Back from Germany

[mog]

We just got back from the Germany trip. It was our first ABD tour. I may not post a whole trip report - probably don't have the time for that, it would take forever! But I'll happily answer any questions about the trip! I will say that it was fantastic - our kids loved it!

 

[Mindy5767]

We just got back from the Germany trip. It was our first ABD tour. I may not post a whole trip report - probably don't have the time for that, it would take forever! But I'll happily answer any questions about the trip! I will say that it was fantastic - our kids loved it!

Hi, my sister was on that trip. It was her first ABD trip too. Perhaps you met her. Her name is Marchelle (Shelly) Lincer. She was with her husband and 13 year old son (blonde hair). She has dark hair and is just under 5 feet tall. Hard to miss. She said it was the most awesome trip she's ever taken. And she's been to Europe before. I've already looked at her pix. I couldn't believe all the character opportunities. wow. It looked like so much fun, I want to go too.

 

[clarabelle]

What was the weather like? Were you outside a lot?

How was the food?
thanks!!!

 

[Amy H]

What did you pack? What did you bring that you used alot and what could you have left at home? What was the biking like? I ordered a tandem for myself and my 6 year old. Is it a long or fairly short ride? How many kids were on your trip? I hear we have 10 ages from 6-13. Also, I can't decide if I should bring my high tech camera or will a little digital work fine? How was entering Germany? I am doing this on my own with my 2 children and I guess I am getting a little nervous. Thanks

 

[mog]

Hi, my sister was on that trip. It was her first ABD trip too. Perhaps you met her. Her name is Marchelle (Shelly) Lincer. She was with her husband and 13 year old son (blonde hair). She has dark hair and is just under 5 feet tall. Hard to miss. She said it was the most awesome trip she's ever taken. And she's been to Europe before. I've already looked at her pix. I couldn't believe all the character opportunities. wow. It looked like so much fun, I want to go too.

Yes, of course we remember them. One of our sons is 14 and he and Ethan were buddies on the trip. It was a lot of fun!

 

[mog]

What was the weather like? Were you outside a lot?

How was the food?
thanks!!!

We were outside a lot and there was a lot of walking involved. We were very lucky with the weather. I think we only had a day or 2 that it rained and even then it wasn't a whole lot of rain. It was actually warmer than I expected it to be, too. We did get rained on at Neuschwanstein, but the guides usually had ponchos to hand out if anyone didn't have an umbrella or raincoat with them.

The food was pretty good. There were always choices - at least for the main course. Usually 2 choices, sometimes 3. They also had separate choices for kids at most meals. I am a picky eater and I was always able to find at least a main course that I liked. I didn't always care for the side dishes, since I'm not much of a veggie eater . We did have opportunities to have German food too - like schnitzel, etc. I thought the food was good!

 

[mog]

What did you pack? What did you bring that you used alot and what could you have left at home? What was the biking like? I ordered a tandem for myself and my 6 year old. Is it a long or fairly short ride? How many kids were on your trip? I hear we have 10 ages from 6-13. Also, I can't decide if I should bring my high tech camera or will a little digital work fine? How was entering Germany? I am doing this on my own with my 2 children and I guess I am getting a little nervous. Thanks

We packed mostly shorts and t-shirts, although we did bring a pair of jeans and a light sweatshirt or sweater. It was warmer than we expected and we mostly wore shorts/capris. I could have left some of my shoes at home. In the summer, I normally wear flip flops or sandals - hardly ever tennis shoes. On this trip, there is a lot of walking (on cobblestone streets) and going up and down stairs. I wore my tennis shoes every day except for the one nicer dinner when I wore a sundress and sandals (not high heels!). I could have left my other shoes at home.

The biking was fun. It was a pretty long ride and there were a few hills. It was beautiful, though and on a very nice (mostly paved) path. Part of it is in the woods and we did have a little trouble with mosquitos when we were in that section. Once you get to the destination, you have a choice to bike back or ride back on the bus.

We had a good group of kids on our trip. I was a little worried before, b/c mine are a little older (11-16) and I expected more younger kids. Our group actually ended up being mostly kids around my kids' ages, though, so it worked out great. Other than my kids, I think there were around 7 or 8 other kids.

As for the camera - I don't know what to tell you. There is so much beautiful scenery to take pictures of! It would definitely be more convenient to have a smaller digital camera. We had 2 with us - my husband had a small digital one that fits in his pocket. I carried our slightly larger digital one that has a bigger zoom in my day bag. We took literally thousands of pictures between us!

Don't be nervous about going on your own with your kids. It will be fine. There is no problem getting into Germany. I speak a little German, but even if I didn't we would have had no problem. Everything in the airports is in English as well as German and most of the people in the airports and tourist areas do speak at least a little English. We had a mom with her 6 year old son on our trip and they did just fine. They even came in the day before and had some time on their own the day before the tour started. During the tour all your luggage is handled for you. You never have to lug it around so that will help with you being by yourself with the kids.
If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help!
You will have an awesome time!

 

[Brancaneve]

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. How old are your kids and what did they love about it? I am eyeing this trip and also need to wait until my children are a little older. Presently, they are 4 and 6. Thanks!

 

[marcemch]

Responding to Amy, about doing a trip "on your own" with your kids. I think you will find it an extremely easy trip to do on your own. I am a single parent, and I found one thing I LOVED about ABD, is that I could enjoy myself and being with my daughter, and turn off (well, almost) the "mom button". Someone is there to take care of you even BEFORE I got my luggage in Frankfurt! I didn't have to worry about the normal stuff - having a snack/activities for a long bus ride, figuring out something she'd like to eat, keeping her entertained, etc. I ESPECIALLY liked the fact that as a not very strong woman, I didn't have to LUG my luggage from the time I curbside checked it at my home airport, until I checked in at the airport in Munich. From a social standpoint, there were a couple other single mothers on the trip on my trip to Germany last year, but it didn't matter - I felt comfortable with all the other parents and grandparents and always had adult company at dinner and during the other times that the kids were playing or otherwise occupied.
It is a GREAT way to travel as a single parent. Just get on the airplane on time, and you'll be taken care of from then on!

 

[Iceman10]

Glad to hear it was a great trip. We are considering one of those for next Summer. Germany or the Austria/Prague trip. I went to school in Austria one Summer way back when and yup it gets hot!

Mindy5767, you are just down the road from me!

 

[mog]

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. How old are your kids and what did they love about it? I am eyeing this trip and also need to wait until my children are a little older. Presently, they are 4 and 6. Thanks!

My kids are 11, 14 and 16. They absolutely loved seeing the castles, trying all the foods (cheese, sausage, etc), they had a blast with all the other kids on the trip. They really liked everything about it - even when we were on our own just wandering around towns souvenir shopping. Also, there were some really fantastic local guides that really got my kids interested in learning about the history and the people that built and lived in all of those castles!

 

[aamob]

MOG
I am trying to convince my DH that we have to do this trip next year with our DD(who will be almost 7 then).Maybe some pics would help sway him!!

 

[mog]

MOG
I am trying to convince my DH that we have to do this trip next year with our DD(who will be almost 7 then).Maybe some pics would help sway him!!

I would love to, but I'm not very computer savvy and I have no idea how to post pictures here! Sorry!
It is a really great trip - I wasn't sure if it would be too princess oriented since it is castles, etc. But it was not - we learned a lot of history about the area, etc. There was also the bike ride and the archery - all really fun!

 

[gayleaboone]

I am a single mom, too, and loved meeting the other parents on the Germany trip (hi marcemch!). As Marcemch said, you never have to worry about the details that might be hard on another type of trip---most meals, bus snacks, etc are taken care of. And I love the way that all of the parents look after all of the kids, so that if you need to do a bathroom run or make a purchase, someone is always happy to include your child while you do so. Everyone knows everyone else by the first few days of the trip.

I also found that, as a single mom, the other parents (attached or otherwise) were welcoming and inclusive of me during adult times. The kids also are very good about including all of the other kids (including my 9 yr old daughter) in games, activities on the bus, running around the castles playing hide and seek, swimming, etc.

I also bet that you meet other families that you will like to travel with again---marcemch and I tried to coordinate this summer for Alaska, but were not able to go on the same dates---but wait til next year!

My tips: change some money into Euros at your local bank before you go; if you are in coach on the flight take really cheap ($2) pillows on the way over and then just leave them on the plane; depending on the age of your child take a baggie of polly pockets, etc for afternoon rest times (once I had four 8-9 yr old girls ---all new friends--- in my castle hotel room playing polly pockets!); take some homey snacks like non refrigerated pudding for before bed treats (sometimes the hotel restaurants close early); take swim suits (2 families on our Germany trip did not bring them thinking there would not be swimming opportunities, but there are and the kids really bond with each other during those times!)

Have a great time!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Amy H]

Thanks for the advice. If you think of anything else, please let me know!

 

[aspen37]

I would love to, but I'm not very computer savvy and I have no idea how to post pictures here! Sorry!
It is a really great trip - I wasn't sure if it would be too princess oriented since it is castles, etc. But it was not - we learned a lot of history about the area, etc. There was also the bike ride and the archery - all really fun!

I can explain in very simple terms how to post a photo.

Go to www.photobucket.com and set up an account. Oncer your account is set up go to my albums at the top, click on albums and upload. Then in the top middle of the page it will say upload images and video, look at the bottom it will have a place to pick the size you want to upload. I use the biggest size and then reduce them in the edit section if I want. Then after that click on the bulk uploader button. Pick the photos you want by clicking on the plus sign when your done with that click upload on the right. After they are uploaded you can add a title, tag, or description or skip that and click on return to album. You are ready to start posting pictures. So now your looking at your photo drag your arrow over the picture and a box will come up from the bottom of that picture. Now at the bottom of that box it will say IMG CODE you want to highlight the texted in the box then copy it then paste it in your report. It will have the file name till you preview post then it will show your picture.

 

[TheEvilQueen]

Pictures!! I wanna see pictures!!

Please post them if you have them.

Then it will feel like I went on that trip too.

 

[stella27]

That trip sounds awesome!!! Just what I need - another travel opportunity to obsess over! And one that's great with kids. thanks for the report.

 

[mog]

I can explain in very simple terms how to post a photo.

Go to www.photobucket.com and set up an account. Oncer your account is set up go to my albums at the top, click on albums and upload. Then in the top middle of the page it will say upload images and video, look at the bottom it will have a place to pick the size you want to upload. I use the biggest size and then reduce them in the edit section if I want. Then after that click on the bulk uploader button. Pick the photos you want by clicking on the plus sign when your done with that click upload on the right. After they are uploaded you can add a title, tag, or description or skip that and click on return to album. You are ready to start posting pictures. So now your looking at your photo drag your arrow over the picture and a box will come up from the bottom of that picture. Now at the bottom of that box it will say IMG CODE you want to highlight the texted in the box then copy it then paste it in your report. It will have the file name till you preview post then it will show your picture.

To a technophobe like me, that sounds very complicated!
I promise to try, though. Just give me a little time - we are going away for the weekend again and then I will get my pictures together and attempt it!

 

[aspen37]

To a technophobe like me, that sounds very complicated!
I promise to try, though. Just give me a little time - we are going away for the weekend again and then I will get my pictures together and attempt it!

If you need extra help just PM me. I learned it from the tech board. It sounded complicated to me too.