Visiting the Upper Middle Rhine Valley in Wintertime

Six Again! (December 23-24) 

Travel isn't easy or exciting, so I'll mainly skip over the first 24 hours.

In short, 5 of us flew overnight from Baltimore to Reykjavik to Berlin, then drove in brilliant sun, uncharacteristically cloudless winter skies, and the frigid cold from Berlin to Leipzig.

There, we were reunited with Jack, who is a student of Physics at the University of Leipzig.

Only a few things of note - 

FORESHADOWING - Nicholas developed a cold before we left and although it's been 3 years since he's fallen down the cold -> asthma -> pneumonia spiral, his cough was sounding ominous before we left.

When we arrived in Leipzig and plugged in his nebulizer, it gave one low wheeze and never started again.

Since everything in Germany closed for the 24th-26th of December, there was nothing I could do. I told myself I had only brought it as a precaution and to put the whole thing out of my mind.

Our first Airbnb was the pits. (Silver lining! - This served to make us more grateful for the rest!). My evidence:

Six people, 24 hours of travel, 2 bathrooms, ONE ROLL of toilet paper.

MORE FORESHADOWING, it smelled like smoke. 

The hosts were SO inhospitable, when we asked for the lockbox number 30 minutes before arriving, they responded that it would be automatically texted to at EXACTLY at check-in time. 

Nevertheless! Any day reunited is a very, very good day. 

We enjoyed dinner at a Persian restaurant which was full and bright and warm and convivial - as well as the only place in the city that was open and serving food on Christmas Eve.

After walking us back to our apartment for the night, Jack went to dinner with friends, then his Christmas Eve service.

The rest of us were in bed early, but awake throughout various hours of the night for reasons like Nicholas finding his brother Marcus's face "scary while he sleeps". 😒😂🙄

Lost in the Woods (Dec 25th)

Christmas Morning

Initially, John and I boldly declared that going to Germany for Christmas IS a present, therefore there would be no further consideration of presents. 

Then, we came around to the perspective of an 11 year old 🙂 

So we brought gifts, stockings, and an enormous bag of candy from Costco. For Nicholas (11) and Joshua (15), we even kept up our tradition of hiding the stockings on Christmas morning.

(Too bad all the searching didn't turn up a second roll of toilet paper!)

In addition to buying bags of groceries in advance of the stores closing, Jack had prepared a delicious breakfast.

In a nod to every other Christmas morning of his life, he made a sausage and cheese breakfast strata just like my mom's and cinnamon rolls. What a treat 🙂

The Hike! 

There's no cure for jet lag like fresh cold air, daylight, and freedom to roam. Accordingly, I had planned a hike about halfway through our drive from Leipzig to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley.

Immediately, we reignited our long and terrible struggle with German trail markings.

There's a phrase in the Bible that I believe perfectly encapsulates their approach to signage: "we walk by faith and not by sight." 😂🙄

Ultimately, we got not only to our original destination, but - a couple of very cold and steep miles later - to a forbidding castle at the top of a hill, Schloss Wartburg. 

It wasn't until later that I learned this castle is where Martin Luther was kidnapped and held after being declared an outlaw by the pope. While here, he translated the Luther Bible.

The remaining hours of our drive was warm and cozy with Audible's new full cast version of The Chamber of Secrets and reflections of Christmas lights twinkling all the way across the Rhine. 

Psychological Warfare (Dec 26)

Looking back, it's hard for me to feel objective about this day.

I recorded a family recap of the trip on our last night together. When we discussed this day, I was surprised that everyone else seemed to have really good memories of it. 

And once they started sharing their memories of all the things we laughed and laughed over, I could remember so many funny little moments I had forgotten.

Foreshadowing Becomes Overshadowing

But for me, the day was overshadowed by the fact that Nicholas was getting sicker by the moment. On one level, I could tell…

But on another level (the denial level), I wasn't sure. I mean, Nicholas IS constantly congested, even at home. The cough wasn't better but it also… wasn't worse?

And, as Marcus said, "The trouble is that Nicholas will do anything but always complains about everything. So it's hard to know what to take seriously." 

So, even when we lost the high-stakes game that Germans play with their trail signage which genuinely seems designed to confuse - hence the reference to psychological warfare in the heading - we kept hiking a couple hours after we probably should have stopped.

Anyhow, about an hour before the day ended, it seemed like Nicholas really was wearing down. By the time we got home that evening, his energy was very low and he was shivering, despite being in a warm house. 

He perked up a little during dinner, but before bed, the thermometer registered a low grade fever, just into the 99s. 

My hopes that a good night of sleep would take care of the whole thing were dashed as the hours went on and he and I were both awake and uncomfortable - him from sniffling and coughing and me from worry.

Foreshadowing Foretold It (Dec 27)

Nicholas woke with a 103.5°F fever and I knew that his body had progressed down that doom spiral I've seen so many times. We weren't coming out without medical intervention and prescription medication.

After consulting with a nurse friend of Jack's and our warm, lovely, kind, and gracious AirBnb, we decided to go to a Kinderärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst - a pediatric urgent care - about 30 minutes away. 

Our prayers were answered by a very receptive and caring doctor.

She was so delighted and impressed by Jack's excellent German, despite hiim obviously not growing up in a German-speaking home (my 835 day streak on Duolingo has NOT given me the skills to successfully communicate in a doctor's office... or anywhere else in Germany 😂😉🤦‍♀️).

We left so grateful for her time, attention, and prescriptions 🙂

A Much-Needed Upgrade

It turns out that nebulizer technology has progressed a lot in the 15 years (19 years?) since we got the clunky, loud, corded compressor we've been using. With the grocery stores finally open again, we were able to find a quiet, portable, battery operated nebulizer in an Aldi!

The Perfect Sunset Walk

After John and Joshua went for a long run, Jack, Marcus, and I went for a long and relaxing sunset walk. Beautiful, great conversation, lots of laughs…. Good photos 😉

The day ended so differently than it started - a long, lingering, relaxed dinner of pizza surrounded by a glow of gratitude for the blessing of excellent medical treatment. 

Together But Apart (Dec 28)

A better night but… I was still up and counting respiration rates as much as I was asleep. 

Nicholas was sleeping when we got up, so John and I went for a beautiful sunrise drive down the river with a hot thermos of coffee in hand.

It was a beautiful and special morning and another high point of my trip.

Splitting Up

One of the open questions in my itinerary was how we were going to complete a challenging hike in nearby Boppard. I chose the hike because it passed Roman ruins (a theme of our trip) and had multiple spectacular viewpoints back towards our side of the Rhine. 

But more than those reasons, I chose it because it had rigorous climbing sections (climbing equipment suggested) that I knew would appeal to the older boys. 

However, it was also going to be a struggle for Nicholas, simply for his age and feelings about heights, and me, because my arm is still healing. (Two months ago, I sustained a radial head fracture running to a tram in Germany.) 

The perfect solution was obvious - John and the older boys could do the hike and I could stay back with Nicholas. In the end, this afternoon turned out to be one more critical step in Nicholas's improvement….

A Second Diagnosis

I really wanted to take photos for Farshideh, the gracious and loving host of our 600 year old Airbnb. She has an artist's eye and treated us with so much care and kindness. I wanted her to have images for her listing that reflect the pride she puts into her hostessing.

So, I put on an audiobook for Nicholas and began going through the rooms one-by-one, first clearing them out of our things, then putting everything in order and photographing. 

After each room, I went and visited with Nicholas. Little by little, I noticed - his breathing seemed to be getting worse the more time he spent under the covers.

I started to wonder if the home had previously housed cats, to which Nicholas is incredibly allergic.

Long story short, Farshideh diagnosed that he had slept on a feather pillow that first night. Once we took away the blanket that had been touching that pillow, he seemed to improve more rapidly. 

The boys came back with glowing with reviews of the hike - playing Contact together, the views, the climbs, and the BMX bike course they found along the way. 

(They took no notice of the Roman ruins, by the way, BUT plenty of those to come!) 

Songbirds, Nuns, and a Magical Moment (Dec 29)

Once again, Nicholas went to bed with no fever and awoke with a low fever. 

However, with 48 hours of antibiotics and round the clock nebulizer treatments, I took this nighttime deterioration as further evidence that his body was having a very difficult time coping with allergens in the house. 

So, we decided to head take him on a day out and just take it easy as necessary. 

And the day turned out to be his turning point. 🙂

A Quirky & Delightful Museum

When researching the fairy tale town of Rudesheim, I was intrigued by Siegfried's Mechanical Music Museum.

However, I couldn't tell from the site if it was just a little weird or… SUPER weird 🙂 

Neither! Instead, the tour guide was vivacious, interesting, and knowledgeable! YES - the whole place was a bit eccentric, but in a charming way. 

(Marcus says if any reader understands how they can use the paper punchout method to play wind instruments, please contact him with your explanation 🙂

Nicholas got to pick lunch for being such a trooper and picked a restaurant plastered with photos of decadent waffles. 

We ended up having a truly delicious meal of some pizza-adjacent dish recommended by Jack and waffles and crepes. 

We also shared a Rudesheimer coffee, which is made by lighting sugar and brandy on fire until the alcohol burns out, then pouring in coffee, and topping with slathers of whipped cream. 

We Don't Talk About Hildegaard

We went to St. Hildegaard's Abbey, which was a bit of a bust (although, true to form, Jack insists the information center was fascinating for him) so I won't lengthen an already long post with a summary.  

Of course, it always seems to be this way on a trip - after a bust is a boon! 

We went to the Dreiburgenblick viewpoint which was legitimately a winter wonderland and just a really special time of enjoying this unusually beautiful and special sight.

And P.S. Nicholas's fever never came back.

The Disappearing Market & And The Invention That Changed the World  (Dec 30)

The next day, it still seemed best to have activities more oriented toward driving and museums than hiking.

So, we shuffled the itinerary deck again. We packed snacks and Nicholas's new nebulizer and loaded up for a trip to Mainz, one of the most historically significant cities in the world.

We parked by the absolutely stunning Mainz Cathedral on a sub-freezing day. I was grateful for the free public restroom nearby, but not at all grateful that they chose stainless steels as the toilet seat material. (WHY?!?)

On the way to our main destination we walked past this absolutely gorgeous cathedral, which was surrounded with a bustling, vibrant, busy market! I couldn't wait to return and take my time exploring.

The Gutenberg Museum

One of my pre-trip routines is to download maps of our travel area, just in case we lose data while driving.

The night before we left, I was downloading maps of the region (part of my pre-trip routine), and realized how close we would be to The Gutenberg Museum celebrating the Johannes Gutenberg and his printing press.

It's hard to think of another single invention that so accelerated the rate of change in human thought, religion, science, and politics - and so furthered a democratized world - than this one.

I immediately opened up our itinerary and worked it in.

We arrived for the 2pm demonstration at 1:56, feeling quite proud of ourselves for being early. The benches were already full of German visitors and the demonstration began "right on time" at 1:57 as Americans continued to file in. 😂

All Cleaned Up

Finally my moment to return to the market arrived and…. it was empty!!! EMPTY! The entire market had just vanished!

It struck me as so very German to pack up an entire market, leaving no trace at all, in just a couple of hours.

I sorely wish that the ⅝ of my genetics that are German had granted this gift to me. Alas 🙂  

We also went to the Roman ruins of a temple to Isis, but we just weren't into it at that point. Nicholas was wearing down and Jack wasn't feeling great either.

So, we retreated to our cozy car and Harry Potter for a sleepy drive home.

Racing with the Romans + Germans Are Werewolves on New Years Eve!? (Dec 31)

I got Jack The Shortest History of Germany for Christmas in preparation for this trip, which was been studded with Roman ruins.

The information in the first chapter - titled, "How the Romans Made the Germans and Germany Took Over Rome" - was the background we needed for this trip along the Rhine, which was the centuries-long battleground between Rome and Germanic tribes.

But Trier was by far the most breathtaking showcase of these Roman ruins. This was the city I was most excited to see, and it did not disappoint!!!

Festive All Day Races

The most fun part of the day? The races in the town center. They started with the littlest kids, moved to teens, then women, and some very fast men were warming up as we left. There was clapping, cheering, drums-it created such a festive New Year's Eve atmosphere. We felt like part of it.

A NYE Compromise

For New Year's Eve, we initially planned to go into Cologne city center, but after such a full day, I didn't want to push my luck. The ride toward Cologne was dark, rainy, and snowy, and cold, and I thought, I can let this go.

We got to the Airbnb, ate dinner, and then decided on a compromise. We could already hear fireworks-so why not head into town, try to get parking, and if not, just come back and watch a movie?

Turned out we could get parking. While it wasn't chaos yet, the air was electric and festive. Kids got cold around 10 p.m., so we left at 10:10. By then, the empty parking lot was totally full, some sketchy characters were crossing our path, and we were more than happy to head home.

What Is Going On Here?!

I've never seen a werewolf (I guess none of us have and that's kind of a stupid way to start a sentence) but...

The transformation from the focused, serious Germans of everyday life to NYE Germans setting off massive fireworks every which way in Lidl parking lots with NO fear-it was wild.

As midnight approached, the windows, glass doors, and skylights of our apartment were strobing. We ran from window to window and each display was bigger, brighter and more reckless than the last.

We watched for 45 minutes-the wildest, freest, most beautiful display ever. Definitely my favorite side of Germany so far 🙂 🙂

While everyone else fought traffic, we finished A Muppet Christmas Carol and went to bed. So, a win-win for the evening.

The Wisdom of Marcus and The Happiest Ending (Jan 1)

New Year's Day dawned (dawn was at 9 a.m.) cold, gray, and gloomy-perfect excuse for everyone to sleep off the previous night all the way until evening.

We were planning a hike to ruins of a Roman aqueduct. Honestly, most of us weren't feeling it.

But, quoting Marcus's wisdom from Denmark last year, "We never regret a hike", we set out with snacks to comfort our gloomy hearts.

Did We Pass The Test?

And that's when the hiking trail chaos began.... Again. Let me explain what it's like to try and find a trailhead in Germany:

1. You might get vague instructions on where to park or which public transport stop to use. Pro tip: Scrap any official sites. Look on Reddit, AllTrails, and Komoot for trailhead tips. The comments section to posts are much more reliable than the official information.
2. Once parked (or off your train), you will see multiple paths. You will NOT see trailhead markers. You're on your own, guessing which forks in the road lead in the direction of your intended destination.
3. Eventually, IF you pass these initial tests and choose the right paths, signs will appear for your goal as you approach within a few kilometers of the site-
4. Plot twist! Signs for alternate destinations ALSO pop up, sometimes pointing in the same direction as your destination, which you know is in an opposite direction to yours.

95 Million Liters of Water A Day

Despite the chaos, the hike was "atmospheric"-photographer speak for gray, cold, and gloomy.

It was, in fact, exactly what we needed.

Finally, after debates and guess and passing many tests, we found the spring from which the Romans diverted a staggering 95 million liters of water a day to Cologne.

Not much to look at, but somehow that made it even more powerful. Great accomplishments, buried under the earth. Take that metaphor and run with it. 😉

Ultimately, the hike only took maybe a couple of leisurely hours, and then we headed to Cologne, where one last Christmas market remained open.

A Cozy, Glowy Cologne Christmas Market

From gray, gloomy hiking to twinkling lights, festive smells, and the warmth of the crowd-it felt like stepping into a different world. Definitely another high point.

We returned home in time to watch The Princess Bride, which somehow gets better with every viewing.

Only An American + My Favorite Museum (Jan 2)

My personal philosophy for city travel: EITHER book an official tours OR pick one thing to focus on.

For Cologne, we booked an official 3 hour walking tour.

Americans Embarassing Americans.

The walking tour was very cold and windy, but really interesting and informative!

If the guide had just stuck to his history and leaned into his strong sense of humor and storytelling skills, it would have been one of the best!

But he was American, and you know what us Americans tend to do?

Talk about themselves. Non-stop. 🙂 Read the room, dude.

That's Embarassing

I had a book about Agrippina (wife of Julius Caesar and mother of Nero) on my bedside table all fall-and even read from it almost every night for several weeks!

Yet, I never got to the part where she founded Cologne. Haha.

The Beethoven Museum: World Class

By 4 p.m., we were ready to escape the wind. We popped into the van, ate our packed lunches, and drove the short 45 minutes down to Bonn.

We lucked out with another beautiful drive: low, glowy sun, a little fluffy snow, all setting the scene for a perfect evening.

The Beethoven museum was one of my personal favorites ever. There were so many original artifacts-instrument fragments, scores with handwritten notes, letters, original drafts of music, paintings, and more.

All of this was paired with a tremendously informative audio guide. Honestly, some of us could have spent many more hours there.

When we debriefed on the day, almost everyone felt emotionally moved or took a life lesson from Beethoven's struggles and triumphs.

This is Why You Travel In Winter

We ended the day with yet another magical snow moment-in the courtyard of Beethoven's childhood home and in the town of Bonn itself.

A Protestant in Private (Jan 3)

With a 5-6 hour drive in a snowy forecast ahead of us, we opted to significantly change our route and plans.

It Always Works Out

Why is it that these last-minute changes almost always lead to the best days?! We LOVED Ehrfurt and just couldn't leave!

Beauty and Brutality

When Claude suggested the town of Ehrfurt as the perfect stop for our day, it failed to mention that the town is overlooked by a massive citadel, first built 1300 years ago.

We decided to start with that, despite all the other things I wanted to see.

Jack and Marcus visited the archives where they read about the citadel's use as a prison for dissenters during the Soviet DDR days.

So much brutality within so much beauty. This is the story of every great city in this world. It is, in fact, the story of the human race.

Martin Luther's Genesis 32 Moment

Martin Luther is important to our faith tradition.

However, I've never felt much when visiting other German sites related to him and his story. Jack put his finger on why - we're both a little uncomfortable with the way he's sometimes venerated.

However, when visiting the first monastery he lived in, I finally had that experience that filled me with admiration and appreciation for him.

I had heard we could visit the cell where he lived as a monk, but as we walked through the abbey (now a Protestant retreat center), I couldn't figure out which building that might be.

There was, however, one guide-either an employee or volunteer-cleaning up the chapel, replacing candles in a memorial, and doing small tasks. I asked Jack to request directions to Luther's cell.

Rather than pointing us to the cell, he asked us to wait while he finished a job. When he returned, he said he wanted to show us something more significant.

He led us back to the chapel where Luther worshiped. He pointed out the flooring from the original building-a much smaller footprint than the current mid-1500s chapel-and the exact spot on the stone steps where Luther spent nights kneeling before God, often naked, despairing of his own sins.

THIS, to me, is where the Reformation began:

In the heart of a man who knew he could never bridge the gap between his sinfulness and God's holiness. The idea that salvation could be bought (through indulgences or donations) or earned (through self-denial or asceticism) was a lie he could not accept. The joy he received from Romans 1:17-"The just shall live by faith"-was revolutionary, and it's why he risked his life for the truth.

This was a profoundly moving moment I had never experienced at the sites of his speeches or arguments. It reminded me that his revolution was born of need and conviction, not for fame or power.

A Global Community (Jan 4)

You'd think I'd have a hard time sending my 18-year-old to Germany for school… but I didn't. A big part of the reason was LEC-Leipzig English Church.

On our first trip to Germany, we went there for Easter and immediately felt something we had sensed from the moment we landed: this is the right place. We just knew. Every time I return to LEC, that feeling comes back.

This community has surrounded Jack from the moment he arrived in Germany. The adjustment to a new culture and language was extremely difficult-only those who have done it can truly understand. LEC was that safe, supportive place during his most challenging months.

He was immediately welcomed into a multi-generational, multinational group that is vulnerable, warm, loving, thoughtful, and unified in their love for God and others. It's rare to find a community that speaks so openly and vulnerably while remaining civil and respectful. Real growth happens here, and John and I feel and witness it every time we visit.

We were so refreshed by the service and the fellowship afterwards that we decided to go back in the evening-although Jack and Marcus missed it to go bouldering. (Marcus, the bouldering enthusiast who instigated this trip, wanted to note for the record that Jack was quite good.)

Yet the community at LEC is such that we easily stayed afterwards for over an hour, chatting with Jack's friends, friends we've met on previous visits, and new friends alike.

A particular high point was finally meeting the owners of the dog Ellie, whom Jack often dogsits. They told us that Ellie only pees herself when she hears the name of four people-and Jack is honored to be among them. Lol.

Bonus Day, Best Day (Jan 5)

We really got a bonus day. We were supposed to head to Berlin yesterday, but our Airbnb in Leipzig was so gorgeous and spacious-and our flight today left Berlin a bit later-so we decided to extend our stay until this morning.

It turned out that Jack's class was canceled, giving us a whole extra day with him, and a much-needed transitional, "down" day. It was wonderful.

It felt like such a blessing. We got a lot of work done and were well-prepared for a productive flight. Joshua and Nicholas successfully ran a solo errand in the city to pick something up from Jack's friend's apartment, while Joshua and Marcus went to the bouldering gym. John and I even managed a long walk.

We were also able to drop Jack off at his lab this morning on our way out, making it feel like we truly got a full extra 24 hours. It was such a gift to ease together from travel mode into real life.