Blogs from Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Europe - page 45

Chet summed everything perfectly, so all I need to add is that this trip is going to be a great chance to perfect our ever so American-German. I had been listening infrequently to German cd's, to learn how to get us around, and to try to impress my husband a little bit. I will admit that I was so proud of myself as I boarded that airplane, that the moment one of the stewardesses said something so simple as, "Gutentag," as we boarded, my vocabulary was minimized to, "Er, hello," said in a German accent. It's funny, how once you are immersed in the culture, you suddenly have lost everything you have prepared yourself for. It was like I had encountered stage fright. My second chance was when in the air, the stewardesses came for ... read more

We have always wanted to visit the Mosselle valley. Since we are from Belgium, it is not too far from where we live. The culture and environment are completely different from the one we are used to at home. Sounds ideal for a short break with kids. So off we went! Glad to say we were not disappointed. The Mosselle valley is a very beautiful environment to visit. I have the feeling that many Belgians underestimate this. We visited a number of villages and towns in the Moselle valley. Many impressed us because of their beauty. These trips had another thing in common, namely the fact that we tasted several times the delicious riesling wine. Needless to say we bought some riesling wine for back home...... read more

I'm writing this a week after being home, and Europe feels like decades ago! There was really only one weekend in between the last update and coming home, and that was the weekend that Annette, Pierrot and Laurent captured me and took me to the Mosel Valley. They picked me up Friday night, after I sorta packed and started to get ready to come home. We drove to a small village outside of Cochem, and stayed in a holiday apartment. It was really cute, with a wonderful bed and the village had some great food and wine! I ate so well that weekend, let me tell you! We went to Burg Eltz, which was a really cool castle where my camera ran out of batteries. It of course rained on the steep walk down and ... read more

In the fairytale surrounds of southern Germany, castles dotting the landscape amidst rolling hillsides of vineyards pointing towards the languidly looping Rhine, two beautiful maidens Cherida and Amy, met their kind and generous friend Dirk. A tour of the lovely town of Bingen was had, with spectacular sunset views and a scary dark tower (turm) where the tears of many a long tressed maiden could still be heard hitting the concrete floor. The trio shared a traditional German supper of bread, meat and cheese and told tales of past travels, enjoying the challenge of conversing in each others languages. Friday dawned and Dirk, the wunderbar tour guide, led the maidens through his sehr schon homeland. They explored the charming town of Bacharach, with its cobblestoned lanes and ancient houses cheerfully lopsided. They rambled over the remains ... read more

I just bought two cuckoo clocks! Ever since I got here I thought it would be cool to get one because they're so neat and distinctly German. So, today Angie took me to a cuckoo clock outlet in Kaiserslautern (called House of Clocks Gifts and Collectables--www.houseofclocks.com) and we looked at the clocks. While looking at the clocks, I learned a lot about them. The store we were at had 3 types. The two more traditional types with all the gears in side that need winding every once in a while are called one day and eight day movement clocks. They sound the best and they have the traditional "tick-tock" sound to them. The one day movement ones have to be wound every day, and the eight day movements only have to be wound once a week. ... read more