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

Wall of Flame

Terry was the first............... and for a few days he held the number one spot, but as it goes.......there is always someone to take up the challenge, and now he sits at a respectable number three!

I did not witness his rise to "flame" but heard about it from Chris and Leona our friends who own a fabulous sandwich shop called Bocodillo in downtown Geilenkirchen. Terry and a friend stopped in for lunch one Saturday and lo and behold what did they find but a contest to see who could eat the hottest sandwich and poof, Terry became the first to make the wall of flame.

I am not 100% sure I understand the "rules" (blah blah blah) but I think the degree of hotness is increased by the amount of the paste put on a sandwich called the Jokers Fire. There is a digital photo album on the wall at Bocodillo's that serves as a reminder as it scrolls thru pictures of the brave souls who complete the meal. I will put the link to the restaurant below where you can view the complete photo sessions, just click on the name.............what I do know is that Terry came home that day beaming about eating the hottest sandwich of his life and later that evening when I put my hand on his stomach I could feel the heat radiating from him............. that is crazy hot!

http://www.baguetterie-bocadillo.de/

love and miss you all

Polterabend

We knew we were in for a good time even before we received the invitation to attend the Polterabend being held in honor of Melanie and Gerd's upcoming nuptuals. A Polterabend is a German custom in which much luck is brought to the betrothed couple by guests breaking porcelain. Many shards bring much luck is the saying, I could easily translate into an "Americanism" by saying...........a smashing good time!

Our friend Josef and Hanni's daughter Melanie is the bride, she and her future husband, Gerd must work together to clean up .........The party was held at Gerds parents home at 23 Puffendorfer Strasse, the address alone indicated a good time must be had! As guests arrived they brought mostly dishes to break against the wall and/or on the street in front of the house, the bride and groom are at the ready with brooms to sweep the shards into a pile.

It was obvious everybody was there to have a good time and the grooms parents were well prepared. There were event tents, a DJ with a huge varitey of music, a bar station complete with a glass washing station (of course) friends and family were busy helping serve the at least 300 guests! I was happy to be in the kitchen for awhile helping make the main snack a schmear on brotchen. This particular schmear is quite the delicacy, a spread made of raw meat-Terry said it was processed but I was not as brave as he was. I was happier to just help make them, not eat them. There was plenty to eat and drink, Terry had to hide his beer glass as it got close to empty otherwise he MUST take another...........in the four hours we were there 5 kegs of beer were consumed!

We learned about different variations of the Polterabend, for instance in Bavaria the bride is kidnapped and taken out to bars where the grooms friends run up a tab that must be paid for by the groom who is then told where they were headed to...... and he remains just one bar behind finding his betrothed.

Also included in the evenings festivities was a bagpipe player, I wish I understood what he said before he played the three songs for Gerd and Melanie, whatever it was it brought a tear to Melainie's eyes. Terry too, I noticed was moved by the bagpipes rendition of Amazing Grace. It really was another wonderful time for us. Everyone was so friendly and we felt honored to be included in the festivities. Around midnight we were saying our farewells when found Melanie and Gerd, to tell them we were leaving and their response............WHY?




love and miss you all

Spargel

Right now it is peak season for spargel or white aspagargus, locally known as "white gold" As a matter of fact it just so happens the best quality to be found in the area is in Waldfuecht, the village next to ours. Terry and I went to a market an hour away from home a few weeks ago and laughed when we saw spargel for sale from our village! The picture below was taken from our house, you can see the asparagus is covered for protection from the sun.



The first pick of the season is much sought after and we heard excitement as the locals spoke of an early harvest this year. White asparagus is grown in deep mounds of soil to protect it from the sun, this keeps the vegetable pale. The spears are cut by hand with a special knife to avoid stalk damage, and in high season, with warm weather, farms will often harvest twice a day as growth is so fast. It is a very serious industry in Europe worth an estimated €250 million a year!

All the markets have spargel for sale and just about all the restaurants in the area currently feature a side dish, usually topped with a hollandaise sauce......... just simply delish! A mellow flavor different from the nuttier green version of asparagus we are more familiar with.

The season is kept deliberately short, weather depending (of course) normally mid-April to mid-June, this also gives the plants plenty of time to regenerate for the following year. Terry came home the other day all excited and exclaimed, " only in Europe..........would you see a guy in a speedo bathing suit picking asparagus." We grabbed our camera, but they were gone by the time we got to the fields, darn! Now that would have been a picture for the blog archives!




love and miss you all

Mai Baum

I was thrilled to hear sounds of the band once again marching up and down the streets in our village as they made their way to the Dorffe Halle for another celebration. As they passed by, the Maibaumchef or Maypole leader invited me to join in the festivities...........

Mai Baum translated means May Tree and on May Day a celebration takes place in most villages large and small throughout the area and Brüggelchen is no exception. The earliest illustration of a maypole was done in 1590! Now the customs and traditons vary throughout the countryside. There are very specific rituals that take place preparing the tree that will eventually set high upon a pole in the town centre. I won't bore you with too many details, but one of the long standing traditions include the fact that young unmarried men and women select then prepare the tree and garlands for the transport and feast that takes place on May 1st.









All the while the maybaum is being readied, it is essential to guard it from theft. Young people from other villages would like to steal it. After such a theft, there are either negotiations for the return of/or the stolen goods become an addition to another village-a trophy so to speak.



Again, there are long standing "rules of engagement" that apply but the spirit in which the tree is adorned and accompanied thru the town is festive and light. Here you can see our village Mai-baum safe and sound erected nice and high to discourage and late night raids!










love and miss you all