Rolling hills….

I have decided that I am in love with rolling hills. Hills blanketed with all sorts of things. From dense forests to simple green pastures to little towns neatly tucked away in the folds, they are simply beautiful.

Why am I talking about rolling hills you ask? Well, simply because I am starring at them right now. I am currently on a train headed back to my lovely home away from home, Düsseldorf, and the window to my right is providing a most interesting view of the German country side.

In the distance I am almost positive I am watching snow gracefully fall (Either it is snow or really slow falling rain that wonders rather than falling in its usual straight path to the ground). Though the clouds have control of the sky today, the sun makes sure its presence is known. In scattered places the sun’s rays can clearly be seen shining through. I like it when that happens. It gives a gloomy day character.

The whole reason for this journey was to take my dad to the airport. We hoped on a train at 5:30 this morning to send him back to the states. For those that do not know, my dad and sister flew in last Monday (march 10^th) to spend spring break here. And that is where my story begins.

The public transportation in Germany has been having a series of what they call “warning strikes.” Apparently they are not happy with their pay so they schedule these strikes and then negotiate with whomever about whatever and if all goes well then there will not be a strike. Apparently things never go well. Düsseldorf has experienced 2 of them since we have been here.

Normally the strikes are just local. Meaning the national trains still run. Though they are not much help to us students because we have to take a local train to get to the station with the national trains, but if you so desire to walk then you can catch one and go from city to city.

Well, the week before my dad and sister arrived, we got word about a national strike soon to happen. And wouldn’t you know, that strike landed on the day my family was to arrive. Meaning, when they flew into Frankfurt they could not catch a train to Düsseldorf like they were planning.

Thats when Julie (my missionary friend) decided we would drive and pick them up. Of course telling them this would take all the fun out of things. So when they boarded the plane they were expecting to arrive in Frankfurt and take a 2 hour train ride to Düsseldorf. Little did they know someone would be waiting there for them…

After finding their gate and the perfect place to stand so that we were just out of sight, we waited. Finally after watching several flights arrive and passengers leave, my dad and sister appeared through the gate doors. Ohh man was I excited to see them! But I remained calm and tried to come up with the best way to make our presence known. It was quite exciting!

Their first task after getting to the airport was to call me and let me know they were there, so they were supposed to be heading towards a pay phone. But they passed a few. So as I stalked behind them for a while I decided to walk up next to dad.

After a few steps and him not catching on, I decided to inform him that the pink T-Moble signs were in fact pay phones. At this point they both gasped and stopped dead in their tracks. Becca who was ahead a bit quickly turned around to look with her mouth hanging down to the floor. It was priceless!! Mission complete! Apparently just before I walked up, Becca had just mentioned that she was disappointed I wasn’t going to meet them at the airport and wished I had come. Perfect timing =)

Once we loaded up the car, we set off to show them a bit of Germany. Our first stop was a stretch of the Rhine River where there are a lot of cute little towns and old castles. It was amazing! We got off at a few different spots, but the best was Bacharach. There we got to tour the Castle Stahleck. Oh man it was a blast!!!

If you ever come to Germany you have to check out this area. It is absolutely beautiful!!! Small towns lining the river with castles scattered about, man it’s a sight! The terrain was, once again, those rolling hills. Instead of pastures like lots of other places, there were vineyards everywhere! At some parts the hills where so steep that we couldn’t figure out how in the world someone could harvest the grapes! But they did and it sure made for a fascinating sight.

After the River, we took them to Köln and showed them the Cathedral. I think they really enjoyed it. The weather in Köln was pretty bad, but we stayed in the Cathedral the whole time so I think it worked out. After eating lunch and introducing dad to wiener schnitzel, we headed back to our final destination of the day, Düsseldorf. I think it turned out to be a very successful day =)

The rest of the week’s story is soon to come…

Here are just a few pics

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