Week 4: Out and About in the Eifel

The area of Germany where we are living is the Eifel region. It has a lot of rolling hills, looking a lot to me like Pennsylvania or upstate New York. We had a long weekend for Memorial Day (yay US holidays!), so took a bit trip to a few interesting places in the area.

On Saturday we went to Luxembourg City and the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial. The cemetery was having a Memorial Day service, of which we were able to see the last 30 or so minutes. We missed the flyover, but did get to hear Taps, the US National Anthem (really, after hearing that, it should only ever be played by military bands--there is no comparison to the tinny version played over loud speakers or sung a cappella at your favorite sporting event), the Luxembourg National Anthem and the 21 gun salute. There were a number of wreaths placed as well, with the oversea Boy and Girl Scouts helping to place them. They, luckily, had some Airmen helping them out, as in many cases, the wreaths were a bit much for 2 or 3 8-10 year-olds to manage.

The majority of the dead here were killed as part of battles in the Ardennes during late 1944 and early 1945. There is one particularly notable VIP here: Gen. Patton, whose grave (as you can see) got a lot of attention.

Gen. Patton's Grave

The other dead, while not forgotten, were not as heavily remembered.

Some of the 5,076 dead from the battles in the Ardennes

The tower in the back is the cemetery chapel. It is a nice little room with a guest book and space to contemplate and, if you are so inclined, pray. Jason took a look through the guest book and there were people from all over the world, including Europe, Australia and from all across the US. It was a nice, though somber, place to spend an afternoon.

On our way back home, we stopped in the town of Echternach, Luxembourg. Jason is planning to come back here later this summer for the dancing procession, during which time I will be in Chicago. We stopped by to stretch our legs a bit, and found there was a small festival going on in town, so we wondered through, had some beer and a bag full of cherries. There were a couple of bachelorette parties among the people groups, complete with coordinated t-shirts and glasses of Champaign--or more probably, Sekt (i.e. Champaign not from the Champaign region of France). We also heard, and then saw, the Dixie-Land style band pictured below, complete with banjo. I am a big fan of such, music, so we listened for a few minutes before moving on.

♪ I wanna go back to the southland,
That "y'all" and "shet-ma-mouth" land ♪

On Sunday, we went to the town of Pruem, where they were celebrating Rhineland-Pfalz Tag. It is a regional fair and had a fantastic parade where each community in the state of Rhineland-Pfalz had a separate float. I've captured a few of the best below. There was, of course, plenty of food--particularly Bratwurst--and an opportunity to see the wares of local vendors. The midway, though, was a bit weak, with only a Ferris Wheel. Each of the groups in the parade also had a booth, where they were handing out their local tourist information. We grabbed a few handfuls, to help us with trip ideas for the rest of the summer.

This alchemist is yelling at his grad student

Germany: Home of Dragons

Today we spent time closer to home, with a trip to Trier. I'll post more about Trier another time. It is the closest large city and has many interesting sites. We also received news that our stuff will finally be here on Friday--at last, the rest of my clothes, our computer and pots and pans. I have a feeling we will spend most of next weekend unpacking as a result. I really, though, am looking most forward to the arrival of my bike, hiking boots and rollerblades. I can't wait to get out on the countryside!