Okay...I love Europe

People said I would and they were right. Today on my last day I drove to Vienden Luxembourg and toured an incredible castle and rode the sky lift to the top of an adjacent mountain overlooking the town and castle and on beyond into Germany. It was amazing. I think I should maybe learn a little more French and spend more time in Luxembourg. Maybe next time. It has definitely been worth it, though. The work has been rewarding and the adventure has been a blast. I can hardly wait to see what Valdosta GA holds for me. First, though I must go home a few days and spend the 4th in NC with my Marine.

Odds and Ends

Among my favorite things in Germany are places with names like Dudeldorf, and Eifelpark Gondorf. I just like saying Flugplatz and Ausfahrt for the fun of it. My car unfortunately tops out at 100 mph and my tan is from the neck up. There are castles and castle ruins at every turn, many a thousand years old, some more, some less with great stories that I dont have room to write about. There are a lot of houses which instead of house numbers have the year built on the front. Here are a few random shots of things I have not posted yet. Next week I leave, but who knows, I may yet have another cool adventure! Check out the T Shirt on the mannequin. And HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to any fathers who read this. Last ear Blake left for Boot Camp on Father's Day. Nothing quite so dramatic this year.

Too little time...

On Friday I went to Trier yet again, but this time by train on an orientation trip. The big brick building was built by Konstantine in about the 4th century as his official throne room, before he up and moved to build Constantinople. I dont know how much time I am gonna spend cruising around by train, after all, I do have wheels. Saturday I drove to Koblenz with my traveling partner Holly, cruised on a Rhine River boat and wandered around the city downtown, ate eis (ice cream). I think it is a rule or something...ALL Germans eat eis and love it not matter how cold or hot it is. They make it a lot thicker and creamier than we do at home. It was real good! Not enough room here for a lot of pictures but the Rhine is dotted with castles all over the place, a statute of a boy that spits water every 3-4 minutes about 20 feet. Only one more full weekend left here. I am planning to check out a weinfest on the Mosel River near Cochem, so I will be getting a room. Oh yeah, and I am so popular with the Germans, they named a town after me. Check out the village name on this train station (bahnhof).

Rainy Days in the Eifel

65 years since D-Day and here I am tooling around the German countryside. I guess a lot can change in a generation. This week has been cool and got cooler all week with wind and today a lot of rain. We got up to about a steamin' 52 degrees today, but with the wind and rain it felt frigid. Not one to back off completely, I did scale back my ambition for the weekend and drove along the Mosel River starting at Burg Eltz. The pic is from Burg Eltz in the middle of the long steep walk down into the valley and followed by a long steep walk back up. No pictures are allowed inside due to the centuries old tapestries and paintings and the fact that it is still privately owned by the Eltz family after some 600 years. Burg means Castle, but then again so does Schloss. Not sure what the difference is. Check out the vineyards along the Mosel River Valley, and the castle on top of the hill in Bielstein. Yeah, all those rows of crops are grapes...there have to be trillions. Castles and ruins are EVERYWHERE. It is pretty spectacular! 2 more full weekends in Germany...I will have to come back for more, because I dont think I can see everything this trip.