The Travelogue Begins

I am going to do a series of posts about my recent trip but for today, I am going to back up a bit to talk about how this trip was different than a normal holiday.  As my husband is on a long term work assignment, lodging and travel is quite different than how we typically would do things had we gone to Germany as tourists.

Thought Number One:  Work is the Opposite of Vacation

On our last trip to Germany, we went as tourists.  Yes, an adventure strictly for fun and seeing the sites. Easy-peasy plan for 15 days based in Munich.  We had a good travel agent that booked out rooms at the Marriott, made rental car reservations and lined out some guided bus tours to Switzerland and Austria.  On that trip we went with a group of friends as well, so we had our own built in group of English speaking people.  In fact, one of our group had German parents and claimed she had a working knowledge of the German language.  Monica, as it turned out, didn't have it working enough to keep us from getting on  the wrong train out of Dachau.  Which brought about a language lesson that was pretty self explanatory i.e. "dumme Amerikaner"

BUT in preparation for this trip...not so easy-peasy.  If one is going to a foreign country to work, there are things to be reckoned with.  Housing, car insurance, medical insurance that will cover you in a foreign country, foreign currency, a charge card that doesn't pick your pocket on conversion fees, getting a Euro-based cell phone (or unlocking your U.S. phone and finding a carrier that will not send you to the poor house on media, text, and Internet roaming charges) and last but not least having the proper Visa to be in a foreign country. 

As far as Visas go.... I timed my visit to see my husband near the end of his Schengen Visa.
As a non-German, hubby is allowed to stay in Germany for 90 days within an 180 day time period. There are a number of visa rules in Europe,  but when people talk about the “90 day limit”, they are talking about restrictions of the Schengen Visa, which is the visa rule that governs 26 countries in Europe. It includes all the European Union except Ireland and the United Kingdom as well as a few non-EU countries.

So...if you plan on visiting Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,  Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, better keep the three month rule in mind. (gasping for breath)

As I was saying, my husband's 90 days were coming to an end and his job wasn't.  I needed to get my trip in before he was asked (do you suppose it is a request?)  to leave the country.  As it turned out he was not booted out on his keister but that is another story for another day.  (I will cover what Hubby had to do to stay past the 90 day mark in a later post but here is a link to give you a bit of how to ward off deportation if you are camped out in Europe illegally..How to Stay in Europe Legally After 90 Days. )

Mr. Germany is a little fussy about his 90 days "get out of here" rule.

Thought Number Two:  Making A Home Away from Home

As my husband's company (OK to be clear...his company is just him with me handling the day to day boring crap that comes across my desk) tends to work in rather small towns, it might not surprise you to know there aren't major hotel chains built just to accommodate him.  There is a web-site www.booking.com   that covers all the little hotels and German Guest Houses available.  As my husband was working primarily in the area of Andernach, Germany, he found a small hotel/guest house in Weissenthurm. (Sorry, my computer doesn't type German, so that isn't exactly right.)

So begins the list of plus and minuses.  The Rhein Hotel is a 10 room house that is kind of a cross between a very small hotel or a very large Bed and Breakfast. The family that lives there consists of Mama and Papa, their daughter and son-in-law, and 2 grandsons. Since none of them speak a lick of English, we aren't sure of anyone's name but it all worked out with smiles, hugs and nods. 

The same family has owned the little hotel for over 75 years.  One of the reasons, we booked a room in this particular hotel is that Mama, was very accommodating. They installed a DSL line so Hubby would have access to a computer while living there. A lot of the hotels in these less populated areas, either don't have Internet or you have to go to a common room to use it.

Rhein Hotel is a bit like going back in time in a quaint charming sort of way.  It sits right on the Rhein.  AND I MEAN right ON the Rhein.  Occasionally IN the Rhein.

In both 1993 and 1995 Mama and Papa had the river come in for a visit.

The walking trail along the Rhein from hotel room. The river is being good about keeping itself
out of the hotel today.

barges and passenger ships are constantly going by

So that is where, hubby was calling home for the first 90 days.  Crabby Pants will be taking you on a tour of the the small and not-so-small towns along the Rhein, the German Christmas Markets and Amsterdam, Netherlands in upcoming posts.

Next time, I will start with the local food and have more information and pictures from the area around Weissenthurm and Andernach .

To be continued.....

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We're Back...but Just Barely

Just a quick post to say hi and let you know we (meaning Crabby Pants and myself...hubby is still in Germany)  made it back despite the arctic blasts that seem to be intent on making travel  a bit more difficult than normal.

You know that I always like to participate in Two Thoughts for Tuesday with the Blogdumps  crew and had every intention of having time yesterday to at least get started BUT as I managed to have both my flight out of Frankfurt, Germany delayed and the flight out of Houston to Kansas City delayed as well....consider this post  a little blurb to let you know that I am alive and well.    One (meaning YOU) really can't expect a lot of quality and superior content when it is coming from a jet-lagged, caffeine deprived, ME after getting home around 3 AM this morning.

Over the next few weeks, I will try to find time to tell you about some of the more interesting parts of my trip. Obviously, the very best part was seeing my husband.  He is coming home for Christmas so, I get to see him again in just a couple of weeks.

Anywho....back to the issue at hand.  Two Thoughts????

Thought Number One:  Some Airports are Easier than Others

In the past, when we went overseas we went through Amsterdam or Munich.  This time I went through Frankfurt both coming and going and I thought it was a thoroughly confusing airport as far as getting to the terminal.  Once inside the building not bad at all but, frankly the odds of you finding your way to a parking garage are so remote that you might, in fact, never get to see the inside of the terminal.  Well...unless you are willing to jump out of a moving car and run for the entrance.  I wasn't willing or able to try that method as my big ole suitcase wouldn't of made the jump. Next best method is to pull into the rental return lot of the same company as your rental car is from and beg for mercy.  The Enterprise people didn't seem to find it surprising that we couldn't find the parking garage and were very nice to help us figure out the "how to get to "point A from Point B." 

Of course, it could be said that IF a person could read German signs, this problem of not locating the entrance of the parking garage might of been somewhat easier.   As I don't read German signs, it is a miracle that I managed to get back to Kansas City at all. Still...as of 3:00 AM, I am back home.  YAY!!!!

Thought Number Two:  Are  Vacations Worth the Price You Pay When You Return? 

So here I am trying to think of "two" thoughts while actually I am thinking hundreds of thoughts of all that needs to get accomplished now that I am back. I am very behind in all things...mail, news (did anything of interest happen in the U.S in the last couple of weeks???) , blogging, reading, correspondence, returning emails and returning  phone calls...and the list goes on.

So my friends, I will try to get caught up and get back posting on a more consistent schedule.  AND to my blogging friends, I will see you over at your blogs soon.




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Day Number Two

What happened to "Day Number One"?,  I hear you cry.  Well...the long and the short of it is that after my departure on Saturday to come to Germany,  I have spent a lot of time in airports and on airplanes but have had a hell of a time getting on the Internet.  Luckily (or not ...depending on your point of view) I can draw and manipulate my pictures off line enough to do some cartoons for you.

 

 

 

So....just to catch you up to speed:

I  arrived at 11:45 AM in Frankfurt yesterday which is 4:45 AM according to my tired butt's time (and real time zone differences).  After maneuvering  through customs and retrieving  luggage I was headed for my  first stop of Andernach, Germany.  Andernach is super cute and very quaint. For those of you that aren't regular readers, my husband has been working here for the last 3 months so he is feeling pretty much at home here.  I have been here about a minute and a half and haven't gotten acclimated quite yet.

Not speaking the language on top of the fact there is no Diet Coke available is offering me a bit of a challenge.....oh and do we need to mention that in Germany they never, ever, puts ice into beverages?  I am drinking what appears to be German bottled ice tea without the availability of any ice.  I find it interesting that ice can be put in the picture but when you ask for ice, you are considered a crazy person. 

We dropped in on a Christmas Festival, visited an old fortress, and got settled into our German Guesthouse where we spent last night.  Hubby is sleep asleep this morning because it is 4:00 AM and I am awake with an Internet connection.  YAY!....

BUT for now...I am going to get cleaned up for the day.  I have plenty of pictures of things that I will try to post as time and computer connections allow.