Thankful

A Flushing Dilemma

I have been perplexed at times, while traveling in Europe, about a task I consider here at home to be pretty straightforward - flushing the toilet.  I remember when I was a child, entering a public restroom in Europe was often a mystery.  What sort of medieval plumbing contraption was I required to push, pull, turn, yank or crank to finish the job I came to do?

Take, for example, the lavatory below, frequently encountered in many European countries:

If you haven't chanced upon a pull chain device such as this before, certainly you might search all around the commode looking for a button or lever to flush.  If you are a young child, you undoubtedly wouldn't think to look up to do the job.  And if and when you finally do, there's the likelihood - as in this photo, that you possibly cannot even reach it.

Europeans have gone green, way more than we have here in the U.S., and although we are starting to see dual flush toilets here, the different varieties of mechanisms will cause you pause each and every time.

And, of course, you know I have to bring up everyone's favorite foreign commode:  the squat toilet, also known as the Natural Position toilet (yeah, right, natural for men maybe).  Are these still found in civilized countries?  Yes!  The photos below were taken by my friend recently in Italy.  I've encountered them as well in Greece, Hungary, and even France.

If you have a young daughter, do not let her attempt to use a squat toilet without your help.  I never managed these latrines as a child without tinkling all over my pants and shoes.  And let's just say the germs your child might come into contact with if you're not there to avert a slip or a fall would probably warrant a tetanus booster.

Sometimes in a foreign restroom you will read a sign, occasionally in legible English, asking you not to place toilet paper in the trash receptacle.  You may wonder why the need to elucidate such an obviously nonsensical idea.  That is because there are some countries with poor or no plumbing where you WILL be asked to deposit your toilet paper in the trash receptacle because flushing it will clog the toilet.

Men, like always in these matters, have little difficulty finding a place to go in Europe.  Public urinals are an accessory to many historical buildings in Europe, such as this ancient looking urinol adjacent to the Castle of São Jorge in Lisbon (below) and another near the historic center of Gouda, in the Netherlands (also below).

Public urinal in Lisbon.

Urinal in Gouda, the Netherlands.

And always remember to have a bit of spare change on you when entering a WC in Europe because you never know when you might be caught by surprise by a Klofrau wanting to wipe down the seat for you!

The Tangled Web We Weave

Our power charging station continues to grow every time we travel overseas.  Every night we now have four cameras, two iPods, two cell phones, and two laptops to recharge, but usually only one or two voltage converters and adapter plugs.  (Electrical voltage in Europe is 220, while American voltage is only 110.  Be sure you have a voltage converter before you travel or you'll fry your electronics.)  Then, of course, if my daughter or I have a need to blow dry or curl our hair, we need power, too.  Even if we had enough converters and adapters, the majority of the centuries-old buildings we stay in in Europe certainly don't have enough electrical outlets.  What to do?  There are some fancy new multi-charger gadgets on the market, but my husband's idea - which works just fine - is to bring along a standard power strip.

Teach Travel With Toys

How cool is this?  Nanoblocks for kids that build Neuschwanstein Castle, Mont Saint-Michel, and Sagrada Familia!  I love the many toys on the market this time of year that inspire young people to learn about our world.  The LEGO® Architecture line of products is another great 3D construction toy and features many of the world's iconic buildings and monuments.

We had a talking globe when the kids were little and they played with it all time.  These usually teach geography with spoken clues and fun quizzes to reinforce learning.  You can never go wrong with a jumbo puzzle either.

I especially like geography board games, and this one, "Around the World" was new to me this season so it's currently wrapped and under our tree.  We'll probably find time to play it next week over Christmas break.

Here are some other great gifts for Christmas.  I found them all at Barnes & Noble:

Necessities of an Older Traveler

As I approach the age of 50 kicking and screaming, I reluctantly admit to having to change a few of my travel habits.  Actually it's been more like gradually adding new travel necessities to my suitcase and day pack:

Reading glasses - It all started with reading glasses.  How annoying to have to fish these out of the bottom of my purse while walking on the Champs Élysées just to glance briefly at my Paris city street map!  A grave inconvenience and new to me, since I never had to bother with vision correction any time before in my life.

Magnifying mirror - Related to the nuisance of vision correction is the need to tote along on one's travels a magnifying mirror of large enough size to apply makeup.  The one I use at home has a suction cup and adheres to the wall mirror in the bathroom.  It is approximately the size of a dessert plate and is just about as inconvenient and breakable to pack as one.

Earplugs - Aha!  At least this one's not attributable to my growing old, but to my husband's growing old, as his snoring is getting worse and worse.  Eventually I might have to add "enough money for separate hotel rooms" to my list of travel necessities.

Moleskin - Why yes, I did carry a small bit of self-stick moleskin to cover the occasional heel blister caused by arduous hiking through the Alps as a spry, young backpacker in Europe; but now I plaster the soles, toes, corns, and bunions of both my tired, blistered feet with rolls and rolls of Dr. Scholl's moleskin-plus every morning on vacation before heading out just to stroll the streets for coffee.

Friction block stick - Band-Aid's Friction Block Stick was the travel product du jour for me last summer.  Reduces rubbing on skin not only from shoes, but think also friction from clothing in other nasty areas of the middle-aged body such as chicken wing arms and less-than-firm thighs.

Spanx - I'd rather not talk about it.

Extra pillow - Whether needed for lumbar support while driving, or neck contour while sitting, or between-the-knee cushion while sleeping, I sure as hell didn't need to pack this suitcase space filler when I was young.

Small portable flashlight - That's right, don't want to fall and break a hip while fumbling through an unfamiliar hotel room to the bathroom at night.  Okay, maybe I'm not that old yet, but I have rammed my bare toe into a suitcase in the dark enough times to warrant my always sleeping with a travel flashlight next to my bed now.

So, these are a few of my favorite things.  Join me in a few years when I've added orthopedic walking shoes and a day of the week pill dispenser to my must-have travel accessories!

Thanks for the Review!

Many thanks to Mary Turner, author of the travel blog Travel With Teens and Tweens, for featuring my blog post My Teenager's First Solo Flight in her Reviews & Resources for Family Travel Planners this week!  Check out her plentiful advice on family traveling in the U.S. as well as to exotic international destinations on her top-rated blog.

Photo Friday: Lethal Snow Globes

Have we all gone mad?

This post is part of Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.com.

Travel With Your Kids While You Can

Taken from the Empire State Building observation deck.

Just got back from the Big Apple last night.  We met some of my German relatives there before they hit more of the U.S. and then eventually end up at our house on the West coast in a few weeks.  We had to travel without my daughter because, much to everyone's disappointment, we had to cancel her ticket in the last moment.

Why?  The answer is my big travel tip for the day:  travel with your kids as much as you can before they get to high school.  Once they're in high school, they're no longer yours.  In high school they belong to their sports, their SAT prep classes, and their part-time jobs.  My daughter is on her high school dance team, and they decided to hold a mandatory dance camp overnight the same weekend we had our trip to New York.  The word mandatory comes up a lot in high school sports . . . in other words, if you don't attend, you're not on the team.  My daughter was crushed and we missed her terribly in New York.

A GoPro Hero for Windsurfing

After about 8 months of entering the drawing every single day to win a GoPro Camera on GoPro.com, my husband finally decided the odds were against us (most of the weekly winners were from Australia) and went out and bought one.  Impressed by its small size when he took it out of the box, I said, "Oh this is great!  No more HD video tapes piling up in the drawer - it'll all be digital now!"  He said, "This camera isn't for shooting ordinary everyday stuff like the kids."  I was stumped . . . because then whatever could it be for?  "It's waterproof," he replied, "and attachable."

A-ha.  Hubby purchased a $299.00 video camera for the two days he and the kids will be windsurfing in Tarifa.  Hope he gets some good footage.

Note added after initial posting:  read about the premature passing of our brand new GoPro here.

Why Are There No Toilet Seat Covers?

That was the question I heard at least once every day by at least one of the teenage girls in our group when we were in Switzerland:  Why are there no toilet seat covers?  It occurred to me then that no, I had never seen toilet seat covers in any public restroom in any country in Europe.  At first, my answer was that seat covers are not necessary because the lovely Klofrau will step into your stall after you're done and wipe down the seat for the next person, all for the few Euros she charged you at the door.  Ewwww!, was the response to that, of course.  But we encountered not a single Klofrau in Switzerland.  (That was much to my disappointment, too, because personally I feel one's European experience is not complete until one has been chased out of a public restroom by a toilet lady with scrub brush in hand for trying to sneak by without putting coins in the plate or for using too many paper towels.)

In one restroom we found this product dispenser in the stall:

It's a little hard to read because I should have used the macro setting on my camera, but basically it's a cleaning soap (disinfectant, one hopes) that you dispense on to a bit of toilet paper and then wipe down the toilet seat with before you are seated.  Ewwwww, was also the response to that.

If you can read German you'll get a chuckle out of this sign posted on a bathroom stall door:

It's a little rhyme beseeching you to use the toilet brush before you leave so that no one should have to "read the tracks you left behind."

Actually, I found the Swiss quite revolutionary in the world of European public restrooms.  Take a look at their McClean facilities (does McDonalds know about this infringement on their trade name I wonder?):

A McClean public restroom facility in the Bern train station.

Since I, as a matter of principle, refuse to pay to use a restroom, I did not enter the McClean facility seen here, but one of my co-chaperones did.  She proclaimed it exceptionally hygienic and well-stocked with everything - except toilet seat covers.  As you can see from the pricing schedule below, McClean exhibits a measure of sexism in its rates:

Women have to pay 2.00 Swiss francs to use the WC; men only pay 1.50 for the pissoir.

We didn't see any free-standing pissoirs on the streets of Switzerland (à la France) nor encounter any squat toilets (common in Turkey and still seen in Italy).  In Zurich, this pay toilet stood in a busy market square:

I like to think European countries are beginning to see the wisdom in providing public restrooms (anyone like the smell in the Paris Metro?) and maybe someday will also determine them to be much more effective when offered at no charge.  And much more sanitary with disposable toilet seat covers.

This post is part of Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.com.

Let's Talk Money

Let's talk money.  I just reviewed my bills from the Switzerland trip.  I was curious to see which method provided the most favorable currency exchange rate:  credit card, ATM withdrawal, home bank currency purchase or foreign exchange booth?

Definitely not the currency exchange booth.  Found at airports, train stations, and sometimes on the street in larger European cities, these locations charge a commission, of course.  I exchanged cash at the booth inside the Zurich train station on December 26, 2011, and paid a net $1.14 per Swiss franc.  That was also the same rate I paid for the francs I bought at home before I left from my local bank.

My ATM card was not only a convenient way to pick up cash, since ATM machines can be found in even the tiniest European villages nowadays, but also gave a competitive rate.  Even with the $5.00 per transaction fee, the net rate I paid for my ATM withdrawals in December and January was $1.07 per one Swiss franc.  And I had no problems regarding the previously posted concern about chip-and-PIN v.s. magnetic strip technology.

I love my Capital One Visa credit card.  Unlike some of my other credit cards, Capital One Visa charges no overseas transaction fees.  This is major, since, for example, my American Express card charges 2.7% of each foreign transaction after conversion to US dollars.  The average exchange rate for my Capital One Visa purchases was about $1.08 per franc and I had no trouble using it.

The Story of the Adventskalender

Every year since my children were little, my mother brings them each a chocolate Advent calendar on December 1st.  My mother, as you may know from previous posts, is from Germany, and the Adventskalender is a German invention.

As early as the beginning of the 19th century, Germans would count down the 24 days leading up to Christmas, usually just with tick marks on the ground or on the wall.  A man named Gerhard Lang is credited with printing the first color Advent calendar with 24 little pictures in Munich in 1908.  Several years later he created the calendar with 24 little doors, or flaps.  Behind each door was a Christmas scene or motif.  Chocolate Advent calendars came much, much later, of course, as Christmas became more commercialized, but generally the calendars are one way to get children involved in the spirit of Advent.

Two of the world's largest Advent calendars can be found in Germany, both in the façades of their cute little towns' city hall buildings.  The first is in Gengenbach, on the edge of the Black Forest, where the rectangular Rathaus (city hall) happens to have exactly 24 windows (two rows of 11 plus 2 in the roof).  A Christmas scene is painted in each window and unveiled one by one as Advent progresses.

Rathaus, or city hall, in Gengenbach.

A second beautiful, larger-than-life Advent calendar is in the town of Hünfeld near Fulda, just about smack dab in the center of Germany.  The charming, turreted little Rathaus also has just enough front windows to accommodate 24 unique Christmas scenes that are revealed one by one at night throughout the season of Advent.

Rathaus in Hünfeld.

Busiest Flying Day

Today, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, is always the busiest flying day of the year.

Are you at an airport today?

Free Bathrooms in Switzerland

Tip of the day:  The large supermarket chain of Migros, in Switzerland, has free bathrooms.  My group of 11 will be grateful for this, I'm sure, when we're sightseeing around town. 

The Squeeze Pod Travel Product

I have no affiliation with Squeeze Pod, and did not receive any compensation for this post.  Whenever I do receive a free product or service for evaluation,  I will always let you know.

Have you heard about this new travel product?  It's called the Squeeze Pod.  I haven't tried it myself, but seems like a good way to lighten the travel load a little bit.  They make hand sanitizer, shaving gel, moisturizer with SPF 30, and insect repellent in these little, one application, squeezable pods.  They won't leak, they're recyclable, and they're convenient.

Traveling With an Infant

Check out the recent discussion on Baby Meets City about traveling with an infant.  Momversation, who hosts the discussion, says she won't do it.  Others say it's no problem.  What do you think?

My Teenager's First Solo Flight

Our recently turned 15 year old daughter just returned from her first solo plane trip.  She traveled across the country (non-stop, thank goodness!) all the way to New York City to stay a few days with family and then flew home again by herself.  We are so proud of her, as she is of herself.  She was just beaming when we picked her up at the airport.

The confidence and competence needed to accomplish this milestone in her young life can only be learned by experience, and it has been our goal to teach these skills to our children through frequent travels since they were little.  Letting them navigate through airports and train stations, read maps, ask locals for help, and gradually gain independence are some of the things we've tried to encourage.

That's not to say I wasn't worried about her flying alone!  Much to our daughter's disapproval (and teenage eye-rolling) we requested a gate pass to accompany her to the plane.  (Sidebar here:  United Airlines would only give us one gate pass, although we were two parents escorting our flying minor.  What's up with that??  Would it have been such a great security risk to allow us both to go?)  There were lots of a few tears from me as I watched her stroll down that jetway, but I can guarantee there was a fist pump from her as she turned the corner out of sight from me.

We had had to promise not to meet her at the gate upon her arrival home, and I was comfortable enough with that, but I had grave concerns over her solo navigation of the evil alien world of JFK airport.  Hustlers, and swindlers, and New Yorkers, for God's sake!  But one of the many advantages kids these days have over young travelers of my generation is cell phones.  Getting lost in a crowd and meeting place confusion just doesn't exist anymore.  My daughter texted her cousin as soon as the plane hit the tarmac in New York and they found each other literally within minutes.  And within the same minute, we received the text, almost 3000 miles away, that we could exhale, our baby was safe.

She's even mastered the long-arm self-portrait!

They had such a fabulous time together.  It's an experience my daughter will never forget.  And might I just mention that you can read a first-hand account of their action-packed days in the Big Apple, because this big city cousin of ours just happens to be the author of the top-rated NYC blog, baby meets city.  Part 1 of their adventures is posted already, part 2 will be coming soon.  Great fun!

Ten Random Train Travel Tips

1.  You may be on the right train, but are you on the right car?  Always check the outside of the train car you’re riding in to make sure it’s actually going to your destination.  Sometimes trains decouple and split off in different directions.

2.  Sometimes - especially during high season - it's worth the extra money to buy a 1st class ticket for regional trains that don't require seat reservations, or you might be standing in the aisles for a long time.

3.  A 1st class Eurail Pass is not available to one person traveling solo.  Only for two or more people traveling together.

4.  In many train stations, buying a rail ticket at an automated ticket machine is cheaper than buying it at the ticket counter.

5.  Use the bathroom before you get off the train.  It's free.

6.  Bring your own food, snacks, and drinks on the train.  It's less expensive than the dining car.

7.  When riding a night train across international borders, try not to panic when the train conductor takes your passport for the night.  They'll give it back.

8.  If you have a single country or multi-country Eurail Pass but wish to travel through a country where your pass is not valid, you will have to pay for the leg of the trip through that country even if you don't stop or change trains in that country.

9.  If you find a compartment train car, enjoy it - they won't be around much longer.

10.  Train stations in Europe are great resources for tourist information, city maps, currency exchange, inexpensive food vendors, and (sometimes free) bathrooms.

Read Around the World

www.DelightfulChildrensBooks.com

I've just been introduced to a terrific resource for parents who want to explore other countries of the world with their children through books, foods, films and games.  A wonderful website called Delightful Children's Books is hosting a Read Around the World event and link-up on her blog this summer.  Her goal is to collect resources to inspire parents to teach kids about the world.  She has listed some great children's books about Europe like The Cat Who Walked Across France by Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben, This is London by Miroslav Sasek, and The Greatest Skating Race:  A World War II Story from the Netherlands by Louise Borden and Niki Daly.

The site's link-up page offers recipes, film suggestions, books, games, and craft ideas to help you expose your family to life and travels around the world.

Winter Warmwear

I've been reading up on dressing for cold weather in preparation for next winter's trip to Switzerland.  I'm a warm weather gal, and have never really been in freezing temperatures for longer than an afternoon of skiing.  "Layers" seems to be everyone's answer to dressing for the cold.  Okay.  But how many layers?  Doesn't all that bunched up fabric eventually cause difficulty bending at the elbows and the knees?  I don't want to amble through Zurich like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

When I typed "How to dress in layers for cold weather" into Google, I got a very helpful link to REI with some useful information.  REI recommends a base layer, a fleece layer, and then a warm waterproof jacket or shell.  The most important layer, I've learned, is apparently the base layer next to your skin.  According to REI and several other outdoorsy websites, the base layer should be crafted from a moisture-wicking fabric, i.e. some kind of polyester blend, and definitely not from cotton because cotton absorbs moisture.  So here's my question:  why are all my old thermal underwear sets (yeah, okay, they're from the '90s) 100% cotton?  And when I search on-line for warmwear I find lots of waffle knit thermals made from cotton.

Are these for people (like me) who might not be aware of the dangers and discomfort of traipsing out into freezing temperatures without the modern protection of moisture-wicking?  Or are they for people (like me) who flinch at the price of hi-tech synthetic apparel they will probably only wear once or twice?

And I don't even want to discuss the lower half of my body.  I can barely button my jeans as it is, not to mention attempting it with "layers" on underneath.  Should I buy a couple pairs of jeans two sizes too big?  For heaven's sake, what's that going to look like?  I can tell you right now you won't see any photographs of me from the waist down next year in Switzerland.