Jon has been on my case (This is a note from me, Jon. I have not been on her 'case' :) but gently reminding her to update it) for weeks now because I haven't been keeping this blog up to date and plenty of activities have happened. So without further ado...here we go.
This is Jon again. Allison is not as fast as I am for typing. She is giving me that look right now, but it is so worth it. We have been getting settled in for the past month, even though most of our household items are still in transit. Right now, our stuff is on the ocean and should be into port on the 12
th. Not only that, we are still waiting on our car which should get here in the next week or so.
Events. Yes, we have had plenty of events in the past month or so. Allison got to Germany on July 1st. She even got her license here within the first two weeks. I was so proud when she walked out of the test with the EXACT same score I got last February.
Then Papa Dyer, Mama Dyer, and Meredith the
Illustrious all came to visit. So, the entire Dyer clan on the European continent crammed into my little BMW 318i and went sightseeing. Over the course of the first weekend, we went to Trier Germany which was a Roman outpost with ruins that still remain along with several incredibly well-built cathedrals. On that same trip, we went to the capital city of Luxembourg. Here we took a bevy of pictures noting the fortified town itself along with the many vistas that are offered along the way. Papa of course, was fascinated with the train system as he watched them for over 30 minutes just like Owen Dyer would as he oogles trains, planes, tractors, and big trucks.
Next event, the next weekend. But first, needless to say, my parents and sister along with my lovely wife took to sightseeing around the town we live in while my mother made 'friends' with some of my neighbors in unusual ways. Such as, "HELLOOOO!!" with a weird accent and look because and I quote my mother, "Nobody was making eye contact with me." So she took it upon herself to remedy that situation and endear herself to my building neighbors.... also ushering in the obvious fact that there are a bunch of Americans roaming around. But I digress.
Again, we piled into "Boomer" as I call the BMW, or "Brutus" as everyone else calls MY BMW. This time, we set out for Bastogne, Belgium. Earlier that week, some of our friends informed us that they knew where the Easy company WWII foxholes were located. We set out and drove the 1:45 to Bastogne, passing through Trier and Luxembourg again. We got through the town itself and I had this feeling to go down a side road. Mind you, we did not have the coordinates for the foxholes at that point.... so it was a guessing game. But I did have a particular intense feeling that I was very close. We drove down a little side farm road and stopped. By that time, we were in a large forested area. It felt 'right'. Assuring everyone that this was most likely the spot we wanted, I set out with Mom and Allison. Within 1 minute, we located the first foxholes. It was a sobering feeling, seeing the layout of dozens of foxholes that guarded against the enveloping German offensive. We talked about the mind-numbingly cold conditions that the soldiers must have faced and spent the better part of an hour looking for foxholes and getting pictures. It was a worthwhile 'detour' down a side road I had a 'feeling' to go down. At this point, we set out to go back to town. We found a ridiculously wonderful pastry and bakery, all wrapped in one little shop. The pastries, custard, and other assorted goodies were worth the trip and possibly another trip just to GO BACK and get some of them. Mom, Al, and Mer did a little shopping and sightseeing while Dad and I walked around. Our trip concluded on a good note: we all got to eat some food (I got a huge pita stuffed with chicken and veggies). It was a long drive in a tightly-packed car over 200 km back to home, pretty sure we got pictures of Mom falling asleep on Allison's shoulder in the back seat. On to the next day.
Our next trip took us to Koblenz, Germany. It is about an hour plus north of Idar-Oberstein. We took the scenic route through the forests and mountains. Upon reaching Koblenz, we were able to see
Deutsches Eck which is a colossal statue/monument that is at the juncture of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers. Mosel goes all the way to Paris, while the Rhine goes throughout Germany, north to the sea. Then we set out to go to Fortress Ehrenbreitstein. This fortress commands a view over the entire city and surrounding countryside. It is on the opposite side of the Rhine set high up on the 'hill' while taking up a large amount of real estate evident by the size of the grounds themselves. Dad and I really enjoyed the battlements and other associated castle'esque' features. The ladies enjoyed the view, etc. :) It was a good day to go traveling with the family. The drive home was uneventful and nobody died of a heart attack as I drove on the Autobahn.
Oh, did I forget to mention that Papa taught Allison how to drive stick shift on Boomer? Well, he did teach her and she is pretty good with it. Although, she does prefer an automatic. Too bad, the Hyundai won't be getting here just yet.
Next good update: (no bad updates thankfully) the branch has been very accepting and welcoming of Allison and myself. Allison even got the chance to head to Mainz France with Danielle Belue and her friend Katie from the states. They all piled into a VW Golf and headed off to France for the day while I had to go back to work..... I was slightly jealous that I couldn't go to France, but I will get my chance soon enough.
Now some upcoming highlights.... I GET TO GO TO AUSTRIA and go white water rafting. How about that? Now I can have one of those ultimate one-ups. "Yeah, I went white water rafting in the Austrian Alps." Booyeah. Anyways, pictures are forthcoming, please be patient while we experience my own technical difficulties of learning how to put pictures on this blog.
Before we could leave for Trier, Jon and Papa Dyer had to run onto post and pick up a couple of items. While waiting for them, we came across this poster/flyer. Mom is doing the Mistress of Pain look....haha.
The Electoral Palace in Trier. There were a bunch of interesting statues surrounding the field.
Mer and I decided to re-enact what the statues are doing. This is one of my favs...although the look on my face is a tad scary. Meredith, however, looks happy as can be.
Another picture of a building in Trier.
The town center market area.
For lunch we wandered around until we found a Doner Kebab place. For those of you who don't know what a Doner is...it is sort of like a Gyro. A piece of meat is on a stick and the meat is shaved off and then put inside of some bread. Basically...it is the best sandwich ever! Little Doner Kebab stands are all over Europe.
Acting like responsible adults in front of a Roman inscription on a wall.
Trier is the oldest German city and was an important Roman outpost/site. There are many cool ruins...especially this site.
If you look closely, there are underground walkways and a labyrinth of tunnels.
Aren't they cute?
Inside one of the tunnels....we, uh, had a little fun with the light (as you can see in the next couple of pics)
It was amazing to know that we were in thousand+ year old tunnels. The architecture they used was fantastic.
Our little escape artist wanted out...
Another shot of some ruins
Picture time....say cheese
Welcome to Luxembourg (city) in the country of Luxembourg. Its a big city, with a lot of rich inhabitants. Lots of lovely cars (Jon was oohing and ahhing quite a bit...like a kid in a toy shop).
Group shot
Group shot 2...we would have asked the couple next to us to take our picture...but they were too involved in uh...yeah, we won't go into it...they were a little busy.
Luxembourg
On the European highways, you will see a lot of sedans pulling/towing campers and other items. Who would have thought?
