Burg Eltz + Beilstein

When Garrick and I first started to plan our move to Germany, it was all very overwhelming. There were so many big milestones along the way: my last day of work, moving out of our flat, Garrick's thesis defense, our drive from Scotland to Germany, setting up our flat, the birth of Eloise, Garrick's graduation, and learning a new language. When I pictured us at the end of this marathon, I imagined driving through the German countryside on a sunny Saturday as a family of three, off to explore new places. Well, yesterday, my dream came true!

 

This is Burg (Castle) Eltz! It's about a two hour drive from Wuppertal and sits in the hills of the Moselle Valley. It's been owned by the same family since the 12th century. Garrick carried Eloise in the Ergo, and we set off on the 15 minute treed hike from the car park. It felt so good to be in the woods, out of the city. Finally, we turned a corner and saw this dramatic castle in the distance.

 

We joined a tour and got to see the furnished interior of the castle. No photos were allowed. We enjoyed the original artwork, painted walls, tapestries, huge beer steins, and even a hunting room featuring a moose head from Alaska! At the end, we sat in the shade and enjoyed a local beer. Eloise attracted every elderly woman at the castle. She is a people magnet. It's really special to take her to all these places with us!

 

After a feed and diaper change  in the car (Garrick may have been pooped on), we were off to Beilstein, a village thirty minutes away. We drove along the Moselle River and took in the stunning views of German wine country. There were several idyllic towns along the way, and castles dotted the hills. Wuppertal is not particularly beautiful, so it was so refreshing to get out and see such amazing places!

  

We sat at an outdoor cafe for dinner and sampled a local Riesling. I will be looking to purchase some very soon! After eating and taking in the views, we went for short walk around the town and finally ended our trip with ice cream before the drive home. We hope to do a day trip every other Saturday and are so thankful for such a sweet baby to take with us!

A Month in Germany

Hallo! It's hard to believe that one month ago we drove our weighed-down Volkswagon Golf from St Andrews, Scotland to Wuppertal, Germany. I don't think I imagined I would ever move countries 33 weeks pregnant, but to my surprise, it can be done!

For dinner on Thursday night in Dover, England, we stumbled upon a quaint pub serving tapas. It felt like we were back in Spain. After complimenting the chef, he bought us each a drink on the house: a beer for Garrick and a cranberry and soda for me. Our hotel room got upgraded to a suite with a sea view, and we truly relaxed. This was an unexpected blessing for us as I had expected the trip to be something to get through, not something I would enjoy.

The next morning we caught the 7:20am ferry to Calais, France. Our drive through France, Belgium, and Germany was pretty uneventful, although Garrick just received a speeding ticket in the mail from France. We arrived and quickly looked around our new flat and planned what we could do with the space before calling it a day. On Saturday, we took of first of four trips to the place we love and hate: Ikea.

And now we've been here over a month! "One day at a time" has been my mantra. This move has been like our move to Scotland on steroids. The language barrier being one reason, and another, the fact that Garrick has to do most of the work because I'm in my third trimester. But, I feel like our move to Scotland gave us the wisdom and skills to equip up for this move. This past Friday was the one month mark of our new life here. Most nights are spent enjoying a slow dinner, followed by a game of cribbage, and then a movie. This time as a couple before our first child arrives has been wonderful in so many ways.

Here are some highlights of month one:

- Our flat is now a home! My next post will be a photo tour. Garrick hopes to never again put together Ikea furniture.

- I've established care with a Frauenarzt and have had two great appointments. Eloise was breech but turned and we now await her arrival! We'll attend an information session at the birthing hospital this evening. 

- Garrick has continued working at the Theologisches Zentrum Wuppertal and developed a routine he enjoys.

- We've set up wifi, mobile phones, etc.

- Saturdays are usually spent exploring Wuppertal and surrounding cities. We've found a few great restaurants and walked around the Botanical Gardens near our house. We also took the train to Münster and found a lovely market and enjoyed the local brewery. 

- We've attended the Evangelical church below our flat and the first two songs were in English. My favourite line of one of the chorus' was "Jesus lives in my house."

- Friday night we had our first dinner guests.

- We've enjoyed getting to know Garrick's colleagues and enjoyed meals together and birthday celebrations.

- I've slowly found most of the items we needs for Eloise. It's been quite the challenge since most of my product knowledge is North American, but things are coming together.

- I've been working on my German and making slow, slow progress. 

- Garrick is playing baseball for the Wuppertal Stingrays and has his first double-header this Sunday.

To close, here are some iPhone photos of our recent happenings. I've not taken out my DSLR in a while, but I will soon!

Downtown Elberfeld (Wuppertal)

Sankt Laurentius Kirche (Wuppertal)

A rainy view from our kitchen window. 

Our hospital bag is packed!

The Luisenviertel (Wuppertal)

Garrick's birthday spent with new friends. They gave him lots of German food to try!

Bikes in Münster.

34 weeks! (I'm now 37.)

Münster

Pinkus Müller Brewery, Münster

Pinkus Müller Brewery, Münster

Bringing the Castle Sands to Germany.

First batch of chocolate chip cookies in our new home.

Fife Coastal Path: Earlsferry to Anstruther

We hiked another section of the Fife Coastal Path yesterday: 10 miles from Earlsferry to Anstruther. Although we hiked almost 20 miles last time, we covered less ground on this outing because we conquered the Elie Chain Walk.

Adam and Lindsay met us at the St Andrews bus station at 9am, and we had coffee waiting. They made us eggs muffins for breakfast, and we packed snacks for the day. We got off in Elie and walked to Earlsferry to find the entrance to the Chain Walk. I was especially thankful to have Eagle Scout Harger along for this part of the journey. Basically, we used chains to navigate up and down rocky cliffs along the coast. There were well-used footholds and overall we felt very safe.

Once we completed the Chain Walk, the rest of our hike was fairly easy. Even though the clouds came in, the rain held off and it was quite warm. Lindsay and I were usually behind Adam and Garrick, who we overheard discussing the ins and outs of their projects. They love what they do! We came upon several ruins including castles, saltpans, and doocots. We also saw some cows who seemed unimpressed by our attempts to make friends. Eventually, we arrived in lovely St Monans and met an artist who had planted flowers in over a hundred pairs of wellies.

Our food destination of this trip? The Cocoa Tree! We consumed several pitchers of water before our lunch even arrived. We all ordered soup and devoured hot cocoa for dessert. As we were leaving, we got to sample chocolates filled with whisky. The final mile to Anstruther flew by, and we sat eating chips at the harbour while waiting for the bus back to St Andrews.

We plan to do another section of the coastal path in August! Stay tuned.