Okay. I should have read the fine print! My last post caused me to run out of space on this blog and I couldn't load all the pics. So, I have went back on a couple posts and deleted pics to conserve space. Since then, I have been busy and preoccupied, so, there are a couple more days of our vacation yet to post. All in good time.
As far as space on a blog, for those of you that don't already know this, there is a 1 gig limit, on Google. Then, you can purchase chunks of space for a yearly fee, beyond your 1 gig. Words take far less space, than video and pics. So a word to the wise would be to be conservative on what media you upload to your blog!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday July 8, 2010
Ok...slightly out of order!
We slept in this morning. The bells at the church started ringing at 5:30 a.m., but I rolled over. The temperature was pure heaven! It was cool, so the down comforter felt good. It is interesting that, in a bed for two, there are two separate mattresses and two separate sets of blankets. The two edges of the mattresses butting up to each other prevent any snuggling. The last day of breakfast at this hotel was really good. I had cheesecake for breakfast. It sounds odd to an American to eat that type of dessert for breakfast. However, it wasn't sweet and wasn't heavy, like the cheesecakes I'm used to at home. In fact, the majority of their pastries aren't.
We packed up and started our journey back towards the Bode's home. On the way, we stopped at Rothenburg, the midevil walled city. There were mixed feelings today. Matthias and I loved the old city and wanted to see more. The kids were ready to go on strike though. We went through a bunch of shops. There was every type of food, clothing, jewelry and weapon shop imaginable. Our highlite was the Christmas store! It was wonderful! We purchased a bunch of ornaments and decorations and had them shipped home.
The group stopped for a dessert, called a "snowball", at a cafe. It is almost like a pie crust, wadded into a ball and then dipped in dark chocolate. On the way out of the city, we walked along the top of the city wall. We went through a couple of towers and then off to the car.
It was a long drive back. When we stopped for gas, it was the cleanest and nicest faciility I had ever been in! We had to pay .50 euro to go to the bathroom, which was odd. But it really was extremely clean and neat. We all napped on the way back.
We went to the Huhnerrahof beer garden, near their home, this evening. The name means "chicken yard". We had Spanish chicken, with olives, pepporcinnis and lemon. Rumor has it a couple dunkels (dark beers) made it to our table. Then we were off to their house. The evening was cool and great to sit outside, in the yard. We sat out back talking, until around 11:30.
We slept in this morning. The bells at the church started ringing at 5:30 a.m., but I rolled over. The temperature was pure heaven! It was cool, so the down comforter felt good. It is interesting that, in a bed for two, there are two separate mattresses and two separate sets of blankets. The two edges of the mattresses butting up to each other prevent any snuggling. The last day of breakfast at this hotel was really good. I had cheesecake for breakfast. It sounds odd to an American to eat that type of dessert for breakfast. However, it wasn't sweet and wasn't heavy, like the cheesecakes I'm used to at home. In fact, the majority of their pastries aren't.
We packed up and started our journey back towards the Bode's home. On the way, we stopped at Rothenburg, the midevil walled city. There were mixed feelings today. Matthias and I loved the old city and wanted to see more. The kids were ready to go on strike though. We went through a bunch of shops. There was every type of food, clothing, jewelry and weapon shop imaginable. Our highlite was the Christmas store! It was wonderful! We purchased a bunch of ornaments and decorations and had them shipped home.
The group stopped for a dessert, called a "snowball", at a cafe. It is almost like a pie crust, wadded into a ball and then dipped in dark chocolate. On the way out of the city, we walked along the top of the city wall. We went through a couple of towers and then off to the car.
It was a long drive back. When we stopped for gas, it was the cleanest and nicest faciility I had ever been in! We had to pay .50 euro to go to the bathroom, which was odd. But it really was extremely clean and neat. We all napped on the way back.
We went to the Huhnerrahof beer garden, near their home, this evening. The name means "chicken yard". We had Spanish chicken, with olives, pepporcinnis and lemon. Rumor has it a couple dunkels (dark beers) made it to our table. Then we were off to their house. The evening was cool and great to sit outside, in the yard. We sat out back talking, until around 11:30.
Friday July 9, 2010
A nice relaxing morning. It was 36 Celsius (96-97 degrees F) today. We sat outside and ate breakfast and had espresso. There were three horses in the field directly behind the house this morning. We ate twenty some feet away from these beautiful creatures. Matthias joked that it was nice to enjoy them, but not have to pay for nor care for them!
We also ate lunch at the house today. We had hot dogs, from a jar, with a chili type ketsup and dried onions.
After lunch, the kids changed into swimsuits and we dropped them off at the public pool in Gelnhausen. It was about 2 p.m. The four of us then walked around the old part of the town, including a Lutheran church. We also stopped in the lower market place for ice cream and espresso. My ice cream was called Malaga, which has rum and raisens in it. Wonderful! The other flavor I had was a peach and mango combination. The espresso was wonderful too!
We continued walking around Gelnhausen, until about 5:30, then we drove to "the center of Europe". This geographic point is kind of anti-climactic, but we had fun. The kids were changing, when we arrived at the pool around 6:15. A quick trip back to the Bode's to "freshen up", which is hard to do in 97 degree heat and no AC, and we drove back to the lower market place in Gelnhausen.
We ate dinner inside an Italian restaurant, with no AC and no cross ventilation for that matter. The food was incredible! Julie and I shared an arugala salad dish and a linguini in butter sauce dish. The bread was so-so. The meal started with Prosecco, an Italian champagne, "on the house", as an aparatife. The kids were given sprite, with the same green colored herbal flavoring. After the meal, we were offered either espresso, schnapps or another German drink, which is an herbal alcohol. The schnapps was VERY strong! I sipped Doro's, but it was way too much for me! Matthias had the herbal stuff and it wasn't bad. The espresso, on the other hand, was the best ever...creamy...almost chocolate like!
Oh, I forgot, we went grocery shopping in the morning. Aldi is the same here as it is at home. Very cheap. Matthias says this is a very important store to average Germans. Good quality, with low prices. Their wines are 1.99 to 4.00 euros! Doro says they are really good. The lady ahead of us in the checkout really smelled bad! She left a cloud of b.o. as she walked! So bad, the cashier kept one hand under her nose, as she rang up her order. Also, the shopping carts here are really convenient. All four wheels rotate in all directions. They are super easy to manuever!
We stopped at an open air market, on the way home and bought strawberries and strawberry champagne. It is sweet, but both bottles died quickly!
We returned home around 10:30 p.m. from dinner and sat outside, until around midnight, finishing the strawberry champagne.
We also ate lunch at the house today. We had hot dogs, from a jar, with a chili type ketsup and dried onions.
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| Nothing wrong with the packaging method, I had just never seen it done this way. |
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| An old city gate. |
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| The lower market place. |
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| The outside of the restaurant we ate dinner at later. |
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| Along one of the skinny side streets was this very, very old home. It looked like something out of The Hobbit or a Harry Potter movie! |
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| The Lutheren church we explored. |
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| More exploring the streets of Gelnhausen |
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| Here's an ancient city, with contrasting modern energy technology. |
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| As we climbed toward the top of the hill in the city, you began to have awesome views of the countryside. |
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| Entering some of the old city defenses |
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| These former Germans were not tall people! |
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| Obviously building codes were different then! |
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| This was worth the climb to see |
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| That's Matthias out overlooking the city and countryside |
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| A World War 1 memorial to the fallen soldiers |
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| The upper market place. In the far right corner is a an area they had set up for outdoor viewing of the World Cup. |
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| Shops and homes along a street |
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| You have to love a culture that finds every way possible to provide some outdoor seating! |
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| This was a really curious peice of architecture. |
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| It was interesting finding a Temple in the middle of Germany. We tend to have fixed ideas in our minds, based on the last information input. For me, that was history classes in high school. |
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| These folks were having a good time. One man stood, when we passed, and told us we had to pay money to the Queen of Gelnhausen, seated with them. |
We continued walking around Gelnhausen, until about 5:30, then we drove to "the center of Europe". This geographic point is kind of anti-climactic, but we had fun. The kids were changing, when we arrived at the pool around 6:15. A quick trip back to the Bode's to "freshen up", which is hard to do in 97 degree heat and no AC, and we drove back to the lower market place in Gelnhausen.
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| I think this says "the center of the European Union" |
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| Here's the center of the European Union. There are lines pointing toward each member country. |
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| Of course! |
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| A father and daughter... |
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| Julie seems to like the Prosecco with the green herbal flavoring. |
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| You have to look close. There is a statue the boys are posing with. |
We ate dinner inside an Italian restaurant, with no AC and no cross ventilation for that matter. The food was incredible! Julie and I shared an arugala salad dish and a linguini in butter sauce dish. The bread was so-so. The meal started with Prosecco, an Italian champagne, "on the house", as an aparatife. The kids were given sprite, with the same green colored herbal flavoring. After the meal, we were offered either espresso, schnapps or another German drink, which is an herbal alcohol. The schnapps was VERY strong! I sipped Doro's, but it was way too much for me! Matthias had the herbal stuff and it wasn't bad. The espresso, on the other hand, was the best ever...creamy...almost chocolate like!
Oh, I forgot, we went grocery shopping in the morning. Aldi is the same here as it is at home. Very cheap. Matthias says this is a very important store to average Germans. Good quality, with low prices. Their wines are 1.99 to 4.00 euros! Doro says they are really good. The lady ahead of us in the checkout really smelled bad! She left a cloud of b.o. as she walked! So bad, the cashier kept one hand under her nose, as she rang up her order. Also, the shopping carts here are really convenient. All four wheels rotate in all directions. They are super easy to manuever!
We stopped at an open air market, on the way home and bought strawberries and strawberry champagne. It is sweet, but both bottles died quickly!
We returned home around 10:30 p.m. from dinner and sat outside, until around midnight, finishing the strawberry champagne.
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