Back to Germany!

So...WAY back in June Steve and I had the amazing opportunity to go back to Germany. We were right back in the same area that we moved from a year ago. Steve was there on a business trip from work, and since I had a young and capable sister at my Mom's house in CA to take care of the kids, we all decided that I should go and join Steve for a week. The main reason I went was because Steve's birthday and Father's Day were on the same day this year, and he was going to be there without his family. Plus, I really wanted to go back. :)

So..... I left the boys with my dear sister Tawna who has babysat my children more than anyone else. I then flew from CA through GA and on to Germany. Quite a long flight, but without kids it is SO EASY! I got to do whatever I wanted (within the confines of my plane seat of course). So, I slept, read a little bit of my book, slept again, ate, watched a movie. I had a very relaxing time. I got to Germany on Wednesday morning where Steve picked me up at the airport. He had the morning off, so the first thing I wanted to do was drive past our old house. Everything looked pretty much the same to me. Then we went to the hotel and took a nap. When Steve went back to work I went over to one of my old favorite grocery stores Toom and looked around for food I had been missing. When Steve got off work we had plans to go to the "Great American Steakhouse" in Frankfurt where they have the best steak I have ever eaten. A couple of Steve's buddies from work were coming with us. Well... when we got to Frankfurt there were road blocks all over the city. We drove around for hours trying to get to the restaurant through tons of traffic, but there was a road block at every turn. We finally saw what the problem was. There was a 5k marathon that was starting at the same time as our reservations. There were over 5000 people running in this marathon. So, they had blocked off the route through the main streets of the city and the restaurant was within that area. We finally ended up at an Irish pub for dinner and we were all pretty frustrated. I was just tired considering I was totally jet lagged. It was interesting though.

The next day (Thursday) I started out my day with the hotel breakfast. I LOVE breakfast in Germany. They serve a roll and lunch meat and cheese , or you can eat it with Nutella. It is so delicious and I was so happy to be eating it again. I made sure I made it to breakfast every day that I was there. After breakfast, I took the street car around Darmstadt for the morning while Steve went to work. Then when he got off we headed up to our old favorite, the Auerbach castle. It was beautiful and delicious and so nice to be there.



On Friday I meet up with a friend of mine Julie, and her kids and we drove up to the Frankfurt temple. We went to the book store and walked around the temple for a little while, and then they went home and I got to go in and do a session. It was so nice to be back there, and to go through the temple. Our temple in Georgia is 3.5 hours away, so it is a lot harder to go. After my session Steve picked me up and we actually got to go eat at our Steak restaurant and it was dang good. It was great to be back there.

On Saturday Steve and I spent the morning at the big flea market they have there in Darmstadt. Then we headed up to Rudesheim which is a little town on the Rhein river where all the cruises start from. We had such a great time there. We went in to every little shop there was and we didn't have to worry about who was staying out with the boys. It was lots of fun. Then we drove down the Rhein all the way to Boppard where we rode a ski lift to the very top of this hill that overlooked the Rhein. It was right where the Rhein curves and makes a U shape. It was really pretty. When we were at the top we ordered some hot chocolate at a little outdoor cafe they had. Then we went down, had some schnitzel for dinner and headed home.








(This is the view from the hot chocolate cafe)

Sunday was Steve's birthday and Father's Day. I gave Steve his cards from the boys and then we went to church. Our old ward meets in a brand new building and it is very nice. It was so nice to see everyone and chat with old friends. Most of the ward that I knew is gone now, but there were some people left. After church we went to the hotel for a nap, and then on to Zadell and Jeremy Carley's house for a game of cities and knights. They made dinner for us and a nice birthday cake for Steve. It was great to visit with them, and we miss having them over all the time.

Then Monday morning I got back on an airplane and headed back to CA. It was a wonderful adventure for Steve and I and we are very much enjoying our childless vacations that we have been taking once a year. Even though I spent lots of time on a plane and then had to get right back on the next day to get the boys and I home from CA, it was an awesome trip. And things went so smoothly I really can't complain. Other than the van battery being dead when we showed up in Savannah at 9:30 Tuesday night tired and cranky. But the policeman there at the airport had it jumped in no time and we were on our way home!