Our Road Trip

Our road trip took us all over the place. First we dropped off our boy at the Heathrow airport to go spend his Spring Break with his friends in South Dakota. Nothing makes a child more unhappy than being thousands of miles away from his BFF's and his girlfriend. So after the airport on we went to Dover to take the Channel Tunnel also known as the "chunnel" to Calais, France. It was a brief 30 minute trip on the train in our automobile- this is the only way to go if you ask me! No chopping water, no seasickness, no being cold. Just hanging out in your car for 30 minutes reading a book or doing a crossword puzzle. Life is GOOD!

We basically drove through France and didn't spend any true time sight seeing there (note to self- actually do some touristy thing in France in the future). Belgium- on the way back we spent the night at a B&B- lovely place in a wooded area, so peaceful and restful- would truly recommend it to friends driving through the area).

Germany- Have you ever looked at pictures in a book or on line and wondered if the place is as beautiful in person as the pictures make it out to be? Well for me it was all that and MORE! It's amazing how lovely the places we visited were/are. The word 'picturesque' sums up Heidelberg for me. It's lovely there. We stayed in a hotel that was within walking distance from Heidelberg Castle, our room looked out onto the plaza. When we arrived we checked into our hotel room and sat in the plaza drinking a beer soaking up the sun. It was delightful to sit there looking around seeing people going here and there going about their daily business.

Now for the shopping aspect of it all...(this is for my American military friends). Ramstein Air Base has this PX/BX complex that nothing less than a shopping mall. Picture the biggest BX you've ever been to then times it by say... 5 and that's the BX at Ramstein. It was everything you could ever want or need. For me, I liked the shopping to be something like shopping at Kohl's with little extras like Clinique, Estee Lauder, Vera Bradley, Coach, Dooney and Bourke, and there's a selection Yankee Candles like you're at a Yankee candle store in Massachusetts! Clothing selections were great and so were the shoes, housewares, furniture bedding and basically everything else! So that was the stuff available in the BX store it's self, now for the mall part of the BX complex...The Clock Shop that had such a vast variety of Cuckoo Clocks, Grandfather Clocks, Mantel Clocks , German dolls in authentic dress and Beer Steins galore! There were at least 2 different shoe stores, of course there was an AFEES Book Store (it's size and selection rivals Barnes and Noble), a Candy Store that sells all things Gummi Bear (m'm), a Cinnabon (another yummy place) a Romano's Macaroni Grill (yes we ate dinner there), the food court was awesome! Tons of great places to eat there. There were 2 hair salons, there was also a day Spa there...I only wish that I had more time there because I sooo would have gone in for a day spa treatment! The Turkish Rug Store- this place would have you oohing at everything! Every rug in that shop was like looking at a work of art. When my husband asked me if I wanted to go into the shop I didn't hesitate. We looked at the pretty rugs that were in so many lovely patterns and colors. When he asked me if I wanted one I thought that he was joking...then he said "pick one" oh my gosh my heart leapt for joy! I've always wanted a Turkish rug for our formal dining room- but always saw them as being too expensive. But since all of the rugs were trucked in to this shop from Turkey the prices were seriously reasonable! So here I am, the proud owner of a beautiful Turkish Rug! I didn't buy a German Cuckoo Clock on this trip, I will do it next time though! There are a lot more stores there in that mall that I've listed, a lot more these are just the few that I went into ;-) Hannah was in heaven, she got all kinds of clothes suitable for a teenager in Europe. Oh I didn't mention the movie theater! There's a big movie theater there on the 2nd floor of this mall! There's also a pub, a German Style resturant the Polish Pottery Store Yes I bought a few pieces of pottery there). I'm here at home doing the happy dance with my purchases not to mention That I'm also cleaning the house, doing laundry, putting things away and catching up on my e-mails. Now for me to get the floor dusted in the formal dining room so I can get my new rug out on display!