The Schmidgalls in Denmark: August 2009

Dubrovnik

Our last stop of the cruise was a stop in the mideaval city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. It was a relaxing day as we just strolled through the streets of the old city behind the huge walls. It was beautiful.

Pillars of Rector's Palace.

Brad in front of Church of St. Blasius. In this church is a very detailed statue of Jesus hanging on the cross. Broderick was very concerned about Jesus and all his "owies".

Fiona, myself and the kids standing on the main street through town, Placa.

Broderick was excited to see an old fishing boat, of course he thought it was a pirate's ship.

A picture from on top of the old city wall looking over the Placa. The town is known for its red tile roofs.

There's Fiona watching the kids while we were walking on top of the wall. They're sitting by Onofrio's fountain, which is a 16 sided water fountain from the 14oos. You can still drink out of it.

This was the end of the cruise for us. The next morning we would be back in Venice and off the boat. It really was a great time and a relaxing way to travel to different sites. And ... it gave me some of the hot weather that I was missing back in the midwest.

Olympia

We docked at Katakolon, Greece one day and Brad and I took a taxi in to ancient Olympia while Fiona stayed back on the boat with Broderick. What a cool place to see. The ruins were a huge site. It was neat to see where the original olympics were held. They have been around since the 8th century BC.

Here's Brad holding up pillars from the gymnasium, where athletes would practice.

Here I am to the entrance of the stadium.

Here is the stadium. On the right side you can see a square formation where there was chairs for the judges, but the rest of the people sat on the grass. There was room for 45,000 spectators. I thought it was interesting the track wasn't one like we see now, but just a straight shot.

Brad crossing the finish line with Anika on his chest. They still have the original start and finish lines.

On my mark, get set, GO .....

There were many races going on between people there. The lenth was just over 192 meters long. People were pretty tired by the time they got to the finish line! That is a long way to sprint if you haven't been training. And it was VERY hot that day.

This is Hera's Alter where the olympic flame is lit for the olympic games. It is lit by women playing the role of "priestesses". They would light the flame using the sunlight and a mirror.

Next stop ... Croatia!

Athens

When we came to Athens, we actually docked in Piraeus and took a short drive to the ancient Acropolis. What do you even say about such an amazing city such as Athens? The birthplace of democracy, the cradle of western civilization, home to amazing philosophers. I couldn't believe we were actually standing there.

Here we are in front of the Parthenon. Interesting bit of history, the Parthenon was completely intact until the 1600s. It was under turkish control and had been turned into a mosque. They were storying their munitions in there and a canon from the Venetians hit the parthenon and it was destroyed.

The Temple of Athena.

Mars Hill is located right at the base of the Acropolis in Athens and it has Pauls Unknown God sermon from Acts 17 inscribed in Greek there. I love being places with Biblical history. Imagining these great men of God standing there, exactly where we were standing. Amazing!!!

Here's Brad standing on top of Mars Hill with the Acropolis in the background.

Athens was so cool, not just because of the amazing buildings, but the amount of history that has taken place there over the last 3,000 years.

Santorini

Ahhhh .... Santorini. Absolutely stunning. Simply gorgeous! The island is the result of one of the largest volcanic eruptions ever recorded. You approach it in a lagoon, surrounded on 3 sides by tall cliffs. These cliffs are just beautiful with the cities build into the sides of it. In the picture above, you can see the white buildings of Fira, the capital.

Another view of the cliffs.

The 4 of us with the town of Fira behind us.

There is a major problem with all the cliffs when you come to the island. It makes it very difficult to get to the top. So ... they have one cable car running up and down.

Ok, this poses a problem. We arrived on a cruise ship .... that means a couple thousand people ... plus we weren't the only ship. And ... we were on an Italian cruise line. Now I love Italians, their food, their language and many other things about their culture ... BUT there is one thing that drove us all crazy on our trip. They don't know how to stand in line. People were cutting in line like crazy! Crowds of people! That made it take even longer to get on a car.

Needless to say, coming down the mountain, we decided to take a little burro path that zigzags steeply down the side. It was packed with people and covered in slick donkey "waste". I slipped and fell on more than one occasion. Yes, my ego was a little bruised. Yes, going up and down made our short visit there quite stressful - especially with 2 little ones.

But ... look at this picture! It truelly is gorgeous. I really am so glad I saw it and hope to make it back to this island some day. They have beautiful red and black sand beaches and some other amazing cities. Next time I want to arrive without thousands of other people ... waiting for a cable car.

Corfu & Mykonos

Our first stop was Corfu. This was our first view or Greece as we sailed there. It was beautiful. It is located very close to Albania and has a very old history, from before the 7th century BC.

In the Corfu landmark of Liston.

Palaio Frourio which literally means old fortress

There was beautiful old crumbling buildings.

Fiona and Broderick at the base of the old fortress by the water.

The next evening we went to the Island of Mykonos. This island is well known for its night life. It was crazy being there at 10:30 at night and everything was open. We're use to Denmark, where things close at 5. =)

Beautiful flowers forming a canopy over the streets.

There was this enormous bird roaming the streets. I was half scared of it with that enourmous beak.

Now on to Santorini ... one of the beautiful places I have ever seen.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Our Mediterranean Cruise

Bear with me as I do a little bit of backtracking...

At the end of July we took a Mediterranean Cruise. We left from Venice, then sailed on to Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, and Olympia in Greece, spent our last day in Dubrovnik, Croatia and then came back to Venice. That is our ship above and it was beautiful! Very clean, very nice and many things to do.

Here is the family on the 2nd formal night. Every night they had a meal and a show afterwards. Broderick especially loved the shows.

There was a kids zone area. One night they had a disco. Broderick was very timid but decided to participate for a few moments. Here he is busting his moves.

They also had a small mini golf course. Broderick LOVES golf.

He also enjoyed swimming. Our pools on the boat were salt water pools though. We weren't big fans of this. The first time Broderick got in, he got some water in his mouth and promptly threw up. Yes, that's right ... right in the pool. Fiona quickly wisked him away from the pool. We weren't quite sure what else to do.

We were so lucky, we had awesome weather. No rain and yes it was hot, but not unbearable. No one got sunburns and no one fell off the boat.

Ok, I'm usually not much of a worrier. But on this boat different scenarios were always going through my mind of possibilities Broderick or Anika could fall over and could I jump off in time to save them. I did not like them anywhere near the sides. Maybe it would be better when they are a little older and I won't have to worry so much. I know, I know. I was being paranoid, but I couldn't help it, I'm a mom.

So I will take you to each of the places that we visited. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Greece was BEAUTIFUL!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Updates from our everday life

I just wanted to give you an update of our everyday life here, because in between our travels and visitors we do still live our normal life.

In 2 weeks, Broderick starts kindergarten. They call it børnehave here. This is hard on me. He is not quite 3 years old. When we moved here I dealt with sending him to dagpleje, but he has loved it there and I am so comfortable with Hanne, the lady who watches him. So its hard to change to something new, something unknown. There are many kids, compared to just 4. He's the little guy there too, as there are 3-6 year olds in the børnehave. I'm also a little worried about the language. His dagpleje mor understands english well, so he gets away with not speaking a lot of Danish, he may be forced to step up his language skills.

But ... I don't know why I'm so worried. Broderick is SO excited. We went to visit last week and he loved it. Everywhere we toured he wanted to stop and play and he wasn't happy when we left. Also, one of the boys who was in his dagpleje is also in his new class.

I'll have to pack his lunch when he goes to børnehave, so I asked Hanne his dagpleje mor what he has been eating in dagpleje. She informs me he likes liver puree, cold makrel and pickled herring!!!! What? Are you sure? Broderick - the boy I can't get to drink milk or eat a green bean? He eats cold fish on grainy rye bread .... and he likes it? I still am not sure I believe it!!!

These are pictures of Broderick walking with this dagpleje group. Usually 2-4 times per week, they walk somewhere to town to meet up with other groups or play in a park. The little kids sit in the barnevogn and the bigger kids walk along the side holding on. They walk far, almost a mile to some places. You will see groups like this all over town during the week going to their different destinations. They don't move at a very fast pace, but they get there!

One of the places Broderick goes to during the week is called legestue. It means "play room" and their dagpleje group meets with a few others. He loves it and it is the highlight of the week for him. Yesterday was his last time going.

Here he is ready to go to legestue.

Anika is getting so big too. She's almost 5 months old. She's eating cereal now ... she makes a huge mess.... but she enjoys it! Things are very expensive in Denmark, but one thing is constant throughout the world and that's IKEA. Its cheap even here, but its 1 1/2 hours away. I drove there yesterday to get a highchair for Anika (only 100 kroners - that's less than 20$). I get there and all they had were blue! So Anika gets a boy highchair. Oh well, I don't think she cares. She loves sitting in it. She loves to look around and see what is going on, so this puts her at our level and she likes that.

The other day we walked downtown. Here's Brad with the kids on one of the many walking paths and below is Broderick and I in our park. They have a ton of hydrangeas blooming right now. Very pretty!

In two days, Brad's cousin Jeff and Terrean and their two kids and his sister Marie are coming to visit. We are SO excited to see them. We are going to Skallerup Klit, a resort on the coast near here for 4 days. It will be perfect for the kids as there is so much to do there. We're looking forward to a little relaxation and Broderick can't wait for his cousins to come!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Farvel Fiona

For 3 months, I've lived the good life!

I had a nanny!

She was awesome!

And ... we miss her already. One week ago we took Fiona to the airport to say goodbye after 3 months of being together. Brad and I were able to sleep in (Broderick was dragging her to parks at 7 am sometimes), we were able to date (she would keep both kids in the evening), and we were able to travel places and see things that would not have been possible if we always had Broderick with us. Some places aren't the best to take kids (like museums) and they need naps. She helped around the house too ... cleaning, dishes, laundry! What more could I have asked for?

Broderick ADORED her! From the moment we met her in the airport and Broderick went up to her and told her, "I'm looking for a yady Fona" to the day she left, Broderick couldn't get enough. He had a constant playmate. Someone who would sing songs, play in the park, and build sandcastles all day long. He was a bit possessive at times and didn't always like it when Fiona would hold Anika, "Put her down Fiona!" He would frequently give her such commands.

The poor girl has put up with a lot more than she bargained for though. She has been puked on (by both kids), pooped on, hit, and has heard more crying than she probably thought she could handle. Even dealing with all that, somehow she still loved my kids. And she even learned a little Danish.

She was a fun person to have around, interesting to talk to, a good friend. She runs cross country at college too, so she was an inspiration for me to start exercising. Of course I didn't do as well as I should have in that area, but it was a start. =)

It was quite emotional at the airport with tears all around. Poor Broderick was crying, "You can't leave me. You have to stay with me." over and over. Poor Fiona, I don't think that made it any easier for her. I know she was missing her family and friends a ton though, so I'm sure she was excited to get back and see them.

Thanks Fiona for all your hard work and help. We all loved having you! Good luck at your last year of school. We hope you loved it too! God Bless You!!!!!!!!!

Here's a few memories of her time here...