A Rainy Day, Speed, Yards, Trails & Refrigerators

10/4/12
We slept in late on this rainy, blustery morning.  There's a leaky pipe under the kitchen sink, so we're waiting for the plumber to either call or show up.  Dana took Jessie for a haircut, & Karl's downstairs playing video games.

 That leaves us to plan next week's trip to Belgium & back.  So far, we've rented a car & reserved our first night's lodging in Kerkrade, Netherlands & the next 3 nights in Bruges, Belgium.  We chose a hotel in Bruges based on Rick Steves' recommendation.  It's supposed to be centrally located where we can park the car once & walk around the rest of the time.  We'll see.  Our plans are to take about a week to leisurely come back with part of the time in the Mosel River Valley.

While Dave's on the internet making reservations at places we've chosen, I'll write about some of my impressions of Germany so far.

FAST CARS!----The left lane should be avoided unless you like to drive 100+ mph.  I'm not kidding, they were zooming past us when we were going 80 mph in Chris & Dana's minivan.  Motorcycles were some of the scariest moving vehicles in the fast lane.  My favorite highways have 4 lanes going one way & 4 lanes going the other way.  We haven't driven yet, so it will be interesting.  We rented their version of a mid sized car, an Opel.

BRUSQUE PEOPLE---Whether a clerk in the store, one of Chris & Dana's neighbors, people at church, etc, folks seem more curt, efficient in their interactions with us so far.  Perhaps they're unsure of their English, or our minuscule knowledge of German language, but whatever it is, things are short & to the point.  I have encountered friendly people, & they're the ones who seem to want to use their English skills.  I should be cautious to judge since I can say only a few words in German.  There's always a "good day, evening or morning" from people which is very nice.

NEAT & TIDY YARDS---There's an amazing amount of hedge trimming in this neighborhood.  Straight lines are along all the paths.  The yards are small, but well maintained & pretty.  Even though it's fall, there are plenty of blooming plants.  This is a lovely green, leafy, heavily-treed area.

NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ABUT FIELDS---Fields of crops, mostly sugar beets & corn, have wide walking paths woven though them, & they are well used.  Every evening, we see some people walking dogs, riding bikes or just strolling.  It's quite bucolic.  I like it!

SMALL REFRIGERATORS---Small kitchen leads to small frig leads to small packages for food & drinks.  Finding large portions, like a family might eat especially with teens, is hard, even in the commissary.  For instance,  getting enough mozzarella to make a big lasagna requires the purchase of many small balls of the stuff which gets expensive.   Luckily, the previous occupants of this house, a State Dept. person & his family, left a full sized frig in the basement.  That really comes in handy! 

Well, the plumber's here, & he speaks English with a big smile!  No pictures this time, sorry, but we've been inside all morning--as Karl says, "all cozy."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  Germany's beautiful.