Date night

Mark and I got to go out on a date on Thursday night. A real, no kids, adventure, roam the streets of a foreign country date.

On Wednesday I had ridden my bike (okay, so nothing here is really mine, but you get the picture) around Trier. What a liberating feeling. Besides being free from "Mommy, I need..." for a few hours, it was amazing to set off on the road and explore the city and get to see little shops and side streets and parks that we never get to slow down and see when we are in the car. I was able to find a really great park nearby our house, not to mention an amazing idea for date night...

So fast forward to 3 on Thursday. I had been anticipating the hour all day. With every Mommy-do I smiled as I knew that as of 3, adult swim would begin. Mark came back from taking Casey out, and I grabbed my jacket and told him it was time to go. "Where are we going?" he asked. "Come on, I know a great place" I told him.

So the city of Trier is supposedly the oldest city in Germany. It was built up by the Romans, back in the day (yes, that is historically accurate) and around the city there are numerous Roman ruins that you can visit. Pretty exciting stuff. So I took him to see the inside of some Roman baths that had been built back in, um, Longtimeago AD. It was really neat to see the architecture and detail work that these people did back so very long ago. It was nice to take our time and chat and have fun.

Then we wandered around the downtown and explored. We separated for an hour or so and I think I found the German Kohl's (C&A) and I browsed for a bit. We met up again and had a great dinner and a few beers at a place called Cubiculum. It's very cavey inside and kitschy too. It was interesting to try and decipher the menu, all in German. I took a stab and some words I recognized, and we ended up having a great meal.

The last few days have been kinda rough. I think we are feeling the togetherness and the lack of purpose for being here. By that I mean that we don't have jobs and no school for Casey. Just kinda wandering. We were used to a routine at home. Mark was used to flying with students and being at the aiport. I was used to doing my own thang. And then the overcastness and chilly weather (Not too bad at around 40 degrees. Could be worse) has made it difficult to really get out and truly explore. But we are working through all of this. And trying to keep some perspective. Repeat...Once in a lifetime opportunity...3 months will go by so fast...The purpose is to see if we would want to live in a different country...Repeat...

Allright, so we are off to Italy on Tuesday, for a week. Venice, Florence and then end in Rome. Yippeeeeeeeeeeee! Oh, and we aren't taking RyanAir. And yes, we had tickets booked with them. We bit the bullet and spent an uncomfortable chunk of change to fly out of Frankfurt on a regular, not insane, airline.

Ciao baby!




The Kaiserthermen baths in Trier


A tad chilly

How did the Romans do it. So intricate.



Immaturity at it's best


His and her beers at our new fav hangout, Cubiculum



*Okay, so it's the morning after my post here, and I am sitting here watching footage from the disaster in Japan. And I am embarrassed that I write that it was a rough couple of days here. I mean, wow, pretty rough when we can't figure out which bakery to go to or how to entertain ourselves in Europe. Perspective is a beautiful thing. My heart mourns for all those who are suffering. I will continue to write this blog with our thoughts and happenings as they feel to us in the moment. But it's good to keep it all in context. Thanks.