Day 2- Koln, St. Goar, Bacharach, Germany

Jody at the Rheinfel Castle

Koln Cathedral

Day 2- June 24th
Today we rode the train from Mainz to Koln (pronounced cologne in English) to see the Koln Cathedral. It is simply amazing! It is one of those places where I didn't even know where to start taking pictures and the pictures don't do it justice.

After visiting the cathedral, we took the train to St. Goar, a small town along the Rhine river. At St. Goar we went to visit Rheinfels Castle. Compared to some of the other castles we have seen Rheinfels isn't much, but it is still a pretty amazing site with some great views of the Rhine River.

After visiting the castle, we took a river cruise along the Rhine River. As you travel down the Rhine there are small towns and castles on either side, it was a nice relaxing trip. We took the river cruise from St. Goar to Bacharach.

Here is Jody in front of the Koln Cathedral. There were quite a few tourists at the Cathedral.

This is the inside of the cathedral, it had amazing stained glass windows.

Here is Jody on top of the Rheinfels castle, overlooking the Rhine River.

This is the boat we took down the Rhine River.

This is one of the streets in Bachrach. I love this picture because it shows a little bit of the German lifestyle.

Day 1- Frankfurt/ Mainz, Germany

This is downtown Frankfurt, Germany. It is surrounded by businesses, shops, eating places, including Subway and McDonald's.

This was the view from our hotel in Mainz, Germany.

Here is the train station in Frankfurt. The train is our main way of transportation and it is amazing how well it works. We purchased our train passes ahead of time, so we are able to get on a train and don't have to worry about getting a ticket.
Day 1

Day 1 of our trip was filled with a little site seeing and some jet lag. We arrived in Frankfurt, Germany at 6:00am local time, which was about 11:00pm, our body time. We decided not to give into jet lag and try to do some site seeing. We explored Frankfurt, which to us was very business oriented, with a cool downtown. After doing some site seeing in Frankfurt we headed to our hotel in Mainz. While we were in Mainz they were having a festival celebrating their founder, so after a nap we headed to the festival for some food, beer, and fireworks. The fireworks were set off over the river, and we had a great view from our hotel room. Since we won't be in the U.S for the 4th of July, we'll consider this our Independence Day fireworks.

Trip Preparation Part II- Packing

My big job the next few days is to figure out exactly what I'm taking on this 3 week trip. This is what my suitcase will be for the next 3 weeks, can you see now why I'm procrastinating on packing? I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I'm supposed to make 3 weeks worth of clothing fit into this little bag that I'm hopefully going to be able to carry on my back. Not only am I worried about getting everything to fit into this bag, but I'm also worried about being able to carry it around.

Let me guess, right about now you're wondering, "Why on earth are they taking such small bags?" Since we are not staying in one place and we are relying on public transportation when we leave one hotel we might not be checking into the next hotel until late in the evening and still plan on site seeing along the way. Instead of rolling our suitcases all over Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, this is one alternative, hopefully it will work out. One the positive side, Tim purchased a travel clothesline in the hopes that we will be able to wash clothes while on the trip.

Trip Preparation Part I- Daisy

One of the first things we have to do to prepare for our trip is arrange for a pet sitter for Daisy. Jim and Robyn have graciously agreed to take care of Daisy while we are gone. So this weekend we are headed to Illinois to deliver Daisy and of course see a Cardinals game. I'm not sure what Daisy will think when we begin to back out of the driveway and she isn't in the car. I know that Daisy will have plenty of things to keep her busy, here are a few:

Daisy can play with the cats, or the cats can play with Daisy, whichever way you would like to look at it. I'm not sure if Daisy has more fun chasing the cats or if the cats have more fun watching Daisy act like an idiot trying to get them. Either way, I'm sure playing with the cats will wear Daisy out, which is a good thing.
Daisy can also play with Ellie, although I'm not really sure Ellie sees Daisy as a playmate. Daisy is just happy to have another four legged friend. I'm sure Ellie will be glad to see Daisy go at the end of the 4 weeks.
I'm personally hoping Daisy learns to stay away from this 4-legged playmate. Yuck!
Or if all else fails and nobody wants to play with Daisy, she can always catch some rays in Robyn's pool.