Saalburg & München

After graduation and the party, we were ready for a quiet, peaceful day trip on the last day before dd#1's boyfriend, Joe, and his mother, Jane, returned to the U.S. With my sister Kate, we all went to the Saalburg Roman Fort, which is about 1/2 hour outside of Frankfurt and once stood at the northern end of the Roman Empire in continental Europe (obviously, the Roman Empire extended further north in England).

We had a beautiful day to explore the ruins and reconstructed fort, as well as the museum and fortress walls and the Lime, the earthen barrier wall of Roman times. It was a lovely afternoon, with a delicious lunch in the Taverna, and just enough of an excursion to give us some nice memories of the last day before Joe & Jane had to fly home.

After putting dh on one plane to IL, and Joe & Jane on another plane to IL on Monday morning, Kate, the girls and I headed off to Munich for a last-minute trip before the move. Although the girls & I had been to Munich before, we had not visited Dachau Concentration Camp and dd#1 really wanted to visit a concentration camp before leaving Germany. Plus, Kate hadn't been to Munich, or many places in Germany, before, so we wanted to get in some quick sightseeing.

We arrived in Munich Monday afternoon and checked into our hotel, which was right next to the Haupbahnhof. After dropping off our stuff and parking the car, we headed down to Marienplatz to stroll through the center of Munich, see the clock chime at 5 p.m., and head over to the Hofbräuhaus for dinner.

Munich was hot, hot, hot and our hotel was not air conditioned. With the windows open, it was a noisy spot, opposite the train station, even with a fan going all night, so I don't think any of us got a lot of sleep. Tuesday was a long hot day, but full of interesting sights and information.

We started the day with a tour to the Dachau Concentration camp memorial. Many of the original buildings remain or have been reconstructed for the purpose of the memorial. We had a great tour guide who helped keep us in the shade as much as possible, as it was very hot and sunny and the tour was long. As no food or drink is available on site, we bought our Subway lunches before we left and carried them around to eat at free moments and on the train back to Munich.

After that tour, we had about 1/2 hour to get rehydrated before we began a walking tour of the Third Reich in Munich with the same guide. We saw the places where the beginning of Hitler's reign of terror began and covered a great deal of the city. Again, our guide thankfully kept us out of the sun as much as possible, but some of us did get sunburned. By the end of that tour, we found a quiet, cool Italian restaurant in a courtyard and had a relaxing dinner and rest for our tired feet. We were all so worn out, it was an early night for everyone.

On Wednesday morning, we were up and out of the hotel early to get to the Deutsches Museum at opening. We knew that Kate would love the exhibits of musical instruments as much as dd#1 loves the chemistry section and dd#2 loves the ships. It's a great museum and we had a nice visit, including a chemistry demonstration (all in German, of course), before hitting the road back to Frankfurt. While there was some rain and a lot of traffic on the way home, we got home in plenty of time to get everything packed and read to go.

Thursday morning found us making 2 trips to the airport to get Kate and dds #2&3 there with all their luggage for their 11 a.m. flight. Once they walked through security, dd#1 and I returned home to our nearly empty house to prepare for the move and dd#1's trip to Taiwan. On to the next phase....

Escape to Heidelberg

While all chaos was about to errupt at home, in preparation for dd#1's graduation, a party at our home, dh's flight to Elmhurst and then our impending move to the U.S., Jane, Kate & I were able to escape for one lovely day to Heidelberg. While I've been there several times, it never fails to impress me as a beautiful, traditional German town and Kate & Jane really loved it.

We started with the castle, so we could look out over the river valley and see the beautiful town nestled below. Although we didn't take a tour, we bought guidebooks and were even allowed into some of the exhibits normally reserved for those on the guided tour by a couple of very sweet German gentlemen. We saw some great weapons (too bad dd#2 wasn't with us), learned some of the history of the castle and it's ruins, and saw a great model of the castle itself. We went in more rooms than I'd even been before and even explored the apothecary museum. Of course, we had to visit the largest wine cask, but it was a little early in the morning for wine-tasting.

Instead, we finished our tour of the castle and then headed down into town for lunch. We stopped to eat a lovely little place in the shadow of the cathedral and had some wonderful food, including a great Greek salad, soup, bread and, of course, some good German spatzel. While we could have easily relaxed for some time at our cozy table and watched the people go by, we decided to keep moving and see more of the town. We did some shopping along the main street, including some souvenirs and even Christmas gifts. Of course, we had to sample some of the great Italian gelato before finding our way back to the car for the drive home.

Waiting for us when we returned to Frankfurt were dd#1 and her boyfriend, Joe, having just returned from the 12th grade trip to Barcelona. Since dd#1 didn't know that her aunt Kate was coming for graduation, or at least she was very confused by all my slips in the preceeding weeks, it was a nice surprise for her when we got back. But, our escape from the mania was over and it was back to preparations for graduation, the party, dh, Jane & Joe flying back to IL on Monday, a quick trip to Munich, Kate and dds #2&3 flying back to NY on Thursday, and then the movers, packers, and all the other fun waiting for us in preparation for the move back to the U.S. What a nice chance to escape reality for a day in a medieval German castle town.

Two Wild Women in Berlin

Jane and I had 2 days in Berlin, not nearly enough, but still were able to fit in many of the sights we'd been hoping to see. This picture is Jane in front of Checkpoint Charlie and the museum, which was fascinating. We were expecting a quick stop there, but spent at least 2 hours learnig a lot about the wall and the attempts made to get over, under and through it during the nearly 30 years it was in place. We happened to be in Berlin on the 60th anniversary of the start of the Berlin Airlift, which made it all the more real.

We were both mesmerized by the Holocaust Memorial as well, both the interesting series of concrete blocks above-ground and the fascinating museum below-ground. We also enjoyed the Deutches Museum, although the waitress at the cafe there left a lot to be desired. It was very hot our first day in Berlin, but luckily a breeze kicked in the next 2 days and, even more luckily, our hotel had air conditioning - definitely not the norm in Germany. We were somewhat unimpressed by the Jewish Museum, but enjoyed walking the streets of Berlin from the Hauptbahnhof all the way to the Jewish Museum and from the Bradenburg gate to the Deutches Museum. There was a huge TV screen in place at the Bradenburg gate in preparation for the finals of the European soccer tournament, but we were able to negotiate our way around it to to get to the Reichstag, Postsdamer Platz, and back to the Topography of Terror, another interesting exhibit.

We had some great currywurst, a fun visit to a German beerhall restaurant on the night of the Italy/Spain soccer match, and teriffic pasta at a great little Italian restaurant. We saw a lot of police in Berlin on Tuesday, parked in front of the Russian embassy and also in motorcades at different times during the day, but never figured out what was going on. We walked miles and miles, and even took a half-day tour on the hop-on/hop-off bus, which gave us a nice overview of what we'd seen. We bought a lot of souvenirs and were thoroughly exhausted by the time we dragged ourselves to the train on Tuesday evening for the 4-hour trip back to Frankfurt. But, it was a great, quick visit and we had a great time!

Prom and Graduation #2

As June spun quickly to the end, and the date of our move back to the U.S. drew closer and closer, life became more hectic but also more exciting. On June 20th, DD#1's boyfriend Joe and his mom Jane arrived for a 10-day visit. They are just the nicest family and we truly enjoy spending time with them all. The next day was the ISF Prom, what DD#1 had been planning, organizing, and raising money for all year long as her Girl Scout Gold Award project. We took her to the Intercontinental Hotel early in the morning to decorate the room with the other members of her Senior Class Council - and it looked great. Very classy, with a black & white theme. Although Joe slept through that, due to jet lag, we woke him to meet for lunch at the Chicago Meatpackers restaurant afterwords. Then it was home to prepare for prom.

ISF had never held a prom before, so it was great fun watching all the kids arrive at the hotel that night - Jane, DH & I hung out in the lobby and took pictures. It sounds like they had a great time, although not a lot of dancing was going on. Early the next morning, Jane & I caught a train to Berlin for 3 days of sightseeing while DD#1 and Joe caught a plane with many of the 12th graders to Barcelona for a 4-day class trip. We had a wonderful time in Berlin and came home on Tuesday, just in time to pick up my sister Kate at the airport on Wednesday morning for her surprise visit for graduation. DD#1 and Joe returned on Thursday, while Kate, Jane & I were visiting Heidelberg.

Friday morning was graduation practice and then, at 5 p.m. on Friday evening, was the graduation ceremony itself. It went very nicely, with 35 graduates in the class and speeches by 2 of the students, one parent, the school director, and an invited speaker from the board of the school. After the ceremony was a short champagne reception at the school followed by a banquet at the Radisson hotel. Everyone was pretty fancy for the banquet and we sat at a table with two of the teachers leaving the school. Although the banquet went late for me - with us not getting home until after midnight - it was nothing compared to the hour (4:30 a.m.) that dd#1 and Joe got home.

The next day was our family's graduation and going away party, with about 40 people, including many of the recent graduates as well as friends of our other two girls and some of our friends as well. It was a great chance to say good-bye to many of the people who have been so important to us while we've lived here in Frankfurt and the last chance to see many of them before we move back to the U.S. I think the girls really enjoyed themselves, as well as the adults.

It will be hard for us all to leave behind our friends here in Germany, even though we are anxious to get back home and see again the friends we left behind when we moved here. Overall, I think our two years in Frankfurt was a great experience for us all. We all loved the ability to travel inexpensively, often and to so many varied locations. Our favorites, as a family, seem to have been Italy and Spain - for the food, the people, and all the beautiful sights. There are many places I wanted to visit but didn't have time to, but hopefully we'll be back someday. Although I was unhappy with the academics at ISF, and am anxious to get dds #2&3 back to Elmhurst to get back on the REACH and honors track, I think it was great for dd#1 academically to have a chance to be here for her last 2 years - especially in terms of her college acceptance rate. She was able to do an incredible Girl Scout Gold Award project here that she might not have had time to even think about back in the U.S., and I think it really helped her get into the program she's entering at Penn. While she missed her friends and the atmosphere at York, she made great friends here - all of the girls did. Career-wise, these past 2 years have been good for dh, though we're glad that he's been transfered back to the U.S. now, so we'll still all be living together. For me, it's been a mixed bag. I've made some good friends, although I found it hard to have so many of them leave at the end of last year. I wasn't able to work and spent a great deal of time home alone, especially in our first year. This year, I was very busy with Girl Scouts and Parents Network, which helped me a lot, but didn't bring in any money toward that Ivy League tuition payment due this month. With all the positives and negatives we've encountered, it was definitely still a great experience and one I'm glad we took on. That being said, I'm really looking forward to going home.

Trip Home for Graduation #1

This has been a very busy spring for DD#1, with 5 AP exams, finals in all 5 classes, planning and preparing for the Prom, which was her Girl Scout Gold Award project, getting info. from Penn about her dorm room, roommates, food plans, classes, and everything else she'll need for college in the fall and preparing to say good-bye to friends in both the U.S. and Europe.

Between AP exams and finals, she and I were able to sneak away back to Elmhurst for nearly a week to attend the graduation of her boyfriend and all her good friends back at York High School. It was a great trip for both of us, although a little crazy, with jet lag in addition to all the things we wanted to accomplish in 5 days.

We were able to tour our Elmhurst house in preparation for our move home, which gave me a chance to see what needed painting, repairs, etc. We also got DD#3 registered for middle school and visited the high school to get DD#2 enrolled, signed up for her classes next year and even buy her some York-wear and some light summer (geometry) reading. DD#1 got to visit with her former counselor, who will be DD#2's counselor as well, as well as her two favorite math teachers. I had a chance to visit with a couple of my good friends during our trip and it was great to reconnect and catch up.

We got a lot of shopping done, getting DD#1 two new bathing suits, some books for me and lots of graduation cards and presents. We even had a fun dinner with one of DD#1's best friends and her family and attend a graduation party at another best friend's house. Over the weekend, we were able to attend DD#1's boyfriend's graduation party, which was a lot of fun. Then, on Sunday, was York's graduation, which was certainly bittersweet - all of her friends, many of whom I'd known for many years, but not DD#1, who would have loved to have been graduating from York that day. Although there were many great things about moving to Europe, DD#1 would have given them up at any moment to move back to Elmhurst and return to York, so it was hard to see what she'd been missing.

We ended the visit on a sweet note by spending much of the last day with Harmony, our former babysitter and pseudo-sister to all of my girls. She was in her last two weeks of pregnancy and feeling fat and uncomfortable, but she looked great. We took her to lunch at our favorite restaurant, Maggiano's, along with DD#1's boyfriend and best friend, and had a great time and wonderful food. It was wonderful to be back in Elmhurst and made me anxious to get back for good - it won't be long now!