Tschüss Deutschland!

Our last two days here in Germany was fun. We traveled to Koblenz and did a little shopping, took a ride on the last paddle steamer on the Rhein called the Goethe, and hiked up to Schloss Ehrenfels. It's been a great two weeks sharing this experience with Brian, Jeanie, Renee and Jules and hopefully we can come back again soon. Thanks to Jeanie for her hospitality! To see all the pics of this trip click here: Germany Trip 2008. Bis spater Deutschland!

Deutsches Eck
The Goethe
Schloss Ehrenfels

Die Toilette In Burg Pfalzgrafenstein

First of all, I can't believe Brian, the king of all germaphobes, actually sat on the toilet. Ha ha! One can only imagine what the mess looked like below when it was actually used back in the day. Talk about durschfall! BARF!

Germany Trip - Day 17-19

The weather has gotten considerably nicer over the past few days and we took advantage of this and Genie, Brian and I drove south to Weisbaden one day and visited the Greichische Kapelle. The domes of the chruch are supposedly covered in gold and they looked absolutely stunning when the sun hit it! Another day we drove up the Rhine to the Loreley. On our way we stopped and toured Burg Sooneck, Schloss Reichenstein, and Burg Pfalzgrafenstein. I can never get tired of looking at castles. Each one is unique in its own right which makes them all so interesting to explore. Tomorrow we are planning on taking the train to Koblenz to do a little shopping and sight seeing. Tschüs!

Griechische KapelleBurg SooneckSchloss ReichensteinBurg PfalzgrafensteinThe Loreley

Walk Through the Grape Vines

Since everything is closed on Sundays in Germany, we decided to chill a bit and hike up the hill behind Mrs. G's house. We went past an old Jewish cemetery. It was rather eerie and seemed like it had been forgotten after many years. We made our way to the very top of the hill where grapevines greeted us. We secretly ate some of the sweet and delicious grapes used for wine. They were lecker! We also befriended a lovely horse by feeding it some apples from a nearby apple tree. The horse probably ended up having durchfall (diarrhea) after the number of apples we gave the poor thing.

Oberwesel Wine Parade

Yesterday we traveled to the small town of Oberwesel and lucky for us they were having their Wine Festival. This was a special treat for us as we were able to experience the celebration along with the locals and see the wine parade!

Köln ist ein Gefühl

How do you say, Cologne is a feeling, yes? Renee, Juliano, Brian and I took das Deutsches Bahn to Köln today. We went to the cathedral and afterwards had some Berliners and coffee and did a little shopping. The Berliners were delicious! I also found the Puma Euro jacket that I've always wanted! Below are pics and video of our excursion into Cologne.

Burg Rheinstein

Yesterday we woke up to rain. We were thinking about staying in but decided to head on out and visit a castle with Renee and Juliano. We drove to a nearby castle called Burg Rheinstein which is just minutes outside of Bingen. The rain stopped just as we got there which allowed us to explore the outside of the castle. Althought small in size, this castle is one of my favorites because it comes complete with a chapel, gargoyles, courtyard garden and watch towers. The stained glass windows is also very interesting to look at.

Reynalda Sprecht Deutsch!

Sie kann nicht Deutscht sprechen!

Exploring Trier

Earlier today we visted Brian's Omi before we drove to Trier to eat, shop and see some of the Roman ruins. Ich liebe Trier! We ate ice cream and Nord See (Long John Silvers), saw the Porta Negra, Trier Cathedral, ruins of a Roman Bath and Amphitheatre. It was a very long day but worth all the sights and fun!

Scenes In And Around Rüdesheim-Assmannshausen

Today we took a ferry across the Rhein and did a small hike from the town of Rüdesheim to Assmannshausen. Along the way Renee became BFFs with two German hunds (dogs) which followed her along a trail. After a long hike, we took the ferry back to Bingen and had a perfect view of the Mouse Tower (Mäuseturm).

The Fucker Bus Company

On our way to Rüdesheim am Rhein we saw this bus with the word "Fucker" on it. We so looked like the typical Americans taking pictures and laughing at the bus. You got to love it! LOL!

Jumping Water Bowl

One of the interesting things that we saw at the Bingen Garten Schau was this bowl of water that Brian's mom had brought us to. She had told us that we could make the water dance by rubbing the bowl with our hands. Each of us gave it a try but after 5 minutes we gave up. No dancing water! We thought Eugania was pulling our leg but we thought we'd give it another chance. I had all these Germans looking on so the pressure was on to get it to work. So I began and after a few rubs, low and behold, I got the water to jump up and down! It was amazing! Brian gave it another try after me but instead of jumping water he made the bowl create this irritating high pitched awful sound that drove everyone away! The noise coming from the bowl was AWFUL! LOL! Good times!

Bingen Landesgartenschau

Yesterday afternoon we all took a trip to the Bingen Garden Show. Thanks to Eugania for buying us tickets to the show! The number of flowers in bloom was quite amazing! Below are just a few of the pics I took of some of the images I saw in and around the show. You can see more of the pics by clicking here.

Binger Winefest

We have finally arrived in Germany for a long awaited vacation. Still a little jet lagged from our flight on Air India, we were able to take a quick cat nap and then head on out to catch the last part of the Binger Winzerfest in Bingen, Germany. We listened to music and had a few reislings before we headed back to Genie's Haus. Ich liebe wein!

The Weiner Bandit Strikes Again!

Hummingbird

A hummingbird came to dine on the flowers outside our house this morning. I was a bit excited since I've never really seen one up close, let alone in our back patio. I'm no bird expert Renata, but I believe it was a female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.

Lightning

A major storm rolled into the Chicago area last Monday. We tons of lightning, thunder, heavy rain and a couple of tornadoes. Being the wannabe tornado chaser, I grabbed my camera and ventured upstairs with sirens in full blast. I did not see a tornado but I was able to get a pic of a lightning bolt. :-(

What An International Group!

We had people in from around the world this week for day long meetings. I truly didn't realize the diversity of our group until I saw this picture from one of our dinners. In the above picture we have Russia, China, Mexico, Japan and Iowa that is representin!

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

A Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (thank you Reynalda) came to dine on the flowers in my patio early this afternoon. I thought it was a hummingbird at first but after a closer look I learned that it was actually a moth! The little guy was being very cooperative and it allowed me to take a few pics of it as it dashed between the geraniums in a feeding frenzy. Talk about eat and go! You can see more pics by clicking here.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth flying in to dine on the flowers.

Moth flying to another flower.

Moth sucking up the nectar with its long proboscis.

Close-up of my visitor.