mom and grandma come to europe.

I had a wonderful week with my mother and grandmother in Europe. I kept them busy the first day they arrived so that they could beat jet lag. We ate a warm lunch with our family in Leutershausen. While it was difficult for my mom and grandma to communicate with the family in town, I think they enjoyed once again seeing where they spent holidays while my grandpa was stationed in Germany. We ate a typical German dinner with Sabine after meeting the boys. On Wednesday, we explored Heidelberg together - Philosophenweg, Hauptstraße, Schloß, Königstuhl... It was nice having visitors because there were places that I still hadn't gone because they seemed too touristy to do on my own. We even made it to the monastery where we enjoyed a beverage with Annika before dinner at the Herzberg household (the picture to the left was taken at the Hofladen). On Thursday, my mom and I were able to take a wonderful walk between rain storms from the house back to the Philosophenweg some 3 miles away. In the afternoon we loaded two cars full of people and went to Schwetzingen. We took a tour of the castle which was in German and did little good for my mom and grandma. Therefore, they received English reading material and Sabine and I did our best at translating. We proceeded into the gardens and spent the rest of the day in the sunshine amongst the flowers of the billion acres of land. Absolutely breathtaking!

On Friday morning we caught a train to Basel where we were greeted by family friends who once lived in the United States. They were absolutely wonderful hosts. They showed us all around Basel on Friday and made a day trip to Strasbourg, France on Saturday. The weekend could be detailed better but I wouldn't do it justice. Sadly, my grandma and mom left on Monday after only a short week but they say three countries. Quite a successful trip according to my standards.

Trier und Luxembourg

Alison and I are trying to fit in as many trips as one can fit into a summer. This past weekend we went to Trier (one of the oldest cities in Germany) and Luxembourg City (the capital of the country). I departed from Heidelberg early on Saturday morning and met Alison while transferring in Kaiserslautern. We arrived in Trier before noon. We spent the day wandering the city, looking at the many Roman ruins that still remain. We ate dinner at an Asian restaurant. While it did taste amazing, Alison and I were both wearing white shirts and our curry soup was a color between lime and lemon. We both made napkin bibs and looked absolutely ridiculous, switching between our spoons, forks and chopsticks, trying not to be incredibly messy. A couple sitting next to us laughed but then when it came for them to eat, the man made a bib napkin too so... We saw an independent Greek film, dubbed in German, at a tiny theater. I can only say that it will not be showing in America.

When Alison and I awoke on Sunday we both looked at each other with concerned expressions; we could hear the rain hitting the window outside. But after having paid the train and hostel, we would only be saving 8.40 Euros by not going to Luxembourg. We thought it would be worth the trek and in fact, it was! The sun ended up emerging shortly after we arrived although it disappeared and gave way to rain by the time we boarded our train home. The weather has been so mysterious the past month. Luxembourg was a beautiful city. We spent the few hours we had roaming the many hills and streets in the city. The best part was walking through catacombs. Apparently there are more than 20 kilometers of passageways within the walls of the city but we only were able to explore 2 kilometers. I suppose they were once useful but I think I would get lost and starve before finding my way back out again, back in the day that is.

Romantic Rhein

Alison and I decided to visit another wonderful part of Germany last weekend. It was last minute with little planning involved but was awesome. On Saturday we met in Bingen, a small town at the southern end of the so called "Romantic Rhein". We explored the city. Its shoreline was part of a beautification project last year and the new park is unbelievable. There is a skatepark, life-size chessboard, cherry trees, apple trees, squash gardens, water playground and more. There were even chairs and lounges throughout the park and they weren't held fast to the ground. After successfully exploring Bingen, we took a ferry across the river to another town called Rüdesheim. It lies at the base of a mountain covered in vineyards. The town itself is small but the backdrop is fabulous. We took a cable car up the mountain to view a famous statue which is much like the Statue of Liberty (in fact, Alison thought it was a version of the Statue of Liberty). Instead of paying for a roundtrip, we only paid for one ride and decided it would be best to wander through the vineyards and find our way back down the hill. With our cameras and a bottle of wine we slowly made our way back to town for dinner before the last ferry back.

On Sunday, we spent much of the day exploring the Romantic Rhein from a boat. There is a service from Binger which makes at all the little towns on the Rhein. We stayed on the boat and took pictures of a few dozen castles; it is amazing how many castles are in Germany. I ended up taking hundreds of pictures over the whole weekend. We hopped off the boat in the afternoon at Koblenz. Nearly the entire city is under construction so while we did wander around, there wasn't too much too do or see. We opted for an ice cream on the Moselle River. The sun was beaming all day and we both were sunburned. The weathermen hadn't predicted sunshine. I didn't even pack sunscreen or sunglasses! We were so worn out that we spent the last hour with our feet in a fountain while we watch children play with the water.