The Hicks in Istanbul {and a little Germany} Part 3

{Only 2 years late}

In preparation for another great vacation to come with some of our most fabulous friends I thought I'd grace this space with a photo dump.

It has been two years since we made the trip to Istanbul and somehow I didn't get around to sharing the rest of these photos.

Our second last day was a rainy one, perfect for a day {inside} the Grand Bazaar.

 I came pretty close to having one of these beautiful lamps mailed home.

 We managed to exit with only turkish delight for family and friends, a spice grinder and these super fun turkish slippers.

 We had much nicer weather on our final day and decided to spend it on the water.

 These boats are set up to serve the most delicious fresh fish sandwiches.

 Next we boarded a ferry to head to Asia.

Little did I know before this trip that the city of Istanbul spans both Europe and Asia.

 We had a chill day on the other side of the water and even had ample park time to keep the littles happy.

 At the end of the day we just had to capture a set of these beautiful stairs.

You can see the exhaustion in these babes.

 Before heading back to Canada we spent a few more days in Germany.

I was so happy to see these roadside tulips.

With spring almost here this photo is inspiring me to beautify our own ugly curb-side patch.

 The bonds these kids made was so fun, we really can't wait to see them again.

 I loved how the big girls insisted again on matching hair.

Just a little chat by the Rhine pictured here.

 And finally, on our trip home, our layover dreams came true.

Instead of sitting in the Frankfurt airport for 5 hours we took a train in to the city to see the sights. 

Hooray!

The Hicks Family in Germany Part 4: Back in Dusseldorf

I'd like to start by congratulating myself for completing these vacation posts.

{Applause}

I know it took a while so thanks for sticking with me to the end.

We spent the rest of our trip seeing the sights of Dusseldorf but were first in desperate need of a park visit.

 Our hosts have a great park on their block and each time we would head to the train or grocery store we would pass this park without stopping.

Cruel, I know.

 Each time we would promise a play in the near future which is not much consolation for toddlers with only a sense of present time.

 It was, however, definitely worth the wait.

The park is called Zoo Park and is so named because it was a zoo before the war.

After it was bombed it became apparent that a zoo in the middle of the city wasn't the best idea and the space was turned to a park.

There were still remnants of the monkey cage which was amazing and eerie to see.

 Next we headed to a different kind of playground, the Schumacher Brewery.

Alt beer is a Dusseldorf specialty and exclusively brewed there.

And it is delicious.

The Germans obviously know their beer so this didn't come as much of a surprise.

Jeff was especially thrilled at how the beer is served in small {frequent} glasses to keep the beer cold.  

Next was a walk through the swanky part of town...

 ...past many symbols of Dusseldorf...

 ...and beauty like this...

...into Altstadt {Old Town}...

 ...where we drank more Altbier...

 ...and the local liquor, Killepitsch.

 This was actually a lot of fun.

You order at what is literally a pane of window that opens onto the street.

The kids even had a taste...

...of juice shots of course.

We ended our outing with a walk along the River Rhine capped off with a trip up in the Rhine-Tower.

Back at the apartment Jon treated us to a great Abendbrot.

Germans tend to eat a hot meal at lunch and a cold sandwich type meal for dinner.

Of course the quality of their meat, cheese and bread is amazing which I fear could be expensive to recreate here.

 On day two we chose to see Benrath Palace.

This little chicken was, naturally, more than pleased with the pink Palace.

 The palace itself is fantastic but the best part actually ended up being the grounds.

They were beautiful and it gave the kids a chance to let off some steam.

 Jeff accidentally took this overexposed shot and I loved it.

 I just couldn't get enough of these two, but I already went there a few weeks ago.

 Charmian commented how she loved all the shoes at the front door.

I agree, there's something so satisfying about a full house.

There were seven of us in a 2 bedroom apartment with one bathroom.

Though it might sound like a nightmare to some it was amazing and we would go back in a heartbeat.

Thanks Charmian, Jon and Alessandra for giving us such an amazing time.

The Hicks in Germany Part 3: But We're Actually in Amsterdam Still

I seized a double nap opportunity today to post about the rest of our time in Amsterdam.

We had originally planned on a play date this morning but as soon as our friends arrived Fiona spiked a fever and said her tummy was hurting.

She has been sleeping ever since, the poor girl.

The positive side of this is that I edited and sorted photos like nobody's business this morning.

Our third day in Amsterdam happened to be a Saturday which meant there was a great market open just a few blocks from us.

One of the {many} things we loved about the Netherlands and Germany was the freshness of the food.

The seafood in particular was delicious.

The baking was to die for. 

Jeff agreed.

And the flowers could be found in abundance.

 This particular market really had it all.

We were even treated to a latte and some political info by the D66 party.

 After some walking to areas of town that just need to be witnessed but shall not be named we found a little urban park for the kids to blow off some steam in.

This is in my figuring-out-how-to-actually-use-this-camera-with-a-lot-of-help-from-Jon phase.

I didn't mean to capture the motion blur but ended up liking it.

{Aside: I'm still firmly in that phase.}

 Can I just say again how unbelievably beautiful this city is.

 I mean, people get to live on this street.

We got back to our own temporary home to find that we had left the spare key in the other side of the lock.

Big deal, right?

Right, it was a big deal since it prevented us from unlocking the door.

Luckily our unnaturally chill property manager sauntered over with a locksmith within an hour and our evening of eating all that fresh food and relaxing was saved.

 I realized after going through my pictures that I took almost no photos of the house.

You'll just have to take my word for it that the stairs were death.

The worst part was that the opening at the top of the stairs was the size of the entire staircase.

So if a child were to accidentally stumble they may not just tumble down the stairs but do a straight drop to the landing.

Luckily nothing of the sort happened and it was an amazing place to stay.

 Our last day was spent touring the canals by boat with this lovely family.

Below is one of the few family photos we have from the trip and as hard as it is to believe, was the best of us all.

{Yes, even with Cedric's blank stare, my crow's feet and Jeff looking elsewhere.}

 It was great to see the beautiful streets of Amsterdam from the canals.

We also saw sights that we may not have otherwise.

Like a close up of this amazing multi-story bike parkade.

As great as it was, by the end of the ride we were happy to get off to escape both the heat and the shusher behind us.

 This was the end of Amsterdam for us.

Next we're back in Dusseldorf.

**Update: Fiona is officially sick, stomach bug sick.  Here we go again.**