Don't believe anyone when they say the Internet is everywhere. Our last hotel didn't have it- unless you wanted to pay 30 dollars for seven days of access! [Actually, it was 60 Euros or about $78 - jj]
We have very sad news to bring home. Yukon passed away Sunday night. We were in a church when we got the message. The boys lit a candle and said a prayer. It was the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen. If there weren't so many tourists walking around, it would have been a very peaceful way to say goodbye to our furry friend. It's hard to believe he's been a part of our family for 10 years. I am so sorry that we couldn't really say goodbye, and he wasn't near us at the end.
We just got home last night (morning). We left Brussels at 6:30 am, and after a tram, a metro and train ride made it to the airport. We arrived in London with time to spare, so I got some much needed alone time to browse the duty-free shops. The British pound is nearly 2-1 to the dollar- ouch!
We were late taking off in London and then when we reached JFK we had to wait about 20 minutes to even taxi to the gate. Once we reached the gate, the NY Port Authority decided they needed to stop our plane from un-boarding for some reason. Then Jack got called to the front of the plane- scared the crap out of me, I didn't know why they were calling him or where they took him. Turns out there was a question about our ticket, since Travelocity screwed it up, so Virgin had to talk to Jack. He was not being busted by the NY Police- thank god. There were quite a few "gang-banger" types on the plane that looked a little nervous for a while, though.
Once we finally got off the plane it took about 30 minutes to get through immigration. John wanted to know why there wasn't DIY check in at the border- like with our plane tickets. Our luggage all came through, but the car seats took extra long to come down the chute, so with about 35 minutes until our flight to Chicago we raced through JFK. That is the biggest, longest, farthest airport to have to get from terminal to terminal. In fact, you have to ride the tram to get to the next terminal. Since we had two different airline carriers, our luggage wasn't able to be checked through. So we had to drag it all over to American for our final flight. As we hit the ticket counter the man told us we were two minutes late for check-in for our flight. Since we had checked the boards, we knew we had gained some time- our flight was delayed. Thank GOD! We ran through security, all the way to the last gate to find that our flight was not even close to being boarded, in fact there was no plane at all in the gate. After getting our seat assignments, we sat down to wait, and wait, and wait, --- our 6:26 flight did not depart until 10:00, and then taxied until 11:15. We had now reached the 24th hour of our travels for the day. Other passengers had come from Rome, others from Madrid, needless to say we were all braindead.
Finally we got home at 2:30 am. We were all sort of awake, because it should have been morning according to our bodyclocks. The boys played in their room until about 3 am before sleeping.
They are very happy to be home and to see their friends and guinea pig. We are happy to be home and have air conditioning and a washing machine.
The big holes in our trip will have to be filled in in person.
Love,
Lisa
6.30.2006
6.25.2006
Bonjour
I'm certain the man at the desk in our hotel thinks I'm nuts- always on the computer!
So to finish up with Germany, after Playmobil Park we went to Rothenburg. This is an ancient walled city- very touristy- lots of Japanese tourists. Since we went in the evening it wasn't bad. But everything was very tourist-driven, lots of shops and knick-knacks.
We haven't done much shopping, and when I have looked, everything is priced outrageously. I wanted to get a nutcracker for my collection- those are all 60 dollars and up. Beer steins are at least 50 dollars. T-shirts are running about 25 dollars. And some of the places we have been are not very touristy! The exchange rate is not that great- one euro cost 1.25. I think 15 years ago things were much more reasonable.
So the last night in the dark and scary castle filled with dead stuffed animals at every turn there was a huge thunderstorm. Perfect setting for a ghost. The boys awoke in the middle of the night to loud snoring- I blamed Jack, Jack blamed me, but I secretly think it was the ghost!
Our next drive was to Neuschwanstein on our way to Germany. That's the fairytale castle Walt Disney based his on. Ingrid sure took us some weird way- down some farmer's dirt road- but we did end up on the autobahn.
The castle was hot and crowded. We actually didn't take the tour, just had lunch in the town below. We wanted to get moving since it was 5 hours to Lucerne.
Switzerland was not as hilly or mountainous driving as I thought it would be. Only when we got to the actual town we were staying in (Beckenreid) did it actually get hilly- they have drilled roads through the mountains, so it's mostly tunnel after tunnel. The boys had fun calling the lights "fireworks". Every tunnel has escape doors and emergency phones. But I wouldn't want to get stuck there- we're still not sure where those escape doors go to.
Have to sign off!
We have yet to meet a glass of wine or beer we haven't liked! The boys have been weaned off of junk food at this point. Jacob, when he is hungry, asks for bread or a croissant. The coffee has been excellent as well!
John has been eating his weight in weinerschnitzel- basically like a giant chicken nugget- and the pommes frites (french fries) are all awesome. (although the ketchup is weird sometimes)
The Saab is now dirty and has logged about 1200 miles.
We are off to our final destination- Brussels, Belgium. After this we will need a vacation from the vacation. We are hoping Yukon recovers by the time we return home. He will be staying at the vet hospital. God I wish we had a Canine HMO. This trip is costing a fortune after all that!
Lots of Love,
Lisa
P.S. Mom they have Aldi in every country. The big store here in Lux. is Cactus.
John says, "Bye, Europe we have only one place to go."
SpongeBob is SpongeBob Swarmdorf in German. Not sure what it is in French......
So to finish up with Germany, after Playmobil Park we went to Rothenburg. This is an ancient walled city- very touristy- lots of Japanese tourists. Since we went in the evening it wasn't bad. But everything was very tourist-driven, lots of shops and knick-knacks.
We haven't done much shopping, and when I have looked, everything is priced outrageously. I wanted to get a nutcracker for my collection- those are all 60 dollars and up. Beer steins are at least 50 dollars. T-shirts are running about 25 dollars. And some of the places we have been are not very touristy! The exchange rate is not that great- one euro cost 1.25. I think 15 years ago things were much more reasonable.
So the last night in the dark and scary castle filled with dead stuffed animals at every turn there was a huge thunderstorm. Perfect setting for a ghost. The boys awoke in the middle of the night to loud snoring- I blamed Jack, Jack blamed me, but I secretly think it was the ghost!
Our next drive was to Neuschwanstein on our way to Germany. That's the fairytale castle Walt Disney based his on. Ingrid sure took us some weird way- down some farmer's dirt road- but we did end up on the autobahn.
The castle was hot and crowded. We actually didn't take the tour, just had lunch in the town below. We wanted to get moving since it was 5 hours to Lucerne.
Switzerland was not as hilly or mountainous driving as I thought it would be. Only when we got to the actual town we were staying in (Beckenreid) did it actually get hilly- they have drilled roads through the mountains, so it's mostly tunnel after tunnel. The boys had fun calling the lights "fireworks". Every tunnel has escape doors and emergency phones. But I wouldn't want to get stuck there- we're still not sure where those escape doors go to.
Have to sign off!
We have yet to meet a glass of wine or beer we haven't liked! The boys have been weaned off of junk food at this point. Jacob, when he is hungry, asks for bread or a croissant. The coffee has been excellent as well!
John has been eating his weight in weinerschnitzel- basically like a giant chicken nugget- and the pommes frites (french fries) are all awesome. (although the ketchup is weird sometimes)
The Saab is now dirty and has logged about 1200 miles.
We are off to our final destination- Brussels, Belgium. After this we will need a vacation from the vacation. We are hoping Yukon recovers by the time we return home. He will be staying at the vet hospital. God I wish we had a Canine HMO. This trip is costing a fortune after all that!
Lots of Love,
Lisa
P.S. Mom they have Aldi in every country. The big store here in Lux. is Cactus.
John says, "Bye, Europe we have only one place to go."
SpongeBob is SpongeBob Swarmdorf in German. Not sure what it is in French......
6.24.2006
Back again!
To give you an update on Yukon the vet said he is doing better today. He ripped out the oxygen tube sometime last night and he is now up and about. He is not out of the woods yet, but he is getting better. Jack has been great in handling all the news, I would be a wreck if I had to talk to the doctors. They asked if Yukon should be given CPR if anything happens- we gave the DNR request. I didn't know you could even do that to a dog.
So to get back to Germany. We stayed on the third floor of a castle- no elevator, no air conditioning and no screens. It was old and creaky, just like you would picture a castle. It is supposedly haunted. We had one of the best meals ever there, whether is was the best or it was because we had driven from 9 am until 6:30 pm we'll never know. It was nice to be back to a place with "normal" (recognizable) food. If I had my dictionary I had bought right before the trip translation would have been even easier, but I couldn't find my French, German, and Italian dictionary or the journal I bought specifically for the trip. I'm sure I will find it first thing when we get home!
On Monday we took the boys to Playmobil Park. It was really cute. There were lots of things to climb and places to get wet. There were giant Playmobil figures everywhere. Each play area had a theme. There was Wild West, Pirate Ship, a Farm, a Jungle. I'm glad we took the boys now because in a year or two they would be too old to enjoy it. Jacob especially liked rowing a raft around a lagoon, while John like jumping over the alligators in the pretend Indiana Jones playground. We shopped in the store that had every Playmobil figure and set-up ever created. That I think was their favorite part of the day. An interesting side note is the recycling that goes on here. At the park you placed a deposit on your bowls, cups and plastic bottles. Then you get a deposit back when you turn it in. Cuts down on garbage pick up and workers having to clean the cafeteria! Another thing was the naked kids running around. The girls- some quite old just splashed in the water attractions in their underwear. Some of the older kids were just changing out in public. Oh, we are so modest in America!
Have to go again! We're off to dinner.
Love you lots,
Lisa
So to get back to Germany. We stayed on the third floor of a castle- no elevator, no air conditioning and no screens. It was old and creaky, just like you would picture a castle. It is supposedly haunted. We had one of the best meals ever there, whether is was the best or it was because we had driven from 9 am until 6:30 pm we'll never know. It was nice to be back to a place with "normal" (recognizable) food. If I had my dictionary I had bought right before the trip translation would have been even easier, but I couldn't find my French, German, and Italian dictionary or the journal I bought specifically for the trip. I'm sure I will find it first thing when we get home!
On Monday we took the boys to Playmobil Park. It was really cute. There were lots of things to climb and places to get wet. There were giant Playmobil figures everywhere. Each play area had a theme. There was Wild West, Pirate Ship, a Farm, a Jungle. I'm glad we took the boys now because in a year or two they would be too old to enjoy it. Jacob especially liked rowing a raft around a lagoon, while John like jumping over the alligators in the pretend Indiana Jones playground. We shopped in the store that had every Playmobil figure and set-up ever created. That I think was their favorite part of the day. An interesting side note is the recycling that goes on here. At the park you placed a deposit on your bowls, cups and plastic bottles. Then you get a deposit back when you turn it in. Cuts down on garbage pick up and workers having to clean the cafeteria! Another thing was the naked kids running around. The girls- some quite old just splashed in the water attractions in their underwear. Some of the older kids were just changing out in public. Oh, we are so modest in America!
Have to go again! We're off to dinner.
Love you lots,
Lisa
Finally- a computer
We have been on a whirlwind driving tour of most of the continent by now. There is no exclamation point, so I can't exclaim.
Before giving an update of our adventure we need to share the following bit on news from home.
We were driving through Luxembourg yesterday when news reached us that Yukon is really sick. The vet is giving him antibiotics and oxygen right now, we don't know if he is going to be okay. We will know more tonight. The boys and I spent some time shedding tears yesterday, it has been a long night.
We picked up the car on Friday with much less ceremony than the first time. I think Nicolas was going in for some debriefing vacation provided by Saab, since it appears there has never been a mistake made....ever...until us. We drove back from the dealership along the coast and had lunch in a small town that Ingrid Bergman used to spend summers in. The kids weren't impressed except with the jellyfish by the wharf. We enjoyed the drive, but the kids were a little squirrely by that time.
On Saturday we spent the night on a ferry going from Sweden to Germany. By far this was the smallest accomodation of the entire trip. The room on the ship had two pull down bunk beds for the boys and one large pull out bed for the adults. All in all we were quite pleased with the accomodations considering they were booked on a website that was written exclusively in German. It turns out that the "family room" is only available to locals that can read German or non-German speakers with good internet skills. The boat was large, like a cruise ship except your car is parked on the bottom decks. We were lucky enough to be one of the first ones in line to park the car, so in the morning we were one of the first off. They had kids activities, mostly in Swedish, and a duty-free shop that a ton of people were swarming. Liquor is very expensive in Sweden, so it's no wonder people were stocking up. Food on the boat was pricey too- coffee, two sandwiches and a yogurt were about 15 dollars. Gas has run about 6-7 dollars a gallon in Sweden. It's annoying because you have to convert from liters to gallons and then Kronar to dollars. We haven't heard any news about America, so maybe gas prices are just as high at home.
Sunday was a long drive through Germany. Probably made better by the fact that Jack could drive as fast as he wanted. We averaged about 95 mph, but people were still shooting by us in the left lane. The Autobahn is really the same as our expressways- I was expecting something much scarier. I still won't drive though- haven't driven stick in 7 years and the roads here have been somewhat hellish depending on the country. Once Jack hit about 100 mph the pressure in the car started giving me earaches, so he really didn't get to go over 110. The boys wouldn't let us put the top down, the sun blinded them so they couldn't play their Gameboys, and I was afraid they would get sucked out! Actually with the luggage there was no room for the top to go down.
The GPS system in the car has been priceless. We have nicknamed her "Ingrid"- and she has yet to steer us wrong. Even I had my doubts Saturday night when we ended up in the middle of nowhere in the Germany countryside with no roadsigns to guide us. After several long back roads through cute German villages we finally spotted our hotel high on the side of a hill. It was definitely old and definitely a castle.
As we drove up the winding road I had a new respect for the soldiers of the Middle Ages- I don't know how they ever overtook any castle.
I have to take a break now- the boys have finished their game of chess (yes, they actually know how to play). We are heading out to another castle today - at the top of a ski lift. I have to fix my hair- I think some of it singed off- I can smell it- I had acidentally turned the curling iron to high- WAY too hot!
Lots of love,
Lisa
Before giving an update of our adventure we need to share the following bit on news from home.
We were driving through Luxembourg yesterday when news reached us that Yukon is really sick. The vet is giving him antibiotics and oxygen right now, we don't know if he is going to be okay. We will know more tonight. The boys and I spent some time shedding tears yesterday, it has been a long night.
We picked up the car on Friday with much less ceremony than the first time. I think Nicolas was going in for some debriefing vacation provided by Saab, since it appears there has never been a mistake made....ever...until us. We drove back from the dealership along the coast and had lunch in a small town that Ingrid Bergman used to spend summers in. The kids weren't impressed except with the jellyfish by the wharf. We enjoyed the drive, but the kids were a little squirrely by that time.
On Saturday we spent the night on a ferry going from Sweden to Germany. By far this was the smallest accomodation of the entire trip. The room on the ship had two pull down bunk beds for the boys and one large pull out bed for the adults. All in all we were quite pleased with the accomodations considering they were booked on a website that was written exclusively in German. It turns out that the "family room" is only available to locals that can read German or non-German speakers with good internet skills. The boat was large, like a cruise ship except your car is parked on the bottom decks. We were lucky enough to be one of the first ones in line to park the car, so in the morning we were one of the first off. They had kids activities, mostly in Swedish, and a duty-free shop that a ton of people were swarming. Liquor is very expensive in Sweden, so it's no wonder people were stocking up. Food on the boat was pricey too- coffee, two sandwiches and a yogurt were about 15 dollars. Gas has run about 6-7 dollars a gallon in Sweden. It's annoying because you have to convert from liters to gallons and then Kronar to dollars. We haven't heard any news about America, so maybe gas prices are just as high at home.
Sunday was a long drive through Germany. Probably made better by the fact that Jack could drive as fast as he wanted. We averaged about 95 mph, but people were still shooting by us in the left lane. The Autobahn is really the same as our expressways- I was expecting something much scarier. I still won't drive though- haven't driven stick in 7 years and the roads here have been somewhat hellish depending on the country. Once Jack hit about 100 mph the pressure in the car started giving me earaches, so he really didn't get to go over 110. The boys wouldn't let us put the top down, the sun blinded them so they couldn't play their Gameboys, and I was afraid they would get sucked out! Actually with the luggage there was no room for the top to go down.
The GPS system in the car has been priceless. We have nicknamed her "Ingrid"- and she has yet to steer us wrong. Even I had my doubts Saturday night when we ended up in the middle of nowhere in the Germany countryside with no roadsigns to guide us. After several long back roads through cute German villages we finally spotted our hotel high on the side of a hill. It was definitely old and definitely a castle.
As we drove up the winding road I had a new respect for the soldiers of the Middle Ages- I don't know how they ever overtook any castle.
I have to take a break now- the boys have finished their game of chess (yes, they actually know how to play). We are heading out to another castle today - at the top of a ski lift. I have to fix my hair- I think some of it singed off- I can smell it- I had acidentally turned the curling iron to high- WAY too hot!
Lots of love,
Lisa
6.23.2006
We have a connection!
The Janezic family has landed in Luxembourg. It is 22:42 and we have just finished with dinner. It turns out that this small hotel in the middle of nowhere has an excellent French restaurant. There is also a Turkish bath on the second floor that I plan to visit tomorrow. After a six hour car ride today (Lisa will explain in the morning) it was all I could do to help finish the bottle of Luxembourg wine. The troubles I have...
If I can figure a way to hack into this computer (it has a floppy drive!) I will post some more pictures. As a side note, this kezboard is completelz different than the last one in that the Z and Y kezs are in eachotheràs locations. (I also cannot find the apostrophe as there is a à where it is normallz located. :) )
Good night from Luxembourg.
- Jack
If I can figure a way to hack into this computer (it has a floppy drive!) I will post some more pictures. As a side note, this kezboard is completelz different than the last one in that the Z and Y kezs are in eachotheràs locations. (I also cannot find the apostrophe as there is a à where it is normallz located. :) )
Good night from Luxembourg.
- Jack
6.16.2006
Check out some pics
I've just posted a few photos from the first couple of days of our journey. Click the flickr link on the right side of this web page to see the pictures for yourself. Enjoy.
Sweden - day 3
June 16th
Okay, sorry about the typos- Jack pointed out that there were mistakes. I fixed them all- I think...
So, the resolution after two hours of phone calls and discussion was that the dealer would install the GPS in the car and we would take a loaner until Friday. We would then come back to get it. At first this wasn't an option, but we decided it was either go with the car we ordered no matter what.
The day started off late so we decided to drive up north of Trolhatten and ended up having lunch in a small town called Mullenrud which is right next to the second largest lake in Sweden.
The weather here is very strange, the sun is burning hot, but the breeze is cold. At night, which doesn't come until about midnight, it is cold. We have been wearing our fleece jackets. Since the sun does not set at a resonable hour, it's easy to forget it's late. Our bedtimes are so screwed up. The boys have been staying up until 11 and 12 pm. (That's 23:00 or 0:00 to the locals. -jj)
Our new hotel we checked into is very nice- and it's attached to the largest mall in this part of Sweden. John and Jacob are crazed about shopping there, but it closes at 7 pm and we have been too busy to shop!
June 15th
The boys had to be dragged out of bed on their birthdays, despite the fact they have been napping anytime we get into a moving vehicle. We got a citypass for Göteburg and decided to try and squeeze in as much as we could in the 24 hours the pass is good. We started with the art museum- that was John's choice. He stood in a room full of paintings and told me "this is what I want to do when I grow up". He meant be a painter. Jacob on the other hand couldn't get out of the place quick enough. He decided Jack could pick what he will be when he grows up.
They have an impressive collection of Swedish art and a couple of Picasso, Monet, and Rubens. We didn't spend a ton of time there- the guards seemed to be following us on each floor. They were nice and explained a lot about the art, but I think they were watching the boys more than anything.
We then went to the Universeum which is like the Shedd Aquarium and a children's museum put together. The interesting thing is the sign in the bathroom that explains how they take your pee from the toilet and filter it. You can actually visit the exhibit that shows exactly how that happens. They have a kid's room with a climbing wall and a lot of other things- some things that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen in America.
While we have been here Jack has developed an irrational fear of crossing the street (The fear is not so much when you walk the streets as when you attempt to drive them. - jj). The only way you can describe it is like spaghetti noodles crossing over ten different ways. You have to be on the lookout for trams, buses, people, bikes and cars- all at the same time. And the streets are all cobblestones of the same color, so it's really hard to figure out what is crossing where and when. Luckily a large part of the city is for pedestrians only. (Unfortunately the international signage doesn't quite clarify things as much as you'd like. - jj)
For the boys' birthday we also took a boat ride through the canals, went to the botanic gardens and finished up with a trip to Liseberg Park. This is like Great America with less rides. And they definitely have strict rules about height. All the roller coasters and bigger rides were off limits to the boys. We did do a cheap knock-off of Disney Peter Pan. Very amusing. (Many of the storybook references were to Swedish folktales, go figure. - jj)
Another fun thing that is big in the park is called Wheel of Fortune. All over the park you can bet 5Kronar or about 75 cents (no cents key here) on a number. They spin the wheel and if your number comes up you can win a giant candy bar, or a microwave, or a giant bag of chips. I don't know how we would have packed a coffee maker or deep fryer in our luggage.
This was the night Sweden had their big soccer match against Uraguay (I thought it was Albania? - jj). The bars were packed with people as were giant parks and squares with big screen TVs.
The Swedes won in the last minutes of the game and you could here the crowd cheering throughout the city. Some people came out on their balcony to scream and startled Jacob so much he ran back into the restaurant we were leaving.
June 16th
We made the decision to try and hit two more tourist attractions before our passes ran out (This would be at noon for those of you keeping track of such things. - jj). This morning we took a ferry to an island near the city called Elsborg. It was a military fortress and then a prison. On the ferry over there were about 75 preschoolers riding with us. They could be kids in America until they start talking. Very cute!
It is a big celebration this week on the island so they were there to see a kid's show and have a picnic. We took a tour that was led by a group of actors that portrayed different people on the island. One women was the preacher's wife and she kept yelling at us and telling us what to do. It was all in fun, but the boys were startled and their big brown eyes were as wide as they get. We told them she was just acting, but it still freaked them out. Especially when she sent us to "jail" and told us we were being held there for 20 more years.
Our next stop was the Maritime museum. They have about 10-12 boats that you can tour on your own. We went through a giant destroyer (and couldn't find our way out). John was starting to panic a little on that ship. You can literally climb down all the ladders and into the engine room and all the little cubbies. The boys had fun pressing all the buttons and pulling all the handles. I kept being startled when turning corners and seeing mannequins in weird places. It was creepy. We also climbed around a U-boat and a fishing boat. By that time both kids had had enough. We were running late so to make things easy we ate at McDonald's- the bill was 30 dollars for the 4 of us. This city is not cheap! (Technically you can eat quite well for $30 but when you're in a hurry you pay the price. - jj)
We returned to Trolhatten to pick up the CORRECT car this time. It wasn't as dramatic as the first time, but at least they got everything right. Nicolas did tell us that they were missing a part, so they had to order it for today. It just got finished about two hours before we arrived. He's still puzzled as to how Saab could make a mistake. The people here are very nice, but very stoic in attitude. They will help you if you ask, but they do not make useless conversation like at home. The driver in Chicago that took us to the airport was a Polish guy that talked the whole way. Our two drivers we had here did not say a word. I thought maybe they didn't speak English- but that was not the case. They just don't waste time talking about nothing. The other funny thing is when you leave a place they say, " Welcome back"- you haven't even left!
After four days we are starting to recognize words and phrases in print, but the verbal part is beyond me. The alphabet is really hard to figure out pronunciation wise. I think I will stick to the Romance languages. (Fortunately, it seems that every employee of a public company is at least bi-lingual. Although on the prison tour, the actors seemed stumped by the presence of Japanese tourists/prisoners. - jj)
Tomorrow we leave for Kiel, Germany on an overnight ferry. The boys should be getting back from the pool with Jack anytime now. We're having a blast- and the beer is really good here!
Jack is having fun trying to remember how to drive stick shift and we couldn't figure out how to put the car in reverse. Finally I pulled out the owner's manual. You have to push down a ring (actually, you have to pull it up - jj) around the stick to put it in reverse- some sort of safety measure I guess....
Love you lots,
Lisa
(Lisa is getting a big thrill knowing that people are bothering to read these rambling stories. Leave her a comment and she's bound to keep on writing. - jj)
Okay, sorry about the typos- Jack pointed out that there were mistakes. I fixed them all- I think...
So, the resolution after two hours of phone calls and discussion was that the dealer would install the GPS in the car and we would take a loaner until Friday. We would then come back to get it. At first this wasn't an option, but we decided it was either go with the car we ordered no matter what.
The day started off late so we decided to drive up north of Trolhatten and ended up having lunch in a small town called Mullenrud which is right next to the second largest lake in Sweden.
The weather here is very strange, the sun is burning hot, but the breeze is cold. At night, which doesn't come until about midnight, it is cold. We have been wearing our fleece jackets. Since the sun does not set at a resonable hour, it's easy to forget it's late. Our bedtimes are so screwed up. The boys have been staying up until 11 and 12 pm. (That's 23:00 or 0:00 to the locals. -jj)
Our new hotel we checked into is very nice- and it's attached to the largest mall in this part of Sweden. John and Jacob are crazed about shopping there, but it closes at 7 pm and we have been too busy to shop!
June 15th
The boys had to be dragged out of bed on their birthdays, despite the fact they have been napping anytime we get into a moving vehicle. We got a citypass for Göteburg and decided to try and squeeze in as much as we could in the 24 hours the pass is good. We started with the art museum- that was John's choice. He stood in a room full of paintings and told me "this is what I want to do when I grow up". He meant be a painter. Jacob on the other hand couldn't get out of the place quick enough. He decided Jack could pick what he will be when he grows up.
They have an impressive collection of Swedish art and a couple of Picasso, Monet, and Rubens. We didn't spend a ton of time there- the guards seemed to be following us on each floor. They were nice and explained a lot about the art, but I think they were watching the boys more than anything.
We then went to the Universeum which is like the Shedd Aquarium and a children's museum put together. The interesting thing is the sign in the bathroom that explains how they take your pee from the toilet and filter it. You can actually visit the exhibit that shows exactly how that happens. They have a kid's room with a climbing wall and a lot of other things- some things that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen in America.
While we have been here Jack has developed an irrational fear of crossing the street (The fear is not so much when you walk the streets as when you attempt to drive them. - jj). The only way you can describe it is like spaghetti noodles crossing over ten different ways. You have to be on the lookout for trams, buses, people, bikes and cars- all at the same time. And the streets are all cobblestones of the same color, so it's really hard to figure out what is crossing where and when. Luckily a large part of the city is for pedestrians only. (Unfortunately the international signage doesn't quite clarify things as much as you'd like. - jj)
For the boys' birthday we also took a boat ride through the canals, went to the botanic gardens and finished up with a trip to Liseberg Park. This is like Great America with less rides. And they definitely have strict rules about height. All the roller coasters and bigger rides were off limits to the boys. We did do a cheap knock-off of Disney Peter Pan. Very amusing. (Many of the storybook references were to Swedish folktales, go figure. - jj)
Another fun thing that is big in the park is called Wheel of Fortune. All over the park you can bet 5Kronar or about 75 cents (no cents key here) on a number. They spin the wheel and if your number comes up you can win a giant candy bar, or a microwave, or a giant bag of chips. I don't know how we would have packed a coffee maker or deep fryer in our luggage.
This was the night Sweden had their big soccer match against Uraguay (I thought it was Albania? - jj). The bars were packed with people as were giant parks and squares with big screen TVs.
The Swedes won in the last minutes of the game and you could here the crowd cheering throughout the city. Some people came out on their balcony to scream and startled Jacob so much he ran back into the restaurant we were leaving.
June 16th
We made the decision to try and hit two more tourist attractions before our passes ran out (This would be at noon for those of you keeping track of such things. - jj). This morning we took a ferry to an island near the city called Elsborg. It was a military fortress and then a prison. On the ferry over there were about 75 preschoolers riding with us. They could be kids in America until they start talking. Very cute!
It is a big celebration this week on the island so they were there to see a kid's show and have a picnic. We took a tour that was led by a group of actors that portrayed different people on the island. One women was the preacher's wife and she kept yelling at us and telling us what to do. It was all in fun, but the boys were startled and their big brown eyes were as wide as they get. We told them she was just acting, but it still freaked them out. Especially when she sent us to "jail" and told us we were being held there for 20 more years.
Our next stop was the Maritime museum. They have about 10-12 boats that you can tour on your own. We went through a giant destroyer (and couldn't find our way out). John was starting to panic a little on that ship. You can literally climb down all the ladders and into the engine room and all the little cubbies. The boys had fun pressing all the buttons and pulling all the handles. I kept being startled when turning corners and seeing mannequins in weird places. It was creepy. We also climbed around a U-boat and a fishing boat. By that time both kids had had enough. We were running late so to make things easy we ate at McDonald's- the bill was 30 dollars for the 4 of us. This city is not cheap! (Technically you can eat quite well for $30 but when you're in a hurry you pay the price. - jj)
We returned to Trolhatten to pick up the CORRECT car this time. It wasn't as dramatic as the first time, but at least they got everything right. Nicolas did tell us that they were missing a part, so they had to order it for today. It just got finished about two hours before we arrived. He's still puzzled as to how Saab could make a mistake. The people here are very nice, but very stoic in attitude. They will help you if you ask, but they do not make useless conversation like at home. The driver in Chicago that took us to the airport was a Polish guy that talked the whole way. Our two drivers we had here did not say a word. I thought maybe they didn't speak English- but that was not the case. They just don't waste time talking about nothing. The other funny thing is when you leave a place they say, " Welcome back"- you haven't even left!
After four days we are starting to recognize words and phrases in print, but the verbal part is beyond me. The alphabet is really hard to figure out pronunciation wise. I think I will stick to the Romance languages. (Fortunately, it seems that every employee of a public company is at least bi-lingual. Although on the prison tour, the actors seemed stumped by the presence of Japanese tourists/prisoners. - jj)
Tomorrow we leave for Kiel, Germany on an overnight ferry. The boys should be getting back from the pool with Jack anytime now. We're having a blast- and the beer is really good here!
Jack is having fun trying to remember how to drive stick shift and we couldn't figure out how to put the car in reverse. Finally I pulled out the owner's manual. You have to push down a ring (actually, you have to pull it up - jj) around the stick to put it in reverse- some sort of safety measure I guess....
Love you lots,
Lisa
(Lisa is getting a big thrill knowing that people are bothering to read these rambling stories. Leave her a comment and she's bound to keep on writing. - jj)
6.15.2006
Hey!
At least that's what the swedes say instead of hello! I am typing at the hotel and I can honestly say this keyboard is definitely different from the USA.
< comes up where our shift key is, there is also: ö ä ¨¤ å in strange places, so it is taking me longer than usual to type.
We finally made it here 3 pm Tuesday. The Virgin Atlantic flight was äwesome. Each seat had it's own video monitor with movies, music, games and t.v. shows. Needless to say the boys were busy for half the time playing and watching. I passed out thanks to two cocktails (free) and a xanax.
When we arrived in Gothenburg we looked around expectantly for our driver to take us to Trollhatten which is about an hour away. To our surprise there was no one with a Saab sign- lots of Volvo customers- but no one for us!
Jacob made a grand entrance into Europe by knocking down a large metal garbage can on the marble floor- it echoed as the people around us stared. I pretended not to know him.
Thank God Jack activated out phones for international calls, because after 20 minutes of calling and even having another driver of the taxi company call, it appeared no one was even close to coming to pick us up. The information desk at the airport finally reached a hotel in the city that we were unknowingly transferred to- hmmmm- and the lady in charge at Saab is on holiday this week!
Bleary-eyed and exhausted we finally got to the Hotel Eggers- it's the oldest hotel in the city and is smack-dab in the center of everything.
Dinner was included with our package so we didn't have to make a choice as to where to eat. The menu was very small and the waiter informed us of what we would be having- I guess that dinner didn't include whatever we wanted.
We ended up eating shrimp on toast- it had green mayonnaise on it and a hard-boiled egg. The main course was something called seawolf- a fish with mustard potatoes and a piece of something like beef jerky. Very strange!
The boys ate a potato pancake with bacon on it served with berries all around. The bread was good- and came with caviar butter. John and Jacob didn't find out until the next morning what caviar actually was- their faces were very amusing once I told them it was fish eggs!
June 14, 2006
I will tell you what happened today- but might need to break since Jack is coming downstairs with the boys any minute.
We had an awesome breakfast with everything and anything you can imagine on a buffet- pickled herring and pickles included. Jack went for the salami and brie cheese on bread. The boys ate a new favorite: yogurt and granola.
Our driver to take us to the Saab dealer was there on time- that was good- because things went bad very quickly once we got to the car place.
A salesman brought us to a backroom that had six Saabs parked there- one had a cover on it. He ceremoniously pulled the fabric off and there was the car Jack has obsessed about for nine months.
As Nicholas showed off how the roof retracts and he pointed out what the features were Jack made the discovery that Saab had forgotten to install a GPS system in the car. This was something he really wanted- and was not a cheap accessory either. Nicholas looked stumped. Paperwork was checked and double checked. It appeared that Saab did something that has never happened: MADE A HUGE MISTAKE! I've never seen anyone looked so puzzled as that salesman. Jack asked him what the procedure was when this happened- he didn't know the answer- he just replied that it has never happened. Unless this is standard reply for Swedes- he was really perplexed. He left to make phone calls as we sat around in the new car waiting for something to happen. The car is actually made in Austria, so it's not like they could send it back. Although they have 1600 cars on the lot there in Trolhatten, we have to take the one with our vin #. Things were looking pretty grim. The part would have to be ordered and the mechanic spent about 20 minutes looking at the car to figure out if it could be installed here. Nicolas called Saab and to order a whole new rebuilt car would take until September. We were all pretty annoyed at this point. Nicholas gave us another choice: take a rental with no GPS or take our car with no GPS- we didn't like either choice. Driving around here is intense, and not to have the GPS would require a lot of navigating by me and yelling by Jack- at me when I screw up. I will tell you the rest later. John says hi and he loves you.
Lisa
P.S. Mary Jo you will be happy to know that your Ferragamo flats you gave me a couple years ago have been stylishly hitting the cobblestones, and the duty-free shop in the airport has a big Jo Malone store.
Lauras: There is a department store here called Laura. There are big signs on all the bus stops.
< comes up where our shift key is, there is also: ö ä ¨¤ å in strange places, so it is taking me longer than usual to type.
We finally made it here 3 pm Tuesday. The Virgin Atlantic flight was äwesome. Each seat had it's own video monitor with movies, music, games and t.v. shows. Needless to say the boys were busy for half the time playing and watching. I passed out thanks to two cocktails (free) and a xanax.
When we arrived in Gothenburg we looked around expectantly for our driver to take us to Trollhatten which is about an hour away. To our surprise there was no one with a Saab sign- lots of Volvo customers- but no one for us!
Jacob made a grand entrance into Europe by knocking down a large metal garbage can on the marble floor- it echoed as the people around us stared. I pretended not to know him.
Thank God Jack activated out phones for international calls, because after 20 minutes of calling and even having another driver of the taxi company call, it appeared no one was even close to coming to pick us up. The information desk at the airport finally reached a hotel in the city that we were unknowingly transferred to- hmmmm- and the lady in charge at Saab is on holiday this week!
Bleary-eyed and exhausted we finally got to the Hotel Eggers- it's the oldest hotel in the city and is smack-dab in the center of everything.
Dinner was included with our package so we didn't have to make a choice as to where to eat. The menu was very small and the waiter informed us of what we would be having- I guess that dinner didn't include whatever we wanted.
We ended up eating shrimp on toast- it had green mayonnaise on it and a hard-boiled egg. The main course was something called seawolf- a fish with mustard potatoes and a piece of something like beef jerky. Very strange!
The boys ate a potato pancake with bacon on it served with berries all around. The bread was good- and came with caviar butter. John and Jacob didn't find out until the next morning what caviar actually was- their faces were very amusing once I told them it was fish eggs!
June 14, 2006
I will tell you what happened today- but might need to break since Jack is coming downstairs with the boys any minute.
We had an awesome breakfast with everything and anything you can imagine on a buffet- pickled herring and pickles included. Jack went for the salami and brie cheese on bread. The boys ate a new favorite: yogurt and granola.
Our driver to take us to the Saab dealer was there on time- that was good- because things went bad very quickly once we got to the car place.
A salesman brought us to a backroom that had six Saabs parked there- one had a cover on it. He ceremoniously pulled the fabric off and there was the car Jack has obsessed about for nine months.
As Nicholas showed off how the roof retracts and he pointed out what the features were Jack made the discovery that Saab had forgotten to install a GPS system in the car. This was something he really wanted- and was not a cheap accessory either. Nicholas looked stumped. Paperwork was checked and double checked. It appeared that Saab did something that has never happened: MADE A HUGE MISTAKE! I've never seen anyone looked so puzzled as that salesman. Jack asked him what the procedure was when this happened- he didn't know the answer- he just replied that it has never happened. Unless this is standard reply for Swedes- he was really perplexed. He left to make phone calls as we sat around in the new car waiting for something to happen. The car is actually made in Austria, so it's not like they could send it back. Although they have 1600 cars on the lot there in Trolhatten, we have to take the one with our vin #. Things were looking pretty grim. The part would have to be ordered and the mechanic spent about 20 minutes looking at the car to figure out if it could be installed here. Nicolas called Saab and to order a whole new rebuilt car would take until September. We were all pretty annoyed at this point. Nicholas gave us another choice: take a rental with no GPS or take our car with no GPS- we didn't like either choice. Driving around here is intense, and not to have the GPS would require a lot of navigating by me and yelling by Jack- at me when I screw up. I will tell you the rest later. John says hi and he loves you.
Lisa
P.S. Mary Jo you will be happy to know that your Ferragamo flats you gave me a couple years ago have been stylishly hitting the cobblestones, and the duty-free shop in the airport has a big Jo Malone store.
Lauras: There is a department store here called Laura. There are big signs on all the bus stops.
6.12.2006
On your mark, ready, GO!
During a routine phone call to Virgin Atlantic to confirm that the boys would be receiving children's meals during the flight, we were informed that we didn't have a valid reservation.
Excuse me? Can you repeat that?
After one three-hour phone call to Travelocity, it was determined there had been a technical glitch. We are confirmed, again, to fly to London from New York. The return trip is still up in the air (no pun intended). At worst we'll be in London for a 4th of July celebration - although they probably have different feelings about that war.
We have our four carry-on bags packed and we're waiting for the limo. More later.
Excuse me? Can you repeat that?
After one three-hour phone call to Travelocity, it was determined there had been a technical glitch. We are confirmed, again, to fly to London from New York. The return trip is still up in the air (no pun intended). At worst we'll be in London for a 4th of July celebration - although they probably have different feelings about that war.
We have our four carry-on bags packed and we're waiting for the limo. More later.
6.06.2006
One more week but who's counting?
After a computer failure (hard drive crashed) it has taken a little bit of time to recreate all of our reservation confirmations. Hopefully we'll get all the glitches out before we leave the house ... in only 6 days!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)