A Trip of Revelations

In San Francisco, summer camp registration starts in March and the process is, to say the least, overwhelming.  This was our first summer without day care, options were limited for 4 year olds (most were geared towards kids entering first grade or older) and I had a few other things on my plate, so instead of stressing about the situation, I decided to not really work this summer and Martin and I could figure it out between vacations, a week or two of camp and re-enforcements from the grandparents.  Included in this grand plan were 3 weeks in Europe!

We just got back from our Euro-trip and it was everything I was hoping for. We split our time evenly between one week in Germany with family, one week in Switzerland with family and then one week in France with just us.  The three weeks were exactly what Martin and I needed to fully disconnect from work and relax into the routine of vacation life.  And with the kids being a little older, we were able to do more, see more and enjoy the time together a little more.

Having been so long since we last travelled internationally together (2.5 years to be exact), I had quite a few revelations about family, travel and my life.  Below are the stories from the trip and my many revelations.

Revelations 14 to 19 in Alsace Lorraine

 Revelation14: Do I really need to stay in wine country if I don’t plan on wine tasting?  

One of the reasons I couldn’t find a house that suited the Breuers or me is because I was hoping for something along the lines of Tuscany (too far of a drive for my likes), Piedmont (nothing available) or the Alsace region between France and Germany (too far for the rest of the family). If you are unfamiliar with the last one it is also a well-known wine region… For my Euro Trip, I wanted water and wine. I got the “water” with Walensee lake near Amden so I figured we could get the “wine” on the last week of the trip with just our family. Alsace also happens to be on the way back to the Frankfurt airport so I had some logic to the decision.  While adamant that I wanted a wine region for the trip, we did not go wine tasting, or even really drink wine the entire time we were there. And I was okay with that.  What we did do was still amazing, including a trip to Mulhouse to see a car museum (for Oskar), a trip to a butterfly garden (for Alva), a day in the city of Strassbourg (for me) and two days at a nearby lake which, while lacking the beautiful surroundings of Switzerland, provided a shallow, kid friendly lake for the kids to splash and swim in. 

Revelation 15: As diligent as I was about chronicling my travels and shenanigans while living in Zurich, I was very light on the actual details like where I stayed, what I ate and what I saw.  Erin and I spent a weekend in Colmar in 2008 and I have no idea what we actually did. For future reference, on this trip we stayed in a town called Achenheim, had lunch at a restaurant called Square Delicatessen in Strassbourg and the lake we loved was called Plan d’eau du Lac Achard.

Revelation 16: With a German husband who speaks some French, Italian and Spanish I have gotten lazy in my travels.  It used to be that I would learn how to say the basics in the language of where I was travelling and yet this trip I couldn’t even ask for the toilets in French.

Revelation 17: There is a big difference between junk and trash. Junk is a term I have endearingly given to antiques found at flea markets. For example, I went to the Alameda Flea Market to buy some junk. Trash is the mass produced touristy crap you can find in every city whether it is the shot glass, tea towel or key chain that every shop tries to sell you to remember your trip.  I taught this lesson to the kids during our day in the city.  Strassbourg has a very small antique market on Wednesdays, so I conveniently choose our “city day” to be on Wednesday and we headed to the market when we got into town.  I told each kid they could have EUR 5 to buy whatever they wanted and they chose well.  Alva bought a cute rose metal pendant to wear as a necklace and Oskar bought a cool old Rolls Royce toy car from the 50s. Both were such a better use of EUR 5 than the things we found for sale outside the Cathedral Notre Dame just a few blocks away.  

Revelation 18:  It took me exactly 19 days of enjoying the local foods and regional dishes to crave Mexican food. It also took me less than 6 days of straight meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner before I hit my limit and needed a vegetarian meal.  Luckily for me, we were heading home soon so I could get my fill of both and in the meantime, on Day 19 Martin bought me a bag of chips and a jar of queso to hold me over until then. 

Revelation 19: Travelling with the kids is becoming so much easier and the fun factor is definitely outweighing the work factor more and more every trip.  I can’t wait for our next big adventure!

Revelations 12 and 13 in Amden Switzerland

Revelation 12:  When it comes to planning vacations with Martin’s family, don’t take the lead, but maintain veto rights. After spending two months trying to find a house suitable for our family plus Martin’s I gave up. I couldn’t get them to commit to anything and yet they had a list of requirements. It had to be close enough to Regina’s family’s house in case she could join, large enough for all of us, and during peak travel season however the dates were still to be confirmed by his sister due to her schedule. Every option I found either didn’t work or was no longer available once the family provided their feedback/okay, so I gave up looking and finally deferred to Martin. It was his family, so his headache.

After searching for less than 1 week he complained about the limited options that met our needs.  No?! I am shocked!  Please tell me more about how hard this is! 

And then a few weeks later, he found a house in Amden Switzerland and, while it wouldn’t have been my first choice, I was officially defeated from my efforts and so we booked it. It turned out to be exactly what we needed and wanted. The house itself was perfect, with plenty of space for everyone, a fully equipped kitchen and games and toys, including a trampoline, for the kids. There was a bakery and store within walking distance that sold popsicles. It had kid friendly hikes nearby and a beautiful alpine lake for swimming and paddle boating (the latter of which Oskar had his heart set on after seeing them at Sorpersee in Germany).  With little else to do, it allowed us a full week of relaxation and a chance to slow down.

Revelation 13: I really miss Switzerland and want to move back.  So much so that Martin and I have started looking at property.  Jokingly, but not really.

Revelations 7 to 11 in Zurich

Revelation 7:  I always thought German trains were as reliable as Swiss trains.  In terms of reliability, it went Swiss / German, then French and then Italian.  But man did the German trains prove me wrong this trip.  On Sunday morning I took the train down to Zurich for a night of fun with Petra before rejoining the family in Amden Monday afternoon.  Between a train delay and a missed connection I was two hours late getting into Zurich.  Good thing Martin warned me about the trains and suggested a two hour buffer between arrival and dinner.  

Revelation 8: I will never again underappreciate or forget to pack an emergency snickers bar.  It is a life saver when needed.  And with a 2 hour train delay and limited food options on the train (there was no snack cart!) I needed it.

Revelation 9: After hearing German speakers the past 10 years, I can now appreciate just how strong and distinct the Swiss German accent is.  I can almost understand my mother in-law’s need to correct my pronunciation when I was first learning German in Switzerland. Almost.

Revelation 10: Going back to Zurich was like going back to my old college town after graduating.  It still felt the same, I still got a huge smile on my face getting off of the train at Zurich Haptbahnhof, but everything was also different.  Everyone spoke English, everyone seemed super young.  There were new hip areas in town that hadn’t been there before.  I no longer needed to withdraw CHF400 for one night one (not because it was cheaper, but because they now accept credit cards everywhere).  And there were limited chances of me running into a friend or acquaintance on the street that always made me feel like a local. It was the same, but different.

Revelation 11: I am so lucky to have lived in Zurich when I did and to have met the amazing friends I did during that time, including my friend Petra.  After last seeing each other over 5 years ago in New York, we picked right up where we had left off and it felt like no time had passed.

Revelations 1 to 6 in Germany

Revelation 1:  The reason why I love to travel and, specifically, why I fall in love with a place, is due to the joy of discovery that goes along with seeing something new, discovering a hidden gem or creating a new memory that is mine alone.

Martin’s home town and surrounding countryside is a really beautiful place with rolling green hills and lush forests outside his back steps. However each and every time I go there, it is hard for me to make it my own or have any sort of emotional tie to it.  After so many years of trying to figure out the disconnect beauty and apathy, I think I finally cracked the code.  It is because every experience I have had in his hometown has been shown to me, explained to me, presented to me.  In an effort to get me excited about their home, my father-in-law has given me plenty of history lessons about the area and pointed out every world famous, very well-known location that I have never heard of all with limited participation from me.  In effect, I have been a bystander in every experience. And because of this, I have yet to create my own memories that spark joy and make me want to return.

This revelation came to me when we drove past a church on our way back from swimming at one of the lakes and my father-in-law started to tell me the history of the church.  I kindly cut him off to let him know we had been there before, with my parents, when Martin and I had our wedding in Germany.  I couldn’t remember or care about any of the details about the church, but it did make me smile.  It was next to the church that almost 9 years ago my dad and I stood in awe watching a tree trimming service cut down a tree and feed the entire trunk, branches and leaves whole into a large wood-chipper.

Revelation 2:  As much as I joke and gripe about the coffee and cake (and subsequent jitters) that seem to be part of the daily routine at Martin’s parent’s house, I actually was looking forward to it this time around since it had been so long. Imagine my disappointment when I realized Annegret hadn’t baked a single cake for our visit.  I mean, did she no longer love us? Were we no longer deemed guests of worthy of her baking skills? I was definitely thrown for a loop on this one.  So much so that I suggested the kids bake a cake with her Thursday morning.

Revelation 3: Melatonin really does help with jet lag.

Revelation 4: Martin and I have the best time in the most unromantic places. After a few nights of home cooked meals, Martin convinced his parents to have currywurst take out one night, so Martin and I left the kids with the grandparents and headed into “town” to pick up dinner and enjoy a little time alone with just the two of us.  It doesn’t take much to turn a mundane errand into a fun outing.   We placed our order, grabbed a beer and headed outside to wait for our food.  Rain had started to fall, so instead of sitting in the garden, we grabbed the bench on the sidewalk that had the only umbrella over it for protection.  It was there that we shared a beer, finally had a moment to talk, and laughed about all of the romantic places we have been. 

Revelation 5: I am a hypocrite. On more than a handful of occasions I may or may not have complained about how Martin’s family will sit around their dining table from coffee and cake at 4pm through dinner, dessert and late night drinks. Just sitting and talking. And I found this highly unusual. Who would want to sit in the same, hard uncomfortable chair for that long?!

If you can already spot the irony and hypocrisy then you are better than I. It took me until this trip to realize the very thing I found so odd is exactly what my closest friends and I do every time we get together. And even brag about. Put us anywhere and so long as there is a kitchen table for us to sit around and catch up then we are good.

Revelation 6:  While the food and games might vary depending on where you are, carnivals are the same everywhere you go.  You still have the loud songs and bright lights coming from every booth and ride, the junk prizes you spend way too much money on to win, the overpriced sugary foods and beverages, the carnie type characters operating the rides, the groups of young teens running around trying to act cool in front of the opposite sex and younger kids crying due to too much sugar, too much stimulation, too much chaos and not enough water.

No More Bubble Wrap

All of a sudden it was June and then July and I am still trying to figure out what happened to May!

We ended our first year of school with a bang, including a joint birthday party for Oskar and 3 of his classmates, a family camping trip with 9 other families from Oskar’s class, a dance recital for Oskar and Alva’s ballet and tap classes, and confirmation from Alva’s teacher that the summer was for having fun so we should throw away our schedules and routines. 

We might have taken that last one a little too far.  A week after school got out, we headed up to the Lake for a week of fun with my parents, my sister, the kid cousins and the lake family.  The theme of the week was “no more bubble wrap”, meaning let the kids go crazy.  And we did.  They tubed. They ate popsicles. They rode in Grandpa’s truck without seatbelts. They had junk cereal for breakfast and Oskar caught fish for dinner.  They learned the art of the “prop check”.  Oskar went for a solo bike ride around the home sites with just his cousins. They stayed up late enough to see the stars. I am pretty sure they went 5+ days without a bath. 

And it was incredible!

When I was growing up my parents used to pick us up from the last day of school and we would head up straight to the lake for at least one week of fun.  After this past week, I can’t wait to start this as our family tradition as well.