Binder Family Travel Adventures

Well here we are, our last day in Europe for this trip. We spent most of the day in Berlin then trained to Frankfurt, slept there and flew back to the US in the morning.

We started our day by walking to the spy museum and spending a couple hours there. We then ate one last traditional German lunch. Stopped to get some gelato and ate it while taking in Bebelplatz one last time.

We were going to go by the Bradenburg gate one last time as well, but there was a protest happening, so we thought gelato would be a better way for the kids to wrap up the trip.

We were happy that this train was much more empty than the last few we had been on because after a month of tourist filled locations…we are done peopling!!

We got up bright and early for our flight out of Frankfurt. First leg of the flight was without any major issues, other than there was a baby a row behind us AGAIN!! Although this baby didn’t cry the WHOLE time like on the last flight and we were not sleeping as we were trying to re-acclimate to CST and staying awake. We had a short change in Detroit. We went through customs without a problem, then had to go back through security, apparently a snow globe we had packed in Matthew’s backpack was too big and they flagged it…after some begging and telling them how we have already flown with it for 9 hours (German security didn’t care), they finally approved us to continue on with it. We get to our gate, plane is there, all is looking good for a smooth travel all the way home. We all get loaded on the plane, then wait, and wait, and wait…finally after 30 minutes they come over the speaker and tell us that they are waiting for some international luggage that was almost left behind. It’s loaded on and we are finally in the air, almost an hour late- but better than other delays we have encountered. We touched down in Saint Louis just after 5pm. It was a long day of travel, but we did not encounter any major issues and are glad to be back.

Today we had a tour guide meet us at our hotel and show us all around town. We went to Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Berlin Wall Memorial, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the site of Hitler’s bunker (which is a parking lot now). Our guide Jan was very informative, had several stories, and even showed us things like the hotel where MJ dangled the kid off the balcony back in the day (I didn’t realize that happened in Berlin).

After our tour, we still had time so we continued to explore on our own.

Berlin was a great city to visit. It is large and clean, the streets are straight, and it is not as crowded as other cities on our trip.

We bought German chocolate to bring home (in addition to the pounds of Swiss chocolate we already have), and ate gelato one more time, which sadly may be our last for awhile (unless we get some tomorrow afternoon before our train).

We had the morning in Prague before catching a train to Berlin.

We spent the time strolling, walked in some gardens, the kids played in a park. Just enjoyed our last few hours in Prague (away from crowds).

Then as we were walking by McDonald’s, the kids saw that they had Grimace shakes…which is something that David and I were wholly unaware of…but are APPARENTLY a big deal. I guess they were in America for a very limited time, and they MUST have one…so…

We then trained over to Berlin and the kids were offered non-alcoholic drinks (glorified apple juice, but in a fun glass) at check in…a vast change from the shakes from McD’s. We didn’t get in until after 7pm and we had a tour set up pretty early in the morning so we got settled in, ate at the hotel restaurant and went to bed.

We started our day exploring the Prague Castle and all the sights around it – towers and churches…strolled through some gardens, passed an impromptu parade and finished our time in Prague off with by taking in Swan Lake. The only thing without a crowd was Swan Lake.

We finished tonight again with the highlight of Prague – ice cream in a donut cone. Matthew’s highlight was likely petting a very friendly Pomeranian.

We have only one city left – Berlin after we spend more time here tomorrow morning.

Today we traveled from Vienna to Prague.

After dropping off our luggage, we went out to explore the old town. Prague is full of churches and towers, very pretty. But also very crowded and touristy, not quite the same appeal/romantic beauty as Vienna. While we did get to watch a hobo throw his bag to the ground in anger and kick it, kinda takes away from the vibe. The architecture is neat, but we could live without all of the tourists, hobos and marijuana shops.

They have a dessert here, that is pretty amazing! This would be the (messy) highlight of Prague. This should be sold in the States.

Funny story, our hotel is right across the street from the US Embassy.

Today we explored all around the old town of Vienna. It is very big and well maintained. Lots of nice shops. The old buildings are still very well maintained. All in all – I would say, even though Vienna is a pretty big city, it’s really nice.

We went to the Hofburg Palace where the Hapsburgs ruled for centuries. The tour of the imperial apartments covered Sisi, a queen who recused herself from royal duties, so it was a bit odd given the extensive history of the family. We saw her workout room with rings on the doorway.

Then, we went to the Treasury, which housed the immense treasures of the Hapsburg family, including Holy Roman Empire regalia. There were also personal treasures such as pieces of the cross, the spear used to pierce Jesus, and a nail from the cross. There was a magical unicorn horn (narwhal horn actually), but I’m still sure it could cure poisoning. At this point, the kids seemed…bored.

After the Hofburg, we explored the rest of the old town.

The kids got into the European way of life. Apparently they did not want to walk any more. Not sure why – we have been walking 15k-20k steps each day.

All in all it’s safe to say that the Hapsburgs ruled for hundreds of years and built most of this. They were one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization.

We made it back to the hotel and ate tacos again.

Today we traveled from Salzburg to Vienna. Dropped our luggage at the hotel and headed to Schonbrunn Palace. The Estate is huge!! Along with the enormous palace, they have the one of the biggest gardens we have ever seen. A whole zoo is in there (oldest in the world). A children’s museum, normal garden stuff like flowers and fountains, there were 3 mazes….lots to explore…we were there ALL day.

The zoo on the grounds was quite large and had a very impressive display of animals.

We also did all the mazes, Heather was apparently more excited to find the exit than the people around her though.

We finally had to leave as the sun was going down and they were closing.

We had eaten enough local food, so we opted for tacos.

Today we woke up to sunny skies and took advantage!!

We walked all around the old town again this morning, a new take in the warm sun.

We stopped in a few old churches. Most notably, we took in an organ concert at the Cathedral of Salzburg. We stopped by the oldest bakery in Salzburg and of course tried the bread. David could not finish his bread, so he had “pocket bread” for the rest of the day.

Here is the church we went to for the concert, by far the most beautiful church we have seen so far, lots of small details. Also, Mozart was the lead organ player here for a handful of years.

Then for the second part of the day we went on a Sound of Music tour. We visited many sites where scenes were shot and our tour guide gave us alot of the “actual facts”. Just little details that got changed for Hollywood. Was definitely a good tour.

Today we traveled from Munich to Salzburg, a pretty easy train ride.

When we got here…it was raining…big shock…I know. We are getting used to managing in the rain.

After we got into town, we dropped our luggage at the hotel and went out to explore with our umbrellas.

We walked through Mirabell Gardens where they shot scenes for The Sound of Music, walked through the old town, saw the birthplace and childhood home of Mozart. We ate local cuisine (Italian food) for lunch.

Then we went back to our room, freshened up and headed up to the fortress above the city to check out the fortress and watch a Mozart concert. Before the concert, we did actually eat local cuisine in the fortress restaurant overlooking the city. We enjoyed bread dumplings, beef ghoulash, and other items. David’s grandma made dumplings as a kid and they were not good back then but okay now….kinda.

The highlight for David Sr. was when they played the song in the tango scene in True Lies. Admittedly, his knowledge of high society is limited to what he learned in Bugs Bunny cartoons and Hollywood movies.

Today we were part of a tour group that took us to (mad) King Ludwig II’s infamous castle (the one Disney modeled his after).

After hearing the whole story, I am not so sure he was mad, more just a guy that wanted to build (several) extravagant castles far away from people and be left alone…only problem…he was a king… He was overheard talking to dead people, so he might have been crazy.

Pictures were not allowed inside either of the castles we went into, so only outside pictures today.

Our first stop is the site of his childhood home, Schloss Hohenschwangau, he spent some time here, and I guess enjoyed it enough.

Then, as an adult he decided to build his own castle on a mountain that towered over Hohenschwangua. Neuschwanstein, which was being built from 1869 to 1886, construction stopped when the King died and it was never finished. Only a third of the rooms were finished. He had a set designer first design the castle, because it wanted it to be a Fayetteville take castle.

After the castles, we had lunch, stopped in a small town. It had several of these painted buildings.

Then we headed on to his Linderhof castle, he spent more time there. It was considerably smaller, but had big, pretty gardens.

We ate at a local restaurant (McDonald’s again) and retired for the day. We tried for two actual local restaurants, but after long waits at both, we gave up and resigned to McD’s…apparently everyone eats Sunday at 7pm.