Well it's finally summer time! For three days. Since I have been here the temps have been in the 60s and low 70s... last week I wore my tuscan red Patagonia to the park, covered up with a thick blanket at every chance, and huddled around our "grill" for warmth as we roasted marshmallows. Things started to take a turn in the past days though. We biked to the natural pool, about 4 miles (half of which is incredibly steep), in the high 80s weather. I am aware that this dry heat is absolutely NOTHING compared to the humid hot temps, even in the morning, in Alabama, however when your body is not accustomed to warm weather it is a slight shock. I'm pretty sure I lost 10 pounds sweating just in those 20 minutes. Needless to say, I was beyond excited to jump into that ice cold water.. but somehow when I did it was still miserable. Everyone here acts like it is normal.. 68 degree water is never normal.. not even in the blazing heat. It was a great outing though and the ride back was insanely delightful- riding down the hillside with the beautiful views of the city, the vineyards, the curvature of the mountains hugging the rhein, and my wet hair blowing in the wind, drying in mere minutes!
This week our "clutter room", as I think of it, was transformed into more of a living room because we purchased a sofa and arranged our furniture to include a cozy sitting area! (the promised pictures are still to come.. ) So that has definitely improved our quality of life :) We stayed up late one night after Simeon studied, painting a "herringbone"piece.. and by time we were done it was 5AM so we decided we might as well enjoy the most beautiful part of the day before heading to sleep. We threw on our tennies and headed out the door to enjoy a peaceful sunrise walk. It turned into a fairly decent walk, therefore we determined that we deserved a good breakfast.. we went to a local cafe, devoured some croissants, and climbed into bed a little after 8.. thank goodness for european window shades that keep it 100% dark with the push of a button!
Despite the scary darkness of our room, I have had rough nights because of the dry air here.. literally every morning for the first month I was waking up unable to talk and continued to have a miserably scratchy throat throughout the day- darn allergies! That being said... I'm not complaining! I am so incredibly thankful for fabulous health. It was great though last week to get a humidifier! Imagine that- a humidifier in the summer time ?!?! Who needs that?? Apparently this girl. Anyways.. besides that excitement we have also enjoyed several other fun moments this week- getting "kaiserschmarrn" (simeon's fave dessert) at our favorite little restaurant, swimming laps and playing at the nearby indoor pool ( which even includes water park style slides!), reading down by the river with my duck friends, visiting the park by the Rhein every couple of days to throw the football/study/relax/etc, and eating ice cream/watching late night movies. Simeon has been studying almost nonstop for his exams and his last one is tomorrow!! AND Mom and Brooks are arriving TOMORROW! We are so excited! They'll spend 2 nights in Bingen, then we will join them for a day in Luxembourg and five in Amsterdam! So much fun to come in the following weeks.. I'm just sad this summer has flown by so fast!
Here are some photos highlighting the week..
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| the painting! |
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| my ducky friends |
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| the benefit of having a freezer.. lots of ice cream! |
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| the park we spend a lot of time at |
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| our AUTOMATIC car!! makes life so much easier |
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| natural pool we biked to the other day.. this picture is from June... now the pool is filled with people on summer break |
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| sunrise on our early morning walk |
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| sunrise... I believe God won't allow his beauty to be captured by a camera, He wants His children to experience His creations first hand :) |
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