Germany, Mike's home coming!

Happy 50th Birthday Steven!!! This is what we were here for. Mike hadnt been home for 2 and a half years and what a great surprise for the family. Only Annette and Tanja knew we were due to walk in the restaurant doors at any moment now. It was perfect, Steven couldnt believe it, he was without words and the tears flowed... It wasnt till later that we learnt he had to go off and take his heart tablets. Ooops!!! The whole family was there, and i had my first introduction to the way of German life. The next 6 weeks were to consist of lots of visiting and sightseeing and not understanding a word of what was being said. Oh and also "The Autobahn"!!!! Yeehaa!!!

That's about as fast as this little car would take us! We did so many things, where do i start? I saw my first Stork (it wasnt carrying any baby for me), a woolley pig, a big brown bear, a moose, wolves, I held a traranchella in my hand ( it was very tickly), and lots of lizards and breaded dragons too. We went to the Black Forest for a day trip, it's so beautiful there and their houses are just amazing. I saw an orignal Black forest Gateaux and yes i couldnt leave without trying it, very yummy. We went and saw the biggest Cuckoo Clock in the world, it was the size of a house. Mike took me on a trip to Strassburg to see the Cathedral, wow... and we stayed in a castle in Saverne (check this out below)Yep, thats my castle. FANTASTIC... He also took me to the Ellsa's (think i spelt that wrong), and we had tarte flambee. Oh how wonderful that was, we ordered 3 all together and totally pigged out. We went to a Mother Concert (Mikes old band). What a great night that was. Mike loved it, he was invited up on stage and totally milked it, ha ha ha ha... Tanja invited us out to meet her friends at a Gothic Party. Now that was a sight. Everyone was dressed in Gothic, all dancing the exact same way, ha ha ha, it was great. Unfortunately we didnt stay long, I was absolutely buggered. We did a trip with Mikes parents to see the fairytale castles, another WOW... then onto Constanz, across into Switzerland to see the Science Expo and also to the Rhein Falls. Mike and I went on a 5 day trip by ourselves, we went to Denmark and learnt all about the Vikings, then headed to the Netherlands and stayed with Marty. He showed us all aroun the top half of the Netherlands. We saw all the canals, dykes, reeds that they use to build the roofs of the houses, windmills and even 5000 year old stone age grave sites. Amazing, it was great. And cant forget the Coffee Shops as well!!! Then we headed to Belgium and found a lovely little forgotten town, nestled between sheer cliffs with a fortress on top. That was a great find. Continued onto Luxemburg City and did the city tour. A fortified city it was, so much history. Then the Wine Gate stop and onto home again. German and Europe is so beautiful, it really is. They have massive feilds of gold, Raps actually, but a brillant yellow. There are so many things, i could rave on for hours... I will try and get my photos online as soon as possible so you can all see them. So dont forget to check them out.