Fireworks, Castles and Cathedrals - Mom and Steph Part 2

I am not happy right now. One because its raining and two because people are stupid. Unfortunately I don't have any control over the two issues so while I'm waiting for the rain to stop or people to magically gain common sense I will continue with PART 2 of my June adventures!

In my effort to be the best host ever for my first visitors in Germany I toted my mom and sister all over the country! The day after their rainy day arrival I allowed for no jet lag, piled them into the car and drove to Heidelberg for the first "Illumination" of 2013. Three times a year during the summer months the castle of Heidelberg puts on an elaborate firework display to remember the amount of severe destruction the city and castle suffered during the 30 years war. The firework show didn't start until 10:15pm so we had a lot of time to explore, taste wine and eat before heading across the river to pick out our spot for the show. Despite the cold wind and rainy conditions we hiked up to the castle and toured the grounds, tasted local wine next to the giant wine barrel and of course I made them try a traditional German Bratwurst... We found a cute little local cafe to warm up in before the show and after gathering up our blankets attempted to cross the bridge. I say "attempt" because somehow in the 6 hours we spent sightseeing the river had flooded across the road we had driven on to come into the city!  We ended up walking down to the second bridge and were able to cross over to find the perfect spot to see the fireworks show. We also found a different way out the city and were able to make it home safely.

The flooded river 

The Heidelberg castle lit up with fireworks

The next day after a much needed sleep in we headed down the road to Burg Lichtenberg in the town of Kusel. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather, a much needed change from the past two days!

Castle ruins with my sister

After our relaxing day in Kusel we headed to Idar-Oberstein which is famous for its gemstones. First we headed outside of the city to take a tour of one of the mines in the area. It was so much fun and we even got to wear our own hard hats! We then headed into town to visit the gemstone museum and see the castle/church in the mountain. Now normally I am pretty responsible person but somehow I spaced out and locked the key into the car!! Not good. I called Justin and he and a couple of friends were able to come out and unlock the car. I'm such a dunce sometimes.

Mine Tour!

Attempting to break into the car after I locked the keys inside

Burg Eltz with my Sis 

Later in the week we headed to the famous castle Burg Eltz as well as the town and castle of Cochem, see previous blog posts about these two places. The next day we headed to Trier, which is such a cool city! Trier has a heavy roman influence and we were able to see the Porta Nigra, Roman Baths, coluseum (although it was closed) and of course drink some delicious wine! My favorite part of our Trier trip was getting to see the most amazing cathedral. It was beautiful not to mention it apparently is home to the "seamless" robe of Jesus!

Porta Nigra

Trier Cathedral  

The shrine for the "Seamless Robe" worn by Jesus

Our week ended with a nice little hike through Baumholder and a late night drive to K-Town in order to go to Prague!

We found a horse on our hike

HIKING!

PART 3 COMING SOON...

Historical, Vibrant, Beautiful "Praha" - Prague

Prague is a beautiful, colorful city that for some reason has always fascinated me. Early in June my mom, sister and I woke up ridiculously early and headed to Kaiserslautern where we met up with a tour bus to Prague. The bus ride took about six hours and with the help from some dramamine I slept most of the way. Our tour guide gave us a short orientation of the city and left the rest of our time for us to explore on our own.

Sister and I with the city in the background

We strolled around Old Town taking in the the culture and architecture. One of the major sights in the area is the Astronomical clock and every hour it goes off with a short little show. I would have videotaped it but I was distracted and forgot! After the show we joined up with a sightseeing tour, it was a hop on/hop off bus so we had the freedom to get off and explore at any of the major sights. Due to the recent flooding in the are the Charles Bridge was closed but we were able to see all the other sights, do a little bit of shopping and finish the day out at the ultimate cheesy tourist restaurant, The Hard Rock Cafe!

Astronomical Clock in Old Town

The "Hip Hop" Bus 

The center of Old Town 

St. Nikolas Church 

Great Shopping! 

Prague Cathedral 

Stained Glass inside the Prague Cathedral 

Falconry at the Castle 

Replica of the Eiffel Tower 

View from the top of the Bell Tower - 287 steps to the top 

A love lock bridge 

I absolutely LOVED Prague, it has now become my favorite city in Europe and the best part about our trip was being tasting the most fantastic beer I have ever had. Seriously if you ever have the opportunity to get a real czech beer than please take it, I promise it will be worth it!

Best Beer Ever 

4th of July in Germany

Happy (belated) Fourth of July! I made this delicious cake for Justin to take into work... It took forever but turned out pretty good if I do say so myself!!

Justin had to work this fourth of July so we celebrated a little early with a afternoon of fishing and hanging out at a local carnival the day before!

Luckily Justin got off just in time to watch the firework show they put on at the Army base! God Bless the USA

Fun in the Sun - Barcelona

At the end of June my Mom, Steve and I headed to the train station EARLY in the morning in order to catch the first train to Frankfurt airport. About an hour and half later we found ourself hanging out in the middle of the Airport waiting for the "Vueling" airline counter to open. Vueling is a great little discount airline that took us straight to the Barcelona airport! We finally boarded the plane and took off. A couple of hours later we landed and were greeted with warm, salty ocean air. We gathered up our vast amount of luggage and attempted to figure out the metro/tram system.

I will start by saying the metro system in Barcelona is the most ridiculously confusing, annoying system I have ever experienced. After missing our first stop we attempted to back track by switching trains. It was crowded and a group of stupid, douche bag hooligans pick-pocketed Steve while we were getting on the second train. Luckily he was able to jump off the train, chase them down and get his wallet back. Unfortunately the jerks had already taken the cash out of it. Ugh such a bad start to the trip!

After a couple of hours of wandering around Barcelona with WAY too much luggage we found our apartment, relaxed and then heading down the road to a great little cafe for delicious Sangria and seafood paella. Our trip was beginning to turn around!

The next couple of days we spent eating the most amazing food I have ever tasted, drinking delicious sangria and sight seeing. We spent a day down at the beach (where apparently tops are optional for european women...) I sunbathed while my Mom and Steve rented bikes to ride along the beach. We gazed at Gaudi's famous architecture, visited La Sagrada Familia, strolled through the public parks, stood in the 1992 Olympic Stadium and even found some spare time for shopping!

La Sagrada Familia 

The Front of the cathedral represents the birth of Jesus. 

The back of the cathedral represents the crucification of Jesus. 

The Spanish Arc of Triumph

Catedral de Barcelona

Best donut man EVER! 

Delicious fresh ahi tuna  

View of Barcelona

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

The Port of Barcelona 

The Beach!

The Olympic Arena 

The Olympic Museum 

Casa Batllo

We had such a fun time in Barcelona and I returned to Germany sunburned, full of delicious seafood/sangria and with a new found appreciation for siestas.

SANGRIA! 

Mom and Steph arrive in Germany PART 1

Summer in Texas has always been my absolute favorite time of the year. Sure its hot but seriously its hot the same time every year I have no idea why people are always so surprised when the temperatures are in the 100’s+…. There is something magic about summer time in Texas, its all BBQ, tubing the rivers, wakeboarding and drinking beer with friends. Not to get to nostalgic but I was feeling really homesick come Memorial Day weekend. Instead of spending the weekend hanging out at the Lake LBJ with my family like I have done for the past ten years straight, I was instead spending the weekend alone in the 50 degrees rain. Justin had to work and the weather just added to my melancholy.

Fortunately the perfect solution arrived the morning of May 31^st. We arrived at the airport early in the morning with little baby Layla just in time to meet my Mom and Sister as they came off the plane. Instead of spending summer in Texas, they brought a little bit of Texas to me! Of course it was pouring down rain so the pretty drive back to Baumholder was overshadowed by terrible weather but I think the two of them were too tired to care. We got them all unpacked and set up with temporary ID cards so they could access the military post easier. After a quick nap we headed downtown for a traditional German meal of beer and schnitzel. Afterwards we braved the downpour and ran down the street to the Eis Café where I introduced my mom and sister to Spaghetti Eis (amazingly delicious ice cream that looks like spaghetti). Followed by heading across the street to finish up the street at a real German pub. We convinced the two of them to try the banana beer, which is much better than it sounds, and thoroughly stuffed we headed back to the apartment for some much needed sleep. 

The next few weeks we spent traveling around Germany, visiting castles, cathedral and cute towns. We even had enough time for a day trip to Prague and five day trip to Barcelona! Instead of boring my readers with one ridiculously long post I am going to split our June adventures up until smaller, much more readable posts (you are welcome).

TO BE CONTINUED…