The trip to Germany, part one

Our trip started off very well as we left the house only 20 minutes later than I had planned. The trip to Freiburg went very well despite some glitches with the GPS. The girls were good sports for the trip, even picnicking at a small roadside rest area in the chilly wind. They liked some of the other rest areas that we found later on the trip better as they had playgrounds and nice bathrooms.

The scenery for a lot of the first day was very pretty. We crossed over several canals which spawned a great conversation among the adults in the car. We REALLY want to rent a canal boat and take a tour on one of the many canals that are found in many areas of France. We talked about how and when we could go, and where we would want to go. We both want to be able to get off the boat and visit a winery or something.

The highlight of the first day for me was the hotel. As my Husband said, "We have discovered the Embassy Suites of Europe." We chose a Novotel because it is a family-friendly hotel, and we have had a good experience with the chain. This one lived up to our expectations! We had adjoining rooms, and the kids were thrilled. They got the larger room. It came with a pull-out sofa bed, a table that seats 4 easily, a desk, a wardrobe, and a TV. Heaven for little girls. Mom and Dad were pretty happy too. The only downside was the restaurant. It was not exactly family-friendly. We had to wait over 45 minutes to get our food. That was after the wait to order it. The girls were beyond hungry by the time their food arrived, and didn't eat much. Luckily Mommy had snacks in the hotel room so no one went to bed hungry.

The girls thought the best part of the hotel room situation was that we were near the train station so they got to watch lots of trains and trams coming and going. Thank goodness for soundproofing!

Their room Our room

Day two of vacation was a busy one. We drove through the Black Forest to the Black Forest Outdoor Museum. It was a collection of homes and farm buildings that had been placed together to give one an idea of what life was like in the "old days" in Germany. We arrived at lunch time so started with a stop to try some German specialties. Husband tried a pretzel, a German pizza, and a dried sausage thing. I went for sausage and sauerkraut. I also got some noodles made from potatoes. Those were interesting. They looked kind of like elongated TaterTots but were smooth on the outside.

Our first stop in museum was in the flour mill for the 12:15 demonstration. Luckily we got there a little early and had time to explain how the mill worked because the demo was in German. The girls loved seeing the water wheel move and figuring out how it made the stuff inside move to grind the corn. Some of the other favorite sites were the sawmill (the girls knew all about how it worked from one of their favorite TV shows), the old carriages and wagons, and the cow with her calf. The most interesting thing that I learned about was making charcoal, and the most interesting display was the hemp mill. It was certainly worth the visit.

Watching the demo in the mill. Playing on the seesaw.

Watching the chickens.

Enjoying a snack of German bread and grape juice.

One part of the museum

Miss S riding a rocking horse at the museum.

After the museum we did a couple of geocaches. The first was "The Biggest Toilet in the Black Forest." It was a really big toilet model on the outside of a fixture manufacturing plant and showroom. Pretty funny.


The second cache took us to the highest waterfall in Germany. Here is Miss M standing near the uppermost section of the waterfall. We hiked down a little bit, but never saw the entire cascade. It was so pretty though. We also found some snow in the rocks. Little did we know that we would see much more on the way back to the hotel, and even more the following few days.

We didn't actually find this cache despite a good try. We had to send Daddy back after it. He and Miss M found it pretty quickly, and met some other cachers at the same time. The man Dad met brought his partner to the car with him to meet us. That was pretty cool.

The water and the snow

The day ended with McDonald's takeout eaten at the table in the girls' room. The German McNuggets are the same as French, but the Germans have a chicken wrap on their menu that the French do not offer. It was pretty good. Dad ate a double cheeseburger, I think. Luckily the German version didn't bother his stomach like the French does.

Stay tuned for more adventures!