Maybe It Won't Be Only To Germany

We watched a Rick Steve's show on the Alps of  Austria and Italy.  (Here is the show on Hulu).

Wow.  It was beautiful.  And now we want to spend time there.  Riding to the peak of the Zugspitze.  Traveling over the Europabrucke and the Brenner Pass.  Riding a luge.

We also saw the episode on Caesar's Rome by Rick Steve's (Here is the show on Hulu).  That plus the movie When in Rome, made us wonder if visiting Rome is a possibility on this trip.  If so, that would make our oldest daughter absolutely thrilled.  Rome is the top city she wants to visit.

So we've been thinking, and planning, and reworking a schedule, and have just about talked ourselves into flying into Rome, spending three days and then taking an overnight train to Innsbruck.  We would then continue to work our way north through Germany before flying home from Berlin.

We even priced plane tickets.  It is tempting.  It would be so neat to see the ruins of Ancient Rome, the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and others.  We'll have to see how things progress as we dig deeper into where to stay, how to get around, and the cost involved.

Did I mention that it was tempting?  Stay tuned, this just might end up being "To Rome and Germany and Back Again."

Good Help

David's cousin and his wife have been living in Germany for the past few years while he studies for his doctorate in theology.  We sent them an email telling them of our plans for a family trip to Germany next spring, included our tentative itinerary, and asked them for advice.

We got great advice and help!  They suggested that taking the trains would not be the best use of our time and instead to rent a car, but for only two weeks, and to return it back to Berlin where we would rent it.  They also suggested other places to stay and to do more day trips from a central location.  It was wonderful to hear their suggestions.

We are now going through all of them, adding notes, ideas, and questions in order to one day soon talk with them via Skype.  That will be fun and I am quite glad they are willing to help us figure out our trip.

What to See and What to Skip

In planning a big family trip to a foreign country it is easy to get caught thinking that every city and sight can be included, especially if the trip lasts three weeks.  But when the dreams start to become decisions about what is realistic, the question of what to see and what to skip are quite important.

Having been to Germany on a tour in the fall of 2007, David and I know what it is like to go, go, go, and see, see, see.  And although our trip was wonderful and we absolutely loved our time and all that we did, we don't want that same pace for our family trip.  For one thing, three weeks of fast pace would not be fun, and for another we don't want to do it. But, when we sit down to make a list of the places we would like to see, it grows and grows and grows.

The other side of not going, going, going is the thought that this is the one time we'll get there as a family, and we want to experience as much as we can, to give our children as many sights to see and memories to have as possible.  The fear of missing something is a big motivating factor.

It does come down to what sort of experience do we want for our family?  Do we want a whirlwind European tour where we see London, Rome, Paris, and parts of Germany?  Although that would be fantastic and we would all love to see London or Rome, and yes even Paris, we've decided that for our family, this isn't the trip we would like to take.  But narrowing it down to visiting only Germany doesn't make the list of what not to see any easier.

There are the Luther sites, the Bach sites, the WWII sites, the family heritage sites, the tourist sites, and on and on.  We know we can't see it all, but it is hard not to think that is possible when making the list.  What to leave out is not easy, remember the fear of missing something is a strong motivating factor.

But we can't live in fear, so we made a calendar and have begun putting on it where we would be on each day.  I got out our map of Germany that we picked up at a hotel on our trip in 2007, spread it open on the floor while David sat on the couch with the MacBook open to Pages and Mapquest.  How far it was between cities, where to fly in and out of Germany were the first questions.  Those quickly led to more. How many days in each place?  Is it realistic to see Wittenberg in two days?  Do we want more time at Salzburg?  Do we want to take a Rhine River cruise or see some of the castles another way?  Which museums in Berlin do we want to tour? Do we want to walk around Oberammergau?  Should we see a concentration camp or only the Holocaust museum?  Where do we want to be on a Sunday in order to worship in a SELK church?  These plus many other questions aided us as we filled in the calendar.

This has been the best thing for making it realistic that we can't do everything.  As we learn about flights, how to travel, and where to stay, it will change.  But it is a fantastic starting point for what to do.  Now we feel like we have a good beginning, a very good place to start.

Where to Sleep?

One of the big challenges is trying to find places where a family of seven can stay in various German cities. We don't want to stay in American style hotels, we'd rather stay in a place that give us a flavor for living in the country.

Here are some of our ideas:

1. The Lutheran Church in Berlin has a retreat center which we hope to use.
2. The Colleg Wittenberg would be ideal since it is located in the middle of the old city of Wittenberg.
3. Renting an apartment or house through a place like Vacation Rentals By Owner in Munich.

But we aren't sure what to do about the other cities, like Eisenach or Erfurt or Leipzig.  We know that if it was only the two of us, we could easily go and find a place from one of the "bed and breakfasts" that are prevalent.  But we are going with our children, all five of them, and are concerned with going and not having reservations.  We plan to use our Rick Steve's Germany guidebook and the help of a friend who is an immigrant from Germany to find more leads on resting our weary bodies while on our dream family trip.

We'll keep you updated as we figure out what works and what doesn't.

A Dangerous Thing

It's a dangerous thing to write a blog about taking a trip.  If we blog about it, we must do it.

But where will the money come from?  Will we be able to find places to stay?  How will we get around? Will we be able to survive for three weeks in a foreign country without a tour guide and without speaking the language?

Is it worth it? You bet! (a little Minnesota lingo for you)

And we've been talking about it and saving for it for years.  And now we're actually setting a date, May of 2012 - Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise. (a little Southern Indiana lingo for you)

We'll post our plans and our ideas as they come.  And we'll welcome any comments or suggestions you may have.