Snow and winter walks

There is snow here and snow in the States.
On the days we didn't go to a tourist site or walked a town, I went for walks with my brother.  Ususally the same walk every day, what made it different was the weather.
And since we have until tomorrow we are taking advantage of the time, and Jackson is outside with his great-uncle and they are sledding.
I took my extra day as a sign to visit a friend of my parents, she is 91 years old, and we stopped by and said hello.  Sadly, I can see the signs of the times....
but here are some pictures of our walk...

the last one is the town I grew up in.

Last night I went and had my fortune told.

I will write about that some other time.

We just got a call that my mother-in-law died.

She was 89 years old, and living with my father-in-law very happily in an assisted living place.

No arrangements have been made yet, and we are still in Germany

Snow

We were supposed to fly home today.

But a big snow storm is expected to hit the East Coast today.  So our flight was cancelled. 

We are confirmed to come home tomorrow.

In the meantime, I had a friend check on my house.

And this is what she found:

in front of my house, in my front yard.

I guesss, the bear misses me.

(yes, it is a bear paw print)

And yes, I live in the outer limit of the greater metropolitan area.  Of New York City.

The Rhine

It is late, and I just want to post a few more photos.  We went to the Pfalzgrafenstein today.  That is a toll `booth in the middle of the river, where in the middle ages they pulled a chain across, and held up all the boats or ships going in either direction.  I had never been there, although I do know just about all the castles on the left side of the Rhine in the area I am from.


The Rheingrafenstein or the Pfalz, which is the other name it is known under, was built in the 12th century, and is one of two castles never conquered and never destroyed.  It is pretty much in it's original condition, with very few changes over time.

The town is Kaub, and the castle is the Pfalz.

fron the inside

and our group with the 'guide' or keeper at the time.  You can reach the castle by ferry, and the ferry lands on the island, the worker on the ferry just takes the keys to your car and leaves it on the other side of the Rhein.  When the ferry comes back an hour later, you get the keys back, get the car, and  off you go. 

It was explained that it's done like that, because people would just leave their cars on the ferry without saying anything, and block the way for other cars, who just wanted to go across the river.

Pretty neat.

the view from the toll castle toward the Hunsrueck, and yes, we still have snow.

Jackson is up now and I have to be a grandma now, since Mommy went back to bed.

I don't mind, since his Mom is pregnant, and I love spending time with him.

Tourist

Despite-inspite (I alwaýs have a hard time with that) the winter weather here, we are trying to see or visit some places.  Today we went to the Pfalzgrafenstein in the middle of the Rhine.  No, I did not download the photos yet, but here are a few others.

We went to Bingen on the Rhine yesterday and ended up eating ice cream.  Jackson, who is two and a half, wanted the ice cream with the Smarties on top (smarties are like M and Ms), and when he got it, and he had a bite, he made a face and declared 'it's cold!'
Well, ice cream is not for him, I guess, he is into cookies.

Tomorrow we will go to a childrens Fasching or Carnival or Mardi Gras with him.

Jackson's rejected ice cream, doesn't it look good?

This is in Bingen, a wall painting of Hildegard of Bingen

And the day before we went to Bad Kreuznach, and here are the houses on the bridge, which are the symbol

of the town

and the bridge houses from the other side.

More tomorrow, we are off on another adventure!

I am happy for any reader,

Thank You!!!

I am home

We got here!  It is fun, and we already celebrated a birthday, slid on inner  tubes in the snow in front of the house, and visited a couple of towns.

this is the church I got confirmed in, and got married in.

the building on the left is the elementary school I went to from grade 1 to grade 8.

In the building on the right were the apartments for the teachers.

On the right is the house I grew up in. 

we had snow!

More next time, my girlfriend is here and I am going to enjoy her company.