"I don't know where I'ma gonna go when the volcano blows...."

Ever wondered about where Jimmy (Buffet, of course!) goes? The answer is, if the volcano is Eyjafjallajokull: nowhere! Unless you go by train, of course.


Thankfully, no Geipels were stranded mid-travels this past week. Gary had a business trip but it was to Berlin so the train was an alternative. And, the airspace in Germany opened up the day he was to come home so he was one of the earlier flights to land at Frankfurt airport after a five-day closure. Chaos!

If it weren’t for news reports, you would never know that we were under a treacherous volcanic ash cloud. This past week has brought some of the nicest weather we’ve had since September - a string of endless days of blue skies, sunshine and temperatures in the high 60s. Beautiful.


Gary and Molly are scheduled to leave on Friday for a trip to Indy and it appears the volcano will cooperate. Molly will go to the senior Prom with her friends in Zionsville and return on Tuesday. Gary will spend a week, stopping also in Minneapolis and Washington DC before returning.


If either is stopped by Customs upon return, they will find suitcases stocked with chocolate chips, children’s chewy vitamins, Skippy peanut butter and a jumbo bottle of ibuprofen! Before you ask – yes, while the other items are not available in Germany, ibuprofen is. BUT, it costs a fortune – in time and money. With five people in the family, periodic headaches, sports injuries, etc. we were nearing the end of our supply. I went to the drug store here to buy more. Nope. Not available. One must go to the Apotheke – the store that sells prescription drugs and an odd assortment of other things (the uniqueness of why they are only sold there, I cannot explain). Guess what? Ibuprofen is sold in quantities of 10 pills or, the “jumbo” size of 20 pills. And, it costs 5 Euro (about $8) for 20 pills. Compare this to Target brand ibuprofen sold in a bottle of 750 pills for $9.99!


I won’t digress much further but, the German government is in midst of passing legislation that will force down even further the prices on new prescription drugs, still under patent, because “they cost only pennies to make.” Hmm… and ibuprofen, which has been generic for years if not decades, costs 50 cents per pill??


Enough politics – let’s talk Paris in the Springtime! Also, beautiful. We had the delight of a visit from Maureen, our travel companion from previous vacations. She and Molly spent a great spring break week together and Audrey and I joined in for a few days in Paris. What fun to travel together! We enjoyed croissants and pain au chocolate every morning at our quaint hotel, we took a cruise on the Seine, we admired the Eiffel Tower at night and the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, and the Louvre by day.


The Louvre was a particular highlight for me and Audrey. Eight years ago, Audrey was at the Louvre with our family. Gary and I figured that since all the kids were so young, we would do just a short, hour-long visit to give them a taste of the place. We headed for the Mona Lisa as one of the more well-known paintings there. There are two things the family remembers of that visit:


1. Audrey would NOT look at the painting, period. I was holding her and tried every maneuver to turn around and let her look over my shoulder, turn her around so she could look forward at the painting with me, etc. Nothing. She simply refused to look.

2. Ethan was the most fascinated by the long gallery leading up to the room with the Mona Lisa – a gallery nearly a city block long with religious paintings hanging the whole distance. At least a third of the paintings included John the Baptist’s head – either just severed or already on a platter. I enjoyed walking that gallery again, even though Ethan was only along in his 6-year old spirit!


So, on this visit, Audrey did see the Mona Lisa (along with about 100 other people at any given time)!

She and I also wandered into a wing I’d not known was there – Napoleon’s apartments. Audrey thoroughly enjoyed seeing these rooms with original furniture and décor. We got our little taste of Versailles.


Molly and Maureen took the train and explored the real Versailles on their own one day while Audrey and I went to a cooking class to learn to make two French desserts. We brought them back to the hotel that night for an impromptu picnic on the bed - Maureen and Molly appreciated our efforts!



The girls and I mastered the Metro and even gave instructions and advice to other tourists! So, we’re ready to be travel guide or chaperone to anyone else who would like to come visit…



And, in case you're wondering - yes, we still buy a tacky souvenir even if we've been there before! There's an endless supply, after all!

Bikes, Bikes, Art, Museums and more Bikes!

No guessing involved in identifying our most recent weekend trip by our addition to the tacky souvenir collection. Amsterdam provided us the quintessential tacky souvenir! For just five Euros, it is a four-in-one: wooden shoe, crafted to look like Delft china, decorated with a windmill and sprouting tulips. All the bases are covered!

We did a quick 1½ day trip to Amsterdam, which is just an easy 4-hour drive from Frankfurt to kick off Spring Break. Gary’s good friend from college was visiting and Gary drove to Belgium to pick up Evan and his daughter (and her friend) on the way back to Frankfurt. The kids and I took the train home.

Amsterdam had the feel of Brugge on a larger scale – the canals and architecture are fantastic. It is probably the absolute flattest country in Europe. It makes the Indiana landscape look positively rolling. Despite the flat landscape, we managed to get in our excerise climbing. Arriving at 10pm at night, we walked in the hotel door to be met with this steep climb. Of course, no elevators in these old buildings but, the hotel staff carts all suitcases up to your room - probably to avoid the liability of guests tumbling down the stairs! What you can't see in the picture is how narrow each step is and how steep the stairs actually are...

Most of the canals are lined with house boats. The kids decided that while the idea of a house boat is great, having all the tourist canal boats (like the one we rode) pass by within mere feet of your windows all day long might not be so cool. One group of residents that doesn’t mind are the cats living on the world’s only cat rescue shelter house boat! We tried to take a picture but the glare on the window made it too difficult to see. I guess living in a shelter floating in the water makes for very few cat escapes!

The biggest surprise to me was the extent to which Amsterdam is a biker’s haven. I can confidently say there are more bikes in Amsterdam than cars. Every single street is crowded with hundreds of bikes parked along buildings, in bike racks and chained to posts. And, the streets, all with wide bike lanes, are swarming with bike riders. In fact, just when you think you've mastered sharing the sidewalks with bikes, along comes a sidewalk-sized car (this one is parked but we saw several driving on the sidewalks and bike paths)! And, yes, it is smaller than a Smart car..

There is clearly a whole industry and culture built up around biking -there is the equivalent of car seats for babies, specially designed for bikes – even with windshields for baby’s comfort. There are fenders designed for sitting, giving the bike a “back seat.” These back seats are ridden side-saddle. Not uncommon was the sight of a young mother riding side-saddle with her infant on her lap, weaving through car traffic without the slightest appearance of nerves. And, not a bike helmet to be seen in the entire city! Even the traffic, parking garages and parking enforcement is geared to bikes, as these photos testify. The one speaks for itself, the other, believe it or not, is a three-story bike parking garage at the train station - 2500 bikes parked there if there's one!

A day and a half only provided the time to hit some highlights of Amsterdam. True highlights include: Anne Frank’s house, Rembrandt’s house and Rijksmuseum (featuring Rembrandt and all the Dutch masters). To me, this art is real art and the Rijksmuseum is one of the few art museums I could spend hours in and appreciate the true skill and genius of the artist in every single piece of art on its walls. Over the past months, we have wandered into some art museums that defy the name “art” museum. This one made up for those in spades!

Anne Frank’s house was very well preserved and the associated museum excellently done. Molly and Ethan read her book in middle school and Audrey was reading the book during the trip. This made the visit especially powerful. Anne’s father, the only survivor of the small group in hiding together, insisted when the museum was developed that the living quarters remain unfurnished. A scale-model of the rooms as they were furnished helps re-create the scene in your mind. The walls of Anne’s room are perfectly preserved with the same wall paper and, more interestingly, all the photos of movie stars and family that she glued on the walls to cheer up an otherwise dismal environment. In a touching entry in her diary, she records how pleased she was with her effort.

Rembrandt’s house is like-wise very well preserved and excellent narrative accompanies the tour. Understanding this great artist’s everyday life and other ventures (both successful and unsuccessful as he loses the house to bankruptcy after living in it 20 years) – as art dealer, husband and father is fascinating.

An afternoon side-trip to The Hague was also squeezed in. Mrs. Lewis, a math teacher at Sycamore School who is well-loved by Ethan and Audrey, made a request that if we were in the Netherlands we must see Escher’s art and send her a picture. The famous Metamorphis that had been installed at the main post office is now in display at the airport in Amsterdam but, only past security. So instead, we went to the Escher museum in The Hague that is housed in the Winter Palace of Queen Beatrix and her predecessors, used until fairly recently. A museum that was a great two-in –one! Ethan and Audrey loved this art as much as I loved the Rijksmuseum. Just in case you've forgotten who Escher is – you’ll know his work immediately by the example hanging above the door to the building in this picture.

This neighborhood of The Hague is charming. After the museum closed, we wandered the quaint, winding streets filled with beautiful shops: antique stores, ultra-chic art galleries and ultra-chic fashion stores. Guess by this window display, which type of ultra-chic place this was? If you look close these are "high tide heels" - a sort of flipper/high heel combo. And, no, they weren't for sale to wear!

I could say that it was the overwhelming number of good choices that was responsible for our 90- minute walking tour of possible restaurants but alas, it was indecision and contention among the kids as to what we wanted to eat! In the end, our perseverance (and Mom and Dad’s patience) paid off. We found a casual pub with fantastic food – something for everyone on the menu and cheese fondue to boot! Amazing how good food and the right atmosphere can warm hearts, bond siblings and, along with a glass of beer and wine, relax Mom and Dad…

Up next, a Girls' Trip to Paris - joined by our favorite travel companion and good friend, Maureen. She's travelled with the Geipels to London, Scotland and Sweden and is coming back for more! We couldn't be happier.