Brijuni National Park, Croatia

We arrived in Brijuni shortly before lunch.  The boat ride was maybe 10 min. but the kids loved it!

Hechingen, Germany (Burg Hohenzollern)

(Photo from www.burg-hohenzollern.com)

We went on an impromptu trip to Hechingen, Germany today to check out the Castle of Hohenzollern. The castle is the ancestral seat of the Prussian Royal House and of the Hohenzollern Princes...and does not disappoint!  Even in foggy, cold weather!

Cochem, Germany (Medieval Castle Tour)

We took the kids to Cochem, Germany to go on the Medieval Dinner and Castle Tour through RTT today.  While we had a memorable time, the tour and dinner were not what we expected.

We had been wanting to take the kids to the Reichsburg Castle for a while now (specifically for the "Knight's Meal"); however, they are always in German.  We assumed (wrongly) that this tour/dinner was the same thing offered by the castle, just geared toward children and in English.

Nope.

Champagne Region of France (Reims, Epernay)

Enjoyed a wonderful day in the champagne region of France with my friend, Sarah today!

We took a tour offer through RTT Travel.  I can't say we were very impressed with the "tour" (it was basically just an informational bus ride).  But, the stops in Epernay and Reims where very enjoyable!

Berlin, Germany (Hop-On/Hop-Off City Circle Tour)

This morning we woke up early to be at the City-Circle Tour pick-up point at the Alexanderplatz before the tour buses arrived (and maybe so we could stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way)!

We specifically got there super-early so we would be first in line for the bus and the kids could get the "good seat" in the front of the top of the bus.  We even split up so that my husband would be first in line if they opened the back door and I would be first in line if they opened the front door.  What really ticked me off was when a French couple at the end of the line (who had seen us waiting for at least 15 min.) directed their kids to get in front of us!  I am normally not a rude person but I shook my head no and placed my hand along the door so they couldn't cut us.  Then, when they did open the doors they tried to push past my kids to get in front of them.  I got in front of them again and told my kids to go get their seats and then blocked the path again so I could show the driver our tickets (and make sure those kids didn't try to take our seats)!  I was so angry!  They ended up sitting right behind us too and at one point even came in front of us to take pictures...breathe, Mel, breathe...

Berlin, Germany ("Field of Stelae")

After a yummy breakfast buffet we packed up an left Tropical Islands and headed the hour we had left to get to Berlin!

(Photo:  www.novotel.com)

The drive went quickly and we had reserved underground parking at our hotel so that made things easy once we got into Berlin.  We stayed in a family room at the Novotel Berlin Mitte.  It was a nice little hotel, nothing fancy-smancy.  The staff was friendly and helpful and the place was clean and modern looking.  A breakfast buffet was included in our room rate (202 EUR).  Although it was a little bit of a walk to either the Alexanderplatz or Potsdamer Platz, it was conveniently located in between them and there was ready access to public transport and we would stay here again.

London, England (Hop-On/Hop-Off Tour)

Although London is super easy to navigate via the Tube, I was running my first half marathon the next day and I refused to walk anymore than necessary!  We purchased tickets for the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus online (60 EUR for three 48 hr. passes), printed off our tickets, and met our bus at the station first thing in the morning....

Wissembourg, France

We took our first train ride to France, today!

We ended up taking a USO "Learn to Ride the German Train" tour to Wissembourg in the Alsace region of France.  The tour guide was super friendly and knowledgeable about the German train system.  It was nice to have an English guide to help answer questions and figure things out for the first time!  We'll definitely make use of the train system while we are here...

St. Goar & Assmanshausen, Germany (Rhine River Cruise)

Today was Mother's Day and I was so thankful that I got to spend it with my wonderful mama here in Germany!  We spent a perfect day cruising down the Rhine River, touring a castle, wine tasting, and checking out some quaint, little villages along the way!

The tour was offered through the local USO office.  After an early bus ride we arrived at Burg Rheinstein where we were given a brief introduction of the castle's history by an English-speaking employee.  We were then free to tour the refurbished castle, grounds and gift shop on our own.

Erlenbach, Germany (Berwarstein Castle)

Once everyone loaded back up on the bus in Annweiler, all full from chestnut bratwurst and neuer wein, we headed for the village of Erlenbach for a guided tour of the Berwarstein Castle.  By this point, however, our little ones were about toured out and my daughter was very upset at the fact the castles we were seeing were not the "princess" castles from Walt Disney.  Oiy.

The castle was really interesting though (and I think if we would have gone here first they would have enjoyed it more).  You can read more about the history of it HERE.  

Annweiler, Germany (Chestnut Festival)

After a fun morning touring the Trifel's Castle, we hopped back on our tour bus and headed into downtown Annweiler.

Annweiler is a lovely little village in the Palatinate forest, a perfect setting for their annual chestnut festival!

Annweiler, Germany (Trifels Castle)

Today we went on our first big sightseeing adventure since arriving in Europe!  We had a blast checking out two amazing castles and a nearby chestnut festival through a guided USO tour...a much needed break from the stresses of moving overseas and living in a cramped hotel room for a month with two small children!

Our first stop on the tour was to Trifels Castle in the Palatinate Forest.