Jetzt geht's los! (Let's go!!)

The FIFA World Cup in S. Africa is underway and so are we. We're back in Germany on our bikes (at the moment at a campsite) with our new netbook, and we actually stayed in a campsite with wifi (but unfortunately this one doesn't have it.) But before I get to this trip, I've got to say something about our last great trip....down memory lane.

We were back in the US for about three months, and during that time we got to see and spend time with friends and family. Unfortunately, we couldn't see everyone, but it was fun to catch up. Our goal was to spend time with family, specifically Charlene and Harry, and to help my father celebrate 70th birthday (wow.) But we were also pleasantly surprised when Sue flew in from California on a last-minute trip! We were happy that we were finally able to get up to Albany to see Linda her family (and were also graced by a visit from Lara and hers.) And it's always great to see Stu and Howard - thanks Stu for letting us use your apartment so I could visit with old friends Keith, Barb, Matt, Dean, Andrew, Amy, and Steve (yes, I put his name last because I know it bugs him.) So fun to see everyone!

And now for the bike trip. We left Gommern by train after spending a week there looking after Matthias' Oma (grandma) so that his parents could take a short trip. We took the train pretty much across Germany to Duesseldorf on the Rhein, where we set up camp for the first night, took in some of the city, and watched the US play England. The next day we rode to Koeln (Cologne) where we watched some local soccer matches and then the big Germany Australia game at a restaurant near the campsite. Then we continued down the Rhein to Koblenz, where the Mosel river ends and the Mosel bike trail begins. We decided to ride the trail because it would bring us to France, but we found it absolutely beautiful and charming - it actually puts the Rhein (which is somehow more famous) to shame. We had been here before in a car, but the scenery is much more dramatic from a bike somehow. We even had excellent weather for our first four days of riding, with the exception of the day we rode 90km to Trier. It rained quite hard in the morning, but it fortunately didn't start raining until after we packed everything up, so our stuff stayed dry, and we were pretty dry by the time we reached Trier and checked into the campsite for two days.

We stayed in Trier to watch the world cup action (USA and Germany play on the same day...yay!) It was sad when Germany lost, but the US game was pretty exciting. But enough about the obvious. The next day we took a short ride to Remich in Luxembourg and stayed there because, well, I've never been to Luxembourg before. It was nice, but the campsite left a bit to be desired.

The next day we rode to Thionville (another short ride) and stopped there because we didn't have a map to take us further. It's in France, by the way. It was a lovely city, but because it was Sunday, everything was closed, so we couldn't find a map to go further until the next morning. Plus, we had to wait 4pm for the campsite to open. Bienvenue!

On Monday morning we bought a map and traveled on to Metz - another short ride, but it was our first ride that was not on a prescribed bike trail. We found our way pretty well, although Metz is a pretty big city, and not too conducive to bike travel (especially with matthias' bike trailer!) So, although the ride was a bit stressful, the city is lovely and the campsite is fabulous - right on the banks of the Moselle, with clotheslines and picnic tables (we used both.) Oh, and of course they have wifi, which is why I'm posting this hastily-written entry. Tomorrow, we head into the French countryside, again without a prescribed bike trail, so it's up to me and the maps I got at the tourist info office to get us to the next campsite. stay tuned....