Guess What?!?

I’ve finally seen SUNSHINE today! This is HUGE considering all the rain we’ve had. We’ve already had 3.85 inches for July, and our average for July is 4 inches. Yeah, we were all starting to be a bit waterlogged. However, with the sun coming out, the heat has returned. It has been a relatively cool summer, but the highs are supposed to be back in the 90s now, like normal. Hmmm… I would prefer the cool temps *and* the sunshine, but to get that combination I think we would have to move, which isn’t likely to happen any time soon.

Speaking of going to cooler places though, guess what else?!? We are going to The Holland ™ and then to Germany!!!!!! Mike left on Saturday for The Holland for work, and then he will go to London, and then return to meet up with Jason & I in Amsterdam in a few very short weeks! The plan so far:

– We will spend a day or two in Amsterdam
– from Amsterdam to The Hague (to pick up Mike’s giant suitcase which he can’t take over to London because it is too big for the puddle-jumper flight)
– over to Germany to visit Karen
– Cologne (Koln)
– Frankfurt am Main
– Heidelberg
– southern Lake District, maybe?
– Neuschwanstein
– Garmish
– Munich and some knit time with Elemmaciltur (shhh, don’t tell Jason.) I have to get some of that great German yarn sometime! Oh, and Addis. I must, must, MUST find some short addi sock needles!
– Salzburg – I’m already trying to get the Sound of Music tour on the schedule, because I didn’t do it 16 years ago.
– Maybe a trip to Eagle’s Nest?
– Back to Munich & up to Dachau – history is a very important thing to see.
– Nurnberg
– Rothenberg – I hope to stay here for a few days, sort of a vacation from the vacation. A little down time in the quaint, amazing walled city.
– Wurzberg
– Through Frankfurt, and back to Karen’s house.
– Back into The Holland to return to Amsterdam and go home.

Ok, it looks long – but some of the items are just part of a day – like Neuschwanstein will take a good portion of the day, but then we will head to Garmisch and spend the night and go see sights there the next day. It isn’t final yet, and some items might get pulled off.

It also looks a bit long because we had no choice but to stay about a week longer than we had originally planned. Jason & I are going over using frequent flyer miles, and while we had a huge selection of flights to get us there, we only had one option for returning home – 6 days later than I had wanted to return. Oh, who am I kidding – I’m psyched to be staying 6 days longer! But it wasn’t the original plan. So we will be there for over 2 weeks, giving us a lot of time to roam!

I lived in Germany over 15 years ago; I returned to the US when I was 7 months pregnant with Jason. He has never been there. I lived in a tiny, tiny town, Illesheim, which is near the larger town of Bad Windsheim. I was not far from the autobahn, and Rothenberg was about 15 minutes away, so I went there often. I absolutely adore that city – especially at night after the tour buses have come and gone. It is just an amazing place.

Matter of fact, I’ve been to many of the cities on the list, but I want to share them with Mike & Jason. I just can’t wait!