Pick Your Own Flowers

One of the many things I love about living in Germany (specifically our neighboring village) is that we are surrounded by a bunch of "you-pick" flower fields. You can go and cut all the flowers you want for super cheap!

Just keep an eye out for a sign that says “Blumen selbst schneiden."  You’ll also see many rows of flowers planted somewhere near the sign. Just pull over and gather your flowers, but be sure to leave money in the jar (or can) by the sign! Many offer a pair of scissors or a knife but I quickly learned to just keep a pair of scissors in my car.

Crystal shopping in Neustadt

A friend of mine told me about this crystal factory outlet about 4 hours away where you can get insane deals on lead crystal. I am always up for a shopping trip so we all packed up in the car and headed to Neustadt!

Be sure to head over on a Friday, which is the ONLY day the factory outlet is open. We got there right when it opened and when we left it was starting to get packed. Be sure to bring euros and your VAT form! To get to the factory outlet, walk behind the gate to the last door on the left of the big yellow building. Remember to grab a shopping cart.

The place also offers engraving, but be sure to get in line quick because the line gets long quick. A good tip, if you go with friends, make sure you bring a marker to mark each box to know who it belongs to.

Poland~ Polish Pottery & Castle Living

For my birthday we took a short trip to Boleslawiec, Poland for some Polish pottery shopping! When I started looking into finding a hotel I found a very reasonably priced castle! We stayed at the Zamek Kliczków that was built in 1297. The best part... It was under $70 a night! 

our room

the restaurant inside our hotel castle

Not only did the Castle have tennis courts, a children's play room, restaurant and pool, but it had a spa that I got to enjoy! While the boys enjoyed the pool, 
I enjoyed a couple hours of relaxation at the Spa. 

After a good nights sleep we headed out to get some Polish Pottery! Our castle was only 15 minutes away from the main polish pottery shopping. 

~Shopping~

-Andy's

Tomaszów Bolesławiecki 111 A

-Zaklady Ceramiczne Factory Shop

11, Kosciuszki Street

-Manufaktura Factory Shop

30, Gdanska Street

-Ceramika Artystyczna Factory Shop

23, Kosciuszki Str.

- Ceramika

Czerna 39

-MANUFAKTURA

ul Zgorzelecka 22b

-HENRY’S

ul. Masarska 1

59- 700 Bolesławiec

~Tips for Polish Pottery Shopping~

- Bring a conversation chart

- Double check the pottery before buying

- Go early to beat the crowds

- "Ping" the pottery to check for cracks. If you do not hear a "ping" do not buy!

-The pottery that has been discounted for whatever reason will either be on the floor or bottom shelf. 

- If you are going with a group or on a bus, bring a laundry basket to put all your boxes AND a sharpie to mark your boxes.

- Some places have a "husband" and kid section for them to wait while we shop ;) 

- You can bring cash but most places accept credit cards

~Checking for Quality~

All Boleslawiec pottery is clearly marked with stickers that give a "Gat" rating. "Gat." is short for gatunek which means "quality category." You'll find pots ranging from categories 1 through 5. 

"Gat 1" is the best quality; there aren't any defects in the pot whatsoever.
"Gat 2" pots may have a stray brush stroke.
"Gat 3" may have a crack in the glaze.
"Gat 4" may have a chip.
"Gat 5" cannot be used in the oven.

We had lunch at Opalkowa Chata, Restauracja and everything was delicious, especially the beet soup!
Augusta Cieszkowskiego 17, Bolesławiec, Poland

Gartenschau Kaiserslautern (Dinopark)

Gartenschau (also known as Dino Park) is only about 20 minutes from RAB and is a great place to let the kiddos run around. Daily tickets cost €7 for adults and €3 for children. Evening tickets after 5 p.m. are half price. Season tickets for at least two adults and all own children costs €45 for the whole season; the price for singles is €35. You will also have to pay for parking.

 The park always has special themes like pumpkins during the fall where they have displays of pumpkin made sculptures and artwork. Other attractions are the dinosaur exhibit, with giant dinosaur models and the Biblical, farmers’ and medicine gardens. 

Several playgrounds are scattered around the park with a sliding tower and pirate ship, a skate rink, soccer field, beach volleyball field and miniature golf in Neumühlepark. 

The Kaiserslautern Gartenschau also has numerous musical events, children’s programs, family fests, markets and guided tours.

The food at Brauhaus is also pretty good, so if you forget to pack a lunch, grab a bite there!

Tickets are discounted if you use Kaiserslautern City Works or SWK. The Gartenschau ticket is also valid for the Japanese Garden, which is down the road on Lauterstrasse. The park is open from 9am-7pm (M-F) and 10am-7pm (Sat & Sun). 

Address:

Lauterstraße 51

67659 Kaiserslautern

LÄTT ~ Ikea hack

I have been putting this off long enough... over a year ago I bought this table and chair set from Ikea for under 20euro. I had all these great ideas for it and finally put it all together this weekend.

I started off by painting the top of the table with some black chalkboard paint I bought online. After many, many, many coats and a full day to dry I used Provence Annie Sloan chalk paint and painted the rest of the table. For the chairs, I removed the seat part and spray painted the chairs in gray. After a couple days of airing out, I covered the seat in this cute fox and the houndstooth fabric that was left over from another project.