Bloggin' in Europe

Under the Sea

Yesterday we drove down to Speyer to visit the aquarium Sea Life. Emily has never seen fish or anything and I was so excited for her. Sea Life was tiny and packed, but it was a cool place to see. There was even an giant octopus. Emily however...she did not want to be lifted up to see ANYTHING or move into other exhibits, okay! Mostly she just wanted to climb on things and play with other kids. And maybe some toys in the gift shop. But that's it! Looking back I think she was just hungry. The rest of the trip went pretty well.

Speyer Altstadt

The sleepy city of Speyer, like many old German towns, is very charming, leafy, and walkable. We went for the fishies, but stayed to stroll and take in the 18 century buildings in the wide cobble stone pedestrian zone. There is a huge Dom on one end and a tower on the other. I tried to get a good picture in front of the tower, but ugh, photobombs everywhere.

Heidelberg

We spent the evening weaving through carousers and minstrels in Heidelberg. We had dinner at Trattoria Toscana. I highly recommend it for romantic outdoor dining. We could barely read the menu though; Cody ended up with spaghetti tossed in an assortment of sea creatures. 0.o

There are several little shops built into the cathedral.

It was good little trip. We also stayed overnight in the tiny village of Walldorf (as in Waldorf-Astoria), where the prominent Astor family originated. If my conversation with the hotel staff was any indication, I am the only person to realize this fun fact, and definitely the only person who cared. We didn't get a chance to walk around, but from our map, it looks like a ton of stuff is named after Johann Jakob Astor. Or as the hotel clerks said, "Who?" It ain't easy being nerdy.

Cody and I took our petite duchess to Luxembourg this weekend. I didn't get to see everything on my list, but I did get in some bonus castle ruins on the way there and back. This is a castle along the Mosel River I had to pull over to see:

Food

Since this trip began and ended with semi-terrible overpriced restaurants, I'll start there. After we checked into our hotel we headed out to look for lunch. Lots of places were already closed and the places that were still serving, like, all of them it seemed, were more bars with a small menu and definitely not toddler-friendly. We finally! happened upon a crowded square of crap eateries and settled on Chi Chi's Mexican Food. Because, as I ask myself every single time, how hilariously bad could it be?

Try this: Everyone was served before us, and no one ever collected our money, so I hope it didn't disappear along with our waitress. When I finally tucked into my taco salad, I realized two things. 1. There were no beans. 2. It was served with honey mustard dressing, which I guess goes awesome with canned guacamole. Upon closer inspection, it appeared beans aren't even on the menu. In a Mexican restaurant. I asked Cody how he liked his chicken burrito. He thought for a moment. "It's basted in bbq sauce...?" I really, truly, need to stop trying to make Mexican food happen in Europe.

We had somewhat better luck with tradtional local fare the next day, even if the service was abysmal as well. This restaurant had a charming old world atmosphere and a waitress that barked one word answers to us (specifically) and walked away mid question like three times. When I complemented the food, she said thank you like I was moron because duh. When it came to settle the check, I dug out 41 euro for a 40.70 bill while I fumbled through my coin purse for a her tip (1 and 2 euros are coins). She said thank you while I was still looking and stomped away, clinking 30 cents in her tip jar before disappearing in a huff. NOT THAT YOU DESERVED MORE, BUT JESUS LADY, CHILL OUT.

Cody had a sausage dish...

and I had dumplings in a cream sauce with vegetables. It was really good! But I'm not giving them a shout out.

The views are amazing in Luxembourg. Our first day we wandered all over and found this peak to take in the oldest quarter of the city.

The next morning we crossed the river and hiked up to the Casemates du Bock, a series of tunnels carved into the rocky hills. The ruins you see in the picture above are what it look like from a distance. It was used as a military fortess, a dungeon, and as we discovered, Napoleon's army used it as cover for firing cannons. It's also pretty dangerous and dark, with narrow winding stone staircases and steep dropoffs thoughout. It was just one of those reminders about the differences between Europe and the States as far as saftey and litigiousness.

I still haven't gotten around to looking up the full history of the place, but something has been at that spot since the 900s. Also, it's neat and a cheap attraction.

We wrapped up the trip with a stop at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial. It was a beautiful tribute to fallen soldiers of World War 2. One of the few sounds we heard were of a bells tolling on the hour over the thousands of white crosses and stars spread out in precise rows before General Patton's grave.