Vive la Paris!

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Kristen

Paris, Day 1 What better way to spend Valentine’s Day than heading south to the city of lights–Paris! President’s day conveniently fell near sweetheart day to afford us a 4 day weekend in France. Original plans had all 5 of us traveling south but Lauren couldn’t manage to get away from cheer team practice (and she wanted to spend Valentine’s day with her special sweetheart). So, Will and Lilly eagerly left school a couple hours early for the 7 hour drive. Soon after we crossed the border into France, it started to snow. And it continued to snow for the next 2 hours, so much snow that the road was quickly reduced to one lane traffic and our drive morphed into more than 9 hours to our hotel outside Disneyland Paris.
After a good night’s rest, we woke to sunny skies and a fabulous French breakfast. Just ask Will how good breakfast is in France…crepes, cold cuts, french cheese, baguettes and strong coffee or hot chocolate as your beverage. The hotel gave us one free breakfast for our stay and we’re happy we chose the first day to fill up. We chose to go to Disneyland on our first day: weekday crowds are typically smaller and it was a great motivator to get the kids excited for going to Paris. I bought tickets online for 79 euro per person which allowed us to visit both parks in one day. We could have taken the train to Disney but we chose to drive because we’d heard parking was convenient and cheap. It’s true! We paid 9 euro for a full day and had the benefit of not waiting for the train once the parks closed. The kids chose Walt Disney Studios for the first park to visit. Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster had minimal lines and we sailed onto our favorites. We did notice that the French rides tend to be a bit more intense…and after one hour of riding crazy coasters, Tim and I both had slight headaches and queasy tummies. Around lunchtime, we switched parks and had a hearty lunch in Adventureland with African drummers serenading us by singing Shakira’s WakaWaka song. The food was great..Lilly even had a kids’ pizza in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
The magical day wrapped up with the spectacular Disney Dreams show. Featuring Sleeping Beauty’s castle as the backdrop for the laser light and water show, we were entertained with famous Disney tunes and characters projected onto the castle. Once the fireworks hit the dark sky, we knew it was time to leave. It was a great visit to a Disney theme park.

Notable Websites

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Kristen

I love to read and I love the internet. Combine the two together, and it’s a non-stop information fest where great authors share great ideas for building great communities. Check out my go-to places for inspiration:

Blogs I’m tracking now

Rachel Held Evans Normally I gravitate toward the men when looking for useful and compelling blogs but lately, the ladies have been rising to the top. Rachel is one of those women who is completely immersed in the culture but manages to step aside just a bit to offer biting criticism and reflection for today’s “modern woman.” I appreciate her bold steps to address hot topic issues without ranting and yelling. Rachelheldevans.com

Ann Voskamp is a terrific writer and speaker. Her website is thoughtful and includes fabulous photography of simple life on a farm. Warning: she is a proud homeschooling mom, but she’s Canadian; so give her some slack. aholyexperience.com

Jen Hatmaker, is the author of 7 as well as the popular A Modern Girl’s Guide to Bible Study. She is flat-out funny and has great insights gleaned from living as a pastor’s wife. Jenhatmaker.com

Talking about Religion

The Gospel Coalition includes current editorials on world events and mixes in a little entertainment and media news to keep it relevant to a new generation of church leaders. thegospelcoalition.org

Global Leadership Summit Hands down, the number one conference for Christian leaders, both in the church and the workplace. Bill Hybels and his team at Willow Creek continue to offer the most stimulating presentations by top buisness leaders. The Leadership Summit

Aaron Niequest, has taught me tons about the meaning of worship and ways to incorporate all kinds of music into daily life Aaronniequist.com

Home decor and eating well

Shauna Niequist It only seemed natural to gravitate toward a woman who has found a voice for eating well, entertaining and discussing philosphy with her girlfriends. Her books, Bittersweet and Bread and Wine are filled with short essays on doing life well. Shaunaniequist.com

The Pioneer Woman I don’t confess to being a great cook but when I read this cooking blog, I start thinking like a woman on the ranch. Full of easy recipes that are heavy on the fat and good feelings, Reed Drummond has lassoed a consistently good vibe. thepioneerwoman.com

Catalog Living A glimpse into the fabulous life of the people who live in your catalogs. Sarcasm at its best. Catalogliving.net

Vacation and Travel

My melange a beautifully crafted website with a strong emphasis on French travel. Ooo la la. mymelange.net

Peter Greenberg The go-to travel guru featured on NBC news, Peter has given me valuable tips when booking travel, researching destinations and fixing problems. Petergreenberg.com

Rick Steves There isn’t one European adventure that we took where I didn’t consult my trusty travel-mate, Rick Steves. His books practically served as our inexpensive, on-the-ground travel agent and we were rarely disappointed. Easy to read and follow his recommendations for touring a city. I would skip his lists of hotels and restaurants only because MANY people are using his books. Ricksteves.com

Buda and Pest

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Kristen

From Vienna we traveled to Hungary and visited the cities of Buda and Pest, which were joined together in 1873 and linked by the beautiful Chain Bridge which spans the Danube River. Budapest is a beautiful city and the views are equally grand from both sides of the river. On one bank you can gaze at the British Parliament-inspired Hungarian Parliament building; and on the other side, you get a spectacular view of Fisherman’s Bastion. Budapest is a city for lazy walking…along the river, across bridges, up and down hills and the kids indulged my desire to see the parliament building at night…from the other side of the river. They were troopers and it was only Lilly who insisted what we were doing was “Dumb!”

Budapest also is home to steamy and relaxing thermal waters. We spent a leisurely afternoon soaking in the mineral tubs and large outdoor pools at the Széchenyi thermal baths. It was a bit tricky figuring out where to change and store our clothing but once we unlocked the cabin with our plastic bracelets we were quick to dive in along with hundreds of other Christmas revelers. After an hour in the warm pool, we found the warmer pool and then made our way inside to the stinky pools. The complex is huge and we only ventured as far as the first 3 rooms where we found green pools that smelled like rotten eggs, saunas with magical colored lights and a cold dip which we think had a melting iceberg floating on top. When we managed to drag our tired bodies back to the cabin, Tim insisted he had never felt more relaxed. Although, he could have enjoyed a massage at the baths as well.

Near our hotel was the public ice skating rink located just outside the castle gates. What an incredible experience to ice skate on Christmas in the glow of a castle. We met up with the Becker family and had fun trying to remember how to skate without slipping and sliding all over the ice. On this trip, Will made it all by himself around the rink several times and Lilly was comfortable just having someone pull her along.

Vienna, the golden city

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Kristen

Waltzing through Vienna; Just can’t help it.

We woke on Friday morning to SNOW! Finally, after a week of fog and cloudy skies, and a dramatic loss of the 12 inches of snow we received the week before, we had 2 inches of fresh powder. A perfect way to start the day!
Tim had to work a half day and Lauren wanted to go to school so they took off before 8am. It was my job to rally the remaining troops for the trip to Austria. I wisely determined to let “sleeping dogs lie” except in the case of Lady, our real dog. I loaded her up into the van and drove to the kennel for her doggie vacation. This was a very bad idea. As I made my way out of Lupburg and into neighboring villages, I was slipping and sliding all over the road and then I came upon a hill. A minor hill in normal weather but in the van on a slick and snowy morning, I lost traction and promptly found myself on the side of the road–stranded. As the capable, gifted and can-do gal that I am, I called Tim. He slowly made his way from post and helped right the vehicle. I refused to drive the van any farther and quickly settled myself into the driver’s seat of the Volvo. I followed Tim and the dog to the kennel and then we made our way S-L-O-W-L-Y back home.
By noon, Tim and Lauren were back at home and the family proceeded to pack the car for the 4 hour drive to Vienna. We soon realized that although the autobahn was clear of snow and ice, most drivers were understandably cautious and traffic moved at a consistent safe pace. And, the snow continued to fall. And, it was the shortest day of the year. And, we couldn’t see a thing. All adding up to a very weary drive. After a late meal at McDonalds, we rolled into Vienna around 8pm and the first sight we came upon: Schonbrunn Palace. It was a treat to behold all decked out in golden lights and floodlit to announce to passersby how grand the building really is. The girls exclaimed: We LOVE this city!”

a taste of America

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Kristen

Fresh on the heels of Kristen and Lauren’s visit to the States, we decided that everyone needed a chance to experience America after being in Germany for a year. Since parent-teacher conferences were scheduled for 2 days this week, and the kids were out of school, we packed up the van and drove to Ramstein Air Base, a 4 hour drive north from Hohenfels. For military families, Ramstein is a destination in itself: the largest military shopping complex in the world featuring a movie theater, hotel, American restaurants and tons of little shops with European goodies. We were able to reserve TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility) for 3 nights at $78 per night. Each TLF is a small apartment with full kitchen, laundry and 3 bedrooms. Bonus for us: each room had it’s own TV and DVD player. so much for quality family time but boy! how quiet it is when the kids each find a corner to hide out in.
While in Ramstein, we managed to hit the PX several times. I’m not usually one to enjoy shopping for boy’s clothing but there is something exhilarating in discovering that Levi’s has more than the “550” style jean. Will and Lilly hung out in the video/gaming area of the store–which had been set up with lounge chairs and couches so that shoppers could try out the latest in X-Box 360 Dance Central game. This became “kid central” and plenty of pre-teens were gathered around to cheer each other on. Each visit was capped off with a visit to the movies: Wreck It Ralph on Thursday and Skyfall (James Bond movie) on Saturday.
Since it just seems wrong to travel in Germany without experiencing something of cultural value, we drove to Trier, probably best known for the Porta Nigra, the black gate constructed in 160AD by the Romans. We first visited this site with Denise Rietkerk about 15 years ago on a cold and rainy December day. The weather was much the same for this visit but for some reason, the history seemed to come to life. We toured the gate, walked through the main town square, and stopped at the Trier Cathedral where the Holy Robe is kept in a wooden box on display at the altar. It’s said that this holy robe is THE seamless robe of Christ and that Helena, mother of Constantine, brought the robe to Germany when she lived here. We’ll never know for sure if this is indeed THE robe but having a story like this associated with your church sure makes tourists come out in droves. We finished off the visit with a trip to Karl Marx’s house, the Roman amphitheater and tasty doner kebaps for lunch. All this talk about the Romans has gotten me interested in reading “Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.” I wonder if I can finish it before we move back to the States?

Another blog about Prague

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Kristen

Once again we made a trip to our favorite eastern bloc city: Prague. Lindsey and her friend Lauren thought it would be great to head out to Prague, our fairy tale city of choice. Lauren has travelled extensively in Europe but had never been to the Czech Republic before. We couldn’t resist the chance to present to her a city that reminds us of Disneyland. We left home at 9am and made it to the Prague-Arcaden mall by 11:30am. We first stopped at the border crossing and paid a quick 16 euros for a vignette, the vehicle sticker that lets us travel unhassled on the autobahn for 10 days. Then, we tried to park at our favorite Park and Ride, next to the Zlicin stop on the metro. But, handy signs on the autobahn let us know that there were no available spaces at the P+R stops so we made a decision to park at the mall and chance not having a “security guard” watching our car for the day.
Not a problem, it turns out. The mall is a nice one with Rip Curl, Starbucks and H+M on hand. We simply walked through the convenient pedestrian tunnel connecting the mall with the metro stop to purchase our metro day tickets (110 Czech Kroene=$5) and after a 20 minute metro ride, made it to the Old Town by 12:30pm. The three of us hit the Mucha museum first and I highly recommend this delightful little museum featuring the posters and art work by Alphonse Mucha. Following a tasty salad lunch at a restaurant near the St Charles bridge, we crossed over the Vltava River and took Tram #22 up to the Castle Complex. This time in Prague, we took the tram to the monastery high up on the hill and managed to score a new view of the city from this great height. We walked down to the cathedral, castle and other buildings in castle complex and wound our way through the vineyards before making back to the car (after a brief stop at the mall Starbucks–open til 10:00pm) and home by 9pm. Whew…an exhausting but satisfying day!

A Moveable Feast

Author Archives: Kristen