Adventuring

My blogging days are not as active lately as we move from the adventure and discovery phase to mundane routine. Not that we have so acclimatized to Germany that it is blasé, oh no, we are still on the road of discovery, the pace has slowed is all.

We have gone from wide eyed tourists, ogling baked goods and testing sausage, to savvy residents finding the best vegetable market and quickest bike route to school. Adventure takes on new meaning.

We did however venture out of town over a weekend to explore the neighboring Ahr valley. It is a narrow wine growing valley with dramatic hills covered in grape vines. Not unlike Napa and Sonoma, and my mom's own little valley, Anderson valley. There were wineries and restaurants around every corner and lots and lots of tourists driving slowly on a sunny Sunday afternoon, taking in the quaintness of every little bend in the road that followed the river.

One of my objectives with the trip, besides seeing beautiful landscape, was to try a very local specialty, onion cake and fresh wine. The onion cake is more like quiche without custard, and it goes very well with the sweet, early press of the white wine grown in the region. The wine was surprisingly good for being sweet, like drinking spiked grape juice with effervescence.

Of course we were obligated to wander along the Ahr, throw some stones and eat ice cream. It seems that along with beer, sausage and coffee ice cream is a required accompaniment to any activity.

There are ice cream shops everywhere, and it is all quite delicious. It is similar to gelato but not as creamy. A special treat is the spaghetti ice cream which comes looking like a plate of spaghetti with strawberry sauce and white chocolate sprinkles. It is a big hit with the kids.

Like all adventures, big or small, one must be prepared to jump off the path and discover something unexpected. Before we even got to our destination and planned onion cake outing, we spotted something glinting through the trees. We had to pull off the road and check it out. The goats greeted us first, but with further investigation we realized we had discovered a luge park - something I had never seen before.

No question, we had to try it. We paired up and each jumped on a small cart on rails that took us up a steep hill. We were then released onto a winding luge track to careen down at our own risk. Of course there are no waivers here, no helmets, no safety belts. Just mom holding kid and laughing at the fun of it all.

Adventures are good for the spirit and necessary for the soul.