Sweetness & Strasbourg

It didn't start out too well. Mom's (mine) first trip to Europe heralded grey and rainy skies and fog. Lots of fog. Her 2nd day here we went to Luxembourg to find the Valley of the Seven Castles. Disaster. Rain, cold, and construction meant everything was closed or impossible to enjoy. Sigh. But the weather did improve last week and German locals came through... Mom met many friendly, wonderful people.

• Eli's teacher, who tried so hard to impress her.
• The local flower shop owner, who presented her (and Mary) with a single rose one morning when we stopped by (which caused me to buy more flowers for my porch).
• My elderly neighbor, who begged us to come for tea and then presented, on fine china, a homemade, incredible cheesecake, several teas, and good conversation.
• Our good friend from the local bank, who came over for dinner and brought mom an autumn bouquet.
• My German language teacher, who gave us several ideas of places we could go and see.
• The pastor and his wife at church, who engaged her and a British couple in conversation for half an hour.
• and more....

I think she's ready to move here permanently. The people, rather than the sight (which have improved, see below) seem to have won her over - just as they have me this past year.

Nanstein Castle was our first foray into tourism after Luxembourg and she was impressed with her first ruins romp. Then Saturday we decided to dare the skies and head south and east into France. It was fog soup the whole way there and then, as we reached the city limits, sunshine! Lovely, 75 degrees, cathedral and carousel and riverboat tour and street performers galore. Saw a few cute villages on our way home, as well. I may dare again this Friday and Saturday.

Note to Self: The next time we move to Europe and expect visitors, buy a minivan. Guess who gets to sit in between two large car seats filled with cranky attention-hungry children in her own car? It's more than worth the mental pain and physical bullying (Mary does NOT like it when I touch her armrest, like I have a choice)... but I also need a good 2-hour break from my kids afterwards.

Realities of The Rhine

Ahhh, The Rhine. Romantic castles, incredible views, and tourists. It felt a little bit like being on a foreign game show where players' expectations don't quite match up with the reality of experience. Our odd impressions and pictures are below. Having said that - I can't wait to go back. It is beautiful. The castles are cool. The trip (in August) was great.

There really are castles everywhere you look on this section of the Rhine and it is impressive, especially from the river. We went to one 'ruins castle' where you can explore freely, and one 'tour castle' where you have a guide to see the restored inside rooms (not as much fun but cool to learn about). And we rode a river boat, the train, and a ferry. The ferry rides were Kevin's first and I think he liked it. We rode it five times. There are no bridges over the Rhine for 60 miles so ferries are necessary, plentiful, and fun.

Odd Observation #1: There is no shortage of flying insects on the Rhine. Be prepared to do battle for your food. You may have paid for it but he flies and the bees.... they want it. And they are persistent - indoors and out. Meals were all-out war zones with menus and hands waving and they were, unfortunately, long. I would love to 'do as the Europeans do' and linger over a long and lazy meal. But I have two kids. Who do not linger well when hungry. And I hate insects. Particularly those that fly.

Odd Observation #2: There is a shortage of blonds in Europe and particularly among tour groups. We've run into this before being (often) the only tourists with two cute little kids around. But Mary, with her platinum hair, gets celebrity-level attention. This was particularly strong attention to the point we were dodging tour groups and Kevin was getting upset. Strangers wanted to hold her (and tried to lure her from my arms) and numerous home movies and photos were taken, all featuring Mary. I said it was fine but I would hold her, thank you, and would have to be in the pictures too. Finally we just had to avoid them. Don't be afraid to bring your cute little towheads to Europe... just make sure they wear hats.

Odd Observation #3: We used to be the enemy and sometimes it still feels strange. The plaque in one very touristy town stated (in English) that 23 little kids and teachers died at a Kindergarten during an allied bombing raid. It's so sad to think my country was the likely bomber, but that the war against Germany was necessary back then, however we feel no animosity toward each other as people now, and how odd it all is, 62+ years later.

...education, in progress.