Tuesday, July 19th – Monschau

Mc had been sneezing quite a bit, and I had been hoping it was his allergies.  Unfortunately, late that night in Vianden he revealed that he had a terribly sore throat, which is exactly how my cold had started.  I felt awful.  This was Mc’s first trip to Europe, first trip really anywhere, and I’d gotten him sick.  (He ended up handling it like an absolute champ, which I should have known he would.)

Mc and I were supposed to do a road trip to Amsterdam on Tuesday while V and M were at work, but we changed our plan and decided to do just a half day trip to Monschau so Mc could take it easy. 

*SuperNova Travel Tip: Be flexible.  If everything does not go exactly according to plan, it’s OK.  Europe will always be there.  You can’t do everything, so enjoy what you can do and earmark what you missed for your next trip.

V very generously lent us her car and GPS, and Mc and I headed to Monschau.  Some of you may remember that last summer I talked about a giant luge/slide, the Rohren Bobsled Coaster, which was an amazing amount of fun, and I had intended to take Mc there, but when we arrived it was completely deserted.  It was an overcast day, and apparently if there is even a hint of the possibility of rain, they close the ride, so heads up.

*SuperNova Travel Tip: If you have the opportunity, drive in Europe.  Contrary to popular belief, mainland Europe drives on the correct side of the road (meaning the right side, sorry Kiwis, Aussies, Brits, Scots, Irish, and Japanese).  It’s much like driving at home, except in Germany everyone is in a mad rush, so stick to the slow lane or be run down.

Monschau is a very cool little town with an amazing senfmuhle (mustard mill) featuring over 18 types of very reasonably priced mustard.  The cobblestone streets on the way to the senfmuhle are lined with adorable shops and there’s even a giant building featuring handmade-crafts.  They do have a castle too, if you haven’t seen one yet.  (http://www.monschau.de/tourist-information/)

*SuperNova Travel Tip: Think about your footwear.  Ladies, let’s have a quick chat about cobblestones and fashion.  Cobblestones may appear charming, but they are incredibly uneven and full of gaps and cracks just waiting to grab onto your heel and wrench it off.  I wore ballet flats on this day and could feel the shape of each stone and stubbed my unprotected toe on one particularly evil one.  Wearing high heels on this surface is actually asking to be hospitalized.  I am not telling you not to wear ballet flats or wedges (I am, actually, telling you not to wear pointy heels) or to stomp around your vacation in hiking boots.  What I’m saying is, if you choose fashion over being sensible, you are forbidden to complain about it as you have been previously warned. 

We arrived in Monschau and found the car park and even figured out how to use it.  The moment we started off from the car park, it started to pour.  So we ducked into a restaurant and had lunch and the rain didn’t bother us again.  The town was lovely and the day uneventful except for that I managed to get us lost.  Monschau is a small town with a car park at one end and a mustard mill at the other.  I merely had to get us from the car park to the mustard mill and of course, that was impossible.  I somehow warped to level 9 and we ended up on a highway out of town.  So we turned around and walked the opposite direction and ended up nearly to the car park again.  So we stopped in the information office and they told us to go back the way we’d originally gone, but to “keep going straight.”  This time, Mc made the important decisions and we got there no problem. 

We had a lovely time, bought printen (German gingerbread) and a year’s worth of mustard, and were home early enough for Mc to spend the rest of the afternoon killing X-box zombies, or, as he put it, resting.

Summer Bobsledding in Monschau, July 19th

Puppy's parents arrived from Berlin on Sunday. So Monday we all hopped in the car and took a trip to Monschau. Monschau is a little mountain town known for its mustard and its Christmas Bazaar. What it should be known for is it's awesome bobsled coaster!

Puppy found it online and we decided immediately that we not only needed to go there, but it needed to be priority #1 of our sightseeing list. We jumped in the car and with the aid of Frau, Puppy's GPS, we found it with little difficulty. We parked and headed to the entrance.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, and being off the beaten path did not prevent this activity from being fairly packed with people. What we discovered when we arrived is that the Rohren Bobsled Coaster is a 751 meter long track made of what looks like a huge pipe cut in half and nailed to the side of the mountain. You ride down the track on a 1 or 2 person scooter while holding onto a handle between your knees that doubles as a brake if you push it forward. The windy track is full of sharp turns where your scooter banks up the side like a real bobsled. This was going to be fun!

We bought tickets and marveled at how cheap they were - 2.50 euro per person - and got into line. A teenage German girl put the scooter you picked out on the track and told you when to go. I went after Mrs. Puppy. I started down the hill gaining speed very quickly. I got worried for a second when I hit the first turn and saw a sign that I thought said that I needed to brake (but couldn't tell as it was in German and it flew by in 2 seconds) and I didn't want to go flying off the track. However, as I did not see any carnage on the side of the track like hats or shoes or bodies, I just let it go and held on.

I was flying down the track, when coming out of a turn I saw a group of three in front of me. "That's weird," I thought, "how could you have 3 people when the largest scooter they have is a 2-seater?" As I got closer I could see that it was not a group of 3, it was 2 scooters pushed together. There was Mrs. Puppy, liberally using her brake, chugging along at her own pace, completely nonplussed that there was a German couple stuck to the back of her scooter looking very confused. I leaned on my own break so as not to hit them, and we all went tooling down the rest of the track at a perfectly modest pace, enjoying the scenery. I was laughing so hard by the end of the track, I could barely get my scooter off the track.

When you reach the bottom of the bobsled track, you pull your scooter off, walk a few meters over to another German teenage girl, who sets you on another track sitting backwards. She then hooks a rope connected to a ski lift to the back of your scooter and WHOOSH, you are hauled off towards the top of the mountain by what looks like the seat of your pants. This track is straight and a much more fun alternative to having to drag your scooter miles uphill, not to mention dignified looking.

Once we were all gathered at the top again, we realized that there was no choice but to go again. This time we realized that it was even cheaper if we bought all 5 tickets at the same time. Puppy suggested that we go down together since the extra weight would make the scooter go even faster. Seeing that this was a genius idea, we selected a 2-seater and hopped on, Puppy in front. As we started rolling, Puppy shouted over her shoulder, "Oh, by the way, I don't use the brake!" "Whatever!" I yelled back and ZOOOOOM! we were off! The extra weight did make the scooter fly, we took the turns horizontally. I couldn't see, but Puppy told me after that she was worried a couple times that we'd run out of bank wall before the scooter dropped back down. We were greased lightning; all the moisture generally kept in our eyes started streaming along the sides of our faces. We almost caught Nancy D, who was just pulling her scooter off the track as we shot by and hit the pad at the end of the track. It was AWESOME and I feel the trip would have been worth it just for that.

*SuperNova Travel Tip: Go do the Rohren Bobsled!

After the bobsled, we headed into Monschau. After parking, we started walking through the adorable cobblestone streets towards the historic Senfmuehle (mustard mill). It turns out the Senfmuehle is not only at the end of town, but uphill past all the hotels at the end of town. Unfortunately, you can only view the actual mill on a tour and the tours only go on certain days and this was not one of those days. Fortunately, the gift shop was open and they encourage you to try everything. The marzipan honey was delicious, but their honey selection was nothing compared to their mustard tasting area where they have 18 varieties of mustard for you to try - fig mustard, honey poppyseed mustard, garlic mustard, curry mustard, tomato mustard, reisling mustard, all quite delicious. If you like mustard, that is. They also had wild game sausages to try, and I highly recommend the wild boar. The saleswoman spoke perfect English and was exceptionally helpful!

After loading up on mustard, we headed back to the main drag for lunch. We stopped at a lovely restaurant where we sat outside on a deck adjacent to the Eifel Museum of Photography and Film. We ordered club soda (I LOVE this about Europe - you can get fizzy water almost anywhere) and the Eifel Toast, a pork escalope with mustard sauce and cheese (I did not know what an "escalope" was, but enjoyed saying it and did so at every opportunity). I figured since we were in the Eifel area and the mustard town, I'd order the dish with the mustard sauce. My entree was on the cheaper side, so I thought it would also be on the smallish side. This was not German thinking. I was brought a piping hot plate with a long piece of bread that reached across the entire oval plate, topped with chopped lettuce, topped with mustard cream sauce, topped with fried pork cutlet (escalope mystery solved), topped with more mustard cream sauce, topped with melted cheese. The lettuce did not fare well in this hot dish, turning into something remeniscent of what comes on a McDonalds McChicken sandwich, but the food was delicious! Hurray for pork escalope! I ate as much as I could, then gave away as much as people would let me, however, when the waitress came and picked up my plate, she looked at me and demanded, "What is this?!?!" She seemed shocked when I told her it was delicious but just too much. This is the second time I have been reprimanded in Germany for not cleaning my plate.

After lunch, we wandered through the picturesque town and Mrs. Puppy stocked up on printen (German gingerbread) while Mr. Puppy photographed everything. We also wandered through the handy crafts mall before heading home. Monschau was a fantastic place that I would absolutely recommend and am hoping we can make it back there before I leave as I deeply regret not buying wild boar sausage when I had the chance.

July 16th, Aachen

Yesterday was Pat-Pat and E's last day before they moved on to London, but Puppy had to work in the afternoon, so we went on a quick morning trip to Aachen. This time Jackie, Nancy D's very well-behaved dog, came with us to add general cuteness to the experience. Just a half hour drive away, Aachen is an adorable town that is famous for it's Imperial Cathedral, Kaiserdom, which is where Charlemagne is supposedly buried. We had lunch at a Nobis Printen cafe which specialized in gingerbread. I had a chicken curry wrap (surprisingly not as delicious as the one from the gas station) and a mystery dessert that looked as if they had made a long PVC pipe out of thin cake, filled it with cream, and thickly sliced it. Turns out it was a lemon cream cake and it was extremely fluffy and light.

After lunch, Puppy stayed outside with Jackie while Nancy D took us into the cathedral. It was HUGE, elaborately decorated, and closed. You could step just inside, but everything was blocked off with scaffolding.

*SuperNova Travel Tip: Do not put all of your hopes in one cathedral. Sights that you've always dreamed of seeing can be closed, under rennovation, impossible to find, outside in the rain, away on tour, or any number of other disappointing circumstances. It's important to remember not to fall apart because you didn't get to see the Mona Lisa. Usually the stories about your days that go wrong are your most interesting or funny and often the moments that you will remember the most clearly are the ones you didn't plan. Keep an open mind, the only thing that can ruin your trip is you.

Pat-Pat and E left early this morning and Puppy's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Puppy, arrived this afternoon. We'll head to Monschau tomorrow and get our mustard on.

Dussledorf

The day after I arrived, Puppy's cousin, Pat-Pat, and her friend, E, were scheduled to arrive. They were traveling across Europe to celebrate graduating from college and wanted to make a stop to see Puppy. So at 10:30am I reluctantly got up, showered, and we trekked back to the Dusseldorf airport. Once we had them in tow and found the car again, we headed into downtown Dusseldorf for lunch.

We stopped at Brauerei Schumacher, a brewery that specializes in alt bier (which is light and delicious) and I had my very first schnitzel experience. Maria from The Sound of Music had deceptively led me to believe that schnitzel had noodles, but I guess I misunderstood her meaning of the word "with," as schnitzel does not have noodles. Schnitzel, in fact, is a fried pork cutlet, not unsimilar to katsu in Japan, except in size of course. I had jaeger schnitzel, which means they cover the cutlet in a thick brown gravy with mushrooms, and it came with roasted potatoes and a side salad. Or rather I should say a small bowl of dressing with some lettuces floating in it. I also had an alt bier, of course, when in Rome. It was all quite delicious, however, it was also quite a lot and the man serving us gave me a disapproving remark when he took away my half eaten plate.

I was actually surprised that German food is really just bratwurst, potatoes, and bier, excuse me, beer. I had thought that was just what people associated with Germany, like sushi and Japan even though Japan has many other wonderful dishes. However, everything on the menu in the brewery was a large piece of meat and potatoes, albiet prepared and arranged in different ways (not unlike Mexican food in America). Now I realize of course that I have been to exactly one German restaurant in my time here, so it is more than possible that as I progress through my travels I will discover the many delicate layers to German cuisine. But from what I've heard and seen so far, I'm going to go ahead and doubt it.

After lunch we walked to an ice cream shop, Eis Pia, that was supposed to be the best in town, but I was disappointed to find that it was just a gelatto shop. And while gelatto is delicious, I was hoping to find an excellent German ice cream shop. The search continues!

After lunch we headed back to Puppy's farmhouse to let Pat-Pat and E settle and start some laundry, and we started to plan our trip to Amsterdam!

Jet Lag

I hate jet lag. I am sure that you are sitting there thinking, "Yes, well, who doesn't?" And of course you are right, there's no one out there staring off into space, dreaming of the delightful feeling of being unable to sleep at night and narcaleptic during the day. However, that in no way means I'm not going to complain about it right now. If you are of the "quit yer whining" mentality, feel free to skim through the next few paragraphs.

So let's time-line this out. I got into Dusseldorf, Germany at about 7pm on Tuesday. Nancy D picked me up at the airport and we drove back to my dear friend Puppy's adorable brick farm house out in the country. That night we just grilled steak and chatted and went to bed around 12:30am. Now, I had already been up for 2 days straight, minus the 2 hours I slept on the plane while they showed The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler (I think passing out right that movie was a defense mechanism), so it was only natural that I woke up at 5:00am the next morning. I did manage to fall back asleep, but knowing full-well that it was a mistake. Morning sleep is always hard sleep, riddled with messed up dreams, and I woke up at 10:30am groggy and feeling like I was made of lead. Which is always how one hopes to present oneself to their hosts.

That night we decided to go to Amsterdam the next day and stayed up till about 1:00am chatting and making plans. I went to bed, checked my email, snuggled under the covers, closed my eyes . . . and they sprang open. I was wide-flippin'-awake. We had to get up early to head out and no one likes hanging around a tired, grumpy traveler, so I tried everything to get to sleep. I read, I played hangman on my iPod, I got up for a few minutes and then tried again, I closed my eyes and counted in Japanese, I learned the alphabet song backwards, I got a drink, I went to the bathroom, I let my mind drift; and with each thing I tried, SPRING, my eyes popped open. I will admit that I did finally drift off at about 6:45am, which allowed me about an hour of solid rest before Puppy knocked on my door telling me it was time to get up.

I hate jet lag.

I have been asked how long it takes for me to get over jet lag. And the answer is, of course, that I have no idea. Nevermind the fact that I've flown overseas 7 times, I have absolutely no idea how long it takes for me to adjust. You only pay attention to it when it's making you miserable, you don't usually note the day you feel just normal. There are a lot of opinions out there about jet lag remedies and I have found them to generally be a mix of old wifeyness and youthful optimism. Here are a few theories I've heard, followed by some light scoffing:

• Some say that all you have to do is not go to sleep the first night; just stay up all night and then you're all set. This might work if you happen to be an energetic 20 year old who thinks nothing of all-nighters. However, the last time I stayed up all night and tried to go to work the next day, I thought I was going to die.
• Others say that you should get on a schedule as quickly as possible and stick to it. This is a great idea and if we could get airports, train stations, hotel clerks, and tourist attractions on board I think it could really work.
• People will corner you with lots of theories about drinking water and taking a variety of vitamin supplements. Which is never a bad idea, but not likely to actually prevent you from turning into a dragon lady.
• You could change your daily schedule at home before you leave. In fact, you already do, staying up late trying to get ready for your trip and lying awake at night worrying!
• There are a lot of expensive products on the market that claim to cure jet lag, and if you think that sounds like a promising option, then I have a magic wand you might be interested in . . .
• And my favorite; Just sleep on the plane. It's really quite simple, just pretend you are lying down and not sitting up, get over your qualms about lying your head on a stranger's shoulder, clear your mind of the screaming children and coughing passengers, develop the ability to immediately fall back asleep after the flight attendant wakes you up to make sure your super-effective seatbelt is fastened, become deaf to the pilot's completely unintelligable tidbits, and you're all set. And if you are one of those people who actually can just "sleep anywhere," then I hate you.

I actually did pretty well. I made it through the day in Amsterdam without being angry or hurtful, however, I'm not quite caught up yet either. We didn't get back till 3:00am this morning and I had to be up at 9:00am to visit Aachen. So, as far as traveling tips regarding jet lag, I really only have one:

*SuperNova Travel Tip: Do not kill the people you're traveling with/visiting.

Now, I'm going to take a nap.

July 12th, 2010

"Ack! What time is it?!?!? . . . 3am, back to sleep. ACK! What time is it?!?!?! . . . 4am, OK. ACK! Why's it so light outside??? . . . only 5:30. I guess I'm up."

I'm what you might call a nervous traveler. Every single time I fly, I worry that I will oversleep and miss my flight. My flight could be at 7pm and I would be up at 4:30am. So, I just tell myself that I'll sleep on the plane (which is a blatant lie) and get up. This morning I put on my carefully selected flying outfit, straightened my hair, and made myself up.

~SuperNova Travel Tip: Put some effort into getting ready for the plane. I know that it's a long flight and you want to be comfortable, but there are 2 very important things to remember: 1. you are in public 2. people can see you. Now you may be jumping to the conclusion that I am vain or too concerned about what other people think, and you would be correct. Flights do not always go as planned (more and more consistently it seems lately), and when I am depending solely on the goodwill of the airline agent I want to look like a pleasant, friendly individual, not the victim of a hostage situation. I am not saying that you should break out the high heels and eyelash curlers, but I am saying that sweatpants that say Hello Kitty across the seat and hair raked into a bun on the top of your head will not encourage people to go out of their way for you.

I will spare you most of the travel details because it was relatively uneventful. I will say that while many airports (and I saw many, I had 4 separate flights - Seattle, Chicago, Poland, Germany) point out that they now have free WiFi, my iPod pointed out that they were huge liars. I would also like to take a moment to brag that I got a month's worth of travel necessities into 1 carry-on bag (plus personal item)! It was a difficult selection proccess; many items applied for a position in my suitcase and many promising candidates were cut in the end, but I did it and with more than one outfit even! Would you like to know my secret?

~SuperNova Travel Secret: If you're going to a 1st world country, they probably have it there. Whatever it is, they probably have it. So if it's a liquid and not a specific prescription item, leave it behind and pick up some shampoo when you get there.

I would also like to comment on the frequently heard travel-related exclamation, "I don't know why I'm so hungry/tired, all I'm doing is sitting." People forget what an amazing work out traveling is. You are lifting carry-on in and out of overhead compartments (and catching items that may have shifted during flight), stressing about each and every arrival time and next depature time (stressing burns calories!), and walking miles and miles to connecting gates (your connecting flight's gate will only be close to your arrival gate if you have hours and hours of lay-over time. If you only have an hour to make your connection, it will be on the other side of the city, in which case you're also getting an excellent cardio work-out by sprinting). I'm thinking of marketing a new work out system that involves running around the airport, "Stress Your Way to a Thinner You."

I am actually quite shocked how easy my trip was. Yes, it was crazy long (I left at 11am Monday from Oregon and arrived at 7pm Tuesday in Germany) and of course there were minor things like children that would benefit from a strong tranquilizer, but it's been so long since I have had a travel day where one flight wasn't on time and so I missed ALL connecting flights that it seemed super easy.

July 11th, 2010

I wake up at the crack of dawn with my stomach in a knot. On a Sunday. It must be One Day Left Before I Fly to Europe day. There’s no point in trying to sleep, I have thousands of things to do and precious little time to do them in. I promptly get up, make breakfast, figure I have time to check my email, mess around on my computer, realize Sunday Morning is on, spend some quality time contemplating whether I should take a shower tonight or tomorrow morning before I leave while petting the cat, and then am ready to start seriously thinking about looking at my To Do list.

Technically, it’s my 300th To Do list. I love lists. Is this because I am enviously organized or obnoxiously anal? No, it’s because I’m a huge space cadet and am easily distracted by shiny things. If I didn’t have a list to keep me focused, I’d end up painting the cat’s claws a smart pink, which does not happen to be a priority To Do item the day before you fly. (I’m kidding of course, I’m not a crazy cat lady. I’d be much more likely to see if she’d let me put lip gloss on her.)

~SuperNova Travel Tip: Make lists. Things you want to get done before you leave, things you need to get done before you leave (yes, there’s a HUGE difference), and things you should pack. And do it in advance. Even if you have an excellent memory, life is distracting and traveling is stressful. You’re still going to forget something, there’s no preventing that, but this will help you forget less.

My list actually wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t left packing to the last minute. I ALWAYS pack at the last possible second. There are many reasons why; if you pack too far in advance, you find that you need something that you packed away and take it out and it never makes it back in, you forget what you’ve already packed and end up with a ridiculous number of socks, and, most importantly, I am an all-star procrastinator.

I did, in the end, get everything on my list done by the very reasonable hour of 8pm, I even made it to the gym for an hour (because going to the gym one day before I leave will most certainly offset the amazing array of German food I plan on trying). I should note that when I say “got everything on my list done” I mean that everything got crossed off, not that every individual thing got done. When you get down to the wire, eventually you have to just come to peace with the fact that the house will not be vacuumed before you leave, and you cross it off the list. The sooner you come to terms with this, the less stressful your day will be. A friend of mine, who was a first time traveler, said to me in a panic, “We should have started getting ready earlier!!!” I laughed and gently shook my head at his naiveté. It doesn’t matter when you start preparing for your big trip (“big trip” = any trip that involves more than one flight or requires you to be away from home for longer than 5 days), you will not get everything done. That’s because your brain keeps coming up with thoughtful things that “have” to be done before you leave. I am here to tell you that they don't. The world will not come to an end if the fruit bowl is not shaped in a pyramid before you leave. (Consequently, your pet will come to an end if arrangements aren’t made for it, so that definitely goes on the “needs to get done” list.)

*SuperNova says: “When it comes down to it, as long as you have your ID and your credit card, you will be fine. (Unless you’re going to a 3rd world country, then you should probably get some shots or something.)”