Visit With Mom

Hi Everyone! There has been a lapse in time since my last post because my Mom was here for two weeks. We had a wonderful visit with her that included many adventures around Germany and in Belgium. I put together this little slide show/movie that will visually tell the story of our visit.



We started by going to my favorite little town, Konigstein that is about 10 minutes from my house. Savannah played on the swing and my Mom got her first taste of authentic gelato!
She was in heaven. The next day we visited the castle in Eppstein. Although the castle is in ruins, there was a knight there giving a tour to children and it was still pretty cool! We then had lunch at the cafe next to the castle where there is a train station. We really enjoyed playing there and just relaxing.

Friday night Rocky and I got to go on a much needed DATE! We were thrilled since it has been months since we've gone out. We walked up to our favorite restaurant, Merlin and enjoyed an excellent dinner with wine. Our walk home was perfect as the sun set and filled the sky with shades of heavenly pink and purple. 

Our mini Belgium trip began on Saturday morning with chocolate croissants and baked pretzels for the road from our bakery in town. Mom was enjoying the trip already! Along the three hour ride we saw many windmills. Pretty cool, seeing this is the future of energy. Germany is so on top of things! :) Checking into our rental apartment was challenging and that caused a minor delay in getting settled and exploring. Once we go into our place and unpacked we walked down to the Grand-Place which was only a five minute walk. There were lots of sights to see including the architecture and the people! Savannah fell asleep while walked and we took a rest to try the famous Belgium beer. And it was as good as they say! That night Rocky and I ventured out to see the Light Show at the Grand-Place. It was coordinated with music that lit up the beautiful castle.

The next day in Belgium we hopped back in the car for a day trip to Brugge, about an hour away. LOVED Brugge! Very clean nice little town. There were many open markets with local merchants selling their goodies. Mom bought Savannah a cute little hand puppet frog. I found the perfect bag, seriously this bag is perfect. Doubles as a diaper bag/purse. It's a gorgeous carmel leather. I have been searching for the perfect bag for over a year now and when I saw this bag in the shop I immediately knew it had to be mine! And so it was, thanks to my loving husband!

We sampled all the foods Belgium is known for. The chocolate, the truffles, and waffles. They were all delicious and tasted unlike anything we've had before. Waffles are not eaten with syrup but whip cream and fresh berries. Totally the way to go! Chocolate shops were on every corner filled with the most amazing displays of truffles you have ever seen. In Brugge we bought these vanilla wafers that looked like mini thin crisp waffles, they were heavenly. We took them home and ate them with a bowl of vanilla bean ice cream. I think this was my Mom's favorite!

Monday came and we headed home for a relaxing day before our day trips later in the week. We went to the pool and saw lots of speedos! This was my first trip to a German pool and I'm glad my mom was with me to experience. We had to walk through a unisex dressing room to get to the pool that was both indoor and outdoor. Extremely strange and awkward to see both men and women changing in the same locker room. The pool was nice though but expensive, 13 Euro per person for just three hours!

The next day we headed to the Opel zoo and Savannah enjoyed it more this time. The first visit to the zoo about a month ago ended shortly because she was afraid of every animal except the ducks and birds! This time she warmed up the elephants too. At the zoo my Mom tried, schnitzel or as she calls it "schnizerdoodle!" Savannah sampled and liked it as well.

The next day we visited Rudesheim, located along the Rhine River and known for their restaurants. We took a river cruise tour that lasted over hour and we saw all the castles that sat along the Rhine surrounded by wineries. It was very beautiful.

Thursday night my Mom and I had a date at Merlin. Since they specialize in Indian and Italy food I thought my Mom would enjoy. Excellent restaurant. Best dinner I've had here! The meal started with Indian soup paired with Naan, amazing. Our entrees included very fresh Halibut that was seasoned to perfection. The evening ended with a very light Tiramisu and two after dinner drinks. Our Indian waiter was a cutie and very kind to us ladies!

Friday we went to Heidelburg, one of the "best places to visit" in Germany according to travel sites. This trip started off a little bumpy after I realized I forgot Savannah's shoes and sunscreen. The sunscreen was easy to find in a shop but the shoes were a challenge. We finally found her a pair of red shoes that ended up costing about $60, which was about 35 Euro at the time. Next trip I plan to "conveniently" forget my shoes! :) After Savannah had shoes and sunscreen we were able to relax and really enjoy this beautiful little town. We walked the well known Old Bridge and toured the Heidelburg castle. Biggest castle we've seen! When my Mom learned there were 310 steps to the top I thought we were going to lose her! Instead she took a deep breath and kept hiking! At top of the castle they were setting up for a Lennon/Dylan concert that night. There was even an enormous wine barrel inside the castle, it was impressive.

Saturday on the last full day of my Mom's visit we took her to her ancestor's winery in Flomborn, the Pfannebecker Winery. I believe Michael Pfannebecker is her distant cousin. We had a really great time. The wine was excellent and the Pfannebeckers gave us a personal wine tasting. We bought two cases, six bottles in each case. Remember when I said everything is smaller here, well cases of wine include six bottles instead of 12! We took lots of pictures. It was very interesting to meet our distant relatives that live thousands of miles away and taste the wine that have been producing for decades.

We had a wonderful visit with my Mom. It was very hard to see her fly away on Sunday. I'm very thankful for the time we spent together and everything we got to experience. Next summer we are planning Italy if anyone wants to join!!!

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we did making them! :-)

Love,
Elizabeth