Across the Pond at 60!

After HOURS of trying to figure out how to get back to our blog I think I have found success!  Packing between end of school, spending time with family, supporting Central Maine Derby, 5 Islands R&R and the World Cup Football has been challenging:)  So our next adventure across the pond begins on Independence Day when Germany plays France! Stay tuned!

Leuven - Paris - Across the Pond

Wow!!  We are back in North Waterboro but our internal clocks are still in Europe.  I'm making progress however... slept until 4 am.

We left Leuven by train Friday morning with Richard and Jan and two hours later...

Paris.

Tillmann and Kay met us at Gare du Nord.   "We make pahty (party) in Paris, Larry"!! -Kay

Walked and walked to our hotel in Montmartre...

Till & Kay the top floor with a balconey, Rich & Jan next floor down, we were below them.

walked to our first cafe....



Kay and Larry enjoyed escargots

fromage pour Till & moi

walked and walked and walked to the Eiffel Tower....






                                                                     



Dinner time.  My meal arrived, raw chicken on fresh lettuce!!  Happy when the waiter returned with the stone to cook it on.

Walking tour of the city...

Sacre-Coeur

Friends

Notre- Dame

Arc de Triomphe



Lourve

We made party in Paris!!!

A very special time in Europe with wonderful family and friends:)  Many thanks to all.

Love, Roni and Larry

Leuven, Belgium

Tillmann flew back to Dresden. We have had a wonderful two weeks and will miss him, but have Paris to look forward to.

We went to Olympic Park on the recommendation of tourist info. Toured BMW in honor of Johnny! A terrific downpour after which we walked and walked and walked ALL around the park. Returned to the train station to begin the wait. Had dinner, browsed the shops, and settled on seats at the platform. We managed to get from Munich to Brussels via Köln on the ICE train. Left at 00:38 (12:38am). Our dear friend Richard was at the platform and whisked away my heavy luggage:) Immediately hopped on a train to Leuven. Leuven- first references to the town traced to the 9th century. University founded 1425.

Richard and Jan's lovely home.

Richard took us on a 26 km bike ride. Below are views along the way including a pub. The three of us get to play while Jan works. Paris will be fun for all!

München

We're staying at a B & B Hotel about a 10 minute UBahn ride from the city center.  Went to Marienplatz and then to Viktualienmarkt.  Here at the marketplace had a mid day snack.  2 Bavarians, 1 Saxon, 1 Spaniard, 1 Berliner, and 2 Americans having conversation over bier with  Tillmann  translating for all.  Larry caused quite a commotion at first because he was eating white wurst in the afternoon, with utensils and did not remove the casing.  The Bavarians forgave him but had a good laugh at his expense. (They assured him he would survive.)

Day 2

Met up with Andreas and Svea, Abbie's host father and sister.  Svea had just returned from 7 months in New York City and a visit in Maine with Abbie.   We had a fantastic tour of Munich. 

 Sedlinger Tor, Asamkirche (Golden Church), fresh squeezed juice at Viktualienmarkt, climbed to top of  a  church tower across from Neues Rathaus, arriving at noon as the Glockenspiel and mechanical figures performed across the platz.

On to

Hofbräuhaus with 2000 people drinking l liter biers

Views of Munich

On to Alte Pinakothek- 13th to 17th paintings.  Biergarten for dinner.

Thank you to Andreas and Svea.

Day ended with walk through the English Garden and back to our B&B.

Praha, Czech Republic

We are now on a bus from Praha to München.  I am a bit behind in the blog because we had trouble with internet service at the hotel.

 Prague is a gorgeous city!!  I was very excited to see how important Wenceslas was, so on our first day we walked to Wenceslas Square and to the statue which was built in 1918.

Cobblestone streets, old buildings, 15th century architecture,  and the Moldau River.  Breathtaking.

Great hotel room- tall ceilings, large windows, enclosed balcony.... but NOISE all night long.  Larry and Till were unable to tune it out.  The vehicles, which could only use the street late night/early morning, sounded like freight trains.  Then the people cleaning the streets pulling wagons over cobblestone.. very LOUD!  Regardless we had a great time (or at least I did)  We are catching up on sleep on this ride.

Wenceslas Square

Czech sausage and Staropramen

Our hotel was just around the corner.

Our last night in Praha- listening to Smetana's The Moldau:)

From Mountain to Mine

Our second day in Sachsen.  We took the train from Dippoldiswalde and headed into the valley to Rabenau where we got off and hiked around a bit, even passed up the biergarden.

Both ways we passed Tillmann's grandmother's flat.  You can see her waving to us:)

We actually started our day by going into the mine which closed in 1991.  They are considering reopening because lithium was recently discovered there.

We spent over an hour walking through the mine.  The mine opened 1686.  They mine tin, quartz, granite and tungston.

A tad uncomfortable at first, Huey and other over 6 foot people would really need the helmets.  Even Larry was glad he had a helmet on!

We walked all the way to the Czech border but I was unable to get my passport stamped:(  They just don't stamp passports since the EU.