Walkin in Aachen

Once again the third Friday of the month arrived and we arranged to have dinner with the Village Connection. This month's dinner was in Aachen, a large city located about and hour south of Geilenkirchen. We visited Aachen in July and were impressed with the cities Dom, not nearly the size of the Köln Dom, but still a very beautiful church. The city originally attracted the attention of the Romans because of its hot springs and baths. Many kings were coronated here and I believe that Charlemagne is responsible for the actual construction.

Terry decided since we are now seasoned banhof (train) commuters, we would ride the train and walk to the restaurant, as an added bonus-Starbucks was not far out of the way. We were both looking forward to an evening out..............Terry googled all the information, maps, train times , distance to and from etc. etc.... We were sitting on the train when Terry looked at me and calmy said, "I forgot the maps"............... It almost goes without saying we wandered around the city. I would say aimlessly but Terry assured me he and an idea of where we were going. Thankfully we had allowed plenty of time so it was no problem other than the fact that I had worn high heeled boots, which by the way, I would not recommend as the best footwear for cobblestone streets, let alone walking aimlessly.........in the cold...........uphill!

We did have a very nice walk thru the city center where there was a Christmas Market set up. Thousands of lights decorated the city, people were everywhere, kids laughing, it seemed as if we stepped into a Norman Rockwell painting. Germany is a magical place around Christmastime and there are markets in many cities from now until Christmas, obviously the bigger the city....... The sounds, sights and smells of the market are incredible. Chestnuts roasting, people singing, chocolates being dipped, open air tents everywhere. After about 45 minutes of walking around we arrived at our destination, Terry said, see I knew right where we'd find it.

Dinner is never hurried in Germany so we enjoyed a relaxing time with three other couples who we met up with at Cafe Madrid. The menu was all tapas or appetizers, we all kept ordering and sharing food. We learned that frito is a small fish, whole/fried/skin and all-not my favorite by the way! All in all it was another good time and after two and a half hours we said goodbye and bee-lined for Starbucks. Can you believe, we missed getting a latte by 3 minutes!.........we had been so so sure they would still be open.............so back through the market towards the train station we went. As we rounded the last corner Terry noticed a brick wall/horse gate across the street, part of the original wall around the city, he said that looks just like the one outside Cafe Madrid, why I do believe it IS the same one and course it was.........basically what we had done was walked well over a mile in a big circle. Sore feet and no latte....we boarded the train for home.

There are several planned group trips as well as a schedule of all the Christmas Markets in the region. My friend Jen has marked all that are within two hours of GK and we'll plan an outing with a Christmas Market as our actual destination.

love and miss you all

And a sausage too!

It is not a German tradition to eat a sausage at a wine tasting, but we have the Alaska Air National Guard to thank for the now traditional eating of the sausage during sampling of the finer wines at the Mayschoss-Altehahr Winery. You may remember that Terry and I had signed up for this tour when we first arrived. The tour was arranged by Tom, a retired German Air Force Colonel now working in the housing office on base, he is quite a dapper gentleman and has been setting up guided tours for over 20 years.



We met at the winery at 1500 on Saturday afternoon. Our guide, Otto was running late, no problem, Tom was able walk us thru the wine cellars and kept us facinated with wine history and facts until Otto arrived a half an hour later. Once we completed touring the wine making facilities we were guided to another winery in the co-op. A private area in the cellar with a huge wooden table was set for 16 complete with candles, baskets of bread and steaming sausages. When it was all said and done we counted 20 bottles of wine on the table, 10 different wines, 2 bottles opened at a time, 1 for each end of the table, we sipped, swirled, discussed and either dumped into the urns or consumed. We started out with the whites which surprised us because the region is noted for the red grapes. We did switch to reds, there was only one that Terry and I enjoyed, a 2004 spicier red, different from the usual sweeter wine the Germans favor.

One of the more interesting facts of the day, this particular winery sells 60 percent of the wine right out of the cellars. That is huge! No worries about distributing this wine, bottle it and they will come.


As I said, this is a a cooperatively owned winery and is listed in the top 100 wineries of Germany, also the only co-op in the top 100. Something else I learned, there is a patron saint for wine, St. Rokus, who knew!


















The harvest was completed at the beginning of November, the grape vines are terraced throughout the hillside canyons . The river Ahr runs thru the town it is really a beautiful area. You might also like to know that the butcher that provides the sausage for the NATO personnel that tour, is a National award winning butcher nothing but the best!

Oh, I can hear the questions............. of course we bought some wine, 6 bottles of a gold medal award winning Spätburgunder with a special label provided by a local artist that lived in the area in the 1800's, a picture from his collection is featured on the label each year.

love and miss you all

What's Different?

When we first arrived in Germany I was overwhelmed with how different everything seemed to be. Life was, as Jessica likes to say .........up-a-side-down! Gradually the pace of life has settled down and things that surprised me when we first arrived, seem everyday to me now. I realize they are still different, I have just gotten used to them. Here are a few things that are "different".......................

If you were to get married in Germany, your wedding announcement might look like this:















If you are in need of a pack of cigarettes,
no need to go to the store, here you do not
have to go far in any village to find this:








Most houses in Germany and in the surrounding Netherland area, come equipped with Rouladins on the windows. These are shades that when "drawn" closed will pitch your house into total darkness. This feature is VERY handy on those long summer nights when at 10:00 pm, the sunset is still a long way off. The shades can be partially closed to let in a little bit of light, or closed all the way for black as night. I have heard many people say how easy it is to get much needed sleep if working off shifts or a quick and easy solution to jet lag! Here are two pictures, one with the rouladins closed and one with them partially opened:










Of course the bike paths, which I talked about in a previous blog, are amazing, I don't think I need to say much more, just a picture to remind you...........



And a few items of interest:

• It is a law that all cars carry a first aid kit, failure to comply will result in a fine.



• It is a law you must stop and provide first aid if you see an accident, failure to stop could result in fines and possibly jail time! See rule above.



• Everyone takes their shopping carts back to where they belong. In order to get a shopping cart first you must pay, when you return the cart, your money is refunded.



• On average a drivers licence costs about $4,000.00 Euro, which today translates to $5,600 American dollars. Lots of people ride bikes!



• You can pretty much park your car anywhere-if you are driving down a street and there is a parked car in the street, you must yield to oncoming traffic before proceeding.



• Europe is on a 24 hour clock, funny to see your digital clocks read 1630 etc..



• You bring your own basket, boxes or bags for shopping, if your really good, your own egg cartons for eggs.



• Stores are not open on Sunday.



• Mon thru Saturday, most stores close by 1800, a few grocery stores stay open til 2000 .

And last but not least............... average prices in Euro

• a gallon of gasoline 5.00


• a bottle of water 2.00


• a glass of coke 1.50


• a glass of beer 1.00

love and miss you all

Cologne Germany

It took less than an hour and a half by train to reach the city centrum in Cologne Germany. We set out with another couple bright and early Friday to see what we could see. When we stepped out of the train station the view of the skyline was dominated with the image of this incredible church, known as Kölner Dom .

There are so many stories and superstitions that surround this Roman Catholic Cathedral, I encourage you to check out the Internet and research the history that surrounds this Dom.

When we entered the church I wondered out loud if stones could talk what stories could they tell.....and it just so happened to be All Souls Day, how appropriate.

Construction began in 1248, you can just imagine the history surrounding the 750 plus years of the churches existence. One of my favorite images is of the church standing strong after the town was bombed by allied forces during WWII. All around was destruction but none of the 14 bombs that were dropped on the church detonated.

Today the church is home to numerous artifacts including a gold shrine that is believed to hold the skulls of the of the Three Magi. So much to see everywhere you look something amazing; a crucifix that was carved in 976, colorful stained glass telling stories of both the old and new testament, numerous oil paintings, images of patron saints as well as pagan figures, knights entombed, mosaic tiles depicting historical epics, gargoyles, Gothic spirals and on and on......truly incredible.

We climbed the south tower up a very narrow staircase, higher and higher we went up past the bells which at one point during our climb rang out once, sudden, loud and unexpected, we about jumped out of our skin. I would not recommend this trip for anyone remotely claustrophobic or weak of heart! Up and up we continued to the very top just below the spiral for an incredible view of the Rhine river and surrounding area.

So enjoyable walking thru "old town" Cologne, we stopped by a cafe along the Rhine river and sampled a beer named after the Dom, after that it was a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe. By the time we headed towards home, it was dark and a light rain began to fall. As we neared the train station, the Church bells started to ring loud and strong and I could feel them vibrating through me, I thought it was a very fitting farewell.

love and miss you all