Rheinland!

This past weekend, we ventured up north to Rheinland to see a friend who lives in Monheim am Rhein. Her name is Kathrin and she was an exchange student who lived with my friend's family about five years ago. Although I didn't live at home during the time that she lived there, I was able to get to know her briefly when I moved home from college for the summer.

Anyway, she invited us up to come stay a weekend at her family's house. WOW! It was so much fun. Definitely one of our favorite weekends here by far! Mark took the day off on Friday so that gave us plenty of time to get up there. So around noon on Friday, we boarded an IC train (fast train) headed to Cologne. It was such a pretty route! We went up along the Rhein most of the time. There are so many gorgeous towns and there are castles everywhere. SO, so pretty. While we were on the train, we kept taking notes of all the little towns that we wanted to come back up and explore before we go home.

Here's some shots of the Rhein:

Aren't these castles awesome?

I love the barges on the river!

Oh yeah, did I mention that it's hard to take pictures on a fast train? So sorry about the blurry picture! About halfway through the ride, I decided to just take videos. Here's a video I created. It's not HD for some reason so it's not so clear, but I hope you like it anyway. :)

After such a great train ride, we got off in Cologne to catch another short train to a nearby town where Kathrin could pick us up. We walked down the stairs to go to another platform to catch a train and was trying to figure out just where we were, when I looked to the left and saw Michael Ballack (one of the head honchos of the German national team)! Now keep in mind, I don't know soccer very well, I just knew a few players because Mark talks about them. So I stood there trying to figure out if it was really Michael Ballack but I thought I would tell Mark anyway. So I said, "Mark, look who it is!" He was about to walk up the same stairs that we just went down, so we were right next to him. Mark said hello to him and he said "Servus" (another way of saying hello) to Mark. Not gonna lie, it was pretty cool seeing someone so famous in the middle of a train station, and I'm not even that big of a fan. Mark looked like a little kid at Christmas, it was hilarious. After that, we saw the rest of the soccer team headed up towards their train. Mark waved at a few of the other players. I think they were trying to blend in and not be noticed, but that's kind of hard to do when they are a lot taller everyone else and are dressed in all their gear! I wish now that I would have taken a picture or two, but it all happened so fast that I didn't get one. Oh well. :)

After that, we caught another train to a nearby town and Kathrin picked us up. We went to her house where we met her family (this was my second time meeting them) and we had a good time talking and getting caught up with what has happened the past five years since we've seen each other. Mark had a good time playing FIFA on the Playstation with Kathrin's younger brother, Jonas. We also met Kathrin's boyfriend Sebastian. He was also an exchange student who went to Michigan several years ago. We had pizza for dinner then the five of us (me, Mark, Kathrin, Sebastian, and Jonas) went out for ice cream at a shop in Monheim. There they serve spaghetti ice that Mark had told me about before, so I was excited to try it. From what I understand, they take ice cream and press it through a spaghetti maker, then they top it with different sauces and grated white chocolate. We got a berry one and it had the most amazing fresh strawberry sauce! Yum!!

Mark with our spaghetti ice cream. There is also lasagna ice cream, which is what Kathrin ordered. Doesn't it all look so good?

After our delicious dessert, we went on a walk around Monheim and along the Rhein. Because there are some manufacturing plants by the river, it's really bright and we could actually see quite a few things even though it was dark outside. It was so much fun. Later we went back to Kathrin's house and had fun talking and playing FIFA with Jonas.

The next day, Kathrin and I headed out towards Düsseldorf. Mark went to watch a soccer game with Kathrin's dad and Jonas. While Kathrin and I were waiting for the bus, we walked across the street to see the Rhein again. It is so beautiful, isn't it?

We took a bus to a nearby town called Benrath where there is a really pretty castle. The town had some really pretty buildings, too. Completely different architecture than the buildings I've seen in Stuttgart.

We discovered some sort of little carnival. How fun! I snagged some popcorn. Yum!

Me standing by the castle in Benrath.

I don't know what this little building is, but Kathrin and I had fun getting our pictures in it. :)

A pool behind the castle. I was so glad that we were able to see it on such a gorgeous day. It hasn't been sunny here much lately, so I was so thankful for a clear day!

Statues behind the castle.

The back of the castle.

After seeing the gorgeous castle, we headed for Düsseldorf on the S-bahn. One of the first places we stopped was the harbor in Düsseldorf.

The buildings around the harbor had such cool architecture!

See what I mean?

A cool building with the TV tower.

More barges. I loved all the cars on this one. What an amazing mode of transportation!

The walk along the Rhein.

Kathrin explained to me that some families still live on some barges on the Rhein. She said it looked like this one was transporting oil. The side of the barge said the family's name and it had a Dutch flag on the back. How cool would that be to live on a barge?!

Gotta love the live statues!

After we walked along the Rhein, we saw some more streets in Düsseldorf, including the Königsallee which is the most expensive street in Düsseldorf. Then we went to a park and hung out for a little while, then soon after that it was time to go home. I had a great day in Düsseldorf!

Meanwhile, Mark was having fun at the MSV Duisberg soccer game. (Thanks to Kathrin's dad for all these pictures of the soccer game!)

MSV Duisberg is a team that is in the second Bundesliga here in Germany. So not as big of a team as Hamburg, but still a pretty good team.

The fans all showing their MSV pride!

Mark said one of the team members jumped up on the fence by some crazy fans, grabbed the loud speaker, and was doing some cheers with the crowd.

After the team won, they did a little dance.

Mark and Kathrin's dad. Mark had such a great time and was so thankful to be able to go to the game. On the train ride up to Monheim, Mark was lamenting on how he probably wouldn't be able to go to a soccer game. Then he got to go! He was so excited!

Later that night, Kathrin's family had a BBQ for us and made us some delicious food. I love how Germans make their salads--especially when they just throw a bunch of vegetables together with some herbs and it just tastes amazing. Yum!

After dinner, we went up to a nearby night club-type thing to get some drinks. It was up on a hill overlooking the Rhein that Kathrin said used to be a garbage mound. There is a part that is in sand so you can sit on the bench with your feet in the sand and overlook the Rhein. It was so much fun.

Then we had to go home the next day. :( Here is Kathrin's house, with Mark, Kathrin, Sebastian, and Jonas out front.

While Mark hung out with Sebastian and Jonas, Kathrin and I went to see more of Monheim. We were going to see a medieval festival, but they were charging admission and it was kind of expensive. So we decided just to go see the castle in Monheim instead. Isn't it lovely?

Haha! Little boys with swords and shields. Love it!

After that, it was time to go to Cologne to catch our train home. We took the S-bahn to Cologne and went to see the Cologne Cathedral. It is huge!

Stained glass on the inside.

Kathrin told me that there is supposedly the bones of the Three Wisemen inside, and this is the shine for them.

Looking towards the Hauptbahnhof on the steps of the cathedral.

Here's all of us as we prepared to say goodbye. After the cathedral, we went back to the train station to catch a train home. It took us quite a while to get home because we took all the slow trains, but we saw many cities in Germany and it wasn't too bad.

We had such a great time visiting Kathrin and her family. They were so kind to us and made us feel at home. Mark commented that it felt just like visiting family. They are such kind, warm people and we had fun getting to know them more. We are so lucky and grateful to know such good people over here!