Category Archives: Trip Reports

Germany Day 4 – Off to Nürnberg

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Neither Suzanne nor I slept well last night, so the alarm even at 8:30 seemed early. We managed to get nearly everything back into our bags last night, so we had minimal packing to do. Suzanne and Kyle’s suitcase is really heavy, but I can still handle it. (We’re most likely going to have to check a third bag on the way back. Since there’s three of us, it’s still free.) We left the hotel on time and headed back to the Konstablerwache S-Bahn stop for a final time. At the Hauptbahnhof, we grabbed breakfast (another donut for Kyle) and waited for our train. It arrived on time. We were very happy to have made reservations as it was quite busy. I don’t know that we would have gotten seats otherwise. I think we’re going to make reservations for the Nürnberg to Munich train when we arrive even though the trip is only one hour. Kyle even got to watch the engineer for a bit as we are in the first car and there is only a glass partition between the control room and the passenger compartment. All for now (we’re on the train) — will write more later.

(Evening) We arrived in Nürnberg without problem and right one time. After a short detour to purchase reservations for our trip to Munich, we walked to the hotel through the significant snowfall. It wasn’t as close as I thought and between dragging the one suitcase (which kept getting hung up on the snow) and pushing the stroller, it wasn’t all that pleasant. The hotel is decent enough. I wouldn’t call it charming, but it was quite reasonable and was only recenlty built (opened in late September). We decided that Kyle really needed a nap today. (He hadn’t been getting one, and we think this is part of the problem we’ve been having at night.) Suzanne fed him lunch while I went out and got something for us. Back at the hotel, we finally managed to get Kyle to fall asleep. We both followed soon after.

Back up around 3:30, we bundled ourselves up for our trip to the market. While this hotel isn’t as close as when we were here in 2002 (then we were maybe 5 minutes from the main square), it wasn’t a bad walk, maybe 15 minutes or so. It was still snowing quite heavily. The market is as nice as we remember. We walked around, had some glühwein, got Kyle a chocolate covered waffle, and enjoyed ourselves. Nürnberg has a small children’s market in addition to the main one. There are several food stalls, some rides, and a few other places, including, Kyle’s highlight, a place to play (and buy of course) Playmobil.

By this time, Kyle was getting cold and hungry, so we headed out to find dinner. Unfortunately, Kyle is not keen on German food. After checking a couple of places on either side of the Altstadt, we popped in a place that had spätzle and looked decent. The food was good, but Kyle didn’t like the spätzle as it was pan fried. (I ended up eating it and it was quite tasty, even plain.) Luckily, he decided he like my Wienerschnitzel cut into “nuggets”. After a quick stop by Aldi for a few things, we headed back to the hotel. All in all a good day and Kyle was good, even walking most of the way to dinner. Tomorrow we plan to hit the Deutsche Bahn museum, which is right behind our hotel, in the morning and hit the markets again in the afternoon. Hopefully, it won’t take so long to find dinner tomorrow night.

Germany Day 3 – A Visit with the Sotriffers

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The alarm went off early at 7:30 as we had to catch a 9:12 train to Gernsheim to visit with Christoph Sotriffer, my office mate in Marburg, and his family. Kyle did not want to get up, but we had to get going as there is a train only every two hours. We made it to the station in plenty of time to get breakfast from a bakery, even getting a donut for Kyle. The 40 or so minute ride down was fine. Christoph met us at the station with Mathilde, who is seven months younger than Kyle, and Jonathon, who is two and a half. I probably could have found their apartment again as I had been there a couple of times before, but I wasn’t 100% sure.

We had a very nice visit. Kyle enjoyed playing with Mathilde and with Jonathon’s wooden trains. Edith made a delicious brunch. It was great to see them again (and to meet Jonathon and Teresa, who is eight months old). Kyle was unhappy that we had to leave (as we didn’t have such cool toys), but we made a brisk walk back to the station to catch the return train. (We didn’t make it with tons of time. Missing it would have been a pain since, as on the way down, there is a train only every two hours.)

Back in Frankfurt we took the streetcar to the R?merplatz as Kyle had been insisting on riding one. We’re going to be taking one quite a bit in Munich as our apartment is right next to a stop, but Kyle is not known for his patience. We spent a couple of hours walking around the market again. It was much busier today, which we expected, but was still enjoyable. We picked up another Gl?hwien and some sausage for us and a candy cane and popcorn for Kyle. (After eating a handful of popcorn, he decided he wanted cotton candy which we had offered.) We finished by walking up to Hauptwache (a central area on the main pedestrian shopping street) and checked out the decorated windows at Galleria Kaufhof, one of the two main German department stores. The windows at Macy’s in NYC are much nicer. A quick ride on the S-Bahn and bus and we were back at Joanna’s for a final dinner and visit. (Her cooking is very good as it’s somewhat exotic being African based and wonderfully delecious. I think I’m going to try and replicate the cabbage dish she made for us as some point.) Kyle really didn’t want to leave, and, in truth, neither did we, but we had to get back to the hotel to back up for our trip in the morning to N?rnberg (Nuremberg). It was a wonderful weekend in Frankfurt as we got to see several friends from our time in Marburg. The market in Frankfurt is also quite nice. I doubt we would have visited Frankfurt if it hadn’t been for our friends, but we did enjoy it. We’re really looking forward to our few days in N?rnberg, home of one of the largest and most famous Christmas markets.

Germany Day 2 – A Day in Heidelberg

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After a good night sleep, we all awoke much refreshed. I was up early and spent some time downloading photos and doing the day one blog post. (In the bathroom, of course, so I didn’t wake anyone else.) Suzanne got up a bit later and Kyle slept until 8:00 or so. (Since we all went to bed around 9:30, this mean Kyle slept almost 11 hours.) We were a bit rushed, but managed to make it to the Hauptbahnhof (main station) in plenty of time for our 9:45 meeting with Joanna and Job. After grabbing some breakfast (McD’s for Kyle and Suzanne and a bakery for me), we bought our “Happy weekend ticket” (good for up to five people anywhere in the country on slower regional trains for ?37) we hopped aboard the waiting train bound for Heidelberg. This was one of, if not the oldest, train we’ve been on during all of our travels in Germany. I was afraid it would be packed, but it wasn’t so busy.

After the 90 minute train ride, we hopped a packed bus to travel to the altstadt. I had heard the market extended from one of the old town to the other. This was only sort of true. While there were markets in several squares, there were well spaced and the total size wasn’t that great. We did have a nice walk through the city, ate some good market food, collected our Heidelberg Weinachtsmarkt mug, and did a bit of shopping on the side. Kyle also very much wanted to see a castle. While there were couple on the train ride in, he wasn’t very impressed with them, but was awed by the one over Heidelberg. All in all, it was probably worth the ride each way, but I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way. (Also, it was weird hearing so much English spoken. Admittedly, we were speaking English, but … )

Once back in Frankfurt, after a ride during which most of slept to some degree and during which the police showed up in Darmstadt about a passenger incident with the conductors), we made plans to visit with Joanna tomorrow evening for dinner before they went back home. We headed back to our hotel to a restaurant that was supposed to be around the corner and had cheap, decent, Italian. It wasn’t there, but we did find the other location (perhaps they moved?). It wasn’t where I had it on my map but was at the address I had listed. The restaurant (Zimt + Koriander) was pretty good and we were well treated. Three drinks (one beer, one soda, and one juice) and two pastas and a pizza came to ?26.90. Finished with dinner, we headed back to the hotel so Kyle could have a bath and Suzanne could have a shower. Overall, we had a very nice day.

Tomorrow we have plans to visit our friend Christoph and his family about 30 minutes south of here in Frankfurt. Aside from having to catch and early train (9:10) as they have a family event in the afternoon, we very much looking forward to it. We’ll likely hit the market here again tomorrow afternoon and then head to Joanna’s for dinner.

Germany Day 1 – We Made It

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Well, we made it to Germany without any problems. I managed to catch an early train home on Wednesday, so we were able to do most of our packing that night. The only major problem we had is that I managed to leave my camera battery charger in my office in Boston. After some frantic searching, I ended up ordering one from Amazon.de (at an exorbitant cost) and having it shipped to Joanna’s. Thursday wasn’t so hectic. We did have to do a final leaf raking as the last pickup is while we’re gone. It even started to very lightly snow, starting to get is the mood. Aside from the last minute rush, it was pretty calm. Our car arrived a bit early and the trip to the airport was very smooth as there was little traffic.

The airport itself wasn’t so busy. We expected this as we had flown to Florida in 2004 on Thanksgiving Day. Security was non-eventful. At Newark, they’re still using the old procedure and don’t have the new scanners yet, so we didn’t have to deal with them. After grabbing some dinner at the food court, we had a hour or so before boarding. As a Select Plus member of Amtrak’s frequent traveler program (akin to elite status on an airline), I get access to the Continental Presidential lounges. Let me tell you, if you have the ability to access these, do so. It was very nice. One of them in Newark’s terminal C (where we were) even has a small room for families, which we shared with a mother and her son awaiting their flight to India (after an 11 hour layover).

The flight itself took off on time as was maybe 50% full. They actually told people after boarding was done that they could spread out. I don’t think any row was full and most sections (it was a 3-seat–3–3 configuration) had only 1-2 people. I watched Toy Story 3 while Kyle watched some Handy Manny and insisted on watching some of my Toy Story 3 (using one of my headphone pieces to do it). We did learn that we should have brought over the ear headphones for Kyle. At home he tried a set of ear bud ones and they seemed okay (and they pack much smaller), but they kept falling out. We’re hoping to pick up a pair somewhere before we head back. The rest of the flight was fine, though we didn’t sleep. While I don’t normally sleep on a plane, we were shocked that Kyle didn’t either. Both of us were dreading Friday. Other than this, Kyle was quite well behaved on the plane. The lady behind us even complimented us. (At least I think she did. She said something in German that included nice/good.)

Arrival in Frankfurt was uneventful. It was very foggy as we came in. Once we landed I could swear the grass was snow covered, but it was hard to tell as we didn’t have window seats. Turns out I was right. They had they’re first snow Thursday night. We did manage to neglect to get Kyle’s gate checked stroller as we got off the plane. (We boarded a bus and it was raining/snowing at the time.) They ended up delivering it (slightly damp) to baggage claim, so the crisis of a lost stroller was avoided. Immigration and baggage claim was uneventful. One bag was on the carousel when we made it there and the other popped up within a few minutes.

Other than having to wait for a bit for the S-Bahn into town (we just missed the previous one), we had no problems getting to the hotel. (Of course, we know our way around reasonably well as Marburg is an hour northeast of here.) Our hotel (the Best Western Scala) is a few minute walk from one end of the main shopping street and from one of the main S-Bahn stations, so is very convenient. The hotel itself it nice and feels fairly new. We did have to wait 20 or so minutes for our room, but as official check-in isn’t until 3, we didn’t mind if it meant we could get to our room then. (It was about 11 at this point.)

After moving some stuff around, we headed back out. Our first stop was McD’s to get Kyle lunch. The line was quite long and by the time I managed to actually get it, Kyle was nearly asleep. He managed to eat a french fry and a half before falling asleep with the second half in his hand. We figured (and hoped) this would happen, but would have liked him to eat something since he hadn’t eaten much Thursday. While Kyle slept, Suzanne and I headed down the Ziel (the main shopping street) and over to the R?merplatz, site of the Christmas Market. It seems the market has expanded since we were over here. Being back in the atmosphere was great. It wasn’t so busy, despite it being the first day it was open, as it was only mid-afternoon at this point. We toured the whole market, stopping for a Gl?hwein (hot mulled wine — a staple of any Christmas market) and a bratwurst. We then headed back towards the Ziel, stopping in a couple of department stores to (a) pick up a few grocery items (most department stores here have a grocery store in the basement) and (b) (at one) to “preview” the toy department with a sleeping Kyle.

Back at the hotel, we switched a few things and headed back out to meet our friend Katrin (from our time in Marburg) at a cafe about 10 mins from the hotel. We were running a few minutes late, but so was she, so it worked out very well. Kyle woke up just before we arrived, though he was still a bit grumpy. We had a nice conversation over coffee and then wandered around the market for a bit. The lightly falling snow really added to the festive mood. Kyle took a ride on one of the carousels, of course insisting on the one with the bright orange hook-and-ladder firetruck. We then all walked back to the hotel.

After saying our goodbyes to Katrin, we headed back upstairs to grab the stuff to take to Joanna and Job’s. The trip there was also fine aside from my forgetting to take the nice printed transit directions. Luckily I remembered them well enough and had a map to their flat. We had a wonderful visit with them including Joanna’s delicious steak and pepper (?) stew. (She made this for me when I visited on a previous visit.) About 7:30 we were all starting to feel the effects of a night without sleep, so we packed up and headed back to the hotel (about 30 minutes) after making plans to meet at the main train station in the morning and head out to Heidelberg for the day (about 90 minutes from Frankfurt). All in all, it was a pretty good trip over and a first day.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the latest update.

Back Home

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The Blue Mosque at night

The Blue Mosque at night

Well, we are back home. Our trip back was fairly uneventful. The car we had scheduled to pick us up was bit late, and it was scheduled a bit later than would have been ideal, so it was a little anxious. However, we had no problems getting to the airport in plenty of time. After a brief stop at the Duty Free to blow our few remaining Lira (when ended up bringing home only 0.50 TL), it was off to the lounge to await our (45 min delayed) boarding. The flight itself was as good as a 10 hour flight could be. (I did manage to watch a total of seven movies between the two flights.) We were quite impressed with Turkish Airlines and would definitely fly them again, aside from the fact that their only flight from the US is to Istanbul.

We encountered no delays once back in the US. However, on the drive home from JFK, traffic was horrendous. It took us almost two-and-a-half hours for what would be maybe an hour without traffic. Of course we knew traffic would be bad, so we had a car service pick us up instead of asking Mary Lou to drive both ways through rush hour. We were exhausted, but had a great trip.

One More Day

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Rumeli Fortress on the Bosphorus

Rumeli Fortress on the Bosphorus

Today was our last day in Istanbul. Since we had seen most of the highlights we wanted to hit earlier in the week, we decided to sleep in a bit. We eventually got going around 10:00, popping down to the Arasta Bazaar to check it out. Next we headed back up Divan Yolu where Suzanne wanted to stop back by an inexpensive, small “Target-esque” store to pick up some tea glasses. (Six were only $2.) After a tram ride to the ferry port of Eminönü, we hopped on a boat for a 90 minute cruise up and down the Bosphorus. It was a nice time, but got quite cool and windy. (Suzanne moved downstairs where it was enclosed while I stuck it out up top for photos.)

After a brief stop for lunch, we walked back to the hotel to drop off some purchases, stopping a few places on the way. We then decided to hit the Mosaic Musuem, in the Arasta Bazaar, which was a nice way to spend some time. The 6th century mosaics are from the Byzantine Palace and are very impressive. Some final few shopping stops and we ended up back at the hotel, doing a few things before dinner at Mozaik, which was quite good. I made one last stop for a döner kebab as I hadn’t had one yet (and had them for lunch nearly every work day for the last several months I was in Marburg). It was good, but I prefer the German style meat which is mixed lamb and beef and not so strongly flavored. Back at the hotel, it was time to pack for our return trip.

It was a very nice trip and we really enjoyed Istanbul, even with the pushy shopkeepers and restauranteurs. The layers of history are quite impressive, and, in some ways, far more apparent than Rome. I think our 3 1/2 days was a good length to at least scratch the surface and we saw most of what we had planned. Coming in the off-season was a bonus, aside from the cool weather, as the crowds were very manageable. (Admittedly, we lucked out having only one day of rain. Last week it rained almost every day.) Will we come back? Probably, but probably not for some time as there are so many other places we’d like to go. (Also, I think it would be better for Kyle to be older if he were to come.)

Three Faces of Istanbul

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Kadikoy Train Station

Kadikoy Train Station

It was another full day. We started our morning at the Archeological Museum, which was a real highlight. There are a large number of Greek and Roman artifacts as well as a very nice exhibit on artifacts from the ancient near east, including writing tablets from 4500+ years ago. We also got to see the famous Greek discus thrower statue for a second time as it’s on loan from the British Museum, where we had seen it in 2002. We then hopped the tram to “New Istanbul”, across the Golden Horn. After a ride up the funicular from Kabataş, the end of the line, we headed up the funicular to Taskim square. We had a decent walk down the İstiklal shopping street, stopping in a few places for gifts.

By this time, the weather had turned kind of dismal, with a light rain. After a walk back down to the Galata Bridge, we decided it wasn’t a good day for a cruise on the Bosphorus. Instead we opted to catch a ferry to Kadiköy, across the strait on the Asian side. We walked around here a bit, but it was kind of cold and the rain was pretty steady. After a small lunch in a cafe, we headed back to the ferry dock and back to Europe. (However, it was successful as I was able to buy some safety pins to “fix” part of the zipper on my camera bag which had broken.)

After the ferry ride, we stopped by a few toy stores by the dock/Spice Market to pick up something for Kyle. A second wander through the Spice Market and we headed back towards the hotel, stopping a few places on the way. After a break, we headed out for an enjoyable dinner at the Enjoyer Cafe, picking up some cake and baklava on the way home for dessert. All in all a good, but kind of wet, day.

(PS, sorry for the poor photo. I don’t have many due to the dreary weather.)

Our First Full Day

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Inside the Grand Bazaar

Inside the Grand Bazaar

We had a very full and very nice day. After a good breakfast at the hotel, we hit Hagia Sofia. It’s quite a building, though the Pantheon in Rome remains my favorite ancient architecture. Then it was on to the Blue Mosque and a walk around the Hippodrome. We then headed up to the Grand Bazaar, which was quite an experience. We didn’t end up picking anything up, but it was well worth the trip. We then headed out towards the Spice Market. Thinking we were lost, we asked for help and found out we were just down the street. After a quick lunch, we walked through. It was also a worthy site.

After the visit, we walked over the Galata Bridge and back, checking out the fish market on the Galata side. A walk back to the hotel rounded out our major chunk of the day. We took a break to relax a bit, then I headed out to do some “sweet light” photos of Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. For dinner, I had made reservations at Sarniç, which is housed in a Roman era cistern. The setting was superb as was the food. It was even decently priced. For tomorrow, we have plans to visit the archeological museum, which we missed on Monday, and then either to head across the Bosphorus to Asia or up to Taksim.

In Istanbul (Eventually)

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View of Hagia Sophia from our hotel room window

View of Hagia Sophia from our window

Well, we made it to Istanbul. It was bit crazy getting everything squared away. We had horrendus weather on the Saturday before we left, to the point where Mary Lou’s flight into Newark was canceled. The best she could do was to fly up Sunday, arriving around 12:40. This was fine as we weren’t supposed to leave until 5:30.

When we got up Sunday morning, I took a quick check downstairs in the basement and found that we had some water again. The sump was working, so it wasn’t alot and basically only boxes got wet. However, it really wasn’t something we really wanted to deal with. To add to our problems, Suzanne’s work was flooded in the rain. NOAA had been predicting the Raritan River to crest at 27 ft, which would mean their plant would be fine. Instead it crested at 36 ft, meaning there was several feet of water in some of the building. She thinks her office is likely okay, but doesn’t know the extent of the damage as her nobody had been allowed into the plant before we boarded the plane.

On Sunday morning, we get a call from Mary Lou that they’re going to have to fly around some major storms in our area and would be an hour late. Not a huge deal as we still had time. In the end, she was only a few minutes late as they were cleared to fly their normal flight path. After picking her up and lunch at Jersey Gardens Mall (right near the airport), we headed out to JFK. Checking was smooth. However, our flight was delayed in boarding by 30 mins and then we sat on the ground to 90, eventually taking off 2 hours late. Unfortunately, we didn’t make up any time en route and arrived that late. Let me tell you, when the flight is already just over 9 hours, sitting on the tarmac for an extra 1 and a half isn’t so much fun. I did however end up watching three movies and getting a bit of sleep.

Our arrival in Istanbul was uneventful. The passport control line was quite slow. We had prearranged for a car to pick us up, which worked well. We had to wait a few minutes for a room at the hotel, but it was likely worth it as we have a view of Hagia Sofia. (The room itself isn’t huge, but is fine size by European standards and not the smallest one we ever had.)

After unpacking a bit, we headed out to visit Topkapi Palace, where the Ottoman Sultans reigned until the 1830s. It was very nice. The weather is decent, sunny, but a touch cool. We then walked around some of the main shopping streets of Sultanahmet (the old city), stopping by a grocery store for a few things before heading back to hotel for a break.

Tomorrow’s plans include Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar. I’ll try and do another update tomorrow night, but we do have 8:00 dinner reservations.