St Avold France

Today (21 May 09) I had the day off so we decided to take a short drive to Luxembourg to do some shopping the Auchan shopping mall in Luxembourg City. We thought the traffic was pretty light but when we had driven for about 1-1/2hrs and arrived at the store - it was closed! Not only that every other store we drove by was also closed ???

However, we decided to drive to France (French Pastries - mouth was watering with just the thought). But when we drove by a few more stores we discovered most of France was shut down as well ??? Rats! No pastries today.

It wasn't until we drove home 200-miles and 4-hours later that we found out that today in Germany is what is called Vatertag (Father's Day) or Christi Himmelfahrt or for us Americans - Ascension Day.

By then it was getting a little later so we decided to head to St Avold, France to make a short visit to the Lorraine American Cemetery. This is the largest American Military cemetery in Europe.



We often see the war movies and TV shows that show the destruction of war, but until you visit one of the war cemeteries in Europe and see the staggering number of graves it doesn't sink in. But having visited several of these sites in Europe it really touches the heart to think of all the lives that war has hurt so much.

Oldest City in Germany

Friday was a great day - beautiful weather and no work! So we decided to take a quick day trip to what is claimed to be the oldest city in Germany - Trier.

Trier is famous for its ancient Roman ruins and religious artifacts. We didn't have time to see it all but we did manage to get in over 10km walking around looking at some of the many great sights in the area.

Of course one of the first places to see is the old Roman gate to the city - Porta Nigra that is about 1800yrs old! Pretty impressive and they still let people walk through the building.



Also in Trier is the Dom Trier which is another must see. Among the artifacts claimed to be held in the cathedral is the Seamless Robe of Christ and the Holy Nail claimed to be one of the nails used to crucify Christ.





















Finally we went to the Amphitheater where they still actually hold gladiator fights every year. Guess we might have to take a trip back later this year.

Easter Eggs

Ever wonder where Easter Eggs come from? No it isn't Bunnies. We found out where they really come from here in Germany - Trees!

First Volksmarch

Some friends of ours are avid Volksmarchers and today they convinced us go along with them. We did and it was great fun. We took the 10km route. Unfortunately, all I got were pictures of us at the start, none along the trail. Sorry, next time I'll do better.

Attempted Murder!

Well maybe not, but it feels like it!
Mom is really trying hard to get me into better shape (Round is not the shape she prefers...) So we have bought some bikes and have been hitting some of the great bike trails around our village of Ramstein-Miesenbach.

One of our first trips was over 40km (24mi)! We took a shorter ride today, only 22km (13mi). We rode from our home in Ramstein-Miesenbach to Glan-Munchenweiler.

 

 

Day Trip to France

One thing nice about where we live in Germany is being able to take quick shopping trips to France. This past weekend we drove to Sarreguemines and Betting France to visit a couple stores a friend at work told us about.

The first store we stopped at was called Grand Frais (Big Fresh).





It has a huge variety of some of the freshest fruits and vegetables we have found yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we went to Betting France to a store called E.Leclerc. We have been to a place called Cora in Forbach France. Cora is a large retail store that some people have equated to Walmart. Well LeClerc has been equated to Target (Sure go ahead and put the French accent on that.)




Mom found her some cool new shades.

 

 

 

But I found ... French pastries - Yum!

Fasching - Fastnachsumzug

This is the week of Fasching in Germany. Unfortunately we weren't able to go to one of the larger festivals like they have in other locations, we did go to the smaller Fasching parade in our local village Ramstein-Miesenbach. It was great fun!



The parade consisted of lots of different groups, floats, and bands on the parade route. Most of the groups were throwing candy. Some since this is Germany were actually handing out beer, wine, and even harder samples to the crowd. Funny to watch the people when we turned down a free sample.







In the parade we saw a group of Elvis', three 'priests' dragging a wagon full of their supplies (beer), a group from the local food market pushing shopping carts and handing out food, a truck advertising a Haunted Tent complete with all the scary characters (including a chain-saw killer...), lots of cute kids in costumes, and wacky adults.





But of course Mom was right in the front with the kids vying for the candy. She actually got quite a haul.



Next year we will have to go to one of the larger parades.