 14th century fountain.

The fountain has a gold ring that when turned three times is supposed to bring luck.

We then caught a tram tour of the town so we could see some sites outside of the main walk.

After our tour we went on the search for lunch. We found the cutest little local restaurant called Bratwursthausle.

Nuremberg is famous for their bratwurst, tiny little pinky sized sausages, they were delicious and so was the potato salad (very different than American potato salad).

Terrible photo but the inside of the restaurant was really cute.

After lunch we climbed the hill up to the imperial castle.

“Nuremberg Castle is a group of medieval fortified buildings on a sandstone ridge dominating the historical center of Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The castle, together with the city walls, is considered to be one of Europe’s most formidable medieval fortifications.” – Source

We spent some time exploring the castle on foot, there were incredible views.

We would have liked to have taken a tour but the kids were DONE with getting in and out of their strollers and not getting to run free.

It started to rain so we made quick tracks back to the train station and back to the RV.

We had dinner in the RV then settled the kids in so we cold drive to Rust, Germany.

Up next, Europa Park!

_____________________________________

European Adventure Posts

November 1, 2019

European Adventure – Berlin Days 4-6

Our fourth day in Berlin started off with a trip on Berlin’s S-BAHN (Berlin’s under and above ground train system) Cannon loved traveling by train and bus.

We then hopped aboard a bus to visit some of the sites including the Victory Column, a monument to victory in the Danish-Prussian War in the 19th century.

We didn’t do as much walking to see the monuments as we would have liked since it was pouring down rain.

We made our way to Breitscheidplatz and found a place to enjoy lunch.

We tried to eat in an Irish Pub but it was full of cigarette smoke. It big shock to me was how many people still smoke in Germany and all the paces you are still allowed to smoke. We moved on and found a Bavarian restaurant that didn’t allow smoking. After lunch we explored the Breitscheidplatz

We then toured the Gedächtniskirche, which was beautiful and haunting.

“The Gedächtniskirche or Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is the symbolic centre of West Berlin, an anti-war memorial to peace and reconciliation. Following allied bombing during WWII, the original west Tower has remained standing as a ruin and is hauntingly named the “hollow tooth” as it is literally an empty husk. Immediately recognizable and located on the Breitscheidplatz at the start of the busy shopping district which includes Tauentzienstraße and Ku’damm, this is the only building on the square which was spared by the bombing and deliberately preserved as a part ruin.” – Source

Breitscheidplatz is also the site of a 2016 terror attack during the famous Christmas market. They laid a bronze line where the truck plowed into the market killing and injuring many.

After our time in the square we made our way over to the Berlin Aquarium to escape the rain.

The aquarium was a little old which was charming in some ways but definitely not my favorite aquarium (opened in 1913).

The kids loved the exhibits and enjoyed being able to run around out of the rain. It was also three stories tall which was interesting.

After all day out in the rain we weren’t feeling up to heading out again for dinner so we brought pizza back to our hotel room and all agreed that was a great idea!

DAY 5

On our fifth day in Berlin we started the day with a trip to local coffee shop, this one was attached to a bike shop and was super cute.

My parents decided to take a quiet day and we took the kids to the Berlin Zoo.

The zoo is even older than the Aquarium, opened in 1844!

We loved the zoo, it was gorgeous.

The exhibits were great and the kids loved a huge playground that was there.

We were ran off earlier than we would have liked by a heavy down pour.

we then went out for a delicious Italian dinner so my Mom could carb-load for her marathon the next day.

DAY 6 – Marathon Day!

We were up nice and early to see mom off to the start line. We didn’t want to bring the entire circus but Cannon is my little adventure buddy and came with me to see mom as far as we could.

It was really easy to get around on the S-BAHN and to get to the start line.

Cannon enjoyed being his Grandma’s crew.

We saw mom all the way to the start corrals where non-racers were not allowed. After seeing her off we went back towards the hotel in search of coffee.

The race went just a few blocks from the hotel so we went to see mom at around mile 7.

If we didn’t have the kids with us we could have used public transit and see her a few other places but we don’t travel fast with these little ones and they don’t like being drug all across the city. We did find a playground so they could get some energy out and lunch before heading to the finish line.

Just after playing at the park it started to pour down rain. We were all feeling sorry for the marathoners who were likely freezing. We made our way to the finish line to see mom and were all soaked and freezing. We were so happy to see mom finish her marathon and try to get her back to the hotel to rest and warm up. We were all cold and tired (especially mom) so we ate dinner in our hotel rooms and packed to leave the next day!

This was the point that we parted ways with my parents, they were off for a river cruise (which looks like it was amazing!) and we were off to tour southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria. We enjoyed our time in Berlin, most of all cheering mom on for her race.

Up next, travel day and Nuremberg!

_____________________________________

European Adventure Posts

October 29, 2019

European Adventure – Berlin Days 1-3

When we arrived in Berlin (you can read about traveling there HERE) we were tired but after a rest we headed out for some fresh air.

We were so happy that our phones worked so we could use google maps (although the data was very slow). We found a park near our hotel so the kids could run and play after such a long time traveling.

It’s always fun (and necessary) to see what local parks are like when we travel. We then found a cute little Mexican restaurant near our hotel before heading back and to bed early.

DAY 2

On our second day in Berlin we decided to do a “hop on hop off” bus tour of Berlin.

We walked from our hotel to where the busses were parked and we etertained ourselves checking out the square in front of Fernsehturm (Berlin’s historic TV tower).

Once on the tour we saw many sites around Berlin including the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Tiergarten, President’s house and lots more.

Cannon enjoyed the ride and Emmy enjoyed a nap. We rode on the top of a double decker bus. Too bad it was raining otherwise you get to ride with the top open. We got to see parts of the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie. We didn’t do much World War II history touring while we were in there because I felt it wasn’t appropriate for the kids but it’s still very present in Berlin and I can’t believe the wall only came down so recently. This year is the 30th anniversary of the wall coming down!

After the tour we took a rainy stroll to a local brewery called Brewdog

The pizza and beer were delicious and the kids made some local friends to play with.

After dinner we found a grocery store to pick up some supplies. The big thing I forgot to pack was the kids’ toothbrushes and toothpaste. I don’t know why but I get a kick out of this German toothpaste.

Our hotel room had a mini-fridge so we were able to get some milk for the kids and of corse chocolate, diapers and snacks.

DAY 3

Our third day in Berlin started nice and early, we had reservations to tour Reichstag . We decided to walk over from our hotel and it was a beautiful way to see the city.

Reichstag is a glass dome on top of the German Parliament building. The tour includes an audio portion that describes the views from the dome and the city’s interesting history.

We enjoyed the tour and the beautiful views of the city from the dome.

By the end the kids were very over being in their strollers so we walked back to the hotel for lunch. We grabbed sandwiches from a sweet little shop to eat in our hotel room. There is only so many times we can ask these kids to be quiet and sit in a restaurant so we tried to give them opportunities to eat and play. We then ran back out to take a boat tour of the Spree River.

There are many options for boat tours, we decided on an hour tour of the Spree. Cory and I would have loved a longer tour but the kids’ attention span can’t last that long.

It was really fun to see so much of the city from the water and hear about the city’s past. After we got off the boat we walked to the Tiergarten (think central park) to let the kids run around and get some energy out.

There are many beautiful statues in the park including a memorial to the Russian soldiers who dies in WWII.

Our third day in Berlin was my birthday so I got to choose the restaurant. I wanted something very authentically German and we found just that.

After dinner we found a little bakery around the corner from our hotel to get some cake to celebrate.

After cake we went back to our hotel, we stayed at Hotel Augustinenhof it was in a cute old building that definitely didn’t feel like a chain hotel.

We had the perfect room for the four of us with a separate bedroom. The hotel offered breakfast every morning, that made things much easier to get the day going!

Emmy enjoyed her high chair.

That’s it for our first three days in Berlin. Will be back to cover days 4-6 soon!

_____________________________________

European Adventure Posts

October 28, 2019

International Travel With Small Children

I wanted to get my thoughts down about our trip to Europe with Cannon (3 years old) and Emmy (1 year old) before it all fades and all I remember is the fun! We had a great time and spent almost three weeks abroad.

We flew over and spent the first week in Berlin with my parents. It was nice to have a couple additional sets of hands for the flight as we had no idea about how it was going to go. We had only flown once with the kids before and that was just for our trip to Disneyland in February (recaps HERE and HERE ) We left for a red eye flight at 4pm Denver time and landed about 10 am in Munich then a quick flight from Munich to Berlin. Because the flight is about 10 hours and we left later in the day it worked out well for the kids’ sleep schedule.

We loaded onto the plane and enjoyed take-off. Cannon liked watching out the window and checking out everything in the armrest between seats. We did take both car seats with us but checked them instead of using them on the plane. My research before the trip found that kids aren’t really safer in their carseats while flying so it was easier not to lug them through the airport and both were happier without them anyway.

Soon after take-off they served us dinner which took up some time.

After dinner Cannon was happy to watch a movie, we flew Lufthansa and they had a ton of kid friendly movies. Emmy was happy to hop between people’s laps and make friends with the other passengers. Emmy liked watching part of Life of Pets 2. We packed lots of blankets to snuggle, snacks and kid appropriate headphones.

After dinner they darkened the plane so we could sleep. Around the kids normal bedtime we “got them ready for bed” we took them to the potty, changed Emmy’s diaper and made sure the movies were off when we got back to our seats. Cannon settled right down in his own seat, Emmy had a little trouble. We did have a seat for her but she was happier sitting with someone, she cried for a little while trying to get her down but she fell asleep after that and slept through. Cory and I shared time holding her while she slept. When we got close to time to land they lit up the plane and served us breakfast.

It was not as long as the kids normally sleep at home but Cannon still thought it was awesome to eat on the plane.

We had a short transition time to get to an hour flight between Munich and Berlin. This was a little stressful basically running through the airport and waiting in the passport check. When we got to Berlin we took a car to the hotel and settled in a bit. We were all tired and off our schedule but ventured out into the city to stretch our legs and found a park for the kids to play at. It took a few days to get the kids used to the time change (Berlin is 8 hours ahead of Denver). Emerald had the hardest time adjusting but after 3 nights was doing fine.

While in Europe we spent our time getting around by bus or train ( I will detail our adventures later and just cover travel for now). We took Kolcraft Cloud Umbrella Strollers with us and they were great for getting on and off public transit. We were even able to carry them up stairs from the subway in the strollers when it was hard to find elevators.

We also got good rain covers for the strollers that were key because it rained a fair bit while we were traveling. Instead of my normal diaper bag we used Cory’s REI backpack that also had a rain cover and that saved our stuff from getting soaked.

On our train ride from Berlin to Munich we used our Kids Fire Tablets to keep the kids entertained.

Our flight home left at 11 am Munich time so I was worried about a 11 hour flight that did not include overnight sleep time.

Again Emmy had her own seat but spent zero minutes in it. She bounced between sharing with me and Cory but her favorite was to sit next to Cannon.

Emmy did nap a little on the flight but Cannon didn’t sleep at all. He got a little restless but was always happy to visit the potty, watch a movie (or 6) and eat meals when they were served. We were very pleased with how the kids did on the flight with no big meltdowns. Once we got into Denver and were waiting to get through customs Cannon was DONE it was about 11PM Munich time and he hadn’t had any sleep. We had a pretty epic meltdown while waiting for our luggage.

That is Cannon sleeping on the airport floor. Overall I consider it a win with just one meltdown. Once home we settled in and tried to get back to normal life. Just like on the way there it took about 2-3 days to get back on local time.

It was definitely a different trip than if we had gone without the kids. We didn’t spend time in museums, shopping or lavish dinners. There were many times I would have liked to relax in a coffee shop for awhile but that was just not possible with our two little ones. All kids are different so some might be more okay with these type of activities. Both Cannon and Emerald have a lot of energy and need to be on the move. Even though we missed out on some things we gained so much going on this trip as a family. I really enjoyed sharing this experience with them.

If you are considering travel with small children, I say go for it! Where is the best place you have taken your kids?

_____________________________________

European Adventure Posts