Many Waters of Virginia

One week in June, I went down to The Great Falls Park in Virginia. I met up with a good friend to go out for a day of hiking. We first started off with a warm up hike around Lake Anne, one of the four lakes in Northern Virginia. It has been modernized extensively, and included they Cafe, a bar, a couple retail outlets, and a bookstore that my friend and I went through to find some used literature. We walked around the perimeter of the lake, saw their Unitarian Universalist Church, and hit the road for Great Falls.

Blurry Aesthetics of the Great Potomac Falls.

In all honesty, I wasn't expecting the Great Falls to be as Majestic as they were, especially since I did not realize that I had already seen the other half of them from the Maryland side of the Potomac River. They were Majestic and grandiose, and the Riverside trail made for a very good 3-mile hike or so. It was a very easy trail of about a 2 out of 5. There's a network of trails in this area that you can choose from that extends about 12 miles, so pick your poison accordingly. Either way around, you will see the rivers, see the gorge, and see the beauty of nature as it was intended.

Take me with you to the ocean, sweet river.

After this adventure, we stopped by Cafe Sano, a small little cafe on one of the four legs. It was a Mediterranean restaurant that had very good small plates for decent price, with everything being fresh and mostly organic. It was here only got one of the best falafel wraps I've ever had, whilst enjoying the best homemade tzatziki sauce and ever had, was looking at the lake.

I then stopped at Cafe Amphora for a coffee and dessert with my friend. I had Tiramisu and a soy cappuccino, and fell in love with this little Bakery. It is here that you can actually sit in the Loft above the bakery and watch the bakers hard at work. It is a must-see for anybody who was in the area.

Fanny Mae Gardens  were the last stop on the days of venture, a Botanical Garden riddled with poetic prose and thoughts about the natural world scattered on top of stones throughout the pathway of the garden. It was behind an Urban spot of offices, and was really used by the people that work there. So on that day, we decided to put it to good use, admiring the beauty of nature, the flowers, and quotes by Henry David Thoreau, David Bryant, Sylvia Plath, and Emily Dickinson. They inspired me to be one with the world once more.

Although the hiking here wasn't the most intense thing I've ever done, it was still a very worthwhile trip to go and do for a day. I was extremely excited to be down in Virginia hiking with a close friend, and cannot wait until the day that I returned to like some more.

Tour De Deutschland

We awoke very early our second day in Germany, as we had places to go, people to see, and things to do. On our second day, we would be getting a tour of the area and the local city. And, who should be giving us the tour, but a couple of 11 and 12 year old children who are required to do this tour as part of their Elementary School graduation?

One we got to the gymnasium (their word for high school), I was blown away by the modernity of it in the middle of the city. We got there, and the teacher himself actually prepared a full buffet for all of us. I don't know why we were getting so many buffets in Europe and ‘all you can eat’ type deals, but as hungry high schoolers, we were very thankful every step of the way. Not to mention the fact that all their food is fresh, usually organic, and doesn't contain all of the nasty preservatives and chemicals that food in the states does.

The different varieties of juice, the different breakfast foods… all of it, fantastic.

And so, we met our tour guides, Anna and Lena, told ourselves a bit about ourselves and vice versa for them, and then we loaded onto a bus for the hillside just outside the city of Freiburg. When our tour guides were confused about something, they would ask somebody in German or talk German amongst themselves, which I found absolutely adorable. But the rest of the time, we noted that they had actually put together an extremely thought out walking tour of the area that comprised of a good 3 km. We climbed a tower of rust and saw the surrounding area of the city, went to a couple thrift shops, got some food at the Open Air Market, and saw the Munster, the biggest church in town, and the Heart of the Lutheran Reformation.

After spending a day gallivanting around and learning about the culture, it was time to go into the heart of the Black Forest itself and perform. At this point in time, word was getting around Europe about us and our travel route. So, a reporter from you June German newspaper actually caught a picture of the Drumline and myself playing our bucket solo called "recycled", and put us in the newspaper. I still have a copy of the article saved on my computer to this day. We got severely discounted (and sometimes free) food as a result of our performance, as the lady running the stands was so impressed with us that she wanted to keep us well fed.

Here we are. (I am second from the right.)

The hospitality I experienced in Germany was like none other in the world, and we still had another day to go. We've already seen and done so much, but yet, I have no idea what lied in store for me in the depths of the black forest.