Well...unfortunately, that's the best my German gets. Just ask Terri or Dawn...I can say good morning, good bye, and all the other pleasantries in German... but if I need directions in downtown Trier or Koln or Bad Honnef, well, I'm outta luck! Anyway, I know that many of you have been checking in with great anticipation, hoping to hear more about our trip and to see some pictures. So I have a few minutes this evening (probably should be reading in my Developmental Psychology book, but I figure I've kept y'all waiting long enough)...I thought I might share a little bit.

First, let me say that we had a fantastic time (I think I said that in my other post, but we really did!). It's interesting to note how much one doesn't realize that one needs a vacation until one goes to a foreign country and really has no responsibilities, except to navigate the foreign country's countryside (and Autobahn - hooray!). So put in less convoluted English... without realizing it, Nathan & I had needed the time away...we needed the little bit of time that we had, where we had nothing to worry over. It really was a great deal...he got to go work a while before I got over there, then I got there, we got a 3 day weekend together (along with a few other traveling companions), he worked a couple more days while I spent time with the girls (their husbands were working, too), and then we got another day together before I had to fly home.

We stayed on base at the Spangdahlem Inn thanks to the graciousness of Uncle Sam. Here are 2 pictures of the room:

Notice the fan in the picture on the right. There was no air conditioning...however, the weather had gone from heat wave (literally! sunny & HOT) the week before the girls arrived to COLD (hallelujah! 60* weather!) a couple days before we got there. It was wonderful to sleep with the windows open & the fan blowing.

As much as we wanted to go out & stay "in the country," it was best that we resided onbase for this trip. This was definitely a trip on a budget, but it was a fantastic trip nonetheless!

So... let's start, shall we? In the grand scheme of things, I'm not posting many pictures. Especially if you consider the fact that we TOOK somewhere between 450 - 500 pictures!

Anyway...here are some of the highlights of the trip:

This is Terri, me & Dawn... "The Girls" is how we referred to ourselves. We didn't know each other very well before the trip (we'd met a couple of times) but we became very fast friends and had a fantastic time, bumming around while the guys were at work.



This is at (as N likes to call it,) the "5.99 schnitzel place." We ate here the first night we were there...and I'd never had schnitzel before. It was pretty good! In fact, mine was very good! And I didn't ever taste any like it after that. Of course, Nathan LOVED the schnitzel...I believe he could eat it for every meal.

On our way to Luxembourg...on the Autobahn. I'm not driving this day...when we were with the guys, it was difficult to get any of them out of the driver's seat!! :)

Here we are...eating pastries in Belgium... It's quite amazing to note that these were pretty much "it" for us in European pastry world!! We never really got around to eating more pastries. How sad... (but probably 'glad' for my hips!!)

Here we are in downtown Bastogne, Belgium. We did some shopping...and just hanging around. Interestingly enough, it had been very hot the week before, and on our first day out and about, it was cold & rainy! (hey, having come from hot & muggy, I was not going to complain one bit!!)

And a little later on, after everyone had bought umbrellas, it cleared up! We decided the umbrellas were our "jinx" on the rain...a bit of insurance, if you will...so we carried them with us for the rest of the trip. Guess what, it didn't rain on us again the whole time!! :) This picture was taken at the War Memorial commemorating the U.S. involvement in the Battle of the Bulge.

This picture is a bit dark, but here we are, eating at what would become our favorite restaurant... Zum Weissenstein. If you're ever in this part of the country, find it and eat there! It is one of the best restaurants I've EVER eaten at!

One interesting thing to note about German (and maybe European as a whole?) restaurants is that when you sit down at a table, it is yours for the night. There's no rushing you out to get the next group in...and if you're in a hurry, you ought to just stay in and not go out to eat. The eating out experience took us hours each time. But hey, what else did we have to do? ;)

This is a castle in Cochem...a few of the guys hiked up to the castle while the rest of us hung around down in town. We were cutting it close to missing a boat tour, and I had on flipflops that would not have made a FAST hike easy. So I stuck around w/ everyone else while Nathan, Jeff & Ryan booked it up and down the hill.

When we were in Beilstein (up/down the river from Cochem), Nathan & I got separated from the rest of the group, so we decided to hike up to some castle ruins. It was VERY neat... We started to go up into the tower & got halfway when Nathan decided that wouldn't be in his best interest to finish the climb. So... I left him in the middle of the tower so I could go to the tiptop. This was one of the views from the top of the tower.

And here, Nathan is glad to have me back, safe & sound...and on solid ground again :)

Our favorite place, Bernkastel. We girls liked it so much that we went back TWICE!! Ha! Ask if you want to know....... ;)

This is Porta Nigra in Trier... Trier is an ancient Roman city, and the history inside these gates was just really neat. Getting to Porta Nigra in Trier was an interesting experience, including an accidental visit to the seedier side of the city. Who would've thought that with a navigation system in the car, we would get lost so much?!?

Finally, a picture in the gardens of the Electoral Palace in Trier. This was one of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen!!

We girls did lots of other stuff, like get lost going to the Birkenstock outlet...ahhh...get lost going to the Shockolade (chocolate) museum in Koln (Cologne)... Walking into the strangest places to ask for directions, on a hope & a prayer that someone would speak enough English (or we would understand enough German) to understand each other. Yeah, that didn't really happen...we were snubbed by some older German gentlemen, fussed on by another road construction worker, and flagged down by road pavers on the B50. But we made it to each destination that we had set out to see. We most definitely saw both the touristy side of Germany and the side that most tourists just don't get to!

It was great fun & full of adventure!

And then, flying home, we got bumped up to first class in order to fit us all on the plane together. And if you've never flown first class, and you can afford it, let me tell you...that is the WAY to go! Of course, this is probably the one & only time for me...but it was really cool!

Then when we got back to Philadelphia, we found out that all the terrorist scare/arrests were happening in London. We stood in 2-hour lines to get through security again, making sure that all our toothpaste, lipsticks, etc. had been put into our checked baggage.

When we got home, we were exhausted. But it was a good exhaustion...I took a day to rest, and then Nathan came home. We took another day to rest, and then it was back to work for us. But we were refreshed & ready to face the world again. So, one of these days, when the time is right (or when Uncle Sam decides to send Nathan back to Europe again), I'll be ready! :)