So what did I do with all that time?
This:
Yes, that's my family. Standing on top of the Zugspritze, the highest point in Germany. That's right. I spent the last two weeks in Germany.
It was a heck of a trip. My parents, my family, my sister's family... all 11 of us piled on a plane and flew from Washington D.C. to Germany for an amazing tour of my childhood stomping grounds.
We saw castles:
and more castles:
We actually spent the night in castles:
We took boat cruises down the Neckar and Rhine Rivers:
We climbed mountains:
We traveled 6,000 miles by plane, 1800 km by tour bus, countless miles by walking, hiking, taxis, cable cars, trams, strassenbahns, trains, horse and carriage, boats, and vans.
I took over 3,000 pictures.
How can you not take that many pictures when this is what there is to see?
I drank tea in the morning, wine in the vineyards, watched the Germans and Americans play the World Cup games in biergartens, ate delectable chocolate while walking through century old downtowns, sat on the edge of a river in the Munich English gardens and put my feet in ice cold water, made a snowball while wearing short sleeves, became entranced with the mystery of Mad King Ludwig, and fell in love with our tour guide.
And on the way through the Black Forest, between exploring a working farm and visiting the world's largest cuckoo clock, I opened my computer for the first time and finished the first draft of my current book.
So now I'm back, buried under laundry and impending summer plans, seemingly endless emails, and weeks of blogs to catch up on.
But my book is complete and ready for revisions, and I'm excited to get back to it when my head clears a bit. In the meantime, I have marketing to work on for Some Kind of Normal, and an application to grad school to work on. And though jet lag is kicking my bum a bit right now, I feel good about it all. Taking a break was such great thing.
So you tell me: what have I missed?
We were in Germany two and a half years ago and loved it. Looks like you had a great trip.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the first draft. I'm just starting the revisions on it.
Glad to have you back.
I wish I had known you were here!! Glad you had fun :)
ReplyDeleteWOW!!! Awesome trip!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Germany (2-6). Love the pictures. Some of my first memories are castles like you posted. Welcome back and so glad you had such a wonderful time.
ReplyDelete~ Wendy
Wendy: You must have been in a military family. :) I lived there for about the same four years, from 1970-1975. We lived in Heidelburg and Frankfurt, which were our two first stops.
ReplyDeleteI remembered castles, but I'd forgotten how many there are! Every ten feet it seems like there's another one!
Nicole: thanks! It was an awesome trip, and I'm a bit sad to be back. We'd been planning this for ten years!! Now... we need something else to plan, I think! :)
Oh I am so jealous! IT sounds fabulous! You should have packed me and taken me along:))
ReplyDeleteWelcome home and you sound like you have a lot ahead of you:) Congrats on finishing the rough draft!
Beautiful pictures! It sounds like you had a wonderful time. I got to go to Germany about ten years ago but could only stay for a few days. It was beautiful, though.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing your first draft.
Castles? oh, man, that is amazing! What a wonderful, wonderful trip and a lovely family you have :D
ReplyDeleteWow, that first photo of your family is spectacular!
ReplyDeletewhew - first drafts are hardset to me....congrads.
ReplyDeleteAwesome pictures! Thank you so much for sharing. I was on holiday too, but nothing as exciting as two weeks in Europe. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are back and congratulations on finishing your first draft.
WOW! How cool is that? I've never been to Europe. I'm so jealous! :)
ReplyDeleteI spent one day in Wardemunde, Germany last year. It wasn't nearly as cool as your trip. Those mountains and castles are beautiful. Great pictures as usual. And to top it all off, your first draft is finished? Way to go.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for your husband that you fell in love with your tour guide.
What an incredible trip and amazing pictures! My husband was born in Landstuhl. Can't wait to see more pictures. Just stunning.
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible trip and amazing pictures! My husband was born in Landstuhl. Can't wait to see more pictures. Just stunning.
ReplyDeleteOh your trip looks amazing! We spent two weeks in Great Britain a few years ago and I couldn't get enough of castles and cathedrals.
ReplyDeleteOh man, Heidi! You got some AWESOME shots. You definitely beat our 1,000 photos from our famiily vacation to Hawaii. Good luck working your way through them and deciding which ones to print. Heh, heh! ;o)
ReplyDelete