What a crazy beautiful place Germany is! The small town of Bernkastel Keus was quintessential German. In fact, it was almost too perfect...almost like Disney world. Everything was so old, yet so perfectly up kept. I'm used to old buildings and the charming decay that comes with age, but the whole place looked brand new. The town was almost too clean. I'm not sure if this is a German trait or just unique to this town, but it was nice to see that level of pride.
Anyway, we were in town for a wedding. A German wedding to be specific, which, if you're unfamiliar, lasts for 12 hours. This wedding, for multiple reasons, would have to go down as my most "unique" to date. The two families came from vastly different parts of the world. Meagan comes from Germany. Alex comes from Colombia. There was a German priest, and an English one. They took turns at the alter. There were a lot of people on both sides that couldn't speak English. It was an interesting dynamic to say the least.
But as you'll see, the language barrier did not stop anyone from having a great time. My only regret is that we did not spend more time in Germany before we had to return to the US. Germany was an amazing place with amazing people, and I have heard nothing but great things about the rest of the country. It is high on my list of places to explore next!
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On a personal note, if you ever find yourself in Bernkastel Keus you must stay at the Haus Botzet. Not only did you get an entire apartment for the price of a single room, but Denise, the lady who runs it, was one of the nicest human beings I've ever met. Our journey back to France was memorable to say the least...
In a nutshell, the morning of our departure the GPS in our rented car failed to turn on. Completely dead. We go inside, wake up Denise, and she helps us print out directions to Luxembourg. I was worried, very worried...and for good reason. It was a crazy complicated list of directions, and we quickly found out that the signs and roads in no way match our list of instructions. To complicate matters, there is road construction everywhere... In a matter of 10 minutes we are utterly lost. I don't even know what direction I'm driving. I almost had a full blown panic attack. Long story short, by the grace of God we end up on A1, the interstate which we were looking for...then I started seeing signs to Luxembourg City. I followed the signs all the way in to the city, and then from memory found the train station. By another miracle, we actually made our train.
I've never felt such a high...not only did we navigate ourselves back with little more than the stars, but we actually made our train. Then, THEN, I realize I didn't have my passport. I had left it where I hid it at Haus Botzet. My ecstasy quickly turned into a deep depression. We were leaving Europe in 2 days, and even if Denise found it and overnighted it the next day, there was a good chance that it wouldn't make it before our flight left.
LONG story short, she found it, overnighted it, and it arrived at 5:30pm the day of our departure. (We were leaving at 7pm.) So, why mention this? Because Denise could not have been cooler throughout the entire process. She was amazing, and I owe it to her that I didn't miss my flight. So, if you ever find yourself in Bernkastel Kues, you must stay at the Haus Botzet. Trust me.
Anyway, enjoy the photos!
Fin!
