Oh the Places You’ll Go

A blog about our travels across Europe, the Balkans, Morocco, and Canary Islands

  • Genk – Home of “The Belge” (Dorien)

    Genk – Home of “The Belge” (Dorien)

    Genk spent most of its life as a quiet heathland village that painters liked to visit. Then, in 1901, André Dumont found coal beneath it, and three mines—Zwartberg, Waterschei and Winterslag—turned the place into a boom town almost overnight. For seventy years the pits defined everything: the skyline, the workforce, and the mix of nationalities that still shapes the city. When the last coal came up at Winterslag in 1988, Genk did not linger in nostalgia. It turned the old mine into C-Mine, a creative hub inside the lamp rooms and winding towers, and set about becoming something else. The result is a city whose history is industrial rather than medieval, and whose most interesting buildings once pulled coal out of the ground.

    So onto the fun part… This has been awesome. We got to see one of our favorite world travels, Belges, and overall great persons Dorien. You all may remember her staying with us in San Diego, NWA, and Steamboat when she was touring the world and doing her Architectural internship in San Diego. She has more international experiences in her 30s than most in multiple lifetimes, including visiting 11 countries in 11 months on multiple continents and staying another year in South Africa. She’s also a great hiker doing trips to the Balkans, across Portugal, and just back from Italy.

    I have great memories of teaching her to shoot Cowboy Action in Arkansas, and swimming in San Diego.

    It was a God sighting as we call it to have her on Summer break while we were in the area.

    It’s amazing what she has become. She is now a Fire Fighter Captain here in Genk, responsible for about 120 fire fighters, EMTs and the station. She gave us a great tour of town. Genk has a great coal history and we were able to go underground and see it!

    Teena and her are on a girls hike while I do laundry… Hm. how things change.

    Super fun time, a high-light.

    Teena and Dorien. First evening dinner
    Authentic Belgian food. Dint ask me to say it or spell it, but it was great!
    Underground coal mine
    Mine tower
    Top of the tower!
    Look closely. Automated loop pulling the skiers/wakeboarders thru the course
    Final evening. Sad it is over.
  • Goslar – UNESCO World Heritage. Best yet!

    Goslar – UNESCO World Heritage. Best yet!

    Goslar grew rich because a mountain next door would not stop giving up metal. For a thousand years the Rammelsberg mine produced silver, lead, and copper; the emperors noticed, built the Kaiserpfalz here, and turned the town into one of the great stopping places of the medieval Reich. When imperial visits faded, the mines and the timbered streets kept going. UNESCO later wrapped the old town, the mine, and the Harz waterworks into a single World Heritage site. The Markt still feels like a place that once minted power and never quite forgot how.

    This is the best so far. Super awesome square. We would highly recommend this for people who want history and minimal over-run with tourists. Super clean no stray dogs, or cats. Some beautiful parks with little old ladies sitting visiting, purses on the bench. No weirdos to bother them. No litter, graffiti. Super nice….

    400 years to complete
    Top of the church. Teena was “nope I’m out”!
    Typical Breakfast
    Glockenspiel depicting the mining in Goslar
    Wasn’t our best biking (in town, in the rain).
    Rented e-bikes while we wait on the van
    Epic church (with where’s weirdo challenge). I’m at the top of the green spire!
    City park – pristine
    Don’t usually post an alley, but look how clean.
    Ok. So Teena orders a ham and mushroom pizza. She gets tuna, eggs, and onions. Ick! She was not happy but we cheered her up later with this!
    Tracking the Spudster
  • Freudenberg – Historic Town Center

    Freudenberg – Historic Town Center

    Freudenberg’s old town, the Alter Flecken, looks almost too tidy to be real: row after row of matching black-and-white half-timbered houses climbing a hillside as if they had been assembled from the same kit. The town was founded as a Nassau market settlement in the late 1300s, burned in 1540, burned again in 1666, and each time rebuilt on the same planned streets. The castle was not rebuilt. What remains is one of the most complete timber-framed ensembles in Germany—a small town that survived by repeating itself until the pattern became the point.

    Ok. These houses were built in 1666. Paid for by a Count when the city burned. First floor were stables. 2nd was kitchen living. 3rd was bedrooms.

    No water electric or sewer. The cobbled streets were built in 1550.

    Fun time staying in this hotel that is on the upper left of the square.

    We feel we are in a combination of David Winter Cottages, Stepford, or The Truman Show!!

    1666!!
    Replica
    Gentle hike
    From our room
  • Bacharach – The Medieval City

    Bacharach – The Medieval City

    Bacharach is a Rhine wine town that looks as if someone folded a medieval wall, a ruined chapel, and a hillside of Riesling into a single postcard. Its name is often linked to Bacchus, and for centuries it was a serious wine-transfer point on the river—smaller boats handing barrels to bigger ones before the current grew ugly at Bingen. Wars and fire later shrank it to a village, which turned out to be perfect timing: 19th-century Romantics arrived, sighed at the Wernerkapelle ruins and Burg Stahleck, and never really left. Today it is less a working port than a place that learned how to live off the view.

    This town is small but amazing! Dates back to 1600,s with Castles from the 1200s. A UNESCO World Heritage site.

    GROK picked it for us after entering who we are, what we do (biking, hiking, charming town center), and don’t like (big cities or lot of people).

    It delivered all of these. It is on the Rhine River on one of the most scenic stretches. But… unfortunately it is dried up so much from the heat they stopped the river cruises. We are disappointed. Further one day one it was over 100F with no AC at the hotel! 20F above normal. Sleeping was brutal day 1. No sleep taking a toll on me a bit. We had doors open and fans but also next to busy trains and were up all night.

    We did get out for a great 20 mile bike ride this first day.

    Hotel. Just like out of a movie.
    Along the Rhine on our bike ride. Great bike paths. Likely the worst e-bike I’d ever been on, but it worked. People running a 10k race at over 100F. People laying on the ground etc… It was hotttttttt.
    Chillin over the Rhine
    Top of our hike at the Castle
    Um. Someone stealing grapes
    Worth stealing
    Daisy followed us here!
    Circa 1245. Can you imagine who hiked the same trails we are on?
    Vineyards so steep almost unwalkable
    And this about each night
  • Frankfurt – Exploring Day 2

    Frankfurt – Exploring Day 2

    Had a great day today getting our sea legs. Still a bit tired and headaches but on the mend. Loved the little square and music. Teena got us a super nice Hilton in town. Um, this isn’t it, its a super nice church.

    Amazing Church
    Oh boy the temptation is born!
    Amazing music. Are these guy related to Richard or at least Cajun.
    Food is an art form in Europe.
  • Frankfurt – Arrival Day 1

    Frankfurt – Arrival Day 1

    Frankfurt has always been a crossing—first a ford of the Franks on the Main, later a free imperial city where emperors were elected and crowned, later still a trade-fair town that learned to live by deals. Goethe was born here. The Römer on the square was city hall, market hall, and imperial backdrop all at once. Most of the old core vanished in 1944 and was put back in pieces, so the city now does two things at once: it keeps a reconstructed medieval square for the photograph and a skyline of banks for the work. The river still runs through the middle, unimpressed by either.

    For us Frankfort is more of a recover point. After a (very) short Iceland connection. No sleep on plane and no time to take photos in Iceland. They were calling our names as we got to the Frankfurt gate. A bit worried about what missing sleep will do to me. Not so much from a catastrophe, but cumulative effect…

    Hotel view. Way better than it looks. Teena nails these. She is a hotel wizardess.
    Aperol awaits
    Cheers. So they automatically bring the beer to me and the Spritz to her. Um wrong.
  • Dropping Spud at the port.

    Dropping Spud at the port.

    A big deal to set up but a piece of cake ultimately to do. Met a woman running a combination soup kitchen / breakfast diner at the port. In talking she had lost her brother. We shared about Aaron. It felt like a God sighting to us. Special people abound.

    Here we go. No turning back now. One of my favorite photos of my girl. She is focused as we enter the port…

    My new chauffeur! What a gem. Pulling into port!
  • Ok we are a go!

    Ok we are a go!

    Alright high stress but have everything re-booked. We are in Baltimore! Inserted a bit of Washing DC as we wait to load Spudley.

    A little tour of DC while waiting
    DC Square
    Sporting my best Bono look.
  • Camping and regrouping…

    Camping and regrouping…

    Ok. Obviously this has thrown us for a loop. Dr saying no real limitations. Off the blood thinners and the likelihood of repeat they score at 0%. We shut down all plans which was a big undertaking. Every entity from Insurance to flights to rent-a-cars, regardless of refundable or not all stepped up and helped us. Made us realize that despite all the fighting on idealisms in this world, there is still a common thread of caring for people. Now are rebooting them. Staying just north of Chelsea Mi waiting for a few other check-ups. High stress for my girl. Worried a bit about her. She has had to take over driving. I always drive and I’m a terrible passenger. Adds to her stress. Plus it’s a big 4 ton vehicle so she’s not use to it. So much we didn’t plan for…

    The Spudster our home!
    Chillin (well a bit hot in Michigan during the day!)
    Quick lunch in Chelsea
  • Stroke – Didn’t see this coming…

    Stroke – Didn’t see this coming…

    July 25. Good morning. Here’s a summary:
    Hi friends. Bad news. Woke in night with head ache in Jackson Michigan at Teena’s dads. Vision weird. Went to U of Michigan ER. Brain bleed stroke. Ok. So all ok on speech, mobility, memory, processing. Area affected my right peripheral vision. Like a pie shaped piece about 10 – 30 degrees from center. Not black or white just things are invisible. Brain merges the missing piece from the other areas so distance in periferial seems normal but it is missing things (eg a tree branch) sitting in that area. Long shot to ever drive again but I have a great chauffeur in Teena! Trip will be delayed a month but still plan to go. Have to get bearings a bit. Spirits are good. Glad I brought my bike trainer too. So ride it for fitness and then plan backpacking as our core event. Bike on simple trails carefully. God is good. Very grateful. We are still in Ann Arbor. Dr said no limitations. Rehab vision thru computer (on the road). Last Dr appt today. Already back biking trails here and hiked 4 miles each day. Incredible I went from stroke to riding 10 miles in 3 days. Hoping to ship van and fly in about a week. Very grateful. Thank you for prayers!
    ☀️ 🩷 🙏

    U of M ER room
    Back on bikes 3 days later
    Trainer in the room