So I'm sitting in this dinky little train, rolling along the fields in France with the diesel engine thundering along below my seat. Every passenger had beads of sweat running down their foreheads - the tiniest bit of relief from the sweltering heat. An announcement sounds from the speakers in German; I couldn't understand the muffled speech, but the numerous passengers expressed their dissatisfaction with a collective groan. I figured this wasn't a good thing.
Our bus-on-rails came to a slow halt, and the still air slowly increased in temperature as we sat baking in the non-air conditioned, slits-for-windows railcar. I sat in great discomfort, trying to avoid the heat of my dark blue seat and humourously noting various peoples' reactions to the extreme heat. 25 long minutes later, the engines grumbled back to life, and as the air finally flowed through the tiny windows, the temperature slowly dropped from what must have been 45 degrees to the ambient 35 degrees. I was glad I brought my water.
After transferring onto an air conditioned train, I arrived in Colmar in much better shape than I had been an hour previously. When I stepped off the train, I saw something I hadn't seen in 6 months: my family!
After a group hug and lots of greetings, we walked to the flat we were staying in. The medieval building is featured on tons of Colmar postcards, so I didn't bother taking a photo of it. Of course, I didn't buy a postcard either. Oh well.
We went out for a French dinner, then wandered around and checked out the city.
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| Dinnertime |
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| Had to capture this beaut |
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| The canal just outside our flat |
Being in the Alsace region of France, we went on a wine tour. We went to a few wineries, and rarely spat out the wine. Eventually we found ourselves in the USA:
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| Jill at the war memorial |
We fooled around on the hill overlooking the great expanses of vines, enjoying the gorgeous views and weather.
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| Wine-to-be |
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| Pops taking flight |
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| YEEAH |
Later on in the afternoon, we checked out a few more picturesque french towns, and one with a little extra "character:"
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| Jill & Mar in some medieval town |
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| Under the nest = eye of the storm |
We had a massive thunderstorm that night, and the rain continued into the next day when we started the trek towards my new hometown of Donaueschingen.
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| Tonight's feature: torrential rain and lightning |
Uncharacteristically (maybe my family was really happy to see me), we stopped at the French car museum in Mulhouse, where there happened to be a classic car show in the pouring rain. We checked out the show and went on inside:
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| None too dry |
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| Only 5 of these survive. I wonder why... |
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| A little less than attractive |
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| Modern Bugatti |
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| Old Bugatti |
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| Opulence, in its largest form. The largest, and possibly most valuable production car in the world: the Bugatti Type 41 Royale |
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| Old Maybach |
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| Classy Bugatti |
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| They rolled slowly around this racetrack before entering the outdoor show. It wasn't exciting, but we watched for a while anyway. |
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| A quick pitstop on the extremely twisty and foggy roads to Donaueschingen |
Before we made it home, we made a pitstop in Löffingen to visit my second family: the Hoffmans. I was greeted by a bunch of my friends, and we sat down for some delicious Black Forest Cake and story sharing.
The week in Donaueschingen blew by. The family was staying in a very Asian house, complete with scriptures on the walls and photos of the kids. It had a spacious kitchen and beds for 5, so I slept there for a few nights. They checked out the local sights while I worked, and we met up in the evenings for dinner and family time.
Before we knew it, Friday had come around again and we were on the road to Füssen to check out some castles and swim in lakes at the foothills of the Alps.
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| Just trying to take a picture.. |
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| Neuschwanstein (New Swan Stone) castle |
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| Overlooking Hohenscmhwangau from behind Neuschwanstein. Oh, and we swam in that lake to the left. |
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| The edge of the Alps |
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| Mar, Me, and Jill |
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| The sun decided to peek through on our way down |
The next day we took a trip out into the countryside to go on the summer luge and swim in a lake.
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| Quick shot from the road |
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| Me taking the luge a little to seriously |
All too soon we had to say goodbye, and I hopped on a train back to Donaueschingen. 'Till September, meine Familie.
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