Subi

The great news of the day: the Subaru has re-joined the family. We drove out to the customs office in Wittlich, Germany this morning and took her home. The evidence of her sitting on the lonely docks in Baltimore for the month of February waiting out the repeated snow storms was obvious. I could barely see out the windows driving home. However, she cleaned up quite nice and is now as good as new. Funny how you can miss something like a car. It's a lot like having a dog, minus the need to "pick up the lawn surprise".

Bastogne, Belgium

3 countries in one day. I'm getting a little ahead here, so I'll just start at the beginning. We started the road trip by visiting St. Vith, Belgium. Knowing this was a strategic city for the Battle of the Bulge, and located conveniently just up the autobahn from us, we thought we would spend the day trolling through the village, looking around the sites, and taking it all in. Well, we learned that St. Vith is quite small in spite of it's historical significance and location to major roadways. After enjoying a coffee and amazing pastry (a croissant filled with cocoa crispies....delicious), we brainstormed for what do the with the rest of the day. Not having a plan B....or a map for that matter, we consulted with the trusty Garmin navigator. Lookie there, Bastogne doesn't look that far away....perhaps 30 minutes from here? It's still early in the day....let's go! Now, I have to admit that most of our knowledge of Bastogne is centered around the historical Battle of the Bulge and the major battle that took place there. Before visiting cities, we normally research good places to eat, places to see, things to do, etc. We are going to Bastogne with none of this....which is great....we are looking forward to the adventure. We know we entered Bastogne when we turn the corner and see what looks like the Vegas strip. Since most of the city was demolished during WWII, they rebuilt the city with a modern theme centered around tourism.

We park the car, get our bearings (i.e., get some directions from the office of tourism) and head out to visit the Mardasson Monument. This three-story monument, in the shape of a pentagram, is dedicated to the nearly 80,000 American soldiers either wounded or killed while defending Bastogne in the battle. Standing on top of the monument was moving, offering a birds eye view of the surrounding country side. Not much of the landscape has changed since the winter of 1944, making it easy to mentally picture the battles that took place in the fields and primitive roads. The Bastogne Historical Centre next to the Monument displays the actual clothing and equipment used by the Americans and Germans. It's worth the admission price if you are in the area.

After our tour, we asked for a good recommendation for dinner "on the Vegas strip". We heard the Wagon restaurant had great food and atmosphere: you dine in an old rail car. They were right; the food was AMAZING!!! The only drawback was that the menu is in French....and most of the staff spoke only French. I'm sure they have English speaking servers in the summertime.....but not on our visit. Neither of us has studied French, which made this dinner all the more interesting.

After finishing off the delicious crepe's and ice cream, we punched in 'home' to the Garmin and expected the return trip to take about an hour. Somehow the Garmin didn't get that memo and decided to take us through EVERY small village between Bastogne and Bitburg. After an hour of driving through the Ardennes region......and coming into what felt like was the 100th small village, we almost turned off the trusty navigator. What stopped us was coming around a sharp corner and looking down into the town of Vianden, Luxemburg. The first site was the view of the castle lite up. An amazing sight at night. Driving through the village, it is easy to see why this is such an attraction for travelers. Cobblestone streets, old-style hotels, several bakeries......too bad it was 9pm at night and most stores were closed. Driving home, we discovered this gem of a village is a mere 35 minutes from our house! Once the warm weather returns, we plan to spend the day hiking up to the castle and enjoying great food and beverage on some patio overlooking the Our river.

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Manderscheid Castles

We drove over to Manderscheid, Germany a few weeks ago to see the pair of popular castles: the Oberburg (upper castle) and Niederburg (lower castle).

The Niederburg was built around 1133 by a noblemen of Manderscheid. Until 1749 the castle was the property of the family of the then counts of Manderscheid and was ultimately destroyed by French troops. Since 1889 the castle has been the property of the Eifel Association that promotes the many hiking trails located in the area. The Oberburg was built around 973 by the same noblemen of Manderscheid. In 1147 the ownership was transferred to the Electorate of Trier where it remained until is was also destroyed by French troops.

The castles are located all but a stone's throw from each other. Not one of my throws, for my softball team will attest, but perhaps someone like Ichiro could reach. This picture is the view from atop the 5-story lookout tower in the Oberburg castle.

Back to the history...both castles are situated on steep rocks and divided by the Lieser river. During the summer months, the Niederburg castle offers visitors food and drink inside a candle-lit room where one can imagine what is must have been like to feast in such a primitive environment.

A popular event held during the last weekend of August is the Manderscheid Historical Castle Festival. The medieval tournament takes place at the Niederburg castle where you can watch knights go head to head in battle with lance and bow, the minstrels, magicians, and jugglers entertain the crowds, and craftsmen display the handmade tools of the era. Below are more pictures of the Niederburg castle.

PACE

A very inspiring day. Paul Staso, a Montana Grizzly alum and founder and president of P.A.C.E Fitness Foundation, is running across Germany stopping by several Defense Department schools along the way. We were lucky enough to hear him speak and watch his slide show from his 2006 challenge of running across the US.......solo. Well, he did push an 80lb stroller appropriately named 'Bob' that carried all essential gear. P.A.C.E stands for Promoting Active Children Everywhere and was born from a promise he made to the 4th and 5th grade students at his daughters school in Missoula, Montana: if either class could accomplish a virtual 3,200 mile run/walk journey before the end of the school year, then he would run their route across America. Since then, Paul has run solo across the entire states of Montana and Alaska. Amazing. You can check out more about Paul and his great mission at: http://www.pacetrek.com/.

Thank you Paul for being a great inspiration to thousands of kids. Go Griz!!!

Ironic the mascot is a Bobcat.

The beginning of Griz Nation in Germany

Trier

A few weekends ago, we traveled down to Trier (about 30 minutes from our village). It resides along the Mosel river and is known for being the oldest city in Germany. A confession: we actually went twice. The first time we drove down with the camera in hand expecting to take in all the historic sights by spending the day walking around the city. We didn't account for the sub-freezing temperatures and lasted about 30 mintues before hitting a bakery and wasting away the afternoon. On the second visit, we decided to take the train.....and left the camera behind, thinking we captured most of the sights on the first visit. That was true, until we walked into the Trier Cathedral (Dom St. Peter). Good gravy is that thing amazing!!!! Two steps into the church, Andrea looks around and then turns to me to say "nice going on leaving the camera at home, Shull". Oops. My bad. We will return for pictures so don't worry. If you can't wait for our pics, take a look at one of the websites showcasing the Dom: www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/trier-cathedral

Trier Catherdral from the outside

Downtown Trier

The Porta Nigra (former Roman city gate)

Driving in Germany

All this driving around has inspired me to summarize some of the key differences from driving in the states. First, there are very few stop lights. These kids have embraced the yield system like no other. All you "rolling through stop signs" drivers out there would appreciate this effeciency. Also, instead of stop lights, they use roundabouts which eliminates traffic jams and long waits at intersections. Awesome! Warming up your car in the morning is restricted to 30 seconds. Any longer and you risk recieving a ticket. No joke. What about all these small cars? How do they transport large, bulky items? Most cars have hitches to which they attach some sort of utility trailers. Check out a typical hitch:

The speed limit follows the efficiency theme: slow down to 50kmh (around 30mph) in the villages (trust me....with such narrow streets, you don't want to go much faster than that) and then floor it to over 100kmh (or 60+mph) once you hit the village border. Traveling at nearly 70mph on a 2-lane road took some getting used to.....about 2 seconds. In a hurry to get somewhere? It's encouraged. Want to go fast and have a little fun? No problem, enjoy. I love this country!!! It's not all fun and games however......these German kids love to tailgate. I mean sitting on your bumper tailgating. It's common to have a German come up on you and just sit on your rear through many turns and curves regardless of you obeying a posted speed limit. It's all good though. Passing here is quite different than from the states. It is commonplace to pass on straight aways, corners, hills....pretty much anywhere you want. Just floor it, move quickly, and hope for the best (i.e., no unexpected oncoming cars).

Tires is an important part of the driving experience here. How many people know the speed rating for their tires? In the states we rarely exceed 70mph so this is not a concern. In Germany however, it is vital to know the speed limit of your tires before hitting the autobahn. Imagine having a blowout at 100mph. Check the sidewalls for a letter towards the end of all that size information and you will learn your speed limit. Should I ever rent the Audi R8 for a road trip, I will make certain that the tires are rated Y (a rating of over 186mph). After all, the last thing you should be thinking of while driving 190mph+ in a car valued at over $100,000 is the speed rating for your tires.

Bader Markt

We just returned from Bitburg after attending the annual Bader Markt held there. Ealier in the week, while having the Polo repaired, our trusty auto mechanic tipped us to this great annual event and explained it would be much like a home show held in the states. The several vendors for heat pumps, water purifying machines, and the new cool-looking window shades were interesting (everything was in German, so I didn't understand most of the new innovations and instead pointed to the gadgets and give my "oh and ah" to the salesman in my version of the German language....which is not that great). The star attraction for the show (for me anyway) was sitting in the drivers seat of a 2010 A3. Thought seriously about taking one home.....or at least on the autobahn for a test drive. The true highlight of the event was discovering the best dessert EVER: a crepe, filled with Nutella and a sliced banana, served warm. Slice of heaven I tell you. While enjoying my tasty treat, I noticed an interesting drink: Schwip Schwap which is described as cola plus orange. Interesting combination....not sure if I have ever thought of that. Since I drink around 5 sodas in any 12 month period, I am by no means an expert on the current soda flavors. However, this one caught my eye....so I tried it. Huh. Tastes like Coke going down.....and then has an orange after taste. Not bad. It's better than the "Apfel-Waldbeere" (apple and wild berry) drink I picked up at the store. Why these German kids insist on adding seltzer bubbles to EVERY water and fruit drink is beyond me. I know one thing: neither drink will EVER be enjoyed in my new 2010 Audi A3.....if I ever buy one.

Welcome to our neighborhood: Metterich, Germany.

Throughout Germany these signs inform you that you are entering a new city/town/village. On the bottom of this sign is the official name of the district for our region: Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prum.

A view of our village and the surrounding area.....

Of course every good village has a local "Sportplatz" for the local soccer team to play. Our club team, FC Metterich, is part of the Eifel soccer league that plays in the division "Kreisliga C3 Eifel". Next home game is April 3rd and you KNOW we will be there to root on the home team!