Vacation in Crete and Rhodos

End of May and early June we spent two and a half weeks in Crete and Rhodos. In Crete we explored several Minoan palaces, but also had time to relax for six days on the beach. The beach place - Xerokampos - was an inside trip from my colleague who grew up on the island. We had a great place to stay at, there we practically no tourists, so it was nice.
After almost two weeks in Crete it was time to say good bye. We boarded our ferry and took an all day ride (13hours) to Rhodos. The ride was great fun. You saw many islands pass by. The ferry stopped at some of them. The trucks loading and unloading carried all kinds of stuff (from building materials to vegetables and gasoline). Not surprising, since the ferry system is the islands' only connection to the outside world.
Rhodos was truly amazing. The town and island was the seat of the Templar Knights and is today a world heritage site. We stayed at a wonderful family run hotel in an old Italian villa (note: untill 1948 Rhodos belonged for about 30 years to Italy). The walled city and palace was truly amazing. During the day it was teeming with cruise ship visitors. However, the back alleys were empty even during the day. In the evening when the daytrippers returned to their ships it was quiet. The famous Street of the Knighs was empty in the evenings. There was so much to see that we could not make it to the ancient sanctuary and Acropolis of Lindos. Oh well, we have to go back. Maybe next year.
Our final trip was a day long stopover in Athens. We really wanted to see the new Acropolis Museum, but it was not yet open (it opened a few weeks later). So I guess we have to come back to Athens as well. Instead we saw the National Archeological Museum and Acropolis again. And we met Cosmo again, who was still trying to get customers for his restaurant. We jocked with him last year, and at first he did not recognize me, but when he saw the kids then he remembered. Of course we ate at his restaurant. We all had lot's of fun.
The road to Xerokampos:
The modern Athens Archeological Museum:

First Communion in Maryland

Thanks to aunt Cristine's kindness, we were able to do Victoria's First Communion in the parish church of St. Patrick's. Everything went well, and on a sunny, albeit cold and blustery Easter Sunday, Victoria received her First Communion. This was followed by an Easter Egg hunt at the Larson's yard. After taking some pictures and having a tasty lunch the day culminated into a frenzied card playing session by most of the crowd.

On Easter Monday we had a close to 14 hour drive to Florida in Licia and Werner's van. Off and on it was raining cats and dogs during the last six hours of the trip and we saw a number of road accidents that caused some delays.

In Florida Andras got a nice sun burn during the first day of the beach. We also visited Disney's Animal Kingdom that all of us enjoyed. It was a perfect day to do it (warm and sunny). On Saturday Adrianne, the kids and a suitcase full of books left for home. I stayed the weekend with Licia and Werner, since I had to be in the San Francisco Bay area to do a biometric sreening test for my permit to stay legally outside the country for an extended period. I was back in Stuttgart on the following Thursday.

The Bajtay's:

Disney's Animal Kingdom:

New Year

The Christmas holidays were spent with my parents in Hungary. We took it easy and enjoyed my mom spoiling us and the kids. While in Hungary, Adrianne and I went for a day to Vienna (it was bitter cold), so we spent the day at the fine arts museum.
In February we flew for a weekend to my parents to celebrate my dad's 70th! It was really nice.
Then we were off for sking in Sankt Anton (Austria) again. We had lots of snow, but really bad weather (only one sunny day). We decided that next year we will go to Italy again (there we should have a better chance to see some sun).
Now we are off to Victoria's First Communion. The big day will be celebrated on Easter Sunday in Havre De Grace. After that we will spend five days in Florida.

Two Years in Germany

Two years ago yesterday we landed in Frankfurt. Now the kids speak fluently "auf deutsch", have German friends, teachers etc. We have German drivers licenses, drink German beer (Spanish wine though), pay higher taxes and go on longer vacations. Our drive to my parents became considerably shorter, but all in all not much changed. We miss our friends...
The picture above was taken last night, when I tried to make a cosy special night, while it was snowing and being bitter cold outside. The kids ended up playing computer games, while the parents read, drank the Spanish wine, and ended up watching Jay Leno on CNBC. So believe me, not much changed...

Rhine Valley

Two weeks ago we had to renew the kids US passports in person. This required a trip to Frankfurt, which we combined with a four day trip to the Rhine and Mosel valley (school was on fall vacation for a week). So we visited some castles, and cruised on the Rhine. We had amazing luck with the weather, and thus could really enjoy the fall colors.
Our first stop was at Eltz castle (picture above), nestled above the Mosel valley. What a gem! The castle was never destroyed by enemy or fire, and is still in possession of the Eltz family, which lived here for 33 generations (since the 12th century). The rooms had perfectly intact 550 year old massive beams. The castle kitchen contained a massive tree stump that served as cutting board for over 500 years. The interesting fact is that it is bigger than the kitchen door or windows i.e. it was there 500 years ago when the kitchen was built around it! The main room of the castle that served as bedroom and family room had beautifully painted walls (arabesque) that was never changed, only the colors were refreshed.
We also cruised the Rhine, visited other castles and even stayed overnight in a castle. It was a really fun trip!
The kids at Burg Eltz:
Mark at Rheinfells Castle:

Fall Trip to nearby Hohenzollern Castle

One sunny October afternoon we took a small trip to the nearby Hohenzollern Castle. The castle - rebuilt in the XIX century - is the birthplace of the Royal Prussian line. The 32 year old prince (not yet married) still lives here. After a nice uphill walk we enjoyed a tour and the views. It was a gorgeous, fun day.
Here are the kids with Adrianne:

Here is the entrance to the castle:

Weekend in Alsace

Two weekends ago we spent a gorgeous weekend in Alsace Lorraine (France), which is only three hours by car from our home. We took along my mom (Oma) and met up with brother Peter and his family. We stayed outside of Colmar at a cute B&B. Besides the gorgeous weather, we really enjoyed the food. The small towns with their timbered houses were impressive. They were and are rich due to the wine that is being grown here. There are a number of castles within sight of each other that formerly guarded this rich region. We visited Haut Koenigsbourg that was restored at the beginning of the 20th century. Among the towns Ribeauville and Riqwhirr stood out. At the end of the weekend we visited Strassbourg. After a nice lunch, we headed home.

At breakfast with Oma, Peter, Szilvia and Mate:

Visiting Haut Koenigsbourg:

My dinner was duck breasts:

Petit France district in downtown Strassbourg:

Summer Vacation in Vancouver

Our summer vacation we spent back home in Vancouver. It was wonderful to see friends and neighbors. We especially enjoyed staying with the Newtons. It was really fun! Thank you.
Mark and Victoria played with their friends as if they have only left two months ago, and not two years ago. We gladly drove them to play dates and sleep overs. Mark also attended with his friend Cameron a week long OMSI Science Camp (camping in the Cascades and staying in huts in the High Desert). They both came back black, wild, enthusiastically singing songs about the death of Barney etc...
Victoria had a mellower trip with the Newtons and their friends to the Oregon coast. She really enjoyed the company of Madeline, but also hanging out with the girls of the neighborhood. They are such good friends.
We also had the pleasure to attend Dan and Anna’s wedding. It was fun dancing with Victoria and watch Mark play air guitar to the music.
Over the course of two weeks Adrianne and Andras also raided Powell’s Books, REI and Fred Meyer, and still managed to pack everything into our suitcases. It was a really fun trip. We really want to come back in the summer of 2011. Till then we enjoy Europe…

Hiking in the Alps

We just returned from a four day hike in the Austrian Alps. We had great luck with the weather. The day before we left it was bone chillingly cold, and the day we returned the rain came with thunder and lightning.
Hiking is really simple here. Camping in the woods is not allowed, instead you have a network of huts, where you can sleep and buy food as well. There are also some ski lifts that operate even in the summer, so it was nice on the third day to take the lift up to the ridges, instead of climb the steep slopes (especially Victoria appreciated it). Also once you arrive at your destination, you can take a public bus back to your car. What was also weird were the many cows that roam the slopes. All of them have bells around their necks, so you can constantly hear them. Below you can see some pictures of the kids and Adrianne negotiating some tricky parts of our hike, and the smiles after we have been done with it. We are planning one more hike for the summer!

Kaltenberg Knight Tournament

In July we saw again a knight tournament. This time it was in Kaltenberg (between Munich and Stuttgart, about two hours drive from us). Many of the riders and knights are professional stuntmen, so they were really going for it. As it turned out all of them were from France, with the exception of a lone Austrian. The foot soldiers were Czech. Lances were broken on a regular basis, and they unseated each other as well. I thought that the bad guy, the "Black Knight" was the best. Both kids, but especially Mark was in heaven. After the tournament, the kids were doing various trials, and obstacles, after which both of them were knighted. There was also a nice medieval market, with lots of cool stuff. Please see below, some really cool jousting video, Victoria and Mark being knighted.