Thoughts from the Autobahn...

I just spent 2 1/2 hours white knuckling the steering wheel as I drove from Heidelberg to Luxembourg, as the boys comfortably watched episode after episode of Gilligan's island (by the way, the best money I have ever spent on DVD's...thanks J's!). To ease my anxiety a bit, I started thinking about how I would like to remodel our kitchen, what I would do if I were Lindsay Lohan's parent and how incredibly efficient and well-planned the Autobahn really is. Which led me to think, would the Autobahn work in the US? My conclusion...no...and this is why - The Autobahn works so well for the Germans because it assumes the driver will obey the rules of the road. For instance, during the stretch of road where the speed limit is 130 km/h, 98% of the drivers go 130. As soon as a 60 km/h sign appears, everyone immediately slows down to 60. Given the chance, however, to go as fast as one wants, the Germans drive like bats out of hell. If everyone obeys the rules, and thus can be trusted to drive as fast as they can, in areas where appropriate, it works. I'm not so sure Americans could handle it, we're not rule followers like the Germans. I now understand why the Germans go crazy when on vacation...they need to let off a bit of steam. Being so efficient and obedient is exhausting...

Let the drinking begin...

We're back in Heidelberg and I'm fairly certain that half the population is already drunk and the other half are working on it. People are decked out in their finest football attire and preparing for the big game tonight. A German baker asked Sam this morning who he was cheering for and Sam replied without hesitation, "Spain." I didn't know if I should have taken him and run or laugh. So, we all laughed and tried to pretend the moment wasn't at all awkward.

Our day has been a bit lazy, my plans to have a romantic boat ride on the Rhine were a bust. I came all the way back to Heidelberg just to have my boat ride, but only to find out I was about one hour late...all the boats were booked. I tried to play the, "Oh, but the kids..." card, but the ticket guy wasn't biting. Instead, we spent the day walking around and enjoying the street performers. I've discovered street performers are seriously cheap entertainment for kids. Sam likes to try and get a look at how much money they are making. He isn't very subtle about peering into their boxes and swinging back to report to me the earnings. So far, Sam has concluded that puppeteers seem to make the most money, while performers who only play one instrument and by themselves are really suffering financially. Ben thinks all the performances look easy and he could make more money than all of them.

Getting a little culture...

You will not believe me when I say this, but the Chapman boys like opera. Yes, opera. We spent 3 hours today sitting in a beautiful public garden watching opera singers perform. I don't know if it was the endless supply of gummi bears and cookies that kept the boys interested, but whatever it was, my boys were mesmerized and didn't want to leave.

I'd like to tell you all of our experiences have been full of culture, but most of our European culture revolves around a fierce game of "Smart Car" and "Mini Cooper." Yes, it's a punch for every Smart Car or MC you see. And, in Germany, as you know, every other car is a Mini or Smart Car. I now have bruises all over courtesy of my loving boys.

The boys and I are off to Heidelberg again and Greg will be heading up to Hamburg. It could be another interesting (and when I say 'interesting', I mean scary) evening in Germany tomorrow as Germany plays Spain in the World Cup. I'll make sure we are safe and secure in our hotel before the game starts...I don't want the kids anywhere near the streets in the off chance Germany loses. It could get ugly.

We came, we saw, we fought, we cried, we survived...

The past 3 days have been a bit of a blur...but, after 13 years (yes, 13 years today) we have figured out that humor is the absolute best way to handle the most ridiculous and stressful situations. Of course, trying to find humor in the same situations can be a bit of a challenge.

My synopsis of the past three days is best conveyed using bullet points:

- Long walk up to castle.
- Long wait to see castle.
- Short tour of castle with a creepy guide. Ben quote: "For 18 euro we should have had a longer tour."
- Long run down from castle in pouring rain.
- Drive to Munich.
- Get lost in Munich.
- Dad and Mom exchange words about navigational skills.
- Find hotel.
- Dad not happy about hotel.
- Mom and Dad open a cheap bottle of wine.
- Mom and Dad happy again.

The boys have been great and are really rolling with everything...the food has been a bit of an issue for Ben, but we're working on it. Currently, Ben's diet consists of:
yogurt, Pringles, Nutella, french fries and ice cream. Sam, on the other hand, is loving the food: sausage, sausage and more sausage.

World Cup Chaos!!!!

Our day started off a bit stressed, as we discovered Maggie 2 doesn't cover Germany...and we were heading to Germany. I have no problem using a good old-fashioned paper map, but apparently, Greg doesn't really trust the archaic method of traveling and was a little more than stressed about the situation. I tried to assure him that we weren't traveling in the Middle East and getting lost Germany isn't really a big deal. He didn't buy it.

Our goal was to first get to Trier, Germany, the oldest town in Germany. It is right outside of Luxembourg, so it shouldn't have been a big deal to find. However, we quickly found out that not having a GPS and relying on a partial German map does make it more difficult. We did manage to make our way to Trier and enjoyed every minute we had there. We visited Porta Nigra, ancient Roman ruins and a massive cathedral, where we asked God to help us survive this trip without getting lost too many more times or risk ruining our marriage!

After our time in Trier, we hit the Autobahn and headed for Heidelberg...I drove and Greg managed the navigation. Greg was squirming in his seat every time a Porsche or Audi passed us going about 90 mph...I think he was feeling less than masculine as I was driving at a safe and comfortable speed the entire way to Heidelberg. I really don't understand what he was so worked up about:)

We did make it to Heidelberg with Greg's masculinity in tact and visited an amazing castle which was built in the 1400's. The boys loved it, but they really loved trying to catch lizards in the fountain just outside of the castle walls. We actually spent more time trying to catch lizards than we spent in the castle.

We wrapped up the day walking around Heidelberg and enjoying the festivities of the German's victory in the quarter finals. Europeans love their football!

I'm not helping with the French relations...

We spent the better part of the morning trying to find an outdoor public pool - never found one, much to the boys' dismay. In lieu of the cool water, I took the boys to the Luxembourg Cathedral. Don't laugh...they actually liked it. The bottom of the cathedral is the tomb where the royal family is put to rest. A little creepy, but super interesting. At one point Ben was banging on a sculpture because it was making a great echo sound. I finally walked over to see what he was doing and noticed it was a commissioned sculpture from the 1600's. I quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed the cute American boy using the sculpture as a percussion instrument and high tailed it out of there.

Ok, now I'll explain the title of this blog...you might not want to let the kids read it...kind of PG-13.

I was in a small parking lot trying to find a spot and the boys were reciting, "Hail Mary full of grace, help us find a parking space." After a couple of minutes circling the lot, a gentleman walked towards his car and I happened to be right there ready to take his spot. As I was waiting there with my blinker on, a car slammed into reverse and stopped right in front of me. I was sure this person wasn't going to take the spot that was rightfully mine...wrong. As soon as the spot was available, the mystery car pulled in before me. Four French business men stepped out of the car with jackets slung over their shoulders, lighting cigarettes and casually sauntered by my car, as if they had every right in the world take the spot. One of the Frenchies even had the audacity to smile and shrug his shoulders at me and thus, I felt compelled to communicate as best I could to those men. I rolled down my window, thrust my hand out and gave them the international hand sign for peace (minus a finger). I'm not proud of what I did, but it sure did feel good. I may have also insulted their World Cup team...

Day 1

Ha! Our first full day here and we have already seen some adventure...

We started our day off by driving Greg to work, which you would think wouldn't be so difficult. Wrong. I knew we were in trouble when after driving around narrow, cobblestone streets for 20 minutes Greg finally told me he didn't "exactly" know the address of his office. There was a point on our excursion where, I'm pretty certain, we were driving on a walking and biking only road. I say this because there were no cars and at one point we had to stop the car to make sure we would fit through the narrow opening. After Greg's blood pressure was up to a dangerous level, we decided it would be best to just let him out to make is own way to work. Apparently, he made it.

After letting Greg off in some alley, the boys and I were on our own to make it back home and then to a grocery store. Thank goodness for GPS! We even have the voice with an accent - we call her the Maggie 2 after our beloved Maggie (Magellan GPS) at home. The boys are convinced that the Maggie 2 is far better than the US Maggie - I think they just like her accent. We eventually did make it home and to the grocery store. After each accomplishment we were all high-fiving like we had just finished the Tour de France!

The grocery store, oh, the grocery store...now, potentially, my new favorite place in Luxembourg. I was a bit stressed when I eventually found The Cactus (store), but I was quickly distracted by the circular bar in the entrance of the store. The bar was like a God send - not only does the bar serve cheap espresso drinks, it serves wine! All day! I think I actually jumped and clapped my hands. After frantically shopping in the Cactus, I made my way to the bar and the boys ran up and down the escalator. It was a good moment.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the Casements, which are underground tunnels built in the 1700's to protect a fortress. The boys loved exploring every nook and cranny of the dungeons and tunnels. We spent a couple of hours pretending we were defending our fort. We even picked out our rooms where we would torture our enemies. Sam, of course, came up with some pretty creative ways to torture the enemy. Although they loved the casements, they couldn't get over the injustice of paying .50 Euro to use the bathrooms!

Words from Ben:

Favorite part of the day: Going to the casements. And I liked the tunnels in the casements.

Worst part of the day: Not eating enough candy.

Words from Sam:

Favorite part of the day: Going to the casements. I liked seeing the cannons.

Funniest part of day: Maggie 2 making Mommy go to a dead end.

Worst part of the day: Paying to use the bathroom.