My New Bike

I've been sick lately (since the Thursday before last, I believe); according to my in-depth research, the reason for my suffering is the gigantic vent at work: for the past few months I have been forced to don mittens, a hat, and sometimes even a scarf before stepping into the office. Ridiculous!

RAMSTEIN YARD SALES

I have discovered the equivalent of Craigslist here in the KMC (Kaiserslautern Military Community, for those of you not in the know), and since the weather is finally cooperating with me, I made arrangements - on the aforementioned site, of course - to purchase the most beautiful bike ever:


My glorious new bike, outside of our bike shed, which I just discovered we had - Dan has known about it for a while.





Now Dan and I can go riding together, once he gets a new chain. And once I pump some air into my tires. Also, I'm not sure if a helmets are 'required' here or not. If so, I'll have to purchase one of those as well.

PLUS...

I finally got around to snapping a few pictures of Dan's car (well, I asked him to do it for me):




"Volvo" - in his old parking spot

ONE MORE THING..

My work schedule has been altered yet again, so the upcoming Wissembourg trip may not be happening. We're keeping our fingers crossed, though, and I might just be able to "work around" the scheduling glitch...

The Asparagus Festival

Dan was reading the USO tour listings for the month of May, and pointed the following out as an item of interest:

Schwetzingen Spargelfest (Asparagus Festival)
In Germany, you will find thousands of festivals celebrating beer and wine, but this weekend we are going to visit a festival celebrating the asparagus-and not just any asparagus-the white asparagus. Each year in May, Schwetzingen, the white asparagus capitol, celebrates the harvest of the white asparagus, the "king of vegetables" with wonderful activities... Many of the restauranteurs offer the delicacies at stands throughout the city, local vintners will let you know which wines accompany the asparagus, and the asparagus farmers will willingly explain their product and how it stays white. Come join the party, experience a wonderful German celebration, and decide for yourself: Is the white asparagus better than the green? Is it one of the finest vegetables in the world deserving of the fest in its honor? Bring euro for shopping and food. (Asparagus is not cheap.)

I wasn't really impressed, but apparently Dan is quite fond of asparagus, or festivals in general. He did some research and informed me later that "it is the most highly anticipated event of the year" in that region. We weren't thrilled at the prospect of taking a day off just for an "Asparagus Festival;" the decision was made to wait and search for more schedule-compatible tours instead. It was not much later, however, that Dan showed me the following, again with great interest:

Learn to Ride the German Trains-
DB Orientation and Trip to Schwetzingen
Palace Gardens and Asparagus Season
Everything you wanted to know about German trains but were afraid to ask. Come with the USO on our hands-on train orientation... In Schwetzingen, we'll have free time to visit the beautiful palace gardens, or try the region's culinary specialty, white asparagus that is only in season for a short period each year.

As it was (almost) the exact same expedition as the previous one, I was - again - not impressed. Of course, Dan was quite excited at having another chance to visit the highly acclaimed festival. I, however, suggested we search for other opportunities before making our decision. Finally, we settled on this:

Learn to Ride the German Train-
DB Orientation and Trip to Wissembourg, France
Learn all about how the German train system works on this USO train orientation and tour... we'll travel to the Alsatian town of Wissembourg. Although just across the German-French border, this town has a distinct French flair. See the half-timbered medieval houses perched along the Lauter River. We’ll see the Church of St. Peter and Paul, the church of the former abbey, which is the second largest gothic church in the Alsace region (second only to Strassbourg). Try a Flammkuchen or some of the other local specialties...

Dan has just informed me that he is interested in going on another trip in May as well; so the Asparagus Festival may still be a go.

GOOD NEWS

My car has passed inspection and is now officially legal. We spent the day on base - a different one, much closer to the apartment - and found the laundromat on our way to the vehicle inspection area.
The "Launderette" was pure paradise, compared to the one we had been frequenting, which tended to be cold and crowded at all hours of the day. Dan scoped the facility out while I made some last-minute adjustments on the car, and when he returned he told me: "I love it here! I am never going back to that other place again."

Highlights

So, I surprised Dan with a weekend (his-Tuesday and Wednesday) trip to Liege (Belgium) and Maastricht (Netherlands). Things didn't work out quite as expected, but we still had lots of fun:

LIEGE

Unfortunately, the traffic in the city was horrible, and we were frustrated and ready to escape soon after we arrived. Needless to say, very few pictures (and no videos) were taken during this time.

MAASTRICHT

The driving situation was much better here. As soon as the car was safely deposited in a parking garage, we took the opportunity to walk through the city, visit some sites, and have a bite to eat. The area was interesting and very nice to look at, as you can see:


Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Basilica


On a Bridge in Maastricht


Water Mill

Over all, it was a great trip, and we're looking forward to returning to both countries at some point in the future...

I Heart Switzerland

The ride from the base to Switzerland was pretty long, so I intended to upload a series of films onto my Zune before departing. Alas, there was a major snafu with this plan; apparently Zune owners cannot purchase videos from the Zune Marketplace if they are located outside of the U.S. What a ripoff!

ANYWAY...

The trip to Switzerland was fantastic. The USO bus left base at 4am, and we stopped for breakfast at 7:30, right after passing through customs. The food was relatively expensive ($22), but that might have been because I piled so much on my plate: two pastries, a small tube of jam, one cup of hazelnut, vanilla, peach and strawberry yogurt, two slices of ham, one egg, and one large glass of pineapple juice. Afterwards, it was back on the bus, and we arrived in Lucerne about an hour later. There was a two hour guided tour led by an older Swiss woman; she gave us some interesting insights on the area, including the history behind the famous dying Lion of Luzern (a very sad and interesting story!). After the tour, we were released for four hours (Heidi and I had lunch at an outdoor cafe, then went shopping for watches), before meeting up again to enjoy a nice boat ride on the lake.

THE FOOD


Rösti with egg, ham, and tomatoes

THE WATCH


My Genuine Swiss Watch (this version only available in Switzerland)



SPOILS OF TOURISM


Chocolate, Cash (CHF 28,30 = approx. $27), and Dessert Spoon

Overall, the trip was fantastic, and everything was incredibly beautiful; Dan and I will definitely be making a trip together in the future.
We are also very excited about our upcoming mini-adventure... we'll be leaving Tuesday afternoon and returning the next night. Since I am in charge of planning the entire expedition, Dan has no idea as to where we'll be traveling (well, he shouldn't, but I bet he does).