To Italy and Beyond: Day Twenty One: Has it really been three weeks?

Well it doesn't seem like three weeks until I start telling people where we have been. But if you are reading this blog you already know where we have been.
So we leave Rome (just checking) Luxembourg and head to Thungen Germany, the home town of my best friend Joe, God rest his soul, and people who we count as somewhere between friends and family. Another beautiful Fall day for driving through Europe.
We get to Wiesbaden Germany in time for lunch. Wiesbaden is where my brother once lived and was the first place we visited on our first trip to Europe so many years ago. After parking the car, Mary Ann has us march up to the top of a long hill only to find that the restaurants are at the bottom of the hill where we came from. But back at the bottom of the hill is a pedestrian only zone with lots of nice outdoor restaurants. And the one we pick is the one that we dined at with my brother so many years ago. Mary Ann remembered it. Quite famous too.

Notice the man waving. And the ladies eating in the window?

Becks in a non disclosure bottle

View down the street

My Laberkase lunch.

Mary Ann's Salad

Another view of the restaurant.

Pastry inside the restaurant.

View from the upstairs.

The dining room.

Downtown Wiesbaden.

Ditto

This guy only sells socks.

So we are back in the car and make our way to Thungen Germany. The town has not changed much. Along the way we do encounter a road closed sign which we ignore. We get to the end and Mary Ann has to remove the road block so we can continue on our way.

I find the saw mill where our family lives and where we will be staying for two nights. And of course I drive past it and have to turn around to reenter it. We are greeted by Caroline as we drive to her mother's house with warm hugs and enthusiasm beyond compare. After a quick hello to her mother who is also our friend Heidi, Caroline shows us to the great guest accommodations she has for us during our stay at the saw mill. The saw mill has been in the family for four generations and specializes in oak wood. They create furniture and more from the wood that they process. Their web site is, https://www.hugokaempf.de/oak-products. Very creative people.

We met her sister Kristina and caught up on family and friends. We will dine with her tomorrow. Tonight we were going with Caroline, her husband Stefan and her family and friends from the Ukraine to the other side of the village and up on a hillside where her father, God rest his soul, and Joe's brother built a small house overlooking the village of Thungen. There we drank wine and had sausage and cheese and breads and cookies from just before the sun set until the stars were out and the sky light up unlike you can see near many cities in the world. We talked of family and friends and travel and I realized that two nights in this wonderful place will never be enough.