February 2006- Aachen

Okay, these are from 2006 as well. We were rushing to squeeze in as many trips as we could before Justin deployed, and on one long weekend we drove up to Aachen, Germany and then over into Belgium to Brussels. These pictures are all from Aachen. The Palatine Chapel there is a major building in art history and was something of a personal mecca for me. I'd really loved studying it and it was so exciting to get to see it first hand.

So much of travel for me is about the art/architecture and the food. I've really always known this about myself, but it's fun to see it so clearly in the things I photograph too...

Rosen Montag- February 2006

Okay, yes I know it's March. I'm super happy about that, but I still have about a bazillion pictures from our travels over the last three years, so for the moment, I'm still stuck in February. Hopefully I can get them up in a timely fashion...

These couple of pictures are from my first trip after Justin deployed (the fisrt time, back in Feb 2006). I was determined to not sit around and mope, so I printed some mapquest directions, bundled up and headed for Koln/Cologne (depending on who's spelling it) for their Rosenmontag celebration and parade. On Rosenmontag, people dress up in costumes--sort of like Halloween, but goofier, not scary really. I'd heard it was supposed to be a real lively event and I was a bit nervous navigating my way there solo.




I got there all right, but the trip was rather a bust. It's about a 3 hour drive one way up there, and because I'd heard to allow extra time to find parking, etc. I left WAY early and ending up arriving WAY earlier than expected. Without Justin to check my sanity, I'd worn not my heaviest winter coat (ideal for standing outside for hours on end) but my little wool coat and regular shoes--not even boots. Silly me. Anyway, I waited in the snow and FREEZING cold for about 3 hours before giving up, having only taken a couple of pictures, mostly of myself (LOL) waiting for the parade. It was depressing being there alone, despite my best efforts to be proactive about my solitude.


There's a story behind the bear picture...That's West Point Bear, one of the first gifts Justin ever gave me on one of our first ever dates when I made the trek up to West Point. I'd gotten the idea to do a Flat Stanley sort of thing with West Point Bear, taking him with me and photographing him in lieu of Justin for all of the places I visited while Justin was deployed.

I remember while I stood waiting forever for the parade there was a bizarre moment when the parade music coming over the loud speakers switched from Euro-techno to Sweet Home Alabama. I just found that pretty amusing.

She's so sweet, Choky can't resist...