Getting to Venice

Our adventure began shortly after church on Sunday, April 17th.  As soon as we got the car packed up and the kids fed we were on our way.  Our first stop was Innsbruck, Austria, about 3 hours away.  Here we stayed for the night in a wonderful guest house situated on the hillside outside of Innsbruck.  After traveling for so long the boys were excited to get out and run around.  Hyrum took them on a hike up the hill to a small playground to get some wiggles out while I put Julian to bed.

The view from our guest house, typical Austrian landscape, beautiful mountains, green meadows and a church.

The next morning we all hiked up to the little church at the top of the hill.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day.

Julian wanted a drink of water from this fountain but we didn't want to take him out of the backpack so Hyrum had to bend way down so Julian could reach the water, it was pretty cute.

Monday, April 18th we left beautiful Austria for beautiful Italy.  To break up the 4 hour trip from Innsbruck to Venice we decided to tour the town of Verona.  There is actually a balcony in Verona that tourists can stand under and pretend it was the balcony from Romeo and Juliet but unfortunately there isn't really any historical connection to the star crossed lovers other than the fact Shakespeare chose Verona for the setting of his tragedy.  We got a bite to eat, enjoyed the sun and did a self guided walking tour of Verona (thanks Rick Steves!)

Enjoying a nice lunch under the trees in Piazza Brà.

Julian loved throwing rocks into the grates and listening for the splash of water.  Hey, anything that keeps him happy and occupied while we eat lunch is OK with me;)

Daddy and Julian outside the Roman Arena in Verona.  

Porta Borsari, original Roman gate that functioned as a toll booth.

Mommy and Townsend enjoy the view of Verona from the river walk.

After a quick stop at a yummy gelateria we were back in the car for the last leg of our trip to Venice.  We parked our car in Mestre and from there took a train onto the island of Venice.  Once on the island we took a vaporetto (Venitian water bus) to our hotel.  The sunlight was just perfect for our first introduction to Venice along the Grand Canal.

The Grand Canal with gondolas parked outside Venetian buildings.

Another shot along the Grand Canal.

We got to our apartment with no problems.  The boys were excited to have the whole upstairs all to themselves with their own bathroom.  We were all happy to be in a clean and comfortable apartment and to start our adventures in Venice.

Happy Easter

We celebrated Easter in two parts this year.  The first was an Easter egg hunt that we shared with our friends, the Platt family.  I had almost 100 eggs hidden around the yard and this year we tried to hide them in tougher spots so the big kids would have a challenge.  Julian loved walking around the yard picking up eggs and putting them in his basket and was very excited when he found out there was candy inside each egg. 

Julian loading up his basket

Townsend had to climb a tree to get this egg!

In the end there were happy kids with chocolate faces

Part two of our celebration was held a week later on Easter Sunday.  The Easter bunny visited the boys and brought them some treats.  It's so fun to celebrate holidays with the boys because they still believe in the Easter bunny, leprechauns, Santa and the tooth fairy.  I think it will be sad when they finally discover the truth but for now I love the excitement that holidays bring.

Emerson and Townsend with their Easter treats.  Inside the Easter egg was a small figure of a winged lion, the symbol of Venice (more to come on that adventure)

Julian spent about 5 minutes unwrapping this chocolate bunny and then only ate one bite.  Those who know me well know that I certainly didn't mind having an uneaten chocolate rabbit left at the breakfast table...mmmmm.

A picture of our Bavarian Easter egg tree.  I love the festive look of all the decorated trees here in Bavaria.  We traveled a lot this Easter season and we have found that this is truly a Bavarian tradition.  Other parts of Germany and other countries in Europe don't really decorate like this.

Two Wonderful Weekends in Rhineland

I am desperately trying to keep caught up on this blog.  We have been traveling a lot lately for a few reasons.  One reason is my sister Paige will be leaving in a few weeks and I want to spend as much time as I can with her and and the second reason is that Oma is here for a visit and it's fun to take her around and explore new parts of Germany.

On April 2nd I left the boys with Oma and Daddy and made a trip out to visit Paige.  It's not a bad 3 1/2 hour drive if you don't have kids in the car.  I really have loved having Paige within visiting distance, I am going to miss her a lot!  We went to our favorite restaurant in Kaiserslautern, the Himilaya, and stayed up way too late watching tv and eating ice-cream...I love sister time:)

On April 3rd we headed up into the Mosel Valley, about an hour and a half north of her house.  The weather was supposed to be beautiful and we wanted to explore this valley with, "peaceful, sleepy, romantic villages slipped between the steep vineyards and the river."  (Sometimes Rick Steves explains it best!)

Unfortunately, almost as soon as we arrived in Cochem it started to sprinkle rain and halfway through our tour of the castle it was really pouring down.  But, on the plus side, the town of Cochem was having a festival that day and so we got to walk through the market square and enjoy browsing through the vendors and sampling gelato and bratwurst on our way.

The GPS decided to take us home on the "scenic" route, which was fine except I don't do real well on windy roads and there were quite a few windy roads in and among the valley, plus it took us twice as long to get home...I'm not really sure we were enjoying much of the scenery after two hours in a car with rain and fog outside:)

Paige and I, about halfway up the hill to the castle.  This hill starts out pretty steep and then gets extremely steep as you continue on your way.  At least we got our workout for the day!

At the entrance to Cochem castle.  This castle was completely destroyed in 1689 by the French.  It lay in ruins until 1868 when a very wealthy man from Berlin decided to buy and restore the castle.  He spent almost his entire fortune and 10 years of his life restoring the castle.  The sad news, he died shortly after the castle was completed.

A view from the top of the castle hill.  You can see the Mosel river and hills with vineyards in the background.  You can also see the crummy rain clouds that ruined our day!

This suit of armor was on display in the castle.  This was actually made for a knight that was over 7 feet tall.  Imagine seeing this guy come charging on his horse toward you!

The following weekend we decided to take the whole family to visit Paige and to visit the Rhine Valley. The weather was spectacular!  We even got a little sunburned playing outside all weekend.  We left on April 8th around 9:00 AM and got to Paige's house around 1:00 PM.  Not too bad considering we had the kids in the car and we had to stop for a potty/run around and get wiggles out break.  Our first stop was the wonderful dinosaur park in Kaiserslautern.  My boys have been here a few times but they always enjoy running around, climbing up towers, sliding down giant slides, playing in the water and swinging in giant basket swings until they feel nauseous!  Sadly, Paige had to leave to catch a flight to Southern France but it was lots of fun to see her for a few hours and of course, totally awesome that we could stay in her apartment for free all weekend:)

Julian getting his feet wet at the park.  He was a little nervous about taking his shoes off.  He hasn't been barefoot since last summer and I'm sure he doesn't remember that so it was pretty cute to see him walk around gently on his little soft feet.

Auntie Paige with the craziest lot out of her 15 nephews!

The next day, April 9th, we headed up to St. Goar on the Rhine River.  Once again the sun was out and it was a wonderful day to be on vacation.  We took a boat ride from St. Goar to the town of Bacharach, wandered around the cute town for a few hours and then took the train back to St. Goar.  The river boat ride was wonderful.  There was a nice breeze on the river and the boat wasn't over crowded.  The boys enjoyed a snack while we cruised for an hour on the Rhine.  We played "spot the castle" and I think after they found about 12 castles on the hilltops along the route they got tired of the game.  Needless to say the scenery along this stretch of the river is beautiful with castles and ruins around every corner.

The boys throwing rocks into the river as we wait for our boat ride.

Oma enjoying the beautiful scenery.

The town of Bacharach has about 10 wells that the boys just had to throw money into to make wishes.  Some of them were pretty funny, "I wish I can be spoiled" or "I wish to eat only candy every day."

A view of Bacharach from the top of a vineyard.  

Oh gelato, where would I be without you?  You come to our rescue when our boys are spent with walking around old towns.  You're always good on a nice hot day.  You bring me joy.  I will miss you when I move.

Back in the town of St. Goar.  The main attraction here is the ruined Rheinfels castle.  The best part of this castle is that it is already in ruins, so my boys can't really destroy anything as they climb, run and jump around.  Here they are posed on top of a pile of catapult balls.  These balls were expensive to make so after a battle the soldiers would have to go outside the castle walls and retrieve all the catapulted rocks.

This castle was great for exploring.  There were staircases that led to empty, secret rooms.  There were tunnels to crawl through.  There were walls to walk around and explore.  Not many rooms remain in tact but the sheer size of this ruin makes it fun to explore.

The boys were pretty well spent by about 3:00 PM.  Unfortunately this meant we had to scrap our plan of visiting Burg Eltz, which Paige and I had wanted to visit last weekend but scrapped because of crummy weather.  

April 10th we woke up and decided the weather was simply too gorgeous to just pack up in the car and head out so we decided to take a hike up to the castle ruins in Paige's little town of Hohenecken.  

Oma and Julian explore the ruins.

Family photo op at the castle.

We could not have asked for better weather, for a nicer place to stay (thanks Paige) or for any more scenic locations than we got to visit this weekend. 

When the Weather is Warm...

...We Durtschis get out and enjoy the day!  We have been really lucky here in Bavaria to have such wonderful weather the last few weeks.  March and April tend to be very cloudy and rainy so it's a real treat to see so much sunshine.  As I am writing this the forecast for tomorrow is rain, so as you can see from the photos it really has been exceptionally beautiful around here.

Oma and Emerson on one of our favorite hikes, to the top of Rauher Kulm.

Daddy and Julian hiking up the hill.

Oma and the boys enjoy the view from the top of the lookout tower.

Emerson at a playground in Bayreuth.

Julian loves to throw rocks in the water.

Oma and Julian enjoying a walk in the sunshine.

I love this photo of Oma and the boys in the Hof Garten in Bayreuth.  The leaves are just beginning to come out, the grass is turning emerald green and the boys get to spend time with their Oma, what a treat.

It was even warm enough yesterday for Emerson to get a haircut, minus his shirt, from Oma.

I know that rain must fall in order to enjoy the lush beauty of Bavaria, but I sure do love it when it's sunny!!!

Gymnastics

Townsend and Emerson participated in their schools gymnastics program.  They met twice a week for two months.  I was so impressed with how much they learned in such a short time.  I know they both enjoyed gymnastics, hopefully we will be able to enroll them in a class next year.  Their coach, Mr. Gray, had his hands full with the two of them.  They are pretty crazy after school and when they are together it gets worse.  I love the photo of the boys with Mr. Gray at the end of the video...he is such a great teacher.

The video shows Townsend on the parallel bars and Emerson on the rings.  I am so lucky to have two healthy, active boys...even if they drive me crazy at times:)

Paris Day Three

On our last day in Paris we had to decide between two wonderful options.  Option 1: travel out of the city to visit the Palace of Versailles.  Option 2: Walk around the city of Paris more and enjoy some museums and neighborhoods that we hadn't had the chance to see before.  It was a tough choice but we chose option 2.  We figured we could take the boys to Versailles at some point because the gardens and palace would be fun for them to explore but we could never take the boys on a walking tour of Paris, hitting multiple museums in one day.

After a quick stop at our local bakery we headed up to Montmartre.  This neighborhood is known for it's beautiful church, artists and dance halls.  This is where Picasso, Braque, Toulouse-Lautrec and Van Gogh spent their time in Paris.

Hyrum poses with our delicious breakfast...a warm, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, baguette.

The first stop on our Montmartre tour was the basilica of Sacré-Cœur.  This was a beautiful five-domed structure with white gypsum stuccoed onto the exterior.  This church was dedicated in 1919, after 44 years of construction.  An interesting tidbit: someone has been praying for peace in this church 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year since this church was dedicated.  They rotate people every few hours but someone is assigned to pray so that every hour in the day is covered.

There were so many amazing mosaics in this church but the one above the altar was simply incredible!

Our next stop was the Place du Tertre.  This was the main square for this neighborhood and every inch was taken up by artists selling their work or by cafes.  I loved walking around looking at all the artwork and enjoying the unique style of each artist.

Montmartre was originally a farming community with vineyards and gardens surrounding the hillside.  Today only one vineyard survives.  Ever since the 12th century this vineyard has been looked after by the monks of Clos Montmartre.  They produce only 300 liters of wine a year and they auction this off the first weekend of October for local charities.

This was the studio where Picasso spent nine months working on a major canvas.  When he unveiled Les Demoiselles d'Avignon his fellow artists were shocked and confused.  Picasso had invented Cubism.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso

What better spot to end our Montmartre tour than at the Moulin Rouge.  I am so happy that we got to walk around and enjoy this very unique and historic neighborhood in Paris.

After a quick bite to eat in a yummy riverside cafe we headed to the Pompidou museum for a look at possibly the best collection of 20th century artwork in Europe.  This is a photo of me trying to understand the Jackson Pollock painting on the wall.  I truly enjoy modern art but sometimes even I wonder at what the artist was trying to portray.  Some of my favorite artists were on display here, Picasso, Braque, Chagall, Matisse, Mondrian, Dali and Pollock.  Simply amazing...what else can I say?

After the Pompidou museum we went back to the Louvre to finish seeing some things we had missed out on seeing Day one.  Here is the photo I promised of the Mona Lisa during peak visiting hours.  I'm so glad we had the chance to view it right before the museum closed and the crowds had gone, this day it was pure madness in front of DaVinci's smiling lady.  

These are Michelangelo's Slaves.  It was so impressive to see how he carved these statues as though he were freeing them from the marble they were captured in.  We also saw some French Romantic period art pieces, including Delacoix's Liberty Leading the People. 

The largest canvas in the whole museum was Jacques-Louis David's The Coronation of Napoleon.  There were so many famous pieces of artwork, it truly was overwhelming yet at the same time exhilarating to see firsthand so many works I had only seen in books.

Our time is Paris was coming to a close.  We had only one hour left before we had to catch the train to the airport.  We had found a bakery a few days before that sold the most delicious treats and we spent our last hour in Paris desperately searching for this particular bakery.  When you tour a city in three days all the streets begin to run together so you can't quite remember where you were at a particular moment.  We almost gave up hope of finding the bakery until we remembered it was located near the Orsay museum.  We hustled over to that part of town, found the bakery and enjoyed one last Parisian treat before leaving for Germany.  This chocolate cake I am holding was truly worth the mad dash around Paris to find!

We flew home to find all well with Oma and the boys.  I am so grateful that Hyrum and I got the chance to spend a few days together to celebrate my birthday and to renew our love for one another.  What better place than in romantic, lovely, historic and beautiful Paris?