Past and Future Travels

I've been looking for inspiration to write a post, lately, and was ready to just do a, "Look! Abby's Still Cute!" post (in case you're wondering: she is) but came across something tonight that rekindled an idea for something I've wanted to write about since January.  I wanted to write about what it was like, after giving birth.  How so many things, physically, mentally, and emotionally, were unexpected and unexpectedly hard.  And how it seems like no one talks about it.  Or, if they talk do talk about it, it just doesn't sink in to the expecting-parent brain, because it's clouded with gleeful anticipation for the coming bundle of joy.

That's not the post I want to write today, not entirely.  I have a laundry list of weirdo things that I experienced postpartum, and today I just want to touch the tip of the iceberg of one of them.  

Before I gave birth, I thought that I was probably predisposed to Postpartum Depression (PPD). I've never been Depressed (with a capital "D"), but have had bouts of melancholy and a little bit of a family history.  I wasn't too worried about it, though, because I knew I would be willing to get help.  Also, there's a difference between knowing intellectually that you might get Depressed after giving birth, and another actually going through it.  Having said that, I still don't think I had PPD, just a serious, lingering case of the "Baby Blues."

I'll write another time about how I cried at EVERY. THING.  One day, a brochure for Viking Cruises came in the mail (We get these all the time.  I don't know why.)  As Abby slept, I sat in the living room, flipping through the pages that described fanciful cruises through exotic European ports, and started sobbing.  We loved to travel.  What had we given up by having this baby?  We would never get to go on one of these cruises; never see these beautiful places.  I felt a tremendous sense of loss for our old life.

Tonight, I went into our craft room to find some thread, and I stumbled upon my travel journal.

Artsy picture taken at Cafe Cubano in San Francisco with a tasty cafecito on the side.

This is a blank book my friend Liz gave me for Christmas from a market in Budapest when we visited her grandma there in December 2000.  Since I had just finished six-weeks student-teaching in London and spending weekends traveling through Europe, I decided to use the journal to keep track of where I had traveled and wanted to travel.  

I still use it to make plans for our trips, listing attractions and restaurants I'd like to visit, then going back and making notes about what we thought about them.  I also include super-helpful things like this highly-accurate map of England and Scotland:

When I came across it tonight, I flipped through it and stopped at the last filled in page from our trip to Germany.

And it's funny, because Nuremburg wasn't even the last place we went.  Like so many things, time caught up with me and I never finished planning the trip. The rest of it just...happened, I guess.  No more notes.

And that's the last big trip we took.  Our Baby Moon to Amish Country didn't even rate a page heading.

And that made me a little misty-eyed.  Remembering that trip, and thinking, as I had when I perused the Viking Cruise Brochure, that it would be a long time before we'd have a trip like that, again.

Then, I glanced up, and on the desk I saw this box of holiday cards, with a bold message on the front:

The best is yet to be.  It is here now and it keeps coming.  For all the challenges, sacrifices and exhaustion, I am generally happier than I've been in a long time.  And, while Kevin and I might never be the same "Us" we were before, I'd like to think that we still have the "Best Us" ahead of us.

PS. Here is proof that Abby is still cute:

Abby Goes to the Beach

...well, a little anyway.  Abby's first beach vacation was a little light on the "beach," but full of fun and excitement!

About a month ago, we took our annual Ulmes family vacation to the Outer Banks.

Abby went to the beach for the first time, and dipped her toes in the ocean.  She wasn't a big fan, as you can see below.  But my parents tell me that when I was a wee one, I was scared of the ocean, too.  A wave snuck up and startled me, and I was supposedly afraid of the ocean for years. I don't remember ever being afraid of the ocean, though, so I apparently got over it, and I'm sure Abby will, too.

This new adventure wore her out, though.

She had a little more fun playing in the warmer, more sedate tide pool a few days later.

This wore Abby out, too.

We didn't spend nearly as much time at the beach as we normally do.  The Ulmes don't like to go to the beach in the middle of the day to avoid the sun's cancer-causing rays.  However, Abby tended to take her naps before and after peak sun-time.  So, it was hard to sneak in beach time before dinner time and bedtime.  Abby did manage to stay up late enough one night for us to get some beautiful sunset pictures at the dock near our house.

We're looking forward to next year when Abby will be able to go down to the beach more and have even more fun playing!

Rothenburg ob der Somethingoranother

It's really Rothenburg ob der Tauber, but it took us weeks of talking about our trip calling it variations of that before we remembered it consistently.  We had initially planned to do Nuremberg and Rothenburg in the same day, but when the Deutsches Museum was closed, we decided to split the two, instead.  It worked out, really, because Rothenburg was so charming and pleasant, and the weather so lovely, it was worth spending the day.  Although, I guess if we had saved Nuremburg for that day, too, it would have been been pleasant, as well.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is interesting because it appears to be so quaint and old, but apparently much of it was rebuilt in the same medieval style after being destroyed in World War 2.  In my opinion, it was the most picturesque town we were in, but, while it wasn't overcrowded, it was definitely touristy.  Rothenburg is famous for it's Christmas shop and handmade wooden ornaments.  We perused THE Christmas shop (Kathe Wohlfahrt), and I spent A LOT of money, but felt a little hoodwinked when every other cutesy shop had the exact same stuff.  The ornaments and decorations are really made in Bavaria, but not exclusively for that store. 

We also had doner kebab for lunch.  It's kind of like a gyro or something similar, and is apparently very popular in Germany.  Who knew?

Since Rothenburg ob der Tauber is so picturesque, I'm just going to share a bunch of photos we took there.

This is just as you walk into the picturesque part of town.  When you first get off at the train station, it doesn't look very promising.  But once you walk through the city gate, here's what you see!

There is a medieval wall that goes around the city that you can walk most of the way around.  It's a little treacherous at some points, but the views are great. Into the city, that is.  At some points, if you look to the other side, you can see the tourist parking lot for the town, which takes away some of the charm, I think.

We happened upon an awesome playground...

With a spectacular view into the valley and the Tauber River.  If we had had more time, I would've loved to figure out how to hike down there and explore it.

A few more views of the town...

"Ausfahrt." Because Kevin and I are twelve.

The Christmas Market.

We also bought a cuckoo clock in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  We thought it would be a good honeymoon souvenir.  Although, apparently the place to get a cuckoo clock is the Black Forest, which we skipped.  It seems like Bavaria is a good second, though.  I would post a picture of our cuckoo clock, but it is still safely packed in its box in our bedroom.  Maybe someday you (and we) will get to see it.  :-)

Oh, speaking of pork knuckles...

I found a picture of me with the pork knuckle on Kevin's iPhone!

THUNDER SLEET! (Germany, still, Part Whatever)

I know it can't possibly have been three months since I last posted, but apparently it was.  We've been working on some projects around here that I'd like to post about soon, but in the meantime, maybe I'll finish writing about Germany?

After our day exploring Munich, we had intended to visit the Deutsches Museum, but once we got there, it turned out the museum was closed for a special staff day that day.  It was a little frustrating, because we had just checked their website that morning.  So, we spontaneously decided to go to Nuremburg, instead.

When we arrived in Nuremburg, it was bright and sunny(ish).

After going to a cafe for a snack (flammkuchen!), we came out to a miserable rain.  Kevin had a few sites he wanted to see, which we attempted, but it was just so rainy and windy that we ducked for cover in a pub.  It was packed with other like-minded people, but we got squeezed in at the end of a table.  I wasn't particularly hungry (it had only been about an hour since the flammkuchen), but Kevin ordered Nurnburg sausages, and was in love. The sauerkraut that came with the sausages was particularly good - almost a little sweet.  I actually attempted to replicate this meal for Kevin's birthday in February.   They also had a basket of pretzels on the honor system - you ate what you want, and then told the server how many you had. 

We ventured back out.  By now it was dark, and the weather had let up a bit.  We decided to split up - Kevin was going to some scenic viewpoint, and I wanted to check out the Christmas Market.  After all, Nuremburg has the most famous Christmas Market in the world, and isn't that why we were there?  Not long after we split, the fine mist in the air exploded into a THUNDER SLEET.

I actually burst out laughing at first.  It initially seemed almost festive, and then it started thundering, and I was like, "What the heck?  Is this a THUNDER SNOW?  No...it's a THUNDER SLEET!" I actually continued perusing the markets, in surprisingly good spirits, but the wind picked up and flying ice persisted, so I gave up and found shelter in a regular shop.  Then, Kevin and I had a little trouble figuring out how to get back to the train station from where we were, getting soaked more thoroughly the whole time.  The worst part was definitely sitting on a train for the next two hours soaked completely through.  It was a relief to get back to the hotel, put on comfy (DRY) clothes, and head to the hospitality lounge!

The Pork Knuckle

During one of the first few days of our German trip, in Cologne, Kevin almost accidentally ordered a pork knuckle.  He actually asked for the German word meaning "pork knuckle", not realizing it was pork knuckle, but quickly changed his order once our server clarified what Kevin had asked for.  To us, "pork knuckle" just doesn't sound appetizing, especially given that so many people think that it is the same as "pickled pigs feet," which it isn't.  It would really be more accurate to call a pork knuckle a "pork knee" or "pork elbow." Nevertheless, it still retained that aura for us.   Even with that, though, I chastised Kevin for changing his order.  "Who knows?" I exclaimed, "It could be delicious!  We should be adventurous!"

What I actually meant was, "I'm curious about pork knuckle, but I am too chicken to order it myself. You should get it so I can see what I think."

"You're right," he replied. "Darnit, I should've stayed with the pork knuckle.  The next time I see it, I'm going to order it!"

This sentiment was reaffirmed when his alternate order, a plate of pasty sausages and limp french fries appeared in front of him.

"I'm in Germany and I'm eating hot dogs and french fries!" he lamented, shaking his head.

So, after our very long day in Munich (which truly didn't seem so long until I wrote that last entry), we ended up at the Wirtshaus zur Brez'n in the Schwabing neighborhood.  This was a little by accident.  After riding the ChristkindlTram, we had checked out Munich's medieval Christmas market, where the food smelled delicious, but we weren't quite ready to eat.  So, we continued on to the Schwabing Christmas market, but by the time we got there, we were cold, tired, and slightly damp, so we decided to find a place to sit down and warm up before hitting the market.  Given that the tour books had described Schwabing as a bustling college neighborhood, we assumed this would be easy, but we circled the blocks by the subway station for 10-15 minutes before finally finding this promising-looking pub.

Our intention was to go in and have one beer, which we did, and watched as it began to snow outside.  How festive!  As we got up to brave the Christmas market and find some dinner there, we caught a whiff of something delicious.  We only briefly considered whether we would prefer to eat market food in a wet snow or stay inside this cozy pub.  Since we had already settled our tab and given up our seats at the bar, we approached the hostess for a table.  The place was pretty bustling now, so where did she end up escorting us?  Right back to the bar.  We felt like jerks, having not ordered food from our original bartender, and here we were, back at the bar.  I tried to hide my face, worried that he would take it personally.  "It's not you!" I wanted to say.  "We just changed our minds!"

As I scanned the menu, I tried to figure out what the delicious thing I smelled had been.  I could only come to one conclusion: the pork knuckle.

So, I ordered it.

This is not my pork knuckle.  I borrowed this image from http://www.dimsumdolly.com

I have to confess.  When I hesitantly took the first bite of this creation, I believed in that moment that I was tasting the most delicious morsel to ever enter my mouth.  It was salty, flavorful, juicy, with just the right amount of crispy skin.  It was like heavenly bacon, but instead of just one little strip, it was the whole chunk of meat.  I gorged myself, carving around the bones, until I could eat no more.

This was a mistake.

Not only was I outrageously full that night, bloated and uncomfortable despite a long walk back to our hotel, but my stomach burned the entire following day.  What had made the pork knuckle so delectable, the salt and fat, had ravaged my stomach.  The only thing I wanted to eat that next day was fruits and vegetables - and good luck with that in Germany, especially in December.

So, my mouth remembers pork knuckle fondly.  My stomach - not so much.

Long Day in Munich is Long

When we checked into the Hilton Munich Park Hotel, overlooking the English Gardens, we were surprised by a swanky, newly-renovated room on the 14th floor, and this:

We still don't know if it was complimentary because Kevin is a Gold Member, or because he told them it was our honeymoon when he made the reservation, or if it was a gift from a mysterious benefactor.  We loved it.  After so much meat and starch, our digestive tracts appreciated some fresh fruit.

Also spectacular was the Hilton Honors Lounge.  No cans of soda and stale snack mix.  Instead, there were mini-sandwiches and appetizers or desserts, depending on the time of day, and free beer, wine, cocktails, and fancy coffee.  I actually accidentally ate dinner in the lounge one night.

We stayed the most days in Munich, but ended up feeling like we never really "got" the city.  Because of the dreary weather and multiple side trips, we never quite found the charm of the city, although we know it's one of the most popular in Germany.  I think we might also not have spent enough time finding the nooks that would've endeared it to us - we caught some touristy stuff, but truly spent more time using Munich as a jumping point for other destinations than exploring it fully.

Our first day, we made sure to catch the Glockenspiel, which was cool, but let's just say that I wouldn't try to set my watch by it.  It's quite a performance, though, and if you want to see it, be aware that it doesn't "perform" every hour, so check when it's scheduled, depending on the time of year.

The Rathaus.  In the center, framed in green, is the Glockenspiel.

 We then had coffee at the bustling Cafe Glockenspiel, where I drank a Cafe Glockenspiel, and it was delicious.  We wandered around the Christmas Markets around the Marienplatz (the main square in Munich), visited some historic churches, including Asamkirche, which was pretty fantastic inside:

You can see how fantastic I thought it was.

We also went by the Viktualienmarkt, a huge outdoor food market.  So many different foods to explore!  If it had only been a nicer day, we could have made a lovely picnic lunch.  As it was, we tucked ourselves in to the nearby cozy Cafe Rischart, where I had a deliciously unhealthy pretzel stuffed with cream cheese and chives.

There was no way we could forgo the Bier and Oktoberfest Museum - once we finally found it!  I found Munich to be a horrible city to navigate.  I know many old cities have winding, crooked streets that make no sense, but I think Munich was especially challenging because it is so big.  And the Bier and Oktoberfest Museum is tucked away in an alley with a tiny sign that I couldn't even see until we were right in front of it.  I didn't even want to follow Kevin up the alley it was on, because, to me, it clearly wasn't there.

The museum itself was pretty interesting - as much as we could get from the few English-translated signs.  The first part basically traces the development of the beer industry in Germany from each pub having it's own brew to more regional and national breweries.  As you might guess, the second part does the same for the famous Oktoberfest - how it started as an agricultural fair, got a few more fun attractions to honor the marriage of Prince Ludwig, and grew from there.  The museum is in a four or five level rowhouse (or whatever you call them in Germany) with stairwells seemingly in every corner.  Kevin and I got separated, and had such a hard time finding each other that he almost went back to the hotel - our agreement should either of us get so lost we couldn't find the other.

Then, we made our way to ride the ChristkindlTram , or Christmas Tram.

It's essentially just an old streetcar that's been decked out for the holidays, or, as our friend Darra put it, "It looks like Santa Claus vomited inside." We rode the ChristkindlTram on a very special day, though - December 6th - St. Nicholas Day!  Purely by accident, we rode the only day during the holiday season that St. Nicholas rode the Tram, as well.  We had a short chat with him, but I was so starstruck that I didn't ask him for a photo together.  So, here's a picture of St. Nicholas:

And here's a picture of us on the ChristkindlTram:

You'll just have to use your imagination to picture St. Nicholas there with us.  Did I mention there was gluhwein on the Tram?

The Ulm Munster

Before we headed out of Ulm to our last big stop, Munich, we embarked on a climb to the top tower of the Ulm Minster.  As the tallest church in the world, you can imagine what kind of feat this is.  How many steps to the top of the tower?

You can't see the top of the tower in this picture.

800.  800!!! We were brave, though, and went for it.  I've climbed a few church towers in my life, but this was Kevin's first.  It has also been many years since I climbed a church tower, or I might have had second thoughts.

The thing I hate most about climbing church towers, aside from the pain in my legs, shortness of breath, sweating, and fear of heights, is the scary spiral staircase.  The staircase isn't even so bad going up, but to me, it's terrifying coming down.  I am always just certain that I will have a misstep and tumble head over heels down 700-ish cold, wet stone steps, bones cracking the whole way.

Kevin took this without me knowing because he knew I wouldn't want to forget these terrifying stairs.

I mean, is a railing to much to ask?  And even then, what if someone comes up while I'm going down?  See how narrow the stairway is?  And how slender the inside of the step is?

Some of the views going up were quite nice.

The Christmas Market

The Danube

At one point, you could go inside to a room above the bell room (I'm sure there's a more official term for this), where you could look down and see the bells.  Hanging around the room were drawings of many of the other great churches/cathedrals of the world, and it was fun to pick out the ones I/we had been to.  Kevin was more interested in the bells, of course.

Every time I see this picture I get the theme from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame stuck in my head.

This is the view from the highest point of our ascent, again, of the Christmas Market:

Once we came down, we toured the inside of the church, then split up to do some souvenir shopping.  Funnily enough, there wasn't a lot of "Ulm" merchandise to be had - Ulm is just not that much of a tourist destination,  Still, I purchased a few items with sparrows, as the sparrow is the Ulm mascot, and there are sculptures of them everywhere, kind of like we used to have all the crab sculptures in Baltimore.

Then, the strangest thing happened. We were standing outside of the Ulmer Weinachtsmarkt on the only sunny day we'd had since arriving in Ulm, and thought it would be nice to have a photo of the two of us in front of it, perhaps to use as our Christmas card.  We looked around for other tourist-types to ask to take a picture, but since it was nearing lunchtime on a Monday, most people were dashing purposely and we didn't see anyone we felt we could stop.  Then, we noticed a young woman standing near us - maybe in her late teens or early twenties, somewhat sullen looking (so, she was probably a teenager ;-)) with headphones on.  She was just standing around as though she was waiting for someone or something, so she seemed like our best bet. 

"Enshuldigen zie," I said politely.  This is German for "Excuse me."


She looked at me.


I held up my camera, smiled, gestured at Kevin and myself in the universal sign language for "could you take our photo," and said questioningly, "Photo?" 


She glowered at me, and spat out, "No."


I was so bewildered, I thought she might have misunderstood me.  I held up the camera again, and with a confused smile, gestured again and said, in English, "Could you take our photo?"


She shook her head and with a bigger scowl said again, "No."


Ok, I realize now that I should have:


A. Learned how to say "Could you take our picture?" in German ahead of time.


or


B. At least asked her if she spoke English and apologized for my bad German, first, which I had really done for about everyone else I talked to the rest of the trip.


 I don't think that she misunderstood me at all.  I don't see how she could have.  Who hasn't asked or been asked to take a photo with the universal gesture of holding up the camera and pointing?  I had obviously offended her in some way, or she is just a super, super grouchy person, or was just in a really, really terrible mood.  I was just really kind of bewildered by it for the rest of the day. 


So, just imagine that Kevin and I are standing under the sign in this picture.

Ulm, Part II

Ulm proved to be just as lovely as a town by day as by night, despite somewhat miserable weather.  We started off for a walk along the old city wall, past tiny quaint houses to find the Einstein statue.  Ulm's one minor claim to fame is that Einstein was born there.  However, his family left the city around the time Einstein was one year old, so I don't know that he felt as much of a connection to Ulm as the town feels to him.  In any case, they honor him with this monument:

Pulling Einstein's tongue is apparently the thing to do.  We didn't take a picture, but the top, dome part of the statue is pretty cool, too, with random shapes and symbols that we supposed was an imagining of what was floating around in Einstein's brain.

We then ate lunch in the Einstein Cafe, which was a great spot for tourists to have lunch.  It was very bright and modern, with an English menu and a variety of entrees.  Kevin got some kind of salad with deep-fried feta, and I tried a burger, just out of curiosity.  The burger wasn't that great, but Kevin's deep-fried cheese salad was super!

We wondered down to the old fisherman's village by the Danube and walked along city wall.

That is the Leaning Tower of Ulm in the background, apparently.

We ended up back where we were the previous night and took some daylight photos.

Note how the houses are pretty much built right in the water.

Supposedly the "most crooked house in Ulm."

The "most crooked house" at night.  Still crooked.

Hey!  Something that says Ulm on it!

Speaking of, imagine our delight at finding Ulmergasse, or, Ulm Street (or Alley, I guess).  Wait, you don't have to imagine it!  Take a look for yourself:

 

Am I thrilled, or did it just sink in that *I* am an ULMES???

 We'll wrap up Ulm with our attempt to climb to the top of the tower of the Ulm Munster.  Will we be successful?  Wait and see!