Germany

I took a quick trip to Germany over spring break while the boys were on vacation with Katie. My dad had some medical issues over the past year, and it had been almost two years since I went, but a trip that was supposed to be five days in Germany, ended up being only four days because of flight delays.

When in Germany for the first time, you HAVE to try Mettbroetchen. Needless to say, she was not a fan haha.

A trip down memory lane is always on the agenda for the first day, walking around my village, visiting the homes where I grew up in (which are luckily still owned by my family), visiting my grandparent's graves, and eating all my favorite foods. 

My only living grandparent, and one of the main reasons I wanted to go visit. It was so special to spend time with her.

We had doener almost every day!

Family dinner at my favorite restaurant one night, I absolutely loved how many people were able to join us even though it was very short notice.

We also had breakfast at my grandma's favorite brunch spot!

Best friends since we were babies!

The house I grew up in, my brother lives here now.

More doener!

After two days in my hometown, we took a day trip to Cologne for some sightseeing. It had been many years that I visited my favorite German city and it was so nice to be back.

We visited the chocolate museum too, this is a chocolate fountain!

The following day, we took my mom and Grandma to the tulip festival near Amsterdam. None of us had ever been, and even though it was freezing, and not all the tulips were in full bloom yet, it was such a nice morning.

We had lunch at a restaurant, and then checked into a hotel for my mom and grandma to relax, while we explored Amsterdam for a bit.

This is the view out of the window where Anne Frank lived.

And the famous book case that hid the secret entrance to their hiding spot.

I had been to the Anne Frank museum in 2008, and it felt just as heavy as it did back then to hear the stories and visit the site.

We visited a few other museums as well, walked around, and had good food.

I realized that it was a lot to travel this kind of distance and deal with jet lag for only four days, and hopefully I can get some more time off from work for the next trip, but it was great to see my family again!