Disregarding the threat of rain, we set out for the city of Koblenz to attend the National Garden Show. We drove along the Rhine River, amidst castles and vineyards. The scenery there is breath-takingly beautiful – another picturesque scene after another around each bend in the river. We imagined lords and dukes governing the surrounding villages from their castles overlooking the mighty river. It's a trip everyone should take if in that area.

We arrived at our destination – Koblenz where the Bundesgartenshau was taking place. My husband and I love to garden and we were not disappointed as we admired the colorful flower beds arranged so beautifully. The exhibition took place at the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, high above the Rhine overlooking the Deutches Eck (German Corner) where the Mosel and the Rhine Rivers meet. Built specifically for the exhibition, a huge observation deck with several ramps enabled us to have a bird’s eye view of the city of Koblenz and the Deutches Eck

. Taking in the views, we marveled at how the sky had cleared and the weather turned out to be beautiful.

After taking in the beautiful views and flowers, we needed a German snack (naturlich!). We stopped at the "Fleur Café" and enjoyed yummy strawberry cake and Blackforest Delight, a luscious mix of chocolate and cherry ice cream topped with whipped cream.

With bellies happy and palates satisfied, we enjoyed a ride down to the Deutches Eck via a tram on wires. The ride was exhilarating and the views were gorgeous – 360 degrees of loveliness. Being down by the river was just as wonderful, strolling along a tree-lined avenue and eating (yes again) crepes with cinnamon and sugar. Ahhhh, sheer wunderbar… Those that know me would not be surprised that I teared up as I took in the whole experience – being there with my husband and sharing this day with my cousin, her husband, and my aunt. Right there along the Rhine I thanked God for His goodness to me.

Our lovely stroll brought us to the memorial to Kaiser Wilhem I – his huge likeness sitting on a huge horse while a huge angel holding a huge crown stood next to him and that huge statue sat on top of an even “huge-er” base. It was huge. But it was a fitting memorial – dedicated to all the peoples of Germany, dreaming of a unified nation.

We made our way back to the tram amongst flowers and river and took the ride back up which was just as exhilarating as before. As we drove back to my cousin’s house and thought about the day’s events, we all had that happy feeling you get when you know that God is smiling at you

The day ended with a yummy meal (of course!). We had planned to dine at a German pub that serves delicious Wiener Schnitzel but when we arrived at the restaurant, there was a sign on the door saying they were on vacation. My cousin and husband decided to take us to another favorite of theirs, an Italian restaurant. Well, at the mention of wiener schnitzel, my husband and I were set on wiener schnitzel. We couldn’t leave Germany without having wiener schnitzel! Well it turned out that this Italian restaurant in Germany also served wiener schnitzel and very scrumptious wiener schnitzel at that!

Back at my cousin’s house, we said our goodbyes to Christoph since he needed to leave early for work the next morning. Greg, Tari, and I sat and talked for a couple more hours on our last night together. It was the perfect ending of a perfect day.