2014 – Knowland Year in Review
Simply put …. Best. Year. Ever.
Ever since Dan returned from living in Europe as a
student 40 years ago, he’s talked about returning. Not just for a short
vacation, but for an extended stay. And
here we are – January 2014 marked our 5th month in Europe, staying with
our daughter, Michelle, while our favorite son-in-law, Craig, is deployed.One of the unexpected surprises of our time in Freihung was The Army Wives. Not the TV show, but the real-life group of women who formed the core of our daughter’s social life in Germany. Michelle had the company of 4 other women, strangers who became friends and who developed a rhythm of routinely getting together to share dinners, game nights, rides, pet care, good news, bad news. These ladies warmly invited us into their circle, nicknamed us “Dancy”, welcomed us into their homes, talked us into joining the Bavaria Ski Club, and involved us in several late-night games of Cards Against Humanity. I now understand how the bonds between Army Wives can get so tight so fast. They share a similar ethic … and they know what comes, soon goes. By May, we were saying goodbye to all these women and their husbands as Army lives now scattered in all directions. Ashley, Meredith, Andrea and Christina. You touched our lives.
Morning after New Years Eve. Don't we look good!
January in Austria
Germany in winter is dark and cold and long, so what better reprieve than to go skiing in the Austrian Alps. Michelle’s friend, Ally, from Mpls came over for 10 days. After picking her up in Munich, we went to Salzburg and Hallstatt before settling into our 2-bd. timeshare in Grundlsee. Who could have guessed there would be no snow in Austria in January, but we had one great ski day at Schladming Ski Resort: good snow, sunshine. We all bought tee-shirts (this just may be the last place we ever step into skis again.!)
February
in Spain
Two words:
Spain. Devereauxs.
The Costa del Sol of
Spain was reported to be the warmest place in Europe in February, so we decided last Fall to bail from Germany to Spain for the entire month. This was our first big extended adventure in Europe on our own. Until now, we basically went where Michelle said we were going (and since she planned everything, who were we to argue!). We rented an RCI timeshare for two weeks in the Malaga area, and much to our surprise, our good friends, Dan and Renee Devereaux, traded their annual winter-vacation-in-the-Caribbean-sun to come and tour the Mediterranean coast of Spain with us. Too cold for swimming, but we did walk many beaches, sample many beach bars, and brought back sea glass from the Med.
We rented a car for the first/only time in Spain. The Spanish highways were in great condition, both to get to the coastal towns and beaches as well as inland to historic Granada and Ronda, and all the way to the tip of Gibraltar. When it came time to cross into Morocco and visit Tangiers, we took a tour bus!
The Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace, It was originally constructed as a small fortress in 889 and renovated and rebuilt in the mid-11th century
Their attention to detail was amazing.
Michelle surprised her God Parents by flying in for a long weekend from Germany.
Tapas anyone?
The Rock ... but of course ...
Gibraltar is on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It's an English territory that shares it's northern border with Spain. It's tiny, with an area of about 2 sq miles, but had a mighty job to keep the straits open to traffic. We actually parked the car in Spain and walked to Gibraltar across this airline runway.
The little fort that could ...
Seriously ... who thinks to build bridges like this??
Yeah, we're wearing coats, hats, scarves AND mittens.
But, we are climbing rocks to view centuries-old ruins.
So who can resist the chance to travel to another continent, especially when someone else is doing the driving? Africa here we come, first by bus from our resort and then by high-speed ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangiers.. It was so nice going on a guided tour -- no decisions to be made, just stay up with the group and avoid all the cute little kids hawking all kinds of junk.
oh yes he did!
oh yes he did!
Mid February:
After two weeks on the coast, the Devereaux's headed back to MN, and we hopped on a train to Seville for a week and then on a plane to Barcelona. What a month. All in hopes of finding warmer weather than what our daughter was getting in Freihung! While we got that, there were only a few days that we would actually call warm (as in I'm still missing winters in the Bahamas!).
Seville:
Seville was like stepping back in time to a major Spanish city. Inland from the coastal resorts and far from the hub at Barcelona, Seville is a much truer Spanish experience (aka. very little English spoken here!). We rented a one-bedroom VRBO apartment that put us within walking distance of all the main sites and on the bus line for the rest.
In most restaurants, you order at the bar ... along with a mob of other people, all speaking rapid-fired Espanol. This was one of our success stories. Not always so lucky!
OMG ... The architecture. The cathedrals.
Barcelona:
It was hard to leave Sevelle until we landed in Barcelona. Then we knew we needed more time here! Barcelona is a bustling tourist city, with lots of buses, lots of great restaurants where it's easy to order in English, a beach, and of course, Gaudi, which puts all the other architecture I'd seen to shame.
After walking through so many cathedrals in so many cities, visiting the La Sagrada Familia was transformative. It was light and colorful where others were dark and heavy with gold and ornate sculpture. It was open and inviting ... and simple ... even though built on a massive scale.
Gaudi built with nature in mind. Pillars were huge tree trunks and branches.
No mere picture can capture the intricate carvings ...
But its the windows. The use of color and light that is mind-boggling.
All over town, there were signs of Gaudi's influence. His use of color and tile and whimsical lines was just lovely ... something I wasn't expected to like as much as I did.
We were in Barcelona during it's 'down season' but still La Ramblas was bustling every night. I love a city a with restaurants open late at night.
Our favorite tapas bar. You can see everything before you pick!
Just walk up and down the line with your plate ...
You keep track of your tab by the number of sticks you have.
Sweet ....
Blackberry mojitos. Best.
These pictures make me remember Barcelona as our favorite food city!
Oh yeah, almost forgot, Fat Tire Bike Tour #3. One to go.
March
in Italy
Having a home base in Freihung made traveling to other countries so enjoyable. Between jaunts, we'd come back to Germany, do our laundry and plan our next itinerary. Europe has several airlines that only fly within the Euro zone, so it made sense to take advantage of the low-cost fares. We flew from Munich to Pisa, took the train to the Cinque Terre, Florence and Rome, and then flew back from Rome to Munich. The flight cost $50/each!
Pisa.
Interesting to see that the 'lean' is more pronounced depending on where you stand.
The Cinque Terre ... the Italian Rivera.
"The Five Lands" comprises five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. All are part of the Cinque Terre National Park and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Each of the five villages is physically isolated from the others by the steep, rugged terrain. There are few roads and even locals rely on the paths to connect the villages. And the train. Cars cannot reach from the outside.
We day-hiked between villages, taking the train when we switched hotels.
The quality of the paths was amazing. Steep in parts but quite well made.
Seeing the next village through breaks in the trees was such a reward!
Houses literally built on rocks on the mountain slope.
Tuscany/Umbria:
From Northern Italy, we took the train to Florence where we rented an apt for a week. Florence has all things Renaissance. Museums, architecture, art, sculpture in every public square, food, shopping .... and all on a manageable scale for walking, seeing all the main sights and going back again to our favorites.
Ahhhh.....Florence, what's not to like?
Rome was surprisingly crowded for this time of year, and despite the amazing architecture and good food, it’s not one of my favorite cities. Too big. Too crowded. Too expensive. That said, how do you come to Italy for a month and not visit Rome?! Our spurge for a guided tour of the Coliseum and the Sistine Chapel was a great way to enjoy the sites while minimizing the hassle of people.
Welcome to Rome!
Paying big bucks to get into the inner reaches of the Coliseum was worth it. Not only did we get to bypass the lines at the gate, we got to see many private/restricted sites.
The forum ... walking the streets of ancient civilization.
Wisteria everywhere. Best part.
Yes, we did throw coins in the fountain!
Best part of St. Peter's Basilica.
Dan at entrance to our apt. rental.
Apt with a view and a balcony!
April
in AmsterdamWe flew back in Germany from Rome on April 7th, and Craig returned from deployment on April 8th! So nice to have the family back together again! At least for a few days as we left for the Netherlands 4 days later!
My bucket list has long included the tulips fields of Amsterdam so we rented an apt there for two weeks – we wanted to make sure we hit the flowers in bloom! And since this was our second trip, we figured we could enjoy the city at a more leisurely pace.
Just the perfect size for walking and getting lost among the canals.
We rented bikes for the day to ride thru the tulip fields. Such a treat to meander around, turn a corner and come upon a beautiful surprise of color. (Caution: excessive pictures ahead).
Beligium:
After 2 weeks in Amsterdam, we traveled by train to Brussels,
Beligium. Then on to Ghent and Bruges. All were very cool cities with the best beer and chocolate we've had so far.
Brussels
Ghent
Bruges
Every awning is either a beer café or a chocolate shop. Seriously.
Does every city in the Netherlands have canals?
Something for everyone on the beer list.
May Highlights
Freihung is quite rural, but comes with a grocery store and a train stop.
We took one long weekend trip over Mothers Day to Poland to do some polish pottery shopping. Boleslawiec, Poland is home to all things Polish pottery. Store after store after store of pottery ... you'd think you'd see enough after one or two ... but no, seriously, every store has different patterns and types of pottery. All handmade. All beautiful. All incredibly affordable. Gotta visit them all!
We may live on a boat, but spending the weekend immersed in polish pottery forced me to throw caution to the wind, and I arrived back to s/v Maja with several boxes of hand-painted, beautiful (aka breakable) pottery to both store and protect on the boat! 4 bowls (various sizes, of course), 2 bread loaf pans, 4 casserole dishes (different sizes, but all will fit in our small oven!), 4 coffee cups, cream/sugar (coffee cups need their accessories!), two trays, spoon rest (what? you think bringing a hand-painted ceramic spoon rest on a boat is ridiculous? well, hell, I say ... ya gotta have a spoon rest, so I bought two, planning for breakage). Of yes, and just a few gifts!
We took a side trip to Dresden on our way home. Dresden is amazing city for many reasons, but a big one was that it was completely destroyed in the final weeks of WWII. The city made a concerted effort to rebuild this historic area exactly as it was before the bombing. And they did an awesome job.
Dresden ...
Rebuilt to replicate the original structures.
June in France
France! Dan has been looking forward to this stop since we landed in Europe Two weeks in Paris, speaking French and eating croissants is just a little bit of heaven for him.The trip was made all the better by first going to Normandy for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. It was awesome. It was humbling. It was another piece in the huge WWII history lesson we are getting. It was also where we got to see Craig jump out of a Whiskey 7 WWII bomber airplane. How cool is that!
And finally, Paris was where we met up with James who decided to spend his summer break in Europe. What's not to like about France!
Giverny:
The four of us flew into Paris and rented a car for the drive to Normandy. Travel maven that she is, Michelle couldn't simply drive from Paris to Balfleur ... no, she researched a number of spots we could visit along the 4-hr drive, and we settled on Giverny, home to one of my favorite painters, Claude Monet. It may be raining, but his famous gardens are truly Magical.
We rented this cute cottage in Barfleur for 4 days on the English Channel.
Dropping Craig at the bus that will take him to airfield in Cherbourg.
Cute towns everywhere full of WWII enthusiasts.
This is what liberation must have felt like.
There go our boys ....
True to history, they missed the landing zone and were scattered in the fields.
Remember this scene from the Longest Day? Iconic.
Omaha Beach where the US causalities were the highest.
How fast can you run from the waterline to the trees?
The American Cemetery. Beautiful. Serene. Sad.
Stark contrast with the German Cemetery.
Equally sad. Loss of a generation. Each headstone = 5 dead young men.
The flags. The pride. Evidence was everywhere.
It was a good time to be an American!
He's here!
Thanks to a teacher's schedule and a great ticket rate that Michelle got, James decided to make his first trip to Europe and spend 8 weeks with us. He flew into Frankfort Germany with just a small backpack, and then took the train to Paris. An all-day affair, on top of the overnight flight from Minneapolis.
We did all the usual Paris things .... The Louvre, The Musée d’Orsay, Notre Dame, Versailles... but we found that we had the most fun seeing Paris on a bike. (At the end of a long, 10-mile city walk day, James crashed on the couch and asked "Is this what you do when you travel?" ..."Yeah, pretty much"). We did another Fat Tire Bike Tour (#4 for us, and yes, we got our free tee-shirts!), both during the day and at night. And we rented bikes for a day and just followed our own path around the city parks.
City bike tours are a great way to get oriented to a new city.
By far our favorite site. We came by here frequently ... day and night.
Fathers Day in Paris ... lucky dad!
Family photo at the Louvre. Yeah, all tourists do it!
The consummate navigator ....
July
Highlights
July was all about expanding the list of countries
James would visit during his 8-weeks in Europe. After France and Germany, we
went to the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland, where we
blew the bankroll to celebrate the kids’ birthday’s in style at an historic
inn.Germany:
Train travels with Molly
Bamberg, Germany
Famous for it's dark, smoky beer ...
Traveling by car to Fussen DE.
Frustrations of the autobahn!
Castles were high on James' wish list ... Two in one city!
Neuschwanstein Castle (inspiration for Disney's castle)
Nice spot to build a summer place
Favorite son .... He drove the autobahn, he rocked the train system, he hiked the German mountains, he slept in some uncomfortable places, and always smiled.
Prague:
So, we've got Michelle and Craig's car for a few days before they return from vacation. Hmmmm. Where should we go that's not too far away and accessible by Autobahn? Ahhh, Prague. Less than 2.5hrs of easy driving puts us in this unique city. Prague does not have Germany's great beer, but they have wonderful food, no matter where you eat.
Hitler protected Prague during the war so the old building are really old.
Amsterdam
Up next, train trip to Amsterdam and then to Belgium.
Houseboat rental -- a first for us!
Sweet digs! 2-bedrooms for a change!
We rented bikes for the week and zoomed around like locals
(except Nancy who was more prone to crashing than most ...)
Yes, in the rain.
But we still went out every day...
Especially to our favorite spots....
Beligium: Ghent and Bruges
More rain ....
However, thanks to the rain, we discovered this delightful treat ... Irish Coffee like no other.
There's some magic in getting the whiskey, coffee and cream to stay separated.
James tried several times to replicate this at home to no avail!
The best.
Ghent .... a most impressive castle.
On to Bruges, and more rain.
But we had other favorites to distract us!
Yes ... all different kinds of beer.
If I'm wearing a sweater, I'm probably drinking Irish Coffee ...
Finally ... sunshine and blue skies.
Switzerland
James and Michelle both have July birthdays, which happened to fall the week before James was to return to the USA. So we decided to go all out and travel to Interlaken, Switzerland. Country #6 for James and #14 for us!
The vistas were amazing. From the mountains, the quaint alpine villages, and that water!
Three crazy kids swimming in a glacier-fed lake ...
Welcome to the highlight of the weekend ... Grandhotel Giessbach.
This was the hotel used in the series, Band of Brothers.
Cigars and scotch on the balcony. Ahhhhhhh......
Birthday dinner at the hotel.
Party's over .... heading home.
August
Highlights
By now, we knew we needed an exit
strategy! Craig was pursuing options in
the Army that would involve moving back to the states. Wow … our time here has passed so quickly,
and I’m not even tired of it yet.
We spent Dan’s birthday weekend on a wine tour of
the Mosel River Valley, starting in Heidelberg and moving on the Cochem, the
BurgEltz castle and ending in Wurzburg. This is the first time we've been in a region dominated by wine, not beer .... finally, a town made for Nancy!
Dinner cruise on the river at Heidelberg.
Cochem ... Wine country along the Mosel River.
Burg Eltz.
Rick Steve's favorite castle, so we had to go.
Rick Steve's favorite castle, so we had to go.
September
Highlights
Well, it’s happening. Craig and Michelle are moving back to
Savannah, and we have booked our return flight via IcelandAir out of
Amsterdam. End of a dream. We had one last warm and sunny stay in
Amsterdam visiting all our favorite spots (Van Gogh Museum ticket #4) before the flight back to Minneapolis.
Goodbye from Michelle: The day had to come... Dancy has left the nest and they are heading home to Minnesota on Friday! We were so incredibly lucky to have them here throughout the deployment and to travel with in Europe (UK, Spain, Italy, Poland, Austria, Switzerland)! It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live here, and I'm so glad that I got to share that experience with the best parents around.
Minnesota:
Back in the land of family and friends! Between the Devereauxs, Schalaus, Jim Garfunkel, and our son James, we moved around for the next month, visiting everyone we've been missing for the past year and gathering our goods left in multiple spots last summer.
The best thing about being back: Having our own car again! And U.S. highways! And English!
It was a wonderful Fall in Minnesota, making it easy to extend our stay here. However, Dan had nagging concerns about the state of s/v Maja after being in the boat yard for almost 1.5 years, so as Halloween rolled around, we packed up the GMC Suburban and rolled out of town. Heading south.
Gopher Football ... long-standing tradition.
November
Highlights
Back to Florida. Back to the boat.
All things considered, s/v Maja weathered the time in storage quite well. All electronics work. Batteries are charged. No mold. No insect infestation. No big surprises at all.
Back to Florida. Back to the boat.
All things considered, s/v Maja weathered the time in storage quite well. All electronics work. Batteries are charged. No mold. No insect infestation. No big surprises at all.
Yeah, she was dirtydirtydirty due to FL pollen and grim...
But she cleaned up with deck wash and a brush.
Varnish was another story. All the teak was literally shedding coats of varnish. I started at the bow and stripped everything to bare wood and added 6 coats of new, shiny varnish.
December
Highlights
Varnish on bow, deck and hull is done.
Hull waxed. New bottom paint.
Counting our blessings.
Happy New Year!
Health and good cheer to all our favorite people.
Nothing beats a houseful of good friends.
Best wishes for all that you wish for in 2015.
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