Lunch at the Wellington

We are visiting Waterloo. Loved the film presentations. The walk to the top of the Butte du Lion was wet. Wax museum after our lunch. I'm having the Flemish stew.

Frankfurt, Germany to Vianden, Luxembourg

After a stop for breakfast and showers at the Lufthansa Welcome Lounge, we picked up our three door Ford Fiesta, now packed with our luggage. F took the navigator's seat. 

We made our way through the traffic, eventually settling on a trek along the west bank of the Rhine. Every twist and turn lead to wonderful views of villages on the banks and castles guarding from above.

Lots of cruisers go by the section of the Rhine by Lorelei.

In Koblenz, we got out to walk toward Deutsches Eck, where the Moselle flows into the Rhine.

My picture by the Josef Goerres statue. I haven't read up on the philosopher, but the statue with woman and eagle was powerful.

We had to stop for ice cream and coffee to fortify ourselves. Remember this is the first day after flying overnight. It is the longest day of your life and you mustn't fall asleep. 

At the point is a huge statue of Kaiser Wilhelm. All the flags of the state of Germany are flying.

I'm not sure how this will look. The Moselle is flowing from left into the Rhine, downstream upper right.

And here the Rhine is flowing lower right toward the top.

The park is quite extensive. It includes three sections of the old Berlin Wall. Can someone help me with the translation?

After Koblenz, we drove up the Moselle. It was lovely.

We stopped for a bit of dinner in Cochem. Many tourists gather to hear the bells toll. 

After dinner we headed overland to Vianden, Luxembourg.

Where we can pick up wifi

At the back of the lawn, our suite is on the left off the patio.

Packed car

Almost ready. Leaving Vianden, Luxembourg.

Flight to Frankfurt

The flight to Frankfurt was on Lufthansa. Please note that other than the connecting flights in India and Korea, the whole trip was booked by my very talented agent and his able assistant, as a round trip to Asia with stops overs using reward travel. They booked it last fall with Continental. You can ask them for details. I remember overhearing one side of the conversation, suggestion of this flight or that, with a calm assured, "please try it".  There was a time of tense waiting while consultation with a supervisor provided permission to override the computer system. It was a perfect house of cards. We knew that once booked it couldn't be changed. 

Our travel peaked when we earned platinum status last calender year. This year we are "only" gold. As our traveling has been scaled back, we may be lucky to get silver this year. So this trip is to be considered a celebration, a victory lap around the world. We are a traveling family with only a few years left before we once again will be a couple. We will savour the time together doing what we love.

So here are my guys in business class, top level of an A380.

This picture requires some explanation. In all the years of traveling, I can not recall a bathroom on a plane with a window. Looking out the window, it's hard to capture how breathtaking this is. If you look closely, this is the leading edge of the wing with the two massive engines. The open landscape of Europe in the morning looms below. The tip of the lid shows below the window. 

F wanted a new FB profile picture. So here he is after sleeping a few hours on the fly-flat seats.

Notes on the trip: We were delayed at the gate because no one was available to disconnect the fuel line from the plane. After taxing out, the skies darkened and indeed all flights to the northeast were grounded to await a passing front. It didn't matter that much to us. We enjoyed more time on the plane without worrying about connecting flights. 

First bus to Kingston

Comfortable with wifi.

Shuttling

I have been left with the luggage while P & F take the car back hone.

Down to the day before

No more packing in my mind, time to commit.
This is also a test of the iPhone app.

A stop at AAA to get IDP and something else

Since we're renting a car in Europe, we decided to go ahead and get the International Driving Permit. While there, this bag caught my eye. Thanks to my sister who introduced me to Baggallini. I think it will be perfect for the trip.

My other companion

My other companion is a joy. Here are pictures from what may have been his first trip. At the age of three months, we drove to San Francisco. I remember crying as we hit the Hereford highway. I never thought we would make it. Paul was confident we would. He was right and I never have regretted a trip since.

The first picture is a shout-out to a young family who are currently on an adventure that began with a similar picture. It's the journey...

And you always need a good guidebook.

A love letter from my husband

My husband is not one for great shows of affection. But read between the lines of this:

pctx | On Traveling with Companions | scriptogr.am

He is also a boon companion.

A new blog for a new trip

We leave for our trip in a couple of days. School for Fred is winding down, he's off with the band for graduation practice right now. Paul is hosting a retirement party at the library. I'm monitoring the refrig and laundry basket, contacting the trash pickup and other folks who need to know. I'm also working on this new blog. My goal is simplicity. I hope you like the look. I'll try to repost things to my Facebook page. If you want to have it emailed to you, take a look down below. Please comment as you wish.

So Belgium, India and Korea, we'll be there soon.