Europe 2015 – July 5th

Not to be outdone by the previous morning’s breakfast selections, July 5th brought this:

IMG_2719

Ezra approved.

IMG_2720

After breakfast we packed up the car and headed to the North Sea, specifically to the town of Bremerhaven. Here’s Bruce driving on the Autobahn (insert scary face here!).

IMG_2721

I think he got the car up to 190 km/h (118 mph) which I was not comfortable with at all. Finn was. The whole rest of the trip he kept asking when we were going back on the “autobond.”

Bremerhaven is a port city from which lots of Germans emigrated. Here are some photos, including the memorial to emigrants.

IMG_0094

IMG_0098

IMG_0101

IMG_0104

After a bit, we started walking to another part of town. On the way we saw a U-Boat museum and stopped in. I learned immediately that I would never make it on a submarine. The boys, all three of them, loved it.

IMG_0115

IMG_0108

After the U-Boat we continued our walk. Finn and Jokke had a lot to chat about.

IMG_0128

Here are a few shots from the journey.

IMG_0125

IMG_0126

IMG_0130

IMG_2723

We finally made it to our destination and had a great fish lunch. After lunch the boys played a little impromptu whiffle ball game while we waited for a taxi (that never showed up).

IMG_0135

IMG_0138

We finally decided to take the bus back and, after a mad dash, we made it onto the bus. The boys were very happy to not be walking back.

IMG_0139

Our next destination was first, coffee, and then the German Emigration Museum.

IMG_0092

This museum was really a fabulous experience. It took us through all of the steps of emigration and showed the various travel accommodations (or lack thereof). Here are some shots from our visit there.

IMG_0150

IMG_0153

IMG_0156

IMG_0159

IMG_0160

IMG_0163

IMG_0167

IMG_0170

IMG_0173

At the end of our visit we spent some time in their research room and Bruce found the records for Paul Meyer, his great grandfather who emigrated to America.

IMG_0178

IMG_0186

What a great day trip! Here’s a slideshow of the rest of my photos.

Europe 2015 – July 4th

Feeling a bit out of whack from jet lag, we managed to pull ourselves together Saturday morning with the help of good coffee and a delicious breakfast. As if the sausages the night before weren’t enough, the boys were pretty pleased to see their morning selections — bread with honey, chocolate, and/or Nutella.

IMG_2712

After breakfast, we set off on a walking tour of Nienburg. The first photo is Jokke and Merja’s house.

IMG_0013

IMG_0014

IMG_0012

IMG_0016

IMG_0019

IMG_0022

We stopped at the bank to get some Euros and then made our way to the “downtown” area.

IMG_0026

IMG_0031

We saw the first of many churches we would see on our trip.

IMG_0034

IMG_0039

Finn’s face here sort of sums up how the boys feel about visiting churches.

IMG_0040

We continued on …

IMG_0045

… and made an impromptu stop at their police museum.

IMG_0048

IMG_0050

IMG_0055

They gave the boys some police car shaped gummy candy.

IMG_0058

And then we moved on to the Saturday market and saw this ode to asparagus farming fountain.

IMG_0059

We made our way to a cafe for a much needed cold drink.

IMG_0064

IMG_0065

In the evening, Emi and Jakob came over (although I have no pictures of Jakob — he’s camera shy, I think).

IMG_0072

Jokke, Bruce and Finn played horseshoes on the side yard.

IMG_0076

IMG_0081

Ezra enjoyed the pond and the fish.

IMG_0086

Later, he and Jokke stuck their feet in, hoping for a little nibble.

IMG_0088

We also enjoyed some cherries that the boys picked from a neighbor’s tree. Yum!

.

It was a great day! At some point, we couldn’t keep our eyes open any longerĀ and we gave in, hoping for a good night’s rest.

Here’s a slideshow of all of my photos from this day.

Europe 2015 – Getting There

Ever since Jokke and Merja’s visit in 2010, we’ve been talking about taking a big vacation to Germany and Finland. This year, we finally made it happen. We returned three days ago and I’ve finally organized my photos (I took nearly 1,500!) and am ready to start posting about our days. First, of course, was just getting there. We flew out of San Francisco in the evening of Thursday, July 2nd. We had a long overnight flight to Copenhagen.

IMG_2707

The flight was, as we’d expected, fairly cramped and unpleasant, but most of us got a little sleep and made it through OK. Finn liked the games and we all enjoyed the front- and downward-facing cameras when we were taking off and landing, as well as the overall map display of our journey.

IMG_2708

Those are the only pictures I have. When we landed in Copenhagen, Finn wasn’t feeling too good and ended up leaving the contents of his queazy (or “weezy” as he calls it) stomach all over the floor of the Copenhagen airport. He was convinced it was the airline food (he’s probably right) and will most likely swear off cheesecake for the rest of his life. I think it was the food and the rocky ending to the flight.

We continued on from Copenhagen to Hannover, landing about 4:00 in the afternoon of Friday, July 3rd. Jokke and Emi met us at the airport, where we rented a car and made our way (with one stop for Finn who was feeling weezy again) to Jokke and Merja’s house Nienburg. We had a lovely dinner in their backyard; Finn was immediately won over by German sausages and bread. Actually, we all were.