We left on Wednesday after school for Frankfurt. The kids had Friday off and it was the end of the term for Andy, so they only missed one, relatively unimportant, day of school for our trip. Plus, all the teachers thought it was pretty cool that we were taking the kids to Europe so were more than accommodating. We got very little sleep on the plane and landed in Frankfurt mid-morning. Before we left Amanda was really nervous about having to sleep on the plane and was convinced we were going to crash and die. When we got off the plane she had decided that she wanted to live on an airplane. Tired and all I would declare that a success.
Charlie had a meeting at 1:30p so we got a room at the airport hotel so we could shower and change, but we were flying on to Vienna that night so we didn't get too comfortable. After he left for his meeting, I took the kids into town. Frankfurt was tough. We were so tired and the only words I know in German are Thank You and You're Welcome, which doesn't get you far. Plus, the trains were not as easy as in other countries like Paris or London. But, we finally figured it out, although Andy (who knows everything) was convinced I was an idiot, and hopped on a train for a few stops to the nearby town. We were looking for a certain restaurant that the concierge had recommended, but as we were walking by a different restaurant the waiter sort of made us come in to eat and I was way too tired to fight. So, our first and only meal in Germany was at an Italian restaurant, but none of us cared too much.
We only had a few hours so we walked around the cute little town, got ice cream, bought candy - you know, the important stuff. We were all back to the hotel by 7p and then to the airport to head to Vienna. The next morning Charlie left again for more meetings and the kids and I were on our own. We found a cute little pastry shop and then a park where we ran into a lady who was from Boulder (crazy!) and a group of school children that all spoke English (turns out the owner was from California and started an English Kindergarten - which there was ages 3-6). Not at all what I was expecting but kind of cool.
When Charlie got back we had dinner and then went to a music museum that was supposed to be awesome but I didn't think was that interesting. Oh well, at least we can say we've been there. On Saturday we went to a palace and then on Sunday went to a little amusement park with a thing like a Ferris Wheel where you went around and could see the whole city. This is the part that was different about traveling with the kids. You can't take them to all the stuff you want to do and expect them to be quite and good and interested. They are interested to a point, but you just have to do some stupid, fun, kid stuff too. So when people ask me "Did you have the best time?", we had a great time but it was different from every other time I have been to Europe because we had to make it more kid focused.
I was happy to leave Vienna on Monday morning for Paris for multiple reasons, but we sure did enjoy the nice big breakfast at the hotel and the candies at the front desk.
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