European Road Trip--Germany

Frankfurt Christmas Market

All buckled in for some serious road-trippin'. 

This year we decided to give experiences instead of gifts for Christmas. We crammed ourselves, and a very limited amount of luggage, into our small car and began our 11 day, 3,500 kilometer (nearly 2,200 mile) European road trip. We made a loop through Germany, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, and The Netherlands. We enjoyed Christmas and family time, we saw iconic sites, we tasted great food, we walked for countless miles, survived the crowded metro of Paris without being pick-pocketed or losing a child, and we learned to say 'please' and 'thank you' in new languages. It was definitely a Christmas to remember! 

Beautiful German countryside.

We drove through Denmark and crossed the German border without even noticing. There was likely a European Union sign that said "Deutschland," but we missed it. We simply noticed at our next pit stop that the 'push' and 'pull' signs on the doors were in German, and we had to pay for the bathrooms. All our later border crossings were similarly insignificant, but we did learn to notice the EU signs announcing the name of the country we were entering. 


The drive through Northern Germany was very pretty. The landscape is filled with green rolling hills and pockets of pine trees. It reminded me a lot of what the Greenacres area near Spokane, Washington looks like. Scattered throughout the German countryside are quaint, old villages that are so picturesque! Even from the autobahn we could admire them--red roofed homes surrounding an old church steeple standing tallest of all. Some of these villages were walled cities from medieval times. As we drove, we were also impressed by how many windmills and solar panels we saw. In fact, I've never seen so many! Almost every village had several windmills and a field of solar panels nearby.

At one point we also passed a nuclear power plant. No other country we traveled through had such a visible display of energy production. It was really remarkable! 

Notice our speedometer and the blurred car passing us. :)

Driving on the autobahn was a fun cultural experience. After crossing into Germany, we immediately recognized the increased speed. The posted speed limit was 120 kph (about 75 mph). Travis was driving 140 and stayed almost exclusively in the slow lane. He was really wishing for a nicer car without a wind-catching, top-heavy luggage carrier on the roof. The Germans are very fast, but good drivers. People were flying past us at about 180 kph or more, but it never felt reckless. Drivers stay as far to the right as possible and only use the fast lane for active passing. In addition, the autobahn is set up for faster speeds as there are very few exits and entrances. We learned this the hard way when, more than once, we missed an exit and had to drive for many miles before another exit opportunity came along. When we weren't trying to figure out how to get back on the right road, we had a good time admiring the countless nice German cars passing us. 

The autobahn took us right past this super huge and
impressive loading dock in Hamburg.

Wish Travis would just
focus on driving.

Our first day of driving was a long one. We spent ten hours in the car, but it was well worth it when we pulled up to the Frankfurt airport and found Kyle standing at the curb waiting for us. Yay! It was so exciting to have him back! We managed to fit him and his luggage into our car and made our way to a restaurant and hotel for our first night's stay. 

Waiting for bratwurst.

So glad to be out of the car!

Outside the restaurant.

We walked to a restaurant near our hotel for our first German meal. We ate spaztle (a noodle dish), wiener schnitzel (a thin, breaded, fried slice of veal), and bratwurst (good, German sausage). After enjoying the new food, we walked back to the hotel and had fun keeping our jet-lagged Kyle awake until it was a decent bedtime. The best was playing a few games of "Spot it," a speed-based card game. He was so tired that it almost felt cruel to watch him doze off during the chaos, but instead we found it rather entertaining. I don't think he won a single "hand" of the game.  

At the big mall. (Notice that Maurie
isn't the only one with a package.)

The next day we explored bits of Frankfurt. Our first stop was a huge mall. I know this sounds anti-climatic--and I'm positive Kyle was wondering why he had come across the ocean at this point--but for Maurie, this was a highlight. Due to the very high price of absolutely everything in Denmark, we never shop or buy anything so this outing was a long time in coming. Frankfurt boasts the biggest mall in Germany. I have to admit we enjoyed what felt like American-style shopping that morning. Being at a mall with large stores and familiar brands was nice.

Shopping fun.

Eating yummy kartoffelpuffers.

The boys found a few interesting stores to pass the time and finally we all enjoyed some tasty kartoffelpuffers, which are German potato pancakes (deep fried and served with applesauce). 







We managed to visit three LDS Temples on our road trip. The Frankfurt Temple was our first. It's in such a cozy setting right in the middle of a little neighborhood just outside of Frankfurt. 

Walking around the neighborhood surrounding the Temple.

LDS Temple Frankfurt, Germany

Another look at the neighborhood surrounding the Temple.

The Museum of Natural History (Senckenberg Naturmuseum) was our next stop. It's right downtown Frankfurt inside of a beautiful old building and is a really impressive museum. It has HUGE life size dinosaurs and really cool, interactive geological displays. Our family has lots of different ages in it, but everyone found plenty to be interested in. 

In the belly of a whale.

Anyone spot the name of my alma mater?

The Supersaurus.

We digress.

Closing time.

We stayed until the museum closed and then rode the subway to Romerberg square to enjoy the Christmas market. It was so festive and fun! The square was full of lights, Christmas trees, a huge carousel, a large nativity, and tons of little shops set up to sell food and Christmas decorations. 

While enjoying the market, we saw a sign that advertised hamburgers for sell. Everyone was pretty excited by this discovery, but it was short lived. The hamburgers were not made with beef patties but rather with raw fish and other unidentifiable treasures. We quickly found bratwurst, schnitzel, and fries and decided that sounded great for a second night.

Grateful to be riding and not walking at the end of a long, full day.

Ben was a real trooper on this trip! We walked so much and he rarely complained.
He just found a place to rest when and wherever he could!

Checking out of our hotel for the next leg of our trip.

View of the wall and watch tower from outside Rothenburg.

The next day brought more time in the car, but we saw some great German towns! My favorite was Rothenburg. It was founded in 1274 and is a well-preserved medieval town with all kinds of charm. We walked along the top of the old wall that still surrounds it and had a great view of the cobblestone streets and old buildings with shuttered windows. I loved it! It was so fun to walk through the streets and see the charming architecture and Christmas decorations, too. It was so picturesque! 

Crossing the moat.

Climbing up to walk on top of the wall.

Charming view from the wall.

On top of the wall.

In the main square we enjoyed the shops and foods of the Christmas market. Tree ornaments, cuckoo clocks, candles, crepes, a foot long bratwurst, chocolate covered strawberries...we enjoyed them all! 

Bring on the yum!

"Just one more store, we promse!"

We also climbed to the top of an old church tower to get a bird's eye view of the village. So cool! For having short legs and already being tired, Ben surprised me with how much he enjoyed being at the top of the tower. He really lit up when he climbed the final steps and saw the view.

Final steps to the top!

Coming down from the church tower.

The white church tower we climbed for the view.

While driving from Rothenburg to Nuremberg we past the city of Roth.
We couldn't resist a picture!

Nuremberg was another great city we visited that day. It has the oldest Christmas market in Germany. We enjoyed wandering through while listening to choirs sing carols and looking at all the Christmas festivities. 

Really talented street artist who uses only spray paint.

Nativity scene in Nuremberg.

We found a great little Italian restaurant for some pasta and pizza and then drove on to Hammelburg. 

Outside the old school house.

We stayed two nights in a tiny little village outside of Hammelburg, which is a very small city itself. We used the website 'airbnb' to find a home we could have all to ourselves for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had fun with our nontraditional accommodations.

We ended up staying in an old school house that was built sometime in the 1700s. It was used as a school until 1959 and was then converted into a home. It was a little creepy and cold, but we had fun with it.

Nativity scene in a little village outside of Hammelburg.

Our hosts put this cute little
Christmas tree in the house for us.

The owners of the house had decorated a small Christmas tree for us and had several candles around so we could make the house cozy. We spent Christmas Eve day just enjoying each other (when we weren't arguing, of course. Don't forget this was a family road trip and we were on day 4.) We had no internet access and all the movies in the house were in German...so we got creative, and it was good for us. :) We bundled up and played games at the park behind the old school, we went for a walk, we played foosball, and we played card games. 

The face of a foosball champion. :)

Roth-style WWE.

Time for a 'T-bone smack down!'

We went to the store early in the day as we had been accurately warned that everything would be closed by afternoon on Christmas Eve. We were glad to have a kitchen again as we were tired of eating out, and we were even happier to find food in the market that cost significantly less money than food in Denmark! (Plus, Maurie makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich.)

We had brought this portable Christmas tree with us.
We decorated it with our chocolate ornaments on Christmas Eve.

Who knew German-commentated competitive dart-throwing
could be so captivating to watch on T.V.?

The old school we stayed in is the yellowish building in the middle. Our car is on the right. 
The following pictures are from our walk through the village.

Very old barn built with clay and straw.

Our not-so-traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

Nativity scene in Hammelburg.

That evening after a dinner of spaghetti, Fanta, and good German bread, we celebrated Christmas Eve as we usually do. We read Christmas stories and sang carols. We read the story of Christ's birth in the Bible. By the end of the night the old school definitely felt more cozy than creepy.

We woke the next morning to a beautiful Christmas day and began our journey to Luxembourg and Paris...