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Travel and Kimberly's House...

June 26th - 27th

Day 1 was our travel day… We had a 12:15 scheduled flight that would take us to Atlanta, where we'd have a 2-and-a-half hour layover before our flight to Frankfurt.  Now, all notices say to be at the airport at least 3 hours ahead of time for international flights, so we were there at 9:15.  Of course, it took us all of 5 minutes to check in, and there was no line at the security checkpoint, so we had some time to kill.  We had some breakfast with Mom, Janet, and Larry, and then we said our goodbyes and headed to the gate, where we waited for a couple more hours.

Our flight to Atlanta was slightly delayed (about 1/2 hour), but we still had plenty of time in Atlanta to get to our gate and get some lunch.  We took shifts getting our lunch -- LeElla and Laura going first, and then Angel and I went.  Unfortunately, it took Angel and I so long to get our lunch, they started to board the plane before we had a chance to finish.  But that was OK since they served us plenty of food on the plane.

I have to say that the flight to Frankfurt was a very long flight, and the entertainment left much to be desired… there was only one movie for the whole plane (no individual seat units for coach), and I couldn't find country music on the flight music stations (I was wishing I had brought my iPOD).  The movie was a good one, however ("Breach"), and I did get some reading done, though I was too tired to read much.  By the time we landed, we were all still pretty tired.

But Kimberly insisted on keeping us busy and not letting us nap so that we would acclimate ourselves to the time zone (6 hours ahead of home).  On the way to Kimberly & Brian's house from the airport, we stopped at a castle in a small city.  The castle was no longer being used, except I think there was still a small chapel inside.  Also, they were setting up a large stage for a concert of some sort, so I'm guessing they probably rent it out for special events (I've got a brochure on this castle for more info).   Outside the castle, there was a wonderful fresh market with flowers, plants, fruits and vegetables.  We picked up some strawberries and headed on.

We had to run some errands before getting to Kimberly's house.  We went to the base in Illisheim (sp?) where we first added Lel and myself to the list of drivers for the rental van, then picked up some gas coupons ('cause gas is ridiculously expensive in Europe… twice as much as back home… and the coupons gave us a considerable discount), and finally exchanged some US dollars for euros.

By the time we got to Kimberly's house, we were hungry.  So, we dropped off our bags and headed into town to find some food.  Kimberly lives in a really nice, charming German town with narrow, cobblestone streets and stores that close during lunch so that the owners can go upstairs to their homes to eat.  The restaurant where we had planned to eat wasn't open for lunch during the week, so we ended up at an authentic Italian restaurant where we each got our own, unique pizza.  One of the nice things about this town was that many places allowed dogs in their restaurants, so Samantha (Kimberly's dog) was able to join us (and she was very well behaved).

After lunch, we headed out for a walk (after picking up some patries and ice cream).  We went to a nice local park area where they had miles of walking trails.  One trail took us to a place where variety of animals were located.  It wasn't a zoo, or anything like that… they animals were just behind some fencing and we could walk up and pet them if we wanted to.  There were even a couple of deer that were not shy… the male deer came up and licked everyone's hands… and gave Samantha a lick or two as well.

We got back to the house and freshened up some… checked our email and called home.  We then headed out once again, this time to take Samantha to her home for the next couple of weeks… it was like a Doggy dude ranch, where Samantha could play with other dogs and run around a nice big yard… much better than a kennel.  We then headed out to another castle for dinner.  This place was funny… it was already 7:00pm -- a late dinner in the US -- but no one was in the restaurant.  They even had to check to make sure they were serving dinner.  Thank goodness they were, 'cause we a an amazing meal.  Now, Janet had told us that they didn't serve large portions in Europe like they did in the states, but our portions were huge.  She also told us that the beef wasn't very good, but four of us had steak dinners, and they were excellent!  So I don't know where Janet ate, but it couldn't have been at this castle.  She did say that the salads were really good, and she was right on there… So one out of three for Janet.

After dinner, hung around the castle and took pictures, and then headed back to Kimberly's house.  On the way, Tom-Tom (Kimberly's GPS) took us a round-about way, so we got to see some amazing countryside.  We pulled over once to get some pictures around a pretty lake, and then pulled over again because someone had constructed a playground area around a lake and in the middle of a wheat field.  It was really kinda strange, but also kinda special… not sure who built it or why, but we enjoyed it. 

Once we got back to Kimberly's, most people showered and rearranged their suitcases so that they'd all fit in the van for the drive to Rome.  Most of us got to bed by around midnight, though Kimberly was awake until around 2:00am.  Considering that we were getting up around 4:00am, she was going to be one tired camper.

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