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Blanck EU Adventures

May - November 2022
Our family trip to Europe. Read more
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    Day 105

    Erlangen, Germany

    September 12, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Well, here we are living in Germany just outside Nuremburg.

    Things we are learning:
    *Recycling rules are intense
    *Their "spicy" salsa tastes like Texas bbq sauce
    *They are not fans of doing things digitally, which requires lots of paperwork and extra bike rides
    *Google translate and deepl are my good friends now
    *We are trying to bike everywhere and have no car (by choice)
    *A picture of walking home after grocery shopping: Mabel chilling in the bike seat with her feet resting on my seat, a grocery bag on either handle bar, large backpack full and me walking trying to keep the bike upright over a 1km walk - a little bit much (I need to learn to make smaller trips)
    * There is a season here called fall where leaves turn gorgeous colors.... Hahaha
    * Most houses have total blackout window shutter things that are amazing!

    School attendance is quite strict, but they have lots of play time at school. The big girls are attending a German public school. Mabel will start a German kindergarten (Prek) in November. They really enjoy school and are learning to speak German quite quickly. Most kids walk solo to school by the age of six. I am working on feeling ok with this. They could totally do it.

    Our neighborhood is quiet and many homes around are built in the 30s. We live near a large forest and can bike so many fun places. Experiencing life from a different angle...    Read more

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    Day 93

    Dziwnovek, Poland

    August 31, 2022 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Beaching in Poland! This beach trip reminded me so much of our RV trip to Old Orchard Beach, Maine. We could walk everywhere we needed to go. Restaurants, grocery stores, a park and the beach all close enough for little legs to get to. It was rainy somedays, which allowed for plenty of movie days - the girls love movie days! It also made for colorful walks for me, as the rain deepened the colors of the fallen leaves along the streets. Tasty food and the board walk were just one street over! We ate doner kabobs, Belgium style fries, perogies and plenty of ice cream. Maine and Poland were oddly very similar and both lovely experiences!

    Over our two week stay in Poland, we spent almost every sunny day at the beach for as long as we could. Some days we stayed from 09:00 to 16:00. We had a few near sunburn days, so we slowed down on that. The kids tolerated and enjoyed the cooler beaching weather even in their swimsuits. I stuck with my pants and cozy hoodie, but adored watching the girls play.

    A main highlight for them seemed to be digging the biggest, best beach bunker hole. Those girls might as well have been digging to China, because they dug so long. Seth assisted with this masterful creation as well. They later designed a control room for their creation that became a space going, flying submarine. They outfitted it with buttons made from rocks, shells, and water bottle lids. They also made specific pathways to get to each area of their ship, so you could get to the kitchen to bake and still keep it organized. They drew many children in with their ginormous beach bunker, none of which spoke English. It was fun to watch the kids still figure out a way to communicate and play despite the language differences.

    All that digging, rock carrying and other hard beach work wore out Adalynn's swim suit. She carried so much sand in that swim shirt that it began to look like a short dress on her. As she was running one day, the bottoms just fell off. She giggled, but it made things difficult for playing on the beach. Seth took her swim suit shopping and she was quite excited to find a two piece that showed her belly button. It's the little things in life! She was beaming with her new swimsuit on and so special to go shopping with dad.

    One day we walked really far in one direction down the beach and found a great sandbar for the kids to play on. It was sweet seeing them cheer each other on and encourage one another as they braved the deeper (colder) waters to reach the sandbar. Demi carried Addy across the dark waters until she pushed past her fear and made it on her own. We also experienced some beach food. These people would walk the beaches with coolers and bags of snacks for beach goers. The girls and I would laugh because as they would shout out their specials for the day while they walked by us it sounded like "popcorn and it's all stinky." We giggle now and say "popcorn, all a stinky" now and again.

    We tried the towns "best" perogies, shopped at second hand stores, had a cappuccino by a lake and explored some woods. My favorite perogie was the spinach. Seth and the girls just wanted to eat all the bacon they slathered on top. The girls and I walked across a bridge into some tall woods. Mabel had an emergency pee moment and luckily we had plenty of cover in the woods. It was a warm, sunny and windy day. Lovely for a walk by the lake watching swans. What a sweet time!

    When we booked this Poland trip back in May before we left America, we did not know this would be our last Europe trip before settling into a house in Germany with Seth starting a job. Oh, and at the time of this trip we still had not found a house yet, so some of our trip was house hunting online. That part was stressful! BUT... What an adventure we had this summer! Fifteen countries and a bazillion memories as a family. It is emotional to write "the end." I am not the adventuring type (that's all Seth), but this has been such a beautiful trip interlacing the indescribably amazing and the difficult. I am reminded in life how we constantly have to adjust, stretch, grow and learn to move forward. Typically, moving forward and upward is not easy. I would say traveling from country to country, train by train, step by step has been challenging at times, but so worth all the experiences and irreplaceable memories we made together.

    What an incredible adventure!    Read more

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    Day 81

    Berlin, Germany

    August 19, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We have been staying in Erlangen again for a bit. Oh and ummm, Seth got a job in Germany, so that's new. Lots of changes and lots to think through. More on that later...

    We trained it to Berlin as a halfway point to get to the beach in Poland. We had all nice trains heading north, thankfully! After check-in, we played at a park and ate some delicious Asian food. At the park, they went up and down the slides, made ice cream scoops, and performed gymnastics in the grass. It was a lot of fun until Mabel did a cartwheel into dog poop, so we headed to the restaurant. Vegetarian curry is where it's at! DeMille was the most excited because she ate lots of sushi at this place. Addy got a fortune cookie that told her "Laughter will keep you young." She is our giggle box, so she might live forever.

    The next morning fresh bagels were calling our name! Seth's friend told us about this epic Jewish bagel shop called Salomon's Bagels and eating those was first on the agenda. We went to open the door and it was locked! Nooooo! They were closed due to a supply issue. No New York style bagels for us. So sad! Luckily, Berlin has no shortage of bakeries. The girls enjoyed trying a new pastry.

    The Berlin Zoo was the main destination for this stop. The cool air and mild rain made for no crowds! We covered lots of ground and saw nearly every animal at this zoo. The girls particularly enjoyed the birds. There were more birds here than I have ever seen at a zoo and very unique ones. The bigs suggested we get a parakeet for our morning alarm clock, because it was quite loud. We saw a flamingo turning it's egg over in her nest. Then she proceeded to pass off the responsibility of sitting on the egg to another flamingo. I did not know they shared that job with other birds.

    We walked through the aquarium with fish and reptiles. Addy loved the tiny sea horses. Mabel and Demi were very into watching these large bright green eels. They looked very similar to Ursula's pets. They also got to pet the shiny coy fish. The girls wanted to keep doing that forever. Addy especially enjoyed trying to touch them.

    They also had a unique wooden park that was just so impressive! I want it in my backyard! The girls loved climbing to ask the different peaks. They especially had fun on this spinny thing. It was essentially a merry go round with out rails, on a tilt, about three feet off the ground. As you walked along the edge of the disc, it would speed up. It was easy to get it going to fast. Pretty fun!

    This was a fun way to slow travel to Poland.    Read more

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    Day 71

    Vienna, Austria

    August 9, 2022 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Vienna in a quick blink! Our train ran a bit behind, so our arrival was later than expected. We had to hustle to see the sights before things closed.

    We will be back to Austria for longer another time, but for this trip we booked it over to the Schonbrunn Palace to get lost in the garden labrynth mazes. The girls ran ahead of us giggling with such excitement as they ran through the mazes. We also played on the Labyrinth Playground which was super unique. The creativity in designing this playground included a large metal bird you could sit inside, a mirror maze, climbing ropes and more.

    Everything was closing, so we decided to surprise the girls by taking them to do something really American. We ate Burger King and went to the movies! Mabel had fallen asleep in our travel towards the cinema, so we moved slow. That only left us with enough time to feed the kids something quick and close. Once they figured out what was happening, the big girls could not stop smiling. They kept saying "thank you" over and over again. Sweet girls! They giggled so much through the movie and were still so grateful as we walked home. Fun family night!    Read more

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    Day 70

    Brno, Czech

    August 8, 2022 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We traveled under two hours by train and the girls had lots of dance moves before we hopped on. They seemed to have slept well and awakened with lots of energy. Easy travel day!

    We stayed in the coolest place! This was a spot that did not list parking, so we likely would have missed this option online if we were not traveling by train. The windows were a gorgeous historic type window which opened fully with no screens and were kippable. Adding windows that kip to my list of hopes for our "forever" home. The apartment was on a corner with multiple windows that overlooked the cities stone streets and baroque architecture. We could people watch and enjoy the cool breeze from our little apartment near the center of town. Yes, a cool breeze in August. Wow!

    We strolled to the center of town to check out the city. In the heart of the square flowed the Parnas Fountain surrounded by a farmer's market, along with an ice cream stand. The girls enjoyed a lovely strawberry sorbet. We stumbled upon another fountain that just begged the girls to get in, only it was very slippery. They played on the stairway fountain for at least an hour. Addy slipped a couple times, but no real injury. I did see several adults try it and nearly bust it. They were such sweet girls and took good care of each other. I was nervous the entire time. They kept holding hands and going down together. The bigs also went one in front and one behind, so they could catch Mabel if she tumbled. So sweet! I just love these girls. Next, the girls raced leaves down the flowing staircase to see which one could win.

    The girls ended up much more wet than we planned for and Mabel's shorts kept falling off. The falling off posed more of a concern than walking around in undies, so she walked around in her undies.

    Later that evening, Mabel cut her baby toe on her left foot really gnarly. So much skin hanging off and blood gushing that I was concerned about her needing stitches. Luckily, she did not need stitches. We just kept her bandaged up for several days.

    And we are off again...    Read more

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    Day 69

    Bratislava, Slovakia

    August 7, 2022 in Slovakia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    FYI... The trains going north are getting SO MUCH BETTER! They offer more spacious seating, tables, so clean, assigned seats, schedules online, first class options, good bathrooms, air conditioning, food and coffee options too.

    I grew up knowing Slovakia and Czech Republic as Czechoslovakia. Well, evidently in 1993 those countries became independent of each other, so we are squeezing in two countries instead of one.

    We visited Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia, for a day. It was a slower paced stop which was welcomed after our busy time in Budapest. More often than not, we hear songs from America and this stop had lots of things written in English. Even most clothing across the countries has English words on them. Seth and I often talk about how we feel the people we encounter, despite the language, could easily have come from Rockwall. Traveling seems to reminded you that all walks are life, places and people are many similarities. We hit a lovely coffee shop for cake and cappuccinos. Then we were off to play at the park before checkin. The fast trains and short routes don't give us enough time between checkout and check in. Luckily we have learned that most places have bag storage and train stations have baggage lockers. Otherwise we would be carrying our bags around while visiting the city and waiting in check in time.

    Demi climbed and found bundles of "ripe helicopter seeds" (sycamore seeds) for Seth to twist and fly in the wind. Mabel and Adalynn played monkeys and beautified their pretend zoo (monkey bars) with berries and leaves. Mabel tried her best to make it across the balance beam and eventually she did after many tries. She also tried to terrify me by hanging upside down everywhere she could like her big sisters. She was successful, but I was nervous the entire time. We have really enjoyed experiencing all the different playgrounds. The parks in Europe are much like well kept playgrounds of the 80s. They seem less concerned about kids getting hurt and more focused on kids exploring.

    We played hide and seek with the girls among the many large planters around the Glassslkovich Presidential Palace, walked to old town and climbed the many stairs to the Bratislava Castle. At the top, we found a prickly fruit of sorts (says likely poisonous to mammals), a great park and a lovely view of the "UFO Bridge" or Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising. At the top, while looking into the distance, Mabel stated, "that is another country." We checked the map and she was right, Austria was that close.

    Our apartment was just awesome and we could not have asked for better weather. I really like these apartments that look straight off of the IKEA floor. We had all the giant windows kipped and balcony doors wide open allowing the lovely 60 degree breeze to blow through. The view from our place overlooked a lush green space with a park far in the distance. This apartment had an extra room, but all the girls still liked sleeping on the sofa bed together. Seth has found some great spots!

    One day of exploration and now to Czech out another country!    Read more

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    Day 67

    Budapest, Hungary

    August 5, 2022 in Hungary ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Budapest will forever be known as "The City of Statues" to our girls. We could have explored for days. Statues were everywhere! We captured over thirty on camera. George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan were among some of the statues we took pictures of in Liberty Square. We had the most fun hunting down the tiny statues in the city (and watching the girls play in the fountains). We sought out whichever ones were closest for the six little legs we had with us. I believe there are over twenty tiny statues throughout Budapest.

    1) Tivardar Herzl - He was a Jewish Austrian-Hungarian writer and political activist who was born near the Dohany Street Synagogue.

    Near this first statue their is the Dohany Synagogue where many Hungarian Jews were executed and are now memorialized in the courtyard. In the center of the Synagogue, there is a beautifully crafted metal willow tree. Each leaf on the tree has been engraved with a name of a fallen Jew.

    At the edge of the Danube River, there are more statues reminding us of other Jews who lost their lives during WW2 in Hungary. Here Hungarian Jews were forced to remove all their belongings, including their shoes before they were executed. Statues of shoes in all shapes and sizes, including children's line the edge of the river. I cannot even begin to imagine. We just briefly explained this piece of history to the girls. This was their first exposure to it.

    2) Diver - We called him "Luca" from the new Disney sea monster movie, but this diver holds the keys to the New York Cafe (clsims to be the best in the world) to support the legend of the owner throwing the keys into the Danube River nearby in hopes it would never close it's doors.

    3) Rezso Seress - This statue is to honor a Hungarian WW2 labour camp survivor who worked at a bar and wrote music in Budapest.

    4) Hanna Szenes - This statue was created to honor Hanna for her amazing heroism. Despite her safety in Britain, she volunteered to parachute into the former Yugoslavian territory to disrupt the Nazi invasion however she could.

    5) 14 Carat Roadster - This was created to honor another Jewish resident who wrote fantasy stories with this Roadster being among one of his famous tales.

    6) Noah's Ark - This one is special because Demi really wanted to find this one. We found it near sunset beside a playground with just enough light that when we looked through the doorway, the seven windows on the other side revealed the colors of the rainbow. Addy knew right away "They made a rainbow because of God's promise!"

    Addy joked later that finding the statues was a "little" hard. She said, "Get it mom a LITTLE hard?" Silly girl.

    This city is full of history, culture, tasty food and of course lots and lots of statues. We ate the famous Chimney Cake and loved it! I recommend trying one! Addy also found another cinnamon roll, but squishier than the last one. We then had this incredible dinner at Antré with a deep green salad (greens that I've never had before), curry rice noodles with cauliflower, creamy mushroom soup, gourmet burger, Belgium style fries and some kid food. This was my favorite dinner we have had our entire trip. Yum! I went back and ordered the salad again the next day!

    Addy road her shortest and longest escalator in her life in the same day here. The shortest was about five steps deep up into H&M in the city center. Her longest was the escalators down to the subway (second oldest in the world), which was nearly ten stories deep and very, very steep. Originally crafted this way to be a bomb shelter.

    Fun that we encountered extra kind Canadians when we arrived and when we left. On the way in we met a kind Canadian girl who helped us on the tram as we struggled to figure out how to punch our tickets. On the way out, we sat with a lovely Canadian couple who enjoyed our girls giggling as they played cards on the train. Such a fun trip. We will definitely be visiting this city again!    Read more

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    Day 65

    Goodbye Stari Jasen

    August 3, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Goodbye Stari Jasen!

    We stopped one more time at the tiny house in Croatia, because this city is a big train hub. It was so nice to be able to call up Stari Jasen and be somewhere familiar after our previous stay was double booked. There is just some comfort about being somewhere you know and having a washer for our dirty clothes!

    Adalynn lost her lost tooth (literally misplaced the one that fell out in Italy) while here last time and they saved it just in case we came back through . She was thrilled. Too kind!

    They also had a kitten arrive and decide to call Stari Jasen it's home. The girls so enjoyed playing with and snuggling this kitten.

    They also enjoyed playing with the owner's two sons. They played catch, tag, road bikes and wrestled. Wrestling with those boys was Mabel's favorite part.

    Lots of tears leaving this time, because they felt they really made friends, it felt familiar to come back to a place we spent two weeks before and they wanted to keep that kitten. One day we will need to get these loving girls a cuddly pet.

    We dropped off the car, walked to the bus stop, road the bus thirty minutes then waited for our train to arrive. While we waited Seth found the first cinnamon roll type treat since Addy's birthday, so they obviously got to enjoy a pastry.

    We opted to sit by a fountain and have cappuccinos while we waited on the train. The girls were playing horses, neighing and running around the fountain. The girls were carrying these unusual tiny round mints we got in Germany. They were strong mints like Altoids, but came in a clear tube with liquid that kinda popped when you sucked on it. Well, somehow Mabel squirted one of these tiny mints into Adalynn's eye. Oh my goodness, what a scream! I cannot imagine the pain! Poor girl. And Mabel felt so bad.

    We made it on to the train and we were off!

    After about a month with a car and a month of trains, I would say they are both good ways to see Europe. Cars are great for seeing more green spaces, smaller cities and things away from the city. If you want to see the major cities and touristy things, the trains are nice (just maybe avoid the Balkan region trains if you like clean bathrooms, AC and organization of some kind.)    Read more

  • Blanck AdventuresBlanck EU Adventures
    Day 65

    Slavonski Brod, Croatia

    August 3, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Just kidding... We couldn't figure out how to pay for parking to go to a restaurant for lunch, we couldn't find a public restroom and our hotel was double booked.
    On to the next city.

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    Day 64

    Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia

    August 2, 2022 in Serbia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    This is our last stop in Serbia and it's a quick one with so many giggles. We walked through the town and found a river with a man-made beach. It had several playgrounds to try out and tasty food. Addy loved the corn on the cob. As we walked home, we noticed a building with old Roman ruins in it. It was closed, but they had big windows so we could see parts of the Imperial Palace of Sirminium. It was discovered in the 1950's, but dated back to at least 294 A.D. when it served as one of four capitals of the Roman Empire.

    Most hotels we stay in the girls build a tent or make a cave. They made a great one at this stop with Seth's help, so I had to take a picture to share. It took up over half the room and utilized over ten hairbands. It is the little things that make life more rich. They said that the tent was their favorite part of this stop! Seth also did different braids for each of the girls after showering that night, because they like to wake up with curly hair sometimes. They looked extra cute!

    My favorite part of this stop was all the giggles. They giggled while walking to the river, giggled on the "ice cream go-around", giggled while playing in the tent, and giggled while eating pickles. They had so many giggly break downs where they just fell to the ground. At one point Mabel grabbed a banana, but the tip broke. She exclaimed to the bigs, "I still love it guys." They were in the middle of eating pickles and just lost it giggling to the point of crying. Addy ended up upside down giggling with a piece of pickle in her mouth. That pickle ended up in her nasal cavity and it burned.

    Addy's words of wisdom: "Don't laugh, while eating a pickle upside down."

    I wasn't sure about visiting the southeastern parts of Europe, but I am so glad we did. We are headed north now and will be back to using trains in a couple days. That means we will need to lighten our packs and get our walking shoes ready. Back to backpacking!    Read more

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