Y2W7 - JR's Tour - First Week

Don't faint or anything but Greg has finally decided to contribute to the blog. Here is his account of the JR visit:

Jonathan gets the award as the first non-family member to visit us since our arrival in Germany just over a year ago. I say non-family as there are no legal or blood ties, but when one has been a friend for 18 years, someone you’ve lived with before, and a member of your wedding party, they are in many ways ‘family’. There are only a couple others that also fit that criterion - Garrard and Uncle Matt. With Brent and Roger also ‘close enough’.

Ever since we arrived in Europe, JR has been at the top of the potential visitors list. A self described ‘Europhile’. He loves Formula 1 racing, shirts that are ‘fitted’ (he always talks me into buying them one size too small) and German cars (Fords are engineered and built in Germany). For the last couple years, he, Matt Wilson, Karl Keeler, and I have hooked up in Indianapolis for the U.S. Grand Prix - A smorgasbord of eating, and racing (Go-carts and F1 race watching for the visitors). With the U.S. Grand Prix no longer part of the circuit and with me in Europe, JR did what any dedicated fan would do, he bought airline tickets.

The girls were so excited on Tuesday night that they would not go to sleep. JR also brought us Twizzlers and Cheese Puffs, so he pretty much won Avery over within the first minute of being here. We did a couple of the things we like to show people when they first get into town, i.e. walked into Bad Godesberg and up to Bad Godesberger Castle, then we drove to Bonn where we did a little shopping and visited the Beethoven House. It is our typical ‘keep them awake bit’.

The next day, it was off to do some local site seeing before JR and I left for London and the Festival of Speed in Goodwood, England near the southern coast. Having not visited the famous German Grand Prix circuit Nürburgring just one hour from our house – it seemed like an excellent choice. JR and I decided to visit the ring and leave further options for a visit to the Mosel valley as time permits.

El hung back as Bailey was working on her serve at her week long tennis camp. She and the girls went to the big Baby store close by to check out what type of things they have for the upcoming event. El has begun her nesting phase already as she is anxious about having everything in place for the impending chaos that will ensue once number four arrives.

The visit to the ring got off to a good start. When we entered the historical paddock area we found an honorary display to the “Ringmeister” himself - Rudolf Caracciola. He was a championship grand prix driver from the 1930’s, is the subject of extensive research JR has been doing over the last year. JR is in the midst of refining a screen play about Caracciola's life (1939 Nürburgring GP). We also visited the small town of Adenau which was a village popular for accommodating all the famous GP drivers before and after the races.

Having gotten our racing primer (there would be plenty more to come), we rolled down to the Mosel Valley and the city of Cochem. Our route into the valley afforded us some spectacular views. JR and I visited the castle and walked around town and along the Mosel enjoying the great weather.

Later that evening, we laced up the soccer boots to see if the old men still had any gas in the tank. JR plans to visit Provo in October for the BYU soccer alumni event. I haven’t been in years, and will have to rely on JR and Garrard (if JR can get him to travel the 45 minutes south from Salt Lake City) as my ambassadors until I can attend myself in 2010.

Friday, we sent off for England. With reservations for the Chunnel in Calais by just after noon, we had to get off in good form. We arrived in London without much trouble. We immediately jumped on the tube to see a bit of city bouncing around from Piccadilly, to Leicester Square, and Covent Garden doing some shopping and having dinner at a pub. JR tried to convince me that 115£ was reasonable for a tee-shirt and a cotton jacket from the Belstaff store. It rubbed off as I bought a dress shirt from the Ted Baker store.

On Saturday, we were on the road by 7:00am toward Goodwood for the Festival of Speed. It was a day of classic cars, and racing - anything from motorcycles to F1 race cars. The highlight came early in the day as JR and I stumbled upon a Silberfisch Auto Union race car from the 1930’s. This was a car reminiscent of the Silberpfeile Mercedes race cars driven by Caracciola during the same era. We hung out for almost an hour watching the media take pictures of the car and seeing the crew start it up for a run across the Goodwood circuit. JR’s enthusiasm for the history was infectious as he repeatedly thanked me for staying there to watch the classic car – as if I had anything else going on. A great day, with great cars, at a great venue.

That night we caught some dinner at Chinese restaurant in Kensington near our hotel. After a second London meal, coupled with 35£ per day parking (luckily we only had to pay for Friday), and other costs, even JR (who often finds plenty of things worth consideration of purchase) was realizing the expensive nature of London.

Sunday was filled with visiting many traditional London landmarks, such as the Camden Locks and open air market. A couple stops at bookstores netted Ellyn next month’s Bookclub installment. I also had the chance to pick up the usual American/English food items at Waitrose near the hotel. Ellyn claims that her weekend was relatively uneventful except to say that she got a lot done as far as ordering birthday stuff for the girls – she was attempting to match JR’s assault on London. I have watched in wonder as she has spent the Spring planning our girls Autumn birthdays. She claims that it makes her feel much less stressed to have it done, and with my complete disinterest in doing it, I am more than willing to capitulate. She also took advantage of JR’s corn starch delivery to make a practice batch of candy clay, so they could see if it will be do-able for Avery's jungle party. It was quite fun. The girls liked the eating part better than the molding into animals part.

The next day JR and I headed back for the continent. We did have a chance to visit Bruges, Belgium (Brugge for us Germans). With what is becoming an odd custom, JR and I got into a bit of an altercation with a squirrelly looking dude at the bank. Apparently, we and the rest of the people in line for the ATM machine didn’t realize the local queuing rules that allow residents of Bruges to cut in line. After the girl in front us was unsuccessful in getting the grumpy man to realize cutting in front of 5 people already in line is not okay, JR and I had to join in. We exchanged pleasantries and eventually cooler heads prevailed. It was the second time in two trips that we had got into it with the indigenous population. Last time, Ellyn was verbally assaulted by the French fry guy in the main square as if she was ordering soup from the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. Despite our odd record with Bruges, it remains an amazing city with beautiful architecture and quaint little shops and squares.