We had a couple of near-major disasters but luckily everything worked out in the end. As soon as we had 5 people and about 200 lbs of luggage crammed in my little Volkswagen, on our way from picking up mom and Dave at the airport toward "Romantische Strasse" (Romantic Road), warning lights I didn't even know I had, started going off on my dash. After many stops, we decided to turn around and head home... despite the fact we were about 2 hours away. We made it home alive (however, I'm not sure my car was) and we rented an 8-seater Mercedes Benz van for the week. This was much more comfortable and reliable, to say the least. Here is Mom and Kristine "vannin' it": 
Our first trip was to the Bavarian Alps to see the famous Neuschwanstein castle, built by King Ludwig (this is the castle that the Disney Castle was designed after). We stayed the night in Austria at this adorable, family-run hotel that served the best dinner and breakfast we could have hoped for. We stayed up late that night as the guys enjoyed a few brews in the bar, the ladies went for a walk and then we all joined together in Mom and Dave's room for a game of Rummy. 
The next day, we set out in search of our castles. Here we are hiking the steep hill leading to Neuschwanstein:
There was a lot of snow and fog that day. Even at the entrance of the castle, you could hardly see the entirity of it, as the fog was so thick (let alone trying to see the beautiful Alps an forest that surrounded the castle). 
We all bought postcards so we knew what it could have looked like. Here is Kurt in his Bavarian hat that he got. He also got a very nice feather pin to go with it.
The tour of the castle was incredible... we weren't allowed to take photos inside but everything was to the hilt, over-the-top, extravagant in design. We saw two castles; here are photos from the first one we saw ("Hohenswangau"); the one King Ludwig grew up in. 
Warming up over some Bavarian specialties for lunch....
After this trip, we headed for Holland to see Amsterdam and Volendam. Kurt wasn't able to go with us on this excursion because he had to work. It was on our way to Holland that we encountered our second "near disaster". If you remember from my blog about Belgium, you'll recall that there aren't many gas stations in Belgium. This little tidbit of useful information was unknown by our lead driver. So, we were looking for a gas station at 1/4 of a tank... we were looking even harder at 1/8 of a tank. We pulled off the autobahn into a little Belgian town and saw a closed and abandoned station. We came across an old woman who only spoke French. "Gas?" "Diesel?" she didn't understand. Finally, we pointed to our empty gauge and she told us the name of a town about 7 km down the road. Off we went... only they didn't have any gas stations either. So now we are blinking empty on our tank, in the middle of some random town in Belgium and at that point, we decided there were no gas stations in the entire country. Jim and I started hiking up the road and flagged down a car and luckily the gentleman spoke English and directed us to "4 stations" another 7-8 km away. We might have to push the car there but we were gonna give it a try. When we saw it, it was as if the Heavens opened up and were glowing down on it. After we had a full tank of diesel, a bathroom break, souvenir Belgian chocolate and got our heart rates back to normal sinus rhythm, we climbed back into the van and continued into Holland. This is where we had "near disaster number three". The van started flashing an oil can picture and a warning message in German. Jim got Mom's translation book and tried translating. We didn't get it. So, I hunted down the phone number for Hertz and tried repeating the message to them over the phone. Dave bought some oil and topped us off. After worrying about it for some time, we determined that we would continue on. Making our way into the heart of Amsterdam was insane! One way streets, bikers EVERYWHERE and going in every direction.... and our massive van was absolutely the biggest vehicle in the entire city! Look at all these bikes... that parking garage in the distance of this photo had no cars in it, just bikes!
After a few hours of "near death by bike attacks", we finally made our way to the hotel, only to find out we had to park outside of the city and take the tram in. So, we did. On our way back, we saw the Anne Frank house. Here is Mom, Kristine and I with Anne' Frank's statue, a typical Dutch cheese store and musicians in the streets:
We then split our large group into two, so everyone could see and do what they wanted and met back up for dinner. I have never seen so many bikes in my life! We even encountered our first bike rush hour. The city itself was adorable with little canals circling the city every couple of blocks, bridges, little boats and of course many flowers. The buildings raised high into the sky and were pressed right up beside each other. 
Even if you don't intend on going into the Red Light District, if you are walking in Amsterdam after dark, you will find yourself in it. It encompasses many streets and blocks. You knew you were approaching a "worker" because of the red lights above the windows. It was like the whole city was lit up in a red glow. 
The next day, we visited the flower market and saw the vast array of flowers. They didn't just have tulips... they had everything! The flowers were beautiful! 
Kristine and I swore that if we ever lived in this city, we would have fresh flowers on our table everyday. Since I can't keep plants or flowers alive for the life of me, I opted for wooden tulips to bring home :) 
We did find the Hard Rock Cafe so I could get Kurt his shirt, to show him we were thinking of him in his absence. 
We also found the Heineken brewery where Mom, Dave and Jim went on the tour. Kristine and I sifted through the myriad of "coffee shops" and found one that really served coffee... and sampled a few Dutch desserts as well. .
There were wooden shoes of every color and size.... lining the ceilings and walls of shops... amazing!
Afterwards, we met back up with the rest of our group, made our way back to the van and headed toward the fishing village of Volendam. It would have been nice to spend a whole day in Volendam, exploring the beaches, wharfs, ships and lighthouses, but we were on a tight schedule. We strolled the main street, Mom found a shop that was going out of business and bought a lot of "Blue Delph" pottery. After that, we grabbed some fish and chips in a local pub. Jim and Kristine sampled some gelato and Dave sampled some fresh, pickled herring. It was an adorable village and as we left, we saw a couple of windmills along the road. It was 1800 and we were 6 hours from home and I had to be up for work at 0500 for work... we had to boot-scoot. 
Another day, we planned on going to Strausbourg, France but unfortunately my internet decided to go on the blitz (near disaster number four) and we couldn't bring up any tourism info or maps of the city. We opted to go down the "WeinStrasse" (Wine Road) into the town of Bad Durkheim. Again, Kurt was super busy with work and was unable to come with so we ventured on our journey without him. We passed many of the popular vineyards of the region. In Bad Durkhem, we did some shopping, sampled some wine in order to find those perfect couple bottles they could bring back home with them. I had eaten at the "Huge Wine Barrel" before with some of the girls I worked with and we enjoyed it... but I think they change the menu... because after raving about this restaurant to my family and making it our pick for lunch that afternoon, we were all greatly disappointed. Well, Dave enjoyed his choice of blood sausage and sauerkraut. Mom by far had the worst of us all. Having ordered "sausage salad" she was given a plate of what looked like a mound of sliced spam on a pile of pickles. She was a trooper and made her way through about half of it. I only wish we had a picture of it to show you! 
Jim and Kristine left on Friday but not before a celebratory birthday breakfast in my honor! :)
That night, Kurt cooked us his famed ribeye steak and home fries... delicious. He and Mom sat down and had a little guitar jamming session :) 
The next day, Kurt, Mom, Dave and I drove to the town of Backarack, along the Rhine River. We wondered through this adorable, wall-enclosed town and found an ideal place to stop for a delicious lunch. 
After this, we wondered down the river and found a boat tour that was going to leave in 15 minutes, so on we got and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day while drifting down the Rhine. It was a perfect way to enjoy the sun that had previously evaded us all week. 
The next day, Mom and Dave got to see a soccer game at the local club. Then, we went to the Fitzpatricks' house for dinner and fellowship. Mom spent the rest of the evening packing, for a trip that had quickly drawn to a close. The next day, I brought them to the airport so they could catch their flight. Thanks for coming everyone, we loved having you!!!
After:
This is the shortest I've ever had my hair. I decided to go for a new style as well, so I got side sweeping bangs and layers too, which was another big step - but I love it! Most importantly, a child is now one step closer to having a wig, and to having their dignity and sense of identity restored!
"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.... This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God". - 2 Corinthians 9:7,12
On our way from Dublin to Killarney, we drove through Cashel and stopped to visit "The Rock of Cashel". An old stone fortress dating back to the 12th century.
That night after arriving in Killarney, we went out to a local favorite "Paddy's" for Valentine's Day dinner. We enjoyed smoked salmon with herbal cream cheese on milled bread (thankfully recommended by Jim when he went to Ireland), king prawns, roasted duck, tender sirloin steak and for dessert we shared some warm apple crumble with warm vanilla sauce and Toblerone cheesecake. It was delicious!! So much for New Year's resolutions... ;)
After staying the night at the beautiful Killarney Oaks Hotel and enjoying a full Irish breakfast the next morning, we set out in the car to drive "The Ring of Kerry" - Ireland's most beautiful countryside along the coast: 
There were sheep everywhere... in the fields, in the yards, on the roads.... I wanted to take one home as a souvenir but Kurt didn't think customs (or our landlord) would appreciate that idea.
We set back on the road through Limerick and back to Dublin. We wanted to see the Cliffs of Moher in county Claire but we were in a time crunch and weren't able to make it. As it was, we didn't arrive into Dublin until after 2100. We took a cab to Temple Bar (a main street in downtown Dublin with restaurants and pubs) and had some fresh oysters, fresh Atlantic seafood chowder and corned beef and cabbage. Kurt also found his Hard Rock Cafe and got his t-shirt :)
Ireland was a great trip but definitely requires more than three days! It would have been nice if we'd had a whole week to spend there... maybe next time! ;)
Here is Flat Stanley getting examined by one of our techs and by Dr. Morales:
Here is Flat Stanley waiting on a warmer for a baby to be born:
Watching the delivery must have been too much for him:
Luckily we were prepared and were able to help him out... "CLEAR!"
Flat Stanley wanted to see the OR, where all the c-sections occur. Here we are getting ready: 
Flat Stanley on the OR table:
He wanted to say hello to Landstuhl's security cameras... but got in trouble because security called and wanted to know what he was up to!
