On April 30th, we said good-bye to our landlord Ron and took a minivan ride to the St. Pancras International Station to take the Eurostar to Brussels. We happened to have the same driver, who had picked us up at Heathrow in January. He was happy to see us again. We had never taken the Eurostar before, so this was a new adventure.
Am 30. April haben wir uns von unserem Vermieter Ron verabschiedet und sind mit einem Kleinbus zum St. Pancras Bahnhof gefahren, um mit dem Eurostar nach Brüssel zu fahren. Wir hatten den selben Fahrer, der uns schon bei dem Flughafen Heathrow im Januar abgeholt hatte. Er hat sich über das Wiedersehen gefreut. Wir waren noch nie mit dem Eurostar gefahren, also war das mal wieder etwas Neues.
I think this was taken in France.
Das hier ist, glaube ich, Frankreich.
And this is Belgium.
Und hier ist Belgien.
Leaving the train in Brussels.
Wir steigen in Brüssel aus.
After a few hours, we take the ICE to Cologne.
Nach einigen Stunden fahren wir mit dem ICE nach Köln.
Around Aachen, the train had a speed of 246 km/h (153 m/h).
Um Aachen herum fuhr der Zug dann 246 km/h.
I only got a very bad picture of the Aachen Cathedral.
Leider habe ich nur dieses Foto von dem Aachener Dom bekommen.
The next day was a holiday in Germany, May Day. My sister Isa, her husband, and two children had invited us for lunch.
Zum 1. Mai hatte meine Schwester Isa, ihr Mann und ihre beiden Kinder uns zum Mittagessen eingeladen.
Cousins meeting cousins
Vetter und Kusinen lernen sich kennen.
In the afternoon, we went for a walk with my mother in her wheelchair.
Nachmittags sind wir mit meiner Mutter im Rollstuhl spazieren gegangen.
There was a special market for the holiday.
Es gab einen Maimarkt.
There is a cat on the roof . . .
Eine Katze ist auf dem Dach . . .
To be continued . . .
Fortsetzung folgt . . .
How nice to see the same driver :) Did you like riding on the Eurostar, and could you really feel the speed on ICE? I bet it was smooth. Germany is beautiful. It must feel wonderful to be with family again and so special to be with your Mom and Dad. Have a good visit, Eva :) xoxoxon (P.S. a new Pope! I thought it was very quick!)
ReplyDeleteYes, he is the one who thought that "the British ship has sunk." But he was all positive that day. I thought the Eurostar would be somehow grander. It was just like an older German ICE. I later discovered that the same company builds them. Yes, you do notice when the ICE gets fast. I kept watching the changing speed signs and sent them to Jonathan because he is fascinated by such facts. Yes, it is good to see many of my siblings, their families, and of course my parents. I know how precious these visits are. We are keeping very busy each day and I also try to help a lot with cleaning, laundry, etc. in our house. The cleaning lady is not coming anymore because she was in an accident and my father has not found a replacement. There is lots do to here. We also try do some yard work. Yes, a new pope! We were very surprised how quickly if happened on the second day of voting. Veronika was watching the process live on BBC. Their coverage was better than the German news. She was the first to announce the white smoke and then we switched on the German TV to see it all. The Germans were very surprised that an American was the choice :). And Pope Leo shares his name with our cat :).
DeleteThat's right! Leo shares the Pope's name! I can relate to the housework and yard work you are attempting to accomplish, and looking for a helper for your dad. I found that difficult when my parents were at the house as the only housekeepers I knew of came in a group of three and charged so much! The group was also too overwhelming for my mom. Having just one person come and pick up where needed is nice. I hope your dad can find someone competent and nice. That's very interesting about the Eurostar and how it's the same company as ICE, and interesting to hear that you can notice the speed changes.
DeleteI think it is almost impossible to find help like that these days. So far, there is nobody to take over. I am not sure what the next step will be. At least some of my siblings live close by. Maybe I am very sensitive to the speed changes because I have been on so many trains in Europe :).
Delete(sigh) It's good your siblings live close by. It's difficult when living so far. It would have been nice for my sister and I if we were closer and could have taken turns stopping by their house. It was good we moved them to be in my sister's town for her to keep an eye on them, but very, very difficult for my parents. They were homesick and that still makes my heart ache when I think about it.
DeleteYes, I do live too far. It is not only the distance, but the cost to get back to Germany. I think it is very difficult for older people to be put into nursing homes because their surroundings are not familiar anymore. It was the same with my grandparents. They feel disoriented and lost. Why is getting old so hard these days?
Delete(sigh) I don't know . . maybe we're busier? We live further away . . We are living longer . . Our homes aren't set up for it and we don't have affordable in home nursing care and the majority of families have to work two jobs . . but I think our elderly are more feeble or we are able to keep ourselves alive longer in a more feeble condition? I do often wonder about it! Atul Gawande's book "Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End" is very good. I read it when my mom and dad began their sojourn in assisted living.
DeleteI think all of the above. That book sounds interesting. Maybe our library has it.
DeleteDa hast du aber ein paar schöne Bilder von der Fahrt gemacht.
ReplyDeleteWitzig, das Jonathan solche Straßenschilder mag. Philip hat die schon "gelesen" bevor er zur Schule kam und wollte immer wieder wissen, was dieses denn bedeutet.
Schade, dass du den Dom nicht fotografieren konntest. Wenn du magst, schicke ich dir gerne ein Bild, wir haben Hunderte davon.
Es war gar nicht so einfach, Fotos zu machen, weil der Zug so schnell fuhr. Ja, gerne, ich würde mich über ein Foto vom Dom freuen. Vielleicht sind solche Schilder ein Jungending :).
DeleteDas ist schon möglich. Aber unser Ältester hat sich nie für so etwas interessiert.
DeleteIch stelle mal ein paar Dombilder zusammen und schicke sie dir per E-Mail.
Ja, das ist nett, daß Du ein paar Bilder für mich suchen willst. Natürlich interessieren sich nicht alle Jungen dafür!
DeleteStimmt, aber vielleicht mehr als Mädchen. Kann ich natürlich als Mutter von Jungs nicht so beurteilen.
DeleteIch hab dir eine E-Mail geschickt.
DeleteDanke, ich habe sie noch nicht anschauen können, weil wir wieder in die USA gereist sind, doch ich gucke dieses Wochenende, wenn die Koffer ausgepackt sind.
DeleteKeine Eile.
DeleteDie Koffer sind fast ausgepackt, doch wir mußten einige wieder packen, um zu Jonathans Harvard graduation zu fahren. Jetzt sind wir wieder zu Hause und packen weiterhin aus. Hoffentlich habe ich nächste Woche ein wenig Muße, doch muß Flora auch ihre Abschlußtests machen und Veronika muß noch einen "Aufsatz" Test für ihre Uni machen.
DeleteAu weh, ganz schön viel Stress für deine Familie, auch wenn mancher davon positiv ist. Ich wünsche euch alles Gute.
DeleteDanke schön! Heute war ein ruhigerer Tag. Jonathan hat für seine nächste Prüfung gelernt (bar exam), Flora hat ein paar Übungstests gemacht, aber morgen wollen wir den echten Test machen, und Peter hatte auf dem Campus Termine. Er mußte auch das Auto inspizieren lassen (so ähnlich wie TÜV). Ich habe ein wenig im Garten gearbeitet und dann weiter versucht, Platz für Jonathans Sachen zu finden. Ich weiß gar nicht genau, was Veronika gemach hat :).
DeleteJa, so ähnlich sieht es oft aus. Man denkt, oh, schön, heute habe ich nichts vor, und dann räumt man das halbe Haus um.
DeleteP.S. Oben sollte es "gemacht" heißen.
DeleteStimmt, eigentlich eigenartig, daß wir Menschen so sind.
Irgendwie müssen wir das von unseren Vorfahren geerbt haben.
DeleteWahrscheinlich :).
Delete