Where in the world is the Geipel family?

So, if you’ve been following my blog to this point, you know we have come to Germany and, despite the nearly indescribable headaches of the two months before leaving and the two months after arriving – about a third of which I have droned on about in previous posts – we have stuck it out. We have been highly motivated to do so for one reason…..

Yep! You probably guessed it -- because there are so many places to see and things to do all within reach of an easy and relatively inexpensive train ride. Or, if time is short and train schedules don’t cooperate, Ryanair’s ridiculously low airfares are just cheap enough to warrant the enormous headache of wading through their encyclopedia of rules and fees so that you don’t inadvertently pay 75 euro to check the bag while flying on a 35 euro ticket!

Those of you with kids older than 15 – you know, back when the only shows for kids were on PBS, not Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, etc. -- may remember the show “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?” This was a fantastic show. Sponge Bob is not even in the same league!

Anyway, we’ve kept our spirits from lagging by looking forward to playing our own version: Where in the World are the Geipels this Weekend? We are even happier when friends are along to play too...

In fact, it was the recent visits from friends – brave enough to come in our first months here – that gave us the opportunity to ignore most of the still-pending house repairs, cable/internet/telephone technical headaches and bureaucratic hoops we must jump for the German government for at least a short while. Thank you, thank you, thank you to our recent visitors!

So, we’ll play this game with you periodically here on these pages… with the primary goal of encouraging all of you to come to Frankfurt and play the game in person with us!!

We’ll start out easy:

In what city (Molly's favorite) is this famous monument located?

How did the Ethan, Kris and their good friends Julie and Rick make their “get-a-way?”

That’s right – on Segways! The City Segway Tour is possibly the absolute most fun way to see Paris - or any city, for that matter! And, it is particularly a good way to see a city when you only have a day and a half to do a whirlwind visit. (You have to be at least 14 for the tour and, Gary and Molly did the tour last spring on a sweet-16 trip to Paris with friends. That’s why its only Ethan and Kris!).

Now, we’ll move onto a little harder round of the game:

Where were Julie and Rick found hiding until they could make a casual get-a-way down the Rhine River?

Yes, in Bacharach. Bacharach was an unexpected stop for us during our Rhine River cruise because the Rhine was at such a low water level that the boat could not leave from the town we had planned to board and, it could not stop at all ports. So, we changed our plans for the day – spending a longer time on the cruise, stopping in Bacharach and spending a longer time “ashore.” When has a draught been such good luck ?! Bacharach is one of the most quaint, well-preserved towns along the Rhine… definitely a “must-see” for future visitors.

Okay, here comes the most difficult round of the game:

Our friends MaryRose and Bob visited over Labor Day weekend. MaryRose is a scholar of Roman Catholic church history. She was enthusiastic about visiting this city, home of one of the oldest universities in Germany, founded in 1457 and taken over by the Jesuits in 1620. The only German cathedral to be completed in the Gothic style is also located here.

If you knew we were in Freiburg, you need to visit soon and take us on some weekend trips!

Those of you who know this game well from hours of watching with your, now teen-aged, kids, will know that there is always some “loot” involved in the global wanderings of the thieves that Carmen is chasing. More on our “loot” coming soon…

Auf Wiedersen!