Honeymoon in Positano

We just returned from our honeymoon in the positively perfect Positano on the Amalfi Coast of Italy.  We couldn't decide if we wanted to relax or a more adventurous honeymoon so we choose both.  Between our hikes up the mountain to Montepertuso, boat trips to Capri and Amalfi and  swimming near the White Gratto we had long lunches just off the beach, sunbathed in a solarium, which we had to ourselves most of the week, and napped when felt the urge.  We learned about Lemoncello, Cuba Libre, and Amalfi region wine with the help of some of the most attentive and helpful waiters we have have ever met.  We saw perfect sunsets while dining on handmade pasta and talking the night away about our dreams, our future children; their names, who's eyes and hair they would have.  Positano is a seemingly magical place that you can't quite ever really imagine until you have been there, standing at the base of the cliff looking up at this magnificent city.  The honeymoon was perfect for us and a beautiful way to begin our married life together.

The Apartment- It's all in the details

The balcony of our apartment is not spectacular; a long, plain rectangle of empty space that over looks the walkplatz below.  But, everything is just about what you make  it,  right?  And. for this, we love our balcony.

It's not beautiful or even clean for that matter.  It is a typical city balcony on a building that is at least 150 years old. It comes complete with chips in the old paint, dust, grime, bugs, moss growing in random places, pigeon feathers and other little presents from our feathered friends.  Maybe that is what we love about it, not the poop... This place has character.  There isn't an identical apartment in the world.

 The roof tops around us add to the charm of our summer evening meals on the balcony.

Then there is the view of the cathedral.  This cathedral seems to change color depending on the time of day and the way the light reflects off of the brick.  It's beautiful, day or night.

Strasbourg, France For The Day

Strasbourg is about a two-hour drive from our home in Wiesbaden and on this particular weekend, we just needed to get out of Germany and into a place where at least one of us speaks the language. French-speaking areas also just happen to be good for French lessons so Strasbourg was the perfect destination for us.   

The multicultural city of Strasbourg exhibits both French and German influence due to its location along the Rhine River at the border of both Germany and France. The half-timbered buildings picturesque little streets and the canals that run through the city give this city a very old feel.  We had lunch as soon as we arrived.  A nice glass of Riesling with lunch helped set the tone for a very relaxed day.  We spent most of the day just enjoying being outdoors walking through the beautiful little streets. 

We browsed the city's Saturday market as well as a small antique market.  We didn't find anything but it is always look at the items for sale in the little markets along the sidewalk.  

  

Next, we stopped for an afternoon snack.  With all of the sweet options, it was tough to decide until we passed by this gerlateria with fabulous looking Italian gelato.  We couldn't resist!  They told us to pick a size and then as many flavors as we wanted.  We each tried four flavors and each was fantastic.  The dark chocolate was particularly memorable.

  

The Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame de Strasbourg was quite impressive with it's 465-foot tall, massive spire.  The cathedral was built in 1284 but the spire pictured below was not complete until 1439.  The church has so many intricate details that we spent more time than we usually would looking at all of the interesting features. 

 

Strasbourg is a beautiful town and we saw all that we wanted to see in one day and headed back home.  It was well worth the drive.  We plan to head back to this region in the spring for a drive through the Alsace wine route to see the beautiful French vineyards, the castles and of course to taste the wine!

 

Making It Legal

Living in Germany presented a few challenges with making our marriage legal.  We accepted early on that it would be too difficult to marry in Germany or Mexico due to the required documentation.  After plans to wed in Denmark fell through due to the Icelandic volcano eruption, we had to find an alternative. 

Luckily, Florida does not have a residency requirement and allows couples to apply for a marriage license through the mail.  We made the arrangements and called Grandpa Fox with the good news.  Although Ryan's grandparents could not be with us in Mexico, we could still make them part of our wedding by having the legal ceremony performed in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. 

Having Ryan's grandparents and Aunt Paula with us made our special day complete.  Once again we had perfect weather, a pretty location in a lovely little park and people we love. 

After the ceremony, Grandpa Fox took us to Dinner at the Riverside Grille, which has a wonderful view overlooking the river.  

 

We had great conversation.  Discussing Ryan's family and our future together.  One moment during dinner that I will never forget was when I was overcome with emotion as I had this sudden, overwhelming feeling that these kind, loving people were now my family too.  I nudged Ryan and smiled.  I told him how perfectly right everything felt at that moment and he couldn't have agreed more.  We were married... a family for better or worse. 

And, it was legal!

Our Wedding in Riviera Maya

 

A perfect day.  Every detail was just what we wanted.  Our family and friends all clicked like they had known each other for years.  The colors that we chose looked even more beautiful than I imagined they would once everything came together.  The weather and the music added the ambiance that we imagined. It was like a dream that I didn't want to end.  It was the happiest day of our lives.   Everyone could see the happiness in our eyes and I will never forget the look on Ryan's face as he said the vows he wrote for me.  I can't count the times my breath was taken away that day.

   

We decided to write our vows to make the ceremony more personal and meaningful. We wrote the vows separately and sealed them until the day of the ceremony. This was my favorite part of the ceremony.  I know that Ryan writes with his heart and this time was no different. They still make me cry because we meant every word.

~Ryan's Vows~

Danette,

I vow to fill your life with happiness in every way I can.

To make sure you smile and to make you laugh.

I promise to make completely random moments special when you least expect it.

To do my absolute best to live up to any crazy expectation you may have.

I swear to hold you close, support and encourage you no matter what.

To always listen and be there for you when you need me.

I vow to eventually teach you French!

And to take advantage of any chance I get to kiss you and say that I will always

love you.

~Danette's Vows~

Ryan,

I vow to listen to you with compassion and understanding, and speak to you with encouragement.

I promise to make our happiness together my priority and always endeavor to improve myself, to improve us

I vow I will not only share in your dreams, but I will pursue them as if they were my own.

I promise that no matter where we live or travel in the world, I will make you feel at home in my arms.

I vow that our life together will be adventurous whether we are exploring historic cities in Europe or dancing in our own kitchen

I promise to remain faithful to the vows that we make and above all of this, I promise you my heart always

After we said our personal vows, the unity sand ceremony, the ring vows and signed our marriage certificate, the pastor told Ryan that he could kiss his bride and that was music to my ears.  We turned to look at our family and friends.  Then our processional song All You Need Is Love - by The Beatles started and the music was perfect for that moment.  As we walked hand in hand back up the aisle, our guests threw white rose petals. As the shower of roses ended Ryan picked me up for another amazing kiss.  We were married!  

 

A moment to appreciate the awesomeness of what just happened... 

Running in Wiesbaden

I discovered that I love running in Wiesbaden as long as it is the right time of day.  The city can get much more crowded than we anticipated. To avoid the street-packing crowds of walkers, shoppers and tourists one must run in the morning before 6am on a weekday and before 9am on the weekends when the weather is nice and just about any time of day when there is daylight the rest of the year, which isn't much, unfortunately.  For the long summer days, we sacrifice the daylight in the fall and winter months.  Early fall through late spring, it is getting dark by 4:30pm and sun doesn't rise until after 6am. 

Despite the short windows runners have for peak weather conditions in the city, it is a great city for running most times of year.   The Kurhaus Park is lovely and provides a paved trail to run laps around a lake and picnickers in the park.  When it's not too crowded, this is my favorite place in Wiesbaden to run.

Saturday Market

One of the best things about living in the city is the Saturday Market. We live on MarktStrasse, so the market is just a minute walk away.  We have visited other markets just to experience them and they are all very similar. The market in Frankfurt is larger, of course.  All of the markets have fresh fruit and veggies from local farmers, Spain and Italy to name a few.  They have fresh flowers, honig (honey), freshly baked breads, meats, cheese.  Some of the markets have food and wine vendors and many of the locals will go to the market for lunch, relax and have a few glasses of wine.  We usually get our fresh veggies here rather than the store because they seem fresher but that may just be our minds playing tricks from the experience of the market.

Sometimes, I can convince Ryan to go for a walk in the park or maybe a picnic!

Barcelona

I wish that we could say that we loved Barcelona. It is Spain.  Shouldn't we love Spain?  Well, we didn't love it.  We went to Barcelona so that Ryan could attend a conference.  I was just along for the ride.  Don't get me wrong, it was a nice vacation for me.  I was able to sleep in a bit.  Go for a nice run in the mornings because the weather was beautiful, unlike Germany where I would have had to bundle up with gloves and ear-warmers.  It wasn't a bad trip.  I can't say we have ever had a bad trip together.  We always find a way to enjoy things together.  And, this trip was worth it for the weather, the wine and the tapas...
 It may have been worth it for the baked Camembert alone....

We didn't like that the city was somewhat dirty.  We are used to getting lost in the narrow side streets so common all over Europe but this time Ryan was warning me where not to go without him.  Most areas of the city just seemed a little too shady.  Being followed for a couple of blocks and into the subway didn't make it feel any safer.  Thankfully, I saw police uniforms and walked toward them, which caused my would-be pick pocket to run the other way.  It's not as much fun to explore a city alone after that.  Barcelona was not without it's charms.  I loved the market.  Everyday, after I went sightseeing, walking the safer-looking narrow streets, sitting in the palm tree lined parks, sipping coffee in the cafes, I stopped at the market to get fresh fruit juice and lots of fresh fruit for breakfast the next day.

We enjoyed the pretty parks too.  There were a few nice parks in Barcelona proper but we took the subway, then a cable car up to Montjuïc to see a castle and enjoy the quieter parks.  Here we could see the local birds, which were beautiful up-close.  We sat in the ruins of an open-air theater, which is still in use today and just listened to the wind sweep through the leaves of the picturesque trees.

We didn't love the architecture as much as everyone said we would.   I think you either love Antoni Gaudi's work or you hate it.  Some of the buildings were interesting and very unique.  I spent some time just appreciating those but another example was Sagrada Familia Cathedral. After working on this cathedral for over 100 years, the Spanish decided fruit would be a nice addition to the peak of the steeples.... fruit!

There were also several protests while we were there.  Some more boisterous than others.  One of the calmer protests was this communist flag waving occurring in a random square.

 Luckily, we left when we did because while we were en-route to Frankfurt, the airports north of Frankfurt were closing due to the ash plume from the Iceland volcano.  Shortly after we landed, Frankfurt was closed too.  The trip wasn't all bad.  We enjoyed the evenings together... it's always better when we're together!

Birthday Celebration in Bruges, Belgium

A pretty three-hour drive to Bruges for a long weekend was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday.  We knew the sun would set very early so Ryan offered to take me out for a romantic night of photography.  After a nice dinner, we bundled up and Ryan carried my camera bag and tripod as we walked through the city of Bruges taking pictures of the beautiful canal lit from above.  It was a beautiful way to see the city.  We stopped for hot chocolate, which was abundantly available as one of the major products produced in Bruges is chocolate.  There was a chocolate shop on every corner and some corners had two or three.

Bruges also has waffles and we had several pretty yummy versions....

We didn't stop with the waffles.  The Bailey's and chocolate fondue was pretty phenomenal too.

 Then there was the birthday dinner.  We  had a wonderful dinner at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the canal.  The concierge at our hotel made sure to tell them it was a special night and requested the best table. 

Bruges is a beautiful little town and I think we'll have to see it in the Spring as well.

The Green Monster

 

We shopped for days to find a decent car with automatic transmission.  We looked at new cars but at the time, the BMW dealer searched all American-spec BMWs in Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium and there wasn't one car that I liked that met our needs.  The main one being, it had to be an automatic.  

We went to one slimy used car lot after another.  This is an example of one of the worst.  Luckily, the office that we needed to go to for registration was closed when we found a potential car on this lot.  We think we dodged a bullet there.  We continued to look.  We were extremely frustrated at this point and the rental car was getting expensive.  It was about to push us over our move allowance. Our last ditch effort was to buy a car from the commissary lot.  The Army allows individuals to park cars on a lot near the commissary to sell them.  Ryan went and found a few cars.  We made some phone calls and decided on the 1992 Green BMW 3 series.    The car seemed to be well maintained and it was top of the line in its day.  It once had power locks, which no longer worked.  It had a 6-slot tape deck... yes, a tape deck. It also had power windows, an anti-theft system, which also seemed to be an anti-Danette system and it came with winter tires, which are required in Germany in the Winter.  

This car looks harmless, right? Well, it actually wasn't a horrible car unless you count the fact that the "winter tires" were actually all-season tires for a 5 series BMW and would not fit on the car, the battery that died while we were sitting at a light, the transmission, that occasionally would not shift into higher gear, or the fact that we were both pretty terrified to drive it in the snow since the Germans do not plow down to the concrete.  They leave a layer that is just think enough to turn to a sheet of ice (see Longest 40 minute commute ever blog).   We made do with the Green Monster November to February even with all of her flaws. 

Our first issue occurred the day we signed the Bill of Sale.   But, this was not the Green Monster's fault.  The registration office gave us American-sized plates for our German-spec car.  There was no way to attach the plate so we put it in the window and drove to the PX to get something to attach it to the car; zip ties, velcro, anything.  However, if you do not have plates affixed to the car properly, it is grounds for a search and apparently the rent-a-cop gate guards have you hold you there until the MPs come and say it ok for you to enter the base.  So, after the search and waiting for the 12-year old MP to come and authorize us to enter.  

Then, once in the PX the only thing we could find to attach the plate to the Monster was boot strings.  So, this is what we did.  It was certainly a sad day for the Monster, I'm sure.  We were told the previous owner took great care of her.  Whatever, it got us through the gate.

 

The real trouble started, on our way back from Trier, which is 2 hours away, I tried to read the manual.  The German manual.  We were on the side of the road while typed different part names and terms into Google Translator to try to identify why the "exclamation point" light was lit up on the dashboard.  

 It was a happy day when we we found a new car and were authorized to place the Green Monster on the For Sale lot.  But, I will admit that I was certainly feeling guilty about selling that car to anyone.  I hope the Monster is better to her new owner.