Protests

Karen, I very much doubt that people planning a protest will announce it prior to the event. That would allow the authorities to get massive security forces in place to respond to the protest. If a protest does occur, it will likely only last for a few hours, so I wouldn't bother changing plans or re-booking Hotels. That's not something I'd do even if I was travelling with children. Happy travels!

Karen I have travelled with my children, alone, and I wouldn't and haven't worried about such things,, not unless you are going to like Beirut or something. Perhaps if you name the cities ( I know one is Paris, and for that one, please relax you and your children will be perfectly safe there, ) you are worried about people can give you more specific advice. You lived through the Canucks riots,, you can live thru anything,, lol

Actually in Germany, a protest is a gathering that needs a permit and is applied for with the local governments, so in fact everyone does know in advance when they are and plan their travels accordingly. Check http://www.thelocal.de/ for news. For instance, this was recently released....
DEMONSTRATION (Expected Violence), Frankfurt, Germany From 16- 19 May 2012 there will be a series of 17 events focused around the Occupy Frankfurt movement "Days of Action" based near the European Central Bank building, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. On 17 May 2012, demonstrators will occupy central squares in Frankfurt in order to create space for discussion and exchange of contents. On 18 May 2012, protestors will attempt to block the entrances and business operations under the motto "Seal off the Entrance to the Banks" of the European Central Bank and other large firms in downtown Frankfurt. On 19 May 2012, a major international rally under the motto "The Masses create Anonymity" will take place in downtown Frankfurt to include all public squares and areas. It is believed the group "Autonomous" will participate in these protests along with the Leftist Party, The Unemployed Forum of Germany, Interventionist Left, etc. to protest capitalism and the current economic crisis. Host Nation Law Enforcement (HNLE) expects 20,000-40,000 participants and believes this will be a repeat of the 31 March 2012 protests which became violent, costing millions of Euros worth of damage and injured approximately 30 Police Officers. HNLE expects participants at these events to become violent.

Karen, There is supposed to be a protest in Frankfurt, Germany this weekend called Blockupy Frankfurt from the 16th-19th of May. The only reason I found out about it is because I looked at the rail system which listed it as a source of route changes/closures. Perhaps the transportation systems would have notifications of such things, especially if it's a planned demonstration.

Normally, I would agree that tourists don't have much to worry about as it relates to protests. Just simply avoid areas like Puerta del Sol when something's planned or may be brewing (ask your hotel or other locals what might be up when you're there). We ran into a peaceful protest in PdS in late 2009, but there was a more violent one in Barcelona that same night (as in police beating the hell out of people with batons). This time around, these particular protests definitely have the potential to become somehwat violent...they're emotionally-charged for sure. I'm not sure I would change hotels unless the hotel itself indicated that they were concerned about something spilling over into their place and preferred not to have guests on site (seems unlikely)...sort of like all of the Chicago businesses right now planning on closing for the upcoming NATO summit...they don't want employees and/or customers taking a chance on coming in when there is very real potential for violence from wannabe anarchists. Also, you could follow this stuff on Facebook and Twitter...that's the new vehicle for protest organizers...that's where you will find the latest info. Don't get too freaked out, though. Use some common sense, employ some street smarts, ask locals for info, pay attention to the news, use Facebook and Twitter if you want, avoid the typical areas where protests always brew, and you'll be fine. Chances are the protests won't affect you at all, and you'll have a great vacation. Just pay attention.

If you will have internet access during your trip, the suggestion to follow twitter tags that the protesters are using is the best one. That will let you know what's going on...some of the info will be in English, most in Spanish, but you should still be able to recognize place names that are near you. The trick is finding out what hashtags the protesters will be using. You'll probably have to do a little more google research to find out.