Princess Castles and Grimm's Tales

One of the amazing things about living in Germany with children is the fact that many fairy tales originated here.  The Grimm's tales were created here, and thus one can really travel the "Fairy Tale Route" and visit castles, forests, and towns from these tales.  We've noticed also that the woods here are different from those in New England, there are less bugs and they seem more fantastical.  You can really imagine a prince galloping through the underbrush or Little Red Riding Hood (or Little Red Cap, as she was originally known) picking wildflowers.

It's worth noting that the original Grimm's Tales are really worth reading - they are much darker and (we think) more entertaining than the Americanized versions we read in the United States and watch in Disney movies.   We have this book, and love it.

In the past months, we took our children to three "princess castles" - Snow White's castle, Rapunzel's Castle, and Sleeping Beauty's Castle.  Here were our thoughts!

Snow White's Castle

 Close to Frankfurt is the small town of Lohr am Main.  It contains what is now known as the Spessart Museum, a beautiful castle which was the home of the original Snow White.  If you call the Lohr tourist office, they can arrange an English-speaking guide to take you around the museum (which is what we did).  Alternatively, it can be explored independently.  This museum explains the history of Lohr and it's surrounding areas, and the story of Snow White.  For example, the area around Lohr contained many mines, and people who lived in the mines often suffered stunted growth (the seven dwarves), there was indeed an evil and murderous step-mother with a "magic mirror", which is on display in the castle, and Snow White did flee through the woods.  In the original Grimm's story, the step mother must dance in hot iron shoes until she dies (very dark!), and the museum shows how such shoes would have been made.  Lohr is also a cute town to explore, visit the river, and have lunch among the half-timbered houses.  This is a great, memorable day trip for any child (or adult) familiar with the Snow White story.  And, the darkness of the original Grimm's fable makes this delightful to both boys and girls.


Rapunzel's Castle

A couple of hours northeast of Frankfurt is what is referred to as Rapunzels' Castle, in the tiny town of Trendelberg.  It is called Hotel Burg Trendelberg, and when my mother was visiting we drove up and stayed over for one night.

We drove to Trendelberg through the town of Kassel, and visited and had lunch at  Berkpark Wilhelmshohe, a castle with amazing grounds and gravity powered water features.  We then drove to Trendelberg.  This is really the German countryside - very pastoral and lots of little villages.  It is incredibly picturesque.

We arrived at Rapunzel's Castle and parked near the tower.  It has a long braided rope hanging down from it.  We entered the castle courtyard and were completely in awe of the beauty and magic.  To top it off, the castle regularly lets re-enactors use their grounds for sword fighting practice, so we walked into a full show of sword fighting.  We checked into our rooms, which were spectacular, and then were greeted in the courtyard by Rapunzel herself, who told us her story (in German).  We climbed the very precarious steps in the tower, gawked at the views, found A LOT OF four leaf clovers in the yard, played around the castle, and had a fancy dinner in the restaurant.   It was sheer magic.  I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

About a 20 minute drive from Rapunzel's Castle is Sleeping Beauty's Castle, which is also a hotel, called Dornroeschenschloss, in Sababurg.  Adjacent to the castle is a wild animal park, which I really wanted to visit, but we were too pressed for time.  We did however, visit the hotel and have a snack and hot chocolate.  The children speculated as to whether Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel had playdates.  Sleeping Beauty's castle is larger than Rapunzels, and in our opinion, while very beautiful, not nearly as quaint or child- friendly.  We were glad to have chosen to stay in the Rapunzel castle rather than Sleeping Beauty's.  

Magical travels...
Germany is an amazing place to explore the origins of many famous fairy tales.  Visiting such castles is sure to delight the child in all of us.  It's important to bring magic to our travels, and the German Fairy Tale Route is a great way to do this!

Our 9 tips for a weekend in Amsterdam with kids!

A few weeks ago we took the fast train from Frankfurt to Amsterdam for the weekend.  We were visiting friends, and absolutely fell in LOVE with Amsterdam.  It is a fascinating, vibrant, and fabulous city.  I would move there in a second!!!

Where we stayed...
Our friends recommended we stay near to the main museums and the large and lush Vondelpark, at Hotel Mosaic City Center.  This is not in the canal district, or the red light district, but is a great central spot to access the entire city.

What do do?
1. EXPLORE on foot!
Amsterdam is an amazing city to explore on foot.  It is full of little boutiques, restaurants, museums, trillions of bikes, and the CANALS.  It's gorgeous and fascinating.  We marveled at house boats, snacked at cheese shops, bought street art, gawked atsoccer madness, noted all things ORANGE (the national color), and even snuck some covert peeks at the various marijuana bars, prostitutes, and sex shops.

Amsterdam is very well known for it's pot and prostitutes.  We read in various guidebooks that the red light district is completely safe and very touristy, so we decided to wander through.  It's in the middle of the historic canals and is a beautiful part of the city.  However, the sex shops and prostitutes are visible.  Our kids (ages 3, 6, and 8) giggled at some merchandise but were otherwise unfazed by the lewdness.  There are Dutch families who live in the Red Light District, and we did see many children out and about with their families, so it was not uncomfortable that we were there with children.

2.  The Van Gogh Museum
It's always a delicate balance while traveling with children - exposing them to art and museums while not being boring.  The Van Gogh museum does this perfectly.  The children each got a scavenger hunt booklet that directed them around the museum with clues to answer a secret message.  We learned a lot about Van Gogh and had a very enjoyable morning.  They are now "Van Gogh experts!"

3.  Vondel Park and KinderKookKafe
Vondel Park is the central park of Amsterdam.  It is a beautiful park with playgrounds and various gardens.  It also contains the Kinder Kook Kafe.  This small restaurant was a HUGE hit with our three little ones.  At this restaurant when one orders a meal, they receive a platter with all the ingredients for the meal, which is prepared by the children.  We loved this!


4.  Poffertjes!  YUM!!
Amsterdam is full of restaurants advertising poffertjes, tiny, sweet, delicious Dutch pancakes.  It's worth a stop to find a canal-side restaurant and indulge!!

5.  CANALS...by boat!
We did two boat tours while in Amsterdam, we went on a guided boat tour and also rented a paddle boat.  We drove by sights such as Anne Frank's house (which needs to be seen with reservations, and only by children older than ours), peeked in the windows of house boats, and enjoyed the beauty of Amsterdam.  The paddle boat was my personal favorite!!

6.  Katten Kabinet
I had read about a privately run museum containing artwork related to cats, in a canal-side mansion, so we decided to check it out.  It was an interestingly random way to see art, but we enjoyed it.  We even caught sight of a few of the cats that reside in the historic mansion and some chickens in the back yard.

7.  Sculpture!
There are so many famous sculptures and squares dotted throughout the city.  Some, like this one, can really be enjoyed up close and personal!!!  Next time, I would like to go to the Rijksmuseum to see the actual painting!

8.  Flower Market
The Amsterdam Flower Market is extremely famous, and is a worthwhile place to walk through, especially with children.  The colors, smells, and myriad of bulbs, seeds, and other flower-related items are incredible.  We bought some black tulip bulbs here!

9.  Enjoy and have FUN!!
Dutch people are so nice, the food is great, and city is gorgeous, and the museums and public squares are fascinating.  Amsterdam is an incredibly fun place to visit!!

Things We Learned About Luxembourg

We recently went to Luxembourg for a weekend.  It's a short drive from Frankfurt, and we found a cheap hotel near to downtown on Booking.com.   Before going to Luxembourg, we really knew nothing about it.  Here are some interesting things we learned....

1.  Luxembourg City has a ravine - making it a city with a lot of natural beauty.
The biggest surprise I had about Luxembourg was how beautiful it is!  I expected it to be pretty, safe, and interesting, but I did not realize that it is basically built around and within a ravine.  There are many trails, parks, and bridges which are spectacular.  It's a great city to explore on foot.

2.  The Hop-On Hop-Off Bus is an easy way to get to know the city.
We explored the downtown and historic areas of Luxembourg City on foot, but enjoyed the double decker hop-on hop-off bus tour to get a sense of the city as a whole, and the immense amount of banking and industry.  Luxembourg is a really wealthy place!


3.  Luxembourg has a Grand Duke!
Luxembourg is the last "grand duchy" in the world.  The historic center of Luxembourg has a small castle, with a patrolling guard (with a gun).  This was super interesting to our kids.  If you go, we highly recommend getting hot chocolate at the "Chocolate House", the chocolate, tea and coffee shop across from the guard.

4.  Lastly, and MOST IMPORTANT, you have to go see the US and German World War II Cemeteries.
The Luxembourg American Cemetery contains remains from about 5,000 American soldiers who gave their lives fighting the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.  It is a short drive from Luxembourg City and an absolute must-see.  It is immaculately maintained (the grass looks like a golf course) and a very peaceful and somber place.  Our children were awed by the sacrifice these brave souls made.  It is also worth noting that General Patton is buried there.

A few minutes away from the American Cemetery is the Sandweiler German Cemetery, which contains the remains of over 10,000 German soldiers from the same battles.  It is, as would be expected, significantly less-well maintained (with wildflowers and some weeds growing around the gravestones).  To see the two cemeteries juxtaposed is a poignant reminder of the tragic loss of life on both sides in any military battle.

5.  Luxembourg is a great weekend destination!
We had fun exploring the city, providing us, and the children, with a moment to remember the fallen during World War II, and learned quite a lot.  Luxembourg is worth a visit!


  

Schlaf im Stroh! Sleeping in the Hay in Switzerland!!!

I recently learned of a unique way to vacation in the gorgeous - but expensive - country of Switzerland.  Farms all over Switzerland offer a very budget-friendly way to stay in Switzerland - by sleeping in a barn in straw.  I adore animals and farms and nature so I thought this sounded like the best idea ever.  Then, a wonderful friend decided that her family and their friends would join us for a few days of Schlaf-ing im Stroh!  Here's what happened....


The Schlaf im Stroh Website
All of the farms that participate in this program display their information on a central website, which is really comprehensive and really helpful.  You can find it in German, French or English here: http://www.schlaf-im-stroh.ch/en/.  The farms are all organized according to amenities, and are regularly inspected by the Schlaf im Stroh organization.  You can literally sleep in the straw, in a dormitory, camp, or sleep in apartments, depending on what the farm has to offer.

One tip if you go - you should ask if the farm is hosting any school groups or camp groups during your stay.  Our second night at the farm there was a large school group, it did not pose a problem for us, but may for some.

Where we stayed....
We were three families traveling, with 5 adults and 8 kids among us.  We decided we wanted a farm that had animals, and was not too far of a drive from Frankfurt.  This led us to Bolderhof Farm, you can check out their website here: http://www.bolderhof.ch.  We stayed for two nights, one night in the straw and one night in a dormitory.

What we did....

It was REALLY FUN.  The farm is gorgeous, in a very picturesque area in the tiny town of Hemishofen, near Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland near the German border.  We followed signs through the countryside to find the farm, and got a lovely tour upon arrival.  This particular farm sells many organic vegetables, has many cows and also water buffalo (to make buffalo mozzarella).  There was a dog and at least one cat, and a few extremely tame chickens wandering about.

We were shown to our sleeping area, in the loft of the barn.  Of course the kids wanted to all get situated and pick their sleeping spots.  The loft was full of soft straw, and had a place to keep our bags and two bathrooms with showers.  The barn is equipped with light blocking shades, which was a plus as the days here are quite long in the summer.  We were each given a wool blanket and a sheet which we spread over the straw, and we put our pillows and sleeping bags over the sheet.  The farm had sleeping bags available for rent as well.

The barn houses the feeding and milking area for the cows and water buffalo, and also has a sweet area for kids to play in the straw, with shovels and rakes to arrange the straw.  This was a big hit.

Close to the farm is a lovely section of the Rhine River for swimming with a small beach.  We walked there and took a dip, it was so picturesque and delightful.  The next day we drove up-stream a bit to a larger park area along the Rhine and swam there as well.  

At dinnertime we were served a delicious farm supper, outside, and then the children played with the various riding toys and games.  It was an absolute blast.

And how did we sleep??
The straw was surprisingly comfortable, and due to the light blocking shades, it was dark and the birds nesting in the rafters did not wake us up at dawn, they slept until we all awoke, around 6:30, and raised the blinds.  My son is a restless sleeper and wound up off of his sheet and in the actual straw, so he got some bug bites, but the rest of us were pretty much unscathed.

Our second night we were in the dormitory, and that was very comfortable, although a bit warm!

Farm Chores and Cheese Making and Cow Riding!
The farm offers a lot to keep it's guests occupied!  We did farm chores (bring rain boots!) - we had to bring in the cows and water buffalo from pasture, which was hysterical.  The cows kept getting distracted and eating grass along the way.  The water buffalo are much smarter and followed directions nicely.  We also helped with milking, which was really fun.

We participated in a cheese making class, which was a highlight, and very child-friendly.  We were able to customize our cheese with a variety of fresh ingredients and package it in wooden containers which the farm personalized for us - a nice touch!  As the cheese was setting, we got a tour of the vegetable fields with some eye-opening information about the differences between organic and non-organic produce, and genetically modified produce.  On the tour we found that the farm has a delivery service, and guests can "shop" here to find lunch items - delicious!

Bolderhof has tamed some of it's cows and trained them for cow riding!  They have a variety of options for cow riding, some of which are several hours long and probably very beautiful, but we just let the kids do a quick loop around the farm.

And it's in a beautiful part of Switzerland!
This section of Switzerland is countryside, not the Alps.  It is farmland, small quaint towns, and castles.  Absolutely spectacular!  About 20 minutes from the farm is the Rhine Falls, check out it's website here:  http://www.rheinfall.ch.  We stopped there on the way home and ate lunch at a cafe, but I would really like to go back and ride one of the boat tours that go close to the falls.

Overall...
Our Schlaf im Stroh experience was great.  I really enjoy farms, and loved sharing this unique experience with friends.  I would recommend it!