for Amy

I never had the chance to blog about our adventures with Amy & Paul, and she won't let me live it down until it's on the good ol' interwebs. Thank you for the weekly reminders, Ames. I did want it here for when I print this blog into a book to keep forever.

Ever since we were preadolescent teeny boppers we've dreamed about the cul-de-sac that we'd live on, intertwining our lives with each other as our kids run around causing mayhem and growing up as 'siblings.' There's certainly still time for that, but for now, we're enjoying the joys of 'adulthood' that include growing up and traveling together, especially when it includes our spouses. Pretty soon, Kelly and Jesse will be joining the realm of holy matrimony-- just think of what shenanigans we'll get into on future travels!

So, back to our trip. 

It was lovely to go through these pictures again, pulling out my favorites and reminiscing on what an amazing trip it was. Amy's the best at taking tons of pictures and making sure that people are in them, which I totally am not; I'm thankful for her insistence even if at the time I was not :) 

She also did most of the planning, which was nice for a change not to be in charge! 

We started in Munich, still my favorite city in Germany and one that I'm happy to return to again and again. Well, before that, we borrowed our friends' dirndl and lederhosen to hit up the Frankfurt spring fest in style, and so they could see just how much more fun you can have when you're in costume. 

My husband is one good-looking' German, no?

Lederhosen gives you super powers

I'd never been to Munich in the spring; it wasn't full of tourists like usual, and we had the chance to see different things. If you're ever there, I recommend renting a bike and cruising the entire city. We saw a lot of the Englischer gardens that I hadn't seen before, and of course, stopped in our favorite Chinese biergarten. 

Favs from Munich:

This picture cracks me up every time... Paul being ridiculous in front of the Michael Jackson memorial while Amy looks on tearfully (except she wasn't really crying, she 'had something in her eye.') 

BMW museum is pretty cool (and free!) plus adjacent to the Olympic park.

We also checked out Schloss Nymphenburg, which was pretty and had lovely gardens to explore.

photobombed 

A trip to Munich is not complete without time spent at the Hofbrau. And Schneider-Weiss, in my humble opinion. 

Back to Frankfurt for a couple nights, with of course the obligatory Rhine excursion to drink as much wine as possible and hike the vineyards. We missed the cool castle in St. Goar by 5 minutes, but the wine tasting in Bacharach made up for it. 

Thursday (Thursday? I can't remember) we were off to Bruges, another one of our favorites! Boat tour, a little bit of walking, delicious beer and ribs. Done and done.

Fidel is the coolest dog ever. 

2be-- Our favorite spot to people-watch in Bruges with a giant Troubador Trippel. Amy and Paul went off to explore, and we sat for hours. My kind of holiday. 

Can you spot the monkey?

Mike and I got up early to check out Ghent, which is 20 minutes away from Bruges. If you're reading this and considering doing the same, we highly recommend doing so. It's a really cool small town with a different feel than Bruges. And less American tourists, which is a win for everyone. 

This might be my favorite picture of all time?

From Bruges we took the train to Amsterdam where they were celebrating King's Day! Holy cow, you need to make it a point to visit on this holiday at some point in your life. It was a massive daytime celebration, where everyone sells their items in the streets, children set up booths to try to make some money, such gooooooood street food, and the boats fill up every inch of the canals with people of all ages partying. We sat and watched for hours!

My favorite- picnics in the park! This guy snuggled with me (or he wanted my sandwich.)

 Sunday we went to Keukenhof Gardens with the most beautiful flowers EVER. Amy wanted to take a picture of everyone, Paul had fun doing 'flyovers' with his camera.

I was a bit cranky until I had ice cream. 

I forgot to mention that Amy's wonderful friend Mirela came from Florence to visit Amy. She was the nicest person ever, and I hope to see her again one day!

Mike was just as excited as I was to be taking so many pictures

And finally, Monday we squeezed in a Mike's Bike Tour, a company I highly recommend! Take the countryside tour. You see windmills and cheese factories and lots of green. 

 Seriously a joy to spend time with my bestie on an epic adventure. So many memories and funny stories-- can't wait for more travels together, especially with our third musketeer!

muskrats and swimming pools

What a lovely Friday in good ol' Frankfurt.

I woke up a discouraged, knowing that I had nothing to do and no one to play with. You see, this expat life is cyclical in terms of your friends. People come and go quite often, and it can be tough being the one 'left behind.' We joke that I've lost all my friends, and though certainly I haven't 'lost' them, they're no longer in the Hausfrau realm and can only play after work. Imagine that!

Out of the many things I've learned through this journey is the importance of simply choosing to be present in each day, one at a time. There's no use in worrying about the future, right? God promises that it'll take care of itself, and quite honestly, it always seems to do so.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I blogged a bit, left the phone at home, and took off on my bike with the pool in mind. Frankfurt has these excellent pools literally in the woods that you kind of just happen upon (at least in my case on a bike.) I was destined for Brentano, a pool larger than a football field that looks more like a lake, but took a wrong turn and stumbled upon Hausen, which was smaller and less crowded.

A little sunbathing and a good book does this Florida girl wonders!

It's nice to not have your phone as well, because I fear becoming too dependent on checking it every spare moment I have, just for something to fill the void. When I have littles, I don't want to be constantly connected.. I just wanna be there. I didn't miss it, until I was cruising, deliriously happy and content with the lushness of the expansive park and the clear blue skies and missing the camera on my phone to document. Always the need to document, to share... is this a healthy thing? I think so-- I want to remember, to stay connected with my loves far away, but there needs to be a balance between sharing everything and keeping things sacred.

Like the muskrats I saw swimming in the canal, someone's dogs just staring with longing as they floated by. Definitely sacred. I've never seen a muskrat except while watching "Rikki Tikki Tavi," so I think that's what they were.  Not cute like otters.  Not one bit.

You know what else I would have taken pictures of on the way home? The sweet old man in the middle of a field of wildflowers up to his knees, snapping pictures of the brilliantly yellow buds with his good camera. Or the toddler in the middle of a deep, twitchy nap at the pool under the shade of an umbrella while his momma got a few moment's respite to read a girly magazine.

I probably would have surreptitiously snapped a picture of the leathery old men that sunbathe naked in the local park, just enough out of view to notice details, but close enough for a full moon.

For today, my descriptions will have to suffice.

Confirmed through a google search. It was definitely a muskrat. Those tails, though! ugh.