Kennedy Family Travels

Believe it or not, Saturday evening we finally boarded our flight to Dublin and actually took off after a long day hanging about the airport. Panera, lots of walking and checking on the flight, and endless hours of people watching filled our time. The boys logged over 9 miles of walking by the time the day was over.

So what were the Hursts doing while we waited? While in Berlin they took a canal cruise to see the many sights of the city.

They finished up the day with some pizza while enjoying the outside!

If all goes as planned, we should re reunited tomorrow!! In Berlin! Let’s go!!

Today was our last tour (some are silently cheering this) with Paddywagon Tours to Blarney Castle, Fort Charles, Kinsale, and Cobh. We travelled along the southwestern coast of Ireland, starting out from Cork to begin our day.

The bus ride was pretty quick out to Blarney Castle; no one even fell asleep! Tommy was our driver and he started out pretty good until he decided at the end of the day to get pretty political with us.

The walk up to Blarney Castle was breathtaking through the gardens, which we would explore after our main agenda: kiss the Blarney Stone and be gifted the ability to gab. Our bus driver warned us the lines would grow long, so we headed up straight away, as we only had three hours at this stop. The stairs were VERY narrow and steep, but the views were absolutely spectacular when we reached the top.

Overall it was about a ten minute climb to the top, but it was worth the effort. Once there, we only had about a ten minute wait to kiss the Blarney Stone, which was a bit more challenging than we thought! Essentially one lays on their back and scoots back, and back, and back again while holding on to two bars and a guide holding your waist. It’s WAY farther away than I anticipated for sure. The kicker is the large gap between where you are and the actual stone. But we all did it! Now, I was a bit dizzy upon standing back up, but luckily the kids were there to help! Definitely something we all will remember!!

After we finished it was off to tour the castle and gardens. Seamus didn’t kiss the stone due to his apprehension of heights, but he was ready to explore the poison gardens, the Seven Sisters Stones, and the little village where we grabbed some snacks and prepared to head to a fort overlooking the Wild Atlantic Way!

Now it was time to head to Charles Fort outside of Kinsale. Beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean and the harbor that marked the sinking of the Lusitania where 1198 people were killed by a German torpedo. It was a short stop here but we did lots of investigating!

Now we headed down into the harbor town on Kinsale to grab some lunch. Cute little town but very busy. We learned through this trip that restaurants do not split checks and unfortunately the waitress here was not on her A game. Poor Max got his food about 20 minutes after everyone else finished eating. The food was good though. Great fish and chips at this stop!!

Now it was off to our last stop, Cobh, which is pronounced Covh. This is the last harbor stop of the Titanic before it headed out to sea and its fate of sinking. Lots of beautiful views from the cathedral there that was not finished before the Titanic was in harbor. Kennedy Park was also found here; JFK and Jackie visited and spoke here during their tour. Big hill to get up to the Cathedral, so we celebrated with gelato to celebrate!!

Now it was time to head back to Cork and find some dinner. We hoped we would have better luck than last night! The boys just wanted sandwiches so we found some at Centra, the shopette, and they headed back to relax. Joe and I tried Thoman Pub and found it empty and still serving food. The rest of the group joined us for some dinner! Then it was off to pack for our train back to Dublin and our flights home.

Now it’s time to prepare for our last day in Ireland!

Sunday led us to the train station at Dublin Hueston to Cork Kent around noon. We had a slow morning and then walked over to the station. There was a hurling match up the street, so there were tons of fans filling the streets as we made our way to the station. On the way we passed St. James Gate and the Guinness brewery; we had no idea we were so close!

It was a 2 1/2 hour train ride into Cork from Dublin. Once we arrived it was a quick ten minute walk down to Leonardo Hotel right near the water. Cork is a hilly city and we had to traverse stairs to get down to city level. It’s also an island, which we learned!

We had a free evening ahead, so we all set out in search of lunch and then relaxed a bit at the hotel. Unfortunately we didn’t know the World Cup final was that evening, so finding a spot to eat proved a bit challenging. Eventually we settled on pizza by the slice and then popped into the Rob Roy Pub to watch some of the match and have a drink. We headed back early to prepare for a big tour early in the morning!

Now the hotel did not have air conditioning, but we did have fans. It was definitely not the most restful night we’ve had, but we had rooms! On to Blarney Castle, Kinsale, and Cobh to tour in the morning!

It’s Saturday and time for us to fly to Dublin from Munich. The airport is way outside the city, so we took cabs out to fly Aer Lingus into Ireland. Of course we needed two to fit everything and everyone, but we made it!

Now the Munich airport did not offer much in the way of food, so it was quite the junk food buffet to get us through to Dublin!

Once we landed in Dublin, we grabbed cabs into the city to easyHotel Dublin. On the way there we saw several accidents that really backed up traffic. Driving in Ireland is no joke-just ask Joe!

EasyHotel is by far the smallest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in, but it had a good location and was clean. Winning!

After cleaning up we were off to Temple Bar area for some snacks before meeting up with Caroline, Pat, and Karen; these were all classmates of Joe’s from his time at UCD. We stopped at Bad Bob’s for some appetizers and drinks before our reservations at Porterhouse for dinner that night with the gang. We had nuggets, potato skins, and a few drinks to start the night.

Next we headed over to Fitzsimmon’s Pub to listen to live music and check out the rooftop bar. It was packed so we headed downstairs where some dancing took place!

Off to dinner and more fun!!

Pat and Karen have arrived!

Now Jake, Diana, and I walked Seamus and Amanda back to the hotel. We came right back after dropping the kids off safely to rejoin the fun!

Tomorrow we take the train from Dublin to Cork to check out the Blarney Castle!!

With the sound of ten crazy people traversing the Bavarian Alps to visit Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden, Germany, right on the Austrian border. Now the original house was bombed after the war to remove elements of Hitler, but the site was reopened in 2023 as a restaurant and tourist site. It is nestled in the Alpine area of Bavaria and provides stunning views.

We started our day with an 10 minute walk to find our tour bus and guide, Bea on our bus that would drive as an hour and a half up into the mountains. On the way she shared loads of information about Hitler and his life. The bus even had a little bathroom on board!

Honestly I don’t know how those poor drivers and buses make that trek. I would lose my mind. When you arrive at the tunnel, you go down to the famous gold elevator to get to the top! I will let the pictures tell the tale!

Now it was time to head back down to the Documentation Center and grab some lunch. It’s truly hard to describe the beauty here. The great thing about lunch is it was outdoors right there in the middle of these gorgeous mountains. Everyone had a traditional German lunch, except Max opted in for dessert!! It looked amazing but he didn’t share!!

The Documentation Center traced Hitler’s life and lots of facts of the area. The coolest part was the tour of the bunkers they found under the ground there!

After leaving the center we headed down into the little Alpine town below Eagle’s Nest. It’s a quaint little town with lots of beautiful homes and a gorgeous cemetery with Alpine headstones. We grabbed some ice cream and walked around and then headed for our hotel. For dinner we found a great place near the Marienplatz after Joe and I bought a cuckoo clock for the house! It was a gorgeous evening and our waiter was fun. We ate next to the Munich Cathedral and it was the perfect ending to an amazing day!

Tomorrow we fly to Dublin!

Off to the train station again this morning to catch our train to Munich. We were early, which is always a good thing for us. Our train took a bit to show up on the board, but once it was up, we were off to the races. There was a throng of people going to our platform, so it was quite crowded getting up there.

So while on the train we had a visit from the polizei checking out a few passengers and their belongings. No one was arrested, but it was interesting. The train ride was mostly on time for once! Upon arriving in Munich, we headed over Hotel Cocoon, our home base for the next two days. Unfortunately the girls’ room had a defunct air conditioner, so they had to sleep on Todd and Dee’s floor. The first order of business was to do some laundry; we headed up the street to the hottest laundromat in the world but we were able to clean our laundry and be ready for the next half of the trip.

Once laundry was done, it was time for dinner: Hoffbrau Haus was the unanimous choice! We headed off through Munich for a 20 minute walk to reach our German destination. It was packed, but luckily we found a table right away. Now storms were brewing, and the nine hundred people in the beer hall made the temperature about 900,000 degrees in there. But we powered through and had a delicious meal!! Our waiter was great, and proved the staff there really could carry a lot of beer at once! Schnitzel, baked chicken, fish, and loads of potato salad was on the menu tonight!

After a last beer, the kids, Dee and I managed to get back to the hotel in a very expensive Uber. But we made it! Now it was time to prepare for our big trip to Eagle’s Nest early tomorrow morning!

Wednesday was another travel day as we would sadly leave Poland and head into Prague, Czech Republic. Thankfully it was only one train, but a long one. So, we decided to power up with some Polish donuts, or Pączki (pronounced poonch-kee). Included in our breakfast were some hot dogs and Starbucks as we prepared for our long journey.

Now we were on our trek of ten minutes to the train station through the streets of Krakow. Clouds were rolling in with storms on the horizon, and our group was on the move.

Now we were powered up and ready to go! But, as you may notice, we had a train delay. Our train was running about an hour late, and so most of the group headed into the mall to shop while Dee and I watched our bags.

Finally it was time for our train. The poor guy on the platform probably thought we were crazy because we all asked him several times if different trains were ours after Todd ran in where we were waiting and yelled, “Guys let’s GO! Our train is HERE!” I have never witnessed ten people jump up, grab their things and run in under two seconds in my life. But I did today. Everyone grabbed a bag and left! However when we got to the train, it was not our train. But we learned we can move fast!

Finally we made it into Prague; now it was a 20 minute walk to our hotels. No big deal, right? The cobbled streets about took us all out, but eventually we made it into Olde Towne and to our hotels. It was hot in Prague, and both hotels had their air conditioning out. Of course. But they were really cool rooms!

The Kennedy group ran up to Prague Castle while the Hursts found dinner. The sun was beginning to set and the city was beautiful in the glow. The Castle is on a huge hill, and by the end we were tired. But the views were worth every second.

Now it was time for our ghost walk through Prague. Joe had to work and Seamus was exhausted, so they stayed back. But the rest of us trekked through Olde Towne in search of ghosts and legends with our tour guide, Martin. He told us tales of brides who lost their heads, the executioner who frequents a local pub still today, and we toured a few underground spots from the original city site. The city had to be built up due to flooding issues, so these were original dwellings that we were able to go through and experience!

After the tour we were able to see a bit of the town square as we made our way back to our hotels near St. Charles Bridge. The bars were still full of people cheering on Argentina to beat England. Once that happened, it was mayhem in the streets! Everyone was celebrating the big victory while we made our way back to no air conditioning so open windows to keep 😎 cool. Off to Munich tomorrow!

This is a tough one to start. I’ve been teaching middle school for 30 of my 32 years in education. When I started teaching 8th grade Night was a book that was in my curriculum. It still is today. Previous to this trip, I had toured Dachau, the first concentration camp, but today we would visit the setting of Night: Auschwitz, the biggest concentration/killing camp created by the Nazi regime. This was a big moment for me.

The tour picked us up just outside the hotel after a gorgeous buffet breakfast with Polish flare. There were pastries , sausages,Polish pancakes, pickles and meats as well as yogurts and vegetable shots, which were everywhere.

We drove around the city picking people up for the day in our red tour van. We spotted some beautiful restaurants around our pick up spot and we were all anticipating the day.

The bus ride took about an hour and a half to get to the site. They are very strict about tickets and the whole process so we made sure to follow the rules and expectations. Our guide met us inside and we were off and running. The heat was intensifying and there wasn’t much cover. The information was overwhelming and hard to hear. All the kids had read the book, and after we chatted quite a bit about the impact of the day. It was heavy. It was hard to see, especially the children’s belongings. But it’s important to know.

They did show us the hair collected from prisoners, but no pictures were allowed. That brought tears to my eyes. This was all very hard to take in and realize these things are from real people.

Next we had some lunch and then went to Birkenau/Buna camps, which were the additions when they needed more space. This was known as the reception center for Auschwitz and where the prisoners would be taken off the trains and registered at the camp, their number tattooed on arms, no matter your age. Elie Wiesel was A7713, A for Auschwitz, the number his new identity. Much of this camp was demolished by the Nazis, who were trying to hide evidence of what they had done. There was a cattle car there, one that would have brought the prisoners to the camp in the dark of night. Replica bunk houses were there as well, showing how prisoners lived. The remains of gas chambers are also here, but not much is left.

While we were here, storms appeared to be rolling in and we received several notifications on our phones of orange warnings and to be careful. The storms rolled up but literally separated and went around. Then we headed back to the bus for our ride into Krakow. It was a heavy day.

Now we were headed back to Krakow to explore and grab dinner. As we were staying in Olde Towne, it was a literal 5 minute walk to the square. It was a beautiful night and the square was filled with people enjoying dinner and drinks. We were able to catch the trumpeter fireman who plays from St. Mary’s Basilica on the hour from the tower window, we walked and shopped, with Jake and Diana trying several local delicacies on the way.

While we were all checking out the square, Max, Seamus, and Catherine headed up to Wawel Castle to do some exploring of their own. There is a fire breathing dragon near the Castle that is there to protect Krakow. Honestly we needed several more days to see all the amazing things just Krakow has to share! Oh and the kids all walked to a large Warhammer store too; unfortunately they do not take pictures like I do🤪

Now it was time for dinner! Jake and Diana found a great place outside for all of us to enjoy. The food was amazing and we had fun with the manager!

Now we were off for a night cap. Seamus, Catherine, and Max headed back up to check out the dragon, but unfortunately he did not breathe fire for them. The rest of us wanted to try some Polish vodka before hitting the hay for the night.

After a successful day in Poland, it was time to head for bed. Tomorrow is a major travel day! Off to Prague we will go; rain and storms coming to Krakow so it’s the perfect segue! Good night!

Early today, Monday, we headed off to the train station to catch our train into Krakow, Poland. We knew it was going to be crazy as the tracks were under construction and Todd and Dee had to fix the train situation prior to our arrival. The first part of the journey was a bus to Frankfurt and then trains into Poland. The Ubers arrived, because with 10 people we needed more than one, and off we went! Unfortunately UberXL is more like a medium here, and we were squished!

On the way to the station we received a frantic text from Todd: WRONG STATION. TURN AROUND! Yep. Panic time. Unfortunately our driver was done with us, so he dumped us out in front of the Ostenbainhaup station. We needed to get to the central station and fast! I found some police officers on a break and they gave us some information. Off to the cabs we went! Of course the guy would only take four people, so two cabs we took and fast!

We made it to the central station in record time but missed our buses. Next obstacle: find the Hursts and Gerkes. Jake was on the phone with me and while he was reading off track numbers, I had letters. This place was huge! Eventually we were able to find each other, and back up to fix our tickets we went! Sweat pouring, hearts racing, we had a plan. It would take 4 different trains and 12 hours, but we would make our way to Krakow! Now we had three hours to wait!

First thought: food. We grabbed a quick bite and some coffee and then several of us went for walk to Brandenburg Gate. It was a beautiful morning in Berlin and the kids did a great job leading our tour through town. They shared lots of information including how their government building has a glass dome at the top so the people can look down on the government working. We traversed a park where there was a Holocaust Memorial. We saw the Embassy and chatted with a guard who was super nice! Next to the Embassy is the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled Blanket over the balcony. Meanwhile, across the way the German government was experiencing a protest of the new tank supplier being Israeli. They were glued to the building. No joke.

Now it was time to board train number one into Dresden, Germany. Now every time we had to show our tickets, the ticket collector would inevitably say, “TEN? Oh my.” Now with this being train number one, we were novices. Checking the boards. Asking conductors. But we made it on and settled in for a bit.

At the Dresden station we had about 60 minutes to switch trains. We grabbed some snacks and paid to use the bathroom. It was 1.50 euro to use the bathroom. We made it back up to the platform and jumped on the train.

Next train switch was at the Polish border. Each stop became a bit more rural. It was a quick transfer and we found our way without a problem. We were feeling pretty good about our train game at this point. We should have known better!

When we arrived at the last station before Krakow we had about an hour and change. Food was on the agenda and the Hursts headed over to KFC, which is super popular here in Poland, while the Kennedys went to McDonalds. Food was procured and I checked out the station a bit.

Now as we’re getting close to the time to head back up we get a frantic message from Todd that the train was there and to get there now. With lightning speed we jumped up, dumped our trash and sprinted out the door. As we were all separated we jumped on the train as soon as we got to the platform. The Hursts were waiting for us but didn’t get on until they knew we were there. Joe, Todd, and Jake were frantically searching for the mystery cars 269 and 268, enlisting the help of several people: an Englishman who searched the whole train and a man now known as “Front Butt” who was more hindrance than help. Mi scusi was quickly becoming the phrase of the trip at this point!!!

As it was almost time to go, we said screw it and just sat down in open seats, with no air conditioning. No one would help us. This was a three hour train ride with no air. It was hot. The windows were down, but it didn’t help much. Jake and Diana wandered up to the front car and brought beers back. The train police came around and asked if it was alcohol. Jake replied “ I don’t know, you tell me. I can’t read this!” The guy moved on and we cracked up. About this time we realized the train car in front of us had Harry Potter compartments that we probably were supposed to be in. Jake decided if anyone came and told us to move he was going to abracadabra their butts🤣. By the end of the trip the conductor wanted to get home because he was flying down those tracks into Krakow!

Finally we made it to Krakow Glowny, the main station. It was only a ten minute walk to our hotel so we took off with ten suitcases navigating across the cobbled streets. No one fell! Our hotel was called the Campanile Prime in Olde Town and was the perfect place to rest up for tomorrow’s big adventure!

Now we hadn’t had dinner yet and it was late so we ventured out looking for anything open. Of course, we found the Irish Pub, Bulls. We had drinks and pretzels and chips for dinner that night. The entertainment was top notch and we laughed until we could no longer keep our eyes open and it was time for bed!

Now it was time for some sleep!! Tomorrow we would be heading to Auschwitz to tour. Poland, you’ve been warned!

Finally the Kennedys landed in Dublin! Progress!! We now had about 10 hours before the flight to Berlin. So, in true Kennedy fashion, we stowed our bags at the Smarte Carte station at the airport and headed to Grafton Street in Dublin. Coffee was our first thought, so off to Starbucks we went!

While we were finally spending time outside the airport, the Hursts were embarking upon the Berlin walking tour. There were many highlights and Patrick the tour guide was accredited with 94, 876 “ok oks” throughout the tour!! Luckily they shared the knowledge with us the next day❤️

By the end of the day the Kennedy family was on their Aer Lingus flight into Berlin! The reunion was eminent!

After greeting us at Hotel Berlin with beers and planning, everyone was ready to hit the hay and prepare for a long day of travel to Poland. Exhausted but excited, here we go!!