Memories of Monschau

Before we left Germany for our new adventures.....we took an overnight trip to one of our favorite places with two of our favorite people.....

Less than an hour from "home" nestled in the hills of the Eifel Region in the North Rhine Westfilia is a charming town called Monschau. Half timbered homes wind their way thru a narrow valley virtually untouched by the Second World War. The township is first mentioned in 1198 and the ruins of a 13th century castle overlook the village today.


While driving to the area, you will see the "dragons teeth" also known as the Sigfried line...these are concrete fortifications designed to keep tanks from advancing. They stretched for hundreds of miles and are probably worthy of a blog all by themselves........I recall when LaVonne and I stopped along the road to take a picture...we slid into a rather large ditch and I remember thinking, they certainly stopped us!


Hanni, Josef, Terry and I arrived on a sunny afternoon and had booked a room at a charming inn on the river Rur we began exploring the area. Monschau hosts a beautiful Christmas Market, a must see if your anywhere near this area. Monschau is also known for its mustard, one can choose from an amazing variety as well as visit a museum dedicated to just mustard. The town is very artistic with quaint art and antique stores tucked away in corners, so much fun to prowl through.

Our get-away dinner with Hanni and Josef was spent laughing and preparing to say good-bye, at one point in the evening Josef told Terry "For one hour, no more English only German, and Terry you must order for our table and speak with the waitress"....We had so much fun, and now this is a wonderful memory of more good times spent in Germany.

love and miss you all

Venice / Venezia.....

The city of water, the city of bridges, the floating city, the city of masks, the sinking city......or better yet the city of romance....all of these describe Venice. We had a wonderful time roaming the calli or narrow alleys that make up the city passages, how Terry navigated them will remain a mystery.

We spent two days exploring, we rode the public ferry system, also known as the vaporetta, it seemed as if more people got on the ferries than got off....that being said, I prefered to wander on foot and marvel at how this city functions as pedestrian only. It was facinating to see deliveries being made from boats to porters who would shout permissio as they pulled carts stacked high with goods to be delivered all throughout the city.

Venice is a beautiful city built on 117 small islands connected by over 400 foot bridges.

Dusk was the perfect time for a romantic gondola ride.....and as we quietly glided thru canals and under bridges our gonadlier Carlos explained some of the history as we passed thru the city via the waterways. One must be born Venitian in order to operate as a gondalier, Carlos has been oaring up and down the canals for over 35 years.

Music is an important part of the history of Venice and of course Antonio Vivaldi is known as it's most famous composer. Several times we witnessed locals bursting out in song, ...Terry said it is written in their Venitian contract....at least once a day they MUST belt out a tune!

We enjoyed both our morning coffee and afternoon beer and pizza at a table on the Piazza San Marco where else can you sit and watch life go by is such an interesting place?

I could add another title to the city ..... the city of friends.....we were able to meet up with the Mills, our neighbors from Charleston SC, who rode the train down from Aviano Air Base. We spent the afternoon with them exploring the Basillica at Saint Marks, we enjoyed lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and tipped a pint together at the Devils Forrest, a real English pub in the heart of San Marco near the Rialto bridge, what a special treat to see them!

The "Bridge of Sighs" is another famous landmark in Venice, it is named not because of lovers kissing as they pass underneath as some believe.....but is so named because the guards who led the prisoners from the Doge Palace to the prison would hear them sigh as they saw their last glimpse of Venice as they crossed over the bridge......

CIAO .....love and miss you all.....

Lucky Lucky Lizz

Lately I feel so lucky, I'm considering changing the name of my blog from Life with Liz to Lucky Liz......

If you follow the blog you know we went to Spain...or rather I should say we vacay'd in Catalonia as our guide informed us "Spain" Jacqulene said...... is somewhere else.

The Catalan people have their own futball team, FTCB Barcelona; They have their own language~and it is not Spanish. They do not use a bull as their mascot (they think bull fighting is cruel) The Catalan people prefer their symbol to be a donkey, which represents dependabilty, hard work and perhaps a little bit of determination!

Time spent in this country was such fun and the memories will keep me smiling and feeling lucky for a very long time.

Our trip to Besalu remains my favorite day, not an easy choice considering other adventures like our journey to Montserrat where the famous Monastary of the Benedictine Monks live and still school students. We rode a funicular railway to the mountain top or "serrat" roughly translated a jagged or serrated point. I must admit I had hopes of seeing a monk, we were after all at a Monastary? Terry lit a candle and we made our pilgrimage to touch La Moreneta a statue of the Madona dating back to 70 AD, the small statue is said to have been carved by St Luke~then hidden from the Moors and unearthed in 880 AD by two shepherd boys, so the legend goes.....

Of course there is the unforgettable day spent at Tosse del Mar Kevin*Melissa*Terry*David and I, braved two bus lines and a train to reach this remote fishing village north of Santa Susanna on the Costa Brava (mellifluous wording, say it out loud!)

It was the first warm sunny day and we were thrilled to find a hide-away place to spend the afternoon. Melissa and I threw frisbee in a cobblestone breezeway and we all basked in the afternoon sun.

From the sights of Barcelona including the lizard at Gaudi Park, to the unforgettable coast, Spain or rather......Catalonia will always be special, and now my favorite Catalon word ........ADIO

Actually....before this blog is posted, I will expand a bit so that you know every story has a flip side..... how can I forget to mention the gruelling 16+ hour bus ride to AND From Spain....like the OMG :30 stop in the morning where some foreign teenagers were blocking the sinks...who knew Melissa could clear a path like she did! Oh yeah and there was that minor incident mostly due to improper footware......

love and miss you all

Springtime in Spain

Yesterday we visited Besalu, a beautiful town nestled in the volcanic hills near the Costa Brava. Our journey to this medieval village began as we crossed a dramatic stone bridge built in the 11th century. Steep narrow streets wind their way throughout and it's easy to imagine what life must have been like in times gone by.

Morning found us enjoying a cup of cafe con leche on the market square, I can't think of a better way to start the day.

We, along with our friends Kevin & Melissa Brothers, are traveling thru Spain on a guided tour that we booked last winter. There is so much to see and do.... so far the town of Besalu has been our favorite. This village is steeped in history, every stone street whispers of what once was in this village that housed a community that included Jews, Christians, and Muslims that lived peacefully together for many centuries.

All throughout Europe we have found stories and images of St. George the Dragon slayer and Besalu is no exception. Here however he is called Sant Jordi and he is a very important figure as the towns Patron Saint. Once a year and only once a year on April 23rd an herb is picked and added to a liqueur called Ratafia that is made only in this region of Catalonya, of course the town has a festival all in the honor of Sant Jordi ! Imagine.....both the Brothers and the Osheims have a bottle of Ratifia in our bag of treasures to take home.......

love and miss you all

Mom's 80!

Busy lizzy here......... and there is no indication that I am going to slow down any time soon. So sorry I haven't blogged in awhile, ......hence busy lizzy...as of 2 April.......95 days til we leave Germany and move to Washington State, not Japan as we were first told....it is an interesting set of circumstances that paved the way for us to McChord Air Force Base. As a matter of fact, I was in Washington for my Mom's 80th Birthday Extravaganza, what a wonderful wonderful time , I had an amazing 30 days at "home".

And to prove it, below are pictures not in any paticular order because I am using the laptop that won't allow me to place them where I want, so what you get to see are some are random pictures.....one of me on the C17 where this journey began.... I took a fun filled military hop across the pond, the flight crew let me sit up front, chatted with a headset.....another is of ALL ten kids and Mom taken at her Birthday Open House Bash....one picture is at Starbucks we were having a good-bye latte in Enumclaw. And guess which picture is taken as I was sitting in line to ride the ferry back from the island.....and last but not least a rooftop reminder of a fun filled St. Patricks day celebration that has turned into a Butcher/Osheim tradition.

Lots more to follow......really!

love and miss you all

Love the comments

I started my blog to keep in touch with family and friends, also to document our time in Europe. After I write an adventure/story I can hardly wait to read the comments. It is like having a message waiting after you've been gone all day. That being said........this blog

Is a classic.... a comment before it was written! I accidently posted a blank blog, and POOF a comment.

It's fun to go back and just read all the comments .......Guaranteed to make you smile.

I believe that 13 commnets is the record, there are two blogs with no comments and only twice have I had to delete comments for innappropriate content!

And as always............

love and miss you all

Czech Please!

It is hard to imagine we were there! We really did go Prague, in the Czech Republic for Christmas this year.

My sister Mar and her husband Gary along with myself and himself, boarded a German Wings Flight for a 55 minute flight, that included a happy snack PLUS to Prague, the city that ......

Charmed us right away! We were awestruck by the architecture, the city has been virtually untouched by war or natural disaster so most of the buildings remain strong, some dating back as far as 600 years ........the captial city boasts more than one title: The city of a thousand spires as well as The jewel of Europe.. just to name a few. It is beautiful and gothic and inexpensive and old and new and full of energy and solemn all at the same time, it was such fun to explore. The city is home to one of the worlds largest castles, which we circumnavigated-well mostly anyway, our trip to the kingdom included a look at the changing of the guards, very impressive!

We wandered thru Christmas markets and sampled the hot wine, sausages, chestnuts.....we listened to the astronomical clock strike the hour, we ate hot sweet cinnamon sugar bread rolled over a hot stick, we listened to the bells being played and we walked and laughed and meandered all thru the city. Of course, we remembered to hold our thumbs all accross the St. Charles Bridge for good luck! Both couples bought artwork from street vendors to remember the trip.

We ate traditional carp and bohemian potato salad on Christmas Eve, fresh carp and I mean seriously fresh carp can be purchased on street corners, there are barrels of fish swimming - right next to a fillet (er) in a tent next door.......

Christmas Eve Midnight mass found us at a very solemn mass at Our Lady Victorious, and EVEN if we didn't understand a single word, being said, the mass was very meaningful.

We learned about a few interesting Czech traditions for Christmastime such as cutting an apple open to read the seed pattern for luck, also, you must wait for the first star to be seen before eating and if you leave the table you must go in pairs or it is considered bad luck. We never did figure out why folks were carrying lanterns down the street, it looked important. Amazingly enough Santa found Mar, all the way in our little apartment in the heart of the city! She must have been an extra good girl this year.

In Prague the children wait for baby Jesus to bring them Chrismas presents and in the nativity scenes they have the traditional barn set up with Mary, Josef, wise men, barn animals....etc. etc. but what they also have is a donkey pulling a keg of beer, a gift for baby Jesus, or perhaps the entorage..........! Too funny!

Of course The Czechs did invent Pilsner beer!

There is more to Mary and Gary's trip, but I thought is best to blog Prague while it is somewhat fresh in my mind. I realize I need to catch up with my adventures ............I will try and blog more in the upcoming coming year as I get ready for a trip stateside for Mom's (80th) birthday, a trip to Spain in springtime , a trip to Norway, perhaps a side trip to Venice....and of course the big move to Japan this July!

love and miss you all