Florian and I went to pick them up in Frankfurt and it was great to see them walk out of the gate. It was so long in the making and it was crazy they were finally here! That first day was just letting them get over the jetlag and seeing Ramersbach which really doesn't take long. We got back and went on a nice walk through the woods, it was a beautiful day. Nina got home and we make schnitzel for dinner, a very great first German meal in my mind. Dad went to sleep early and Katy came over to Mela's for her birthday with me. It was funny to have her there but nice that she got to meet the people I have become friends with here and see how hard it was to be around all the German- of course now I understand most of what's going on but she definitely didn't so it was funny to see that.
The next day we went to Bonn to get our rental car and Köln in the afternoon. We got a very nice mercedes for a rental car which none of us were expecting but I guess it was the only automatic they had :) We didn't complain. We walked around Bonn for a while and went to Beethoven's House which was interesting. There wasn't too much to see but some cool old instruments with lots of history and just to learn a little more about his life. It's funny to me that it's just kind of tucked away on a little street that without signs you'd have no idea there was a museum inside or any sort of historical significance.
Katy and I in the garden at Beethoven's house.
Once we were finished in Bonn we drove up to Köln and saw the Dom, walked up to Neumarkt and I got to get a new English book, always exciting. I got Aleph by Paulo Coelho, hopefully it will bring me back to a path of insightfulness and thoughtfulness about the rest of my life....
Sorry- tangent.
After that we got some lunch at Nordsee- very fancy, I know. Then walked to the chcolate museum on the river. It's all Lindt chocolate with great samples but we got to learn about how it's made, the culture, the history and the societal implications. There was a lot to learn about chocolate, who knew!
At the museum. To our right there was a giant chocolate fountain that was delicious and behind us is a lovely view of the Rhine :)
After that we walked around down the river and up to the lock bridge near the Dom.
Dom in the background.
Lock bridge and the Dom.
That night was the Maibaumstellen in Ahrweiler. This is a very cool thing to me that this region of Germany has very cool traditions of. It's always the last night of April, into the first of Mai. They have the GIANT trees and they mount a pine tree on the top then they have to stand it up using nothing but man power. They start around 4 or 5 and this particular one wasn't standing until around 11:30. Of course they take many breaks for drinking so it isn't a continuous thing. The main trees in the villages are supposed to be for allt he girls of the village. Then later that night the boys go into the woods and get trees and decorate them and stand them up at their girlfriend's houses late in the night. They stay up for all of May.
Around 9pm
Almost up at around 11.
I took Katy to Osman's this night and it was gerat fun. She got to hear me speak German and see what a regular night out consists of. It was a great night and I think she had fun. She certainly liked the Waldmeister....
On the way home at about 2am our cab had to stop while a group of maybe 15 guys moved trees out of the street that they had collected to help each other put up their girlfriend's maibaums.
The next day we had a big family trip to Burg Eltz since it was a holiday and everyone had off work and school. It was Nina, Florian, Liv and Bennet, Anja and Christian and Ian and Aiden and of course Katy Dad and I. We had a full group :)
This was dad and Christian enjoying and bonding over the Mercedes...
This is Burg Eltz, unfortunately my only picture since my camera died. Doesn't really do it justice though.
We had a nice tour in English while everyone went on the German one of course.
After the tours we all met back up and had a nice little picnic by the river there, I believe it's the Mosel. It wasn't the nicest day but it wasn't raining and we enjoyed the picnic anyway.
We had a great bar b q in the backyard that night that was awesome until it started drizzling at the end of dinner. Oma and Opa came down and Markus was there as well so we had a very full table and yummy food. That night we had a mini game night and taught Nina and Oma and Opa how to play up and down the river with the chips dad brought for the Schüles. They enjoyed it and hopefully we'll get to play again with the kids soon.
The next day we went to Remagen and saw the Peace Museum and where there used to be a bridge that played a huge part in World War II. The museum was cool and I had no idea Remagen was such a big deal. I learned a lot and it was very informative.
After the museum in front of the Rhine
We then walked through town and sat down for a great lunch on the river. Luckily, the sun came out and dad found his love for German wursts.
Our last night was the wine tasting I had arranged. We didn't end up having as many people come as I thought but it was a fun night. The guy doing the tasting, Andy, was very knowledgable and gave a great tasting in English for us. We got to sample 3 whites and 3 reds and although it was cold down there, it was really cool that it was down in the wine keller.
lots of old barrels.
The next morning, although a rough one, we made our way to the Nürburgring for Florian's race. Anja, the kids and Oma and Opa also came too.
Dad loved the racing and the track and it was probably one of his favorite parts about the first week. Florian did well and placed third int he rookie category and got a trophy and everything. It was fun to have them there and hang out with the kids and my family. Everyone really got along great which made me fell so much more comfortable here. After the race we headed too to Münster! More on the travel part of the Johnson family vacay to come in the next post!
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