Leaving Germany, coming home

Long flight home.  I’m writing this on the plane and reflecting back over the whole trip.  It’s a lot to take in – we’ve been on the road for a month now and it feels strange and bittersweet to be ending our trip.

5 hours into a 10 hour flight.

Tim was kind enough to pick us up at the airport today.

Home.

Nürburgring, leaving Holzweiler

Today I woke up early to join Ludger and Caruso for a walk in the woods outside Holzweiler.  The trails near the house are very peaceful and the forest is beautiful in the early morning light.

Overlooking Holzweiler

Community picnic shelter

After another great breakfast (I am going to miss their breakfasts), Ludger took us and the boys out to Nürburgring for kart racing.

Before we left they all grabbed their own helmets for kart racing. This is what writers call "foreshadowing."

I don't know if you've ever been kart racing but I'll give you a tip: if you're going with someone who brings their own helmet(s) you are GOING TO LOSE.  It's like playing pool against the guy who brings his own pool cue.

 

Max and Ludger turned in VERY respectable times and I’m afraid I couldn’t hold a candle to either one of them.  The electric carts were quite responsive and fun to drive.  Max and Luis both won their rounds with the fastest overall laps (Max in the “big kart” category with the adults and Luis in the “small kart” category.  Both boys have very good reflexes and are great drivers.  Erin enjoyed her first time driving a kart but (sensibly) kept her speed under control the whole time.  It was the best time I’ve ever had losing ;-)

Spotted in the Nürburgring parking lot.

Erin and Luis getting a safety briefing

The German army came by.  Not sure if they took this TPz on the track or not.

Leaving the kart track, we drove up a side road to watch the real cars go around on the track.  Nürburgring itself is a great experience, the track having a well-deserved reputation of being very tricky to navigate.  We watched the cars for a while (listening to the engines rev and the tires squeal on this back corner is something you must experience in person).

We returned home and packed our bags and played a bit of soccer (foosball) in the street, then Ludger very kindly took us to the Frankfurt hotel to drop us off.

All three of us were a bit melancholy to be leaving Germany – Ludger and Steffi and the boys showed us just a portion of the Eifel region of Germany and we were all quite taken with it.  We very much appreciated their generosity and hospitality during our stay, and hope that some day we can reciprocate when they come to visit us in Washington.

Cologne cathedral, Odysseum Abenteuermuseum Köln

Work day for Ludger, but Steffi graciously took a day off and took us and the boys for an English-speaking tour of Cologne cathedral.  This was the ONE day out of the whole trip I forgot my camera, so you’ll have to settle for cell-phone shots.

That's Gothic, baby.

The floors in the front of the cathedral and in the inner sanctum are from the 19th century.  The "tiles" of the mosaic are solid colors and are 10cm thick, meaning they will withstand many, many years of wear without losing their color.

We had a very informative and friendly guide, who took us through the cathedral and told us about its history.  I’m convinced that the guide knew *almost* as much about the cathedral as Steffi’s younger son Luis.  He’d been there on a school tour a couple of weeks before and I was astonished at how much he’d remembered of the details of the cathedral’s construction.  Cologne cathedral remained unfinished for several centuries and was only made wholly into the building we see today during the 19^th century.  Today it is one of the finest extant examples of Neo-Gothic (or Gothic revival) architecture.

Cathedral complete, we had a nice lunch on the banks of the Rhine (Shannon and I both had Flammkuchen, which was fantastic) and Steffi and I enjoyed some good Kolsch bier!

Luis, scouting a location for lunch.

Say it with me: Flammkuchen.

Onward to the Odysseum Abenteuermuseum Köln!  This fun and interactive children’s museum has something for young and old alike, including hands-on experiments with physics, water, sound and light.  There are some very good displays that really bring science to life.

Erin and Max both took a spin on a machine I dubbed the “hurl-a-tron” before we left.

Returning home, we found that Ludger had raided what I believe to be the larger part of an entire butcher shop and fired up the smoker for an amazing home-cooked dinner that was absolutely amazing. It was accompanied by some excellent Weissbier and some delicious side dishes made by Steffi.

Michelangelo had the Sistine Chapel,  Ludger has his smoker.

The kids enjoyed some trampoline soccer before dinner

Suddenly, rain.  The Eifel area reminds me of home.

Caruso the Landseer!  He thinks he's a lapdog.

Look at that face.  He is a very sweet dog :-)

By this point in our journey we’d been on the road for almost a month and had experienced some really exceptional meals in fine restaurants; but this meal will be at the top of the list for best meals we had for the whole trip (also on the list: Marie’s ratatouille!).  The combination of great cooking and fun companionship made it very special for us.

After dinner we played board games!   Erin beat us all for a round of “Set.” After, the she and the boys played “Mensch ärgere dich nicht” (which is quite like "Sorry") and Ludger and Steffi taught us “Qwixx” over a wonderful and fruity red wine from Ahrweiler.