2008 - January thru April

I couldn't resist....just had this picture emailed to me and I laughed so hard that I had to put it on my blog. This was from a German float during a Fasching parade. Sorry if you aren't a fan, but...

GO OBAMA!!


JANUARY

Our first trip of the year was to Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain (http://www.sunnyfuerteventura.com/). It was time to escape the dreariness of a German winter and head for sun and surf. It takes about 4 hours by plane to get there, and we flew the wonderful (tongue in cheek) Ryan Airlines, with a 1 cent fare. Ryan Air is pretty smart. They charge you low fares but your luggage weight is so restricted that you have to pay extra for a decent amount of luggage. Then, if it's over weight (over 33 pounds, which isn't much for a five day plus vacation), then it's more money. And, all the food and drink onboard is sold, and at pretty hefty prices. But, with all that said, it's an expensive way to travel if you can pack light! That meant I could only bring four pairs of shoes instead of eight!!

We arrived late in the afternoon on the first day and by the time we got checked in and had dinner, we opted to just chill. We stayed at an all-inclusive hotel, so all the meals, beer and wine were included. The hotel had a great pool and beach area too.

The next day, we headed off to explore the island, as it was slightly overcast. We headed to the west coast of the island to an area where a ship called The American Star crashed in 1994 (http://www.fuerteventura.com/American_Star/index.shtml). Unfortunately, all that is left is the hull, but it was still a great drive to reach the remains. On the way back, we ran across a camel riding park. We didn't take a camel ride, but By noon, the sun was out and we headed back to the hotel and I spent the afternoon listening to a book on tape at the pool while Edgar (aka Antsy Pants) took a long walk along the beach. Really, what he was doing was checking out the nudists, which were absolutely everywhere. Personally, I think the Europeans are way head of us Americans...you are raised in an environment that doesn't glorify or degrade nudity and I've got to believe you get a much healthier respect for the human body, and thereby become much more comfortable in your own skin.

The next day we headed to the southern most tip of the island. We spent most of an hour traveling on a very narrow bumpy dirt road, but the views were well worth it. Not to mention a lot of goats and one very friendly donkey. At the end of the island (almost the most southern point in Europe), there was a huge area where everyone had left their names or initials in rock, some with hearts or other borders. It was a cool sight to see hundreds of words covering a huge area of sand and rock. On the way back, we detoured to an area known for wonderful beaches. This was the most harrowing of all the treks, with most of the road being one car wide, no guard rails and going up and down fairly large mountains. Once again, the views made it worth it. Since is was also overcast on this morning, there was no one out on the beach at all. The afternoon was spent laying in the sun again, and taking a walk on the beach.

On our third day, we headed back to the west coast to an area known for its caves. It was a beautiful sunny day right from the get go so we also planned on spending some time on a very private beach near the caves. The caves were very cool and getting to them was very easy, as there was a path along the side of the rock. Once we took some pics, we were off to sunbathe. We opted to be as European as possible, so Edgar went commando. I got as far as topless, and that was enough for me! Sometimes my husband can be pretty imaginative, and he was at his best when he posed as the "Thinker". Who needs to go to Paris to see Rodin's sculpture when you have your very own?? (Sorry...I had to remove the picture, but trust me, he's in pretty damn good shape!)




FEBRUARY

It's Carnival Season in Germany (http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa020501a.htm)! The Germans take to the streets at various fasching parades decked out in costume. Like halloween in the states, some costumes were just outrageously creative and some (like mine and Edgar's) consisted of an animal hat on our head. We took full advantage of the festivities too. On Saturday, Feb 2, we went to Rudesheim and met up with many people from Edgar's work and watched the Rudesheim Fasching parade. There were a great many floats, bands and performers. What's wild about this parade (and most of the smaller towns have similar parades), is that the people in the parade are carrying bottles of wine and if you stick your cup out as they pass by, they fill you up. Sometimes you got a good wine, sometimes you didn't. But suffice it to say that the crowd got rowdier as the parade went by. The other thing that they do is throw candy and small gifts. Of course the kids love this, and everytime it rained goodies, the kids in the crowd went nuts trying to collect as many as they could. I think the parade lasted well over an hour.

On Sunday, we went to the parade in our village of Erbach. Although smaller than Rudesheim, we enjoyed it even more, because we were with our friends and we just got crazy. Afterwards, the party continued in a local hall, where there was a band playing and lots of wine being consumed. I think I drank and danced a bit too much, and ended up in bed by 8:30pm!

On Monday (a holiday here), we went to Mainz, which is one of the largest parades. The city was jam packed with people but the parade was awesome. No wine pouring at this one, but I think we had had enough by the third day of celebrating!

We went to Amsterdam for the long weekend (President's Day). What an awesome city. There is definitely something for everyone here....culture, history, sex, sex, sex. We drove into Amsterdam and once we parked the car at our hotel (excuse me....boatel...we stayed on a boat converted into a hotel), we walked and used the ferry to get around. The first thing that you notice is how many bikes there are. Everywhere you look there are bikers. And bike racks!

There are cars, certainly, but it's obvious that the most common mode of transportation here is the bike. It didn't matter that it was cold outside....just bundle up and get pedalling! The first thing we did was take the tour of the Anne Frank house. Once again, it amazes and saddens me to hear the atrocities against the Jewish people. To think that this little girl (and her family) was a prisoner in her own home for three years just makes me want to scream. I also didn't realize that only her father (Otto Frank) survived, and there was a picture of him a few years before he died standing in the room where he hid for all those years. One can only imagine the thoughts he had as he remembered. After that, it was pretty late in the day, so we strolled through the red light district and then had dinner in an excellent Indian restaurant. We then headed back out into the red light district and took a tour of the Sex Museum, which was pretty raunchy.

I couldn't help but look in the windows with the red lights and believe me, there was all types of women behind the glass. Old, young, fat, slim, attractive, ugly...you name it, you could find it in this town. We caught one guy coming out of his "session" with a big smile on his face. And then there's the coffee shops. Should just call them cannibis shops, as you only had to stand outside and smell the air to know what was going on inside. I opted not to go in one, as I didn't have any desire to smell like a pothead for the evening! There were tons of shops selling all kind of drug paraphernalia, pot seeds, pot plants, etc. Sometimes I just walked around shaking my head in amazement that this city even exists.

The next day, we went to the Van Gogh museum and took a tour of the canals on a riverboat. We thought about the Rijksmuseum and the Heineken tour but opted to do that next time. We definitely want to come back to this city when it's warm. Then we'll rent bikes and act like locals. After the canal tour, we walked through the part of town with the Flower Market. I wanted to buy everything I saw. I've never seen so many bulbs in my life! We found a cool little print shop and bought two framed prints to hang in our house.

On Monday, after breakfast, we headed out to an area about 20 minutes from Amsterdam, called Zaanse Schans. This is the area that had over 1000 industrial mills, powered by windmills. There are only a few left, and one was recently restored to it's original grandeur. We toured the museum that showed the areas history, and then walked a path past windmills and shops that sold cheese, pewter, wooden clogs, souvenirs, etc. It was a great way to end our trip to the Netherlands.

Edgar headed to the states for a business trip the last week in February, so I was off galavanting on my own. One afternoon I walked with Gabi and her kids to a local horse farm, where the kids mucked the stalls, cleaned the shoes and brushed the horses. Then they went for a ride. Peter came after work.

MARCH

March is just one of those months that you want to be over. It's not warm enough to enjoy being outside and the gray, cloudy, rainy, damp pall is enough to make you nuts.

We did go to the Easter market in Wiesbaden on the 9th with our friends Edna and Chuck. There was a great parade and lots of stands. I picked up an Easter table decoration and some fabric to make a few tablecloths.

I headed back to the states on the 19th. It's sunnier here, but still chilly. I brought my 10-year old neighbor, Johannes, with me to visit with Andrew and Jake and see some US sights. He played laser tag for the first time, toured around DC and experienced the Baltimore Aquarium. He also ate Maryland Crabs, which he proclaimed very good. In fact, he liked everything he ate, especially my Mother's chili. I know he had a good time, because he already wants to know when he can come back. I told him next time he's coming with his Mother, Gabi, because three boys to one Mom is not fair!!

Here's a picture of Jake and Johannes wearing matching Maryland sweatshirts:

APRIL

I got back to Germany on April 20th. It was a gorgeous day, but like very time I come home, I had to sleep for 4 hours in order to make it through the day. Edgar had a work function but no fear...the neighbors invited me to the Wineprobieren (wine tasting stand) in our village. We sat in the sun for a few hours and chatted. The jet lag hit me hard for some reason. Three days later I'm still not able to sleep normal hours!! Getting old sucks.

Edgar surprised me with a long weekend trip to Venice April 25th-27th....