Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter!


Happy Easter from us to you! 
It's our third Easter in Germany and the first one where it isn't snowing!



Saturday, April 19, 2014

Greece

Dinner by sunset
AJ, Dominic & Steve
Stefanie, Rachel & Missy
We had a superb spring break in Greece. Everyone was begging and pleading for a do nothing vacation so the deal was one busy day in Athens seeing the sites and the rest relaxing on the island of Santorini.

Our Athens day was busy but certainly not a run, run, run day of site seeing. We took a leisurely pace through our Rick Steve's guided tour with plenty of time for a lovely lunch and an even yummier dinner. And of course frozen yogurt along the way!

We started our day at Parliament for the changing of the guard ceremony. Like in the Rome the elite guards have very interesting uniforms. It's fascinating to see what different cultures interpret as regal or elite.

We walked down Ermou Street, the pedestrian shopping area and even watched a bit of a very loud protest blocking the street. I found a policeman who spoke English and he explained that they were protesting the fact that shops were open on Sunday. We were surprised they were open too because nothing is open on Sundays in Germany! At the end of this street is the sweet little Church of Kapnikarea. The Greek churches we visited were beautiful and most had been decorated by painting images all over the walls, they were incredible paintings and the churches themselves were much less ornate than we expected.

Church of Kapnikarea
 Along the way we came to the statue of Archbishop Damaskinos. The great thing about him was that he stood up to the Nazis, a pretty rare occurrence during the occupation of Greece.  The way he is holding his fingers supposedly forms the letters ICXC which in Greek are the first and last letters of the name Jesus Christ. It was a stretch for us to see that. I, of course, thought it would be cool to have a picture of the kids in front of the statue making the same gesture. They, of course, did not agree...
Dominic, AJ, Stefanie & Rachel
We detoured off our tour plan to see the Panathenaic Stadium, this is where the first modern day Olympics in 1896 were held.

Missy, Rachel, Dominic, Stefanie & AJ
Then it was break time, everyone was ready for lunch which we enjoyed at a nice outdoor cafe. Then onwards to the Acropolis. While the most famous ruin is the Parthenon the Acropolis is actually made up of several buildings. It's amazing to try to imagine what life was like here. The sheer size of everything is quite overwhelming. It's also hard to believe that something like the Parthenon only took ten years to build!

Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Porch of the Caryatids

The Parthenon
Steve, Rachel, Stefanie, Dominic, AJ & Missy
After the Acropolis we made our way down to the Agora which is where all of the shopping and trading took place. more incredible ruins to walk through. At this point it had been a full day of site-seeing so it was time for some fun. Gelato and shopping! Everyone enjoyed exploring the little shops that fill the streets and watching both the people and the vendors.

Temple of Hephaistos
Then we walked up a hill through a flea market, lots of small entrepreneurs in Athens to a great restaurant overlooking the city, sampling many plates of mezes, which are the Greek tapas. It was a terrific day.
Dinner at Filistro
Dominic, AJ, Steve, Missy, Rachel & Stefanie
The next day we headed to Santorini. It's a beautiful island and we stayed in the town of Oia which is famous for its sunsets. We can confirm, that Oia does indeed have spectacular sunsets. 



We spent the next four days relaxing. We read, lounged in the hot tub, explored the town and all of the shops, visited a black sand beach and the local winery. Steve took incredible pictures and we all recharged. It was a lovely way to vacation.



Oia

Rachel, Dominic, Stefanie, Missy & AJ

The caldera (volcano) in Oia
Enjoying sunset at our little villa
Dominic's favorite spot

We know, we are very lucky!
Rachel, AJ, Missy & Stefanie - Dominic
Wine Tasting in Santorini
Greek wine tasting, plenty to "try".

AJ wrote in the visitor book at our villa. It is too fun not to share.

Artistic Sunset


Sunday, April 6, 2014

Munich International School Prom

Dominic & AJ
This weekend was the Junior/Senior prom at MIS. Both boys happily (really) attended with their girlfriends. Prom is different here, there is a sit down dinner with some dancing afterwards. Steve and I took the boys to their dates houses so we could get pictures. When I suggested this plan it wasn't exactly met with exuberant acceptance but we went ahead with it anyway.

Dominic, Steve & AJ

Dominic, Missy & AJ
First we went to Dominic's girlfriend's home. Isabella and Dominic were meeting their friends at the prom.
Isabella & Dominic

Next we went to AJ's girlfriend Livia's home. A bunch of their friends were gathering there so we hung out to get pictures of the whole group. 

AJ & Livia
There are more formal pictures of the group but these are my favorite. Steve had them turn around as they headed to the U-Bahn. (No limos for these city kids - public transportation!) They have a very "Friends" feeling to them.



Even though the boys weren't necessarily thrilled we joined them pre-prom, they were quite happy with the photos!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Chicago Visitors!

Amy, Alex, Missy & Steve at Lake Forggensee
What a great visit with our friends Amy, Alex, Ian and Colin. Amy and Alex went to Cornell with Steve and we are forever indebted to Alex because he introduced us all those years ago.

Colin, Ian, Amy & Alex
They spent a little over a week with us. While they did some major site seeing on their own we did get to spend a little time with them along the way. Without us they visited Linderhof Palace and Oberammergau, Salzburg, Dachau, Munich and they skied the Zugspitz, y'know just the highest point in Germany.

Steve, Missy, Amy & Alex
With us they visited our little town of Starnberg and of course Andechs Monastery. The adults attended Starkbierfest where we had a terrific time and helped Amy and Alex push through jetlag! They also helped us celebrate Dominic's and AJ's birthdays. The boys were especially thankful since a few extra gifts were carried here by our friends!

Neuschwanstein
Steve and I also spent a day touring Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein with them. We had an absolutely fabulous day. The weather was incredible and the views were amazing. I have visited these castles five different times and this was by far the best! This is evidenced by some of the fantastic photos Steve took.

Neuschwanstein

Entrance gate at Neuschwanstein
Neuschwanstein is the inspiration for Walt Disney's Cinderella's Castle. It was built by "Mad" King Ludwig and is probably the most famous castle in all of Germany.

Hohenschwangau
Hohenschwangau was the castle where he was raised. Both castles offer tours with Neuschwanstein being much more popular. However, Hohenschwangau is the better and more informative tour so we suggest doing both!

Dominic, Rachel, AJ, Stefanie, Colin & Ian
It was such a great visit with wonderful friends and we were thrilled that the kids had a great time together too! We always feel so lucky when friends and family are able to make the trip to visit us!