Back Home in Germany

First stop: Germany!

This is our friends and family part of the trip and so we started with a great weekend at Mark's sister's house in Ludwigshafen/Mannheim. We had lots of fun with our two nieces Lusia (5) and Sophie (7), and their horses...

Next, we went to see my brother Patrick in Hamburg, and for Ruth's birthday, took a 2-day trip to the island of Sylt, off the coast of Germany near Denmark, in the North Sea.

Ruth's brother Patrick is not only a hilariously funny person, but also a very talented free-lance journalist, who, among many other projects, frequently reviews restaurants...so our bike ride around the island was guided by our goal to try several of Sylt's best restaurants and cafes...

Home Sweet Home

This is Ruth's home town Koblenz, where the Mosel meets the Rhine River. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 26 castles nesteled in the vineyards along the Rhine. The pictures below show the Festung Ehrenbreitstein, a famous fortress built in the 19th century, and the confluence (hence the name Koblenz) of the Mosel and Rhine rivers.

This is my grandmother...she is 94 and going...

The other day we took a 24-km hike in the hills along the river, which took us along this replica of a Roman watch tower, located at the site of the original tower, marking the border of the Roman Empire in the region, and this house from the 1600s.

Marlies: this picture is just for you: Vallendar's mayor says hello!