As we are wrapping up our European adventure, I thought it would be fun to go back through all of our vacations and rank the places that we stayed, thinking about it solely from the lodging lens. We enjoy different accommodations, and while on vacation we like to splurge on the place that becomes our temporary home. Our memories are often linked to the place we stay on vacation.

This first group is extremely special – something almost magical about them. Attention to details, jaw dropping views, a home away from home, indescribable atmosphere. 10 out of 10. A+.

This next group is lovely, but lacking that special “thing”. I would absolutely go back, would highly recommend. They either had a prime location, beautiful decor, a relaxing spa, a fancy factor, beautiful views – but not ALL of those things. Or maybe they did have all of those things but were missing the magic.

Paris Marriott Champs Elysee, Paris, France

Maison de la Plague 83, Les Issambres, France

Bahia Del Duque, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Romantik Hotel Markusturm, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Hotel Am Hopfensee, Füssen, Germany

Mitsis Renela, Crete, Greece

Titisee-Neustadt AirBNB, Black Forest, Germany

AirBNB, Todtnau, Black Forest, Germany

AirBNB, Strasbourg, France

Ritz-Carlton, Berlin, Germany

Brussels Marriott Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium

The Pantheon Iconic Rome Hotel, Autograph Collection, Rome, Italy

The Intercontinental, Dublin, Ireland

The Intercontinental, Lisbon, Portugal

Westin Paris Vendome, Paris, France (permanently closed)

Riverside Chalet Alpspitze AirBNB, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

The Clermont Charing Cross, London, United Kingdom

Hotel du Rond, Paris, France

Unsoelds Factory Hotel, Munich, Germany

The Hoxton, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Martin’s Chateau du Lac, Brussels, Belgium

Leon 1014, Air BnB, Venice, Italy

This next group is just meh. Not my favorite, but just fine. They were likely loud, uncomfortable, lacking A/C, tiny, needing TLC. They met our needs, but without any of the “wants”. I wouldn’t go back, but wouldn’t say “hell no don’t go” to future travelers.

GINN Hotel Potsdam, Berlin, Germany

Grand Hotel Baglioni, Florence, Italy

Hotel Orphee, Regensburg, Germany

Riverview Apartments Das Paul VRBO, Nuremberg, Germany

Bochum VRBO, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Boutique Suites Lisse, Keukenhof, The Netherlands

This was a fun little trip down memory lane for me. What can one deduce from looking at this list? I am kinda high maintenance when it comes to vacation lodging. I prefer mountains over beaches over cities. I need peace and quiet and comfort. I appreciate the “extra”. 5-star hotels don’t always score in my top group – I don’t necessarily “look” 5-star and hate when hotel staff make me feel like a country bumpkin. Super friendly staff can make all the difference in a guest’s overall experience (W Algarve figured this out). I love the comfort and space of AirBNBs, but sometimes miss the services a hotel has to offer.

Number one on my list is kind of surprising when I read what I just wrote. We stayed there while there was an extremely dense fog blocking what I know are incredible views of Lake Lucerne. We were among the rich and famous but never felt “less than”. We didn’t make friends with guests or staff. But we had an amazing room in a beautiful building, delicious food, room for Kaycee to roam. I suppose the cowbells tinkering in the distance, unseen but heard, helped add to the charm. It was an experience, not just a place to lay my head.

I hope this list helps at least one person with some travel planning. We have covered a LOT of ground in 2 years. While our bank account has suffered the consequences of my high maintenance travel expectations, the memories we all have are priceless.

One week to go. My house is full of piles. Air shipment piles. Jay’s apartment piles. Checked baggage piles. Sell piles. Donate piles. Leave for new tenants piles. And my nerves? Also a pile.

To avoid some in-between-stage anxiety, I took the advice of Jay and my super-fan friend Liz, and booked a quick trip to spend some time with my team in Madrid, Spain. It was just what I needed. The team is awesome – they even showed up on a Friday to share some of their time with me.

Last week I shared a post about things that I will miss about Germany. This week I am starting to think more about what is waiting for us on the other side of the pond. In no particular order, here are things I am looking forward to.

Never having to pay for using a public toilet ever again. Ask Lily about my raging over not having coins, card machine not working, and I have to PEE!!! God bless America’s abundance of free public toilets.

Mexican food. A proper margarita is more than tequila and lime juice. A proper taco is made with no hint of curry.

Jimmy John’s. Mouth watering delicious sandwiches delivered to your doorstep. Freaky fast.

Salads with ranch dressing and shredded cheese. No more yogurt dressing. Wait. I have a choice of 10 different types of dressing?! Extra cheese please.

Ice everywhere. Thankfully our German home has a giant refrigerator and a freezer that makes 2 sizes of ice. But everywhere else, no such luck. It’s cute to ask for ice in my soda – and I get one little cube. 🙂 Looking forward to my crunchy ice maker, gas station fountain pop that I can fill with ice, and paying for more ice than beverage at restaurants.

Big cars. We have managed with some decent sized vehicles in Germany. I wasn’t sure if we would survive any road trips with Ty, Lily, and Kaycee crammed into the back seat. While the kids adapted and stopped fighting about touching each other, we are all excited to have to shout to be heard between the back seat and the front seat.

US Baseball and Softball. We are forever thankful for the Redwings, but I am excited to be surrounded by dozens of amazing ball fields. And TBK walking tacos. And not fighting with annoying soccer fans who think noisemakers at baseball games is appropriate.

Brian’s hair salon. I have tried finding hair stylists on 3 different continents and Brian is still my favorite.

Unflavored iced tea. Who knew that it would be so hard to find. No shortage of iced tea – but it’s all peach or lemon or mint. Simple black tea. Yum.

$1 bills. Although I get a pretty good workout carrying my purse full of EUR coins around. Because god forbid you don’t have any on you and you find yourself standing outside a public bathroom, legs crossed, and no 1 EUR coins. (Can you tell this is a hot button for me?)

Water bottle lids that come off the bottle. I say that I am looking forward to this, but maybe it’s not so bad.

Walking and not inhaling tons of smoke. I hear that the number of German smokers has decreased, but every time I walk by the bus stop, I don’t believe it.

Shivers Farms beef. Farm fresh, high quality beef stocked in my deep freeze. My mouth is watering.

Charmin. Go ahead, laugh. Sure, you can deal with the discomfort of German toilet paper if you are a casual tourist. In fact, you probably won’t even notice it. But once you settle in and realize that this is what you have to live with for multiple years, you do things you never would think about doing. You beg your military and government friends to pick up Charmin Ultra Soft for you every time they go to the Base Commissary. Shameless.

ORA and Urgent Care. The medical care is different here. I tried for months to get Ty into a physical therapist (unsuccessful). There is. I such thing (at least that I found) as Urgent Care. Thankfully the virtual doctor option is pretty easy. But finding an open pharmacy in the evening or in a Sunday is not easy.

Gigantic washers and dryers that complete a load of laundry in less than 3 hours. I hate laundry. If I win the lottery I am hiring someone to wash, fold, hang, and put away my laundry. In the absence of the winning lottery ticket, I am looking forward to being able to do the equivalent of 4 German loads of laundry at one time in less than half the total time.

English. Sigh. I hate to admit this. I TRIED to learn German. I have an 800+ day Duo Lingo streak going. I took 1 hour lessons 1-2 times/week. I am surrounded by German signage, menus, etc. After all of that effort, I am probably at an A2/B1 level. Ugh. And yet I still have to use Google Translate all the time. It is subtly exhausting. It’s not all that difficult to get along fine in a foreign country with all of the technology available. But being surrounded by English is going to be a mental holiday.

Pay at the pump and gas nozzles that you don’t have to stand and hold. I will never take for granted that little silver clip on the back of a gas pump handle. You know, the one that you have never ever paid attention to before because it is one of life’s conveniences that we have all come to rely on. Guess what. Germans don’t have that little clip on their gas pumps. I have no idea why. Maybe there is a safety reason. Or maybe it is some type of penance for using precious fuel. Who knows. All I know is that I am going to say thank you to the gas-pump-clip-inventor every time I fill up. And then I will say thank you to the person who decided that it makes people really happy to NOT have to go inside the gas station to pay for fuel.

Reynolds Wrap. I don’t know what their secret ingredient is, but it is way more effective than German aluminum foil.

US TV. For 2 years I have not figured out how to work our German TV. Swap routers, use the Switch remote, or the TV remote, or who knows????

Service mentality. Not having to beg and plead to get service at a restaurant. Sometimes I think that even if I stood on the table and danced around, the staff would avoid eye contact. I’m looking forward to getting the bill without asking for it.

And last but actually first, family and friends. We will arrive just before Christmas, just in time to make up for lost time and catch up on all the things we have missed out on back home. I am looking forward to lounging at Memaw and Papa’s in my Christmas PJs, seeing the Christmas decorations that Kirk & Sherry put up for us, finally meeting my future niece-in-law, the chaos of Lingren family Christmas, hugging my parents and siblings, and laughing with my girlfriends whenever I want. At the end of the day, this is what really matters. I am forever thankful for the adventures of the past 2 years, but there is no place like home.

As we are wrapping up our final days in Germany, I have been reflecting on our 2 year adventure. There are so many amazing memories, and more than a few things that we are going to miss. Here’s a summary.

Sundays. I thought I would hate not being able to shop on Sundays. I have grown to love the day of rest, long hikes, and spending quality time with my favorite humans.

Forest Biergartens. The Germans know how to motivate you to go for a long walk in the woods – beer. In the middle of nowhere, perfectly situated to give you a little rest and fuel for the return trip.

Festivals. If there is a reason to throw a festival, the Germans will find it and throw a fantastic party, complete with adorable little fest huts and an alcoholic beverage that pairs perfectly with the fest theme. This weekend’s festival – the Königstein Christmas market.

Having a castle in my backyard. The most idyllic 2-mile loop over the river and through the woods, along the castle walls, with an occasional spotting of a deer or wild hogs – going to be hard for Bettendorf to compete with that.

25 minutes from an airport that flies everywhere direct. Not exactly MLI…

Train travel. Since Jay loves to drive, we didn’t take as much advantage of the train travel as we could have, but it is SO convenient.

Language immersion. And language-friendly. I had big goals of being fluent in German at the end of 2 years. HA!!! I tried. And I’m going to keep my 800+ day Duo Lingo streak going. But aside from the few crabby old German ladies, most Germans speak perfect English. They appreciate attempts to speak broken Deutsch. This is the exact opposite of how most Americans treat people that come into our borders but cannot speak English. The next time you encounter someone who doesn’t speak English, give them some grace. Learning a new language is very difficult, you have no idea what their situation is and why they are there, they suffer frustration every day by not seeing & hearing their native language everywhere.

The Redwings. We were fortunate to find a baseball and softball club that allowed the kids to continue to play ball. Yumi, Chris, Frank, Sonja, Laura, and others coached the kids through 2 years of skill development.

Königstein small town living. We walk everywhere. We have an amazing Italian restaurant in our front yard. We can walk to a dozen amazing restaurants. We have multiple grocery stores a short walk away. We see smiling, friendly, familiar faces everywhere we go. Our funny little home tucked in a cobblestone nook off the Main Street has been our perfect German haus.

The Autobahn. I like to drive fast. I also like to obey the law. So being able to legally drive 200 km/hr is perfect. One of our favorite road trip games was placing bets on how much time Jay could cut out of a road trip.

Dog friendly country. I love that Kaycee is welcome almost everywhere we go, and often gets offered a fresh bowl of water and a pat on the head.

Towel warmers. One of life’s simple luxuries.

Church bells. There is something soothing about hearing the bells around town chiming, like clockwork, throughout the day.

Vivalda’s spoiling of Kaycee. We have been blessed to have been connected with Vivalda, who allowed us to explore this part of the world without worrying about whether Kaycee was miserable without us. He was opposite of miserable. Vivalda spoiled him rotten – giving him so much love that he didn’t even know we were gone.

Everyone asks “how are you feeling about the move?” We all have mixed feelings. We have all loved our time here. We have made a million memories, lots of friends, and are forever grateful for the adventure. But it isn’t home. And home is where we must go. Stay tuned for Things I Am Looking Forward To.

Jay and Lily are big fans of the series Clarkson’s Farm. If you haven’t seen it, it’s hilarious. Jeremy Clarkson buys a farm in the British countryside and faces all sorts of trials and tribulations. Working in the Ag industry, it is eye opening to see how difficult it is to be a British farmer. Jeremy tries to put a positive spin on every potential setback. The kids had a 4-day weekend so we decided to hop a quick flight to London for a weekend in the country.

Bourton-on-the-Water was a cute village that was, you guessed it, on a peaceful little stream. We had lunch there and did a bit of shopping.

Then we drove through Upper & Lower Slaughter. We didn’t stop and walk around here.

Our final stop was Stow-on-the-Wold. There was a big town square full of shops.

Our plan for dinner Saturday night was to walk across the street to the Shilton Rose & Crown pub. When we walked in at 7:00 the place was packed. The kitchen was closed, unfortunately, due to live music. As we were walking out, a lady who worked at one the shops recognized me and we started talking. I was then pulled into lots of conversations and ended up spending the evening drinking pints and chatting with Jayne, Eugene, and Stephanie. It was so much fun! Completely did not expect the evening to go in that direction, but it was a lovely turn of events.

All good things must come to an end, and so that’s a wrap on not only our Cotswalds vacation, but also our European holidays. The next 3 weeks will be chaos and stress and packing and purging and goodbyes. Ready or not….

What do you do when you have less than 24 hours with one of your favorite friends from the US? Throw on some hiking shoes and go for a wander in the woods! It was super cloudy so we didn’t get to show off many amazing views, but we didn’t let that stop us from having a good time. Thanks for exploring our little corner of Germany, Aileen!

We sent one friend off on the rest of her European trip, washed the guest bedding, and welcomed Ashley at the start of her week in Europe!

The next weekend one of Lily’s besties was celebrating her birthday so she stayed with her friends with Jay, Ty and I went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for our first Christmas market of the season. This town was perfectly perfect. Close your eyes and picture a little German fairytale village, surrounded by a medieval stone wall. That is Rothenburg.

If you can’t get in the Christmas spirit in Germany, there is no hope for you. Gluhwein, twinkling lights, carousels, marker stalls, and did I mention Gluhwein? :).

Ty’s 15U baseball team made it to the Deutschemeister (Germany National Championship) in Berlin, so we FINALLY were able to visit a city that was on our list since day 1 in Europe.

The boys were missing over half of their starters, a few were playing with injuries (including Ty), some 12U boys joined the team. It was a rough tournament, and despite getting destroyed (physically and mentally) on day 1, the boys showed up guns-a-blazing and won their last game against a team of boys that literally live and breathe baseball.

Ending on a high note was a great way to start our actual vacation. We moved hotels to be closer to the city center. I found a smokin’ deal at the Ritz. Fancy schmancy, comfortable, and a great location for seeing the sights.

We woke up early on Wednesday morning, 1 October, to get all decked out in our Oktoberfest attire and head to the tents when they opened at 10:00. As we were waiting for the boys to get cash, the hotel manager filled us in on some bad news…

Day 2 was lacking photos – and Jess…. But we made it to the tents a little before noon. We jumped to 4 different tents, enough time to grab a table, drink a beer, eat a half chicken, and get a vibe.

Ok so here’s the deal. I was not really looking forward to Oktoberfest. I thought it would be way too overstimulating, way too drunk, way too many obnoxious people.

Was it overstimulating? Yes….but I thought I would only last a couple hours one day. There were times when it was so loud that I couldn’t hear myself think, but the bands took breaks.

Was it a drunk mess? Yes, there were lots of drunk people, but 99% of them were happy and orderly. We saw 1 person get escorted out (smiling). We saw 1 guy puke on the table in the middle of the afternoon. A few girls crying in the bathrooms. But considering the fact that there were a million drunk people in a confined area, they were surprisingly NOT a mess.

And SO organized. There are unwritten rules to Oktoberfest (this is Germany where rules rule). And everyone follows them. The trains were packed but friendly and orderly. You sit at a table (if you’re lucky enough to get one), cram 8 people together on a bench, tip the waiters, dance on the benches (not the tables), leave when it’s time for the next group to come inside. The food and drinks arrive quickly. The mug washers never stop. The rotisseries never stop turning. The bathroom lines move quickly. The band plays a mix of oldies, goodies, folk, and everything in between.

Did I mention that ALL of the structures are temporary? 14 HUGE beer tents (although Ty doesn’t think that “tent” is an accurate word). The grounds are over 100 acres. Fun and games for all ages. Check out the Oktoberfest Toboggan on YouTube – Ty mastered it.

I mean, think of how special this is. In 1810 a prince and princess wanted the entire country to celebrate their wedding. Everyone got dressed up in their finest clothes, danced, ate, drank, and were merry for the marriage of their royals. Over 200 years later, the tradition continues. Nearly everyone wears the traditional Bavarian clothing. The band is the star of the show.

No entry fee. Zero Euros. That alone is unbelievable for an American. No need to charge admission when the average daily sales are over $70 million in beer and food sales. Could they make more money? Sure. But they want to keep the original intent of the future king and queen alive – available to everyone, no matter your class or social rank.

I love Germany. Yes, some things drive me crazy. But this place hangs on tight to traditions. And that determination is the secret ingredient.

When we learned that Iowa State was playing football in Dublin, we knew we HAD to go. We took a couple days of vacation and hopped on a plane for a weekend of friends, family, football and fun – Irish style!

We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel – walking distance to the stadium, really nice hotel.

We also saw the Book of Kells – a 1200 year old Bible with intricate and beautiful illustrations. We couldn’t take pictures.

I did zero research before arriving in Dublin. A long weekend in the city was plenty. I wish we would have had time to explore outside of the city. So much to see, so little vacation time.

I loved all the different colored doors throughout the city.

The taxi drivers were awesome. Super friendly and helpful. Fares were reasonable.

I’m scratching Ireland off of our map, but I sort of feel like it’s cheating. The Iowa State and Kansas State fans turned Dublin into a European Midwest.

Great fans. Great family. Great friends. And a Cyclone WIN!

Ooh la la! Katie was in Europe for work, so she added a few extra days to her trip and we met up in Paris. At this point I am basically a professional Paris tour guide. :). We both trained in and started our whirlwind Check-The-Box tour.

When we moved to Germany, I knew I would go to Paris once, but I wasn’t sure I would like it. I have now been 4 times, and I sprinkle in something new and different each trip. It always seems to show me more reasons why people love it.

A few months ago, I suggested that we go explore a new area without having to take vacation time. Let’s go to Southern France for 2 weeks, take our computers, work during the day, let the kids have beach and pool time, and wander around little beach towns at night. Jay was on board with the idea so I began a hunt for the perfect place.

One afternoon Jay and Ty went to Freund while I wrapped up some meetings. Lily and I took an Uber to meet them for dinner. We wandered through a market on our way back to where Jay and Ty parked. As we were nearing the parking spot, Jay started to get nervous. The market was huge. And it was on the street where he had parked.

Monaco. A little sovereign city-state that is bordered by France on 3 sides and the Mediterranean Sea on the 4th. Luxury. Excess. Filthy rich. The best people watching was outside the Monte Carlo Casino, where the rich and famous go to park their super cars.

Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur is a little town in the Hautes-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was about 3 hours from our holiday home, so we drove there on Sunday to check out the town where my great grandmother, Rose Faure, lived in as a little girl before immigrating to Wyoming.

I did sneak in one half day of actual vacation. Jay had some important meetings so I took the kids to the beach in the afternoon. We reserved some lounge chairs with umbrellas, floated in the water, snorkeled, got massages on the beach, and ate a yummy lunch.

This might have been one of my most genius ideas. The change of scenery was exactly what I needed. I was incredibly productive with work, super relaxed in the evenings. I loved walking to the beach snack shack to grab lunch, watching the boats float by while I was thinking, letting the kids sleep guilt-free until noon, and spending quality time with them after work. I predict more of this in our future. Au revoir France! Until next time!

JR, Kate, Avery and Milo came to Europe and basically went everywhere. Check out Kate’s Facebook posts to see all about the adventures they had while Jay and I were working. Wah wah. We did get to explore Strasbourg, France with them, and it was beautiful!

Exploring a new city with old friends. So glad they made the trip across the pond!!