Trier, Germany

Before leaving the states we visited some family and friends to tell them we were moving.  Ryan's grandfather, although excited for us, was very sad.  We told him over breakfast and he left feeling pretty down but about an hour later he called and asked if we would come to his place for lunch.  When we arrived, he took us out to the recreation room where had laid out newspaper clippings, photographs, maps, photocopies from the library and books.  He asked us to show him where we would be living on one of the maps.  We pointed out the Mainz & Wiesbaden area, which happened to be pretty close to a town called Trier.  It's the oldest known city in Germany and also just happens to be where Ryan's Great Grandparents were born and raised.  We spent the afternoon looking at tattered old black and white photographs that Grandpa Fox has tried to so hard to maintain.  We read the articles and listened as Ryan's Grandpa told us the story of how his parents arrived in the states, his father's thick German accent, how his father made his own beer (or bier in German). By the end of the afternoon Grandpa Fox was much happier for us and made us promise to make Trier our first road trip and that we did!   

Thanksgiving weekend was a four-day weekend of course so we thought it would be perfect to visit Trier.  The only problem was that it was raining in Trier.  We didn't see very much of the city; the cold November cut our trip short.  First we walked through the Christmas market a bit but the rain increased so we headed into the cathedral. The Dom St. Peter in the marktplatz (market place) at the center of town is the oldest church in Germany.  It was built in Roman times, 326AD by Constantine.  The remaining church is only a quarter of the size of the original but still houses the Robe of Christ.  The Robe was said to be worn by Christ during the crucifixion.  This church still receives religious pilgrims.  

We also saw the Porta Nigra, which means Black Gate.  It is the oldest defensive structure in Germany (180AD)

We thought Trier was beautiful and we know there is much more to see so we plan to go back when the weather is better to see the town and take pictures for Ryan's grandfather so that he can see where his parents were born and raised.

Thanksgiving Day 2009

We were still living in the Mainz Hilton on Thanksgiving Day.  The Mainz Christmas market had just opened.  With an invite to a have an American Turkey Day dinner with friends, we decided to spend the morning in the Markt Platz at the Christmas Market.  This was our first Christmas market experince.

There were stalls selling Christmas decorations, wine, honig (honey) in very yummy sounding flavors, various handmade Christmas gifts, gluwein and lots and lots of very unhealthy German treats.

We thought we would have a little snack to tide us over until dinner.   Crepes with banana and nutella and gluwein were just perfect!

We had a delicious introduction to the German Christmas Markets.

We found a wine stall with pretty baskets to pick something up for our Thanksgiving dinner hosts.  This was a very different Thanksgiving for both of us and we loved every minute of it!

We visited the area about 5 months before moving but at the time we didn't know we would be moving. We stayed in Mainz, a beautiful old town on the Rhine River, when we visited.  We thought it would be a good place for us but the apartment hunting proved to be a bit of a challenge.   Most of the apartments were tiny with no closets and a spare room just big enough for the cat.

Our daily routine consisted of waking up to have breakfast in our room, going to get a newspaper, using Google translator to translate the descriptions of the apartments in the paper and on various real estate sites.  For two weeks did nothing but process paperwork to start our new jobs and look for a place to live.

Fisher was growing tired of the hotel.  It wasn't so much the hotel he didn't like but the maid who came in with the ridiculously scary vacuum every day.  In the picture above he is waiting patiently for his daddy to find a house.

We decided to shift our focus to Wiesbaden.  It is a slightly larger city near Mainz.  But, we had a little trouble here too.  For example, these pink houses just would not do....

We found one apartment that was just perfect, overlooking the Market Square in the center of Wiesbaden but the day we were to sign the lease, the owner decided he wanted to lease it to a German man.  Feeling defeated, we were running out of time.  We went to see one more apartment downtown.  We had no expectations.  By now, Germany had taught us that expectations only led to disappointment.

We set out in the morning to meet the real estate agent.  We loved the location.  We loved the rickety old elevator that took us up to the penthouse and opened right up into the apartment.  Once inside, we discovered that we loved just about everything about the place.  It was too good to be true.  Then the real estate agent told us that the owner would not agree to a lease with an American.  This was our last hope for a decent apartment in the city.  Ryan asked for the agent to double check and refused to let me be disappointed just yet.  By the time we had walked back to our car, the agent called and said the owner would agree!  The apartment would be ours!  We were elated, relieved and a bit disbelieving.  Was this this end of our endless search?  It was!


This is our new apartment-

Away We Go!

On November 5, 2009 we set off on our 3-year adventure of living in Europe. With lots of errands to complete before lunch with the family and our flight to Germany, we woke up early and headed out to get started.  Later we had lunch with my family to say goodbye.

Danielle gave me a beautiful Tiffany Key locket.  She noticed that I was eying the keys when we were at the Tiffany store in NYC.  She made it extra special by placing pictures of us as babies inside!

Then, after a lot of tears, we said good-bye and Danielle took us to Dulles Airport.  It seemed like a longer drive than usual with the anticipation building and Fisher whining to get out of his kennel.  I felt so sad for Fisher knowing what was in store for him.

It was hard to say goodbye to Danielle at the airport.

But, we had to say goodbye and take Fisher to check-in.  We gave him a little, pink pill that the vet said would help him relax and not care so much about the trip but wouldn't make him sleep.  By the time we got to the desk, he didn't seem to care as much about being in the kennel or in the strange place but it was still hard for me.

We had so many emotions.  This was a big step for us.  We were about to move to Germany.  Neither of us spoke German.  We had only spent 5 days there.  Who knew if we would love it or hate it?  Who knew where we would live?  Regardless of all the unanswered questions, we were prepared to live out the answers.  We were prepared to live this adventure together and this was definitely going to be an adventure!

So, away we go!!