Day 2: Koln

Day Two arrived (along with Day 2 of rain) with a train trip to Koln to view the magnificient Koln Dom (cathedral) and its various Christmas markets. Yes, purchases were made, food was eaten, and the souvenir mugs procured. Scenes from the day...

Koln Dom.





























Mom-Dad/Bob-Dee at Koln Dom.





Budman and Hachie Gal at the Koln Dom.



Shopping at the Koln Christmas Market.





























In and about Koln.







A stop at the Koln Starbucks.

Day 1: Texans arrive

The good news is that the Texans (Budman's Mom and Dad; also known as Bob and Dee to Hachie Gal) arrived in Germany safe and sound, and with an event free flight. Day one saw an easing into all things German and Christmas-ey, including dinner in Dusseldorf's Altstadt and a brief tour of Dusseldorf's Weihnachtmarkt.





Guten Tag, Youngs!

You think Christmas starts early in the states

At least we have the ritual of Thanksgiving in the US to provide a break between Halloween and Christmas. In Germany, the Christmas trees have been up in the stores and airports for 3 weeks. Enjoy Thanksgiving this week, guys!

She wins at last!

My marathon hero, Paula Radcliffe, finally pulled it out...the NYC marathon, that is. Today, I have been glued to the tube while in London watching it all unfold. Man...pretty darn exciting...makes me want to hit the pavement myself sometime soon for another 26.2 mile go (albeit with quite different results).

Well done, Paula!

Florence, a second time around

Although the Budman and I had been to Florence before, we decided it was a city we wanted to visit once more. A beautiful sunny day strolling through Florence as well as tours of two fabulous museums, The Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti.

Florence’s magnificent Duomo.









Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, and Fontana di Nettuno (Neptune to you non Italian speakers).





















Ponte Vecchio.

More Chianti is a better thing

The tour of Chianti continued… in terms of both the towns in Chianti, and a small sampling of the wine along the way. The towns of Radda, Panzano, and Castellina rounded out the day.

First, Radda….







Panzano….











Castellina….















And as the day marched on, the weather began to change, and ominous skies began to give weigh to rain. After the thunder showers, the following photo was snapped….kudos to the Budman.

A little Chianti is a good thing

First, a brief remark about today’s blog post title.

One of our daytrips in Tuscany actually took us to many of the small villages in and around the region of Chianti (yes, home of the famous red wine). A leisurely and very sunny day allowed us to amble throughout the countryside from one little town to the next…picturesque to say the least.

The Chianti region is also home to the famous red wine that we associate with cheap Italian restaurant, lit candles dripping wax from straw covered wine bottles, etc. In fact, the wine of the Chianti region has a good reputation and does not have the moniker of “cheap table wine” that many of us in the US associate with this wine.

First stop, Greve.

















(yes, Greve is the home of the Italian explorer, Verrazano, for which we are ALL familiar with …if you know your NYC bridges).









And lest we forget, this is not only wine country, but groves of olive trees mean that olive oil flows freely .

Answer to Cortona triva question

In response to yesterday's trivia question, "Which recent movie was primarily filmed in and around Cortona?"

Answer: Under the Tuscan Sun