{"id":33,"date":"2012-11-02T16:40:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T16:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/02\/a-tour-of-eastern-europe-with-mom-and-kc\/"},"modified":"2017-03-16T09:03:20","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T09:03:20","slug":"a-tour-of-eastern-europe-with-mom-and-kc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/02\/a-tour-of-eastern-europe-with-mom-and-kc\/","title":{"rendered":"A tour of Eastern Europe with Mom and KC"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Mom and KC came back for a visit in October. \u00a0It was great seeing them since we hadn’t seen them since last Christmas. \u00a0They were here for a few days before we left on our great adventure!<\/b>
\n
\n<\/b>Of course while in London, we had an obligatory pub crawl, which was fun and resulted in us getting free t-shirts (I think KC could have just gone on home at that point, he was so happy). \u00a0Mom and KC took Caden to the Eye of London and got some great visuals of London. \u00a0It is such a beautiful city. \u00a0It is giant and spread out but never lacking anything interesting to see no matter where you might be standing. Our next stop was Berlin. \u00a0The city was far more interesting that I thought it would be. \u00a0Between seeing checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, riding our bikes inbetween the “no-man’s land” of the Wall, and seeing various beautiful buildings, we also had time to eat some great food and the kids of course were excited about the indoor swimming pool. \u00a0Michelle was kind enough to take the kids swimming while the four of us took a bicycle tour. \u00a0The information the local gave us was fascinating. \u00a0For example, Hitler only won the election by 35% of the popular vote. \u00a0The aristrocrats gave him the votes to bump him to a minimum of 50% so that he could be in power. \u00a0I was also unaware that the same group (Hitler plus the aristocrats) took the poor and labourers and put them in “labor camps”. \u00a0Hitler was smart enough to know he didn’t need to outright kill them, because the conditions they were living in were sufficient to insure the people would live no more than 3-4 years. \u00a0Millions of Germans died in the manner according to our local guide. \u00a0Another gem I learned: outside of the large Berlin public library is a hole in the ground with a covered window that you can look into and see basically a cellar-style library with only empty shelves. \u00a0The quote next to it remarks something along the lines of “first they burn the books [of the Jews], next they burn the people”. \u00a0Hmmmmm…. Seems to be good food for thought for our country…<\/p>\n

We also happened to be there for the Festival of Lights. \u00a0The night shows were amazing! \u00a0Berlin turned out to be a favorite for Scott and I.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

After Berlin, we went to Budapest. \u00a0What a beautiful city! \u00a0It certainly made us adjust our rankings of favorite European cities as it bumped its way into the top three. \u00a0With the towering palaces, the castles, the 4100 caves (under all of Hungary), the thermal baths, the open city squares, and the cheap food, we were in heaven! \u00a0The kids had a blast, which means the adults had a blast. \u00a0A must see for any one touring through Europe.<\/p>\n

We decided to go through Vienna (our favorite European city) for the night so that Mom and KC could see it. \u00a0It was cold there, but again we think there may not be a more beautiful city in Europe…<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Finally the highlight was Dubrovnik. \u00a0We spent four days sunning on the beach, touring the old world city center, and generally drinking too much beer. \u00a0The city is incredible as it sits on rocks and cliffs up the side of the mountain. \u00a0Just a few miles away is the country border with Bosnia. \u00a0Dubrovnik was warm, the people were kind, and the beer was cold. (-: \u00a0The only down side we experienced was the flight back to London from Dubrovnik. \u00a0Scott and I fly an often silly amount, but neither of us had ever experienced continuous and extremely turbulent flight for 2-plus hours. \u00a0The flight attendants were even a bit ill from the incredible bumpiness. \u00a0Mom and KC’s bags neither one made it back to London on the return trip, but we’re hopeful they have received all their baggage by now! \u00a0All in all, an incredible adventure for all of us as well as the children. \u00a0We’re looking forward to the next one!<\/p>\n

Here’s the video highlights:
\n<\/object><\/p>\n

And of course the honorable mentions!<\/p>\n

Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin…<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

The somewhat angry king and queen?!?<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

The very cool memorial to the Holocaust victims in Berlin…<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

The purple man sunbathing in Dubrovnik?<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Mom and KC came back for a visit in October. \u00a0It was great seeing them since we hadn’t seen them since last Christmas. \u00a0They were here for a few days before we left on our great adventure! Of course while in London, we had an obligatory pub crawl, which was fun and resulted in…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[40,36,37,49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-croatia","7":"category-germany","8":"category-hungary","9":"category-micha","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8k10v-x","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":70,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2012\/01\/01\/a-warm-spanish-get-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":0},"title":"A warm Spanish get-away…","author":"Micha Lunt Hooper","date":"January 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"We enjoyed our first Christmas in London. Mom and KC kindly made the journey over. I know it was just to see Caden and Keali, but it was still nice to see them.I spent the first week of their visit in bed. I have literally not been so sick for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Micha's Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Micha's Blog","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/blogs\/micha\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/07\/holiday-in-barcelona\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":1},"title":"Holiday in Barcelona","author":"Micha Lunt Hooper","date":"May 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"As I begin this entry, I realize that the last entry I made was a holiday. To those who don't know us very well, it may appear that we just jet around and take holidays in various beautiful places. I so wish that was the case... I will admit that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Micha's Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Micha's Blog","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/blogs\/micha\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":75,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/27\/another-staycation-near-london\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":2},"title":"Another staycation near London","author":"Micha Lunt Hooper","date":"November 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Scott surprised us with another mini-vacation. This time, instead of going towards London central, we went away. We drove south of London to Leeds Castle. What an amazing place to see! It was such a beautiful place. The kids enjoyed the footpath through the woods to get up the the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "London"","block_context":{"text":"London","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/europe\/united-kingdom\/london\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/23\/italia-it-gets-better-and-better-every-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":3},"title":"Italia – it gets better and better every time…","author":"Micha Lunt Hooper","date":"September 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost two years ago, we bought a week in a villa in Tuscany with several other couples from Houston. The villa was supposed to be this great big, winery vineyard which would blow our minds... So three weeks ago, my mom kindly agreed to fly to London to watch the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/europe\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/11\/cant-miss-the-deadline\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":4},"title":"Can’t miss the deadline…","author":"Micha Lunt Hooper","date":"April 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I just remembered (yes, I had forgotten) that I had this blog. \u00a0What was almost a habit to constantly update the blog in Europe has become a lost thing. \u00a0Forgotten. \u00a0Unloved. \u00a0Unnecessary. \u00a0Whatever is the right word. When I remembered I had this blog, it was because I am cleaning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Europe"","block_context":{"text":"Europe","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2011\/10\/20\/the-next-not-fun-adventure-coming\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":5},"title":"The next (not fun) adventure coming…","author":"Micha Lunt Hooper","date":"October 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"So everyone has been doing well. The kids are loving school and are currently out on their 1.5 week term break. The British school system is fantastic at raising the bar for expectations, but it seems like they are out of school for a week to two weeks every other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "London"","block_context":{"text":"London","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/europe\/united-kingdom\/london\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281,"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}