July 11, 2011 I am joining my daughter Bekah in Europe for 3 weeks of traveling, just mommy and her Boo and then flying back to Missouri with her in tow. Not having traveled abroad before I was terribly nervous but a 3 hour delay in Philly calmed me down and then I was just anxious to get going. Thankfully my husband Rick gave me a bag of trail mix to snack on and that was my lunch until I had dinner on the flight crossing the "pond". I felt really bad for the men sitting around me as they were considerably taller than my 5'1", and had to be incredibly uncomfortable. I know I was! Think of yourself shoehorned into a seat for 7 hours!
After I get through customs in Brussels - a piece of cake compared to going through TSA in STL, I call Bekah to let her know I am here and she and Christy (a friend she met at Schmalkalden in summer school)got on the right train to meet me....just the wrong direction! So I purchased a sandwich and coffee and waited. My first attempt at ordering food in a foreign language.
They finally show up and off we go to rent our economy car. A VW Polo. To my knowledge it is not available in the US probably b/c of all the gas "cafe" standards mandatory in our country. It is small and barely fits all our luggage. (It will be very interesting to see us 'totally' packed up for the flight home and how much extra boxes or luggage will cost us.) The economy of the Polo is GREAT compared to my SUV with at best 18 mpg. So far we have gotten 41mpg on the first tank and 51 mpg on the second.
I stayed in Bekah's apartment in Liege (which she has until 7/31) . That same evening Bekah and Christy prepared an American dinner for her friend Pauline's sister and mom - unfortunately Pauline could not make the dinner. They were delightful and the girls discussed their college experiences and what they want to do with their degree. We told them about life in the states. The one thing I do not get is NO SCREENS on the windows. Not just in Liege but so far now in Germany and now Austria. The bugs were terribly annoying in Liege as they bit but I took care of that with some Skin So Soft bath oil from AVON. Thank you AVON!!!!!
July 12th/13th/14th/15th - We take Christy to the Frankfort Airport and after much wrangling with too much in her suitcase she boarded and we got some Starbucks and pastry and off to Aushaufanburg, Germany to visit Schmerber relatives. Bekah had stayed with Ziggy & Anni during the first part of her Spring Break but since then Ziggy lost his battle with cancer but we were able to visit with Anni and her family for a couple of days. A beautiful town with picturesque cottages and flowers blooming everywhere. * We toasted Dad on what would have been his 89th birthday.*
July 16 - We head out to Vilseck, Germany to visit Christine and her family. Christine and Bekah met up in the Volos Airport in Greece. I am not entirely sure of the circumstances but maybe mom does not really want to know. Christine's husband is in the Army stationed there so we stayed on base at their home. 7/17 Sunday we went to a medival festival out in the country. Apparently this is a huge once a year festival - thousands of people come for this 3 day (?) event. Bekah and I only went Sunday and left for Salzburg, Austria mis afternoon. Think Branson - Think Silver Dollar City Fall Craft Festival only Medival! Beer, brats, corn, huge baked potatoes, roasted corn on the cob and pretzels the size of a magazine and about an inch thick. Add ketchup and mustard and you are good to go.
July 17 night - Arrive in Salzburg, Austria the home of "Sound of Music". Interestingly enough most Salzburg natives think S.O.M. is just a Hollywood movie and do not realize it is based on the real lives of the Von Trapp family who eventually moved to the states, I believe Vermont b/c it reminded them of Austria. BUT the people of Salzburg have NO problem with making a whole economy out of anything and everything S.O.M.! I will continue tomorrow sometime after Bekah and I head out to the Eagles Nest ( missed the last tour by 30 minutes this afternoon). The Eagle's Nest was Hitler's hideout. I will have Bekah add pictures b/c frankly I have no idea how to do it. Talk to ya'll later. Nite! Besides my b..tt hurts from sitting so long.
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