London

The last time that I was in London I was with my soccer team which made sight seeing a little limited.  Nearly 8 years have past since then and I cannot remember all the details of the trip.  Therefore, I enjoyed spending three full days in London exploring exactly what I wanted to explore; which was basically everything!  Annika and I arrived to our hostel quite late on Thursday night which made for a relaxing night and fresh start.

On Friday, we went on a free walking tour offered by our hostel which lasted for three hours.  It was fantastic as our tour guide was enthusiastic.  We saw all the main royal sights and got to learn lots of cool little tidbits of info.  For example, someone once paraglide onto the roof of Buckingham Palace.  Afterwards, Annika and I searched for a market that I remembered from my previous trip.  When I thought it was impossible to find, as I only had a vague memory left, we stumbled upon it!  I picked up some souvenirs before we headed to the London Eye.  The views were quite nice but it is a tourist attraction which of course was overly overpriced.  We joined a pub crawl later that evening which went to five different bars.  We figured it was the best and cheapest way to capture the nightlight in London.  I met heaps of Australians and so we had plenty to talk about!

On Saturday, we bought a circle cruise boat ticket which allowed us to visit several tourist attractions along the Thames.  First we hopped off at Shakespeare's Globe.  Unfortunately, there was a play in the theater and there were no tours at the time.  Therefore, we hopped back on and headed to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.  We spent several hours inside the Tower of London, learning all sorts of things about the incredibly old fortress and of course, we saw the royal jewels.  I do love to learn which made the afternoon incredibly interesting for me.  We spent the evening visiting Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, and roaming SOHO.  We ate sandwiches on-the-go nearly the whole weekend so we decided to enjoy a sit-down dinner.  We roamed a little more before heading back to the hostel to enjoy a nightcap with an Aussie we had met at the bar crawl.

On Sunday, we started the day once again at Shakespeare's Globe.  We were able to go on a tour and see the recreated theater.  I felt like I was a part of the movie "Shakespeare in Love" as it was filmed in the theater.  As I am a fan of Shakespeare, I liked learned about the history of his time.  The theater has only a few additions like lights for the night performance and sprinklers on the thatch roof.  After our tour, we went to Harrod's because I figured I had to at least see the place.  We then through Hyde Park to Kensington Gardens where we took a short break in the shade to relax our feet.  Once we arrived to the other side, we traveled to Madame Tussauds to checkout the wax figures.  There were many celebrities and familiar figures but I enjoyed seeing  many national faces such as the queen and the many princes.  I took a picture with Shrek to prove to the boys that I had met him.  They are going to England in a few weeks time; I hope that they don't go looking for him!  After the museum, we headed back to the hostel to relax and pack before our alarms went off at 3 am!

Dusseldorf

Isabel works at the annual tennis tournament in Dusseldorf for a full week each May, as do her mother and father.  Therefore, no one is left to care for Moritz and Niklas.  Isabel asked Sabine if she could borrow me for the week.  We arrived late on a Thursday evening and work started Friday morning.  In addition to Moritz and Niklas, the cousins were staying at Grandma's as well while their parents went to Barcelona for the weekend.  My mom managed five so I figured I could manage four.  Luckily, there were always two people around.  One usually cared for the baby while the other played with the kids (I spent most of my time playing soccer, inside and out).  It was much easier than expected and all the kids were wonderful.  I took the three kids and the baby to the horse stalls down the road and when I said "Stop!", they all stopped.  It was absolutely perfect.  

The tournament actually started on Sunday, which is when the cousins returned home and when everyone started working.  Moritz and I got to enjoy two matches at the tennis club, America vs. Germany and France vs. Sweden.  I cannot remember ever viewing a tennis match, despite the fact that I have watched many matches on tv.  It was just as exciting and even better under the warm sun!  Moritz is the same age as Max and Tom but much more advanced in the area of sports.  He knew when to clap and when it was out (which can be confusing for singles as the court is set for doubles as well).  He sat still in my lap without complaining.  He much prefers to watch sports than kid programs.  

The next three days I spent at the house with Moritz and Niklas.  We played more soccer, visited the horses, completed puzzles, read books...  It was much like a normal day but with a new set of boys!  I haven't been around a baby in quite some time either which was exciting, especially since Niklas is a perfect baby.  He loves to watch everyone.  He is nearly 6 months old and he just sits and enjoys the company of others.  When there is no one around or if he gets bored, he just needs to be relocated and he is happy once again.  Absolutely perfect!  It was a little dangerous when he wanted to be around Moritz and I whilst we played soccer as Moritz has a hard shot.

On Saturday, Isabel's friend met me in the city and showed me around a bit.  Then she left me to shop for the rest of the afternoon on my own.  Dusseldorf is the shopping capital of Germany.  It has a unique shopping area and it was nice to be in a city once again.  I love Heidelberg but I am a city girl.  On Tuesday night, Isabel's sister invited me over to her apartment for dinner with some of her friends.  She prepared a vegetarian friendly dish in my honor!  After dinner, we watched Germany's Next Top Model.  It was great fun drinking wine in the company of Janina's. friends  They all arrived at separate times and they all commented on how well I spoke German once I introduced myself.  As language acquisition is the main reason that I am in Germany, I was pleased!  Everyone I met was extremely nice!

I took a train back to Heidelberg on Wednesday afternoon as I had to catch a flight to London on Thursday evening.  The tournament continued through Sunday but Moritz went with his cousins to Holland which made it a little more manageable to shuffle Niklas around.  It was a wonderful surprise vacation!

Rothenburg

Jil had the fabulous idea to go and visit Rothenburg, which is usually visited around Christmas for its wonderful markets.  Instead we went on a bright and sunny day in May.  The town was protected during World War II by the Nazis and only a few public buildings and several homes were destroyed.  The town itself dates back to before the turn of the first century, therefore the buildings that remain are quite historical.  We, Jil, her boyfriend Sebastian, and a uni friend, Karoline, spent the day wandering the streets in the sunshine.  First, we enjoyed a round ball-like cookie (Kugeln) which are known to originate in Rothenburg.  Whilst enjoying a refreshment at one of the outdoor cafes in the city square, I noticed a small tower above city hall with about 4 people huddled around the bell.  Jil and I were ambitious enough to climb up to the tower.  It was an amazing climb; the steps started out like any other wooden steps, then they became smaller and smaller until we had to turn our feet sideways.  Eventually, when we made it to the top, we had to crawl out a trap door at the top of a ladder to reach the bell tower.  Full capacity of the area must have been about 6 people.  The views were incredible!  I could follow the grand wall that surrounds the entire town and see where all the knights and Nazis must have stood guard at all the towers.  After we cautiously climbed down the stairs and continued through the town with Seb and Karoline to check out the various towers.  It was unbelievable to imagine how old some of the buildings are.  It was a perfect day which I spent entirely conversing in German!