Quick Trips and Visits (Part One)

Well, this is it, the final post from Germany. I am hoping to write something of a capper to this epoch of our lives, but that won't come for some months after our return, not without a good gulp of reflection first. Technically (--one of Uncle Bob's favorite words), though, this update is the last I'll write while still in Germany. And there is so much to catch up on, much more than I have time to tell properly. Maggie and Kory, Madison Marie Loyle, Andrea Rudolph and RaRa, the Feldman, himself, Chad and Makendra, and of course, like the perfect bookend to our whole experience, Grandma (--you might remember she was with us at the start two years ago. And that's just who came to visit us since about two weeks before our spring break German road trip. And since that great castle-hunting expedition, we have gone to Paris, Galway, Rugen, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Krakau, either one or some or all of us, (--that last one with Grandma, actually). Yeah, whew!,

I feel you, Larry. (Poor guy has been trying to eat away his loneliness, and, consequently is now almost a gray Garfield.) Whatever the case, hold onto your hats--or grab a chai latte and settle in. Here goes nothing... Aunt Kory and cousin Maggie visited us on the tail end of their beach trip, I think, at the Canary Islands.

Yeah, we went to a hummus eatery, and to Trivia Night with our new friends Allison and George

(--we did terribly, by the way, and not merely because it was all in German). But it was great to be together again. We've missed the Foas a ton since coming here.

In fact, since Kory left, we have stolen Maggie back a few times just to keep us from Larry's mode (--you might remember, Maggie was finishing getting her degree at Edinburgh). She even came with us for another glorious night at the Berlin Philharmonic with Carmen, Katy and the best oboist in the world.

But if you're talking glorious, well check this person out.

That's my niece Madi Loyle, and we're on one of those spectacular bridges in Prague. Yeah, after a few days hanging in Germany,

and going to a Hertha game at the Olympic stadium,

Madi and I jumped on a train and went to "the Paris of the East," Prague.

I was in Prague a lifetime ago, and I did hope to see it again on this two year stint in Europe, but it wasn't until Madi, my kid sister's glorius first child, called us up and said, "I bought a ticket to Germany" that I thought, okay let's do this right.

And that's exactly what we did... This is the way I want to remember that great city.

Okay, so you'll rmemember, we said goodbye to Madi on the same day we launched off on the big road trip, which was awesome (a post or two ago, if you missed it). But somehow awesomer was the fact that when we got back, we were visited by none other than Drea Rudolph and her mother Sarah, whom we all call RaRa.

They were gallivanting all over Europe, starting in Paris, then hitting us up in Berlin, before slipping away to Milan. While they were with us, Drea cooked us up daily incredibly delicious meals, and just filled us with vegetables. MMMMmmmm.

And RaRa, though unfortunately not feeling great after Paris, powered through for us, and--well, I'll tell you, I feel like I could just talk to that woman forever. (She's a retired English teacher, by the way). It was the first time, where saying goodbye was actually like saying "See ya later." I can't wait to be back in the world with the Rudolphs again. So fun, and funny.

In fact, they can't wait either, because we'll finally stop pestering them to get everything set up for us (cat food and litter box, driver's license, a ride from the airport, advice on how to lose gracefully in Nertz...).

Then, yep, that's right, Feldman showed up.

Who's Feldman, you ask? We don't really know. He just keeps showing up.

Actually, he's a random friend of Katy's from like 400 years ago, who now is like family to all of us--enough so that he has come to visit us in both Costa Rica and Berlin. Small world thing, too, he's good friends with my great friend Melissa Boyle's husband Eric. In short, we love the undeniably lovable. Feldman.

Are we there yet? Not even close, or as I tell my children, "20 minutes." But let's get out of the car and shake a leg... Part Two is coming soon... (tomorrow).