Hi friends! Hello from well…Missouri. That’s right, I’ve been holding down the fort here for the past 5 weeks while Jason has been teaching in Europe (Spain). Before I left him there for the hottest part of the summer (in both of our locations), I joined him in Europe for two weeks. We dinked around in Prague, the rural areas south of Amsterdam in Holland, and in the very north of Germany. Seems random doesn’t it? I promise there was a method to the madness.
In April, I wrote a blog about traveling for genealogy research and visiting the places from whence your ancestors came. Well, that’s what we were getting up to. We added one extra city for work-related research, but the rest of the time was focused on our family heritage. We both had a great time doing a deep dive across northern Europe.
So, what did we do? I’m glad you asked.
After one of many spring deluges in Missouri, we left my garden to fend for itself and jumped on a plane to Europe. We landed in Spain, but were only there for about 3 hours before we flew from there to Prague (it was less expensive to get round-trip flights in/out of Madrid and then separate flights from there than to do multi-city flights…trust us). As is our norm, we were only traveling with carry-ons and backpacks. This was important on this leg of the trip because it let us avoid leaving the secured part of the airport, re-checking bags, going back through security, and everything that goes along with it. Instead, we just followed the signs for connecting flights after border control and waited patiently for our next flight. Easy peasy.
Europe Destination 1: Prague, Czech Republic
To Prague in Czechia (Czech Republic)! Why? Well, Jason has wanted to go to Prague for ages and was bummed when his last student trip there was canceled. So, we took a few days to check it out and see if it was a place to bring students for future trips. Do we speak ANY Czech? Nope. Did we understand the currency? Also nope (fun fact: they use the Czech Crown). Can we find Prague on a map? Obviously…do you know me? Geography was one of my favorite classes! So off we went.
After grabbing an Uber at the airport (Prague has a special kiosk for Airport Uber), we headed for our hotel, the NH Collection Prague Carlo IV Hotel near the train station in central old Prague. We chose this location both in case we decided to use the train to venture out of the city and because it was away from the main crowd. It turned out to be a wonderfully quiet area next to a big park. The building is a former bank and is absolutely beautiful. Breakfast was in the stunning restaurant each morning and the spread was enormous, fitting all sorts of regional tastes and diets! There was even a guitarist setting the mood each morning. It was all so nice.
We collapsed into bed the first night after nearly 36 hours of travel through Europe. The following day, we strapped on our walking shoes after breakfast and got busy. We walked into the Historic Centre of Prague (a UNESCO site) to see the Astronomical Clock on the south wall of the Town Hall – it was built in 1410 and has survived many wars, being the oldest astronomical clock still in operation. Legend has it that if the clock is to fall into disrepair the city will suffer. I’d keep it ticking too!
Prague Castle was also on our list on the first day. We came into the castle via the Old Castle Stairs, a brutal climb on a hot, sticky day, but the view! Wowsa! The St. Vitus Cathedral, located inside the Castle walls is a sight to behold! It is a triple-sainted cathedral containing remains of St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas (yes that one), and St. Adalbert. There are lots of buildings, museums, shops, and cafes to visit and could easily take you half a day depending upon your interests. However, be warned: many of the displays are only in Czech, which makes it challenging for those who don’t speak the language. *raises hand* Thank you Google Translate.
The following day we walked across the Charles Bridge (a 6th-century-old medieval bridge) and visited the other side of the Vltava River, including the Infant Jesus of Prague inside the Church of Our Lady Victorious, which is under extensive renovation. It’s a beautiful, simple Baroque church, home to a statue of the child Jesus. After a poke around the shops, we grabbed dinner and headed back to the hotel to call it a trip. We were leaving early the next morning for another flight across Europe and were worn out.
Hotel:
Restaurants:
- Restaurant Meat Beer – burgers and drinks
- Restaurant Tiskárna Národní – traditional Czech
To-Do:
- Prague Castle
- Walk Old Town Prague
- Charles Bridge
- Prague Astronomical Clock
- Church of Our Lady Victorious
- Go Czech Crystal Shopping
Off to Holland!
We flew back across Europe into Schiphol Airport, immediately hopped on the intercity train to Rotterdam, and walked across the street from the train station in Rotterdam to grab a car from Hertz. We loved that the train station is connected to the airport in Amsterdam – no extra taxis or hunting down metro stations. We collected our car and buzzed over to Naaldwijk in the Hook of Holland. Where? Ah yes, our new favorite city in Holland. Jason’s de Boode family is from this area of Holland and we had a marvelous three days exploring and getting to know the locals. It’s a quick 20 minutes from central Rotterdam and 10 km southwest of The Hague.
We stayed at the Hotel Restaurant Inn Naaldwijk in the central square of town. The square was completely revitalized recently and it is the cutest. Streets fan out from the center in all directions with great shopping, restaurants, churches, and anything else you may need (like a sweater for Jason because there was a cold snap). We arrived on a market day, so the entire square was covered in booths selling everything from cheeses, breads, and produce to clothing and crafts. We spent many hours just wandering around town and doing a little shopping in the market and shops. The whole town is very walkable, so getting your steps in won’t be an issue.
The second day was a bit of an adventure. We jumped in the car and headed to the tiny village of ‘t Woudt to visit the Protestant Kerk (church) there as it’s rumored Jason’s great, great aunt is buried in the little cemetery. We gave it a good look around but couldn’t find her headstone. I’ll have to do some more research on that family lore. Trust me, Jason is used to this. If you hang around a family historian long enough you find yourself headstone hunting in cemeteries everywhere! Why should Europe be any different? The church itself was so peaceful and mesmerizing; we could have stayed there all day enjoying it, except we were on another mission. Jason’s cousin owns a bakery in the next town over, so we set out to find it.
We drove to down to Maasdijk and located both the bakery shop and the larger main bakery – Bakery van den Berg. We didn’t pop into the big bakery after visiting the shop to meet his cousin though. Jason was feeling a bit apprehensive about that (also we weren’t sure he was there). Perhaps next time, because we’ll be back! I’ll have to drop him an email so he’s expecting us. We headed back to Naaldwijk and as we were walking back to the hotel, happened to glance up and realize there was another Bakery van den Berg right next to us on the square! What are the chances?? We decided to go in to get more treats and settled down on the square to enjoy them.
That evening was our last in Naaldwijk (also our 15th Anniversary). We ended up sitting and chatting with the hotel’s owner after dinner and learned a lot about the hotel industry in the area. The owners are expanding into another building across the square because the demand is so high. Fabulous! The demand will be even higher now that we’ve told you about it. *wink* If you’re looking for a quiet getaway with absolutely lovely people, we highly recommend Naaldwijk.
Naaldwijk & Rotterdam, Netherlands
Hotel:
Restaurants:
- Hotel Restaurant Inn Naaldwijk
- Brasserie Mirell – Naaldwijk
- Bakkery van den Berg Naaldwijk
- Restaurant & Cocktailbar JAQ – Rotterdam
- Stadscafe Weena – Rotterdam
To-Do:
- Shopping around the town square
- Architecture walks
- Admire Churches
- Visit t’Woudt – Protestant Church & nearby De Hooiberg restaurant
- Indulge in treats from bakeries
- Rent a car and wander
- Have a drink and chat with the locals
- Hunt down your relatives and chicken out meeting them😊
Amsterdam, the Waterways of Europe
We stayed one night in Rotterdam before hopping on the intercity train again and heading into Amsterdam to round out our time in Holland. We hadn’t planned anything ahead of time, so I missed my opportunity to visit the Anne Frank House (it books out 6 weeks in advance). Darnit – totally my fault. Instead, we took a two-day canal cruise with City Sightseeing to get around the city and visited the Maritime Museum and the House of Gassan (where they brought us a Gassan 121 cut, flawless, colorless, 10-carat diamond worth €50k – holy moly) along the way. As we usually do in a city, we did lots of walking, some shopping, and plenty of eating. Amsterdam was very crowded and not our favorite, but it was nice to experience it once.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hotel:
Restaurants:
- Oaxaca Amsterdam – Mexican
- Hans Egstorf – Oldest Bakery in Amsterdam
- Le Pain Quotidien – French Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch
To-Do:
- Anne Frank Museum
- Canal Cruise with City Sightseeing
- House of Gassan
- Maritime Museum
- Wander and take in the sights
- Eat as many stroopwafels and croissants as possible
Off to Visit the Germans
After two days in Amsterdam, we caught a 6 AM train to Hamburg, Germany. I highly recommend Amsterdam at 5 AM – it’s so peaceful and empty. We walked the 20 minutes to the train station and had the streets completely to ourselves.
Like most of our train travel in Europe, our first-class train journey was pretty uneventful, at least until we got to Hamburg, which was the definition of chaos and madness! The Euro Cup Football (Soccer) Tournament was going on in Germany, and it seemed like everyone was in the Hamburg train station that day trying to get somewhere to watch a match. That meant nearly all the signs around the station were directing people to different soccer fields, which was great if that’s where you were heading. If not, it wasn’t as helpful. Us? We were trying to get to the Hamburg Airport (Flughafen Hamburg) to pick up our next rental car. The station was so packed you could hardly move, plus my German isn’t THAT great, so I got overwhelmed quickly. Mercifully, after some Googling and sheer luck, we found the S-Bahn to the airport (there seriously were no signs or people to ask). It turns out, the line we needed was on the far left of the station. There was also some confusion about which train car we were supposed to be in; make sure you get in the car that specifically says airport if that’s where you’re headed. Finally, we found ourselves at the airport, which was far less crowded. Deep breath.
We collected our car from a rather jolly Hertz employee and were off to Schleswig, Germany in the state of Schleswig-Holstein way up north, nearly to Denmark. Actually, Schleswig-Holstein has been part of Denmark throughout much of its history. Today its ethnicity is mostly Danish despite being a part of Germany. It was annexed by Prussia (part of the German Empire) in 1864 and remained part of Prussia following the Seven Weeks War in 1866. And yet, through two additional world wars, Germany has still managed to hang onto it 160 years later.
So why Schleswig, Germany? I come from a small town in Iowa called Schleswig, and many of its original settlers were from this area of Germany and named their little frontier town the same. Some of my ancestors were from other villages near there, as well as near Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hanover, and a tiny chunk of land that is now part of Russia. I’m so German I couldn’t figure out where to go, so we picked Schleswig because my tiny town in Iowa is celebrating its 125th birthday this year and it just seemed fitting. But imagine my surprise when we encountered a very Danish feel, rather than the very Bavarian German feel that I grew up with at home. Fascinating.
We stayed outside of town at the Romantik Hotel Waldschlosschen, dropping the average age by decades. It was a lovely hotel, with excellent food, grounds, and spa, but it was definitely on the tour bus circuit, so we were surrounded by retirees. These are my people – they’re quiet, go to bed early, and check out early, so it’s nice and quiet. We were often the only ones at breakfast around 9 am since everyone else had already left! Our room was amazing and huge – it was a great fit for us.
We wandered into Schleswig proper the following day and walked around for hours. We had planned to stop in at the visitors center to see what they could tell me about the relationship with its sister city in Iowa (I know we’ve had visitors from Germany before), but they were closed for the day! Noooo! So, we figured it out ourselves.
We visited the enormous 900-year-old St. Petri Dom – Schleswig Cathedral (Evangelical Lutheran) where King Frederick I of Denmark was entombed. It was stunning and so different from any other cathedral I’ve visited – the stone was so elaborately painted and all the different colors of stone and reminded me of the Moorish palaces we’ve seen in Spain. We wandered toward the Schlei (a narrow inlet of the Baltic Sea, where the town gets its name) and discovered the tiny fishing village of Holm – it was absolutely adorable. We took a walk along the Schlei before deciding to visit Gottorf Castle, a massive museum in a former palace.
We spent hours (seriously, there were 5 floors of exhibits!) at Gottorf Castle wandering the exhibits from ancient archeology to modern displays of art and every artifact from the area in between. It was quite the collection, all housed in stunning rooms with fabulous ceilings (I love an overdone ceiling). Upon not being able to find any books about Schleswig in English in the museum shop, we decided to venture back into town one more time to look for a bookshop. We found the bookshop, but again, no books in English (except to teach you English), so I ended up with one in German. Totally fine, it will just take me ages to read it. Ha!
The following day we were headed back to Hamburg to catch our final flight to Madrid, but first, we thought we would stop off at Wikinger Museum Haithabu – a Viking museum and recreated Viking trading village on the banks of the Schlei. I am SO glad we stopped, it was so informative, even though we had to read all the exhibits from a book of English translation.
Haithabu was a very important Viking trading post and has become a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the amount of important artifacts uncovered in the area. I can’t properly put into words how amazing this place is. You HAVE to see it! After we wandered through the museum for hours, we walked the 15 minutes to the recreated trading village. We’ve been through a lot of recreated and preserved villages in our time from Living History Farms in Iowa to the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village on the Isle of Lewis & Harris in Scotland, but this one felt different. You could feel the busy past in this ancient place, but it was also such a calm and peaceful location on the banks of the Schlei with moorlands in every direction (except for the take-off and landing exercises the modern military jets were doing nearby – we were beginning to wonder if we’d missed some world news). This was the best thing of the whole trip for me.
Schleswig & Hamburg, Germany
Hotel:
Restaurants:
- Restaurant Olearius – Schleswig
- Restaurant Horizon – Hamburg
To-Do:
- St. Petri Dom – Schleswig Cathedral
- Friedhof de Holmer Beliebung – Historic Holm Fishing Village
- Buchhandlung Liesegang – Bookstore
- Gottorf Castle – Museum
- Viking Museum Haithabu
- Take a walk along the Schlei
Ending at the Beginning
We reluctantly headed back to Hamburg for our final night at the airport hotel. To wrap up this adventure in Europe, we had an early morning flight to Madrid. After hanging out for three days, I left Jason for the next 5 weeks to teach his classes. Meanwhile, I returned to Missouri to see what that garden was up to and keep up after our yard; it still hadn’t quit raining. Did I mention we had left 3-week-old baby chicks with our farm help? They were no longer babies!!
This trip was different for us. It was very busy, and we probably tried to cram in too many places (did I mention we traded a nasty cold the entire trip?). But on the flip side, we’ll definitely be back to the Hook of Holland and I’d really like to return to northern Germany and Denmark someday. We highly recommend diving into your ancestry, you never know what you may find! It is such a wild feeling to stand where your ancestors stood (admittedly I’ve done this most of my life in Iowa) and try to understand what they must have gone through to force them to leave the only place they’d known, take a chance, and strike out for something completely unknown.
Travel, folks. It’s an eye-opener and I’m forever grateful for it.
