Germany at Last

Hello Everyone!

Well..we are in Germany! On Wednesday, we flew out of Chicago. The flight was approximately 8 hours and was pretty smooth. It was cramped though and that made sleeping difficult. Daniel, Mom, and Dad were all able to sleep fitfully, but I was conscious throughout the flight. Therefore as I write this around 7:30 pm Thursday night, I am exhausted. The food was good and the stewardesses were wonderful. Today has been busy and fun, exciting and exhausting since I have not slept since Tuesday night. We are very lucky to have Hanns Martin Rincker, our relative, as our guide. He picked us up at the airport. We are staying at his mother, Frau Rincker's, home for a couple nights. After coming to her home, we ate a German breakfast of breads and jams. We were also able to catch a glimpse at the Rincker Bell Foundry, Sinn (where Hanns Martin lives,) Dillenburg Castle, and Herborn.

Dillenburg Castle was very fun (see the pictures below =) Herbron was also great. It is a very nice little village with lots of little shops, restaurants, and bars. We stopped in at a candy store and filled up a bag with "German" candy.

Tomorrow we will hopefully see the Rhine River if the weather holds. It was cloudy today when we landed and sprinkled on and off this afternoon. We will also tour the Rincker Bell Foundry! It is so neat to finally be meeting our family over here after hearing about them and seeing pictures of them for so long. Frau Rincker is a very sweet lady who reminds me a lot of my own grandma. Must be a Rincker thing to feed us until we are stuffed! Her home is wonderful...I could easily see myself living here with the patio and great loft space. Really classy and cute.

Take care everyone.

Love,
Christy

P.S. The pictures will be coming soon...