About Me

A family of five that has amazing opportunities to travel the world. Having lived in Beijing, China, Hong Kong,Budapest, Hungary, and Doha, Qatar, the journeys continue to unfold before us.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Day 4 - Titisee

From Legoland, we drove to Freiburg. Freiburg is famous for its cuckoo clocks, however, we couldn't navigate our way around the city very well so we decided to keep moving and ended up at this peaceful lakeside campground. Hardly anyone was there so we enjoyed having the place virtually to ourselves.
In the morning we went into the old town and bought some local honey and stopped at a cafe for a cup of coffee.

Day 2/3 - Dachau and Legoland

Wanting to make this trip both educational and fun, our next destination was to Dachau to visit a concentration camp memorial. This was one of the smaller camps in Germany, and only had a few of the original buildings remaining. We had an opportunity to discuss what had happened here as well as the importance of understanding that this should never be repeated. We were able to see the replica of a barrack and were astounded that a building that was intended for 600 people, at one time held 2000.
This is a prison hallway. Each door leads to an individual cell.
The perimeter of the camp had a 'no entry zone' where prisoners would be automatically shot of they entered onto this space. There was a trench, then barbed wire and electric fencing. On the other side was a river.



After Dachau, we were headed towards Stuttgart. Along the way we saw signs to Legoland and thought it may offer a decent parking lot for a night. Well, they had more than a parking lot. There's an entire holiday village with cabins and plenty of camping space. There was all sorts of play equipment for the children, a putt-putt golf game, restaurant, and free hot showers. It was so good we decided to stay two nights. We spent a day at Legoland. The weather was great, the kids dared each other to go on the rollercoasters, we saw a 4D movie, and enjoyed just being out in the sun.

RV Trip for Spring Break


For Spring Break this year we decided to do a family camping trip. However, this was not going to involve tents, cushions and cooking over an open fire. No, this trip was taken in style in an RV. We left Budapest on Friday afternoon and our first stop was just after Linz, Austria at a truck stop to spend the night.

The truck stop was well equipped with bathrooms, showers, and picnic tables. There were only a few other trucks parked there for the night so it was relatively quiet.









The RV had bunkbeds at the back for the boys, Rob had the fold out table bed and Madeline and I shared the viewtop bed. I have to say that we had the warmest bed - I guess it's because heat rises- while the others complained about being really cold at night.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

More Arts Festival



A quick meal at one of our favorite little spots - The Hummus Bar..














We met a man who would cut out a profile - no drawing beforehand - as his subject stood poised. He was an interesting character. Fortunately it was very inexpensive because I don't think it is quite accurate.

A Day out at the Arts Festival


We headed out into the city to experience a little culture. One of the streets was closed down for an arts festival.











Some of the buildings were opened up for viewings. These buildings are more than 100 years old and have huge courtyards inside.













The kids bought one of their favorite treats - Kurtos Kalacs

























The city is transforming into a colorful array of color now that it is spring!

Dance Exams


























Today are the dance exams.... These are done in front of a judge who was flown in from the UK. If she passes, she will be rewarded a pin for each successful exam.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Alice in Wonderland

Maddie worked for weeks and weeks in an after-school production of Alice in Wonderland. She was one of 5 Alices that had a part in the play.