Jonathan, Daniel and I traveled pretty well, certainly as well as can be expected with an 18 month old on a transatlantic flight! This was Daniel's first time flying, so I really didn't know what to expect. But he is such an easy going kid, I was pretty sure he would be good. And Jonathan and I have traveled all over the world together, and I know that we have the same approach to things, which is: be as prepared as possible, and then go with the flow when the inevitable wrench gets thrown in the works. Luckily we had very few wrenches! We flew from Raleigh to Newark, and Daniel was so excited to see the planes and play with the buttons on the ceiling that turn the lights on and off and control the air. Everything ran on time, which is a small miracle.
We let the boy run absolutely wild in Newark for our 3.5 hour layover, so that he would be as tired as possible for the next flight. We flew out at 4:25pm, and Daniel goes to bed every night promptly at 7:30, so I was a bit worried about entertaining him for 3 hours in such a small space. But another small miracle occurred when no one was seated next to us, so he had an empty seat to play in. A few good hours of sleep or Daniel, and one or two for Jonathan and me, and then we were there. I've flown into Dusseldorf a few times, so I felt like I *slightly* knew where I was going.
We have an Opel Astra for these first few weeks. It's comfy and plenty big enough and super speedy! We got to our absolutely charming hotel - Landgasthof Strothman - in Lengerich around 8:30 and were served the most delicious breakfast and coffee while they got our room ready.
Our only hitch so far is that there doesn't seem to be working internet. This is a little bummer for me but a serious problem for Jonathan, since he needs to work every day, and he has to have a good internet connection the whole time. The owners are being very sweet about trying to fix the problem. Apparently there was a horrendous storm yesterday, and they think it knocked out their WLAN line. Someone is coming in the morning to try to fix it. If not, Jonathan is going to make himself very popular at the local Internet cafe.
I start at the barn tomorrow morning at 8am, so I am signing off now to try to get a good night's sleep. Thank you again to all of you out there for your support. I will send lots of pictures soon, it is absolutely gorgeous!
PS - I wasn't going to say anything, because I think you will all hate me, but it was so chilly when we arrived, we all had to find our jackets immediately. It finally warmed up to about 75 by the afternoon. I think I left NC at the right time...
We let the boy run absolutely wild in Newark for our 3.5 hour layover, so that he would be as tired as possible for the next flight. We flew out at 4:25pm, and Daniel goes to bed every night promptly at 7:30, so I was a bit worried about entertaining him for 3 hours in such a small space. But another small miracle occurred when no one was seated next to us, so he had an empty seat to play in. A few good hours of sleep or Daniel, and one or two for Jonathan and me, and then we were there. I've flown into Dusseldorf a few times, so I felt like I *slightly* knew where I was going.
We have an Opel Astra for these first few weeks. It's comfy and plenty big enough and super speedy! We got to our absolutely charming hotel - Landgasthof Strothman - in Lengerich around 8:30 and were served the most delicious breakfast and coffee while they got our room ready.
Our only hitch so far is that there doesn't seem to be working internet. This is a little bummer for me but a serious problem for Jonathan, since he needs to work every day, and he has to have a good internet connection the whole time. The owners are being very sweet about trying to fix the problem. Apparently there was a horrendous storm yesterday, and they think it knocked out their WLAN line. Someone is coming in the morning to try to fix it. If not, Jonathan is going to make himself very popular at the local Internet cafe.
I start at the barn tomorrow morning at 8am, so I am signing off now to try to get a good night's sleep. Thank you again to all of you out there for your support. I will send lots of pictures soon, it is absolutely gorgeous!
PS - I wasn't going to say anything, because I think you will all hate me, but it was so chilly when we arrived, we all had to find our jackets immediately. It finally warmed up to about 75 by the afternoon. I think I left NC at the right time...
 Daniel immediately found the sandbox! |  The biergarten at our hotel |
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