Road Trip

"No picture, no proof"- that is what Terry said about the lightpole incident in Koblenz! ...... There we we were, riding our bikes along the Mosel river on a beautiful summer day, Terry was pointing out something on the river.......when WHAM! he smacked into a lightpole. Fortunately we had the first aid kit and fortunately we didn't need it. Two elderly gentlemen sitting on a nearby bench were more than amused! I still don't know how Terry escaped injury, just a few bike battle scars!





We planned a five day excursion, first destination Koblenz, a beautiful city where the Mosel and Rhine river converge. Koblenz was established in 8 BC and the city celebrated it's 2,000th anniversary in 1998. We enjoyed touring by bike, for us it seems easier to navigate the narrow and sometimes one way streets while riding instead of driving.

We continued our journey up the the Mosel river, winding our way through miles and miles of wine country. We stopped in Cochem and wandered around the market mostly dodging tourists who were there to see the famous castle on the hillside. That day was paticularly hot it was a relief to leave the city behind and head up into the hill country towards Trier.

The temperature dropped a good 15 degrees when we entered our hotel nestled in the woods on the hillside overlooking Trier in an area known as Kockelsburg. We ate a late relaxing dinner on the terrace with an amazing view of the city, we couldn't wait to start exploring Germany's oldest city.

We began our day at the Porta Negra, the largest surviving Roman city gate. Trier itself stood 1300 years before Rome and had settlements as early as the 3rd century BC. We decided to stay an extra day and still only managed to see half of the historical destinations listed in the brochure.

The Trier Dom was impressive, within the walls of this church are numerous shrines and crypts, you could spend a whole day studying the artwork alone. There is a chapel within called The Holy Robe Chapel. Here you will find the seamless robe that Constantines's Mother Helena carried from the holy land, this robe was said to be worn by Jesus. Trier is currently a Bishops seat and according to tradition the catherdral was founded by a bishop who was sent by the apostle Peter.

St Paulin was another beautiful church, it didn't look like much from the outside, but once inside we were awed by the amount of light pouring in, and nothing can duplicate the sounds and smells that permiated this awesome baroque church.

Everything we saw in Trier was amazing, the Imperial Throne Room, the Electoral Palace, The House of the Three Magi, the statues, the monuments, the fountains....and on and on. The Amphitheater was one of Terry's favorite sites but I was a little spooked roaming underneath the venue where above, as many as 20,000 Romans could gather to watch gladiatior contests and executions.

We were sad to say good-bye to Trier but Ramstein AFB was our next destination , it was delightful to have a stopping point with a washer and drier in the room as well as screened windows plus a full kitchen. I must say, however that we were both overwhelmed by the number of Americans! This base is known as "Little America" and after a good nights sleep, clean laundry, dinner at Chili's and of course Starbucks, we were ready go.

Once more stop at the Frankfurt airport to collect Jim Long and a total of 5 days, 280 pictures and lots of memories later, we headed for home.

love and miss you all

Who ya tellin!

I know I don't have to remind anyone summertime is a busy time. It seems like life happens at a faster pace this time of year. Recent events include but are not limited to the following.....and any one of these pictures should/could represent a standalone blog. I am finding it hard to find time to stop and "blog the story"

Elmar's pig roast....

Another day was spent with Julie, Roy, Elmar and Gabi. A twelve hour day that included an early morning Trodel market.....then afterwards we ate and drank our way thru Dusseldorf, as Terry says.......we were hangin with the locals!

Oh yeah! Let's not forget the wonderful wine tasting at Connie and Jim's, we sampled a few bottles of wine they picked up on their Italian vacation....

Also it just so happens that Julie and Terry share a birthday, Julie's family threw a party and Terry and I were included along with friends and family. The food was FABULOUS, the meats came special ordered from Belgium, by far the best quality I have tasted since setting foot in Europe. The birthday bash was another memorable day spent with friends, everyone made us feel welcome. I had to laugh when people actually congratulated me for Terry's birthday!

And one final note.......... July 10th was our one year anniversary of being overseas, we decided to celebrate with a week of traveling throughout Germany. We leave for Koblenz and Trier as we wind our way in a southerly direction towards Ramstien Air Force Base.

Oh yeah and I do need to blog about my "job" working at the German restaurant down the street, can you say "hey bartender"........ .bitte ein bit!

love and miss you all

Summer Solstice Wedding

Best wishes and congratulations to Melanie and Gerd who, on 21 June 2008 completed their wedding rituals with a beautiful service held in the chapel in Loverich, Germany.


In Germany the betrothed couple have two ceremonies, one at the Rathaus or Courthouse then later a formal wedding held in a church.


Once again the language barrier prevented us from completely understanding that we were actually invited to the formal Catholic Mass Wedding................. Our "invite" was an email asking us to join the couple for champagne outside the chuch at 1:30........when we arrived we hadn't expected to walk into church to find the bride and groom already at the altar and mass just beginning. So we tiptoed in as a beautiful rendition of Ava Maria was being sung by a young soprano standing in the balcony. It was very exciting to hear mass in German, I mouthed the responses in English and amused myself with trying to understand the words being spoken by the Priest. It really was a beautiful ceremony that seemed more romantic because of the different language.




Sure enough after the ceremony everyone gathered outside the church on a gorgeous summer day and we all drank champagne, orange juice optional, and congratulated the happy couple. The bride and groom released doves into the air, very classy and chic........ Here is a picture of the brides brother Marcus and his girlfriend Daniella, who is dressed in traditional Bavarian garb.





Guests were given lace ribbons and hearts to attach to the cars anntena to identify themselves as part of the wedding gala, then everyone got in their cars and drove away to.............we aren't sure where they were going......

love and miss you all