Two hotties in front of the Sacre-Couer.

The magnificent Sacre-Couer Basilica

Enjoying Paris with Jim and Joyce 

Hmmm....what could this be? 

The Louvre: Victory of Samothrace (aka The Victory of Nike) 

On top of the world!--or should I say the Munzenberg Castle?

The Louvre: the famous Venus de Milo 

A view from the top of the Munzenberg Castle. Take a look at the beautiful landscape we call home! 

A towering spire of the Friedberg Castle. 

Walking the paths outside the Friedberg Castle. 

Paris Take 2 & Playing in the Backyard

Why does time seem to fly once the sun comes out? I can already feel summer rushing past and we’re not even through spring yet! I don’t think it’s been that long since I wrote but it sure seems like we’ve been busy. I realize, though, that time is most likely flying past for everyone these days so I will try to keep this short and sweet!

If you recall our New Year’s posting, you remember that Sam and I did not have the best first impression of the city of Paris. They say first impressions are the ones that last, and for the most part that’s probably true, but in this case (our second time around) our opinion of Paris did a complete 180. We planned a little jaunt to Paris the weekend of 23-24 April so that we could meet up with my grandparents—Jim and Joyce Stock—who were vacationing there, and it was the best little trip! We stayed at a cute hotel right downtown, ate great food, drank amazing coffee, and saw some of the sights we missed last time around, most notably the Sacre-Coeur basilica and the inside of the Louvre museum to include—among other things—the Mona Lisa. We could have spent days in the museum and still not have seen all that we wanted to, but instead we had a good couple hours in there before I was overloaded and had to take a time out to go shopping for a new handbag—it was Paris after all! But it was the little things that made this trip so much better: the friendly people, the pleasant weather, the beautiful scenery, and of course getting to spend time with my grandparents. I would definitely recommend springtime in Paris to anyone!

The drive to Paris is about six hours long, but lucky for us there are some pretty amazing sights right outside our door, and we took some time last weekend to enjoy some of them. We first visited one of the churches in our home town of Echzell, and then popped over to the next town to check out one of the churches there. Not only was the church worth seeing, but we also discovered that the Germans celebrate May Day (or “Eins Mai”) with mini beer fests in each town. So of course we made a point to stop wherever we saw a fest and enjoy a beer or two with the locals which made our little day trip even more enjoyable! Next we drove less than 10 miles to the Munzenberg Castle which we pass by every day to and from work. It’s a pretty breathtaking sight from afar and it was really neat up close; we enjoyed walking around the ruins and took some time to appreciate the view from the top. Our next destination was the town of Friedberg where Sam used to work; it is known in part for its large castle and gargantuan church. We walked on the paths all around the outside of the castle (the inside is used as business offices and apartments) and took so long there that the church was closed by the time we finally meandered over to it. Ah, an adventure for another day, I guess….We finished the day off with an excellent dinner on the patio of our favorite castle/hotel/restaurant (where we stayed to celebrate my birthday) as the sun set. We had a lot fun exploring and it was just such a lovely, beautiful day—the kind where you actually say out loud, “This is such a lovely, beautiful day!” There is so much history and character here everywhere we go, but I think even we were a little surprised at how much there was to see in our own back yard.

Did I mention that we love it here? We have more than a year left but already we are thinking about how much we’ll miss it when we go. On the other hand, the hard part about being over here is how much we miss all of you, and when we beg you to come visit it’s not only because we want to share this once-in-a-lifetime experience with you, but also because we miss you all dearly.

Luckily, besides travel, we stay busy enough most of the time to forget about being homesick and lonely for our loved ones. Sam is still working hard (and kicking arse, I might add) at the clinic and I am still bouncing back and forth between working for my reserve unit and getting a full-time job lined up with Central Texas College—no, contrary to popular belief, that damn job situation is still not resolved! Sam and I try to work out together a couple times a week to burn off the calories from all the German beer and gourmet cuisine that we constantly enjoy, but we also try to slow down a little bit each day and unwind with a movie or just a glass of wine. We are picking up more German here and there but Sam cheats by hanging out with his German civilian employees and as a result he is much better than I am. Next on our agenda is to start studying for our grad school entrance exams so that we can go to school and get “mo’ smarter” when we get back to the states. (Sam will take the MCAT for medical school and I will take the GRE for physical therapy.) And as far as trips go we are planning on heading to Luxembourg this coming weekend, followed by Belgium the following weekend, Ireland the weekend after that, and then the island of Malta for Memorial Day weekend. Whew! Overall I’d say that although it’s a crazy (and sometimes exhausting) life we lead right now, we’re pretty freakin’ happy.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this installation of “Sam and Jenna’s Amazing European Adventures”. We’d love to hear all about YOUR adventures so please keep in touch! Take care, stay safe, and enjoy all the happinesses that make this life the big adventure that it is.

Love, Jenna & Sam