Mine Tours and Snow

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Mine Tours and Snow

We found snow!  This weekend, we headed north, instead of south, to the town of Goslar.  We left after work on Friday and headed out.  On our way, we stopped and stayed in a small hotel in a small outdoor recreation area next to a river.  Conveniently, this was their first snowfall of the year, meaning the snow was still clean, and it coated everything.  It was absolutely beautiful! Inconveniently, the Germans apparently didn't know how to drive in the snow.  About 30 km away from our final destination, traffic

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Christmas in Ireland

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Christmas in Ireland

As some of you may know, Aaron and I decided to spend our Christmas holiday in Ireland, Land of my Ancestors, this year. Flights back to the US were really pricey, but flights from Frankfurt to Dublin were incredibly cheap.  We jumped at the chance to add another stamp to our passport!  And in Ireland, you really do get a stamp when you enter since it isn't part of the Schengen area, although it is part of the EU...

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Bucket List Item - Mass at the Dom

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Bucket List Item - Mass at the Dom

Another item on our Bucket List was to attend mass at the Dom in Cologne, which we did this weekend.  Before we went, I had checked mass times online and Google translate did work so well.  They listed four mass times for Sunday morning, a time, which google translated to Church Office, and then weekday mass services.  We opted for the 9 AM mass, which was held in one of the small, side chapels.  As we were finishing up though, we realized that the rest of the church was full for the 10AM mass, which is held at the main alter.  Oops.  Nonetheless, it was still beautiful, especially as the rising sun started to stream through the stained glass windows into the mostly dark church.

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The Speyer Cathedral

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The Speyer Cathedral

Five years ago, when Aaron and I vacationed in Germany after graduating from Michigan Tech, we visited a lot of cathedrals and drank a lot of German beer.  We have since dubbed that trip ''The Beer and Cathedral Tour of Germany.''  On the Sunday after we returned from the Philippines, the tour continued.  We visited the town of Speyer (pronounced Schpi-er), known for being an ancient city (founded by the Romans) and for having a very impressive Cathedral.  Thankfully, it was close to home (only about 20 minutes from Mannheim).  A few weeks ago, I had visited the city with work colleagues.  I thought it was really cool and wanted to go back with Aaron, so we did.

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