Cochem Germany First day of adventure

GOOD morning Cochem!

We got up about 7am and got moving so we could shower and get to Castle Eltz about when they opened.  They open at 9:30 - we SO missed that timeline, but it was close enough.  We headed over to the main hotel to 1) eat breakfast and 2) get the car out of the garage.

Being mountain goats and going straight up the side of the hill/mountain around the river valley - I really wish you could really feel how very STEEP these hills are and how treacherous it really feels going UP these hills... eeek!

We got to the parking area around the castle and I knew the secret that it was in a valley and NOT on a hill... but I didn't tell Butch this... hey, fail to do your homework when I send you the itinerary, it's all a surprise to you... we got to the entrance where there was a shuttle pickup and I said "let's walk" ... something I never say - again, I knew we were headed down hill!  ha!  It's .5 km into the castle from the parking area.  Easy walk if you hadn't had way too many coffees at breakfast... really - ha!  I had to duck off the side of the road down a trail to pee... and I wasn't the only one who had ever done that... but I was nice enough NOT to leave tissues behind... and for me (if you know me) it's not a big deal because I always have supplies and dog-poo bags, so I don't leave any evidence behind - unlike some people who left tissues all over the ground... like all OVER the place.  It was a popular potty spot apparently!  ha!  That issue taken care of we continued down the mountain and lined up...

This is our first experience in the land of COVID... it is one way in/out of the castle, period.  So - we kept our distance and sanitized our hands as instructed and made our way trough the outside of the castle in a clockwise motion...

1563... or is that a 1363?  I can never tell.  The history on this place is phenomial!

https://burg-eltz.de/en/eltz-castle-the-attractions.html

Becuase of it's location and the influence of the families who lived here this is one of the only castles in Germany that was NOT destroyed in it's time.  So it's all original.

That downspout!!!!

What is NOT to love about this downspout?

Don't forget to look down on occasion while there... below you is the "river" eltz - it's more of a stream, but the vantage point of this castle puts it where they could defend from the entry way and there were other defensive positions on the other side of the walk way over as well... 

Once such battlement on the north side of the castle.  I think that's the north anyway... and the river in the background as well.  It's not deep - it's actually fairly clear with a rocky bottom.

No one was around so we took a mask free shot going into the building for our tour!

And again from the top where we can see more of the battlement and the river below. 

** I found the shot I sent to the kids!!** 

This is a horrible shot of these things... I had taken a picture for the girls because the far left looks like the beginnings of a cyberman and the one right next to it has kissy lips... why the photo in my camera altered to a tiny format that I can't zoom in on makes me sad as it was a super cute picture of the two helmets :(  Oh, well, this one will have to remain a memory of how cute it was instead of a picture :)

The tours with the restrictions are a bit smaller, so they don't cram you in and rush you through - which is good, but it's bad at times as well because they can't get as manny through so it makes for longer lines getting in.  I guess we didn't see a lot of the hurry up and wait... on this one as we lined up and were able to head right in... I think we only  had a 15/20 minute wait for the english speaking tour.

baskets and hooks to hang food from in the kitchens to help protect from rats.  MMMMm... yuck.  The cabinet in the lower left is their fridge as it is in the super thick walls...

better picture of the cabinet

crockery closet

LOOK at that fireplace!!!!  Wow and it's in the base of the house, not in a separate room... so they could keep this going for food/heat in the winter... had to be miserable in the summer however.  The slate in the firebed is also original and allowed for better airflow to the fires... and they would have to sweep out the ashes from those tiny grooves - what a pain.  They were like that throughout the house upstairs as well.  talk about hard work!!!

Mind the meter.... well, meter and a half - MOST did not do this... they are crowders, but honestly between the improperly worn masks and little old ladies who would pull theirs down below their noses... I didn't feel like i was EVER protected from them.  They, however, were protected from me... but I also have added pipe cleaners to mine to shape it away from my nose so it doesn't suck to my face AND shapes around the top of my nose as well as allowing a tiny area around my chin for extra exhaust.  It was the old that had improper masks for the most part... here's hoping they all stay healthy!

Butch insists these were games... I insisted per the paper I was given that they are snuff boxes.

MY PEOPLE... yes, this guy is POOPING!!!

I'm horrible, I found him hilarious and ha to get the full picture view of him!!

And with that we were done with Castle Eltz.... we did take the shuttle up because there was NO way I was going to be able to walk out of that valley!!

On the way home we saw this in the distance... I thought it was a castle...NOPE... it's a church!

Details as seen on google... 

We did not go in... we had a full day planned.

Back on the road to go to the suspension bridge Geierlay  We had asked our server at breakfast and she did not recommend it... Honestly?  it's a once in a lifetime thing.  It's the 2nd longest in Germany... and it was cool just to go over and back.

Direction we're headed....

Direction we came from ... well there was a left turn at the trees... 

and on the way back there was a nice farm girl set up with her ice cream truck there... and we did have a cone on our walk back to  car.

Finally in the trees and shade walking along... Butch outpaces me by far all the time... I am out for a stroll, he is out to GET somewhere.  I'm out to see the sights and not die!!

In line with waiting... the story of COVID.  BUT there was a drink guy there (he umbrellas) and the line started just in front of that ... so it wasn't THAT long of a line.  There was "security" there to tell you when to go as they had it set up to do one way only.  So... we were really taking our chance of getting to the other side and waiting to get back for a while - ha!

finally rounded the corner to see the actual bridge.  Very impressive.  But then again, I have never been on a suspension bridge, so I was easily impressed... and thankfully not scared of heights.

Towards where we were going (behind us)...

The way we had been (behind us!)

We managed to get pretty far between groups on the way back over and we only had to wait about 1/2 hour before they reversed the direction of flow so we got there, stood in the shade a bit, then got in line to head on back to the other side where our car was :)

This is the house I sat in front of trying not to die - hahaha!  We were mostly back to the car by this time and I was dying... so I sat on a bench in the shade and admired the slate going most of the way down the side of this house... yes, that is slate, not wood.  Interesting, eh?

AND back to the hotel to enjoy some adult beverages and relax a little.  We even snuck in a nap this afternoon  well, WE would be Butch, I didn't sleep, but I did lay down with shoes and socks off!!) before dinner.  Dinner was in town and it was 

My dinner to the left - Schnitzel - Butch to the right - SchweinSteak.  

SUPER yummy but mostly because we hadn't eaten all day.  Butch is weird.  He won't eat if it's close to dinner than lunch so when we finished our hike at 3pm he suggested an icecream cone instead of lunch... and honestly being HOT and super tired I was OK with that and had a bit of coke when I got back to the hotel... so I was super hungry and ALMOST finished it all... the salad was oil and vinegar from some coleslaw at the bottom of it... SO light and good... then the Schnitzel with gravy and mushroom..YUMMMMM  Then we waddled back to the hotel and watched the sunset again...

our hotel - our room is just above the red awning - 2nd room from the left... with the flowers, not with the sign... with the flowers... they smell just as good as they look!!

this is the tower we can see from our room across the river... very cool - it's at the beginning (end) of the shopping area.  We saw a LOT of dessert places and we were so stuffed any time we ate, we never wanted dessert - again, the whole thing of not grazing all day long.. I don't get it - ha!  Our family is not big dinner people... we're eat when you're hungry even if it means you have icecream for dinner... not with Butch... I was a fat tick every time we went home after dinner... 

OK, (hotel carpet) every time I looked down I saw flying squirrels, NOT brown flowers... I challenge you NOT to see flying squirrels now every time you look at this pattern - hahaha!

Cochem Germany Trip - the arrival

FINALLY after 112 days of captivity.... some of those days by choice... we have struck out to see some more of Germany.  We were really released about four weeks ago, but honestly I was wanting to see if we would blow up like the US has after Memorial Day weekend.  We (aka Germany hasn't) so we decided to head on out and stay local.  

Travel is still "weird to stay the least with travel restricted to only car/train/bus available to us.  EUCOM, AFRICOM and the US Air Force CAN travel by air, but not the Marines... I honestly chalk this up to a command that is leaving, so they are not doing anything above and beyond what they have to on their way out and welcoming a new command... how would YOU like to turn over your headquarters when they were well and truly infected with COVID?  Yeah.. probably not the BEST, but most folks were really traveling this last weekend, us included.  So - Cochem.  It's on the Mosel River... it's roughly 3.5 hours north of here.. 

And so I took the day off on Thursday as the military was already off and the workload was light (non-existent) that day...

we got up and slow rolled it out of here.  I need to learn to not say "by xx time" because that does not mean ANYTHING to folks here... I meant, we would be pulling OUT of here at that time... NOPE.  We were thinking of rolling out of here at that time and finally getting lunch at that time, but not truely rolling out of here.  THEN I forgot my passport which wasn't the end of the world as I remembered it when we went to get gas... and of course Butch was panic'd that we didn't have a lot of cash on hand for the trip... which necessitated a trip to the ATM.  I had plenty just FYI but he didn't trust that and loaded us all up with cash.  Oh, well, we were on the road eventually and got there at roughly 6:00pm checked into the hotel.  

The Hotel was the Brixiade and Triton Hotel - which is confusing as it is two hotels that at first glance are connected... not so, they are just a few doors down from each other... https://www.hotel-brixiade.de/cms/front_content.php  We were in the Triton hotel which is a bit older but had proper balconies and river views that were to die for!  

The hotel was without A/C... but honestly if it weren't for the noisey neighbors in our area it would have been perfect as the temps were quite low at night in the 60s and the river breeze was wonderful

But I digress - here is the hotel inside as it was when we first walked in:

Because you KNOW you have to go STRAIGHT to the balcony to check out your view!  And WHAT a view!!

Looking back in the room... that is really a "king" bed made of two twin beds with separate duvets.  I still like that way of working bedding - Butch can be all straight and orderly and I can sleep in a ball'o blankets!  ha!

The bath - nothing to write home about... it did the trick and for as small as that shower looks it wasn't horrible.

So - we unpacked and went to dinner at the hotel, honestly the only dinner we ate there.  It was OK, but it was a buffet... I am NOT a fan of buffets.  ever... and during times of Corona even less likely to want to be there... but everyone wore their masks when up and about...so here's hoping!!  They were diligent about traceability as well and we had an assigned seat to eat at the whole time so they would know if anyone got sick and when and if they needed to notify us.  

So - after dinner we walked the river bank for a few minutes and digested dinner.

Love, love, love the wine presses that are filled with flowers all over town

That is a castle ruin in the distance of the setting sun....

A little pink in the sky a lot of pink in the flowers from our balcony - they smelled as good as they looked!

Looking at the castle.  Note the lights in the foreground... no lights in the castle... and it's 9:30... it does stay light a long time here in the summer... 

10 pm and the sky is still blue... but the lights are on the castle - it's very pretty... 

More plants and repotting.

And I remember to take before pictures!

I always forget to take before pictures!  This time I actually had a bit of forethought!!

 

This is a ZZ plant. AKA a Zanzibar Gem and botanical name of Zamioculcas zamifolia. Thus ZZ plant. 

And one super crowded mother in law tongue who needed repotting mostly because I overwatered it this summer. Whoops!  So while I was draining the water I knew I needed to replace it’s soil. And split it out!

Here’s the after. Looks just as full, doesn’t it?  Yeah. I took out two starters and still left three stalks in the pot!  So. It’s been repotted with new soil. 

Here are the two new babies   Cute, eh?

And the ZZ has had all the root rot removed and dead stems removed and cleaned out a few dead root balls as well. 

And now we wait to see how everyone does after their transplant!  Wish them luck!

Adventures in photos. **updated**

So I ordered photos from an on line place that does quality photos. I ordered these in March. They said they were delivered in April. Hu??  It’s JUNE. Where are my photos??  I had just sent in a complaint and asked them to reprint and reship only to have them tell me the above. Hummm. Nope. Soooo I go to the post office today to get mail and there is a package slip. Ok. I go in and retrieve  the package and it’s my photos!!! What are the odds of when I FINALLY give up they show up?  So what were they of?  Well they were from Angela’s senior pictures in 2017. Yep. I’m that far behind in projects. 

Here is what they were for:

OriginL lay out. Note it’s mostly he two of them together and it was supposed to be Angela’s “side”

E.g the whole layout:

See all Liz’s senior pictures are on the right. The left should be all Angela and it’s not. 

So here is the after:

Much more “balanced” but I did tell Angela that she got top billing in the center group as she has three solo shots. Ha!  I may have to print out another one of the two of them for the middle. Or not... it looks good. I feel accomplishment tonight. 

And just now noticed one of Liz’s pictures is repeating. Hum. Going to have to print another for her so I may as well print a group one for the middle row too :)

** update. Since I noted the duplicate photo it bugged me ... so I went to my printer today and printed out two new pictures for the center collage. 

What did I change?  The lower left photo (duplicated the lower right photo in Liz’s collage). And the center picture that was just Angela solo. Now the whole middle row is the two of them and the top and bottom row are only the one child. I think it works!

COVID day 80 of "lock down"

Well on some fronts the "lock down" is easing.

As of June 3rd this was the update for Germany from my work.

-News Around the Theater:

-Germany:

•       31 May, German government is reportedly planning a 100 Euro stimulus package to  help with COVID-19

•       2 June, Gottingen city, Saxony, saw an uptick in COVID-19 cases due to private parties  over the weekend

•       1 June, police announce a decline in Corona Regulation violations over Pentecost weekend

•       2 June, Leisure sports and Gyms can resume, with specific regulations – You have to be healthy and have no signs to go to a gym, maintain proper sanitation, and practice social  distancing

•        

-Norway:

•       15 June, Norwegians will be allowed to travel to Denmark for day trips, while  keeping the borders with Sweden and Finland closed

 

-Italy:

•       2 June, the Italian President warned that COVID-19 is still a threat, after top  doctors state the virus no longer exists in Italy

•       3 June, people arriving from the EU, UK, or Schengen zone will no longer be  forced to quarantine for 14 days

 

-Spain:

•       26 May, Spanish government will lift 14 day quarantine requirement for those  entering the country after 1 July

•       3 June, the Spanish Health Minister announces the country has not had a  COVID-19 casualty in two days

This is all fine and good but the Military and/or civilian work force is STILL not released to travel beyond 100 miles of base AND can't have over night stays anywhere just yet...  We're hopeful this change will be seen this week!!!

I'm not even sure I know what to say about any of this anymore in light of the whole George Floyd death, riots and upheaval at home.  I'm telling you there is just no joy in this year.

COVID, Earthquakes in SLC, now riots.  Good heavens what else can this year bring?

I guess I shouldn't ask... I may well find out.

I have thought about commenting multiple times on the Floyd riots.  I have commented a few times and regretted it immediately as there is NOTHING I can say to change what is going on.  I don't condone the police for their treatment, I don't condone the rioters for their violence and destruction.  I get the pain, as much as a white person in the US can get it.  I don't live it, I am white, and I will never get it.  I empathize and it breaks my heart, but honestly I'll never "get it".  That makes me sad that there are some experiences in this world that we as different people from different backgrounds can never get.

I have a lot of empathy for those who are facing difficulties.  I have similar (never to equate to the same) experiences living overseas as an American who struggles with the local language and customs.  I'm looked down on and I get why folks look at me the way they do.  The thoughts that Americans have when there are foreigners in their country – you are HERE learn the language…. But now being almost 55 and struggling with the whole learning curve and brain that point blank does not want to function in English much less German most days I have a lot of empathy for those in the states struggling to learn English – it’s HARD to learn a new language when you’re older.

But I digress.  The point is, there can be empathy and there can be support but there cannot be “knowing” until you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.  So, be kind to one another.  You don’t know what that person has struggled with. 

I want to blame ALL my woes on old age but it’s really a combo of Chemo and old age that is doing my poor wee brain in.  It’s had enough.  It can’t function to figure some things out… it tries… I swear.  I will try to think of the German word and the Italian one will come to my mouth.  I don’t get that disconnect, but hey, it is what it is.

So – life right now?  Sucks in some ways, is good in some ways.  I’m alive.  I’m at exactly 3 years to the day from when I had a horrible bleed that lead to the diagnosis of cancer.

I’m due for scans in July.  I still worry every freaking day that it’s back, that it’s spread and when I get a rattle in my chest when I cough, I worry three times as hard – have any aches and pains I really wonder what the blazes is going on in there… were there signs that I ignored when I had cancer?  Yeah, probably… will I still feel like a hypochondriac every single time I have a pain – you betcha.  I try to reign it in and NOT panic, but most days are searching pain areas and reoccurrence of cancer.  So, yeah.  Fun times.  I wonder if it will ever end – the worry.  I doubt it, but I can hope.

Repotting of the plants

My co worker is leaving to go back to the states so I’m acquiring a number of her indoor plants. Some of which she had readily admitted needed to be repotted so that is what I was doing this fine sunny Sunday morning. We would have gone for a driv ebut the ONE place I could think of that I would want to go is across the Swiss border. :( that’s not happening. Sigh. Damn COVID. So repotting and puttering in the yard it is!

I should have taken before pictures but it’s not critical. All but one looks the exact same just in a bigger pot :)

The Aloe plant is now on a pot twice (or near enough) to his original pot. He was a little unsteady and needed some soil build up around his root ball which he has now. 

The next four... well five really. All the tiny pots. These were in a single pot and needing some room to stretch their roots and their limbs. 

I started with a split of four and one spontaneously split again. We do what the plant tells is to do :). There are now five littles and they shall live on my stairwell window sill after they get a bit of fresh air after their transfer. I have three tiny potted succulents up there now that will probably be repotted as well in time. 

The one in the orange pot is the money tree. She was a bit root bound and needed a LOT more room so she was upgraded as well.

Ok moving on to the red pot. This is a poinsettia. She is now upgraded to a larger pot as well. She was brought back from the dead by R so I have my work cut out for me to NOT kill her!!  We shall see if we can force some Christ blooms out if her as well. Not sure how we can eek 12 hours of sunlight but I may have to get a bulb that will simulate it and give it a try. 

The last one is a pathos. Same deal. Root bound needed room to grow and hey, after buying some 30+ pots last summer I am the gal to make it happen ;)

Sadly these are the largest pots I have on hand and we have one more that needs repotting and splitting. Sooooo next week I’ll go to OBI (Home Depot here) and get some larger pots to split that one out as well. 

This week they settle into their pots after a good watering and then next week we feed them all and start out their new live spread around the house.  I now officially may have too many plants... but I guess this is where I will putter as I’m much less likely to go sit and putter in the back yard :)  although...

This is a pretty little gathering of plants. 

After some sun it was time to bring the newly repotted guys into the house to

Looking at the picture now I realize I need to change the order of these pots for color balance. Oh. Well. We shall get to that later

And in the kitchen the aloe should be really good in this spot, don’t you think?  And a few more succulents as well for balance. 

Annnndddd I need to find a good single stand for this guy. I think he would be great in this corner of the room