Heidelberg, Germany is TOTALLY worth visiting.

We love the travel writer/guru Rick Steves.  We love his show, and his books, and his advice is usually spot on!  However, in his Germany book he suggests not bothering to visit Heidelberg, as it is "stained almost beyond recognition" and "doesn't make it into Germany's top three weeks."  Despite his dislike of Heidelberg, last Saturday we decided to spend the day there.  Here are my tips on doing a day trip to Heidelberg with kids!  It would be worth doing an overnight, but the last minute hotels were too expensive on our most favorite hotel reservation site, www.booking.com, and it is a short train ride from Frankfurt, hence the day trip.

Why Heidelberg?  It's the oldest and most well known university town in Germany, with an adorable old town, handful of museums, fun shopping area, castle, and beautiful cathedral.  Plus, it's really beautiful and historic.

Getting There.  Deutsche Bahn is the train system in Germany - we got a day ticket for 44 Euros, which enabled all five of us to travel from Frankfurt and back on regional trains (not the super fast ICE train).  It took about an hour and a half, no big deal.  When we arrived in Heidelberg Hauptwache (the main train station) we considered taking a bus to the Altstadt (old town) but the busses were crowded for a stroller, and it is only a 20 minute walk, so we walked.  There's a tourist office at the train station that can give you a free, detailed map of the town.

THINGS TO DO!

We looked at Lonely Planet's Germany book, and read the few pages on Heidelberg and easily narrowed our activities down to enough to fill a busy, fun day.  After a quick lunch at one of Germany's countless bakeries, we headed to....

Studentenkarzer and Universitats Museum, Augustinergrasse 2, 3 Euro, closed Mondays.  The Studentenkarzer is the student jail, which was used from 1823-1914.  My kids loved this, and talked about it for days afterwards.  You can see the cells, the toilet, and there is crazy graffiti, poems, and murals all over the walls.

The Studentenkarzer is connected to the Universitats Museum.  We didn't spend much time here but did walk to the second floor to see the old lecture hall, which is really neat.  My kids thought it looked like church.  Nobody was there so we explored the podium area too.
 

Heiliggeistkirche, right in Marktplatz.

This is Heidelberg's biggest and most famous church, built around 1400.  I really like visiting old churches because they are so spectacular and amazing and old, and I love the peaceful beauty of them.  I don't try and get my kids bogged down in the history of them and we only spend a few minutes there, so my children like old churches too, they seem castle-like and magical to them.  We explored it, wrote wishes and gratitude on sticky notes to put on a prayer wall, they wrote their names in a guest book, and we payed a few Euro to climb the tower, which was awesome.  SO many windey steps, and such views at the top!  Totally worth doing!

Schloss Heidelberg (Heidelberg Castle)
At the edge of the old town there is a funicular that takes you right to the castle (Bergbahn Funicular), I believe it was about 12 Euro for our family to go on the funicular and for entrance to the castle.  You can go up the hill further as well, but we didn't, so I can't say what is up there!  We explored the castle on our own, deciding to skip the tours due to the kids short attention spans.  This castle is huge and beautiful, and is partially in ruins, so you can get a good sense of both it's age and imagine what it was like in it's glory.  There are a few cafes, an interesting pharmacy museum (Deutsches Apotheken-Museum) with a kid's area, and a neat basement-ey area with a snack bar where wine or beer was brewed in this enormous barrel.

We also visited the castle gardens (Schlossgarten) and sat out on a picnic blanket and relaxed in the shade.  There are great views of the castle, and some fountains.

Cool Science Thing....

In the fountains at the Schlossgarten there are protected amphibians.  The kids were fascinated by these close up views of salamanders and other little creatures.  There are tons of them!!!

Our Restaurant Recommendation....

After the Schloss we were ready for an early dinner and to head back to Frankfurt.  We wandered around looking for a perfectly child-friendly restaurant that was in the shade, not to crowded, and not too full of smokers.  We found the most awesome place!

Schmidts Heidelberg, Hauptstrasse 187, www.schmidts-heidelberg.de
This is a great restaurant with a big menu, in a great location, right in the center of the old town area of Heidelberg.  The food and beer was excellent, and they even have a HARRY POTTER THEMED KIDS MENU.  My daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan (as am I) and this was incredibly exciting to her.  The menu even says (in German) that if you can perform a spell and make food appear, your dinner costs 0 Euro.  The kids found this hysterical.

Overall Heidelberg is awesome and totally worth a short visit.  We loved it!  I don't know what Rick Steves was talking about!

Amy's Review of Moving to Frankfurt as an Expat

***  I see from my stats that this post gets a ton of traffic.  If YOU or a loved one are moving to Frankfurt feel free to comment below and I can help you with anything I have knowledge of, or help you find the right place to figure out what you need!*****


So we arrived here a few weeks ago, and have been so pleasantly surprised at basically everything about Frankfurt!  We are living in Nordend, which is right in the city itself.  We are in a perfect location, right on the U-Bahn (that's the subway, I keep calling it the T), maybe 3 blocks from an incredible park with climbing trees, and tons of structures, and a water area, around the corner from a Rewe (the local supermarket chain), and a 15 minute walk to My Zeil, the huge mall and shopping area in Frankfurt where we keep finding elaborate costumed promotions.  Frankfurt is such an awesome city to live in with kids!  There are so many playgrounds and parks, and they are all incredible.

Also, we do not have a car.  Maybe we will get one.  Maybe we will not.  It is undecided.  Because the train is on our corner, we can get the kids to Frankfurt International School easily on the train, and there is a school bus from our neighborhood as well.  Mike can take the train to work, and the trains are so awesome, fast, and prompt that taking trains has been quick and easy.  It also helps that coming from Boston I am used to bopping around the city with big strollers on public transportation!

And I have to mention all the FESTIVALS.  I had heard Germany was big on festivals, but this is ridiculous.  I feel like everywhere we go, every day, we stumble upon a huge kinderfestival.  They are all free and all have crazy rides, bouncy houses, games, and general awesomeness.  It's to the point where I am on purpose NOT posting photos of them on Facebook because it is silly how many there are!!!

 AND the POOLS!!!  Apparently people here love to swim.  There are something like 13 public pools in Frankfurt.  Some of them are inside, and some are outside.  They are all incredibly reasonably priced, me plus all three kids can swim for 90 minutes or longer for about 5-7 Euro.  We have visited four of them, and Maddie went to two others with her camp.  They all feel like luxury resorts, with slides, and shaded baby pools, rolling hills, landscaped flower gardens, and cafes.  It's amazing.

So overall, moving to Frankfurt as an expat is really fun and easy.  I didn't even address all the other super nice expats I have met, everyone is friendly and looking to do fun activities.  There are social groups, book clubs, and basically it seems like more fun stuff to do than there is time to do it.  If you have the chance to move here, do it!!  :)

Leaving on a jet plane....

We have been in Europe for a month now, and I am just now sitting down to blog.  I feel like I should address how it feels to actually leave home to go to Europe for three years.  It was hard!!

Moving is always inherently difficult, but there were certain things that made it easier, such as having just moved from the Back Bay to Brookline one year ago (almost exactly) so that I was not leaving this super emotional home that had a lot of memories, and also knowing we are renting our home in Brookline and not selling it, and having all the packers and movers help me with the logistics.

However, ignoring the logistics - it was really hard, mostly because I love my life in Brookline, I love all my friends, and all the stuff we do, and our neighborhood, and our neighbors, and our family, and Boston, and the kid's preschool, etc. etc. etc! It would be one thing if I was terribly bored and discontented, then it would be easy to walk away from my life in the US.  But, it was so awesome, and that made it hard!

It didn't change the fact however, that I know that moving here is the right thing for our family!  So anyway, all the packers came, and we had lots of tearful goodbyes, and a few sleepless nights getting ready to go, and then we actually left, after going on some rides and playing at the Devotion Carnival - what a great last thing to do while waiting for our car to take us to the airport.

We got in the car with all 3 kids, a bunch of suitcases and backpacks, and two slightly tranquilized meowing cats, and left.  On our way to the airport there was the most spectacular, amazing, incredible rainbow.  We took this photo out of the car window.

We watched the rainbow all the way to the airport, and it felt like the most auspicious start to this great adventure.  We will miss our friends and family terribly, and that totally sucks, but I think this is a sign that the universe is on our side!  

moving moving moving

Today our packers came.  They are so sweet and nice and worked so hard packing everything for us.  Our house is almost empty, and will be more so tomorrow.  Then, on Monday we leave for Germany, and then to vacation in Switzerland and thus our European adventure begins.  I have been so busy - it is no small task to divide a house into vacation luggage, air shipment, boat shipment, and storage, and have everything organized and gone through.  All while promoting a new book and being a mom to three little ones.  It's a lot!  But I've been handling it well I think.  I think it really helps that we have only lived here for one year, so I do not have so much history in this property that makes it hard to walk away from, and it's also helpful that we are renting it out instead of selling it.  The thing is that I love love love my life here, I adore my friends, and all our activities and things we do.  But, I know that it's the right choice, it'll be fun and amazing and we will learn a lot and be better people from it.  It's all good.

Amazon.. and The Story Behind My Tree Book

My book is on Amazon!  Click here to buy it!

This makes me feel so very proud, and so excited.  I came up with the idea for this book several years ago, and people keep asking me why I wrote this book, and how I thought it up.

Here's the story behind the story.

Basically, the book is just true.

Mike's parents have a lovely home in Edgartown, and we have been going there every summer ever since we have been together.  When Maddie was so little, she WOULD get woken up by the loud birds at the Vineyard at 5:00 a.m., and I'd whisk her off into town to get bagels at Espresso Love while everyone else slept to a more respectable time.  I loved these times, we would wander around the town together while it was all sleepy and peaceful, and look at the ocean, and it was beautiful and a wonderful start to our day.  On these walks we could not help but admire and discuss the TREMENDOUS PAGODA TREE, and I created a long and involved telling of what we call "the story of the tree."  I researched it a bit online and told this story like a million times.

I had this Uncle who passed away 12 years ago, almost exactly. Uncle Joe was very into saving trees, and boats and the sea, and he had a little white dog named Zep, and then another little white dog named Pandora, and he was amazing and I loved him very much.  It seemed awfully fitting to write this story about the tree and incorporate him and his dog as the inspiration for the captain.

So I wrote it, dedicated it to Uncle Joe, and found amazing Nicole Gsell to illustrate it.

A piece from a speech I gave on "Nurturing Your Child's Inner Artist" at USES's THINK ART THINK SMART event

I am a mother of 3, ages 7, 5, 2.  I was a corporate lawyer, and felt a calling to teach.  I got my Masters in Education and taught in 2nd and 5th grade classrooms.  Since having kids, I’ve taught art and theatre to preschool aged children, and I now teach preschool part time at the Corner Coop in brookline.  I also homeschool my daughter who is seven - and have for kindergarden and first grade.   I recently wrote a children’s book about a historic tree at Martha’s Vineyard, and I’m now working on another book which will come out next spring.  When I was asked to speak at this conference I was initially overwhelmed by the many hats I wear with respect to art and education and the many ways I could address this topic...perhaps that can be another book!

But I only have a few minutes right now...so I want to discuss what I feel is the truly most important way for an adult to nurture a child’s inner artist - or for that matter - anyone’s inner artist.  And that is through the messages we give.  

When we are parenting, teaching, babysitting, or caring for children we are constantly sending messages to our children - messages about what is good and bad, desirable and undesirable, important and unimportant.  We send these messages explicitly, by telling children that certain things are “good” or “bad.”  Or by sharing certain stories or anecdotes designed to teach our children.  We implicitly send messages by choosing activities and schools and playdates for our children, and for how we allow them to spend their free time.  We send messages by what - if any - television we allow them to watch, what books we read to them, and by how we as adults interact with other adults, how we as adults spend our free time, and how we as adults interact with the world as a whole.

So when we consider the plight of arts in education - a plight that we at this conference are all aware of, a plight we all want to work to changing - we cannot ignore that we as parents or caregivers can be really incredibly powerful figures of influence in the development of our children as artists.

If we set an intention today, this moment, at this conference to make art and artistic endeavors a priority in our families and communities, we can impact change.  Let me give you an example.  Let’s say a second grader comes home with a story written about an adventure.  The story is cute and funny, and has a couple of illustrations.  Lets imagine reading the story.  The parent might say, “Wow, what a great story!  You’re such a good writer.”  Or imagine the child got a good grade on the story - we as adults would probably praise the grade.  If we then look at this story with the perspective of making arts a priority, we would probably focus first on the illustrations.  We would tell the child, “Wow, you are a great artist.” and then, “It’s a great story.”  You might discuss how certain elements of the story are in the illustrations.  You could praise the color scheme, and the expressions on the drawings of people or animals.   You could ask the child to explain the pictures.

A recent article discussing this issue stated, '"Art does not solve problems, but makes us aware of their existence," sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz has said. Arts education, on the other hand, does solve problems. Years of research show that it's closely linked to almost everything that we as a nation say we want for our children and demand from our schools: academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity. Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill. Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork."

We all know that children who do art are smarter, more well adusted, and happier.  So, don’t we all want our children to be artists?  We need to send them the messages that allows them to identifiy themselves as artists.  Adults can do that by simply saying to children on a daily basis, “You are a really good artist.”  Or, “My little artist, can you get your shoes on so we can go?”  Or “Hey artsy kiddo - go brush your teeth.”  

We can also point out both the author AND the illustrator when we read books to our children.  We can take them to art galleries and art museums, and point out art in public places, statues, paintings, murals, graffiti, animation, architecture, art is everywhere.  Most of us live in Boston, a city rich in art, history, and beauty.  The definition of art is as broad as you make it.  Teach your children, and the children around you that art is everywhere, art is important, and that they are creators of beautiful, important art.

I created this sheet of little phrases and conversation starters about art.  I’ll have them at our table after this talk (email me and I will send you one amymacdoug@gmail.com).  Please stop by and grab one, and hang it on your fridge, or on a cabinet or cork board, somewhere you will see it and be reminded to send positive messages about art to your children.  The more they hear it, the more they will believe it and identify with the fact that they are all amazing artists, and that they should draw, paint, create in any way.  That their art is important, and valuable, and unique, and excellent.

The great majority of preschoolers consider themselves to be artists.  This number dwindles as children get older.  This is because schools, society, and parents teach children that art is NOT as important as math, as reading, as writing, as “real” school.  Art class is a distant memory in many schools, replaced by a perception that classroom teachers can implement art by integrating it into other, more important subjects.  I don’t think art plays a big part of the MCAS.  If we decide as parents and caregivers, as adults, that art is an integral part of life and an integralp part of real school, and make that our priority, our children will hear these messages.  They will know that they are artists - for all of us are artists, there is truly no bad art - and they will know that art is important, art is necessary, and art is something to care about.  

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”

Pablo Picasso

The Same House

We got back from Frankfurt yesterday.  We signed a lease - in German - so who knows what it really says?  Our relocation person said it was fine and so we signed it.  Anyhow, it starts July 1 and has radiant floor heating which is something very specific I wanted.  But in every way, it's perfect, very similar to our old house in Back Bay, which I wanted, since I love our Brookline house but I think it's a bit too big for our needs right now.  Best location, brand new, big elevator apartment building, big deck, all fabulouso, and funnily enough it has the same open floor plan and kitchen with an island as this house and our old house and our house before that, we keep moving to the same house over and over...  

It makes it all seem so real that we are going there.  I was super impressed with Frankfurt though, I wanted to move there so we could travel more and for the adventure of it all but after being there I am excited to live THERE, just so many nice parks and the trains are fast and easy, and the people are SO NICE.  People say Germans can be unfriendly but honestly I think they are THE nicest people ever.  My experience is that they are darlings, and they love my children, and are very kind and helpful.  Very exciting.