6 Months: The Hulets Have Landed

You remember that time Russ and I went to Norway, and when I wrote about it, I abbreviated the trip summary knowing that a complete version would read like "War and Peace" and no one would bother finishing it? My family came to visit. They were here for 19 days. And this time, I did not abbreviate.

You've been warned.

So.

July began by lighting Luxembourg on fire. Just in time for my family to arrive. In a country with no A/C, 100 degree heat feels like an emergency, and the stores quickly sold out of house fans. We couldn't even find them on Amazon. However, my family was not about to let the temperature stop them from covering as much European ground as possible during their stay. In the end, I had to hand it to them: 7 countries in just under 3 weeks. Impressively crazy.

#1: GERMANY

After a wretched, discombobulating morning searching for people in and around the Frankfurt Airport, we went to visit the city.

And after battling jet lag until a reasonable hour, we crashed at a hotel nearby. Forest arrived the next morning. The squad was complete. We were off.

First stop, Idar-Oberstein, a small German town halfway to Lux that boasts a legendary bro v bro love triangle that ended when one brother tossed his unlucky sibling off a cliff. In penance, Survivor Bro built a chapel on the site of the fratricide, perching the tiny church against the rock like a swallow's nest.

Idar-Oberstein also has a castle...

#2. LUXEMBOURG

By the time we reached Luxembourg, my car was making a noise not unlike the cry of the Banshee, so we opted to do some around town, on foot activities while the vehicle underwent some TLC.

Walking up to city center

Downtown and the Ducal Palace

Exploring the Casemates (medieval fortifications/tunnels under the city)

#3. FRANCE

We took an afternoon stroll through Rodemack, a small village that's been around since the Middle Ages and once made an official list of "Cutest Villages in France."

THEN, because we liked France so much, we got on an airplane, flew to Milan, fought with the rental car company, loaded up clown-car-style, and drove to the French Riviera.

First stop: Nice.

Nice is nice. It's required to make jokes like that while you're there. I think it's probably a law and everything.

To quote Stormie, "#nicebumwhereyoufrom?"

The next morning we took a bus down to the old city center...

where we walked around narrow streets...

devoured half a ton of fruit from the open air market...

overheated...

and finally went to the BEACH!

Then we drove out of the city, and up into the hills to have dinner in a little hilltop town called Vence.

After dinner, we stopped by St. Paul, another tiny town, this one even more hill-top-ish, for gelato and strolling.

Day Three of the vacation within a vacation found us back in the car, doing a driving tour of the area between Nice and Monaco, including the villages of Eze and La Turbie. It was hot, and the air was totally still in those winding, sun-baked stone streets. But the bougainvillea was blooming.

Also, while we were there, strolling past houses that predate the United States of America, Forest apparently found his dream girl. She was standing outside a restaurant wearing a white shirt. Forest failed to mention this sighting until we'd left the village, so now the only hope we have is that maybe she reads this blog. So, lady friends, if you were standing outside in Eze, France wearing a white shirt and happened to notice a super-cute dental student giving you the looky-looky, you should DEFINITELY leave me a comment below. Don't worry, guys, I'm sure true love will prevail.

#4. Monaco

Driving in Monaco is crazy. We weren't there for long as we are not A. millionaires, B. gamblers, C. yacht captains, or D. secret agents. But we checked out the palace, the cathedral, and learned a story about a warrior who infiltrated his enemy's stronghold dressed as a monk, killed a lot of people, and made himself king. Apparently, he's the ancestor of Monaco's current royal family.

#5. ITALY

And then came the moment I have been waiting for since 2009. Our triumphant return to my favorite place on the planet:

Vernazza is one of the five Ligurian villages known as the Cinque Terre. This place, guys. It's magic.

Forest and Stormie had ditched us in order to have a super-quick reunion sprint through their old Study Abroad stomping grounds in Siena, so Russ and I took my parents to our favorite restaurant in Vernazza, Ristorante Incadase da Piva, for a boiling clay cauldron of seafood risotto. As a first time traveler years ago, that little back-alley restaurant, that pot of food, set in among all those piggy-backing, sherbet-colored houses made me think over and over, "I didn't know things like this were real." It was a good memory to revisit. And the seafood risotto was still delicious.

Wanting to beat the heat, we got up the next morning and began our hike towards the next villages in the Cinque Terre. We began by climbing a lot of stairs out of the back of Vernazza...

and then followed the path along the coastal hillside, stopping to inspect blackberry bushes, plum trees, and olive groves....

until we reached Corniglia, and found out that most of the path was closed due to landslides. Bummer. So, we hopped aboard a train and visited Manarola and Riomaggiore, where they have things that look like this...

We met up with Forest and Stormie in Riomaggiore...

and took a boatride back along the villages to Vernazza...

I'm just going to take a minute here and brag about something.... The place where Russ and I stayed was absolutely fantastic. If you ever plan a trip to the Cinque Terre, trust me, you want to stay at the Stalin Terrace Bed and Breakfast. It was amazing.

Here are several good reasons why you should stay there:

Four reasons, if you count the Crazy Rock Jumpers doing backflips. I have NEVER in my life been the person that people look up and point at when they see you step out onto your balcony. Yeah, the location was that good.

With this kind of view from the balcony...

it was really hard to ever go inside, let alone pack up and leave.

However, the adventure was not over, so we crammed back into the car, and drove all the way up to Northern Italy's Lake District. Forest was especially interested in Lake Como.

We rented a super interesting house near the lake that had even more stairs than our house in Luxembourg (gotta be a record!), enough real beds for everyone, and a freezer big enough to stuff in the 6 water bottles we used for sleeping. It was HOT.

Nearby Villa del Balbianello is an amazing palace of a builidng set right on the water. I secretly wasn't sure that even the short tromp out to the point was worth it in such HEAT, but when we got there, I changed my tune. Wowza. Opulent, manicured, perfect wowza!

No matter how impressive the villa was, however, I reached the point where if I didn't cool down soon, I might actually start on fire. So we went swimming at a nearby beach. Stormie spent the majority of the time treading water with her legs tucked up so as to save herself from touchy-feely fish. Then we hustled up the road to catch the ferry over to Varenna.

Our last day of the trip within a trip was spent in Milan. We saw the park, the fortress, the Duomo, and the super fancy stores. And we joined in the tradition of letting Torino have it by spinning our heels on the Torino bull for good luck.

We ate gelato at a gelateria/chocolate shop that puts liquid chocolate in the bottom of the cone, and when we just couldn't stand the heat any longer, we boarded the metro and headed for the Museo Della Scienza et Della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci. My father, the engineer, studied all of the museum's models of Leonardo's inventions. Stormie and I studied the air conditioning.

Then we drove back to the airport, fought with the rental car company, boarded a plane, landed in Luxembourg, made it home, fell on our faces, and slept.

At this point, I need to put in a shout-out for our friend Tasha Oates who saved our pets' lives while we were away. And in so doing had to clean up dead animals AND cat poop. She deserves a parade. And a tiara. Thank you, Tasha. Seriously.

The vacation within a vacation was a success. We were all tired, footsore, dehydrated, and feeling a little over-stimulated, so we decided that that would be a good time to... get back in the car and drive all the way across the country of Belgium. (Ha! We don't take rests! What did you think this was, a vacation?)

Don't worry our destination was totally worth it.

#6. Belgium

Bruges is number one on my "What is there to do?" suggestion list.

There are three things I love about Bruges: architecture, waffles, and chocolate.

My parents took the part about chocolate VERY seriously.

The next day we took the hop, skip, and jump out to the seashore at Oostende. For a cloudy day, we had a great time. We investigated giant Jolley Rancher statuary, bought waffles and ice cream from a gregarious Belgian, and waded around in the water until the life guards kicked us off the beach so they could do emergency drills.

Stormie and I also traipsed through an exhibit of the most incredible sand castles I have ever seen. All Disney movies! I still don't know how they did it!

#7. Netherlands

Next, we drove over the border into the Netherlands to visit Kinderdijk. Stormie and my mom had orchestrated this part, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be NINETEEN working windmills! Hundreds of years old, beautifully maintained, and still functional! We got to tour two of them, and yes, they even let us try on the wooden shoes.

BONUS:

Vianden, Luxembourg

Saturday took us to Vianden Castle in Luxembourg for their annual Medieval Faire. There was food, arts and crafts, music, musketeers firing guns, and staged brawls between men in armor.

But the best part BY FAR was the birds...

Definitely not something I get to do everyday!

Burg Eltz, Germany

Sunday, after church, we journeyed back into Germany to visit Burg Eltz, my favorite castle we've discovered so far.

It was ugly, and everyone hated it.

At this point, my parents said uncle and returned to the USA to prep for their next round of adventures. Stormie, Forest, and I got up, picked up Lilly Evans, and drove three hours into Germany to visit the Black Forest.

Black Forest, Germany

I'm going to tell you the truth: I thought the Black Forest would be way scarier. I'm not sure what I was expecting... eerie moss, clammy fog, enormous spiders, the Big Bad Wolf... but with a name like the BLACK FOREST, I was anticipating a level of mirk and gloom. Instead, it was more about German pastries, cuckoo clocks, and hikes to scenic waterfalls. I admit some part of me smirked at the idea of having defeated the forest so easily. Well, Germany got the last laugh, because we later discovered that three out of the four of us had brought home TICKS! Y-U-C-K. Definitely creeped out now!! Touche, Germany.

Poor Stormie got the message about the ticks as she was boarding a plane in Frankfurt. Can you imagine trying to do that sort of check in an airplane bathroom at 30K feet? Luckily, Stormie had somehow made it out parasite-free. I think it's because she ate the alcoholic cake. :)

Bastogne, Belgium

So, Forest was the only guest still standing. On his last full day in Luxembourg we visited Esch-sur-Sure castle, and then drove over the border to Bastogne, Belgium's Battle of the Bulge Memorial and Museum.

And just like that, they were all gone! I admit to going home and taking a long nap. But when I woke up, the house was quiet. And I felt really, really, really sad. So, family, you should come back soon. We miss you already, and we've only scratched the surface of things to see. That goes for all the rest of you as well! Come on over! Luxembourg is waiting.

#star #visitors #update #travel