Daytrip: Speyer

Situated on the Rhine River, and approximately 30 minutes from the main tourist city of Heidelberg is the city of Speyer.  It's small enough to be walkable, yet large enough to provide plenty of options for family entertainment, shopping and delicious dining.

The Cathedral of Speyer dates back to 1061 and is said to be one of the "largest and most significant Romanesque edifices in Germany."   The exterior is beautiful and the Dom has a stately, yet simple interior.  There are beautiful statues, a few basic fountains, and a small spider-like play area on the grounds.  

When we head to Speyer, our favorite destination is SeaLife, a small, but very family friendly aquarium.  The aquarium has just enough variety to satisfy the tots, and almost every tank is situated at a child's eye level.  Inhabitants of the aquarium include sea horses, jellyfish, octopus, manta rays, starfish, sharks, sea turtles and eels.  Tootsie and TurkeyBoy always look forward to a trip to SeaLife!  

Another main attraction in Speyer is the Technik Museum.  The Technik Museum houses a variety of planes, trains and automobiles, as well as an IMAX dome cinema.  This museum is still on our 'must-see' list, as we have yet to go there.  But, I'm sure now that TurkeyBoy is a bit older and loves trains and planes, we'll be heading there soon.  

There's nothing like a great dinner to top off a daytrip.  Speyer will not disappoint.    There are many restaurants to choose from within easy walking distance from the Cathedral.  On our first trip to Speyer, we dined at Zur alten Münz, and it quickly became one of our favorite restaurants in Germany.  After a delicious meal, try out their dessert, or head to one of the many ice cream cafes on the main pedestrian street near the Cathedral.  

If you're in the area and planning ahead, Speyer also makes a great destination for a low-key Christmas market stop during the Christmas season.

We'll be celebrating Tootsie's 5th birthday this weekend by taking a trip to Speyer.  She's looking forward to seeing the octopus and seahorses again :)  I'm looking forward to satisfying my cravings at Zur alten Münz!

Back in Business???

Well, this update has been a long time coming!  We are back in Germany after our Stateside trip to visit family.  Since we've been back, there's been a lot of unpacking and settling in going on at our new rental.  It's been a lot of work getting into our new home, but it's definitely worth it...now, if we could only get our internet fully up and running, we'd really be back in business!  Thanks to our iPhones, we are able to create a personal hotspot to get our computers online.  Technology is amazing!  Now that I've figured this out, I should be able to get back to blogging about one of my favorite things...traveling with my family  :)

We don't have any trips planned out at this point.  A few of our bigger plans have gone on the backburner for now, due to health concerns, but I'm still hoping to fit at least one more weekend getaway in before Tiny Traveler is born.  I'm also looking to plan a few daytrips with friends in the coming weeks.  Where are some of your favorite daytrip destinations to take your family?

I hope you have all had an enjoyable summer!

Living Like a Tourist

In the past two weeks, we've been in the Chicago area, Milwaukee and up to LaCrosse to visit family.  These are all very familiar places for us, as my husband and I grew up here.  Because of this, so many places here have special meaning for us. Tomorrow night, we'll be heading to our favorite restaurant where we first met...two days ago we were at the location where my husband proposed.  It's been great to revisit these special places.  But as we've been doing all this driving, we've also passed by a lot of tourist sites that we've never visited...or at least haven't visited in a REALLY long time.  They've always been on our "We should go there someday" list.  Perhaps it's time to start visiting those 'someday' sites.

What I really appreciate about our time in Germany, is that I've become so determined to see as much as I can and have become a perpetual tourist.  I'm always trying to find new places to go, and in the process I've learned so much about history and different cultures.  It has changed my mindset.  Yet, it can be so easy when I'm in a very familiar environment to stay with what I know...to not seek out the new and different places...and to live like...welll...like I live here.  So this is now going to be my personal challenge...that no matter where I live or who I am visiting, I will continue to live like a tourist.    

Since I'm in WI, now, I've been thinking of all the places in WI on my "Someday" list.  Here's what I've come up with so far:

• Jelly Belly Warehouse Tour - in Pleasant Prairie
• Sprecher Brewery Tour - they make the BEST root beer around!...in Milwaukee
• Mitchell Park Conservatory - aka The Domes...beautiful place to visit in Milwaukee
• House on the Rock - in Spring Green
• Ten Chimneys - in Genesee Depot
• Old World Wisconsin - in Eagle

Perhaps during our next Stateside visit, you'll see a blog post about one of these locations :)

What are some sites near you that are on YOUR "We should go there someday" list?