I thought the communication gap was going to be larger than it actually was. It turns out we knew enough German and they knew enough English that more times than not we could communicate fine.
Where to start about our trip. I think I'll save the best for last, the real reason we were there, and start out with the typical tourist stuff.
First stop is Dom cathedral. What an impressive piece of architecture. It is massive to say the least. It's too bad the camera doesn't give a good representation to it's size. Standing at the base you can't help but be in awe.
This photo is a nice one of a spire that can actually be walked up. There is a spiral staircase consisting of 540 steps to the top. The staircase is very narrow and steep. Two people cannot stand side by side in the stairwell.
Here is one of Emma going up. The center of the spiral is typically designated for those heading up. Because of the steepness of the staircase it really doesn't offer a good footing. Coming down the center of the spiral would most likely result in death. Big feet just wouldn't be able to land on those stairs. You would tumble. once at the top the view is amazing. All.......the.....way......down.
Like all good cathedrals there is plenty of stained glass and interesting workmanship and architecture. These are just a snippet.
The Keukenhof. I had no idea how attached the Netherlanders are to their tulips. This was just acres and acres of every tulip imaginable. I'll check this one off the "been there done that". I can't say I'd do repeat visits there.
One of the best parts, because I like food, was eating at as many establishments as I could. There were a LOT of eating establishments to sample from. A lot of our group would go to McDonalds or Burger King. Not this old man. I went for brats and doners, (and anything else that caught my eye).
Their brats are very simple. No bun, just pick it up and eat it, after dipping in spicy mustard of course. They did provide a small roll. This tasty morsel was found in one of the train stations.
This is a doner with a side of fries and mayo. Basically shaved meat, wrapped in a puffy tortilla with veggies. It was most excellent. This one is in Alastad, or old town Dusselforf. It is situated on a street that has the highest concentration of bars than anywhere in the world, and these Germans start their drinking early.
Jumping back to the Netherlands. My cousin was all about trying to find this huge traveling sign. I AMsterdam. Every three weeks it changes locations. With the help of some locals we tracked it down to a place called the museumplein, basically a large chunk of town with museums. After some pics, and some walking around, now and behold I find the HardRock Amsterdam. Yep, gotta do it, so I did it, and bought one of their crazy expensive shirts.
Yes we did do more in Germany, but this would be one massive blog if i noted everything. Now on to the real reason for Germany..........Irish Dance, of all things.
In 2013 Emma qualifies to attend the WIDA European and Worlds competition. Honestly, she got in by the skin of her teeth. I was not, by any means, impressed with her performance. So for the next few months I really turned on the steam. As she was deadset on attending the Worlds competition, I was deadset on her having a better showing so I could a little feel better about spending thousands of dollars.
There were a few harsh conversations with her and the amount if practicing she was doing. (none). Luckily, as the competition drew near she really stepped it up. I was still a little miffed it took her so long. I think I got in her head a little too much when I told her if she didn't place better than 50% she would have to reimburse her share of the trip to me. I got a call from her teacher saying Emma was too stressed to dance good. Lots of crying. She was too worried about my "talk". So I backed off. Heh heh. okay, I really wasn't going to make her pay me back, I was using everything and anything to try and motivate her.
Needless to say Emma's showing at Europeans and Worlds was great. At the Europeans she managed to take 11th place. Very respectable in my mind. We were anticipating a much lower placing at Worlds, competition was more stiff. Here Emma turned on the steam and managed to place 6th. Holy crap. That is phenomenal.
Excellent for her she did much better than 50% so I didn't make her reimburse me (not that I would of anyway, I was just trying to motivate the girl). All of her teammates that went with us had excellent showings as well. We definitely put Utah, and Legacy Irish Dance on the world map.
Will we go back next year? Hard to say. There is a 6th place podium to defend. I did mention to Emma that the ante was being stepped up. That airfare is a killer. If she is dedicated enough to raise funds for her airfare, I can see us making the trip again.
Currently she is determined on going back, has 9mo to raise some cash. The race is on!
Where to start about our trip. I think I'll save the best for last, the real reason we were there, and start out with the typical tourist stuff.
First stop is Dom cathedral. What an impressive piece of architecture. It is massive to say the least. It's too bad the camera doesn't give a good representation to it's size. Standing at the base you can't help but be in awe.
This photo is a nice one of a spire that can actually be walked up. There is a spiral staircase consisting of 540 steps to the top. The staircase is very narrow and steep. Two people cannot stand side by side in the stairwell.
Here is one of Emma going up. The center of the spiral is typically designated for those heading up. Because of the steepness of the staircase it really doesn't offer a good footing. Coming down the center of the spiral would most likely result in death. Big feet just wouldn't be able to land on those stairs. You would tumble. once at the top the view is amazing. All.......the.....way......down.
Like all good cathedrals there is plenty of stained glass and interesting workmanship and architecture. These are just a snippet.
The Keukenhof. I had no idea how attached the Netherlanders are to their tulips. This was just acres and acres of every tulip imaginable. I'll check this one off the "been there done that". I can't say I'd do repeat visits there.
One of the best parts, because I like food, was eating at as many establishments as I could. There were a LOT of eating establishments to sample from. A lot of our group would go to McDonalds or Burger King. Not this old man. I went for brats and doners, (and anything else that caught my eye).
Their brats are very simple. No bun, just pick it up and eat it, after dipping in spicy mustard of course. They did provide a small roll. This tasty morsel was found in one of the train stations.
This is a doner with a side of fries and mayo. Basically shaved meat, wrapped in a puffy tortilla with veggies. It was most excellent. This one is in Alastad, or old town Dusselforf. It is situated on a street that has the highest concentration of bars than anywhere in the world, and these Germans start their drinking early.
Jumping back to the Netherlands. My cousin was all about trying to find this huge traveling sign. I AMsterdam. Every three weeks it changes locations. With the help of some locals we tracked it down to a place called the museumplein, basically a large chunk of town with museums. After some pics, and some walking around, now and behold I find the HardRock Amsterdam. Yep, gotta do it, so I did it, and bought one of their crazy expensive shirts.
Yes we did do more in Germany, but this would be one massive blog if i noted everything. Now on to the real reason for Germany..........Irish Dance, of all things.
In 2013 Emma qualifies to attend the WIDA European and Worlds competition. Honestly, she got in by the skin of her teeth. I was not, by any means, impressed with her performance. So for the next few months I really turned on the steam. As she was deadset on attending the Worlds competition, I was deadset on her having a better showing so I could a little feel better about spending thousands of dollars.
There were a few harsh conversations with her and the amount if practicing she was doing. (none). Luckily, as the competition drew near she really stepped it up. I was still a little miffed it took her so long. I think I got in her head a little too much when I told her if she didn't place better than 50% she would have to reimburse her share of the trip to me. I got a call from her teacher saying Emma was too stressed to dance good. Lots of crying. She was too worried about my "talk". So I backed off. Heh heh. okay, I really wasn't going to make her pay me back, I was using everything and anything to try and motivate her.
Needless to say Emma's showing at Europeans and Worlds was great. At the Europeans she managed to take 11th place. Very respectable in my mind. We were anticipating a much lower placing at Worlds, competition was more stiff. Here Emma turned on the steam and managed to place 6th. Holy crap. That is phenomenal.
Excellent for her she did much better than 50% so I didn't make her reimburse me (not that I would of anyway, I was just trying to motivate the girl). All of her teammates that went with us had excellent showings as well. We definitely put Utah, and Legacy Irish Dance on the world map.
Will we go back next year? Hard to say. There is a 6th place podium to defend. I did mention to Emma that the ante was being stepped up. That airfare is a killer. If she is dedicated enough to raise funds for her airfare, I can see us making the trip again.
Currently she is determined on going back, has 9mo to raise some cash. The race is on!
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