Last night, after checking train schedules at the station, we bagged our Rhine River Cruise and decided to take the quicker trains to Ben and Becky's house. (Dusty's sister). For the sake of their privacy, I won't say too much about their family or why they are in Germany. Originally, we thought we would take the train down to Bacharach and then hop on a cruise and ride downstream to St. Goar. The castles lining the river are supposed to be really quintessential and it's an extremely beautiful area.
It also would mean that we wouldn't get to their house until late evening, and we were ready to slow down and see them. After all, the beginnings of this vacation started when Becky invited us to come and stay. Who could turn down Germany? And even better, family in Germany? Of course after realizing how close other countries are, we extended our trip to see a few other things. But we were excited to see our little family of relations--it had been almost two years!
Our train was scheduled to depart a little after ten in the morning. We slept in and took our time walking to the station. Our little hostel had a good breakfast that got us ready for a day of traveling. (see the Cathedral, snug against the station?)
We waited about 15 minutes for our train to arrive. Not speaking German, we struggled at first to make sense of the signs posting the times of trains, but we knew which cities we would pass through and stop at, and it all worked out okay. A few trains arrived before ours and it was interesting to see the differences of the high-speed trains vs. the regional trains.
We found seats in a "quiet zone" car, and enjoyed talking with another American for about an hour. It seemed he didn't need to be silent either. :) He was a pilot for Fed-Ex and had been dead-heading back from Thailand.
After him, another man got on the train. I wrote in my journal while Dusty struck up a conversation with him. (He is so brave that way). The man was a German from Trier and was a landscape architect. We spoke with him almost the rest of our journey (two hours). It was fascinating to learn about his view of politics and lifestyle and his view of America. We had a stimulating discussion about American's trying to "police the world". Hopefully we helped him to understand that not all Americans feel the same way about our wars and world policies, especially what is implemented on a world level.
Our first impressions of Germany had been ones of cleanliness and care. So far, this continued, as the forests and countryside were immaculate and stunning. We disembarked in Nuremberg and got on a tiny regional train to the eastern side of the country. We passed tiny town after tiny town. They were lovely.
Eventually our stop had come. We got off at an empty station in the middle of nowhere. Feeling very out of place, we waited, but it didn't take long for us to see familiar faces in a vehicle. Ben had come to pick us up!
Soon we were greeting Becky and her kids, and unloading our gear, and sharing stories. It was so good to see them! That evening, Ben showed us around their town, where he worked, what they do for a good time. It was exciting to see how they had been living. We enjoyed relaxing and speaking English to them. :) We stopped at a grocery store and picked up some yummies. We also had our first taste of Ja! Nougat Cereal, which is basically Nutella in cereal form.
Later that night we planned what we would be doing during the upcoming days. We also skyped with Dusty's mom and talked with our boys. Tyson was pretty silly and Jack kept trying to kiss the screen. We are so grateful they are getting this quality time with their grandparents and are in safe hands.
It also would mean that we wouldn't get to their house until late evening, and we were ready to slow down and see them. After all, the beginnings of this vacation started when Becky invited us to come and stay. Who could turn down Germany? And even better, family in Germany? Of course after realizing how close other countries are, we extended our trip to see a few other things. But we were excited to see our little family of relations--it had been almost two years!
Our train was scheduled to depart a little after ten in the morning. We slept in and took our time walking to the station. Our little hostel had a good breakfast that got us ready for a day of traveling. (see the Cathedral, snug against the station?)
We waited about 15 minutes for our train to arrive. Not speaking German, we struggled at first to make sense of the signs posting the times of trains, but we knew which cities we would pass through and stop at, and it all worked out okay. A few trains arrived before ours and it was interesting to see the differences of the high-speed trains vs. the regional trains.
We found seats in a "quiet zone" car, and enjoyed talking with another American for about an hour. It seemed he didn't need to be silent either. :) He was a pilot for Fed-Ex and had been dead-heading back from Thailand.
After him, another man got on the train. I wrote in my journal while Dusty struck up a conversation with him. (He is so brave that way). The man was a German from Trier and was a landscape architect. We spoke with him almost the rest of our journey (two hours). It was fascinating to learn about his view of politics and lifestyle and his view of America. We had a stimulating discussion about American's trying to "police the world". Hopefully we helped him to understand that not all Americans feel the same way about our wars and world policies, especially what is implemented on a world level.
Our first impressions of Germany had been ones of cleanliness and care. So far, this continued, as the forests and countryside were immaculate and stunning. We disembarked in Nuremberg and got on a tiny regional train to the eastern side of the country. We passed tiny town after tiny town. They were lovely.
Eventually our stop had come. We got off at an empty station in the middle of nowhere. Feeling very out of place, we waited, but it didn't take long for us to see familiar faces in a vehicle. Ben had come to pick us up!
Soon we were greeting Becky and her kids, and unloading our gear, and sharing stories. It was so good to see them! That evening, Ben showed us around their town, where he worked, what they do for a good time. It was exciting to see how they had been living. We enjoyed relaxing and speaking English to them. :) We stopped at a grocery store and picked up some yummies. We also had our first taste of Ja! Nougat Cereal, which is basically Nutella in cereal form.
Later that night we planned what we would be doing during the upcoming days. We also skyped with Dusty's mom and talked with our boys. Tyson was pretty silly and Jack kept trying to kiss the screen. We are so grateful they are getting this quality time with their grandparents and are in safe hands.
1 comment:
It looks as though you are having a great time. I love looking at all of your amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing. I hope you continue to have a wonderful safe time! Call us when you home and settled and we will come visit.
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