Today Mom celebrates her 55th birthday which, around these parts, we feel is a big deal since she was born in 1955.

Also today, Carol celebrates her birthday, and I’m sure it will be celebrated well with James and the boys!

Happy Birthday!

Today Jack celebrates his 9th birthday!

Grandma A’s birthday was on Saturday, and I couldn’t let too many more days go by without wishing her a very happy birthday!

Happy Birthday!

On day nine, we got a chance to really spend some time with Evelyn and Gunter. The day was planned around dinner at Evelyn’s mother house in the evening, but before that, we had a leisurely morning at the hotel while waiting for Gunter to finish up with a meeting. Once done, we picked him up and headed to an area with three mountains, of about the same height, each part of a fortress complex. One held the fortress itself, the other a rock formation and the third had the prison where captives were kept.

The fortress was set high on a hill, but we were able to drive up most of the way. After parking the car, it was a twenty minute hike up to the fortress, where the views were expansive. From our vantage point, you could see the mountains of the Black Forest in Germany, to the hints of mountains in France.

(The trail leading up to the fortress.)

(View from the first lookout point, overlooking a town and a vineyard.)

(Entering the fortress.)

After doing the hike, the fortress continued upwards through a series of staircases dispersed throughout. At many points there were ledges to step onto to look at the view and windows to peer out of. Inside we were able to see the chapel as well as replicas of the crown and swords.

(Me, Mom, Evelyn and Gunter.)

We continued to make our way to the very top, where the views were definitely worth the trek up there!

There are many more photos that I could put up to show you, but it would likely take forever to post and load on other computers, so I’ll save some for when I’ve got the entire album up and ready to go, however in the above two you can get a sense of the view.

Once done with the fortress, we walked back down (which I actually like less than walking up – walking down bothers my knees too much), and sat and had a small snack of currywurst and pretzels before making our way to the town Evelyn grew up in.

We arrived at Evelyn’s mom’s house, where an amazing feast was prepared. There was turkey, chicken, dumplings, salad and more! Everything was delicious, and I was quickly too full – but was, of course, instructed to save room for dessert. We ate dinner in the garden, a nice breeze blowing through the air, breaking up the heatwave Germany has been experiencing during our stay here.

Once we were done with dinner, we took a walk through the gardens and made our way through the town, ending up at one of Evelyn’s aunts houses. We had met Sigi and Freidl at the wedding and they were very hospitable, serving drinks and cookies before we had to head back to Karlsruhe (mom had to see Lilo, a healer, to check out this weird rash she got on her leg in Paris; turned out it was an allergic reaction to sand fleas from all the walking we did – I thankfully did not get bothered by these gross sounding creatures).

Before we headed back to the hotel for the night, Gunter drove us up to a peak where we could look out over the city of Karlsruhe. The sun was setting, the moon was up, and it was all very peaceful, and a nice way to end the day.

On our final day, we woke up and had a leisurely morning with breakfast and then prepared to meet Evelyn and go out for the day. She took us into France (a short drive from their house) where we were going to eat, but we were unable to find a decent restaurant, since the town we went to was eerily deserted. Instead, we drove to Baden-Baden (in Germany) and ate there before walking around the city looking at the baths and the casino. Outside the casino, there was a band playing music – and everyone who knows me well knows that I think Europe should constantly be playing music in order to further set the atmosphere, so I really enjoyed that!

We did not stay in Baden-Baden for very long, and then we headed back to Karlsruhe to meet Gunter and then head to their house for a final dinner – a barbecue! We simply sat and ate and enjoyed the last night together before flying home the next afternoon. The trip was a great success, and I am glad to get home, but I’m already missing it and am thinking about next summer’s plans already (Italy and Greece? Spain? Austria? Sweden? Scotland? The choices are endless…)

On day seven, we conquered Paris, walking around for most of the day and seeing the sights before enjoying a leisurely dinner with the Eiffel Tower in sight. It was back to the hotel to rest up after a great trip, for we would need to be at the train relatively early the next day to head back to Germany.

Day eight began with a brief trip to the Grand Boulevards in Paris, where Lindsay and I stayed when we came to Paris for the first time seven years ago. It was in the Opera district, and the hotel was located in an alleyway of sorts that connected the street from the opposite side of it. They alleyway, and the matching one across the street, is normally full of bustling shops and restaurants, but as yesterday was Bastille Day, most of the shops were closed. However, there was one very nice home shop open – full of table linens and silverware and containers for sugar, flour and coffee. Naturally I wanted everything in this store, and now want to redo my kitchen.

As it was pouring in the morning, there wasn’t much else for us to do and so we headed to the train station a little bit early to catch our train back to Germany. Once on the train, the ride was smooth and I spent most of it listening to music, reading my book from Heathrow Airport (The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, by Eva Rice – isn’t that title just divine?), and watching the countrysides of France and Germany rush past the train window. Train travel definitely has its merits!

Evelyn picked us up at the train station in Mannheim and we drove back to Karlsruhe and checked back into the hotel. Our luggage was safe and sound (we had left it behind and took small bags to Paris) and we spent a few hours freshening up before we had to head back to the villa so that mom could perform at a fundraiser.

Much of the evening was spent at the fundraiser, with mom and Evelyn performing both individually and together, and we headed back to the hotel, tired but happy that it had rained and there was a slight break in the heat for the night!

I have finally updated the photo gallery with pictures from the Europe trip, which will help to make a lot of the upcoming travel tales posts make a lot more sense!

To see the album, click here.

To view the entire photo gallery, click here.  As always, the photo gallery can be accessed at any time by using the links on either sidebar.

Daniel and Zoe the Cat, sometime last year.

Note: I couldn’t copy and paste the gallery of pictures from this day of the trip, but you can look forward to the full album being posted as soon as all the pictures have been uploaded!

Today marked the halfway point of our trip. We have been in Europe for five days, and will be here for five days more (well, as of this morning… as I write this, we have four full days left before returning home on Saturday). It was time to head for Paris, something I have been looking forward to for months. I’ve never been able to explain why Paris hold such a special place in my heart, or why I feel pulled there, but there’s just something about it. Something special, and beautiful and wonderful. I love it!

The day began early with breakfast at the hotel in Karlsruhe, and then we met with Evelyn who took us to the train station. We found the trains with no problem, but then encountered the most infuriating people while trying to get to our seat. It was as though they have never been around other humans before. Most were blocking the train aisles and trying to fit their giant luggage into compartments that were entirely too small. Therefore I admit that I started the journey a bit frustrated.

Once we were finally situated in our seats, we travelled perhaps half of our journey before finding out that we would need to move to another train, where the seats would no longer be assigned. Thankfully we found seats together and continued the trip into Paris with no problem. We also easily found the hotel, recommended by one of my co-workers, and settled in before heading out to see the city.

The Arc de Triomphe was within walking distance, so we went on foot, and ten traveled down the Champs Elysees before getting on the train to make it to the Eiffel Tower. I was slightly disappointed to find a lot of construction going on near the Eiffel Tower, marring its normal majestic feel, but it was still amazing to be next to the Tower again. I think I would be perfectly content to just sit by it all day and read.

However, as I only have two days in Paris, sitting and reading by the Eiffel Tower will need to wait until the next trip. I wanted to see everything I possibly could, from the Louvre (just the outside, I’ve been inside a few times) to Notre Dame (though that we’re saving for tomorrow). However, having been traveling and then walking, we were both hungry so we stopped at a small bistro to have some lunch. I, of course, had my standard steak frites with bearnaise sauce and followed it up with chocolate mousse, and mom had some salmon with pasta. Everything was wonderful and we left with new energy to see more of the city.

We decided to walk to the Louvre, where we spent some time in the Tuileries before heading back towards the tower to go on a Seine cruise. Mom was tired, and I figured this was the perfect way to see a lot and let her relax a bit from walking and being in the sun a lot today.

As I write this, I realize that our day doesn’t sound like much, but it was quite nice and we did a lot. We got back to the hotel about quarter to ten, and settled in for the evening as tomorrow we have a full day of sightseeing ahead of us, and I want to head up to Montmartre!

The night before the party it rained, which I think had people a little nervous for the following day, but we woke up to clear skies – and a breeze!  Germany is seeing a heatwave and it was slightly broken that morning.  However, this did not last long.  By the time mom and I were ready to head to the party and had walked over to the brewery to meet Evelyn and Gunter, it was already getting close to scorching – and to make matters worse, the humidity had begun to come back.

You may think that this would mean that the day (and the party) were sure to be ruined, as the party was taking place outside on the grounds of the villa on the brewery however, for everyone who was invited, it didn’t matter.  The party turned out to be a fantastic success, beginning at eleven a.m. and not ending until well into the night (I am not sure just how late, but mom and I were back in the hotel at 9:30 p.m.).

The party started with brunch – scrambled eggs and sausages and a large Italian buffet.  Mom and I helped Evelyn’s mother and aunts set up the cakes that they had made for the occasion on the dessert table – and eagerly looked forward to when it was time to eat the cakes.  There was quite the array, including Tollhouse cookies, which one of the aunts made because Gunter enjoys them.

There was a pianist playing in the morning, and waiters passing around bottles of Prosecco, so it was very pleasant to sip sparkling wine and listen to “Maria,” “The Man I Love,” “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” and more songs coming from the piano.

Soon, however, it was time for mom to sing.  She performed outside on the deck, so that most of the guests would be able to see her.  After her three solo numbers, she brought Evelyn up to do a duet.

Mom was praised by all the guests (I think a few even asked her to return next summer for some other parties), and we spent much of the rest of the day just enjoying the company.  There were only a few people that we knew, but a lot of people spoke English and we were able to converse with no problem (but it did make me feel guilty that I don’t speak a lick of German and can’t really figure any of it out!).  Some of the people we were familiar with were Evelyn’s sister and her daughters, who we met the last time we visited.

We also made friends with a cousin of Evelyn’s, a little girl named Kim with the biggest brown eyes.  She liked putting ice on herself, and on everyone else (but not in the annoying, down-the-back-of-your-shirt way, but by running it up and down people’s arms to cool them off).  She was the youngest at the party, and was very amusing!

Later on in the day, Evelyn and Gunter’s friends put together a special presentation for them, and then mom sang again.  Evelyn sang a few songs in honor of Gunter as well, and then everyone just hung out, drank wine, continued to eat (for there was also a barbecue later on in the day) and enjoyed each other’s company.

By the time we left the party, we were tired out and ready for bed, but it had been a great day!