Rhine River cruise

Chris is in the States so I took the opportunity to go on the Rhine river cruise with a friend. Chris isn't a huge fan of cruises. Beautiful and all the other superlatives apply, along the river are various castles and vineyards-like a dream. I never want to leave here.

Lorelei

The story of Lorelei: According to German legend, there was a once a beautiful young maiden, named Lorelei, who threw herself headlong into the river in despair over a faithless lover. Upon her death she was transformed into a siren and could from that time on be heard singing on a rock along the Rhine River, near St. Goar. Her hypnotic music lured sailors to death. The legend is based on an echoing rock with that name near Sankt Goarshausen, Germany.

The Paris for Europeans

Someone told me Brussels is the "Paris for Europeans". ewww! I hope not! I was not impressed. It's very possible that my expectations were too high. It was a fun drive there (yes, I took pics of license plates along the way, but I won't bore you this time). The most memorable scene from this trip was Chris getting cursed by a gypsy. Set Scene: We were having coffee at a cafe and this scary lady approached us, asking for money. Well, we assume she asked for money-there was a slight language and odor barrier so we didn't lean in for clarification. So, Chris politely said no. The lady then said something that sounded horrific with squint of hers eyes, upturn of her nose and she even spit a little. I'm pretty sure she cursed our unborn children. No need to be nasty lady, geez!

Miracle of Life

I had the pleasure of being present when my good friend's 1st baby was born. I had the pleasure being the first to hold this brand new little girl.

Unbelievable

It's amazing when you recognize God at work in real time. Usually I recognize afterwards, but today I knew that all sequence of events, me being there at the time was not an accident.

Mommy, Daddy, and baby are doing fine. 

We can be in France in an hour

How cool is that?! I'm never leaving this place! So, yea we went to France this weekend. The drive is a litlle over an hour. I entertained myself by taking pictures of licenses plates. I've always been interested in license plates, as a little girl I would sit in our driveway and write down all the plate numbers that went by. 

Is this weird?

Anyway, Strasbourg is cool. Apparently, it has flipped from belonging to France and Germany over the years, so you feel both influences.

ich liebe diesen Park

I organized an outing for the ladies. Luisenpark in Mannheim, Germany. A beautiful place, I can't think of an equivalent park in the US, maybe Central Park. A small fee to enter, but it's worth it for the cleanliness and lack of riffraffs. We spent this visit walking around the park, which is 41 hectares according to Wikipedia (no source). I plan to bring Chris back here, I see us just hanging out at the park, packing a picnic and lounging under a tree!

Me

They have animals here too!

The ladies

It was a great day. I love this Park!

Road trip

I keep hearing about this amusement park of flowers in the Netherlands and well...I have to see it. So, a road trip it is!

We stayed in Amsterdam for a bit, the architecture is lovely, but there didn't seem to be much to do. I didn't do too much research, the Anne Frank house didn't excite me and the Heineken brewery was closed for remodeling. We walked around I don't remember even seeing a museum in the immediate area of our hotel. We ate at a cuban restaurant which I later found out was a chain-restuarant *Rolling eyes*. We also ate at quaint restaurant, the name I can not recall, but I ordered swordfish and was surprised and delighted that the little guy was staring at me when he arrived steaming on my plate.

I took approximately 5 pictures in Amsterdam, that's how uninspired I was. The red district did have some beautiful women in the windows, I wanted to take pictures of them. But, I didn't.

Next we went to Kuekenhof - the world's largest flower garden in Lisse, Netherlands. I don't know how excited Chris was about this, but I was excited enough for both of us. See...

Ugh... I look so tired, night shift is killing me. But, these crazy work hours do allow me to travel for long weekends. Anyway, Kuekenhof was beautiful.

How can I miss someone I don't know

I've had this overwhelming feeling of missing my little nephew, my brother's son, lately. The funny thing is I have never actually seen the little guy in person. This, I believe, is a testament to the strength of family love. So, little DAB I made a video for you.