Remember me? A visit from family - Debbie and Savannah

In July we got our first, and who knows - maybe our last, visit from family. Alicia's sister Debbie and niece Savannah trekked across the pond to say hey. We took a road trip to Edelweiss which is a resort in the Bavarian alps.

First stop - Reims, France. Ok, so I won't say that I like France as a whole, but I did like Paris and I do like Reims. This first shot is a cathedral in Reims. It's pretty fantastic display of what can be built when inspired by God. That's what the sign said anyway. But really, if it doesn't impress you, then you must be blind.

Reims is the champagne capital of the world. I've never really drank champagne. Only after our trip to Italy did Alicia and I start to enjoy wine like we do. So, Alicia booked us for a champagne tour. The french used to dig out these enormous caverns into the ground to store the champagne and are still used today. I won't be drinking champagne every day, but I won't be turning down any free glasses either.



After Reims, we stopped in Germany to see the hospital where Debbie was born. We ate some authentic German food, that's right Schnitzel! Amazing! And then off to the resort. The Bavarian alps are simply incredible, much like that of Switzerland and Austria. The river that ran along the main highway was an emerald green color and was crystal clear. As soon as we got home from the trip, I looked up what it would cost to buy a vacation home there. It's doable. Not now, but maybe a bit later in life.



We also visited a lake.

This is Neuschwanstein, its the castle that Disney knocked off in their movies. Look familiar?

We popped into Austria for an afternoon to eat some lunch. English is taught as a secondary language up through the sixth grade. Guess where I'm moving in the event of necessity?

This kind fella dressed in traditional Austrian garb was getting ready to play a concert and let us take a photo op.

One of the best parts of our trip was to Partnach Gorge. It's a natural gorge with a river running through it, lined with walkways and sporadic waterfalls surrounded by the alps.

On the way home, we took a cruise down the Rhine river. The Rhine has great scenery. There are castles and cascading vinyards everywhere.

Part of the cruise included a stop off for lunch and German wine tasting. Our host for the wine tasting was large jovial man, and he taught us the finer points of wine tasting. The most important point being to drink plenty of it.

We also got some time to tourist ourselves around one of Germany's most famous shopping towns. The people here were not very nice, so they didn't get any of our money. There was also a lift we took to see over the whole area.

Following our cruise down the Rhine was our last layover of the trip, in Bruges. There's a lot of great architecture in Bruges and the city is filled with watered canals that offer tours of the city. Pretty cool. Stopping off here gave us the opportunity to meet up with our nephew Aarons' mother-in-law and eat some overpriced food.