Travels

The posts got sparse in August, not because nothing happened, but because too much was going on to think about sharing it with the one or two souls that actually read this blog.  Never fear, I will try to update you right away.

First, THE EVENT:

My (baby - favorite - only) brother got married on August 17th and celebrated the occasion with great gusto and in an amazing way on the next day.

It was definitely the wedding of the century.  

It couldn't have happened to a nicer couple.  The royals have nothing on them.  It did however require travel, since he and his new wife Sibylle reside in Leipzig, Germany (yes, there is one there, too).

About the wedding:

It was a celebration of such splendor and note that it was well worth it for me to drag my butt into the more populated regions of the planet, suffer through the worst trans-Atlantic flight in history (freezing temperatures, no food, screaming and vomiting kids unchaperoned by their producers and uninterrupted by 'flight attendants', who were absent and only appeared to say "bye" or "get off the plane") and inhale enough cigarette smoke to last me a life-time.

But more about that later.  

Remember Calamity Jones?  First things first...

[As an aside, here:  It is amazing how much Germans smoke, and EVERYWHERE.  Frankfurt airport is touted as smoke free, but that is clearly a joke, for there are glass cubes inside filled with smokers and smoke, but lacking any ventilation so that whenever one enters or leaves, which is frequently, everyone in the area is breathing concentrated smoke spewing forth.  For an asthmatic, this is  a minefield.  Further, and shocking to me, Germans have apparently given up cleanliness.  Cigarette butts and trash is everywhere, weeds are thigh or waist high, and in nearly two weeks I did not once see a street sweeper.  I guess countries change in a generation, and since my last visit to (then West-) Germany was nearly 30 years ago, well, it clearly wasn't like in my childhood anymore.]

Okay, where were we?  Oh, yeah:

To recuperate from the flight I relaxed in a suburb of Wiesbaden, where Mom and Bernd have an apartment with fantastic views.  It's like living in a castle, only without the moat and drawbridge, I guess.


We hit Wiesbaden during the Weinfest - yes, wine festival - and did day trips to Heidelberg and Ruedesheim, complete with train and ship rides, all during the best summer weather ever, before we headed to Dresden well rested.  Bernd had to work and met up with Mom and me at intervals.

Wiesbaden is rather fancy, (see http://wikitravel.org/en/Wiesbaden for more) with a Kurhaus and casino, and thermals that bubble and boil out of the ground all over the place (but the water tastes really bad, thus it must be good for you), and we could walk there along the park from the apartment:

Kurhaus

Kurhaus showing red carpet that we never failed to use

Kuckuck's Uhr - not the world's largest, although it says it is.

My Mom pointing out stuff I did not buy for Harold.

Marktkirche with wine stands

A tiny part of the wine fest, it went on and on and had food, live music, and wine,  in all colors, still or sparkling, and more wine.  Good thing we could walk home, barely.

This was a great vacation tour and I have too many pictures to share, but I will put them in another post.
Heidelberg was fun though, because it gave me a chance to visit with a former daily companion of mine, Bob.

Here's a picture of Bob:

 The wedding?
Oh, yes, let's get to the main attraction:

The wedding ceremony was in Dresden, very official and yet very nicely and tastefully done, and yes, I got leaky at the eyes, right here at:

The always happy couple, Kay and Billy, before the deed.  

Here they are during...

Too late to back out now...

And the official stamp is on.

 Then, we walked to the Blue Wonder, which turns out to be a bridge,


but there was a fancy restaurant just ready to spoil us with good food and wonderful views, and best of all, great company.

I put my camera away to eat, but after the food and getting to know each other, we got a super tour of Dresden, especially of the restored rebuilt Frauenkirche, where we climbed to the top, and while one can argue about rebuilding and restoring such things, and the costs related to it, once you see it, there is no question, it was worth it.  My brother did such a great job telling us about the sights, he must have jobbed there as a tour guide, but he denies it.

Then we continued to Leipzig because the actual festivities were about to start the next day.  Many of their friends came from far and wide, and then we all got on the party bus, and got a tour of Leipzig and the area, 

ended up at a large lake with lakeside restaurant, the Seeteufel, where all stops were pulled, and the food fun and festivities just kept adding up.  There are not enough superlatives to describe what I ate there, and the company was outstanding as well.  

You'd think that would be it, but no, no way.  We got onto another bus, and back to the middle of Leipzig, we went heavenward, to the top of the Panorama Tower, where there was more of everything, plus a DJ and soon the place was hopping.  I am quite sure that some dancers limped home with blisters, but hey, it was such great fun, and lasted well into the next day.  I tried to take pictures of that, but my little camera wasn't up to night-scenes.  

You can see some of it here: http://www.panorama-leipzig.de/de/dachterrasse although that's during the day.  At night - way better!

Later, ... much later on Sunday we got a quick tour of Kay and Billy's home, then back on the train (ICE to Wiesbaden, and we traveled in STYLE, first class all the way!) and after a few days of recovering from the celebration, back home, which was a pleasant flight, great service, no screaming kids, the nicest reception from custom and passport officials, and a painless way home.  Wow, now I am tired just from reliving the whole vacation.  

Last weekend we spent with our best man (wow, wedding related, but also ancient history) Tom visiting, so we had even more fun, and now I really really should do some laundry, oh, and it rained here too, finally, but we got about 4 inches of a good soaking rain, so things are greening up, but now the sun is out again, so I will be as well, shortly.  

Oh, finally, about Bob:

Decibel's joke

This morning I come outside, lagging behind, but not last, that was Ralph, so I figured I was doing well.  Harold is sitting on the steps, chatting animated with someone, and giggling.  Decibel is giving him a smooch.

"What's so funny?"  I ask, trying to figure out which shoe goes where.
"Decibel told me a joke," Harold claims.

"What's big and brown?"

                                               "---    ME!"

Then he was laughing again, with Decibel hugging him, wagging her tail like mad and licking his face.  She is a very enthusiastic kisser.  Apparently she also tells jokes now.