The Weekend

It was a very Rainy weekend here!!We were though able between all the rain fall have the opportunity to enjoy a festival in the city of Freinsheim on Saturday 14 July. 

Our original plan for the weekend was to go to Mainz for a beer fest, but with the such unpredictable weather we decided to stay a bit closer to home.  I actually heard about the Festival in Freinsheim through Facebook.  I follow the website Buzz off Base and occasionally there are events posted on the Facebook page.  

  The festival had a number of good foods as well as wine.  Freinsheim is located in the area that is called Weinstraße (Wine Street).  In September in the city of Bad Dürkheim there is a very large Wine Festival every year. 

I know very little about the area, but from my experience most of the Wine I've drank is a white wine, this one in the picture was a Riesling. 

Svetlana and I

Take note, we are both wearing pants and long sleeve shirts.  It is July 14th.  Very ready for Summer here!!!

Brooklyn and I on our walk viewing the City

 We enjoyed some very good food and Ice Cream during our short stay in the city.  A great way to enjoy the afternoon, on a day that did turn out to be quite nice. 

One of the Buildings, part of the City Wall

Sunday we used to run errands and I finished up some schoolwork.  Sam and I both worked on a large project of consolidating our DVD collection to the binder type cases.  Project not yet complete but a big dent into it.  

I'm hoping to have up a post about my trip to the Ukraine soon.  There are so many pictures and more that I'm waiting on.  A wonderful trip and a great opportunity to visit a growing city.

Trier

On July 1st Sam and I were able to go to Trier.  For me this is the second time, and Sam third trip to Trier.  My first trip to Trier was in November 2011, we went to go check out the Christmas market.  Unfortunately the day we decide to go it down pours and didn't stop.  We had along Brooklyn and with all the rain she was not a happy puppy, so our trip to Trier didn't go so well with very little of the city being seen.

We decided to take the bus this time to Trier, and we were very lucky to have beautiful weather. The city of Trier is about an hour from our house easy drive up the autobahn.  Had a wonderful lunch at an outside restaurant.   There are a number of shops to visit and historical sites to see when in Trier.  One being the remains of a Roman Bath, the home of Karl Marx, and the Trier Cathedral.

The Trier Cathedral has been the seat of a bishop since the second half of the 3rd century.  The Cathedral's most precious relic is the Holy Robe, called the Tunic of Christ.  The holy robe since 1974 has been kept in its wooden shrine from 1891, encased in an air-conditioned glass shrine.  The shirne is only open on the the days of the Holy Robe Days, but the garment is not seen.  The last time the robe was seen out on display was for a month in April-May.  Before then it was last displayed in 1996.   There is no way to determine when the next time the Robe will be on display. 

Today the it is an active cathedral, with many services and always open to the public for viewing. 

To learn more about Trier, and the Cathedral check out this site.

Medival Castle

In order to not fall behind on some of our activities I wanted to write a quick bit on the Medival Summer Market I went to with our friends Rich and Svetlana. 

It was a beautiful day, those are sometimes, far and few in between.  A beautiful day, I was able to bring Brooklyn with me and she enjoyed herself, all things to smell and see.  Sam during this time was brewing a beer at a friends house. 

 

Kusel is about 20 mins from our house, here you can see the castle from a distance.  

 At this Festival there were many performances by dancers, jugglers, and horseback demonstrations.

So many neat things to see and do, and we are right in the middle of it.

Knight Camp

 Brooklyn, Svetlana, and Me

This past weekend Sam and I enjoyed a day trip to Trier, more to come about our day.  

Jane

Best Movie this Year!!!

Rock of Ages

On Friday Sam and enjoyed dinner with friends of ours,  at a local German Restaurant.  I ordered the Rumpsteak with Kräuterbutter and pommes (herb butter and fries).  Delicious!!!  We then went to see the movie Rock of Ages.  

The movie directed by Adam Shankman and staring Diego Boneta, Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russel Brand, Cathrine Zeta-Jones and many more.  Based on the Broadway show Rock of Ages, set in 1987 Los Angeles.  This is by far my favorite musical ever!! A wide range of 80's hits throughout the movie.  To view the trailer check out IMDB.  


In Germany this movie was released 14 June, so this weekend the theater was pretty quite and we had our choice of seats at the theater!!  We all enjoyed the show, the acting was great and the music made this movie.  So if you enjoy 80's music I believe you will enjoy this movie!!!


Also check out the Official Movie Site.


This weekend I also went to the Kusel Lichteng Burg Medieval Summer Market.  A number of displays presented, food, and costumes.  Soon will have pictures up. 


Hope everyone had a great weekend,


Jane

TOMS

This weekend we had very little planned, this eveing I plan on seeing the show Dirty Rotten Scoundrels that is put on by the KMC On Stage Production.  I have never seen the movie, but have been told that it is pretty funny!!  So with some of my spare time this Saturday (Which I should be using to study), I wanted to share some neat things that I have recently discovered in the past few months.

 The First is TOMS

I first heard about TOMS back in February during our visit back to Texas.  Sam's sister had a pair of these very simple shoes.  I did see them throughout the malls we stopped at, but really wasn't interested in that type of shoe, as I was just going back to the cold snowy weather in Germany

Chocolate Canvas Women's Classics

 During our visit to Rome, I then saw a number more of people all over wearing these simple
Canvas shoes.  I became more curious about these TOMS that I am seeing everywhere now.  After returning I checked out the TOMS Website and learned the story of its founder and how this company helps so many children all over the world.  For every pair of TOMS shoes that are sold a pair is given to a child in other countries that would not otherwise be able to have shoes.

Katia Chambray Ballet Flats

The above shoes were my first pair of TOMS.  This first pair got me hooked and I now know why so many people had these shoes.  Simple design with cute look ability to dress up and dress down.  I since now purchased a second pair of the classic design and received a pair of the TOMS ballet shoes from Sam, a surprise for our Anniversary. 

TOMS sells shoes for Women, Men, and Children, with all different designs.  The Women's selection has 10 different designs all unique.

I was also able to convince Sam to try out a pair of the TOMS, the dark shoes on the bottom are his.  I don't think he would suggest wearing them for long walks, as there is not much arch support in the shoe. 

I may now have enough shoes for the summer, but I love looking at more and always love having more haha.  I wanted to share these with everyone because of my love for them and the work this company does to help others.

Brooklyn's Coat

This past Christmas, my Mom came to visit us here in Germany.  It was her first trip over the Atlantic, so we took in some of the sites.  Seeing Munich, Neuschwanstein Castle, and New Years in Paris.  She brought along with her a coat that she made for Brooklyn.  Unfortunately Brooklyn was a bit smaller than she anticipated, we didn't get all the measurements quite right. The coat for her was a bit to wide around her belly, needing some alterations.  It can be read about also in my Mom's Blog here: Brooklyn's Coat Blog Post.  We just got it back in the mail this past week and I wanted to show off how good Brooklyn looks.  She will not wear it out until probably November or December as we have some beautiful weather right now. Thursday night though she slept with it on for probably an hour without trying to get it off, I think she likes the feel of the material on the inside, we will see in the winter if she will continue to wear it. 

 

Our Brooklyn Looks good!!

Rhine River Cruise

Memorial Weekend Sam and I took another RTT trip to the Castles on the Rhine.  This trip included transportation, a castle tour included, river boat cruise along the Rhine River, and lunch at a German restaurant. 

We toured the Reichensten Castle, that was first mentioned in the year 1213.  Many of the castles on the Rhine during medieval times were used by people that charged tolls on the river for boat passage.

We visited a Wine and brandy shop in the village of St. Goar, where we tried Ice Wine and peach brandy.  Both were delicious, we ended up bringing some back with us. 

It was then off for our cruise on the Rhine, it was about an hour and half on the river.  Beautiful views of all the castles as well as some history about the river and the castles were given.  This site can give you a brief overview about the Rhine River.  Rhine River 

 We ended our day in the city of Rudesheim where we had a German lunch and about three hours to explore the city.  A beautiful city along the Rhine, with a number of shops and restaurants. 

 To view more photos from our trip check them out by using this link Picasa Photos .  Hope everyone has a great weekend,

Jane