Finally...the first of our parents to arrive in Germany! I picked up Mom and Dad H and our adopted Aunt Carli from FRA after their long flight from the states and drove them back to the house on the speedy Autobahn so they could get some rest and freshen up before we started to jam pack their vacation. It was a nice day so to keep them awake and alive I took them on a nice walk in Alsenborn. We introducem them to the Barbarossa Hotel and Restaurant for their first German dinner as well as German beer sampling and came home for some birthday Käse Kuchen for Moms birthday (on the day she arrived!) Everyone sure slept good that night!
The next morning we set out on the journey to North Denmark where Moms ancestors came from but to break up the 11 hour drive we stayed overnight at the Hotel Nordig in the town of Flensburg, Germany which is right on the Danish/German border. It is the innermost tip of the Flensburg Fjord, and inlet of the Baltic Sea. We visited the Glücksburg Castle which is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. It is the seat of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glückburg and was also used by the Danish kings. A great intro into our trip to Denmark! As we made our way into Flensburg for a bite to eat we were lucky to experience a little festival with vendors and food stands. We walked the streets in the old town for a while before heading back to our hotel. Next day we were Denmark bound!
After breakfast at Hotel Nordig we entered into Denmark and drove a few hours to Denmark's second largest city, Århus, for a pit stop on the way to Hjørring. We visited the Cathedral and walked around the city a bit before finding a spot for lunch. Back in the car we headed north for a short 2 hour ride to Hjørring. We had the name of the intersection of the Jensen Family Farm and drove around a bit in the Denmark countryside before deciding we were at the right place. We parked our German license plated car and started walking around the property. It looked lived in but no one seemed to be around except a friendly cat. Out of all of us, Carli did the most exploring, finding her way into some old interesting barns in the back! It poured rain, we waited. It cleared up, we hung around. A passerby stopped after driving by more than once and Mom and Dad were able to chat with her about the current tenants and explain what we were doing there. It was really extraordinary to be standing on the same grounds of Dave's ancestors! I'm so glad we were able to make it there for his Mom. We visited the beautiful church and cemetery in Tversted where the grounds keeper was really nice and tried really hard to get some more family information for us. We took a lot of pictures and mom even gave them her email in hopes that some more information will turn up for her ancestry search. It was a bit chilly but we still had to visit the beach at the top of Denmark! The water was cold!
We thought there would be more stores and restaurants open in Hjørring but it was actually a Holiday in Denmark so mostly all were closed. We did find a grocery store where we had to purchase some more chocolate. Oh, did I not yet mention the amount of chocolate that had been consumed so far? Well I don't want to point fingers but there was one man, (not my DH), that really has a bit of a sweet tooth and found a big love for the chocolaty sweetness :) There were not too many restaurants to choose from and the place we found was quite busy but luckily we were able to get a table. It had been a long, exciting day so we went to the Hjørring Kro Hotel to call it a night. There was a large birthday party being celebrated in the Restaurant and since Carli's room was on the main level she had a pretty interesting evening of entertainment but unfortunately not a lot of sleep!
We all met for a delicious breakfast the next morning and after Mom cleaned out the Danish bread basket (she loved the bread!) we piled in the car for our trip back South. Next overnight stop was in Hannover.
It was approximately a 6 hour drive to Hannover. DH didn't leave us hostage for too long in the car thankfully, he did allow for a nice lunch stop along the way. We arrived into the city center that afternoon and immediately dropped our bags at our hotel, Hotel City Panorama. There is a ton to do and see in Hannover but we only had a few hours, therefore we just walked around the beautiful Old Town admiring the half-timbered houses and catching a glimpse of the River Leine. 90% of the city center was destroyed in WWII bombings but after the rebuild it was still beautiful! We had a great dinner at the Brauhaus Ernst August enjoying it's most festive atmosphere of typical Bavarian décor. Our hotel was situated right in the Stadtmitte and Mom and Dad's room had a broad overview of the busy street below as well as a number of bars and clubs and 1000's of people passing by. It was a Saturday night so it was probably the most restful night of sleep they could have gotten but they will probably remember the experience!
The next morning after breakfast we headed back to the house. I had school for the next 3 mornings and DH had to work. We were happy to stay at the house for some quiet time and be out of the car! It was a jam packed start to our guests vacation but we all had a really great time. Now, they had time to wander around our cute neighborhood and just relax at the house. Tuesday they took the bus into Kaiserslautern with me and all of the 8 year olds. The Farmer's Market is held every Tuesday in the Stiftsplatz downtown so they were able to visit that as well as some of the cute shops, and the library that is in the same building as the Volkshochschule that I attend. We had lunch downtown and then took the train home. I wanted to make sure they experienced the efficient German regional train system while they were here! Wednesday morning DH took them to the John Deere Factory in Zweibrücken where they had a great time touring the facility and learning about the combine manufacturing. I think they might have equally excited about the fancy lunch that was reserved for them in the dining facility there! They said that they really enjoyed that. In the evening we finally made it over to Stella's for some of her delicious Greek home cooking. She was delighted to have our family there and proud to show off her restaurant.
It was hard to believe one week had already passed since the arrival of our guests. We had a few more fun day trips planned so I'll cut this blog in two parts!
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