Christmas in Rome

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Although ours was very nice, it could not beat being at home with family and friends. As you can tell by the title of this blog entry, we spent the week of Christmas in Rome. We left on the 22nd and returned on the 27th, so we had a busy week of sight seeing, shopping, and enjoying an occasional gelato (Italian ice cream).

Rome with a 3 year old (I know, I cannot believe he is 3 either) requires careful planning as well as a heavy duty stroller. Public transportation in Rome is not great, therefore, if you are not up for walking, you are often required to take a taxi, which is expensive, not to mention a risk since many times you will be taken advantage of. Thankfully, the weather was wonderful, sunny and 60 for the majority of our visit, so we walked what seemed to be several miles a day. Our poor stroller, which is considered an "all terrain" stroller has had it. Rome's cobblestone streets, curbs, and numerous steps took their toll on our once indestructible stroller, but it lasted the trip and kept Henry somewhat comfortable for 6-7 hours a day, including naps and a few meals.

Having a child still in diapers also requires some extra planning, although, finding a bathroom in a hurry for a child would have also presented a challenge. Since attractions such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon do not have "diaper changing stations", one must be creative. We were lucky enough to have packed plenty of diapers and not have them lost with our luggage like one unlucky couple we met outside of the Colosseum did. Because we had been warned by several people and travel publications that Rome was notorious for pick pockets and scam artists, we were really suspicious of everyone who approached us. While outside of the Colosseum, a couple with two young children approached us. They explained they had just arrived in Rome and their luggage was lost, along with all of their diapers. John and I were a bit confused, we had people ask us for spare change, to buy various trinkets, to take guided tours, to buy flowers, even to buy a tripod, but diapers was a new one. Thankfully, I am never without plenty of diapers and was able to give them a few.

During our time in Rome we saw the highlights, including the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Basilica, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and numerous basilicas and sights too numerous to mention. Our favorite by far was the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica. These attractions are something you truly have to see to believe. Some of my pictures of these sights are a bit blurry and dark, flash photography was not permitted in some areas.

In addition to the various sites, John and I enjoyed observing the Italian lifestyle and culture. Since our hotel was on the outskirts of town, the hotel had a shuttle bus that took us back and forth daily to a plaza in the center of town. While waiting for the shuttle daily, we usually enjoyed a warm drink in a corner coffee shop and observed cultural practices of Italians. The coffee bar was a revolving door of people coming and going while doing a "shot" of espresso in between. Literally, people would come in off the street, order their shot, drink it while standing and leave immediately. Another thing I will never understand is who came up with the rules of parking and driving in Italy. Parking is random at best and people seem to make up the rules of driving as they go. I never thought I would say this, but driving in Germany is much more organized and orderly.

John is going to be off for another week, so we plan to relax and perhaps take a few day trips to neighboring towns and communities that we have not had a chance to visit yet. I am not sure if we will take any more big trips before the baby comes, I am now in my last trimester and can feel myself slowing down a bit. After six days of walking all over Rome, I was glad to get on the airplane home.

Thanks to all who sent us Christmas cards and well wishes, we will be home next year to share the holiday with you. Christmas was not the same without family, friends and snow!! Yes, I said snow. Everyday I talk to my Mom and sister, they tell me more snow is either falling or on the way, although it can be a nuisance, when you are away from it, you do miss it.

Enjoy the pictures, it was difficult to choose which ones to post as I took over 200 photos!

Henry Archer is 3!!!

On Tuesday Henry turned 3. He was still a bit under the weather, so we celebrated quietly at home. John and I were remembering the treacherous drive down 53rd street to on Eastern Avenue, which had not been plowed yet, to the hospital at 6AM on a cold, snowy, Iowa winter morning. We could not have imagined at that time what a blessing the day would bring.

Our baby boy!!


Our "big guy"!!


We leave Sunday for Rome to celebrate Christmas. It is only a short plane ride from a small airport not far from here, so hopefully the trip will be uneventful. We will be thinking of friends and family over Christmas and sending thoughts of love.

Merry Christmas!!!

A quiet week

Hello everyone!!! We hope friends and family are feeling well back home by the time they read this blog. It seems like every time I spoke with someone this week either they were ill or had family that was.

Unfortunately, we were not safe or immune from illness in Germany. Henry got a fever on Thursday, which was relieved with Tylenol, and had a slight cough, but had no other complaints. By Friday afternoon, his fever was worse and not as easily remedied with Tylenol or Motrin. His regular pediatrician was closed, so we headed out for the Heidelberg Kinderklink, an acute care center for children. Since I have already vented at great lengths about this experience to family and friends, I will spare everyone else, but let me tell you, socialized medicine is defiantly not the solution for our health care problems in the US. Anyway, after almost 3 hours of waiting, he was diagnosed with an ear infection and prescribed an antibiotic, which I had to take home and mix myself, thank goodness for my nursing background.

We had planned to venture out to neighboring communities for more Christmas markets and have a small birthday celebration for Henry this weekend, but his illness changed our plans. We had a quiet weekend at home, Henry and I did not leave the house once, which was kind of nice.

As I mentioned, Henry's 3rd birthday is Tuesday!!! John and I were discussing how the last three years have flown by and how much has happened since we have been married. Two moves, one international, a baby, a new degree for me, new positions at Deere for John, and another baby on the way. Life is anything but dull.

Since Henry was feeling under the weather this weekend, we let him open a birthday present early, below are a couple of photos with his new fire truck from Papa and Nana. What a hit. Thank you to all for all of the Birthday wishes.





As I write this, our family is getting ready for the Hanfeld Family Christmas party in Wiscosin. It is also our Uncle Bill's birthday today. Have a great time, travel safely, and we will be there next year!!!

Christmas Markets, a visit from friends and Flat Stanley!!

Frohes Weihnachten!!! (Merry Christmas)

The Christmas season (yes, we still can say "Christmas" is Germany) is in full swing here in Duetchland. City streets are lined with tents containing unique German gifts, food and of course, Gluhwein. Gluhwein is a warm wine served at the Christmas markets. Almost all adults make a stop at the Gluhwein tent while shopping, especially when the temperatures drops. The Christmas markets also have fun activities for children. In addition to Santa, there are several rides and ice skating rinks. Heidelberg's ice rink is very quaint. It is located at the base of the castle, making it look like a page out of Dickens. Although Henry is far too young to skate, he enjoyed watching the other children. He did, however, take advantage of every other ride the markets had to offer.

We had the pleasure of having our good friends and previous neighbors in town this week, Duane and Dorothy. They have been to Germany several times, so they ended up showing us around quite often. While Duane went to work during the day (he works at Deere), Dorothy and I enjoyed shopping, lunching, visiting and exploring the area. Dorothy also got to experience day to day life here in Germany. She accompanied me to the grocery stores, to Henry's school, to the doctor, parking in Mannheim, and getting trapped on the tram! In the evening, Duane and John joined us for dinner and more shopping. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit and miss them already. Henry is wondering where they went.

If you are wondering who the little paper boy is in some of the photos, his name is Flat Stanley. Our cousin Jason's third grade class is doing a Flat Stanley project and asked us to host Stanley for the week. We had fun doing it. Everyone was a good sport about participating, even if they had no idea what we were talking about. Dorothy has done a couple of Flat Stanley projects with her nieces and nephews, so she was really enthusiastic about doing it and very helpful. As you can see, we were not shy about asking people to pose with Stanley, he even visited John Deere for a day! It was fun and we hope Stanley enjoyed the week.

We also want to wish a Happy Birthday to all of the December birthdays this month, especially to my Uncle Bill, who turns 70 this week. We miss you!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This week was another busy one for the Archers. On Monday, Henry had his first day of preschool, or "kindergarten" as they call it here. After we packed his lunch it was off to start a new chapter his life. He did not hesitate to join in the play activities with the other children. After I took a few minutes with his teacher and the school administrator, I left for home (although we live next door). Since it was his first day, he only stayed for 2 hours, so I walked over to pick him up at 11 AM. He was so proud when I picked him up. He kept telling me "Look Mommy, this is my school!!". We then walked home and shared the lunch I packed for him. The next morning he could not wait to go back. He stayed for a little longer, but I still prefer to pick him up before lunch, he is a good lunch date.

On Tuesday night we had the opportunity to see the Mannheim Adler Eagles. A friend of mine is married to one of the players, so we sat in the "family" section and enjoyed all the VIP perks. At first, Henry was a little overwhelmed with the 15,000 screaming fans, but by the end of the game, he was screaming along with them. The people of Mannheim take their hockey quite seriously. I would not want to be a hockey referee for all of the money in world. It was fun to hear the fans chant cheers in German (even though we had no idea what they were saying) and to watch Henry enjoy the atmosphere. During game breaks they played music, just like in the states, and during one game break they played "Old Time Rockn' Roll", so Henry felt the need to get up and dance. He stole the show for a moment.

On Thanksgiving morning we packed up and drove to Paris for a long weekend. Our trip was uneventful and we were ready to start exploring as soon as we put our luggage down!! The first evening we walked to the L'Arc de Triomphe. It was only about 4 blocks from our hotel and was a spectacular welcome to Paris. From there we strolled up and down the streets, did some shopping, took in the sights and had a bite to eat. We were pretty overwhelmed and tired, so we called it an early night and headed back to the hotel.

The next day we bought a 2 day subway pass which we made good use of. The only complaint we had about the subway (and Paris) is that they are not stroller friendly. The entrances and exits to the subway were primarily steps (and a lot of them), so John and I ended up lifting Henry in his stroller up and down steps several times a day. By the end of the second day we had it down to a science. Anyway, on the second day we took the subway to the Eiffel Tower. It was a bit windy that day, which made it very cold, so our trip to the top was somewhat abbreviated. We did however stay long enough to take in the magnificent sites the landmark had to offer. I posted some pictures below.

After heading back to the hotel for a warm up and a quick nap for Henry, we were off again to Boulevard Haussmann, a popular shopping area. The Christmas window displays are quite extravagant and a popular attraction for families and children. They exceeded our expectations. Henry enjoyed the displays very much and hated to leave. After more walking and dinner, it was time to head back to the hotel again.

On Saturday we decided to visit the Louvre. We went early and were glad we did, by the time we left it was quite crowded. Like the rest of Paris, it was a bit overwhelming. Our first stop was, of course, to see the Mona Lisa. I had a perfect plan to take Henry's Christmas photo there, but I would have had a difficult time removing the roping that kept visitors 15 feet back and asking everyone else who was there to see it to step aside while I got the perfect shot, never mind the 4 security guards on each side of the painting. I guess I will have to think of another plan. Any suggestions?? We quickly toured other displays and exhibits before having to leave, but we plan to return again before our time here ends.

After another quick nap and bite to eat we walked to an area where Paris was having their Christmas markets. They were so crowded it was difficult to see what was being displayed and since Germany is known for their grand Christmas markets, we decided not to spend any extra time there and headed to another shopping district. This time we went to Avenue Montaigne. The streets were lined with trees filled with red lights making it feel like Christmas. As if we needed another reminder that we were no longer in Iowa, these shops were it. As happy as I am to be pregnant, I was a little disappointed I could not partake fully in the shopping experience. We still looked through the stores, the doormen were very accommodating helping us through, stroller and all. I posted a picture of Henry in Louis Vuitton shopping.

On Sunday we headed home. We passed Disneyland Paris on our way home. There was a steady stream of traffic heading there, even on a cool November day. We will have to include that in our next visit. Enjoy the pictures below. Love and miss you all.

An Early Thanksgiving Celebration

A Few Thanksgiving Photos

Henry was hungry!!
A picture of the crowd
Another picture of the crowd

This week was pretty quiet for us in Germany. By quiet, I mean no big outings. We are resting up for our Thanksgiving (and anniversary) trip to Paris. But, even through we did not do any major sight seeing, we did manage to stay busy.

Henry had his first appointment with his German pediatrician this week. Like my physician's appointment last week, his was very different from what we are used to. Her office is located in her home, so we rang her doorbell when we arrived, after she answered, she escorted us to her exam room. The room was very large, it included an exam table, a play area for children and her desk/office. She also had all of the necessary modern health care equipment as well. Henry was very well behaved and cooperative, not at all scared. After telling my mom about the appointment we decided the calm, less stimulating atmosphere must have made a huge difference. Anyway, her exam was very thorough, she even tested his hearing after learning he had an ear infection a couple of years ago. He was a little confused when she asked him to play "football" and kept kicking him a soccer ball. I finally said, "Play soccer Henry" and he kicked the ball back. She giggled after realizing we were having a small communication problem. Amazingly, Henry was sad to leave her office.

Henry and I are enjoying are daily outings to the gym. As I mentioned in earlier postings, the gyms here (or at least in Schwetzingen) are very nice. They have a nice play area for children and Henry cannot wait to go (he also hates to leave). Last week, I overheard some women there speaking English, I mean really good English, so I figured they were American. After introducing myself, one of the girls said she had seen me there the previous day and knew I was American because my gym clothes were not head to toe Lycra. After meeting them, I learned two were actually Canadian and one was American. They too were in Germany as a result of their husband's employment, only their husbands played hockey for the Mannheim Adler Eagles, a professional hockey team. All were very friendly and have young children. We exchanged emails and plan to get together soon. When I picked Henry up in the daycare after my workout that day, he was playing with one of their sons - cute how they latched on to each other.

John had the opportunity to visit the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France this week. He said it was very impressive. There was 27 members of the European Union represented speaking approximately 24 different languages. There were 785 people present representing 7 different political parties. Can you imagine?

On Friday night we had our Thanksgiving celebration with the other JD ex-pats. It was held in a quaint restaurant in the nearby town Schwetzingen. Dinner was very traditional: turkey, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy and a couple of different meats I did not recognize or try. There was not, however, any stuffing. I think that may have been a little over the top for the the German chef. Although I missed having it at the time, it is probably a good thing there was none - I would have compared it to my Mom's (which is great) and became more homesick. Henry had a great time, ate a lot and played with the other children until he practically fell asleep running!!

On Saturday morning we woke up to a thin blanket of snow covering the ground and trees. It was very pretty, so we decided to take a drive. I voted for a drive to Zweibrucken, where the nice outlet mall is, and Henry agreed with Mommy, so we were off. The hills and mountains covered with snowy pine trees along the way reminded me of a movie seen. In addition, there were darling little villages (towns) nestled in the valleys with smoke rolling out of their chimneys that really made us feel like we were in another land. Henry enjoyed the trip as well as there were many windmills along the way.

We are looking forward to the next week. Henry will start school on Monday, we leave for Paris on Thursday to enjoy the weekend and when we return our good friends and previous neighbors will be in town for a couple of days.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!! Happy Birthday to John's Dad on Monday.

A New Doctor for Mom, a Party for Henry and the Zoo

This week was another week of firsts for the Archers. Although Henry has not officially started his new school, he was still invited to celebrate in the St.Martin's Day celebration hosted by his "kindergarten". St. Martin's Day is celebrated in Germany and throughout Europe on the 11th day of the 11th month at 11 minutes after 11 o'clock. St. Martin was known as the "bishop of tours" and is remembered for his exemplary way of life. He lived in the 4th century when he was a Roman soldier who was later baptized as an adult and then became a monk. This holiday is primarily celebrated by children and people in rural Europe. The children make illuminated paper lanterns that hang from sticks and go from house to house singing songs about St. Martin in exchange for candy and treats, however, most communities now celebrate with local parties such as the one held by Henry's kindergarten in the church yard. Since Henry did not have an opportunity to make a lantern of his own, our neighbors were kind enough to offer him an extra one of theirs, although most of the children were too busy running and playing to hold their lanterns and march in the parade, so the parents ended up holding the traditional lanterns.

The same evening of the St. Martin's day festival, we had a good friend over for supper. He was in Mannheim for business and joined us for a home cooked meal. We enjoyed the evening very much and welcome any visitors who are passing through!!

Henry and I also attended our first John Deere "coffee" this week. Once a month the JD wives get together for coffee (and pastries) and have a chance to visit. It also allows the little ones who are not in school yet a chance to play. As a newcomer to the country, it also gave me an opportunity meet other ex-pats and learn of new things to do and places to go.

On Thursday, I had my first appointment with my new OB-GYN. He was recommended to us by another JD family who had a baby here a couple of months ago. His office is downtown Mannheim and a little tricky to find since there are very few signs or directions posted in this country. After walking around for 20 minutes, we finally found the way to his office, via an unmarked elevator. When we arrived, we were again surprised by the atmosphere inside. He only had one employee, his receptionist, and the office was extremely quite (until Henry arrived of course). After checking in, we waited about 45 minutes in the waiting area (which, from what I understand, is not a bad wait) before the doctor himself came and showed us to the exam room. I was a little apprehensive because I have heard so many stories about how the Europeans like to do everything "naturally" and really push for a "natural" birthing experience. Perhaps if this was my first baby, I might buy into that, however, having experienced the the luxury of an epidural and various pain meds, I know better. I was pleasantly surprised when he was receptive to my wishes for my plan of care. He then performed an examine, did the ultrasound himself (no tech) and then walked us to the door. A bit different from what we are used to. In addition, he spoke English very well as many physicians do in Germany.

Another JD family arrived in Germany this week. They have two little girls, Abby 3 and Samantha 1 and have one on the way (almost the same time our little one is due). They have been in a hotel all week since their home is not ready yet, so they decided to join us for a trip to the Heidelberg Zoo on Saturday so the little ones could stretch their legs and run some energy off. The zoo is open all year and has a great variety of animals. We had to laugh a little when we saw a raccoon on display. Evidently, raccoons are not as plentiful here as they are in the states. We only made it through half of the zoo on Saturday, it is extremely large and it was only about 40 degrees outside (and windy). We bought a family pass for the year, I think it will be a frequent stop this summer as there is a lot of green space, playgrounds and picnic areas in addition to the many animal attractions.

Today (Sunday) we went to the English speaking Catholic church in Heidelberg. It is located in the Mark Twain Village on the Army base. We were made to feel right at home immediately as we walked in the door and were asked to bring up the gifts. After church we had coffee and donuts in the church basement with the rest of the parishioners.

This week Henry has a physical with his pediatrician here. When I called to make the appointment, she answered her own telephone, which threw me for a loop, but many of the JD families take there children to her and are pleased with her care. Henry may also start German Kindergarten (preschool) this coming week. We visited the school last week for about an hour and they said he was welcome to start anytime. The director of the school and Henry's teacher both speak English fairly, and our home is literally right next door to the school, so he should be okay. The JD family who previously lived in this house sent two of their children to this school and were very pleased.

I will post more next week. As we are entering our 4th week here in Germany, I am beginning to miss home, but hearing from you all from time to time is wonderful, thank you for all of the nice emails and phone calls. We also want to send a big THANK YOU to my Mom and Dad for all of their help back home, we couldn't do this without you.