sad goodbyes

In my absence, Frankfurt's changed.

Autumn's just around the corner; you can feel it in the slight breeze, the light that's dimmed a bit, and most of all, the smell. My favorite. I always relished the way the air smells different in Florida, where finally we can hope for a reprieve from the oppressive heat, and football season greets us once again.

This will be my first year of seasons. Fall no longer means Gator games and attempts with friends to make something of the somewhat nonexistent season.

But instead of joy at what's to come, I'm homesick. Missing college football, the new school year and everyone. It's come about because this morning we said goodbye to Momma & Papa Chex after a glorious week of roadtripping through Europe. My heart ached as we hugged, not knowing when we'd see each other again. And this is all after spending two amazing weeks with Annie, in which I didn't have time to feel sad because as soon as she left, Mike and I hopped in the car to greet the parentals.

Now it's hit like a ton of bricks, and I've morosely trudged through this day with a lump in my throat and tears threatening to make an appearance the more I dwell on it. Missing home is a natural part of life. And I do love it here, our adventures and experiences. But today it hurts that I wasn't hopping on the plane to head 'home.' Or that who knows when I'll see my seester & parents again.

Now that I've had a good feeling-sorry-for-myself day, I'll greet tomorrow morning with a fresh face. There are letters and packages to mail, pictures to go through and an incredible three weeks of traveling to process, picnics to be had and the last bits of summer to savor before greeting my favorite season of all.

In other news, when one is feeling sad, all one has to do is walk around Frankfurt until she stumbles upon a gaggle of pandas. 

The Fair's in Town

Life is lived differently here. No more 9:00 bedtime... the sun's not even down yet over on this side of the pond! We're still in love with our town-- exploring and hitting up every festival in sight. This week's was a straight up carnival on the riverbank. I couldn't stop grinning like a little kid at all the carnie sights. Rides? Fried food? Creepy carnie guys? Heck yes. 

It was a perfect night. The weather was slightly cooler than the oppressive heat we've been suffering through. The sun was setting in a most impressive manner, casting the cathedral in a soft glow as the bright lights of the fair took over. It was kind of magical. 

Makes me giddy for Annie to be here (tomorrow!!) even though this fair is over.

She'll be here for the Apfelwein festival though. 

Oh, and the Museum celebration just on the other side of the river. 

Um, hello dead animal. 

I'm thankful for the friends we've made here. It's not easy being a HausFrau; those we've met here certainly make it easier to do life with!

Our true purpose of the night was to enjoy the fireworks on the riverbank. Oh, how I love fireworks (and I missed out for my favorite holiday!) 

It made a lovely Monday evening. 

Graffiti, Beer, and a whole lotta history

5 years ago we chose to explore Berlin as our last stop on a 2-week Euro invasion trip. 

We'd been to Paris, throughout Italy, and Munich before visiting here. 

And when we arrived, we wished we were back in Munich with its cool weather, beautiful beer gardens and lederhosen.

Berlin--- a city with an extensive history that I'm only just beginning to grasp.

 Overrun with Nazi soldiers, obliterated by WWII bombs and then caught between two powers, a wall dividing the communist section with the west. Overnight, people who traveled to the west side found themselves unable to reenter to the east, even if that's where their homes and families were located. 

For 28 dang years.

This time, we went into it with a better idea of what to expect. We weren't exhausted from a whirlwind of a trip. It's starting to grow on us :) 

We took a Fat Tire bike tour that focused on the Cold War, something I admittedly don't know much about. Living in Germany has piqued my curiosity; plus it's history. I'll be doing some 'research,' i.e. seeking historical fiction novels to better my understanding.  (That was very teacher-y sounding...) 

Best bike name EVER

A slight greeting 'mishap' between two government dignitaries 

Can you tell I how much I loved the murals and pop of color throughout the city?

We rode down the "Champ Elysees" of Berlin, where East Germany hoped to show off how good it had. Oh, and to 'bug' the clubs where the elite would frequent, to make sure everyone was in line. 

The door below of a gunman's tower that overlooked a sort of 'no-man's land.' 

Permission to shoot if movement was detected. 

Just a statue of a Russian soldier, rescuing a small child from the Nazis while nonchalantly 

 slashing a swastika with a giant sword. No big deal. 

And, of course, Checkpoint Charlie

Does anyone else find it ironic that there's a Mickey D's right next to the American checkpoint? 

This church stood its ground during WWII, but the black stone is from the city burning around it.

Anyways, I've reached my facts quota for the day. The real reason we visited Berlin was for the International Beer Festival... a mile's worth of beer tents set up from all over the world. 

Yep.

We made our way down (intact, might I add,) swinging our mugs and swaying in true Bavarian fashion, sampling beers from different areas. We saw many bachelor/bachelorette parties, the rules seemingly being that the group must get shirts made, the one you're celebrating dresses up and has a box of 'things' to sell in order to buy more drinks for the group. Always entertaining. 

Hooray for new friends! And beer festivals. 

And Sunday, we walked around some more before hopping back onto the train to Frankfurt. Looking forward to bringing Annie in a couple weeks (!!) 

Sweet advertising!

(Jewish Monument. Eerie, in a good way) 

See you soon, Berlin!

In Brugge

While in Germany, our goal is to explore and travel as much as possible. 

Traveling by train is simple, quick, and quite cheap. 

This weekend brought us to Brugge, a fairly small town in Belgium--all week I dreamt of chocolate, cooler air, amazing sights, waffles, and the finest beer in the world.

I can 100% attest to the fact that Brugge delivered. It delivered indeed. 

Michael was able to leave work a little early on Friday so we could have the evening to explore. 

That evening, we ate a delicious meal of mussels and frittes 

and set off to explore with no agenda in mind. 

The city was ours as we wound through quiet cobble-stoned streets lined with canals, marveling over the perfect reflections cast in the water.

It was truly unreal. 

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Saturday morning we awoke to a violent storm, which, like most coastal thunderclouds, ended as abruptly as it began.

Let the eating commence!

I waited forever for this old man to move. Finally gave up when Mike started getting cranky.

For 7 euros we took a brisk boat tour through Brugge's canals. The 'tour' was in 5 different automated languages and I felt like a tourist- snapping pictures as quickly as possible before he went on to the next sight. Not one quality picture came out of the ride. But I did take this one before we left...

I love the red trim found on many Brugge facades 

More exploring, more beverages to be conquered, fries & chocolate to be consumed. 

mmmmm... Delirium... 

Beer in a champagne bucket? Don't mind if we do.

As if this posting isn't inundated with enough pictures already-- in the afternoon we tried something 'different' and took a photography tour.  Mike patiently waited while I took a million pictures at each stop our guide brought us to. 

We learned more about our camera than we have in the two years of owning it! 

Cue barrage of attempt at Artsty- Fartsy photos:

This is Fidele. She has rested at this window for 11 years now, looking over tourists on their boat tours and is a bit of a Brugge institution. I did not want to leave this spot!

The doors here are the BEST. One could make an entire photo book solely featuring doors. 

First Bump

Later that evening we had the most fantastic meal of (more) mussels and surprisingly, the best spare ribs we've ever had. Move over, dirty south... Belgium has you beat. 

And oh, we're still on Saturday so more pictures to come.

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Sunday the weather was BEAUTIFUL 

(meanwhile, in Frankfurt, our friends were sweltering with heat in the high 90s!) 

We rented bikes and set off for another town only 5 kilometers away called Damme. 

The ride was incredible, taking us through tree-lined paths along the canal where swimmers were training for a triathlon. 

Cows and sheep lazily munched on grass and watched us as we rode by. 

We saw windmills. I'm obsessed. 

And we continued to ride.

All the way to Holland, actually 

(which wasn't as much of a terrific feat as it sounds. It was only 45 minutes away.) 

Ate lunch, turned around and rode back. More pictures of windmills, for now the gray skies had cleared and the resident (GIANT) horse was posing prettily for the tourists.

Back in Brugge, we had just enough time for another beverage and to stock up on all-things-delicious to tide us over until the next excursion, hopefully this winter. 

Someone asked, "Are you guys on your honeymoon? You just seem like you are."

I found his question endearing-- 

we love life, we love our time together, we love diving into a new culture.

Brugge, we'll be back soon.