Rainy day in Oberwesel

The rain that started yesterday continued through the night and by morning we were resigned to stay inside.  We have missed the cleansing rain not found in Kuwait so it was not a bad thing.  We hadn't made any real plans but had thought about taking the ferry across the river to climb the Lorelay Rock.  We had a leisurely breakfast, did some reading and fortunately by 11:00 the downpour has trickled down to a drizzle.  We walked into the center of the village, bought rolls for sandwiches, and then decided to take the train to the next town upriver - Oberwesel.

It seems as the longer we tour this area, the older things get.  1400 wasn't old enough, now we are seeing churches started in 1200.  The Early Renaissance paintings and frescoes inside both churches were astoundingly well preserved. Oberwesel has the most complete Roman wall of anywhere on the Rhine and it remains an imposing figure to the landscape.  It drizzled through most of the time we were there but we ducked into a few Gothic churches.  In one of them, a couple was trying out the acoustics by chanting some sort of liturgy.  Lovely really.

Oberwesel is the least tourist trafficked city we visited but seemed to have the most to offer.  Charming Hansel and Gretel architecture, sprawling vineyards, cobblestone pathways, and ancient towers and walls filled the space and our time.

With the weather relatively clear, we went for a power walk in the late afternoon, picked up a mushroom and anchovy pizza, finished off our beer, and packed up our bags. 

This trip has reaffirmed our decision of late to travel more slowly and stay in one place instead of trying to run stamps in a passport or squeeze nights into multiple cities.   Apparently, we don't look like tourists as people are speaking German to us, which is remedial at best. 

Looking forward to spending the night in Dalton tomorrow!

Boppard and Bacharach

Our days have been laid back and carefree.  We casually wake up as the river slowly comes back to life.  There are very few tourists at this point in the year and with a small population of residents, it has been quiet.  While watching the sun rise over the hills across the river this morning, we recreated the German breakfasts that we have enjoyed so much in the past - hard boiled eggs, wholegrain rolls, soft and hard cheeses, tomatoes, yogurt, muesli, tea, and jams.  And then back to bed for a while longer.

The train station is a short walk away.  Yesterday we took the train up to the ancient Roman city of Boppard.  Ok, everything on the Rhine is quite old, but Boppard sets a precedent as one of the Roman fortresses in the third and fourth centuries.  The city center still boasts part of the original wall.  We had visited here before but somehow had missed the ruins.  The highlight was stepping into the 13th century St. Severus church, a Gothic-style building built over the former Roman baths and remarkably maintained.  We enjoyed an organ impromptu concert for over an hour as we walked around to look at the ceiling murals, early Christian artifacts, and the baptistry founded in the 6th century.

Strolling through town, we picked up a pint of raspberries and some rolls to eat as we meandered through the storybook streets.  Although it had rained earlier, the weather was warm and comfortable.  We admired the countless flower boxes, manicured gardens, quaint windows, slate roofs, and carved wooden doors.  We appreciate the German sense of design and attention to detail in just about everything.

Before we boarded the train back to St. Goar, we stopped off at the REWE grocery store since we have facilities to prepare food for ourselves.  Our cart contained sliced turkey, tomatoes, apples, local white asparagus, a soft and hard cheese (we have not had any in over a year, so a real treat), a few different kinds of rolls, weissbier, a bottle of local white wine, apple juice, eggs, red leaf lettuce, smoked salmon, yogurt, blackberry jam, potato pancakes, and applesauce.  Simplicity at its finest.  And like today's breakfast described above, we enjoyed a wonderful late lunch yesterday when we returned to the apartment.

With the advent of the summer solstice, the sun only sets around 10 pm.  So after a short nap, we set out around 6 for a hike up to the castle, and discovered several more walking trails in the hills above the town.  We drank beer down by the waterfront before coming back to the apartment and sleeping soundly.

This morning was brilliantly warm and sunny and we decided to take the boat down to Bacharach.  This town also has a rich Roman and Celtic history with an incredibly intact wall around most of the city center.  We walked on half of it, as well as climbing to the the Castle Stahleck.  Cloudy weather made perfect conditions for hiking through vineyards and up and down hills.  We were rewarded with a couple of glasses of wine at one of the many tasting rooms along with a snack.

The political and economic power of Bacharach back in the day was staggering.  Today it still maintains a high reputation and standard as the wine capitol of the Rhine region, and we were not disappointed.  One of the pleasant surprises today was trying the not-too-sweet Riesling gelato.

We were caught in a torrential downpour and the boat ride back was rather anticlimactic, but it's still so relaxing to travel by boat and witness such a stunning landscape.  By early evening we were back out walking through the town before a light dinner.  Our days are long and full, but we are not hurried at all.  It's been the perfect buffer between Kuwait and home.

Belatedly, Russ' birthday

Russ turned 45 this year, which seems old except that on most days we don't feel that way.  He is not a big birthday person, but it has always been fun to combine the end of school and beginning of summer with the celebration of his birthday which is what we did.

 

Although it now seems ages ago, we had a great party on Thursday afternoon.  Probably got home from school around 2.  I was trying to get him out of the apt to the gym but he has hanging around.  He knew we were having a few friends over which we typically do most weekends.  So he finally got to the gym and then I called Justin to set up the pinata and sombreros.  Maria came over to help with the food and setting things up in the apt.  People started arriving at 5 - food is all there (had it semi-catered by two Mexican women - chicken mole, chimichangas, then I made a humongous bowl of guacamole, also salsa, beans, rice). 5:30 still no Russ.  5:45 the place is packed we had over 40 friends there (we determined the capacity of our apt is about 50).  I called him, texted him, but no pickup.  Turned out that he got into a movie while on the treadmill.  So he walked in at 6 and was completely gobsmacked.  I don't think he had ever been more surprised.  For the next two days, he still talked about how he had no idea.  I did not think it was going to be such a big deal so it really worked out well.

Brent, the guy from whom we inherited the wine making equipment, was able to score a couple of Coronas from a contact at the embassy, which was just perfect for Russ.  Beer is one of the things we miss while living in Kuwait. It was such a fun evening - there are so many people who like and admire him and whose company we truly enjoy.  People cleared out by 9 pm - rum punch was gone and many had midnight flights to catch.  

On his actual birthday, we had the Nicholson and Marlender families over for a lunch where everyone brought their refrigerator leftovers.  The kids loved the whipped cream served on angel food.  Good way to end our time in Kuwait.

Resting on the Rhine

After a whirlwind of cleaning, packing, and saying goodbyes, we left for the airport on Saturday evening.  In the lounge, we were able to skype back home with a few people since it was Russ' birthday.  It really had  been a birthday week for him - the Science Department celebrated with cake while we were still at school; we had a big bash on Thursday, and then friends came over for lunch and cake on the 16th.  Russ is not really a birthday person, so this was all a little much for him, but I think he enjoyed it nonetheless.

While in the airport, we also worked on our yahoo security - we had both been hacked, so hopefully that is all taken care of.  By the time we boarded the very crowded plane we were bordering on being delirious.  Figured that in the previous 48 hours, we only achieved ten hours of sleep in all.  We did not sleep much on the plane either.  It all seemed like another world away when we touched down in Frankfurt.  We started to loosen up and forget the weariness of Kuwait as we moved out of the airport and inched up the Rhine river to our destination in St. Goar.

Our apartment was not ready at 8:30 am when we arrived yesterday, understandably so.  So we walked through the small town center, found a bakery open with freshly made rolls, and found a bench on the waterfront to chill out.  There is a wine tasting room steps away from our place, so we spent an hour in there trying fruit liquors and eiswein (ice wine made from frozen grapes).  Rosi invited to come back for more tomorrow.  In the late morning, Walter and his wife showed us around our accommodation on the fourth floor of a charming classically German-style building.  We have an absolutely stunning view of the Rhine and have delighted in watching the many different kinds of barges float by.  However, it did not take long for us to crash once we settled in, buried in soft clean down comforters and pillows.  The weather warmed throughout the day and by late afternoon was quite comfortable.  We found seating at an outdoor cafe and ordered lunch.  Gone are the days when we feasted on wurst, schnitzel, and spaetzle.  Russ had a lovely piece of salmon with salad, and I just ordered a big salad and a big beer.  While Russ went back to the apartment, I took a short hike up to the Castle Rheinfels, where we had stayed during our honeymoon about this time nine years ago.  We'll hike back again another time to explore the ruins, but it was good to stretch my legs during the arduous hike.

Things I already love about being here - sunsets only at 10:30: appreciation for high quality food; outstanding beer and wine selection; down pillows; old world charm without even trying; speciality shops such as cheese, gelato, bread, and meat; German efficiency, punctuality, and cleanliness; attention to detail;  and yes even friendly Germans!

Incredible pomp

It was hard to determine whether we attended a graduation ceremony or a wedding last night.  It was in fact the school's graduation ceremony with all the glitz of an upscale wedding or event.  The ceremony was held in the ballroom of a swank hotel downtown.  As valets parked exotic cars, attendees flooded in, dressed in all sorts of finery - women with high heeled designer shoes, big hair, glittering jewelry, and for men flowing white robes and headdresses.  I felt incredibly under dressed in my new flowered sundress with matching sandals.  Mock-tails were served in the lobby under massive crystal chandeliers and amidst towering floral displays.  Inside of the hall, there were two large screens to capture every moment filmed by the 13 photographers and videographers.  Some students even had personal photographers who followed them around.  Graduates walked down an elevated catwalk and fortunately none of the girls broke their ankle.

Unfortunately, money does not necessarily buy class.  First example - first row of parents were VIP guests and during the ceremony they were filmed texting during most of the ceremony.  Second example - whole groups of Kuwaitis would chant and clap hands during the most inappropriate times (speeches, keynote address, US national anthem).  Not the best side of Kuwaiti society.

The reception afterwards was extravagant to rival any wedding I have been to, featuring fanciful displays of colorful and wonderfully designed foods.  Overall, a nice evening which brought us back to the apartment much later than our regular school-night bedtime.

Today has been a whirlwind with seniors coming in to school to pick up their transcripts and student records.  Many of them stopped in to say hello and goodbye to me, along with genuine thanks, hugs, and a few gifts of chocolate.  For all of their frustrating behaviors and demands, I enjoyed many of the personalities in this class.

Thinking of the faux royalty here, we did enjoy watching the Queen's Jubilee earlier this week, which was a highlight and diversion from the roaring dust storm outside.  Today it is thankfully sunny and hot which means that there isn't any major dust (minor dust is always around).

It's our last full weekend in Kuwait with a full social calendar.  Spending time with people has been one of the joys of our time here.

The dust bowl

Kuwait seems hell-bent on beating us down before it spits us out of the country on June 16.  For the past four days, we suffered through the worst of the dust storms, revealing the chinks in our household armor (I am also reading The Hunger Games Trilogy again, hence the reference).  We have found most of the cracks in the window sills which resulted in a good layer of dust that is remarkably hard to clean.  Every morning, the day started off clear enough but quickly the storm obliterated the sun, as a shadow cast over the land.  As the day went on, the winds kicked up and the dust became heavier.  We felt it on our teeth, in our hair, with everything we did.  Gross.  We ordered in because I did not want to expose our food to all the kitchen dust.  One of Russ' colleagues, Jeff, passed out surgical masks to get us through the days.  We woke up regularly through the night.  Students stayed home because of the difficulty in breathing.  Unfortunately, the Ministry of Education never called a "dust day", although other schools took it upon themselves to close. 

So now in our weather forecast wishlist are scorching hot and sunny days - if the sun is shining and 110 outside, chances are that the dust is at a minimum and that is highly preferred.

The students are especially difficult now as well as school comes to an end.  Never in my whole career working with students have I encountered such entitlement and demands..  So far I have been able to hold my ground on saying no to teacher changes, class changes and other whims.  In a few situations, when they did not get what they wanted, their parents came in and we went through the whole ordeal again.  One parent went to the Ministry of Education to say that our school was being unfair to Kuwaitis.  Of course it is unfair - Kuwaitis get special treatment on most things!  Of course, Russ does not have many students now - just a handful of juniors who go into exams tomorrow.  Which is ok, he has more than paid his dues this year.

Everybody is cranky and eager to leave this place.  There are only seven more days of school and four more with students.  I'll have some admin work to do  and we are moving our offices but they will be relatively quiet.

I know that the grass is greener on the other side, that being Dalton.  I can't wait.  We leave for Germany in a week and half and will be back in the Berkshires in two and half weeks.