Moseying down the Mosel

 Well, I haven't posted in a while because I've been so busy!!! Here's some photos of the day we went on the ferry ride down the Mosel to Bernkastel...which is also the day we got left out in the rain waiting for Robert.

Look at the "duckies" following their mother!

All of the hills are lined with vineyards. These people use every possible speck of land to grow grapes.

We got to stop at this thing that locks us in and lets water in from the higher side of the river. You raise up and then the gate lowers and then you go on your way.

This is the boat's side mirror, that it uses to look for boats coming up behind when it wants to pass...

The gate is lowering now...notice the stop light to the right.

Sheila and Robert had met the boat's captain the night before and we just happened to get onto his boat. He invited us up to the captain's cabin-thing and we all got to sit in the captain's seat. 

Bernkastel

Do you see this plate? I ate an entire pizza the size of this plate. I forgot to get a picture beforehand, so here's the after picture. It was a great spinach pizza.

After hurrying through lunch, we crossed this bridge to get to the roundabout where we said we'd meet at 2 o'clock. Robert thought we said 3...so we waited in the rain, got some ice cream and waited some more....

Grevenberg

These photos are from when we took a hike up to Grevenberg, the ruins of a castle that overlooked the city. It was built in the 1300s and was destroyed in the 1700s. The hike up was pretty easy. I slipped a couple of times on the wet Mosel stone. It's black and is on all the buildings around here. I think it's a type of slate. Anyways, there is a nice biergarten at the top of the hill, but I never actually got to go there. It might have been closed by the time we got up there.

The men.

Oh, Jamie...

This is a memorial for some war against France. I think it was the Franco-Prussian war, but I'm not sure. Apparently the monuments always face in the direction of the enemy. In this case, the eagle is facing west, to France.

Well, that's all for now. More photos later!

Finally home!

Photo time! I'll be posting photos little by little. Here's the first set.

This is a street somewhere in Traben Trarbach.

I love that the vineyards stretch up all the hills along the Mosel. The Romans who planted  the grapes and all the future wine growers sure did take advantage of the amount of space.

At the end of the street is the house I stayed at. Each of these vines is at least fifty years old. The leaves fall off in the winter time, but the branch stays. According to Robert, in the winter and fall, there are grapes all over the ground because they fall from the vines.

Can you believe the vines on this house??!! The vines even cover up the windows. It looks lovely, but it's a bit out of control.

This is the side of the tower that is attached to the house (on the left.) It was from the original wall that surrounded Trarbach. It belongs to the city and is closed up, so we never got to go inside. 

This is the Traben side along the Mosel.

Just more of the town.

This is the Catholic church just down the road from the house. It chimes bells all night long and all day long.

This is the house, built sometime in the mid 1800s.

I saw this vintage Jaguar and I really liked it.

That's all I have for now. I should probably catch up on sleep...night!

The Italian Stallion...or whatever a female horse is called

I worked a lot yesterday...and I mean I worked A LOT. By the time I was done spackling a bedroom, I felt like the cobblestone and the cracks in buildings needed some mortar too. Really. That’s how I felt.

Two days ago, Sheila found out I was Italian, and yes, I am Italian. My mother’s father was from Milan, Italy. She said that I’ve always looked European and that maybe that’s why I like Europe so much.

Hmmm. I do really love Europe. I love the people, the atmosphere, the way of life. It all seems so down to earth, which is a cliché phrase that I really do not use all that often. I have been called “down to earth” and it’s a label that I somewhat agree with, so with that in mind, maybe that is why I love Europe. It’s a small part of me, but a part nonetheless, and I guess I feel and embrace it more than others.

Being here the five days that I’ve had has really put a dent in me. I’ve began to think about things in a different light. Maybe I shouldn’t jokingly antagonize people as much as I do. Maybe I should have learned more German before I came, and maybe I learn to be less shy. Now, don’t get me wrong; I don’t want to change myself because of others, but I do want to live in such a way that I don’t regret not doing something because I was too shy. And maybe that’s everyone else’s goal too, but it’s definitely something I’m going to work on while I’m here.

Here’s what I’ve done so far to combat this (please excuse the spelling—it’s easier to say):

I can now order one or two scoops of any flavor of ice cream. (Svei kugel de vanille bitte.)

I can also ask for bread in the bakery. (Fufe normal brochen bitte.)

Well. that’s all I can actually say, but it’s helping my confidence. I also talked to a lady in the airport. It’s nice that I’m actually using what I learned at my Daniels Scholarship program. We had the distinct privilege of listening to a lady named Deborah Fine, who wrote a book called the Art of Small Talk. She was very charismatic and I learned so much from her.

So far today, we went on a 16 km bike ride. It may have been less, but the sign definitely said 7.6 km to Traben-Trarbach when we were in Krov, which is where we stopped to go swimming and get ice cream. We had the pool all to ourselves because everyone else is still in school. I really cannot believe I rode that far. Now, I did have to stop and walk a couple of times (on hills mostly), but as hard as that was for me, I’m pretty proud of myself for going that far.

Well, I have to go and mentally prepare myself for tonight or tomorrow or the next warm day. If it is nice out and the Mosel River clears up and slows down, I told Robert I’d jump off the bridge into the river. Don’t think I’ll do it? Just you wait!!!

Germany is not France

I’ve definitely noticed lots of differences between France and Germany, so here they are in a list form:

Houses are built differently and therefore look different. The houses in Germany seem less elegant. Around the Mosel River, all the houses are built with this black slate-like stone. It is essential for growing grapes and is extremely abundant, so they used it for everything, even the shingles on the roof.

Germans don’t just sit around eating cheese and I miss that. In France, your afternoon/all day snack is cheese and bread. You eat it all day long and it is amazing! Not here in Germany though.

Ice cream is everywhere in Germany. I have literally eaten ice cream every day that I have been here. I didn’t take pictures of the first two cones but I got one of the one I had today. I think that’s what I’m going to do for now on: eat ice cream everywhere I go and take a picture—just once a trip. For this trip, however, I will eat it every day and take a picture every day.

There are more sidewalks in France. Here in this town, the sidewalks are very small and almost makeshift. They are just an extension of the road, with some bricks that separate it. That’s about it.

Well there’s four. That’s all I got for now. Here are some similarities:

Roundabouts are everywhere (and in most of Europe.)

It doesn’t get dark until very late in the night.

The windows are the same. You do a quarter turn of the knob/handle to make it swing open and a half turn to make just the top open.

It is very green, but all the foliage might be a bit denser here in Germany.

Time is a very relative matter. For buses and trains and things like that time is absolute, but you can definitely find yourself eating breakfast at noon and dinner at eight or nine I the evening.

That’s all for now. I’ll try to get pictures up in the next post. Like I said, I have to walk down the street to the wifi hotspot and my battery on my laptop (I’m using my old one now) only lasts twenty minutes. I’m actually prewriting all of this and posting it later when I get a chance. If you have a Facebook, I’ve posted some pictures there.

Traben-Trarbach

So it's been a nice couple of days here in Germany. The first day I was here, I was able to see the town. Lorraine calls it the Manitou Springs of Germany. It's definitely a tourist town and there are always people stopping and looking at our house because it's connected to a round castle-like tower. It's been a bit chilly here. They said it was nice the days before I came but now it's always overcast.

This is wine country. Mosel wine is world renowned because the weather here and the terrain is just right for growing perfect grapes. Even the rocks in the ground contribute to the grapes.

We went swimming yesterday in the local swimming pool. Some other attractions from that day included seeing a Roman ruin and some naked people when we accidentally went into an all nude sauna...no big deal...just a bit disturbing. :)

Today we are taking a ferry ride on the Mosel today. Like I said, it's a bit chilly, but I'll live. I'll try to post more pictures soon. It's hard when you have a laptop with a 20 minute battery and have to walk to a wifi hotspot. It's not that bad though. Well talk to you all soon, and today is Robert's birthday so happy 17th Robert!

I'm here!

Well I arrived this morning and I am exhausted! It was a very turbulent flight, and I had trouble finding Robert at the airport but I made it and I love it! I do have a hard time finding wifi so these will be random posts. Talk to you all soon!
Here's a picture of the street where I can find the wifi hotspot. Not good quality but you get an idea of what it all looks like here.

Do you like the new design?

Hello friends and family! I have changed the design of my blog because I am traveling to a whole new place this summer: Germany! I will be there for two weeks in June. Look for future posts about my upcoming adventure!