You can take the girl out of NB but you can’t take NB out of the girl

Today was a great Germarkable day (I do like melting words together, don’t I?). We were planning on taking a boat tour to see castles from the Rhine but we woke up to typical Hamsterville fall weather: misty, foggish, and chilly. Terrible weather to view distant structures! Fireball decided it would be a good day to take a historical tour of the town she currently lives in and also visit our hometown’s origin: Braunfels, Germany.

This is one pronoun I can not ignore. In 1845 Prince Carl Solms from Braunfels, Germany founded New Braunfels, Texas and I am one of many river-rats that have visited the mothership. It was everything I pictured and more! Braunfels is a quaint little German town nestled in a region that looks exactly like the Texas Hill Country. I even had my first German made apple strudel here! Lecker!

Then it was time to tour the Castle. The people responsible for the tour are not the biggest fans of English-only-speakers so I had many watchful eyes on me, but I managed to ‘steal’ two quick pictures from inside the castle. Please note that I risked loosing my hand or camera for this picture and I just love it. Out of all the armor, posh antique furniture, and famous art, I decided to take a picture of the stained glass window that had SOLMS and the family crest. I also took a picture of Carl himself (but that is not making the blog, just the private memory album).

Then we went to a different town for a celebration, though I have not figured out what it honored. Let’s just say it was the closest thing I have had to Wurstfest (ten day salute to sausage festival in New Braunfels every November) in over 5 years. It was amazing. Potatoes pancakes, bratwurst and beer… what more could a girl ask for? Oh yes, I know! An amazing fireworks show over the Rhine with a castle and ships all around. Could this day get any better? Yep- while the fireworks went off, the band played La-la-la-la-bomba, and Glory-glory-halleluiah (his truth is marching on…).

Tomorrow we’re taking a day trip to Holland then we're off to Italy midweek. I have had issues uploading pics and I'm not sure of the internet availability in Italy (FYI).