The Last Hurrah

On September 18th, Gabi, Sandra and I headed off to Berlin for a long girls-only weekend. We took the train from Frankfurt, making sure we carried on some great red wine, bread, cheeses and fruit. There's nothing like just hanging with your friends and enjoying great wine! We arrived at our hotel around 8:30, with enough energy to head out to a local bar/restaurant (Drei) for dinner. We liked the place so much, that we had drinks there on Friday and Saturday night.

We spent our first full day walking around Berlin. We visited the Berlin Dom, Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the government buildings, Reichstag, the Berlin Radio tower. I think I walked more on this trip than most any other since I've been in Germany!

































































































Even though it's definitely fall weather here, and chilly at night, all the establishments had outdoor seating with heaters (affectionately called heating mushrooms), which made it quite cozy. Many places also provided blankets, seen here wrapped around Gabi and Sandra.
















The food choices were quite broad, not like the smaller villages in Germany. We enjoyed chinese, seafood and italian while we were there. And there are coffee shops on every corner, with the most excellent coffee, which we also sampled often.

On Saturday, we went back into Berlin and did some shopping and visited some more historical sites.


































































On Sunday, we took the train to Potsdam, a beautiful neighboring city. There we took a trolley bus tour of Sans Souci (which has to be the largest castle in Germany, if not Europe), Schloss Cecilienhof (where talks were held to end WWII) and the Dutch Quarter. We ended our time in Berlin by touring the Olympic Stadium.



























































































Unfortunately for us, some sad soul decided to end his life on the same train track we were on, which left us stuck at a railroad station for over an hour. Thanks to Frank, who drove an hour out of his way to come get us, we made it home by 2am in the morning. Kudos to Sandra and Gabi who had to work the next day!

October 3rd is a German holiday, Reunification Day, celebrating the reuniting of East Germany and West Germany. To celebrate in the Rheingau area, there is a Pure Nature Vineyard walk. You start at the bottom of the vineyard hill in a town called Hallgarten and you walk your way up to the top, stopping every few meters to have a glass of wine from a local vintner and eat various foods (brats, soups, pretzels, spundelkase, etc). The group included Edna, Lisa, Gabi & Peter & Johannes & Paulina, Sandra & Frank, Moni & Christian & Melina & Tim, Ali & Steven & Emily & Anna and Richard (who was family free and apparently quite loving it). Lisa's husband David and Edna's husband Chuck met us around 4pm. We started at noon and I think we got home around 5pm. It was gorgeous Fall day, made only better by the fact that I was officially separated as of 9:15am!! I leave for home in one week. Bittersweet, to say the least.

On Sunday, October 5th, Edna and Chuck hosted a going away party for me. The guests included Lisa, Gabi & Johannes & Paulina, Sandra & Frank, Carla & Norman and Deborah. Of course, there was plenty of great food and wine, along with some tears. A few pics...

This is probably my last post into this blog. It's been fun, so perhaps I'll start another one about the adventures of being single (again) and bearing down on 50!!

Love to all!!

Frau Pam

July & August 2008

The boys arrived on July 6th....weary from the long plane ride but nonetheless excited to be back in Germany.

We spent the first week relaxing and catching up and getting ready for the big trip to Italy on July 12th. We had a cookout with friends on the 9th, and the boys got to meet some of the people I've become friends with over here. On another evening, we went to a local restaurant well-known for huge portions. Here's Jake getting ready to attack the largest cheeseburger I've ever seen.



We actually left for Italy early in the early morning....2am to be exact. Because of some serious traffic, it took about 4 hours longer than normal, so the trip lasted for 16 hours. Kudos to Peter for driving the entire way, with only 4-5 stops to stretch, eat and hit the bathroom! With seven riders (Peter, Gabi, Johannes, Paulina, me, Andrew and Jake), four being kids, it could've been a nightmare, but everyone was in great spirits, when they weren't sleeping. It also helped that the siblings were separated into two diffent rows!

As we arrived into Porto Santo Stefano (in Tuscany), the view made that long trip almost forgetful. It did take us a while to find our house, as it was tucked onto the side of a mountain, along a dirt road that barely was wide enough for one car. The few times we met a car going the other way, it was always an interesting feat to pass!

When we arrived at the house, the other guests were already there and had dinner cooking. Steffy and Michael Edinge (and Jean Luc, the dog) rounded out our group of nine. And thanks to Steffy, we ate very well!!

Although we had to drive to the beach, it was well worth it. Not too crowded, blue-green water, and perfect weather made for great trips. On the days when we didn't hit the beach, we frolicked in the pool at our house. It was a rough life!!

We only had one day of clouds/rain, and that was the first full day (Sunday, July 13th). We decided to take a ride to one of the beaches just to check it out. Here we are....white and happy!






Our days became routine...breakfast around 9am (local bread, meats, cheese, marmalade, yogurt, fruit, juice and coffee). Then we headed to the beach (or the pool). Lunch was on the fly. Happy hour at 5pm....campari and orange juice (my new favorite drink). Dinner around 7pm. After dinner the kids played in the pool or we played games (Phase 10, Dominos, Yahtzee). And, of course, there was a lot of empty chianti bottles.

We went into town on a few nights to have dinner. Pizza, as you can imagine, was on every corner, and it was all good. Here's some pics from one of our outings. This one reminds me of the Blues Brothers (Peter and Andrew)....

















Some beach pics....(I promised....no bathing suit pics....except of children!):









We had two additional guest join us for a long weekend....Frank and Sandra. They came down on their motorcycles (I know I could NEVER last that long on a bike). They stayed from Thursday the 17th until Monday the 21st. While I didn't get many pics of them (but I did get video), here's Frank getting ready to leave. They drove about 400 kilometers and then took a sleeping train home to Frankfurt. The best thing Frank did while he was there was move happy hour to 3pm!



We took a few half day trips...one to Porto Ecole and one to Grosetto. Here are some pics from those drives.








One day, the boys decided to make a domino contraption. I've posted a video clip of the final result, which took many tries, but it finally worked!

{Video Coming Soon}

A nice pic of Jake and Paulina, after a fun day in the sun....



Because Johannes and Jake are almost the same size, we started calling them the "twins". Except that Johannes has curlier hair, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference if you looked at them from the back.



One day at the beach, all the kids started making sand sculptures. Of course, on that day, not one of us had a camera so we begged the kids to do it again the next day. Here's the result of many hours of sculpting:





And finally, on our last night, the boys having fun in the pool at our house:



It was a great trip, and very relaxing. Thanks again to the Golla's and Edinge's for inviting us to join them. Thanks to Peter for doing all that driving. Thanks to Steffy and Gabi for doing most of the cooking. Thanks to Michael for taking Jake to play tennis, and giving him some pointers.

We hung low the first week back, going to the pool and chilling. On a few occasions, the boys went over to the Golla's and jammed with Johannes, who has drums in his basement.









On Saturday, the 3rd, there was a Family Day at Rhineblick Golf Course, which is an American course located not too far from where we live. The boys ended up shooting mulitple buckets of balls. Here's a shot of the great golfers:



On the 5th, we took a day trip to a small town about an hour south called Mildenberg. It was really quaint, with great shopping. We climbed up to the town castle, roamed around the streets and shopped, had lunch and ended our day with an ice cream. Even Schotzie seemed to enjoy her new surroundings.














On Friday the 8th we went to Kletterwald, which is a huge network of ropes and swings that you climb though...at very heights above ground. Johannes, Andrew and Jake hit the course with a lot of enthusiasm. Here are Jake and Andrew hanging out on one of the tree platforms:



On the 9th we went to Rudesheim with Frank, Sandra, Johannes and Paulina. We rode the cable car up to the Niederwald monument. We then hiked about 40 minutes to Assmannhausen, stopping at one point for a glass of wine (of course!) and the kids found some deer to feed. Then we caught another cable car down and boarded a ferry for a 20 minute Rhine cruise. When we got back, Frank and Sandra joined us for a delicious Italian dinner in Eltville (the next town over).











The famous Wiesbaden wine fest started on August 8th. A group of us went on Friday, August 15th. It was much bigger than last year. So much wine, so little time!















Sadly, my friends Becky and John returned to the US on August 23rd. For a sendoff, a small group of us went to a restarant in Mainz called Collesseo (Italian). Below is a pic of the group of us (minus Becky...she's taking the pic). The last picture is the three of us at the winefest last week.

And on a sad note, I've decided to return home myself. As much as I love the culture and lifestyle in Germany, there are more important things in life such as truth, beauty and freedom, and the most important, love. Yes, I borrowed my words from the movie Moulin Rouge, but it seemed appropriate. My friends know the real story...and the rest of you will just have to guess!

Thanks so much for keeping up with my overseas adventures. Hope to see you when I get back in October....