If anyone in my family wanted to get away and really
experience ‘the good life, they could easily do so by visiting my cousin Little
John. Although we may call him Little John, he lives quite the big life and is
not small on size. In fact, his cute 3 year old son fits the name Little John
much better J
Simply put, our stay with John, his wife Anke, and Little John was truly a
taste of paradise. Plus, after being on a train for 6 hours through some rough
neighborhoods in France to get to his home near Trier, Germany, anything that
wasn’t French was a delight to see!
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| Little John's and Anke's cute little boy, Johnny! |
The night we arrived we headed to a local village fest
celebrating wine and apple brews from the nearby Mosel river/valley. There we
enjoyed this drink called veits (spelling may be off). This was a mixture of
apple wine and a splash of coke. Man, oh man. It was the perfect blend of sweet
and sour with a touch, not too much, of carbonation. For food we enjoyed panfried
potatoes, slow cooked beef, and a creamy sauce with eggs and pickles on top. It
was pure happiness for our taste bubs; who doesn’t love meat and potatoes?
Merica.
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| The apple wine and coke combo. |
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| The village vest we went to the first night. |
After dinner, John’s neighbors joined us at their house for
some drinks. If you ever want to get an alcohol lesson, learn about good booze,
or simply want to taste the best there is to offer for drinks—go to my cousin
John’s house. Jacob, being the Wild Turkey bourbon whiskey fan that he is,
joined in on the extensive bourbon whiskey collection that John has. The first
sip (straight 107 proof not on the rocks) was like he was getting smacked
upside the head with a piece of wood. In Jacob’s words, “It kinda hurt, but at
the same time I liked it.” Woof. Meanwhile, I supported the hazelnut industry
and enjoyed heavenly hazelnut schnapps. NAMA team members; this may be the one
thing that tastes better than Hazel’s™ J
The next day we headed to Saarsberg to view a gorgeous
waterfall/watermill and enjoy spaghetti ice cream. This is an ingenious idea to
make the ice cream look like stringy spaghetti, then cover it with a red
strawberry sauce, like marinara, and top it off with shaved white chocolate to
resemble parmesan cheese. Yummy! Next, we headed to Trier to see the sights.
Did you know Trier is the oldest city in Germany? Also, did you know that Trier
has one of the very few, still working Roman bridges? And, did you know that
the tunic that Jesus Christ wore in his tomb is kept and preserved in Trier.
Yeah, neither did I. Super cool city. Not to mention, Trier is very picturesque
being near acres and acres of vineyards.
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| Anke and Johnny :) |
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| Near the Saarsberg waterfall |
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| The group |
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| The spaghetti ice cream. |
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| An old church in Trier that dates back to 300 AD |
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| The room that holds Jesus Christ's tunic from his burial |
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| The outside courtyard and gravestones for past bishops of the catholic church in Trier |
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| A typical view from the Mosel river valley with tons and tons of vineyards |
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| A roman amphitheater |
That evening we spent dinner outside with the neighbors.
Each family brought a couple dishes to share and the wine was continuously
flowing. Like I said, this was really the good life! The pictures will describe
the food more but one BIG note; John deep-fried a turkey in peanut oil, only to
deep-fry fries in the same oil and use the same turkey seasoning. When people use the words “knock your
socks off”, this actually happened to me. I was in such enjoyment from these
fries that I kicked my shoes and socks off just to enjoy it a tad bit more. SOOOO
good!
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| Tomatoes with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, croutons, pine nuts, spinach, and parmesan :) |
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| Delish asparagus that Anke made |
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| The "knock your socks off" fires with turkey oil and seasonings. |
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| Spare ribs that Christoff, the neighbor and former pro futbol player, made |
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| Deep fried turkey. Try it. Youe life will be changed. |
The final day we headed north to visit Aachen, Germany for
the nostalgia of bringing Jacob Achen to his ‘hometown’. The routes to and from
Aachen were less than desirable due to dipping into Belgium and road
construction. However, being in Aachen and having a beer at the Aachen Brauhaus
was quite cool. Upon returning home, we met up with Anke to have a traditional
spargel (asparagus in German) dinner. Spargel is very in season in this area;
therefore full menus are created around it. Again, the pictures do far more
justice.
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| Ah, the Autobahn. |
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| Jaocb ACHEN at the AACHEN Brauhause :) |
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| Spargel with hollandaise and schnitzel |
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| Authentic German apple strudel, with cream! |
It was honestly such a relaxing leg of our trip; it was hard
to go. Seeing the great sites, enjoying top notch food, and being with family
was just what the doctor ordered for our trip. Plus, who doesn’t like to be
around a cute 3 year old all the time? Thanks so much to the Gerbas family! You
really did show us ‘the good life’.
I can only hope to see you stateside sometime soon! Off to
Ireland!
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