Double 4 Birthday

Well, it happened . . . I celebrated the big 44 a week or so ago. I started to put the new school pictures on the blog, and I saw these two from my birthday. They are both very special! Kate made and decorated the yummy cake and Mac made the candy sign for me. You can tell how lucky I am to be very blessed by two wonderful kids!

ENJOY!!!

A Cute Laugh

When asked by a young patrol officer, "Do you know why you were speeding?" An 83-year-old woman talked herself out of a ticket by stating, "Yes, Officer . . . I was trying to get there before I forgot where I was going!"

Sounds perfect to me!

ENJOY!!!

Luxembourg

Slideshow design made with Smilebox

Next stop was Luxembourg . . . it wasn't too far, so we continued northwest and spent one night there. The history of Luxembourg goes back to the year 963 A.D. when the Count of the Ardennes had a castle built on a rock overlooking the river. Later a French fortress builder turned Luxembourg into one of his masterpieces, known as the "Gilbraltar of the North". At it's height this fortress had 24 forts and was linked underground by a 15 mile network of tunnels. (Isn't it nice to get a history lesson each day - from Lydia, no less! Ha!)

ENJOY!!!

Time for Trier

Well . . . we returned from Berlin and decided to take time for Trier. Trier is Germany's oldest city. It is on the west side near the border with Luxembourg and brags that it was inhabited by Celts for 1,300 years before Rome even existed. (That's your history lesson for today . . . thanks to the travel guru, Rick Steves . . . and his book!) Many of the Roman buildings there were constructed under Constantine before he left for Constantinople. We all thought it was a really cool place to see . . . especially since we hadn't been there before.

If you look closely, you'll see some of us at the base of the Porta Nigra . . . the black gate. This is the most impressive Roman fortification in Germany and was built without mortar - only iron pegs hold it together! This was one of 4 gates huge gates in the town's 4 mile wall. Only this one survived medieval stone and metal scavengers. You'll find out why under the next picture. :o)

They call it the black gate because it obviously looks black . . . darkened by time and grit of life. The Porta Nigra survived because it became a church. St. Simeon - a Greek recluse - lived inside the gate for 7 years. After his death, the St. Simeon monastery was established and the gate was made into a 2 story church. Church on the bottom and monastery on the top. Cool, huh?!

Once inside the gate . . . some of the beautiful sites. The streets are cobblestone and the flowers are gorgeous!!!

Kate, John and Mac peaking around in the market square.

A look down the street to the cathedral.

The kids and John in front of the cathedral. The oldest Christian church in Germany. It is actually quite huge - this picture doesn't really show the size. In A.D. 326 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his reign, Constantine began construction of St. Peter's in Rome and this huge cathedral in Trier - also called St. Peter's. The original Roman cathedral was more than 4 times the size of it now. Quite impressive!

Katelyn and Lydia at the Imperial Baths.

The biggest of Trier's three Roman baths.

John, Kate, and Mac . . . thank goodness they aren't inside the Roman baths - that would make for quite the picture!!!

ENJOY!!!

The Undivided City of BERLIN

First things first . . . above is a picture of the Kaufhaus des Westens . . . or to Berliers KaDeWe - the largest department store on the Continent! (This was our first stop . . . and YES I did purchase a few things inside - mostly candy and dishes!) :o) Yea!

I believe that this picture speaks for itself.
Checkpoint Charlie - and remember it wasn't named for a person - but because it was checkpoint number 3 like alpha, bravo, CHARLIE.

Another one that doesn't need explaining.

The interesting thing about this one - besides the fact that you can pay the "actors" to take a picture with them . . . is the McDonald's nearby! Making money at it's best! Certainly was alive and well in Berlin!

Katelyn and Mac in front of a piece of the old Berlin Wall.

Mac and Katelyn by the Brandenburg Gate. A former border for the East and the West.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The church's bombed-out ruins were left standing as a memorial to the destruction of Berlin in World War II. After the war, some Berliners wanted to tear down the church and rebuild. Instead it was decided to keep the ruin as a memorial and build another church section close by.

Another picture of the church with the tourists - Kate and Mac!


When our friends decided to come back to Germany and see things maybe they hadn't seen when we were all teaching here together last time, they knew we might see some of the same places. Berlin was one of those places. 20 years ago, after John had returned from his deployment, Tom, Eileen, John and I went to Berlin to see Tom's favorite football team - the 49ers - play in an exhibition game against the Chicago Bears. One of the things that John and I always talk about was that the hotel we stayed in was a former East Berlin hotel with matresses that were about one inch thick . . . plus they were in a room that was so narrow, the two beds were head to toe, head to toe - instead of side by side. Now, the hotel we stayed in was on the former West side, and was much larger by European standards. Anyhoo . . . John wasn't able to go this trip, but it was important for the kids to see all the sites of Berlin. We spent 3 days and 2 nights seeing all we could. Of course, one day it rained, but we're used to that . . . it always seems to rain here! So, we didn't let that stop us!

ENJOY!!!

The Culprits - Revisited!!!

Since it's been so long that I've posted . . . and I do have a lot to tell, I thought I'd start by showing a few more pictures of the people that were visiting that "FORCED" me to stop blogging for a little bit! (I am sure they love the fact that I'm blaming my stopping on them! . . . well, it's probably okay since Julie never even really looks at the blog!) Oh well . . . so . . . we pick back up with our story here in Wiesbaden. . . After the baseball games, Mac and I continued our journey back home. Tom, Eileen and Julie went to check out the sites in Munich and then our old hometown, Heilbronn. Once they got to our house, we decided to take them to one of our favorite places to eat in the area . . . The Brauhaus Castel. They serve typical Bavarian food that is oh so yummy. We had to eat well . . . our next adventure was to take us to Berlin, so we needed to be well-fed . . .

ENJOY!!!