London Calling

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Skies are clear and British flag waves proudly on this perfect London day

Skies are clear and British flag waves proudly on this perfect London day

The American Thanksgiving holiday afforded us a long weekend to take an Air Berlin hop north to London. We left the house nice and early for our 6:30am flight to London-Stansted airport. Our flight was a quick 2 hours and with the time change, our feet set foot on British soil well before the first museums were open. We took the Stansted bus shuttle to Victoria Station where we left our luggage with the friendly staff of the “Left Luggage” Company. A great idea for tourists in this city, you can pay to drop off your bags for 24 hours or longer and eliminate the hassle of carting around suitcases in town. Since our hotel was a good 20 minutes by metro from London proper and we were so early in town, we wanted to tackle some sights first before checking in to our hotel.
We promptly made our way to the British national museum, free to everyone and home to the most famous rock, The Rosetta Stone, which was key to deciphering hieroglyphs. We could have easily wandered forever in this large building but we made the wise decision to rent the children’s audioguide which led our kids to the most “important” pieces of their collection.
Rosetta Stone; funny, I always thought it was round.

Rosetta Stone; funny, I always thought it was round.

A big draw for the kids was the Egyptian gallery, primarily because the pieces are HUGE, sphinx and statues which reach into the sky and a good number of creepy things like mummies and masks. My favorite collection was from the Greek period, including the Parthenon frieze and sculptures featuring perfect symmetry of figures. Just looking at them makes you feel calm and in balance. For lunch we stepped outside the museum and crossed the street to find a small cafe featuring sandwiches and pizza. We returned to the museum for just a bit more time to join a free tour which featured pieces from ancient Israel and the early Christians including some very funny cartoons poking fun at Jesus as a boy.

After the museum, we made our way to our hotel. We stayed near the North Greenwich Tube stop at a Holiday Inn Express. We were happy to find a Pizza Hut nearby with a family special; it was just what the Rietkerk family needed.

Our Stop--Canary Wharf sign

Our Stop–Canary Wharf sign

Volvo–It Rolls

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Tim behind the wheel

Tim behind the wheel

In October, Tim and I went north to pick up the newest addition to the Rietkerk family: a Volvo sedan.  The Army ships one vehicle with the family when you move overseas. We donated the trusty gold Honda Accord and shipped the Honda minivan.  For the past 3 months, the van has been great. It’s taken us as far north as Denmark and south to the Czech Republic.  With more than 115,000 miles on the 2006 model, we thought now would be a good time to purchase another vehicle. Being in the land of “no speed limit”, every soldier’s dream is a super fast car. Most choose the BMW 300 or 500 series in black. In fact, there are so many of these models on military bases, it’s hard to believe they are something special in the States.  Tim and I were first taken with the BMW, but after careful research (and the 50th anniversary special Volvo was offering) we decided to purchase the Volvo S-80, a 4 door sedan, in the classic dark blue Volvo color.

When you purchase a Volvo, you can have it delivered to the dealer OR you can opt to take factory delivery up in Sweden, which is what we did during the last weekend in October 2011.  The deal goes like this: if you elect to pick up at the dealership, you will pay a $600 delivery fee.  If you go to the factory, Volvo pays for your trip up north and then you drive it back home.  Tim was able to get leave approved for the trip to Sweden and on Monday, Oct 31 we boarded a train in Parsberg (a 5 minute drive from our house) to Kiel, via Regensberg and Frankfurt.  The train travel took 8 hours but was thoroughly enjoyable.  No distractions to our reading selections, we stopped at the Starbucks in Frankfurt for a little snack and then enjoyed a picnic lunch with bottles of wine on the train.

Once we arrived in Kiel, it was a 10 minute walk to the Stena Line ferry where we checked in, received room keys and hit the buffet.
The ferry left port at 7:30pm and traveled across the Baltic Sea overnight. We arrived in Gothenburg Sweden at 9am and left our luggage in our cabin, which we would return in the evening. We were warmly greeted by our Volvo driver who whisked us away to the factory, about 15 minutes from the dock. Once at the factory, we were the first to check in and our car was rolled out in the delivery waiting area. We were like first time parents, oohing and ahhing over the shiny new toy.  Our Volvo rep Leif took us on a tour of the bells and whistles of the car and then let us take over and take it on a spin on the test track.  Lest you get too excited, the track is about 1/4 mile long and limited to low speeds.  We’d have to wait to test the power in the engine until after lunch.
Kristen and Volvo At 11:30, we enjoyed lunch in the restaurant which featured a traditional Swedish meal: meatballs, potatoes, gravy and lingonberries. Better than IKEA! Then, it was time for our factory tour. Sorry, no pictures allowed but it reminded me of the Disney movie Wall-E or the ride “Cars” at Epcot: lots of robots doing very detailed work. When we did see humans, they were surprisingly young; I don’t think we spotted anyone over the age of 50 on the floor and most looked like young adults. Impressive tour though.  They kept emphasizing that every Volvo is created with specific customer specifications. Every vehicle is pre-ordered and built to match the end user’s desires.

We left the factory at 3:30 and drove around the city enjoying the sound system and bluetooth capabilities.  Once on board the ferry again, we made our way back to the buffet.  After a restful night’s sleep, we disembarked with the car and headed south to Lupburg.  We made it home in 8 hours and thoroughly enjoyed driving the car on the autobahn.  Tim got the car up to 110 mph, a thrilling prospect after many years at speeds half that.  We are going to enjoy traveling to new places in this car. volvo plate

Wanderweg

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Tim deciphers the map to figure out where to go next…icons show us the types of trails they have: important sites, beautiful scenery, or restaurants along the way!
A favorite pastime of the Germans is walking.  I had heard about the volksmarches that many villages host during the summer but I was surprised at the sheer number of people who enjoy walking as sport.  Many carry trekking poles to give them a boost in heart rate. However, I’ve noticed quite a few who simply drag the poles behind them as they walk leisurely on one of the many trails around Bavaria.
Occasionally, I meet up with some Army friends to take part in this pastime.  More often, I take Lady for a walk around my neighborhood. We have enjoyed watching the changing scenery, as summer moves into fall.

I know, I know, so off to school I go…

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The school year started off in spurts with 2 kids beginning class on Monday and 1 kid getting a bonus day before diving into a new routine.  Before leaving the States, we bought backpacks and lunchboxes for the younger kids to slide right into cool school style here in Europe.  First correction made: 6th grade boys don’t really take lunch boxes to school anymore.  They use brown paper sacks.  Second correction: Although I attempted to make sure they had “proper” school supplies, we were shocked that DODS (department of defense schools) in Europe doesn’t make families provide classroom supplies.  So, the numerous 3 ring binders, looseleaf paper and Crayola water colors are tucked into a bedroom upstairs waiting for art projects on rainy days at home.  

The kids leave the house at 7:10am and head for the bus stop, a short 1 block walk from the front door. The bus that picked them up on the first day was a ratty affair…seats were torn and windows had been etched by disgruntled kids from years gone by.  But, they load the same they have for eons: little kids get on first and sit in front (by the driver=SAFETY from big kids) and then middle schoolers get on and try to score a seat as close to the back without infecting the high schools and finally…the scary high school kids get on…ear buds conveniently tucked into their ears to block out the noise of bothersome little kids who want to high five each one as they walk down the aisle.
I greeted the kids with rice krispie treats following the second day of school.  I thought i’d pretty much outdone myself and told them, “Hey! I made you a surprise!”  And Will looks at me and says with a roll of his eyes, “I’ll bet it’s rice krispie treats.”  I guess I’m as predictable as starting school in Fall.

St Petersburg, cont.

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Our next stop was the Hermitage.  Like all great cities, a good art museum shows off how powerful you really are.  The Hermitage was originally a residential palace and many rooms are open to tour.  In the 1800s, the decision was made to allow commoners the opportunity to stroll through the building and admire the collections.  It is a “must see” for anyone visiting St Petersburg and the crowds were intense.  Our tour guide led us through the main highlights and then gave us some time to browse on our own.  We enjoyed gazing at the Impressionist collection and saw some artists’ work up close and personal.  Very little of the Hermitage is kept in climate-controlled environments so you can really see the brush strokes and shading the artists employed.

To round out our tour of the city, we stopped at the Church of Spilled Blood, an impressive onion-domed church which is more colorful than St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow.  We also visited the sphinx from Egypt and gazed at Peter and Paul Fortress on the water.  It was a grand view of a truly remarkable city.

A peek behind the iron curtain

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Our family pic at St Petersberg's Winter Palace

Our family pic at St Petersberg’s Winter Palace

Of all the stops on our cruise, perhaps the crown jewel was St Petersburg.  Partly due to the fact that few have ever seen this city and partly because it was the end of our week-long cruise, we were eager to get off the boat and take in as much of Russia as possible.  I was able to secure a tour through Red October Tours prior to leaving the States and our tour guide, Svetlana, was waiting for us when we got off the ship. We were among the first passengers to clear customs in Russia and we kept thinking we were going to be stopped for some reason.  But, it was an easy process and we made our way to the private coach hired to take us around town.

Our first stop was the Winter Palace, a 30 minute ride from the ship.  The palace was built in the small village of Pushkin and it was interesting to see the combination of small private homes, large apartment buildings and government monuments along the drive.  Probably the first thing your eye takes in is the fabulous blue the palace is painted. No where else in Europe is this color used so predominantly.  We were struck by the sheer grandeur of the building, which was built not as a residence but as a show piece to prove how rich and powerful the Russian nobility was.  The rooms were filled with gold, mirrors and lots of decorative touches.  The palace grounds are immaculately groomed and offer sweeping views of the property.

Lindsey and Eva at the Hermitage, St Petersberg

Lindsey and Eva at the Hermitage, St Petersberg


Inspired by the art at the Hermitage

Inspired by the art at the Hermitage


Following our stop at the Winter Palace, we took the opportunity to eat at the original stroganoff restaurant. Legend says that a soldier, who lost his arm in a battle, was served this beef main dish because he could eat it without using a knife.  It was absolutely delicious.  My personal recipe doesn’t even come close.  Accompanied by a cream of mushroom soup and a drink called kvass (like root beer but has some fermentation process) it was the perfect break to reenergize for the afternoon.
Mmm, nothing compares to the original! Russian Beef Stroganoff

Mmm, nothing compares to the original! Russian Beef Stroganoff