Mi Vida Dulce: September 2012

Can you read any of that behind them? Neither can I. I am thankful for a husband who has done MUCH world traveling and can get us around. These train station tunnels were overwhelming and hard to navigate for me. Thankfully, most Germans speak English and are willing to help. We asked for help more than once.
This was in German and I can't get it in the spot I want below.

European Travels - Fehrman Family

Since this blog started as a place for me to jot down my Spanish and European adventures, I thought I'd begin by telling you about our trips this past year. Don't worry, I'm sharing in nutshell form. No history lessons (you have google). Just my opinions and view points.

Ready, set, go...

December 2011
Gibraltar, UK

Eating dinner on the Spanish side

Matt and I took the whole family for a one night stay to see The Rock. We spent the night in a GREAT hotel, AC Marriott, on the Spanish side.

The first afternoon we drove around Gibraltar and played at the beautiful park near the base of The Rock. We enjoyed hearing our native language, English, and using "pounds" as the currency instead of Euros.

The next morning we got an early start and headed to The Rock.

I was terrified of the monkeys. But, we were told that if we kept our bags close and did not entice them, they would leave us alone. Thankfully, "they" were right.

Unfortunately, we did not know that in order to get a full tour, we should have taken the Bus Tour from the base of The Rock instead of the gondola ride up. We ended up walking FOREVER down the rock to a cave that we couldn't tour, then back up to catch the gondola back down. Matt even tried to pay some local workes at the Pub near the cave to drive us down. That was a no go. We were all so tired. I had Annalise in the front carrier and Ada switched between walking and Matt's shoulders.

Here's Ada posing by a sign on our way down. We were trying to get to the cave.

Here we are after our hike down where Matt tried to pay someone to drive us down.

Needless to say, we were wiped out! Then, we waited in the border patrol line for over an hour to get back into Spain! Ugh. We made it safely home late that afternoon.

Even with our mishaps, Matt and I decided that we would do that trip again. Gibraltar has a unique history and it's so strange how it's in Spain, but owned by the UK. And, the airstrip is cool to see. They shut down the roads in and out when an airplane is taking off or landing.

Airstrip along the main road into Gibraltar, once you've crossed the border.

Also, from the top of The Rock you can see Spain, Morocco (Africa), the Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea...all from ONE spot! It felt surreal (as all my trips have felt since this first one) to be standing in a place that I'd only READ about prior to my visit.

That's Morocco in the distance.

Oh, and I nursed Annalise at the top of The Rock. That was cool too.

Me nursing my baby. Good one of me, isn't it! HA!

March 2012
Venice, Italy

Yes, my husband took me to the romantic city of Venice. And, it was only a hop, skip and a jump from where we live in Spain. It felt that way anyway. We decided to take Abigail with us to spend some one on one time with her for 4 days.

Adam would have a turn soon...to Germany...you'll read about that later.

We flew out from Sevilla. This city has become my favorite, so far. I have been there about 5 times now and will continue to go back.

Creepy hotel we stayed at in Sevilla, near the airport the night before our early flight.

Parked back here...here's the gate opening to the creepy hotel.

None of us slept much. Creaks, noises and overall creepiness. The beds must have been 70 years old.

The evening before our early flight into Italy, we walked the streets of Sevilla with Abigail, enjoying the street performers and letting her toss small change Euros in their bowls.

Matt and I had our fill of Starbucks there :) There are several in a small radius...this reminds us of Washington State! Matt and I shared sea food paialla, but I only took a couple of bites. I had to eat around the heads and eyeballs of fish I can't even name. Blech. Matt, ate heartily. He has a strong stomach! I'm now used to seeing all kinds of fish in markets and in dishes at restaurants. But, at the time, I wasn't so fish savvy.

We flew into Treviso and stayed at a hotel in this interesting city during our whole time in Italy.

Here we are, just got a taxi outside the airport. Abi is so excited to ride in one of the cool little European cars that we see all the time. Doesn't she look excited!! I like her happy face in this picture.

Abi's little nook at our NICE hotel in Italy.

Tight quarters, but all of Europe is this way. This hotel was clean and fresh and most of all, not creepy!

Hotel Mezzaluna is set in a neighborhood near a bus stop. Each morning we took the bus to the train station and then the train to wherever we were going that day.

Our morning bus stop. Italian transportation is cheap and easy to navigate.

Upon arrival, we all took a nap and then explored Treviso.

We ate at an Italian food restaurant and had GREAT pasta and pizza. I was surprised that there wasn't Ceaser salad (which Matt reminded me was Roman NOT Italian, but I challenged him with the fact that Olive Garden carries that salad and they're "Italian".) And, you don't order a "pepperoni pizza" because it is NOT on the menu anywhere. We tried to describe what we wanted but to no avail. Cheese pizza is what we got and it was delish! Matt tried to order a coffee drink BEFORE our meal arrived but the lady looked displeasingly at him and told him "No, that's for AFTER your meal." We had no idea that there are certain drinks for certain parts of your meal (we are not cultured, after all). By the time we ate, he didn't want it anymore.

General observations/comparisons: At the time of this trip, I had lived in Spain for nearly 7 months and had become accustomed to the Spanish. I foolishly thought that Spanish and Italian would be so similar that I'd have no problem with basic communication...bathrooms, food items, ordering coffee, etc... HOWEVER, I quickly learned that Italian is indeed quite a different language (fun story on that later). Back to my observations...Italians are tall compared to the average Spaniard. I felt short there. But, here in Spain, I feel tall. Italians have big hair. Italian service in restaurants, ticket counters, and the like is excellent, fast, and attentive. Spanish service in those same areas...well, not so much like Italy. People moved out of your way if you were walking past them. This does not happen in Spain. Actually, if someone here in Spain DOES move over on the sidewalk to let me and my crew pass by a little easier, then I KNOW FOR A FACT they are not Spanish. I digress...back to the trip.

Final observation...these..toilets...everywhere in Italy, even in nice restaurants and the train station.
I know I'm prissy but REALLY, I'm suppose to go on this?

Our second day in Italy, we got an early start and took the train over the water into Venice. Now, don't get me wrong, Venice is...well, Venice. It was what I expected as far as what I saw. What I didn't expect was for it to be so crowded and smelly. I felt like I couldn't stop to look in a shop window because I would be trampled by the crowd coming behind me. There are no cars but the canals are just as loud as a street. The boats and gondolas bump into each constantly and blare their horns all day long. Oh, and the romantic gondola rides you see in all the pictures...EXPENSIVE! 100 Euro for less than an hour! Remember, my American friends, the dollar is worth LESS than the Euro, so that's over 100 DOLLARS for the ride. We did not do it. BUT, looking back, I wish we had. So, spend the money and take the ride. That's my 2 cents.

Train into Venice

Strolling the Venice streets.

Cannoli everywhere!

"Why, yes. You can have chocolate cannoli, if you share with me," says Mom.

The expensive gondola. Should have done it though.

The masks are everywhere and a very "Venice" thing.

This is really a street.

Water taxi behind us.

Some boat traffic.

The RIGHT kind of coffee :)

I enjoyed all the different types of architecture. It's obvious there have been MANY influences here.

After our day in Venice, we felt like we had seen it all and had no desire to go back. So we checked out the train schedule and asked each other, "Where do you want to go tomorrow?" Our choices seemed endless, including ROME! But, we ended up going to a place we'd never heard of, Vicenza. It was a neat city with a great park and MANY OLD, OLD, OLD statues.

The city we chose to visit on our third day in Italy.

One of the oldest theaters in Italy. We toured it.

Inside the theater. This is the set on stage. I imagined Shakespeare plays being shown here many years ago.

My Muscle Man with a statue that looks much like him.

Me with a statue that reminded us of, well, Me, of course.

And, back to the Italian is NOT similar to Spanish topic. Matt and I kept trying to order the Italian version of what we have in Spain for coffee, cafe con leche (coffee with steamed milk, I think). We were having no luck. We got tiny cups with coffee drips in them and other random versions of coffee. All of which were YUCKY. Finally, Matt decided to try to communicate with the barista and ask for coffee with milk. He wasn't getting anywhere and looked over at me as I sat in the booth. I looked at him like, "ya, I speak Italian". Barista Girl already understood "coffee" so I began "moooo-ing" and doing my hands as if I were milking a cow in the air in front of my face. There you go, international language at it's best, Charades. Matt looked at me as I had grown 2 heads and the girl said, "ah, latte!". We began ordering American Lattes...the magic 2 words for our coffee preference.

Then, it was back home. I missed my babies and Adam terribly and was ready to be Mommy again! Matt and I loved spending time with our oldest daughter who had just turned 10. She's growing into a godly, nurturing, kind young lady. I love spending time with her. And, spoiling her was the best!!

March 2012
Garmisch, Germany

Adam's turn for one on one time with Mom and Dad. We thought he'd enjoy the mountains, so off we went to Germany! We stayed at a great military lodge, Eelweiss Resort, which is near the base of Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany.

Waiting for our first flight out of Sevilla. Making origami ninja stars.

Adam taught me!

Such a nicer airline than ghetto Ryanair...but you get what you pay for.

Beautiful morning of exploring!

The resort felt like a piece of America with American breakfast food, English speakers all around the resort and courteous, friendly staff. What a wonderful place to stay!!

Very UN-European...HUGE rooms!

Beautiful outdoor grounds of the resort. Zugspitze behind us.

That's our room with the open door, opens up to a pretty lawn that overlooks the hot tub.

Entryway to our room with closets.

GIANT bathroom off the entryway. Such a nice bathroom compared to ours at home. Seems like a small thing, I know.

However, it took ALL stinkin' day to get there. After several taxis, trains, and planes we arrived at 9pm, exhausted.

In standard Fehrman fashion, we got an early start the next day and headed out to explore. We were highly disappointed that most of the snow had already melted on the ground. But, there was plenty of it up in the mountains. So we took a gondola and decided we'd take Adam snow sledding.

Snow ball fight with Dad using hard packed old snow. Still fun!

Cool bridge we stumbled upon while we were out exploring.

So beautiful.

Father and Son

We were quite impressed with these HUGE logs we walked passed!

I was starving! We found this skiing place and got brauts and a hot drink.

Streets of Garmisch.

I was captivated by the beautiful murals on entire faces of houses and buildings. Each one was different and colorful and artistic. It was like walking through a living art museum.

This reminded me of my MIL's (Colleen's) cuckoo clock she got in Germany
when they were stationed in Germany 26 years ago.

We got these super cool looking sleds that neither of us had ever seen before and took off for the slopes. The only one we found was pretty steep and no one else was using it and it was only for sledders. So, we went for it.

Cool sleds.

The next morning as Matt and I sat on the plane heading home we looked at each other and said, "What were we thinking? We could have killed ourselves on that slope!" We had a blast though.

Took a couple of runs to figure out how to use the sled. Then, Adam flipped several times and complained of a headache, so we told him to stay at the bottom and watch us come down. Matt went first and did fine. I followed behind him and was a bit too over confident of my sledding skills. I wiped out. All I remember is seeing white and the next thing I knew I was far down the slope, without a sled, missing a glove and my sunglasses, which were up the slope a ways. I am pretty sure I got knocked out for a few seconds. I decided to go UP and get my stuff that was strewn across the slope. That was so hard. Sweat was rolling down my back under my layers of clothes and coats. My head began to ache worse and I started back down. I kept looking for Matt and Adam on the gondola that was directly next to our slope but never spotted them. They never saw me either. Almost an hour later, Matt found me. A man on the ski slopes had found my sled when he saw me wipe out and watched my sled jump over the sledding slope edge, cross the next ski slope, and then the next, where it was retrieved. We decided our sledding was over. As we took the gondola out of the snow resort area, we noticed several sledders just a short ways away from our Death Trap Slope. A bunny slope for sledders. Oh well. We're risk takers. No bunny slopes for us and thankfully, no ER visits either.

Took TWO gondolas to get to Zugsptize ski area. Felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.

Yep, straight down...that's how we roll (literally).

Adam learning to steer his tricky sled at the base of the slope.

Waiting for the gondola. You can't see it in the picture because the sun was shining too brightly, but the mountain is directly behind us. It was majestic to see from this spot as we waited.

German food isn't my favorite, as I found out. But, I did like Goulash Soup and pretzels. But, are pretzels German? I don't know. We went to a restaurant that had dancing little boys all dressed in suspendered german style pants and they did fun dancing near our table.

PRETZEL! German or not? You tell me!

My goulash bowl is empty and a bee flew right into the bottom! We were sitting outside, of course.

Two thumbs up for his hot dogs and fries.

This was the restaurant (on a napkin).

Apple Struesel for dessert. YUMMO!

Dancing boy.

We had a great time with Adam. I mostly enjoyed being able to say "yes" so much...icecream, treats, playing the Nintendo DS, staying up later than normal...things like that. We have a great memories of our Germany trip with Adam, our almost 8 year old kindhearted son.