D sets his alarm every morning... for what time? I have no idea. It does, however, wake me up and turn me into Mrs. Cranky-Pants. Because I'm such a light sleeper, it's usually impossible for me to get back to sleep. Most days I'm super annoyed at this. Today I was thankful. Check this sunrise action out! I definitely jumped out of bed and raced to the living room and dove for my camera. I sped back to the bedroom leaping over piles of clothing in a single bound for fear that I would miss capturing this phenomenon of nature. This is why I love living on the 9th floor. This is why I love Germany. and THIS is why I'm grateful my husband sets an alarm.
The end of summer marks the beginning of festival time in Germany. The rain decides to let up for the most part and the Germans break out the beer, the "wurst" stands, and any other random festival shenanigans you can think of. Several weeks ago, the Amreins, Crystal & Zach, and D & I decided to make a trek to Koblenz for the Rhine in Flames festival. Last year D, Zach, Crystal & Sarah went to the same festival held in a different city that is later on in the year. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I hear about this adventure. Apparently it's the best fireworks show EVER. D said he had never seen so many in his life. Since fireworks are a big deal for us, we really wanted to catch this fest. Paula's birthday was the 14th of August, so we figured it's a great reason to help her celebrate! So there we were, another Amrein-Wollschlager Road Trip epic adventure.....
This festival was unlike anything I'd seen yet. Some things are the same from the Christmas markets, but it's all summer themed! One thing I love is there's always bratwurst, currywurst, rostwurst. kasewurst and whatever kind of "wurst" you could want or fathom. I've become a spicy mustard addict. I love German festivals because people here are so "I-really-don't-give-a-shit-about-what-you-think-of-me-so-yes-I-will-wear-this-footed-bunny-costume" free. It really is a phenomenal thing to experience. I always feel like it's the best place to immerse yourself fully into another culture. There are no limits when it comes to celebrations. You have to jump wholeheartedly into the rabbit hole with these folks or you'll be on the outside looking in... wanting to have as good of a time as they are having. There are more photos than normal being posted today, and it's because I'm trying to pull you all through the tardis with me to our day in Koblenz.
At the festival! Check out that ride behind me... crazy fun German technicolor!
This was the coolest thing I've seen yet. See all those multi-colored bowls full of what looks like punch with fruit? Yeah... they're all alcohol concoctions!!! Epic!
Yummy festival pizza!!!!!
oh you know this was my favorite!!!! I adore the gummy candy booths!!! Haribo lovers, eat your hear out!!!
I especially love that they made my favorite sour candy into the German flag. It tasted weird though, because the black part is Coke flavor. Coke, strawberry, and lemon don't necessarily mix well. I ate 'em anyway.....
I loved this old German guy. But people wouldn't get out of my way quickly in a nonchalant way so I could get his picture the way I wanted. Oh well.... this'll do.
I love the streets here. Every one could be a part of Diagon Alley in Harry Potter.
The train station. Ha! Only one I've seen that even perhaps could compare to this is Grand Central Station. *sigh*
Bubble tea!!!! Toria- I definitely thought of you the ENTIRE time I was drinking this and wished you were right there with me. I miss you!!!!
Cable tram station that takes you in a pod to the castle on a wire cable. Kind of like an enclosed ski lift. WAY fun!
A full length bunny suit & a Brazilian mariachi band... need I say more?
Mini gummy bears handed out for FREE!!!! I love this festival!!!!
Buildings along the river and you can see one of the enclosed ski lift pods.
I dubbed this station, "The Meat Shack", because seriously... the meat... OMG...
The castle in all it's glory. We really wanted to ride to it, but the tickets were robbery... so we just took pictures instead.
This festival was held at the point where the Rhine and the Mosel rivers meet.
I wanted to be on this boat!!! It looked like a really good time.....
This is why I love coming to cultural festivals. This ride was a carosel that ran by two people going up and down on the see-saw. One of the two people in the photo is Paula!!! The two people see-saw to the music being played on a piano by the guy that owns the contraption. Genius... I want to write a children's book about this.
While waiting for the fireworks, we sat here for a while and listend to this very eclectic band. One of the guys played this ridiculously long wooden horn... crazy!
So yes, we broke down and got us some alcoholic fruity punch! It was delicious!!!
THE FIREWORKS SHOW
The fireworks were totally worth the eight hour wait! We stood on the bridge over the river to watch the show. Here's the interesting part... Upon arriving to this festival, we noticed a crap-ton of people boarding these boats. It dawned on me that they were taking a river cruise. Many of these boats had boarding rooms with windows like a mini river cruise ship. At the time, I thought it would be awesome to be aboard one, but I wouldn't want to miss the festival.... Little did I know, the joke was on me. These river cruise boats light up at night and travel from fireworks point, to fireworks point watching the fireworks shows in tandem. HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT? D and I decided we definitely want to do it next year! It was incredible to see 70-odd-something boats all lit up with neon lights travel down the river. My favorite part was watching them turn about to classical tunes on the speakers for the fireworks show. It was like watching a boat ballet on the river, all of them dancing in unison. So without further ado, here's part of the show we saw.... of course they shot them off from the castle... duh!
These two are my favorite kinds of fireworks. They seriously filled the sky!
The fleet of seventy-odd river cruise boats on the water!!!! So awesome!
So now you've been updated on the month of August!!! I spent most of today editing pictures from the wine fest we went to last weekend in Bernkastle Kues. SO excited to post them soon! D called today and told me that we got three packages in the mail! Tomorrow's excitement is going to be crazy awesome!
Happy Thursday friends! All my love......
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