Happy happy Easter!!

Yesterday Deaner and I took the train to the small town of Rudesheim, which is about a 30 minute train ride from Wiesbaden. It was well worth the trip. The day was beautiful and we had a game plan. We took the train one stop further than the town of Rudesheim because there was a ski lift type thing that you could take to the top of the mountain. From the top of the lift it was a 30 minute walk to the monument look out over Rudesheim. I might have liked to know that we would be walking along a dirt trail since I did sport some flip flops but who cares if my feet were filthy with dust and dirt! :) The little hike to Rudesheim wasn't much to speak of but when we got to the monument is was beautiful. I had no idea what to expect because I didn't do any research about this trip at all. We kept following signs that looked like this. Does this remind anyone of something that is VERY American??I don't know about y'all but this looks like a very pregnant or very fat Statue of Liberty! After seeing all these signs I wasn't exactly sure what to expect! Thankfully the statue we saw really didn't look like the pregnant Statue of Liberty (even though those who know me know how much I love the State of Liberty!). The monument was beautiful and the weather was perfect. Here are some shots of the monument and the stunning view from the top of the overlook.I couldn't believe how pretty the view from the top was. It was a little hazy so some of the pictures look washed out but it was awesome. We are definitely going to be bringing our parents here when they come to visit.Here is the view from the area where we stopped for a drink before riding the gondala back down to the town of Rudesheim.The picture below is a little blurry but it has personal meaning so I had to put it up here. Approximately 10 years ago my grandmother brought my sister, mom, and myself to Paris for ten day trip. Everyone got onto me saying that I whined too much on the trip about having to walk too far and for always being thirsty. And not surprisingly my sister was the "good one" and never complained. HOWEVER, there was one day where I guess she had enough and nearly had a nervous breakdown. She decided to splurge on a cold ginger ale and a cheeseburger. When her "ginger ale" came it was actually a Schwepps INDIAN TONIC which was apparently less than delicious. The straw that broke the camels back was when her cheeseburger was set before her and it had a nice large sunnyside up egg on it! There was weeping involved. And we have teased her for 10 years over it. I should have bought a case of this when I saw it! Never before have I run into INDIAN TONIC again! Ha ha!After our drink at the top of the mountain we took the gondala down the mountain to explore the town. Here are a few shots of the ride down the mountain. Rudesheim is known for having great vineyards which you can see in these pictures.Once we got into town we found a great restaurant down this street and I got to enjoy some Kasespetzle (my favorite German food that is typically a more southern dish) and Deaner got to eat a plate full of sausages.We shopped a little bit and I might have bought this hat for my mother........if it hadn't have been so ugly and DUSTY! I just thought it was funny because I never see things with her name spelled correctly on them! I didn't take a ton of pictures once we got into town but it was very pretty. Here is a shot of a tower that is approximately 700 years old. Crazy to think how this tower is older than the entire United States of America! There is also a shot of an old church and of Deaner standing under a sign advertising his FAVORITE delicacy in all of Deutschland!All and all it was an excellent day. I was exhausted afterwards! I can't wait for our next excursion! Easter Sunday for us has been a pretty uneventful day. We did find a restuarant in town this afternoon that was open for lunch. I had some nice Easter pesto pasta! :) I think tonight we will just be hitting up the hotel restaurant. I currently have Friday Night Lights downloading on itunes so perhaps we will have a show to watch tonight before bed time. I miss my family a lot today. It was hard not having anyone to celebrate with besides Deaner, not that I don't love him to death, but some days should just be spent with lots of family. Besides our friends Jon and Steph, we haven't met any other couples that are in our same situation. Most people that I have observed staying in the hotel are couples with several children. Oh well, at least we have each other! Hopefully this week will be productive and quick! Maybe a military I.D. card is in my future!