Turns out, you can go home again. Or at least stand outside and peek through the gates, Part 1

Ever since I was informed my next post would be Frankfurt, I have been planning to return to Malta and show Alex where she was born. The island generally, of course, not the hospital. That would be even more boring than the ancient historical pit where miniature hippopotamuses were found. Yeah, kids are too worldly and jaded.

Mid-February is the so-called Ski Break where apparently we're supposed to go skiing. Kids have never been, It's a great time to go to Malta, not too cold and there might even be rain. Between some issues with leave and Terry's ideas about how much time we actually needed to give to this venture, we booked a Tuesday to Friday trip. We also noted and kept marveling during our time there that we were returning to Malta within the week of the 10 year anniversary of our departure.

Day 1 - arrival mid-afternoon, discover that the apartment where we were staying expected the payment in CASH, and use almost every last Euro paying that. Find an ATM, replenish, and head off to my favorite city, Mdina. I really do love me a walled Medieval city. We wandered a bit before the sun went down, getting to the Bastions a bit late to watch the sun actually setting. The kids loved racing down the high walled narrow cobblestone streets of the nearly deserted city. We found a place for dinner, chosen because it opened before 7pm. Big reminder: Maltese food is rarely delicious and it's a near miracle to get out of dinner for fewer than two hours.

Day 2 - meant to be "see the sights" day. First stop, Ghar Dalam. It's a prehistoric cave that was filled with animal and human bones. There is a huge bone display in the museum area and a bit of information about the plate movements that led to Malta detaching from some other landmass (Sicily? Europe?) and the shrinking of some animals that were caught here as well as the enlarging of other animals.  Then you can go visit the cave. The kids were, as described above, absolutely not impressed. The ticket for Ghar Dalam also included admission to another prehistoric sight that was recently opened (within the last year) so obviously nothing Terry and I would have seen before so we also wandered down that way.  The kids insolently asked why we thought they would be interested. Ugh.

We decided to cut short some of the other sights we planned to see, and instead headed to Rabat and the Catacombs. When we got there we confirmed that although we had been to St. Paul's Church and Grotto we had never visited the Catacombs. With the kids' love of all things Roman these days we figured it would be a hit and it was. The Catacombs were marvelously done, with pavilions explaining an aspect of what we were seeing (for example, the different kinds of burial vaults, or the differences in how different religions used the spaces). The kids of course were thrilled with running in and out of the various vaults and places where lots of dead people used to be - bonus that it's underground!

As we had driven into Rabat to get to the Catacombs, I thought I recognized the vendor where I used to buy the crazy delicious Maltese nougat. After the Catacombs we all needed a treat so we visited the vendor, who offered us tastes of other treats we had totally forgotten, like a pastry that is what Fig Newtons want to be (dried figs, honey, nuts, I think some citrus, in a fresh buttery pastry crust). When everyone had made their selections, I also got as much nougat as I thought I could carry home. More than a week later I am still working on it and it is still as delicious as I remember. We took our treats across the street to a cafe for cappuccinos (mom and dad) and a non-dairy smoothie (kids). It was a moment where I was a bit astounded at how much we had remembered, as I don't recall going to Rabat even a dozen times and yet the town center felt very familiar.

Idstein Part 2

When Terry was here for the kids' last vacation, we had a weekend in town before leaving for Malta. Wanting to get out a bit more than we have in the Frankfurt environs, I suggested we check out Idstein. We had budgeted just a tiny bit too much time - we were tired and ready to eat before restaurants opened for lunch, and lunch was over before the tourist information center opened to hand out the key to the Hexenturm (the "witches' tower" that I had missed in my previous trip).

But, before the tired grumpies took hold of the kids and turned everyone into monsters, we had great fun wandering through the very charming city and all its half-timbered houses. 

There is a building that had a series of medallions set in the plaster depicting Johannes Gutenberg's apparent presence in the city and work on the famous press. We also stumbled on a larger stumbling stone than we had previously seen, because this one commemorated the destruction of an entire synagogue.

Bishkek

(oops, this was meant to be put up during the same month as our other Kyrgyzstan trip report posts)

Our original plan when we organized our trip to Kyrgyzstan was to keep the rental car one day after arriving in Bishkek and check out the national park Ala Archa, a reasonable day trip from the city. By the time we got to Bishkek we needed to not get back in a car so we ditched the plan and never regretted it one moment.

Instead, we took it relatively easy.  Our apartment was pretty central so we could walk a lot. We arrived in the early evening and after settling into the apartment went to the nearby Obama Cafe. A cardboard cutout of our esteemed leader greets guests at the front door, and the kids enjoyed shaking his hand. The meal was pretty good, American/continental fare of course.

Next day we took care of business, returning the car, visiting the Osh Bazaar to get fruits and veg and learning a bit about the bus and taxi systems in the process. We also walked out with 2.5 kilograms of honey, adding to the kilo we'd purchased on the road back to Bishkek from Issyk-kul. We are completely enamored with the honey in this part of the world.  We also discovered a cafe that carried a full line of vegan desserts, enabling Alex to enjoy a rich chocolate cake in a cafe for the first time (Hello, Astana. C'mon, if Bishkek can do it, you can. Seriously, there is nothing you are incapable of achieving if only you want to do it!)

We also ate Nathan's hot dogs (again, c'mon Astana!).  We gorged on cherries and apricots, only to learn upon return home that cherries and apricots had come to Astana too during that week.  We visited the National Museum and checked out a variety of art, reminding me that the kids do have a longer tolerance for museums than they used to and especially when we make an effort to engage them.  We visited the WWII memorial with an eternal flame and tribute to the war years of 1941-1945, and discovered we hadn't taught the kids much about that time.  In preschool in St. Petersburg they learned the Piter story, focusing on the horrific 3 year "blokada" wherein the city was essentially cut off from the rest of the world for years and many starved to death, but neither school nor we had taught them much else about the war.  So on a beautiful sunny day in Kyrgyzstan we talked to the kids about Hitler, and a bit about Stalin.

We visited the old style Panfilov Park, which was essentially a pay-per-ride amusement park where the kids had a great time on rides that would have been condemned in the USA.  The park was insufficiently staffed, and some rides were only open during some times, so the kids didn't get to do everything they wanted but it was still a win.  We ate unfortunately bad Indian food because I just wanted Indian (note: it didn't scratch the itch).