Christian at home

I just thought I'd some of the very sweet pictures and videos we have of Christian, even though they aren't connected to any sort of event. He likes seeing himself on the camera, so he tolerates my video taping him. Even though he doesn't always smile on the video, as soon as I finish taping him he smiles and runs to see himself. :) He is wearing the adorable outfit his MaaMaa sent to him for Christmas. He loves the baseball and football on the shirt.

Me and Christian

Cliff and Christian

Christian climbing on his rocket. He climbs on EVERYTHING now. He usually stands on his rocket or car without holding on to anything. Despite his assortment of bruises at any given time, he does have pretty good balance.




Christian Dancing




Christian saying Hi




Christian Talking




Christian saying Tchuss (German for Bye)

Guest Information - Day Trips

This may help you in deciding what to do when you get here.

Local Open Air Markets:
Tuesday - Geilenkirchen
Wednesday - Birgden (small)
Thursday - Sittard, the Netherlands (large)
Friday - Geilenkirchen
Sunday - Tongeren, Belgium (flea market, antiques)

Hoensbroek Castle, the Netherlands (20 minute drive)
http://www.kasteelhoensbroek.nl/html/?me=2&su=0&si=3

Aachen, Germany (30 - 45 minute drive or you can take the train)
http://www.aachen.de/EN/
beautiful cathedral

Dusseldorf, Germany (45 minute drive or you can take the train)
http://www.duesseldorf.de/eng/tourism/discover/index.shtml

Cologne, Germany (1 hour drive or you can take the train)
http://www.koeln.de/en/
the Cologne Cathedral is the highlight - it took over 600 years to build
Rhine river cruise

Brussels, Belgium (1 1/2 hour drive)
http://www.visitbelgium.com/brussels.htm

Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2 hour drive or you can take a train)
http://www.holland.com/amsterdam/gb/
a good place to consider staying overnight
Anne Frank House
Canal Tour
LOTS of museums
Heineken Brewery Tour (complete with multi-sensory ride)
of course the red light district

Brugge, Belgium (2 1/2 hour drive)
http://www.brugge.be/internet/en/index.htm
a good place to consider staying overnight
Church of Our Lady (Michaelangelo's "Madonna and Child")
Choco Story chocolate museum
a brewery
canal tour

St. Goar, Germany (2 hour drive)
http://www.st-goar.de/17-1-.html
impressive castle
Rhine river cruise (recommend to Bacharach)

Banneux and Beauraing, Belgium (~2 hours-ish to the farther one, they are near eachother)
http://beauraing.catho.be
www.theotokos.org (search Banneux, Beauraing)
sites the Vigin Mary has appeared

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (2 hour 45 minute drive)
http://www.lcto.lu/html_en/index.html

Guest Information

Where We're Located

We're in a farming area of Germany near the border with the Netherlands and Belgium. The base is located in Geilenkirchen. The nearest large town, Aachen, is about 30 minutes away. As a point of reference, Cologne is an hour away. Dusseldorf is about 45 minutes from us. Amsterdam is 2 hours. Brussels is 1.5 hours. Berlin is 6 hours.

Getting Here

Air - you can fly into Cologne, Germany (1 hour); Dusseldorf, Germany (45 minutes); Brussels, Belgium (1.5 hours); Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2 hours)

Train - the nearest train station is Geilenkirchen Bahnhof

Accommodations

Our house is 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath. Upstairs we have three bedrooms and a full bath. On the ground floor we have the living room, dining room, kitchen and half bath. In the basement we have a recreation room and laundry room. We have wireless internet that works everywhere except the basement. As is the European standard, we have no air conditioning. We do have lots of fans, which worked well for us last summer. We have limited cable in English through AFN, but our programs are a year behind yours.

Our guest room has a queen size bed. The room has a dresser, mirror, hair dryer, power strip with US outlets and a fan. A note on the power strip - it does not use a transformer, only outlet adapters. So, make sure anything that is plugged in can handle a 220 V input voltage. Most cell phone chargers and laptop chargers do.

We have a full size fold out bed in the living room, which I've been told is pretty comfortable. The room does have doors for privacy.

We have a full size futon in the basement. It does allow privacy, but you will have to go upstairs for a bathroom.

Other Information

Driving - We currently have an extra car you can use to explore on your own, but you will need an international driver's license. You can get one through AAA for $15.

You can start getting familiar with some of the street signs and driving rules here:
http://www.hqusareur.army.mil/rmv/driving_in_europe.htm
http://www.hqusareur.army.mil/rmv/drivers_handbook.htm

Remember that this is not a third world country. :) We can take you to the store to get anything you may forget at home. There are , of course, German stores nearby. There are 2 bases nearby where you can shop (in US dollars) and rent movies.

There are several good restaurants in the area. Italian and Mediterranean food are really popular.

This blog gives some good information on the area, as well as travel tips. www.livingingk.blogspot.com

That's all I can think of. If you have any questions, let me know (you can leave a comment) and I'll add more information. :)

Guest Information - Travel Info

Driving Directions (time, distance, etc)
www.viamichelin.com

You can start getting familiar with some of the street signs and driving rules here:
http://www.hqusareur.army.mil/rmv/driving_in_europe.htm
http://www.hqusareur.army.mil/rmv/drivers_handbook.htm

Cheap Airlines (for local travel)
www.ryanair.com
www.airberlin.com
www.germanwings.com
www.easy-jet.com
www.tui.com
www.skyscanner.net


Train
http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml
http://www.raileurope.com/us/index.htm


Hotel
tripadvisor.com gives great reviews of hotels
www.booking.com
www.venere.com
www.hotel.de
www.planigo.com
there are LOTS of other places to look


Cruise
We've heard good things about the Costa Cruise line
http://www.costacruise.com/