Germany

Driving in Germany was a real treat!  All the speed signs said 140 km/h (87mph) but the average speed was around 95mph.  The Mazda 3 handled it like a champ!  The landscape was of rolling mountains, and long sweeping roads and bridges spanned the gaps between them.  We were scanning the radio for good music and found one playing a lot of American music; turns out it was Armed Forces Network (AFN) Germany, The Eagle.  The roads were in perfect condition and the rest stops were immaculately clean.  Who knew that German engineering could make such efficient rest stops?!

When we arrived in the small town of Bacharach, we found narrow cobbled streets lined by tall houses.  The town was parallel with the River Rhine and had a rail track between the town and the river.  We parked in a small car-park near our hotel and found our room to be amazingly quaint.  The hotel even had a pool that we took advantage of as soon as we could. We finished the day walking the streets of Bacharach and had a lovely meal, sitting outside a local restaurant.

Outdoor seating at a medieval restaurant:

The next day we went on a self-guided tour of the town, where we got to climb a watch-tower in the reisling vineyards, see the old cathedral ruins, and view markers showing how high the floodwaters got at one of the gates.  Later in the day, we rented bikes and jumped on a riverboat for a tour of the River Rhine.  After seeing a multitude of old German "robber baron" castles, we disembarked with our bikes and rode back to Bacharach.  On the way home, we got to see a few more towns along the river.  We got a really good workout and needed a nice relaxing evening before heading to Switzerland the next day.  We dined on the patio at a fancy restaurant and watched the trains go by while eating spectacular food.

The vineyard tower we climbed:

 View of Bacharach and the Rhine from the top of the tower:

 Our paddle wheel river cruise:

 Us on the river cruise:

 A castle built to resemble a ship on the river:

 Biking along the Rhine:

~Blake

Amsterdam

Our European road trip began with a short (2 hour) drive to England’s east coast city of Harwich, where we boarded a ferry destined for the Netherlands.  It was nice to see other cars with steering wheels on the left side, many with license plates with the abbreviations NL, D, and F.  The Mazda 3 fit nicely on the lower deck of the ferry, and all the people got out of their cars and began climbing the stairs towards the passenger deck.  This reminded us of our cruise because it had most of the same amenities as our cruise ship.  We spent the time reading, playing games on the iPad, and saw a movie in the ship theater.  After half the day, we arrived in the province of South Holland, which is of course in the country of the Netherlands, where the people are Dutch.  Confused? Watch this video for more information.

Mazda on the ferry:

Driving on the right was awkward for the first few minutes, add that with driving in a foreign country, and you can see why I was a little stressed behind the wheel.  I was thankful to pull into a “Park and Ride” center on the outskirts of Amsterdam (which is in North Holland).  We rode the train from the car park to Amsterdam’s main rail station.  We timed our arrival to the rental apartment perfectly as we met the owner.  He showed us a much modernized, shared apartment.  The layout had the bathroom and shower near the entrance, kitchen near the middle, and a bedroom at each end of the apartment.  Just outside was a church with bells that rang multiple times per hour.  Once, they played the bells for the whole hour, making for some lovely music.

Our excursions started from the apartment and led outwards, in all directions.  Our days were filled with lots of walking, sight-seeing, and soaking-up European life.  We had Dutch pancakes, Dutch chocolate, Gouda cheese (from the Gouda region of the Netherlands), and threw in some Chinese food from the Asian part of town.  One of the highlights of the city was our boat ride through the canals of Amsterdam.  We got to see where Anne Frank was in hiding, numerous bridges, and the famous Flower Market where you could buy your weight of tulips!  We were very close to the Red Light District where we got to see “employees” working in the front windows, hehe!  We also went into a shop that sold a particular recreational plant that you can now find legally in Colorado and Washington.  In the store the clerk was giving a group of Americans explicit directions, while being very polite and very direct, not to smoke it all at once, to be sure take 30 minute breaks, and to stay hydrated.  It was very interesting being in a culture where that kind of thing legal and quite common.

Crooked architecture:

 Dutch pancakes:

Gouda wheels:

Us on the canal boat:

Boating through a wide canal:

Boating through a narrow canal:

Flower market:

Amsterdam was a blast and we were sad to leave, but we knew that more of Europe was ahead and had to press on.  After the train ride back to the car, we started driving towards our next destination, Germany!

Us on a canal bridge:

~Blake

Summertime at Wicken Fen

Over the summer, we returned to Wicken Fen nature reserve.  Blake was writing a physical geography report on the location, I wanted to take some photos, and Cooper was itching for an adventure.  The weather was perfect, and everyone was out enjoying the weather.  Some people had even parked their houseboats and were enjoying a picnic. How quaint!

We paid more attention to the landscape this time since Blake was doing field research. The fens are very soggy; a type of wetland unique to this area of England.  You can easily see the standing water, and the windpump is designed to drain some of that water for agricultural purposes.  Needless to say, we wore our tall hiking boots and Cooper spent the day with a soaked underbelly.

My camera found a lot more wildlife this time than it did when we visited in the winter.  The highland cattle and konik ponies let me get some close-ups, as well as some ducks and insects.

Cooper found some wildlife too.  He caught the scent of something near the river, but the reeds were so thick that none of us could see what it was.  Being a hound, he followed the scent through the reeds until he literally ran headfirst into a roosting pheasant!  The huge bird immediately made a loud whooshing noise and took flight.  All of us were startled, but none more than Cooper, who jumped about a foot in the air at his discovery!  What a fun day.

~Lindsay