My cousin Casey came to visit us last week. We grew up together, we spent many summers getting into trouble on the farm, going to wrestling meets (our uncle coaches), and playing with grandma’s beads, sequins, and lace (she’s the world’s greatest seamstress). This is us a quarter of a century ago.
Her time with me in Deutschland consisted of trips to Trier, Bernkastel, Brussels, Luxembourg, and Cologne.
We did a wine tasting at a popular winery on the Mosel, Owen sampled grape juice – which he loved and his poor bum did not.
{Juice gives him diaper rash (which I should have known, he got it pretty bad from orange juice last fall) but coconut oil and lavender soothed the pain and cleared it up in a few days.}
I took her up to the Bernkastel castle for a view of the Mosel. Even though it was a (typical) crummy day, it’s still a stunning sight.
That evening we had dinner at the Truck Stop (this classic German restaurant is a must for all of our guests) so she could experience fine German beer and cuisine (jaegerschnitzel).
But nothing beats the beer, fries, waffles and chocolate in Belgium. Brussels is a great city to check off on your European bucket list. I mean all that and a peeing statue? What more could you want? Right, or…?
We naturally did some damage at the chocolate shops. I keep Galler and Neuhaus in business, I don’t know what they’d do without me.
Without Alex to help, juggling a camera and a baby is too much so I used my iPhone most of the time, but I made an exception for Brussels.
Do I ever get tired of photographing this city? Nein.
Our trip to Luxembourg was short and sweet, but included a delicious stop at my favorite sandwich shop in the whole wide world. It’s called Charles Sandwich Restaurant. If you come to Europe, see the Eiffel Tower and all that other stuff and then stop here. Seriously, and you think Jimmy John’s is good? HA.
I love the Murphy’s Chicken (chicken, greens, walnuts, goat cheese, honey…drool) but there isn’t a bad ‘wich in the place.
The Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg turned out to be Casey’s favorite (and she saw a lot during her two weeks in Europe) and it’s no wonder why. It’s such a beautiful, peaceful place.
Just behind the church is the Grand Ducal Palace. We stumbled upon it while searching for an ATM. I’d never noticed it before, though I’m not sure how you miss the building with gorgeous blue doors and windows guarded by a marching soldier. Oh, how I love pomp and circumstance.
It’s the official residence of the Grand Duke, and where he performs all of his Dukey duties. We left the city and stopped by the American Military Cemetery on the way home, but got there 20 minutes after closing time. Casey was able to peek through the gates and trees to get a glimpse. That’s what we get for stopping to do some shopping in Zara…
On her last day, we took the train to Cologne on a whim. It was probably not the smartest idea, with Karneval and Fasching festivities. I completely forgot that was this week. You can look it up to read more about how it started, but it’s pretty much Halloween (minus all the scary, gory stuff) and Oktoberfest smashed into one. So, it’s a big costume party. A week long party.
And Cologne is one o the most popular/famous Karnevals in Germany so…yeah. Lots of clowns, people in lion onesies, wild wigs, and whatever else they can come up with. Like hazmat suits…
These people sure do know how to party. Anyway, the sun was shining so we walked along the river, across the bridge, toured the Dom, and trained it back home before the party got wild (it was a Friday).
We had Thai food for dinner and wine, chocolate, with the Parenthood finale (and, of course, big ugly tears) for dessert. Casey boarded a plane back to the states early the next morning and arrived safe and sound a few hours later.
We had a blast – I loved spending time with her and getting caught up on each other’s lives. It’s sometimes hard to stay in touch, but we’ve always been able to pick up right where we left off. And the best part was recalling all the memories of the good old days. I’m so glad she came to visit and utilized having family living in Europe. We love having company and playing tour guide so seriously, come see us! Or rather, come see Europe so you too can have a free place to stay and enjoy seeing 3+ countries in one week! And wine…chocolate…beer…schnitzel…should I keep going?
I’ll do my best to post again tomorrow. Owen’s naps have been stellar lately (maybe because of this or this or maybe just because he’s been sick) so I’ve had a bit more time to get household chores done with extra time to blog. Yay!
PROST!