October 13
Back in Brunswick and back on our real home. s/v Maja looked good after her 4-month stint in the GA heat, except for the bird poop (the bane of BLM, in addition to the damn no-see-ums), but it feels great to be wearing shorts again while the boat work commences. For the first time, we experienced mildew and mold on the boat, but after two days of scrubbing with bleach and vinegar, the remnants of that were history.
Chris and Karen (s/v Synergy) and Clyde and Sherry (m/v Morada) were in Brunswick, so it was a fun reunion with both couples, bringing back the honored tradition of happy hour at sunset. As we listed our boat projects to be completed in the next month, it's hard not to feel guilty that I'm about to bail on Dan at a crucial time to jet off to Germany to see our daughter, Michelle, and favorite son-in-law, Craig (except for the fact that Jim G is coming to Brunswick to help Dan ... and this way I'll be out of Dan's way while he does 99.9% of the work list, coming home to a new watermaker!).
October 18
This is the first time I have used an "award ticket" from an airlines, so I couldn't help but be excited at the idea of using my lifetime supply of frequent flyer miles to pay $50 for a ticket to Prague (closest airport to Michelle and Craig that was available to me). I'm so excited to see them both, and I get to hang out with Michelle while Craig is gone on a 2+ wk training exercise.
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| check out the tile design in the sidewalk! |
And I landed in Prague on my birthday! To celebrate, Michelle planned a 4-day loop from Prague to Vienna to Saltzberg. In each city, we stayed in great locations -- right in the downtown action, close enough to walk with Molly to see most of the sites, or we'd leave her in the room while we took the metro, went to a museum or shopping. The weather for the first week was fabulous -- fall colors, crisp temps, just the kind of weather for walking. I only wish I had known that I wouldn't see the sun again until my last day on Nov 13!
PRAGUE
as beautiful as everyone told me.
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| Our hotel in Prague - door on the left |
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| our spot in Prague for 2 days |
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| Our room was on the 3rd floor. Yeah, not a good room for Craig! |
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| tight fit in places! entrance to bathroom... |
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| Awww. A delightful traveler! |
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| Prague Castle |
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| a hilly city ... must be why we didn't see any fat people! |
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| Amber is everywhere in Prague. It became our favorite window shopping venture. And I bought my first souvenir here ... an amber bracelet for Michelle!!! |
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| The Charles Bridge |
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| After our guided tour of Prague, time for some refreshment. |
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| Best hot chocolate in town! Good enough for a repeat visit. |
VIENNA
From Prague, we drove to Vienna (to be clear, Michelle drove! Which is quite a feat since not only are the directions from the iphone hard to decipher, the street names and ramps all have 20+ letters!).
Vienna is definitely a large, cosmopolitan city. Huge stores that would be conducive to some serious shopping. We took the metro to the historic district and went to an art gallery where Michelle saw her first assorted collection of Impressionist painters. Of course, we stopped for a "Vienna sausage" ... when in Vienna ... seriously, what's just another name for a hot dog? Good thing for the goulash soup, definitely my favorite local food so far.
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| Driving from Prague to Vienna. On the Autobahn (not nearly as big and exciting as I imagined - except for the occasional BMW screaming by!) |
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| Such beautiful, huge buildings that are centuries old. How did they do that with the technology they had? |
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| Every big city seems to have a river running thru it ... |
Lots of green space in the center of town.
No dogs allowed though...
Amazing ....
SALTZBERG
Saltzberg was one of my favorite cities. The weather warmed up which made exploring the city and hiking to the obligatory 'castle on the hill' quite enjoyable! The city is famous for Swarovski crystal, so I bought my 2nd souvenir - a red/green poinsettia!
Our hotel in mid-block.
And these gardens were across the street!
Castle on the hill in the distance.
Saltzberg is Mozart's hometown.
A good spot for lunch before tacking the hike to the castle.
Every town has it's river ... and its castle on the hill.
Hiking to the castle ....
Ta Dah!
AMBERG
Day 5 on the road had us heading towards home and ready for a break from traveling every day. The drive to Amberg marked the last of our good weather. First the rain came, then the snow, and then the overcast skies and cold temps which stayed until I left for the USA. So it was good to be in Michelle and Craig's warm and cozy home in Amberg. Even though we walked to town (just around the corner) for dinner, mostly we snuggled up on the couch and watched 3 seasons of Dexter (non-stop!) until the snow melted!
They live in a perfect location. Literally, just around the corner from town!
Their building. Ground floor apt.
The newlyweds!
Thru the tunnel, turn right and you're in Amberg.
They live next door to the library.
Amberg main street
St
yes, we're in love ...
Amberg is a walled city
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| and of course, Amberg has a river running through town ... |
We drove to Vilseck where Craig works several times, and I got my first experience in a PX and Commissary. On Nov 1, Michelle working on Post helping soldiers who are leaving the Army prepare for the adjustment.
On the road to Vilseck. I was MOST impressed with the vast amount of solar panels I saw, all over the place! Entire roof tops were covered with solar. Just goes to show how government support can promote the proliferation of alternative energy.
That's our guy ... Commander Craig Nelson!
Craig hates this sort of thing; another testament to what a dear man he is to keep smiling for the MIL!
Craig's adjusting to this assignment with an armored unit. He'd prefer to hump a heavy pack with light infantry!
November 10 -- Last weekend with Michelle and Craig
Wow ... where did the time go? I thought that 25 days here would be too much, but now that I've figured out 3 functional sentences in German (all related to ordering coffee!), learned how to use the washer/dryer, and expanded my territory for taking Molly out, I'm feeling a tad too comfortable to be ready to start packing up.
We had two adventures planned for my final weekend.
#1. Drive to Pfaffenhofen (outside Munich) to buy some highly exclusive yarn. My Minnesota friend, Ann, tipped me off to this yarn shop as she is an uber-knitter! I just thought it would be fun to find the shop and buy her some yarn. Well, that ended up being not such an easy feat. First, the shop is only open on certain weekends, which never seemed to coincide with our travel plans. My last Saturday in Germany was our only option so off we went, as Michelle was determined that I find this store.
First, we went to the administrative offices of the yarn store. Locked. Then we were directed to the shop where they actually do the dying and processing of the yarn. Neat, but you cannot buy yarn there. Finally, we found the store on our 3rd attempt ... something I attribute completely to Michelle's tenacity! I would have given up when the first address was a bust.
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The store literally had bins of hand-dyed yarn on every wall. While the ladies served us coffee, we spent the next 2.5 hours trying to decide what to buy in the midst of such a selection. After settling on two colors for Ann, souevnir #3 for me meant buying yarn that I plan to save until Craig and Michelle give me a grandchild!!
Adventure #2 involved traveling back to Prague, where I'd catch a flight on November 13. Craig had not been to Prague yet, so we decided to spend the night there. Travelling with Craig as two distinct advantages -- first of add, it means we get to stay out late at night! And equally important, I had someone to drink with while staying out late at night!!
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| Travelling with Craig meant we could stay out late at night! |
View from our hotel window
I love Prague!
Our hotel
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